Just published: Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race but Changed the Nation by Scott Farris.
The book profiles a dozen men who have run for the American presidency and lost — but who, even in defeat, have had a greater impact on American history than many of those who have served as president.
The New York Times interviews Mitt Romney’s hair stylist.
“By far his most distinctive physical feature, Mr. Romney’s head of impeccably coiffed black hair has become something of a cosmetological Rorschach test on the campaign trail, with many seeing in his thick locks everything they love and loathe about the Republican candidate for the White House. (Commanding, reassuring, presidential, crow fans; too stiff, too slick, too perfect, complain critics.)”
“Mr. Romney’s advisers have been known to fret about the shiny strands, and his rivals have sought to turn them against him.”
Here are a few quick gift ideas:
1. Any of the Robert Caro books on Lyndon Johnson: Path to Power, Means of Ascent, Master of the Senate and the forthcoming Passage of Power. They’re insanely great.
2. Every political junkie needs one of these: The Almanac of American Politics or Politics in America 2012.
3. A new Kindle Touch with automatic wireless delivery of Political Wire would make anyone happy.
4. Wreck the Nation: The Game of Political Misbehavior.
5. The Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy Bundle from Edmund Morris is perfect for any library.
For more, check out Political Stuff.
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President Obama is sharing a traditional Thanksgiving feast with his family and friends, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The menu: turkey, ham, cornbread stuffing, oyster stuffing, greens, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and dinner rolls.
Dessert: banana cream pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, sweet potato pie, huckleberry pie and cherry pie.
I’m thankful that so many of you choose to spend part of your day here.
Enjoy your friends and family today.
The latest WMUR/UNH poll in New Hampshire finds Mitt Romney continuing to dominate the GOP presidential race with 42% support, followed by Newt Gingrich at 15%, Ron Paul at 12% and Jon Huntsman at 8%.
“Also of note is that just 16% of these likely primary voters say they know who they are voting for. So, while Romney might like his commanding lead right now, there is no telling where 84% of voters will go in the six remaining weeks before the primary.”
“What is this mac-and-cheese? Is it a black thing?”
— Pat Robertson, on The 700 Club, commenting on former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s favorite Thanksgiving dish.
Mitt Romney was asked in Iowa earlier today how he will stop the gridlock in Washington and Politico notes he “drifted into talking about Bob Dole as an ‘American hero’ who he’d model himself after.”
Interestingly, Romney told Fox News four years ago that Dole was “the last person he’d want” in his corner.
Jason Stanford writes how he and co-author James Moore lost their publisher for a book on Rick Perry once his campaign imploded.
“It’s hard to remember when there was once a bidding war for Adios, Mofo in New York. Six publishers made our agent promise to give them a chance to bid on the proposal once Perry announced for president. When he rocketed to the top of the Republican field and looked like a tea-vangelical Ronald Reagan from the red states, a heartthrob for the angry mob, Moore and I ended up with a book deal that made national news.”
“And then Perry opened his mouth. Bless his heart.”
Jon Huntsman said that he had not seen the ad recently released by the pro-Huntsman Our Destiny PAC in New Hampshire, and did not know whether his father had helped fund the $650,000 ad buy, The Hill reports.
Said Huntsman: “He’s my dad, he’s my best friend, he can do whatever he wants to do, we don’t talk about those things, we can’t. I’m just delighted we got some outside assistance from wherever it might come from that believes in our cause.”
Jonathan Chait: “The Republican race now seems to be between Mitt Romney, the consummate
establishmentarian, and Newt Gingrich, an hysterical blowhard. But if
you watched Tuesday night’s national security debate, you’d never have
guessed which was which.”
A new American Research Group survey in Iowa finds Newt Gingrich leading the Republican presidential field among likely caucus goers with 27%, followed by Mitt Romney at 20% and Ron Paul at 16%.
Key finding: Tea Party support has coalesced around Gingrich, from 13% in September compared to 42% now.
After months of street protests calling for his resignation, Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed an agreement immediately transferring power to his vice president, the New York Times reports.
“The agreement effectively ends Mr. Saleh’s 33 years of authoritarian rule, making him the fourth leader forced from power by the Arab Spring revolts that have roiled the Middle East and North Africa. But it is unlikely to restore calm anytime soon to a country that has become increasingly important to the United States as Islamist militants have gained a stronger hold there.”
Howard Megdal thinks a new GOP rule which says that any primary or caucus held before April 1 must allocate delegates proportionally could lead to a brokered convention.
“From April 1 on, the winner-take-all primary and caucus states will vote. That means a weak front-runner can earn victories in early states without taking a commanding share of that state’s delegates, while several challengers can lose, but still rack up a decent delegate total… 1,163 of 2,380 delegates will be selected before a single winner-take-all primary is held.”
“Rather than settle for a nominee incapable of generating enthusiasm,” Republicans could use their national convention “to find a candidate more in tune with the Republican voters” including “a compromise candidate who hasn’t been in the race at all.”
From the political dictionary: “turkey farm”
During last night’s GOP presidential debate, Michele Bachmann claimed that 15 Pakistani nuclear sites were vulnerable to jihadist attacks, and that six of them had already come under some form of Islamist attack. No U.S. official had ever said that before and Bachmann serves on the House Intelligence Committee.
National Journal concludes the new facts “represent either a news-making leak of previously unknown classified information or another in her recent series of seemingly-random, and highly inaccurate, public comments.”
Out next week: Playbook 2012: The Right Fights Back by Mike Allen and Evan Thomas, the first in a series of e-books on the 2012 presidential election.
According to a publicist’s email, “It’s loaded with juicy scoops and razor-sharp analysis and explains with an insider’s precision the intrigues and the plotting, the ground games and the quests for cash.”
TV show host Jimmy Fallon apologized to Rep. Michele Bachmann for a song played as the presidential candidate walked on stage for her interview on his late night show, CNN reports.
As Bachmann walked out to greet Fallon, the show’s band played a song by Fishbone called Lyin’ Ass Bitch.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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