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In yesterday and today's Mormon-gate frenzy, I missed some news of interest. McCain won the endorsement of former Colorado Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.

This is a big get for McCain, at least in my eyes. Norton is a fave of mine, and I had very much hoped she would run for the open Colorado Senate seat next year. Sadly, she's not doing that. But, if the GOP takes more hits in Colorado next year, and the lesson is learned about the state being more drawn these days to fiscally conservative,...

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I've been talking to a number of people about this issue of calls being made to voters in IA and NH saying not very nice things about Mormonism all day, and here are some thoughts.

First off, I've been pleased to see that the McCain camp was quick in calling for an investigation by the NH AG into the calls. Per a McCain press release:

Today, the McCain New Hampshire Leadership Committee intends to file a complaint with the New Hampshire Attorney General's office seeking a full...

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Original post here. The updates to that were getting too extensive, so here's a new post with the latest.

1. Justin Hart at My Man Mitt has details of a conversation with someone at Western Wats:

UPDATE: Just spoke to my Western Wats source (a senior employee at the firm).

* He said the notion that this is Romney-driven is “nonsense” and “ridiculous”.
* He did not confirm or deny that the calls came from his firm.
* His company employs 1500 people with...

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... from Florida:

This week’s callous budget slashing and the downright laughable property tax “cut-reform” mess merely illustrate what 43 of the United States already know: Florida needs a state income tax, a graduated, progressive income tax. It seems so obvious if you’re not rich like 90% of the people in this state: taxes should be based on one’s ability to pay. It’s doable if you have the political will. Even the most Republican state of all has an income tax (and property...

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According to a new ARG poll, it is veritably so.

Romney 26%
Huckabee 24%

Looks like maybe this:

30siVmjvBgY.tube

hasn't worked out so well for him after all.

By the way, this comment from Huckabee:

I think Mitt Romney would rather keep people out of college so they can keep working on his lawn

is one of the funniest, and most to-the-point statements I've heard in a long time. I also think the fact that Huckabee is willing to go in hard on...

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Is there anything even faintly conservative about Michael Gerson? Has there ever been?

Not to my knowledge, no. There's plenty in this book, which if you haven't read, you should, that makes it pretty clear that Gerson has a lot more in common with the likes of SCHIP-expansion supporters than he does Barry Goldwater. Obviously, that doesn't sit too well with me.

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Good. This guy is a disgrace to all British Muslims, including a few I know who worship at Finsbury Park Mosque and were all too happy to get rid of him. He's also a big-time welfare recipient, so getting rid of him should save the UK taxpayers quite a lot of cash.

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Jonathan Martin has the story.

Let me just say this on the subject that I hate politicians targeting each other over religion. I really, really do. And I am sensitive to Mormon-bashing, in particular, because, well, part of my family is Mormon.

In my view, candidates-- and their proxies (and I suspect it is proxies involved in this case)-- should fight each other on the issues, not on the basis of whose faith is weird, creepy, out-of-the-mainstream, etc. Where Romney is...

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Last month, I penned a piece for the American Spectator on the subject of McCain's targeting of Mitt Romney, and how it could help Rudy, who is close friends with McCain. That argument has, of course, been echoed elsewhere in the blogosphere, and the idea that McCain and Rudy might be tag-teaming to take down Romney and deliver the nomination to Rudy obviously p*ssed some people in a particular camp off.

So, perhaps it's not surprising that after me, and others, commenting on the...

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... here.

Jonathan Martin likes the Gravel-Sugar Hill Gang comparison. I personally prefer John McCain/50 Cent. Both because there's some accuracy here, and because I like both (OK, I like McCain way more than 50 Cent, but nonetheless).

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