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Beware the Food Police and Their Soda Tax
Tweet Share on Facebook October 16, 2009 Comment (14)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
In his 2001 book A Cook's Tour, chef/television host Anthony Bourdain describes a war in the United Kingdom:
It's war. A fight for the hearts, minds, and souls of future generations. If the dark forces win? They'll be looking across the Atlantic; don't doubt that for a second. They already have their operatives in place. They'll be looking at your plate, inspecting your refrigerator. They already are. They want to take your meat away.
They even want your cheese.
But the same struggle is already being waged here in the States, too—in our legislatures, our restaurants and our kitchens.
A tax on sodas is "an idea worth exploring," President Barack Obama said earlier this month, the thought being that if you are taxed every time you pop open a Dr. Pepper, you'll buy and consume less Dr. Pepper, especially if you're an elementary student at lunch.
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Attacking Fox News Won't Help the White House With Depressed Liberals
Tweet Share on Facebook October 13, 2009 Comment (39)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The White House has made a dramatic strategy shift: isolate and attack the enemy.
The enemy for the White House, however, is not the Taliban or al-Qaeda. It's the Fox News Channel.
Late last month a posting on the official White House blog criticized Fox for what it called a "disregard for the facts," "an attempt to smear the Administration's efforts to win the Olympics for the United States," "a partisan attack" and referred readers to a separate webpage to follow "more Fox lies."
Such pointed criticism is unusual, especially coming as a written statement from the White House.
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Obama Should Decline the Nobel Peace Prize
Tweet Share on Facebook October 9, 2009 Comment (18)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The news that President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize has many asking, "um, why?"
Was the award for ending or winning the war in Iraq? No.
Was the award for ending or winning the war in Afghanistan? No.
What about following through on his campaign pledge to immediately close Gitmo? Certainly not.
Democrats are quick to say that criticisms from the G.O.P. are dangerous and unpatriotic. Brad Woodhouse, communications director of the Democratic National Committee (and in full disclosure, a friend and all around great guy) incredibly issued a statement charging that "The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists—the Taliban and Hamas this morning—in criticizing the President."
Hyperbole aside, it's nice to see Democrats willing to call Hamas terrorists, though it doesn't explain why Obama is more willing to work with them than Republicans in Washington.
But it's not just Republicans who are questioning the Nobel committee's decision. Lech Walesa, former Polish President, Solidarity leader and recipient of the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize said, "So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far."
Even White House officials were amazed, reportedly asking if today is April Fool's Day.
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Corzine’s Weight Attacks on Christie Demonstrate Media, Democrat Hypocrisy
Tweet Share on Facebook October 8, 2009 Comment (5)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
"Corzine Points Spotlight at Christie's Weight" reads the headline in today's New York Times, capturing Jon Corzine's line of attack in the New Jersey gubernatorial race: Republican Chris Christie is too heavy to serve as governor.
As the article states, a Corzine commercial attacking Christie shows the candidate emerging from an SUV "in extreme slow motion, his extra girth moving, just as slowly, in several different directions at once." Reinforcing the attack, the ad says Christie "threw his weight around."
"Threw his weight around," get it? As the Times article says, it is "about as subtle as a playground taunt."
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Castle for Senate Coup Puts Democrats on Defensive in Delaware
Tweet Share on Facebook October 6, 2009 Comment (2)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Earlier this year, I argued here at U.S. News that candidate recruitment is one area where the GOP has had it all over the Democrats.
For months, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee were winning recruit after recruit while their Democratic counterparts seemingly came away empty.
On the Senate side, John Cornyn's team at the NRSC crowed over key recruits for 2010 campaigns including New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, and former Ohio Congressman, OMB Director, and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman. Indeed, the NRSC's recruiting efforts were so successful they managed to recruit Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning out of the race. Given Bunning's irascible reputation, that was no small feat.
Today's announcement that longtime Delaware At-Large Congressman and former Gov. Mike Castle will run for Joe Biden's Senate seat continues that trend. It's not surprising that as the NRSC's crack press shop touts the announcement, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee both downplays the news and attacks Castle (a mixed message?). That won't wash with the media, however.
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Grayson's Healthcare 'Holocaust' and Republican 'Die' Comments Show Dem Hypocrisy
Tweet Share on Facebook October 1, 2009 Comment (59)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
On Tuesday, Rep. Alan Grayson decided to make some news.
As a backbench freshman Democratic member of Congress, representing Florida's 8th District, an Orlando-based swing district, Grayson's role is like that of most freshmen—to soak up experience, don't make waves, take care of his district and raise money for reelection. Instead, he went to speak on the floor of the House of Representatives and give a speech in which he charged, "The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick."
Anyone who has ever worked on Capitol Hill or a political campaign can tell you of a moment (or moments) when their boss has made an unfortunate, off-the-cuff remark they later had to apologize for or clarify. It's a bipartisan problem.
Grayson, however, made no errant comment. He meant what he said. It was the big finish of a speech to castigate Republicans on heathcare, complete with a sign that read "The Republican Health Care Plan: Die Quickly."
In other words, his remarks were written, they were thought-through and, on some level, they were vetted.
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The Empire State Building's Disgusting Kowtow to China
Tweet Share on Facebook September 30, 2009 Comment (77)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I'll never forget driving into Manhattan the evening of December 12, 1995. It was Frank Sinatra's 80th birthday. A huge Sinatra fan, I had the radio tuned to WQEW-AM, a New York station in the middle of a multi-day Sinatra A-Z broadcast. As the skyline came into view, I noticed the Empire State Building bathed in blue to honor Ol' Blue Eyes.
The floodlights atop to Empire State Building, of course, often use different colors—red and green for Christmas; red, white, and blue on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Bastille Day; green for St. Patrick's Day, to name, but a few.
The lights are often used, as one would imagine, for commercial purposes—special colors for the launch of Microsoft's Windows95, the video release of The Simpsons Movie, and last year's three-day celebration of the accomplishments (whatever they may be) of Mariah Carey.
Tonight the Empire State Building will be awash in red and yellow. But instead of honoring a singer intrinsically linked to the city, holidays, or something crassly commercial, the Empire State Building, as reported by the Agence France Presse, will "honor the 60th Anniversary of communist China."
What specifically has the Empire State Building decided to honor?
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ACORN Story Shows How Internet Reporting Is Beating the New York Times
Tweet Share on Facebook September 28, 2009 Comment (41)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
In a meeting of New York conservative activists earlier this month, Andrew Breitbart received a raucous standing ovation for doing something many conservatives never dreamed possible. He beat The New York Times.
As video upon video were released showing ACORN employees eagerly helping two conservatives (Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe) set up prostitution as a legitimate business, file false tax statements, and engage in the trafficking of underage illegal immigrants, much of the major media remained silent.
For conservatives, the rationale was simple: The major media were uninterested in exposing an organization linked with President Barack Obama.
There may have been something else at play—snobbery. Large media organizations look down upon opinion news sites and blogs that are not their own, painting most conservative sites and talk shows with a broad brush as amateurish and full of crazy people with crazier ideas (read: dangerous). To an august newspaper as The New York Times, some You Tube videos on BigGovernment.com were not newsworthy and certainly not credible.
Thus the Times remained silent as the evidence of ACORN corruption continued to grow. Fifteen years ago, that would have been the end of the ACORN story. Smoking gun video, or not, if major media outlets ignored a story, it never happened.
Things have changed.
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Dem Transparency Promises Are Transparently False
Tweet Share on Facebook September 24, 2009 Comment (9)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Barack Obama campaigned on making government more open and transparent. With an electorate soured on the Bush administration and concerned that administration policies were not transparent, it was a message that resonated with the American people.
Obama and the Democrats have not, however, governed as they campaigned. Openness and transparency exist in theory and talking points, not in practice.
We saw another example Wednesday afternoon, as Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee almost unanimously voted to defeat an amendment offered by retiring G.O.P. Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning to require that the exact language of any healthcare legislation—and the bill's cost estimate—be placed on the committee's website 72 hours before a final vote in committee.
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Washington Post's Coverage of Virginia Governor’s Race is a 2006 Anti-GOP Repeat
Tweet Share on Facebook September 23, 2009 Comment (8)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The latest twist in the Washington Post's unending coverage of the college thesis written by Virginia GOP Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell involved focus groups.
After convening two focus groups, each consisting of approximately a dozen women from Fairfax County, the Post informed us that "Two Groups of Women Help Put Race Into Focus."
The first thing we learn from the story is that many women are troubled by McDonnell's now famous college thesis.
"It's just too scary, what he would do," the Post reports one participant saying.
"I think he's scary and he's anti-female," said another.
How did McDonnell supporters respond? "McDonnell may be a tad more extreme than I would like," a likely McDonnell supporter said. For the Post, even McDonnell's supporters shouldn't like him.
Much like in the campaign itself, we don't learn much about where Democratic nominee Creigh "Endorsed by the Washington Post" Deeds stands on issues, but we do learn, courtesy of a focus group respondent, "He has a good heart."
The take away for Post readers: Bob McDonnell—scary, Creigh Deeds—good heart.
If the Post's coverage sounds familiar, it should. It's a replay of the 2006 Virginia Senate campaign.
Doug Heye
A veteran of political campaigns throughout the country since 1990, Doug Heye has served in leading communications positions in the House of Representatives and United States Senate, as well as serving in the George W. Bush administration. Most recently he was the communications director for the Republican National Committee. He is currently a Washington-based GOP communications strategist.
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