Now watch the left get their panties in a wad. Because Sarah Palin polls at 44% in a matchup with Barack Obama. That’s according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.

What does the new poll mean?

Depends on who you ask.

If you ask me — you did ask me, didn’t you? — it means that almost as many people hate Barack Obama as hate Sarah Palin. Now, I can’t tell you why they hate Sarah Palin. They can’t either. Ask them, and they go, “Palin!!! Arrggghhh!! She’s … (spit) … (slobber) … (mumble) … and Dan Quayle in a skirt!” Or something like that.

They’ve been programmed to hate her. So they do.

What else it means is that the programming isn’t taking. Remember all that “Bush is evil” programming that people were spewing a while back. It’s calmed down among most. Oh, sure, some still blame Bush for the economy, 9/11, and Pearl Harbor. Because stupid people have a way of living way too long and not shutting the hell up. But the “Gosh, I sure miss George Bush” sentiment is growing.

Palin is no Bush, but …

Palin is no George W. Bush, but the “Hate Palin” programming is starting to wear off. Like in Dollhouse, where Echo didn’t respond to imprints and wipes like they expected. Voters are turning Echo.

The poll also means that the left-wing media is about to go all out assailing Sarah Palin as … well, whatever it is they’ve been told to say about her now.

And here’s what it all means: while they’re attacking Palin, they aren’t quite as focused on Perry or Romney or Bachmann or Cain or whoever else is supposed to be in the crosshairs.

And that’s a good thing.

Once again, we must say it. Come on. Say it with me. “Thank you, Sarah Palin.”

As Obama’s approval rating continues to sink, things are looking better and better for whoever gets the Republican nomination in 2012.

In some head-to-head polls, some Republicans beat Obama, while others are within the margin of error, statistically tied with the president.

Things are looking good for Obama being a one-termer, right?

Well, not so fast.

Obama has an Ace in the Hole. And it just might be you.

You see, Obama and the Democrats are counting on you sitting this election out. Why would you do that? Because you aren’t happy with the eventual GOP candidate.

Now, sure, it’s about a year until the GOP convention. But the process to pick the candidate is already underway. In fact, Tim Pawlenty has already dropped out of the race.

The leading candidates, if you believe the polls, are Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, and Ron Paul. And, then there’s Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Thaddeus McCotter, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Buddy Roemer, and Gary Johnson.

Then there’s about Fred Karger, Andy Martin, Tom Miller and Vern Weunsche.

Oh, and don’t forget The Rent Is Too Damn High Guy, Jimmy McMillan.

And still maybe Sarah Palin and John Bolton.

Some of the candidates don’t draw much attention. But some that do draw a lot of passion. Several of the Gary Johnson or Ron Paul (RONPAUL!!1!!!11!!!) supporters will not vote for anyone else NOMATTERWHAT!!!1!!

And others say there’s no way they’d vote for someone like Newt Gingrich or Jon Huntsman. Or Sarah Palin.

Well, unless the Republicans nominate a committee to run in 2012, only one of these will be the nominee. And there will be some very unhappy Republicans and some very unhappy conservatives. And some unhappy libertarians. And some unhappy liberaltarians.

And that’s Obama’s Ace In The Hole: Republican-leaning voters feeling they have a bad hand.

Look at it like a poker game. Say, five-card stud. Sure, nobody plays that anymore, but it’s one of the simplest to use as an analogy, so there you go.

After the cards are dealt, Obama is holding this hand:
Ace of Clubs
Jack of Clubs
Three of Hearts
Two of Diamonds
Hole Card

You have this hand:
Seven of Diamonds
Eight of Diamonds
Nine of Diamonds
Ten of Diamonds
And your hole card: 10 of Spades

You’ve got a pair of tens. Not a great hand, but potentially a winning hand. If Obama has an Ace in the hole — or a Jack in the hole — he wins. Anything else, and you win.

What Obama is counting on is you being unhappy with the GOP candidate and not showing up at the polls. That’s his Ace in the Hole. Or Jack in the Hole.

Now, a lot of you are going to bitch, moan, and complain about whoever gets the nomination. Like I have several times in my life. But, I went out and voted for the guy, because the alternative was worse. And, each time, history has proven me right. That is, since I’ve been voting (1976) the Republican who won was better than the Democrat who lost. And the Republican who lost would have been better than the Democrat who won.

Don’t be Obama’s Ace in the Hole. Or Jack in the Hole.

Prevent that situation by working like the Dickens for your candidate. Then, whoever wins, work like the Dickens for that candidate, too.

Don’t let a bunch of Ace-Holes … or Jack-Holes … mess up the next election, like they did in 2008.

Don’t be an Ace-Hole.

The good news for Republicans recently has been that polls have shown that a generic Republican beats Obama. The bad news is that when “generic Republican” is replaced with an actual Republican, Obama wins.

Not any more.

Latest polling shows that some actual Republicans beat, tie, or are within the poll’s margin of error, according to ABC News:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads Obama by a 48 percent to 46 percent margin, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry ties the president at 47 percent. Obama bests Ron Paul by a 47-45 divide and Michele Bachmann by 48-44 split. All results are within a 4-point margin of error.

What does this mean?

I dunno. Does anyone know what Americans’ political thought processes are? I mean, a majority of voters actually elected Obama in 2008. So you can’t depend on most American voters to do anything that makes sense. So I’m not sure we can make any sense out of this poll.

But I’m not going to let that stop me from trying.

Maybe this means that Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul (RONPAUL!!!1!!1!!!!), and Michele Bachmann are actually generic Republicans.

All this time, I thought Tim Pawlenty was. But, since T-PAW decided to drop out of the race, theres an opening for a generic Republican. And, it’s being filled by fake conservative (but good-for-business) Mitt Romney, almost conservative (but plays one on TV) Rick Perry, speaks right when facts aren’t involved (John Wayne/John Wayne Gacy, Elvis’ birthday/death day) Michele Bachmann, or sh*t-house rat crazy Ron Paul (RONPAUL!!!1!!1!!!!).

What about the other Republicans? For example, my guy, Herman Cain?

They didn’t ask. At least, when I read the full poll, I didn’t see where they paired up Cain and Obama. But, among Republicans, Cain and Perry has the smallest “unfavorable/strongly unfavorable” totals. As for favorable, Cain and Romney came in second in “favorable/strongly favorable” to Rudy Guiliani, who’s not running.

What all this means is that a lot of Republicans can beat Obama. Maybe even more than they poll.

This shows what the Republican strategy for 2012 will be: don’t be Obama.

Which sort of screws it up for Huntsman, who worked for the guy. But maybe not. Remember Romneycare and Obamacare? Mostly a matter of scale. But Romney beats Obama. So, maybe not even Jon “Obama’s a remarkable leader” Huntsman should be counted out.

Still, not being Obama looks like a winning strategy. Particularly since Obama appears to be still blaming Bush for everything.

“I’m not Obama” beats “I’m not Bush” hands down.

The campaign for the White House is underway. Or hadn’t you noticed? No? Trust me, it’s started.

You’ll be hearing all the campaign slogans from all the campaigns soon. If they can come up with some.

I’ve thrown in with the campaign of fellow Georgian Herman Cain, because he’s the most conservative of the candidates. Not a fan of that whole “Fair Tax” thing, but as for common principles, his most align with mine.

But the Cain campaign doesn’t really have a slogan. Not that I can tell, anyway. You got a bunch of the “woo-hoo” crowd telling out things like “Yes we Cain!” during the pauses in the candidate’s speeches, but not a lot more than that.

No “Change we can believe in” or “Hope and change” or any of those greatest hits from 2008.

Perhaps a candidate can win by actually taking good positions and spelling out a plan, but really, this is the nation that elected Barack Obama. Those kind of short attention span people are going to need something clever to get or keep their attention long enough to mark their ballots.

And that’s where you come in.

Help come up with some slogans for the candidates. I’ll start:

Herman Cain
He delivers!

Doesn’t understand “right of return” or any of the rest of the nonsense the Palestinians are spouting off about.

Ron Paul
Not as crazy as Harold Camping, but close!

Chris Christie
Not really a conservative, but not really running for president, either.

Sarah Palin
Go ahead. Nominate me. That’ll piss ‘em off, you betcha!

Barack Obama
Not done embarrassing America yet!

Okay, these are lame. I’m sure you can do much better. Have at it.

Actually, I didn’t get to ask Herman Cain any of the questions you asked. I lost my chance with the breakfast malfunction. And, when his talk to the breakfast group ran long, the staff cut the photo session short, so there was no chance after breakfast.

However…

Herman Cain did touch on some of the topics related to the questions some of you submitted, as you can see here:

[Direct link]

Okay, that last part wasn’t really talking about Frank J’s plan for genetically-engineered dinosaurs with rocket launchers.

Or was it?

Wife and I had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta for yesterday’s Herman Cain announcement. We attended the private breakfast beforehand, and had the chance to get close to the candidate.

Well, sort of.

You see, the agenda called for breakfast at 9:15, with Mr. Cain arriving at 9:45.

Only, it didn’t work out that way. He got there early.

I had just finished going through the buffet line and was back at the table when he entered the room. And that caused a sudden shift in everyone’s activities. Including mine.

I glanced to my left, saw his path was going to take him right by me, and decided to place the plate on the table, and let the rush of folks take me over.

The rush of folks came first.

I was jarred, and my plate of food fell. $2,500 worth of sausage biscuit and fruit hit the floor. Okay, I’m exaggerating about the cost. But, this being a campaign event, some people may have paid that much just to attend. So it’s possible, just not factual. Had it been one of them instead of me, then, yes, it would have been $2,500 worth of sausage biscuit and fruit.

But my food did fall. Or the plate did. And the food was on the place. And not all of it stayed on the plate. Some of it bounced off the plate and onto the floor.

So, I’m standing there in the aftermath of a crash of plate, table, chair, and floor, with the person I came to meet just a few feet away. He’s ahead of time, and this is a chance to spend some unscheduled time meeting and chatting with him. And maybe ask some questions.

Only, I’ve got food at and on my feet.

So, I grab some napkins from the table and squat. Meanwhile, there’s a crowd working there way past the table and me, trying to get close to Herman Cain. Legs, knees, hands all participating in the rush, and not in a helpful way, either.

I gather all the parts of biscuit and fruit — the parts of the plate of food that actually left the plate and took up residence on the floor — in napkins as best I could, then stood and placed the ex-breakfast on the table.

Here I am, standing with buttery, sausage-soaked biscuit and bits of melon on my hands. Wife hands me the hand sanitizer, and I start my Mr. Monk impersonation, rubbing the cleaner as fast and as thoroughly as I can.

I have missed my best opportunity to meet the man I came to see. But, not my last opportunity, as it turned out.

After I finally got all the food off the floor and my hands cleaned, I look for a place to dispose of the bits of the inedibles. I start scanning the room. First, straight ahead, to the podium, looking for Herman Cain, hoping to plan a chance to get up close.

The room was still abuzz, but I didn’t see Herman Cain anywhere. Had he made a quick appearance and then departed for some other pre-announcement work before coming back for his scheduled talk?

No, as it turns out, he was at his family’s table, talking with his children and grandchildren. I discovered that when I turned to my right and found myself eye to eye with Herman Cain.

He must have quickly glanced at my name tag — either that or he’s a huge fan of this blog; I’m thinking the former, but telling myself the latter — called me by name, and told me he was glad to seem me as he shook my hand.

I responded in kind, and glanced to the lady on my left. The Wife extended her hand and she and Herman Cain exchanged pleasantries. He introduced Gloria, his wife, and the proper greetings occurred.

He turned his focus to the family at their table, and we turned our focus back to our table.

So, while I did get to meet him, my breakfast malfunction messed up my best chance to actually chat and ask questions.

The sausage biscuit was good, though. The parts that didn’t fall on the floor.

Atlanta businessman Herman Cain announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

And we were there! And by we, I mean me. Frank J. is, like, a long way from Atlanta. Sarah K too. And Harvey. (Actually, I don’t know that they would have been there anyway.) But, since Atlanta isn’t all that far from me, I was there. And now, you were there, too!

[Direct link]

If you’re not supporting Herman Cain, that’s okay.

Actually, it’s not. What’s wrong with you?

Anyway, we were there and will post a little more later.

Saturday morning, me and a few thousand other close personal friends will be at the Herman Cain campaign announcement in Atlanta. I’ll also be at the reception for breakfast beforehand.

I don’t know what kind of access I’ll have to Mr. Cain. But who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to get a few minutes to ask a question or two.

Remember when I asked for questions for a Congressman a while back? Yeah, that didn’t go too well.

Maybe this will go better. Maybe.

So, let’s ask Herman Cain some questions.

If you had the chance to ask him a question, what would you ask? Serious questions would be okay, too.

I have sent a link to this post to the Cain campaign, so they can decide if they want to answer any of them. I’ll have my video camera, and record him answering your questions and play it back for you.

If he takes the questions.

He might not. Seriously, would you answer a bunch of questions from this group? If you wanted to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate, that is?

I didn’t think so.

But, Herman Cain is a smart man. He may be able to answer your questions and still remain a serious candidate.

Leave your questions in the comments. Really, what could go wrong?

UPDATE 20-May-2011 7:37 AM
For some of the questions received so far (climate change, Obamacare, golf) I have videos or columns by the candidate that address them, or excepts from print interviews that touch on them.

If I have the opportunity to ask questions, I will include them on the list anyway. But, I’ll have some answers based on prior statements, just in case.

UPDATE 22-May-2011 9:22 PM
Some of the questions were answered. Sort of.