The Des Moines Register reported on potential Presidential aspirations of Newark mayor Cory Booker and Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is the chairman of the Democratic convention:
Booker tried to connect with Iowa’s Democratic activists by saying his grandmother was born in Iowa.
“I want to be described as a son of New Jersey, but a grandson of Iowa – because my grandmama back in 1918 was born in Des Moines, Iowa,” he said, acccording to Radio Iowa.
Booker described trips through Iowa in a recreational vehicle, going to family reunions. His grandmother’s siblings got their college educations in Iowa, he said, as reporters from Politico, the Associated Press, NBC.com and others listened.
When reporters tried to catch him after his speech, he dodged – straight into his SUV, said Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson. ...
Villaraigosa will be the keynote speaker for the Iowa Democratic Party’s big fundraiser on Oct. 20 – the Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner, Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky said. Prominent Democrats have historically used the JJ dinner as a spring board for competition in the Iowa caucuses.
Villaraigosa deflected questions about his own presidential aspirations by saying he’s “looking to finish my job the way I started, with a bang. I’m working ’til 11:59:59 on June 30 and then I’m riding into the sunset for a while.”
And from Yahoo News:
I don't know, do Presidents get free Lakers tickets? If not, I don't really see what's in it for him.
In case you are wondering, the picture of Booker illustrates the following article in Politico:
Is Antonio Villaraigosa poised to be America's first Latino president?
I don't know, do Presidents get free Lakers tickets? If not, I don't really see what's in it for him.
In case you are wondering, the picture of Booker illustrates the following article in Politico:
Cory Booker loves late-night mani-pedis
It’s 3 a.m., do you know where Newark Mayor Cory Booker is? Possibly getting a mani-pedi. The rising Democratic star dishes in the September issue of Dujour magazine about one of his guilty pleasures: getting his nails done late at night.
“I had an ex-girlfriend who ruined me in terms of my macho, ex-football-player self—she turned me on to mani-pedis,” he said. “Being a public figure, people talk smack about you, so I found this 24-hour mani-pedi place and go in the middle of the night. It’s this guilty pleasure I have. Look, manis are good, but pedis—there’s something...transformative.”
Booker also talked about gaining weight recently: “I’m literally at my worst health right now; you can write that,” he said. “I crossed a barrier that I’d never crossed before—a certain weight—which I won’t even tell you ’cause it’s embarrassing. I was so grossly overweight, which is total hypocrisy because I’m Michelle Obama’s co-vice chair for the campaign against obesity.”
So, is it going to be Hillary v. Andrew Cuomo in 2016? A reader writes that with the spread of high-def TV, Hillary's going to need Barbara Walter's vaseline covered lens by then: "My filter, please." She looked fine in 2008, a good facelift.
Cuomo's resemblance to Moe the Bartender on the Simpsons will also likely only grow over the next four years.
Subtle, Steve. A (white, female) friend dated Booker at Stanford and said he seemed plenty hetero back then.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows Vin Diesel is straight.
ReplyDelete:o)
Gay or not, Booker seems like a genuinely decent guy. Villaraigosa, not so much. Besides, the story behind his last name (combining his "maiden" name of Villar and his wife's of Raigosa) is just bizarre, like something Yoko would order John Lennon to do.
One interesting thing learned from Henry Louis Gates's PBS series "Finding Your Roots" is that blue-eyed Cory Booker and Condoleezza Rice are both around 45% European descent. That's about double the typical African-American.
ReplyDelete"like something Yoko would order John Lennon to do."
ReplyDeleteWell, Villa's gotten his revenge numerous times on Ms. Raigosa since then.
"A (white, female) friend dated Booker at Stanford and said he seemed plenty hetero back then."
ReplyDeleteI have no opinion on Booker, but human appraisal of one's personal romantic interests is probably not the most veracious indicator.
"I crossed a barrier that I’d never crossed before—a certain weight—which I won’t even tell you ’cause it’s embarrassing."
Not-too-subtle disclosure of three-handle attainment?
Booker might have a better shot at the WH if he switched parties. He could craft a compelling conversion narrative, saying he saw the limits of traditional Dem policies in Newark, and saw the potential of some market-oriented policies, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that conversion would have to come after he runs for the US Senate as a Dem.
Cory Booker is gay. It's relatively well-known in New Jersey political circles here
ReplyDeleteThe other rumor is that Booker has a white girlfriend in Brooklyn that he doesn't want voters in Newark to know about.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, his resume looks more impressive than Obama's at the same age.
"The other rumor is that Booker has a white girlfriend in Brooklyn that he doesn't want voters in Newark to know about."
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows about Ariana Huffington, don't they?
It's been the keynote speaker of the convention for the last couple of democrat presidents, so that's who I would put $$$ on. Booker is the most reasonable of the two.
ReplyDeleteThe other rumor is that Booker has a white girlfriend in Brooklyn that he doesn't want voters in Newark to know about.
ReplyDeleteSo the scandal he's hiding is a secret straight life? He's on the down-low and his hiding this from his public gay lover?
I think Jane Austen would have an embarrassment of riches to work with in today's world.
Villaraigosa is so widely known to be damaged goods that I can't imagine him running for any other reason than to raise his national profile and become the designated spokesman for an ethnic group. Then he can become a Jesse Jackson-style ethnic payoff recipient--the guy you go to to pay off for any ethnic transgressions, real or imagined.
ReplyDeleteSo how does villar-raigosa explain away his involvement with MEChA?
ReplyDeleteI challenge anyone to find a mani-pedi palce open at 3am in Newark.
ReplyDeleteNotice how he couches the language of the start of his mani-pedi fix: my girlfriend ruined me, captain macho football player. How dare you question me being gay!?!?!?!? The entire explanation sounds like something a closeted guy has rehearsed and repeated 100x to perfection. I like Booker, but he's running for the US Senate in 2014. If he isn't married by 2016, we'll have our answer.
Sorry Steve for cribbing my email to you about this.
Making a wage-slave fuss over your toenails has always struck me as a revolution-provoker to be avoided if possible. It's how I felt while living in my then mother-in-law's house in Spain for a while when her laundress would iron my underpants.
ReplyDeleteWhy not hire people to do something less demeaning and more productive? Or more productive and therefore less demeaning, I guess I mean.
Politico says he hit 295 recently, more than the 265 he weighed while playing tight end for Stanford.
ReplyDeleteI think if he were secretly gay he would not be talking about pedicures. My black 9th grade health and gym teacher also got them, he was married fat and sloppy.
No minority politician is half as impressive as circa 08 Obama and white dem primary voters no longer will feel the need to let affirmative action influence their vote.
Note also how rarely Latinos get nominated in Texas and the southwest for statewide office. California's statewide offices are all held by democrats, none of them Latino.
The democratic nomination for president is going to turn into an affirmative action queue. My guess is next up is someone jewish - and the promotion of that will make Borat look tame.
ReplyDeleteIf Cory Booker is bi-racial why can't he also be bi-sexual?
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha... Reminds me of when Harold Ford decided (absurdly) that he should be the US Senator from New York. In one interview he remarked that he had been to all five boroughs, but qualified that to mean that he had flown over Staten Island in a helicopter. Then, asked if he had ever had a pedicure, he explained that he is a serious athlete, and as such he has athlete's foot, so he requires pedicures (!).
ReplyDeleteThe thing about black male culture generally is that there is something distinctly precious about all of it.
Maybe it has do with how spoiled black boys are by their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, etc., being raised with no adult males around. But they kind of act like pussies. Look at how every rapper, as soon as they hit it big, starts a clothing line, a high-end liquor line, a fragrance line for f+++'s sake.
At the lower end. consider the style of walking around with your pants down, showing off how your underpants match your socks and hat, with your butt exposed...how macho. Or the storied barbershops where black men sit for hours, having their hair...braided.
In any case, his resume looks more impressive than Obama's at the same age.
ReplyDeleteIt looks better than Obama's resume NOW.
Villaraigosa seems just plain dull, as in dumb.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that Booker's the type of guy who risks his life to save people from fires. And then there's you guys.
ReplyDelete" Look at how every rapper, as soon as they hit it big, starts a clothing line, a high-end liquor line, a fragrance line for f+++'s sake."
ReplyDeleteLMAO; uh, that's called "expanding one's marketing opportunities", Mitt Romney.
"Villaraigosa is so widely known to be damaged goods"
ReplyDeleteIs he? He ought to be, but the Democrats made him the chairman of their convention.
If the goal of the Dems is to turn the rest of the US into Newark, and judging by the job done by Obama, it must be, then by all means, pick Booker...
ReplyDelete"Truth said...
ReplyDelete" Look at how every rapper, as soon as they hit it big, starts a clothing line, a high-end liquor line, a fragrance line for f+++'s sake."
LMAO; uh, that's called "expanding one's marketing opportunities", Mitt Romney."
Maybe, but he still has a point. Why not do something masculine like start a hunting club like Ted Nugent?
"Is he [dmagaed goods]? He ought to be, but the Democrats made him the chairman of their convention."
ReplyDeleteThe press has turned so flagrantly pro-Democrat it's almost as if the Democrats are oopenly flaunting their mediocrity and corruption.
They're openly daring ROmney/Ryan to point out how truly godawful their Hispanic pols actually are.
"Our convention will be chaired by a serial adulterer and mayoral failure. First up, a tribute to that dead senator from Massachusetts who killed a campaign aide will drinking and driving, then lied about it."
Love Adam Carolla's rants about Tony Vilar nee Villaretardo...
ReplyDeleteMichelle should win an Oscar. Her style is a stutter of scinerity.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw that picture, I thought it was of Dr. Evil. But then Dr. Evil arguably would be am improvement over the real life candidates for President we have been getting.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, Luke Ford and others have reported rumors of a Villaraigosa affair with a then-17 year old intern. It would certainly not be out of character.
ReplyDeleteVillaraigosa is a target rich environment, sure he gets the women's vote by being a cad (which women love love love: see Bill Clinton and John Edwards) but that ticks off men. Particularly the liberal men in the Party. Who espouse "feminist" values and then see them shoved in their face.
Villaraigosa also turns off most White people with that L-A-T-I-N-O (trilled out WWE Villain style) excessive accent and altar boy unctuousness. Particularly in his own party.
My guess, NEITHER Booker nor Villaraigosa, rather CA AG Kamala Harris, who as a light-skinned PC enforcer is the weight-loss, angry version of Oprah.
I know the republicans can't quote Steve Sailer, but why don't they quote the Times article attached to this previous post.
ReplyDeletehttp://isteve.blogspot.com/2011/11/democrats-abandon-white-working-class.html
Re, Villaraigosa's ambitions, he was a non-issue in the California Dem Primary, Brown ran basically unopposed. Out of California, you have Brown (still), SF Mayor and Hound-dog Clinton-style Gavin Newsome, and PC attack enforcer Kamala Harris. That's it.
ReplyDeleteVillaraigosa has no serious organization, Latinos in Dem primaries get out-organized by Blacks, and has no Iraq War no-vote to trumpet as Obama did in 2007. Obama appealed to rich White liberals (but I repeat myself) and Blacks. THAT crushed Hillary. Villaraigosa has what, exactly?
Villaraigosa is a clown who will never get close the nomination.
ReplyDeleteBooker is widely assumed to be gay in his home state.
"Ed said...
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw that picture, I thought it was of Dr. Evil. But then Dr. Evil arguably would be am improvement over the real life candidates for President we have been getting."
Or his son, Scott, for that matter.
“I want to be described as a son of New Jersey, but a grandson of Iowa – because my grandmama back in 1918 was born in Des Moines, Iowa,” he said, acccording to Radio Iowa.
ReplyDeleteBooker described trips through Iowa in a recreational vehicle, going to family reunions."
His shameless and undignified fawning is a good start, but if Booker really wants to win Iowa, he needs to loudly proclaim how vital to the nation ethanol subsidies are.
Look at how every rapper, as soon as they hit it big, starts a clothing line, a high-end liquor line, a fragrance line for f+++'s sake.
ReplyDeleteAt the lower end. consider the style of walking around with your pants down, showing off how your underpants match your socks and hat, with your butt exposed...how macho. Or the storied barbershops where black men sit for hours, having their hair...braided.
I don't know your background, but you are looking at them through a Northern European male lens. At the higher end, they are not really that much different from Italian, Greek or even French men, many of whom are excessively interested in their appearance by NEM standards, but it's their culture. It doesn't make them homosexual, or even precious. It's the peacock thing.
At the lower end, it's the same (questionable) style over substance, mindless preening that you see among all of the lower orders, all over the globe. Again, it's their idea of masculine, which is certainly not mine, nor yours.
"Maybe, but he still has a point. Why not do something masculine like start a hunting club like Ted Nugent?"
ReplyDeleteHow does Ted make money on that? Sell hunting permits?
Allow me to state again that Booker was dating a very thin, very white woman who was very high up in the Corzine administration.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Andrew Dice Clay stated that there is no such thing as a bisexual: one either sucks dick or doesn't
The thing about black male culture generally is that there is something distinctly precious about all of it.
ReplyDeleteBlack style is about staying ahead of trends and standing out in a big way, even if the end result is excessive. Being cool is a virtue. Conspicuous consumption is a virtue. Mainstream white style is about treading water well enough to not be seen as a slob.
Considering that every Democratic Party nominee since 1988 has been a graduate of either Harvard or Yale, it makes sense that people would believe that Booker could run for president. However, Booker would need to move up to the Governor's office or the Senate first.
ReplyDeletePeople need to remember that the Democrats will probably never nominate a public university graduate again and that the Democrats will probably always nominate a Harvard or Yale graduate (undergraduate, graduate school, or law school).
Sarah said: Why not do something masculine like start a hunting club like Ted Nugent?
ReplyDeleteHunsdon replied: Because only Karl Malone would sign up? I'm no fan of rap music generally, but the "sissy" things you mentioned---clothing line, liquor line, fragrance line---those are all high return, low input endeavors. They're a smart play. Besides, remember the code word "urban" before you start suggesting hunting clubs!
" Mainstream white style is about treading water well enough to not be seen as a slob."
ReplyDeleteYou've never been to Italy.
"Black style is about staying ahead of trends and standing out in a big way, even if the end result is excessive. Being cool is a virtue. Conspicuous consumption is a virtue."
ReplyDeleteEnd result 'excessive'?
Hilarious.
Yes, gold teeth(or missing teeth) is surely 'staying ahead of the curve'.
Also, if that is your standard, nobody should be surprised that you think anyone who doesn't dress like a mentally impaired 6 year old is a 'slob'.
It's called style.
You know, Europeans invented it(and still dominate it).
Not that you'd ever understand :P
The thing about black male culture generally is that there is something distinctly precious about all of it.
ReplyDeleteI disagree, having known hundreds of black men. There are really only two things we can say "generally," and they are how intellectually incurious these men are, and how exquisitely sensitive to any hint of insult. Post-1970 blacks are the only non-royals in the history of the world to live their lives completely insulated from sarcasm or ridicule, to be defined as irrebutably 'cool'. And if there's one remark to be made about rappers, what about how they're always trying to swallow the mike? This is how you know what cowards Jewish chicks have become. If those were whites, they'd all be invoking Freud and latency.
On reflection, after Obama is out of office, I suspect that most of the electorate will not be eager for another "person of color" in the highest office. Right now the Democrats are supporting Obama and his record. But that is only because they don't want to lose power. They are using Bill Clinton as a symbol of former Democratic prosperity and good times. I think they will treat Obama more like they have treated Carter - an embarrassment.
ReplyDeleteRemember black crime continues to exist even as crime overall has fallen. Black school performance still has not found its Superman and black unemployment remains essentially unsolvable. Most of the readers of this blog realize that black violent crime is about seven times that of whites. Fewer however understand that black office holders are personally corrupt at nearly three times the white rate. But Obama's time in office is getting that message out.
Black politicians are crooked politicians.
The Hope and Change message was the hope that by putting a black man in the Oval Office something good would happen with race relations. Liberals had been trying this ploy for decades. We have had black mayors, congressmen and senators and now finally we have had a black President. There is no other higher office left for this strategy to try. It has always failed. A black man in office has never had a beneficial effect on crime, schools or employment. But previously the liberals could always excuse that failure as being insufficient. No more.
With mayors we got boobs like Nagin. For President we have endured the lazy, unprepared, undisciplined and egocentric Obama.
I think that even the Democrats will have been put off by the performance of blacks in public office for a while.
Mitt Romney may very well be on the brink of being acclaimed the greatest President in American history. Reagan dragged us out of the Carter malaise and defeated the Communists - not bad - but Romney may get credit for reversing the Obama depression and saving Western Europe from itself too.
Actually it shouldn't even be that hard. Several Republican governors have kept their states out of the soup by practicing simple Republican virtues. America is not poor. There is a tremendous amount of uninvested capital out there waiting for the right moment. The election of Romney may be just the signal to invest.
Similarly finding oil on your property makes you rich (just ask Jett Rink). But Obama and Chu wanted us poor. Just drilling on public lands may set off a new oil boom. In fact simply reversing most of the benighted "green agenda" should bring about prosperity. Obama and his people have been holding us back for so long that Romney doesn't even have to step on the gas, the car will take off when you simply release the brakes.
If anything like that happens then no one will even care who the Democrats nominate, much less his or her color.
Albertosaurus
Besides, the story behind his last name (combining his "maiden" name of Villar and his wife's of Raigosa) is just bizarre
ReplyDeleteThat's creepy.
I don´t think LA mayors have national recognition like NYC mayors. If he wasn´t a reconquista Mexican, he would be totally unknown. I mean who´s the mayor of Miami, or Houston???
ReplyDeleteSteve makes a pretty convincing case pointing out Mexican relative irrelevance in the USA...
ReplyDeleteWouldn´t it be hilarious a gay President before a Mexican one? I´d be willing to vote for a gay over a Mexican just to see that!!
"My guess is next up is someone jewish - and the promotion of that will make Borat look tame. "
ReplyDeleteWas Goldwater a Republican, or an Independent?
Also, there´s a rumor that Eisenhower was Jewish, which might explain the curelty Dresden
Also, Jewish President could work out well if he was an entirely American Jew. He would be able to stand up to AIPAC and other Jewish power, which a gentile probably couldn´t...
ReplyDeleteEnd result 'excessive'?
ReplyDeleteHilarious.
Yes, gold teeth(or missing teeth) is surely 'staying ahead of the curve'.
Also, if that is your standard, nobody should be surprised that you think anyone who doesn't dress like a mentally impaired 6 year old is a 'slob'.
It's called style.
You know, Europeans invented it(and still dominate it).
Not that you'd ever understand :P
Gold teeth doesn't summarize black style but thanks for trying. If you didn't notice by now that even the prolest blacks males are obsessed with fashion you need to get your eyes checked. My point isn't to huff and puff about black superiority. Clearly there are white guys out there who dress fashionably.
Europe completely dominates the rich man's game of expensive haute couture fashion. But when it comes to street style, the average white guy wouldn't make a risky choice if he were forced to at gunpoint. Fashionable white SWPLs excluded.