Dispatch from King's ring kissing ceremony
by digby
Byron York gives his informed take on Iowa and the state of the GOP primary at the moment. There's lots to think about, most of it really disturbing. First, they like Chris Christie because he's a "fighter." This doesn't surprise me. As long as he sticks it to liberals, particularly if he is willing to take on the Beyotch the way he takes on schoolteachers who question him, there are a whole lot of conservatives who will forgive any previous apostasy. That's what they live for. And not just Iowa conservatives. In fact, over Christmas I had California relatives all telling me how much they love Christie for telling voters to "sit down and shut up."
Then there's this:
Foreign policy has become as important as social issues, and that means people will listen to John Bolton.
Did I mention it was disturbing? How about this?:
You know what Bobby Jindal said about Muslim "no-go zones" in Europe, a statement that resulted in Jindal being criticized and mocked by mainstream commentators? It turns out many social conservatives in Iowa really liked it. To them, Jindal was warning about the danger of enclaves of unassimilated Muslim populations in an age of Islamic radicalism, a problem they fear could be in store for the United States. Jindal, who is himself the model of an assimilated American from an immigrant family, not only did not suffer from his remarks but instead benefited from them.
So Fox News really is to the left of the GOP base now. Dear God.
There's lot's of interesting analysis in this article and I urge you to read it. We are going to be in for quite a ride.
.