Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* The Republican National Committee and Mitt Romney's campaign are pushing the line this morning that President Obama said he "forgot about the recession." That's not what he said.
* Democratic party leaders said yesterday that their party platform will, in fact, include language in support of marriage equality (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).
* In the wake of a sex scandal that broke in February, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu announced overnight that he's giving up on his Republican congressional campaign and will instead seek re-election as sheriff.
* The final tally for George Clooney's fundraiser for President Obama? Just about $15 million -- half from the donors who were on hand at the actor's home, half from an online sweepstakes. It's the most lucrative presidential election fundraiser on record.
* The field of Republican U.S. Senate candidates in Florida is apparently not yet set, and former Rep. Dave Weldon (R) is thinking about jumping into the race. The primary is August 14, just three months away, and the GOP field is already pretty crowded.
* With just a month to go before the Arizona special election to fill Gabrielle Giffords' (D) vacant seat, House Republicans have doubled their investment in trying to win.
* And on a related note, former Giffords aide Ron Barber, the Democratic candidate in the special election, unveiled this new ad this week, going after Republican Jesse Kelly for having expressed support for privatizing Social Security and phasing out Medicare. The special election is June 12.
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Here in Tucson, the huge Kelly signs say "Protect Medicare" on them.
Must be awesome to be able to lie so shamelessly.
What ever happened to the American saying of "United we stand divided we fall"?
Citizens United is dividing the country along with the tea bags and they will make America fail..
People need to know if they don't already,
"fixing" and "protecting" Medicare and Social Security means privatizing, which siphons money off, therefore cutting it.
I can't believe people running for office in AZ would say that, but hey maybe there is still some sanity. BUT maybe AARP wants to get in on the action?
Ponzi scheme would include all private insurance companies and Wall St stocks which people send their money for shares and other people spend it.
On another note, it may not be the death knell some claim the gay marriage to be. Look at the fundraising for Obama and look at Romney wanting to talk about something else. I know some Democrats are not for gay rights. But it is a matter of equality for all, a pretty big deal for many people.
The networks seem to be dismissing Romney's bullying of his prep school classmate as a "boys will be boys" high school event "50" years ago. First of all, last time I checked Romney is not 68 yrs. old. Secondly, when you combine this bullying act with his crating his dog on top of his car for a 12-hour car trip and his loving to "fire" people, it says something about Romney's character. These, and I'm sure other things we are sure to find out about him, form a pattern of a bully when he was 18 and still a bully now as an adult. Do we want someone with this kind of character as President of our country? I think not.
Sometime once a jerk always a jerk. Some people change some people don't. The only thing that seems to change about Romney is his point of view. He still a jerk.
cwynn,
You are correct, it was only 47 years ago. By the way here is something from someone else's high school days:
So when Barack Obama was on 60 minutes on Sunday (video) and Steve Kroft says "You inhaled [marijuana]." Mr. Obama simply says "I did." He also admits to cocaine use and that he thought about using heroine. He goes on. "It's not something that I'm proud of, but that's part of the journey that I've taken. I like to think that by letting people know the mistakes I've made that maybe young people behind me are looking and saying 'You know what? This is a guy who made mistakes and he was able to write his life and get on track.' And that's I think an important message."
You'll note the last 2 sentences talking about making mistakes and getting back on track. The President did this in high school (and it wasn't 47 years ago) and he also admitted to shoving a girl to the ground in school which he also admitted he never apologized to. This is just as silly as the comments about Romney's teenage days. We should be looking at the current real issues to make our determination of who will be the next President.
Oh and Romney's comment about liking to "fire" people was in the context of being able to choose your health insurance company and that having that choice to "fire" your insurance carrier - in other words cancel your policy and pick another carrier that is better priced or fits you needs better. I am amazed how both sides take things out of context and/or focus on inconsequential things that have nothing to do with the upcoming election, but I guess it just goes with the territory. You will obviously vote for Obama and I can pretty much guarantee that Romney supporters will not change their vote based on the almost half century old event done by an 18 year old Romney. This is the state of elections in our country now - don't talk about anything substantive on what you will do if elected, just try to demonize your opponent with half truths or lies. Ah...election season. Can't wait for the ominus sounding negative ads :)