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:
* For months, it's looked as if the presidential race has been unusually stable, but the latest ABC News/Washington Post data found that one in four voters still considers themselves persuadable.
* Mitt Romney has talked about running the country like a business, and today, he went further, referring to the United States as a "company," instead of a "country."
* It seems hard to believe, but Public Policy Polling shows Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) leading Rep. Todd Akin (R) by only one point, 45% to 44%.
* On a related note, Karl Rove was heard at a fundraiser saying, "We should sink Todd Akin. If he's found mysteriously murdered, don't look for my whereabouts!"
* And speaking of Akin, the right-wing Senate candidate has relied on a small, amateur staff to help run his campaign, but Rick Tyler, the former spokesman for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign, is apparently headed to Missouri to give Akin a hand.
* Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), in a tough re-election fight in his Miami district, was asked yesterday to defend the lies Paul Ryan told in his convention speech. "That's between Paul Ryan and the speechwriters. Not me," West replied.
* Despite President Obama's rescue of the American auto industry, his lead in Michigan is quite small -- the latest EPIC-MRA poll shows the president leading Romney by only three points, 49% to 46%, down from a six-point advantage.
* National Republicans appear to be giving up on the Senate race in New Mexico, concluding that Rep. Martin Heinrich (D) is unlikely to stumble against former Rep. Heather Wilson (R).
* And in Alabama, Democrats have successfully forced Harry Lyon off the statewide ballot as their nominee for chief justice of the state Supreme Court, replacing him with Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bob Vance. Lyon is virulently anti-gay and anti-immigrant, and Alabama Dems found him offensive and embarrassing.
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There are Dems in Alabama???????
Yes. Lots of them. Party i.d. is basically a proxy for race in the South these days and, though you may not have heard, the South is not exactly a one-race region.
I actually know two. But they're transplants and besides they're "perfessers" at Auburn.
Yep, one of my husband's cousins is a Democrat and a member of the Alabama state House of Representatives.
The last time Americans elected a president because of their business background was in 1928.That was Hoover,who was the first to use the southern strategy to get the white votes and thus ostracizing the African American communities.We know what happened--The great depression was terrible and yet till this date Republicans still deny responsibility,the country needed a [socialist] in the name of FDR to come fix things.As a result Democrats over the years gave the country social security,medicare,medicaid, Public pension Plan(That was later replaced by the scam called 401k).All of these to ensure that during awful times,these programs would provide a floor for you,no matter your age group,class,race.Because Human dignity and Happiness ought to be colour blind and class neutral.The other time business bonafides was huge influence for president getting elected,was GWB and know what happened,the great recession(Depression),two wars,tax cuts,medicare expansion all unpaid for.This time again, America needed another [socialist] in the name of BO to fix things,as a result democrats gave
Obamacare, which will give millions more people access to primary care doctors, keeping them out of ERs and improving their health.They ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", made possible for the last troops to leave Iraq,Wall Street reform was passed including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, They cut out the subsidized banker middlemen from the federal student loan industry thus expanding student loans to young Americans who didn't win the DNA lottery,set a record in Green energy investments($90Billion), etc etc.All these to ensure that in America,if you want to fight and protect your country,who you love shouldn’t be an issue.If you don't like your job and want to leave to test news waters, health care shouldn't be holding you back.In America children should be able to get health care no matter how Heavens decided to deliver them to their lovely parents.I remember Anthem Blue Cross denying coverage to a 6months old child in 07 here in Colorado, because they claim the child was obese.ETC.ETC
Now We have another guy, who comes along as a business guy,smart(even though i haven't seen any evidence of that,i mean whenever he opens his mouth to talk policy, it makes me wonder).I hope Americans realize, that making money for investors or getting rich are no guarantee that someone is smart or visionary and AMERICA IS NOT A COMPANY.
Actually, most everything you said there is mythological. It may be widely believed, but it is still mythological. May I suggest Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s "The Coming of the New Deal" and Gabriel Kolko's "The Triumph of Conservatism." Kolko makes a well-documented case that Hoover was in fact more in the progressive tradition than Roosevelt, and that the effect of things he had tried between 1930-32 started to have an effect during 1933-35, and are attributed to Roosevelt. (Neither of these guys are conservatives, so it is not conservative mythology vs. liberal mythology. They're actual historians who deal with facts and demonstrable proof.)
Not that the Republicans didn't hate the New Deal, but Roosevelt wasn't as "New Deal" as the mythology has it.
And not to break your bubble into too many little shards, but until 1964, the Democrats owned "the Southern Strategy."
And as anyone who reads here knows, this is not some Republican troll post. Neither is it a joke.
I would refrain from the myth thing,i think the more astute word would be legend.Sorry i don't read history like you i.e left vs right or conservative vs liberal/progressive.
Hoover was a proponent of the concept that public-private cooperation was the way to achieve high long-term growth.He feared that too much intervention or coercion by the government would destroy individuality and self-reliance, which he considered to be important American values.This is the attitude of a laissez faire school of thought.And i don't see any difference with what the conservatives are espousing today.
I understand that he did what he thought was necessary to stop the Depression,like the mexican repatriation,and/or smoot-Hawley Tarif Act.
I have read both Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and Gabriel Kolko a lot.However my post wasn't about philosophical schools of thoughts or was i making a linear reading of the History. my post was about vision and competence.
Maybe Mitt Romney should have included this in last night's speech "If you want me to keep the debt collectors and repo agents off your back in the next 4 yrs, vote for me I'll show you the money". That would have been super effective but again that's just me.
Cindy when you say I'll show you the money.Are you talking about the picture of him and his Bain buddie's with money stuffed in their suit's?You know the money he got by closing many business' putting worker's on the street.While he siphoned off million's from their pension's, then pawned it off on taxpayer's.Is that the money you want him to show?
I have no idea where the McCaskill race is, but I think it would be wise for Claire to assume she is only leading Akin by one percentage point, or better yet, is trailing him.
She still needs to convince people that there is a reason to re-elect her. She can do it, but she is going to have to work hard to do it.
Todd Akin being your opponent should be enough of a reason to elect McCaskill. It's unbelievable her political impotence has allowed this to even become a race. But such as it is with Democrats. Just can't put anybody away. Republicans could run a barnyard animal and Democrats would struggle.
The good news here is that, IIRC, this is the first poll to show McCaskill leading Akin by any amount. I like to call that... progress.
Vulture/Voucher 2012
Proving Two Rights DO Make a Wrong!
;-)
"* Despite President Obama's rescue of the American auto industry, his lead in Michigan is quite small -- the latest EPIC-MRA poll shows the president leading Romney by only three points, 49% to 46%, down from a six-point advantage."
Come off it. Nate Silver said Michigan is NOT a swing state, and that Barack Obama is likely to win the state by a larger margin. Nate Silver said there has been really bad polling in Michigan. Jeez.
Yeah, Silver made specific references to EPIC-MRA's house effects. Still, it's pretty damned worrying.
"It seems hard to believe, but Public Policy Polling shows Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) leading Rep. Todd Akin (R) by only one point, 45% to 44%."
Regardless of how accurate that is, it can't be that much off, and is there anything else anybody needs to know about how far this country has fallen in 30 years? We're about ready to be taken over by amoral Know Nothings.
Are Democrats so politically impotent they can't stop beat this Medieval nincompoop.
I will have to disagree DWIA , it is not the dems fault voters there are as bright as Iowa's u s house member steve king , with the same average character , these are the same descendants of the hill billies who helped start the civil war by massicuring civilians , and they were still killing towns of black folks in the 1920/30's , and taking their lands , when was the last decent dem seen from there? Gephart was not all that great
Buzz flash had an article about 3 women at the gop convention running around supporting Akin , one of them african american , they said akin was talking like they do every day , and he is exactly what represents their communities
Hopefully Clair will just sqeak by
Yet another case of "war on women" http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/assembly-speaker-shelly-silver-admits-okaying-103-000-secret-payout-settle-vito-lopez-sex-harassment-claim-wrong-decision-article-1.1146660
>> * And speaking of Akin, the right-wing Senate candidate has relied on a small, amateur staff to help run his campaign, but Rick Tyler, the former spokesman for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign, is apparently headed to Missouri to give Akin a hand.
So, Akin decided to keep the "small amateur staff" vibe going...?
Mitt Romney has talked about running the country like a business, and today, he went further, referring to the United States as a "company," instead of a "country."
As most intelligent people know, a company, who has share holders, goes from quarter to quarter making the most profits for that 3 month segment. This endears share holders with dividends and raising the price of the stock, a double plus.
Profits made by selling key assets, funding candidates supporting cooperate welfare, and creative accounting for short term gains. This short term sightedness undermines the long term.
The other shoe drops when the company or corporation reduces earnings as runs out of creative meaningless earnings.
A prime example would be a wood products industry (paper, lumber) selling its timberland causing its profits to rise in one quarter..
And as one cogent commenter at ThinkProgress pointed out, companies aren't run as democracies...
Vulture/Voucher 2012
Proving Two Rights DO Make a Wrong!
;-(
Countries and Companies have virtually nothing in common, and skill at running one is no recommendation for running the other.
CEO's rule by fiat- with a board selected by the CEO.
Presidents rule by consent and consensus, with a "board" selected in an arcane process that was designed by those sainted Founding Fathers so loved by the Tea Party.
A company is designed to make money.
A country is designed to provide for the general welfare of all the people.
Btw, the federal court just ruled in favor of the Obama campaign in Ohio and ruled that everyone must be allowed to vote early during during the three days before Election Day, not just active duty military.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/federal-judge-restores-early-voting-in-ohio-after?ref=fpa
Countdown to Republicans claiming an activist judge took voting rights away from soldiers in 7 . . . 6. . . 5 . . .
It seems hard to believe, but Public Policy Polling shows Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) leading Rep. Todd Akin (R) by only one point, 45% to 44%.
Perhaps in Pollyanna World it's surprising, but here on Earth, in the state of Missouri, the Republicans there are only upset that Akin said what they all think. Several very prominent local Missouri Republicans have very publicly come to his defense and given him support.
They support him to the end that GPO needs the seat. With your logic all Dems think like Biden and with "put y'all back in chains".
Well, I think most Democrats do understand the concept of a metaphor, and furthermore understand what that specific metaphor employed by the Vice President was intended to mean, so... yeah. What's your point?
I'm fairly certain that most Democrats think that the "Legitimate"-Rape-Public-CON party, if given a chance, will cause all but their plutocratic puppet-masters to be considerably more economically encumbered (you know, like "chains"?). It's one of the many reasons we keep trying to point out to individual R voters that they are, in large measure, voting against their own interests.
And the Rs that are supporting Akin are doing so not only because they "need the seat" - they actually agree with him, and a number have specifically said so. The problem some of them had with what he said wasn't about the meaning of it, it was with the fact that he said it at all... out loud... in a sufficiently inartful way as to manage to remind a lot of people just how backward that party is in so many ways.
Vulture/Voucher 2012
Proving Two Rights DO Make a Wrong!
;-)
Eric, remember Rick Santorum invoked chains last summer to warned Iowa voters that health care reform would lull citizens into government dependency. “They will put you in chains called ‘Obamacare,’ and you will never break away,” Santorum said.
And don't forget what else Santorum said:
Santorum calls President of the United States a Nig... (18 second video clip on linked to web site, with no autoplay)
Of course, this didn't convince the "Legitimate"-Rape-Public-CON party NOT to have him speak at their National CONvention.
Vulture/Voucher 2012
Proving Two Rights DO Make a Wrong!
;-)
Rove's comment is really scary, nevertheless coherent with his antics.
It suggests, if nothing else, that he's familiar with an aspect of MO law which provides that past a certain point, the removal of one's name from a ballot can only be done in the event of the candidate's death, IIRC. So, I guess he's being... funny?
Vulture/Voucher 2012
Proving Two Rights DO Make a Wrong!
;-)
It seems hard to believe, but Public Policy Polling showsSen. Claire McCaskill
No no no mr benen , you must realize these are the same people who voted the gop right back into power in 2010 , right after destroying america for 10 years, from 1996 till 2006 , it is not hard to believe at all , but it is despicable to witness
Not ONE mention of Afghanistan by Romney or any commentator??
Not ONE MENTION of our troops serving!!!
Those absences have more actual meaning to our country than any else that happened at this convention.
Afghanistan & Iraq are now officially forgotten wars.
Now we have the mental & emotional decks clear to start another one in Iran. Joy.
Hopefully these polls were just the "convention bump". But I believe that the closer the election looks, the better voter turnout will be (despite the GOP's efforts to disinfranchise voters).
I hope someone on your staff researches "the rose" claim by Romney last night. The commentators on TV this morning kept saying how touching that was and how it moved the audience. What if it is just another of Romney's many lies? Wouldn't that make a great story that would completely discredit him?!!!!
I also hope there will be a commerical showing Romney saying completely opposite things about the same issue. A spinning head of his with each quote coming out of his own lying mouth!
If memory serves, Heather Wilson was involved in the US Attorney firing scandal involving David Iglesias. He refused to prosecute a fraud case that appeared to be politically motivated. Can't say I will be disappointed if/when she loses...
Here is a theory/////Carl Rove, Rush, Cheney, the Koch bros and all of their followers (The good ole boys club) have a monstrous plan that could happen if this country doesn't do something about this now. And both Romney and Ryan could push their agenda to the point of no return in this country. Both of these candidates will be puppets and will do anything they say. What if the issue about wanting to take away all reproductive rights for women, taking away federal funds that help our poor would be so destructive. Our poor would be so desolate that they would rebel against the Government and create another Civil War. Cuz obviously the middle class has something against their misfortunate. The states would become divided. That's pretty scary!! They already have lobbyist in their back pocket and don't forget all the far righters in our Government that are causing this recession when they hven't passed a bill in 2 yrs. It really is a disgrace to our country. I believe we should start from scratch with our Constitution and our Bill of Rights and define each word for clarification and no one can misinterpret the documents. We should all have compassion and respect for every human being. For me, this is hard for me to do cuz of so much corruption and dishonesty in this world. But I believe in this country, we are the most caring people in this world and I am proud to be an American. I just hope i feel the same way after this election.
RACHAEL ! ARRRRRRRGGGGG ! What is it going to take for democrats to learn to fight fire with fire ? We've just spent the last week with that snotty little rich kid that short sheets your bed, kicks you between the legs, gives you the biggest "wedgie" possible in front of the student body assembly, and burns the proverbial paper bag full of dog poop on your porch !....and all you can say about the Faux pas republican's made, is you understand because they were "TIRED" !
They spent an entire week showcasing a convention based on a deliberate, unadulterated , edited, out of context comments by Obama , and iterated and reiterated the lie in speech after speech. "YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT !" and all the democrats are doing is whining and denouncing the lies. People generally don't like whinners. It's like when football teams were against instant replay...so they could get away with anything underhanded or a missed call . It was usually accepted by the general public as part of the game. Pulling out the white gloves to slap across the face or challenging to an on T.V. boxing match per the Marquess of Queensberry rules isn't going to get it. Come ON !
I fully expect to see commercials with Governor JAN Brewer of Arizona extolling the virtues of Obama getting elected, "JUST LIKE SHE HOPES", so he can work with her and iron out the immigration problems. I fully expect to see commercials with Marco Rubio proclaiming he wants "MORE GOVERNMENT " and less freedom ........on an incessant loop , no less !
They can claim all the misspeaks they want....but they are NOT edited....they are NOT taken out of context....and above all, they are NOT LIES ! It crawled right out of their own vile throats !