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:
* In advance of President Obama's convention speech tonight, his re-election campaign unveiled a new video this morning called "Promises Kept." It features promises from his speech four years ago, highlighting Obama's follow-through.
* Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D), Obama's former chief of staff, is ending his role as honorary chair of the president's campaign so he can focus on raising money from big-dollar donors.
* It appears that, at least for now, conservative groups working in support of Mitt Romney are ending their investments in Pennsylvania (thanks to reader R.B. for the tip).
* On a related note, it appears that Karl Rove's Crossroads operation is also giving up on Michigan.
* In New Jersey, a new Quinnipiac poll shows incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez (D) leading his largely-unknown Republican challenger, state Sen. Joe Kyrillos, 50% to 40%.
* The same poll, by the way, shows Obama leading Romney in the Garden State by seven, 51% to 44%.
* In a bit of a twist, it looks like "None of the Above" will appear on the Nevada ballot after all. This is not what the Romney campaign was hoping for.
* And in the state of Washington, the Republican Governors Association is concerned enough about Jay Inslee's (D) gubernatorial campaign that it's begun airing attack ads. The new spot targets Inslee for supporting the Recovery Act in 2009.
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Alex Castellanos, a former Romney aide, and CNN commentator, was quoted as saying yesterday, that sic 'the convention is over.' after the Clinton speech. He went on further to say that he thought that the election had basically been settled last night. It is weird to hear this coming from Alex, as he is generally the last of the republicant apologists to cave in. I think this means the money will be moved out of the presidential campaign, part into the senate races, with the bulk saved for 2016. It is evident that Willard doesn't have what it takes to be president, was the wrong candidate, and has no vision for the future. Clinton went point through point last night, with exact facts, and left nothing to the imagination. It was an excellent speech that could be backed up with the truth. It is interesting to see today that two major republicant pacs are pulling out of Pennsylvania and Ohio.....
Did you see the look on Steve Schmidt's face after Clinton spoke?
It was even more worried than after Michelle Obama's speech.
Michael Steele also looked "concerned". Then Megan McCain tried to say Clinton's speech was not anything other than entertaining. I like both of these people, but I think they are both worried about Ann Coulter's prediction coming to pass. Rmoney will be the candidate and we will lose. She recanted that, but really… Christie will not play well in moderate and rest of America.
Michael Steele is the 'Moses' of the republicant party; he tries to help the republicants, but he is wandering out in the desert. He was not invited to the dance, and he won't be invited on Faux news, so he is essentially no help to the republicants. Steve Schmidt has been exiled after the Palin debacle, and is essentially a moderate republicant that can't be a moderate republicant in the Tea Party world! Both of these men should just give up and become demos! Coultergeist got it right, but even her clock is right two times a day......
The fact that Steve Schmidt is a moderate Republican tells you something about the (lack of) influence he has in today's far right-wing Republican Party.
Which is a shame for them He's a bright guy who could share some valuable advice. On the other hand, good for our side that they wouldn't listen to it.
You're both right, the moderates are being driven out. Someone said the inmates are running the asylum and I think many of them are leaning further and further away from their party. Perhaps another third party? But we know how that goes, so yeah… might as well come over to our camp, the fire is toasty and we have marshmallows to share. We actually do stuff, too. We do have to deal with the mess, but they could come over and help do it instead of trying to slash and burn everything. Those social things they are pushing are on the bottom of the priority list for most Americans. War would be escalated, we don't want more wars!
I can only guess that hysteria over myths, abortion and race is driving any sort of acceptance of Rmoney/Lyin' Ryan, whom the Sister Simone called their identical plans "immoral".
Glad to hear that I won't have to endure those Crossroads ads up here in Michigan anymore....
In other Michigan news, the reindeer herder won with 41% in the 5-way GOP special primary for McCotter's US House seat. The former state senator got 35%, so who knows what would have happened without the 3 also-rans.
So, two votes on Nov. 6: reindeer-herder against one Dem (union activist) for the lame duck session, and against a different Dem (township trustee and physician) for the next two years.
That's so convoluted, Mike. Michigan needs to review the rules pertaining to this situation. They should just consolidate into one election, and appoint the winner to the lame duck session.
So, it looks as if PA has been ceded. I wonder how much that Keystone Pipeline has to do with it as well as the Steel Mill Bain debacle. Those former GST employees HAD to have touched the hearts in Steeler (and Eagle) country. Additionally, those big cities (and other areas) contain large numbers of AA, whom have stated zero percent support Rmoney.
Just the consider the lie about robbing Medicare of the exact same number that Ryan plan (which is "nearly identical" to Rmoney's invisible plan). But ACA extends Medicare by 8 years, are they telling us they would take out the same $716bln and put it back in? No, that's the absolute b.s. they are selling.
Wow, that would be awesome to say Rmoney lost his birth state. The one that he said should let Detroit go bankrupt. http://connertmedia.com/doc/?ID=3363
Glad to hear Rahm will fundraise big donations, because I just can't do any more than my small donation I already made. I have to believe that the voter turnout will offset the Koch and Adelson PAC money. I believe in the voters.
I don't get the fascination with Christie insults and I would say that probably won't fly outside NJ. I know people from there and they are not rude like that.
As far as WA goes, they are fairly solidly Democratic. Especially with Clinton campaigning for Obama, then carry on down the ballot.
There is a copy of a letter on the internet, that Paul Ryan signed, requesting ACA funds for his district! I hope that this comes up tonight. I am surprised that Willard did not republicant plank what he was going to replace the ACA with, since he has such great ideas for the future, NOT!
Okay, so I admit that I've come to the conclusion that playing with electoral vote calculators is a surer path to insanity than playing with a Rubik's cube, but the news of the walkaway from Michigan and Pennsylvania drove me back to 270towin.com. And assuming as most of the tracking sites do, that Michigan and Pennsylvania are off the table for the GOP, the battleground is now narrowed down to Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida.
If that's so, Florida is, once again, the whole game for the GOP. There is no path to victory for Romney without it. Romney can win every other gettable state and lose if he loses Florida.
Obama, by contrast, can lose Florida and still win if he gets any three of the remaining six states, or if he gets Ohio plus any one of the other five.
It's a tough row to hoe for Romney, no matter how much money he has. It's either going to take some external event beyond either candidate's control that shifts the dynamic nationally or a lot of random variance working out in his favor to get it done.
According to Nate Silver at 538Blog, Michigan has been 90+% for Obama for a while now. So, no surprise that Mitt won't win his home state. He won't get Mass or Vt or CA either, so none of his "home" states except UT.
In fact, the only states that are really in play (less than 70% for one or the other) are Florida and North Carolina. Obama can give those to Romney, and a few more, without being in danger of losing the Electoral College.
Hey CONS, let's do some ARITHMETIC...
Name the Obama policies that added trillions to the debt and the amounts.
Then deduct that amount from the current $16 TRILLION.
The rest is GOP spending.
Spending to fix the GOP F'ups is still GOP spending and NOT Obama's fault so do not count those.
INTEREST ON the GOP created debt DOESN'T count either.
All progressives should start asking that question and doing that ARITHMETIC.
The CONS will NEVER have those numbers because they DO NOT exist.
I bet all you will get is NOTHING but insults and ridicule.
RM, The MSNBC Question of the day (maybe): Which party's power speaker had the strongest, immediate response, longer-lasting effect, and greatest impact on the actual election?
The contenders: For The GOP...popular actor, director, producer Clint Eastwood. Representing The Dem party... that bad boy of The Beltway, the former prez who put the backfield in motion, a hunk-a, hunk-a, burnin', churnin' love...William Jefferson Clinton!
To register and monitor the audience immediate response (Part 1) we electronically wired the seats in both convention centers. To calculate the lasting effecrt, we partnered with Neilsen and other reliable polling org. Finally, to obtain the most impact results of the actual election, we will employ cutting-edge, sophisticated exit polling techniques. As a back-up we may look at the actual election results, but that might be considered an unfair advantage.
And remember, for those watching at home, your vote counts, so vote! Note: If you reside in Chicagoland area, max voting limit, up to five votes daily. Due to federal funding restrictions, limitations, and reporting issues...we have attempted to keep it simple. So, for Part 1, recording initial convention attendee response, we used a familiar, easy-to-use mechanism..."The Clapper". Initially used in the Eighties, to judge the senior response to Reagan speeches (Ex: Gorbie, tear down this wall!).
The test proved easy. If The GOP response to Eastwood's "Empty Chair" was positive...audience was instructed to "Clint" twice. Then, if the Dem response to the former president's "Long Bench" was favorable...audience should "Clint-On" three times.
Part 1 result...just tallied. The "Clint-On" clappers clapped continuously, creating calamity, convincing convention clapper catchers.....Clinton...Clinton...Clinton!!! END All above fictional. Any similarity to real person(s), event(s), and/or place(s) coincidental. Not responsible for errors. Great coverage this week.
* In advance of President Obama's convention speech tonight, his re-election campaign unveiled a new video this morning called "Promises Kept." It features promises from his speech four years ago, highlighting Obama's follow-through.
This strikes me as precisely what's needed. I believe he followed through on the promises he actually made and not the fantasies regarding what people thought he promised. Tom Hayden had an interesting piece just now which says, in part:
" [...] the positive case for More Obama and Better Obama should be made as well. History will show that the first term was better than most progressives now think. A second-term voter mandate against wasteful wars, Wall Street extravagance, and austerity for the many, [...] would be, in the language of the Pentagon, a target-rich field of opportunities.
Why Obama's achievements are dismissed or denied by many on the white liberal-left is a question worth serious consideration. It may only be a matter of legitimate disappointment after the utopian expectations of 2008. It could be pure antipathy to electoral politics, or a superficial assessment of how near impossible it is to change intransigent institutions."
http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/13331-focus-saving-obama-saving-ourselves
"*
Thanks! I also liked the side link from your link. It's (past) time to start bragging more about the positive things President Obama has accomplished despiteRepublican obstruction. Imagine what we might have done with some non partisan cooperation. Imagine if we had been showing the people these things and explained Obamacare better long ago.
http://www.readersupportednews.org/off-site-opinion-section/72-72/13282-a-list-of-president-obamas-accomplishments
Although I've been somewhat disappointed that the last 4 years have not been as vibrant as I had hoped, I have to say, Bill Clinton put the whole thing in perspective last night. Of course we all know he is one of the greatest orators in history, but he laid it out with facts, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And this convention will hopefully get some people to really PAY ATTENTION !!! And as citizens, we not only need to vote, but we need to get off our asses after the election, and work in our communities, our state, and our nation, to make sure everyone in this country is treated equally, has the opportunity to make a liveable wage, and, as women, get the Republicans out of our personal business !!