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:
* As of this morning, Pennsylvania has pulled its ads on voter-ID requirements, following this week's court ruling delaying the Republican voting restrictions.
* In last night's debate, Mitt Romney said, "[T]he place you put your money just makes a pretty clear indication of where your heart is." This apparently gave American Bridge, the Democratic super PAC, an idea.
* In Wisconsin, the latest Marquette Law School poll shows President Obama leading Romney by 11 points, 53% to 42%.
* The same poll shows a competitive U.S. Senate race, with Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D) leading former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) by four points, 48% to 44%.
* In Missouri, Public Policy Polling shows Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) leading Rep. Todd Akin (R) by six, 46% to 40%.
* In Massachusetts' closely watched U.S. Senate race, a Mass Insight Global Partnerships poll shows Elizabeth Warren (D) with a four-point advantage over Sen. Scott Brown (R), 48% to 44%.
* In Connecticut, believe it or not, a new Quinnipiac poll shows former wrestling company executive Linda McMahon (R) with a narrow lead in the U.S. Senate race over Rep. Chris Murphy (D), 48% to 47%. The same poll shows Obama leading Romney in the state, 54% to 42%.
* And in Arizona, PPP shows Richard Carmona (D) taking a two-point lead over Rep. Jeff Flake (R) in the U.S. Senate race. The NRSC is now nervous enough to start spending money on the race Republicans expected to be an easy win.
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My favorite was Mr. Snuffleupagus.
The anvil on Big Bird was HILARIOUS.
It seems like supporters of Obama are in denial. Face it, Obama had a bad night. Is it the end? No. But, please stop making excuses. Obama keeps pitching a tax cut for millionaires. There is no such plan. Even the MSNBC talk heads agreed Obama had a bad night.
The most important news today was that Turkey attacked Syria after they fired mortars across the border. With more than 100,000 refugees in the area, and Turkey having the right to call in NATO allies, the next great war of the middle east has begun.
The Romney Obama debate is a sideshow for obese TV obsessed yankee couch potatoes who don't understand that Romney is a trained 25 year M&A hawker and salesman. He can be convincing without conviction about anything. What matters is winning, so he can serve himself and his friends.
The whole point with these debates which people do not really realize with Romney is he will lie about everything so how do you get around that? It is hard to in one way, because Romney will lie, cheat, and steal just to get what he wants. Whatever President Obama says, Romney will deny it by lying and deceiving the people. Romney is the typical low life that does anything to worship his money and at the same time claim to be a good Spiritual leader. Romney is one of the worst types of people out there with his split personality and that worst side he never wants you to see so he can continue to what is really a dark agenda. There is no morals or ethics with Romney, when he is more like a robber of souls. Rich people like Romney are like snakes that will bite you to death in the end. That is why I said read those statements by Jesus, because it is easier for a camel to get through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Jesus laid that ground work for as our knowledge increased, because people like Romney will destroy our very planet just to get what he wants and that leads to pure darkness.
Deb- look at the premise of Romney's pitch on Medicare. He hands Seniors a knife and tells them they can keep their Medicare if they agree to cut their children's safety line to Medicare when their children reach their age.
Romney simply believes that the masses have such little moral fiber that they would act in this selfish way.
I telegraphs the contempt he has for Americans who would fall for his argument.
The only commoners that autocrats respect are not the sycophants who cow tow to them, but those who are unwilling to collude in their fantasy world where the rich throw the less fortunate the occasional bone. Maybe the rich will make nice and out of the goodness of their hearts pay higher than minimum wage. Maybe they will out of the goodness of the hearts of the 1% use some of the 25% of GDP that they control to subsidize health care of Seniors.
Or maybe they will roll up the tinted windows and crank up the Dan Savage in the limo as they pass the ailing panhandling seniors lining the streets. They will shake their heads as they glance at the lady who could have been their own mother in slightly different circumstances.
"Jesus. What a loser."
And that's how the "winners" looked at it in 33 AD. That's how their modern day representatives present it today. The supreme irony is that they do it clothing themselves in pious religious garbs.
I watched the debate and it was like I expected the Republican's dusted Romeny off put him in a very expensive suit with a shining bright red tie, but remember folks he is the devil in sheeps clothing. No matter how good he appeared last night he is still the man that stated about the 47%, he is the same man that stated we has students should ask our parents for money for school, he is the same man that has no connection to the real people of this country. Don't be fooled his campaign writers charged him up and he still lied about lowering taxes on his rich friends. You see Romney is consistant he does not care if you are Black or White, Asian, or any other race as long as you are rich, but be apart of any nationality and middle class you are nothing to him. President Obama cares for the people, because its one thing about it President Obama is a rich man to so if he cared so much about that he would vote for Romey because Romey's way would help him, but the President is not about the money its about the welfare of the middle class people. Again don't be fooled by the devil in sheep clothing
That is the big problem of it too JohnMesserly there is too many religious hypocrites and deceivers for all in the name of power craving, corruption, greed, arrogance, hypocrites, and deceiving. And it doesn't matter what country you go to, you have the same mentality of religious hypocrites. But I will keep speaking up about it and calling it out for what they really have been doing.
As long as Mitt changes positions more often than a man with hemorrhoids, it will be up to the press and responsible voters to educate their friends and neighbors about the weasel greedily eying their security. It is simply amazing that those people with their future assured are willing to rape a country for a few dollars more.
Obama's lackluster performance last night probably won't cost him the presidency. Unless Romney can find a way to effectively fake empathy and compassion, Obama should be able to hang on.
I'm more concerned about the effect that a Romney surge will have on close Senate and House races. The Dems need to win most of those if they're going to hold onto the Senate and take control of the House.
Senate candidates like Chris Murphy (CT), Shelley Berkley (NV), Richard Carmona (AZ), Claire McCaskill (MO), Jon Tester (MT), and Tammy Baldwin (WI) can use a little help from the top of the ticket. A strong performance by a confident Obama will help propel some of those folks into the Senate. The same goes for House candidates.
Had GOP donors seen a mediocre or clear loss by Romney, they signaled their intention to move their money to the house races. This will gel the funding to attempt to push Romney up over with the titanic funding needed to blanket the airwaves in order to swing the presidential race. The trouble is, those white house oriented ads will not run in many of the swing House districts, and will not have direct affect on the Blue Dog sort of candidates who have are adept at inoculating themselves from association with more liberal fellow democrats like Obama.
My assessment is that the progressive groups ought to shift the bulk of their resources to the decisive battle of the House seats. There are some risks to this, but this is warfare, and the Napoleonic move is to draw the opponent into hitting your strong defensive position while you take the bulk of your forces for an overwhelming application of pressure at the point that will deliver not just a tactical win, but the decisive victory that alters the power balance in a radical way.
We fight to take both the House and Senate.
Drown the GOP House candidates in hit piece advertisements. Use all the Art Pope tricks (eg these) to deliver a majority to Nancy.
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What happened at the debates last night? The liberals time and time again view things too partisan and they approach things with too much confidence. As I watched MSNBC last week question how Romney would be able to answer questions without specific facts I was amazed how each host of each show failed to consider the obvious: For the past five weeks I heard complaints about Romney’s GOP reaching a new level in presidential politics by misrepresenting the record and the policies of the Obama administration. And indeed I agreed Romney and this GOP has no regard for truth. I ask humbly why in the hell did each host not recognize that that would be the Romney strategy when pinned down with honest facts? Why didn’t they anticipate the old “bait and switch” when Romney has demonstrated over his entire political career that he is the consummate flip-flopper? Apparently once more the liberals were over-confident and unprepared. I fear the effect this may have had on the low information voter poked fun last week by Comedy Central. If they tuned in last night such individuals would not necessarily know that Romney was lying and may not tune in for the remaining three debates. I suppose now the damage has been done but before we throw in the towel we have to wait and see how the polls react. While Romney may have scored points last night with the blue collar so-called “Reagan Democrats” who approve of someone getting down in the gutter it remains to be seen whether such tactics backfired with the more informed independent voter who may be turned off by Romney’s aggressiveness and willingness to engage in a street brawl and do an instant flip flop to evade questions where necessary.
I know this: If Obama doesn’t act more like he wants to stay in office than he did last night it will cost him the election. People like me who donated money we can’t afford and who donated time to his reelection that we don’t have will begin to question why should I continue if he’s unwilling to invest his own time and demonstrate a desire to maintain in office.
Jerry hits it on two counts. One, Obama has to show he really cares and cares passionately. Two, we liberals have to really understand what the public wants and we have to either give them what they want or tell them exactly why what they want doesn't work. We are falling into the same trap as the conservatives of listening exclusively to our own echo chamber. We have to get out more and understand details better.
I agree with everything you say with one exception--your second sentence. The Democrats' problem isn't that they are OVERconfident. Just the opposite. It's that they project a lack of confidence, which casual voters pick up on and translate as a lack of conviction and competence. Too often it costs them elections.
Each candidate is a plant by the other party.
Multiple Mitt rides again.
This is as personal as it gets. Time to step -up and make him accountable.
At First Debate, Mitt Romney Admits That He Would ‘Absolutely Not’ Support His Own Tax Plan
And Romney himself said at a debate in February that he was “going to cut taxes on everyone across the country by 20 percent, including the top 1 percent.”
After President Obama cited a report from the Tax Policy Center showing that Romney’s plancouldn’t uphold his three principles, Romney said he would not support such a plan, then reiterated the same three principles:
Watch the two remarks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZykA7oQm8Eg&feature=player_embedded
I would say the democrat PAC's have plenty of fodder from last night to use in ads. Romney came across as more of a democrat than Obama. Not only would I point out the contrast in the campaign vs the debate in ads to the dems and independents, but I would certainly try to inflame the hardcore tea party with it (do you really know what he is going to do once in office?). They can't be happy with some of the positions he was emphatic about last night.
Western Sanctions Are Wreaking Havoc On The Iranian Economy
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/western-sanctions-iran-2012-10#ixzz28LpB90gM
Guys, look at what's happening all over the web. Obama has managed to inspire thousands and thousands of researchers to home in on Mitt's lies in the debate. Even Mitt:http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/10/04/960881/romney-admits-pushing-misinformation-in-debate/
Interesting how most people did not hear him answer Mitt's attacks, some claiming even that he never responded to Mitt's $716 billion Medicare lie. I heard him. He did. But by now the entire country knows that Mitt lied about it, and I don't care if you think 'low information voters' will believe what any snake oil salesman tells him. But really? this they've heard about if Medicare means anything to them or their children, and they reject the Romney position, the Ryan position.
Lying and selling are Mitt's ethos. The public will know a salesman when they see one. What they won't see in Mitt is a president who really cares about them, and does not just give lip service to it.
The only thing Romney accomplished last night was to prove to millions of viewers that he is capable of looking them straight in the eye and lying to their faces without a hint of guilt or remorse. I wonder if they had a fire extinguisher behind the podium, because his pants were definately on fire.
Who knows, the president has many other things on his mind besides combating Mitt's lies. There could have been a badly timed national security event taking place before the debates. This could explain his "lackluster performance". Fortunately, this is something that Mitt will never experience.
Just to be clear I wasn't blaming over confidence on us, his suporters. I was blaming the surrogates and show hosts on MSNBC.
I noticed last night after the debate that the US Chamber of Commerce put on ads for down ticket Republicans in our area using his speaking points and lies that were his 1, 2, 3 points. I wonder if this was a trend nation wide. Maybe to show Romney has coattails?
The thing about saying that 'Mr. Romney won the debate', is that many undecided voters, who did not watch any part of the debate, are sure to think he won it on substance, facts and real plans. Of course, what else could 'win' mean? Besides, we all know it is against the law to lie on TV. And two Trillion Extra dollars for weapons - that is sure to put many people to work. Our weapons exports are going to sky rocket.
I admit that when I watched the debate last night, I was disappointed with the President's performance. As one who follows politics fairly closely I was able to hear the lies of Romney and how the President pointed them out. However, many people learn with repetition - if it is repeated enough times and with enough conviction, it will stick in your mind. My fear is that some of the undecided voters may fall for this.
I know President Obama is better than that! I've seen him talk at his rallies and he is animated and passionate and a bit aggressive. When he made the comment that Romney would reduce deductions for people like him and Romney - he could have also mentioned that the 47% would also have that increase in taxes due to fewer or lower deductions!!! Get that back out there - that was one of Romney's biggests gaffes!!! Don't let people forget how out-of-touch he is with reality!!! His only concern is himself and his rich buddies - we've figured out that 'Trickle down economics" DOESN'T work for anyone but the wealthy.
I have no ill feelings about the wealthy - good for them! When Romney said we as a nation help each other - what he meant was that the rich help each other get richer and the middle-class and poor continue to fund those riches!
Thank goodness I have a good job and can support my family. I know there are those out there who take advantage of government assistance but the majority of Americans do not. Fix what needs to be fixed to keep that from happening and we'll all be better off.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." I believe that was a line first written by Alexander Pope. I listened and watched as most of the NBC news pundits trashed President Obama's debate performance last night. Just maybe they are being a little too hasty with their comments. I think that the toughest challenge for the President is to get Romney to declare who he is and what he stands for - it seems to change every day, sometimes every hour. Last night President Obama stood before a TV audience of at least forty million people - Mitt Romney was standing there too. Mitt Romney is now on record before this audience and has said what he stands for right to the face of President Obama. It will now be extremely hard for him to wiggle out of any stands he may have taken last night. He won't be able to say he was misquoted, that he spoke inelegantly or that the mainstream media was misinterpreting what he said. All that he said last night can be compared to what he has been saying for the last year or so on the campaign trail Remember that there are three debates, not just one. Sometimes you have to give people a little rope. Eventually they will hang themselves. I have seen President Obama written off so many times before, yet when the dust has settled, there he is, still standing. It is really the storyline of his life. Dismiss him at your own peril.
PS. His speech in Denver this morning seems to confirm what I said.
It took a while for everyone watching this for a Romney gaffe to realize it happened with Big Bird...
Romney believes he is entitled to be president by any means necessary. His alliances range from the dark and shadowy with mostly unknown purposes to the flat Earth society, with Palin and Bachmann as valedictorians, and fanatic religious zealots. Romney, the man who wants to be president by the divine right of kings.
It has begun.
Trust - Obama for America TV Ad
Sununu calls President Obama lazy, when he is doing his campaign while still doing his Presidential duties. Sununu had better apologize to President Obama, because President Obama has been doing more work than Sununu has ever done in his lifetime. Romney has Sununu has a representative of himself that really confirms the lies, deceptions, and corruption, since he has done such questionable behavior. President Obama has gotten those 3 a.m. phone calls where as Romney or Sununu hasn’t done crap, except pouring money into their pockets at the expense of others. Sununu and Romney have been the laziest things around as they pretended to be so busy at some fancy dinners.
Regarding last night's debate: As a long time Obama supporter I am very disappointed in the president's performance last night. It seems to be a trend that he runs hot and cold when it comes to pursuing a goal. He needs to get excited and stay excited about being re-elected as well as for all of his initiatives because the general voting public forgets quickly.
Last night he had numerous opportunities to call Romney on the many phony flip-flop assertions he is plying on the public. Instead of calling Romney on his line of crap, Obama seemed to agree on things he should have fought for and against. He appeared to be trying to make his arguements with subtle approach thinking that the general public would catch on. The public does not catch on. They need to be shocked into listening and hearing what they need to hear and know. To do this Mr. Obama I say: Sir you need to put your man pants on and get out there and explain your views just like Bill Clinton did at the convention and the way VP Biden usually does. Mr. President, you've got charisma and move mountains when you use it. So what if you have to dumb down the message and retorts, that's OK and a good thing. After all, that's what the Republican party is doing well even with their lies.
What I heard in the debate was Willard calling his sons liars. You know what they say, "Like father like sons"!!!!
Dave I disagree. Romney is the most skilled flip flopper I've ever seen. He will do it. Its up to Obama to call him out on it and be more prepared. He has to look into the camera not down as he did last night. Most people are entrenched in their positions. There is enough soft vote out there that last night could have done damage to. Just hope he has another chance. This places quite a bit on the Biden-Ryan debates. Biden can turn this around. Much of the problem last night can be traced to a "do no damage" philosophy that the Obama camp had embraced because it concentrated in maintaining Obama's likeability rating. Biden doesn't need to be concerned with that because he is not at the top of the ticket.
I do wish to address something that the pundits point to: the several instances where Romney gave Obama a pivotal moment to push back. My guess is they were sucker punches and just maybe that's where Romney was prepared with zingers. Just maybe Obama made the right decision with those by not allowing Romney the "Reagan" Zinger moments.