kpete
kpete's JournalSHIELDS NAILS MITTENS! "The first presidential candidate who wherever he campaigns does worse"
There's been a lot of analysis and discussion of Willard's total loser of a campaign. But columnist Mark Shields nails Romney's problem in a nutshell.
And the theory is that Mitt Romney is the first presidential candidate in -- certainly in the last 35 years who wherever he campaigns does worse. And I think that's his real problem.
DEVASTATING VIDEO:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2285076597
TRANSCRIPT:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/01/1137906/-Brutal-Romney-The-First-Presidential-Candidate-Who-Wherever-He-Campaigns-Does-Worse
Romney Fades, Taking GOP Senate Hopes With Him
Source: Talking Points Memo
If Republicans are ultimately denied their dream of stripping Sen. Harry Reid of his Majority Leader title this year, they may be confronted with the possibility that they fielded the wrong candidates — both in Senate races and in the presidential contest.
Mitt Romney’s decline nationally and in various swing states in September dovetailed with the dip seen by Republican candidates in key Senate races. Consider the recent developments in various states.
Always a lock to carry Massachusetts, President Barack Obama’s support has swelled in the Bay State over the last month, with some polls showing him eclipsing the 60 percent threshold. As Obama has expanded his advantage there over Romney, Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren has grabbed the lead from Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) during the same period.
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“What’s amazing is that the horse race numbers have gotten worse for Scott Brown and Dean Heller, but their individual numbers have remained the same,” Jensen said. “That shows how these races have become increasingly nationalized. Scott Brown is a better candidate than Elizabeth Warren. He’s one of the most popular candidates in the country, but I think he’s going to lose anyway. That race has gotten too nationalized for his appeal to matter.”
Read more: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/romney-senate-races-republicans-polls.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
The REAL Referendum - PAUL KRUGMAN Asks: "Will that election result be honored?"
The Real Referendum
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 30, 2012 248 Comments
Republicans came into this campaign believing that it would be a referendum on President Obama, and that still-high unemployment would hand them victory on a silver platter. But given the usual caveats — a month can be a long time in politics, it’s not over until the votes are actually counted, and so on — it doesn’t seem to be turning out that way.
Yet there is a sense in which the election is indeed a referendum, but of a different kind. Voters are, in effect, being asked to deliver a verdict on the legacy of the New Deal and the Great Society, on Social Security, Medicare and, yes, Obamacare, which represents an extension of that legacy. Will they vote for politicians who want to replace Medicare with Vouchercare, who denounce Social Security as “collectivist” (as Paul Ryan once did), who dismiss those who turn to social insurance programs as people unwilling to take responsibility for their lives?
If the polls are any indication, the result of that referendum will be a clear reassertion of support for the safety net, and a clear rejection of politicians who want to return us to the Gilded Age. But here’s the question: Will that election result be honored?
I ask that question because we already know what Mr. Obama will face if re-elected: a clamor from Beltway insiders demanding that he immediately return to his failed political strategy of 2011, in which he made a Grand Bargain over the budget deficit his overriding priority. Now is the time, he’ll be told, to fix America’s entitlement problem once and for all. There will be calls — as there were at the time of the Democratic National Convention — for him to officially endorse Simpson-Bowles, the budget proposal issued by the co-chairmen of his deficit commission (although never accepted by the commission as a whole).
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the rest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/opinion/krugman-the-real-referendum.html?src=twr&_r=0
(Advantage to Obama) Republicans End Swing-State Voter Sign-Up After Firing Company
Source: Bloomberg
The Republican National Committee ended efforts to sign up new voters before the deadline in key states for the presidential race because of questions raised over registration applications tied to the party.
Republican parties in Florida, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia -- all states that both campaigns view as competitive -- fired Glen Allen, Virginia-based Strategic Allied Consulting, the company in charge of registrations, said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. The national committee also canceled its contract with the company, its only vendor signing up new voters, Kukowski said.
The five states have registration deadlines from Oct. 6 to Oct. 15. Stopping efforts before then could hurt Republican nominee Mitt Romney in his bid to unseat Democratic President Barack Obama, said Lance deHaven-Smith, a Florida State University political science professor in Tallahassee.
“In any swing state that’s going to be significant because these elections are so close,” deHaven-Smith said. “This gives an advantage to Obama.”
Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-01/republicans-end-swing-state-voter-sign-up-after-firing-company
"Romney’s offensive 47% comments raise doubts" - OpEd By Sen. Harry Reid SLAMS Mitt
We’ve learned an awful lot of troubling things about Mitt Romney recently. First, his sweeping, closed-door condemnation of President Barack Obama’s supporters revealed the disdain he has for half the population he hopes to serve. Then, the limited tax returns Romney selectively released confirmed that he’s willing to share information about the time he’s been in the public eye and running for president, but not the time he was running the corporation he touts as his sole qualifying credential for the highest office in the land.
Romney stands not only on shaky ethical grounds in making that indiscriminate generalization — he’s also on flimsy factual footing. The 47 percent Romney derides as self-pitying “victims” includes seniors who live on a fixed income thanks to the Social Security they paid into and earned over a lifetime of hard work, our troops in combat zones and veterans who have fought for our country. It includes students studying to get the skills that will win them the jobs of the future and decent Americans actively looking for work because their jobs were outsourced by companies such as those Romney specialized in developing. Most of them pay plenty of payroll, property, local and state taxes.
The offensive comments Romney hoped would stay private and the remaining tax returns that he’s still withholding from the American people are important because they are windows into the character, values and priorities of someone who could drive our nation’s economic policy.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/sep/30/romneys-offensive-comments-raise-doubts/
70 yr. old Ohio Republican Voter: "I’ve never seen such HATE this year in the Republican Party"
70 yr. old Ohio Republican Voter: "I’ve Never Seen Such HATE as This Year in the Republican Party"
“Obama was handed an economy on the skids, after eight years of Bush,” Butterfass said in an email. “All he ever did was think about war. I’m afraid Romney will do the same, especially the trickle-down theory.
“I don’t know why any woman or gay would ever vote for Romney. All you have to do is look at the Republican platform. I’ve never seen such HATE this year in the Republican Party, national or state.”
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http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/09/30/1-dispatch-poll-shows-obama-in-lead.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/30/1138219/-70-yr-old-Ohio-Republican-Voter-I-ve-Never-Seen-Such-HATE-as-This-Year-in-the-Republican-Party
Paul Ryan To Fox News: ‘I Don’t Have The Time’ To Explain How We Will Pay For Our Tax Plan
Source: Think Progress
WALLACE: So how much would it cost?
RYAN: It’s revenue neutral…
WALLACE: No no, I’m just talking about cuts. We’ll get to the deductions, but the cut in tax rates.
RYAN: The cut in tax rates is lowering all Americans’ tax rates by 20 percent.
WALLACE: Right, how much does that cost?
RYAN: It’s revenue neutral.
[...]
WALLACE: But I have to point out, you haven’t given me the math.
Ryan: No, but you…well, I don’t have the time. It would take me too long to go through all of the math. But let me say it this way: you can lower tax rates by 20 percent across the board by closing loopholes and still have preferences for the middle class. For things like charitable deductions, for home purchases, for health care. So what we’re saying is, people are going to get lower tax rates.
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/30/931121/paul-ryan-to-fox-news-i-dont-have-the-time-to-explain-how-we-will-pay-for-our-tax-plan/
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