via Andrea Stone, The Huffington Post Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales — who was the first person of Hispanic descent to hold that position and a lightning rod for controversy as President George W. Bush’s chief legal adviser on the war on terror — warned his fellow Republicans Thursday that the issue of immigration could … Continue reading
via Benjy Sarlin, Talking Points Memo Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), one of the most buzzed-about potential running mates for Mitt Romney, says he will not be the party’s vice presidential nominee even if Romney personally asks him. “I don’t want to be the vice president right now, or maybe ever,” Rubio said at a National … Continue reading
via Angel Clark, Examiner Texas Congressman Ron Paul has been voted one of the most influential people in the world. He speaks to packed stadiums and sold out crowds almost nightly. On Tuesday, Dr. Paul spoke to over 3,000 people in one stadium while at the same time Governor Mitt Romney spoke to roughly 400 … Continue reading
via Benjy Sarlin, Talking Points Memo It’s been the dominant conventional wisdom ever since a wave of Hispanic Republicans won big races in 2010: Mitt Romney will pick a Hispanic running mate. But Romney may not be able to make that fantasy ticket a reality — even if he wants to. Picking a Hispanic politician … Continue reading
via David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement “Gay marriage” is so 2011. Remember last week when we reported that some conservatives believe America’s third party will focus only on defeating same-sex marriage across the nation? Well, it appears they have their own Super PAC now, and it’s called the No Special Rights PAC. The … Continue reading
via Sam Stein, The Huffington Post In a surprise decision Tuesday, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) will announce that he is suspending his presidential campaign, The Huffington Post’s Jon Ward has learned and several other outlets have reported. The Pennsylvania Republican had taken a break from the campaign trail for several days to tend to … Continue reading
via Darius Dixon, Politico Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz fired back Wednesday at Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch’s claim that Democrats would attack Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith in the fall election, saying the charge was “nonsense” and that the issue of religion was off-limits. “That is just preposterous,” the Florida Democrat, who chairs the Democratic National Committee, … Continue reading
via Bryan Curtis, Slate Eric Fehrnstrom Talks GOP Candidates & Etch A Sketch If Mitt Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom, the man behind the Etch A Sketch gaffe, is having a dark night of the soul, he ought to call Steve Schmidt. Schmidt was John McCain’s senior strategist—aka the man who OK’d Sarah Palin and presided over a … Continue reading
via The Huffington Post Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) found himself in hot water over the weekend for a controversial comment he made regarding Democrat Tammy Duckworth’s military service, and attempted Monday to explain his words, though didn’t offer an apology for them. The congressman stirred up controversy on Thursday by seeming to belittle the service … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats. “I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under … Continue reading
via Kristen Mack, WGN Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth won the Democratic primary last night in the 8th Congressional District. Duckworth had 66 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Raja Krishnamoorthi, a former deputy state treasurer with about 60 percent of the vote in. A Krishnamoorthi spokesman said the candidate conceded defeat. Duckworth … Continue reading
via Jason Cherkis, The Huffington Post GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum has yet to deliver a substantial blow to Mitt Romney’s rival campaign. In the past two pivotal primary contests in battleground states, the former senator from Pennsylvania fell short, losing by squeaker margins in Michigan and Ohio. He may owe those defeats to his … Continue reading
via Elise Foley, The Huffington Post Republican congressional candidate Paul Babeu, who was outed as gay last week and accused of threatening his ex-boyfriend with deportation, said Monday that he supports same-sex marriage and the right of gays and lesbians to serve in the military. “If it’s not harming somebody else, then it doesn’t matter,” … Continue reading
via Abdon Pallasch, Chicago Sun-Times Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel endorsed former Veterans Administration official Tammy Duckworth Wednesday for a northwest suburban congressional seat. In 2006, when Emanuel spearheaded the Democrats’ effort to elect members of Congress, Duckworth’s was the race he probably worked hardest on, though she lost to Republican Peter Roskam. This time in … Continue reading
via Amanda Terkel, The Huffington Post An LGBT organization is calling on the Democratic Party to officially support marriage equality, launching a national campaign to get Democrats to enshrine it in the 2012 party platform — even though the head of the party, President Barack Obama, still does not support same-sex marriage. The “Democrats: Say … Continue reading
via Susan Davis, USA Today The roster of congressional candidates for this year’s elections is taking shape and one trend is emerging: 2012 could be another “Year of the Woman” in American politics. The moniker was famously applied in 1992 when four women were elected to the Senate, a high watermark for the chamber that … Continue reading
via Kristen McQueary, WBEZ Michele Piszczor is standing in the driveway of her Southwest Side home, pointing to a dent on the driver’s side door. “My driver door is basically dented in,” says Piszczor, pronounced PIZE-er. “There’s like a narrow mark here symbolizing maybe a narrow tube or a crow bar of essence that smashed … Continue reading
via Dave Crary, The Huffington Post With a flurry of coast-to-coast developments this week, same-sex marriage is back in the political spotlight and likely to remain there through Election Day as a half-dozen states face potentially wrenching votes on the issue. In Maryland, New Jersey and Washington, bills to legalize same-sex marriage have high-powered support … Continue reading
via Sam Stein, The Huffington Post Jon Huntsman is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to campaign officials. An aide to Huntsman confirmed the news to The Huffington Post and said the former governor of Utah would endorse Mitt Romney on Monday. The aide added that Huntsman “didn’t want to … Continue reading
via Paul Krugman, The New York Times “And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.” That’s how the fictional Gordon Gekko finished his famous “Greed is good” speech in the 1987 film “Wall Street.” In the movie, Gekko got his comeuppance. … Continue reading
via Maggie Haberman, Politico If it’s Sunday, it’s meet the candidates. In a debate moderated by “Meet the Press” host David Gregory, the six remaining major GOP presidential hopefuls took the stage for the second time in 12 hours — and this one was a far livelier and entertaining debate than the forum the night … Continue reading
via Sarah Wheaton, The New York Times On the morning before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said she was counting on a “miracle” to resurrect her faltering campaign. On the morning after, she acknowledged that it was beyond saving. Mrs. Bachmann said on Wednesday morning that she would not continue her campaign … Continue reading
via Michael D. Shear, The New York Times It was, perhaps, the closest finish ever between two candidates in a presidential caucus. At just before 3 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the chairman of the Iowa Republican Party went on television to announce the official result: Mitt Romney had beaten Rick Santorum by eight votes … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post In the competition for the toughest anti-abortion stance in Iowa, GOP candidates this week have adopted more extreme positions on abortion than they have previously ever held. But their shift toward extremity for the sake of Iowa’s evangelical base could come back to haunt the eventual nominee in the … Continue reading
via Rachel Leven, The Hill Donald Trump changed his voter registration Thursday to Independent, his special counsel confirmed to The Hill. “[Trump registered] in order to preserve his right to run as an Independent after the finale of ‘The Apprentice’ in May, if he is not satisfied with whom the candidate is,” Michael Cohen told … Continue reading