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Mitt Romney didn’t disappoint on his home turf this weekend, receiving 51 percent of the votes at the Michigan Straw Poll, a wide victory over Texas Gov. Rick Perry who garnered just 17 percent. Third place in the straw poll went to Herman Cain, fresh off his impressive win at the Florida Straw Poll earlier … Continue reading
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) has signed on as the first Republican co-sponsor of the bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. “I voted against the constitutional amendment defining marriage so I’m pleased to co-sponsor the repeal of DOMA and work with my colleagues on marriage equality,” said Ros-Lehtinen in a statement. The DOMA-repeal bill, … Continue reading
Nowhere was Tea Party Congressman Joe Walsh’s decision not to seek re-election in the 8th Congressional district mourned more noticeably Thursday than at a fund-raiser for his would-be successor, Democrat Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth and her supporters — including President Barack Obama’s chief political strategist David Axelrod — hoisted Walsh’s image at Fulton’s on the River … Continue reading
Once again, Republicans held a presidential debate on Thursday night. And once again, the live audience helped give the party a black eye. The debate, which took place in Orlando, Fla., and aired on Fox News, included questions from a panel of Fox personalities and from voters, who were invited to submit theirs through YouTube. … Continue reading
Twitter, which just got into the advertising business last year, will start selling political ads this week. An example of a promoted political tweet, from Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. The ads will appear as Promoted Tweets, which come up under certain search terms or in the timeline of Twitter users who follow a political campaign. … Continue reading
Voters in at least one Illinois congressional district will have to choose between two Republican incumbents next year after Representative Joe Walsh announced Wednesday that he will seek re-election in a new district, pitting him against a fellow Republican, Representative Randy Hultgren, in a primary. Mr. Walsh, a darling of the Tea Party and a … Continue reading
The surprise defeat in the House Wednesday of a special funding measure to keep the federal government functioning past Sept. 30 was a sharp rebuke of the GOP leadership that controls the chamber and a testament to the fragility of the majority itself. The rejection of the measure resurrected the specter of a government shutdown … Continue reading
Remember Rick Santorum? (He is running for president.) Well, in some Rick Santorum “news” of the oddly sourced variety, we learn that the former Pennsylvania senator has “contacted Google” to try to deal with his well known “Google problem.” I say “oddly sourced” because here is the Politico article about it, and as you can see, the headline … Continue reading
A House Republican freshman on Tuesday night called on the federal government to step up enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, and said removing illegal aliens is one way to create needed jobs for Americans. “There is a surefire way to create jobs now for American citizens,” Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said on the House floor. … Continue reading
Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), a Tea Party leader, on Wednesday announced he will run from the new 14th congressional district in Illinois, setting up a potential primary with Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) Walsh now represents the 8th district and Hultgren the 14th. By running from the 14th, Republicans are without a well known candidate in … Continue reading
There has been no shortage of liberal discontent with the path pursued by President Barack Obama during his first few years in office. But when the discontent manifests itself (as it occasionally does) in talk of a primary challenge in 2012, the chatter usually succumbs to political reality. For all the Democratic base’s tiffs with … Continue reading
The frontrunners for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination are touting the backing of governors while keeping lawmakers on the back burner. With anti-Washington fervor playing a huge role on the campaign trail, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) have done little to court Capitol Hill, according to lawmakers interviewed for … Continue reading
President Barack Obama is back in the good graces of progressives. For now. Hours after Obama delivered a fiery speech demanding that the wealthiest Americans “pay their fair share” in taxes as part of his $4 trillion deficit-reduction plan, MoveOn.org launched a new television ad on Monday hammering in the president’s message and ripping Republicans … Continue reading
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt called on Washington to think big about solutions for the nation’s struggling economy calling the current emphasis on cutting spending instead of new stimulus “ludicrous.” The economy would need “not just something like the jobs bill, but also significant government stimulation in terms of buying power and investment,” said Schmidt on … Continue reading
The decision by the Republican controlled House to back and pass a plan authored by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan that would turn Medicare into a voucher system is regarded by many Democrats as a strategic error of colossal proportions. And so, it was not by accident that when President Obama addressed the need to reform … Continue reading
Israel’s most vocal supporters in the U.S. have long complained that the United Nations is a bastion of anti-Israeli sentiment, and this year’s General Assembly debate could be worse than ever. Palestinians are seeking U.N. membership as a state even though there’s no peace deal with Israel. Israel is also under diplomatic pressure from regional … Continue reading
President Obama will deliver a critical address Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly expected to be dominated by questions about Palestinian statehood. Obama’s administration will veto any request by the Palestinians for the UN Security Council to grant them a sovereign state, but the White House hopes to avoid that step. Such a vote … Continue reading
Republican opposition is solidifying to President Barack Obama’s $447 billion job creation plan, and his pending proposal to raise taxes on millionaires is already under GOP fire. “If we’re just going to do class warfare and get tax increases out of this, then I don’t think much will come of it,” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) … Continue reading
On Sunday, former President Bill Clinton laughed off former Vice President Dick Cheney’s suggestion that Hillary Clinton should challenge President Barack Obama in 2012. “Well, you know, I’m very proud of her, so I’m always gratified whenever anyone says anything nice about her. And I very much agree that she’s done a good job,” Clinton … Continue reading
The mother of a gay teenager who committed suicide last year arrived at Rep. Michele Bachmann’s office in Waite Park, Minn. Thursday carrying a box with 141,000 signatures petitioning the congresswoman to publicly address gay bullying, The Advocate reports. Tammy Aaberg met for an hour with several on Bachmann’s staff, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports, to … Continue reading
Next spring’s gay marriage referendum may not just affect North Carolina’s constitution. It could change the dynamics of the May primary, particularly on the Republican side. The Legislature’s decision this week to place a statewide referendum on a same-sex marriage ban on the same day as the primary will bring out people who don’t otherwise … Continue reading
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) slammed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) on his foreign policy experience and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and the rest of the Republican presidential field for being anti-science. Huntsman, who most recently served as the Obama administration’s ambassador to China, has been focusing his attacks on Romney … Continue reading
House Republican leaders came out against nearly all the major proposals in President Obama’s $447 billion job-creation plan Friday, including his middle-class tax cuts and his approach to federal spending on transportation and school construction. In a memo to all House Republicans, the GOP leaders said cutting payroll taxes through 2012 would lead to a … Continue reading
Two top Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee have asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to delay the new policy allowing gays to serve openly in the military. In a letter to the Pentagon chief this week, California Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, the committee chairman, and South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson – two opponents of … Continue reading
Democracy may get a whole new look when it comes to presidential politics in 2012. The Electoral College will still bring the next commander in chief to the White House, but tweaks to the system could change the rules of the game. After the 2000 election recount drama, polling showed that most Americans wanted to … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 