via Mike Blumenthal, The Huffington Post Polling tracking the impact of the Republican convention has been sparse, but on Monday the Gallup Poll weighed in with a new survey showing the convention had only a “minimal impact” on the fortunes of Republican nominee Mitt Romney. In interviews conducted over the three days since the close … Continue reading
via Alexandra Jaffe, The Hill’s Ballot Box A new poll of women nationwide shows just how steep Mitt Romney will have to climb to get out of the crater he’s in with respect to women’s vote, but indicates he could have an opening if he can win the one issue he’s been banking on all … Continue reading
via Jeremy Herb, The Hill’s Ballot Box The tight presidential race has all but ensured that Congress will not pass a bill before the election that would halt sequestration cuts to the military. President Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney have traded barbs over sequestration as the issue has amplified on the campaign trail … Continue reading
via Ken Walsh, Ken Walsh’s Washington Blog, U.S. News & World Report Gary Johnson is serene. Sitting down to a lunch of grilled shrimp and tomato salad at a Latin restaurant in historic Ybor City, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee says his less-government philosophy is gradually spreading across the country and that many pundits and … Continue reading
via Bonnie Kavoussi, The Huffington Post If Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have their way, then Americans of all ages may be spending more on health care during their retirement. If Romney becomes president and repeals the Affordable Care Act as promised, then retirement would cost $11,100 more for the average 65-year-old and $18,600 more … Continue reading
via Philip Elliot and Alan Fram, The Huffington Post Republicans emphatically approved a toughly worded party platform at their national convention Tuesday that would ban all abortions and gay marriages, reshape Medicare into a voucher-like program and cut taxes to energize the economy and create jobs. The document opens by warning that while the American … Continue reading
via Meredith Shiner, Roll Call Speaker John Boehner (Ohio), the Republican National Convention’s permanent chairman, said today he doesn’t believe the current four-day convention framework makes sense in a modern media environment. The length of the once-every-four-years party fete has come into question as a natural disaster threatens to cut yet another convention down, with … Continue reading
via Stephen Ohlemacher, San Francisco Chronicle Rep. Ron Paul’s delegates are trying to mount a floor fight over new GOP rules designed to limit the ability of insurgent presidential candidates to amass delegates to future Republican conventions. They are getting help from other delegates, though it is unclear whether they can rally enough support to … Continue reading
via David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist announced he is endorsing Barack Obama for President noting his former party’s “extreme” positions have made the GOP “incapable of governing.” Citing “the failure of those who favor extreme rhetoric over sensible compromise,” Crist, 56, withdrew from the GOP in his 2009-2010 … Continue reading
via The Associated Press, The Washington Post Voters in this presidential election may face the starkest choice ever on the hot-button social issues of same-sex marriage, abortion rights and access to birth control. Even as most voters tell pollsters the economy is their chief concern, advocacy groups on the left and right are in high … Continue reading
via Frank Bruni, The New York Times It makes no strategic sense for Bob Kerrey to bring up his support for gay marriage on the campaign trail in Nebraska, where he’s the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat. Republicans far outnumber Democrats here; the state’s voters are socially conservative; his opponents are already smearing … Continue reading
via David Lawder, Reuters Massive U.S. government spending cuts and tax hikes due next year will cause even worse economic damage than previously thought if Washington fails to come up with a solution, the Congressional Budget Office warned on Wednesday. Without action by Congress to avoid a “fiscal cliff,” Americans should expect a “significant recession” … Continue reading
via Jeff Zeleny, The New York Times Four years ago, John Brooks cast his ballot for Barack Obama, becoming one of the voters won over by his promise for changing Washington. This time, he had been undecided, but he said Mitt Romney made his decision easier by placing Representative Paul D. Ryan on the Republican … Continue reading
via M.S. Bellows, Jr., The Guardian There has been much speculation about why Romney refuses to disclose earlier tax returns. Could it be as simple as an address? Friday’s exchange of letters between the election campaigns of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, in which Romney rejected Obama’s offer to drop the tax return issue if … Continue reading
via Elizabeth Hewitt and Abby Ohlheiser, Slate The Obama campaign has an offer for Team Romney: Release five years’ worth of tax returns and they’ll stop asking to see more. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina released an open letter to the candidate on Friday outlining the deal: “If the governor will release five years of … Continue reading
via Susan Page, USA Today They could turn a too-close-to-call race into a landslide for President Obama— but by definition they probably won’t. Call them the unlikely voters. A nationwide USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll of people who are eligible to vote but aren’t likely to do so finds that these stay-at-home Americans back Obama’s re-election … Continue reading
via Bob Egelko, Politics Blog, The San Francisco Chronicle Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate cements Romney’s own 180-degree turnabout on abortion. Ten years ago, as a candidate for governor, Romney promised to “protect the right of a woman to choose,” and pledged not to change “our pro-choice laws in Massachusetts.” … Continue reading
via Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post The Obama administration will kick off one of the most sweeping changes in immigration policy in decades Wednesday, allowing an estimated 1.7 million young undocumented immigrants to apply for the temporary right to live and work openly in the United States without fear of deportation. Immigrants have waited for … Continue reading
via Jonathan Easley, The Hill’s Ballot Box A plurality of Americans are not enthusiastic about Mitt Romney’s selection of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday. Forty-two percent said they viewed Ryan’s candidacy as a “fair” or “poor” move by the Romney campaign, compared to 39 … Continue reading
via Brian Montopoli, CBS News The Commission on Presidential Debates have announced the moderators for the three presidential debates and the vice presidential debate set to take place in October. Among them is the first female presidential debate moderator in two decades. CNN’s Candy Crowley is set to moderate a town hall-style debate on October … Continue reading
via Matt Williams, The Guardian Mitt Romney’s decision to put Paul Ryan on the White House ticket has seemingly done that rarest of things in American politics: delighted both sides of the party divide in equal measure. Republican grandees gushed over the youngish star of the GOP, even those – such as former House speaker … Continue reading
via Nicholas Confessore and Michael D. Shear, The New York Times The fund-raising machine behind Mitt Romney and the Republican Party once again outperformed President Obama and the Democrats last month, raising $25 million more in July than the president and his Democratic allies. Mr. Romney and the Republican National Committee took in $101.3 million … Continue reading
via Sheldon Alberts, The Hill Mitt Romney holds thin advantages over President Obama on leadership, personal values and honesty, according to a new poll for The Hill. The poll, conducted for The Hill by Pulse Opinion Research, suggests voters see little difference between the candidates on character issues that Democrats have cited as key to … Continue reading
via Lauren Kelly, Alternet, Salon [Editress’ Note: You can only vote for politicians once every few years. You can vote with your wallet every single day. Make change happen.] — 1. Chick-fil-A It won’t be news to many readers that Chick-fil-A’s owner is deeply entrenched in conservative politics and social issues. The chain has … Continue reading
via Justin Sink, The Hill’s Ballot Box The joke might be over. Comedian Stephen Colbert’s super-PAC raised only $5,690 in June, the second straight month that the organization brought in less than five figures. The totals pale in comparison to the committee’s performance last year, when the group raised more than $825,000. Colbert began the … Continue reading