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08 Feb 2012 01:53

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Politics: Santorum won big tonight, yes. But there’s a catch…

  • yes…Rick Santorum swept tonight’s nominating contests, winning Colorado and Minnesota’s caucuses in addition to Missouri’s primary. He’s now won more states than Mitt Romney.
  • however…No delegates were awarded tonight, so these victories–as well as all victories to this point–are significant primarily from the standpoint of public perception and media narratives. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink


06 Feb 2012 14:11

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Politics: Obama opens up big lead over Romney in general election polling

  • 9 point lead for Obama over Romney in the latest WaPo/ABC News Poll source
  • » It’s the largest lead either candidate has held over one another since The Washington Post/ABC News started polling Romney-Obama match-ups in April of last year. It’s also a huge reversal from just a month ago, when Romney led Obama by one. Why the change? Well, it could be the (slowly) improving economy, or the insanity of the Republican primary taking its toll on all the Republicans, or Romney saying that he’s “not concerned about the very poor” on CNN last week. Or maybe, people are just fickle, and Romney will be twelve points ahead of Obama next week.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink


01 Feb 2012 14:27

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Politics: Mitt Romney provides his opponents with tailor-made gaffe

  • I’m not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich; they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90–95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.
  • Mitt Romney • Speaking to CNN’s Soledad O’Brien this morning. There’s a few different reasons this will, and likely should, be seen as a gaffe. Romney’s political opponents now have footage of him saying he’s not concerned about the very poor, which isolated from his broader point feeds the very narrative that is most damaging to him, that of the disaffected millionaire. Snipping the quote and excising his real point about the Americans in between would be somewhat disingenuous. Even taken in full context, though, he is suggesting the very poor and very rich are somehow equally undeserving of a President’s attention, which is a peculiar philosophical position in and of itself, and one we suspect won’t play well with a great deal of people. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink


31 Jan 2012 23:37

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Politics: Not only is Newt Gingrich not quitting, he hasn’t even started fighting yet

  • I would define Newt’s head space as: ‘Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.’
  • David Lane • A  conservative leader close to Gingrich. This quote is actually from before the primary, and Lane’s prediction was born out in Gingrich’s speech tonight, wherein the former Speaker pledged to plow forward despite having lost Florida tonight. The article’s author, Alexander Burns, adds that “Gingrich has made a career out of upending conventional wisdom and ignoring the establishment view that he should go to the corner and shut up.” A long, protracted primary probably won’t be any help to the eventual nominee, but it’ll sure be fun for political nerds like us.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink


31 Jan 2012 20:23

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Politics: Mitt Romney projected as winner of the GOP Florida Primary

  • Mitt’s it!: ABC News, among other outlets, has projected that Mitt Romney is the winner of the 2012 Florida GOP Primary. This was not a surprising result — he’d led chief rival Newt Gingrich in the polls by double digits coming into today, and by double digits it seems he will win. He presently leads Gingrich by about 16%, with close to 50% of all Florida precincts reporting. Newt Gingrich is projected to place in second, with Rick Santorum and Ron Paul trailing in third and forth, respectively. Now, the campaigns move on to Nevada (though both Paul and Santorum left Florida early, ceding their chances in Florida to get a head-start in the Silver State), where Newt Gingrich faces a tall order indeed; his campaign has nowhere near the organization and ground game that Romney’s does there, and after this decisive loss he needs a roaring comeback to stay viable. (Photo by Erik Hersman) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink


31 Jan 2012 19:46

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Politics: Florida exit polls show evangelicals rare bright spot for Gingrich

  • 36% Mitt Romney's level of support from evangelical voters in today's Florida GOP primary, exit polls show
  • 40% Newt Gingrich's level of support — better a cheater than a Mormon for Florida's evangelicals? source
  • » Pardon us if that seems reductive, but how evangelical voters relate to Mitt Romney’s faith, and Newt Gingrich’s lack of faithfulness, has been a critical question in the GOP nominating process. In a barrage of exit polling coming out of Florida tonight, this seems to be one of the few positives Gingrich can take away; while not a staggering advantage by any stretch, his personal baggage risks making him deeply unpalatable to a moralistic, Christian electorate. In the short-term, however, it seems he’s staying afloat with those voters, at least enough to keep Romney at his back.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink


31 Jan 2012 14:13

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Politics: Gingrich robocall says Romney forced Holocaust survivors to eat non-kosher

  • A heavy slur, sloppily made: The Gingrich campaign has, in an effort to both court and inflame Florida’s large Jewish population, made a startling accusation. As you can hear above, a robocall claims Romney vetoed a bill to fund kosher food in Massachusetts nursing homes, which meant that Holocaust survivors were, “for the first time,” forced to eat non-kosher. In reality, Romney did veto a bill providing additional funds, but it never took effect (overruled by the state legislature), nor would it have forced anyone to eat non-kosher; it maintained present funding levels, and nursing homes without kosher kitchens would offset with other sources of kosher cuisine, saving nearly $600,000. Assuming the true context of this tactic is widely realized, we guess this won’t endear Newt to the Jewish community. Or anybody else. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink


 

28 Jan 2012 13:54

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Politics: Mitt’s latest (involuntary) weapon against Newt? Tom Brokaw

  • We’re sorry, this is just low: Back in 1997, Newt Gingrich faced a tough punishment for ethics violations similar to those that caused his predecessor’s downfall. So, clearly, with Mitt needing some strong ammo to hold him off in Florida, this is probably the right line of attack. Problem is … well, what the hell does Tom Brokaw have to do with this? Mitt’s latest ad in Florida is just a long replay of a news clip from that era, with a little bit of dramatic music to really sell the whole thing. Brokaw is understandably pissed: “I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad,” he said in a statement. “I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign.” We’re pissed for him —Romney just co-opted his trusted image to score some cheap points. Not cool. NBC has asked the Romney campaign to remove their news footage from the clip, and they better. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


25 Jan 2012 14:17

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Politics: Marco Rubio rips Gingrich ad calling Romney an “anti-immigrant candidate”

  • This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign. The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant and both have positive messages that play well in the Latino community.
  • Florida Senator Marco Rubio • Condemning a radio ad released by the Gingrich campaign, which referred to Mitt Romney as “the most anti-immigrant candidate.” This is an issue on which Rubio carries a lot of heft, as both a member of the young Republican surge in 2010, as well as the GOP’s most prominent Latino voice. The political effect of his remarks, whether intended or not, is to give Romney a leg up. Though Gingrich’s immigration reform ideas are far from progressive, that he’s further left on the issue than Romney is undeniable; Romney has reveled in staying to the (at times somewhat absurd) far-right of every opponent on the issue. If he’s given cover from criticism about it, however inartful that criticism may be, it means he won’t have to bear the cost of that clear political calculation. Gingrich pulled the ad from the airwaves following Rubio’s remarks. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink


24 Jan 2012 01:11

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Politics: Mitt Romey’s tax forms finally released: Here are the highlights

  • 14% the effective tax rate for
    Mitt Romney in 2010
  • $21M the amount he made in 2010 — a tally which mostly came from investments
  • $3M the amount Romney paid in federal taxes that year, according to forms he just released
  • $3M the amount in charitable deductions he paid — and got deductions for — that same year source
  • » The “duh” sentence in this story: “His tax bill is significantly higher than the amount paid by most Americans.” What tipped you off, Wall Street Journal, the fact that there’s “million” in the amount?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


 
 
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