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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.

20 Dec 2011 20:23

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Politics: Gary Johnson: Exclude me GOP?!? I’m gonna run as a Libertarian, jerks!

After showing up in a grand total of one major debate (in which he made a dog poo joke), the former New Mexico governor will take a stab at running on a third-party ticket. Think he might have a shot? source

13 Dec 2011 20:51

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Politics: This 1995 profile of Newt Gingrich is a fun read

  • I would really love to spend six months to a year in the Amazon basin, just being able to spend the day watching tree sloths.
  • Newt Gingrich • In a 1995 Vanity Fair profile. There are lots of fun tidbits in this piece. Even back then, Gingrich was thinking of a presidential run, but his then-wife Marrianne didn’t approve. “I don’t want him to be president,” she said, “and I don’t think he should be” (he eventually divorced her). Newt often describes himself oddly journalistic terms, as if he’s a pundit writing an op-ed column, and this was true in 1995 as well.  He says here that he’s “a mythical person,” “a psychodrama living out a fantasy,” and that “what makes me unusually intense is that I personalize the pain of war, the pain of children being killed.” source

21 Nov 2011 14:14

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Politics: The pun we were all waiting for

  • This is, in fact, the official name of Gingrich’s New Hampshire effort. Hopefully, “Mitt Hampshire” will follow, maybe with a banner image that’s a little less self-parodical. source

16 Nov 2011 13:33

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Politics: Cain: Presidents don’t need to know about the world and stuff

  • I’m not supposed to know anything about foreign policy.
  • Herman Cain • Giving a novel take on the requirements–or lack thereof–for presidential candidates. Okay, seriously? Did he actually say this? Did he mumble? Or does Herman Cain actually not understand what the job of the President of the United States is? This is indefensible.  source

15 Nov 2011 21:58

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Politics: “Republicans are stupid,” says Republican candidate for president

  • One of the Republican weaknesses is that we rely too much on consultants and too much on talking points, and we don’t rely enough on actually knowing things.
  • Newt Gingrich • In an interview with David Brody. Not quite sure what the political calculus is here, as admitting publicly that your entire party doesn’t know what it’s talking about is rarely good politics. However, not “actually knowing things” would seem to be a disqualifying factor for someone running for president, so Newt’s obviously exempting himself from this assessment. source

14 Nov 2011 16:08

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Politics: Here’s the thing about the Gingrich surge

  • yeah…Newt Gingrich is, to the surprise and annoyance of pundits everywhere, storing ahead of his GOP rivals in national polls. Newtmentum!
  • but…Polls also show the “ideas man” faring rather poorly against President Obama in a general election, trailing the POTUS by 812 points. source
  • » Now is probably a good time to bust out this gem from last summer.
 

14 Nov 2011 12:44

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Politics: Newt Gingrich barges into the lead

  • Flavor of the Week: It looks like Gingrich is the new Black Walnut. If history is any indicator, Newt’s lead will dissipate in a few weeks and Mitt Romney will once again bask in the warm light of inevitability, but hey, you never know. One thing to keep in mind: Primaries are conducted on a state-by-state basis, so national polls, while telling, aren’t the whole story. source

29 Oct 2011 18:12

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U.S.: Joe Biden is not actually comparing Republicans to arsonists, kids

  • Republicans moralizing about deficits. That’s like an arsonist moralizing about fire safety. These guys have zero credibility.
  • Vice President Joe Biden • Turning up the funny at a speech to Florida Democrats at Walt Disney World on Saturday afternoon. source

29 Oct 2011 12:35

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Politics: Gary Johnson on his by-the-seat-of-his-pants New Hampshire filing

  • I don’t want for a second for anyone to think that we didn’t screw up.
  • Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson • Owning up to his longshot presidential campaign’s total fail, in which they had to rush to New Hampshire on Friday to fill out paperwork in person ahead of a major deadline, because they forgot to file. “Bottom line, we just screwed up,” he said. Props to Johnson for being honest about it. It’s kind of endearing, and most presidential candidates wouldn’t be so honest about their failings. source