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14 Oct 2011 11:49

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Politics: Why are some of the GOP candidates threatening to boycott Nevada?

  • what A number of GOP candidates — including Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich — have threatened to boycott the Nevada primary. Jon Huntsman went a step further, promising to boycott Tuesday’s Nevada-based debate.
  • why Nevada is attempting to gain influence on the primaries by pushing their primary up to mid-January, meaning New Hampshire would have to hold theirs in December to ensure that theirs is still the first one. In effect, it gives weaker candidates less time. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Oct 2011 23:10

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Politics: Obama’s campaign fundraising prowess tops estimates, and then some

  • $70M the amount Obama raised for his 2012 campaign in the most recent quarter
  • $55M the amount the president expected to raise this quarter; all the extra was just showing off
  • 98% of donors to Obama’s campaign threw in $250 or less; you do the math on that one, guys source
  • » And he wasn’t even at his peak powers: Thanks to the long-running debt ceiling debate that boringly captivated the country earlier this summer, Obama had to turn down a number of major fundraising events, lowering his total from the previous quarter. He’s miles ahead of every other candidate, for obvious reasons: The still-splintered GOP field has to fight with each other for the right to take on Obama next November.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Oct 2011 10:23

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Politics: Frontrunner? Herman Cain leapfrogs Romney in new 2012 poll

And it’s a big leap, too: Cain is at a solid 27 percent in the NBC News/WSJ poll, with Romney at 23 percent and Perry way behind with 16 percent. This despite the fact that Romney won handily on Tuesday. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Oct 2011 10:20

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Politics: Barney Frank rips Newt Gingrich for his Dodd-Frank assessment

  • I wish I knew that he was willing to listen to my advice, I would have given him some: I would have told him not to impeach Clinton, I would have told his successors not to go to war with Iraq, and I would have told [Tom] DeLay not to go on the dance show.
  • Rep. Barney Frank • Getting in an ice burn on Newt Gingrich, who ripped him and fellow Dodd-Frank architect Christopher Dodd, suggesting they should go to jail for daring to pass a financial reform. “If you want to put people in jail, you ought to start with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd,” Gingrich claimed during Tuesday night’s debate. As you might guess, Frank took umbrage with that assessment: “This notion we caused the problem that started while they were in charge even by Gingrich’s standards is very odd.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2011 18:52

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Politics: What we’re looking for from tonight’s #EconDebate

  • It’s debatin’ time! Yet again! The big news hanging over this one is Chris Christie’s recent endorsement of Mitt Romney, tactically deployed the day of the debate, but there’s a lot of other stuff to look for, too. Will Newt Gingrich insult the moderators? Will Michele Bachmann look unnervingly calm the entire time? Will Jon Huntsman make an awkward joke? Will Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer crash the debate last-minute? Here are a few things to keep an eye out for tonight during the EconDebate, a Washington Post/Bloomberg joint we’re covering with DC Decoder, which starts at 8 p.m. EST:
  • Romney Vs. Hermanator The GOP field hasn’t, to this point, treated Cain as a serious threat. But with his recent polling surge, Cain now appears to be a legitimate top-tier contender and a real threat to Mitt Romney. If Romney goes on the offensive against Cain tonight, it’ll indicate that he’s bought into the hype and fears the Cain Train. On the other hand, if Romney and company give Cain a pass, it’s a sign that, polling aside, the pizza man still isn’t being taken seriously by the big dogs.
  • Can Perry Save himself? This debate may well be make-or-break for Rick Perry. Despite his $17 million fundraising haul — much of which was given prior to his profoundly inept performance in the last debate — the Texas good ol’ boy is sinking like an anvil in the polls and needs something to jumpstart his campaign. A robust performance tonight could do that. An aloof, absent-minded fumbling of easy questions could put the nail in Perry’s coffin. What a difference a month makes, eh?
  • the Mormon card For most of the race, Romney and Huntsman’s religion has been the elephant in the GOP primary room. Now it’s out in the open, after a prominent Perry supporter called Mormonism a “cult” at the Value Voters Summit last weekend. This question is sure to come up during the debate, and how the other candidates respond could portend the course of the campaign. If they take the bait, Mormonism may become a central campaign issue. If not, it may die down … for now.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Oct 2011 19:18

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Politics: Wallace Shawn joins Occupy Wall Street

  • Getting in the act: That Wallace Shawn (he of “The Princess Bride” and a notable dinner with a guy named Andre) chose to align himself with Occupy Wall Street shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody familiar with the man’s politics — he lent a hand to Michael Moore for a few scenes of “Capitalism: A Love Story,” for example. That said, the ever-expanding sphere of Occupy Wall Street’s influence continues to draw in bigger organizations (support from major unions) and famed personalities (hey look, it’s Mark Ruffalo) — as we mentioned, even a GOP presidential candidate, albeit the hopelessly unknown Buddy Roemer, plans to stop by. We’ll take this guy over Kanye any day of the week. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Oct 2011 16:32

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Politics: Gov. Jerry Brown signs open-carry gun ban in CA

  • That makes them the fifth state to have such a ban: Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law amidst heavy opposition from pro-gun politicians and organizations. The law makes it a misdemeanor to carry an exposed, unloaded gun out in public or in one’s vehicle, with penalties ranging from a $1000 fine to a year in prison. This law does not affect people’s right to keep properly registered firearms at home, exempts shooting and hunting events, and doesn’t change the rules for people with permits to carry concealed weapons, but that hasn’t blunted criticism. Said GOP assemblyman Tim Donnelly: “It’s really a form of tyranny.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

10 Oct 2011 16:09

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Politics: Polling shows Romney up big in New Hampshire despite tepid voter loyalty

  • 38% of New Hampshire GOP voters support Mitt Romney, according to a St. Anselm/Harvard poll
  • 10% of those same voters say they’re “definitely” voting for Romney — now that’s some dissatisfaction source
  • » Sorry guys, but Mitt’s it. It’s clear as ever this isn’t the position the GOP base wants to be in. To be clear, Romney’s polling lead is huge — Herman Cain came in second place with 20%, a full 18 points behind. The enthusiasm problem, however, as displayed by the discrepancy between his general support and those truly committed to him, should be a warning sign for Team Romney. Successful political figures usually need to inspire an extreme degree of loyalty amongst their base to weather the missteps, gaffes or scandals that usually occur over the course of a long campaign process. If it’s true that nearly 3/4ths of Romney’s New Hampshire supporters are still theoretically open to jumping ship? That’s a problem.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Oct 2011 15:20

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Politics: Joe the Plumber to run for Congress in 2012

  • That may be Rep. Wurzelbacher to you: Today’s profile in not realizing when your moment has passed comes courtesy of “Joe the Plumber,” who has filed papers to run for the House of Representatives in Ohio’s 9th congressional district. (Among the other folks running: Joe’s polar opposite, Dennis Kucinich, who will be mired in a primary as a result of redistricting.) Joe’s rise to national prominence came in 2008, after he challenged then-candidate Barack Obama at an Ohio event over his tax plan, then became a McCain talking point in the final presidential debate. There was a brouhaha he might run back in 2010, when he would’ve been part of the conservative tide rushing into Washington, and that climate would’ve buoyed him, but now? We think that was his shot, and he passed on it. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 21:15

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Politics: Rep. Darrell Issa may issue subpoenas over “Fast and Furious” program

  • Clearly, he knew when he said he didn’t know. Now the question is what did he know and how is he going to explain why he gave that answer.
  • Rep. Darrell Issa • Asking on “Fox News Sunday” why Attorney General Eric Holder gave Issa, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman, a seemingly false answer on his knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious, a failed gun-tracking program. The program has since been tied to numerous murders in the U.S. and Mexico — and the results of which are still showing up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Issa wants answers. “People at the top of (the) Justice (Department) were well briefed, knew about it and seemed to be the command and control and funding for this program,” he claimed. Holder told him during a May Judiciary Committee hearing that he had only known about the program for a few weeks — an answer which doesn’t please Issa, and may lead to him issuing subpoenas to the Justice Department later this week. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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