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11 May 2011 19:37

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U.S.: “Mitch The Knife” lives up to name, cuts health services for poor sick people

  • NO Planned Parenthood access for poor Hoosiers source
  • » Last June, he called for a “truce” on social issues. Now, with a presidential run looking ever-so-tempting, Mitch Daniels has no problem cutting reproductive services for 9,300 Medicaid recipients in Indiana, of which he is regrettably the governor. Today, a court rejected Planned Parenthood’s efforts to postpone enforcement of the bill. For low-income Indianans who feared they might have life-threatening illnesses, Planned Parenthood was one of their only resources. Now, thanks to Daniels’ quixotic presidential ambitions, they’re out of luck. (Note: A separate request for an injunction, filed by the ACLU, has not yet been ruled on)
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2011 23:41

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Politics: Newt’s Pre-Announcement Announcement Fail

  • A two-day advance warning that Newt Gingrich will announce [a presidential run] on social networks demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of the modern media landscape.
  • Republican Strategist Mindy Finn • On the Newt’s pre-announcement announcement. Funny, we were thinking the same thing. We’ll never quite understand why the modern Republican party is unable to grasp the nuances of social networking, but it’s sure fun to watch (Note: Finn advises Tim Pawlenty on digital outreach, so perhaps hope remains for the GOP’s new media skills). source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2011 22:08

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Politics: Is Jon Huntsman unfit to run for President in 2012?

  • When the President of the United States sends you off to be Ambassador to our greatest strategic adversary in the world, you don’t sit around contemplating running against the very same President you serve. It begs the question of did you fully carry out your duties as Ambassador, or [did you] let a few things slip along the way hoping to damage the President?
  • RedState’s Erick Erickson • On the prospect of a Jon Huntsman presidential bid. While we’ve taken issue with RedState in the past, this analysis feels quite powerful. Of course, Erickson’s suspicions may well be unfounded, but the potential conflict of interest does, at least, warrant consideration. Keep in mind that President Obama appointed Huntsman as Ambassador to China in part so Huntsman wouldn’t run against him in 2012. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Apr 2011 23:12

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Politics: Rick Santorum launches presidential bid; political world remains indifferent

  • yesIt’s official: Former Senator Rick Santorum has announced the launch an exploratory committee to run for President!
  • no He still isn’t being taken seriously by anyone; Intraders currently give him a .7% chance of winning the nomination. source
  • » Flashback: When asked about his feelings on homosexuality in 2003, Santorum replied, “I have no problem with homosexuality. I have a problem with homosexual acts.” He then insisted that the Constitution doesn’t grant people the right to privacy. We’re just sayin’ .
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Apr 2011 22:49

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Politics: Trump’s polling paints a muddy picture

  • yeah… In the latest WSJ/NBC poll, The Donald trumped his opponents, vaulting ahead of Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich and tying Mike Huckabee for second place. He also came in second in a New Hampshire poll, losing out to Willard “Mitt” Romney.
  • but In last week’s PPP poll, Trump scored an approval rating of just 28% (with net approval at -18), and lost a hypothetical match-up to President Obama by 11 points. He also came in a dismal fifth amongst primary voters in a recent CNN poll. source
  • » What to make of this: By and large, the takeaway here is that the Republican field is very weak, and there’s no clear favorite (Huckabee and Romney could perhaps be considered “co-favorites”). Trump has done well in a few polls, but this is more likely due to a) boredom on the part of primary voters, and b) Trump’s recent media blitz. It’s difficult to imagine a candidate with such toxic approval ratings winning a national election; he’d have to win over an additional 18% of voters just to break even. That being said, 26% of voters in the PPP poll haven’t yet made up their mind about Trump, giving him lots of room to grow. Still, we agree with Christian Heinz over at The Hill, who noted that Trump’s numbers illustrate “the tremendous thirst for a new, charismatic candidate” in the GOP primary. Charismatic? You betcha. Electable? We’re not so sure.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Apr 2011 15:52

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Politics: 2012: Are Pawlenty’s over-the-top campaign ads working?

  • The same day President Obama announced his reelection campaign, GOP hopeful Tim Pawlenty put out another Bruckheimer-esque ad for his own 2012 run at the White House. This has all the charming affectations we’ve come to expect from Pawlenty’s ad shop, which is attempting (transparently, though not unwisely) to paint T-Paw as a more exciting candidate than he’s generally thought to be. We actually think Pawlenty is running a pretty smart campaign, despite the superficially goofy feel of these ads. Whereas nobody took his campaign seriously at its outset, some beltway types are now coalescing around the notion of Pawlenty as the wisest, or at least most plausible, choice for the GOP in 2012. Of course, winning over voters in New Hampshire is a different story entirely. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 22:02

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Politics: Ron Paul fifty-fifty at running for President

  • 50% odds that Ron Paul will run for President in 2012 source
  • » Indecisive in Iowa: The libertarian hero, whose stock is way up since his cred-building 2008 run, made the prediction while visiting Iowa. “I really don’t know,” he says. “Maybe a trip like this will help me make up my mind.”
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 Mar 2011 00:47

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Politics: Mitt Romney rips Obamacare (which was based on his own plan)

  • You may have noticed that the president and his people spend more time talking about me and Massachusetts health care than Entertainment Tonight spends talking about Charlie Sheen.
  • Mitt Romney • Trying to get a whip-dash burn in on Obama while being hip and of the moment. Romney was in New Hampshire today making the kind of inroads a presidential candidate might make. Which, of course, means that he has to eventually talk to the elephant in the room – he health care plan he enacted, on which the federal plan was modeled. Romney’s take? He was dealing with problems “unique to Massachusetts” with his plan, and Obamacare is “Misguided and egregious.” Because hey. As long as I look good and I can take credit for something, it doesn’t matter what you do. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 22:36

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Politics: Haley Barbour refuses to condemn tribute to KKK leader

  • No candidate can successfully run for president if he doesn’t understand you should rebuke efforts to honor the man most identified with the KKK.
  • The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin • On Mississippi governor and likely presidential candidate Haley Barbour’s latest racially-tinged blunder. After praising the racist, pro-segregationist Council of Conservative Citizens last year as “an organization of town leaders,” and insisting that that the civil rights battles of the 60s weren’t “that bad,” he’s now refusing to condemn an effort in Mississippi to make commemorative license plates honoring a leader of the KKK, Nathan Bedford Forrest. For a while, members of the GOP establishment have been urging Barbour not to run for President. We think they’re onto something. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2011 00:57

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Politics: Conservatives launch anti-President Romney campaign

  • You know how sometimes a movement will arise to try and draft a reluctant candidate to run for President? Well, this is the opposite: a movement to dissuade an eager candidate from running. The problem with Romney, according to the good folks at DontDoItMitt.com, is that he’s just not conservative enough. The site says that he “pushed through [his] own version of nationalized health care in Massachusetts” (an odd charge, seeing as “nationalized” refers explicitly to something that’s not state-level), and begs him “not to take down the entire Republican party.” Maybe if they’re successful, Romney will bow out gracefully and decline a run. We’re thinking probably not. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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