Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

21 Feb 2012 10:47

tags

Politics: Mitt Romney’s campaign plowing through cash, not getting much back

  • 287% the “burn rate” of Mitt’s campaign in January
  • $18M the amount Mitt spent on the campaign trail in January
  • $6.5M the amount Mitt got in donations last month — far less than he took in
  • $7.7M the amount Mitt had in the bank at the end of January source
  • » Spending a lot, not getting much back? With pricey losses and close contests, including in Iowa and South Carolina, the Mitt train seems to be losing some steam. And his toughest week is ahead of him: With contests in Arizona and Michigan in just a week, and Super Tuesday on the horizon, there’s a good chance he may not be able to pull it off, leading to the possibility of a “brokered” or “contested” convention in August.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Feb 2012 14:11

tags

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

23 Dec 2011 01:09

tags

Politics: Reporting on the campaign trail: Harder than you might think

  • on camera A candidate like Mitt Romney, for example, fields questions day in and day out, and it’s not an easy racket. NBC’s Chuck Todd explains: “[It’s] tough to have the 75th interview in the last 72 hours. Everything’s been asked.” It’s a game where being first and asking the best questions is key.
  • off camera Members of Romney’s press bus tour have traveled since June. NBC reporter, producer and cameraman Garrett Haake explains it as such: “You’re running around. You’re on buses. You’re on planes. You don’t see your family, but you wake up in the morning and you still really want to do it.” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Dec 2011 21:08

tags

Politics: MSNBC is sorry…for what, exactly?

  • An unnecessary apology? Yesterday, a post over at America Blog noted that “Keep America American,” a phrase Mitt Romney sometimes uses while campaigning, is also a slogan once used by the Klu Klux Klan. Now, while this is embarrassing for the Romney campaign, it’s probably not an intentional effort by Romney to co-opt the KKK’s message, or pander to the group’s base. That is, it’s almost certainly just an unfortunate coincidence. What’s odd, though, is that hours after reporting on the story, MSNBC felt the need to issue an apology. But why? We missed MSNBC’s original report, but as you can see above, Chris Matthews specifically apologizes for “report[ing] on a blog item that compared a phrase used by the Romney campaign to one used by the KKK way back in the 1920s.” But…the phrase was used by both groups. It’s a fact. MSNBC doesn’t dispute this. So why was it, in Matthews’ words, “irresponsible,” and indicative of an “appalling lack of judgement,” for the network to point it out? Can someone who saw the original report shed some light on this? source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Oct 2011 16:09

tags

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

13 Jun 2011 17:02

tags

Politics: A bumpy ride: Romney unveils new attack ad against Obama

  • Bump in the road: Be warned, you’re going to hear those four words a lot in this new ad by the Mitt Romney campaign. The ad has stirred up some discussion, specifically because it’s making such a strident criticism of such an offhanded turn of phrase. Arguments about the content of the ad aside, though, here’s what we’ll say: This is a poorly constructed piece of political handiwork. The reason being, the ad uses the words “bump in the road” so many times that they begin to lose all impact well before the end (in which it dissolves into a full cacophony of “bumps in the road”). It’s really, really trying too hard, which is something we sometimes think about Mitt himself. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 May 2011 15:08

tags

Politics: Chris Christie plays lone wolf in Mitt Romney health-care support

  • Gov. Romney’s speech yesterday was just the type of tone we need. While folks may not agree with what he said, that type of candor is what Americans expect from a serious presidential candidate today.
  • New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie • Offering a big wet kiss to Mitt Romney for his straight-talking approach to health care. Romney made the argument that the health care approach (which Obama based his national health-care plan upon) was the right one for his state — but not necessarily for the country. What’s weird is that Christie was one of the few to offer support to Mitt after the speech, which many on the right really didn’t like. Guess we know who Chris Christie is voting for in 2012. (Hint: Not himself.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
 
top tags