Posts

Spouse appeal: Wives help Obama, Romney campaigns

/2 Comments/in /by

It’s no coincidence that Michelle Obama and Ann Romney are showing up a lot more as the tight presidential race barrels into the final few months.

The rival campaigns are rolling out their top assets in a big way. The first lady is the public face of a new grass-roots mobilizing effort for Team Obama. And Mrs. Romney’s recent interviews have put her on display cutting through the campaign din – including her blunt statement Thursday that her husband has provided everything that “people need to know” and won’t be releasing more tax returns.

Although Mrs. Romney is still largely unknown to a large swath of the public, both women are well regarded by voters in their own parties, and the campaigns are going all-out to use their appeal in ways that go well beyond the traditional presidential cookie bakeoff.

“They really do appear to be in it to win it, both of them, and sincerely in it to win it,” says Anita McBride, who served as Laura Bush’s chief of staff in the White House.

Mrs. Obama on Thursday made her debut as the leader the Obama campaign’s new “It Takes One” program, which asks supporters to do one thing to promote the campaign – and to engage someone else to do likewise.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey

Gingrich to Romney: You’d better invite Sarah Palin to the Tampa Convention

/15 Comments/in /by

Former House Speaker and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich slammed the Romney campaign Tuesday, saying former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney should extend a speaking invitation to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

“Governor Palin motivates and arouses an entire base,” Mr. Gingrich said in an interview with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham. “[She] should absolutely have a speaking slot.”

Mr. Gingrich’s comment on the matter comes just days after reports emerged noting that Mr. Romney has yet to invite Ms. Palin to the Republican presidential convention hosted in Tampa, Florida. Mr. Gingrich, who has not been invited to speak at the convention, said that he would be honored to speak at the convention if asked, but the decision is up to Mr. Romney and his team.

Ms. Palin, who responded to reports that the Romney campaign has yet to offer her a speaking invitation, said the circumtances regarding the Romney decision was payback for her outspokenness and criticism of his policy stances.

“What can I say?” Palin told Newsweek when asked about the convention. “I’m sure I’m not the only one accepting consequences for calling out both sides of the aisle for spending too much money, putting us on the road to bankruptcy, and engaging in crony capitalism.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey

Video: Democrat Loses it on Tea Partier at Jewish Pro-Obama Event

/4 Comments/in , /by

Watch a Democrat completely lose his cool with a Tea Partier outside of a pro-Obama event at a Jewish Reform Congregation.  Just minutes earlier, a member of the Jewish Americans for Romney was chased off the property.  [Caution: profane language]

 

Photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Romney’s VP pick narrowed to these pro-lifers

/6 Comments/in /by

Speculation about which vice-presidential candidate Republican hopeful Mitt Romney will select to run with him against pro-abortion President Barack Obama has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks.

A new report from Reuters claims three pro-life elected officials top the Romney list, despite the fact that campaign officials say no decision has been made and that political pundits are making cases for other possible selections. As Reuters reports:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appears to be in the final stages of deciding who to pick as his vice presidential running mate, with speculation growing that he has narrowed his choice down to a short-list of three.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal all offer various strengths to Romney should he decide to pick one of them to join his battle to unseat President Barack Obama and his vice president, Joe Biden, in the November 6 election.

“No decision has been made. An announcement could happen any time between now and the convention, but it will only happen after a decision has been made and no decision has been made,” said Romney campaign senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom.

Read more from this story HERE.

Boehner refuses to go along with Romney’s plan to confront Chinese currency manipulation

/1 Comment/in , /by

The top Republican in the U.S. Congress highlighted a policy rift Thursday with his party’s presidential hopeful when he reiterated his opposition to using legislation to press China to revalue its currency.

Staking out a position in contrast to the hawkish views of Mitt Romney, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who has opposed repeated efforts in recent years to pass laws that would put tariffs on Chinese goods unless it allowed the yuan to appreciate, told reporters he still felt the same way.

“There’s a way to deal with this problem and a way not to deal with it. Congress passing a law outlining stringent requirements for dealing with the Chinese and the value of the currency, I think is inappropriate,” Boehner said.

Earlier this week, Lanhee Chen, the Romney campaign policy director, issued a blistering statement in which she said President Barack Obama, a Democrat, had “lost all credibility on China and trade” for among many things, failing to label China a currency manipulator despite his 2008 campaign pledge to do so.

“What message does it send the Chinese when President Obama refuses to even formally acknowledge that they are in fact manipulating their currency?” Chen wrote.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: jimmiehomeschoolmom

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice front-runner for Romney VP?

/4 Comments/in /by

Late Thursday evening, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign launched a new fundraising drive, ‘Meet The VP’ — just as Romney himself has narrowed the field of candidates to a handful, sources reveal.

And a surprise name is now near the top of the list: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice!

The timing of the announcement is now set for ‘coming weeks’.

It was Condi who received two standing ovations at Romney’s Utah retreat a few weeks ago, and everyone left with her name on their lips.

Rice made an extended argument for American leadership in the world.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: Vince Alongi

Obama campaign takes page out of Jim Whitaker play book, asserting Romney a felon

/1 Comment/in /by

The battle between President Obama and Mitt Romney reached new levels of rancor Thursday, with each campaign accusing the other of lying over Romney’s tenure at private-equity firm Bain Capital.

The charges flew at a rapid pace, and by the end of the day the Romney campaign was demanding an apology after a senior Obama campaign official said the Republican presidential candidate may have committed a felony.

Obama official Stephanie Cutter made the claim following a Boston Globe article that said documents show Romney was in charge at Bain for three years longer than he had claimed. Cutter said Romney was either misrepresenting his position at Bain to the Securities and Exchange Commission, “which is a felony,” or misrepresenting to the American people.

Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades issued a blistering statement in response.

“President Obama’s campaign hit a new low today when one of its senior advisers made a reckless and unsubstantiated charge to reporters about Mitt Romney that was so over the top that it calls into question the integrity of their entire campaign,” Rhoades said. “President Obama ought to apologize for the out-of-control behavior of his staff, which demeans the office he holds. Campaigns are supposed to be hard fought, but statements like those made by Stephanie Cutter belittle the process and the candidate on whose behalf she works.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Also, read HERE how the Boston Globe is refusing to make corrections to articles falsely reporting Romney’s employment history.  Sound familiar?

Photo credit: Alan Cleaver

Hypocrite: Pelosi made up to $5 million on Asian investments in 2011

/2 Comments/in , /by

On the heels of The Weekly Standard’s report yesterday that DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz — a vocal critic of Mitt Romney‘s investing practices, had herself dabbled in the foreign markets — we can add Nancy Pelosi to the list of prominent Democrats to profit from overseas investments.

According to Pelosi’s 2011 financial disclosure statement, the Democratic House Minority Leader received between $1 million and $5 million in partnership income from ”Matthews International Capital Management LLC,” a group that emphasizes that it has a “A Singular Focus on Investing in Asia.” A quick trip to the company website reveals a featured post extolling the virtues of outsourcing.

“Designed in California, Made in Manila” sounds like an excellent title for a smear ad to be run the by the Barack Obama campaign. Instead, it appears to be Nancy Pelosi’s investment strategy.

Pelosi is also a small investor in the embattled “Moduslink Global,” one of the “outsourcing pioneers” that Mitt Romney has been criticized for associating with while at Bain Capital.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service

Romney slams Obama’s pandering statement to Spanish TV that Chavez is no threat to US interests

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Republican Mitt Romney chided President Barack Obama on Wednesday for playing down “the threat” posed by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez as he sought to portray the Democrat as soft on national security, an issue that may resonate with Latino voters in November’s election.

Romney was reacting to remarks Obama made to a Spanish language television station that Chavez’s actions over recent years had “not had a serious national security impact” on America.

“This is a stunning and shocking comment by the president. It is disturbing to see him downplaying the threat posed to U.S. interests by a regime that openly wishes us ill,” Romney said in a statement. “President Obama’s remarks continue a pattern of weakness in his foreign policy, one that has emboldened adversaries and diminished U.S. influence.”

Pushing back, Obama’s campaign team accused Romney of playing into the hands of the leftist Venezuelan leader by granting him the international attention that he craved.

“Hugo Chavez has become increasingly marginalized and his influence has waned. It’s baffling that Mitt Romney is so scared of a leader like Chavez whose power is fading,” said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: William Hernández

Obama widens lead over Romney by six points in latest poll of registered voters

/11 Comments/in , /by

President Barack Obama expanded his lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney to 6 percentage points in the White House race this month as voters became slightly more optimistic about the economy, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.

Four months before the November 6 election, Obama leads Romney among registered voters 49 percent to 43 percent. In June, Obama held a slim 1-point lead over the former Massachusetts governor.

Obama’s improved standing was fueled in part by a slight rise in optimism about the future, with the number of Americans who think the country is on the wrong track dropping 5 percentage points to 58 percent.

Obama’s approval ratings ticked up 1 point to 48 percent and the number of Americans who disapprove of his job performance dropped 3 percentage points to 47 percent.

The shift follows a low point for Obama in June as economic worries deepened and Romney consolidated Republican support after clinching the party’s nomination to challenge him in November. Obama had led Romney by 7 points in May’s poll.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey