Between Barack and a Hard Place: Ultimate US Elections 2012 Thread

[Iangould]

Let's hear it for reasoned debate:

The Heartland Institute, a controversial group known for trying to discredit climate science, has unveiled billboards that compare people concerned about global warming to mass murderers such as Osama Bin Laden.

The Chicago-based group said its first billboards featuring Ted Kaczynski-- whose mail bombing campaign spanned nearly 20 years and killed three people and injured 23 others-- began appearing Thursday along the the inbound Eisenhower Expressway in Maywood, Ill.

"The most prominent advocates of global warming aren't scientists," Heartland's president, Joseph Bast, said in a news release. "They are Charles Manson, a mass murderer; Fidel Castro, a tyrant; and Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber." The group said other "global warming alarmists" who may appear on future billboards include Osama bin Laden and James J. Lee, who took hostages inside the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in 2010.

In a statement, the group says it chose these "madmen" because what they've said "differs very little from what spokespersons for the United Nations, journalists for the "mainstream" media, and liberal politicians say about global warming."

[Iangould]

Sarah Palin may not have cost John McCain the Presidency but she certainly hurt his campaign.

Mitt Romney appears to be eager to avoid McCains mistake of picking a running mate he didn't know and who was recommended by a committee.

So he's made a point of spending time campaigning with several leading candidates for the job ranging from Mario Rubio to Bobby Jindal.

Today, he was joined in a Virginia campaign appearance by Congresswomen Michelle Bachmann.

please, please, please, Mitt: pick her.

[Jeff Brady]

Today, he was joined in a Virginia campaign appearance by Congresswomen Michelle Bachmann.

please, please, please, Mitt: pick her.

Oh god, the black hole of stupid would swallow the nation whole.

[Iangould]

i really want to see Celebrity MILF Island

See I clicked on this page and then realized I'd missed a bunch of posts and went back and read them.

I'm somewhat surprised that there's no link between the Hilary Clinton party first comments and the concept of Celebrity MILF Island.

[worstblogever]

Did CNN ever support an actual Fascist party?

Were its former owners close personal friends of Hitler and Mussolini?

Well... no, but Ted Turner did hump the bejeezus out of Hanoi Jane.

[USArmyParatrooper]

Sarah Palin may not have cost John McCain the Presidency but she certainly hurt his campaign.

Mitt Romney appears to be eager to avoid McCains mistake of picking a running mate he didn't know and who was recommended by a committee.

So he's made a point of spending time campaigning with several leading candidates for the job ranging from Mario Rubio to Bobby Jindal.

Today, he was joined in a Virginia campaign appearance by Congresswomen Michelle Bachmann.

please, please, please, Mitt: pick her.

I wish, but I highly doubt it. Mitt Romney plays it safe. He's far to (small C) conservative to pick such a wild card.

[Winslow]

Mitt will pick a hard right social conservative cut in the mold of Santorum to both placate and energize the Christian Right.

Anyone want to bet $10,000 of Mitt's money on it?

[Matt Algren]

Mitt will pick a hard right social conservative cut in the mold of Santorum to both placate and energize the Christian Right.

Anyone want to bet $10,000 of Mitt's money on it?

I think you're right. It'll have to be a fundamentalist christian to shore up the anti-Mormon vote, and far enough to the right to shut Bryan Fischer up, with whom I agreed with for the first time ever yesterday. I feel really gross even typing that.

American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer poked fun at Mitt Romney today on Focal Point following the resignation of Richard Grenell, an openly gay Romney spokesman on security issues who Fischer and other Religious Right leaders wanted ousted from the campaign. Anti-gay activists celebrated news of Grenell’s resignation as a “huge win,” and the New York Times reported that one Republican adviser claimed the campaign offered no defense of Grenell because “they didn’t want to confront the religious right.”

Today, Fischer asserted that Romney shouldn’t expect voters to trust him to confront China, Russia or North Korea if he cannot stand up to “a conservative radio talk show host in Middle America.” “I don’t think for one minute that Mitt Romney did not want this guy gone,” Fischer continued, “he wanted this guy gone because there was not one word of defense, not a peep, from the Romney camp to defend him.”

Fischer: Let me ask you this question, people have raised this question, if Mitt Romney can be pushed around, intimidated, coerced, coopted by a conservative radio talk show host in Middle America, then how is he going to stand up to the Chinese? How is he going to stand up to Putin? How is he going to stand up to North Korea if he can be pushed around by a yokel like me? I don’t think Romney is realizing the doubts that this begins to raise about his leadership. I don’t think for one minute that Mitt Romney did not want this guy gone; he wanted this guy gone because there was not one word of defense, not a peep, from the Romney camp to defend him. They just went absolutely stone cold silent, they put a bag over Grenell’s head, they even asked him to organize this phone conference and they didn’t even let him speak at the conference that he organized.

[7thangel]

a list of corps. and business that are still funding ALEC

http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.a...QIwG&b=8078765

[7thangel]

Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XVI

After finally wrapping up his strange presidential campaign this week, Newt Gingrich talked to Wolf Blitzer about his support for his former rival, Mitt Romney. The CNN host asked, "Do you still believe Romney is a liar?"

Gingrich replied, in reference to the presidential candidate he now supports, "The governor said things at times that weren't true." Pressed further on whether that means Romney's a liar, Gingrich changed the subject.

It's generally not a good sign when high-profile supporters of a candidate hedge on whether the candidate is an honest person, but then again, the presumptive Republican nominee is not like most candidates. To appreciate the scope of Romney's distortions, consider the 16th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.

1. In a speech in Ohio, Romney referred to the Bush/Cheney era as "before the recession."

The recession began in late 2007, more than a year before President Obama's inauguration. The economy crashed in September 2008, four months before Obama took office. Someone who claims an expertise in economic policy probably ought to know that.

2. In the same speech, Romney summarized his message to young people: "[I]t's so critical, in my view, for you to consider what's in the best interest of not just yourself, but of America, over the coming century, and it is to stop the excessive overspending."

Annual domestic spending is already on track to become the smallest share of the economy since Dwight Eisenhower's administration.

3. Romney acknowledged that President "inherited" the recession, but added that Obama "didn't make it better."

That's plainly false.

4. In the same speech, Romney said once "Obamacare" is implemented, "government at all levels" will "consume" 50% of the American economy.

David Corn explains today that this is Romney's arguably "biggest fib," which falls "somewhere between 'ridiculous' and 'stupid.'"

5. Also from that speech, Romney said Obama's record includes "the first trillion deficit in history."

That's a blatant lie -- the day Obama was inaugurated, there was a $1.3 trillion deficit Bush had left for him to clean up.

6. In the same remarks, Romney said, "We're on track to become Greece."

No, we're not.

7. The Romney campaign again claimed "more than 92%" of the jobs lost since Obama took office are women.

This still is a ridiculous lie.

8. The Romney campaign added, "The fact is, what we have now is the U.S. economy is a hostile workplace for women under President Obama because it's harder to get a job."

That's absurdly untrue, too.

9. In New Hampshire, Romney said Obama is "focused on taking away from those who have the least."

That's blatantly untrue in an ironic sort of way. Romney's tax plan calls for higher taxes on those at the lowest end of the income scale. He also intends to cut food stamps, Medicaid, and educational spending, which benefit those who have the least.

10. Romney also vowed, "I want to help the poor."

First, see #9. Second, he specifically said earlier this year, "I'm not very concerned about the poor."

11. Romney told Charlie Rose that the president has launched an "attack on small businesses."

In reality, Obama has cut taxes on small businesses (several times), eased the process that allows small businesses to be created, and streamlined the patent process.

12. The Romney campaign argued this week that the former governor's position on the auto-industry rescue "was exactly what President Obama followed," adding, "The only economic success that President Obama has had is because he followed Mitt Romney's advice."

Romney condemned Obama's efforts on the industry rescue repeatedly, including throughout the GOP primaries. He can't oppose the policy and take credit for the policy at the same time, at least not if he's being honest.

13. Romney said regulations under Obama are duplicating "like proverbial rabbits."

It's a subjective question, I suppose, but at a minimum, this is deeply misleading. The truth is, Obama approved fewer regulations than George W. Bush did over a comparable period.

14. The Romney campaign this week claimed President Obama "delivered" the controversy over GSA over-spending at a Las Vegas conference.

The Obama administration launched the investigation that uncovered the wrongdoing, and GSA's reckless conference spending began during the Bush era.

15. In a speech in Virginia yesterday, Romney blamed "card check" for making things "tougher" on businesses.

Card check didn't pass, so it's impossible for Romney's argument to be true.

16. In the same speech, Romney said Obama has "added about 150,000 government workers."

That's the opposite of reality, and reflects an unnerving ignorance about job policy.

17. Romney, at the same event, said raising the top marginal income tax rate would force small businesses to "cut back" and not "hire more."

This is one of those zombie lies that never goes away, but it's still not true.

18. Romney went on to condemn Obama for "shutting down" a "wonderful" school voucher program in the District of Columbia.

Obama didn't shut down the school voucher program in the District of Columbia. It still exists.

[...]

[Loren]

Gary Johnson is the Libertarian Party nominee.

Dave Weigel has an in-depth interview with the former New Mexico governor. A sampling:

“I really believe I’m gonna take it from Obama rather than Romney. I joke, you know—maybe all those pot-smoking, marriage equality, get out of Afghanistan voters for Romney are going to switch to me. Then, boy, he’ll be in trouble!”...

“I think at this point there are a few libertarian states,” says Johnson. “New Mexico might actually be in play. That’s a possibility. Wyoming. Montana. Nevada. Alaska. I’m thinking in terms of electoral votes. Those are states where we might actually win a three-way race.”

This is what every third party candidate says. Why would 2012 be different?

“Well, if you go back to 2008, Obama was the messiah to a lot of people,” says Johnson “Now you’ve got 80 percent of people saying they’d vote for a third party candidate. Do I make a difference? I don’t know, I don’t know. But being on the ballot in all 50 states, being in the game—wow! At some point, collectively, the country has to say, is there anyone else in this race? And I hope the answer they hear is, ‘yes, Libertarian Gary Johnson.’ ”...

When he was a Republican candidate, Johnson tried to carve out a space on the libertarian left wing of the party. The people who managed debates determined, through a process of their own design, that this wing did not actually exist. As an L.P. candidate, Johnson insists that he will make it harder for Obama to win another term. Johnson will campaign on the drug war, for example. Surely no one who voted for Obama on that issue could vote for him again.

[Iangould]

So essentially Johnson's strategy is to attack a President who's closer to him on social issues so that a Republican candidate who opposes him on those same issues can win.

But if things go extraordinarily well he might win one state and get a whole paragraph in future history texts rather than just a sentence. That seems worth it.

[o1pickleboy]

So essentially Johnson's strategy is to attack a President who's closer to him on social issues so that a Republican candidate who opposes him on those same issues can win.

But if things go extraordinarily well he might win one state and get a whole paragraph in future history texts rather than just a sentence. That seems worth it.

Because he believes economic(money) issues are more important

[Matt Algren]

Because he believes economic(money) issues are more important

Yeah, I bet it'll increase his speaking fee considerably. Or was that not what you were talking about?

[Rasputin9977]

Barry's latest smear campaing is targeting Mitt's Swiss bank account. Talk about reaching deep.