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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Analysis: Obama pitches middle while GOP eyes base

6

By The Associated Press
The dustup over contraception underscored President Barack Obama's political edge in working to attract independent voters without alienating his Democratic base. His Republican rivals are forced to keep emphasizing their conservative credentials to attract the right-leaning activists who dominate the nominating contests.
It's a dynamic that usually plays out when a president seeks re-election without a primary challenger, and the other party fights to determine its nominee.
Obama already is in general-election mode, with the luxury of courting voters who don't ascribe to a political party. The eventual Republican nominee is moving to the right and probably will have to edge back toward the center in the fall. The farther he must go to the fringe to win the nod, however, the tougher his task.
Recommended: Former Bachmann spokeswoman heads to Santorum campaign 
The difference was clear Friday, at events two miles apart in Washington.
At the White House, Obama made a carefully calibrated concession to Catholics angered by his decision to require religious-affiliated employers, including Catholic hospitals and colleges, to cover birth control in their health insurance plans. The president tweaked the rule Friday. He said insurance companies would provide contraceptive benefits directly to employees, technically leaving employers out of the transaction.
White House and Obama campaign officials were relieved by the initial reaction.
Groups such as Planned Parenthood, which privately had urged no changes, praised the move. More important, so did the influential Catholic Health Association of the United States, whose criticism of the original rule spelled trouble for Obama's team.
At the same time across town, three of the four GOP presidential candidates appeared separately at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a major annual gathering of activists on the political right. Each tried to out-do the other in proclaiming conservative fealty.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum criticized Obama's contraception policy. They painted themselves as conservative crusaders on a range of issues.
Romney drew snickers by saying he was a "severely conservative governor." Gingrich said the Obama administration "is waging war on religion."
Santorum, who built much of his national profile by fighting legalized abortion, said Obama is "telling the Catholic Church that they are forced to pay for things that are against their basic tenets and teachings."
"It's not about contraception," he said. "It's about economic liberty. It's about freedom of speech. It's about freedom of religion."
Democrats hope independent voters will see it differently. Americans, including Catholics, overwhelmingly embrace birth control. Obama's goal was to reframe his policy as a matter of equal access to preventive health care, not a quarrel about religious or economic rights.
"I think the president ended up looking like the responsible person in the room," said Lanae Erickson of the Democratic-leaning group Third Way, which has studied independent voting trends. "The Republican primary candidates went way out on a limb and will alienate themselves with independent voters," she said.
The CPAC speeches were standard fare for such conservative gatherings, and they may not matter much in November. But Democrats will try to use the remarks to portray the eventual GOP nominee as out of touch with middle America.
For now, they're focusing mainly on Romney, who won Saturday's straw poll at CPAC and the Maine GOP caucuses.
"Mitt Romney and the rest may think that catering to the tea party set and Rush Limbaugh is the only way to win the nomination, but the eventual nominee is going to pay a huge price for that approach with swing voters in the fall," said Brad Woodhouse, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee."
Campaign strategists endlessly debate the right balance between pursuing independents versus firing up the party base. Karl Rove broke new ground in 2004 by placing considerably more emphasis on the Republican base, which propelled President George W. Bush to a second term.
Obama's 2008 victory, however, was built on the more traditional formula of focusing extensively on independent voters while doing as much as possible to keep his party's liberal activists energized. Since then, Obama has struggled to overcome their disappointment.
The shift on the Catholic-contraception issue appears modest enough to cause few ripples. But Obama infuriated some liberal groups by dropping plans to tighten ozone restrictions and to have a government-run health insurance provider.
Erickson said Obama can ill afford to appease liberals with left-leaning moves that would alienate independents. As public disenchantment with Congress has soared in the past few years, she said, the ranks of independents have swelled at the Democratic and Republican parties' expense.
"This year is going to have the highest independent turnout in modern political history," Erickson said.
The GOP primary contest shows no sign of wrapping up soon.
The longer it goes on, the more time Obama has to make overtures to independents who, as Erickson put it, "will be the kingmakers in this election."



This article reinforces the obvious truth that Obama is a centrist with reasonable positions and the republican party are the ones who are being extreme. Believing the opposite to be true is what demonstrates, better than anything else, just how wrong and out of touch, the Obama haters are. NOTHING Obama has ever done is the least bit extreme. The whole idea that Obama is some sort of extreme left-wing, radical "socialist" is nothing but ludicrous nonsense as anyone with the slightest understanding of American politics can easily see.
  • 29 votes
Reply#1 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:36 AM EST

The problem is that the Right has made itself a bubble; an echo chamber. They no longer have to be exposed to reality to get their political news, and we've seen the unfortunate result.
  • 17 votes
#1.1 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:39 AM EST

Socialist is this decades new buzz-word. Seriously, they use it as some kind of white wash to counter any argument or debate thrown at them. The really sad thing is people who use 'progressive' like it's a 4-letter word. Since when did Progress become terrible? According to those people then, this Congress must be the best this country has ever seen, because it sure isn't progressing at all.
This latest flub with the contraceptives thing couldn't have been planned better though, the majority of women, catholic women, independents and leftists all agree with the policy, and the GoP and Catholic Church are still stuck on telling women what to do with their own bodies.
  • 17 votes
#1.2 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:45 AM EST

"Obama / 2012 Guaranteed" !!!!!!!!
  • 17 votes
#1.3 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:48 AM EST

Hey GOP Base and fellow seniors:
Google: Romney's and Santorum's plans to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Think about that when you cast your vote!
  • 14 votes
#1.4 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:12 PM EST
donald duck has more sense than this jerk..
and would easily beat him!
  • 1 vote
#1.5 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:13 PM EST

Patriotic and Ron
No election is easy and very few are slam dunks. If people think that they will stay away from the polls. Rather than think it's going to be easy, go work for your candidate. I would hate to see the Repbulicans win because people thought it was a slam dunk and didn't bother.
The Republicans are soooo far right they frighten me.
  • 13 votes
#1.6 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:38 PM EST

B Murphy -- Good analysis. The president/Dems are doing a much better job of appealing to swing voters. And it isn't pandering. They have been proving they represent middle America with a lot of hard work and often heavy lifts in the face of GOP/TP obstructionism -- Income inequality, fair taxation, balanced approach to deficits, job creation and investment in a future for ALL.
But as we know, the Right worships at the alter of Fear & Hate -- though irrational and not fact-based, these are the strongest emotions. So liberals MUST get out the vote along with moderates to reelect President Obama, but more importantly to give the president a congress that will work with him.
In regard to demonizing words like "liberal" or "progressive" what about "secular?" Heck, even "European-style" anything including "socialism?" Our government is supposed to be secular, and it's really pitiful when conservatives call liberals "fascists" because fascism is right-wing.
We are bordering on "plutocracy" and Santorum, et al, would like our country to be a "theocracy." These things are real and something to seriously worry about.
  • 8 votes
#1.7 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:47 PM EST

"Hey dsb, the GOP teatards frighten all of us, not just you"
  • 5 votes
#1.8 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:50 PM EST
Im buying stock in Apotex. The Paxil usage will increase on Nov 7th, it will be called the new day after drug.
  • 1 vote
#1.9 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:30 PM EST
Obama is going to go down in flames this fall. Even the notion of telling a church to purchase contraceptives while fining them for not carrying health care is a violation of their faith. Just remember dems, this survives and maybe your party will have you people sterilized in a few years. That would be fitting. Also, the housing crisis is alive and well. No rational person is going to vote for obama after getting soaked by 30-50% on their house and bailing out the banks letting the middle class suffer. As far as his handling of the economy, blowing 5 trillion on his buddies don't cut it - a lot of people lost their jobs and they are not coming back. I am tea party and I won't compromise to a facist dictatorship!
    #1.10 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:44 PM EST
    jolly joker -- What a joke, you troll.
    Laws of the Land against animal sacrifice, or heck, polygamy are examples of balancing rights -- You can't commit murder because you claim it to be your religious belief. Everyone knows the Catholic priests (preaching from the pulpit) about the Laws of the Land, in which birth control is legal and a right of all citizens, is a nontroversy blown out of proportion by the likes of Gingrich.
    This is merely labor law in regard to health insurance (and only applicable to companies of more than 50 employees with churchs exempt) and per long-standing precedent. Thanks to Teapublican love for the current bizarre and broken health care system in which employers are responsible for insurance -- when the rest of the world has cut out the greedy middlemen insurance companies and have government-administered health care thereby avoiding such controversy (contrived as it may be). All this does is confirm the need for a single-payer "Medicare for all" health care system.

    fas·cism/ˈfaSHizÉ™m/
    Noun:
    1. An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
    2. (in general use) Extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice.
    Obviously you don't read other posts, and just swoop and poop. And obviously you subscribe to right-wing propaganda and conspiracy theory ignorance, but when posters lie in here, we call them on it.

    • 1 vote
    #1.11 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:20 PM EST
    Reply
    This president has already shown his colors. He will change his position depending on the mood of the electorate at that time. He will lie and pander to get your support, and then he will throw you under the bus.
    Oust obama bin biden in November!
    • 4 votes
    Reply#2 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:45 AM EST

    Yeah...in favor of who? Romney? Paul? Gingrich? You're kidding right? Those are hardly better replacements.
    • 18 votes
    #2.1 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:46 AM EST

    And to days front-runner is "OBAMA"
    • 8 votes
    #2.2 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:53 AM EST

    He doesn't change his colors, he tries to find room in the middle to get things through. There is nothing wrong with that at all, this country needs more of it.
    • 14 votes
    #2.3 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:03 PM EST

    "Oust obama bin biden in November!"
    Seriously dude? You're still trying to paint the president as a muslim terrorist? How sad and pathetic. I pity you, but not too much. I try not to waste too much of my energy on the mentally retarded like yourself.
    See my post below, it will show you exactly how Obama's reelection is inevitable. Though, republicans and teabaggers are the fingers in the ears, singing "La la la la la" when it comes to being presented with the truth type of idiots.
    • 11 votes
    #2.4 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:16 PM EST

    The president's reelection won't be difficult to achieve. It's a simple matter of math. If one can count as high as 270, the president will have a second term. Simply put, any GOP nominee would have to win all 5 of the following states to get 270 electoral votes; VA, PA, NC, OH & FL. The president won all 5 in 2008, and in November, he'll only have to win one of any of them to get to 270 electoral votes. Republicans pretty much handed him Ohio by pissing off their majority with their failed attempt to take all power away from labor unions in a state that loves their unions. Basically, thanks to republican fools, Obama wins. The vice president will likely be able to deliver Pennsylvania again, they love him there. Virginia is still in play, but will likely go to the GOP. Florida and North Carolina will likely be tossups again.
    Any way you do the math, it's nearly impossible for the GOP nominee, whoever he may be (Romney), to reach 270 electoral votes.
    I look forward to the republicans on this thread calling me all kinds of names,I find their hate amusing (yet still very very sad and pathetic), but I'd be willing to bet that none can refute the math.
    • 14 votes
    #6 - Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:05 PM EST
    Posted by at No comments:

    Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, ex-Republican, wins Libertarian straw poll in Florida


    17
    hours
    ago

    By Jim Gold, msnbc.com

    Jim Cole / AP file
    Libertarian presidential candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson.


    ORLANDO, Fla. -- Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson on Saturday won what he called his first foray into a statewide Libertarian presidential race.
    Johnson, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in December to seek the Libertarian Party nomination, garnered 42 of the 60 Florida delegate votes cast in the straw poll, state Libertarian party finance co-chief Chris Hill told msnbc.com.
    The vote was cast after Johnson and five other Libertarian candidates held a debate.
    Johnson, who had campaigned extensively throughout the state in the week before the convention, told msnbc.com after the debate that he found the issues on voters’ minds “not different here than anywhere else.”
    “The country’s in really deep trouble,” Johnson said.
    He said the Republican and Democratic parties contributed equally to woes centered around too much spending and regulation.
    He reiterated promises to submit a balanced budget to Congress for 2013 and cut federal spending by 43 percent.
    “Our country is not immune to monetary collapse,” he said. “The resulting inflation that is going to hit us … will be catastrophic.”
    He also repeated a call for the “fair tax"– a progressive national sales tax – to replace federal personal income and corporate taxes.
    “It reboots the American economy,” Johnson said, making Americans more savings driven and less consumptive driven.
    He said he takes the best of both established parties in calling himself a fiscal conservative and social liberal.
    Johnson has supported same-sex marriage, abortion rights and looser immigration rules. As governor from 1995 to 2003, he sought legalization of marijuana. He also touts his 750 vetoes of spending bills in New Mexico, which he left with a $1 billion surplus. He has opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    “Keep the government out of the bedroom,” said Johnson, who backed Republican Ron Paul in 2008. He said he still has similar viewpoints as Paul does on many issues but not all of them.
    “I don’t see Ron Paul getting the nomination,” Johnson said, adding he wouldn’t support Paul even if he did get the GOP nod.
    “No way. I’d still continue to talk about these issues,” he said. “People need to hear it from more than one source.”
    Supporter Hill said he hopes voters nationwide will hear Libertarians’ “common-sense” approach to issues at national debates if his party can garner 15 percent support in polls.
    A Libertarian candidate has never received more than 1 percent in a U.S. presidential election, according to NBCMiami.com.
    Posted by at No comments:

    Obama to Congress: 'Stop this middle-class tax hike'


    'I hope you'll pick up the phone, send a tweet, write an email, and tell your representative that they should get this done before it gets too late'

    updated 2/11/2012 8:48:46 AM ET


    WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to extend a payroll tax cut for the remainder of the year as another deadline nears for Congress to act or see taxes go up for millions of working Americans.
    1. Other political news of note
      1. Obama's budget offers short-term help for economy
        The president will send Congress a budget to provide short-term help to a struggling economy while offering a long-term plan to deal with soaring deficits, the White House said Sunday.
      2. Analysis: Obama pitches middle while GOP eyes base
      3. Romney tops Paul for Maine caucus win
      4. Romney wins straw poll of GOP conservatives
      5. Obama to Congress: 'Stop this middle-class tax hike'
    Lawmakers agreed back in December, after much bickering, on a two-month extension, but that runs out at the end of this month.
    Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday that Congress "needs to stop this middle-class tax hike from happening. Period. No drama. No delay."
    Obama, whose address was posted on YouTube, said that the economic recovery, which has been ticking upward, must not be jeopardized by a failure to act to stop payroll taxes from going up, and he urged listeners to add their voices.
    "I hope you'll pick up the phone, send a tweet, write an email, and tell your representative that they should get this done before it gets too late. Tell them not to play politics again by linking this debate to unrelated issues. Tell them not to manufacture another needless standoff or crisis," Obama said.
    "Tell them not to stand in the way of the recovery. Tell them to just do their job. That's what our middle class needs. That's what our country needs," he added.
    $1,000 a year per family Lawmakers have made halting progress on legislation to extend the tax cut.
    The bill also would renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and prevent doctors from being whacked by a 27 percent cut in their Medicare payments, but the package costs $150 billion-plus and lawmakers will have to find a way to pay for it.
    The 2 percentage point cut in Social Security taxes is worth about $1,000 per year for the average family, or $40 per paycheck.
    In the Republican radio address, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell applauded efforts by Republican governors across the country to contain government spending and reduce their state budget deficits.
    Speaking ahead of Obama's release of his own 2013 budget, McDonnell said the federal budget will impede job creation by calling for tax increases and for continuing the administration's health care policies.
    Obama's budget, to be unveiled Monday, would allow Bush-era tax cuts for people in the upper brackets to expire. It also is expected to call for the elimination of corporate tax loopholes while calling for lower corporate tax rates.
    McDonnell said Republicans can help create an environment that creates and sustains private sector jobs.
    "We know that when we limit government to free up capital, and reduce onerous regulations and litigation, we spur private sector job creation."
    Posted by at No comments:

    Republican Weekly Address 02/11/2012


    From: gopweeklyaddress  | Feb 11, 2012  | 1,525 views
    Loading...
    In the Weekly Republican Address, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell previews the budget President Obama is expected to release on February 13th.

    Gov. McDonnell says, "While federal law mandates that the President release his budget on the first Monday of every February, the Administration has extended that period another seven days. Of course that one week delay from the White House pales in comparison to the nearly three-year holdup in the Democratic Senate. In that body, Senator Harry Reid's majority hasn't passed a budget in over 1000 days. Now, the Senator is refusing to even consider a budget on the floor. This is an astounding failure of leadership and management of the nation's finances.

    "Harry Reid may not want to act, but we will still get a budget from the President in less than 48 hours. While we don't know the specifics of that budget, we can reasonably predict a lot from the President's previews and his past policy decisions.

    "We can expect the President's budget to make private sector job creation tougher because it will raise taxes and continue policies like Obamacare that are making it harder for small businesses to hire—at a time when millions of Americans remain out of work. We can expect the President's budget to ignore the growing entitlement crisis in this country. It won't protect the security of Medicare and Social Security and, absent major reforms, it'll continue down the road to bankrupting these programs in the years ahead. Now we can expect the President's budget to again fail to address the $15 trillion, and growing, national debt—in fact, it will probably make it worse. With no boldness or leadership or setting priorities, the Obama approach is simply more debt, more taxes, and more blaming others.

    "In short, we can expect that this will not be a proactive budget built to promote fiscal responsibility and future prosperity. Rather it appears we'll see a bloated budget that doubles down on the failed policies of the past.

    "Republicans know that we can do better."

    In stark contrast to the Obama administration, Gov. McDonnell notes, "While Washington D.C. borrows at a staggering $3.5 billion a day just to keep the lights on, Republican governors have closed $65 billion in deficits the past two fiscal years alone.

    "Here in Virginia, we closed $6 billion in budget shortfalls without raising taxes and produced nearly $1 billion in surpluses the past two years, by putting new money into transportation and colleges and universities. In Nebraska, Governor Dave Heineman proposed $326 million in tax cuts. In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie is pushing to cut the state income tax by 10 percent. And Republican governors in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, New Mexico and South Carolina are all working to reform their tax systems to make their states more competitive.

    Republican governors are balancing their budgets on time, without tax increases, and without deficit spending. And their hard work to make government more efficient and effective is helping to create the environment in which Americans can use their God-given talents to compete, grow, innovate and pursue the American Dream. In fact, in the most recent CNBC rankings of the most business friendly states in the country, 11 of the top 15 states have Republican governors. And Republican led states are outpacing Democratic counterparts when it comes to job creation. Seven of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates have Republican governors, and in 2011, states with Republican governors added 912,000 new jobs."

    He concludes, "A true and lasting economic recovery will not come from government. It will come from the hard work, talents, and vision of the American people. Republicans believe that it is our duty to help create an environment in which private sector jobs can be best created and sustained. And we know that when we limit government to free up capital, and reduce onerous regulations and litigation, we spur private sector job creation.

    "In short, we believe the role of government in an economic recovery is simple: At every level, governments should pass budgets on time that fund core functions like education, transportation, and public safety well, and don't waste precious taxpayer dollars. And, at every level, governments should enact policies that ensure our private sector job creators, small business owners, and entrepreneurs can compete against the world, create jobs, and innovate.

    "The American people can out-compete and out-work anyone, anywhere. All they need is the opportunity. Republican leaders in our state capitals are creating those opportunities for success and they are getting results. Now, we need that kind of leadership in the U.S. Senate and the White House."
    Posted by at No comments:

    Weekly Address: Extending the Payroll Tax Cut for the Middle Class




    Published on Feb 11, 2012 by
    President Obama urges Congress to extend the payroll tax cut to prevent a tax hike on 160 million hardworking Americans.
    Posted by at No comments:

    Romney wins straw poll of Republican conservatives


    By NBC's Carrie Dann and Jamie Novogrod
    WASHINGTON -- Presumed GOP front-runner Mitt Romney has won a straw poll of Republican voters at the American Conservative Union's annual CPAC conference in Washington.
    Romney received 38 percent of Saturday's vote on the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference, followed by Rick Santorum, who garnered 31 percent.
    The win is likely to soothe concerns that Romney cannot shore up backing from conservatives wary of his past change of position on abortion and his onetime support for an individual health care mandate.
    Romney told a packed audience here during remarks Friday that he is "severely conservative," while Santorum urged attendees not to choose a GOP nominee who cannot excite the conservative base.
    "We always talk about how we are going to get the moderates," Santorum said in a clear reference to Romney. "Why would an undecided voter, vote for a candidate of a party that the party's not excited about?"
    One-time Romney "alternative" hopeful Newt Gingrich came in third place with 15 percent of the straw poll vote. Rep. Ron Paul won just 12 percent support.  
    Some 3,408 people voted in the straw poll, the second-highest number to participate in the poll.
    Paul has won the poll for the last two years, but he did not participate in this year's conference.
    The Texas congressman's past victories prompted organizers to change the format for the poll, doing away with paper ballots and offering online voting for participants.
    The American Conservative Union, which runs CPAC, also commissioned a national poll of 600 self-identified conservatives reached by telephone this Tuesday and Wednesday.
    That survey showed Romney clocking in in first place with 27 percent, followed closely by Santorum at 25 percent. Third-place finisher Gingrich garnered 20 percent support in the national poll.
    Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was the top choice for vice president among straw poll participants, while he and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Romney backer, tied at 15 percent among the national poll respondents.
    "This is the first time ever in 25 years that we've ever done a corollary survey that asks the same exact questions," ACU pollster Tony Fabrizio told reporters during a press conference before the release of the results.
    The margin of error for the national poll was plus-minus 4 percent.
    Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was the top choice for vice president among straw poll participants, while he and New Jersey governor and Romney backer Chris Christie tied at 15 percent among the national poll respondents.


    Comments hysterical see more here!

    WOW!
    Apparently, standing at the podium in front of the inmates of the asylum while repeating the word 'conservative' 28 x's is enough to buy Willard some much needed ♥! lol
    I wonder if he got bonus points for; 'severely'?
    Does this straw poll carry more weight than the one in IA?
    • 48 votes
    #1 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:52 PM EST

    Check out Willard Mitt Romney's plans to cut social security and medicare if he is elected:
    Google: Romney vows cuts to social security and medicare
    • 25 votes
    #1.1 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:01 PM EST


    Hmmm there's a real turn up for the books. The Republocrats know, as events unfold, support for Paul will rapidly grow.
    All hail Obamacus.
    • 11 votes
    #1.2 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:01 PM EST

    Comment author avatarHarbinger-2218646Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community
    They don't wear their white hoods at CPAC events anymore, so it's harder to recognize them for what they really are.
    Until they open their mouths.
    • 31 votes
    #1.3 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:07 PM EST

    Check out Willard Mitt Romney's plans to cut social security and medicare if he is elected:
    Is Romney cutting $500 billion from Medicare with Obamacare?
    Is Romney de-funding Social Security with the payroll tax cuts?
    • 19 votes
    #1.4 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:12 PM EST

    Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL

    Does this straw poll carry more weight than the one in IA?

    Only when you think in terms of the weight of all the dollars measured Willard spent!!!!

    Did you hear about the KOCH bros busing young college students into CPAC and offering them scholarships?

    • 17 votes
    #1.5 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:13 PM EST

    Totally rigged of course . . There will be riots and protests and Obama will become the most hated two timing president.
    • 12 votes
    #1.6 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:14 PM EST
    Comment author avatarWilliam Mcarthur
    CPAC is now officially a joke and they have tarnished their own name. I'm a conservative and I know Mit Romney is a liberal who should be a Democrat instead of Republican.
    This is just another case of big money, blue-blood Republican elitist establishment trying to kick out the new underdog Tea Party. Romney is probably more about political-kick backs and behind-the-curtain business connections rather than conservative values that will actually fix this country!
    • 11 votes
    #1.7 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:19 PM EST

    Comment author avatarFeisty Redhead Roselle, ILExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community
    They don't wear their white hoods at CPAC events anymore,
    What would a CPAC convention be without a workshop or two from Peter Briemlow a celebrated white supremacist?
    No "Klan Bake" would be compete without them...
    • 27 votes
    #1.8 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:19 PM EST

    Okay, after Sister-Psychos' juicing-up of the neo-wacko base .... CPAC has now been officially declared over and with these last words from the wierd-looking dude-head of the American Conservative Union ...
    *Go home and fight*
    Serious.
    LOL.
    • 9 votes
    #1.9 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:24 PM EST

    Feisty is NOT She is a liberal.
    • 5 votes
    #1.10 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:25 PM EST

    Comment author avatarJo-An-4354969Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community
    In the dark recesses of their minds, they KNOW Sanatarium is a FREAK, and as much as they LOVE a good FREAK SHOW, they know "independents" Do NOT, so they will hold their noses and vote Romney....
    Talk about hypocrites!
    OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
    • 26 votes
    #1.11 - Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:26 PM EST
    Posted by at No comments:

    Sunday mornings on NBC MEET The PRESS

    Santorum: ‘There’s no compromise here’

      Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum refutes the notion that women’s rights to contraceptives should be balanced with religious institutions’ authority to provide them.



    Post Show Thoughts: Culture battles in Washington  David Gregory analyzes this morning’s Meet The Press.

    Lew: ‘time for austerity is not today’  White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew discusses the importance of combining tax cuts with spending cuts.
    Meet the Press roundtable  Bill Burton, Peggy Noonan, E.J. Dionne and Joe Scarborough preview the fall campaign and discuss how social issues will impact voters’ decisions.

    Posted by at No comments:

    Romney breaks losing streak, wins Maine caucuses


    21
    hours
    ago

    Brian Snyder / Reuters
    Ron Paul greets voters outside a Republican caucus in Sanford, Maine, on Saturday.

    Brian Snyder / Reuters
    Mitt Romney arrives with his grandsons Joe, left, and Thomas to speak at a Republican caucus in Sanford, Maine, on Saturday.
    By NBC News and msnbc.com staff
    GOP front-runner Mitt Romney won Maine's Republican presidential caucuses with 39 percent of the vote, breaking a three-state losing streak by besting libertarian-leaning Ron Paul, who finished a close second with 36 percent.
    Romney had 2,190 total votes, while Paul got 1,996. Rick Santorum finished third with 18 percent (989 votes). Newt Gingrich was fourth with 6 percent (349 votes).
    Voting in dozens of local caucuses across the state has been going on since late January. More than 20 caucuses were held on Saturday in something of a grand finale. Results were released by the state Republican Party Saturday night.
    Romney sorely needed a boost after having lost, surprisingly, three nominating contests this past Tuesday.
    February had been expected to be a relatively easy stretch for Romney, but former Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum’s victory in Colorado and Minnesota’s caucuses, along with a non-binding primary in Missouri, fueled fresh questions about Romney’s ability to win over a broad swath of conservatives.
    Paul said he was not deterred by the Maine caucuses.
    "We're not going away," Paul told supporters after the Maine results were announced. "We have the message America needs at this particular time."
    That message is "liberty," he said, including "the right to run your life as you choose " and to "keep the fruits of our labor."
    The Maine caucuses are the last contests before Feb. 28 primaries in Arizona and Michigan, followed just a week later by March 6’s “Super Tuesday” slate of primaries and caucuses.
    Romney won the Maine caucuses in 2008 with just over half of the vote, riding the advantage of having governed nearby Massachusetts. Romney also decisively won this January’s New Hampshire caucus, coverage from which bleeds into Maine.
    But the GOP primary’s putative frontrunner learned a lesson about taking caucuses for granted last Tuesday when he lost similar contests in Colorado and Minnesota – each of which Romney had won in 2008 – to Santorum.
    Santorum didn't compete in Maine, but Romney made a trip to the state on Friday evening to participate in a town hall. His campaign made a small ad buy in the state, as well, during the time in which Republicans gathered for caucuses.
    Romney faced his stiffest competition in Maine not from Santorum or former House Speaker Gingrich, but from Paul. The Texas congressman’s campaign strategy has keyed in on these caucuses, where his enthusiastic supporters can participate more actively.
    Paul campaigned in Maine for a couple of days in late January, and his campaign desperately needs a win. Paul hasn’t won a single contest yet despite his focus on caucuses, though he’s working to accrue additional delegates in the allocation process. Failing to win in Maine, though, calls into question the wisdom of the Paul campaign’s long-term strategy.
    The Maine caucuses are somewhat unusual in the sense that, unlike most other caucuses and primary elections, they were conducted over the course of the past week.
    Maine will send 24 delegates to the Republican convention this summer, though the caucus is only the beginning of a process in awarding these delegates to candidates. The specific allocation will be decided at a later date.
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    Saturday, February 11, 2012

    Iran to announce 'very major' nuclear advance


    Revolutionary Guard commander threatens to his Israel, US bases with thousands of missiles if country is attacked
    Image: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during a ceremony to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, in Tehran


    TEHRAN — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that the Islamic Republic would soon announce "very major" advances in its nuclear program.


    updated 1 hour 57 minutes ago 2012-02-11T12:35:41
    A Revolutionary Guard commander also said Iran would respond to military action by sending thousands of missiles at Israel and U.S. bases.
    Ahmadinejad was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organized rallies to mark the occasion.
    "In the coming days, the world will witness Iran's announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements," Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television.
    Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America."

    Report: Saudi Arabia eyes nukes if Iran tests A-bomb

    Ismail Haniya, who heads the Islamist Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, also attended the ceremony.
    Ahmadinejad gave no details of how Iran's nuclear work, which Tehran says has only peaceful purposes, has progressed.

    Israel uses terror group to kill Iran nuke scientists

    The United States and Israel, a country which Iran does not recognize, have not ruled out military action if sanctions fail.
    Iran has warned of a "painful" answer, saying it would hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf as well as block the vital Gulf oil shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Report: Iran says it could hit US forces anywhere
    "If attacked by the Zionist regime (Israel), we will turn it to dust," said a Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Shirdel, semi-official Fars news agency reported Saturday.
    "Thousands of our missiles will target Israel and the 40 bases of America in the region," he added.
    West tightens sanctions
    The nuclear dispute has fuelled tension as the West tightens sanctions. The European Union has agreed to ban Iranian oil imports by July and to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank.
    Its measures reinforce those imposed by the United States as the West tries to force Tehran to return to talks before it produces enough nuclear material for an atomic bomb.

    Video: Assassination wielded as ‘a weapon’ (on this page)

    Neither side has shown much appetite for compromise. Iran says it will fight EU sanctions with counter-measures and its parliament plans legislation to ban oil exports to the EU.
    Iranian officials brush off the impact of sanctions, while also proclaiming that Iranians will endure any hardship in support of their country's right to nuclear technology.
    "I am saying openly that if you (the West) continue to use the language of force and threat, our nation will never succumb to your pressure," Ahmadinejad said.

    Israel has long used assassination against its enemies, “hoping that by taking out individuals, they can alter, change the course of history,” says Ronen Bergman, an Israeli commentator and author of “Israel’s Secret War with Iran” and an upcoming book tentatively titled “Mossad and the Art of Assassination.”

    Mohammad Javad Larijani, a senior aide to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describes what Iranian leaders believe is a close relationship between Israel’s secret service, the Mossad, and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, or MEK, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.
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