WATCH LIVE: Obama speaks in Texas about jobs plan
President Obama delivers remarks on his jobs plan in Mesquite, Texas.
Watch this live video from The White House, broadcast Oct. 4, 2011.
Keep reading...
Show less
2012
Former WI Gov. Tommy Thompson files for Senate race
Tommy Thompson, the former governor of Wisconsin, officially filed his paperwork to become a Republican candidate for the state's Senate seat in 2012, his campaign confirmed to Raw Story.
Thompson filed his Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday, the final step that establishes him as a candidate.
In an email to supporters, Thompson touted his record cutting taxes and spending.
" Barack Obama and Harry Reid have a vastly different idea for your hard-earned money," he wrote. "They want more and more and more. But I will fight them every step of the way."
He cites 91 cuts he made to taxes and 1,900 vetoes on spending, resulting in $287 million of cut state spending and $16 billion saved for taxpayers.
Darrin Schmitz, a spokesman for Thompson's campaign, touted Thompson's experience as an elected official in a prepared statement.
"As Wisconsin’s next senator, Tommy Thompson will lead the fight for conservative, commonsense reforms to get America working again," Schmitz said. "Thompson ushered in an era of prosperity through tax reforms and innovative solutions that empowered families and entrepreneurs. He’s committed to securing our nation’s future through fiscal accountability and job creation, and putting an end to the Obama/Reid big government agenda. Washington needs the kind of wake up call that Tommy Thompson can deliver.”
Rumors of a Thompson run have been circulating since May, and the former governor incorporated his campaign committee in mid-September.
AFP photo.
Keep reading...
Show less
Christie: President might want a food taster if I am VP
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) again announced Tuesday that he definitely was not running for president, and he added that the Republican Party's eventual nominee may want to think twice before picking him as a running mate.
"I don't know that there is anybody in America that would necessarily think that my personality is best suited for being number two," Christie told reporters at a press conference in Trenton.
"I just don't think I have the personality to be asked," he explained. "I mean, seriously. Can you imagine? You know, the guy would probably want to get a food taster."
It's generally considered bad form for politicians to admit they are seeking the vice presidential nomination, but a potential candidate suggesting that he might poison the future president may be a completely new tactic for seeking office.
Watch this video from CNN's Newsroom, broadcast Oct. 4, 2011.
Watch this video on iPhone/iPad
Keep reading...
Show less
Christie decides not to run for president
TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will announce on Tuesday that he will not run for president in 2012, ending weeks of feverish speculation that he might shake up a wide-open Republican race with a dramatic late entrance.
Christie's decision, Republican sources said, was to be unveiled at a news conference in the New Jersey state capital of Trenton at 1 p.m. (1700 GMT). The move followed days of meetings with advisers on whether he could swiftly put together an organization and mount a credible campaign.
Christie's move will likely benefit former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney because they would have been competing for the same middle-of-the-road voters. Romney leads the Republican field by a large margin in the state that holds the first Republican primary, New Hampshire, which might have been a factor into Christie's deliberations.
The tough-talking Christie, 49, would have immediately energized a field that lacks firepower and which many party faithful are unenthusiastic about.
Romney, Rick Perry and Herman Cain are jockeying in the top three positions in the field, and many Republicans have been clamoring for a fresh face and wanting the strongest candidate possible to run against Democratic President Barack Obama in November 2012.
While not impossible, it would have been a difficult challenge for Christie to raise money, enlist activists and build a nationwide team in time for the start of the nominating process, which is to kick off in early January with the Iowa caucuses followed shortly by the New Hampshire primary.
The only potential candidate left who could make a major impact on the race is former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has said she is still considering it. She has left doubt, however, by saying last week that having the title of president might "shackle" her.
Christie has stated over and over that he is simply not ready to be president after only two years as governor, and would have been forced to explain why he felt compelled to change his mind.
He may have also had trouble connecting in Iowa, where the rock-solid conservative views of Texas Governor Perry and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann are more welcome. Christie has fairly moderate positions on immigration and climate change that are out of step with conservative orthodoxy.
Many activists had wanted Christie to run because he is an electrifying presence and has a strong fiscal record in New Jersey.
(Reporting by Kim Dixon, Steve Holland and Mark Egan, editing by Philip Barbara)
Source: Reuters US Online Report Politics News
Keep reading...
Show less
Rove group buys ads to haunt Obama's jobs tour
Crossroads America, the conservative super PAC run by former Bush strategist Karl Rove, has decided upon a new media strategy: following President Obama wherever he goes.
As the president travels the country in support of his jobs plan, the group will release ads bracketing his appearances in local media markets. Obama is in St. Louis for two fundraisers, and Crossroads spent $50,000 on a three-day targeted ad buy, which will run until tomorrow. The ad spot, called "Don't", is running on TV there, according to Politico.
The same ad spot has also been placed in the pre-roll ads for web videos such as Obama's interview with George Stephanopoulos Monday on "Good Morning America."
Crossroads GPS, another branch of the group, bought $20 million in anti-Obama advertising in early summer.
Large ad buys from outside groups in support of or in direct opposition to particular candidates are becoming more common as a combination of the windup to election day and the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Citizen's United allows outside groups — without coordination with a candidate — to accept and spend unlimited amounts of money.
American Crossroads spokesman Jonathan Collegio told Politico that his group intended to take full advantage of the new political landscape of partisanship and big spending.
"For most of the last decade, outside political spending was dominated by Big Labor and liberal groups like MoveOn, which helped House Democrats gain the majority," Collegio said. "Now, the energy, intensity and money is flowing to Republicans and to promote conservative causes — and understandably the left is anxious."
In the past, Crossroads America has been referred to in the media as a "shadow RNC," referring to the Republican National Committee.
Crossroads isn't the only group to be utilizing the new law: one Super PAC in support of Republican presidential hopeful and Texas Gov. Rick Perry is on pace to outspend the candidate himself.
Crossroads President and CEO Steven Law wrote in a memo that conservative groups have a "golden opportunity" to "turn the president’s rhetoric against his own party." In addition to the ad buys, he suggested a list of talking points in reaction to Obama's jobs plan.
"Moving forward, the first step in the new strategy is to build on what Speaker [John A.] Boehner and Majority Leader [Eric] Cantor did recently: release a list of pro-jobs bills that the Republican House passed, only to see them interred in [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid’s legislative graveyard," Law wrote.
Democratic candidates for congressional seats are also supercharging their fundraising efforts, anticipating that an attack on the president and his pet legislation will also mean an attack on their campaigns.
Sal Pace, a Democrat in a Colorado House race, told Politico that he is wary of outside groups like Crossroads.
"It’s pretty clear that outside groups are going to play," Pace said. "We have to be cognizant that we’re not just running against the incumbent...We’re going to be running against independent groups."
Watch Crossroads America's "Don't" ad, embedded below.
Keep reading...
Show less
Cain: Romney is just too 'Wall Street' to win
Boosted by a new ABC/Washington Post showing him now in second place the GOP presidential race, Herman Cain spent Tuesday morning attacking former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, rather than the prior top target, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Appearing on Fox & Friends to also promote his new book This is Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza labeled Romney as too "Wall Street" for voters and took another swipe at the former Massachusetts governor's health care law.
"He's not going to be able to shake the ankle breaks as I call it, of RomneyCare," he said. "It's going to continue to haunt him."
"His business experience is Wall Street, mine has been main street," he said. "I've actually run individual units. I've actually made the pizza. I've actually cooked the burgers. I've actually clean the toilets. I've actually run a bunch of small businesses. My experience is more main street than Wall Street. I have a lot of respect for him, we're just different in that regard."
Cain also discussed Perry's poor performances in the debates so far.
"The debates are not as easy as some people may think," he said. "And I think that he probably underestimated how prepared you need to be for these debates. Remember you only have a minute to answer the question, sometimes you have to think very quickly. So he was not prepared for that format."
Based on the ABC/WaPo, Cain is now in second place with 16 percent, tying Perry. The poll also found that Romney is the new frontrunner, drawing 25 percent support.
WATCH: Video from Fox News, which appeared on October 4, 2011.
Keep reading...
Show less
Stewart explains Perry's 'N*ggerhead' and other racist landmarks
In the light of revelations that Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry that had been called "Niggerhead," Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Wyatt Cenac took a tour of other places with racist names.
"Wyatt, I know you grew up in Texas," Stewart told Cenac. "It's got to hurt your heart to be reminded of the casual racial insensitivity that has long marred that state."
"Actually, John, I'm not in Texas," Cenac explained. "I'm in your state. I'm standing in front of Nigger Lake, New York... It's real. It's up here in Hamilton County. The state even listed in on its website until recently. And you can see why. It's a beautiful lake -- unless you're a nigger."
"The point is everybody's rushing to condemn Texas. And, sure, there's a lot of racist shit that goes on in Texas, but guess what? There's Niggerhead Rapids, Idaho; Niggerhead Point, Florida; Niggerhead Pond, Vermont; Niggerhead Creek, North Carolina -- good fishing; Niggerhead Mining District, Washington. Did you know there are over a 100 places that have been called Niggerhead in this country?"
"Wyatt, I don't know what to say. What does this say about America?" Stewart asked.
"It says there aren't enough black people making maps!" Cenac exclaimed.
Watch this video from Comedy Central's The Daily Show, broadcast Oct. 3, 2011.
Part 2
Keep reading...
Show less
Mexico envoy rejects Perry idea of sending U.S. troops
Mexico's ambassador to the United States rejected a suggestion by Republican White House hopeful Rick Perry that US troops could be sent over the border to quell Mexico's escalating drug wars.
"The issue of participation, or the presence of, US troops on Mexican soil is not on the table," the ambassador, Arturo Sarukhan, told reporters on Monday.
Perry -- who is the governor of Texas, right on the US-Mexico border -- raised eyebrows over the weekend by suggesting Mexico's drug cartel woes might require US military assistance.
Perry, campaigning in New Hampshire, said Saturday that the two countries "can work together. Because there has been in my opinion a lack of trust.
"It may require our military in Mexico working in concert with them to kill these drug cartels and to keep them off of our border and to destroy their networks," Perry said.
"The way that we were able to stop the drug cartels in Colombia was with a coordinated effort."
Sarukhan said the idea of US troops on Mexican soil "is not a element of strategy that is being foreseen, not a part of the tremendously innovative ways in which Mexico and the United States have been using to fight transnational organized crime."
That has been Mexico's policy "for a very long time," he stressed.
The United States and Mexico cooperate on the anti-drug fight in multiple channels, mostly through information exchanges.
More than 41,000 people have been killed across Mexico since the federal government in 2006 launched a crackdown against drug cartels, according to official data and media tallies.
Keep reading...
Show less
SC announces Jan. 21 Republican primary
The chairman of South Carolina's Republican Party announced Monday that the state would hold its GOP primary on January 21, leapfrogging the Florida primary and violating Republican National Committee rules.
The move was a direct reaction to Florida's announcement Friday that the state's Republican primary would be held on January 31.
"Last Friday, a nine-person committee brought chaos to the 2012 calendar,” South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly told CNN. “Today, South Carolina is making things right. South Carolina Republicans have a thirty year track record of picking the eventual Republican presidential nominee. We will continue that historic tradition on January 21, 2012."
as a "rogue state" and vowed to remain the first primary in the South.
New Hampshire is traditionally the first primary in the country, while Iowa holds the first caucuses. Both states are late December or early January contests to maintain their traditional statuses as early voting state.
Creative Commons image via flickr user hjl.
Keep reading...
Show less
Obama bets on 50-state strategy to eke out '12 win
CHICAGO (Reuters) - While Republican presidential candidates target early-voting states, President Barack Obama's team is laying the groundwork for a 50-state campaign strategy it hopes will secure another White House win in 2012.
From the traditional "swing" states of Florida and Ohio to a typically Republican-leaning state like Arizona, Democrat Obama's political supporters are opening offices, engaging voters and rallying volunteers to create a nationwide network, even in areas unfriendly to their candidate's cause.
The strategy is similar to Obama's successful 2008 campaign, but it is still unorthodox.
To win the White House, traditional presidential campaigns focus their attention on a handful of states that typically swing between Republican and Democratic candidates, working to earn at least 270 of the states' 538 "electoral votes" that determine the ultimate winner.
"People in Washington like to second guess us on this and say, 'you ought to go back to (focusing on) the 15 or 20 states and why do you have a Idaho state director and why do you have a Utah state director?'" said Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager, referring to Republican western strongholds.
"The fact is, we have supporters there who want to get involved in the campaign, and they ought to be able to get involved," he said in an interview in his Chicago office.
The campaign needs nationwide involvement.
As high unemployment hurts Obama's chances in Ohio and other states that helped propel him to victory in 2008, having avenues of support in non-traditional Democratic patches could be the only way to victory.
"His campaign has to do something to fundamentally change the electoral landscape, and broadening the map is probably the only option out of a bunch of bad ones," said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist and former adviser to one-time presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty.
Fundraising helps. The Obama campaign has outraised all the president's potential Republican opponents and is expected to top its 2008 total of $750,000 in campaign cash, giving it flexibility to spend even in states that are a reach.
And though he may defend areas that should be in his corner, establishing operations all over the country will force Republicans to spend money in states they should own, too.
"It's almost certain that Obama and the Democrats will outspend the Republican candidate. We'll have enough to be competitive in the swing states," Conant said.
STATE BY STATE
Obama leads potential rivals Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, in most polls, but the margins are tight and the election is still more than a year away. A lot can change.
Which means another part of Obama's campaign strategy now is to build momentum.
Advisers know that supporters are disappointed and enthusiasm is low compared to what they saw in 2008, when Obama was still an Illinois senator promising hope and change.
But addressing that -- and other challenges -- is happening on a state by state basis.
"We won't have one cookie cutter approach to every single state because what the voters are feeling in Florida is very different than what they're feeling in Colorado," said Jen O'Malley Dillon, a deputy campaign manager on Messina's team.
"We're very conscious of making sure we understand what's happening in each state and the thing we know more than anything else is that we won't have one national program."
Conant, the Republican strategist, said Obama would have to spend money in states that "haven't gone Republican in decades" such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, where Pawlenty used to be governor.
"If they're boasting a 50-state strategy that involves spending money to hold traditionally Democratic states, that's a very bad omen for Obama's re-election chances," he said.
The Obama campaign is optimistic. Messina mentioned Georgia and Arizona, two states that sided with Republican presidential candidate John McCain in 2008, as ones the campaign would work to flip in 2012.
SWING STATES STILL IN FOCUS
Fifty-state strategy or not, the Obama campaign and the White House have those swing states sharply in focus.
Since unveiling a new plan to boost jobs, Obama has traveled to a handful of them, including Ohio and Colorado.
"This jobs tour is going to the states it's going to for a reason...They're going to very specific states that are battlegrounds for 2012, and I think that's smart," Democratic strategist Liz Chadderdon said.
And the message the president has delivered has helped to energize his base with fiery rhetoric critical of Republicans -- red meat for his supporters in any state.
"His jobs speech felt very much like the old Obama, the guy we all fell in love with in 2008, and I've heard that from a lot of other Democrats," Chadderdon said.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Mochila insert follows.
Keep reading...
Show less
Hank Williams, Jr.: Obama is 'the enemy,' just like 'Hitler'
Hank Williams, Jr. is most known for the catch phrase "Are you ready for some football?" in his theme song for Monday Night Football. But on Fox and Friends Monday morning, the country music singer probably should have asked, "Are you ready for some controversy?"
In an awkward interview, co-host Gretchen Carlson asked Williams if he favored any Republican candidate for president. After saying "none," Williams claimed his answer stemmed from seeing House Speaker John Boehner play golf with President Barack Obama. He elaborated on his thoughts, the Fox hosts seemed to become rather uncomfortable.
"Come on, come on, it would be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu, ok?" he said. "Not hardly. In the country this shape is in, the shape this country's in, I mean, no, I don't think so."
That prompted Brian Kilmmeade to reply, "I don't understand that analogy, actually."
Williams continued: "Well, I'm glad you don't, brother, because a lot of people do. You know, they're the enemy. They're the enemy."
"Who's the enemy?" Kilmmeade asked.
Williams yelled: "Obama! And Biden! Are you kidding? The Three Stooges."
"That's only two," Steve Doocy chimed in.
Ultimately, Williams admitted that he did have one favorite in the GOP presidential field: Herman Cain.
Carlson added, "I just want to say that we disavow any of those comments or analogies that he's made, at least I'm going to say that, disavow the analogy between Hitler and the president."
WATCH: Video from Fox News, which appeared on October 3, 2011.
Photo: Flickr user Ryan Glenn.
Updated: ESPN has decided to remove Williams from its Monday Night Football intro for his comments on Fox & Friends.
"While Hank Williams Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize he is closely to our company through the opening to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast."
Keep reading...
Show less
Christie still to be convinced of 2012 run: source
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Chris Christie faces a deadline by week's end to decide whether to launch a late run for president and appears to still be leaning against it, a Republican familiar with his discussions said Monday.
The New Jersey governor has been wrestling with whether to enter the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Strong pressure from many donors and party activists concerned about the strength of the current field prompted Christie to reconsider previous vows not to run in 2012.
"He is thinking about it," the Republican said on condition of anonymity. "He did meet with the advisers this weekend. From the way it's characterized to me, he's still not planning to run unless they give him some kind of compelling argument."
A complication for a run at this stage would be the challenge of organizing a national campaign with the first nominating contests, the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, about three months away. The deadline for filing a formal candidacy in the early states is rapidly approaching.
"He and his advisers understand the timeline, that if he's not in the race by the end of this week, that it's not going to be possible to do this," the official said.
Christie, who has a moderate record, would face a challenge in Iowa, where social conservatives dominate the Republican vote. Texas Governor Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann are strong competitors in Iowa, whose caucuses may be held in the first week of January.
And in New Hampshire, whose primary will likely follow Iowa by about a week, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has a fairly large lead in the polls in that state.
TIME IS SHORT
"The biggest problem is, in the time between now and a January primary, there isn't that much time for you to get an organization up and running and to start targeting voters," said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
Also, he said, Christie would need a major fund-raising burst in order to pay for a television advertising campaign to introduce himself to voters. Plus, most party activists have long since been absorbed by other candidates.
The tough-talking Christie is a rising star in Republican ranks and has a strong fiscal record that will appeal to Republicans and independents concerned about government spending and the $1.3 trillion deficit.
Republicans think they have a good chance to capture the White House from Democratic President Barack Obama, who is struggling to restore job growth, but worry the field led by Romney, Perry and businessman Herman Cain lacks firepower.
Republican strategists differ on whether Christie has the time to launch a successful campaign.
"He would be a great candidate but with people going to vote in Iowa and New Hampshire in 90 to 100 days it's awfully late to be organizing a national campaign," said Charlie Black, who advised Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.
Mark McKinney, a top aide in Republican George W. Bush's two presidential campaigns, said Christie can pull it off.
"He has to make a decision within the next week or so but there's time and it's not too late," he told Reuters Insider.
McKinney said Christie should realize the time is now.
"I'm sure that he's thinking about waiting and whether he should run in 2016 or later but the reality is that he's hot now and to be as hot as he is very rare and it's not going to last," he said.
(Editing by Doina Chiacu)
Mochila insert follows.
Keep reading...
Show less
Van Jones: 'I am mad at us for being so quiet'
Former Obama adviser Van Jones came to the "Take Back The American Dream" summit in Washington, D.C. on Monday with one big message: stop being mad at the tea party, and started learning from them.
"I'm not mad at [the tea party] for being so loud," he said. "I'm mad at us for being so quiet the last two years."
Related: .
Jones elaborated: "We had the wrong theory of the presidency. We thought that if we elected this one person... we could pop popcorn and just watch him. We went from having a movement to a movie."
Echoing Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), who immediately preceded him, Jones added, "We can blog and tweet, but what if we actually did something?"
That's when Jones call on attendees to "build a movement to take back the American dream."
In that, he encouraged them to get inspired by the tea party, which had learned from the Obama campaign to connect existing groups to one "meta brand" -- the candidate himself. What the tea party did, according to Jones, was that "They branded not a person, but a movement."
"There is no 'tea party,'" he explained. "You can't land at the airport here in D.C. and get in a taxi and say, 'Take me to the tea party headquarters.'" Instead, Jones said, it's an umbrella organization for a large collection of pre-existing groups that got to keep their own ideas.
By connecting the groups that had supported Obama to a larger network -- and Jones suggested it be called the "Take Back The American Dream" network -- he believes that progressives "can do this bigger and better than we did in 2008."
"It's our turn now," Jones told the cheering audience. "We let the warmongers have their turn for eight years and they ruined this country."
Photo: Flickr user markn3tel.
Keep reading...
Show less
Copyright © 2026 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 |
Masthead
|
Privacy Policy
|
Manage Preferences
|
Debug Logs
For corrections contact
corrections@rawstory.com
, for support contact
support@rawstory.com
.