Category: presidential

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Mitt Romney Politics presidential Republican

A Mitt Romney Presidency Will Have To Answer To Lobbyists

So what should we expect if Mitt Romney becomes the 45th President of the United States? Well here’s a preview – Romney’s campaign just announced that Harold Hamm, a billionaire who made his money from the oil industry, will be the campaign’s “Energy Advisor.”

Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, appointed Oklahoma oil billionaire Harold Hamm as energy adviser to his campaign.

Hamm, the 66-year-old founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Continental Resources Inc. (CLR), will be chairman of Romney’s Energy Policy Advisory Group, the candidate’s campaign office said in a statement today.

Hamm ranked 36th on Forbes magazine’s list last year of the 400 wealthiest Americans. His 68 percent stake in Enid, Oklahoma-based Continental, the largest leaseholder in the Bakken oil formation, had a value of $11.2 billion as of yesterday’s close.

And then there’s this from The Huffington Post: “The Romney campaign received $554,044 from 325 lobbyists and the political action committees of 38 lobbying firms that collectively represent more than 1,400 clients, according to The Huffington Post’s analysis of contribution disclosure forms filed with the Secretary of the Senate. These contributions may undermine part of Romney’s message that he is, in his own words, “from outside Washington, outside K Street.”

Conclusion: Major industries and Corporations pay millions to get their lobbyists to whisper in the ears of Congressional politicians. What we’re seeing with Romney’s appointment of an oil billionaire in charge of Energy is, in fact, paving the way for the lobbyist to have a direct link to a Romney presidency.

Call it, Romney’s intentional way of cutting out the middle man.

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Arizona Mitt Romney Politics presidential Rick Santorum

Mitt Nicks Rick In Mich Mish-Mosh: Four Head to O-HI-O!

Mitt May Win Right To Lose Michigan in the Fall!

Democrats, Pro-Vomit Vote Not Enough For Santorum!

Arizona Goes Romney! Border Remains Calm!

Mitt Romney did almost enough to dispel any lingering doubts that he will be the Republican Party’s nominee for president by defeating Rick Santorum in the all-important Michigan primary yesterday.  Romney crossed the 40% threshold but failed to defeat his chief rival by more than 10%, which would have ended any debate about Romney’s being the GOP standard-bearer. Still, a win is a win, and now the field moves on to Super Tuesday where there is now even a doubt that Newt can win his home state of Georgia.

How did I do with my predictions? Let’s check.

For Arizona:

Prediction                Actual

Romney          43%                         47.3%

Santorum        30%                         26.6%

Gingrich          18%                         16.2%

Paul                  8%                           8.4%

For Michigan:

Romney          39%                          41.1%

Santorum        37%                          37.9%

Paul                12%                          11.6%

Gingrich          10%                           6.5%

All told, not too bad.

So now it’s on to Tuesday Grande, where the big prize will be Ohio and the attack ads will come fast and furious. It’s difficult to fathom what else Mitt and Rick could say that could be any more outrageous than their embarrassing forays into trees, bodily functions, automobile choices, anti-intellectual diatribes and invocations of Satan/Obama (really, have you ever seen them in the same room together?) Interesting.

For more, please visit  www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and Twitter @rigrundfest  

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Mitt Romney Politics presidential

Mitt Romney Did Not Oppose Gay Adoptions As Governor – Video

In an effort to appear “severely conservative,” Mitt Romney has gone against everything Mitt Romney ever stood for. And in so doing, he has mastered the art of the flip-flop.

This is just one more example of the many many… many times Romney has flipped.




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hypocrite Mitt Romney Politics presidential

Mitt Romney Thinks Telling This Lie Makes Him More Patriotic

Mitt Romney has said it over and over, but no one ever fact checked his claim. We had no reason to because the statement made us feel extra patriotic. Then again, we are talking about Mitt Romney – the ultimate Flip Flopper –  and with that in mind, Buzzfeed did some simple fact checking and revealed yet another Romney falsehood!

Here’s the lie.

You know, we (Americans) are the only people on Earth that put our hand over our heart during the playing of the National Anthem.

The video and pictures below tells the full story.

Let’s see what the people do in China…

in Brazil…

and how about the people of France?

And Ghana?

Oh Willard. One of your claims to fame is that you ran a successful bid as head of the Olympic Games. Did you not see participants from other countries placing their hands over their hearts too? Or maybe you think Americans are so gullible, that you can say anything and get away with it…!

See more at Buzzfeed.

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Donald Trump Donald Trump Politics presidential

Hey Everyone, Look Over Here… It’s Donald Trump… Again!

The pressure to try to stay relevent is suffocating Donald Trump. Out of nowhere and with absolutely no relevance to anything anyone cares about, Donald Trump decided to give yet another interview, talking about… what else, that he is the only one that can save America, and if the GOP can’t get their act right, he will just have to save us all by running as an independent.

The interview, for what it’s worth, was shown on Sunday on CBS News program Face The Nation with Bob Schieffer. Be quite folks, Trump has something very important to say;

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said The Donald. “It’s Republican against Republican, and yet the level of hatred, I guess you could say, I mean, there’s no other word for it, is unbelievable. The question is, are they hurting themselves? Are they hurting the party? Are they hurting the Republicans, and are they hurting their chances of winning an election against Barack Obama? And probably the answer is yes.

“I don’t see a person that, number one, is going to win,” he said, he may be forced to mount his own campaign.”I think people dislike the Republicans and the Democrats more than they ever have. So I actually think the right Independent could win, and there was a poll about a month ago, you saw it, where I was the number one Independent choice.

“It’s a very sad situation what’s happening to the country and I do say that and I say many other things and somehow it resonates with a lot of people and that’s why they, you know, would like me to run… I hope I don’t have to, but I may absolutely.”

Viewership for The Apprentice must be low.

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Politics presidential

Another One Bites The Dust – Rick Perry Suspends His Campaign

You may choose to call what Rick Perry had a “campaign.” I like to think of the whole episode as his oops moment. Whatever it was, as of today, it’s no more

Rick Perry ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and endorsed Newt Gingrich this morning, saying he saw “no viable path forward” after his dwindling support took him from front-runner status to dead last.

Perry entered the GOP race as a breath of fresh air to many conservatives who hoped for a suitable candidate to oppose Mitt Romney, but after a few bad debate performances and bad finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, he sank in the polls, and his supporters began to give up.

In South Carolina, Perry was polling in last place, in single digits, before the primary on Saturday.

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Citizens United Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics presidential Republican Rick Santorum South Carolina

Apres-Primary Musings: Mitt Can’t Conquer the Mountain

We are not impressed.

If Mitt Romney can’t muster over 40% of the vote in a backyard state against a field of sub-par candidates with extreme positions on the issues, then he’s not ready yet for his curtain call. Yes, it certainly was a good day for Romney, but not as good as his victory speech would indicate.

He’ll win the nomination, but two things are abundantly clear. The first is that Romney still hasn’t galvanized his party as a candidate, and the second is that Republican enthusiasm is turning out to be somewhat of a myth.

Let’s get to the numbers.

Here’s what I said would happen (left) and here’s what actually happened (right):

Romney      38%        39.4%

Paul            19%        22.8%

Huntsman   16%       16.8%

Gingrich      11%         9.4%

Santorum    10%         9.3%

Roemer         3%         0.4%

Perry             1%          0.7%

As in Iowa, not bad. I seem to have underestimated Ron Paul’s reliable support and overestimated Buddy Roemer’s, but I don’t think I was alone.

If present reports are true, all the candidates are moving on to South Carolina where the PAC-men will be gobbling up money and air time in their quest for Romney’s scraps. This will be Citizens United writ not on the main stage, but as regional summer stock theater. Millions of dollars that otherwise could be spent on more significant pursuits will be sucked down the rabbit hole of ego and vanity. That’s the new democracy at work, and we’d all better get used to it because when the campaign moves to Broadway in the fall, there’s going to be an ad war like no other.

South Carolina is the last stand for Huntsman, Santorum and Perry to be sure unless any of them pull wild upsets and finish in the top 3, and above 20%. Gingrich could stay in if he’s in the top 3 because he now has PAC money and Paul and his minions will stick around for the duration. Romney can claim the nomination with a dominant performance, over 40%, but 30% will be enough to make him inevitable.

Follow the march to the south at facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives.

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Iowa Politics presidential Republican White House

The Crazy Bachmann Antics Are Now Suspended… Until Further Notice

If last night was any indication, we already knew Michele Bachmann was gonna quit. In her concession speech – after pulling in only 5% of the primary votes in Iowa – Bachmann, the senator from Minnesota who was actively pursuing the presidency, told her handful of supporters that she “was not a politician.”

“I am a very real person,” Bachmann said, “I am not a politician, nor do I ever hoped or aspire to be a politician.”

Okaaaaaaay.

Bachmann then went on to tell her audience that her campaign will continue, and that her hopes were to win the New Hampshire primaries next Tuesday.

But something happened after the microphones were turned off; after the camera crew packed up and left, wondering how they got stuck with the assignment of covering a loosing politician; after her supporters went home disappointed at squandering their precious votes. That ‘something’ was that  Bachmann checked her campaign purse and realized that all her campaign donations were spent. And the reality of the situation was a hard smack  to the face.

So, the camera crews gathered one last time, the microphone turned back on and today, sometime after 11am, Michele Bachmann stepped up to the podium;

“Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside…I will continue fighting to defeat the president’s agenda of socialism.”

We are saddened by Michele Bachmann’s departure from the Republican presidential race. She was crazy and her antics will be sorely missed.

For instance, like the time she reported that the swine flu epidemic in the 1970’s was caused by a Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, being in the White House, when in fact, a Republican named Gerald Ford was President.

And although there are still plenty of loonies running for the Republican nomination, Bachmann was truly one of the best.

Bye-bye Michele!

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Barack Obama Iowa caucuses Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics presidential Republican Rick Santorum

The Top Five Mitt Romney Tantrums of 2011

There’s an attribute that goes hand in hand with someone who was being born into riches, and that is the need to always get their way. They will throw temper tantrums even if they’re wrong, just to be heard. It is always their turn to talk, even if it means shouting you down in the process.

Mitt Romney is the perfect example of this. Born with a gold spoon in his mouth, Romney will never learn how to be humble and allow others to voice their opinions. The DNC just released this video showing the top five moments in 2011 when Romney had to have his way. Something they call, the “Mitt Fit.”

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fail Mitt Romney Politics presidential Rick Santorum

Bachmann, Huntsman And Santorum Will Not Compete In Virginia

The writing is on the wall. The only question is, can anyone in their already failed campaigns read? And if they can read what is written, do they understand?

Along with Mr. Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas were able to get signatures to the State Board of Elections in time to qualify for the primary, which will be held on March 6.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania failed to turn in the necessary signatures by the deadline and won’t be competing for the Old Dominion’s delegates to the nominating convention.

Virginia’s stringent standards require candidates to amass at least 10,000 signatures of registered voters statewide and at least 400 from each congressional district to qualify for the ballot.

Sorry Virginia, you won’t get your chance to vote for any of these three losers. You’re stuck with the other four.

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Iowa Newt Gingrich Politics presidential Republican

We Hardly Knewt Ye!

That was close.

And scary.

The idea that Newt Gingrich might actually win the GOP presidential nomination sent shivers down the spines of enough Republicans that they actually came to their senses this week and  began to support Ron Paul in the Iowa caucus polls. As for the national trends, it looks like Mitt Romney is the betting favorite on Internet sites.

The Gingrich flirtation lasted only as long as voters knew little about what he might do in office. His tirades against the federal judiciary might play well with the ultra-conservatives, but they seem to be non-starters among the more moderate voters who will come out in later primary states. Also, his lack of organization is showing, but that shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. Gingrich never seemed to be in the race for anything other than to get his ideas in the marketplace. He succeeded. Now there’s a 50% off sticker on them and they’re not long for the discontinued bin.

Republican voters have sampled all of the candidates over the course of the last few months and they seem to be coalescing around Romney, despite conservative suspicion that he’s not fully committed to their causes. There’s a good reason for this; he’s not, but he’s the only electable candidate in the field. So that leaves us with a volatile race in Iowa with Romney, Paul (my favorite to pull out a win), Bachmann and Perry able to cobble together enough caucus voters to move on to the next set of states. Rick Santorum is getting a little love this week from evangelicals, but that will all come to naught after Iowa.

Then the serious race will begin in earnest. Depending upon what happens in the next few days, Romney will have to defend Republican obstruction that led to the end of the payroll tax cut, or he’ll have to run against it as flawed policy, despite the cut being popular among voters and economists. He’ll also have to harness the Tea Party faction that doesn’t want to compromise on anything, and is losing support, even with Republicans. Add on the fact that President Obama’s poll numbers are improving, and Mitt suddenly has a more daunting task ahead of him than he did in October (did he just announce his first major policy decision?).

But that’s all in the future. Right now, we should be thanking Newt Gingrich for a spirited campaign that ultimately showed his best days to be behind him. His rise and fall was swifter than Herman Cain’s and the reality of a Gingrich presidency was always going to present problems in a world that’s moved beyond the 1990s. Perhaps Romney can find room for Newt in his administration as, say, ambassador to Libya?

For more spirited debate, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics presidential Republican

Pot and Kettle – Mitt Romney Calls Newt Gingrich “Unreliable”

When an inconsistent flip-flopper calls you an inconsistent flip-flopper, you know you’ve got problems. This is Mitt Romney’s next message for the Republican voters, that Newt is like a chameleon experienced in changing his colors to match his surroundings.

Defending himself against charges that his own conservative credentials are suspect, the former Massachusetts governor turned the question in Gingrich’s direction and said that it is the former speaker who has strayed repeatedly from embracing conservative doctrine in recent years.

“He has been an extraordinarily unreliable leader in the conservative world—not 16 or 17 years ago but in the last two to three years,” Romney said. “And even during the campaign, the number of times he has moved from one spot to another has been remarkable. I think he’s shown a level of unreliability as a conservative leader today.”

And who’s better equipped to talk about being a switch hitter than Ol’ Mitt Romney. His flip-flops are well documented here,  here, here,  here… and we could keep going, but you get the point. So, Mitt calling Newt “extraordinarily unreliable” and moving “from one spot to another” is – to borrow a phrase from Ed Shultz – Psycho Talk!

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