The Big Ass 2012 Political thread: Part II - Let's Get It Own

[KevinNYC]

Earlier this month Romney revealed his campaign theme. A New American Begins Today (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgGAGreAhzQ&feature=plcp)


The Obama team has just revealed their theme with this video Forward. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1WbQe-wVK9E) It's a pretty well down political ad.

[Norcaliblunt]

http://tarpley.net/five-point-program.pdf

[KevinNYC]

So we have two really big things coming up on the Romney side.

He has to officially clinch the nomination.
Then he has to pick and announce his running mate.

And he needs to do this at least a month before the Republican convention which is August 27 - 30.

Romney needs 300 more delegates to win. Here's the upcoming Primary schedule with the delegates available.

May 8, 2012 132 total delegates
Indiana 46
North Carolina 55
West Virginia 31

May 15, 2012 63 total delegates
Nebraska 35
Oregon 28

May 22, 2012 81 total delegates
Arkansas 36
Kentucky 45

May 29, 2012
Texas 155

June 5, 2012
California 172
Montana 26
New Jersey 50
New Mexico 23
South Dakota 28

So we essentially know the day he will clinch the nomination and it will be June 5th. Most likely he has made his nomination pick by then and announces soon after. He has less than two months after he clinches before the convention starts.

[KevinNYC]

So the question is who is Romney going to pick as his VP?

[Norcaliblunt]

http://tarpley.net/five-point-program.pdf

[Sarcastic]

I think there is a good chance he picks the woman from New Hampshire, Kelly Ayote. No one else wants to be on his ticket.

[Balla_Status]

America is ****ed.

[kentatm]

he will probably pick Marco Rubio in an attempt to win the Hispanic vote and seal up Florida.

Whoever wins Florida will likely win the presidency

[rufuspaul]

he will probably pick Marco Rubio in an attempt to win the Hispanic vote and seal up Florida.

Whoever wins Florida will likely win the presidency

It always seems to come down to Florida and Ohio.

[KevinNYC]

Since the Republican party moved to the right in 2010, they have enacted policies that have alienated Hispanics and women.

Obama is just 1-2% points above Romney in National polls, but he leads by 13% among women among single women it's a 26 point lead. My wife doesn't follow politics too closely and when the Republicans came out against birth control, they got her attention. I think her response was something along the lines of "Are they ****ing kidding? What year year is this?"

Among Hispanics, it's even worse, the poll numbers look like an error (http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/26/opinion/navarro-hispanic-romney/index.html)

Romney desperately needs to improve his numbers with Latinos. Polls show Romney trailing by as much as an unbelievable 50 percentage points behind President Obama with Hispanic voters.

Basically Romney needs a Hispanic woman from a swing state who a Republican and has enough experience so it's not a Palin situation.

A couple of months ago, I would have said, Marco Rubio was a lock for the pick, but now I'm not so sure.

The contenders seem to be

Marco Rubio (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/rubio-delivers-foreign-policy-speech-amid-vp-speculation/) of Florida
Paul Ryan (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/vp-vetting-not-a-problem-for-rep-ryan/) of Wisconsin
Kelly Ayotte (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/sen-kelly-ayotte-mitt-romney-stump-in-n-h/) of New Hampshire
Nikki Haley (http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20120501/NEWS03/305010119/Haley-s-chances-VP-choice-still-alive-experts-say) of South Carolina
Rob Portman (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304868004577376372101851252.html?m od=djemPolitics_t) of Ohio whose name keeps coming up more and more.

Then folks like
Chris Christie (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/christie-says-romney-might-convince-him-to-be-veep/) of New Jersey


Here's a list (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/the-list-of-top-republican-vp-candidates/)that includes Jeb Bush(!) in the top tier of candidates. I really don't see how that helps Romney whatsoever.

[Heilige]

KevinNYC, don't mean to derail the thread but in another thread you mentioned how Romney looked good for his age. I was wondering do you know anything about his exercise routine and how he stays in shape?

[QUIZZLE]

Ruck Fommney

[kentatm]

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/imgs/home/120502-cool-vs-tool.jpg

let the games begin!

:dancin

link (http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/05/romney-giuliani-pizza-firehouse-photo.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nymag%2Fintel+%28Daily+Intell igencer+-+New+York+Magazine%29)

[qrich]

Cynthia McKinney 2012!

No, really.

[KevinNYC]

KevinNYC, don't mean to derail the thread but in another thread you mentioned how Romney looked good for his age. I was wondering do you know anything about his exercise routine and how he stays in shape?

According to Politico, he jogs 3 miles and pulls the cheese of his pizza.

Also as a Mormon, he's probably never had alcohol or caffeine.

[KevinNYC]

I wouldn't want to be Romney campaign manager today. The Washington Post did a big story on his years at prep school and what they found was ugly. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmates-recall-pranks-but-also-troubling-incidents/2012/05/10/gIQA3WOKFU_print.html) Multiple named sources on the record. All of who remember the incident clearly. Romney claims to have forgotten it.


Mitt Romney returned from a three-week spring break in 1965 to resume his studies as a high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School. Back on the handsome campus, studded with Tudor brick buildings and manicured fields, he spotted something he thought did not belong at a school where the boys wore ties and carried briefcases. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenage son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.

The incident was recalled similarly by five students, who gave their accounts independently of one another. Four of them — Friedemann, now a dentist; Phillip Maxwell, a lawyer; Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor; and David Seed, a retired principal — spoke on the record. Another former student who witnessed the incident asked not to be identified. The men have differing political affiliations, although they mostly lean Democratic. Buford volunteered for Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. Seed, a registered independent, has served as a Republican county chairman in Michigan. All of them said that politics in no way colored their recollections.

“It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,” said Buford, the school’s wrestling champion, who said he joined Romney in restraining Lauber. Buford subsequently apologized to Lauber, who was “terrified,” he said. “What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do.”

“It was a hack job,” recalled Maxwell, a childhood friend of Romney who was in the dorm room when the incident occurred. “It was vicious

This doesn't help either


Lou Vierling, a scholarship student who boarded at Cranbrook for the 1960 and 1961 academic years, was struck by a question Romney asked them when they first met. “He wanted to know what my father did for a living,” Vierling recalled. “He wanted to know if my mother worked. He wanted to know what town I lived in.” As Vierling explained that his father taught school, that he commuted from east Detroit, he noticed a souring of Romney’s demeanor.

[Sarcastic]

http://www.romneyeconomics.com/gst/gst-intro/video

[kentatm]

http://www.romneyeconomics.com/gst/gst-intro/video

http://www.dealmakersblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/gordongecko-2d740537-small1.jpg

[KevinNYC]

http://www.dealmakersblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/gordongecko-2d740537-small1.jpg

This is the image that Romney is going to have to fight for the rest of the campaign and it's not just a simple smear, there's a lot of truth to it. Gordon Gekko was inspired by real-life Wall Street Villains like Michael Miliken and Henry Kravis. It's the same reason that charge of "vulture capitalist" is not going to be easy to shake off.

In the 80's Romney did deals with Miliken and used junk bonds to raise the money to buy companies. Romney has sometimes portrayed himself as a venture capitalist, an investor who invests in the start up of a new company and takes a lot of risk in the process. That wasn't what Bain Capital was. Bain was a private equity firm that specialized in Leverage Buyouts (LBO's). LBO's got such a bad name in the 80's that they had to rebrand LBO firms as private equity firms. In the 1980's they were called Barbarians and portrayed this way

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51d0QyKvAdL.jpg

http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1988/1101881205_400.jpg

Frankly, I was surprised at how often LBO's were still going on giving the scandals that occurred the first time around.

Leveraged Buyouts typically don't involve much risk for the investor. First they don't put up their money to make the buy, they borrow it. That's the "Leverage." Then once they own the company, they often extract heavy fees to pay back they debt they borrowed. (Yes, the LBO firm who pays the company somehow transfers their debt to the company.) LBO's often involve mature companies and the basic idea is to sell the company in a very short time. One way they do this, and a way Bain has been accused of this is was cut spending to the bone to look profitable in the short term. Bain has been accused of cutting spending on maintaining the manufacturing equipment. (If it breaks in four years, who cares? We want to sell this company in two years.) They have also been accused of wholesale firing of management and bringing in folks who didn't know the industry the company is it.

So the company they take over, winds up with extra debt and often with poor long term prospects. Four of Romney's biggest deals wound in bankruptcy (http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/03/nation/la-na-romney-bain-20111204) shortly after they flipped the company.


Bain expanded many of the companies it acquired. But like other leveraged-buyout firms, Romney and his team also maximized returns by firing workers, seeking government subsidies, and flipping companies quickly for large profits. Sometimes Bain investors gained even when companies slid into bankruptcy.
....
Bain managers said their mission was clear. "I never thought of what I do for a living as job creation," said Marc B. Walpow, a former managing partner at Bain who worked closely with Romney for nine years before forming his own firm. "The primary goal of private equity is to create wealth for your investors."...

Four of the 10 companies Bain acquired declared bankruptcy within a few years, shedding thousands of jobs. The prospectus shows that Bain investors profited in eight of the 10 deals, including three of the four that ended in bankruptcy.

This Boston Globe article (http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-14/nation/30624519_1_buyout-firms-venture-capital-investment-firm-purchases) explains LBOs and the risks that Bain faced in their LBO deals very well. What makes private equity firms so profitable is they often make out if the company it buys goes out of business.

[QUOTE]Venture capital is

[KevinNYC]

In other news Obama might have slipped in the polls (http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-analysis-gay-marriage-decision-not-working-in-obamas-favor-so-far-20120515,0,492748.story) (too early to see a real trend, small sample size so far) due to his support of gay marriage

the first wave of polling is in, and the results aren’t looking particularly good for Obama. Taken together, four different national opinion surveys over the past week, by reputable organizations with good track records, indicate that the president’s stand could well hurt him politically. Unsurprisingly, the numbers are fairly close; but as often gets pointed out, tight elections are decided by small numbers of votes.

[KevinNYC]

Romney and Paul supporters go at it in the Oklahoma GOP Convention.

http://kfor.com/2012/05/14/republican-convention-breaks-out-into-chaos/

This is in a state where every county voted against Obama in 2012. (The only state in the lower 48 to do so.)

[KevinNYC]

http://www.romneyeconomics.com/gst/gst-intro/video

The Washington Post's Fact checker looks into this ad (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/romney-and-bain-capital-the-obama-campaigns-newest-ad/2012/05/14/gIQAxCP3PU_blog.html?hpid=z3). On a scale of 1 to 4 Pinocchios they give it a one

[QUOTE]
The biggest problem with this ad is that it takes a single data point

[Sarcastic]

TRUTH-O-METER (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/)


Good site for the upcoming elections.

[KevinNYC]

Yeah, the Post's Fact checker and Politifact are not perfect, but at least they are trying.

[KevinNYC]

James Lipton of Inside the Actor's Studio has some tips for Mitt Romney on how to act human.

http://videos.nymag.com/decor/live/transparent.gif

In this media-saturated era, the line between politics and performance has virtually vanished, and the public is having a hard time believing Mr. Romney’s persona (as in dramatis personae) — a potentially fatal flaw for any actor, but especially for a presidential candidate. Why doesn’t Mr. Romney’s audience believe him?
Perhaps it starts with his laugh, a device he employs at odd moments and in a most peculiar way. (The public thinks that crying is the acid test of the actor, but in fact “laughing” is much harder — and Mr. Romney hasn’t mastered it.)
Listen to his laugh. It resembles the flat “Ha! Ha! Ha!” that appears in comic-strip dialogue balloons. But worse – far worse – it is mirthless. Mr. Romney expects us to be amused, although he himself is not amused. Freeze the frame, cover the bottom of his face with your hand, and study his eyes. There’s no pleasure there, no amusement. Genuine laughter is triggered only by, and is completely dependent on, shared perception. That’s why we say we “get” a joke.

Check out the video at the link.

[Draz]

Obama 2012!

[KevinNYC]

So we have two really big things coming up on the Romney side.

He has to officially clinch the nomination.
Then he has to pick and announce his running mate.

And he needs to do this at least a month before the Republican convention which is August 27 - 30.

Romney needs 300 more delegates to win. Here's the upcoming Primary schedule with the delegates available.

May 8, 2012 132 total delegates
Indiana 46
North Carolina 55
West Virginia 31

May 15, 2012 63 total delegates
Nebraska 35
Oregon 28

May 22, 2012 81 total delegates
Arkansas 36
Kentucky 45

May 29, 2012
Texas 155

June 5, 2012
California 172
Montana 26
New Jersey 50
New Mexico 23
South Dakota 28

So we essentially know the day he will clinch the nomination and it will be June 5th. Most likely he has made his nomination pick by then and announces soon after. He has less than two months after he clinches before the convention starts.

Romney exceeded expectations and thus he has clinched the nomination tonight in Texas. (http://india.nydailynews.com/business/8167affc71cc174e3dea4d167c18fb4a/mitt-romney-clinches-republican-nomination)

[Lakers Legend#32]

Obama appeals to the overeducated. Thus he has no chance in the South.

[Rasheed1]

Trump's back

I think he's still p*ssed about Obama taking him apart at that fancy president's banquet in front of the whole world. :lol

http://i.imgur.com/I6GSf.gif

This is gonna be good...

[KevinNYC]

Apparently Marco Rubio is not even being vetted for vice president.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/marco-rubio-not-being-vetted-to-be-mitt-romneys-running-mate/


But knowledgeable Republican sources tell me that Rubio is not being vetted by Mitt Romney’s vice presidential search team. He has not been asked to complete any questionnaires or been asked to turn over any financial documents typically required of potential vice presidential candidates.
Although it is possible that Rubio may yet be asked to go through the vetting process, it has been nearly two months since Romney named his long-time aide Beth Myers to run his vice presidential search. The fact that Rubio has not been asked to turn over any documents by now is a strong indication that he is not on Romney’s short list of potential running mates.

[InspiredLebowski]

So I imagine no one but me cares, but Mitch Daniels isn't going to be VP. He's going to be named the new president of Purdue University on Thursday.

Just me speculating, but being an employee of a public state school obviously means he's not going to be doing any campaigning for Romney, Mike Pence during his run to eventually being the next IN governor (God help us), or Teabagger Richard Mourdock's run for IN's Senate seat. Both of those local guys are REALLY divisive, and clearly Romney's on a national stage. Daniels is 63, Purdue's got a limit of 65 on executives (reason why the previous prez is leaving), so it's a short term peddle your influence for funding gig. Then I think Daniels runs for POTUS in 2016 after what I see as an inevitable Romney loss. A lot easier then than against an incumbent.

[IcanzIIravor]

So I imagine no one but me cares, but Mitch Daniels isn't going to be VP. He's going to be named the new president of Purdue University on Thursday.

Just me speculating, but being an employee of a public state school obviously means he's not going to be doing any campaigning for Romney, Mike Pence during his run to eventually being the next IN governor (God help us), or Teabagger Richard Mourdock's run for IN's Senate seat. Both of those local guys are REALLY divisive, and clearly Romney's on a national stage. Daniels is 63, Purdue's got a limit of 65 on executives (reason why the previous prez is leaving), so it's a short term peddle your influence for funding gig. Then I think Daniels runs for POTUS in 2016 after what I see as an inevitable Romney loss. A lot easier then than against an incumbent.

I am not surprised. A lot of the heavyweights sat out and are hoping that Romney loses, because it is practically written in stone that if Obama wins then the next President will be a Republican.

[joe]

Romney and Obama = same person in different color suits. On all the big issues they're the same. During the campaign they'll tell a bunch of beautiful lies and make us all feel good, and whoever is elected will stick to the elite banker script.

[InspiredLebowski]

Romney and Obama = same person in different color suits. On all the big issues they're the same. During the campaign they'll tell a bunch of beautiful lies and make us all feel good, and whoever is elected will stick to the elite banker script.shhhh

[IcanzIIravor]

Romney and Obama = same person in different color suits. On all the big issues they're the same. During the campaign they'll tell a bunch of beautiful lies and make us all feel good, and whoever is elected will stick to the elite banker script.

They are not the same. That is just cookie cutter talk. They have vastly different policies and strategies they believe in. Their foreign policy for one would be different as Romney projects a far more hawkish attitude with regards to Iran and Syria and I believe his view of China would point towards a trade war with China. I think it is pure laziness to say whoever takes power in either part = the same.

[joe]

They are not the same. That is just cookie cutter talk. They have vastly different policies and strategies they believe in. Their foreign policy for one would be different as Romney projects a far more hawkish attitude with regards to Iran and Syria and I believe his view of China would point towards a trade war with China. I think it is pure laziness to say whoever takes power in either part = the same.

You're thinking on a small scale. Rise above. They're both controlled by the same special interests. They both think the presidency is a dictatorship. Whether one is a little tiny bit more hawkish, or one is a little tiny bit more into capitalism, is not important. Once they assume office, they will treat it like a dictatorship. But they're the dictators in name only, it's the banking/corporate interests and the UN behind them, pulling strings.

Obama and Romney will talk a bunch of fuzzy-wuzzy junk for the next 5-6 months, about cutting gov. spending, making the gov. more transparent, creating jobs, fixing the economy, etc. And when whoever becomes President, the show will continue. More war, less civil liberties, less transparency, less capitalism, more debt, more gov. spending.

On a small scale I prefer Romney slightly, but if I HADDDD to vote for one, I'd pick Obama. Because he's such an over the top fascist that I feel millions more people would awaken if he was given a second term.

[KevinNYC]

So I imagine no one but me cares, but Mitch Daniels isn't going to be VP.

Rumors are that's the VP slot is going to Pawlenty.

[KevinNYC]

You're thinking on a small scale. Rise above. They're both controlled by the same special interests. They both think the presidency is a dictatorship. Whether one is a little tiny bit more hawkish, or one is a little tiny bit more into capitalism, is not important. Once they assume office, they will treat it like a dictatorship. But they're the dictators in name only, it's the banking/corporate interests and the UN behind them, pulling strings.

Obama and Romney will talk a bunch of fuzzy-wuzzy junk for the next 5-6 months, about cutting gov. spending, making the gov. more transparent, creating jobs, fixing the economy, etc. And when whoever becomes President, the show will continue. More war, less civil liberties, less transparency, less capitalism, more debt, more gov. spending.

On a small scale I prefer Romney slightly, but if I HADDDD to vote for one, I'd pick Obama. Because he's such an over the top fascist that I feel millions more people would awaken if he was given a second term.

:D

You always bring a smile to my face, Joe.

But let me be clear here, your position is that Obama is a way "over the top fascist," but somehow he's been able to keep this the American people?

[magic chiongson]

misleading thread title, where's the big ass?

[KevinNYC]

Giant day in Politics today with the Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act. Now that it is settled law, expect the Democrats to point all the popular stuff in the bill and point out that the Republicans really don't have an alternate health reform proposal.

Also Attorney General Holder was held in contempt of Congress today. (http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/House-finds-Holder-in-contempt-of-Congress-3672134.php) This was related to the "Fast and Furious" ATF scandal.

The vote was 255 to 67. Most Democrats walked out of the vote in protest.

Coincendentally, Forbes just published an article based on a 6 month investigation into Fast and Furious where they say a lot of the "facts" of the scandal are distortions are outright lies.


Quite simply, there's a fundamental misconception at the heart of the Fast and Furious scandal. Nobody disputes that suspected straw purchasers under surveillance by the ATF repeatedly bought guns that eventually fell into criminal hands. Issa and others charge that the ATF intentionally allowed guns to walk as an operational tactic. But five law-enforcement agents directly involved in Fast and Furious tell Fortune that the ATF had no such tactic. They insist they never purposefully allowed guns to be illegally trafficked. Just the opposite: They say they seized weapons whenever they could but were hamstrung by prosecutors and weak laws, which stymied them at every turn.
Indeed, a six-month Fortune investigation reveals that the public case alleging that Voth and his colleagues walked guns is replete with distortions, errors, partial truths, and even some outright lies. Fortune reviewed more than 2,000 pages of confidential ATF documents and interviewed 39 people, including seven law-enforcement agents with direct knowledge of the case. Several, including Voth, are speaking out for the first time.
How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It's a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson's anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general's report is submitted.)

The core issue is whether or not the "whistleblower," Dodson, at the heart of the scandal is believable or if he is acting out of a grudge towards his boss, Voth. The Forbes article relies heavily on on his boss. In fact, it's the first time his boss is on the record.

Check out the whistleblower is described
[QUOTE]Dodson, 41, arrived one day before Voth from a two-man outpost of ATF's Roanoke field office, where he'd worked since 2002. He had joined the ATF from the narcotics section of the Loudoun County sheriff's office in Virginia, where his blunt, even obnoxious manner did not earn him friends. [B]He's "an asshole sometimes

[KevinNYC]

So no news so far on Romney's VP pick. The announcement should happen the week before the election. I thought it would happen earlier, but then learned both the Palin and Biden selections were announced just a few days before the convention.

But that's not what this post is about.

It's been obvious that the Democrats are going to campaign on Romney's business career and there was some big news about that today. (http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2012/07/12/government_documents_indicate_mitt_romney_continue d_at_bain_after_date_when_he_says_he_left/?p1=News_links)



Government documents filed by Mitt Romney and Bain Capital say Romney remained chief executive and chairman of the firm three years beyond the date he said he ceded control, even creating five new investment partnerships during that time.

Romney has said he left Bain in 1999 to lead the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, ending his role in the company. But public Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed later by Bain Capital state he remained the firm’s “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president.”

Also, a Massachusetts financial disclosure form Romney filed in 2003 states that he still owned 100 percent of Bain Capital in 2002. And Romney’s state financial disclosure forms indicate he earned at least $100,000 as a Bain “executive” in 2001 and 2002, separate from investment earnings.

The timing of Romney’s departure from Bain is a key point of contention because he has said his resignation in February 1999 meant he was not responsible for Bain Capital companies that went bankrupt or laid off workers after that date.

I just had the realization that while the Romney campaign is going to be having to deal with this, the next Batman movie comes out in one week.

See where I'm going this? No, just think for a second....OK. Now you're with me. I realized, I couldn't be the first one to think of this and I wasn't.






Get ready for five months of stuff like this

http://barkersandrubes.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/romney-bane-time.jpg

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web04/2011/12/19/14/enhanced-buzz-wide-29940-1324321511-6.jpg

http://barkersandrubes.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/romney-bane-1.jpg

So, following the Obama as the Joker posters during the Tea Parties, we have the second use of Batman imagery in politics

Update: After the tragedy in Aurora, I would suspect, we won't see much of this.

[Jailblazers7]

Has Romney proven he doesn't have the political saavy to be President after these trips he has taken abroad? Dude seems like he is constantly putting his foot in his mouth.

[KevinNYC]

It's been a really strange experience watching this. The thing in Britain was a completely unforced error. He could have breezed through it, but he just couldn't help himself. The Romneyshambles (http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23Romneyshambles) tag on twitter is a good read.

It reminded me of Cookiegate. (http://thehill.com/video/campaign/222467-romneys-cookie-joke-prompts-cookie-gate-attack)

“I’m not sure about these cookies,” Romney said, and continued to tease one of the women at the table: “Did you make those cookies? You didn’t, did you? No. No. They came from the local 7-Eleven bakery or wherever.”

[KevinNYC]

And so, far there's no change in the polls. It's still a race that is only 1.5-2% points apart.

[Jailblazers7]

It's been a really strange experience watching this. The thing in Britain was a completely unforced error. He could have breezed through it, but he just couldn't help himself. The Romneyshambles (http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23Romneyshambles) tag on twitter is a good read.

It reminded me of Cookiegate. (http://thehill.com/video/campaign/222467-romneys-cookie-joke-prompts-cookie-gate-attack)

Lol that bakery is right by my house. Theyre cookies are phenominal btw.

[IcanzIIravor]

And so, far there's no change in the polls. It's still a race that is only 1.5-2% points apart.

Keep an eye on the swing states. I believe Obama is leading in the majority of them.

[KevinNYC]

Keep an eye on the swing states. I believe Obama is leading in the majority of them.


The polling blog 538 says Obama has a 66% chance of winning right now.


Also the NYTimes, says both campaigns are fighting over 1 million voters who aren't leaning one way or the other.

[QUOTE]Meet the Undecided
By LARRY M. BARTELS and LYNN VAVRECK
Most American voters have already decided whether they will pull the lever for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney in November. Their decisions were largely predictable even before Romney emerged as the Republican standard-bearer. But there are still a few people out there who are truly undecided

[KevinNYC]

Also I just noticed I called this thread:

The Big Ass 2012 Political thread: Part II - Let's Get It Own

That was not intentional, even though it kinda fits a year with Occupy Wall Street, Too Big to Fail and Bain Capital as themes.

[Sarcastic]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/harry-reid-romney-taxes_n_1724027.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009


Romney didn't pay taxes for 10 years, which is why he won't release them to the public. :oldlol:

[KevinNYC]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/harry-reid-romney-taxes_n_1724027.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009


Romney didn't pay taxes for 10 years, which is why he won't release them to the public. :oldlol:

Harry is playing Chicken with Romney. Reid doesn't know if this is true, but there's only one way to disprove it. And it's exactly what Romney doesn't want to do.

The only way Romney can disprove is to release his tax returns and there seems to be some pretty strong reasons he doesn't want to do that EVEN what Reid is claiming is not true. Reid is gambling that he won't be able to release his taxes.

OR

He's trying to get Romney to make the mistake of releasing them.

[kentatm]

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k532/jakecutter/romney-1-1.jpg

:lol

[KevinNYC]

The VP pick is rumored to happen very ,very soon.

Apparently they leaked the name of David Petraeus as a possibility, but this writer thinks (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/mitt-romney-vp-pick-article-1.1132566#ixzz234Vek9p1)that was just to distract people from other issues like when they leaked the name of Condi Rice last month.


WASHINGTON - The magic moment nears when Mitt Romney commandeers the national conversation by rolling out his running mate. But while the name is still a closely-held secret, much is already known about Romney's Veep pick.
He or she - and insiders say it's a male - will meet these yardsticks:
—Capable of Being President. That's always the first criterion every nominee trumpets. Usually, it's baloney. Not so with Romney - who has told several sources his nominee must be ready to step into the Oval Office tomorrow. He's been reinforced in that view by former Vice President Dick Cheney, who told Romney that Sarah Palin flunked the test — and according to Romney sources believes some other contenders need more seasoning. (This means you, Marco Rubio.)
—Ready To Rule. "I need someone to help me with governance," Romney told one GOP mandarin a few weeks ago. A CEO, Romney wants a chief operating officer, not someone who brings him a key state or voter bloc.
—A Safe Choice. Only John McCain still believes (at least publicly) that Palin was a savvy choice. Romney is a buttoned-up business guy, not prone to throwing the bomb. His choice will be incremental, not experimental.

Sen. Rob Portman could be a likely choice for Romney’s VP, since he would not outshine the GOP presidential candidate.

—More Conservative than Romney. The Tea Party remains deeply suspicious of Romney's conservative credentials. They've swallowed their misgivings because Romney has the best shot of beating President Obama - and because their disdain for Obama trumps Romney's shortcomings. So Romney will choose someone acceptable to the red-hots without turning off crucial independent voters.
—More likable. The Number Two needs to be more comfortable with himself than Romney seems at times. Look for a personable, non-threatening, low-maintenance nominee.
—A Genuine Second Banana. The Number Two should never have more star power than his boss. That helps Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and ex-Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty because they will never dominate Romney. It hurts candidates like CIA director David Petraeus, who would minimize Romney like Palin minimized McCain. The Petraeus leak this week is a handlers’ ploy to divert attention from Romney’s income taxes. This job description reduces the real “short list” to a couple of what one party elder calls "vanilla white guys with the experience to help run the country and make Romney more palatable."

[Godzuki]

Harry is playing Chicken with Romney. Reid doesn't know if this is true, but there's only one way to disprove it. And it's exactly what Romney doesn't want to do.

The only way Romney can disprove is to release his tax returns and there seems to be some pretty strong reasons he doesn't want to do that EVEN what Reid is claiming is not true. Reid is gambling that he won't be able to release his taxes.

OR

He's trying to get Romney to make the mistake of releasing them.


i've been loving how the Democrats are playing dirty with them :lol i love how this whole Romney tax returns issue is what seems a smoking gun and how he isn't forced to make them public but being blackballed to do it in the court of public opinion by Reid, otherwise he looks guilty by standing pat.

of course its possible there isn't anything wrong with his returns but at this point its highly doubtful otherwise he'd have released them already. it'd also be in character with someone like Romney to find loopholes to avoid paying taxes, which ironically would completely screw him for his bid to become Prez. the Republicans already have their candidate and this could wreck them before we even get into the Presidential race :applause:

[Godzuki]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B5o6-qNk6Q&feature=player_embedded

at first i was like :rolleyes: then towards the end :lol