Romney will be the GOP nominee

[Facts]

I don't think so.

Just don't think you have a chance.

[JohnnyMarzetti]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/534050_2500013359663_1832791337_1556511_1887327285 _n.jpg

[JoeChalupa]

:lol Romney will do Leno on Tuesday, per the AP.

[Wild Cobra]

:lol Romney will do Leno on Tuesday, per the AP.

Interesting.

I can't quite place Leno on a political map, but I'm thinking he will try to expose a flip or flop.

[boutons_deux]

Paranoia Strikes Deeper


Stop, hey, what’s that sound? Actually, it’s the noise a great political party makes when it loses what’s left of its mind. And it happened — where else? — on Fox News on Sunday, when Mitt Romney bought fully into the claim that gas prices are high thanks to an Obama administration plot.

This claim isn’t just nuts; it’s a sort of craziness triple play — a lie wrapped in an absurdity swaddled in paranoia. It’s the sort of thing you used to hear only from people who also believed that fluoridated water was a Communist plot. But now the gas-price conspiracy theory has been formally endorsed by the likely Republican presidential nominee.

Before we get to the larger implications of this endorsement, let’s get the facts on gas prices straight.

First, the lie: No, President Obama did not say, as many Republicans now claim, that he wanted higher gasoline prices. He did once say that a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions would cause electricity prices to “skyrocket” — an unfortunate word choice. But saying that such a system would raise energy prices was just a factual statement, not a declaration of intent to punish American consumers. The claim that Mr. Obama wanted higher prices is a lie, pure and simple.

And it’s a lie wrapped in an absurdity, because the president of the United States doesn’t control gasoline prices, or even have much influence over those prices. Oil prices are set in a world market, and America, which accounts for only about a tenth of world production, can’t move those prices much. Indeed, the recent rise in gas prices has taken place despite rising U.S. oil production and falling imports.

Finally, there’s the paranoia, the belief that liberals in general, and Obama administration officials in particular, are trying to make driving unaffordable as part of a nefarious plot against the American way of life. And, no, I’m not exaggerating. This is what you hear even from thoroughly mainstream conservatives.

For example, last year George Will declared that the Obama administration’s support for train travel had nothing to do with relieving congestion and reducing environmental impacts. No, he insisted, “the real reason for progressives’ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americans’ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism.” Who knew that Dagny Taggart, the railroad executive heroine of “Atlas Shrugged,” was a Commie?

O.K., this is all kind of funny. But it’s also deeply scary.

As Richard Hofstadter pointed out in his classic 1964 essay “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” crazy conspiracy theories have been an American tradition ever since clergymen began warning that Thomas Jefferson was an agent of the Bavarian Illuminati. But it’s one thing to have a paranoid fringe playing a marginal role in a nation’s political life; it’s something quite different when that fringe takes over a whole party, to the point where candidates must share, or pretend to share, that fringe’s paranoia to receive the party’s presidential nod.

And it’s not just gas prices, of course. In fact, the conspiracy theories are proliferating so fast it’s hard to keep up. Thus, large numbers of Republicans — and we’re talking about important political figures, not random supporters — firmly believe that global warming is a gigantic hoax perpetrated by a global conspiracy involving thousands of scientists, not one of whom has broken the code of omertà. Meanwhile, others are attributing the recent improvement in economic news to a dastardly plot to withhold stimulus funds, releasing them just before the 2012 election. And let’s not even get into health reform.

Why is this happening? At least part of the answer must lie in the way right-wing media create an alternate reality. For example, did you hear about how the cost of Obamacare just doubled? It didn’t, but millions of Fox-viewers and Rush-listeners believe that it did. Naturally, people who constantly hear about the evil that liberals do are ready and willing to believe that everything bad is the result of a dastardly liberal plot. And these are the people who vote in Republican primaries.

But what about the broader electorate?

If and when he wins the nomination, Mr. Romney will try, as a hapless adviser put it, to shake his Etch A Sketch — that is, to erase the record of his pandering to the crazy right and convince voters that he’s actually a moderate. And maybe he can pull it off.

But let’s hope that he can’t, because the kind of pandering he has engaged in during his quest for the nomination matters. Whatever Mr. Romney may personally believe, the fact is that by endorsing the right’s paranoid fantasies, he is helping to further a dangerous trend in America’s political life. And he should be held accountable for his actions.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/opinion/krugman-paranoia-strikes-deeper.html?pagewanted=print

========

Above corresponds to a merger broker's assessement that Willard Gecko's word on company purchase price at Bain was worthless. Bain said they would pay a high $, but always found ways to screw that down after other buyers were scared away by the high $ bid.

The only thing Willard Gecko stands consistently for is getting himself elected. Seems to be the typical politician, an ethical and moral cesspool.

[Mitt Romney]

With Rubio now behind me is there any doubt? Buenas noches.

[Winehole23]

How popular is comedian Stephen Colbert (http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Stephen+Colbert%22)'s semi-serious Super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow?

In Texas, it's more popular that Mitt Romney (http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Mitt+Romney%22)'s leading Super PAC. Federal Election Commission records examined by the Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Houston+Chronicle%22) indicate more Texans have donated to Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow than to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Texans-give-more-money-to-Colbert-s-PAC-than-to-3365243.php

[Nbadan]

With Rubio now behind me is there any doubt? Buenas noches.

Screw Rubio, the Neocons are behind Romney....all the other candidates need to just hang it up


Former President George H.W. Bush will formally endorse Mitt Romney for president on Thursday, CBS News has confirmed

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57405768-503544/george-h.w-bush-to-endorse-romney/

Look for Dodson and Warren to jump on board soon too...

[boutons_deux]

Swing States Poll: A shift by women puts Obama in lead


http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-04-01/swing-states-poll/53930684/1

Running against Ryan's budget, endorsed by Willard Gecko and all major Repugs, will be a no-brainer.

Repugs certainly can't run on their record 2001-2007. dubya and dickhead are NEVER even mentioned by candidates.

[AFBlue]

Big win in Wisconsin tonight, following a week of big endorsements from political heavyweights in the Republican party. I think it's time for Santorum to bow out, though he has said it's only "halftime".

[Nbadan]

Willard needs a tea potty running mate worse than he needs a christian fundamentalists candidate like Santorum....I'm looking at Chris Christie...

[AFBlue]

Hard to say who the VP nod will go to at this point. Rubio has the edge for many reasons, but I wouldn't discount Romney doubling down on the economy and going with Paul Ryan.

[boutons_deux]

Willard Gecko and Paul Ryan, would be as successful as McLiar and pitbull bitch.

Obama and the Dems will shatter Willard's etch-a-sketch by pounding it with Ryan's fuck the 99%, protect/enrich the 1% budget.

[Winehole23]

Ryan has the charisma of a wet paper bag and is not particularly well liked in his own state; his conservative bona fides include votes for the TARP, the auto bailout and taxing CEO bonuses.

What else would Ryan bring to the ticket, in your opinion?

[Wild Cobra]

What if he picks Cain?

What if he picks someone nobody considers like McCain did?

[JoeChalupa]

Paul Ryan sure is sucking up to Romney and may just be seeking the VP.

[Winehole23]

What if he picks Cain?expect a worse result than 2008 for the GOP if that happens, but it's not going to happen...

[JoeChalupa]

Willard will flip-flop until he feels he has made the right choice. Hispanic woman?

[boutons_deux]

Mitt Romney may have to run against his own image

In state after state, Romney has grown less popular the longer the campaign wears on and the better voters get to know him. The same thing happened in 2008,

The former Massachusetts governor remains competitive with Obama even though the president is viewed much more positively, according to polls. But Romney's image problem heightens the already formidable task he faces in November, trying to dislodge an incumbent spared the costly and divisive intraparty battle that Republicans have waged.

The same is true elsewhere. Michigan, where Romney was born, once offered a prime opportunity to flip a state that went for Obama four years ago. But after hosting one of the most bruising contests of the Republican race — a knockdown that Romney won in a squeaker — Michigan seems to have reverted safely back to the Democratic column.

The damage extends beyond battleground states. Obama has gained considerable ground against Romney in head-to-head matchups nationally, pulling into a modest lead thanks to his greatly improved standing among independent voters, the swing group that is vital to winning the White House.

A recent ABC News-Washington Post poll found that a record 50% of Americans had an unfavorable view of the GOP front-runner and just 34% had a favorable view, the lowest rating for any leading presidential hopeful in decades.

It is hardly surprising that Romney's image has suffered during the bruising Republican primary. Assessing the political damage at this point is somewhat akin to examining a bleeding patient who just arrived in the emergency room. Romney advisors are confident his wounds will heal; as one put it, the harsh views of the likely GOP nominee are a first impression but not necessarily a lasting one.

Wisconsin offered some bright notes for Romney. Exit polls showed inroads with evangelical Christians and strongly conservative Republicans, two groups that have been among the most resistant to Romney's candidacy.

But, again, there were trouble signs. His victory margin, 44% to 37%, was unimpressive given Romney's massive financial advantage, the support of virtually the entire state political establishment and, not least, his seeming inevitability.


http://mobile.latimes.com/p.p?m=b&a=rp&id=1911155&postId=1911155&postUserId=7&sessionToken=&catId=5219&curAbsIndex=0&resultsUrl=DID%3D6%26DFCL%3D1000%26DSB%3Drank%2523 desc%26DBFQ%3DuserId%253A7%26DL.w%3D%26DL.d%3D10%2 6DQ%3DsectionId%253A5219%26DPS%3D0%26DPL%3D3

[boutons_deux]

Romney, Who Has Two Harvard Degrees, Says Obama Spent ‘Too Much Time At Harvard’


http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/RomneyAcademia-e1333639233869.jpg

http://thinkprogress.org/special/2012/04/05/458987/romney-who-has-two-harvard-degrees-says-obama-has-spent-too-much-time-at-harvard/

:lol

[boutons_deux]

'Morning Joe' host: GOP establishment thinks Mitt Romney will lose to Obama

conservative Joe Scarborough bluntly put it Wednesday, Republicans aren't confident about his chances in the fall.

“Nobody thinks Romney’s going to win [the general election]. Let’s just be honest. Can we just say this for everybody at home? The Republican establishment – I have yet to meet a single person from the Republican establishment who thinks Mitt Romney’s going to win the general election this year. They won’t say it on TV, because they’ve got to go on TV, and they don’t want people writing them nasty e-mails. I obviously don’t care. But I have yet to meet anybody in the Republican establishment that worked for George W. Bush, that works in the Republican Congress, that worked for Ronald Reagan that thinks Mitt Romney’s going to win the general election.”

This basically corresponds with Decoder's own conversations with various Republican insiders. There are many who say they think President Obama is vulnerable – but there are far fewer who, when speaking off the record, say they believe Mr. Romney is well positioned to take advantage of that vulnerability. In a word, many Republicans smell a loser.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2012/0405/Morning-Joe-host-GOP-establishment-thinks-Mitt-Romney-will-lose-to-Obama?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feeds%2Fcsm+%28Christian+Scie nce+Monitor+|+All+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

[cheguevara]

Romney is a fucking joke

[JoeChalupa]

Romney is a fucking joke

And he is laughing all the way to the nomination and Ron Paul is...well....meaningless.

[cheguevara]

And he is laughing all the way to the nomination

on his way to play the fall guy come november. Kerry 2.0

[JoeChalupa]

on his way to play the fall guy come november. Kerry 2.0

I hope you are right.

[boutons_deux]

Obama By Default

The Republicans are a sick joke, and their narrow ideological stupidity has left rational voters no choice in the coming presidential election but Barack Obama. With Ron Paul out of it and warmongering hedge fund hustler Mitt Romney the likely Republican nominee, the GOP has defined itself indelibly as the party of moneyed greed and unfettered imperialism.

It is with chilling certainty that one can predict that a single Romney appointee to the Supreme Court would seal the coup of the 1 percent that already is well on its way toward purchasing the nation’s political soul. Romney is the quintessential Citizens United super PAC candidate, a man who has turned avarice into virtue and comes to us now as a once-moderate politician transformed into the ultimate prophet of imperial hubris, blaming everyone from the Chinese to laid-off American workers for our problems. Everyone, that is, except the Wall Street-dominated GOP, which midwifed the Great Recession under George W. Bush and now seeks to blame Obama for the enormous deficit spawned by the party’s wanton behavior.

So insanely gullible are Republican voters that they buy Mitt’s line that bailing out the auto industry to save the heart of America’s legendary industrial base was an example of big-government waste. Yet to them the almost unimaginable sum spent on the Wall Street bailout represents prudent small-government fiscal responsibility.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/obama_by_default_20120405/

[AFBlue]

Ryan has the charisma of a wet paper bag and is not particularly well liked in his own state; his conservative bona fides include votes for the TARP, the auto bailout and taxing CEO bonuses.

What else would Ryan bring to the ticket, in your opinion?

Ignoring your opinion on his charisma, I think you bring up valid points about his popularity and voting record. He has gotten his name out there recently with the budget proposal and his strength is the economy (biggest issue of this election), which is why I thought it possible.

I could be wrong though.

[boutons_deux]

"his strength is the economy"

his "outline for a decade of federal budgeting" is pure garbage.

[spursncowboys]

What if he picks Cain?

What if he picks someone nobody considers like McCain did?

The Weekly Standard was pushing pretty hard for McCain to pick Palin.

[spursncowboys]

Ryan and Condi Rice said no to vp. So did the female govenor with the new book out. I think it will be Rubio. Florida being in the Eastern time zone is a huge swing state Romney needs to stay relevant. IMO.

[spursncowboys]

With unemployment at almost 8% in Ohio, if Romney cannot swing that state his way...

[boutons_deux]

As Marco Rubio says 'not me,' speculation over Romney VP grows

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-as-rubio-bows-out-speculation-over-romneys-vp-intensifies-20120405,0,4568153.story?track=rss

Romney’s Hispanic problem is serious

Two new polls of Latino voters confirm what I have been writing for several months: Republican front-runner Mitt Romney is so unpopular among Hispanic voters that he would have a hard time winning the November elections.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/10/2685766/romneys-hispanic-problem-is-serious.html#storylink=cpy

So Willard Gecko is in big trouble with Hispanics, blacks, and most women. No wonder the Repug leaders think the election is already over.

[Th'Pusher]

As Marco Rubio says 'not me,' speculation over Romney VP grows

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-as-rubio-bows-out-speculation-over-romneys-vp-intensifies-20120405,0,4568153.story?track=rss

Romney’s Hispanic problem is serious

Two new polls of Latino voters confirm what I have been writing for several months: Republican front-runner Mitt Romney is so unpopular among Hispanic voters that he would have a hard time winning the November elections.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/10/2685766/romneys-hispanic-problem-is-serious.html#storylink=cpy

So Willard Gecko is in big trouble with Hispanics, blacks, and most women. No wonder the Repug leaders think the election is already over.

Susana Martinez would plug two of those holes.

[cheguevara]

Neocons don't get that the majority of latinos are mexican/central american. and they don't see Rubio as a fellow latino at all. :lol

[Nbadan]

Gingrich, Santorum and Paul are insane....Rubio has said no, Scott may not survive a recall election, Christie needs more seasoning and Palin is jumping up and down saying, "pick me, pick me!"

:lol

[TeyshaBlue]

Gingrich, Santorum and Paul are insane....Rubio has said no, Scott may not survive a recall election, Christie needs more seasoning and Palin is jumping up and down saying, "pick me, pick me!"

:lol

I haven't looked at it very closely, but aren't there some contitutional concerns regarding Rubio running for POTUS?

I've just read that, obliquely, in a couple of places. Dont really know, tbh.

[Winehole23]

Ignoring your opinion on his charisma, I think you bring up valid points about his popularity and voting record. He has gotten his name out there recently with the budget proposal and his strength is the economy (biggest issue of this election), which is why I thought it possible.

I could be wrong though.You could be right, but I'm inclined to believe that whatever is really important will as usual be buried under a mile of hysterical bullshit.

Could be wrong about that...

[boutons_deux]

"his strength is the economy"

his strength is doing the bidding of the 1%, VRWC, UCA, cutting all of their taxes, not touching any of their subsidies, tax breaks, while cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and damn near everything that is intended to help the poor, sick, young.

[boutons_deux]

Poll: Obama Has Big Leads On Key Policy Areas, Likability, Women

President Obama leading Mitt Romney in almost every major policy area:

– Beats Romney 10 points, 49 to 39 percent, on “protecting the middle class.”
– Edges Romney by three points on “creating jobs” and “handling taxes.” Up two points on “supporting small business.”
– Crushes Romney by 17 points, 53 to 36 percent, on “handling international affairs,” and seven points on “handling terrorism.”
– Beats Romney eight points on “dealing with social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.”

On personal traits, Obama’s edge is even bigger: “He has a better than 2-to-1 advantage as the more friendly and likable of the two, and nearly that margin as ‘more inspiring.’”

Perhaps most importantly, with the backdrop of a heated debate about women’s issue, the poll confirms trends from other polls showing Romney has a “women problem.” The Post reports:

A wide gender gap underlies the current state of the race. Romney is up eight percentage points among male voters but trails by 19 among women.

http://thinkprogress.org/special/2012/04/10/461385/poll-obama-women/

[boutons_deux]

Unlike Every Other Recent Nominee, Primary Hurt Romney

While every other presidential nominee since 1996 emerged from the primary campaign with their public standing improved, presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney has uniquely hurt his as he heads into the general. As BuzzFeed’s Zeke Miller notes, parsing CNN polling data:


http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/CNNPoll.jpg


http://thinkprogress.org/special/2012/04/11/462304/romney-hurt-by-primary/

[boutons_deux]

How Santorum Boxed in Romney

By E.J. Dionne, Jr.

Rick Santorum’s departure from the presidential race could not come soon enough for Mitt Romney. In proving himself more tenacious than anyone predicted, Santorum dramatized one of Romney’s major problems, created another, and forced the now inevitable Republican nominee into a strategic dilemma.

Republicans may condemn class warfare, but their primaries turned into a class struggle. Romney performed best among voters with high incomes, and was consistently weaker with the white working class, even in the late primaries where he put Santorum away. And Romney cannot win without rolling up very large margins among less well-off whites.

At the same time, Santorum’s strength among evangelical Christians pressured Romney to toughen his positions even as the Republican Party as a whole, at both the state and national levels, has pushed policies on contraception and abortion that have alienated many women, particularly the college educated.

This is Romney’s other problem: Among college-educated white men, Romney had a healthy 57 percent to 39 percent lead over President Obama in the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll. But among college-educated white women, Obama led Romney by 60 percent to 40 percent. This netted to a rather astounding 38-point gender gap, compared with a net 27-point gap among all white voters. (Thanks to Peyton Craighill of The Washington Post’s polling staff for extracting these numbers, which are based on registered voters.) Overall, the poll taken before Santorum left the race showed Obama leading Romney by 51 percent to 44 percent.

Thus the box the primaries built for Romney: He must simultaneously court evangelical Christians and working-class voters who have eluded him so far, but also reassure socially moderate women higher up the class ladder who, for now, are providing Obama with decisive margins. It’s not easy to do both.

Even if the most conservative Republicans who supported Santorum and Newt Gingrich largely fall into line out of antipathy to Obama, Romney still has to worry about whether they’ll be enthusiastic enough to turn out in the large numbers he’ll need. Yet if he concentrates on winning back upscale women, who now favor Obama by even larger margins than they gave him in 2008, Romney will only aggravate his enthusiasm problem on the right.

Romney’s predicament is Obama’s opportunity. The president is moving aggressively to take advantage of the class opening afforded him by the candidate of “a couple of Cadillacs,” “I like being able to fire people” and “corporations are people, my friend.” In a series of speeches in Florida the day Santorum withdrew, Obama hit repeatedly on the twin themes of fairness and opportunity. He called for a nation in which “everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody does a fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules,” while eviscerating Rep. Paul Ryan’s fiscal plan, which Romney supports, as a budget “that showers the wealthiest Americans with even more tax cuts.”

Most conservatives seem oblivious to the party’s working-class problem, but not all. Henry Olsen, a vice president at the American Enterprise Institute, says Republicans need to understand that the GOP’s success in the 2010 House races was built in less affluent districts at a moment when Obama’s approval rating among white working-class men was so low “that it was only a few points higher than Richard Nixon’s was at the time of his resignation.”

Olsen sees Obama’s echoes of Bill Clinton’s pledges to help those who “work hard and play by the rules” as shrewd politics aimed at rehabilitating his standing with such Americans. And in Romney, Obama faces a candidate whose “troubles in the primary electorate demonstrated his trouble in connecting with the white working class.” Romney, Olsen says, “has difficulties with his background, difficulties with his manner, some difficulties Obama shares.”

Romney isn’t losing downscale whites. The Post/ABC poll showed him leading Obama by 19 points among white voters without a college education. The problem: That’s roughly the lead John McCain had in this group in 2008, and we know who won that election. Obama, Olsen said, can lose the white working class “by a substantial margin” and still win because of his strength among African-Americans, Latinos and well-educated women.

Yes, it’s still early. Renewed economic jitters in Europe could spoil a fragile American recovery. But for now, Romney finds himself in a political maze with no obvious path out. He’s there partly because of his own mistakes, but he was also led to this point because of the unlikely strength of Rick Santorum’s challenge.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/how_santorum_boxed_in_romney_20120411/

[boutons_deux]

Charles Manson Denied Parole, Effectively Ending His Bid for Republican Presidential Nomination

http://www.borowitzreport.com/wp-content/uploads/Manson.jpg

KINGS COUNTY, CA (The Borowitz Report) – Serial killer Charles Manson was denied parole yesterday, effectively ending his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

With Mr. Manson no longer a contender, the path appears to be clear for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to become the party’s nominee.

Perhaps in recognition of this development, Mr. Romney unveiled a new campaign slogan today: “Sorry, But You Have No Other Choices Now.”

As for the rest of the GOP field, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum suspended his campaign this week, saying that he wanted “to spend more time with the voices in my head.”

And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote a $500 check on an account that had no money in it, in the first sign that he might be qualified to be President.

Elsewhere, a Fox News spokesman blasted a mole who had previously worked for the network: “At Fox News we have zero tolerance for someone who tells the truth.”

http://www.borowitzreport.com/