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New York Times Endorses President Obama for Re-election

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President Barack Obama picked up the endorsement of The New York Times on Saturday, a decision the paper’s editorial board said was due to administration policies that have placed the economy on the path to recovery, the passage of landmark health care reform, the advocating of women’s rights and a foreign policy agenda that has kept unstable regions from combustion — all accomplished, the board argues, in the face of an “ideological assault” from the Republican Party.

The endorsement is hardly unexpected but is significant nonetheless coming from one of the most influential papers in the United States. The Times’ liberal-leaning editorial page backed Obama in 2008 and has, throughout the 2012 cycle, painted a stark contrast between the president’s vision and the policy proposals of his opponent, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. That choice is emphatically laid out in Saturday’s editorial, “Barack Obama for Re-Election,” in which the Times states that Romney “has gotten this far with a guile that allows him to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear.” Continue reading “New York Times Endorses President Obama for Re-election”

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Mitt Romney-Barack Obama Race May Come Down to Wisconsin

Amanda Terkel and Sam Stein

WASHINGTON — With President Barack Obama stubbornly maintaining a small but clear lead in Ohio polls, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign is contemplating a shift in its electoral map. The pathway to denying the president a second term that once seemed premised on taking back the Buckeye State is increasingly shifting focus to another Midwest state: Wisconsin.

Romney campaign officials would never publicly announce a change in approach. And it’s not that they are giving up entirely on Ohio; they certainly have the money to compete anywhere. But Republican sources say Romney headquarters in Boston is increasingly seeing Wisconsin as a state more apt for flipping. Less campaigning has taken place there, meaning fewer voters have been overwhelmed by, and tuned out, political ads. Moreover, the Badger State has, in recent months, been more conducive to Republican success and possesses a stronger ground operation.

Continue reading “Mitt Romney-Barack Obama Race May Come Down to Wisconsin”

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David Cameron Rebukes Mitt Romney After London Olympic Gaffe

Mitt Romney, in his first trip abroad as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is trying to walk back comments he made questioning London’s Olympics preparation — comments that have drawn a sharp response from Prime Minister David Cameron.

The dustup began Wednesday, as Romney, who ran the 2002 Salt Lake City games, said there were “disconcerting” signs in the days before this year’s games.

“The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials — that obviously is not something which is encouraging,” he told NBC News.

“Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? And that’s something which we only find out once the games actually begin,” he said.

Cameron soon rebuked Romney. “We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course, it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere,” he said.

“I think we will show the whole world not just that we come together as a United Kingdom, but also we’re extremely good at welcoming people from across the world,” Cameron added. “I will obviously make those points to Mitt Romney. I look forward to meeting him.” Continue reading “David Cameron Rebukes Mitt Romney After London Olympic Gaffe”

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Romney Booed By NAACP Over Obamacare Speech

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been booed in a speech to a US civil rights group’s convention.

He was jeered as he vowed to “kill” the Obama healthcare overhaul, and when he said he would be a better president for African Americans.

Despite his hostile reception at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Mr Romney also received polite applause.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers planned another vote to repeal the health law.

“I will kill every expensive and unnecessary programme I can find, and that includes Obamacare,” Mr Romney told the convention in Houston, Texas, pausing with a smile as he waited for the catcalls to fade. Continue reading “Romney Booed By NAACP Over Obamacare Speech”

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Wisconsin Scott Walker Disagrees With Mitt Romney on Big Government

Elise Foley

WASHINGTON — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said on Sunday that he disagreed with Mitt Romney’s recent statement that the governor’s win in last week’s recall election showed that voters oppose hiring more teachers, firefighters and police officers.

“I think, in the end, the big issue is that the private sector still needs more help,” he told Bob Schieffer on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “The answer’s not more big government. I know in my state, our reforms allowed us to protect firefighters, police officers and teachers. That’s not what I think of when I think of big government.”

Romney said on Friday that President Barack Obama missed the message from Wisconsin’s recall election, which was held after outrage from some voters over Walker’s law limiting collective bargaining rights of public sector workers.

“He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers,” Romney said. “Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”

Schieffer asked Walker whether he agreed that his victory showed “the American people want fewer cops and fewer teachers and fewer firemen.”

“Well, I think it’s slightly different,” Walker replied. “I think in our case what they wanted is people willing to take on the tough issues, not only here in Wisconsin but across the country. And I think Governor Romney’s got a shot, if the R next to his name doesn’t just stand for Republican, it stands for reformer.”

He also had some advice for Romney, saying the candidate should adopt a Reagan-esque plan if he wants to prevail in November.

“I just hope he takes a page out of President Reagan’s playbook in 1980, where it was not only a referendum on the failed policies of President Carter, it was also something where President Reagan laid out a clear plan,” he said.

Walker said he believed Romney will be able to lay out such a plan, citing his past experience in the private sector.

“I hope he goes big and he goes bold,” he said. “I think he’s got the capacity to do that. I don’t think we win if it’s just about a referendum on Barack Obama. I think it’s got to be more.”

He said the recall’s outcome doesn’t mean Wisconsin will be a sure win for Romney, but it suggests the state will be in play, particularly if he picks a strong platform.

“I think that can win in Wisconsin, and I think that can win in other states,” Walker said.

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Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum: Africa ‘Was A COUNTRY On The Brink’ WATCH (VIDEO)

Zeroing out foreign aid, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum said at Tuesday’s debate, “is absolutely the wrong course.” He cited development money that went to fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa: “It was a country on the brink,” he said, adding that it was a ripe region for radical Islamists.

Africa, of course, is a continent, not a country. And we’ve heard this mistake before.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Santorum’s primary rival, also made a geographical mix-up about Africa at an earlier debate, saying “Now with the president, he put us in Libya. He is now putting us in Africa. We already were stretched too thin, and he put our special operations forces in Africa.”

Libya is, of course, part of the continent of Africa.

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Republican Rick Perry Doesn’t Have a ‘Definitive Answer’ Whether Barack Obama is a US Citizen

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry walked a fine line when presented with questions about President Barack Obama’s birth certificate — which was released by the White House earlier this year — in a new interview with Parade magazine published online.

When asked if he believes the president was born in the United States, the Texas governor said, “I have no reason to think otherwise.” Pressed on the nature of his answer, Perry added, “Well, I don’t have a definitive answer, because he’s never seen my birth certificate.”

Here’s an excerpt of the subsequent exchange that went down on the birth certificate issue:

But you’ve seen his. I don’t know. Have I?

You don’t believe what’s been released?
I don’t know. I had dinner with Donald Trump the other night.

And?
That came up.

Perry said that Trump doesn’t believe the document released by the White House is “real.” Asked if he agrees with the sentiment, the Lone Star State Republican said, “I don’t have any idea. It doesn’t matter. He’s the president of the United States. He’s elected. It’s a distractive issue.”

Leading up to the release of Obama’s “long form” birth certificate in April, Trump captured headlines and sparked controversy with his persistence in raising doubt over the president’s birthplace.

Trump went as far to release his own official birth certificate. Upon the release of the president’s birth certificate, Trump said that he was very “proud” of himself.

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Republican Michele Bachmann Doesn’t Know Libya Is Part of Africa

Amanda Terkel

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) criticized President Obama’s foreign policy during Tuesday night’s CNN debate, saying, “Now with the president, he put us in Libya. He is now putting us in Africa. We already were stretched too thin, and he put our special operations forces in Africa,” she said.

Libya, it should be noted, is in Africa.

Bachmann was referring to Obama’s recent announcement that he will be sending 100 U.S. troops to Uganda to help battle rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army.

In October of 2006, before Bachmann emerged as a superstar of the conservative movement, the Minnesota congresswoman raised eyebrows when she suggested that a sizable portion of the scientific community discredits the theory of evolution.

Bachmann said, “There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design.”

More recently, Bachmann discussed her views on the matter at this year’s Republican Leadership Conference.

“I support intelligent design,” she told reporters at the conservative gathering, according to CNN. “What I support is putting all science on the table and then letting students decide. I don’t think it’s a good idea for government to come down on one side of scientific issue or another, when there is reasonable doubt on both sides.”
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