Month: August 2012

Ann Romney: Mitt Romney’s Greatest Asset

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Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann Romney, has delivered what is by far the greatest speech in the first night of the Republican National Convention.

While this author has been somewhat critical of Ann Romney, it must be admitted that she is her husband’s greatest asset, as she comes across as an effective speaker, a wife fully devoted to her husband, and has made a valiant attempt to humanize her husband, who is very stiff and awkward in public.

If Anne Romney were to run for public office herself, she could probably have a shot at success, but the problem for Mitt Romney is that with his inconsistency, and his record of lies and constant switches on every issue imaginable, and his embrace of the most right wing party platform the Republican Party has ever adopted, the question arises as to how he will manage to convince the nation two days from now when he will ask for the country’s support to make him President of the United States!

As Republicans Push For Cuts To Food Stamp Program, Poverty Rises, Particularly In Red (Republican) States!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican Party is determined to cut the Food Stamp program as a boondoggle, wasteful spending, and used by recipients, it is claimed, in an abusive manner.

The reality, however, is that about one out of five Americans in polls have stated that they cannot afford their necessary food supply in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

And the irony is that inability to afford food, and the need for food stamps therefore, is most prevalent in the RED or Republican states of the South and Border states–including Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana!

So it is RED states that suffer from hunger, and the reality is that about 50 percent of the food stamp recipients are children, and another 8 percent are elderly.

Statistics show that 18 percent of recipients have no income at all; 41 percent have half the poverty level income; and only 14 percent have incomes above the poverty level. Also, less than 10 percent get a welfare payment along with food stamps. And the assets of these poor souls is less than $100 in savings per family!

Is this the best we can do, and is this what the Republican Party wishes to stand for–to undermine the groups and states that vote for them in state and national elections?

This is a disgrace, which is an understatement!

A Racial Campaign To Win: The Last Gasp Of Mitt Romney

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With the changing demographics of the American population, 2012 is the last time that a Presidential candidate will be able to run a racial campaign to unite whites, and have a chance to win the election with such an appeal. The growing Hispanic-Latino population, along with the African American and Asian American population will forego such a low level, gutless campaign of that style ever again, so the Republican Party is undermining its future by what it is attempting this year.

Mitt Romney will need to win 61 percent of the white vote to win the election, and he is making every effort possible, by bringing up the “Birther” argument, and also making the false accusation that Barack Obama is gutting welfare work requirements for benefits, a totally conjured up charge that should be seen by the former Massachusetts Governor as shameful.

But Romney has no shame, and is running a “slash and burn” campaign that is an embarrassment to the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln and the Radical Republicans who pursued a racial equality agenda at the founding of the party in the 1850s and 1860s.

The Courage And Principles Of Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist

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Just as the Republican National Convention is about to open in Tampa, Florida, former Governor Charlie Crist, who came close to being the Vice Presidential running mate of Senator John McCain in 2008, but instead went on to repudiation in the Senate election of 2010, where he ran as an Independent, has made significant news worthy of attention.

Crist has now endorsed Barack Obama for President in an editorial in the Tampa Bay Times, and has blasted his former party for ignoring the effects of the right wing Tea Party and social conservatives on the elderly, women, minorities, immigrants, and students.

Crist said that Barack Obama had shown strong leadership in a difficult time, and that he deserved reelection for the steps he had taken which made things better than when he walked into the Oval Office at a time when the situation was dire.

Some wonder whether Crist will become a Democrat, but many think he will remain an Independent, who might run for Governor again in 2014. Others think he will simply be a voice of reason outside the political sphere, something that the nation could use to remind us of what used to be the Republican Party of years ago.

Gay Marriage, Maryland, And Governor Martin O’Malley’s Presidential Plans For 2016

Ronald 4 Comments

The state of Maryland is about to have a referendum on Election Day as to whether that state will endorse gay marriage, something that has failed in many other states.

The state already recognizes gay marriages from other states, but is putting it on the ballot in an affirmative fashion, rather than stating, as in other states, that traditional marriage is being rejected. Also, the referendum makes clear that that there are exemptions for religious groups.

Since Maryland is a strongly Democratic state, and Barack Obama will win the state handily in November by every estimate, it is thought that the gay marriage referendum will win, and it has become an issue that Governor Martin O’Malley has latched onto.

So this will be a testing point for O’Malley, who is clearly planning to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016, and has been engaged in early steps in that direction, including being involved in debates with neighboring Republican Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia, in which he clearly has performed better; and also speaking out in constant strong defense of the Barack Obama record in office for the past four years.

So if the gay marriage referendum loses, O’Malley will be harmed, and if it passes, it will be a major boost to his future campaign plans for the White House.

Growing Possibility Of Libertarian Gary Johnson Having Impact On Presidential Election Of 2012

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Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s Presidential candidate, is showing some strength in polls that indicates he could be the “spoiler” in the 2012 Presidential Election, similar to what Ralph Nader was in the Presidential Election of 2000.

The effect, if Johnson gained a few percent of the vote in “battleground” or “swing” states, would be most likely to hurt Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential nominee, rather than Democrat Barack Obama, since it seems more likely that libertarian support would come from elements in the GOP.

So the thought is that Johnson could affect the vote in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Colorado and Nevada, and help, indirectly, President Obama to win those states, although right now, Obama has the edge in Virginia, Florida, and Nevada, and is slightly ahead in Colorado, while behind in North Carolina.

If Johnson can win 3-5 percent of the vote, he could go down in history as notable enough to be recorded as having affected the election, just as Ralph Nader in 2000.

Missouri Senate Race Could Lead To Obama Victory In “Bellwether” State

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Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri has been considered the most vulnerable incumbent in this year’s Senate races, but the flap and controversy over the remarks of Republican nominee Todd Akin six days ago has led to McCaskill, who was trailing Akin, to take a nine point lead in the latest polling.

IF McCaskill can continue to keep a lead over Akin, and nine points is a massive edge at this point, 73 days out, then President Obama has the prospect of carrying Missouri, which he lost to John McCain by about 4,000 votes in 2008.

Remember again that Missouri has been a “bellwether” state since the beginning of the 20th century, with only 1956 and 2008 having the Presidential winner lose Missouri, so it would be very welcome to Obama to win the 10 electoral votes of the “Show Me” state in November, and improve his chances of winning the Electoral College, which now are excellent, even without Missouri!

Mitt Romney Reaches An All Time Low: Emergence Of The “Birther”!

Ronald 5 Comments

Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has just reached an all time low in degrading the office he seeks!

Mitt Romney, in his home state of Michigan, just said that there was no debate about where he or his wife were born, as they were born in Michigan hospitals! Specifically, he said “No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place where we were born and raised.”

In so doing, he is spreading the sick, vulgar myth that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, but instead in Kenya!

There is absolutely nothing more despicable and disgraceful that Mitt Romney could say about President Obama than to legitimize and spread the lie that the 44th President of the United States is illegitimate to serve in the highest office of the land!

Romney is spreading the poison of hate and racism represented by Orly Taitz, Donald Trump, and the many others who hate Barack Obama because he is African American, and refuse to show respect and a sense of dignity to a President who has faced the greatest challenges of any President in 80 years, since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Depression!

These despicable “Birthers” are promoting the “Big Lie” technique that was utilized in Nazi Germany by Adolf Hitler, and their racism classifies them as no better than the Ku Klux Klan and other violent groups that have made ethnic and racial and religious hatred their purpose and aim throughout American history!

Romney has produced the most sinful accusation for a man who claims to be a person of “faith”, and he adds to the racism that his Mormon Church practiced until 1978, and then suddenly changed!

He cannot be forgiven for such an insult and the degrading of his own reputation, and the American people will pay him handsomely by a repudiation of his divisive, dishonest, unprincipled campaign, which has no limits to his obsessive ambition to be President, no matter how much he divides the nation!

This outrage also makes John McCain, the 2008 Presidential nominee, look so much more principled when he challenged those who spread rumor and gossip and lies about the origins of Barack Obama!

Mitt Romney, you should be totally ashamed of yourself, and make a profusive apology, but one can be sure no such admission is forthcoming!

Two Weeks In: Is Paul Ryan A Positive For Mitt Romney?

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Tomorrow morning, it will have been two weeks since Paul Ryan was selected as the GOP Vice Presidential nominee.

The question is whether or not it has been a positive for Mitt Romney and the Republican Party.

The answer is both yes and no, but with the no side more obvious!

In a positive way, Paul Ryan has come across as a photogenic candidate, a man who is intelligent, bright, and an outstanding speaker at political events, and in the latter area, far outdistancing Mitt Romney, his running mate.

But on the negative side, the political focus has been on issues that harm him and the Republican Party, going into their convention in Tampa next Monday to Thursday.

The first week was dominated by his proposal to make Medicare a voucher program for future Medicare recipients, and while many observers give Ryan credit for his courage in pushing the idea in his Ryan budget, it is clearly a negative on the campaign trail, scaring many seniors who, theoretically, will not be affected by the plan, since it only affects those under 55. It also antagonizes many who are a bit younger than 55, and do not appreciate that what they are paying for in payroll taxes may lead to a system far less supportive of them when they are seniors, than their older brothers and sisters or parents are entitled to.

The fact that Paul Ryan supported every spending program of the Bush Administration, and wishes to avoid any spending cuts for defense, although he originally supported such cuts, also hurts.

As bad as the Medicare and spending issues have been, the abortion, rape and Todd Akin controversy this past week has done a tremendous amount of damage among a majority of women, particularly since Ryan had the same view on the subject as Akin, while the GOP was throwing Akin “under the bus”, so to speak. And since Akin refused to leave the Missouri Senate race, he is an albatross around Ryan’s and Romney’s neck for the remainder of the campaign.

So in antagonizing senior citizens, and those near senior citizen status, in the not so distant future, and women who have a sense of dignity and pride about the control of their own bodies, Paul Ryan has been much more a negative factor than a positive one.

And the ultimate irony is that he has provided, basically, no “bump” for Mitt Romney, far less than Sarah Palin did in the beginning for John McCain four years ago!

The Ultimate Republican Hypocrisy And Double Standard: Highly Moral And Religious Publicly, And Major Attenders Of Strip Clubs And Nude Bars At Political Conventions!

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The Republican Party loves to portray itself as extremely religious, moral, and ethical, and opposes full fledged sex education in public schools, and also loves to invoke God as punishing sinners by natural events, including tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, droughts and earthquakes.

But now we are faced with the likelihood that the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, may face the wrath of Hurricane Isaac, an ironic event to say the least, particularly of the “son of Abraham”, the founder of the Jewish people in the Old Testament, “punishing” those who claim to be “good Christians”, promoting a hateful attitude toward those who are not willing to accept their dictates on social and economic matters, but who actually wish to do the good works that Jesus Christ promoted, rather than gaudy materialism, greed, and selfishness!

And also, Tampa is famous for its strip clubs, nude bars, and lap dances, and it is expected that Republican delegates, including highly “religious” delegates, will “let their hair down’, and act contrary to what their stated beliefs are! Of course, they will do everything to cover their tracks, and continue to preach what they do not practice! By the way, statistics show that Republicans go to such venues three times as likely as Democrats do!

This is the height of hypocrisy—do as one says, but not as one does! But what is new about the modern GOP, captive of the social conservatives and Tea Party activists, who are in the process of destroying the historic Republican Party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and even Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and the Bushes!