Month: September 2012
The Accidental Not-Lie
When 47 percent enter the voting booth,
They’ll recall Mitt Romney’s words, forsooth!
They’ll think of that “47 percent” gaffe,
And have themselves a little laugh,
Remembering when Mitt accidentally told the truth.
Obama Accepts Responsibility for Being President
I think that, you know, as president I bear responsibility for everything, to some degree.
— President Obama, in an interview on “60 Minutes.”
If He Wins, Obama Could Be the New Reagan
If Obama wins, to put it bluntly, he will become the Democrats’ Reagan. The narrative writes itself. He will emerge as an iconic figure who struggled through a recession and a terrorized world, reshaping the economy within it, passing universal health care, strafing the ranks of al -Qaeda, presiding over a civil-rights revolution, and then enjoying the fruits of the recovery. To be sure, the Obama recovery isn’t likely to have the same oomph as the one associated with Reagan–who benefited from a once-in-a-century cut of top income tax rates (from 70 percent to, at first, 50 percent, and then to 28 percent) as well as a huge jump in defense spending at a time when the national debt was much, much less of a burden. But Obama’s potential for Reagan status (maybe minus the airport-naming) is real.
— Andrew Sullivan, writing in the Daily Beast.
Palin Biopic ‘Game Change’ a Big Emmy Winner
I feel so validated since Sarah Palin gave me a big thumbs down.
— Actress Julianne Moore, who played Palin in HBO’s “Game Change,” which nearly swept the miniseries categories during the Emmy awards, “and the presence of parodied Sarah Palin was felt in the speeches and the winners’ reactions backstage,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Only Two Out of 19 Candidates Who Led at This Point in the Race Went on to Lose
18
Number of presidential candidates (out of 19 who led at this stage of the race since 1936) who won the popular vote (Thomas E. Dewey in 1948 is the exception), and 17 won the Electoral College (Al Gore lost it in 2000, along with Mr. Dewey), according to Nate Silver of the New York Times.
Despite Rules at Univision Forum, Romney Packed Audience with Political Operatives and Supporters
[Maria Elena Salinas, one of the Univision anchors who moderated the forums] told BuzzFeed that tickets for each forum were divided between the network, the respective campaigns, and the University of Miami (which hosted the events) — and she said both campaigns initially agreed to keep the audience comprised mostly of students, in keeping with the events’ education theme.
But after exhausting the few conservative groups on campus, the Romney camp realized there weren’t enough sympathetic students to fill the stands on their night — so they told the network and university that if they weren’t given an exemption to the students-only rule, they might have to “reschedule.”
The organizers relented. One Democrat with ties to the Obama campaign noted that Rudy Fernandez, the university official charged with coordinating the forums, is a member of Romney’s Hispanic steering committee…
Romney’s team was allowed to bus in rowdy activists from around southern Florida in order to fill the extra seats at their town hall.
