Record number of U.S. bankruptcies, which occurred in 2005 — the worst year in U.S. history — under George W. Bush, and the daily bankruptcy filing rate steadily rose from 2006 until the day Bush left office. By contrast, in 2011, under President Obama’s “failed leadership,” just 1.4 million businesses filed for bankruptcy.
Highest spike in Tweets per minute during Pres. Bill Clinton’s address to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Sept. 5. The peak came at the end of the speech, indicating that audiences can focus for 49 minutes if the material is good. Clinton’s Twitter peak far outdistanced Mitt Romney’s (14,289) but did not surpass First Lady Michelle Obama’s the night before (28,003).
Number of private-sector jobs created over the 24 years since 1961 when a Democrat was president, versus just 24 million private-sector jobs that were added during the 28 years that Republicans held the White House, according to a recent Bloomberg News analysis and federal labor statistics.
Increase in overall home sales across the country this past July over July, 2011. New home (new construction) sales were up 25% over the previous year.
Of those polled say they watched all or some of the Republican convention, down from 56% in 2008, according to a new Pew Research survey that finds the public paid far less attention to this year’s Republican convention than it did four years ago; but 20% of those who watched cited Clint Eastwood’s speech as the convention highlight, while just 17% named Mitt Romney’s speech. Meanwhile, a new Economist/YouGov Poll finds 93% of those who saw any part of the convention remembered Eastwood’s 12-minute address to an empty chair.
Number of grade levels above Ann Romney’s convention speech that Michelle Obama’s convention speech was written. Obama’s was written at 12th-grade level — the highest ever for a wife of a presidential nominee — while Romney’s was written at a fifth-grade level (the lowest ever), according to Smart Politics.
Rated Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention as excellent or good — the lowest rating since Bob Dole’s GOP acceptance speech in 1996 — while 16% rated it as poor or terrible, according to a new Gallup poll.
Percentages of North Carolina voters who say they will vote for Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney, according to a new poll by Public Policy Polling, which is based in Raleigh. Earlier this week, a Charlotte Observer-Elon College poll of Tar Heel voters gave Romney a four point lead over the president, 47% to 43%, and a High Point University-Fox 8 poll found that Romney had a three point lead. The president won North Carolina in 2008 by several thousand votes.
Mitt Romney’s likability rating in the first Reuters/Ipsos poll released since the Republican Convention. This represents a five-point improvement over his 26 percent likability rating in the same poll released on Monday before the convention. Among independents, Romney’s likability rose from 16 percent to 20 percent. By contrast, Pres. Obama’s likability rating is 48 percent.
Ann Romney’s favorability rating, according to Gallup. Twenty-four percent have an unfavorable rating while 25 percent have no opinion and 9 percent had never heard of her.
To hear Trump talk, he’s the only one
Who’s ever stood trial for crimes he’s done.
But instead of courtroom drama,
We get Trump in his pajamas,
That’s how he earned his new nickname: Don Snoreleone.
“In America today‚ 2024, women have fewer rights than their mothers or their grandmothers had, because of Donald Trump. I don’t think we’re going to let him get away with it, do you?”
— President Biden at a campaign stop in Tampa, reported by Tampa Bay Times.
“Some of the 49 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard by the state of Florida are now able to legally work in the United States and have temporary protections from deportation — because they are considered victims of a potential crime. … The migrants are eligible for these protections because they applied for a special kind of visa meant for crime victims who are helping law enforcement, after they said they were tricked into taking charter flights from San Antonio to Massachusetts with false promises of jobs and other aid.”
“We care more about the safety of our staff than a name attached to an article.”
In its panning of Taylor Swift’s new album (3.6/10 rating), Paste Magazine chose to put “Paste Staff” as the piece’s author instead of the individual who wrote it. That’s because following Paste’s negative review of Swift’s Lover album in 2019, the reviewer received threats of violence from fans who disagreed. As for its critique of The Tortured Poets Department, Paste Staff said its “mid-ness” was the result of “when the artist making it no longer feels challenged, where she strikes out looking.”
“The House is a rough and rowdy place, but Mike Johnson is gonna be just fine. I served 20 years in the military, it’s my absolute honor to be in Congress. But I serve with some real scumbags. Matt Gaetz, he paid minors to have sex with him at drug parties. Bob Good endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi. These people used to walk around with white hoods at night. Now they’re walking around with white hoods in the daytime.”
“Joe Biden will land a major union endorsement Wednesday from North America’s Building Trades Unions, whose leaders say the president has his infrastructure bill largely to thank for it,” CNN reports. “In making one of their earliest ever presidential endorsements, NABTU leaders are kickstarting an eight-figure organizing program to try to deliver their 250,000 members in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin for Biden.”
A new Siena poll finds that by a 54% to 30% margin, New Yorkers say Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial is “legitimate” — the view of 77% of Democrats and 44% of independents — rather than a “witch hunt,” the view of 66% of Republicans.
A new Marist poll finds Joe Biden leading Donald Trump nationally among registered voters, 51% to 48%. In a multi-candidate field, Biden is up by five percentage points against Trump, 43% to 38% among registered voters, followed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 14%, Cornel West at 2%, and Jill Stein at 2%.Among those who definitely plan to vote, Biden leads Trump 46% to 39% in this same multi-candidate field.
NBC News poll: “‘Protecting democracy’ is a salient issue for voters. There’s a difference between what voters identify as the ‘most important issue facing the country’ (on that, “inflation and the cost of living’ registers 23%, followed by immigration/the border, at 22%) and what they identify as the issue most important in determining their own vote (on that, ‘protecting democracy or constitutional rights’ was on top with 28%, followed by immigration/the border at 20% and abortion at 19%).”