Day: August 17, 2012
Does a Nasty Campaign Make a Nasty President?
Is there a direct connection between the way you run for the presidency (or re-election) and the way you govern from the White House? Do the American people automatically lose when a president is elected after a campaign so dishonest that it would embarrass Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall? …. Since I began covering presidential politics more than three decades ago, the worst campaign in terms of both morality and truthfulness was the one waged by George H.W. Bush in 1988 against a hapless Michael Dukakis…. But once elected, President Bush displayed little resemblance to Candidate Bush, who had put his integrity in a blind trust administered by Atwater and Ailes.
— Walter Shapiro, writing for Yahoo! News.
Campaign Spending Tops Half-Billion Dollars
$512 million
The grand total spent on the presidential campaign to date — about the amount spent on advertising in the entire 2008 general election, according to an NBC News/Smart Media Group Delta analysis.
Ryan Addition Didn’t Help Romney Ticket in Wisconsin
49% to 45%
President Obama’s lead over Mitt Romney in Wisconsin — despite the addition of native son Paul Ryan to the GOP ticket, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research survey conducted in the state.
Reid Unimpressed By Romney’s 13% Claim
We’ll believe it when we see it. Until Mitt Romney releases his tax returns, Americans will continue to wonder what he’s hiding.
— Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson, quoted by Politico, saying Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is not impressed by Romney’s claim he’s paid at least 13% in taxes for the last 10 years.
The Anagram Gang
Together, they would create a happy little band,
Spreading enlightened self-interest across the land.
These progressive contrarians,
These objective libertarians:
Paul Ryan, Rand Paul and Ayn Rand.
Ryan Caught Lying: ‘I Never Asked for Stimulus’ – But Documents Prove He Earmarked At Least $25 Mil
On Tuesday, the Boston Globe and Associated Press reported on documents showing that GOP Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan had secured more than $20 million in stimulus funds for a local energy efficiency organization.
According to the reports, the documents showed that Ryan also brought in $5.4 million for local bus services. His requests came at the same time he was publicly calling the stimulus a “wasteful spending spree.”
However, in an interview with a local Ohio television news station, Ryan claimed he never secured funding through the program, saying “I never asked for stimulus.”
The Associated Press wrote a follow-up story to Ryan’s comments:
