2012 Election

[American Patriot]

Obama Gives Himself An "Incomplete" After Nearly Four Years In Office






In an interview with KKTV in Colorado Springs, President Obama tells the local CBS affiliate he would given himself an "incomplete" if he were to grade himself for the past three and a half years. Transcript below.

Dianne Derby, KKTV: Your party says you inherited a bad situation. You've had three and a half years to fix it. What grade would you give yourself so far for doing that?

President Obama: You know I would say incomplete. Historically, after these big final crises, where a lot of people are dealing with debt or a collapse in the housing market, that creates bigger challenges. And we're saying this not just in the United States, but around the world. Europe is going through a very difficult time. Parts of Asia, even China, are going through a difficult time right now.

But what I would say is the steps that we have taken in saving the auto industry, in making sure that college is more affordable and investing in clean energy and science and technology and research, those are all the things that we are going to need to grow over the long term.

In another interview, KKTV got a response from Romney senior campaign advisor Matt McDonald: "I think that for President Obama the question isn't a grade on an A to F scale but it's a pass/fail grade at this point. The question that is on the lips of the people here in Charlotte who are gathering, both the media and the delegates, the people in Colorado and the people across the country is are you better off than you were four years ago and it's a pretty simple answer for alot of people is that they aren't."

[American Patriot]

Paul Ryan: "Four Years Into A Presidency And It's Incomplete?"


"The president is asking people just to be patient with him," Republican Party vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan said on CBS's "This Morning" today about Obama's grade for himself. "Look, Charlie, the kind of recession we have, we should be bouncing out of it creating jobs. We're not creating jobs near the pace [we] could."

"That's why we're offering big solutions to the big problems we have today and I would just say, if you take a look at the president's policies he calls them 'investments.' It's borrowing money and spending money through Washington, picking winners and losers. Spending money on favorite, you know, people like Solyndra or Fisker. Picking winders and losers in the economy through spending, through tax breaks, through regulations does not work," Ryan observed.

"If that kind of economics work, we would be entering a golden age along with Greece," Ryan said of Obama's spending policies. "So I think the 'incomplete' speaks for itself and that is why I think that we are going to win this and get this country back on the right track because we're offering bold solutions."

[American Patriot]

Colorado: Romney vs. Obama

Key 2012 Races: CO3, CO4, CO6, CO7 | President: 2008: Obama +9.0, 2004: Bush +4.7
Polling Data

Poll	Date	Sample	MoE	Obama (D)	Romney (R)	Spread
RCP Average	7/31 - 9/2	--	--	47.6	46.6	Obama +1.0
PPP (D)	8/31 - 9/2	1001 LV	3.1	49	46	Obama +3
Keating (D)	8/21 - 8/22	500 LV	4.4	48	44	Obama +4
Purple Strategies	8/13 - 8/14	600 LV	4.0	49	46	Obama +3
Rasmussen Reports	8/6 - 8/6	500 LV	4.5	47	47	Tie
CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac	7/31 - 8/6	1463 LV	3.0	45	50	Romney +5

See All Colorado: Romney vs. Obama Polling Data

[American Patriot]

I keep hearing local ABC, CBS affiliates saying stuff about Obama being "So far in the lead in Colorado"....

[American Patriot]

And nationally... it looks like this:

[American Patriot]

Campaign 2012 York: New experience for Obama: GOP attacks and mockery

September 3, 2012 | 8:00 pm
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Obama campaign logo is seen under the scoreboard hanging from the ceiling inside of Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo)

Byron York

Chief Political Correspondent

The Washington Examiner

More Photos

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Why did the Obama campaign fumble the "are Americans better off than four years ago" question?
Why has President Obama been unable to put the "you didn't build that" charge to rest?
And why has the campaign struggled to come up with a coherent response to the Republican convention? (Calling it a pack of lies doesn't count.)
It's hard to avoid the conclusion that, as Democrats begin their convention here in Charlotte, the Obama campaign is not hitting on all cylinders. The question is why a campaign that was so successful in 2008 is sputtering today.
Here's a theory: Barack Obama has never in his life run against a sharp, determined and aggressive Republican opponent. Facing Mitt Romney, who is all three, is a new experience for the president.
Look at Obama's political career. He won his first election to the Illinois Senate in 1996 mainly by challenging signatures on his Democratic primary opponent's candidacy petitions and getting her kicked off the ballot.
Re-election was no problem in Obama's heavily Democratic district. The only race he would ever lose came in 2000, when he mounted a primary challenge against Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush for a seat in Congress. Republicans were not a factor.
When Obama ran for U.S. Senate in 2004, both his Democratic primary opponent and Republican general election opponent imploded when their (ugly) divorce records were made public. Obama ran for a while with no opponent at all until GOP gadfly Alan Keyes moved to Illinois to offer weak opposition. Obama won in a landslide.
In 2008, Obama faced the race of his life against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primaries. He ran a good campaign but was also aided by some inexplicable Clinton mistakes in which she failed to exploit the system by which Democratic delegates were awarded.
When the general election came around, Obama faced a Republican opponent, John McCain, who had lost a step from his GOP primary run eight years earlier, whose campaign was riven by internal turmoil, and who simply was not determined to do what it took to win.
McCain's challenge was so weak that today Obama sometimes waxes nostalgic for the good old days of perfunctory GOP opposition. "The last time we ran, we had a Republican candidate who -- I had some profound disagreements with him, but he acknowledged the need for immigration reform, and acknowledged the need for campaign finance reform, acknowledged the need for policies that would do something about climate change," Obama said at a June fundraiser in Chicago."Now, what we've got is not just a nominee but a Congress and a Republican Party that have a fundamentally different vision about where we need to go as a country."
And not just with a different vision -- a different idea of how a campaign should be run. From the very beginning, the Romney campaign has signaled its intention to run a hard-hitting, sharp-elbowed race. Obama has never been on the receiving end of that from a Republican before.
"We're running an aggressive race that is focused on highlighting the president's failed policies and holding him accountable for his own words and his own record," says a Romney aide. "At times, the president's campaign shows that they can dish it out, but they can't take it."
And it's not just attacks on Obama's job performance. It's ridicule, too. In 2008, it would have been simply impossible to imagine Obama mocked during a National Empty Chair Day, as happened Monday, building on the improvised standup routine delivered by Clint Eastwood at the Republican convention. But that's what the president is facing now.



Running in a primary, even a tough primary, is different from a general election. In a primary, a candidate speaks to party regulars who pretty much agree on principles but are looking for the best messenger for the party. In a general election, there's a clash of fundamental ideas, argued before the public at large.



In 2008, McCain was so lackluster, and conditions so bad for Republicans, that Obama wasn't really challenged. Now, he is.



In the next two months, Obama can count on being attacked, questioned, and -- perhaps worst of all -- made the butt of jokes. Of course he's taken his share of criticism in the White House, but he's never experienced that going down the stretch in a general election. He'll have to learn to deal with it -- or lose.



Byron York, The Examiner's chief political correspondent, can be contacted at byork@washingtonexaminer.com. His column appears on Tuesday and Friday, and his stories and blogposts appear on washingtonexaminer.com.

[American Patriot]

How the Party Platforms Differ

By MICHAEL COOPER

Published: September 4, 2012


The platform that the Democratic Party plans to approve Tuesday at its convention in Charlotte, N.C., offers a stark contrast to the platform that Republicans approved last week at their convention in Tampa, Fla., especially on social issues like abortion rights and same-sex marriage, the future of entitlements like Medicare and Social Security, and labor policy and taxes. Here is a look at some of the crucial differences.



ABORTION
The Democratic platform states: “The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.”


The Republican platform supports the passage of a Constitutional amendment banning abortion, and states that “the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.”
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
For the first time, the Democratic platform supports same-sex marriage. “We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples,” it says. But the platform also tries to avoid collision with religious groups that may oppose the measure. “We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.”
The Republican platform reaffirmed its support for “a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.” And it called state court decisions redefining marriage “an assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values.”
MEDICARE
The Democratic platform claims that the Republican budget plan to reshape the program “would end Medicare as we know it.” The platform says that: “Democrats adamantly oppose any efforts to privatize or voucherize Medicare; unlike our opponents we will not ask seniors to pay thousands of dollars more every year while they watch the value of their Medicare benefits evaporate. Democrats believe that Medicare is a sacred compact with our seniors.”
The Republican platform says it will “save Medicare by modernizing it.” It calls for moving Medicare and Medicaid “away from their current unsustainable defined-benefit entitlement model to a fiscally sound defined-contribution model.” Their proposed change would affect those under 55. “While retaining the option of traditional Medicare in competition with private plans,” the platform says, “we call for a transition to a premium-support model for Medicare, with an income-adjusted contribution toward a health plan of the enrollee’s choice.”
SOCIAL SECURITY
The Democrats pledge in their platform to “find a solution to protect Social Security for future generations” and to “block Republican efforts to subject Americans’ guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market through privatization.”
The Republican platform envisions the creation of private accounts as “supplements” to the Social Security system: “While no changes should adversely affect any current or near-retiree, comprehensive reform should address our society’s remarkable medical advances in longevity and allow younger workers the option of creating their own personal investment accounts as supplements to the system.”
LABOR
The Democratic platform states that “Democrats believe that the right to organize and collectively bargain is a fundamental American value; every American should have a voice on the job and a chance to negotiate for a fair day’s pay after a hard day’s work. We will continue to fight for the right of all workers to organize and join a union.” And the platform says that “we oppose the attacks on collective bargaining that Republican governors and state legislatures are mounting in states around the country.”
The Republican platform states: “We support the right of states to enact right-to-work laws and encourage them to do so to promote greater economic liberty. Ultimately, we support the enactment of a national right-to-work law to promote worker freedom and to promote greater economic liberty.” And the platform says: “We salute the Republican governors and state legislators who have saved their states from fiscal disaster by reforming their laws governing public employee unions. We urge elected officials across the country to follow their lead in order to avoid state and local defaults on their obligations and the collapse of services to the public.”
TAXES
The Democratic platform says that President Obama will “extend key tax relief for working families and those paying for college, while asking the wealthiest and corporations to pay their fair share.” It says “we are committed to reforming our tax code so that it is fairer and simpler, creating a tax code that lives up to the Buffett Rule so no millionaire pays a smaller share of his or her income in taxes than middle-class families do.”
The Republican platform calls for extending the Bush-era tax cuts, reducing marginal tax rates across the board by 20 percent in a revenue-neutral manner and eliminating taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains for lower and middle-income taxpayers. “Taxes, by their very nature, reduce a citizen’s freedom,” the Republican platform says.

[American Patriot]

Democrats Renew Call for Nuke-Free World



Sept. 4, 2012

By Chris Schneidmiller
Global Security Newswire


WASHINGTON -- The Democratic Party Platform released on Monday affirms President Obama's call for a world one day freed of nuclear weapons but adds little new detail on how that might be achieved.
Obama laid out his nuclear disarmament aspirations in a widely touted 2009 speech in Prague. He acknowledged that a global nuclear drawdown might not occur during his lifetime, but pledged to work toward that goal.
His major arms control achievement since then has been the New START treaty, under which the United States and Russia agreed to by 2018 field no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads and 700 delivery systems. The administration is said to be preparing a plan for further nuclear cuts, but it does not appear any formal decision will be announced ahead of the November presidential election.
"President Obama and the Democratic Party are committed to preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons and to eventually ridding the planet of these catastrophic weapons," according to the party platform posted online ahead of the Democratic National Convention that began on Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. "This goal will not be achieved overnight. It will require patience, perseverance, and the steady accumulation of concrete actions. But real progress has already been made."
It adds: "The Obama administration has moved away from Cold War thinking by reducing the prominence of nuclear weapons in America’s national security strategy, and it has urged others to do the same. As long as these weapons exist, the United States will maintain a safe, secure, and effective arsenal to deter any adversary and guarantee the defense of our allies. But President Obama has taken important steps to decrease America’s nuclear arsenal and is committed to further responsible reductions."
The platform restates the administration's intention to pursue additional nuclear cutbacks with Russia that cover tactical and reserve weapons, and to seek Senate ratification of the Comprehsensive Test Ban Treaty and establishment of a global accord barring manufacturing of fissile material for nuclear weapons. Formal submission of the test ban to Capitol Hill is not expected this year, while the fissile material cutoff treaty remains in limbo at the international Conference on Disarmament.
"President Obama and the Democratic Party are also committed to strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as the bedrock of international efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to additional countries," the platform states. "As we work to uphold our obligations under the treaty by reducing stockpiles and recognizing the rights of all rule-abiding states to peaceful nuclear energy, we will insist that countries without nuclear weapons comply with their obligations not to develop them, and we will ensure that violators face real consequences."
The party pledged that Obama would continue to pursue efforts to promote North Korean denuclearization and to prevent Iran from attaining atomic arms.
"President Obama believes that a diplomatic outcome remains the best and most enduring solution [on Iran]. At the same time, he has also made clear that the window for diplomacy will not remain open indefinitely and that all options -- including military force -- remain on the table," the platform states. "But we have an obligation to use the time and space that exists now to put increasing pressure on the Iranian regime to live up to its obligations and rejoin the community of nations, or face the consequences."
The platform notes Obama's leadership on global nuclear security, highlighted by the 2010 issue summit in Washington. It does not specifically mention his 2009 pledge to establish a worldwide program to secure all vulnerable atomic substances within four years, saying instead that the administration has made "concrete progress in locking these materials down.
"This is an important goal because the prospect that al-Qaida or another terrorist organization might acquire a nuclear device represents an immediate and extreme threat to global security. At the same time, the United States will continue to work with international partners to break up black markets, detect and intercept nuclear materials in transit, and use financial tools to disrupt this dangerous trade."
The Democratic Party remains committed to U.S. participation in NATO and to moving forward with its "phased adaptive approach" program to deploy missile defense assets in Europe. The effort has been a source of ongoing friction with Russia, which fears that a developing NATO antimissile shield could be used against its long-range nuclear weapons.
"We believe that the United States and Russia can cooperate on missile defense, but we have also made clear that we will move forward with our system, beginning with the steps we have taken to deploy it in Poland, Turkey, and Romania," the platform says.
Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has been highly critical of Obama's handling of a range of security matters, from the nuclear standoff with Iran to his dumping of the Bush administration missile defense strategy. The two men face off in the Nov. 6 polling.

[vector7]

[American Patriot]

Some of my facebook friends... and I use that term loosely, think this was just his way of saying "We are still working for peaceful solutions to the world's problems".

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Right.

[American Patriot]

US Election: Paul Ryan chooses 'Bowhunter' as Secret Service code name

Paul Ryan has chosen "Bowhunter" as his Secret Service code name, in a nod to his passion for deer stalking.

Paul Ryan is the only enthusiastic hunter on either ticket Photo: AFP/GETTY









By Raf Sanchez, Charlotte

5:49PM BST 04 Sep 2012



The vice-presidential candidate's choice echoes Mitt Romney's own selection of "Javelin" and completes an election-year line up that includes Barack Obama's "Renegade" and Joe Biden's "Celtic".

The Secret Service gives families codenames all beginning with the same letter, leaving Mr Ryan's wife Janna with the gentler title of "Buttercup", according to GQ.

As well as being a fitness fanatic, Mr Ryan is an avid hunter and stalks the woods of his native Wisconsin armed with a state-of-the-art bow and a quiver of arrows.

The 42-year-old congressman is the only passionate hunter on either ticket and has turned his hobby into an electoral asset.

In an interview for the cover story of this month's Deer and Deer Hunter magazine he describes how his Winchester rifle was "shaking in my hands" as he killed his first deer at the age of 16.

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He also reveals how be bought his 10-year-old daughter a rifle for Christmas and brought all three of his three young children into the hunting stands with him.
Mr Ryan's love of the rugged outdoors contrasts sharply with Mr Obama's association with urban Chicago.
On the campaign trail the Republican has taken to mockingly recounting a 2008 gaffe by Mr Obama, when he told a group of liberal donors in San Francisco that some in the white working class were "clinging" to guns and religion.
"I'm a Catholic deer hunter," Mr Ryan said. “I am happy to be clinging to my guns and my religion.”
The Secret Service groups the Obamas under the letter R, meaning the First Lady goes by "Renaissance" and the President's daughters Malia and Sasha are known as "Radiance" and "Rosebud".

(Obama is known as "Radical"... /chuckles)

[vector7]

Secret Service Codename Showdown: Renegade-Celtic vs. Javelin-Bowhunter

By Josh Voorhees

Posted Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, at 10:42 AM ET


Paul Ryan looks on as Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally on Sept. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

Thanks to GQ's Marc Ambinder, we now know the Secret Service codenames for all four men on the major party tickets. The newest addition: Paul Ryan's "Bowhunter."

The magazine explains that the GOP vice presidential nominee appears to have picked the outdoorsy moniker because he's something of an aficionado of hunting deer and other animals:

Ryan is also the cover model for next month's Deer and Deer Hunting magazine. He told the publication's editor: "Studying the strategy, preparing food plots, the strategy of where a dominant buck is living or will be moving and then being in position to get a shot, that's really exciting."

Combine Ryan's new code name with the three we already knew—Obama's "Renegade," Biden's "Celtic" and Romney's "Javelin"—and this 2012 showdown sounds kind of like an old-school pro wrestling tag-team match. (Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday! It's Renegade and Celtic vs. Javelin and the Bowhunter!)

As the Hill points out, there is "no longer any security relevance" to the Secret Service codenames.

[Ryan Ruck]

I wonder if Renegade is actually USSS code for something else...

[American Patriot]

I considered that Ryan. lol

Other famous callsigns...

Rawhide
Rainbow
Timberwolf
Tranquility
Deacon
Dancer
Lemme see.... Searchlight.... and I think Ford was Passkey or something.

[American Patriot]

Michelle Obama said last night, "...and I have seen firsthand that being president does not change who you are. No, it reveals the you are."

She can say that again. We THOUGHT he was a Socialist before he was elected. He has revealed his entire agenda now that he's been in office.

Now we have to reveal to him what it is like to be without a job.....

[American Patriot]

LOL these people seem to masters of understatement.

September 5, 2012 8:20 AM

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Emanuel: Washington dysfunction hurts Obama

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Democratic Convention 2012

• Will voters tolerate an "incomplete" from Obama?
• First Lady: Obama's work is personal, not political
• Julian Castro assails Romney as son of privilege

• At conventions, both parties tout Hispanic lineup
• Emanuel recalls his time in Obama WH
• Complete Coverage »

(CBS News) Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on "CBS This Morning" Wednesday that dysfunction in Washington was partly to blame for voters' loss of confidence in President Obama and that Americans are "clearly better off" than they were when the president was elected in 2008.
Mr. Obama's former chief of staff told Norah O'Donnell and Charlie Rose that he agreed that one of the challenges the president faces was to convince voters not to take America in a different direction by electing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. But Emanuel disagreed with the Romney campaign's recent push that Americans aren't better off than they were four years ago.
"They're clearly better off in the sense of where we were as an economy," Emanuel said.

Special Section: Democratic Convention 2012
What Bill Clinton can do for Barack Obama
Emanuel recalls his time in Obama WH
Still, Emanuel recognized that voters have reasons for losing confidence in Mr. Obama, but not that the president was at fault.
"One part is their own economic security, and that's normal because they are still struggling, and we're going through a huge transition on that," said Emanuel. "Second is the fact that Washington seems more dysfunctional as the day goes on, and it's hard to argue with that assessment."
Watch Emanuel's full interview, including discussion of President Obama's relationship with Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton, in the video player above.

[American Patriot]

Apparently, not long after stating that America was NOT better off, he comes back out and says we're DEFINITELY better off.

CNN of course carried the "Clarification"... lol

Maryland's Democratic governor acknowledges Americans not better off 4 years later

Published September 02, 2012
FoxNews.com




Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said Sunday that Americans are not better off than they were four years ago, answering the question that other Obama surrogates tried to avoid as it repeatedly came up on the weekend talk shows.


O’Malley, a Democrat who will be speaking at the party’s convention this week in Charlotte, addressed the issue on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”


“No,” he said when asked if Americans were better off. He added: “But that's not the question of this election. The question -- without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before George Bush brought us the Bush job losses, the Bush recession, the Bush deficits, the series of desert wars, charged for the first time to … the national credit card.”


The question was asked several times on the Sunday talk shows, after Mitt Romney said in his Thursday nomination speech that Americans were doing worse.


"This president can ask us to be patient. This president can tell us it was someone else's fault. This president can tell us that the next four years he'll get it right," he said. "But this president cannot tell us that you are better off today than when he took office."


On Monday, O’Malley backtracked by saying the country is “clearly” better off than four years ago.


“We are clearly better off as a country, because we are now creating jobs rather than losing jobs,” he said on CNN’s “Starting Point.” “We have not recovered all that we lost in the Bush recession,” he added.


Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod argued on “Fox News Sunday” that "we're in a better position than we were four years ago."


"The average American recognizes that it took years to create the crisis that erupted in 2008 ... and it's going to take some time to work through it," he said.


Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, on ‘Face the Nation,’ made a similar case.


“In terms of the question, ‘are people better off today than they were four years ago?’ I just want to remind you what was happening four years ago at this time. In the quarter before the president took office, we lost three million jobs. Our country was bleeding,” she said. “That's what was happening before the president took office.”





Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...#ixzz25bMjwUSU

After the ‘better off’ gaffe, O’Malley seeking to make amends

Speech focus on job growth under Obama

By David Hill

-
The Washington Times
Tuesday, September 4, 2012






CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley touted the nation’s economic gains under President Obama during a speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, as he sought to erase comments he made days earlier when he said Americans are no better off than they were in 2008.


Mr. O'Malley, a top Obama campaign surrogate and widely rumored 2016 presidential candidate, has spent the past two days furiously backtracking on comments he made Sunday during an interview on CBS‘ “Face the Nation,” in which he answered “no” when asked if Americans are doing better now than they were in 2008 before President Obama was elected.


The governor, who has since insisted the country is better off but not fully recovered from the recession, pointed to job growth over the past two years as proof that Mr. Obama deserves a second term and argued that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney reverse the progress with deep spending cuts and tax hikes on the middle class.


“No president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Great Depression inherited a worse economy, bigger job losses or deeper problems from his predecessor [than Mr. Obama],” Mr. O'Malley said in prepared remarks. “But President Obama is moving America forward, not back.”


Republicans quickly seized upon Mr. O’Malley’s earlier comments that citizens are not better off, arguing that he accidentally blurted out what other Democrats are afraid to admit, that Mr. Obama has failed to lift the country out of its economic troubles in his first term.


The rocky start to the governor’s convention week also included a more minor setback Monday, when a planned musical performance by the governor — a part-time guitarist and Irish rock singer — and actor Jeff Bridges was canceled because of rain.


Nonetheless, he was upbeat early Tuesday as he addressed Maryland’s convention delegation and led a panel discussion hosted by the Democratic Governors Association, for which he serves as chairman.


He also received support from top Democrats who have stressed improvements under the president as a major theme in the days since Mr. O'Malley’s slip-up.


While attending a luncheon Tuesday with the governor, House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer blasted critics of Mr. Obama, by comparing recent job growth to the nation’s job losses in the final months under former President George W. Bush.


“Last time, the country was going to hell in a hand basket,” said Mr. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat. “And today, people are better off than they were four years ago. Is it enough? No, it is not, because of this deep hole that had been dug by the previous administration.”


While Mr. O’Malley on Tuesday tried to put his gaffe behind him, it remains to be seen how the comments will affect the presidential race beyond the immediate firestorm.


Todd Eberly, coordinator of public policy studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, said the governor’s comments could go away in a matter of days or perhaps linger beyond the convention depending on the August job numbers to be released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.


Mr. Eberly said an addition of more than 150,000 jobs could give Democrats something to brag about, while slower growth would give ammunition to Republicans eager to hammer the president over what appears to be the top issue in this campaign.


“The president gives his speech [Thursday] and then the very next morning, you’re talking about whether we’ve turned the corner or if the economy is still hobbling along,” he said. “Right now, you just don’t know.”

[vector7]

Nicki Minaj Receives Death Threats Over Mitt Romney Rap Line

by chuckcreekmur September 4th, 2012 @ 11:42pm


(AllHipHop News) Nicki Minaj has raised the ire of seemingly radical Democrats on Twitter with a rap line that implies she will be supporting Mitt Romney in the upcoming presidential election.

“I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney / You lazy b***hes is f-ing up the economy,” Minaj raps on Lil Wayne’s new mixtape Dedication 4.

The move, whether or not she means it, has caused a seemingly endless flow of insults to the rapper.
Minaj has not commented on the matter, via Twitter or otherwise.

Here are some of the tweets, courtesy of Weasel Zippers:

[Ryan Ruck]

I love that it is so easy to get the lefties all in a lather.

[American Patriot]

You should have been reading my facebook page the other day.

Wow.

LMAO