The presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Jon Hunstman all tell The Hill they had nothing to do with the Herman Cain sexual harassment story.
Huntsman Re-Establishes Utah Residence
Jon Huntsman told the Salt Lake Tribune that he and his wife recently purchased a condo in Salt Lake City.
Said Huntsman: “I’m a resident of Utah, and I always want to be. I’d like to spend more time out there, but right now it’s all on the road.”
“The presidential hopeful had sold his Salt Lake City home in 2005, when he moved into the Governor’s Mansion and later, when he resigned to take on the role of U.S. ambassador to China, used the mansion’s address for his voting registration as allowed by law for someone serving the government abroad. Huntsman bought a $3.6 million home in Washington, D.C., in June 2010, but he calls the Utah condo home.”
New Robert Caro Book Coming in May
The Passage of Power, the fourth of Robert A. Caro’s Lyndon Johnson books is coming out in May, the AP reports.
And a fifth volume will be written for what was supposed to be a three-, then four-part series.
Cain’s Story Keeps Changing
Herman Cain told an interviewer today there had been “a couple of other things” in the sexual harassment complaint filed against him in the 1990s, though he claimed not to remember the specifics, Politico reports.
Said Cain: “I don’t even remember. They were so ridiculous, I don’t remember what they are.”
When pressed, he added: “The reason I forgot them is because they were ridiculous. I dismissed them out of my mind.”
Corzine’s Firm Questioned Over Loss of Money
MF Global, the brokerage run by former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D), collapsed into bankruptcy when a potential buyer noticed that hundreds of millions of dollars of customer money couldn’t be accounted for, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The probe is at an early stage, and it isn’t clear if the money is
missing or if the inconsistencies relate to sloppy bookkeeping.”
Said one person familiar with the situation: “They still don’t have it figured out.”
Voters Evenly Split on Obama, House Republicans
A new National Journal Congressional Connection poll finds voters split on whether President Obama deserves another term: 44% would like to see a Republican elected, while 42% want Obama to win a second term.
Meanwhile, when asked if Republicans should retain control of the House, 41% said yes and 43% said they would prefer Democrats to recapture the majority.
Romney Crushing Huntsman in Utah Fundraising
Mitt Romney has raised $1.9 million from Utah residents through September 30, almost as much as the $2.1 million he raised from Massachusetts, where he was elected governor, Bloomberg reports.
Jon Huntsman, who hails from a prominent family in Utah and was twice elected governor, has raised $255,850 from his home state. His total is only slightly larger than the $237,705 President Obama has collected from donors in Utah, a state he lost by 29 points in the 2008 election.
Talking is Doing in Politics
The Economist isn’t impressed with Rick Perry’s new Iowa ad in which he discounts his failings as a communicator by saying, “I’m a doer, not a talker.”
“Not to be overly pedantic, but talking is a kind of doing. Indeed, talking is primarily how one gets things done in politics. How does Mr Perry convey that he is a doer, and not a talker? By talking. What else is there? Interpretative dance? A presidential candidate unable to best a foe in a public exchange, or to communicate his position on a complex issue when the heat is on, is about as useful as a one-legged fullback. There’s a good reason Mr Perry’s embarrassing debate performances have left him trailing Herman Cain by 15 points in the polls not long after he entered the race with a comfortable lead: a candidate this feckless on his feet would be eaten alive by Barack Obama in the general-election debates.”
Will Another Shoe Drop for Cain?
Can Herman Cain survive the allegations he sexually harassed as least two women and his shifting explanation of what happened?
First Read: “It all depends if there’s another allegation or a new piece of information that contradicts his current story. If there is, that would be a knockout blow. Indeed, conservative commentators largely gave Cain a free pass yesterday. Rush Limbaugh said, ‘Look at how quickly what is known as the ‘mainstream media’ goes for the ugliest racial stereotypes they can to attack a black conservative.’ And Laura Ingraham, who clerked for Clarence Thomas, said, ‘Doesn’t all this sound familiar? A black man who thinks for himself, who ends up surprising everyone…’ (One exception, however, was Karl Rove, demonstrating an establishment-vs.-base divide here.) But if another shoe drops, he most likely won’t get another free pass from them.”
The Note: “Cain’s dissembling represents a marked departure from his straight-talking persona on the campaign trail, but we still don’t know whether it spells disaster for his campaign or if it’s just a bump in the road. Will either of the two women who received monetary settlements speak publicly? Are there any other shoes to drop? If the answer to both of those questions is ‘no’, it’s hard to see this story get much more traction — even with Cains’ inconsistencies.”
Lucky Romney
Jon Stewart looks at sexual harassment accusations against Herman Cain and Rick Perry’s loopy speech in New Hampshire and concludes, “Mitt Romney is the luckiest Motherfudger on Earth.”
Occupy Iowa Caucuses
Occupy Wall Street activists “plan to amass in Iowa one week before the Iowa caucuses — up to the day they’re held on Jan. 3,” CNN reports.
“If the protests occur, it appears they would be unprecedented for the
Iowa caucus season. They could also spark clashes between Occupy Wall
Street activists and scores of conservatives.”
Quote of the Day
“I enjoy flowers like everybody else.”
— Herman Cain, in an interview on Fox News, on whether he has a “roaming eye.”
Most Texans Don’t Credit Perry for Economic Growth
The latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll
finds that an overwhelming number of Texans attribute the state’s
economic success to “long-standing policies and natural resources,” at
65%, while just 21% believe it was a result of Gov. Rick Perry’s (R)
leadership.
“The poll results appear to show Texas voters don’t
buy Perry’s claim that his policies are responsible for the state’s
economy and that he can do the same for the country. The findings,
however, buttress his claim that protecting those state policies against
efforts to raise taxes and increase regulation helped the state weather
the recession.”
Presidential Debates Set
Politico
reports that the Commission on Presidential Debates has set the
presidential debate schedule for next year, pitting President Obama
against his eventual Republican opponent in Colorado, New York, and
Florida.
The schedule: October 3 at the University of Denver,
October 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, and October 22
at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. There will also be a single
vice presidential debate at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky on
October 11.
Supercommittee Members Navigate Political Pressures
As the supercommittee approaches its November 23 deadline, by which time
it must approve a plan that cuts the deficit by $1.2 trillion to avoid
across-the-board cuts, The Hill notes the political pressures on the supercommittee’s 12 members.
“The
panel’s members are confronting risk on all sides. For Senate freshmen
like Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and ambitious House
Democrats like Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Xavier Becerra (Calif.),
signing onto any agreement could alienate segments of their party’s base
and threaten their advancement in leadership… Some political analysts
note, however, that the members of the supercommittee are insulated by
their solid standing both within their party caucuses and in their home
districts and states, which may have contributed to their selection in
the first place.”
Cain’s Story Shifts
An excellent video compilation shows how Herman Cain’s recollection of sexual harassment allegations made against him in the 1990s changed throughout the day.
Daily Beast: “Cain spent Monday morning denying he was ever accused of sexual harassment against two women in the 1990s. Then he ackowledged the allegations but said they were ‘false’ and ‘baseless,’ while saying he knew ‘nothing’ of a cash settlement. Now he acknowledged that he knew about a settlement that was offered to one of the women.”
New York Times: “Cain’s shifting explanations and the gaps in the story made it hard to determine the impact of the revelations on his long-term prospects in states like Iowa, whose crucial caucuses are just two months away.”
McKenna Leads Inslee in Washington
A new Washington Poll finds Rob McKenna (R) leading Rep. Jay Inslee (D) in the race for Washington governor, 44% to 38%.
Rollins Says Bachmann Can’t Win Iowa
Ed Rollins told ABC News that former client Michele Bachmann has “run out of money and ideas” and can no longer expect to win in Iowa.
Said Rollins: “She’s still saying the same things she said in the first the debate. There’s no substance. She says, ‘I’m going to repeal Obamacare.’ But she’s been saying that from Day 1. I told her: That’s your Tea Party speech, now you have to say what you’re going to do next.”
Ben Smith: “Rarely has the arc of a campaign been so clearly foretold (another win for the pundits!) as Michele Bachmann’s, about whom the conventional wisdom this summer was, roughly, Ames victory, abrupt collapse, public recriminations from Ed Rollins.”
