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More Debate Reaction

February 23, 2012 at 7:38 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Miss the GOP presidential debate? I thought it was easily one of the worst of the campaign.

The Daily Beast has video clips of the seven best moments.

Paul Begala: “Santorum was clearly thrilled to be in the spotlight. But he spent way too much time splitting hairs and explaining the protocol and procedures of Washington in defense of earmarks and defending his support for Specter. As he has done in the past, he couldn’t resist picking a gratuitous fight with Ron Paul. That’s called punching down, and it rarely works. He played too much defense and too little offense. His job should have been to use every opportunity to define Romney as a feckless liberal and himself as a principled conservative. He didn’t accomplish that.”

Roger Simon: “This was the first debate in which Santorum sat atop the national
polls. And he was nervous. Very nervous. So nervous that he looked like a
graduate of the Bob Dole School of Debating, in which you are allowed
to speak only in the impenetrable language of Capitol Hill.”

Howard Kurtz: “In the end, the debate did little to shake up the race, perhaps because the candidates–seated this time, close to one another–muted their criticism in what was the last such face-off before Super Tuesday. Even moderator John King, famously roughed up by Gingrich in their last encounter, emerged unscathed.”

Andrew Sullivan: “Maybe I’ve lost my mind after all these debates, or maybe I secretly want him to win (because he would finally expose all the insanity that has been building in this party and needs venting). But I thought Santorum was on form tonight. My sense is that he will not lose his current momentum after tonight. I didn’t feel Newt tonight. Romney doesn’t wear well. Paul was great and funny and human.”

[Read more…]

Stylist Won’t Cut Governor’s Hair Over Gay Marriage Stance

February 23, 2012 at 7:21 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) “has lost a hair stylist thanks to her position against gay marriage,” KOB TV reports.

“Antonio Darden, a popular stylist who runs Antonio’s Hair Studio in Santa Fe, said he cut Martinez’ hair three times, but that’s it — unless she changes her mind about gay marriage.”

Said Darden: “The governor’s aides called not too long ago, wanting another appointment to come in. Because of her stances and her views on this I told her aides no. They called the next day, asking if I’d changed my mind about taking the governor in and I said no again.”

President Evil

February 23, 2012 at 7:21 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jon Stewart points out that Republicans warned that the consequences of the 2008 election could be dire and now they claim that the 2012 election is all that stands between America and catastrophe.

[Read more…]


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More Say Obama’s Presidency a Failure

February 23, 2012 at 4:32 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds Americans are more likely to say President Obama’s first term has been a failure than a success, 50% to 44%. A 51% majority say Obama is too liberal, and Americans “are inclined to
say they disagree with him on the issues that matter most to them.”

On the positive side, 58% say he “has the personality and leadership qualities a president should have.” His favorability ratings are also higher than any of the GOP presidential contenders.

Meanwhile, a new Quinnipiac poll finds Obama with a negative 45% to 49% job approval rating and voters say by a 50% to 45% margin that he does not deserve reelection.

Who is Obama?

February 23, 2012 at 3:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

E.J. Dionne: “They say that President Obama is a Muslim, but if he isn’t, he’s a secularist who is waging war on religion. On some days he’s a Nazi, but on most others he’s merely a socialist. His especially creative opponents see him as having a ‘Kenyan anti-colonial worldview,’ while the less adventurous say that he’s an elitist who spent too much time in Cambridge, Hyde Park and other excessively academic precincts.”

“Whatever our president is, he is never allowed to be a garden-variety American who plays basketball and golf, has a remarkably old-fashioned family life and, in the manner we regularly recommend to our kids, got ahead by getting a good education.”

“Please forgive this outburst. It’s simply astonishing that a man in his fourth year as our president continues to be the object of the most extraordinary paranoid fantasies. A significant part of his opposition still cannot accept that Obama is a rather moderate politician quite conventional in his tastes and his interests. And now that the economy is improving, short-circuiting easy criticisms, Obama’s adversaries are reheating all the old tropes and cliches and slanders.”

GOP Debate Reaction

February 22, 2012 at 10:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tonight’s Republican debate was easily one of the worst of the presidential campaign.

Mitt Romney was armed with opposition research on Rick Santorum but didn’t come close to a knock out. The audience — which was definitely slanted towards Romney — helped cover for many clumsy mistakes. His attempts to throw red meat to conservatives exacerbated his in-authenticity. Nonetheless, Romney did not lose and at the very least held his ground.

Santorum acted as though he was still a non-contender. It’s almost as if he decided in the middle of the debate to run for vice president instead. He also showed how hard it is to run for president with a U.S. Senate voting record. However, he did real damage to Romney in their heated exchange on RomneyCare.

Newt Gingrich scored many points but it’s unclear how he gains against either Santorum or Romney. In the end, he wasn’t much of a factor.

Ron Paul, as always, was consistent on both advancing his libertarian agenda and in helping Romney by attacking Santorum.

The real winner tonight was President Obama. After 20 debates, his potential rivals have done wonders for his re-election chances.

The Last Debate?

February 22, 2012 at 7:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Fix: “First, this might be the final debate of the GOP presidential race — or at least, the last debate for a while. There are no other debates scheduled before the real Super Tuesday on March 6, and Romney’s campaign has not committed to a planned March 19 debate in Oregon. Indeed, Romney’s campaign looks as though be done with debates altogether, citing the overwhelming number of them in declining to attend a scheduled forum in Georgia next week. That debate fell apart, and without Romney, future debates would as well.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

February 22, 2012 at 7:06 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It is not accurate to say that a hotly contested convention is
necessarily bad. I am not saying it is necessarily good,
but I don’t think it is accurate to say it is necessarily bad. Let’s
just see.”

— Haley Barbour, in an interview with ABC News.

Poll Shows Santorum Ahead in Michigan

February 22, 2012 at 6:54 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new WXYZ/Detroit Free Press poll in Michigan finds Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney in the GOP presidential primary by three points, 37% to 34%, followed by Ron Paul at 10% and Newt Gingrich at 7%. Another 12% are either undecided or refused to answer.

Said pollster Bernie Porn: “Among GOP voters, Santorum leads Romney by 41%. Among Independent voters, Romney leads Santorum by 30%.”

Is Arizona a Swing State?

February 22, 2012 at 4:01 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Obama’s re-election campaign says they will compete hard in Arizona and a new Public Policy Polling survey suggests they should.

Obama is now tied with Mitt Romney in Arizona at 47%, a dramatic improvement from November when he trailed by 7 points. He leads Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich each by 4 points, 46% to 42% and 48% to 44% respectively. The only Republican he actually runs behind is Rick Santorum, although only by a single point at 47% to 46%.

Stock Market Does Much Better Under Democrats

February 22, 2012 at 2:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“While Republicans promote themselves as the friendliest party for Wall Street, stock investors do better when Democrats occupy the White House,” Bloomberg reports.

In fact, since John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, $1,000 invested in a hypothetical fund that tracks the S&P 500 “only when Democrats are in the White House would have been worth $10,920 at the close of trading yesterday. That’s more than nine times the dollar return an investor would have realized from following a similar strategy during Republican administrations.”

“The Democratic edge is so large that the party comes out ahead even without counting Bill Clinton (the Democrat with the biggest S&P 500 gain) and George W. Bush (the Republican with the worst market record). A hypothetical $1,000 investment under Democrats excluding Clinton was worth $3,539 versus $3,296 invested under Republicans except Bush.”

Is Mormonism Off Limits?

February 22, 2012 at 2:26 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rick Santorum’s aides tell Byron York it’s unfair that reporters are asking questions about aspects of Santorum’s faith and not asking similar questions about Mitt Romney’s.

“Of course, Santorum has spoken more publicly about the details of his religious beliefs than Romney has, and that is why some of the questions are popping up now… But specifically religious questioning of Romney is as rare as specific Romney statements about Mormon beliefs. Given the current grilling of Santorum, that is a source of growing frustration to Santorum’s advisers.”

Asked one aide: “Why is Mormonism off limits? I’m not saying it’s a seminal issue in the campaign, but we’re having to spend days answering questions about Rick’s faith, which he has been open about.”

Santorum Up Big in Oklahoma

February 22, 2012 at 2:14 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Rasmussen survey in Oklahoma finds Rick Santorum with a big lead over Mitt Romney in the GOP presidential race with 43%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 22%, Mitt Romney at 18%, and Ron Paul at 7%.

The Oklahoma primary is on March 6.

Radioactive Rhetoric

February 22, 2012 at 1:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

John Avlon notes that for all the entertainment of the GOP presidential debates “there is a civic cost to the
radioactive rhetoric that gets thrown out to excite the conservative crowds.”

“It’s not just that the most irresponsible candidates can play to the base and get a boost in the polls, while more sober-minded candidates like Jon Huntsman fail to get attention. The real damage is to the process of running for president itself. Because when low blows get rewarded, the incentive to try to emulate Lincoln — holding yourself to a higher standard — is diminished. And one barometer of this atmospheric shift is in the increasingly overheated rhetoric by candidates attacking the current president. This serial disrespect ends up unintentionally diminishing the office of president itself.”

Gingrich Urged to be Himself

February 22, 2012 at 12:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The New York Times notes that Newt Gingrich, “more than any other candidate, has seen his fortunes ebb and flow with debates, and there is a consensus in his team that his big loss in Florida’s Republican presidential primary last month was in no small part because of debates in which he strained to look above the fray. According to one top aide, Mr. Gingrich’s two daughters had advised him to strike a presidential pose, but that was not the Newt Gingrich voters craved.”

Five Money Men

February 22, 2012 at 12:03 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A National Journal analysis of January’s campaign-disclosure filings reveals that 25% of all the money raised by Super PACs came from just five donors.

Georgia Democrats Propose Limits on Vasectomies

February 22, 2012 at 11:31 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

As a Georgia lawmakers weigh a ban on most women getting abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, Democratic lawmakers protested the move by introducing a bill that would drastically limit vasectomies, the Augusta Chronicle reports.

The bill calls for no more vasectomies that leave “thousands of children… deprived of birth.”

Said state Rep. Yasmin Neal (D): “Women’s reproductive rights are always debated. No one ever talks about the male side of the issue. We just want them to know how it feels just this once… It’s about fairness and showing how preposterous the abortion bill is.”

Cantor’s New Leadership Style?

February 22, 2012 at 11:29 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Hill
provides a behind-the-scenes look at how House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor (R-VA) successfully navigated the STOCK Act, the bill that would
apply insider trading laws to members of Congress, through the House
with bipartisan support.

“Cantor…wanted to study, expand and build
support for an insider-trading bill that would garner support from a
large majority of House GOP legislators. In doing so, the majority
leader read Throw Them All Out, the book by Peter Schweizer that served
as the basis for the ’60 Minutes’ report… As the House deliberated,
the Democrat-led Senate pounced. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) bypassed committee action and quickly passed the chamber’s
version of the STOCK Act. “

“Cantor, who is not shy in mixing it
up with Democrats, refrained from responding to the attacks and worked
to win over skeptical House Republicans. From late December until its
passage in February, Cantor met with scores of members, talked with the
counsels on six of the committees with jurisdiction and briefed the
conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) and the entire House GOP
conference… In an unanticipated twist as the measure neared
consideration on the House floor, Cantor praised Walz and Slaughter in a
press release. He also called Walz for help to pass the insider-trading
bill.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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