A new Mellman Group (D) poll in North Dakota shows former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp (D) leading Rep. Rick Berg (R-ND) in the U.S. Senate Race, 47% to 42%.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“While we meet here tonight, the Republicans are having a debate across town. I’ve watched a number of them, and I’ve got to be honest, I never thought I’d say this — I’m beginning to miss Sarah Palin’s insights.”
— Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D), quoted by Politico.
Debate Eleven
The Republican presidential candidates hold their 11th presidential debate tonight. It will be focused entirely on foreign policy and the first since Newt Gingrich took over the national lead in most recent polls.
An interesting behind the scenes video shows how the debate came together.
The debate begins at 8:00 pm ET and will be aired on CNN.
Attempt to Change Electoral Vote Allocation Falters
The Republican-sponsored attempt to change how Pennsylvania’s electoral votes are counted in next year’s presidential election “appears to be running out of steam,” the AP reports.
Said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R), a key supporter of the idea: “I see no movement on it. I’m not going to push for movement, but I still support it.”
Gingrich Leads in South Carolina
A new Polling Company survey in South Carolina shows Newt Gingrich leading the GOP presidential field with 31%, followed by Herman Cain at 17%, Mitt Romney at 16% and Rick Perry at 6%.
No other candidate had more than 5%.
Riding with Obama
President Obama’s “body man” Reggie Love, who is leaving the White House to go to business school, was asked by ESPN what does Obama do that makes his skin crawl?
Said Love: “The thing that used to kill me is that the guy loves to ride around with the AC off in the summertime. And I get hot. I start sweating. And I’m like, it’s 80 degrees in this car. I’m going to pass out.”
Romney Attacks Obama in First Ad
Just as President Obama visits New Hampshire, Mitt Romney runs his first advertisement in the state and it’s all about the president.
First Read: “Strikingly, Romney’s first ad is NEGATIVE. It blames Obama on the
economy and then pivots (with soaring string music) to what Romney wants
to do… With grainy video, ominous music and President Obama with an echo, Romney’s ad uses this seemingly damning line from Obama: ‘If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.'”
But, as the New York Times points out, the line, “which is perhaps the spot’s most devastating moment, is also the one that seems to be the most taken out of context. In fact, at the time, Mr. Obama was referring to something that an aide to his then opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona, had said in reference to the McCain campaign — not Mr. Obama, then or now.”
Word of the Day
From the political dictionary: “pen and pad briefing”
Romney’s New Hampshire Firewall Holding
A new Suffolk University/7NEWS poll in New Hampshire finds Mitt Romney way ahead of the GOP field with 41%, followed by Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich at 14%.
All other candidates were in single digits, including Jon Huntsman at 9%, Herman Cain at 8%, Rick Santorum at 3%, Rick Perry at 2%, and Michele Bachmann at 1%.
Notes pollster David Paleologos: “Every Republican candidate that surges in the national polls hits a firewall in New Hampshire. We’ve seen this with surges from Bachmann, Perry, Cain and now Gingrich. A Romney loss here is highly improbable, and Romney’s best insurance policy in New Hampshire is Ron Paul, whose fixed support takes 14 percent off the table.”
Quote of the Day
“No, not, not interested… Done… What part of it am I not getting across?”
— Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D), in an interview on NBC’s Rock Center, repeatedly denying any interest in running for higher office.
Obama in New Hampshire, Potential Challengers in D.C.
As the Republican presidential prospects arrive in Washington, D.C. for
tonight’s CNN debate focused on national security, President Obama will
travel to New Hampshire to push Congress to extend the payroll tax cut,
according to The Hill.
“The
White House brushed off suggestions the president’s trip to the Granite
State, which holds the nation’s first presidential primary in seven
weeks, was being made with an eye toward 2012… New Hampshire will be
an important swing state next year. Obama won it by nine points in 2008,
but Romney is practically a favorite son. He was governor of
neighboring Massachusetts, owns a summer home in the Granite State and
is campaigning heavily to win its primary… As it stands, the payroll
tax cut and other provisions, like a patch for the Alternative Minimum
Tax and benefits for the unemployed, are set to expire at year’s end.”
Gingrich Jumps Into the Lead
A new Quinnipiac poll finds Newt Gingrich jumping to the front of the GOP presidential field with 26%, followed by Mitt Romney at 22% and Herman Cain at 14%.
Key finding: 48% of Republican voters say that that among all GOP contenders he has the knowledge and experience necessary to be president, compared to Romney’s 22%.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “When it comes to the Republican horse race, the scenario hasn’t changed much over the past few months – just the players. Speaker Newt Gingrich is the latest GOP contender to rise to the top, powered by conservatives who remain skeptical about Gov. Mitt Romney.”
Meanwhile, in general election match ups, President Obama edges Romney, 45% to 44%, beats Gingrich, 49% to 40%, and crushes Cain, 50% to 37%.
Trump Discloses Finances
Fox News obtained a copy of Donald Trump’s forthcoming book, Time To Get Tough, in which he writes he was so close to running for president that he had already prepared to disclose his finances, something many suggested he would never do.
In an afterword section, Trump claims a net worth of just over $7 billion, of which $3 billion he calls “brand value.”
Ailes Furious at Palin
Sarah Palin infuriated Fox News chief Roger Ailes because she didn’t make the announcement she wouldn’t run for president on Fox News, Gabriel Sherman reports.
Instead, she made the October 5 announcement on Mark Levin’s radio program with Fox getting a follow-up interview on Greta Van Susteren’s 10 p.m. show.
Said Ailes: “I paid her for two years to make this announcement on my network.”
Gingrich Calls the CBO a “Reactionary Socialist Institution”
Newt Gingrich had some tough words for the Congressional Budget Office, CNN reports.
Said Gingrich: “The CBO is a reactionary socialist institution which does not believe in economic growth, does not believe in innovation and does not believe in data that it has not internally generated.”
Former CBO director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican, called the allegation “ludicrous.”
Said Holtz-Eakin: “I think if you parse that phrase carefully, he got one out of three
right. I do agree it is an institution. If you’re
playing baseball, that’s a decent batting average.”
Cain Will Give Interview After All
Herman Cain reversed himself and will sit down for a taped interview with the editorial board of the New Hampshire Union Leader, caving to pressure after skipping his previous interview.
Politico:
“Just last week, Cain backed out of a Union Leader interview because
the paper insisted on a 60-minute interview, as opposed to the
20-minute, camera-free conversation Cain hoped for. The newspaper
blistered Cain in a Monday missive titled, ‘Recording Cain: What’s he afraid of?‘”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“The biggest single threat to our economy is not Europe’s instability or China’s monetary policy or anything else. It is this partisan paralysis and political cowardice that I think is defining Washington and we just cannot afford to have that continue.”
— New York City Michael Bloomberg, quoted by the New York Daily News, on the failure of the congressional supercommittee.
Supercommittee Fails
As expected, the congressional deficit-reduction committee said it had “failed to reach an agreement on slashing the U.S. budget gap, a move that triggers mandatory cuts to military spending and some social programs starting in 2013,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to National Journal, President Obama “warned that he will veto any attempt to eliminate the automatic spending cuts that go into effect with that failure.”
He added: “There will be no easy off-ramps on this one.”
Marc Ambinder: “President Obama would have preferred the super committee produce a
bipartisan deal, but what remains is not so bad: the prospect of up to
$6 trillion in debt reduction if Congress does nothing, and the
certainty of sharply defined election-year contrasts with Republicans.”
