Tim Pawlenty “has been chosen as the new head of The Financial Services Roundtable, a lobbying group, Politico reports.
“The group lobbies on behalf of large banks, insurance companies and other major players in the world of finance. The decision is expected to be announced Thursday morning.”
Politico: “Leaders on both sides of the dome, in both parties, are meeting with key Obama administration officials… quietly mulling different legislative strategies to avoid massive tax hikes on all Americans. At the same time, lawmakers are beginning to carve out positions for their parties for what will become a months-long rhetorical and legislative war leading up to a series of year-end deadlines.”
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that 43% of voters viewed Mitt Romney less favorably after an excerpt of the now famous hidden camera video was shown to them online. In addition, 59% said they felt Romney unfairly dismissed almost half of Americans as victims.
A Gallup poll also finds Americans had a more negative than positive immediate reaction Romney’s comments with 36% saying they make them less likely to vote for him, 20% saying the remarks make them more likely to vote for him, and 43% say the comments won’t make a difference.
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Here are the today’s swing state polls, updated as needed throughout the day:
A new USA Today/Gallup Poll of twelve swing states shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney by just two points, 48% to 46%
Colorado: Obama 48%, Romney 47% (Quinnipiac/CBS News/NYT)
Florida: Obama 49%, Romney 44% (Fox News)
Ohio: Obama 49%, Romney 42% (Fox News)
Michigan: Obama 52%, Romney 44% (CNN/ORC)
Pennsylvania: Obama 50%, Romney 41% (Morning Call/Muhlenberg)
Virginia: Obama 50%, Romney 46% (Quinnipiac/CBS News/NYT)
Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 46% (We Ask America)
Virginia: Obama 50%, Romney 43% (Fox News)
Wisconsin:Obama 51%, Romney 45% (Quinnipiac/CBS News/NYT)
Wisconsin: Obama 54%, Romney 40% (Marquette Law School)
It worked for Richard Nixon.
“On Monday mornings when I get up, I get up about 4:30 to catch a flight to come back up here. And I’ve noticed that I have an attitude problem, I don’t want to come anymore. And the reason I don’t want come anymore is because we’re not doing anything to address the real problems that are in front of our country.”
— Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), quoted by ABC News on the Senate floor.
The DNC released a brutal compilation of news coverage of Mitt Romney’s 47% remark captured by a hidden video camera.
Blake Zeff correctly points out that while the hidden camera video is damaging, the real problem for Mitt Romney “is the waste of a full week and counting, spent explaining and repackaging his own statements and insisting nothing’s wrong with his campaign.”
“The opportunity-cost is unaffordable for a candidate who’s primed to lose this election…. As of last Tuesday night, Romney had just under eight more weeks — approximately fifty-four days, if you discount Election Day — to make his case to voters. Since then, the campaign has been consumed by his ill-considered Libya comments, Campaign in Disarray process stories and his ‘private’ remarks about 47 percent of the country (followed, naturally, by more Campaign in Disarray stories).”
“Whether any of these stories actually changes any voters’ minds about the candidate, the fact is that they’ve essentially consumed all the media bandwidth on seven days out of the 54 days left, during which time Romney was not making an argument for his candidacy.”
A new Pew Research survey finds President Obama now leads Mitt Romney nationally by eight points among likely voters, 51% to 43%.
“Not only does Obama enjoy a substantial lead in the horserace, he tops
Romney on a number of key dimensions. His support is stronger than his
rival’s, and is positive rather than negative. Mitt Romney’s backers are
more ardent than they were pre-convention, but are still not as
enthusiastic as Obama’s. Roughly half of Romney’s supporters say they
are voting against Obama rather than for the Republican nominee.”
A new Marquette Law School Poll in Wisconsin finds Tammy Baldwin (D) has taken the lead over Tommy Thompson (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 50% to 41%.
Last month, the results were reversed with Thompson ahead 50% to 41%.
However, a New York Times/CBS News/Quinnipiac poll released earlier today found the race tied.
Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) became the third GOP Senate candidate taking Mitt Romney to task for his “47 percent” remarks made on a hidden camera video. Heller told Politico he doesn’t “view the world the same way” as Romney.
Said Heller: “You got to understand, I grew up with five brothers and sisters. My father was an automechanic. My mother was a school cook. I just don’t view the world the same way he does.”
Yesterday, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) and Connecticut U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon (R) criticized Romney for his comments.
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds 81% of President Obama’s supporters expect he will win in November while just 56% of Mitt Romney voters think their candidate will.
Meanwhile, 83% of those who plan to vote to re-elect Obama say their vote is for him rather than a vote against Romney. In contrast, half of Romney supporters aren’t voting for the GOP candidate, but rather casting a ballot against Obama.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), “who has been on a medical leave of absence for three months, has put his Victorian-style townhouse in Washington, D.C. on the market for $2.5 million,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Jackson recently left the Mayo Clinic where he was treated for bipolar disorder but has not yet returned to his job.
“For all we know, Mitt Romney could be one of those who paid no federal income tax.”
— Sen. Harry Reid, in a speech on the Senate floor today.
BuzzFeed finds an amazing 1962 video in which Lenore Romney talks about why her husband George would be a good governor of Michigan in part because he was once “on relief — welfare relief — for the first years of his life.”
A new Washington Post poll finds Tim Kaine (D) has opened up a clear lead over George Allen (R) for the first time in their U.S. Senate race, 51% to 43%.
A new New York Times/CBS News/Quinnipiac poll also shows Kaine with a decent lead, 51% to 44%.
The Week looks at four ways he might defuse the crisis that threatens to derail his campaign.
Taegan 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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