This is the first installment of a periodic series in which I post about events from the past.
One year ago today during a segment of Morning Joe, the hosts and their guests discussed the then-upcoming Republican National Convention and what candidate Mitt Romney could do to turn things around. At about the 2:35 mark of the clip below, the fireworks start when Chris Matthews takes RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to task for what he felt were the GOP's underhanded attacks against President Obama. Chris is like a pitbull because once he gets his teeth in an opponent's ass, he isn't going to let go easily. Because I rarely see Priebus get called on his BS when he's on news programs, it was nice to see him get challenged. Damn I love live TV!
Leading up to the 2012 presidential election, I had planned on doing some gloating if President Obama won. Some would argue I should be bigger than that and it's a fair point. However, after all the shit President Obama has taken from the right over the last 4 years, they deserve to have their noses rubbed in it! On his show last Friday, Lawrence O'Donnell put together an awesome montage of the various conservative pundits who predicted a Romney victory. Some of them were right in one regard: they predicted 300+ electoral votes for the winner. They just picked the wrong candidate. Just to recap, here is a tally of the electoral votes for each candidate:
President Barack Obama- 332
Mitt Romney- 206
Don't worry conservatives/Republicans. Just turn back the clock to the night after the first debate when you were all smug and self-satisfied because of Romney's "victory". Like I said back then, a poor performance in the first debate by President Obama would likely be irrelevant. If the conservative media's colossal failure in predicting the 2012 presidential election doesn't make it's followers pissed, it should.
Here is the Lawrence O'Donnell clip I mentioned earlier. Liberals/progressives/Democrats, enjoy!
Four more years, four more years! Come on righties, say it with me!! Although it was touch and go for awhile, President Obama managed to defeat Mitt Romney. Although it wasn't a blow out, I thought the electoral college tally would be closer than it was.
Outside of the obvious, I can understand why righties are pissed off because President Obama was beatable. Even though I think the president deserved a 2nd term, this was a winnable election for the GOP.
Here are some of the reasons I think Romney lost:
Alienating Hispanic voters, the fastest growing demographic in the country. The number of Latinos who voted for President Obama in the 2012 election was over 70%, while Romney got less than 30%! Unless Republicans want to keep losing presidential elections, they better come up with a new game plan to woo Latino voters.
Four words... Let Detroit Go Bankrupt. Although Romney didn't choose the title of the op-ed, he echoed its sentiments. The fact that President Obama saved the auto industry while Romney was content to kiss it off virtually guaranteed that Michigan and Ohio would go to O.
47%... need I say more?!
Besides the obvious, there are two other reasons I'm glad President Obama won a 2nd term. Had Romney won, it would give license for future candidates to constantly change positions and brazenly lie about it. Romney went back and forth and back so much, he probably lost track of which "Mitt was Mitt" himself! An Obama defeat would also have sent a message to the GOP that obstruction is a winning strategy. Since there is work to be done to get this country back on track, being the "party of NO" isn't going to cut it.
Hopefully, the GOP will do some serious soul searching and get their act together. If they don't, this could prove to be the beginning of the end for them. Since right-wing pundits and bloggers aren't likely to realize that moving farther to the right is not the way to go, it'll be up to one of the GOP politicians to take the reins and be the proverbial adult in the room.
While the right stews in its own juice, please enjoy President Obama's victory speech.
In the latest polls, President Obama has been increasing his lead over Mitt Romney in the race for the White House. Although anything can happen between now and November 6th, members of the right-wing noise machine are clearly getting nervous.
In the video below, TYT host Cenk Uygur presents clips featuring Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Palin, Laura Ingraham, and Rush Limbaugh in which they discuss strategy, vent their frustration, and unwittingly admit their plan to throw Romney under the proverbial Greyhound if he loses. Like I alluded to in the last paragraph, it's still early yet. However, I am enjoying watching the righties sweat over the prospect of a 2nd term for President Obama!
Whileon a campaign stop in Commerce Twp, MI last Friday, Mitt Romney made a so-called joke about President Obama's place of birth. Stay classy Willard!
In the first clip, Hardball's Chris Matthews takes RNC chairman Reince Priebus apart during a segment on Morning Joe. In addition to confronting Reince on Romney's birther "joke", Chris also called him out for the Romney ad which falsely claims President Obama ended the work requirement for welfare. Since I cannot stand Priebus, it was a pleasure watching Chris gut him on live TV.
In the second clip, Alex Wagner (the host of MSNBC's NOW with Alex Wagner) took her turn addressing Romney's alleged attempt at humor. As one of the most congenial political pundits on TV, Alex usually keeps her anger in check. However, you could see she was pissed about what Romney said. Still, she handled it with her customary class and intelligence.
Ever since President Obama was sworn in, some on the right have been directing race-based jabs at him (both overt and covert). And every time they do, it's the job of the media to call them on it. Props to both Chris and Alex!
Tuesday on his radio program, Rush Limbaugh put forth his conspiracy theory that the release of the film The Dark Knight Rises was an orchestrated plot to undermine the Mitt Romney campaign. According to Rush, it's no coincidence the new Batman movie features a villain (Bane) with a name that sounds like the private equity firm which is causing Romney some problems (Bain Capital). Of course, that conspiracy theory falls apart when you consider two things: The character Bane was created back in the early 90s and the decision to use him as the villain in The Dark Knight Rises was made long before we knew Mitt Romney would be the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
After being roundly mocked for his idiotic conspiracy, Rush attempted a rewrite on Wednesday. In addition to calling him out for it, Rachel Maddow also explains why it's important to keep an eye out on the nutty conspiracies coming from the right.
On 5/11 during a segment of her MSNBC program NewsNation with Tamron Hall, the host had on guests Jimmy Williams and Tim Carney to discuss Mitt Romney's reaction to a recent story in The Washington Post which revealed a 1965 incident that occurred while he was a student at Cranbrook. Carney tried to flip the script and Tamron wasn't having it! The fun starts at about the 5:20 mark, but the entire segment is worth watching.
Tamron was absolutely right in the way she handled Carney. This is what all hosts should do when guests come on to these types of shows and try to set the agenda. What do you think?
In the poll where I asked readers who they felt Mitt Romney would select as his running mate in the upcoming election, 3/4 of you picked U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH). Here are the final results:
Last week marked the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's death (5/2/11). To coincide with this historic event, President Obama's campaign released the following ad featuring Bill Clinton:
In the latest round of IOKIYAR, many on the right have hypocritically accused President Obama of "spiking the football", politicizing the death of bin Laden, etc. Because the raid which killed bin Laden happened under President Obama's watch, he effectively took away one of the GOP's biggest talking points against Democrats: their alleged softness on terror. Outside of the fact they weren't able to do it, I don't see why the right is upset with President Obama for touting this accomplishment. If a Republican president had ordered the raid which took out bin Laden, do you think the right would have been low-key about it? Please!
In the clip below from Hardball with Chris Matthews, he discusses the GOP's phony outrage over the ad with David Corn of Mother Jones magazine and Ron Reagan.
The ad also drew criticism from the left, including Dana Milbank and Arianna Huffington. Their beef was with the portion of the ad which asked if Mitt Romney would have done the same thing if he were president. While I think the criticism is valid, I also feel the question posed in the ad is fair as well. After all, the ad did use Romney's own words.Speaking of Romney, I think he lost any sympathy points the ad may have generated for him by taking a cheap shot at one of the Right's favorite punching bags, Jimmy Carter.
What are your thoughts on the Obama campaign's bin Laden ad?
Now that it's become certain Mitt Romney will be the GOP's choice to face off against President Obama in the upcoming election, speculation has increased about who Romney will select as his running mate. Several names have been tossed around (see the accompanying poll in the sidebar). All of them have strengths and weaknesses. The question is, will Romney take the predictable route (for example, McDonnell or Portman) or will he attempt to move the needle by selecting a "game changer" along the lines of Jeb Bush or Nikki Haley? Let the vetting process begin!
Because I had a lot of proverbial plates spinning on poles last week, I was unable to post about rocker Ted Nugent's controversial comments about President Obama at an NRA convention in St. Louis. His remarks were pretty much what I've come to expect from the draft dodging nutcase. The following comment is the one that has earned the most scrutiny:
"If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year."
What exactly does Ted mean? Does he think his death or imprisonment will come at the hands of the Obama administration? Did his statement refer to what will happen to him if he takes violent action against President Obama?
I will say that people have overreacted to his comments where he encouraged voters to "chop [Democrats'] heads off in November." He was just using a metaphor (I think). Even if he was, there's still a chance some of Ted's rabid followers are sharpening their axes in preparation.
The left's reaction to Ted's comments are yet another example of how we generally don't go overboard en masse when a celebrity says something controversial ala the Dixie Chicks. Sure, we rightfully condemned Ted's comments. However, we didn't take to the streets for a bonfire of old Ted's 8-tracks, LPs, etc.
Predictably, most of the right failed to come out against Ted for his remarks. Because he sought Ted's endorsement, Mitt Romney in particular was called out for not making a public statement about Ted Nugent. I didn't expect him to though. Even he wanted to wash his hands of the Motor City Madman, he can't without pissing off the NRA/Tea Party crowd. Whether he likes it or not, Mitt is stuck with Ted.
On the 4/19 installment of NOW with Alex Wagner, the host and her panel discussed Ted Nugent's controversial comments and Mitt Romney's lack of a response.
Over the past several weeks, the GOP has seemed hell bent on pissing off one of the key voting blocs needed to win a presidential election... women. As a result, President Obama's lead over Mitt Romney among women voters has continued to grow.
On the 4/4/12 installment of his MSNBC program Politics Nation, Al Sharpton and his guests (NOW president Terry O'Neill and HuffPo writer Laura Bassett) discuss how the GOP has alienated many women voters and whether or not the likely Republican presidential nominee (Mitt Romney) can turn it around by November.You can watch the segment below.
Do you think the GOP can win back women voters in time for the 2012 presidential election?
As you probably know, Mitt Romney's tendency to flip-flop has made him a frequent target for humorous jabs. The following video, which is a parody of the Eminem song The Real Slim Shady, was posted to You Tube on 3/19. Already, it has over 2 million views!
In the recent poll in which I asked who you thought would get the GOP nomination, over 1/2 of voters think that Mitt's the man. Here are the final results:
Mitt Romney- 58%
Newt Gingrich- 33%
Rick Santorum- 8%
Ron Paul- 0%
At the time of the post (1/22), I was leaning Newt's way. However, January 22nd seems like a loooong time ago because I now think Mitt will be the nominee. Still, I don't think Newt will go away quietly. I'm also not going to count him out either. Newt Gingrich reminds me of something Bobby Ewing said about his older brother J.R. on the series Dallas. Bobby said something along the lines that J.R. is at his most dangerous when his back is against the wall. To me, that's Newt in a nutshell.
On Tuesday November 6th, one of these four men (Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul) will go up against President Barack Obama in the general election. Who will it be? I think it's a two-man race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Although his impressive showing in the South Carolina primary could be an isolated incident, I'm leaning toward Newt Gingrich getting the nomination. I say this because I think the Republican base wants an angry candidate who they believe can go toe-to-toe with President Obama. They couldn't care less about all the baggage that makes up the personal and political life of Newt "Samsonite" Gingrich. What they want to see is the political destruction of President Obama and they think Newt is the man for the job.
If you want to share your reasoning for why you feel the person you selected will win the nomination, feel free to do so in the comments section.
