Perry & Troops in Iraq

Date: January 07 2012

Source: ABC News

Topic: Rick Perry: Send Troops Back to Iraq

Excerpt: "The idea that we allow the Iranians to come back into Iraq and take over that country, with all of the treasures, both in blood and money, that we have spent in Iraq- because this president wants to kowtow to his liberal leftist base, and move out those men and women. He could have renegotiated that time frame. I think it is a huge error for us,"    

Rick Perry in this debate acknowledges that pulling soldiers out of Iraq is a mistake on the Presidents part. He said that he would send the troops to finish what they started. He believes that Iran will be back in Iraq once the troops leave. He also said that because of Obama’s cow-tow to his liberal, leftist base, the soldiers will have lost their lives in vain. The facts hold that the people of Iraq want to take control of their own government. They want the troop to leave. Why spend millions more dollars on the Iraqi’s who want nothing more of us on their land. Perry was extremely bold at this debate. I guess after the terrible fifth place finish in the Iowa Caucus he is taking extreme measures to secure a favorable position in this race. 
     
The problem is that Perry wants to keep the troops in Iraq. The result of his answer could be devastating to his position in the race. Many people are completely happy with the idea of the troops coming back home. So once this video goes viral, people that might have been voting for Perry may think twice. I did not know that Perry favored the troops staying in Iraq, before reading this article. 

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/rick-perry-send-troops-back-iraq-15314624

Romney Forever On Top....? (Video)

Date: January 15. 2012

Source: Meet the Press

Representative Tim Scott and Senator Lindsay Graham of North Carolina were featured on Sunday’s showing of Meet the Press. They discussed how a month ago, Newt Gingrich was the one who was projected to be winning in the presidential race. But how Romney has now been projected as the Republican candidate who will face Obama this November. Social conservatives are the ones who are running the campaign, and the Evangelical vote will in North Carolina will be so important in the race. Three candidates will be going after this vote, and it is an area that is not favoring Romney. The tw men talk about how importnant it is going to be to talk about job creation as that is one of the major concerns rat the moment. If Romney is the final nominee, the question arises how well will Romney do against Obama considering all his opponents have revealed about him thus far. Rep. Tim Scott does not know who he will endorse, because he says each candidate has at least one thing that he agrees with. He hopes that this process makes all the candidates a little less opaque and that their true colors will begin to really show. What he values most is who can possibly beat Obama. The two men also discusses how stronly everyone wants Romney out of the way in hopes of entering the race in Florida with spark and hope. The future doesn't look to good for Romney when it comes to his religious views while trying to win over Evangelical votes in North Carolina.

New Hampshire Primary

January 6, 2012
CBS News
 New Hampshire Primary
To view the video now click here.

Jan Crawford, Nancy Cordes and Jim Axelford ralks about where the GOP candidates are now and what they think might happen in the furture. I learn that Mitt Romney is being attacked only because of his lead in the polls of the New Hampshire Primary.Romney is also being being attacked but he does not let it bother him, instead he is looking foward to the NC Primary. Romney also has John McCain working on his campaign. Romney has a lead of more than 20 points over the other candidates. He focusing his campaign on jobs, economy and attack President Obama -_____- . Trying to get  more people on his side Rick Santorum is telling everyone he will bring more jobs to America but he does not know how. This isn't going to help much because on Thursday he got into an argument with people over gay marraige. This could probably hurt him in the future. Newt Gingrinch changed his campagining tactics completely, noiw he is only working on how he can attack the other candidates more.

One of the issues i saw in this video was how candiates like Gingrich and Romney think that the only way to win this campaign is to attack their opponents. This is childish and in the end it will only make themselves look bad. Doing this will only help President Obama look like the best candidate to be President. I learned that in the past Gingrinchstated that he will not run a campaign where he just attacks his opponents and in reality this is what he decided to do after all. I think that this will hurt Gingrich in the end because the people will conclude that he is not to be trusted since he does not stick to his word.

Romney's world

 Date: January 3, 2012               

Author: Jeff Zeleny

Source: New York Times

to view the article click here

Romney won the Iowa Caucus by only 8 votes. The runner up was Rick Santorum. The irony of the results is that Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney represent polar sides of the Republican Party. With this win Romney has beaten who were his previous biggest threats, Gingrich and Perry. Santorum is now struggling to rise up fiancial funds and support to battle Romney. Romney has just also won the polls in New Hampshire, which was somewhat of a shocker.  The article talked briefed about all the candidates in the presidential race. With this information I already inferred that Santorum that is is going to take ALOT for Santorum to campaign the way that he wants to, that will insure a win in the next few states. The Iowa caucus has a major impact in the political arena, as it is the first official battle between candidates and often foreshadows the win of a political party. So, do you think Romney will be chosn to battle Obama to takeover the white house? We shall see.

Santorum THINKS He Has A Chance At Beating Obama

"Best Chance" Video

Rick Santorum has recently made a TV ad that argues he has the "best chance to beat Obama" against all of the other candidates. The ad will be shown  this week in New Hampshire and later on nationally. In my opinion this is not true. If i had to chose who MIGHT have a slim chance at going against President Obama and having a chance at winning my candidate would be Romney. The people seem to like him more and the people always matter most.

Lets Do This The Right Way!

January 5, 2012
Topic: The GOP candidates target and bash Obama instead of thinking of ways to better the people of America
Here is the link to view the news clip from Fox News.

In the video the  Democratic National Committee Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, spoke about how the GOP candidates have done nothing but targeted Obama to make themselves look good.  She wants the candidates to do some real work and research to try and get support the right way. She also commented on Romney's strategies. She points out that instead of focusing on Obama jobs he should be focusing on getting more jobs for the people of America. There are more good examples in the video. 

What Is His Real Reasoning?

January 5, 2012
Topic: Newt questions Obama
View the video of Newt Gingrich by following this link.





Newt thinks he is the guy that can go against President Obama and beat him in the primaries, but this is not showing in the start of the Iowa caucus.  If he plans to beat President Obama in the primaries then he is going to need some more votes from the people.  Gingrich doesn't think that a moderate like Romney can stand a chance in a debate with Obama. He believes that he himself is the guy for the job.  Newt commented on Obama's billion dollar campaigning saying that the American people will hear negativity and will wonder what the truth about him is. I do not agree with this statement because people have already did a background check on President Obama and could not find ANYTHING. People already tried to bring him down many times and their plans did not work, he still became president. So i wonder what Gingrich is really talking about or is he just trying to make people question Obama so he can look good. 

Are Republican Front Runners Racist? Here’s Your Guide…

Date: January 4, 2012

Author: Staff

Topic: The similarity between the top four seaters in the Iowa Caucus...racist accusations.

Brief Summary: This article talks about how the top four seaters in the Iowa Caucus could be racist and why they were accused of being racist.

Click  here to view the article

The article talks about how the top seaters in the very significant Iowa Caucus have all been accused of mking racist comment(s).  The order they placed were Romney, Santorum, Paul, Gingrich. Santorum said earlier this week in a room of white Iowans that he "didnt want to make Black people lives better by giving them someone else's money." As mentioned in a earlier post, a newsletter full of racist steryotypes and cmments has been released with Ron Paul's name sealed on every page. However, Ron Paul accuses ever even seeing the book. And during an interview with CNBC Gingrich referrd to Obama as "The Food Stamp Presient." I learned from that this article that itis okay for these men to say these things and recieve so many votes because they are WHITE. Sorry i had to say it. I thought if these comments wre said the votes for these candidates would op drastically but obviously there are MANY people who hold the same images of Black people as foodstamp using, murdering, lazy, and poor niggers. You would think that since there aren't many Black republicans these men would try to suck in a few votes from the Black community but instead they are more cocerned with securing their votes from the typical white Republicans. 

The Moment

Date: January 6, 2012

Author: Jim Rutenberg

Topic: Huntsman's hope to win New Hampshire

click here to view the article

Since the begininning of the race Huntsman like Bachman have placed low and haven't been in the spotlight. But, Huntsman's hopes his days of shadow casting wil come to an end in New Hampshire. Although Hunstman has been recieving requests for interviews and meetngs his campaign is facing tremendous financial problems. So, the experience in New Hampshire is going to be either the beginning or the end. I learned in this article that Huntaman's father is one of the richest men in the world, and has been the engine financially behind his son's campaign and that Huntsman got his first job in the Reagan White House through patronage. I am curius as to why Huntsman hasn't been getting alot of attention and what his views are. I know that the fact that he is a Mormon has alot to do with it but I feel like there is more behind his failures.

Santorum Seeks To Broaden His Appeal Beyond Evangelicals

Janurary 1, 2012

Jeremy W. Peters

Topic: Santorum wants more support from the people

Brief Summary: This article talks about Santorum and his campaign and how he is working on to getting more supporters 

Click here to view the article

As the Iowa Caucus is fast approaching and Rick Santorum’s standings in the polls are improving, he is doing whatever he can in order to clinch a win in Iowa. Santorum’s latest tactic is trying to appeal to conservatives who care about the economy and national security. He’s trying to prove that he is the anti Mitt Romney candidate, and a better choice that President Obama. Santorum is very thankful for his supporters, and in a recent meeting in rural Iowa, he reminded them the election would be very close. He asked them to redouble their efforts by doing whatever they could, such as putting up Santorum signs on their lawns or having heart to heart talks with friends in his name. Although Santorum is near the front of the polls now, there are some negatives that his underdog campaign will eventually have to face.

                Santorum’s campaign lacks the resources to fight a drawn out battle for Republican nomination. Santorum is on a roll now, but a win in Iowa won’t mean much if he loses steam in New Hampshire and South Carolina who hold their primaries next month. For example, despite the fact that fund raising is on the rise, Santorum won’t have enough money to counter attack any of the brutal and negative advertising campaigns that South Carolina is known for. This is why Santorum is trying to broaden his appeal to conservatives. Some conservatives in Iowa like Santorum for his views on abortion, same sex marriage, and his standing on fiscal and national security issues. An “all around conservative fellow” who runs an agriculture and commercial loans business says he favors Santorum because he avoided hyperbole and unrealistic campaign promises.

                While Santorum is doing great now, I predict he will have a rocky road to travel in the upcoming caucuses. For example, if he wins in Iowa, that will mean he is definitely the frontrunner in the polls. It’s been evident in previous debates that the frontrunner in the polls is always the one who is the most attacked. Santorum can’t afford to be brutally attacked, because as stated earlier, he lacks the resources to fight a drawn out battle. This is Santorum’s fatal flaw, a flaw that could cost him the election. We also know that the polls are never constant. The opinion of the public is always changing. While people favor Santorum now, they might not like him so much next week. Santorum also may not be able to broaden his amount supporters enough to win in the upcoming caucuses. Every campaign has its weakness, but Santorum’s weakness is enough to potentially cripple him, and its makes his future in the polls all the more uncertain. 

Is Romney The Next Kerry

January 1, 2012

Joseph Curl

Topic: Can Romney possible be the next Kerry?

BriefSummary: This article was about how people compared Romney to Kerry sating the similarities from childhood to now.

click here to view the article 

Everyone is familiar with John Kerry – the man who ran against former President Bush in the 2004 election and lost. Everyone is also familiar with Mitt Romney, one of the candidates in the GOP race. One may wonder what the connection is between these two men. There are in fact many similarities between them. They are both blue blood multimillionaires, recidivist flip floppers with long records of pulling 180’s, and each were running against an unpopular and beatable president. Both men have problems connecting with voters and failed to energize the electorate during the run up to caucuses and primaries. The similarities between Kerry and Romney even extend to their youth – the two attended Ivy League schools, Yale and Harvard respectively, experienced embarrassing political defeats, took the state route to power (both became governors) and ran as political outsiders. Despite the seemingly endless list of similarities, there are also some differences.

                Kerry’s campaign manager, Bob Shrum, is known for having a disastrous political record. Romney has surrounded himself with a “top notch team of battle tested political veterans.” In the 2004 election, the mainstream media hated President Bush, while Americans were not convinced. However, they just didn’t vote for Kerry because they didn’t see him as a man who could solve the problems of the country. Obama on the other hand is waging war with the US economy, and is unfortunately losing. Not only is he losing that war, he is losing his good standing with fellow democrats, independents who supported him, and a dwindling number of energized youth. Kerry ran a negative campaign, which Americans did not like. Romney, however, focuses on his belief in America and the principles that made this nation a great and powerful leader of the world.

                The real question that comes into play is can the past predict the future? Kerry and Romney are both the same and different in many ways. However, do the bad similarities outweigh the good? Although Romney is running a clean campaign with the right people in his camp, is it enough to win the nomination for Republican candidate? If that answer is yes, then the next question is, is he good enough to beat Obama? Romney is aware of the similarities between him and Kerry. Does the public realize these similarities as well? Will it influence their opinion of Romney, and will it hurt his campaign? Romney needs to continue to make sure voters understand his views and what he is trying to do for America. He also needs to work on his connection with voters. The stronger the connection is, the more voters will think they have someone they can believe in and someone who cares about them and their greater good as well. Then, as time progresses, we’ll really know whether or not he is the next Kerry. 

SC Gov. Haley Endorses Romney

Date: December 16

Author: Peter Hamby
Topic: Haley explains her decision to back Romney, not Gingrich
Brief Summary: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley stated that she privately met with Mitt Romney and asked him a series of tough questions such as the health insurance mandate Romney implemented in his state of Massachusetts. Romney responded back by saying that he will try to repeal ObamaCare and will grant SC a waiver to opt out of it. According to the governor, she was won over by Romney because he sounded more like "a leader" than a candidate.

Even with the endorsement from the SC Gov., it will not guarantee a victory for Romney in South Carolina. The approval rating of Haley in SC among Republicans is slightly over 50 percent and Romney's positions on conservative issues is a problem to the conservatives Republicans in the state. One thing for sure is that while Romney will be campaigning in SC, Gov. Haley will probably be with him as well supporting him and his campaign towards the presidency. 

Click  here to view the article Link

Huntsman Slams GOP Rivals on John King USA

To see the talk show segment click here. 

This video was a segment of CNN's John King USA and how he features Jon Huntsman. They both sit down to speak about the trust deficit that is going on within the country. The video showed a poll that was done in New Hampshire. In the poll Romney had 35%, Gingrich had 26%, Paul had 17% and Huntsman had 8%. In his response to his position Huntsman said that he has increased but never decreased. He also states that Romney will say anything to win and he says that Gingrich is a part of the polarization. The only problem that is really addressed is Huntsman's rank in the polls and why he should be president. 

Romney Compares Gingrich to “I Love Lucy”

December 28, 2011

Geoff Earle

Mitt Romney and Gingrich

This article talks about how Mitt Romney ridiculed his rival New Gingrich campaign organization.

TO view the article click here. 

 

A week before the Iowa Caucus, Mitt Romney ridiculed fellow candidate Gingrich by comparing his campaign to an “I Love Lucy” episode. Gingrich’s campaign failed to get on the Virginia ballot because they could not come up with the required 10,000 valid signatures. Romney joked that the situation was comparable to an “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy worked in a chocolate factory. She stuffed chocolates in her mouth and down her blouse in an attempt to keep up with the assembly line. Gingrich’s campaign director, Michael Krull, said that this was indeed a setback, but that the campaign would “regroup and refocus with increased determination, commitment, and positive action.”

                Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the only candidates who qualified for the Virginia ballot. Romney didn’t stop with his “I Love Lucy” comment. He took it a step further by pointing out that Gingrich praised him five years ago for his Massachusetts health care plan, but then tried to criticize it on the campaign trail. Gingrich responded to these attacks by called Romney “Massachusetts Moderate” or “Moderate Mitt.” A spokesperson from the Gingrich camp also compared Romney to a socialist for considering consumption taxes. He said, “the fact that he’s willing to look at European socialism shows just how far out of the conservative mainstream he is.”

                Romney still remains at the front of the polls at the moment. Gingrich is not a frontrunner in the polls at this moment and he is also not on the Virginia ballot. This means trouble for his campaign. Voters may not see Gingrich as a good candidate for not being able to get on the Virginia ballot. They might wonder if this failure would ever translate into his work in office. The Gingrich campaign needs to pick up the slack if they have any of chance of seeking a win. In the political arena, this would be good news for the other candidates. Gingrich might seem like less of a threat now, which allows the other candidates to cover more ground and try to pick up steam. Only time will tell if Gingrich’s standings will improve.

Christie Threatens Iowa Voters

December 30, 2011
Thomas Fitzgerald
The New Jersey Governor threatens Iowa voters.   
To view the article click here

Last week, New Jersey governor Mr. Christie threatened Iowa voters. He urged them to get behind Mitt Romney in the upcoming caucus on Tuesday, and threatened that if he was disappointed and voters didn’t do what they were supposed to, he would come back Jersey style. The crowd laughed, and a few Romney supporters yelled “Christie for vice president!” Christie admitted to threatening voters, and added that “a New Jersey threat is a promise.” By Christie endorsing Romney for Republican candidacy, this might help him stay in the lead in the polls, seeing as how some people wanted Christie to run for president. It could also make Romney supporters and Republican voters wonder whether or not Romney will actually ask Christie to be his vice president. Christie’s threat might have secured Romney some votes from fearful Iowans. However, Christie’s threat could also have a negative effect on the Romney campaign. Some on the fence voters might decline in voting for Romney because they don’t appreciate being threatened. This puts into perspective the effectiveness of endorsements and campaign tactics. Other candidates might start threatening their supporters and Iowans as well in order to try and secure votes. However, even with Christie’s threat, Romney still has on the fence voters and Santorum trailing close behind to worry about. This shows the inconsistency of the polls and how nothing is definite as of yet. 

Romney looks to fend off Santorum, Paul

January 2, 2012

Kasie Hunt    

Romney

This article was about the iowa caucus and Romney and Santorum. 

To view the article click here

      On the last day before the Iowa caucus, it’s looking like this race is boiling down to Romney and Santorum. Romney, who has kept a steady lead now has to deal with Santorum surging forward in the polls and trying to win over undecided conservatives in order to claim a victory. In 2008, Romney lost the race by having only 25% of the Iowa vote because of skepticism over his religious beliefs and his flip flopping on social issues. Right now, he has the same amount of backing in Iowa as he did four years ago. Romney also has to deal with other candidates using the same election tactics that he is. Santorum is also chasing after conservatives to solidify his candidacy. While Romney is focusing on the central argument that he is the only candidate who is able to wage a strong enough campaign that’ll beat Obama, Santorum and Paul are trying to convince voters of the same notion. Romney tried to attack Santorum by saying that Santorum “has spent his career in the government in Washington.  I’ll let people make their own assessment of our respective records, but I’m a conservative.” Santorum’s counter attack in a CNN interview was that he was able to win in states by getting Democrats and Independents to vote for him, something that Romney failed to accomplish. The polls show that Iowans want a candidate who shares their views as well as a candidate who will beat Obama. While the polls favor Romney as the one who will win the general election, Santorum wins when it comes to having a better relationship with voters. It all comes down to who on the fence Republicans decide.

                This really reveals who the frontrunners are in the polls and how the Iowa caucuses will most likely prove to be a close election. It also shows what the Iowa voters really want in a candidate, and could project what voters in the upcoming caucuses look for as well and who they will vote for. No one can run a perfect campaign, but both Romney and Santorum know the areas that they need to improve on. Romney needs to improve relations with voters, and Santorum needs to show that he is a stronger candidate and an able opponent against Obama. If both men improve in these areas, then the upcoming elections will be really close. However, can we really expect something new from them? Will Romney be able to keep his lead or will Santorum be able to swoop in with a steal? This only makes the upcoming election all the more interesting, because it definitely is not certain who will come out on top anymore