Clinton Joins The Obama Team

Just recently Clinton has joined Obama's team to help support him in his campaign against Romney. He appeared in a Obama campaign video and CNN says, "Clinton can help Obama by reminding voters of better economic times". Sunday night was when Clinton officially joined the Obama re-election campaign. He said, "Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected president of the United States". However, four years ago things were very different. Clinton was the biggest supporter for his wife Hillary in her battle against Obama. Clinton was a critic of Obama then. He said that Obama wasn't ready to handle the duties of the Oval Office. Funny how he now is supporting him in his re-election campaign. Once Hillary ended her bid for nomination, they both started supporting Obama. In the new campaign video that Clinton is in for Obama he talks about Obama's decision to carry out the raid that killed bin Laden and he asks if Romney would have made the same decision. With Clinton on Obama's side people will listen to Clinton because they remember him for his economic credibility. This could give Obama a huge boost in his campaign against Romney.

Gingrich in GOP race

Newt Gingrich may reconsider his White House bid if tonight ends with a disappointing finish in Delaware's primary. "I think we would need to take a deep look at what we are doing," Gingrich said in an interview with NBC news. Gingrich is currently doing campaign work in NC, but that may come to a jolting halt depending on how the primaries go today. Gingrich, having won only primaries in South Carolina and Georgia, trails far behind Mitt Romney in the race, with 141 delegates to Romney's 695 delegates, according to a CNN estimate. If Romney gets the majority of the delegates, there will be no point for Gingrich to stay. Gingrich has repeatedly said he would stay in the running until Romney secured the 1,144 delegates needed for the nomination, adding that he would then throw his support behind the likely GOP nominee.

TODAY

Today is the biggest day of Republican primary voting since Super Tuesday (March 6). It is the last day before a primary in numbers of states and today is to encourage people to get out and vote. Although Romney is still campaigning in primary states, he is now focused on the White House. On April 10 Santorum (Romney's closest rival) suspended his campaign and now Romney is the presumptive nominee. Gingrich and Paul are still in but their bid for the White House is such a long shot that Romney is now thought to be the Republican nominee. Out of 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, Romney has 695, Santorum has 273, Gingrich has 141, and Paul has 72. After the Delaware primary Gingrich says he will "reassess" his campaign. Now this presidential candidate race has turned into a general election contest between Mitt Romney and President Obama. Even if Romney gets all the delegates in these five states today, he will still not have enough to clinch the nomination. That will most likely happen in May.

Romney's VP (Rubio could be the favorite

Now that GOP nominee Mitt Romney has become the number one leader for the race to the convention more speculations are on who his Vice President could be. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is one of the rumored to being in the running. Rubio just recently was rumored as he has been following Romney on his campaign. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and others have sparked similar chatter. But the focus on Rubio has always been sharper, given his youth, popularity among many that associate with the tea party movement, battleground state roots and his place in the Hispanic community — a crucial voting bloc in which Romney trails President Barack Obama badly in most polls. The race has changed from one for the presidential nomination it VP nomination

Misconduct Among the Secret Service

One of the most recent news stories within the capital of our country is a messy story of misconduct among the secret service--those key to the protection of our country's President. Recent results of an inquiry reveal that 11 Secret Service agents and 10 military personnel are suspected of misconduct in an incident last Wednesday in Colombia, prior to the arrival of President Obama for an economic summit. The report reveals that as many as 21 women were brought to their hotel after a night of "widespread debauchery" among the agents. As of today, all 11 of these agents have been placed on leave for misconduct.

This is significant because the Secret Service have historically been nearly unmatched in their ability to remain out of the news and remain squeaky clean. Though isolated events have occurred, the Secret Service have historically consistently maintained the integrity necessary and to be expected of the group that protects this nation's President. How President Obama handles this situation, and whether there will be any additional repercussions for the Secret Service remains to be seen and will be a situation to follow.

Source: Washington Post.

Republicans United at last

A CNN/ORC International poll showed on Tuesday that Romney's popularity is starting to rebound now that the divisiveness of the Republican primaries appears to be all but over. According to the survey, 44% of people questioned said they have a favorable view of Romney, up 10 points from February, while 43% said they have an unfavorable opinion, down 11 points, and 13% were unsure. According to the poll, 53% of Americans plan to give Romney a second look when the primaries are officially over, with 45% saying they already know enough about Romney to decide whether he would be a good president.The survey indicates Romney's popularity still lags well behind Obama's: 56% have a favorable view of the president, with 42% saying they see Obama in a negative light.

"The Republican Party's favorable rating has also rebounded now that the nomination fight is all but over, from 35% in March to 41%," said Polling Director Keating Holland. "That still puts the GOP several points behind the Democratic party's 46% rating, but it is an indication that the wounds have started to heal from the primary season."

In addition, both House Speaker John Boehner, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Tuesday they back Romney's nomination. The statements a few hours apart were intended to show growing Republican support for Romney despite mistrust among some conservatives over his moderate policies when he was Massachusetts governor.

Obama v. Romney

As of today, President Barack Obama holds a nine-point lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney thanks in part to the perception that the president is more likeable and more in touch with the problems facing women and middle class Americans, according to a new national poll. A CNN/ORC International poll released Monday also indicates a large gender gap that benefits Obama, but the public is divided on which candidate can best jump-start the economy. The survey indicates women voters back Obama over Romney by 16 points (55%-39%), virtually unchanged from an 18-point advantage among women for the president in CNN polling last month.

According to the poll, 52% of registered voters say if the presidential election were held today, they would vote for the president, with 43% saying they would cast a ballot for Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is making his second bid for the White House. With Santorum out of the race, it looks like Romney is now generally considered the presumptive nominee.

The Tricky Tax System

Today was the deadline for 2011 tax returns and a recent poll says that most people believe the revenue system benefits the wealthy and is unfair to average workers. 68% said it benefits the rich while 29% disagreed. About taxes being too high, it is mainly those between the age of 35 and 65 that think their taxes are too high. Younger Americans who have lower paying jobs and senior citizens who are fixed on a set income don't complain nearly as much as those who are in their peak earning years. However, people like David Levine (the former chief economist for the investment-management firm Sanford C. Bernstein) are actually asking for higher taxes. As you can see, taxes are a tricky area. From the mouth of Nixon, "We shall never make taxation popular but we can make taxation fair."

Santorum will suspend his campaign

In very recent news GOP candidate Rick Santorum will suspend his campaign indefinitely. Santorum said he will stay involved in the next couple months but will temporarily withdraw from the race. Sources say that Santorum spoke with other candidate Mitt Romney the day before he announced his suspension. This brings up many undecided questions like will Santorum stay in the running or will he completely drop out of the race? Will Santorum faithful turn to Romney, Gingrich, or Paul? Or could Mitt Romney have a qualified running mate with Santorum? Also many family issues surround Santorum as one of his daughters was just released from the hospital.

The Buffet Rule

Today the White House laid out its case for the Buffett Rule, arguing that it would make the tax code fairer and make it harder for the very rich to lower their tax bills. The Buffet Rule, a proposal that would ensure the wealthiest Americans pay at least 30 percent of their income in federal taxes, is a key point in Obama's re-election bid. The general principle behind it is that millionaires and billionaires like investor Warren Buffett shouldn't pay a lower percentage of their income in federal taxes than middle-class households.

Over five decades, the average tax rate paid by the wealthiest Americans has dropped much more than the rate for middle-income taxpayers, even as the income of those at the top of the scale has grown significantly more than for everyone else.

Republican front-runner Romney, “opposes the Buffett Rule – he thinks millionaires and billionaires should keep paying lower tax rates than middle-class families," the statement said. "In fact, Romney himself isn’t paying his fair share – in 2010, Romney paid a tax rate of only 13.9 percent, well below the rate paid by many middle-class Americans."

Obama Holds Key Leads in Polls Over Romney

A recent Washington Post-ABC News Poll conducted by phone April 5-8 revealed some disconcerting news for those seeking a Republican President in 2012--Barack Obama leads in key categories, especially those which pertain to his character, his likability, and his ability to inspire people. As said by the Washington Post, "he has a better than 2-to-1 advantage as the more friendly and likable of the two, and nearly that margin as more inspiring." In addition to his lead in terms of his character, Obama "has double-digit leads over the likely Republican presidential nominee on who would do a better job of protecting the middle class, addressing women’s issues, handling international affairs and dealing with health care." In sum, unless there is a drastic change in the opinions of voters (which is certainly possible considering the major swings from candidates in the GOP nominee race), Barack Obama seems highly likely to gain a second term in the oval office.

Source: Washington Post

Romney - Most Likely the GOP Nominee

Recent polls show that 3/4 of people view Romney as the GOP nominee, that Romney is trailing Obama, and that voters favor Romney on economic issues but like Obama more. As of now 51% of people would vote for Obama and 44% of people would vote for Romney. Santorum, who is still in the race, had to cancel some of his campaign events yesterday and today because of his daughter being in the hospital. On April 24th Pennsylvania will hold its primary. Santorum must win this primary or there is no hope for his candidacy. One main thing that has helped Romney create his lead over Santorum is how much money he has been able to spend. The Romney campaign and the superPAC supporting it have spent millions of dollars on negative ads. Santorum has less than half of Romney's delegate total. However, the primary races after April 24 have blocked for Santorum so far. 231 delegates are up for grabs after April 24 in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Gingrich, who only has 140 delegates, has said he will stay in the race until the Republican National Convention in August. It looks as if the goal for both Gingrich and Santorum is to prevent Romney from reaching 1,144 delegate threshold before the Convention.

Romney Takes Three More Primaries

Tonight, as of around 10 PM, Romney has gained yet more ground on Rick Santorum in the race for the GOP nomination. Primaries in Maryland, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C. all look to be ending in convincing victories for the former Governor from Massachusetts, even further cementing his place as the front-runner for the GOP nomination. With each primary, it seems more and more likely that Romney will be the eventual nominee, especially considering the increase in support Romney has seen in just the past couple of weeks. As of around March 18th, according to Gallup, Romney had 34% of Republican support, compared to 30% for Rick Santorum. As of yesterday, however, Romney possessed 41% of Republican support, while Santorum possessed only 25%. The next major primary in the race will be the Pennsylvania primary, which occurs on April 14th. Santorum has much riding on his former state, and if he's able to gain a victory there, he would still have a chance against Romney, although his chances at the Republican nomination seem increasingly smaller with each day at this point.

Sources: Washington Post, Gallup.

Romney Wins Maryland, others will be closer

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will win the Maryland GOP primary as predicted. Primaries are also being held today in the District of Columbia and Wisconsin. However the primaries in Wisconsin and DC will be much closer in deciding who will win. Romney is hoping to pull out another victory where as Gingrich is in desperate need of a victory. There also has been speculation that Ron Paul, the hopeful candidate will drop out of the running soon. This could cause a shake up with the votes if this happens. We will see as time is running out of the race for the nomination.

The Importance of Wisconsin as The GOP Race Continues

So far polls have shown that Romney is in the lead . Because of this, Santorum really needs to get Wisconsin (which it looks like he will). If Santorum doesn't get Wisconsin the race for the GOP nomination might be over. In Massachusetts and Maryland Romney is the favorite. But in Wisconsin Romney holds only a single-digit lead over Santorum. Most people already think the race is over because of how much of a lead Romney has. Romney even said on Sunday that the nominee "will probably be me". Because of Romney's confidence in winning the GOP race, he has started to focus his rhetoric at Obama. Santorum, on the other hand, seems to be downplaying expectations by saying on Monday that he knew "April would be a very tough month". Even though the odds don't seem to be in his favor, Santorum hasn't shown any signs of giving up. One thing that has fueled Santorum's campaign is how he has continually depicted himself as the lone true conservative. But even though Romney has thought of the race for the GOP nominee as over he is still campaigning in Wisconsin. So far he has spent around $4 million. Results from this primary should be posted tonight.

Obama fighting for Obamacare

After last week's arguments about health care reform, President Barack Obama said he expected the justices to rule the act is constitutional. Polls indicate the nation is divided over the issue on ideological lines, with conservatives opposing the measure as a government overreach and liberals supporting it as a necessary overhaul of the health insurance system.

Obama said he was confident the Supreme Court "will not take what would be an unprecedented extraordinary step of overturning a law" passed by Congress. He also took a shot at critics of the health care bill, noting that such opponents now were calling for the kind of "judicial activism" they have opposed in the past."I just remind conservative commentators that for years, what we've heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law," the president said. To this, conservative Sen. Orrin Hatch replied, "Judicial activism or restraint is not measured by which side wins but by whether the court correctly applied the law,"

The Supreme Court's decision is expected in June in the middle of the campaign for the November presidential election.

Healthcare bill

"Obamacare" went on trial today with the Supreme Court starting three days of arguments on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's landmark health care law. The legal question for the justices was whether Congress had exceeded its constitutional authority in requiring most Americans to obtain insurance or pay a penalty. The justices will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the individual mandate, which is the key to this whole showdown.

The justices are asking questions and debating on the legality of the bill, “Can you create commerce in order to regulate it?” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy asked the healthcare admin. Lawyer. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked if the government could compel the purchase of cellphones. And Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. asked about forcing people to buy burial insurance.

The conventional view is that the administration will need one of those conservative four votes to win, and it was not clear that it had captured one. The court’s four more liberal members have already indicated that they supported the law, as expected.

Debate of The Health Care Law

Today the Supreme Court began debating one of the provisions of the 2010 health care law that says that by 2014 Americans must purchase health insurance or face a financial penalty. A poll that was released yesterday indicates that 47% of people support the mandate while 51% oppose it. There is a gender gap on this issue with 53% of women supporting the mandate and 58% of me opposing it. There is also a partisan divide on the issue with 71% of Democrats favoring it and 78% of Republicans opposing it. The main issue is, can the federal government, under the Constitution's commerce clause, regulate economic "inactivity"? 26 states, led by Florida, argue that people can't be forced to buy insurance. Supporters of the mandate "see it as a way to spread health care costs among a larger pool of individuals, ensuring affordable, quality medical care". "Opponents see fundamental constitutional violations, such as an intrusion into a citizen's personal life and an intrusion in long-held state power". This issue is really important because it brings up the question of whether the federal government can regulate anything it wants to or whether there are some things that only the state government can regulate.

Source: CNN

The Etch-a-Sketch

Last Wednesday, Romney's campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom made one of the biggest gaffes to date of the race for the GOP nomination, comparable even to the Rick Perry "Oops" debate moment. When Fehrnstrom was asked in a CNN interview "whether he is concerned that Romney might be forced by his Republican opponents to take extreme positions during the primary that could alienate moderates in a race against President Barack Obama," Fehrnstrom responded with the following: “I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.” Ever since this gaffe, Romney's opponents have been attacking him relentlessly, saying that this exemplifies the lack of sincerity in Romney and it shows that he is "the type of politician who will say or do anything to win." While practically speaking, everybody knows that the campaign changes in the fall and the candidates must learn to appeal to a different base of voters, the fact that Fehrnstrom actually came out and said this is a huge problem for the Romney campaign, and one which can easily be exploited both by the current GOP candidates who are challenging Romney, and Obama in the fall if Romney is the eventual nominee after all.

Sources: Washington Post, Huffington Post.

Landmark Supreme Court Case Starts Monday

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday began oral arguments over the constitutionality of the sweeping health care law championed by President Barack Obama, with a majority of justices appearing to reject suggestions they wait another few years before deciding the issues.
In one of the most politically charged cases in years, the health care reform case drew people who waited in line starting Friday for the chance to attend, and sparked competing news conferences by supporters and opponents of the 2010 law passed by Democrats over united Republican opposition. Debates among supporters and people who disagree with universal health care are starting to heat up.