Category Archives: U.S. Elections

Unsolicited Campaign Advice to Candidate Romney

Governor Romney – As Churchill once said, you have reached not the “beginning of the end” but the “end of the beginning.” Your nomination is in sight but not yet secured. Your opponent, with his strengths and flaws, stands identified but not yet bested. If you wish to stand on the Capitol steps this coming January 20th taking the oath of presidential office, I offer the following bits of campaign wisdom:
Posted on February 6, 2012 By Barry Schumacher
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Newt, the Center of Attention, in His World

It’s (nearly) over, I think. Romney’s pulling into a double-digit lead in Florida. Newt is quietly imploding, which many have long anticipated. The media turned its fire on Newt, with help from establishment conservatives and Newt’s former colleagues, most of whom have been affronted, insulted or somehow done wrong by Newt, who forgets the one rule of Washington that never changes: “What goes ‘round comes ‘round.” (The only congressman of his era that I’ve seen endorse him is ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham, who is serving eight years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery).
Posted on January 30, 2012 By B. Jay Cooper
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The State of the Union I’d Like to Hear

Here’s the State of the Union I’d like to hear: My fellow Americans, I will be brief. The State of the Union is not good. It can and should be far better. We have millions of Americans out of work, for too long. We have too many houses under water on their mortgages. We have children who go to bed hungry. We have a government in Washington that is more concerned about scoring political points than it is about making things better for our citizens. I am part of that problem, yet I came here to lead us to
Posted on January 24, 2012 By B. Jay Cooper
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A Whole New Race

What a difference a week makes. Evangelicals meet to endorse a candidate, two candidates drop out and endorse rivals, a candidate’s ex-wife makes news, and two debates shape voter opinion as one candidate turns in stellar performances. By the end of the week, there was another open primary, another candidate surge, and a third winner in three outings. Newt Gingrich cruised to a 40 percent to 27 percent victory over Mitt Romney. A review of the polls finds that most of the traditional telephone surveys ended their calls on Wednesday, January 18, three days before voters headed to the polls. While most of the traditional pollsters correctly had Gingrich in the lead, they all missed the Rick Santorum surge. The only survey to interview until the night before the election was also the only one to catch the Santorum surge and correctly call the order of finish, but Public Policy Polling (PPP) does not conduct traditional telephone research; they use an automated calling system that uses a pre-recorded voice and interactive technology to conduct their surveys. There are mixed opinions regarding their methods, but their results – whether because of timing or technology – were pretty much right on. Here are their results compared to the final tally posted on the South Carolina Board of Elections website:
Posted on January 23, 2012 By Bill Dalbec
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The Youth Vote in 2012: Sacrificing Substance for Straight Talk

Four years ago, I signed, sealed and delivered my first ballot for president of the United States. I was studying abroad in France that year, and even from 3,000 miles away, I felt the pull of change we can believe in. I was not alone, as millions of my generation’s first-time voters also marked ballots and pulled levers on behalf of a junior senator from Illinois whose message of hope resonated so strongly with us. Fast forward to today, and the sentiment among my generation is completely different. Now, instead of a tall, handsome, young man with a unique name, humble beginnings and a resounding message of hope and change, many young people are looking to a scrawny, white-haired man with an agitated message of libertarian isolationism – and gave him almost 50 percent of their votes in both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary.
Posted on January 23, 2012 By Virtual Vantage Points
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Even Lincoln Had His Negatives

When I decided to run for the U. S. Senate in late 1987, my chief of staff, Mark Murray, suddenly appeared, tossing a paper on my desk. “What is this?” I asked? “It is your list of negatives,” he responded. “We have been working on this for weeks.” I quickly glanced at it and asked, “ Is this necessary?” Mark shot back, “Is it necessary? In the last few months, that is what the race will come down to – your negatives versus his negatives.”
Posted on January 20, 2012 By Don Bonker
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