NJ Watchdog: Christie seeks comeback

It’s time for a reality check as Chris Christie prepares for the third GOP presidential debate on Wednesday.

The New Jersey governor’s dream of winning the White House looks more like a delusion. He is low on campaign cash, far behind in the polls and struggling for a way to flip his fortunes.

Once upon a time – two years ago next month, to be precise – Christie was riding on top of the Republican world. He was re-elected governor with 60 percent of the vote in a heavily Democratic state. In a CNN poll, he was the leading choice for president with 24 percent of GOP voters, nine points ahead of his nearest rival.

Now, Christie is scraping the bottom. He has dropped to 9th place in the polls with an average of 2.4 percent – one-tenth of the support he once enjoyed.

The story is online at http://watchdog.org/243998/christie-seeks-comeback/

Reaction to the Third Presidential Debate: Obama Nailed it, Won Debate Hands Down

Reactions from tonight's debate are rolling in and the winner was clearly President Obama.

In a CBS Snap poll released a short while ago has voters believe President Obama won the debate by a resounding margine 53%-23% with 24% calling it a tie while CNN's insta poll has Obama winning the debate 48% - 40% over Mitt Romney. It was certainly a good night for President Obama.

Here is what Political Wire is saying moments after the debate:

The third and final presidential debate was President Obama's best moment in the campaign so far. He was prepared on every issue and knew Mitt Romney's record of past statements just as well.

Obama succeeded because he conveyed his unique view of the world from the Oval Office. For undecided voters watching, all they probably heard was that he's the commander-in-chief. And that's what Team Obama wanted.

For the most part, Romney made an effort to look presidential by not attacking. He was exceedingly careful and desperately tried not to make a mistake. In fact, despite his rhetoric for the last two years, he now apparently agrees with most of the Obama administration's foreign policy.

As a result, Romney's biggest opponent was not the president, it was his own words. Obama did a brilliant job of bringing up past Romney statements -- on Iraq, on the nation's biggest adversary, on Afghanistan, on Osama bin Laden -- to make him look unprepared for the presidency.

As the debate went on, Romney tried many times to move the international affairs discussion back to the economy where he was more comfortable. It was as if he had only 30 minutes of foreign policy talking points for a 90 minute debate. As a result he seemed to string together random thoughts which often made him sound incoherent.

Obama won the debate hands down.

Bob Schieffer started off doing a good job as moderator, framing questions but still letting the candidates engage each other. But he lost control of the debate as both Romney and Obama often preferred to talk about the economy. It's clear that both candidates know that most voters don't care much about foreign policy.

Mitt Romney's Condescending Views Toward Wome

Tuesday night, President Obama won the debate and laid out the clear choice in this election. Americans saw a strong, steady and decisive president with a vision and plan to move this country forward. And when Mitt Romney tried to mislead voters -- which was pretty often -- the President exposed the real Romney.

Romney was shifty when it came to women's issues. He gave an awkward and dishonest answer about his refusal to stand up for legislation that helps women fight back when they don't receive equal pay for equal work. While the President talked about women as breadwinners for American families, Romney talked about them as resumes in a "binder." Romney also didn't tell the truth about his plan to take away women's access to affordable contraception by repealing Obamacare, or his support of an extreme proposal to put employers in charge of whether female employees can get contraception through their insurance plan. Today, his campaign called the issue of birth control "peripheral" for most women. Um, ok.




(barackobama.com)

Trust - Obama for America TV Ad

It took less than 16 hours for Team Obama to put together a TV spot attacking Mitt Romney on his economic plan that calls a 5 trillion dollar tax cut, which he denied but refused to give specifics about.

The 1st Debate

I attended the Monmouth County Democrats Debate Watch Party last night at Park East in Hazlet. It was well attended, about 100 people showed up to meet U.S. Senator Robert Menendez and watch the first Presidential Debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

Senator Menendez was on fire while speaking to those in attendance and didn't miss a chance to zing his opponent in his reelection bid, Joe Kyrillos, who wants everyone to believe he is a "Different Kind of Republican", one that actually cares about the environment, women's health issues and those less fortunate, when in fact he voted against many of those thing during his tenure in the Trenton.

The room was buzzing with anticipation for the debate between the President and Romney to start. When it did however, some were sorry it had.  The consensous afterward being that the President wasn't on his game and let to much of Romney's points go unchallenged.

It was as if Team Obama felt it was better to seem and look presidential rather than getting down and dirty. Obama left much on the table and didn't do a very good job at counter-punching at times. Never mentioning Romney's 47% gaff or pointing out that his running-mate Paul Ryan was also for cutting $716 billion dollars from Medicare (a point that Romney drove home numerous times about the cuts to Medicare funding that is included in Obamacare).

Romney was clearly the aggressor,which he needed to be. But times he seemed frantic and felt compelled to interrupt Obama in mid sentence and showing little civility at times.

If people want to crow and say Romney won this round, they can, I won't argue the point much. However, the good thing is that there are 3 more debates coming (1 Vice-Presidential & 2 Presidential) which will give Obama the opportunity turn things around and do much better.

Romney on the other hand i'm afraid, may have shot his load. I don't think he will perform as well again once Obama decides to come out swinging instead of playing it safe as he did tonight.

Here are a few pictures from the watch party:

Chairman Vin Gopal and Senator Menedez

Monmouth County Freeholder Candidate Kevin Lavan and others listening to Senator Menendez speak

signs aplenty 

Debate watching

Tonight Debate: Some HealthCare Info

by Joshua Henne

Hello....with tonight's presidential debate upon us and the focus being on domestic issues....i just wanted to flag 3 essential points on the healthcare portion of things (and share some research):

1) It's been written about ad nauseum, but it's a fact: Mitt Romney laid the foundation for ObamaCare with RomneyCare in Massachusetts. Romney created the individual mandate & predicted we'd see a nation that would take a mandate approach.

2) If Mitt Romney has his way and repeals ObamaCare seniors will be thrown back into the Rx drug donut hole, insurance companies will again deny people because of pre-existing conditions, millions of women would lose coverage for contraception & young adults up to 26 would be thrown off their parents' health insurance.

3) The Romney/Ryan plan will end Medicare. There is no debate here. Romney/Ryan takes Medicare as it's existed since creation, ends it...and turns it into a privatized voucher program.

Mitt Romney: The Father of ObamaCare & the Individual Mandate

Mitt Romney authored Massachusetts’s health care reform law, signed into law in 2006, which included health insurance exchange as well as an individual and employer mandate. Romney’s relationship with the individual mandate has been a source of contention, earning accusations that he flip-flopped on the issue. During much of his career, Romney fully supported the concept of an individual mandate; in 2007, he called it a “terrific idea.” But Romney has assailed the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, pledging to effectively kill the law on his first day in office while defending the mandate in his own law as the “ultimate conservative plan.”

The distinction, Romney argues, is that his plan was right for Massachusetts and that the federal law enforces a single model on all the states. Romney says he opposes any form of “national” plan, calling the Affordable Care Act a “one-size-fits-all” government takeover of health care. He has vociferously rejected accusations that his plan is the basis of the Affordable Care Act and has proposed a new, five-point plan to replace the law if elected President. Romney’s plan, which he compares favorably to Representative Paul Ryan’s budget plan, focuses on tort reform and state-level flexibility to determine health care solutions. But it would also result in Americans once again being denied coverage for preexisting conditions.

Romney Strongly Supported An Individual Mandate As Recently As 2007 – And Still Found Ways To Praise It As 2012 Candidate

Romney Supported Individual Insurance Mandate During 1994 U.S. Senate Campaign
1994: Romney Supported A National Individual Mandate. During his 1994 bid for the U.S. Senate, Romney supported legislation that would have included a national individual health insurance mandate. “It turns out that [Romney]gave interviews during his 1994 Senate campaign in which he said that he supported the Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act, which included a national individual mandate.” [The Washington Post, 5/12/11]

Romney’s 2002 Health Care Bill Included An Individual Mandate

Romney’s Healthcare Reform In Massachusetts Included An Insurance Individual Mandate. The Healthcare reform that Romney is credited with in Massachusetts included an individual mandate. According to the Los Angeles Times, at a campaign event where he was speaking “Romney did not bring up his own greatest vulnerability –his Massachusetts healthcare plan that included a mandate to purchase insurance.” [Los Angeles Times, 6/4/11]

Romney In 2007: I Think An Individual Mandate Is “A Terrific Idea"

Romney Said He Thought It Would Be “A Terrific Idea” For States To Adopt An Individual Insurance Mandate. Asked by then-moderator of Meet the Press, Tim Russert, ‘So if a state chose a mandate, it wouldn’t bother you?’, Romney said, ‘I think it’s a terrific idea,’ Romney said. ‘I think you’re going to find when it’s all said and done, after all these states that are the laboratories of democracy, get their chance to try their own plans, but those who follow the path that we pursued will find it’s the best path, and we’ll end up with a nation that’s taken a mandate approach.’”

Romney Said His Individual Mandate Was The “Ultimate Conservative Plan” But Attacked President Obama For Including It In Federal Plan

Romney Defended The Individual Mandate In The Massachusetts Healthcare Reform. Romney not only included an individual insurance mandate in the Massachusetts healthcare reform, he defended it. “We have Mitt Romney defending the individual mandate to buy insurance that was part of the health plan he championed in Massachusetts.” [Sacramento Bee (California), 5/16/11]

Sacramento Bee: Romney Criticized President Barack Obama For Including An Individual Mandate In The Affordable Health Care Act. Romney criticized President Obama for the inclusion of an individual insurance mandate in the Affordable Health Care Act. According to the Sacramento Bee, “We have Mitt Romney defending the individual mandate to buy insurance that was part of the health plan he championed in Massachusetts, but then denouncing President Barack Obama for imposing a similar mandate at the national level.” [Editorial, Sacramento Bee (California), 5/16/11]

Romney Described His Health Care As The “Ultimate Conservative Plan” By Including An Individual Mandate. In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Romney defended the individual mandate in his health care reform plan as the “ultimate conservative plan.” Romney said, “What we did, I think, is the ultimate conservative plan: we said, people have to take responsibility for getting insurance, if they can afford it, or paying their own way. No more free riders. And we solved this at the state level -- not a federal plan, but a state plan.” [Fox News Sunday, 3/7/10]

Romney Argued His Massachusetts Individual Mandate “Found A Way To Get Everybody Insured” Without Raising Taxes

Romney Touted His State As The First To Find “A Way To Get Everybody Insured Without Having To Raise Taxes.” In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Romney said, “And again, I like the idea of letting states solve their problems one by one, and find the best alternative. I think we’re the first state in the nation that found a way to get everybody insured without having to raise taxes. We do insist that people buy insurance or pay their own way, and if they don’t buy insurance, they’ll find that their taxes are higher.” [Fox News Sunday, 3/7/10]

RomneyCare was the basis for ObamaCare

Romney’s Health Care Reforms In Massachusetts Said To Have Served As The Basis For The Affordable Care Act. Romney faces scrutiny from the Republican Party because of the resemblance between health care reforms in Massachusetts, and the Affordable Care Act. Romney’s health care reform is described as “Massachusetts health-care reform—a model for President Obama’s reform.” [The Christian Science Monitor, 6/14/11]

Rival Tim Pawlenty And Conservatives Attacked Romney For Providing The Example For The Affordable Care Act

Gov. Tim Pawlenty Said President Barack Obama Based The Affordable Care Act On Romney’s Health Care Bill - And Dubbed It “Obamneycare.” In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Tim Pawlenty, Republican Presidential hopeful said “‘President Obama said that he designed Obamacare after Romneycare and basically made it Obamneycare.’ ” [ Chicago Tribune, 6/13/11]

Glenn Beck Said That Romney’s Health Care Is Bankrupting Massachusetts. Conservative pundit Glenn Beck said that Romney’s health care reforms in Massachusetts are bankrupting the state. The St. Petersberg Times reports that Glenn Beck said in a webcast that “‘Mitt Romney…gave you government health care that is now bankrupting the state’ of Massachusetts.” [St. Petersburg Times (Florida), 11/10/09]

Romney Once Wanted His Health Care Reform Law To Be A “Model” For The Nation – But Now Claims There Is No One National Model

2007: Romney Said Massachusetts Health Care Reform “Will Be A Model For The Nation”

Romney Said That If Massachusetts Succeeded In Implementing Health Care Reform They Would Be A Model For The Nation. In 2007, after Massachusetts Healthcare reform had been passed by the Massachusetts state legislature and signed into law, Romney said “I’m proud of what we’ve done. If Massachusetts succeeds in implementing it, then that will be a model for the nation.” [USA TODAY, 5/13/11]

Romney Willingly Compared His Own Proposal For Health Care Reform To The Ryan Plan To Turn Medicare Into A Voucher System

Romney Described His National Health Care Plan As ”Sharing The Objectives” Of Representative Paul Ryan’s Budget Proposal. According to USA Today, Romney described his goal for the federal government reform of health care as being similar to the Paul Ryan plan. Romney said “my plan…is not going to be identical to the Ryan plan, but it’s going to share (his) objectives” of keeping both Medicare and the country “fiscally solvent.” [USA TODAY, 5/13/11]

Obama Opens 14-Point Lead On McCain

For the first time since the general election campaign started John McCain's poll numbers are less then 40%.  A CBS News/New York Times Survey shows a major swing among independents, which may suggest that McCain's strategy may be hurting him.

Twenty-one percent of voters say their opinion of the Republican has changed for the worse in the last few weeks. The top two reasons cited for the change of heart are McCain's attacks on Obama and his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate.

Tonight's debate then is very important for McCain, with 20 days left in the campaign he needs to score a major blow tonight in order to keep his candidacy off  life support. I don't think he can do it, he hasn't shown that he has the ability calmly point out his difference with Obama. If he goes on the attack to strong he will be percieved as desparate and clueless.

Obama just needs to play it cool and not get caught in any gaffes and he should walk away with it.  

CNN analysts and contributors weigh in: Obama won

(CNN) — The final tally is in. During the debate, six CNN analysts and contributors scored in real time the performances by both presidential candidates.

The number next to the pluses suggests the candidate made a “good point” while the figures next to the minuses indicate “missed opportunities.” For example, in the end, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos gave the debate to Obama with 32 pluses and 4 negatives as opposed to McCain’s 28 pluses and 13 negatives.

The other five contributors and analysts included Democratic strategist Paul Begala, Sr. Political Analysts Gloria Borger and David Gergen, Chief National Correspondent John King, and Senior Analyst Jeff Toobin.

The Second Presidential Debate

From Polticial Wire.com

Tonight's debate wasn't even close. Sen. Barack Obama ran away with it -- particularly when speaking about the economy and health care. Talking about his mother's death from cancer was very powerful. On nearly every issue, Obama was more substantive, showed more compassion and was more presidential.

In contrast, Sen. John McCain was extremely erratic. Sometimes he was too aggressive (referring to Obama as "that one.") Other times, he just couldn't answer the question (on how he would ask Americans to sacrifice.) And his random attempts at jokes (hair transplants?) were just bad.

Tom Brokaw was terrible as moderator. His fixation with the rules -- particularly when the candidates were not complaining -- was distracting and a disservice to everyone. The format didn't work very well, but Brokaw made it worse.

Other reactions:

Andrew Sullivan: "This was, I think, a mauling: a devastating and possibly electorally fatal debate for McCain... I've watched a lot of debates and participated in many. I love debate and was trained as a boy in the British system to be a debater. I debated dozens of times at Oxofrd. All I can say is that, simply on terms of substance, clarity, empathy, style and authority, this has not just been an Obama victory. It has been a wipe-out. It has been about as big a wipe-out as I can remember in a presidential debate. It reminds me of the 1992 Clinton-Perot-Bush debate. I don't really see how the McCain campaign survives this."

Ezra Klein: "Tonight was supposed to be John McCain's night, but it was the first clear debate win Obama has scored over the course of this campaign -- including the primary. McCain, as it turned out, was badly disadvantaged by the format. This debate was more physical than previous encounters. And McCain, for reasons of age and injuries and height, has a less commanding physical presence than Obama."

Marc Ambinder: "CW says that John McCain had a 90 minute window to turn his campaign around - to put into play the McCain Resurgence Strategy, if you will, and if that's the CW threshold, I don't think McCain met it."

Limits on "Town Hall" Debate tonight

Lynn Sweet

"Tuesday's match-up at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., will be moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw, with the questions to be culled from a group of 100 to 150 uncommitted likely voters in the audience and another one-third to come via the Internet. The Gallup Organization -- as in past debates like this -- has the job of making sure the questioners reflect the demographic makeup of the nation.

Brokaw selects the questions to ask from written queries submitted prior to the debate, according to the "contract."

An audience member will not be allowed to switch questions. Under the deal, the moderator may not ask followups or make comments. The person who asks the question will not be allowed a follow-up either, and his or her microphone will be turned off after the question is read. A camera shot will only be shown of the person asking -- not reacting.

While there will be director's chairs (with backs and foot rests), McCain and Obama will be allowed to stand -- but they can't roam past their "designated area" to be marked on the stage. McCain and Obama are not supposed to ask each other direct questions.

As in all the debates, the contenders cannot bring in notes, though they can take them once at the lectern...."

Google In Quotes

I was turned onto this great new feature from Google.

If you have a question about any position or need a quote from Barack Obama or John McCain on an issue, you can go to Google In Quotes.

This Google feature lists up to date quotes from the two candidates on subjects like Iraq, health care, social security, energy ...

Be sure to try the spin feature, it gives you a different perspective of an issue from other media sources.   

USA Today/Gallup Poll Finds Obama Won Debate

A new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows 46% of people who watched Friday night's presidential debate say Sen. Barack Obama did a better job than Sen. John McCain; 34% said McCain did better.

Focus Groups Find Obama Won Debate

Political Wire-
During and after the debate, Democracy Corps conducted focus groups among 45 undecided voters in St. Louis, Missouri.

"With Barack Obama gaining momentum, John McCain needed to change the dynamic in the race during tonight’s debate and to shift the focus of the campaign onto friendlier terrain. Instead, Democracy Corps research finds that McCain essentially held his ground in this debate, while Obama emerged with higher personal favorability and increased confidence in his ability to handle critical foreign policy and national security issues.

During and after the debate, Democracy Corps conducted a set of dial and focus groups among 45 undecided voters in St. Louis, Missouri. These voters had an unmistakably Republican tilt, voting for President Bush by a 2-to-1 margin in 2004 and self-identifying as 33 percent Republican and 27 percent Democrat. But playing on his perceived strength of national security and before a friendly audience, McCain could only manage a draw among this group. Of our 45 initial undecided voters, a quarter moved to Obama and a quarter to McCain after the debate with the rest remaining undecided. Moreover, by a 38 to 27 percent margin these voters said that Obama won this debate."

McCain made 'huge mistake,' Huckabee says

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Friday the John McCain made a "huge mistake" by even floating the possibility he would not appear at the first presidential debate as planned.

“You can’t just say, ‘World stop for a moment. I’m going to cancel everything,”

The 3 Stooges - The Grate Debate

Whether or not Obama and McCain show up tonight in Oxford, Mississippi, I think that it is important for a debate, any debate to go on as scheduled today.

So if the two presidential candidates can't seem to come together tonight I figured that the Stooges would be the next best thing

Obama: Debate is 'More Important Than Ever'

McCain camp to propose postponing VP debate

It is getting pretty obvious that McCain can't walk and chew gum at the same time as evident by the following post at CNN.com.

(CNN) — "McCain supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham tells CNN the McCain campaign is proposing to the Presidential Debate Commission and the Obama camp that if there's no bailout deal by Friday, the first presidential debate should take the place of the VP debate, currently scheduled for next Thursday, October 2 in St. Louis.

Graham says the McCain camp is well aware of the position of the Obama campaign and the debate commission that the debate should go on as planned — but both he and another senior McCain adviser insist the Republican nominee will not go to the debate Friday if there's no deal on the bailout."

The debates should go on as scheduled, there is nothing that McCain or Obama can do at this point. Let the congressional leaders negotiate the terms of the financial bailout plan with the President. 

 McCain needs to stay in touch as Obama has suggested and twist arms as needed. He needs to let the people who know about economics and the economy deal with this mess, being he has told us many times that ecomonics are not his strong suit.  

All this is a ploy to avoid debating while his poll numbers are dropping.

 

Obama Camp: 'The Debate is On'

        "The debate is on," a senior Obama campaign official told ABC News.