The leaders of American Crossroads, the conservative super PAC formed last year under the watch of Karl Rove, sat down with reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in D.C. this morning. The subject of the discussion was, of course, money: the role deep-pocketed super PACs will play in 2012 and the specific spending plans of …
2012 Election
Will the AARP Support an Overhaul of Social Security?
So, did they or didn’t they?
Did the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) – easily the country’s most influential seniors group – abandon its opposition to cutting Social Security benefits?
Club for Growth Hits Huntsman
The Club for Growth is a conservative advocacy group that favors lower taxes (and a flat tax), less spending, privatizing Social Security, deregulation, free trade, and so on. But its practical mission is weeding out moderates from the Republican Party. It seems to relish targeting the GOP’s grizzled veterans in favor of younger, more …
The GOP vs. the Fed
Which arm of government is most deplored by today’s Republican Party? It might be the allegedly jobs-killing Environmental Protection Agency. Or perhaps it’s the Health and Human Services Department, now tyrannically implementing …
The Huntsman Road Show Opens for Business
JERSEY CITY, N.J., AND EXETER, N.H. — On his first day as a presidential candidate, Jon Huntsman wandered toward the back of his charter jet to meet the press. Reporters crammed into the aisles, hoisting their cameras and …
Gingrich 2012 and Gingrich, Inc.
More bad news for Newt’s Gingrich’s foundering presidential campaign: His top two fundraisers have quit, bringing the count of deserters from his 2012 operation to a whopping 18, according to the AP. His fundraising is reportedly so anemic that the candidate has been reduced to giving up his corporate jets for commercial flights. …
Earth to the Left: Obama Is Into You
There was a telling confrontation at last week’s Netroots Nation gathering of progressive activists, interrupting a panel discussion on “What to Do When the President Is Just Not That Into You.” A bisexual volunteer for …
Romney Warbucks
Former White House spokesman Bill Burton is chortling on Twitter about this campaign-trail moment captured by the Washington Post:
At one table, a boy offered Romney a $1 bill that he had folded origami-style for good luck. The candidate happily accepted it, but then rifled through his wallet looking for money to give the boy in return.
…
Jon Huntsman Launches His Good Guy Campaign
“I’m Jon Huntsman, and I am humbled,” said the good guy candidate when he took the stage. This was a far cry from Mitt Romney’s pitch: I can beat Obama, who is terrible. Or Tim Pawlenty’s pitch: I am honest and conservative. Or …
Rick Perry and the Echoes of George W. Bush
George W. Bush is a fading memory in American politics as the country gets ready for the 17-month stretch to the presidential election in 2012. But watch the video of Gov. Rick Perry at the Republican Leadership Conference last …
In Campaign Kickoff, Huntsman Tries to Justify the Hype
Jon Huntsman likes to call himself the “margin-of-error candidate.” It is not an accidental phrase. In the seven weeks since the former Utah governor and U.S. ambassador to China returned from Beijing with visions of filling …
Romney’s Courageous Convictions?
In 2008 Mitt Romney ran a Gumby campaign, turning himself inside out trying to be everything to everybody. He bought in to every straw poll, competed in Iowa, signed most pledges–and lost. This time around, Romney seems intent …
Behind Michele Bachmann’s Fundraising Magic
In three congressional terms, presidential contender Michele Bachmann has made a name for herself as a formidable fundraiser. As of her latest filing with the Federal Election Commission, Bachmann had $2.8 million cash on hand …