Twitter for Thee, Not Me
By: James Richardson (Diary) | November 16th at 10:40 AM |
President Barack Obama admitted Monday to a group of students in Shanghai, China that, while billed as the most tech savvy President in history, he doesn’t use Twitter. When asked by a student if he was aware of China’s firewall blocking the popular micro-blogging service, Obama forewent his tech friendly reputation, saying, “I have never used Twitter but I’m an advocate of technology and not | Read More »
Coburn, McCain Endorse Fiorina Senate Bid
By: James Richardson (Diary) | November 5th at 05:41 PM |
Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO-turned-McCain campaign advisor and surrogate, announced on Thursday the endorsements of eight Republican Senators, including conservative stalwart Senator Tom Coburn. “Our nation is facing serious economic challenges because we keep rehiring the same failed career politicians who have proven themselves incapable of making hard choices,” read Coburn’s statement. “Carly’s common sense and fiscal conservatism will be a welcome addition to | Read More »
Sunlight Foundation in the Dark
By: James Richardson (Diary) | October 26th at 01:33 AM |
The Sunlight Foundation’s Luke Rosiak reported on Friday the Republican National Committee spent $1.4 million on the redesign of GOP.com, a figure which totals more than five times what the RNC’s Democratic counterpart spent to host and maintain Democrats.org. Sources familiar with the RNC’s digital makeover, however, contest Sunlight’s report, calling it “ridiculous.” Rosiak writes: The biggest disparity seems to be bandwidth costs–the RNC paid | Read More »
OfA, DNC ‘Call Out’ Steele in New Web Video
By: James Richardson (Diary) | October 22nd at 06:58 PM |
Organizing for America, the increasingly combative political operation of the White House, today unveiled a new web video targeting Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele, charging the Republican Party chief with “siding with Washington elites and insurance companies and playing political games to kill reform.” The latest installment in OfA’s “call ‘em out” campaign—a call to arms of sorts for complacent allies of President | Read More »
RNC Unveils New Website, Rebranding Campaign for GOP
By: James Richardson (Diary) | October 13th at 01:25 AM |
The Republican National Committee will unveil a new website early Tuesday morning that promises to increase grassroots participation and offers improved navigability and smarter marketing and fundraising tools for the GOP, according to party officials. Upon reaching the new GOP.com, RNC Chairman Michael Steele takes a virtual step onto the computer screen and leads users on a tour of the site’s new features. “Notice anything | Read More »
Reid: Health Care Reform Not Complete Without Public Option
By: James Richardson (Diary) | October 1st at 11:40 PM |
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised today the final health care bill will include a controversial public option insurance plan, contrary to recent indications by Democratic staffers that such provisions might be eliminated to make the reforms more palatable for moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats. “We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president’s desk,” Reid said Thursday afternoon | Read More »
Fiorina’s Absence at CRP Convention Sparks Controversy, Rumors
By: James Richardson (Diary) | September 30th at 07:39 PM |
Anxious to capitalize on a summer’s worth of anti-tax Tea Parties and the fierce public opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care reforms, over 1,000 California Republican delegates and activists ascended upon Indian Wells for the state Party’s semi-annual convention over the weekend – but one high-profile Republican was conspicuously absent, sparking criticism from attendees and her likely-primary opponent Chuck DeVore. Citing the physical demands | Read More »
The Politics of PACs
By: James Richardson (Diary) | September 22nd at 07:00 PM |
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, whose decision not to seek a third term as governor sparked immense speculation among Republicans about a 2012 campaign, announced today he will launch the “Freedom First” PAC in early November, granting him the opportunity to curry favor among the party faithful by raising and transferring sums of money to state and federal Republican candidates. After launching a website last week describing Pawlenty | Read More »
Highlighting Democratic Controversies, Republicans Reject Censure of Wilson
By: James Richardson (Diary) | September 15th at 12:45 PM |
After Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) rejected Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ultimatum to offer a mea culpa on the floor of the House for his outburst during President Barack Obama’s address on Wednesday evening or face a formal admonishment, Democratic leaders are now moving to introduce a resolution to censure Wilson. But Republican responses to the pending censure might explain why some prescient Democrats, perhaps guilty of | Read More »
Obama’s Forgotten War
By: James Richardson (Diary) | September 11th at 11:30 AM |
On Wednesday evening, President Barack Obama delivered an address to a joint-session of Congress in the hopes of strengthening public and legislative support for his health care reforms, but shrewd Republican Capitol Hill researchers note that the President’s carefully-crafted speech was missing one important element – namely, the troops. While the president consciously rallied fleeting progressive support and attempted to dispel myths surrounding the legislation, | Read More »
Flashback: Democrats on Presidential School Speeches Then and Now
By: James Richardson (Diary) | September 3rd at 11:01 AM |
In the wake of the public furor over President Barack Obama’s pending speech to school children next Tuesday, defensive Democratic surrogates and administration officials have maintained the President’s address will be a valuable education tool and aims to challenge students to “work hard in school” and “meet short-term goals like behaving in class.” But the original prepatory material for Obama’s school house stump speech raised | Read More »
Redstate Interview: Chuck DeVore
By: James Richardson (Diary) | September 1st at 02:08 PM |
Orange County Republican and California State Assemblyman Chuck Devore has been spreading his message of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” across the Golden State for eleven months now, all with the aim of “bouncing Boxer” from the United States Senate in 2010. And he’s so anxious to see her leave that august body that his website bears a clock to track the number | Read More »
Lincoln, Republican Challengers Tied in New Poll
By: James Richardson (Diary) | August 26th at 01:24 PM |
As Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas navigates the political minefield of health care reform, the two-term Democrat may be hewing a more conservative course in the wake of a new poll by Public Policy Polling which found her in a dead heat with three potential Republican challengers despite scant name recognition. PPP, whose sampling of voters skewed Democratic, found that only 36% of respondents | Read More »
DeVore’s Abortion Critique of Fiorina Without Merit
By: James Richardson (Diary) | August 25th at 10:00 AM |
In his bid for U.S. Senate, Republican Chuck DeVore has gone to great lengths to portray his primary election opponent Carly Fiorina as too liberal, particularly on the issue of abortion, but some California political observers now say the cash-strapped DeVore campaign is playing fast and loose with the facts. Last week, Fiorina announced she took the first step in challenging Senator Barbara Boxer, and | Read More »
Conflicting Statements on Subsidized Abortion Haunt Health Care Reform
By: James Richardson (Diary) | August 21st at 11:20 AM |
On a conference call with progressive religious leaders late Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama aggressively challenged his Republican critics’ “misinformation” blitz, arguing the claim by many social conservative groups that his health care proposal would subsidize and mandate reproductive care is a blatant fabrication, and insisted they were “bearing false witness.” “You’ve heard this is all going to mean government funding of abortion,” the President | Read More »
Bipartisanship Is Dead, Say Top Democrats
By: James Richardson (Diary) | August 19th at 01:37 PM |
President Barack Obama, who campaigned on the promise of changing the rigidly-partisan climate in Washington, has resigned from the prospect of bipartisan comprehensive health care reform, according to top White House aides. Declaring war on Republicans critical of the president’s proposal, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel offers a far less rosy picture of Obama’s success in fostering bipartisanship than the image the Obama | Read More »
Democrats Call Foul on Republican Objection to ‘Death Panels’
By: James Richardson (Diary) | August 14th at 05:53 PM |
Democratic health care strategists are calling foul today on GOP officials John Boehner, Thaddeus McCotter, Johnny Isakson, and Chuck Grassley, claiming the Republican Party leaders are guilty of partisan obstructionism of the worst kind – demagoging the same end-of-life provisions, the now-famous “death panels,” they supported in the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill. “So either Republicans were for death panels in 2003 before turning against | Read More »
Voters Schedule Town Hall in Colorado Representative’s Absence
By: James Richardson (Diary) | August 13th at 06:05 PM |
After a series of unsuccessful requests to arrange a town hall over the August recess with Democratic Congresswoman Betsy Markey (CO-4), grassroots organizers opted instead to host their own health care town hall in the congresswoman’s absence – complete with an empty chair and placard for the reticent Markey. The Northern Colorado Townhall Committee, who say their objective is to “provide a forum” for the | Read More »
Obama’s Doublespeak on Single-Payer Health Care Systems
By: James Richardson (Diary) | August 11th at 05:18 PM |
At a health care town hall today, President Barack Obama told a New Hampshire audience that he has never claimed to be an advocate of a single-payer health care system, alleging that his Republican opponents were employing “scare tactics” to derail substantive health care reform. “I have not said that I am a supporter of a single-payer system,” he said, channeling former presidential contender John | Read More »
Democrat David Scott’s Town Hall Tirade
By: James Richardson (Diary) | August 7th at 11:10 PM |
The scene of a Metro Atlanta town hall meeting quickly deteriorated when Democratic Congressman David Scott (GA-13) suddenly became enraged, and, in a breathtaking display of congressional machismo, began berating constituents. Scott displayed his temper during a question-and-answer period when David Hill, a local resident and doctor, questioned the congressman over his support of President Barack Obama’s proposed single-payer health care system. “Why are you | Read More »