Q We have reports that the White House said today that the attacks in Libya were a terrorist attack. Do you have information indicating that it was Iran, or al Qaeda was behind organizing the protests?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’re still doing an investigation, and there are going to be different circumstances in different countries. And so I don’t want to speak to something until we have all the information. What we do know is that the natural protests that arose because of the outrage over the video were used as an excuse by extremists to see if they can also directly harm U.S. interests —

Q Al Qaeda?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we don’t know yet. And so we’re going to continue to investigate this. We’ve insisted on and have received so far full cooperation from countries like Egypt and Libya and Tunisia in not only protecting our diplomatic posts, but also to make sure that we discover who, in fact, is trying to take advantage of this.

Got to give the President either: 25 pinocchios for this one (RPG’s do not equal spontaneous protest or lack of planning) or if the President is not lying and believes this – I’ll give him 2 gepettos and call him an idiot – his choice.

2. Fast and Furious

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I think it’s important for us to understand that the Fast and Furious program was a field-initiated program begun under the previous administration. When Eric Holder found out about it, he discontinued it. We assigned an inspector general to do a thorough report that was just issued, confirming that, in fact, Eric Holder did not know about this, that he took prompt action and the people who did initiate this were held accountable.

Pants on Fire for saying that Fast and Furious was a field initiated program begun under George W. Bush. It was started under Barack Obama and the #2 man in the Justice Department, Lanny Breuer by DOJ’s own admission was involved in the operation. Then, the President’s shirt caught on fire by saying it was Eric Holder who ended F&F – it was Brian Terry’s death, and then the President lit his whole wardrobe on fire because the aforementioned Lanny Breuer is still #2 at Justice. For the whole statement the President gets the coveted but seldom awarded: Burning Man because he lit everything on fire.

3. My biggest failure

What is your biggest failure?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, Jorge, as you remind me, my biggest failure so far is we haven’t gotten comprehensive immigration reform done. (Laughter.) So we’re going to be continuing to work on that. (Applause.) But it’s not for lack of trying or desire, and I’m confident we’re going to accomplish that.

Well, I do agree this is a broken promise (townhall moderators did as well, see below) but I got to give the President a Pants on Fire lie and give him 3 more pinocchios there. With 15% real unemployment, record expansion of food stamp programs, SS disability, and 23 million unemployed, the economy as his number one failure. Number two, I think I’ll go with appeasing radical Islamic thugs. Numero three, I am going to take crapping on the 1st amendment.

Salinas Yes, as you said, that’s your biggest failure and Jorge asked you do you consider that you broke your promise. So I think the answer is, yes, with many excuses, but you actually broke your promise.
Ramos: It was a promise, Mr. President. And I don’t want to — because this is very important, I don’t want to get you off the explanation. You promised that. And a promise is a promise. And with all due respect, you didn’t keep that promise

4. The Great Depression – Part 2

Well, let me first of all, Jorge, make a point that when we talked about immigration reform in the first year, that’s before the economy was on the verge of collapse — Lehman Brothers had collapsed, the stock market was collapsing. And so my first priority was making sure that we prevented us from going into a Great Depression.

10000 pinocchios, call the fire department because this is the Great Chicago Fire – Part 2. The President gets the reward for most lies told in less than a 1000 words in US Political history. The financial sector had stablilized by the time you were inaugurated, the stock market had not crashed. Did they not have one econ class at Harvard, Columbia or University of Chicago – you could have at least audited? It was a recession. As an aside, every economic indicator is worse now, so are we in the Great Depression now? Is your re-election slogan, we almost inherited the Great Depression and then we gave you one? Seriously, cut the melodramatics to justify failure. The only truth is Lehman Brothers collapsed before you took office. For the benefits of the trolls, a depression is a major downturn in GDP from 1929-1933, GDP fell by 1/3, 2007-2009 wasn’t even close to the Great Depression. It wasn’t in the same neighborhood, city, county or state as the Great Depression.

5. The change we seek….

And I think that I’ve learned some lessons over the last four years, and the most important lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t change Washington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside.

I am going to have to go with the never before seen (outside of Kessler’s weird brain) – True and False. I give the President major props for admitting he is not up to the job and going to go 2000 gepettos there. However, that is balanced by the 2000 pinocchios for not knowing the White House is located inside of Washington. Mr. President, you only get to run as the outsider once; to quote you – “you won” – this made you the insider.

A transcript of the entire snotburger (well if you are a Democrat – it’s a snotburger) can be found here. The townhall is an example of how the “Great Communicator” does when the reporter on the other side is actually interested in being a reporter and not a pundit. By the way, Jorge Ramos should moderate every single debate.

Politico is all abuzz because Mitt Romney’s press corps just can’t get no satisfaction. It seems Mitt gave the poor babies the cold shoulder and they just don’t know why? Direct quote from the article from one of the members of the press corps. “Here’s a guy making his audition on the world stage, his trip has been defined by gaffes, and he gives us five minutes and three questions in front of 10 Downing,” said another. “The appetite grows with each gaffe, and the campaign isn’t making it easier on themselves.” Now are they really that tone deaf. They say the trip was rife with gaffes (it wasn’t) and wonder why Romney won’t give them access. Hey guys, how about you prove to Romney; you’ll give him a fair shake. The interstate flows two directions. If you want access, prove you deserve it by DOING YOUR DARN JOBS. When Obama drags out some lie about Bain; call him on it. When Stephanie Guttermouth calls Romney a felon; call her an idiot. Perhaps, if you wouldn’t roll over so completely for the Obama administration, Romney would feel comfortable enough to give you access. Thought, I would try a little experiment: on the Politico front page articles praising Romney vs articles criticizing Romney.
Lets get the two in praise out of the way first:
Bill Kristol thinks the trip was a success and supports the actions of the Romney staffer who ticked the press off.
Lech Walesa prays for a Romney win (we all do).

Now on to the negative:

Critics of Romney’s trip include: left wing bloggers, Ahmadinejad, Elijiah Cummings, the Chinese government and the Palestinian Authority.
Lindsay Graham wants to raise taxes, I mean revenues and it’s all Mitt’s fault he can’t.
A Tennessee man (seriously did he have to be from Tennessee) assaulted his girlfriend because she showed him a picture of her hugging Mitt Romney at an event. It seems the guy didn’t recognize the guy in the picture was Mitt Romney so he beat her up. Of course, it was all Mitt Romney’s fault.
Hispanics are going to put Arizona in play except no poll shows this and Mitt Romney’s stance on immigration is popular in Arizona. Don’t let the truth get in the way guys just make it up as you go along.
We got no less than three links to the same content, Obama’s campaign calling Mitt’s trip fumbles , a strike out in T-Ball, and , because at this point the press doesn’t even make Gibbs be creative when he lies, fumbles again.
Romney’s aide needs valium (more than likely from dealing with these jackals everyday) and told the members of the press corps to shove it.
Oh and we have a blog reiterating a rift between Romney and his press corps.

Now to the last two, first up is Little Joey Scarborough (an example of what happens to your brain when exposed to Mika Brezhinski). Little Joey actually complains Romney doesn’t have the foresight shown by Roosevelt in initiating the New Deal. I couldn’t make this stuff up (and Aaron Sorkin would lie about it if he did). PS at this point, is Scarborough even a Republican?

Finally, Simon Says that Romney’s Israel trip won’t help with votes in Jewish community because Romney is a practicing Mormon. You know those strange Mormons baptized Ann Frank. Really, he argues that. Aaron Sorkin wouldn’t even make that up (Al Sharpton, Chris Matthews or Larry O’Donnell would).

Politico had a 2:16 positive to negative ratio on stories just from the front page. Press corps look in the mirror next time you want to cry about access. You lie and Romney has decided not to be complicit.

A story about the lies a campaign tells itself to get through the day. My comment is the authors are right on with the Obama administration i.e. no body cares about Bain, Romney’s taxes and George W. Bush but struggled a bit with Romney’s i.e. the economy and Super PACS. The article came off as a “we’re losing this thing and we have to start preparing kind of an article”.

The Congress took Jim DeMint’s sage advice and are going to avoid a government shutdown in an election year.

Obama’s run out of excuses so he is recycling old ones. This time, he told donors headwinds are holding him down

PPP puts out a new poll with the race tied in Florida. Given PPP’s well known, 5 point house affect (caused by oversampling Democrats) and factoring in the undecideds, Florida is now 8-10 point lead for Romney. The headwinds, you face, Mr President, are the voters want you gone.

Karl Rove hasn’t forgotten about the President. Crossroads up with a new ad

I couldn’t make this stuff up (and Aaron Sorkin would lie about it if he did). I read Politico so you don’t have to.

In every referendum election, the main questions are Q1) Can I vote for the incumbent based on his record? Whenever an incumbent is under 50, the electorate has made the choice and that choice is nyet . Swing States where the President is currently underwater to 50%: Ohio (47), Virginia (47), Florida (45), Iowa (46), North Carolina (44), Colorado (45), Missouri (42), Wisconsin (44), Michigan (48), Pennsylvania (48), and New Hampshire (48). All poll numbers are from Rassmussen Reports latest polling as reported by Real Clear Politics.

Q2) Is the challenger such a kook or slime bucket, the answer to Q1 doesn’t matter? Kook = Dennis Kucinich; Slime Bucket = John Edwards. Axelrod and Burton took a shot at portraying Romney as a slime bucket with taxes, off shore accounts, Bain Capital, Richie Rich, etc. Their boss’ numbers didn’t move and Romney’s actually crept up. They could take a shot at kook but really who is going to buy Romney as a kook? Well, I guess Larry O’Donnell did try this with his shameful Mormon rants so let’s not put it past Axelrod and Burton just yet. Restore Our Future might want to put the following ad into circulation just to tamp this down (or show it at the convention).

For those wondering, PolitiFact did call this ad: True.

If a John Edwards moment doesn’t arise in the next 3 months, Obama’s only chance at reelection will be to get enough voters to re-examine Q1 i.e. defend his record or shift the blame for it.

This might seem to be at first a defense of the Obama record (I am assuming Obama is on the teleprompter). It is not; the Obama administration will look for a scapegoat and that scapegoat will be the Tea Party. The attack will be along the lines of what Aaron Sorkin debuted a couple of weeks ago on “Newsroom” (or Time-Warner stockholders pay Aaron Sorkin to run Obama campaign commercials). To wit, Sorkin ran out the Tea Party was radicalized by the Koch Brothers to thwart the Obama recovery(not to bring about smaller government). The Obama administration will start with our plan worked and we were on the road to recovery until 2010, follow it with a merciless and relentless attack on the tea party and then draw the conclusion “It’s the Tea Party’s fault not mine”. It’s a ridiculous lie but selling it, is all they have. Romney being ready to counteract it, is all that stands between him and being the 45th President of the United States.

Republican pundits are criers. These are the same people who becried the fact there were no good candidates in the primary. Seriously, Kristol, Krauthammer, Will and Noonan ran around salivating over non-candidates like Lewis Skolnick salivating over Betty Childs. The bloviating of these windbags wouldn’t be so irritating if they made any sense. Hint: it’s probably in Romney’s best interest to do the exact opposite of anything suggested by Stephanie Guttermouth. Let me help these pundits out, in the Ivory towers, voters don’t care about Romney’s old job or Romney’s taxes; they do care about their jobs and their taxes so maybe, perhaps Romney should continue to talk about that. This point is so simple that even John Boehner figured it out.

Chris Christie is being discussed as the keynote speaker at the convention. Christie would be brilliant in the role, would fire the red meat, and as the article states this is a reward to a guy who was one of Romney’s best, first and most loyal surrogates.

A look at the various contenders for VP. I’d quibble that Jindal isn’t a contender. I also think the tide may have turned against Portman and Pawlenty the last week as Romney has become aware of the depths to which Obama would stoop. Just my guess but I think the top three are Ryan, Jindal and Rubio in that order (of course, the decision has already been made).

Tony Perkins really doesn’t want Condi. I agree with Perkins but maybe you might think a little of your influence was squandered by running to Santorum? Just saying, though Perkins did say Romney was gracious about Tony and the Boys laying down for Santorum.

GOP leadership doesn’t want a government shutdown a month before the election. You think? Luckily, Jim DeMint has decided to bail them out and is encouraging House Republicans to not force this issue in an election year.

Reince Preibus and the team at the RNC prove that two can play the transparency game and have asked for the Obama administration to release all e-mails between Steven Chu and Steve Westly around Solyndra. You know Solyndra this company that supposedly made solar panels but yet never really produced any; was supposed to hire thousands and thousands of workers but never really hired any; however they did receive millions and millions of dollars in loans guarantees even after Westly told the Administration that Solyndra would likely go bankrupt. Westly owned Solyndra and he was an Obama campaign financier so we’d like to know how he got tax payer money. Of course, the Obama Reign called this a political stunt unlike you know, their silly Bain attacks or demands to see the personal taxes of Mitt Romney.

Politico in a moment of journalistic integrity decided to run the story, Obama’s job panel hasn’t met in 6 months. I think we can safely assume from the King’s remarks in Roanoke, he doesn’t give a crap about what businessmen and woman have to say or their advice. To quote, John Boehner, Barack Obama doesn’t give a darn about the middle class. Barack Obama only cares about his job not anyone elses.

Politico did take the time to try and tar us all with the musings of Sheriff Joe and Ron Paul. What Tancredo hasn’t made any references to smelling stinky underwear lately?

Politico is all excited that John Mica is mentoring those freshman House members. Mica is excited to school these tea partiers on how to be proper RINOs, like him. From my perspective, this is akin to cheering when the Borg assimilate Earth. Let’s hope Sandy Adams plays the role of Jean Luc Picard and whips the Borg.

The mandate has multiple personality disorder. Obama insisted it was a penalty; then his lawyers argued to the Supreme Court it was a tax; then Obama admits in Roanoke, it was a tax (“you won’t have to pay the tax…”), now it is a “principle”. It has multiple personalities. By the way, here is another mistake from Roanoke. Axelrod to Obama: “Read the *(^%*&(%^&$*^^&(*%%$#EDRW#%$@%#^#%^$& teleprompter.”

Things that make tnfriendofcoal smile (Politico addition)
Nancy Pelosi says no Democratic candidate should attend the convention and should stay home in their districts because Obama is an incumbent. She actually said that. Just when you think, we are saddled by the biggest idiots in Politics – Nancy Pelosi opens her mouth in the presence of a microphone.

Obama’s panhandling for cash is being seen as unseemly for a President. I think I saw David Axelrod on the side of the interstate the other day with a sign that said: “Green energy money in exchange for a donation to Barack Obama for President”.

Romney’s Grumpy Old Man apologizes for calling Obama un-American and then attacks him for not having a freaking clue about America. Sununu has been certifiable gold for like two months now…from making Soledad O’Brien and Andrea Mitchell look like the Obama crack addicts they are to this – just gold.

Finally after two weeks of Bain attacks, calling Romney a felon and a tax cheat, the NY Times confidently put a poll in the field to gauge enthusiasm and found Republicans are a lot more enthusiastic to get rid of Obama than Democrats are to keep him. Those silly voters they were more concerned about their jobs and their taxes than about Romney’s jobs and Romney’s taxes and the NY Times editorial board sheds a tear.

I read Politico so you don’t have to. The Obama Reign’s days are numbered; 109 to be exact. I am tnfriendofcoal and I approve this message.

The day starts with the Boston branch of the NY Times running a story that Mitt Romney was lying about his time at Bain Capital that factcheck.org had debunked last week when the socialist over at Mother Jones ran the same story. Oh and the liars at the Globe, forgot to mention, they stole the story from Mother Jones. The Romney campaign refuted the story; saying once again Romney was a stockholder while the partnership that took over Bain in 1999 completed the legalities of the takeover. Bain agreed with Romney and sent to Fortune definitive proof that Romney left Bain as an active partner in 1999. Seriously, Politico, the Boston Globe and the NY Times should all print retractions, offer public apologies to Romney and suspend every reporter and editor involved in jumping the gun. The documents refuting the story were clearly available had the Globe or Politico asked Bain for them. It’s gut check time Politico and Times Company; you either believe you have a duty to the public or you don’t. You either believe you have a responsibility to the truth or you don’t. As Rick Perry would say, “we don’t need a complicated analysis here”. Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Bill Burton, in a desparate attempt to prove Priorities USA is not wasting donors money; put a poll in the field to show the attacks by Priorities USA were working and found out 63% of Americans don’t give a crap. Just guessing here, but I bet the 37% who do, were voting for Obama anyway. Yes, Obama donors, you idiots, Bill Burton is wasting your money. Oh and 80% of Americans don’t care Mitt is wealthy. Guessing the 20% that do are a subset of the 37% who are voting Obama anyway. NEWS FLASH to POLITICO: Americans care about their money not Mitt’s and not how he made it. Just some friendly advice if you dream of becoming a news organization when you grow up. Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Paul Ryan calls the Obama Administration sad. He could add pathetic. Really, the easiest job in Washington is the Obama Administration’s fact checker. That guy truly gets paid for nothing. Hardest, I am going with Stephie Cutter; she has to keep all the lies consistent. I wonder if sending out Ryan is an indication he is Mitt’s choice. Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Now on to what all this was about, Simon says that Romney had the guts to show up at the NAACP (unlike BO) and to quote Mick Foley the testicular fortitude to speak his mind. Through boos, giggles, cheers and a standing ovation, Romney calmly explained to his audience how democrats had kept all Americans including African Americans down with their idiocy and what he would do to change it. Scant minutes after Romney was through, Ben Jealous said Romney’s message of rising African Americans out of poverty and despair wasn’t consistent with the goals of the NAACP. I couldn’t make this up if I tried. Honestly, I believe the Obama campaign knew Romney killed it; to keep that from being the lead story, cooked up this faux Bain controversy. Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Warren Buffett tells the truth; the economy has ground to a halt and she ain’t re-firing. Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

DKos polling firm PPP has Obama up 6 in Wisconsin. Given, the house effect of +5 Democrat in PPP polling results, we can say Romney is up 49/45 in a state Obama can’t lose. Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Democrats are avoiding Obama like he has the cooties. Who could blame them? Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Obama used federal taxpayer money to outsource jobs overseas and strangely nearly all the green energy stimulus money ended up in the hands of Obama campaign bundlers and financiers. Oh wait a minute, Mitt Romney turning over control of Bain when he said he did is a bigger story than Obama handing out taxpayer money as graft. Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Dodd-Frank is still learning to crawl. Since it has already broken the back of the American economy, I’d sure hate to see this monstrosity get up and walk. Let’s elect Mitt Romney and throw Harry’s friends out of office and repeal this idiotic job killer, shall we? Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Mitch McConnell gave Harry Reid the hammer – shouldn’t be surprised he is using it. Seriously, House Republicans said they felt like they got hit by a bus with Kentucky plates; I don’t think it was Rand Paul’s bus. I’ll be sending Bob Corker a letter in essence saying get off Mitch’s bus or I’ll be voting to throw him off. His choice, I could care less either way. I encourage all my fellow Tennesseans to join me. Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire.

Mitt Romney ad: Obama’s a liar.

Obama is a liar and Politico set its integrity on fire. I am tnfriend and I approve of this message. I read Politico, you don’t have to.

To make themselves feel better about the NBC/WaPo poll showing Obama still hanging on his recliner at 47%, Politico rolled out DKos polling firm PPP’s latest polling that shows Obama up 50-42 in Virginia and Obama up 47-46 in North Carolina. Markos must be so proud of PPP’s ability to shamelessly shill for the Democratic Party. Remember this is the firm that broke Big Eddie’s heart by convincing him that the Wisconsin gubernatorial race was a pick-em. Factoring in PPP’s D+5 house affect, you get Romney up 47-45 in Virginia and Romney 51-42 in NC. Meaning Virginia is a swing state lean Romney and North Carolina is bleeding red Romney (uh, you know like all the other pollsters who have polled the two states). For a look at an analysis of the NBC/WaPo poll, I’d encourage you to hit up Dan Spencer’s Diary. Well, Obama did get one piece of good polling news; he is going to crush Romney in California. Obama’s losing and Politico is trying to cope.

Well if you can’t find solace in polls, how about love? Simon says Americans need somebody to love. Rush says they found someone to love in 2008 and points out it didn’t work out so well, so why don’t we try, uh, competent. Obama’s losing and Simon is looking to love to cope.

Speaking of trying to cope, Dems like Claire McCaskill and Jon Tester are questioning the wisdom of “raising taxes” as a platform in an election year. You have to see that picture of Bob Kerrey; Dude looks like the Crypt Keeper. Seriously, he looks like one of the Zombies from the Walking Dead with pieces falling off. Dem pols are facing their last days, I can only imagine a lot of whiskey is being consumed by Dems in purple states. Obama’s losing and Dems don’t know how to cope.

Obama has sunk to panhandling for campaign cash. Come to think of it, the panhandler on the side of the interstate did look a lot like David Axelrod. I am not considering a donation, just a pink slip to be delivered on Nov 6th, 2012. For the kids sake, I hope the Obama campaign has enough money to purchase a U-Haul rental and a greyhound bus ticket to Chicago on Nov 7th. Don’t want them kids to have to walk from Washington to Chicago. Obama’s losing and Dem contributors figure they’ll need their money to cope.

Chris Christie thanks SCOTUS for upholding the illegality of extortion. I really do love how Christie can turn a phrase. Meanwhile, Rick Perry reminds us, he fears nothing that walks on two legs and calls Medicaid failed, suggesting block grants to the states would work better. Politico did take a sentence to tell us Governor Perry wants to deprive insurance to 1.3 million Texans of health insurance. Obama’s losing and Politico is throwing cheap shots at Rick Perry to cope.

We finish up the Politico coping skills lesson with an attempt by the Obama administration to cope. Obama, Gibbs, O’Malley, Durbin, heck any random socialist in the country spent the weekend calling Mitt an outsourcer. Mitt points out that Obama outsourced with taxpayer money and then the Romney campaign proves it with details and charts and explanations. An election is forever and always about the incumbents record. The incumbent either has to defend his record or find someone credible other than himself to blame for it. In the history of elections with a modern media, the only scapegoat that has worked is Congresscritters. You will know the election is getting serious when the Obama campaign starts a vigorous defense of its record or a full throated drag Congress through the sewer campaign. My guess is “taxes on the rich” is the start of blaming Congress. Obama’s losing and the campaign can’t use Mitt Romney’s job at Bain or his Swiss bank account or his house or his money or the Cayman Islands to cope.

A couple of quick hitters to close, To VP or not to VP. For Jeb, it seems the answer is not. Meghan McCain’s ghostwriter tells Jennifer Granholm what it is like for a liberal like him to hang with a conservative like her. The only problem is Meghan is not a conservative; she’s a Republican. I wouldn’t expect Jennifer Granholm to know the difference.

There it is Politico as it was, today July 10th, 2012. I read Politico, you don’t have to.

I’ll start with a statement: Romney’s winning. In evidence, I am going to take a quick look at money, polling and historical trends. The first about money is obvious, in a stark contrast from John McCain’s concession on the campaign finance front, the RNC and Romney campaign just announced the largest fund raising month in the 2012 Presidential election cycle: 106 million w/160 million cash on hand. This surpassed the DNC and Obama campaign by 35 million in raw dollars. Just two months ago, the Dems held a 95 million dollar advantage in cash on hand as Romney faced a brutal primary and Obama essentially horded his campaign cash. That advantage has disappeared as the Obama campaign has had a tepid few months in comparison with Romney, combined with a large burn rate over the last month of the previous cash horde.

Polling and historical trends really have to be taken together. If anything, this paints an even more depressing picture if your name happens to be David Axelrod. The incumbent rule comes from a famous article by Nick Panagakis at the PollingReport where he determined that any incumbent under 50% was in deep doo doo because undecideds broke against the incumbent at a rate north of 80%. Essentially, in an election with a well-known incumbent, undecided means “fire the incumbent unless the challenger has a John Edwards or Mark Foley moment”. Both Sean Trende at Real Clear Politics and Dick Morris come to the same conclusion; adding in more recent results: undecided voters in huge numbers break away from the incumbent. Now looking at the polls on Real Clear Politics, if you move undecideds breaking to Romney at a 70% rate (a full 10-15 points lower than the historical trends), Romney would carry Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Colorado, Missouri, and Michigan. This is a win for Romney to the tune of 297 electoral votes. If you change the assumption to Obama picking off 35%, of the states above Romney would lose Colorado and still win the election. This does not even account for the advantage Republican candidates get when polling likely vs registered voters or the house effects of firms like PPP and NBC. Romney’s current strategy is winning; both the polls and money bear this out.

Now on to: I read Politico so you don’t have to…

Democrats are stalkers. It seems stricia’s stalking of acat is normal for the loons of the Democratic Party. It is nice to know however the DKos trolls are getting a little sunshine by escaping the confines of their parent’s basement. I would suggest that job hunting would be a more useful activity than stalking and voyeuring but that is just me. This is what the troops do when the other side is winning.

Romney ad men, Schriefer and Stevens are running a familiar playbook. The thing is the Stevens-Schriefer playbook has worked well for them in races that involved a weak incumbent (i.e. Christy vs Corzine) and not so well with an incumbent or de-facto incumbent (Crist vs Rubio). I live in northeast Tennessee, putting me in the Virginia and North Carolina media markets so I see a lot of Obama ads; funny thing is David Axelrod is running the same campaign for Obama that Stevens ran for Crist. A lot of attack ads on the unknown guy; little substance for the well-known candidate. The author ignores this point. Only the lesser known challenger can run on attacking the other guy. The incumbent only wins by running on his record: forever and always. This is why Romney is winning; the Obama can’t run on his record.

Oh wait, maybe Politico is being forced into the point above. Uh oh, even the Democrats at Politico are coming around to the fact that Obama’s poll numbers have sat at 47% for 5 months and not moved as Romney continues to move north. See the point above, undecided voters break towards the challenger. Uh, Romney is winning and Politico is crying.

Kay Bailey Hutchinson says Jim DeMint should sell out his principals and be just like her, if he wants to be “affective” in his upcoming role as Chairman of Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Good Ole Kay B, you just got to love her. She calls a 15 trillion dollar debt; rising at a rate of 1.25 trillion per year as “affective”. Kay B is a joke; I just can’t think of a better one. Ok, it is off theme but it is funny.

Debbie Wah Wah wants to fight the dog wars again. Careful, Debbie W, Fried Bo with mashed potatoes and green beans. It’s what’s for dinner. Romney’s winning and Obama loves him some fried dog.

Debbie Wah Wah, to quote Chris Christie, Are you stupid? Seriously, doubling down on David Axelrod’s accusation that Romney was the most secretive candidate since Nixon? Let me see, one of the two people running for President admitted to taking literary license with his own autobiography (composites don’t ya know). One of the two people for President refused to release documents to Congress and has a current employee under indictment for lying to Congress. Uh, that would be King Barack, the Dog Eater, not Mitt Romney. Romney’s winning and Obama surrogates want to talk about his bank accounts (much better than to defend Obama’s record).

Aaron Sorkin’s sad, bloviating; tea party hating overdrawn ratings sinkhole: Newsroom has one fan, Dan Rather. I am shocked, a show dedicated to unprincipled media clowns has as its only fan: Dan Rather, the Godfather of lying, no principled, media clowns. In all honesty, I watched Newsroom last night. From the opening monologue, to the spewing of Obama campaign rhetoric regarding the Tea Party, it was the worst type of television, it was boring. My dog woke me up to let her outside (either to use the bathroom or she couldn’t stand the boredom). This is actually a good note to end on as the rest of Politico would be recapping boredom.

There it is: I read Politico and now you don’t have to.