Cain's Attack on Planned Parenthood

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/30/planned-parenthood-rejects-cain-claim-abortion-clinics-are-aimed-at-black/

Hermain Cain is at it again, and this may be his wackiest claim yet. Giving Planned Parenthood the nickname "planned genocide," Cain is still sticking by his statement that the organization purposely situated themselves in predominantly black communities in order to rid society of unborn black children.

Cain said to CBS' Face the Nation, "Seventy-five percent of those facilities were built in the black community. In Margaret Sanger's own words, she didn't use the word 'genocide,' but she did talk about preventing the increasing number of poor blacks in this country by preventing black babies from being born." That number, however, is apparently not correct according to the Guttmacher Institute which found that less than one in ten Planned Parenthood facilities are located in mostly black communities and in fact 63% are located in predominantly white communities. Hispanic communities follow with 12% and black come in at merely 9%. The study does acknowledge, however, that the abortion rate is about five times greater for black women than for white women, and double for Hispanic women.

Although Hermain Cain may have hinted towards seeing abortion as an option in the cases of rape and incest, he has had to reinstate his stance against it, now making clear he is, "pro-life from conception, period." He also added to his attack on Planned Parenthood saying that the organization does not make a real effort to counsel black women away from choosing abortion. He says the organization, instead, "facilitates" abortions of black women.

In response to his claims against the organization,Veronica Byrd, director of African American media for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, says Planned Parenthood, "opposes discrimination in any form {and is} committed to providing every woman who comes through its door with the full range of high quality health care, regardless of where she lives, her race or ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, or income level."

Lets just hope that this was a plot for media attention on Cain's part because if he truly thinks Planned Parenthood is actually a conspiracy for black genocide his mere presence in the presidential race is frightening and dangerous. More likely he is just trying to gain some points from ultra conservative blacks but honestly this is one of the most tasteless strategies I've seen. If you are going to make sweeping accusations of an organization as large as Planned Parenthood then at least do your homework, or better yet, don't make stupid accusations in the first place.

Truth or False?

I thought this video was interesting because in the beginning the host is reading from an article talking about presidential debates and highlighting a section that basically says candidates have to play a role while they are at these debates because straying too far from this publicly accepted role would destroy them. On the other hand, if they can be "cool," the media will make them look great. This makes you wonder how much you really know about our potential candidates when they may just be acting in every public portrayal of them. I also thought it was interesting that the caller said Americans can make a difference in the election process, contrary to what the media makes us believe. I would think most people would argue the media tries to make us believe we have power when in reality we don't have very much.

Power of the Media

The control by the media over what we hear about first is one of its most powerful attributes. In this video Robinson discusses how media coverage can be used strategically in politics so that, for instance, if a candidate has to come out with a piece of information that reflects badly upon them, they can sometimes plan it so that the information is released at the same time another big piece of news is coming out and thus take away some of the attention from themselves. Similarly, they could wait to announce something to the public so more focus would be placed on them.

The Media and its Lack of Coverage on Movements of "the People"

This video focuses on movements of "the people" as a reflection of our current day and age and in terms of what has come out of public sentiment since the 2008 election. Katrina Vanden Huevel comments that she thinks the media has not effectively portrayed what the people of America want to see changed in the country because up until recently the focus has been on the Tea Party movement and now Occupy Wall Street. She believes the media needs to be more expansive in its coverage of political movements.

Rocky Road to Obama's Re-Election

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article1196157.ece

In 2008 the President sweeped up 365 electoral votes, a squashing of McCain's 173, but as the election process merely begins to get heated up there are serious doubts as to whether or not Obama can even win the necessary 270 putting any land slides aside.

Florida's polls show that at the moment the President is viewed favorably by "barely" four out of ten voters and this could be a problem considering the extra electoral points Florida gained this year. Democrats are staying positive, however, crediting Obama with setting up a system from his last election so that he could even lose Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio and still manage to get the electoral vote. On the flip side though, the possibility of that happening is a very real one, and the potential loss is not just in major battleground states like those mentioned above. He also is losing popularity in the Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic. Republic strategist Carl Forti said, "You look anywhere except the northeast and the extreme left coast and Obama's got a problem...Obama currently has problems in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. All of the sudden the GOP doesn't have to get a whole lot more to reach 270."

To make matters worse for Obama, the states won by McCain in 2008 now have six more points and Pennsylvania, which although often Democratic can go either way, may have the electoral votes go to the winners of congressional districts which would break up the votes and likely keep all 20 from going to Obama (a consideration by Republican leaders in the state of course).

The Democrats are not pulling their hair out yet, though. Obama's team is once again prepping for a 50-state plan of attack to give him lots of wiggle room.  "Our goal is to build the biggest organization as possible to ensure we have the widest playing field as possible in 2012,'' says Ben LaBolt the national press secretary for Obama's campaign, "Not only does that mean not walking away from any state, but it means contesting heavily on a wider map." The Obama camp seems to be putting a lot of faith in their many volunteers as well as a growing population of Hispanics and Blacks in traditionally Republican states.

The Republicans, however, are not so confident that Obama should be as relaxed as his camp is making him out to be. Rick Wiley, the Republican National Committee political director says, "President Obama is losing ground with Democrats and independents rapidly in key battleground states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan...this free fall is requiring his campaign to try and expand the map into non-traditional states." Republican strategist Forti also believes that Obama will likely lose up to 5% of the white vote and that may not be able to recover from that loss despite his efforts in normally Republican states.

No one will know the answers to these hypotheses of course until election day actually comes but it is absolutely clear that the battle has begun among all candidates. Personally, I think Obama needs to worry about the loss of the youth vote and likely that of the minority votes. Not that they will necessarily hop the fence to the other side but there is a good chance they may not come out to vote at all. Based on the numbers of approval he is definitely going to have fight this time around.

Tea Partiers may not Love Romney, but Considering Their Selection of Candidates they may have to Offer him the Scones and Cucumber Sandwiches Anyway



http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ED-AJ347_reynol_E_20090414145152.jpg

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/13/opinion/borger-romney/index.html?hpt=op_t1

CNN's chief political analyst Gloria Borger reviews in this article the setbacks facing Mr. Romney within his own party.

After the recent GOP debates it was obvious that Mitt Romney has a very good chance at this point to become the Republican Candidate for 2012. Borger comments, "He's the best debater. He's got his issues and his rejoinders down pat. He brushes away his opponents like lint on his lapel. And all with such ease." How often do the Republicans find a candidate who doesn't seem to stumble over his own feet and has a genuinely happy, loving family, AND looks the part of American Presidential History?

But still, that doesn't seem to be enough for some. Even though candidates like McCain were falling much lower in polls at this point in the race, and numerous Republican candidates received only half-hearted support from hard-core Republicans over the years, Republicans sound to be seriously struggling to accept Romney as their guy. Perhaps they have their underwear in a bunch because Romney's healthcare plan in Massachusetts actually influenced the model for Obama's national health plan. Or maybe it is because he supported the bank bailouts saying, "Action had to be taken."

In any case, the Tea Party people are not a huge fan of Romney. They want someone more ideologically opposed to everything Obama, but the question is whether or not they will withhold support if comes down to Obama and Romney at the end of next year. Surely they could try to express their disappointment by not voting but that would make absolutely no sense if they truly want to see someone else in the WhiteHouse. Borger believes the Tea Partiers are moving into the stage of "self-selection" where the stubborn will die out and the ones more open to adjusting their criteria for a good candidate wil prevail. This idea makes sense to me and I would have to agree. It is natural for a political group to realize they may need to tone down the rhetoric and up the realism once they are actually significant enough to have an effect on the country's politics. This is a process that should happen because when it doesnt you are left with radicalist groups who, whatever side the spectrum are seriously scary and often dangerous. I hope the Tea Party as well as the Republicans decide to embrace Romney, I'd much rather have the choice between two moderates than one moderate who the country is unexcited by and one purist who cares more about the cause than the effects.

What About the "Little" People?

Getting in on convention action isn't that easy. You have to have an in with somebody already invited to it. But don't fret, getting in touch with your party and informing them of your interest can often get you a nice seat up in the very back, but hey, better than nothing. According to Mel Elfin, parties like filling up their conventions with regular folk to keep the hype up in the crowd and for the media.