Two Michigan newspapers back Romney

Two Michigan newspapers back Romney

Mitt Romney claimed endorsements today from two newspapers in Michigan, his native state where he is focusing his wounded presidential bid.

The Grand Rapids Press, in its editorial, says that Romney and John McCain would both offer "solid leadership," but "when it comes to Michigan's challenges and needs, the passion and knowledge of Mr. Romney tip the scales in his favor."

In its endorsement, the Oakland Press also cites Romney's ties to the state and says he "certainly has the credentials to run the country."

McCain, however, has endorsements from the state's two largest newspapers -- the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News -- in his pocket.

The Arizona senator, Romney, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee are leading the field heading into Tuesday's Republican primary. McCain and Huckabee are also battling in South Carolina, where Republicans vote four days later, but Romney has pulled his advertising from South Carolina to marshal his resources for Michigan.

I think Romney should move on and try to win other states. He already has support from Michigan and he should worry about other States. If he takes his time the other candidates are going to get to the other states before him. He has a lot of work to do so that he won't fall behind.

McCain defies odds in make- or-break win

McCain defies odds in make- or-break win

TWO months ago US commentators were writing John McCain's political obituary; after his win in the Republican primary in New Hampshire he is being lauded as the best chance for America's next Republican president.

Throughout the week supporters have chanted: "Mac is back, Mac is back" at his rallies.

On Tuesday night they were shouting it with jubilation, and with good reason. Senator McCain's resurrection is something of a political miracle.

Senator McCain began the race mid-last year as the favorite - a well respected war hero, who survived six years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. The experience broke his body and ruined his first marriage but Senator McCain survived and now uses that experience to illustrate his strength of character.

As a senior Republican senator he has had a reputation for speaking his mind and doing what he considers right, a characteristic that earned him enemies within his own party but respect from the media and many of his Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle. For example, he opposed George Bush's tax cuts in 2000, arguing that they were unfunded and unaffordable, although he eventually accepted them.

He also ran for president in 2000 against Mr Bush, so was the better-known of the candidates. New Hampshire was the high point of his 2000 campaign, which he won with nearly 50 per cent of the vote.

But as 2007 progressed a series of events saw him plummet in the polls. The chief reason was his co-sponsorship of legislation, supported by the White House, to deal with the 12 million illegal immigrants in the US. Senator McCain proposed tightening up the borders but providing a pathway for those already there.

Critics screamed that it was amnesty by another name and the bill was dropped. His immigration stance could come back to haunt him in the Midwest, but balanced against that is his reputation as a staunch supporter of the Iraq "surge" and his military background.

The turnaround in Senator McCain's fortunes began before Christmas. He and other senators who had served in Vietnam took a strong stand against the practice of waterboarding, describing it as torture.

It was one example of how he would speak his mind even if it meant going against his president. Like Barack Obama, he has marketed himself as telling people the truth, something that seems to be resonating with Republican voters.

Meanwhile, Senator McCain zeroed in on New Hampshire as the place that would make or break him in the 2008 race.

Like Senator Obama he has pursued independent voters as well as registered Republicans. But he has also won Republicans, who said in exit polls that they saw him as the strongest leader in times of war and terrorism. That is bad news for Rudolph Giuliani, who also hopes to win voters looking for a leader in troubled times.

I'm not surprised that he is doing better. I would rather have him win instead of Giuliani. When we were doing the questions for all the candidates i found out a lot of negative things on GIuliani. I didn't know that McCain was a prisoner of war when he was younger. I think he will also be a descent candidate but all of my support is still on Obama.

CBS Poll: Obama Leaps Ahead In N.H.

CBS Poll: Obama Leaps Ahead In N.H.

(CBS) Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has opened up a seven-point lead on Hillary Clinton among New Hampshire voters on the eve of that state's primary, according to a new CBS News poll.

Among likely Democratic primary voters, Obama leads Clinton 35 percent to 28 percent with John Edwards getting 19 percent in the poll. The poll re-interviewed the same group of voters that CBS News surveyed in November. In that poll, Clinton led Obama 39 percent to 19 percent with Edwards getting just nine percent support.
[...]
By winning the Iowa caucuses, Obama appears to have put questions about his electability to rest for many New Hampshire voters. Forty-two percent in the latest poll said they believe Obama has the best chance of winning the general election, up from just 11 percent in November. In the earlier poll, 72 percent gave Clinton the best chance of winning but 41 percent of those same voters now say so.

And Obama has a large lead among self-described independents, an important block of voters in New Hampshire. Forty-one percent of independents support Obama, compared to just 24 percent who say they are backing Clinton. Clinton maintains a slight lead among Democrats, 33 percent to 30 percent for Obama. More than four in ten likely voters who say they will vote in the Democratic primary are independents.
[...]
On the Republican side, CBS News reached too small a number of Republican primary voters from the November poll to create a reliable estimate for that race. On the individual level, however, John McCain picked up supporters from other candidates, while Mitt Romney lost some of his November supporters. Mike Huckabee’s win in Iowa did not seem to gain him many new voters in New Hampshire.

I am not surprised by the way things are going. I never believed in Hilary. She got too much fame at first and now I'm not surprised that people are starting to get tired of her and lose faith in her. I'm glad that Obama is doing better than her. He deserves the presidency more than her.

Is Clinton's campaign beginning to falter?

Is Clinton's campaign beginning to falter?

WASHINGTON — The thing about clichés is that they're true. A week really is a long time in politics. It actually isn't over till it's over.

Two month ago, pundits and prognosticators, including this one, believed Hillary Clinton's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination was virtually unassailable.

She led her nearest rival by 30 percentage points in national polls. She was also ahead, though by narrower margins, in the opening states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

And she enjoyed substantial support among the elites within the Democratic Party and the leadership of labour, African-American and women's groups.

Barring cataclysm, it seemed impossible to imagine any of the other Democratic candidates overcoming such formidable obstacles.

Two months later, the New York senator remains favoured to win the nomination. The organization is still there; the endorsements continue to flow - including, over the weekend, the highly prized endorsement of the editorial board of the Des Moines Register. And she still leads her nearest rival by 20 percentage points in the national polls.

But there are cracks. Two Iowa congressmen have endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Oprah Winfrey delivered tens of thousands of supporters to events in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, where Mr. Obama gave some of his strongest speeches of the campaign.

In those crucial first states, Ms. Clinton's lead has vanished. She and Mr. Obama are essentially tied in the polls, and in Iowa former North Carolina senator John Edwards follows close behind.

I think Hilary is going to lose. Obama has a lot of support, specially a lot from Oprah, and i think that will be enough for him to be able to win. I think that come the elections, everyone is going to get tired of her.

Clinton made an elementary error on Obama

Clinton made an elementary error on Obama

It's one thing in politics to cite an opponent's record when criticizing him.

But it’s quite another to cite his Permanent Record—the legendary, indelible and largely mythical account of all that we do as schoolchildren.

Yet that’s just what the campaign of Democratic presidential contender Sen. Hillary Clinton did Sunday, issuing a spitball of a news release that alluded scornfully to an essay that primary opponent Sen. Barack Obama wrote when he was in kindergarten.

Referring to an old Associated Press story that quoted Obama’s former teacher, the release informed us that, “In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled ‘I Want to Become President.’”

The news release also noted that the Los Angeles Times has reported that Obama’s third 3rd-grade teacher recalls him writing “I Want To Be a President” in response to an assignment asking students to write an essay titled “My dream: What I want to be in the future.”

I called the Obama campaign’s Chicago headquarters on Monday: “I’m checking into rumors that your candidate used to write his R’s backwards,” I said. “Will you confirm or deny?”

Spokesman Ben LaBolt refused to go anywhere near the penmanship issue.

“All I’ll say is that we’re preparing for the charge that Obama flip-flopped when he decided in second 2nd grade that he wanted to be an astronaut,” LaBolt said.

Is there paste-eating in Obama’s past? Pigtail-pulling? The chewing of gum in school when he didn’t bring enough for everyone?

Clinton’s lucky that the late-night TV comics are on hiatus due to the writers’ strike, otherwise this blunder would launch a thousand jokes, each one portraying Clinton as desperate and ruthless as she tries to regain momentum in Iowa from the surging Obama.
[...]

But then came Team Clinton’s triumphant yet ill-advised and thoroughly absurd mention of Obama’s boyhood fantasies, and with it an “I’m rubber and you’re glue moment for Obama:

I may be ambitious, but at least I don’t dig for dirt in my opponents’ elementary school files.

[...]

But we also know an opportunity to crack wise when we see one: “I want to confess to all of you right now,” candidate John Edwards told reporters Monday in Waterloo. “In third 3rd grade, I wanted to be two things: I wanted to be a cowboy, and I wanted to be Superman.”

But did he ever play hooky? If he climbs in the polls, the Clinton campaign is going to want to know.

I think Hilary is stupid for doing that. She's desperate and needs a life. I'm not shocked that she went that low. So what if he wanted to be president when he was small?! She should worry about herself and stop doing stupid things.

This Time Around, Edwards Is Talking Tough

This Time Around, Edwards Is Talking Tough

(CBS) If you think of John Edwards as a sunny candidate with a positive tone, things have changed, CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports. Listen to him on the campaign trail now, where he sounds like a man looking for a fight.

"Hell yeah I'm confrontational and I'm not ashamed of it," Edwards said. "We need a fighter in the White House."

In the Democratic debates, no one punches harder, especially when the target is front-runner Hillary Clinton, who accuses Edwards of throwing mud.

"She continues to defend a system that does not work, that is broken, that is rigged, and is corrupt," Edwards said.

[...]

Critics say he's changed from four years ago when he was known for his smiling disposition and his refusal to go negative. "If you are looking for the candidate that'll do the best job of attacking the other candidates, I'm not your guy," Edwards said then.

Now, Democratic rival Chris Dodd says: "I am surprised at just how angry John has become. This is not the same John Edwards I once knew."

But Democratic strategist Steve McMahon says that with Clinton and Barack Obama running so strong, Edwards has no choice but to turn up the heat.

[...]

In New Hampshire today, Edwards insisted his message is still positive. It's not anger, he says - it's passion.

"What voters want to see is that what you stand for, what you believe, comes from within here," he said, pointing to his heart, "that it doesn't come from just your head."

At first i didn't know who this guy was. Now i know who he is and how he acts. I like him. I think he would be a good candidate. I like him more than i like Hilary. I think he would do a better job at being president. I think it is interesting how he changed his attitude and the way he talks. He is showing that he will not be pushed around and he will put a fight.

Clinton lags behind top 5 GOP presidential rivals

Clinton lags behind top 5 GOP presidential rivals

US Democratic presidential forerunner Hillary Clinton lags behind all five top Republican rivals in general election match-ups, according to a poll released on Monday.

Clinton would lose a general election to Republicans Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mike Huckabee by three to five percentage points in a head-to-head race, the survey by Zogby Interactive showed.

In July, Clinton held a five point lead in the same poll over Giuliani, edged out McCain by two points and had a clear lead over other contenders.

[...]

Clinton's top Democratic contenders, Barack Obama and John Edwards, still hold narrow leads over the Republican candidates in a hypothetical 2008 race, the survey showed.

"It all points to a very competitive general election at a time when many people think the Democrats are going to win the White House," Zogby said.

I am surprised and at the same time glad by these news. I don't think Hilary should win. I don't like her. I want Obama to win and the fact that she went down is good. I think she talks too much trash and she is not a very good candidate.