It is coming down to the a few more states. President Obama has just won two swing states: Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes. Governor Mitt Romney visited the Keystone state during some last minute campaign stops. He hoped for an upset in PA, however the swing state went for Obama.
New Hampshire has 4 electoral votes. This is a relatively small state, but it is a good win for President Obama because it was a swing state.
This article was published on November 6, 2012 and written by David Jackson from USA Today.
Each candidate has been making last minute efforts to get votes in key swing states.With less than 24 hours until the presidential election, President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney have been making appearances in swing states such as Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, was in Reno, Nevada today to speak at a rally of more than 500 supporters. This stop was Ryan's second one in the last four days.
President Obama's campaign workers were handing out fliers, and making phone calls for the incumbent.
Nevada has six electoral votes and it is one of the eleven swing states. Reno is a city in Nevada that often leans Republican. Las Vegas, the state's largest city, is often solid blue.
The article was originally published, in the Wall Street Journal, on November 5, 2012. The author was Jim Carlton. This article was unbias because it stated simple facts about the candidates' campaign stops.
An ad by the group called Forecast the Facts, went viral on Youtube this weekend. The ad criticized Governor Mitt Romney for making climate change seem like a joke.
The ad uses a clip of Mitt Romney, at the Republican National Convention, mocking President Obama's goal to "slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet". The crowd erupts in laughter at Romney's comments and the ad shows footage of Hurricane Sandy hitting the East Coast at the same time. The end of the ad shows the group's message loud and clear, "Tell Mitt Romney: Climate Change Isn't a Joke." This ad is currently circulating in Ohio and Virginia.
Although Mitt Romney was heavily criticized in the ad, Forecast the Facts does not support President Obama's handling of Hurricane Sandy. Brad Johnson, a campaign manager for Forecast the Facts, stated, "We're not saying [Obama is better]. Just because we're calling out the outrageousness of Mitt Romney's deliberate cruelty doesn't mean we find Obama's silence to be anything other than a dereliction of duty."
The article was originally published in U.S. News and World Report on November 5, 2012. The author was Jason Koebler. This article was unbias because it simply reported the facts without showing the readers which candidate the author is supporting.
David Axelrod and Rick Beeson were on Fox News Sunday today.
David Axelrod is a senior advisor for the Obama campaign.
Rich Beeson is a political director for the Romney campaign.
During an discussion between Chris Wallace and Axelrod, the attack in Benghazi was mentioned. Axelrod was asked about president's response in comparison to his response to Hurricane Sandy.
"The president cancelled campaigning for three days to deal with Hurricane Sandy and he was praised for that. Why did he decide to go campaigning in Las Vegas within hours after four Americans were killed in Benghazi, in a terror attack?"
Axelrod defended the president by stating that President Obama was in a meeting with national security and remained in contact with them during the day.
The subject was then switched to the election and the electoral college. Real Clear Politics shows Obama with 201 electoral votes and Romney with 191 electoral votes.
The last hours before Election Day are important for both candidates. Governor Romney will be spending time in Florida and Virginia on Monday. Election day 2012 is 1 day, 9 hours, and 29 minutes away.
The full transcript for this broadcast of Foxs News Sunday was published on November 4, 2012.
Hurricane Sandy, which struck the East Coast Monday night, threw the Eastern Seaboard into chaos. The states that were hit include New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington D.C., and more.
Due to the path that Hurricane Sandy followed, campaigning for the Presidential Election was put on hold one week before the presidential election.
President Barack Obama cancelled all campaign stops and events and flew back to the White House on Monday night. President Obama will be spending his day holding briefings and surveying the damage that has been done in the East Coast. He held a conference call with the governors and mayors of the states that were affected by Sandy.
Governor Chris Christie, Republican governor of New Jersey, praised the president for his efforts and response to the natural disaster. He stated, "It's been very good working with the president. He and his administration have been coordinating with us. It's been wonderful." Many Republicans expressed their dismay with Governor Christie for heavily praising the president a week before the election.
Mitt Romney also cancelled his campaign events to host a storm relief event in Ohio. The relief event was held in the same place where Romney had planned to hold a campaign rally. The 2,000 attendees were asked to bring canned goods to help with the emergency efforts for the East Coast.
This article was originally published on October 30, 2012, in the New York Times. The authors are Michael Barbaro and Michael D. Shear. This article was bias toward President Obama. Although the article spoke on both presidential candidates, President Obama was placed in a more positive light.
Richard Mourdock made some controversial comments about rape and pregnancy on a Tuesday night debate.
Richard Mourdock is a Republican and the treasurer of Indiana. During a debate on Tuesday night he made a comment about rape that sparked a lot of controversy amongst the Democratic party.
"You know, this is that issue that every candidate for federal or even state offices faces. And I have to certainly stand for life. I know that there are some who disagree, and I respect their point of view. But I believe that life begins at conception. The exception I have to have on abortion is in that case-- of the life of the mother. I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something God intended to happen."
Above is the complete statement made by Mourdock. Democrats immediately accused him of saying that God intends for rape to happen. Some Republicans defended their party member, calling the Democrats accusations "ridiculous" while others called on him to apologize. "Richard and I, along with millions of Americans-- including even Joe Donnelly-- believe that life is a gift from God. To try and construe his words as anything other than a restatement of that belief is irresponsible and ridiculous
Mourdock attempted to clarify his comments, stating, "God creates life, and that was my point."
Governor Mitt Romney immediately disavowed Mourdock's comments. This is very inconvenient for the Romney campaign because Governor Romney was featured in an ad for Mourdock that was released this week. "Governor Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock's comments, and they do not reflect his views," stated Romney spokeswoman, Andrea Saul.
In the past, the presidential candidate has been criticized for his stance on abortion. President Obama has also made a statement about Mourdock's comments.
"This is a reminder that a Republican Congress working with a Republican president Mitt Romney would (feel) that women should not be able to make choices about their own health care," stated President Obama.
My source was the Washington Post. This article was originally posted on October 24, 2012 and was written by Aaron Blake. This article was unbiased and very informative.
On Sunday, October 2, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Senator Marco Rubio appeared on This Week. The topic of discussion was the policies of each candidate in the presidential election.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is a Democrat in Tampa, Florida.
Rahm Emanuel spoke about President Obama's policies in contrast to Governor Romney's policies. Emanuel pointed out that there have been 150,000 jobs, on average, created. Foreign policy and the capture and execution of Osama bin Laden were briefly mentioned. Mayor Emanuel defended the president's policies by stating, "The most important thing we have to do now is bring American troops home and battle for America's future, economically... We have to do what has worked in the past"
Mayor Emanuel accused Governor Romney of having Bush-like policies. "Mitt Romney wants to follow a set of policies that we have already seen the results, where the middle class lose and the first time in the last decade where the middle class actually lost their standard of living," stated Mayor Emanuel during the video conference.
Senator Marco Rubio is a Republican in Florida.
Marco Rubio accused Obama of giving up on establishing a plan for his next term. "The president has completely given up on outlining any sort of agenda for the future. What's his plan for the next four years?"
A chart was displayed during the video conference about private sector jobs. There were 156,800 private sector jobs created in Florida and 3,500 created in September. There was also a video clip of Obama using the term "Romnesia" to describe the candidate's inconsistent statements.
This Week broadcasted on Sunday, October 21, 2012 with host George Stephanopoulos. This discussion may not have a large impact on the election because it was simply two politicians speaking about their opinions on each candidate.
Last night was the second presidential debate and it was very interesting. The debate took place at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The two presidential candidates were surrounded by a town-hall crowd. Some of the audience members asked the candidates questions about their policies and campaigns.
President Obama changed his strategy and came out on a much stronger note. The president's approach last night caught Governor Romney off guard. The mention of the auto bailout placed Romney on defense.
The topics ranged from equality between men and women in the workforce to gun laws. The most controversial statement of the night came during the discussion about the attack in Libya. Obama accused Romney of "playing politics" with the Benghazi incident. President Obama also admitted that he took full responsibility for the incident in Libya.
Romney did a substantial amount of interrupting the moderator and the president. He also continuously backtracked to topics that were no longer being discussed. However, Romney continued win the battle on the economy.
My source was Newsweek. The article was written by Brett O'Donnell and was published on October 17, 2012. This article was slightly bias. Obama was painted as the better candidate and there were less negative comments about him.
Hillary Clinton has announced that she will be stepping down from her position as Secretary of State after her first term.
Hillary Clinton has taken the blame for the attack in Libya. "I take resposibility. I'm the Secretary of State with 60,000-plus employees around the world. This is like a big family... It's painful, absolutely painful."
The State Department will be investigating the security breach in Libya to prevent a tragedy like this in the future.
For those of you that are not familiar with the attack, it occurred on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. Initially, the attack was thought to be a protest that got out of hand, but more information was released and it was understood that this was a terrorist attack. Four American diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were murdered.
The attack in Benghazi has become a very important issue during the presidential election. It was mentioned by Representative Paul Ryan during the vice presidential debate. Ryan stated that the Obama administration ignored requests for more security. Joe Biden defended the Obama administration. The families of the four victims have requested that each campaign stop making the deaths a political issue.
My source was U.S. News and World Report. The article was written by Teresa Welsh and was published on October 16, 2012. This report seemed like it was leaning towards Obama slightly. There was still reliable information in the article.
The presidential race for 2012 has always been relatively close between Romney and Obama, but now the gap is closing between them in the Electoral College.
Two weeks ago, President Obama was in the lead with 265 electoral votes and Governor Romney had 191 electoral votes. Obama currently is still in the lead with 201 electoral votes and Romney still has 191 electoral votes. To win the presidency, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes.
The first presidential debate was the deciding factor in President Obama's significant drop in the Electoral College. President Obama's performance on October 3 caused the state of Ohio to become a tossup state once again.
However, these states are still considered tossups states:
Colorado- 9 electoral votes
Florida- 29 electoral votes
Iowa- 6 electoral votes
Michigan- 16 electoral votes
Nevada- 6 electoral votes
New Hampshire- 4 electoral votes
North Carolina- 15 electoral votes
Ohio- 18 electoral votes
Pennsylvania- 20 electoral votes
Virginia- 13 electoral votes
Wisconsin- 10 electoral votes
My source was USA Today. The article is by David Jackson and it was not bias. It was published on October 14, 2012.
On Tuesday, October 9, Mitt Romney attempted to reassure the public that he would protect tax deductions for the middle class. He also claimed that he has no plans to limit abortion with new laws.
"There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda," Romney stated to the editorial board of The Des Moines Register.
Romney's statement conflicted with the Republicans that do not support abortion. Some Republicans in Congress have sought to cut federal funding for abortions. Some of the bills that were proposed were even supported by Romney's running mate, Representative Paul Ryan.
Romney spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, made a statement that contradicted Romney. "Governor Romney would of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections for life."
Romney also said he would protect tax deductions for the middle class. In Romney's tax cut plan, he wants to lower taxes with loss in revenue due to the closure of loopholes. However, he has not specified what loopholes he plans to close. This led many to believe that he would stop popular deductions for mortgage interest and chartiable donations.
This article was not bias. It provided views of both candidates with a specific focus on Mitt Romney. Romney's statement on abortion and taxes attracted some critical attention and will be examined very closely by the public as well as many politicians.
This article is from the New York Times and is by Trip Gabriel and Helene Cooper. It was published on October 9th, 2012.
David Axelrod was a guest on yesterday's Face the Nation.
David Axelrod is an Obama campaign senior strategist. He spoke about the first presidential debate and the president's approach. Axelrod claims that the president entered the debate ready to answer questions on his policies whereas Governor Romney came to "deliver a performance".
"... He [Romney] said I want more teachers, I love teachers. It was just a few weeks ago when he stood on a platform and chastised the president for saying we needed more teachers. He said we don't need more teachers. We don't need more government..." stated Axelrod.
David Axelrod also spoke about the reasons why Obama did not mention the infamous 47 percent comment. The president did not feel the need to mention it because it has been talked about so much already. At the time, it would not have been appropriate to mention it.
In other news, the weekly job's report was released and it showed the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent.
My sources were Face the Nation, which broadcast every Sunday at 10:30 am, and Otus News (ABC news). Here is the full broadcast of Face the Nation, although I had some trouble loading the second half of the show.
On Monday, Ocotober 1, Mitt Romney was in Denver, Colorado to preview his message for the first presidential debate.
Tonight, at 9 pm the first presidential debate will air. This is a very important day for the presidential candidates because it gives the people a chance to see each candidate's ability to think on his feet.
Now, back to Romney's visit to Denver. The rally was Romney's last public event before the presidential debate. On Monday, he spoke at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum. During this rally, Romney said that the viewers of the presidential debate will be declaring a winner by measuring who throws the hardest punchest.
Lis Smith, spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, responded to Romney's comment, stating, "On Wednesday night, he will need more than 'zingers' and attacks on the president. He will need to honor his campaign's promises and get specific and tell the truth to the American people."
The GOP nominee also spoke about the president's economic management and his foreign policy. He stated, "This economy is not in recovery. We're not seeing the real recovery. The president's policies have not worked. He doesn't get that. We must get America growing again with a strong economy."
My source was the Washington Post. The article I used was by Philip Rucker and it was published on Ocotober 1, 2012. There was a slight bias in the article, however it was still very informational and reliable. You can click here to visit the article and learn more.
So apparently Mr. Michael Medved, of Newsweek, believes that the president has brought us back to the brink of economic failure, like former president, George W. Bush. According to the article from the Daily Beast, Obama's policies have a lot in common with Bush's policies.
Bush is known as the president that brought America into the recession in 2008. The 43rd president of the United States, cut taxes and raised government spending after inheriting the surplus from Bill Clinton's presidency.
During Obama's first term, the national debt increased by more than $6 trillion and the government spending rate is currently at 24.3%.
The article does encourage people to give Mitt Romney a chance. "In terms of spending, Romney not only promises a legally mandated spending cap of 20 percent of GDP (which would require massive cuts in most federal programs) but also faces a radically different situation that would make it impossible for him to duplicate the spendthrift excesses of either Obama or Bush," Medved stated in his article.
The overall message of this article is slightly bias because it compares two different presidents in a very negative light. This article is on Newsweek's website, The Daily Beast. Or you can just click here to read the full article with more statistics and information.
Barack Obama paid a visit to Bowling Green, Ohio today. Coincidentally, Obama's visit occured on the second day of Mitt Romney's bus tour of Ohio.
During his speech at Bowling Green State University, he acknowledged Romney's comments about China. Romney has been known to profit from companies that outsource jobs to China. This means that American jobs are sent to China because of cheaper labor.
Obama also mentioned the 47 percent comments as well. “I don’t think we can get very far with leaders who write off half the nation as a bunch of victims,” Obama stated.
Ohio is a key battleground state so each candidate is campaigning hard in this state to attract voters. This week is important because early voting starts on October 2nd (six more days). Polls currently show Obama in the lead in this state and with early voting starting soon, Obama is trying to gain those who vote early so they can be out of reach for Romney.
In a few days, Mitt Romney will be going dark in order to prepare for the first presidential debate. However, the bus tour was Romney's last campaign push before his debate preparations. Romney was also in New York on Tuesday where he spoke before the Clinton Global Initiative. The topics of choice were development issues and foreign aid.
My source was the New York Times. The article that I used has some more information that is interesting so check it out.
Did anyone watch Meet the Press today? I tuned in to see the discussion about the release of Mitt Romney's tax return, the debate over the 47% comments and government dependence.
The discussion on Romney's tax return included Kelly Ayotte, Republican Senator for New Hampshire, and Deval Patrick, Democratic Governor of Massachusetts. Mitt Romney's 2010 tax return was released recently and it shows that he paid a 14% tax rate while being unemployed. However the percentage is lower than the 20% tax rate that the average American pays.
The presidential candidate is promoting cutting Medicad, but does not want to raise taxes on the rich.
As you can see, there is an estimated 47 million people using food stamps now. In 2008, this amount was much lower, at about 28 million people. The new question that arises is if government dependence is out of control.
There is also a brief discussion on unemployment amongst African Americans, which is currently at 14%.
"... We see more people with health care in this country than ever before. More private sector jobs in the last two years than in the preivous eight. We've seen the automobile industry saved. We've seen the financial industry saved. We've seen the country brought back from the brink of depression..." (Deval Patrick, Dem. Governor of Massachusetts)
The next topic of interest, which was brought up at the Roundtable, was the Battleground polls and Romney's campaign. The current polls(which can be seen here), show a major difference between Romney and Obama.
Romney's campaign might be in trouble because of his unflattering 47% comments.
Bay Buchanan defends the Romney campaign, stating,"This is a man who has spent a life serving others. That is the bases of what he believes, and he has given."
You can watch the full broadcast of today's Meet the Press and listen to the debates and discussions that I have covered.
So for those of you that have not heard, an unauthorized video of Mitt Romney, speaking negatively about the Americans that don't pay taxes, was released yesterday.
Above is the video where Romney criticizes the 47% of Americans that do not pay taxes. A few hours after the video was leaked, a press conference was organized by the Romney campaign. During this conference, Romney explained his statement and told the press that he stands by his statement even though it could have been stated more "elegantly." Romney also tried to turn this slight disruption into a debate by using a video clip, from 1998, of Obama stating that he favored government redistribution of wealth.
Romney's intial comment about the "47 percent" was not what caught the attention of millions across America. He goes on to speak negatively, stating that the 47% think they are victims and are entitled to government handouts.
However, some Republicans disagree with Romney's comments. The Republican candidate for a Senate seat in Connecticut, Linda McMahon, stated on her website, "I disagree with Governor Romney's insinuation that 47 percent of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care."
Romney is slowly losing his supporters, and this could possibly affect his chances of winning the presidential election.
To read more about this event, you can go to U.S. News and World Report and here is the article that I read.
Romney and Paul Ryan claim that Obama has enforced policies that have reduced U.S. world ranking. However Obama defends his policies stating, "No matter how much the other side -- for political reasons -- tries to paint things as bleak, dont believe them. There is not another nation on Earth that wouldn't trade places with us."
However, Romney and Ryan have their own opinions about the president's policies and the effects they have on our world ranking. Romney and Ryan continuously use the unemployment rate for their evidence of U.S. decline. For those of you that don't know, the unemployment rate has been above 8% for 43 consecutive months. To see the graphical data click here.
"I think that president Obama has placed us on a path to decline. Four budgets, $4 trillion deficits, 23 million people struggling to find work, the highest poverty rates in a generation, nearly one out of six Americans in poverty," stated Ryan on ABC's This Week.
Ryan and Romney's accusations could cause a slight change in the polls. People might want to look at the unemployment rate as well as other policies that Obama has enforced. USA Today was my main source(here is the article if you want to check it out). The author was pretty unbiased for the most part, using both parties words to back up the article.
Who knew presidential advertising costed so much? Obama and Romney have been spending millions of dollars on presidential ads in the twelve swing states since March 19th. The twelve swing states and their ad totals are:
Florida --$117.4 million
Ohio --$112.1 million
Virginia --$85.7 million
North Carolina --$56.5 million
Colorado --$54.2 million
Iowa --$46.6 million
Nevada --$38.2 million
New Hampshire --$25.3 million
Pennsylvania --$19.3 million
Wisconsin --$8.1 million
Michigan --$8 million
Minnesota --$3.2 million
So as you can see Florida, Ohio, and Virginia are the top three states. Obama is leading in Florida and Ohio and Romney is leading in Virginia, but not by much.
Here is one of the ads from the Romney campaign:
Here is some of the infamous slandering that we have all encountered during past presidential elections. Now for an ad from the Obama campaign:
Obama has had help with these ads from the super PACs. The super PACs are companies that raise money to work with (or against) presidential candidates (this is new information to me).
These ads may help each candidate get exposure in swing states, but I think they could be doing something more productive with the millions of dollars they are wasting on ads that make each other look bad. Instead of wasting that money to destroy each other's reputations, they should use that money to fund some sort of small community project in the swing states.
To see where I found my information feel free to click this link. Here is another link that provided an anaylsis of the presidential ads.
