Wednesday Open Thread [2.8.12]

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The next Republican primary contest is in Arizona on February 28th. And there is no new polling on that. So here is some Virginia polling, showing President Obama doing very well there. Meanwhile, Nate Silver thinks this primary race will now be prolonged, and Chuck Todd says we know that the economy is improving because the Republicans are reverting back to their culture war playbook.

Every Nominee Has a “Near-Death” Experience, but this is Ridiculous

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No candidate can win the nomination of either party without suffering a near death experience, a moment when the campaign suffers what appears to be a substantial if not fatal setback that would doom other less worthy campaigns. Mitt Romney's near death experience appeared to be his loss of South Carolina. At that moment, everything was conspiring against him. But he survived. And then last night happened.

The Good Ones Always Leave Us.

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First Ginger Gibson left our fine state for the Star Ledger up north, and then onto Politico. Who can forget her stellar reporting on Christine O'Donnell and her race against Mike Castle? Now Chad Livengood, who has taken Ginger's place as the premiere political reporter in the First State, is leaving the News Journal for the Detroit News, where he will be covering Republican Governor Rick Synder in Lansing. I am sure Governor Synder is going to wish Chad stayed back east.

Santormentum II: The Lubrication

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Are we really going to experience Santormentum II? We have three contests today and Public Policy Polling has polled them all: the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses, and a non-binding Missouri primary in which Newt Gingrich did not make the ballot. That fact has made Santorum the defacto conservative candidate for all right wing radicals, and proves that if one of the two Non-Romneys drop out, the right wing radicals could easily beat Romney.

The SuperPAC War is Joined

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President Obama has signaled to "wealthy Democratic donors that he wants them to start contributing to an outside group supporting his re-election, reversing a long-held position as he confronts a deep financial disadvantage on a vital front in the campaign." That is fine by me. We must do everything and anything legal we can to win this election. Super PACs are legal. We want to make it illegal in the future, but we fight in the present. We fight in reality, not fantasy.

Sign the Petition, Send Them Back to the Rock They Should Be Hiding Under

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On Facebook, there is a page called "One Million Moms". This is an effort by the American Family Association that exists to mobilize conservative women to push back on advertising and products that they think are too gay friendly -- or as they put it "standing up for their children". This Facebook page is a cesspool of hate speech, mostly focused on gay people, but if you are The Other, you are not spared here. This group recently has started campaigning against JC Penney, who is advertising on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

Monday Open Thread [2.6.12]

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"The biggest victim of [Friday's] blowout jobs report -- aside from the millions of Americans who still lack jobs, of course -- is Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Romney has rested his entire case for election on the sluggish economy... [I]t's all Romney has. Obama remains personally well-liked. Romney is personally unpopular. The Republican Party is extremely unpopular. Obama has had no major scandals, and his foreign policy has been highly successful to date... He simply has to keep plugging away at his theme, because his only real winning scenario involves winning on the back of a bad economy."

Christine Might Have to Get a Job

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Christine O'Donnell's political action committee, ChristinePAC and her Senate campaign have a combined $35,100 at the end of 2011. With such a paltry sum in an election year, I think it is safe to assume that Christine will not be a losing candidate again in 2012. With the poor reception her book received, and how hilariously her endorsement of Mitt Romney played out, Christine O'Donnell may also be finished as a national talking head. I mean, aside from losing statewide campaigns in spectactular fashion, being a guest on Fox News is the only thing she is really qualified to do. If Wingnut Welfare cuts her off, what is she to do?