Thursday
Mar222012
US Politics Video: Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up?
Created by Hugh Adkin, with credit to Eminem:
tagged 
Eminem, Hugh Adkin, Mitt Romney
Eminem, Hugh Adkin, Mitt Romney Entries in Mitt Romney (101)
Wednesday
Mar212012
US Politics: Romney Wins Big in Illinois (Smith)
With a decisive win in the Illinois presidential primary, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney sets his sights on the bayou where Louisiana holds the next Republican primary.
"We thank the people of Illinois for this extraordinary victory," Romney told supporters in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg. "Elections are about choices. Today, hundreds of thousands of people in Illinois joined millions of people in this country in this cause."
With 99% of precincts reporting, Romney led former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum by a 47%-to-35% margin. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was running third at 9%, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had 8%.
With the victory, Romney was poised to win at least 41 of the 54 delegates up for grabs in the state, giving him a total of 562, according to CNN's estimate. Santorum is second with 249, Gingrich third with 137 and Paul last with 69.
Tuesday
Mar202012
US Politics Feature: Can Mitt Romney "Seal the Deal" in Illinois for the Nomination?
Today, voters in Illinois get their chance to determine who will win the Republican nomination for the US Presidency.
For the last week, following Rick Santorum's victories in Alabama and Mississippi, a close race has been predicted between him and Mitt Romney, a verdict with which several polls agreed, as the former Pennsylvania Senator began to eat in Romney's large lead in Illinois. That narrative has been called into question, however, by a poll on Monday which gave the front-runner a commanding edge of 45-30 over Santorum. That poll could be wrong, of course, but it does raise the possibility that Romney at last might finally seal the deal for his nomination.
Wednesday
Mar142012
US Politics Developing: "Desperate End"? Santorum Wins Two Southern Primaries (Hanna/Helton)
Rick Santorum's speech after Tuesday night victories in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries
Rick Santorum marches forward to the next GOP primary battle with wins in Alabama and Mississippi, throwing cold water on rival Mitt Romney's prediction that his campaign was reaching a "desperate end."
Romney, rejected again by Southern conservatives in the Tuesday primaries, was battling for second place with Newt Gingrich.
The latter had staked his campaign on a Southern strategy after winning South Carolina and Georgia.
In Alabama, Santorum won 35% of the vote. Gingrich and Romney both had 29% --- although Gingrich was about 2,000 votes ahead with 99% of the vote counted -- and Ron Paul had 5%.
With 99% of the vote counted in Mississippi, Santorum had 33%. Gingrich was at 31%, Romney at 30% and Paul at 4%. Romney claimed victory in the caucuses of American Samoa, local officials said, while caucus results in Hawaii had yet to come in.
Saturday
Mar102012
US Politics Analysis: How Rick Santorum Can Defeat Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum's campaign ad attacking Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for supporting "Obamacare"
Rick Santorum's biggest advantage over Mitt Romney in these next months will be his concentrated attack on the "Big Government" philosophy behind President Obama's economic policies, exemplified in the health care proposals. Santorum can rally Republicans behind the banner of individual freedom in a way that Romney cannot. If this election year is all about the economy, Santorum is beginning to articulate a positive vision of personal economic liberty that transcends the numbers of high unemployment and low growth.
Wednesday
Mar072012
US Super Tuesday Summary: Romney "Wins", But It's Not Decisive
Mitt Romney addresses supporters in Ohio on Super Tuesday
I have just spoken with the BBC about last night's contests for the Republican nomination for President --- audio to be posted later this morning --- with the take-away points: 1) Romney may have narrowly won the biggest state, Ohio, but the race goes on; 2) Romney is especially vulnerable, if the supporters of Newt Gingrich move towards Rick Santorum; 3) it's "money" v. "motivation" --- Romney has the bankroll, but Santorum's voters are far more committed in their support.
And 4) The biggest winner on Super Tuesday? Barack Obama.
Romney wins 5 states, including Ohio; Santorum takes 3; Gingrich nabs Georgia
Paul Steinhauser and Tim Cohen, CNN
Mitt Romney won five Super Tuesday states including the big prize of Ohio, while Rick Santorum took three states and Newt Gingrich grabbed a vital triumph in Georgia, CNN projected.
Tuesday
Mar062012
US Super Tuesday Preview: Can Mitt Romney Seal the Deal for the Republican Nomination?
Mitt Romney Campaigning in OhioToday, voters in 10 states cast their ballot in the next battle among Republicans to face President Obama in November. nomination contest. At stake are approximately 450 delegates, or roughly 20% of the total, to the National Convention in August, . It is a significant number, hence the tag "Super Tuesday", but at the end of today, barring an extraordinary performance from Mitt Romney, the GOP's choice is still unlikely to have been decided.
tagged Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney Wednesday
Feb292012
US Politics Snap Analysis: Romney Wins Michigan & Arizona, But the Battle Continues
Note the significant difference in the stories below about Mitt Romney's narrow victory in the Republican primary in Michigan, his home state, and his more comfortable win in Arizona --- The Washington Post portrays the night as "an important boost" for the former Massachusetts governor, while Al Jazeera English assesses they "will do little to dispel the doubts" about Romney's campaign. Nate Silver of the website 538.com summarises, "Tonight in awkward middle ground between 'huge night for Romney!'narratives and "'boy that was close!' narratives."
The easy conclusion is that Romney did enough to prevent being stuck with a Loser label that cannot be removed but did not do enough to put away his main challenger, Rick Santorum, before the showpiece of "Super Tuesday" next week, in which voters in 10 states will make decisions.
Beyond that, the "safe" analysis might that by Chris Cilizza, published below: "Romney is — as he has been since the day he entered this race — the best funded and best organized candidate in the race. That means that Romney has the operation in place to capitalize on the boost of momentum that he should get — in terms of media coverage and donor dollars — in the wake of these two victories."
But then again, no analysis has proven "safe" in this Republican campaign....
Tuesday
Feb282012
US Politics Shocker: Suicide Leading Romney and Santorum in Polls (Borowitz)
As Republican voters go to the polls today in Arizona and Michigan, The Borowitz Report offers a stunning twist in the contest to challenge President Obama for the White House:
A new survey of likely voters indicates that in a match-up between former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, a majority would choose suicide over either candidate.
The poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, shows Mr. Romney drawing 21%, Mr. Santorum 18%, and various forms of suicide 61%.
“Throwing yourself in front of a speeding city bus” was the most popular means of suicide at 22%, with “jumping off the roof of a really tall building or bridge” coming in second at 17%.
Sunday
Feb262012
On the Road in the USA: Trees at the "Right Height", Bottle-Opening Flip-Flops, and Cole-Slaw Wrestling
However many trips I make to the US, I am always astonished by something new. Sometimes it’s the politics, sometimes it's the gadgets. More often than not, it's the culture.
Last week, Mitt Romney was campaigning in Michigan, his home state, as he tries to secure the Republican nomination for President. He looked happy and relaxed as he took the podium as he declared, “I love this state. I was born here. The trees here are just the right height.”
Sprawled on my daughter’s couch, I sprang to life. “What did he say? He did not say that, did he?” I asked those nearby. They confirmed I had heard correctly.
I needed to ask questions. Were Republican “values” to be applied to trees? Under a Romney Administration, what would happen to those states whose trees were too short, or too tall, or heaven forefend, too wide? Sadly, I could not find a GOP spokesman to whom I could address these questions, and I was too scared to go online in case the Republican Tree Police caught me and tried to have me deported.