Catching You Up On Campaign Posts & News

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With the pace of the fall election campaign being so intense, I’m doing a link summary here to help keep readers informed who may not see items when I first post them, and would like to get caught up. These are all my 2012 campaign posts since Tuesday morning, from most recent to oldest.

Please, Media, ask Mitt: “Where Do You Stand on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act?”

What the Debate Snap Polls Looked Like this Morning

Mitt Was Dishonest on How He Appointed Women to His MA Cabinet 

How PBO Won Debate #2 

Weird Moment Today

Stunning Video on Sensata, Company Currently Suffering the Bain Treatment

Demolition Derby on Debate Day/Part II 

Demolition Derby on Debate Day

 

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Please, Media, ask Mitt: “Where Do You Stand on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act?”

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Obama for America Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter issued the following statement in reaction to the Romney campaign’s series of answers on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act:

 “It’s troubling that Mitt Romney’s campaign still can’t get their answer straight on where Mitt Romney stands on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which gives women greater ability to enforce in court their right to fair pay. From the six seconds of silence six months ago when they were first asked this question, to a top aide’s walk back of a statement last night that Mitt Romney wouldn’t have supported the law when it was passed, the Romney campaign is making what should be an easy answer extremely complicated. But, for millions of women, there is nothing complicated about it. As the President said last night, this is not just a women’s issue, it’s a family issue and an economic issue. Three weeks out from an election, the American people need a clear and final answer on whether Mitt Romney would have signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act into law – and whether or not he would sign the Paycheck Fairness Act that President Obama has been fighting for.”

As with his hidden taxes, Mitt only reveals anything when he’s under pressure to do so. On issues, either policy or personal, where he and his campaign don’t want to be swayed into doing something, even political embarrassment isn’t sufficient to compel them. But they will yield some ground on that, under pressure. The media is, as a group–if not passive–unproductive about investigations in this vein. This is one where the campaign press really ought to be able to get Mitt to say where he stands on this landmark law mandating equal pay for women.

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What the Debate Snap Polls Looked Like this Morning

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We are correctly warned by knowledgeable election-watchers not to put much trust in instant polls conducted immediately after debates as they may tend to have screwy samples, but seeing a collection of seven of them all trending in the same direction, confirms what I sensed during and after last night’s tilt between President Obama and Mitt Romney: the president was a big-time winner. Please look at this screenshot I made of a tweet by @MiddleAmericaMS, whom I thank for collecting this info. Averaging the margin by which PBO won all 7 of these surveys yields a definitive 23-point winning gap.

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Mitt Was Dishonest On How He Appointed Women to his MA Cabinet

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Not only did Mitt utter that ridiculous expression “Binders full of women,” even more substantively he fibbed in claiming that he requested his gubernatorial staff find women for him to consider for his incoming administration. David Bernstein has written about this overnight in a Boston Phoenix column:

Not a true story.

What actually happened was that in 2002 — prior to the election, not even knowing yet whether it would be a Republican or Democratic administration–a bipartisan group of women in Massachusetts formed MassGAP to address the problem of few women in senior leadership positions in state government. There were more than 40 organizations involved with the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus (also bipartisan) as the lead sponsor. . . .

Secondly, a UMass-Boston study found that the percentage of senior-level appointed positions held by women actually declined throughout the Romney administration, from 30.0% prior to his taking office, to 29.7% in July 2004, to 27.6% near the end of his term in November 2006. (It then began rapidly rising when Deval Patrick took office.)
Third, note that in Romney’s story as he tells it, this man who had led and consulted for businesses for 25 years didn’t know any qualified women, or know where to find any qualified women. So what does that say?

Because of the humor Mitt inadvertently his absurd image that evoked women somehow enmeshed in binders–which instantly grew into a hashtag and trending topic on Twitter–the saliency of his remark is likely to be heightened the fact he didn’t actually make a proactive effort to hire women, and didn’t even tell the truth in relating the (bogus) story.

H/t TPM for tipping me to Bernstein’s column.

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How PBO Won Debate #2

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I thought tonight’s tilt was a clear win for President Obama. On temperament, on substance, on connecting with the voter questioners, he was dominating and persuasive. And Romney’s utter failure of clarity on Libya gives a great set-up for the president leading in to the third and final contest, where the two men will be seated at a table in front of Bob Schieffer discussing foreign policy. Below is my Twitter feed from during tonight’s debate, from the end of the evening, on down to the beginning.

Tweets
Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
Wow, what a diff bet Debate 1 & 2! PBO was dominating, tough&strong while Mitt was testy&unappealing. A clear win for the Pres! ‪#obama2012‬

David Wilk ‏@dwilk
Chris Matthews: “‪#Romney‬ is like the guy who won’t turn off his cell phone in the plane” accurate and telling. Arrogance of monied power.
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
Ann Romney looks stricken. ‪#Obama2012‬ ‪@ofadebates‬

Michelle Goldberg ‏@michelleinbklyn
Is it just me or was that debate as bad for Romney as the first one was for Obama?
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Andrew Sullivan ‏@sullydish
Mitt’s answer to easiest question imaginable was so sad. He boasted of universal healthcare as sign of his compassion. ‪http://thebea.st/V7xk8A ‬
Retweeted by Philip Turner

27mDan Froomkin ‏@froomkin
Big finish for Obama, hanging Romney on his 47 percent comment, and no time for rebuttal
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Ryan Chapman ‏@chapmanchapman
Great last question, really. Condenses all those ads & speeches into one response. ‪#debates‬
Retweeted by Philip Turner

mmichaelhirsh ‏@michaelphirsh
Whoa. Obama saves his 47 percent ref for last … smart, effective. And no chance for comeback. He wins, no question.
Retweeted by Philip Turner

The New Yorker ‏@NewYorker
RT ‪@tadfriend‬: Obama is better when he gets angry, as he did on the LIbya question. Romney is worse. ‪http://nyr.kr/S2kXql ‬
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Chuck Todd ‏@chucktodd
Romney hasn’t been same since the Libya question and “act of terror” mistake
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Ted Strickland ‏@Ted_Strickland
The contrast between the President & Romney is stark & the POTUS made it crystal clear in tonight’s debate he is the choice‪#TeamBarack‬
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
‪@ofadebate‬ ‪#Obama2012‬ In addition to being smarmy tonight, Mitt’s been really boring. His answers are dull. PBO’s been sharp by comparison.

ben schwartz ‏@benschwartzy
“Please proceed, governor” is the new “fuck you.”
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
‪#Obama2012‬ ‪@ofadebates‬ Is there still time for the 47% to come up? Please . . .

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
“Self-deportation.” Mitt won’t own the expression.

Angela Baker ‏@bakerac1
yes! ‪@RomneysBinder‬ is already a ‪@Twitter‬ handle
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Andrew Rice ‏@riceid
Romney makes finding qualified women for executive jobs sound like taking an arduous expedition into the rainforest
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
Mitt’s little tantrums show him in a very unappealing light.‪@ofadebates‬ ‪#Obama2012‬

rachelsklar ‏@rachelsklar
YEAH KATHERINE FENTON! ‪#LilyLedbetter‬
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
“Binders full of women.” Huh? Mitt’s not making sense. ‪@ofadebates#Obama2012‬

Howard Fineman ‏@howardfineman
Mitt balanced the budget of the Olympics with federal money
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
“Of course they add up.” That’s a statement that should come back to haunt Mitt. ‪@ofadebates‬ ‪#Obama2012‬

John Aravosis ‏@aravosis
Woah, Romney’s numbers just plummeted to rock bottom among CNN’s insta-focus group while he was interrupting Candy.
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Russ Gordon ‏@CDNz1
‪@philipsturner‬ ‪@OFADebates‬ I was thinking selfish pouty child.‪#Obama2012‬
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Taegan Goddard ‏@politicalwire
Romney doesn’t do testy very well. The trend lines are sinking fast on CNN…
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Brent Colburn ‏@cbrentcolburn
At least he isn’t just interrupting the President–its the moderator, too–that coolness under pressure ‪#RealRomney‬
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
“‪@thegarance‬: Mitt Romney’s debate message to America: I do what I want, to hell with the rules. ‪#debate‬” It ain’t pretty.

Andrew Kaczynski ‏@BuzzFeedAndrew
Candy Crowley will not be Jim Lehrered.
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
Mitt’s coming off as a condescending jerk. ‪@ofadebates#Obama2012‬

Markos Moulitsas ‏@markos
I like this Obama much better.
Retweeted by Philip Turner

Philip Turner ‏@philipsturner
PBO’s on his game. Mitt seems weak, and smarmy, Also, tried gaming Candy Crowley, but she wouldn’t have it. ‪@OFADebates#Obama2012‬

 

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Weird Moment Today

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Got off the bus in midtown Manhattan today, right in front of Rockefeller Center. Walking toward my lunch destination, I suddenly noticed a familiar male face from the news. Black hair, dark complexion, very self-satisfied look on his face, even a smug expression, carrying a big shopping bag in his right hand. “Oh, jeez, it’s one of Mitt Romney’s many sons,” I realized, suddenly remembering that the Romney campaign is having a three-day NYC retreat for donors.

Update: I later established that the Romney I saw in midtown Manhattan was Craig Romney. It was a strange moment, especially seeing his smug expression.

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Stunning Video on Sensata, Company Currently Suffering the Bain Treatment

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I’ve been hearing about Sensata, one of the many manufacturing companies that Bain has wrecked, and that they’re closing their Freeport, Illinois plant and moving the jobs China. This video, made by the union of the United Steel Workers, tells the whole story from the workers’ POV in about six minutes. For a briefing on Sensata, here’s coverage from editorial writer Chuck Sweeny in the Rockford Register Star (IL). Unlike many of the wreckages created by Bain that have been covered during the presidential campaign, Sensata is unique in that the workers there have not all lost their jobs yet. Unbelievably, they have found themselves training some of their Chinese replacements. The end is supposed to come later this year, not until after the election. Watch the video, and bring a tissue.

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Demolition Derby on Debate Day/Part II

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Afternoon update to my morning post on the latest fact-check from Glenn Kessler at The Washington Post debunking Romney’s unsupported and dishonest claim that he’d create 12 million jobs in four years. Kessler gave Mitt’s claim the dreaded “Four Pinocchios” after which the Obama for America campaign released the following statement by National Press Secretary Ben LaBolt:

“In yet another instance of Mitt Romney’s campaign not telling the truth, it turns out that the numbers behind his ‘jobs plan’ just don’t add up. For months, Romney has pledged to create 12 million jobs over his first term—a number economists project will be created under current policy—but the numbers he’s cited for his claims aren’t based on evaluations of his plan and are ‘squishy’ at best. Mitt Romney thinks he can run out the clock by not coming clean about policy details, but the American people deserve the truth about his plans. And the truth is that economists have concluded that the severe cuts he would make like education, research and development, manufacturing and infrastructure could eliminate 1 million jobs and shrink economic growth by 1 percent.”

The supporting sources for his tax ‘plan’ have never squared with his rhetoric and claims. Turns out the same is true of his jobs ‘plan.’ This pretty much tells the full tale of the Romney campaign–claims not supported by evidence or the truth. Just 3 hours till debate time, it’s so clear that President Obama must indict Romney for his athletic and ambidextrous falsehoods and deceptions. Do it tonight, please!

 

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