Romney Can't Keep A Good Thing Going

Well, what looked like a promising week for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, once again proved he was able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A pattern that has increasingly become the norm for the Romney campaign. The week began with his first solid primary win in Illinois, and a luke warm, but no less important, endorsement from former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Enter Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's senior campaign adviser. When asked in a CNN interview Wednesday morning whether the former Massachusetts governor had been forced to adopt conservative positions in the rugged race that could hurt his standing with moderates in November's general election. "I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes," Fehrnstrom responded. "It's almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again."


The king of gaffs, has now been out done by one of his political advisers, with devastating results. It is these type of ongoing missteps that continue to rob Romney's momentum. After a big win, he can't even escape a 24 hour news cycle without having the air let out of his balloon.

Why does this particular gaff carry ten times the power of his previous ones? I'll explain. Romney has struggled to connect with social conservatives, who don't like him personally, and basically don't trust him. He has had a terrible time trying to define his message, (whatever that is), to an electorate that is voting more against Obama, than it is for Romney. He already has a reputation for being disingenuous, pandering to groups while attempting to hit the political talking points they want to hear, regardless of what he may think on the issue.

Now take all these problems, and all the progress he has struggled to make on them in speeches, debates, interviews, rallies, and press events, and throw them all out the window. The new message is don't pay any attention what I'm telling you now, because come the general election, I'll just shake my Etch-A-Sketch, and all my previous comments and campaign rhetoric will be wiped clean. What more proof do you need to see, to recognize this man will do or say anything to become President? He has a side for every argument, and if you don't like it, he'll just shake his Etch-A-Sketch until you hear what you want to hear.

This man is most likely going to be the Republican nominee for President. He is bland, out of touch, uninspiring, and lies more than any man I've ever seen in politics. If you don't like what he has to say, like a train, a new position will come down the tracks shortly. He is a political amoeba, with no spine, or ideological core. This Etch-A-Sketch comment is going to stick to him like flypaper, and the more he fights to free himself, the worse it will be. For a candidate that has 65% of his own party wanting to press the "Reset Button" on him, this was a major blunder. Whatever political capital Mitt Romney had built up to this moment is now GONE, and that my friends is a big problem for Mitt Romney.

Republican War On Women Is Real

It is hard not to swing a cat in this country, and not hit some type of Republican legislation trying to limit women's abortion rights. The effort is both on the state, and federal level, but most of the moves have been made by Republican state legislatures nationwide. Lets look at some examples:


In Virginia, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell recently signed a law requiring women to get an ultra-sound prior to receiving an abortion. The procedure is forced on women, as well as, medically unnecessary. If you live over 100 miles from an abortion provider, you must wait 24 hours before the abortion can take place. The bill originally mandated an invasive trans-vaginal ultra-sound, but was removed after public pressure. Even Governor McDonell walked back his position on that part of the bill, mainly because of the perceived overreach by the Virginia legislature, and how it would reflect on him as a possible vice presidential nominee.

In Pennsylvania, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett endorsed that states ultra-sound abortion bill claiming that if women didn't want to see the state mandated procedure they could, "just... close your eyes." A Corbett spokesman said later his comments were taken out of context by liberals, "trying to make this into a political issue instead of stating fact." The same type of bills passed in Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Texas, are currently pending court challenges. Idaho is debating similar legislation, but is facing mounting pressure from women's groups, and my be dead, at least this year.

In Utah, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signed a law extending the waiting period for women seeking an abortion from 24 hours, to 72 hours. This same law was adopted in South Dakota, but was struck down by the courts.

In Kansas, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has said he will sign pending abortion legislation in his state. The bill would allow doctors to withhold information from their patients, and be safe from malpractice charges. It further says if the mother died during the abortion, because the doctor gave misinformation, that too was protected from legal action. Women would also be forced to listen to the heartbeat of the fetus. All tax deductions for providers, or tax credits for patients would be removed. Finally, women would be told abortions increase your risk of breast cancer, which is an out write lie, legalizing misleading and false information in the State of Kansas.

In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is backing a move by state legislators to amend the state constitution on abortion, known as the Life Defense Act of 2012, or House Bill 3808. Doctors who perform abortions in Tennessee could see their names listed online, and women who undergo the procedures could be unintentionally identified under a bill pending in the state legislature. Demographic information on patients would include age, marital status, race, number of children they currently have, and their county of residence. It would also force doctors to have a hospital affiliation in order to perform abortions, clearly a move to stop the procedure in rural areas. “I think publicizing this information will do nothing but cause serious consequences,” said state Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville. “This is dangerous. This is a dangerous piece of legislation.”

In Arizona, Republican Governor Jan Brewer is supporting a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks, raising the question of when the fetus feels pain, and would include the malpractice provisions found in the Kansas law. State Rep. Terri Proud (R-Tucson)reportedly wrote an email to a constituent saying that women should witness an abortion before having an abortion. Personally I'd like to make a law that mandates a woman watch an abortion being performed prior to having a "surgical procedure". If it's not a life it shouldn't matter, if it doesn't harm a woman then she shouldn't care, and don't we want more transparency and education in the medical profession anyway? We demand it everywhere else. Until the dead child can tell me that she/he does not feel any pain - I have no intentions of clearing the conscience of the living - I will be voting YES."
In addition to the abortion ban, the Arizona Legislature is considering bills to defund Planned Parenthood, allow doctors to withhold information from patients to prevent abortions, and to allow employers to opt out of contraception coverage for religious reasons. The contraception bill also would allow employers to demand women provide reasons for why they are using birth control and allow for firing if it is for non medical reasons.

When you look at the staggering and inventive ways the Right is using to undermine abortion rights, and women's rights in general. It hard to believe they counter this argument by saying liberals just want to scare women? Really? Liberals aren't legislating fear, misinformation, lies, public humiliation, and intrusive medically unnecessary procedures. The facts are clear, and they can put whatever kind of spin they want on it. The war on women is real, and it's being championed by the Republican Party.

Romney Scores His First Solid Win In Illinois, While Father Rick Stays Off Message

As the Republican brawl for the nomination rolls on, it would seem Mitt Romney is beginning to pull away from the pack. After a big 12 point win in Illinois last night, doubts about HOW he's going to win the nomination, are slowly giving way to WHEN. Romney continues to pile up the delegates. In Puerto Rico last Sunday, he took all of the territories 20 delegates. Although it's not real hard when Rick Santorum goes all the way down there to tell Puerto Ricans they need to speak English, hows that for a lead balloon? He got 8% of the vote, for an effort that was a true waste of his time, Romney went on to win with 83% of the vote.

Illinois teaches us a few things about Romney and Father Rick. Romney is more likely to win in traditionally moderate, general election blue states. While Santorum is more likely to win in hard core conservative red states. Where moderate, upper income, fiscal conservatives dominate, Romney does well. Where very conservative, low income, evangelical social conservative rule, Santorum wins. The problem once again, is we are traveling into a series of struggles that favor Santorum, proving yet another opportunity to steal Romney's thunder. The next Primary is this Saturday the 24th, in Louisiana, where Santorum holds a 13 point lead. To start the April contests on Tuesday the 3rd, we have Primaries in Maryland, The District of Columbia, and Wisconsin. Again in Wisconsin, Santorum leads by 18 points.

The problem for Santorum is that he's running out of time to close the gap. He can't get the 1144 he needs to win, but is he still in a position to deny the 1144 to Ronmney? It is still possible, but is becoming more elusive with each passing day. In April, the majority of the challenges will be in the northeast, which is Romney country, with the exception of the battle in Pennsylvania. April could just be the month that the math will prove too much for Father Rick to overcome. However, should he survive, May brings the contests back into his court, with 7 of the 8 encounters in the south, and mid west.

It should be noted that Santorum simply cannot lay off the hot button religious rhetoric which has made him famous. It is also clear his inability to maintain his focus on the economy, as opposed to social issues, is hurting him. He recently claimed he didn't care about the unemployment rate, that his campaign was about something bigger? Bad news for the millions still unemployed, who he has clearly given a back seat, when it comes to promoting his social conservative crusade.

Just to give you a taste of the kind of people I'm talking about, give a listen to Pastor Dennis Terry of Louisiana, who spoke before introducing Father Rick on the campaign trail. If you can stomach watching until the end, you'll see Rick Santorum just clapping away in support. So as you watch ask yourself, are these the kind of people I want running my country? These are the people Rick Santorum wants in the front seat, not the unemployed, not those focused on the economy. These people are the "something bigger" he's talking about. So when you count all the votes people have cast for Father Rick, think of Pastor Terry, and be afraid... be very afraid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgHR_jnFrvQ