Archive for August, 2011
New York Governor George Pataki addresses the final night of the 2004 Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, September 2, 2004
GOP Operative/pundit Mike Murphy discusses the possible path to the Presidency for former New York Governor George Pataki.
While most of the media have gone ridiculously aflutter over Sarah Palin’s latest diesel-powered tourist outing slash fan dance, a far more interesting caper is quietly unfolding in New Hampshire. Former New York governor George Pataki is airing a new ad on a Granite State TV station, WMUR. The ad comes from a Pataki-sponsored group called No American Debt and is perfectly attuned to New Hampshire’s flinty primary electorate. So while others are playing cat and mouse with reporters, inspecting farms in Iowa with more hogs than people and pleading with legions of self-appointed Tea Party generalissimos, Pataki is running a very effective spot in New Hampshire.
I saw it and had to smile. My bet? Pataki is going to try to steal the New Hampshire primary: First, ignore all the silly inside games and get on television pronto with a good message. Move up quietly in the polls — with Mitt Romney sitting at a third of the vote, Palin unelectable and Tim Pawlenty drifting near the margin of error, Pataki could televise his way into second or third place in Granite State polls by midsummer. Then let the national media discover the Pataki surge and get bonkers about it. With that national attention, reboot the once massive Pataki money machine in New York State and start attracting more national money and support. Light the right match, and if it combusts correctly, stand back and watch the fire grow.
If Pataki generates real heat in New Hampshire, it will create an enormous headache for Romney. The last thing Romney needs is another can-do Northeastern governor in the race. It’s even worse for the ideologically murky Jon Huntsman, who is banking on a very similar formula of independents and mainline Republicans to sore his own New Hampshire upset. In a final Shakespearean twist, Pataki’s old home-state rival Rudy Giuliani will be watching all this carefully and thinking dark thoughts about the idea of President Pataki. He too is hinting at a possible run.
I think Rudy Giuliani is waiting for Sarah Palin and will run if she gets in. Maybe Pataki has done the same political calculus.
But, there is room for only one of them and Pataki is already running ads and has no debt like Rudy.
Tags: George Pataki, Mitt Romney, President 2012, Rudy Giuliani, Sarah Palin
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These are my links for August 24th from 09:50 to 09:54:
- Sprint to Get Apple iPhone 5 – Finally! – Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the new version of the Apple iPhone in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, filling a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier's lineup and giving Apple Inc. another sales channel for its popular gadget.
The timing, however, indicates Apple's new iPhone, which is expected to be called iPhone 5, will hit the market later than expected and too late to contribute to sales in Apple's fiscal fourth quarter, which ends in September. Most observers had expected the device to arrive next month.
The deal could help prop up the nation's third-largest carrier and give AT&T Inc. more ammunition in its attempt to win regulatory approval for its proposed acquisition of No. 4 U.S. carrier T-Mobile USA Inc.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the two largest wireless carriers, measured by subscribers, will begin selling the phone in mid-October as well, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Sprint had more than 52 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter, compared with 106 million for Verizon and nearly 99 million for AT&T.
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I love my HTC EVO 3D but the wife…..
- Help Shape Obama’s (Tech) Campaign – Obama Hiring Social Media Writers – Obama for America is looking for talented social media copywriters and
strategists to join our digital team at our Chicago headquarters.
We’re going to run the most effective, creative, and innovative
digital campaign in the history of politics, and our digital team will
be core to achieving the communications, fundraising, and organizing
goals of the cause.
Our social media team will help tell the story of the campaign and
move people to take action over Facebook, Twitter, and other social
networks.
We’re looking for writers who can tell stories in 140 characters or
less, put complex policy into Facebook-friendly terms, and help plan
and create original content that people will be compelled to share
with their friends.
A great candidate will be able to formulate a social media plan for
specific goals and audiences, write content for it with a clear,
consistent voice, and analyze outcomes to make the next campaign even
better. You should have a head for politics, a sense of humor, and
buckets of common sense.
We’ll be hiring people at all levels, from social media experts to
junior staffers. So whether you’re a seasoned digital veteran or are
new to the field but hoping to apply your skills to a worthy cause, we
hope to hear from you.
If you’re right for this team, the following should all be familiar to
you:
+ Copywriting for social media
+ Online campaigning
+ Project management
+ Twitter, Facebook, and emerging social networks
+ Social media management and analytics tools
Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications; we
also offer a benefits plan.
To apply, please email your resume and a note explaining why you’d be
a good fit for our team to digitaljobs@barackobama.com.
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No thanks!
But, I have a feeling I will be writing for the GOP.
Tags: iPhone, Obama, Pinboard Links, Social_Media, Sprint
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Posted by Flap in Animals
According to the latest Rasmussen Poll.
President Obama continues to lead all named Republicans in early polling on the 2012 race for the White House, but the numbers suggest a competitive race may be possible.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows the President earning 43% of the vote if Texas Governor Rick Perry is the GOP nominee. Perry attracts support from 40%. Ten percent (10%) say they’d prefer some other candidate while seven percent (7%) are not sure.
If Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is the GOP candidate, the president leads 43% to 39%. In that match-up, 12% would prefer some other candidate and seven percent (7%) are not sure.
With former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as his opponent, the president leads 46% to 38%. In an Obama-Romney contest, eight percent (8%) would look for a third party option while nine percent (9%) are not sure.
Well, this is a different poll from yesterday where Romney was the best against Obama. But, until the debates start and the GOP field starts to winnow itself out, we will probably see some variance.
One thing is positive: GOP candidates will be competitive with Obama in 2012.
Tags: Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Polling, President 2012, Rick Perry
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These are my links for August 23rd through August 24th:
- AFL-CIO Orchestrates effort to Counter Public Opposition to NLRB’s "Quickie Election" Rules – On Monday the AFL-CIO submitted more than 21,000 comments on behalf of Americans who favor a new National Labor Relations Board-proposed “quickie election” rule change.
If the NLRB finalizes its proposed rule, the time between when union organizers file a petition and when an election takes place would be shortened to just 7–10 days. Traditionally, unionizing elections are held up to six weeks after organizers meet the petition requirements.
Union spokesman Josh Goldstein told The Daily Caller that the 21,000 comments submitted right before Monday’s deadline “were organized by the AFL-CIO, primarily through our online tools that allow the public to be engaged in these types of opportunities to have their voices heard.”
“These are separate from many other comments in support submitted to the NLRB not through the AFL-CIO,” Goldstein said in an email.
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Read it all
- How Democrats Hurt Job Creation – The airplane’s aft section arrived early Monday morning. That’s what they’d been waiting for at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. They already had the wings, the nose, the tail — all the other major sections of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner. With the arrival of the aft, the 5,000 nonunion workers in the plant can finally begin to assemble their first aircraft — a plane three years behind schedule and critical to Boeing’s future.
The Dreamliner is important to America’s future, too. As companies have moved manufacturing offshore, Boeing has remained steadfast in maintaining a large manufacturing presence in America. It is America’s biggest exporter of manufactured products. Indeed, despite the delays, Boeing still has 827 Dreamliners on order, worth a staggering $162 billion.
Boeing’s aircraft assembly has long been done by its unionized labor force in Puget Sound, Wash. Most of the new Dreamliners will be built in Puget Sound as well. But with the plane so far behind schedule, Boeing decided to spend $750 million to open the South Carolina facility. Between the two plants, the company hopes to build 10 Dreamliners a month.
That’s the plan, at least. The Obama administration, however, has a different plan. In April, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Boeing, accusing it of opening the South Carolina plant to retaliate against the union, which has a history of striking at contract time. The N.L.R.B.’s proposed solution, believe it or not, is to move all the Dreamliner production back to Puget Sound, leaving those 5,000 workers in South Carolina twiddling their thumbs.
Seriously, when has a government agency ever tried to dictate where a company makes its products? I can’t ever remember it happening. Neither can Boeing, which is fighting the complaint. J. Michael Luttig, Boeing’s general counsel, has described the action as “unprecedented.” He has also said that it was a disservice to a country that is “in desperate need of economic growth and the concomitant job creation.” He’s right.
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Read it all…..
- Nearly All Regulations Survive Obama ‘Reforms’ – The Obama administration announced regulatory reform proposals Tuesday that it claims would eliminate red tape and save taxpayers an estimated $4 billion over five years. What these reforms don't do much of is actually eliminate regulations.
An IBD review of the proposed reforms by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury found scant proposals of doing away with regulations. In nearly all cases they called for streamlining or other efforts to make them more efficient.
These efforts come amid an overall rapid expansion of federal regulatory agencies under President Obama. Their budgets have grown 16% since 2008, or about $54 billion, according to a recent report by George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis.
Cass Sunstein, White House administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, stressed in an Op-Ed that the reforms are not a fundamental overhaul: They "complement but do not displace" rules to protect public safety and the environment.
Tuesday's reform proposals by the HHS include updating communications technology, streamlining record keeping, revising health insurance portability rules, speeding grant application processes and giving states more flexibility on federal mandates.
No Scrap Heap For Rules
But few regulations will be scrapped. A rare HHS example is the end of "actuarial reporting for hospital pension costs."
Similarly, Labor proposes standardizing, revising, amending and even "harmonizing" rules and regulations. But no sign of scrapping any could be found.
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Not really a surprise.
It is Obama symbolism over substance.
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-24 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-24 #tcot #catcot
- R.I.P. John R. Hubbard – Former President of the University of Southern California » Flap’s California Blog – R.I.P. John R. Hubbard – Former President of the University of Southern California
- President 2012: Is Sarah Palin Willing to Roll the Dice? | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Is Sarah Palin Willing to Roll the Dice? #tcot #catcot
- CA-30 Poll Watch: Rep. Brad Sherman Leading Rep. Howard Berman » Flap’s California Blog – CA-30 Poll Watch: Rep. Brad Sherman Leading Rep. Howard Berman
Tags: #catcot, #tcot, AFL-CIO, Boeing, NLRB, Obama, Pinboard Links, Regulations
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Say Good Bye Sarah?
Well, is she? Because of Palin loses in Iowa and New Hampshire, she is essentially done in politics and her celebrity status is destroyed – put a fork in her Fox News gig and her huge speaking fees.
The main problem for Palin is how profoundly she’s alienated the Republican Party’s elites — the elected officials, fundraisers, political professionals, activist group leaders and commentators who help shape mass opinion on the right — since her 2008 vice presidential campaign. Instead of cultivating them and seeking to use her newfound celebrity to build a genuine national political operation, she pushed them all away, preferring to chart her own erratic course. The result has been a public relations nightmare. Relying on her own instincts, Palin has found herself in one needless, self-induced and no-win controversy after another, with virtually no opinion-shaping elites using their clout to defend her. This was best illustrated in the aftermath of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in January, which influential conservative commentators took as an opportunity to inflict serious political damage on Palin.
Palin is now saddled with a truly poisonous level of unpopularity among all voters who aren’t conservative Republicans. And even within that group, her image isn’t what it used to be. If she were to mount a campaign, she would be entirely on her own, just like she has been since 2008, and that’s a recipe for disaster.
So, if Sarah Palin runs, she will be desperate for a win. Polls over the past six months have consistently showed her behind either Romney, Bachmann, Perry and/or RON PAUL in the early primary states.
In running, Sarah will be rolling the dice and hoping not to crap out.
If she jumped in, polls would initially show her in contention, but she’d be running a structure- and discipline-free campaign with no support from GOP opinion-shapers and on a message that really isn’t unique. Republican voters who haven’t yet figured it out would realize she’s not a viable option and abandon her for a candidate who seems to have a better chance. If she were to then suffer humiliating defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire, Palin might suddenly find that the media isn’t nearly as interested in her every tweet and Facebook post as it once was.
In other words, those who just want her to go away should consider a Palin presidential campaign an investment: You’d have to deal with a few weeks (or maybe even months) of saturation coverage, but there’d be a good chance it would all end with Palin’s presence in our lives severely and permanently diminished.
Are you willing to gamble, Sarah?
Tags: President 2012, Saarah Palin
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