Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

Brett Kimberlin

These are my links for May 23rd through May 24th:

• Walker Looks Likely to Avoid Recall – Up By 5 and 8 points in different polls | Scott Walker Looks Likely to Avoid Recall #tcot
• Michelle Malkin » S.E. Cupp, Hustler, and the four stages of conservative female abuse – S.E. Cupp, Hustler, and the four stages of conservative female abuse #tcot
• Bomber Turned Left Wing Activist, Brett Kimberlin, Tries to Silence Conservative Opposition- Tip of the hat to Michelle Malkin, whose May 23 column does one of the best jobs I’ve seen of laying out the convoluted tale of a low-level Democratic activist named Brett Kimberlin and his attempts to shut down those who criticize him. She applies the “disinfectant of sunshine” to a seamy story that deserves mainstream play.Brett Kimberlin, subject of the book Citizen K, is the Speedway Bomber. If that is not familiar to you, you might remember him as the man who claimed he sold Vice President Dan Quayle drugs. Kimberlin is also, now, decades later, a left of center activist, former Independent Music Awards Industry Judge, involved in organizations getting Tides Foundation and Heinz Family Foundation grants, and is back in the media for harassing and bullying anyone who mentions his past.
• Leftist Blogger’s Criminal Past Raises Questions About His Real Intent- Even before his release from prison 10 years ago, Brett Kimberlin had learned a lesson that has served him well: If you publicly accuse a well-known political figure of crimes or misdeeds — even without proof — publicity and money will follow.Kimberlin, a convicted bomber and drug dealer, learned that lesson in 1988, when he claimed from his prison cell that he had been Dan Quayle’s marijuana dealer in college. The claim got a lot of attention because Quayle was running for vice president of the United States at the time.Now, 22 years later, Kimberlin has taken that lesson and made unfounded accusations a profession of sorts. Using two popular leftist blogs, the 56-year-old from Bethesda, Md., has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from the public and left-leaning foundations by promising to put conservatives he disagrees with in jail, often with offers of large rewards. So far — without success — he has called for the arrest of Karl Rove, Andrew Breitbart, Chamber of Commerce head Tom Donohue, Massey Energy Chairman Don Blankenship and other high-profile public figures.A review of tax filings for Kimberlin’s blogs, “Velvet Revolution” and “Justice Through Music,” raises troubling questions about whether his “nonprofit” operations are dedicated to public activism — or are just a new facade for a longtime con artist.
• Obama Spends $20 Mil In Taxpayer Money To Tell Taxpayers How Great ObamaCare Is- The Obama administration just inked a $20 million deal with PR firm Porter Novelli to help promote ObamaCare. Why do they need to promote a law that was supposed to get more popular once it passed?According to news accounts, the multimedia campaign is mandated by ObamaCare as a way to educate the public about how to stay healthy and prevent illnesses.Right. Like another $20 million will make a difference on top of the avalanche of public health news already out there.A Health and Human Services official let slip the real reason, telling Roll Call that the PR effort is meant “to inform the American people about the many preventive benefits now available … as a result of the Affordable Care Act.”

  In other words, this is more about burnishing ObamaCare’s image before the election than meeting some public health imperative.

• Republicans’ Hispanic problem — in 2 charts- New data from an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll that show President Obama leading former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney by 34 points among Hispanics set off a new round of speculation about whether Republicans can win in November if they can’t narrow that margin.And rightfully so. But focusing just on 2012 actually underestimates the depth of the political problem for Republicans when it comes to the Hispanic community.In short: Republicans’ Hispanic problem didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be able to fix it overnight either. That means that regardless of what happens in 2012, Republicans need to find ways to begin growing their support among Hispanics, or they run the risk of struggling to build majority national coalitions in 2016, 2020 and beyond
• Rove: Romney’s Roads to the White House- On Tuesday, Gallup’s seven-day tracking poll had Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tied at 46%. With the incumbent stuck below 50% on the ballot and Mr. Romney’s favorability rising, the Republican challenger has a good shot at winning.To take the White House, Mr. Romney needs 270 votes in the Electoral College. A “3-2-1″ strategy will get him there.
• Obama leads big with Latinos- Less than six months before November’s presidential election, President Obama enjoys a sizable lead over Mitt Romney among Latino voters, according to a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo poll of Latino respondents.The challenge for the Obama campaign, however, will be turning out these voters, who aren’t as interested in the election as all other Americans are.
• Actually, the Obama spending binge really did happen- Until Barack Obama took office in 2009, the United States had never spent more than 23.5% of GDP, with the exception of the World War II years of 1942-1946. Here’s the Obama spending record:– 25.2% of GDP in 2009– 24.1% of GDP in 2010– 24.1% of GDP in 2011

  – 24.3% (estimates by the White House ) in 2012

  What’s more, if Obama wins another term, spending—according to his own budget—would never drop below 22.3% of GDP. If that forecast is right, spending during Obama’s eight years in office would average 23.6% of GDP. That’s higher than any single previous non-war year.

• Florida (FL) Poll * May 24, 2012 * Mack Has Big Lead In Florida G – Quinnipiac University ? Hamden, Connecticut – RT @FixAaron Poll shock of the day: Quinnipiac shows Mack 42, Nelson 41 in #FLSEN. #tcot
• First Read – NBC polls: Obama edges Romney in three key battleground states – RT @conncarroll so MSNBC has Obama over Romney in VA and FL by an identical 4 points 11 point diff from Q Poll #tcot
• Has recall election made Scott Walker a GOP hero? – Robin Bravender – POLITICO.com – RT @politico: Leading POLITICO: Has the recall election in Wisconsin made Gov. Scott Walker a GOP hero?
• First Read – NBC-Marist polls: Dems have slight edge in three key Senate races – RT @mpoindc NBC/Marist: OH: Brown 51, Mandel 37 — VA: Kaine 49, Allen 43 — FL: Nelson 46, Mack 42 #tcot
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-24 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-24
• Russia tests new missile, in warning over U.S. shield- Russia tested a new long-range missile on Wednesday that should improve its ability to penetrate missile defense systems, the military said, in Moscow’s latest warning to Washington over deployment of a missile shield in Europe.The Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) was successfully launched from the Plesetsk facility in northwestern Russia and its dummy warhead landed on target on the Kamchatka peninsula on the Pacific coast, the Defense Ministry said.The new missile is expected to improve Russia’s offensive arsenal, “including by increasing the capability to overcome missile defense systems that are being created”, the ministry said in a statement.Russia opposes a missile shield the United States and NATO are deploying in Europe, saying it will be able to intercept Russian warheads by about 2018, weakening Moscow’s nuclear arsenal and upsetting the post-Cold War balance of power.
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Updated: Americans Have Mixed Views of Vice President Joe Biden But Swing State Voters Disapprove – Updated: Americans Have Mixed Views of Vice President Joe Biden But Swing State Voters Disapprove
• HP plans to cut 27,000 jobs, plow savings into R&D | Business Tech – CNET News – HP plans to cut 27,000 jobs | Business Tech – CNET News
• Political Cartoons / Oh Nancy…….. – Oh Nancy……..
• HP plans to cut 27,000 jobs | Business Tech – CNET News – RT @CNETNews: HP now plans to lay off 27,000 employees by 2014 as part of CEO Meg Whitman’s official turnaround plan
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Americans Have Mixed Views of Vice President Joe Biden – Americans Have Mixed Views of Vice President Joe Biden
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 23, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 23, 2012
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks Independent Challenge – CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks Independent Challenge
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: May 23, 2012 – The Morning Drill: May 23, 2012
• Romney Narrows Obama Fund-Raising Edge – NYTimes.com – Not surprising as Romney starts to pull away…RT @justin_hart: Yep! Romney edging Obama on fundraising. -
• Flap’s California Morning Collection: May 23, 2012 – Flapsblog.org » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Morning Collection: May 23, 2012 #tcot #catcot

According to the latest Gallup unemployment poll.

U.S. unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, declined slightly to 8.2% in mid-May from 8.3% in April. Gallup’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 8.5% in mid-May, down slightly from 8.6% last month.

These results are based on Gallup Daily tracking interviews conducted over the 30 days of April 16 to May 15, including interviews with 30,236 U.S. adults, 67.5% of whom are active in the workforce. Gallup’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate incorporates the adjustment used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in the same month of the previous year.

On an unadjusted basis, the mid-May unemployment rate, if sustained the rest of the month, would represent a new monthly low in unemployment since Gallup began tracking it daily in January 2010, down from the previous low of 8.3% recorded last month and from 9.2% last May.

Incorporating the upward seasonal adjustment of 0.3 percentage points that the BLS applied last May yields a seasonally adjusted rate for mid-May of 8.5%. This is substantially higher than the seasonally adjusted monthly low of 7.9% for Gallup’s U.S. unemployment rate in January of this year, but significantly lower than the 9.5% in May 2011.

Nothing earth shattering here with the unemployment rate.

A big drop is what the Democrats and President Obama’s re-election campaign wants, but I do not think this will happen anytime soon.

Underemployment is also down slightly.

Gallup’s U.S. underemployment measure, which combines the unemployed with those working part time but looking for full-time work, is 18.0% in mid-May, compared with 18.2% in April. The underemployment rate declined to as low as 18.0% last July but changed direction in August. It increased to 19.1% in February before plunging to 18.0% in March and 18.2% last month.

So, what this mean?

There is slow American economic growth and American businesses may be holding back because of either the upcoming election or the Supreme Court’s ruling on ObamaCare.

Also, in a warning sign for the government, unemployment numbers may have improved a little, simply due to the fact that long term unemployed people have stopped looking for work.

Moreover, there is also considerable variance of Gallup’s unemployment numbers and those released by the Obama Administration. Go figure.

Gallup’s unemployment measurements now and in April stand in sharp contrast to those the government provided. The BLS reported an April unadjusted unemployment rate of 7.7% and an adjusted unemployment rate of 8.1%. These findings were generally seen as inconsistent with the state of the economy and the findings of the BLS payroll survey. There were not enough jobs created last month — even after the size of the workforce declined — to lower the unemployment rate as much as the government reported.

It is possible that the government’s unemployment numbers for May could revert back to the Gallup trend, as occurred in March and during much of late 2011. Still, there was a considerable gap between Gallup’s results and those of the government in February and April. Regardless, Gallup’s preliminary unemployment numbers for May, based on continuous daily measurement, show a slight improvement compared with April.

These are my links for May 15th through May 16th:

• Regina’s Work in Progress: Environments Plus: We Are Attending NeoCon – RT @reginacordell: Environments Plus: We Are Attending NeoCon
• Romney Leads By 8 Points in North Carolina- Mitt Romney has moved out to an eight-point lead over President Obama in North Carolina after the two men were virtually tied a month ago.The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Tar Heel State shows the putative Republican nominee earning 51% of the vote to Obama’s 43%. Two percent (2%) like some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided
• California : The war of the few against the many – If there was a familiar feeling to Gov. Jerry Brown’s warning of a $16 billion hole in the 2012-13 budget and his release of an ostensibly severe spending plan, there should have been. It was quite similar to the spiels we’ve gotten almost every spring from governors for the past decade, whether it was Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Gray Davis – a plea for higher taxes, a call for more cuts to health and welfare programs, small impositions on state workers, short-term accounting tricks, but no plan that leads to a downsized, sustainable state government without a structural deficit.
• Is Pennsylvania In Play for November? Maybe- I never include the Keystone State in my list of presidential swing states for November. Am I making a mistake? Possibly.There are plenty of reasons to leave the commonwealth of Pennsylvania off any list of the most competitive states that will decide the next president.While the 2000 national election split the country almost down the middle — then-Vice President Al Gore (D) beat George W. Bush (R) in the popular vote by one-half of 1 percent —Pennsylvania went for the Democrat by more than 4 points.
• Fordham piece called Elizabeth Warren Harvard Law’s ‘first woman of color’- Elizabeth Warren has pushed back hard on questions about a Harvard Crimson piece in 1996 that described her as Native American, saying she had no idea the school where she taught law was billing her that way and saying it never came up during her hiring a year earlier, which others have backed up.But a 1997 Fordham Law Review piece described her as Harvard Law School’s “first woman of color,” based, according to the notes at the bottom of the story, on a “telephone interview with Michael Chmura, News Director, Harvard Law (Aug. 6, 1996).”The mention was in the middle of a lengthy and heavily-annotated Fordham piece on diversity and affirmative action and women. The title of the piece, by Laura Padilla, was “Intersectionality and positionality: Situating women of color in the affirmative action dialogue.”
• Doug Hampton’s plea could hurt John Ensign- — An independent group favoring Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney is launching a $25 million, monthlong advertising campaign in 10 states against President Barack Obama, further escalating an expensive TV ad war in presidential battlegrounds six months before Election Day.Crossroads GPS plans to open the effort Thursday by spending $8 million on a TV ad that castigates Obama on the economy by using his own words against him.”We need solutions, not just promises,” says a 60-second commercial that’s to run in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
• Crossroads GPS Launching New Anti-Obama Ad Campaign- — An independent group favoring Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney is launching a $25 million, monthlong advertising campaign in 10 states against President Barack Obama, further escalating an expensive TV ad war in presidential battlegrounds six months before Election Day.Crossroads GPS plans to open the effort Thursday by spending $8 million on a TV ad that castigates Obama on the economy by using his own words against him.”We need solutions, not just promises,” says a 60-second commercial that’s to run in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
• Deb Fischer wins in Nebraska GOP Senate race – In a dramatic, come-from-behind dash to the finish line late Tuesday evening, state Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine laid claim to the Republican Senate nomination. Her late surge, perhaps unprecedented in modern-day Nebraska political history, upended a Senate race that appeared to be settled as recently as 10 days ago with the GOP prize within the grasp of Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. Fischer suddenly gained momentum with late endorsements from 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Lincoln, then rode the momentum of a weekend TV ad blitz mounted by Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts and his political action committee.
• Democratic Poll Shows Romney and Obama Nearly Tied in Wisconsin – A newly released PPP/Daily Kos poll shows President Obama and Mitt Romney locked in essentially a dead-heat in Wisconsin — where Obama beat John McCain by 14 percentage points in 2008. The poll (which was taken shortly after Obama came out in favor of redefining marriage) shows Obama with 47 percent support and Romney with 46 percent support. The previous PPP/Daily Kos poll from Wisconsin, taken a month ago, showed Obama leading Romney by 6 points (50 to 44 percent).
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-16 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-16
• Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS – Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS
• Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS – Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS
• Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS – Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS
• World News – Cross-border methamphetamine trade booms amid Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’ – World News – Cross-border methamphetamine trade booms amid Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’
• Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS – Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS
• World News – Cross-border methamphetamine trade booms amid Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’ – RT @frontlinepbs: Mexico seized 22 #meth labs in 2007. That number increased to 206 in 2011.
• PJ Media – RT @PJTatler: Gallup: Obama Approval Rating Above 50%…in a Whopping 10 States #tcot
• Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS – Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS
• Deb Fischer wins Nebraska Senate race – David Catanese – POLITICO.com – RT @politico: Deb Fischer has won the Nebraska Republican Senate primary.
• Untitled (http://www.oregonlive.com/special/oregonian/meth/pdfs/1003meth_abuse.pdf) – RT @frontlinepbs: How does #meth purity affect abuse trends? @SteveSuo explains: His chart: #F …
• Interviews – Steve Suo | The Meth Epidemic | FRONTLINE | PBS – RT @frontlinepbs: How does #meth purity affect abuse trends? @SteveSuo explains: His chart: #F …
• Analysis: Gay marriage decision not working in Obama’s favor so far – latimes.com – RT @latimes: Analysis: Gay marriage decision not working in Obama’s favor so far
• 2012 Edition — Top 10 Dentists in Social Media- You may be a dental expert when it comes to treatments and procedures, but does your expertise carry over into the social aspect of your practice? Are you a Facebook aficionado or are you still trying to figure out what a “tweet” even is? Last year, we compiled a list of who we thought were some of the top dentists in social media. These dentists go the extra mile to interact with their patients and spread the latest dental news, so we wanted to honor them again this year. With some new additions and some returning favorites, these dentists not only excel in the dental world, but the social media world as well. Check out why we chose these well-connected dentists to make the top 10 list this year. 1. Dr. Gregory Cole. Returning from lastyear is the California-based dentist and blogger, Dr. “Flap” Cole. Dr. Cole consistently updates his Flap’s Dentistry Blog with all the latest news in the dental industry and other current events in health (and that’s not even his only website!). His posts are very informative and thorough. He continues to be a part of the Twitter and Facebook community, updating frequently for more than 36,000 Twitter followers.
• Nebraska Secretary of State – Election Night Results – May 15th, 2012 – RT @michellemalkin: NE Secretary of State website with updated GOP primary results==>
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Michael Ramirez on the Obama Gay Marriage Flip Flop – Michael Ramirez on the Obama Gay Marriage Flip Flop
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » President 2012 Poll: Romney Leads Obama With Women – President 2012 Poll: Romney Leads Obama With Women
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: May 15, 2012 – The Morning Drill: May 15, 2012
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 15, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 15, 2012
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Day By Day May 15, 2012 – No Quarter – Day By Day May 15, 2012 – No Quarter

The result comes from the CBS-New York Times Poll about which I posted here.

Here is a more formal post about Mitt Romney’s poll lead.

President Obama’s claim that the GOP is mounting a war on women has proven to be a failure. A month into his assault on the Republicans and Mitt Romney, the new CBS-New York Times poll shows that the GOP presidential candidate now leads among women–and men.

Since April, women have gone from strongly backing Obama to endorsing Romney. In April, Obama held a 49 percent to 43 percent lead among women. That has now flipped to 46 percent backing Romney with 44 percent for Obama, an 8-point switch.

Ironically, Romney’s support among men has dropped, but he still edges Obama 45 percent to 42 percent.

And here’s a surprise: Despite the media hyping the so-called war on women, no major outlet today noticed Romney’s new lead with women voters.

And, I love the Matt Drudge dig…

These are my links for May 14th through May 15th:

• Obama campaign: New York Times poll is ‘biased’- Obama campaign deputy manager Stephanie Cutter dismissed today’s CBS/New York Times poll showing that 67 percent of people believed Obama made his decision on gay marriage for political reasons. Only 24 percent said that Obama did it “mostly because he thinks it is right.”Host Chuck Todd asked Cutter about the poll, admitting that the methodology of the poll was different, because it was a callback poll. “Put those caveats aside thats a lot of people saying that he did this for political reasons,” Todd said, noting that it was a 3-1 margin.”We can’t put the methodology of that poll aside, because the methodology was significantly biased.” Cutter insisted on MSNBC this morning.

• Cell Phone Ban Keeps Obama Fundraisers Secret – In the latest attempt to crack down on potentially embarrassing digital leaks from presidential fundraisers, President Barack Obama’s campaign has begun asking donors attending small fundraisers with the president to turn over their cell phones before entering.
  Pool reporter David Nakamura of the Washington Post reported that at a $35,800 a head fundraiser at the home of Blackstone COO Hamilton “Tony” James in New York City Monday night, the 60 attendees were asked to place their phones in plastic bags by the door.
  An Obama aide called the move it “standard operating procedure,” but veterans of a range of other campaigns said they’d never heard of the practice, which is common in secure White House spaces where there are concerns of espionage, but unknown in contexts in which only political secrets are discussed. The new prevalence of sophisticated audio and recording capacities in mobile devices owned by virtually anyone wealthy enough to write a check to a political campaign, however, has put a new pressure on campaigns concerned with staying on a public message.
  The fundraising sessions are one of the last vestige of privacy for the president outside of the White House, and a rare opportunity for top donors to hear relatively unscripted remarks by the most powerful man in the world, and to ask him questions. Obama’s prepared remarks at the events are open press and covered by a small group of reporters, but the “press pool” is escorted out of the room before the Q&A period.
• Brace, brace. Dark times ahead as Greece heads for the exit – Mistakenly, they have convinced themselves that it won’t much matter if Greece leaves, and indeed that it might even help resolve the wider crisis to get rid of this persistent thorn in the flesh.
  Bring it on, they mutter callously; it will be a lot worse for them than for us. On one level, this is just bravado. It’s an attempt to put as nonchalant a face as possible on the now apparently inevitable. But they also seem to believe in their validity of their own analysis – that they have indeed used the past two years well, and are now fully prepared for a Greek exit.
  Believe it if you will. The ineptitude to date of the eurozone’s crisis response strongly suggests a different conclusion – both that the likely contagion from an exit has been hugely underestimated, and that by prompting a wider breakup, thereby tipping Europe into depression, it may end up as bad for everyone else as it is for Greece.
  The Greek problem has been consistently misdiagnosed and mismanaged right from the start. First there was the suggestion a year ago from Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy that if Greece didn’t buckle under and agree austerity it might be chucked out. Markets reacted logically by selling bonds in any country that looked vulnerable, thereby making it much harder for all periphery governments to fund themselves.
• Jerry Brown vs. Chris Christie- In his January 2011 inaugural address, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared it a “time to honestly assess our financial condition and make the tough choices.” Plainly the choices weren’t tough enough: Mr. Brown has just announced that he faces a state budget deficit of $16 billion—nearly twice the $9.2 billion he predicted in January. In Sacramento Monday, he coupled a new round of spending cuts with a call for some hefty new tax hikes.In his own inaugural address back in January 2010, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also spoke of making tough choices for the people of his state. For his first full budget, Mr. Christie faced a deficit of $10.7 billion—one-third of projected revenues. Not only did Mr. Christie close that deficit without raising taxes, he is now plumping for a 10% across-the-board tax cut.
• One by One, Obama Targets ’08 Coalition for Boost- President Obama is attempting to shore up the 2008 coalition that helped him achieve a decisive victory over John McCain, but he is doing so in a more piecemeal way this time around.As an incumbent, Obama’s method is to target various constituencies — albeit ones that supported him four years ago — and make the sale with this argument: On the issues they care most about, he has advanced specific policies to help them, programs opposed by the Republican Party and its presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney.
• How Romney will respond to Obama’s Bain attack -
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-15 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-15
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26: Democrat Super PAC Spending More for Julia Brownley – CA-26: Democrat Super PAC Spending More for Julia Brownley
• Paul won’t campaign in any more states – The Hill’s Ballot Box – RT @StevenErtelt: BREAKING: Ron Paul calls it quits. Suspending campaign.
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Scott Walker Leads in New Poll: 52% Vs. 43% – Scott Walker Leads in New Poll: 52% Vs. 43%
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 14, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 14, 2012
• The Left Is Getting Clobbered on Twitter- We are in the early stages of the 2012 campaign season, with a lot of battlespace preparation going on. In the skirmishing so far, one perhaps surprising media advantage has become clear: the right is clobbering the left on Twitter.Maybe it’s because Twitter puts a premium on brevity and cleverness. I don’t know. But for some reason, it seems to be a natural medium for conservatives. We saw it when the Hilary Rosen interview (“Ann Romney never worked a day in her life”) prompted a Twitterstorm. We saw it again when #ObamaEatsDogs exploded, and when #Julia blew up in the White House’s face like an exploding cigar. Currently, the White House is promoting #AskMichelle, where loyal Democrats can go to ask the First Lady a question. Only nearly all of the questions have come from conservatives.
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: All Smiles Dental Files for Bankruptcy – All Smiles Dental Files for Bankruptcy
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Day By Day May 14, 2012 – Knockout – Day By Day May 14, 2012 – Knockout

President Obama and Mitt Romney

According to the latest CBS-New York Times national poll.

Mitt Romney holds a 3 percent lead over President Obama nationally in the latest CBS News-New York Times poll.  Romney took 46 percent in the poll, compared to Obama’s 43 percent. The 3 percent difference is within the poll’s 4 point margin of error.  Obama and Romney were tied at 46 in the same poll conducted last month.

The president’s endorsement of same-sex marriage has dominated the headlines recently, but the poll found the economy will be the most important issue to voters in the fall. Sixty-two percent said the economy was the most important issue, while the deficit was a distant second at 11 percent. Only 7 percent said same-sex marriage was the most important issue in the election. President Obama’s job approval rating has been hovering around break-even, and is at 48 percent approval and 48 disapproval, according to the poll.  Romney continues to lead Obama among independents, 43 to 36, while Obama leads among moderates, 50 to 39.

This is a good poll for Mitt Romney and to be so close to Obama with the campaign barely starting demonstrates the President’s vulnerability. This election is ALL about the economy and jobs and Obama’s pivot to gay marriage has to be viewed as a cynical attempt to change the national discourse.

It hasn’t and it won’t.

Mitt Romney’s campaign has demonstrated a discipline, unlike McCain’s and will stay like a laser beam trained on the economy.

These are my links for May 10th through May 14th:

• Three Different Ways to Look at the 2012 Campaign- Last week, I wrote about the standings in the presidential race and said it looked like a long, hard slog through about a dozen clearly identified target states, much like the contests in 2000 and 2004. Call it the 2000/2004 long, hard slog scenario.But I said there were other possible scenarios. I can think of three.
• California Deficit Swells to $16 Billion, Governor Says -
• Euro Officials Begin to Weigh Greek Exit as Euro Weakens -
• President Obama, the Auto Dealer Layoff King – By Jim Geraghty- The Obama campaign has decided that thisweek’s Bright Shiny Object TM will be the folks laid off while Mitt Romney was running Bain Capital.Because President Obama has never laid anyone off… oh, wait:

  President Obama’s auto task force pressed General Motors and Chrysler to close scores of dealerships without adequately considering the jobs that would be lost or having a firm idea of the cost savings that would be achieved, an audit of the process has concluded.

• Mitt Romney’s mantra: Avoid John McCain’s mistakes- Mitt Romney and his top aides are building a strategy, partly by design and partly because of circumstance, around what they consider John McCain’s disastrously run campaign in 2008.The strategy: whatever McCain did, do the opposite.
• Obama Ad To Attack Romney On Bain Years- A new ad critical of Mitt Romney’s years as the leader of a private equity firm is set to air in five battleground states starting on Monday, according to The Associated Press.The ad is part of a larger effort by the Obama campaign to attack one of Romney’s strengths: his business career. In addition to the two-minute ad, a longer six-minute web video can be found on a new interactive website, romneyeconomics.com, that criticizes Romney’s record. The Obama campaign will also hold a press conference call later Monday announcing the effort.The two-minute television ad focuses on the fate of a steel mill in Kansas City, Mo., allowing laid off workers to tell their stories. “They made as much money off of it as they could. And they closed it down,” says Joe Soptic, a steelworker for 30 years, in the ad. Jack Cobb, another worker, adds: “It was like a vampire. They came in and sucked the life out of us.”

  The ad will air in Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Colorado.

• Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – 8 miles are done = ready for Pasadena Half Marathon next Sunday. (@ Ronnie’s Diner)
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-13 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-13
• Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – With Alice, Tara and Bev after the Revlon run/walk. (@ Ronnie’s Diner w/ 3 others)
• Gregory Flap @ EIF Revlon Run Walk For Women LA – foursquare – With Alice, Tara, Nancy and Bev, walking to fight cancer (@ EIF Revlon Run Walk For Women LA w/ 79 others)
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-12 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-12
• Six in 10 Say Obama Same-Sex Marriage View Won’t Sway Vote – A majority of Americans, 60%, say President Barack Obama’s newly announced support for same-sex marriage will make no difference to their vote. Twice as many say it will make them less likely to vote for Obama as say more likely, though roughly half of the “less likely” group are Republicans who probably would not support Obama anyway.
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-11 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-11
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26: Democrats Continue to Pound Linda Parks – CA-26: Democrats Continue to Pound Linda Parks
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 10, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 10, 2012
• Gregory Flap @ Patsaouras Transit Plaza – Union Station – foursquare – Waiting to take Alice to her birthday office luncheon. (@ Patsaouras Transit Plaza – Union Station)
• Obama gay marriage support seen as world precedent – Yahoo! News – Obama gay marriage support seen as world precedent
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: May 10, 2012 – The Morning Drill: May 10, 2012