Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

Map from Larry Sobato

These are my links for May 30th through May 31st:

• Obama and Romney Neck and Neck in Nevada- In the battle for Nevada’s six electoral votes, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are very competitive.  Obama receives 48% to 46% for Mitt Romney, among registered voters in Nevada including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate.  One percent supports another candidate, and 5% are undecided.“President Obama is nowhere near the twelve percentage point victory he had in Nevada four years ago, but at 48%, he remains within striking distance to carry the state,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.  “Drilling down into the numbers, there is a gender gap and a generational divide which may tell the story on Election Day.”
• Obama and Romney Tied in Iowa- In Iowa, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are in a dead heat.  Among registered voters including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate, Obama receives 44% while Romney garners the same proportion — 44%.  Two percent support another candidate, and 10% are undecided.“Both Obama and Romney are far from fifty percent in Iowa and have a lot of ground to cover,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.  “But, Obama’s supporters are less enthusiastic and less interested than Romney’s, and this poses a special problem for the incumbent president.”
• Obama and Romney Vie for Lead in Colorado- President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are neck and neck in Colorado, a state Obama won by nine points in 2008.  Among registered voters statewide including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate, Obama receives 46% to 45% for Romney.  One percent plans to vote for someone else, and 8% are undecided.“This is a state George W. Bush carried in 2000 and 2004 and has trended Republican in party registration since 2008,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.  “President Obama broke through four years ago and is countering the partisan difference this time by being plus ten among independents.”
• NBC-Marist polls: Obama, Romney deadlocked in three key states- President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney are deadlocked in three key presidential battleground states, according to a new round of NBC-Marist polls.In Iowa, the two rivals are tied at 44 percent among registered voters, including those who are undecided but leaning toward a candidate. Ten percent of voters in the Hawkeye State are completely undecided.In Colorado, Obama gets support from 46 percent of registered voters, while Romney gets 45 percent.

  And in Nevada, the president is at 48 percent and Romney is at 46 percent.

  These three states are all battlegrounds that Obama carried in 2008, but George W. Bush won in 2004.

• Humor / The Blame game…. – The Blame game….
• Health / NYC Mayor Bloomberg bans “Big” Soda – NYC Mayor Bloomberg bans “Big” Soda
• Political History / Historical photo: John F. Kennedy Jr. salutes his father’s coffin along with the honor guard. – Historical photo: John F. Kennedy Jr. salutes his father’s coffin along with the honor guard.
• The Associated Press: AP Exclusive: Calif. 9/11 fund raided for deficits – RT @amandacarpenter: AP: California is raiding a fund intended to help victims of 9/11 to pay for deficits
• Quote of the Day – RT @politicalwire: Biden says he’s been “assigned to” PA, DE, OH, IA, NH and FL. Possible additions: VA, NV, NC…
• Elizabeth Warren acknowledges telling Harvard, Penn of Native American status- Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren acknowledged for the first time late Wednesday night that she told Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania that she was Native American, but she continued to insist that race played no role in her recruitment.“At some point after I was hired by them, I . . . provided that information to the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard,’’ she said in a statement issued by her campaign. “My Native American heritage is part of who I am, I’m proud of it and I have been open about it.’’Warren’s statement is her first acknowledgment that she identified herself as Native American to the Ivy League schools. While she has said she identified herself as a minority in a legal directory, she has carefully avoided any suggestion during the last month that she took further actions to promote her purported heritage.
• Berkley, Heller Neck-and-Neck in New Poll – Hotline On Call – RT @HotlineReid NV SEN: Heller (R) 46, Berkley (D) 44. Berkley only up 6 in Clark Co., Heller up 12 in Washoe #tcot
• Republicans Target Dental Bill That Private Equity Hates #FB- The likes of Jeb Bush, William Frist, Tommy Thompson and Haley Barbour aren’t typically heard from in the office of Thom Tillis, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives.Yet the four Republican Party stalwarts, none of them a Carolina resident, have contacted Tillis’s office over a little- known bill to toughen state regulation of dental companies. They’ve been joined by Grover Norquist , the Tea Party favorite and anti-tax crusader who heads the Washington, D.C.-based Americans for Tax Reform.“It’s not terribly common to have these types of names” intervening on a state bill, said Jordan Shaw, a spokesman for Tillis.

  Their interest marks the Tar Heel State as the front line in a national struggle over dental management companies. Fueled by Wall Street money, at least six such firms are under scrutiny by two U.S. senators and authorities in five states over allegations that they soak taxpayers through excessive Medicaid billings, abuse patients via needless treatments and run afoul of laws that say only licensed dentists can practice dentistry.

• News from The Associated Press – Nanny State RT @AP Don’t supersize that: NYC wants to ban sale of extra-large sodas and other sugary drinks: -ldh
• Nanny State Eatch: Bloomberg Plans a Ban on Large Sodas- New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces – about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle – would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.
• MSNBC host: NYC big soda ban a ‘great idea’- On MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning, co-host Mika Brzezinski defended New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to ban sugary drinks larger than 16 oz. from restaurants.”I think it’s a great idea,” she said. “Does anyone want to challenge me on that?”Brzezinski added that there was no reason for kids to get large drinks, pointing out that the large drinks were like “drinking a big glass of sugar, of poison.”

  “Does anyone think their kid should drink this entire thing in the course of the day? How about every day? How about three times a week?” she asked during the segment. “Well, guess what’s happening out there? That’s what’s happening. And that’s why the majority of the nation’s children are obese.”

• Riehl World View: (Video) MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Exposed, Feels Cheapened Over Man Crush On Obama – RT @DanRiehl: (Video) MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Exposed, Feels Cheapened Over Man Crush On Obama
• First Read – NBC-Marist polls: Obama, Romney deadlocked in three key states – RT @HotlineJosh New NBC/Marist polls: Romney 44, Obama 44 (IA); Obama 46, Romney 45 (CO), Obama 48, Romney 46 (NV)
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-31 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-31
• Republicans introduce their own version of Dream Act – Washington Times – Panderbear to Hispanic Voters: Republicans introduce their own version of Dream Act #tcot
• Sports / What every poker player covets….. – What every poker player covets…..
• Sports / The Vin Scully bobblehead…. – The Vin Scully bobblehead….
• » Hundreds of Cherokees form new group to challenge Elizabeth Warren – Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion – Hundreds of Cherokees form new group to challenge Elizabeth Warren #tcot
• (404) http://t.co/3 – RT @LATimescitybeat: New USC/Times poll shows CA voters back Brown’s tax hike plan — but question if $ will be used well: …
• Poll: Romney gains 21 points in favorability among female voters – The Hill’s Ballot Box – RT @thehill: Poll: Romney gains 21 points in favorability among women
• Soul Mate
  - YouTube – New Romney web video: Soul Mate: On World Multiple Sclerosis Day, Ann Romney and her family share their thoughts
• Walker Maintains Lead in Wisconsin Recall Race – Marquette Law School Poll in WI shows Gov. Scott Walker leading challenger Tom Barrett 52% to 45% among likely voters
• Auto Jobs: Sign of the Times – US Business News Blogs – CNBC – Drudge Headline: At Hyundai plant in Montgomery, Al more than 20K people have applied for one of the 877 job openings
• Ted Cruz Favored in Runoff for Texas Senate Seat in Major Tea Party Upset – RT @BreitbartFeed: Ted Cruz Favored in Runoff for Texas Senate Seat in Major Tea Party Upset #tcot
• The Page by Mark Halperin | Romney Closes Favorability Gap – ABC News/ WAPO Poll: Romney up on Favorability and Obama slips among women voters #tcot
• The Promise of America
  - YouTube – Romney campaign releases new web video: The Promise of America #tcot
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26: Will Republican Voters Game Tony Strickland? – CA-26: Will Republican Voters Game Tony Strickland?
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 30, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 30, 2012
• Tusk Demands U.S. Response to Obama Death Camp Remark- Bloomberg – Polish Premier Demands U.S. Response to Obama Death Camp Remark
• Obama Nazi death camp gaffe ‘hurt all Poles’: PM – Yahoo! News – Obama Nazi death camp gaffe ‘hurt all Poles’: PM

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

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 9th through May 10th:

• Gay Marriage Reversal Means Cash For Obama- President Barack Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage carries a political cost, but it also means floods of cash from wealthy gay donors and disillusioned young people eager to be inspired by him again.After three years of political compromise on issues from health care reform to spending cuts, Obama delivered a surprise gift to what many of his core supporters view as the civil rights issue of the day, simply by saying what everyone assumed he believed. But the distinction between implying a change and saying it outright will more than symbolic in the crucial area of campaign fundraising. Already, gay donors, mostly men, reportedly constitute 1 in 6 of Obama’s top fundraisers known as bundlers. And in the first 90 minutes after the news broke Wednesday, the campaign received $1 million in spontaneous contributions, a Democrat told BuzzFeed.“This is beyond unifying — it’s electrifying,” said Eugene Sepulveda, a former top bundler who withdrew to take a non-political job early this year. “This man stands for right, despite the political consequences.”

  And for a class of disillusioned progressive mega-donors, many of them gay, the completion of Obama’s “evolution” is an invitation reason to return.
  “I think the people who were disappointed by the president’s failure to support marriage quality will now have that barrier removed for them,” said Jeff Soref, a longtime Democratic activist in the gay community.

• A gay marriage political crisis, not ‘evolution’- There is a lot of fawning media coverage of President Obama’s new support for gay marriage. There is serious discussion of how he “evolved,” and there are serious timelines being prepared by the Obama apologencia that earnestly track his “evolution.” The only problem is they don’t put “evolution” in quotation marks to highlight the cynical doubts that Obama’s conversion deserves. There is every reason to believe that this decision was made because Obama thinks it serves his current selfish political interests. He characterizes his politically expedient flip-flop as a theological “evolution.” The reality is, his political trajectory has stalled and he “evolved” into a desperate political situation.The path to his final “evolution” and telling the truth about how he really feels about gay marriage don’t ‘t just reveal his changed thinking, it perfectly matches his political needs at every step of his ambitious career. Let’s pause before we do any planning for an expansion to the eventual Obama monument on the Mall.Reality check: Obama manipulated gay voters, kept them at a distance and hoped they would settle for the occasional wink and a nod. But he has found himself in a campaign with dwindling enthusiasm and a narrowing electoral map; he needs this group’s enthusiastic support and high turnout in November.
• Obama gay marriage support seen as world precedent- President Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday that he supports gay marriage boosted the hopes of gay rights groups around the world that other leaders will follow his example, though opponents denounced his switch as a shameless appeal for votes.Several countries, including Canada, Spain and Argentina, allow same-sex marriage, but far more countries ban it and dozens even prohibit consensual same-sex relations. Gay-rights groups hope Obama’s views will inspire more change.”This is incredibly important, it’s excellent news. The United States is a global leader on everything, and that includes gay rights,” said Julio Moreira, president of the Rio de Janeiro-based Arco-Iris gay rights group. “This will force other nations like Brazil to move forward with more progressive policies.”

  Vatican and other religious officials didn’t comment, but political leaders and others opposed to gay marriage excoriated Obama. In particular, politicians tied to Pentecostal and Catholic churches have spoken out strongly against same-sex marriage in Latin America.

• The Facts: Gay Marriage Didn’t Tilt 2004 Election – President Obama’s stand today in support of gay marriage has unleashed much conversation surrounding the political impact of his statement and the effect it could have on the electoral map and election this November.   And part of this discussion has repeated a myth that I have tried to dispel before and will try again.
  The gay marriage initiatives in 2004 on the ballot in 11 states had no discernable effect on turnout among conservatives.  Yes, that’s right,  none.  Not even in Ohio, which was a swing state in 2004 won in a close contest by former President Bush.
  Today, the myth is repeated over and over that Bush beat Kerry in Ohio in part because of the gay marriage initiative on the ballot.  The facts and data simply do not support that conclusion.
  Yes, conservative turnout was up in Ohio by five percentage points.  It was also up five percentage points nationally.  And if you look at the conservative turnout increase in the 11 states verses the other 39 states that didn’t have gay marriage on the ballot,  the conservative turnout was up exactly the same.
• President Obama jumps off the gay marriage fence- President Obama’s announcement Wednesday that he was done “evolving” and now supports same-sex marriage was, in retrospect, inevitable. Vice President Joe Biden made it so Sunday, when he remarked almost casually that he had grown “comfortable” with gay marriage.Biden’s comfort level made Obama the nation’s least comfortable politician, tied up in a knot of convoluted positions that he had hoped voters on both sides would overlook.He opposed state laws like the one passed in North Carolina this week denying same-sex couples the right to wed. But even as he opposed anti-marriage laws, he didn’t support pro-marriage laws.
• Biden blamed; politics drove timing- Joe Biden just might go down in history as the guy who forced Barack Obama to publicly announce his private support for gay marriage.But the vice president is no hero in the West Wing, and administration officials are struggling to cast Obama’s truly historic — and risky — announcement as something more than an election-year shotgun wedding.
• Romney stands by his opposition to gay marriage- Mitt Romney on Wednesday reaffirmed his view that marriage should be restricted to one man and one woman, highlighting a sharp contrast with President Barack Obama.Obama declared his unequivocal personal support for same-sex marriage during an interview with ABC News. Reporters asked Romney about the issue after a campaign event in Oklahoma City.”My view is that marriage itself is between a man and a woman,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told reporters. He said he believes that states should be able to make decisions about whether to offer certain legal rights to same-sex couples.
• Obama’s Marriage Act- Congratulations to President Obama for matching his public policy with what everyone already knew were his private beliefs. His statement Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage spared the public the ruse of waiting until after the election to state the inevitable.First his Justice Department refused to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, and then Mr. Obama had said his views on the subject were “evolving.” The Beltway chatter now is that Vice President Joe Biden’s public support this week for gay marriage had cornered Mr. Obama into his own change of heart. But as with pretty much all Presidential actions lately, you don’t have to be a cynic to wonder about Team Obama’s political re-election calculations.Everyone agrees that the election’s number one issue is the U.S. economy. Insofar as it’s not really possible for Mr. Obama to change that subject, he can at least give the chattering classes something else to write about. This qualifies. During a political cycle when few besides Rick Santorum wanted to talk about social issues, Mr. Obama has now reinserted one of the hottest into the debate.

  One school of political thought holds that gay-rights issues typically hurt the person who raises them first. But perhaps the Obama campaign calculates that in a close election he will need a passionate base and that this will drive liberal and youth turnout in such important and evolving states as Virginia, Colorado, New Hampshire and New Mexico. On the other hand, Mr. Obama looks like he has just solved that problem Mitt Romney supposedly has with rousing cultural conservatives.

• Obama gay marriage stance could win younger voters, lose others -- President Obama’s unexpected announcement on Wednesday that he supports gay marriage ignited his political base but risks a backlash with independent voters in swing states.Supporters on the left were particularly fired up by Obama’s shift, but political observers pointed to Tuesday night’s vote in North Carolina, where voters overwhelmingly opted to define marriage as legal only between one man and one woman, as proof the decision could come back to haunt the president.
• Another Ohio Poll Shows Obama, Romney Tied- In its second look at the presidential race in the pivotal battleground state of Ohio this month, a Quinnipiac University poll released early on Thursday confirms that President Obama and Mitt Romney are in a virtual tie in the Buckeye State.Obama leads Romney in the poll by a single point, 45 percent to 44 percent, well within the poll’s margin of error. Twelve percent of voters would vote for another candidate, would not vote at all, or are undecided. In last week’s poll, Obama led Romney, 44 percent to 42 percent.
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-10 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-10
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: American Dental Association: Dentist Incomes Are Falling – American Dental Association: Dentist Incomes Are Falling
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » President Obama Evolves and Now Supports Gay Marriage – President Obama Evolves and Now Supports Gay Marriage
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 9, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 9, 2012
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26: Julia Brownley Flip Flops on Support for Israel? – CA-26: Julia Brownley Flip Flops on Support for Israel?
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: May 9, 2012 – The Morning Drill: May 9, 2012
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Day By Day May 9, 2012 – Language – Day By Day May 9, 2012 – Language

These are my links for May 4th through May 7th:

• Germany says renegotiating EU pact ‘not possible’- The German government on Monday ruled out reworking the European Union’s fiscal pact despite calls to do so by French president-elect Francois Hollande.”It is not possible to renegotiate the fiscal pact,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference.He noted that 25 of the 27 EU member states had already signed the accord imposing strict budgetary discipline in March after major wrangling.

  Hollande has called for a shift in strategy toward more growth-oriented measures including more public spending.

  But Seibert said Merkel would not accept “deficit spending” to feed economic expansion, and believed in “growth through structural reforms” such as reducing the cost of job creation as pursued by Germany over the last decade.

  Yet he dismissed suggestions that the apparently conflicting policies would put Merkel on a collision course with Germany’s closest ally, insisting she was ready for an open dialogue.

  “We will see what proposals and ideas he has and go from there,” Seibert said, referring to Hollande.

  He noted that Merkel was also a firm believer in promoting growth as a path out of the debt crisis.

  “Growth is not a new issue but rather the second pillar of our fiscal policy, and not just since yesterday,” he said.

• Hollande faces battle with Berlin over growth- Fresh from the election campaign, president-elect Francois Hollande faces a new battle with France’s European partners, in particular Germany, to add a growth pact to balance the EU’s new compact on strict budgetary discipline.The handover of power by Nicolas Sarkozy should take place by May 15 at the latest, but the Socialist will immediately begin consultations with EU partners on his emblematic campaign initiative, according to his advisors.The goal is to advance the proposal on a growth compact to the stage of a memorandum that would be transmitted to European capitals for consideration by the end of the month.

  The fiscal compact treaty requiring cutting deficits and debt was signed at the beginning of March by 25 EU states and has already been ratified by several.

• Socialist Hollande triumphs in French presidential poll- François Hollande has won France’s presidential election, giving the country its first Socialist president in almost two decades, exit polls showed Sunday.According to Ipsos polling institute, the left-wing candidate took 51.7% of the vote to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy’s 48.3%.Celebrations are underway at the iconic Place de la Bastille in central Paris, the same spot where the last Socialist to win a presidential election, François Mitterrand, celebrated his first victory back in 1981.
• Vice President Marco Rubio? -
• Twitter plays outsize role in 2012 campaign -
• Fortune 500 2012: Annual ranking of America’s largest corporations from Fortune Magazine -
• Schwarzenegger vs. GOP, for old times’ sake -
• Why the Obama Campaign Is So Confident About Beating Romney -
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/Fullosseousflap/stickers/amc/the_killing_keylela?s=ts&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I unlocked the The Killing: Keylela sticker on @GetGlue!
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-06 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-06
• Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – Only 10 miles for me today, but it was sunny for a change. (@ Ronnie’s Diner w/ 2 others)
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-05 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-05-05
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » California FPPC’s Ann Ravel Backs Off Blogger Campaign Disclosure – California FPPC’s Ann Ravel Backs Off Blogger Campaign Disclosure
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26: Democrat Super PAC Up With Ad for Julia Brownley – CA-26: Democrat Super PAC Up With Ad for Julia Brownley
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Michael Ramirez: Barack Obama’s Forward? – Michael Ramirez: Barack Obama’s Forward?
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » In-Sen: Richard Mourdock Leads Sen. Richard Lugar By 10 Points – In-Sen: Richard Mourdock Leads Sen. Richard Lugar By 10 Points
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: May 4, 2012 – The Morning Flap: May 4, 2012
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Economic Growth Stalls as Unemployment Decreases to 8.1% – Economic Growth Stalls as Unemployment Decreases to 8.1%
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: May 4, 2012 – The Morning Drill: May 4, 2012