Following a week and a half of Democrats either piling criticism on President Obama’s first debate performance or making excuses for it, few could question that tonight the Country’s microscope was squarely focused on our 44th President.  Would he over-correct and turn voters off by being too aggressive?  Would he be able to effectively go on the attack in the Town Hall format?  How will he handle personal questions from the very people struggling due to “his” anemic economy?

After the dust settled tonight, not only were these questions and the 11 questions the audience asked answered—we might have just gotten the answer to the biggest question of them all.  Let’s jump right in.

President Obama (Art Smith)

Last night’s debate proved to be much …

A large majority of Americans believe the media is highly biased and favors Democrats—and they are correct.  One of the most blatant examples of this occurred last week, when a hot mic caught an exchange between two major media journalists preceding a Romney Press conference (if you have not seen this story yet click here).

To hear the media pre-plan, and then carry out, what amounts to a journalistic carpet bombing of Romney was outrageous.  The flip-side of this conduct of course is that President Obama is never exposed to such behavior (or hardly any tough questions).  Furthermore, when political problems do crop up, they are rarely magnified and seem to have the half-life of a may fly.

The following is, in order of …

The news last week that recently hired Yahoo News Washington DC Bureau Chief David Chalian was fired for a truly unbelievable “hot mic” moment was bad enough–but digging into his background re-enforces the mess that likely awaits Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan come debate time.

Chalian was fired for yucking it up with fellow reporters by saying that “They (Republicans) are not concerned at all.  They are happy to be having a party while black people are drowning (Hurricane Isaac).”  You can hear the “hot mic” comment here along with the, almost as disturbing, huge laughs this got from the reporters he was talking to.

In an earlier piece, I made the point that the folks selected to moderate the three Presidential debates and …

Lost in the sea of coverage following Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate, was the news that the moderators for the three Presidential debates, and one VP debate, were also selected.

There is a certain kind of news one receives that falls into the category of “this may or may not be bad—but it can’t be good”.  For Republicans, learning of the moderators that will be at the helm for these four debates certainly earns this distinction.

In order of appearance they are- Jim Lehrer (PBS News Hour), Martha Raddatz (VP Debate-ABC News), Candy Crowley (CNN), and Bob Schieffer (CBS News).

Since the Romney campaign had to sign off on each moderator, it is hard to imagine that they could not …

As regards Romney’s pick of Paul Ryan as a running mate, I tend to agree with David’s initial reax; “Bring it on”. I look forward to the VP debates, which should be the highlight of the campaign for me. As Ace said on Twitter, the other day,

Let’s face it, no one picks Joe Biden for his brains. They pick him for his ability to casually insult different races without consequence.

Romney/Ryan

The VP debate will be a blood bath. Aside from the fact that Biden has the IQ of the average horse dropping, there’s a 27 year gap between Ryan and Biden. That’s the largest in 108 years, for VP candidates. I wonder if in the target rich environment that Obama /Biden presents, …

Being the fastest growing group of Americans in our evenly ideologically divided country means that Hispanic-Americans will have a disproportionately larger impact on the November elections than their percentage of the population suggests—and it has the absolute potential to spell defeat for down ballot Republicans and Mitt Romney.

Digging into the polling and census data on Hispanic-Americans reveals two factors that have been overlooked in much of the political analysis—1) Obamacare will likely seal up the Latino vote for President Obama, and 2) they are motivated by different issues than other Americans.

While every American has the absolute right to vote for a candidate using whatever reasons they choose, the fact of the matter is that the Hispanic community has uniquely much more to gain …

The bedrock of winning elections at every major level of politics is building coalitions of supporters for whom you can count on to head to the polls and cast a vote for you.  Especially in a country as large and non-monolithic as ours, coalition building on some level is a requirement for victory and often explains why politicians are so willing to speak often, but say very little.

A close look at President Obama’s effort in this area reveals that he has elevated this process to an art form—but far from art, what he has created is an ugly picture beneficial to himself, but terrible for America.

While the Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday to uphold the Affordable Care Act certainly carries the negatives of …

In the week leading up to the South Carolina Primary the headline became—and then there were four.   Following the results of Saturday’s vote, it is becoming increasingly clear that the headline going forward will be—and then there were two.

At the heart of the wild ride that this nominating process has been is a reality that Newt Gingrich referenced in his victory speech Saturday night.  The four candidates left are all from different backgrounds and each is giving voice to unique portions of the Republican ideology.  Like most Republicans this cycle, how this cast of characters interplays with my specific political stances has made for a very difficult decision in where to place my support and who to root for.  Here is …

Caucus Locator Service

First of all, if you live in Iowa and don’t know for sure where your caucus site is located, you’ll want to click this link to find it.  If you still can’t figure it out (don’t be ashamed… it can be challenging) we want to help.  Please email us at [email protected].  Please include your name, email address and home address (I promise we will not keep this information for any reason).  We will reply as quickly as possible with your caucus location.

Candidates for President

If you haven’t yet taken a look at the candidates, there any number of resources available to do so.  I think it is a good idea, more than anything, to look at the candidates’ web …

“After carefully considering the whole situation, I stand with my back to the wall. And walking is better, than running away…and crawling ain’t no good at all”

Willie Nelson—Lyrics to “Walking” (1974)

While not known for his astute political analysis, with these lyrics Willie Nelson has managed to perfectly describe the conundrum myself and millions of other voters face in selecting a candidate to support for president amongst the Republican field.

For months now GOPers have been carefully considering the whole situation, and have yet to settle on anyone. With the voting only two weeks away a majority of those undecided now officially are standing with their backs against the wall.

In this regard I am no different—laid here are the reasons I am currently …