It's always good to see the president visiting the troops and marking the 1st anniversery of OBL's death. But Obama took with him the message that we're going to be committed one way or another until 2020, and THAT is a huge mistake.

Back in 2004, President Bush ran a smear campaign against challenger Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) which undermined his service in Vietnam and questioned Kerry’s ability and determination to protect the United States — just three years removed from the 9/11 attacks — from another terror strike. “If we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we’ll get hit again,” then Vice President Dick Cheney said at the time.

And while Romney complains about Obama’s alleged “politicization” now, he willfully participated in the Bush-Cheney smear campaign on Kerry in 2004. During an August 9, 2004 (accessed via Lexis/Nexis) interview on Fox News, Romney suggested that Kerry would “twiddle his thumbs” when dealing with terrorism and in September 2004, also on Fox News, Romney said Kerry is too much of a flip-flopper to protect the country:

ROMNEY: [M]ost has already been said about John Kerry. I think people know pretty well that he’s a guy who has a hard time finding which side of a position to come down on. But I’m going to focus on the fact that our nation needs strong leadership. We’re under attack, militarily, economically. Our very way of life is under attack. And we need to have the kind of steady, strong leadership, which is represented by Dick Cheney, and by of course, President George W. Bush.

In his speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention (RNC) in New York City, Romney said “America is under attack from almost every direction,” later adding, “On the just war our brave soldiers are fighting to protect free people everywhere, there is no question: George W. Bush is right, and the ‘Blame America First’ crowd is wrong.”


http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/05/01/474817/romney-joined-bush-cheney-smear-campaign-on-john-kerrys-national-security-record-in-2004/

Jennifer Rubin: "Richard Grenell, the openly gay spokesman recently hired to sharpen the foreign policy message of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, has resigned in the wake of a full-court press by anti-gay conservatives."

"According to sources familiar with the situation, Grenell decided to resign after being kept under wraps during a time when national security issues, including the president's ad concerning Osama bin Laden, had emerged front and center in the campaign."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/05/01/gay_romney_spokesman_resigns.html

The past few elections indicate that demographics and location drive electoral outcomes and issues only matter inasmuch as they drive turnout. So, does Obama really need to persuade people to vote for him, or just get the right people to just vote?

I received a fascinating e-mail last night. It’s from a political insider who asked to remain anonymous. This person had a few questions for candidate for U.S. Senate, Marco Rubio, and his aide (and lobbyist) Amber Stoner.

I have previously posted about the investigations of Marco Rubio. All our Rubio posts can be found here.

Now, per another source who lives in Florida, there are ethics rules that cover lobbyists who work for candidates. She says they shouldn’t. But that wasn’t what this e-mail was about:

Who IS this Amber Stoner? Why would Rubio have a healthcare lobbyist’s travel on his credit charges? And why do the two of them seem to show up in the same place (some resort towns) the same day or within a day or two of each other? Can Rubio explain why she travels for him? with him? There are 17 trips by this Amber Stoner on Rubio’s credit charges within this database which is not complete, and to get ALL his credit card records would require a court order but I’ll bet if someone got that court order they would find more entries of Ms. Stoner’s travels. Just what is going on here between Rubio and Stoner? Is this appropriate for the “Family Values” Tea Party candidate?


http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2010/09/30/just-what-is-going-on-here-between-marco-rubio-healthcare-lobbyist-amber-stoner/

The Federal Election Commission has fined Sen. Marco Rubio $8,000 for accepting more than $210,000 in improper contributions during his 2010 run for the Senate.

In a negotiated settlement finalized last month but only publicly released now, Marco Rubio for Senate acknowledged taking in more than $210,000 in “prohibited, excessive and other impermissible contributions” during his Senate campaign and failing to refund or “redesignate” the funds within the allowed time frame.

Even after an internal audit, the Rubio campaign failed to identify more than $83,000 in improper or incorrectly characterized contributions, according to a March 19 agreement between the campaign and the FEC.

An FEC review showed that the improper donations came from more than 100 individuals, and in two cases, the campaign accepted corporate contributions, which are illegal. Marco Rubio for Senate also accepted nearly $26,000 for the primary race even after the primary election was already over.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75702.html#ixzz1tJqc8mNw

On his way to becoming a Republican superstar, Marco Rubio endured a bruising Senate campaign where his ethics, his integrity and even his commitment to conservative principles were under almost daily assault.
Consider what one of his most vocal critics said about him:

- “Rubio has proved he is just another typical politician who uses his public office for personal gain and only comes clean once caught.”

- “With each passing day, voters are beginning to see the real Speaker Rubio, a tax raising Miami lobbyist-politician who has used public office for personal gain and political donations as a personal slush fund.”
- “This Marco Rubio is a wheeling and dealing Miami lobbyist and politician, always trying to scam the system for his personal benefit.”

- “Instead of answering all of the many questions surrounding his questionable spending habits, Speaker Rubio instead continues to do the Rubio hustle and refuses to release his tax returns in a timely manner.”

Harsh words. Personal attacks. And all of them, and many more, made in 2010 by Andrea Saul — the person who now speaks for Mitt Romney as the national press secretary for the Romney campaign.


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/romney-spokeswoman-in-2010-marco-rubio-is-a-wheeling-and-dealing-lobbyist-politician-w-questionable-ethics/

Senator Marco Rubio, the Republican rumored possible running mate for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney today voted against the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which has passed time and time again in a bipartisan fashion for decades. this year the VAWA became a partisan nightmare for Republicans, who opposed extending protections to LGBT people, immigrants, and Native Americans. Because violence against some women is deplorable, but apparently, not all women are equal in the eyes of the GOP.

The House is slated to take up a similar but less-comprehensive bill, and, if passed, the two will have to be hammered out in committee. President Obama, who supports the updated reauthorization, is expected to sign the bill.

No Democrat voted against the bill, and 15 Republicans reached across the aisle to join Democrats in voting to pass the bill.



http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/rumored-romney-running-mate-marco-rubio-votes-no-on-violence-against-women-act/news/2012/04/26/38626

Mitt Romney had some advice for students at Ohio's Otterbein University, telling them that if they want to start a business or pay for their education, they should just borrow from their parents.

Said Romney: "Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/04/27/romney_advises_young_people_to_borrow_from_their_parents.html

Republicans insist President Obama has been on the campaign trail for months already, but the Obama campaign told reporters Wednesday evening Obama’s campaign travel doesn’t kick off until May 5.

That’s when the president and First Lady Michelle Obama travel to Ohio State University and Virginia Commonwealth University for what his campaign officials said were the first official stops of the campaign.

“We think it’s a pretty special thing that the president and the first lady will be together,” said Obama campaign manager Jim Messina. “We don’t expect to see any celebrities.”

Obama’s campaign has made plenty of use of celebrities so far. Actress Eva Longoria is one of his national co-chairs, and the campaign has been offering small donors a chance to join Obama and actor George Clooney at Clooney’s house.


http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/04/release-the-campaigner-in-chief-obama-to-officially-hit-the-trail-may-5.php?ref=fpnewsfeed