Tag Archives: Republican Party

ROMNEY: Would an African American female running mate push Mitt Romney’s candidacy over the top?

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Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney ...

Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann Romney (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

COMMENTARY

Could Mitt Romney win the “race to the top” if he names an African American female to his ticket as vice president?

Jessika Morgan, in “Black Female GOP Possibilities May Exist for Romney Running Mate,” wrote the following:

Women are being considered as possible candidates to run with Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on the November ballot, the GOP candidate’s wife said July 5.

“We’ve been looking at that,” Ann Romney told CBS News in an interview. “There’s a lot of people Mitt is considering right now.”

She declined to say more about the list of possible vice president candidates to be paired with the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, other than to note that, as the former Massachusetts governor’s wife, she has offered advice in the selection process and would “love that option” of a female running mate.

Among the Black Republican women who could be added to a list of women running mate possibilities are former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.

Rice, the subject of speculation in June, rejected the idea. And while Carroll, a Navy veteran and the first woman elected to statewide office in Florida has been silent, political journalists see Carroll as a possible aid to a Romney candidacy.

SOURCE: AFRO AMERICAN NEWSPAPER LINK:
http://www.afro.com/sections/news/afro_briefs/story.htm?storyid=75525

Related articles

Could an African American running mate aid Romney’s candidacy?

What do you think?

Your comments are welcomed.

MEDIA: has MSNBC lost its edge in its nighttime political coverage; will it have significant influence in election 2012?

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Lead

Has MSNBC lost its edge in its nighttime political coverage?

In view of recent poll results, will MSNBC have significant influence in Election 2012?

Media (Quote)

It’s certainly obvious in Iowa that candidates are investing a lot more time in television interviews than they are on the campaign trail. It’s a safe bet: a recent New York Times/CBS News poll of likely Iowa Republican caucus participants showed that 37 percent said they get most of their information from Fox News, that’s compared with 27 percent who cited broadcast news and a mere 2 percent who said they relied on MSNBC.

Source:  Allessandra Stanley, “The Republican Primary Campaign in Iowa Is Right at Home on Fox News,” THE NEW YORK TIMES

MJB’s Take

It’s hard to imagine that the suits at MSNBC are taking the poll results well. The implications of  MSNBC having diminished influence in Election 2012 could be staggering.

Obviously, the only game in town for mainstream media coverage now on the Presidential political calendar is the ongoing GOP primary election season. Because of its conservative tilt, FOX News would be expected to have a slightly higher viewership and ratings advantage when it comes to general media coverage of national politics and the GOP.

But, one would think that because the choice of the Republican nominee for President is a matter of real public concern and interest,  a larger percentage of people would be watching the commentaries on MSNBC if for no other reason than to hear and consider opposing viewpoints about the GOP candidates, and their positions on national issues.

The numbers for the reception of broadcast news seem to be good. However, broadcast news is not as pointed, engaging, opinionated, informative and influential as cable news.

MSNBC has an all-star line-up of nighttime talk TV talent hosting the programs from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. including Al Sharpton, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow. They are supported by diverse groups of commentators and contributors. The hosts and many of the commentators and contributors have been aggressive in criticizing the GOP candidates and their positions on issues. Those contrary viewpoints, of course,  add measurably to the body of information viewers and voters should be considering from now until general election day 2012.

The poll numbers for MSNBC were unusually weak. The fact that they were so lacking should be ringing bells and whistles loudly in the executive suites of MSNBC.

If MSNBC expects to boost viewership and have a significant measure of influence in the outcomes of the national elections, then major changes in its nighttime cable programming are warranted.

Related Web Articles

Also Read

Your comments are welcomed!

CAIN: ain’t no more Herman Cain for political media to beat on

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Lead

Herman Cain has suspended his campaign.

By devoting extensive coverage seeking to humiliate Cain and to derail his candidacy, mainstream political media lost its way. It utterly failed  its fundamental role in American presidential politics to stay focused, and to adequately inform the American people about the issues of national concern on the business and affairs of the country, the presidency, and the Presidential candidates in the GOP race for the Republican nomination.

Media (Quote):

After Herman Cain suspended his presidential campaign, other Republican presidential hopefuls praised him for energizing conservative voters and wished him well.

Source:  Danny Yadron, “Former Rivals Praise Herman Cain,” WSJ WASHINGTON WIRE BLOG

Query

Please take a moment and reflect.

If you wish to comment, that would be appreciated. But if not, please just take a moment and think.

Set aside the fact that Herman Cain is a Republican, that he is black and that he is conservative. Just reflect that up to now, he was a candidate in America for the GOP nomination to run for President in Election 2012.

Whether you agreed or disagreed with his philosophy, viewpoints and politics; whether you would have voted for him or not; Herman had every right as an American citizen to enter upon the playing field; to compete in the game of Presidential politics with Mitt, Rick, Newt, Jon, Michelle and Ron and whoever else seeking to run for President; and, to engage in conversations about the business and affairs of the nation.

This is still the United States of America.

Every qualified man and woman still has an unfettered right under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, to enter the race; to say whatever he or she wants to say; and, to do of course within reason whatever he or she wants to do to run for office; get his or her message out to the voters and seek the wins needed in the upcoming primary elections for GOP candidates who want to secure the nomination of the Republican Party, and run against Barack Obama in Election 2012 for President of the United States of America.

Whether Herman had $10 in the bank, or $10 Million, that was his fundamental right. And, it was taken from him.

How?

Not by the well-informed decision-making of voters at the ballot box.

But, essentially by the personal decisions of reporters, analysts, commentators, contributors, writers, editors and others in political media hot to trot about generating a torrent of media coverage concerning sex stories from three unhappy and unimportant women in the business and affairs of the nation anxious to tell their alleged stories from years gone by, but could never adequately explain why they wanted to tell their stories in the first place.

Who really cares, and in reality what difference should it have made to the state of the union and the presidency, what happened 14 years ago to the former National Restaurant Association staff employee who settled her claim, got paid, got another job, made another sexual harassment complaint and at least until one month ago was moving on with her life and career?

Who really cares, and in reality what difference should it have made to the state of the union and the presidency, what happened to the former applicant for a job at the NRA who did nothing and said nothing for all these years about an alleged sexual assault which took place 13 years ago?

Who really cares, and in reality what difference should it have made to the state of the union and the presidency, what allegedly has happening for 13 years  with a consenting women who allegedly was involved a love affair?

Mainstream political media should have been disciplined and stayed focused on the issues affecting the state of the union by keeping Americans informed about those issues and the positions of the GOP candidates on those issues. Just about every media outlet in the nation, however, got off mission,  went rogue, and wasted tons of ink and air time on what amounted to tabloid trivia.

It was mainstream political media coverage in prime time, to use the words of Ron Paul from another context: “beneath the office of the presidency.”

That’s our take, what’s yours?

GINGRICH: Are liberals concerned about Newt Gingrich?

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Lead

“Liberals should fear Newt Gingrich.”

Online Quote

The opening quote comes from Tyler Mills, a young writer on the Yahoo Contributor Network, who said further:

Why? The man can put a sentence together. Newt has taken a lot of positions over the years that may be anathema to true “Constitutional conservatives” on education, healthcare, environmental and foreign policy. I would argue that Gingrich is a conservative for the 21st century, one that understands that an ocean is not going to always be able to protect us from a globalized, and sometimes volatile, world.

My liberal friends (I consider myself to be fairly left-wing) are not used to facing conservatives who understand complex policy questions, or at least that is the way they like to portray things. Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain and Rick Perry are all talented people, but they are performers and hype people–they don’t have a serious grasp on policy

Source: YAHOO STORY

Issue

Are liberals concerned about Newt Gingrich?

Related Coverage & Web Links

GINGRICH: Newt Gingrich: the GOP candidate of the moment; can Newt break away from the pack and take the GOP nomination?

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Lead In

The GOP Presidential candidate of the week, of course, by virtue of the scope and volume of political media coverage without doubt is Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives.

Newt surged in the polls this week. That raises the question whether is he is now positioned to break away from the pack, and to take the GOP nomination for President?

Newt’s surge came about just in time to capture and dominate the media coverage this weekend on the Sunday Talk TV Shows. The hosts were interviewed by POLITICO on VIDEO this week to talk about and share their views about Newt and likely success of his candidacy.  That VIDEO is uploaded under MJB News VIDEOS, Sidebar, Title: “11-18: NEWT Rises-Sunday TV hosts talk about it.”

His surge also is in time for the CNN GOP Debate scheduled next week on 11-22-11, one day before the anniversary of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Debate will focus on national security and the economy.

And, in the segment of the Journal Editorial Report TV show entitled: “Is Newt the Real Deal?” a panel of journalists from the Wall Street Journal have a lively roundtable discussion about Newt and his candidacy. The show is a featured program of FOX News. The VIDEO of that panel discussion is uploaded under  MJB News VIDEOS, Sidebar, Title: “Newt’s Poll Numbers Surge.”

The media coverage in the coming news cycle for next week is likely to be intense, something that Newt is well aware of and is likely to play into.

MJB’s collaborative partner, X9TV, uploaded in the first module on its site a FOX News VIDEO featuring a 6 minute clip of a FOX News Watch panel  talking about media bias and coverage with respect the Newt’s campaign. See VIDEO: at  X9TV.COM   Also click:  tab for X9TV on the Menu Bar of this Blog.

Media Quote

Newt Gingrich calls it giving advice. Most people would call it cashing in on his prominent name.

The former House speaker has raked in millions of dollars since leaving office more than a decade ago. Now as a rising GOP presidential candidate he’s facing renewed scrutiny of the intricate network of consulting firms, advocacy organizations and other businesses that, taken together, some have called Newt Inc.

“I do no lobbying of any kind. I never have. A very important point I want to make. I have never done lobbying of any kind,” Gingrich told Fox News Channel this week, defending himself over questions about his time since he left the speaker’s office under a political cloud in January 1999.

Source + Read:  HUFFINGTON POST

MJB’s Take

Newt Gingrich is now taking his turn being in the limelight as the putative front-runner for the GOP Presidential nomination. And, it seems that unlike the other contenders, including Mitt Romney, he’s ready for it, but more importantly, he relishes it.

Newt knows that his government affairs work as a “strategist” will be controversial.

The difference between a lobbyist and a strategist for most voters is a distinction without significance. As far as the court of public opinion is concerned, Newt is no more and no less than a high paid lobbyist who became rich by exploiting the honor and prestige of high office, Speaker of the House, to line his pocket with millions of dollars, irrespective of the history lessons and other consultations on politics and policy he has provided to clients.

Controversy fuels media coverage. And, it is that coverage which draws interest, which Newt is getting in spades, and attracts viewers, political money and votes. Newt loves it.

So he’s getting all the ego stoking attention he wants. If his calculations and projections are correct, in the end he will be the only GOP Presidential candidate having an image of a take charge leader who can assume the reigns of leadership as President on day one.

Newt has packaged himself as a “true conservative.” That’s music to the ears of the multi-billionaire conservatives who are prepared to unleash a torrent of political money, in the billions of dollars, to fund and fuel his campaign for President.

As for now, it’s clear that Newt may be the only true conservative who has the potential of breaking away from Romney and the other contenders, and then dominate and lead the field until the Republican National Convention to take the nomination for President.

That’s our take on it.

Leave a comment, and let us know what you think.

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Joe Paterno: firing will not affect PA GOP; Santorum speaks out

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Joe Paterno: the storied Penn State football coach was fired over the child sex abuse scandal; but, his exit will not affect politics for the Pennsylvania GOP. According to the York Daily Record (quotes):

Joe Paterno has been a prominent supporter of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, and spoke at a George W. Bush campaign rally at the York Expo Center in 2004. His son, Scott Paterno, was a congressional candidate that year.

But York County Republican Chairman A. Carville “Peck” Foster said he doubts the scandal or Paterno’s retirement will have any kind of lasting effect on the party. For all of Paterno’s prominence among the state Republican Party, he was ultimately a celebrity endorsement rather than a policy setter.

“No question, Joe was a Republican,” Foster said. “But he was not closely involved with the party’s structure in any way.”

State Rep. Stan Saylor, R-Windsor Township, doesn’t think the situation will have any kind of demoralizing effect on the state Republican Party. He believes people see Paterno as a sports figure, not as the face of Pennsylvania’s GOP.

Source of Quotes : Tom Joyce, “Local politicians say Paterno’s exit won’t affect [GOP],” YORK DAILY RECORD

Also: Article’s subtitle:  “Some stress that the facts aren’t all out yet on the case,”
 
And:  Joyce writes: “State Rep. Scott Perry, R-Carroll Township, also emphasized that the story is still playing out and all the facts aren’t established yet.”
 
Ala Rick Santorum: GOP Presidential candidate and Penn State Graduate said: “Paterno deserves to tell his side of story,”  Rachel Streitfeld, CNN Political Producer LOCAL 10.COM
 
Made for VIDEO: Keith Olberman declares on VIDEO that Paterno is today’s Worst Person in the World! YouTube [3:00 Minute Marker]
 

Other Web Coverage

MJB’s Take

> Paterno could have done more, and should have done more. His firing was justified.

> Why the local media’s noise about the impact on PA GOP politics? Who cares?

> In an extraordinary situation like this one, there is nothing wrong with firing some folks first, and asking questions later.

High Tech Lynching web ad launched hitting Cain’s coverage by political media-will media strike back?

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Cain’s Train 11/3

Rolling into what’s bound to be a hot bed of media coverage this weekend Sunday 11/6, on all the major morning TV Talk shows, where sexual harassment accusations, the Herman Cain campaign and the state of the GOP primary elections are bound to be among the hot issues of the conversations and debates on TV Talk, an independent political advocacy PAC launched a hot political ad on 11/3: “HIGH TECH LYNCHING” on YouTube featuring, of course, Herman Cain!

Train’s Moving Target: It hits the coverage Cain got from the mainstream political media.

Our Reaction: It’s smokin’!

And, It’s No Denying:  “If It’s Sunday [i.e., 11/6], It’s [Herman Cain]“

Likely Impact:  A surge of media covergage may roll into next week too!

Read Also:  Jim Geraghty, New TV Ad for Cain: ‘A High-Tech Lynching’  posted on nationalreviewonline.con who writes (11/4):

[T]he plan is to get on TV in Iowa next week with it [and] drop about a million calls into Iowa and Nevada starting tomorrow with the same message.

This is from Americans for Herman Cain, which has “established a non-connected political committee that is established and registered with the Federal Election Commission. * * *

Other Articles on Point
Hotter Than Hot!!
Our Double Take: Think the ad is hot, click the link for the article on the comments made by MCNBC contributor Goldie Taylor.

WOW!

Do you get the sense that the lid could blow next week in the intensity and sheer meanness in coverage of Herman Cain and the GOP contest by mainstream political media as surely everything media will hit back?

Dick Armey for the Tea Party: “we like Herman Cain a great deal”

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Dick Armey says that the Tea Party wing of the GOP likes “Herman Cain a great deal.”

Armey is the former GOP House Majority Leader who is an activist in the Tea Party.

He was a  guest on “This Week” the ABC News Sunday morning talk show with Christiana Amanpour as host.

Text of  Transcript

xx     xx     xx

ARMEY: Well, we all — I speak for myself and a lot of the folks across the country with whom I associate, we like Herman Cain’s authenticity. But one thing that you can say clearly, he’s not a politician. He’s criticized by the politicians for being too amateurish, making all the wrong moves, yet he has got a personal record of accomplishments that none of them can match in terms of his personal life and what — how often he got the job done. He’s straightforward in the way he talks. And he dares to go campaign very directly and in a manner that doesn’t seem to be beleaguered by an excess of advice from political professionals. So from our point of view, yes, he’s not one of them. So, therefore, he — it makes him very attractive to us.

AMANPOUR: So is he the new standard-bearer? Because obviously Michele Bachmann had that title, that position, that self-declared sort of position during the summer. But is he now it for you? Do you think he has staying power?

ARMEY: Well, the fact is, this is a long-term process. We enjoy having people in the race, make their point of view. And we like Herman Cain a great deal. *  *  *

xx     xx     xx

End of  Text

Source: “This Week,” ABC News, Sunday, October 30, 2011:  READ FULL TRANSCIPT

There are few politicians in the GOP who are more conservative than Armey. And there are few who are more active in GOP politics than Armey. So it’s fair to say at least for now that Herman Cain is in good standing in the GOP race.

Panelists on THE ROUNDTABLE segment of the show discussed: “Can Cain Stay on Top.” They included George Will, Cokie Roberts, Ron Brownstein and Austan Goolsbee.

Source:  See Update Below

The view this week in most of the MSM is that Cain may be able to stay on top in the contest for the GOP nomination.

Update/ABC NEWS VIDEO [Uploaded in VODPOD Sidebar (10-31-11)] The Sunday before the sexual harassment accusations surfaced about Herman Cain, former GOP House Majority Leader Dick Armey talked to the ROUNDTABLE Panel on ABC’s THIS WEEK about the sentiment in the GOP for Cain

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Iowa primary: is it Herman Cain’s “High Noon?”

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Herman Cain, touted as No. 2 in the polls, enters the Iowa primary facing Mitt Romney, the front-runner, Rick Perry and the other GOP contenders. He must feel a bit like Marshal Will Kane facing the gang of outlaws in “High Noon,” the 1952 American Western film classic starring Gary Cooper as Kane.

Marshal Kane confronted the gang all alone. And, in the Iowa Primary, candidate Cain, with no support from mainstream conservatives, confronts a field of “take no prisoners” GOP contenders all alone.

So far, with not much of a team and little campaign cash, Cain has done remarkably well. He’s climbed up in the polls, while Rick Perry has fallen down. Mitt Romney has stayed even. For the Iowa primary, Perry has now put an “A” team on the playing field, some of the best campaign talent on the GOP bench. Maggie Haberman writes about these GOP all-stars in her article: “Rick Perry’s new team,” posted online in Politico.com.

What does all this mean for Herman Cain, and his prospects for winning the Iowa primary, or staying ahead of Rick Perry?

It’s Herman Cain’s “High Noon” moment!

Like Marshal Kane, candidate Cain either overtakes the GOP field in the primary or beats Perry against the odds, thus positioning himself to vault to the top of the field and sustain his place for the duration of the GOP nomination contest; or in 10 weeks, he’s overtaken and kicked to the sidelines for good.

Sources

     * Maggie Haberman, “Rick Perry’s new team,”  Politico.com:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66743.html

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