President Barack Obama leads Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney 48 to 43 percent among likely voters, according to a poll released Wednesday by Fox News. The numbers represent a 4-point bump since the conventions, due in large part to increased support from women and independents.
The conventions helped a number of undecided independents pick a candidate. Before the Republican convention in Tampa, independents backed Romney by a 10-point margin (42-32 percent) and 26 percent were undecided. Today independents go for Obama by 5 points (44-39 percent) and 17 percent are undecided.
The poll also found a shift in voter enthusiasm. Prior to the conventions, Romney supporters were 10 percent more likely than Obama supporters to say it was extremely important that their candidate win the election. In the latest poll, nearly two-thirds of each candidate's backers said it was extremely important that their candidate wins.
Voters remained split on who would best handle the economy, with 46 percent preferring Romney on the issue, and 46 percent favoring Obama.
The Fox News poll surveyed 1,056 likely voters by phone between Sept. 9 and 11, and a 3 percent margin of error.
The head of Nevada's Washoe County Republican Party tried to keep attention on a congressional ethics probe of Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) Wednesday by asking the House Ethics Committee to look into conflicting statements Berkley has made about the probe.
Berkley is challenging Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). She is being investigated for allegedly trying to help her husband, a nephrologist, by making official appeals to keep open a Las Vegas kidney clinic where her husband had business. Heller made the same appeal. Berkley also wrote letters trying to maintain Medicare payments for kidney disease services.
The ethics probe doesn't seem to have had much impact on the race in a state where people are familiar with official corruption, but Heller's campaign and state Republicans have picked up on a pair of comments from Berkley to fan the flames.
In one interview, she said her office had checked with the ethics committee about potential conflicts of interest, and in another interview, she said she did not check.
Now Washoe County GOP boss Dave Buell has requested that the committee delve into those remarks. "I wanted to make certain that the Committee did not overlook Congresswoman Berkley's recent statements concerning your ongoing investigation into her unethical conduct," Buell wrote.
"Congresswoman Berkley did in fact say her staff contacted the House Ethics Committee during an on-camera interview, even though she denies it," Buell said in a statement announcing the letter. "Why hide the truth, Congresswoman? Did your staff contact the committee, or didn't they? There's no need to continue to lie to Nevadans about this issue. A simple yes or no answer is all that is needed.”
Nevada Democrats saw the letter as a transparent attempt to distract voters from more important issues.
"The Republicans' persistence would be admirable if it wasn't so baffling. Let me get this straight," said Zac Petkanas, senior strategist at the Nevada State Democratic Party in a statement. "After Senator Heller and his special interest allies have spent more than $3 million in attack ads on ethics that haven't moved the polls, their strategy is to double down? This is just another attempt to distract from Senator Dean Heller’s record of voting twice to essentially end Medicare by turning it over to private insurance companies in order to pay for taxpayer giveaways to Big Oil companies making record profits and tax breaks for Wall Street corporations that ship American jobs overseas."
Also on Wednesday, the group Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington gave Berkley a "dishonorable mention" on its list of most corrupt politicians in the nation's capital.
The Mitt Romney campaign released a Spanish-language television ad on Wednesday hitting the president on supposed cuts to Medicare, the latest in its effort to reach out to Latinos by focusing on the economy.
This ad is particularly targeted at seniors and claims President Barack Obama cut $716 billion from Medicare to pay for his signature health care bill. But the law doesn't technically cut money from the program's budget -- instead, it aims to bring down costs by cutting reimbursements to insurance companies and hospitals.
The budget authored by GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), meanwhile, would also use spending reductions and involves a repeal of Obamacare that would actually increase costs for seniors.
"For years, we have paid into Medicare with our work," a voiceover in the ad says in Spanish, as translated by the campaign. "Now, when we need it, Obama has cut $716 billion from Medicare. The money we have paid to guarantee our healthcare will be used for a new program that's not for us."
"Romney's plan protects Medicare benefits for today’s seniors and strengthens it for future generations," the ad concludes.
Republicans have argued that Latinos will respond to their economic argument, citing the disproportionate impact the economy has had on them. But so far, it doesn't seem to be working. Polls put Romney far behind Obama with Latino voters, and a majority agree with Obama that the Ryan plan would "end Medicare as we know it," according to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey/Telemundo survey of 300 Latino registered voters completed August 16 through August 20.
President Barack Obama's reelection campaign is going after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan for failing to specify how they would pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, arguing in a new television ad that middle class American families would be forced to foot the bill.
The new ad, released Wednesday and titled "Won't Say," opens with a zinger on Romney's refusal to release his personal tax returns or offer specifics on how his tax plan would impact the middle class.
"Mitt Romney: He won't reveal what's in his taxes, and he won't tell you what he'd do to yours," a narrator says at the beginning of the ad, which will air in Iowa, Nevada, Virginia, and Ohio.
The commercial then pivots to how Romney's proposed tax plan would pay for $5 trillion in planned tax cuts, which the Obama campaign says are skewed to millionaires and billionaires "like him." Citing an analysis from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the ad notes that, under Romney's tax plan, "taxpayers with children who make less than $200,000 would pay, on average, $2,000 more in taxes."
"How much would you pay?" the narrator asks as the ad comes to a close. "Romney just won't say."
Accompanying the ad is a memo from Obama campaign Policy Director James Kvaal, which takes a closer look the plan put forward by Romney and Ryan.
"Romney’s tax and budget plans are a riddle wrapped inside a mystery wrapped inside a total sham," Kvaal said in the memo. "Governor Romney and his advisers frankly admit that they won’t reveal their policy plans because it would make them less likely to be elected."
Romney and Ryan have repeatedly stated that they would offset tax cuts for the wealthy by closing tax loopholes, but Kvaal notes their apparent inability to identify which particular loopholes they would close.
Both men on the Republican presidential ticket were questioned on the issue of tax loopholes in interviews on Sunday, and both Romney and Ryan dodged the question.
"We think the secret to economic growth is lower tax rates for families and successful small businesses by plugging loopholes," Ryan told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week." "Now the question is not necessarily what loopholes go, but who gets them. High income earners use most of the loopholes. That means they can shelter their income from taxation."
When pressed by Stephanopoulos on why he would not be more forthcoming in naming which loopholes he would close, Ryan responded, "George, because we want to have this debate in the public. We want to have this debate with Congress. And we want to do this with the consent of the elected representatives of the people and figure out what loopholes should stay or go and who should or should not get them."
Similarly, host David Gregory asked Romney on NBC's "Meet the Press" to provide an example of a loophole he would close -- a request Romney failed to oblige.
"Well, I can tell you that people at the high end, high income taxpayers, are going to have fewer deductions and exemptions," he said. "Those numbers are going to come down. Otherwise they'd get a tax break. And I want to make sure people understand, despite what the Democrats said at their convention, I am not reducing taxes on high income taxpayers."
A new account detailing Mitt Romney's interactions with same-sex couples was published Tuesday, alleging that the former governor had an uncomfortable meeting with several of the plaintiffs in Goodridge v. Dept of Public Health, the landmark case that legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
According to a story in Boston Spirit magazine, Romney met with the plaintiffs in 2004 after the then-governor endorsed a constitutional amendment barring same-sex couples from obtaining marriage licenses. According to those present at the meeting, Romney showed little interest in hearing them plead their case.
“It was like talking to a robot. No expression, no feeling,” recalls David Wilson, one of the plaintiffs in the case who met with Romney that day. “People were sharing touching stories, stories where you’d expect recognition in the other person’s face that they at least hear what you’re saying — that there’s empathy. He didn’t even shake his head. He was completely blank.”
Occasionally Romney would say something.
“I didn’t know you had families,” remarked Romney to the group, according to Wilson. The offhanded remark underscored that Romney, the governor of the first state prepared to grant same-sex marriage, hadn’t taken the time to look at what the landmark case was really about.
Julie Goodridge, the lead plaintiff in the Massachusetts case, has previously come forward with her account of the meeting. In a video released in July by super PAC American Bridge 21st Century and the Courage Campaign, Goodridge recalls Romney dismissing her concern over what she would tell her daughter if the state overturned her marriage.
"I don't really care what you tell your adopted daughter," Romney allegedly responded. Why don't you just tell her what you've been telling her for the last eight years?"
After President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage earlier this year, Romney reiterated his belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
"If two people of the same gender want to live together, want to have a loving relationship and even want to adopt a child, in my state individuals of the same sex were able to adopt children," Romney said in May. "In my view that's something which people have the right to do, but to call that marriage is ... a departure for the real meaning of that word."
Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Tommy Thompson is distancing himself from his political director's anti-gay email and tweet attacking Democratic candidate Rep. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), calling the aide's actions "a mistake."
"I thought it was a mistake, I'm sorry, and he's apologized, I believe," Thompson told reporters after a Milwaukee Rotary Club luncheon on Tuesday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He shouldn't have done it."
Thompson's comments come five days after the messages from aide Brian Nemoir were brought to light.
Ahead of Baldwin's speech at the Democratic National Convention last Thursday, Nemoir sent an email and posted a tweet about the congresswoman dancing at a 2010 gay pride festival. Baldwin, who is a lesbian, would become the first openly gay senator if elected in November.
"Clearly, there's no one better positioned to talk 'heartland values' than Tammy," Nemoir wrote in his email.
Although Nemoir sent the email from his official campaign account, he said that it was done in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the campaign.
Thompson said on Tuesday he was "very upset" by what Nemoir did and that he believes a person's sexual orientation is "absolutely not an issue."
"This was a test and Tommy Thompson failed the test," Baldwin spokesman John Kraus responded. "For five days, he has remained silent about the divisive, personal attack his own campaign launched. For a week, he hasn't said one word about the fact his campaign launched this personal attack and then tried to fool people into believing they didn't."
Nemoir is no longer a spokesman for Thompson, though he remains with the campaign.
Thompson will be in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday for a fundraiser, with tickets starting at $1,000. Special guests include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and a handful of other lawmakers.
Nearly six in 10 likely voters think President Barack Obama will win the upcoming debates against Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Tuesday.
Fifty-nine percent of likely voters said they believed Obama will win the debates, while just 34 percent said Romney would prevail. In 2008, voters predicted Obama would best John McCain by a similar margin, according to Keating Holland, CNN's polling director.
More than 90 percent of Democrats said Obama would win the 2012 debates, while 75 percent of Republicans believed Romney would win.
Still, what impact the presidential debates will actually have on the election is unclear. According to an August CNN/ORC poll, 57 percent of adults said the debates were very important, ranking the events above choice of running mate, convention speeches, or advertising.
That presidential debates can be “game changers” is a belief almost universally held by political pundits and strategists. Political scientists, however, aren’t so sure. Indeed, scholars who have looked most carefully at the data have found that, when it comes to shifting enough votes to decide the outcome of the election, presidential debates have rarely, if ever, mattered.
The CNN poll was conducted via telephone between Sept. 7 and 9 and surveyed 1,022 adults across the country, including 875 registered voters and 709 likely voters. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent for likely voters and 3 percent overall.
The family of Rep. Jeff Flake, the Republican nominee for Arizona's open U.S. Senate seat, has received farm subsidies under federal programs that he has proposed ending.
Flake's family benefited to the tune of $254,121 in farm subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture between 1995 and 2004, according to the Environmental Working Group. The subsidies were for the F Bar Cattle Company in Snowflake, Ariz., which is operated by Flake's family.
Specifically, the EWG database lists the company as receiving $68,971 in farm conservation subsidies and $185,150 in farm disaster subsidies from 1995 to 2004. No farm subsidies are recorded for 2005 through 2011.
The database also notes that the Flake family received $118,448 in livestock subsidies between 1995 and 2011. The livestock subsidies were not broken down by year on EWG's website.
Flake, who was elected to the House in 2002, is running against Democrat Richard Carmona for the seat of retiring Sen. Jon Kyl (R). He has been endorsed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the GOP's vice presidential nominee.
Flake has been a leading opponent of farm subsidies, including proposing legislation in 2011 to end direct payments from the Agriculture Department to farmers under the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. In 2007, Flake joined with Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) to propose legislation to gradually reduce direct payments to farmers, while creating new risk management accounts for farms. Flake and Kind also teamed with Reps. Ryan and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) to criticize the 2007 farm bill for not reducing direct payments for commodity crops.
At the time, the four said that the farm legislation, which expires later this month, was subsidizing millionaires. Congress is now negotiating a new farm bill, with federal subsidies and crop insurance payments being major points of debate. Last year, Flake told Politico that farm subsidies were "low hanging fruit" in the federal budget and proposed language to lower the income range to qualify for the subsidies.
In 2007, Flake told CNN Newsroom that he was against the commodity crop subsidies and that his family's farm had not received such aid.
"Yes, family and extended family," Flake said at the time. "But I should say, I should point out, we are not among those that receive subsidies. Unless you're farming a good amount of corn or cotton or soybeans or rice or wheat, you're not receiving much of a subsidy. It's those favored commodities where the bulk of the money goes."
Flake's campaign spokesman, Andrew Wilder, stressed that the subsidies received by the Flake family were not the commodity subsidies that he has particularly pushed to end. He also said that Flake is willing to oppose federal payouts that benefit his own family.
"In fact, Jeff is so fiscally responsible that he opposes farm subsidies for his own extended family," Wilder said in an email. "As highlighted by CBS’ 60 Minutes, he's even had family members request earmarks, but that certainly didn't hamper his effort to end the practice."
Carmona's campaign declined to comment on the subsidies.
President Barack Obama put new meaning to the cliche "wide-ranging interview" while speaking with DJ Laz of Miami Latin station Romance 106.7 FM Tuesday morning.
"DJ Laz!" said Obama.
"O-BAMA" said DJ Laz back, who is also known as the Pimp with the Limp.
When asked how he was, Obama said, "Blessed and highly favored."
When Laz said that it was an honor to have Obama on, Obama replied, "I’m the one who should be humbled. You’re big time. You’ve got Pitbull and Flo Rida and all these guys just beating a path to your door. And so I’m hoping I can get a little of that magic from you in this interview."
Obama wasn't too pleased when Laz said he was wearing a Dolphins jersey. "You gotta start with that Dolphins thing. Did you see that HBO special Hard Knocks? That’s a pretty good show. As I recall, you guys didn’t win any … in the preseason," he said.
The friendly exchange set the tone for the rest of the interview, in which Obama made a standard case for his reelection.
Obama gave a long defense on Medicare and attacked the Romney/Ryan ticket for ending "Medicare as we know it."
"My Cuban-American parents would not be happy about that!" replied Laz.
Obama also said he wanted comprehensive immigration reform during his discussion on the Latin station, making a jab at GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney for saying he would he would encourage unauthorized immigrants to "self-deport" and for threatening to veto the Dream Act, a bill to help young undocumented people.
Obama said he gets "so frustrated" with those remarks.
"That's not who we are," Obama said, repeating DJ Laz when he said "that's not the American way."
"They're American," DJ Laz added. Obama responded, "Yeah."
The White House press corps in Washington has griped that Obama does not spend enough time speaking to its reporters, instead going to non-news outlets like swing-state radio stations, Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.
Elise Foley contributed reporting.
CORRECTION: Because of a transcription error, this article originally misidentified how President Obama replied to the host about how he was doing. He said he was "blessed and highly favored."
President Barack Obama grew his support by 3 percentage points during the Democratic National Convention, giving him a 6 percent lead over Mitt Romney among registered voters, according to the Gallup Daily tracking poll.
Gallup reports its presidential tracking with a seven-day rolling average, meaning Tuesday's results are the first to include only interviews conducted after the start of the Democratic convention. The daily tracking poll also has seen a steep rise in economic confidence since the beginning of the convention.
Obama's improved polling coming out of Charlotte is similar to the 4-point bump he received after the 2008 convention, according to Gallup. Romney left the Republican National Convention polling 1 point lower than before he started it, in contrast with John McCain, who saw a 6-point bounce in the tracking poll.
Although Obama's convention bounce was modest, the fact that Romney got no bounce certainly means the president came out ahead after the back-to-back party conventions. For now, Obama has established a lead among registered voters. Differences in voter turnout among Obama and Romney supporters, which usually benefit the Republican nominee, could cut into Obama's lead.
Democratic performance tends to drop by 2 to 4 points in Gallup polls of likely voters. The Gallup Daily tracking poll switches to a likely voter model in October.
The post-convention Gallup survey interviewed 1,896 registered voters between Sept. 7 and 10, with a 3 percent margin of error.
The decision by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Mitt Romney's running mate, to air a television advertisement in the race for his House seat turned heads Tuesday afternoon, as it was immediately interpreted as a sign that he was hedging his bets against the prospect of Romney losing.
Ryan is currently running for two offices -- Vice President and member of the House of Representatives -- and he is sitting on more than $4 million for purposes of the latter. He clearly calculated that it makes sense to remind voters at home about the work he's done on their behalf. Wisconsin, after all, is still a swing state in the presidential campaign.
But Ryan isn't the first vice presidential candidate who, during the course of the presidential campaign, has tended to his congressional race. Vice President Joseph Biden put out a minute-long Senate ad in late October 2008 during his reelection campaign that year. The spot was titled Kitchen Table, and it's unclear why he ran it. Biden stood no chance of losing his Senate seat. But he had money to spend and decided to spend it.
The biographical ad doesn't specify which office it is for, but Biden will be on the ballot in Delaware as candidate for Vice President and for U.S. Senate. If he wins both races, he can resign from the Senate.
WASHINGTON -- Former President Bill Clinton will headline a Wednesday fundraiser for Patrick Murphy, the Democratic challenger to Tea Party-backed Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.).
Clinton will appear at a $250-and-up reception for Murphy in West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Postreported Tuesday. Clinton is in Florida this week stumping for President Barack Obama, in the Miami area on Tuesday and in the Orlando area on Wednesday.
Murphy told The Huffington Post last month that he would pick Clinton to campaign with over any other national political figure, including Obama.
"He would definitely bring the most people out," Murphy said of Clinton. An appearance with Obama would also be "great," he said, but he added that he doesn't think Obama will do as well in the 18th congressional district this year as he did in 2008, since redistricting has left it more evenly divided.
Clinton's appearance with Murphy shows just how high-stakes the Murphy-West race is to Democrats. It is one of the most closely watched in the country and is happening in the biggest swing district in Florida. A poll released last month showed Murphy and West in a statistical tie, with Murphy holding a narrow edge.
Vice President Joe Biden made a stop on Tuesday at a Shanksville, Pa., fire station, where he made a Biden-style invitation for a firefighter to have a beer with him at the White House -- "no bullshit."
After an event in Western Pennsylvania to commemorate the crash of Flight 93 there on Sept. 11, Biden and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar visited the firefighters to thank them for their service.
While there, Biden saw Deputy Chief Brad Shober, whom he met at events for the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks last year, according to a pool report. Biden told Shober at the time that he would treat Shober to drinks if he still had a vice presidential coin given to him that day. Shober told pool reporter Peter Baker of The New York Times that he "made sure that was [in] my pocket" Tuesday because he might see the vice president.
Biden said Shober and other firefighters would have to come back to Washington for their beer.
"He's going to call you, no bullshit," Biden said, pointing to an aide. He then noticed the pool reporter and turned back to the firefighter to say it in a more family-friendly way: "This is no malarkey. You come to the White House. I'll buy you a beer."
Biden also took advantage of the firefighters' barbecue, where they were cooking up hot dogs and hamburgers for donations. He put in $20, saying it would cover both him and Salazar. "Come on, let's go get one," he said, walking over to the grill. "I want a hot dog." He then had a hamburger, according to the pool report.
A reporter asked the vice president how his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, would feel about that meal choice.
"She's going to say, 'Joe, what the hell are you doing?' I just ate a peanut butter sandwich between here and there," he said.
A Republican candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor, Jeannemarie Davis, is invoking the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to boost her campaign, using the grim anniversary as a peg to get people to tell her how President Barack Obama is hurting them.
"As we remember those fallen Americans from 11 years ago, please encourage everyone to participate in our great Democracy," wrote Davis, director of the Virginia Liaison Office in Washington and wife of former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), in a campaign email that was forwarded to The Huffington Post.
She went on to suggest people could remember 9/11 and participate in democracy by helping her.
"I would appreciate it if you would take a minute to go to www.jeannemarie4LG.com and give me your feedback on a survey as I begin my tour of the Commonwealth," Davis wrote. "Please provide information on any ways that the Obama Administration has hurt you or your community, so that I can better tell the story of why it is so important that Virginians replace President Obama and his Democratic Senate.
"Also, please email back to let me know if you would like to be invited to events in your area, or if you would like me to attend any events," she continued.
Virginia will elect a new governor and lieutenant governor in November 2013.
Davis' campaign did not immediately respond to a question asking if Davis had any second thoughts about using the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in a campaign email.
UPDATE: 5:38 p.m. -- Davis' 9/11 campaign offensive also included a batch of robo calls that started by invoking the name of GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who had suspended campaigning for the tragic anniversary.
The Romney campaign didn't seem too pleased, either.
"We have nothing to do with this -- our TV ads and voter contact have been suspended for 9/11," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul emailed HuffPost's Ryan Grim.
Davis' campaign did not respond to further requests for comment.
The Huffington Post | Ariel Edwards-Levy | September 12, 2012 7:30 PM ET