Blog Entry #4

http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/300167/extremist-newsletters-haunt-paul?CSAuthResp=1324931610%3A4ae6l5h0l9ssfbu82uqq7gs457%3ACSUserId%7CCSGroupId%3Aapproved%3AD750EB96FC61454264AF4F52EF895FBC&CSUserId=94&CSGroupId=1

The title of this article is, “Extremist newsletters haunt Paul,” and was written by Ben Leubsdorf. It was published on December 24, 2011 on concordmonitor.com, one of New Hampshire’s newspapers. This article is about how Ron Paul wrote different sorts of newsletters regarding his racist and homophobic views. These letters were also brought up during his campaign in 2008. One of his letters that was reviewed by The New Republic contained racist words when discussing the federal holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. day as, “Hate Whitey Day.” He also said things about AIDS patients that “enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick.” These articles are from the 1970s and even earlier. Paul told the public that he disowned the newsletters and that he does not know who wrote those articles. Paul is saying that he is not responsible for what was said and that he takes no credit in writing them. However, it is said that Paul wrote an eight-page letter encouraging people to subscribe to his newsletters. One of the warnings in this letter was, “the federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS (my training as a physician helps me see through this one).” Similar to before, Paul’s spokeswoman told the public that he did not write this one either. These letter have come into the light more recently because Paul has a significant chance in winning the January 3 Iowa GOP caucuses. As of now, he has a lead over Mitt Romney who happens to be his nearest rival. This is significant because if someone is able to prove that Ron Paul in fact wrote these letters, it could show that he is a racist and a homophobe. This could also demolish his chance of winning the GOP caucuses because many people would not vote for a racist or a homophobe. It is also significant because during elections, secrets from the past tend to come to the surface. With Herman Cain’s past, it ended with him dropping out. If this turns out to be true, Ron Paul may have the same fate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/us/politics/for-obama-payroll-tax-victory-was-aided-by-republicans.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=politics&st=cse

The title of this article is, “A Victory Considerably Aided by the Other Side,” and was written by Jackie Calmes. It was published on December 22, 2011 on nytimes.com. This article is about whether or not Obama can actually win the 2012 presidential election. Some are worried that he may not win because in 2010, Republicans have gained control of the House and a share of power in Washington. It is threatening to Obama’s prospects for re-election, especially after the summer fight over the nation’s debt limit. With this in mind, in September the White House decided to change the image of Obama to a determined voice of economic populism which started with a job-creation plan. Obama would either pass his plan, which was unlikely because of the Republican opposition, or he would get political credit and therefore increase his popularity as well as show that the Republicans would be completely against anything he proposed. Ironically, Republicans actually helped Obama with anything the White House and Congressional Democrats did. However, Obama did win in the way that his approval ratings raised in the polls. Congressional Democrats were nervous that Obama was more eager to make deals with Republicans, such as reducing Medicare and Social Security, in order to get a grand budget bargain. However, this win gave Obama somewhat more respect from the Congressional Democrats. Many Republicans believe that Obama would give in rather than having the blame put on him if payroll taxes went up for millions. Overall, it seems that Obama is figuring out how to fix the economic crisis. This is significant because if the people realize that Obama is actually fixing things, especially something as important as the economy, then he may actually be re-elected as president in 2012. However, if Obama cannot continue with his path of improving things, than people may decide to get him out of office.

Blog Entry #3

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/la-pn-des-moines-register-endorsement-20111217,0,1894956.story

The title of this article is, “Mitt Romney Wins Endorsement of Des Moines Register,” and was written by Seema Mehta. It was posted on December 17, 2011 on www.chiagotribune.com. This article is mainly about how the Des Moines Register decided to endorse Romney because they feel he should be the Republican candidate that runs against Obama for the presidency. The Des Moines Register also endorsed John McCain roughly four years ago. The newspaper believes that Romney offered, “sobriety, wisdom and judgement.” They feel that Gingrich, when he was speaker of the House, had a lack of discipline and Ron Paul’s isolationist policies make Romney the better choice of the candidates that are the top three in the polls. They also feel that Romney has matured as a candidate. Since the top priority of the nation is to fix the economy, the Des Moines Register feels that Romney is the best candidate can be successful in rebuilding the economy. The paper also encourages people to understand that people can change their thoughts about certain things therefore urging people that Romney’s tendency to flip flop on issues may not be the worst thing a candidate could do. This endorsement could mean that people now believe that the GOP nomination has become a competition between only two people: Romney and Gingrich. Although Romney was able to win the Des Moines Register endorsement, Gingrich won the Union Leader in New Hampshire which is right after the Iowa caucuses on January 3. This is significant because before, it seemed like Romney was losing popularity in the polls while now he could possibly become the Republican candidate who will run against Obama for the presidency. It also seems that the other candidates need to work extra hard to even be considered.

http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/17/santorum-pursues-iowa-crown-old-fashioned-way/

The title of this article is, “Santorum Pursues Iowa Crown Old-Fashioned Way,” and was provided by the Associated Press. It was published on December 17, 2011 on the Des Moines Register newspaper website. Throughout the entire process that leads up to the Iowa caucuses on January 3, Santorum has experienced neither sharp rises nor sharp falls. His old-fashioned way of campaigning, by going to living rooms, coffee shops and town squares, may actually pay off in the long run. Tom Clark, a West Des Moines Republican who heard Santorum speaking at a Des Moines restaurant, said, “Rick Santorum is the best-kept secret in the campaign.” The only problem is this supporter fears that Santorum may not be able to win. This statement could be the reason for why Santorum is at the bottom of the polls according to national GOP surveys. Santorum has been the most aggressive campaigner in Iowa, despite the fact that he is behind Romney, Gingrich, and Paul. Santorum seems to be the “underdog” of the situation. Although he is behind, he is still in the race. Back in October, Herman Cain was leading in the Iowa polls, but recently he dropped out of the race. Michele Bachman and Rick Perry have also been at the top, but have only been at the bottom since. Although he does not have the same amount of national standing that Romney has, Santorum is still the social conservatives’ favorite. When he was introduced at a Des Moines forum, he received the loudest applause from his supporters which happened to be more applause received than Bachmann, Gingrich, and Perry. Santorum believes that the reason everything in the nation is rough now is because the moral issues are not being focused on. Once the people can decide what is morally correct, then it will be simpler to fix the economy and other problems in our society. This idea is giving Santorum the support he needs from Iowans. Santorum was also able to gain the support of the newly elected Secretary of State Matt Shultz as well as some evangelical pastors. Although Santorum has support, he does not have the money to fund certain campaigning techniques such as television advertisements. Those who support Santorum could provide him a passageway into the New Hampshire primary on January 10. This is significant because while many believe that Romney, Gingrich, or Paul could be the Republican candidate to run against Obama, Santorum could actually come out on top. Santorum has the support of the people, even though it is rarely publicized. If Santorum is able to keep up the rate he is progressing through this process, he could become the Republican candidate to run against Obama.

Blog Entry #2

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/trump-fires-himself-as-debate-moderator/2011/12/13/gIQAfAwDsO_blog.html

The title of this article is “Trump Fires Himself as Debate Moderator” and it was written by Nia-Malika Henderson. It was posted on washingtonpost.com on December 13, 2011. The article is about how Trump has decided not to be the moderator for the December 27, 2011 debate because too many GOP candidates have declined his invitation to participate because they felt that it was not a good idea because of Trump’s consideration of running for president as the independent candidate. He basically said that he feels someone needs to be chosen to fix all of the problems Obama’s Administration have caused and that the Republican candidates are not good enough candidates. He does not want to make a conflict of interest because he has not fully decided about whether or not he will run. Some of the reasons for the candidates who declined were the fact that they had scheduling conflicts or they were just completely against Trump’s role in the debate. Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman Jr. were completely against attending the debate because they believed that the debate would not be about the presidential run but about the media attention. Trump’s reason for this is that he wants to try to “make America great again!” He also commented on the acceptance of attending the debate by Gingrich and Santorum by saying that they were courageous and confident enough to be part of the debate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/ron-paul-ntsb-cellphone-ban_n_1149417.html?ref=elections-2012

The title of this article is, “Ron Paul Criticizes NTSB Recommendation to Ban All Cell Phone Use While Driving,” and was written by Luke Johnson. It was posted on December 14, 2011 on huffingtonpost.com. This article is basically about how Ron Paul disagrees with the ban on cell phone use, such as texting and talking, that was created by the National Transportation Safety Board. He brought up the constitution (Article 1 Section 8) and made a joke about how telephones are not mentioned as well as the fact that driving in a horse and buggy is not mentioned. He strongly believes that the federal government should not be involved. Paul brought up the point that cell phones, although can potentially be dangerous while using while driving, is no different from wild children in the car or eating while driving. The NTSB strongly suggests to all states that any type of phone use, hands-free devices or not, should be banned. However, GPS navigations systems would not be included.

Blog Entry #1

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/us/politics/romney-tells-trump-he-cant-make-debate.html?scp=13&sq=politics%20December%207&st=cse

The title of this article is “Romney Tells Trump He Can’t Make Debate,” and it was written by Jeremy W. Peters and Jim Rutenberg. It was published on December 6, 2011 and appeared in print on December 7, 2011 on page A21. The point of this article is to show that some of the Republican candidates have decided to not attend the debate that is being moderated by Donald Trump while other candidates are undecided or have already decided to attend. This article also discusses how Romney told Trump that he was unable to make the debate because he already made commitments to two other debates during the month of December. Romney, however, was not the only Republican to decline to participate. The others included Jon Huntsman Jr. and Ron Paul. The only two candidates so far who agreed to participate were Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. This debate will occur on December 27. The candidates who are undecided are Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. Many Republicans believe the only reason Trump is moderating this debate is for self-promoting interests rather than actually trying to help the Republican Party. It is said that Karl Rove and others have tried to convince candidates not to appear in the debate. Trump responded to these people by saying, “It would seem logical to me that if I was substantially behind in the polls, especially in Iowa, South Carolina and Florida, I would want to participate in this debate. But I understand why Governor Romney decided not to do it.” Romney has decided to be interviewed by Chris Wallace on December 18 probably to explain his reasons for boycotting the debate that has been already mentioned.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/us/politics/a-republican-primary-campaign-waged-on-fox-news.html?ref=politics

This article is titled, “The Republican Primary Campaign in Iowa Is Right at Home on Fox News,” and was written by Alessandra Stanley. It was also published on December 10, 2011 and appeared in print on the same day on page A16. This article mainly talks about how the majority of information researched by caucus participants is found on Fox News. It also talks about how Fox News practically owns the campaigns. Fox News especially likes to focus on issues that involve immigration and Medicare. The article also discusses how Fox News tends to have many ambush interviews. However, with the Republican candidates, Fox News is receiving interview clips from actual candidates such as Mitt Romney. Also, it gives the reader information that half of Fox News viewers would vote for Newt Gingrich if the Republican presidential caucus were held today. A reason for this could be that Gingrich is much more familiar on Fox News. Also, Romney, in order to gain some prospective voters, has tried to tell reporters that Gingrich is against child labor laws, is for amnesty for illegal immigration, etc. The article then goes on to talk about the debate that will be moderated by Donald Trump and how some have agreed to attend while others are either undecided or have decided not to attend at all. It also says that Trump believes that he knows more about the issues than any of the candidates making the candidates feel reluctant to attend. Also, it is said that the candidates have actually spent less money on their campaigns because of their access to free media. The top nine Republicans have only spent fifty three million dollars on the debates which is half as much money that was spent only four years ago. All in all, watching everything on Fox News is as if one were actually there in person.