Take it or Leave It?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on September 13th, 2011 4:39 am by HL
Take it or Leave It?
David Axelrod told ABC News that the White House is not negotiating changes to the President’s jobs bill.
Said Axelrod: “It’s not an a la cart menu.”
More Reactions to the GOP Debate
Some additional thoughts on last night’s Republican debate in Florida:
Walter Shapiro: “After watching nearly four hours of Republican debate since Thursday night, I will confess to feeling like a detective searching for a missing clue. The Perry versus Romney story line seems too simple, too predictable to define the race all the way to the Iowa caucuses. While Perry is still atop his perch, the only safe bet is that something unexpected will jumble the GOP contest before the first frost.”
Howard Kurtz: “In the end, the Tampa debate didn’t move the ball much. Perry and Romney are still slugging it out as the most likely nominees. But Romney served notice that he is going to fight like hell, and perhaps more important, this sometimes-awkward candidate seemed comfortable doing so.”
Andrew Sullivan: “The weirdest debate so far: feisty but surreal. If I had to game this one, I’d say Bachmann stayed alive, Perry began very strong but wobbled, Romney did fine, and Ron Paul shone the way only he can. But clearly the crowd loved Perry the most. God help us.”
Ben Smith: “If the CNN/Tea Party debate, and particularly the central Perry-Romney confrontation, were being scored on debater’s points, there’s no doubt Romney would win. He’s better prepared to talk about both his own record — witness the snappy pivot off Romneycare — and about Perry’s record, ahead of the Texan at pretty much every step… But this isn’t scored on debating points, and Perry — though he’s getting pummeled from left and right — is working to talk past his rivals, and to regularly remind voters of his economic conservatism. That may be enough.”
Paul Burka: “Perry was clearly off his game during the tea party debate. He looked uncomfortable, his face was strained, his combativeness was muted. He looked to me like a man with back pain. I wondered if he were wearing a brace. I’ve had back surgery, and it hurt to watch him.”
Wooing the Switchers
A new Third Way poll of “switchers”in twelve battleground states — voters who backed Barack Obama in 2008 but voted for a Republican in the midterm elections — found that 16% said they would vote for Obama again; 25% said they would back the Republican nominee; and 59% were categorized as “persuadable switchers.”
Pollsters concluded “there is a gaping ideological divide between Democrats and these crucial voters,” but the group also found that the moderate voters are disillusioned with Tea Party-aligned Republicans, whom they view by a 3-to-1 margin as pushing the country in the wrong direction.