Is Mitt Romney Weird?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 10th, 2011 4:39 am by HL
Is Mitt Romney Weird?
Michael Crowley wonders whether President Obama’s attempt to portray Mitt Romney as “weird” is using a dog whistle to raise questions about the GOP frontrunner’s religion.
“To my ears, that rings of innuendo about his Mormon faith, and surely any sophisticated political strategist would anticipate that reaction. Romney’s Mormonism, much like Obama’s race at a similar point in the 2008 campaign, remains a fascinating and still little-understood political variable. It’s hard to imagine it as a net positive, however, and that Politico story leaves me wondering how much Obama’s advisers are ready to make of it. You’d like to think that the people who work for a man who has been slurred countless times because of his race would take a higher road, so hopefully I’m just reading too much into this. Time will tell.”
Quote of the Day
“We believe there’s dirty tricks afoot.”
— Wisconsin Democratic spokesman Graeme Zielinski, quoted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, alleging fraud in at least one state senate recall race.
Do Democrats Still Try to Recall Walker?
The big question after Wisconsin Republicans likely held on to control of the state senate after winning four of six recall races last night — pending a possible recount and legal challenge — is whether Democrats will still push to recall Gov. Scott Walker (R) next year.
A related question is whether former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) shifts his sights from taking on Walker to trying to return to the U.S. Senate.
Fed Vows to Keep Interest Rates Near Zero
The Federal Reserve Board made “an unprecedented pledge that it will likely keep a key short-term interest rate exceptionally low until at least mid-2013 — a sign of how long the central bank believes the economy will be burdened by anemic growth and high unemployment,” USA Today reports.