1. Election News
Rick Santorum suspended campaign on Tuesday
Did not endorse Romney - has said Romney is an unworthy standard-bearer for the GOP
“We will continue to go out and fight and defeat President Barack Obama.”
“We were winning in a very different way. We were touching hearts.”
Over and over again we were told, ‘Forget it. You can’t win.’”
Santorum would have needed 80% or remaining delegates to win nomination before the national convention in Florida in August
Santorum’s delegates can support any candidate they wish (in most states) and Gingrich has already begun trying to appeal to them
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Gingrich says he will stay in the race to help the party build a solidly conservative platform
Said his lack of funds is no reason to get out of the race
6. Election News
Game Change (movie) - changed nobody’s mind, but did have one disturbing point - columnist Frank Bruni said: “I’ve talked to a few seasoned political hands who maintain that no matter what you think of Palin, you should be disillusioned and alarmed by the breakdown of confidentiality among the campaign staff and consultants who had a responsibility to her and whom she had a right to trust.”
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Justice Department blocked Texas’s new law requiring a photo id to vote - said the rule would disproportionately suppress the turnout among eligible Hispanic voters
Under Voting Rights Act, jurisdictions that have a history of supressing minority voting must show that the change would not have disproportionate impact on minority voters
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Public Policy Poling released results of a survey done in Mississippi and Alabama over the weekend
Respondents were those who said they were likely to vote in the Republican primary
66% of Miss. respondents thing Obama is Muslim, 36% say they are unsure
45% of Ala. respondents thing Obama is Muslim, 41% say they are unsure
66% of Miss. and 60% of Ala. respondents say they don’t believe in evolution
51% of Miss. and 53% of Ala. respondents say they have a favorable opinion of Rush Limbaugh
Survey was done over the weekend while Limbaugh was facing widespread criticism for calling Sandra Fluke a slut and a prostitute
Survey also showed that Romney, Santorum and Gingrich are quite close in those two states - Ron Paul isn’t even close
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Mitt Romney turns 65 today and does not plan to enroll in Medicare which he has promised to reform if he is elected
95% of seniors choose to enroll in Medicare Part B which covers physician care - Part A covers hospital care, all seniors are automatically enrolled, but can choose not to use it
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Rick Santorum will be short on endorsements when he returns to his home state of Pennsylvania for April 24th primary
No major statewide Republican leader nor any of the five candidates campaigning to run against Bob Casey (D) for his old Senate seat have endorsed him
Republican strategist and former Santorum intern “All of these Republica officials basically sucked up to Rick Santorum when he was in power. Now that he’s out of power, he’s a liability, they don’t want anything to do with him.”
1. Election News
Washington Caucus on March 3rd results: Romney- 37%, Paul- 24%, Santorum- 23%, Gingrich- 10%
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Santorum- “I walked away from all the jobs that I had, all the money, that is, and we’re living, basically we’re spending down our savings, not necessarily the best thing to do when you have three kids entering into college in the next couple years. But this country’s worth it.”
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Obama to hold press conference on Super Tuesday (March 6)
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Latino voters favor Obama by a six to one margin over any of the Republican candidates, despite disappointment in handling of immigration issues - has 73% approval rating
Republican candidate approval ratings among Latinos: Romney 35%, Paul 13%, Gingrich 12%, Santorum 9%
However, in a head to head match up between Republicans and Obama none of the candidates received more than 14%
3. Election News
Tuesday - Republican presidential primary in AZ and MI
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Santorum accused Obama administration of weakness for apologizing about the Korans being burned
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Romney is focusing on economic issues rather than social issues (possibly in reaction to Santorum focusing on them)
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MI poll shows Romney and Santorum as front-runners and Gingrich and Paul trailing
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Santorum: “[President Obama] is now trying to tell people of faith that you will do what the government says, we are going to impose our values on you.”
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Mitt Romney has Secret Service protection; Santorum will get S.S. starting Tuesday; Gingrich requested it last week; Paul has not requested protection, saying it is a waste of taxpayer money
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Santorum defends his anti-contraception stance by citing a racist author (Charles Murray) when asked about promising to address the dangers of contraception in our country
Santorum cites increase in number of kids born out of wedlock and sexually active teens, impact on society - economically, drug use and “host of other things”
Charles Murray wrote Bell Curve - argues that black people score lower on IQ tests because they are genetically inferior to whites
7. Under new health care law religious institutions are required to cover birth control in insurance plans
One law student found out that health services would simply refuse to prescribe it. Bridgette Dunlap organized a one day, off-campus clinic that wrote dozens of prescriptions.
“We can’t just lie down and die and let religious freedom go.” Sister Mary Ann Walsh - US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Institute of Medicine report released in July:
- half of all pregnancies in U.S. are unplanned and of those 4 of 10 end in abortion
- women with unintended pregnancies are more likely to be depressed, smoke, drink and delay or skip prenatal care
Romney has pledged to end it and Title X (provides family planning services to millions of women)
Santorum says health insurance plans should not be required to cover birth control, states should decide on legality of birth control, supports “person hood” initiatives.
Gingrich supports “person hood” too and wants to withdraw federal funding from Planned Parenthood.
“We do not happen to think pregnancy is a disease. We think it’s a gift of love of two people and our creator.”
“No one would go to a Jewish barbecue and expect pork chips to be served.”
6. Election News
Newt Gingrich is having problems getting women’s votes (shock?).
Herman Cain endorsed Gingrich this week
“Awww shucky ducky. My kind of crowd”: Cain before speech at Gingrich rally.
5. Romney attack ads against Gingrich
Two days before Florida primary, doing their job.
Romney has healthy lead on Gingrich.
1. Republican primary drop outs:
Rick Perry dropped out Thurs. and endorsed Newt Gingrich, cited money concerns and said “there is no viable path to victory for my candidacy”.
Many of his supporters and donors have shifted support to Romney.
Perry hasn’t ruled out running again for governor
Michele Bachmann dropped out Jan 4, came in last in the Iowa primary. During concession speech she stressed the need to beat Obama, urged Republicans to rally around candidate.
First appearance since she dropped out was before the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, she said that these presidential elections will end abortion.
Herman Cain dropped out under accusations of sexual harassment and extramarital affairs.
Endorsed “we the people”?
Jon Huntsman suspended his campaign and threw support behind Mitt Romney.
Said our two major problems were economic and trust.
“Race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks.
2. Remaining candidates:
Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul
