Election Predictions

Every four years, media celebrities participate in America’s World Cup of punditry by predicting the winner of the U.S. presidential election. So how did they do?

Puppet Radicals Run Riot in DC!

“The Million Puppet March — a political rally against Mitt Romney’s debate remarks about Big Bird and cutting funding to public television — may not have actually been a million puppets strong, but furry monsters came from far and near in a post-Halloween parade of support for PBS on Saturday.

The march to the Capitol set off from Lincoln Park shortly after 11 a.m., with the participants singing the “Sesame Street” theme song, and the Muppets’ “Mahna Mahna.” They were asked to keep to the sidewalk, but the hundreds of marchers soon spilled into the street, requiring a police escort. They chanted:

‘Power to the puppets! We can save the Muppets!’

‘Whose street? Sesame Street!’

‘What do we want? Cookies! When do we want them? Now!’

‘EL-MO! We won’t go!’

–”The Million Puppet March: Fighting for public broadcasting, with felt and fur,” Maura Judkis, Washington Post

Salt Lake Tribune Endorses Obama

The editors of the Salt Lake Tribune, leading newspaper in “largely Mormon, Republican, business-friendly” Utah, really wanted to endorse “the Beehive State’s favorite adopted son,” Mitt Romney. Instead, they concluded that Barack Obama has earned another term. Here’s why:

“From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign: ‘Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?’”

“More troubling, Romney has repeatedly refused to share specifics of his radical plan to simultaneously reduce the debt, get rid of Obamacare (or, as he now says, only part of it), make a voucher program of Medicare, slash taxes and spending, and thereby create millions of new jobs. To claim, as Romney does, that he would offset his tax and spending cuts (except for billions more for the military) by doing away with tax deductions and exemptions is utterly meaningless without identifying which and how many would get the ax. Absent those specifics, his promise of a balanced budget simply does not pencil out.”

Choose: Hoops or Dancing Horse?

On the eve of the first 2012 Presidential Debate, we’re told that this is “The Big Choice,” and we couldn’t agree more. Consider these two men:

Barack Obama is a pickup basketball freak and likes an occasional burger and beer. He and the missus took out student loans to get through college and law school, and both held down jobs while they raised two kids. They own one house, in Chicago. Some of that probably sounds like people you know.

But how about this guy? He owns a dancing horse, his wife drives two Cadillacs, he thinks $250,000 a year is a middle class income, sold two of his four mansions because he was ”downsizing and simplifying,” and paid for college the hard way, by selling off some of the stocks his dad gave him. He’s never worn a plastic rain poncho or polyester, and his friends own NFL and NASCAR teams. Recognize him? Of course. Mitt Romney.

Moon Man Newt on Romney Campaign

The Romney-Ryan ticket received a grudging endorsement from a Republican heavyweight, the disgraced ex-Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.  Of course, Mr. Gingrich also endorsed ”Legitimate Rape” train wreck Todd Akin.

Actually, Newt Gingrich endorsed the Romney space plan– half-way, anyway. It seems he’s still angling for a job as Governor of the Moon.

Related:

“Is moon base really the ‘weirdest’ Newt Gingrich idea? Maybe not.” Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor

“Newt Gingrich’s Fantasy Campaign—and the Fictions That Gave Rise to It,” Jeet Heer, The Atlantic

___________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-ekj

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Herman Cain’s Jumbo Slice of Ego

Everyone thinks that the Mitt Romney presidential campaign is toast, including former rival Herman Cain. What’s more, the Pizza King thinks he wouldn’t have been in this position:

“But Cain said he would have been doing better if he was the nominee, saying that he’d probably have a ‘substantial lead’ on President Barack Obama at this point.

‘The reason is quite simple: I have some depth to my ideas,’ he said.”

– ”Cain says he’d be leading Obama if he were nominee,” Nathan Crabbe, Gainesville Sun

More:

“Herman Cain Says He’d Ge Doing Better Than Loser Mitt Romney, Because of Deep Thoughts,” Doktor Zoom, Wonkette

_________________________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-eip

Image (“Herman Cain Presidential Campaign, with Pepperoni”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Mitt Romney, International Statesman

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has taken a bold stand on foreign policy, standing firmly atop the dead bodies of American diplomats in a sordid attempt to score political points. As is his habit, when it became clear that his charges were at variance with the facts, he repeated them. Perhaps that works in the murky world of private equity, but it’s less effective in international relations, where lives are at stake, not just other people’s money.

So what’s Mitt Romney’s position on Libya? Take your pick; he’s had five of them. And that was just last year.

Apart from his accounts in offshore banks and his LDS missionary work in France, Mr. Romney has had little experience in foreign affairs. He’s certainly a quick study, though. First a world tour of gaffes, insults, and intelligence leaks; now this.

Self-Deportation

(images: DrunkOnSteven )

Despite advice from John McCain and Jeb Bush, Republican Presidential Candidate Willard Mitt Romney insists that calling for “Self-Deportation” is lots easier than figuring out real immigration policy. The GOP succumbed to the bargaining skills of ex-financier Romney, and “ Self-Deportation” is on the 2012 Republican Platform. In the event of a Romney victory, Steven Colbert predicts Citizen Self-Deportation. We cannot confirm the rumor that Ron Paul supporters will Self-Teleport.

___________________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-e6H

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Adam Smith Endorses Obama Tax Plan

“Let me me ask you, what’s the better way to make our economy stronger? Do we give … tax breaks to every millionaire and billionaire in the country? Or should we make investments in education and research and health care and our veterans?”

– Barack Obama, April 12, 2012
“Obama: Tax the rich to help grow the economy,” David Jackson, USA Today

Newt’s Next Job

Let’s face it, disgraced ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich isn’t going to be the Republican presidential candidate, let alone the next U.S. President. Frankly, after the kind of things he’s been saying, no one on Earth would give him a job.

Of course, Mr. Gingrich would rather slip the bonds of Earth for a job in outer space, as despot ruler of his Moon Base. But lunar colonies are too expensive and illegal and, in any case, the man doesn’t have any kind of executive experience.  There may be a related opportunity, however, and Newt Gingrich has the perfect résumé and wardrobe. He would make a great maître d’ at the Orbital Playboy Club on the Virgin Galactic Space Station.

Related:

“Is moon base really the ‘weirdest’ Newt Gingrich idea? Maybe not.” Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor

“Newt Gingrich’s Fantasy Campaign—and the Fictions That Gave Rise to It,” Jeet Heer, The Atlantic

___________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-cCR

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine