Vice President Joe Biden, whose weekend thoughts on gay marriage – he’s comfortable with the idea – are still reverberating, comes to Atlanta this evening for a fund-raiser.
The vice president will spend the night here, and on Tuesday will address a national rabbinical assembly. Given the visit, a well-placed Republican we know ticked off the following:
– Ten days ago, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were at Fort Stewart on the Georgia coast;
– Last Friday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta spoke to troops at Fort Benning near Columbus;
– And on Saturday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addressed graduates of Albany State.
Add those appearances up, says my Republican friend, and you begin to wonder if Obama’s re-elect machine may be casting an eye this way.
***
According to Eric Tanenblatt, the chair of Romney’s fundraising effort in Georgia, Ann Romney will appear at a reception Thursday at Sea Island’s Ocean Forest Club, a gated golf course community. Her husband, Mitt Romney, will be in the Midwest that day, attending two fundraisers.
***
A fresh USA Today/Galloup poll of in critical swing states declares that President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney:
…start their head-to-head contest essentially even among registered voters — Obama 47%, Romney 45% — in the dozen battleground states likely to determine the election’s outcome….
But the same poll adds this:
For the first time, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting — a shift from a 14-percentage-point GOP advantage at the end of last year to an 11-point deficit now.
***
Ron Paul supporters continued their post-primary insurgency in state conventions this weekend. In Nevada, they ousted two Mitt Romney backers from the Republican National Committee. In Maine, they narrowly won the chairmanship of that state’s GOP.
In Austin, Texas, Paul – the only unbowed Republican presidential candidate remaining in the contest against Romney, appeared with his son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, at a rally at the state capitol. From the Associated Press:
“The revolution is working,” the elder Paul said. “We have infiltrated the Republican Party and we will convert the Republican Party into defenders of liberty.”
***
On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Newt Gingrich was whether he thought GOP presidential presumptive Mitt Romney might name him his running mate:
“Would you pick me?” Gingrich asked host Bob Schieffer. “I am so much my own agent, it would be – it’s inconceivable.”
Gingrich offered up more backhanded praise of Romney. “The fact is, compared to Barack Obama, Mitt Romney is a solid conservative,” he said. And then the former U.S. House speaker pronounced it “strange” that people think he hasn’t endorsed his former rival yet.
Possibly, this is because, Gingrich said the same thing about Romney nearly two weeks ago — as he made his exit from the campaign. Afterwards, reporters asked whether such a statement should be considered an endorsement. Gingrich’s spokesman said, no, it should not.
***
It’s not as gritty as that Clint Eastwood ad that aired for Chrysler during the Super Bowl, but President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign this morning released its first positive TV ad this morning:
The transcript, with a male narrator, interspersed with voices from video clips:
“2008. An economic meltdown. America’s economy: Spiraling down. All before this president took the oath.
“Some said our best days were behind us. But not him. He believed in us, fought for us. And today our auto industry is back, firing on all cylinders.
“Our greatest enemy brought to justice by our greatest heroes. Our troops are home from Iraq. Instead of losing jobs, we’re creating them – over 4.2 million so far. We’re not there yet. It’s still too hard for too many, but we’re coming back, because America’s greatness comes from a strong middle class.
“Because you don’t quit, and neither does he.”
Or you can boil it down like Joe Biden did: “GM lives, and bin Laden is dead.” But do note that the 60-second spot — a long-form argument in TV terms — includes no mention of Obama’s health care overhaul.
***
The Washington Post, in its report on the defeat of President Nicolas Sarkozy in France, and austerity advocates in Greece, brings the European news home with these two lines:
Presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney has vowed to cut the deficit at a faster pace than President Obama. But the mixed results of such policies in Europe — where a voter backlash has brought down leaders in Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and now France and Greece — could make the argument for speedy deficit reduction increasingly difficult.
***
The AJC’s Politifact Georgia takes a look at this statement by U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Decatur: “The United States imprisons more than any nation in the world.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Leave a reply to Your morning jolt: Joe Biden is fifth Obama rep to visit Georgia in 10 days