The Republican National Convention have unveiled its new blog, Conventional Wisdom, that will use an informal, conversational style to tell the story of the 40th Republican presidential nominating convention to be held later this summer in Tampa.

“Creating an interesting and useful blog is just one way of communicating with people across the country,” said convention Chief Executive Officer William Harris. “It’s part of our larger plan to open the convention and make it accessible to as many people as possible using cutting-edge technology and interactive social media.”

The blog will feature videos, graphics and incisive writing to deliver the latest news and information about planning and holding a national political convention. It will focus on events occurring in the Tampa Bay area as well as activities around the country as delegates and party officials plan their August journeys to Tampa.

“We want to encourage participation, so don’t hesitate to offer suggestions for our blog at blog@GOPConvention2012.com,” said Communications Director James Davis. “We’d like to hear from you on how we can peel back the curtain of the convention in a way that’s educational, interesting and fun.”

In keeping with its participatory theme, the blog’s name was chosen through online voting based on suggestions solicited on Facebook. The list of submissions was winnowed down to sixteen entries that were pitted against each other in a NCAA-style bracket online tournament christened “Blog Madness.”

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Fox News and Google teamed up to add an interesting twist in the GOP debate that took place in Orlando, Florida. The debate included some interactive aspects which made it nothing like any previous debate. Google allowed the opportunity for citizens throughout the country to participate in the debate first-handedly and ask questions to the nine GOP presidential candidates via YouTube videos.

A total of 18,000 questions were sent in as text messages as well, according to the Official Google Blog. Some questions that many wanted answers to but which were excluded from previous debates were topics such as the education system, Palestine and Israel, and the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. These questions were aimed at challenging the candidates and getting them out of their comfort zone.

A former teacher from Georgia sent in a video that addressed the problem with the education system and all the candidates had the opportunity to expand on their views on this issue. Another question came from a gay soldier serving in Iraq who asked Rick Santorum if he would reinstate the ban on openly gay service members during his presidency.

A different video asked, “If you were forced to eliminate one department from the federal government which one would you eliminate and why?” Other questions were simply added in hopes to spice up the competition and add humor to the debate.

Maybe one of the most surprising questions of the night came from a citizen in a YouTube video who asked each candidate whom they would pick as their vice president if they were elected in 2012 for president.

Other features introduced by Google were elements such as showing the most searched trends, which were the platform for discussion within the debate. The most researched words were then presented in a “word cloud” that included words such as illegal, Israel, and economy.

During breaks between the debates, Google also had a feature that illustrated what people were searching for most while using the Internet. It demonstrated that coupons were being heavily searched for, most likely because many people are trying to save money wherever they can. Foreclosures were another highly searched topic and was searched much more than home loans.

This new interactive feature introduced in the Orlando debate allowed for people across the nation to present personal questions and also challenged the candidates to think on the spot. Overall, Google allowed for an out-of-the-ordinary debate, one of my personal favorites thus far.
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Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has come under fire by allegations that his campaign tried to conceal the role of one of his campaign staffers.

The issue revolves around Scott Toomey; he served as treasurer of Cain’s political action committee and is one on Cain’s top senior political advisors. It was revealed that Toomey was released from his former position of treasurer at Madison Pride Board because of financial discrepancies — he was released in 2008 after Madison Pride became aware that bills from an event they hosted in 2007 had not been paid.

It was also revealed that Toomey is the leader of a gay pride group in Wisconsin, an issue that is viewed negatively in conservative circles. Cain has previously stated that his belief is that homosexuality is a choice and following through with that choice is to commit a sin.

With Toomey on staff, an openly gay man in an influential position, charges of hypocrisy would run rampant and diminish Cain’s chances of becoming president. Thus, the need to cover up the situation presented itself, and aides were brought on board to ensure a harmonious story was told if anyone asked about Toomey.

These alleged actions only became public knowledge after Kevin Hall, Cain’s former Iowa straw poll coordinator, applied for unemployment benefits and in his testimony revealed the situation. Hall applied for resignation only after Cain’s campaign tried to get him involved in the alleged cover up.

In Hall’s testimony he stated, “That on June 9 his second day on the job, campaign spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael told the staff that Toomey was no longer involved in the campaign in any capacity and they should tell that to anyone who asked.

Hall said he learned weeks later that Toomey was still very much involved as an outside consultant despite what he and others had been telling the media and supporters.” Hall also testified that, “Campaign manager Mark Block told him June 29 the campaign would conceal Toomey’s continued employment by paying his newly-formed consulting firm so his name would not show up in disclosure filings.”

Filings with the Federal Election Commission show Toomey, of Chicago, received his last salary from the campaign on June 13. The Soarin’ Group, which Hall testified was Toomey’s firm, started receiving payments the same month. Hall’s allegations can be partially confirmed by Steve Starkey, a Madison gay rights activist who knew Toomey.

Starkey has been quoted for saying, “It was in the papers that he [Toomey] was the person responsible for that financial mess.” Starkly goes on to say “Toomey moved to Florida and went underground after the scandal. My research later found that Toomey’s promotional company also had been accused in court of not paying vendors.”

Court records show that Toomey filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and reported more than $20,000 in pending legal judgments against him from companies and a credit union.

With the hiring of Toomey, Cain may have taken several missteps that will damage his chances of the republican presidential nomination — not because of Toomey’s questionable financial past or sexual orientation, but because of Cain’s alleged involvement in covering up Toomey’s association with his campaign. During the hearing, a lawyer for Cain’s campaign did not dispute any of the allegations set forth by Hall.

Without dispute, this allowed Judge Bonny Hendricksmeyer to award unemployment benefits to Hall, ruling that Hall only resigned after being approached to participate in the cover up.

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Rep. Michele Bachmann’s campaign suffered a major shake-up on Monday as her campaign manager and his close deputy, although her aides tried to downplay the changes.

Veteran GOP strategist Ed Rollins stepped down as campaign manager for health reasons. The Bachmann campaign stated a strategist is filling in until a replacement is named. Rollins will continue to advise the campaign, according to Bachmann.

“In less than 50 days and with fewer resources than other campaigns, Ed was the architect that led our campaign to a historic victory in Iowa,” Bachmann said in a statement released late Monday, pointing to her win in the Ames Straw Poll last month.

“I am grateful for his guidance and leadership, and fortunate to retain his valuable advice even though his health no longer permits him to oversee the day-to-day operations of the campaign.” Rollins told CNN that the front-runners of the GOP race are Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, stating that Perry’s late entry has affected fundraising for Bachmann.

“I think legitimately it’s a Romney-Perry race,” he said. “I think she’s the third candidate at this point in time – which is way different and better than we’d thought when we started this thing – and she’s very much in this thing.”Rollins suffered a stroke a year ago and doesn’t feel he can carry on as campaign manager.

“I have great affection for her. I’ll do everything I can to help her. It’s still very much the team I put in place. I just don’t have the endurance to go 12-, 14-hour days seven days a week anymore,” he said.

His deputy, David Polyansky, who worked with him when they ran former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential bid in 2008, also planned to step aside, Rollins told CNN.”David and I have been a team for a long time,” he said. “It’s just a good time to make a change.”

Campaign strategist Keith Nahigian is taking over as campaign manager for the short-term. Prior to the Bachmann campaign, he was a government consultant at the Health and Human Services Department to the Homeland Security Department, as well as to the National Security Council.

“Keith has played a vital role in the success we have had to date and I’m confident he can lead us to a strong finish in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and across the country,” Bachmann said in her statement.

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During campaign season, a number of groups-mainstream and fringe-create pledges for candidates to sign. The Family Leader’s “Marriage Vow” pledge is an early contender for the wackiest. Even more surprising, or perhaps not surprising, is that a bunch of Republican presidential hopefuls have signed this pledge.

This pledge includes some doozies. Candidates that sign the pledge promised to remain faithful to their spouse, opposition to any attempt to redefine marriage and ending “quickie” divorces. Also included in the pledge is a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with marriage, like keeping the government small, banning Sharia Islam but interestingly protecting the first amendment (I guess freedom of religion only counts in protecting Christians.)

Some passages from this crackpot joke of a pledge were so ridiculous that the Family Leader was forced to remove them. But, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed the pledge even before the controversial portions were removed. The Family Leader’s “Marriage Vow” included this section in the preamble;

“Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.” Yes, because being raised as property is so much more appealing than only having one parent. I mean, really?

The strange written promise included a provision that the candidate must reject anti-woman, anti-human rights forms of totalitarian control. Interesting that Bachmann was the first to sign this. She has stated that she believes women should be subservient to their husbands. The obvious problem with this is that a person who is subservient to anyone should NOT be president.

Also, how can Ms. Bachmann quickly jump up to sign this pledge promising to reject anti-woman forms of totalitarian control? Just because it has a Christian spin on it does not make it less totalitarian. Anti-woman is anti-woman, no matter what country, political party or religion is responsible.

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Do you remember Herman Cain? He is one of the many fringe Republican candidates who are pretending to run for the GOP presidential nomination. The former Godfather Pizza CEO is known for his controversial statements. He is not going to stop making outlandish claims just because he is running for president.

Last week, Cain criticized the planned mosque in Tennessee. “This is just another way to try to gradually sneak Sharia law into our laws, and I absolutely object to that,” Cain told reporters. “This isn’t an innocent mosque,” Cain said.

On Sunday, Cain was asked by Chris Wallace about that comment. He elaborated and stated he believes that Americans should be able to ban Muslims from building mosques in their communities. And I really think he was serious.

“Our Constitution guarantees the separation of church and state,” Cain said in an interview with “Fox News Sunday.” “Islam combines church and state. They’re using the church part of our First Amendment to infuse their morals in that community, and the people of that community do not like it. They disagree with it.”

“Let’s go back to the fundamental issue,” Cain said. “Islam is both a religion and a set of laws — Sharia laws. That’s the difference between any one of our traditional religions where it’s just about religious purposes.”

“So, you’re saying that any community, if they want to ban a mosque…” Wallace began.

“Yes, they have the right to do that,” Cain said.

On Sunday, Cain defended his past comments about not allowing Muslims to serve in his administration, telling Wallace that it’s not discrimination.

“Aren’t you willing to restrict people because of their religion?” Wallace asked.

“I’m willing to take a harder look at people who might be terrorists, that’s what I’m saying,” Cain replied. “Look, I know that there’s a peaceful group of Muslims in this country. God bless them and they’re free to worship. If you look at my career I have never discriminated against anybody, because of their religion, sex or origin or anything like that.”

“I’m simply saying I owe it to the American people to be cautious because terrorists are trying to kill us,” Cain said, “so yes I’m going to err on the side of caution rather than on the side of carelessness.”

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