Rick Santorum, the man who surprised the world with his performance during the Republican primaries, has been announced as a speaker in the Republican National Convention.

Former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick Santorum’s, effort in the primaries made him very popular among the conservatives. His designation as a speaker in the Convention is trying to prove that the differences that arose during the primaries are over and that the Republican Party is united under Mitt Romney’s figure.

His appearance as a speaker in the Convention would greatly help Santorum’s political career and his future aspirations. The Convention is his great opportunity to solidify himself as the social conservative leader of the nation.

Santorum’s official website explains that “Rick Santorum was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2012 and became known as a voice for conservatives who didn’t feel their voice was being represented.  His grassroots approach to campaigning – including visiting every one of Iowa’s 99 counties and his stunning victory in the Iowa caucuses – catapulted him to frontrunner status where he ultimately won 11 states and 3 million votes during the Republican primary process.” Santorum had a great performance in the Republican primaries, even though he didn’t have the money or the resources other candidates had.

Rick Santorum and his wife Karen are the parents of seven children, and during the primaries he consistently talked about the importance of needing strong families to build a strong economy. His basics proposals were that the government should give incentives for “marriage, children and free enterprise.” With his speeches he gained the support of the country’s most conservative sector.

Rick Santorum is also a dedicated believer in the dignity every life has. Santorum’s younger daughter, Isabella, was born with a condition called Trisomy 18, and the doctors didn’t expect she would survive her first day. But the little girl has beaten all odds and celebrated her fourth birthday in May of 2012. This experience has made Santorum a strong fighter against abortion.

His official website tells us his pro-life initiatives. Santorum “wrote and championed legislation that outlawed the heinous procedure known as Partial Birth Abortion as well as the ‘Born Alive Infants Protection Act,’ the ‘Unborn Victims of Violence Act,’ and the ‘Combating Autism Act’ because he believes each and every individual has value and the most vulnerable in our society need to be protected.”

A Washing Post reporter wrote that “Santorum was a tea party kind of guy before there was a tea party.”

Rick Santorum recently tweeted: “Honored to be speaking at @GopConvention where conservatives from across country will rally together for @MittRomney & make voices heard!” Let’s wait to see what kind of speech he has prepared for the Convention.

Image Courtesy of  Ryan Rodrick Beiler / Shutterstock.com

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Who Mitt Romney’s running mate will be is still uncertain. Expectation levels are high because the elections are only a few months away. Republicans around the country know that this decision will be crucial in their aspirations of returning to the White House.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has a serious chance of becoming Mitt Romney’s running mate. He would certainly help the Republican Party in their aspirations of regaining the Hispanic voter’s support, which currently favors the Democrats. Rubio served in the House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008 and was elected as a Senator in 2010. Senator Rubio’s political skills, which include a fluent Spanish and high popularity among  Hispanics, would definitely help Mitt Romney to win states with high Hispanic population like Florida, New Mexico and Arizona. 

Ana Navarro, a Politico columnist, referred to Senator Rubio as the anti-Palin. She explained that the population of Alaska during Sarah Palin time as a governor was of 700,000, on the other hand, Senator Rubio represents a state of more than 19 million people, Florida is also a state with a variety of cultures in which practically every U.S. demographic group is represented.

Condoleezza Rice is another name that has appeared as a possible candidate for the vice-presidency. The Former Secretary of State will surely be able to help Romney in foreign issues.  But Condoleezza Rice’s deep involvement in George W. Bush government might not help her because of the bad public image that Bush government has in these days. Also, the fact that Rice is not married doesn’t make her an ideal candidate to the most conservative base of the Republican Party.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman also has great possibilities. He is the Senator of Ohio, one of the swing states that could determine this election. He was elected in 2010; he won with a margin of 57 to 39 percent, winning 82 of Ohio’s 88 counties. His campaign focused on common-sense conservative ideas to help create jobs and get the deficit under control. He helped Romney in the victory against Santorum in the Ohio primaries and the public opinion sees him as a safe pick.

Republican strategist Mark Weaver said that Senator Portman’s organization level in Ohio is very deep and he also “has so many people that are committed to helping him that would all come the way of Mitt Romney.  And in a close state like Ohio, the difference of having someone like Portman on the ticket could be the win.”

Another possible vice-presidential candidate is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal; he recently referred to President Obama as “the most liberal, most incompetent President in the White House since Jimmy Carter.”  Governor Jindal also responded to President Obama’s declaration that the private sector was doing fine by saying: “The private sector is not doing well when 23 million Americans are unemployed and underemployed in this great country. This president, the private sector is so foreign to him he might need a passport to actually go visit and he might need a translator to help him talk to folks in the private sector.”

Governor Jindal supported Texas Governor Rick Perry in the Republican primaries; he started supporting Mitt Romney until Rick Santorum dropped on April 10. This particular aspect could be taken into account by Romney and does not benefit Jindal at all, because it is clear that Governor Jindal preferred Governor Perry as the Republican candidate, but still Bobby Jindal would have his chances because he is considered one of the rising stars of the Republican Party.

These were just some of the names of possible vice-presidential candidates. There are many more, like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie or the former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Who knows if there might be a surprise in Romney’s nomination, like there was in the 2008 election when John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate?

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum flailed against each other through most of the Republican presidential primary in Mesa, Arizona on Wednesday night, but both assailed President Obama for not taking a more aggressive stance towards Iran.

Romney called Obama’s policy towards Iran, “his biggest failure,” and said the Iranian threat to stop the flow of oil to the west and drive up gas prices “pales in comparison” to the threat of the Iranian regime getting their hands on a nuclear weapon.

The United States should have intervened during the Green Revolution in 2009 when protesters rose up against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Romney added. When the Iranian regime pressed ahead with efforts to produce nuclear fuel, the US should have put in place “crippling sanctions,” he said.

Santorum agreed that Obama hasn’t supported sanctions and is too timid to stand up to the Iranians. “We need a new president or we will have a cataclysmic situation,” said Santorum. He agreed that Obama should have come to the aid of the pro-democracy movement in Iran, but stumbled a bit during his tirade, calling Iran “the world’s most most prolific proliferator of terrorism.”

Both men agreed that the United States should do more to help the pro-democracy movement in Syria, although they stopped short of calling for direct military intervention. Santorum called Syria “a puppet for Iran” in the Middle East and Romney said the turmoil in Syria presented a critical time for the United States to change the balance of power in the Middle East. He said the US should consider turning to Turkey or other allies in the region to help overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Santorum stumbled again when he said that Obama had not demanded that Assad leave office. In a statement to the United Nations on February 4, Obama said Assad should step down, stop the killing of his own people, and allow the pro-democracy movement to run its course. It was the latest of many similar statements Obama has made since the protests in Syria began last year.

Newt Gingrich joined the chorus of tough talk, but added that if the United States got rid of the Environmental Protection Agency and eased restrictions on oil exploration, the country would produce so much gasoline that it could ignore Iran’s threats to stop oil shipments to the west.

Gingrich said he wouldn’t necessarily oppose a preemptive strike against Iran by the Israelis. “If you think a madman is about to get nuclear weapons and you think he is going to use those nuclear weapons, then you have an absolute moral obligation to defend the lives of your people by eliminating the capacity to get nuclear weapons,” said Gingrich. Ron Paul struck his usual contrarian pose on foreign policy, saying that the US has already overextended and nearly bankrupted itself with militarily intervention.

“There is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapon,” said Paul, to a chorus of cheers and jeers from the audience. And even if Iran did acquire a weapon, he continued, that’s not an excuse for immediate military action. Paul said the Soviet Union had over 30 thousand nuclear weapons, “but we still talked to them.” Eventually the Soviet Union collapsed, he continued. “It was because they bankrupted themselves.”

Paul said that al-Qaeda’s intention was to “bog down” the United States with military intervention in the Middle East, and so far, they’ve succeeded. “We’ve spent more than $4 trillion dollars over the last ten years in the Middle East,” said Paul, suggesting that if those who favor military intervention against Iran won’t listen to constitutional or moral arguments, perhaps they will listen to a financial one.

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The big Republican names were all at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., last week: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Sarah Palin. The three-day conference, known as CPAC and hosted by the American Conservative Union, drew about 11,000 participants and 1,300 journalists, who crammed into the Marriott’s ballroom for the big speeches.

While most attention focused on Republican presidential hopefuls and other party luminaries, we opted to take a spin around panels and events devoted to fundraising. They were a window into how money might be raised this election cycle, through new-fangled super PACs and their even more opaque nonprofit sidekicks, as well as through more old-fashioned tactics.

One conference panel — “What’s Up With Campaign Finance?” — featured some of the lawyers who helped win the recent court decisions, such as Citizens United, that cleared the way for the new, more free-wheeling campaign-finance landscape.

At one point, moderator and lawyer Dan Backer predicted the eventual overhaul of the Federal Election Campaign Act of the 1970s, which he crowed “has been brutalized and made Swiss cheese by the courts, thanks to the folks on this panel.”

At another point, panelist Benjamin Barr, a constitutional lawyer, joked about the hoopla over Citizens United and the worry that it would lead to a campaign-finance “apocalypse.” ”If there’s an apocalypse upon us, I suppose we have the four horsemen of the apocalypse right here,” he said, as a few audience members laughed.

Election lawyer Stephen Hoersting, vice-president and co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Competitive Politics, who has recently joined Backer’s firm, told the audience about the various ways for grassroots groups to be involved in the upcoming election. If they want to be directly involved in a campaign, they can start a traditional political action committee, which puts strict limits on how much they can raise or donate.

If activists want to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, they can form a super PAC, as long as they don’t technically coordinate with a candidate — and as long as their donors are willing to be disclosed.

But to have both unlimited and undisclosed donations, Hoersting noted, activists can form a so-called 501(c)4, named for the section of the Internal Revenue Service code on social-welfare nonprofits. They must convince the IRS that their organization’s primary purpose is social welfare, not politics. And they also must not run afoul of the perpetually paralyzed FEC.

“If you absolutely cannot have any of your donors disclosed, there’s still a way to get an organization up off the ground, by say, April, to get money into it and to run ads that will influence…the election, but isn’t technically something that the FEC gets its hooks into,” Hoersting told the audience of about 75 people. “New organizations that don’t want to disclose, there is a way—but you have to run your ads in a certain way.”

Also at the panel, Bradley Smith, a former FEC commissioner and the co-founder and chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics, which advocates eliminating campaign-finance restrictions, told the room that he wasn’t particularly worried about foreign money coming into U.S. campaigns. Foreign contributions are illegal in the U.S.

“If the Colombian Chamber of Commerce wants to spend a little bit of money to run some ads saying, ‘Vote for this guy because he supports the Colombian-American free-trade pact,’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, that sounds good to me,’” Smith said. “I’m just not frightened that some English citizens are going to run some ads in the country, and I’m not really terribly concerned that the Syrians run their ads saying, ‘We need stronger terrorist organizations,’ and that that’s going to be just a real winner for anybody. It doesn’t worry me.”

Hoersting tripped up the audience by playing a kind of super PAC quiz game. In doing so, he was highlighting how similar all the groups sounded. He said he wanted a group—and a name—that actually stood for ideological values.

“Right now we have Winning Our Future,” Hoersting reminded the crowd, some of whom were so devoted to the conservative conference, they traveled from across the country. “Whose PAC is Winning Our Future?”

“Mitt Romney,” a few suggested. “Gingrich,” said others.

“Gingrich, OK,” Hoersting confirmed. “Who’s Restore Our Future?”

“Romney,” a few said, correctly. “Ron Paul,” one man announced, wrongly.

“OK,” Hoersting said, without naming the winner. (To see which candidate the super PAC supports, just look at the photos on their front page.)

One super PAC was unveiled at the conference, Hispanicvote.com. About 40 people crammed into a side room for the kick-off party, which featured a tower of cupcakes and a cash bar that may have been a fundraising tactic. A can of soda ran $5.

American Crossroads, a super PAC that has been referred to as the “shadow” Republican National Committee and hopes to raise $300 million with its nonprofit partner this election cycle, threw a cocktail party for bloggers, where president Steven Law made a joke about the group being a “little super PAC.” Here, the bar was open.

The conference, which meandered through the sprawling lobbies and meeting rooms of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, was no place for so-called RINOs, or Republicans In Name Only. It was a place where Reagan was invoked like a verb, where there was a party called “Reaganpalooza;” where booths sold pink tank tops with the black outline of a pistol and the phrase “I Don’t Dial 911;” where The Great American Tea Party board game asked the question: “Who Says Politics Can’t Be Fun?”

Supporters of Gingrich, Romney and Santorum vied for space, along with a man dressed up in a fat suit and a green T-shirt proclaiming, “Big Govt Gary.” Instead of the Sierra Club, there was the Safari Club, which advocated for accommodating laws for hunters. There was also the Resourceful Earth, which promises to fight “for the right to develop the natural resources that create jobs and prosperity in America.”

Bruce Eberle, wearing a Ronald Reagan lapel button for his panel, “Fundraising Secrets from the Billion $ Man,” said many aspects of persuading donors to give big hadn’t changed post-Citizen United. Fundraisers still have to summon up the nerve to ask for a bit more than is comfortable.

“Donors actually like to be challenged,” he said. “Make them stretch a little bit.”

Eberle has raised money for everyone from Reagan to recent Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain. He described how he might ask a prospective contributor for a big check.

“I would like to ask you, ‘Would you make a gift of $250,000?” Eberle said to his imaginary donor. “And then, this is one of the very hardest things…You make the ask, and then you shut up.”

 by Kim Barker, ProPublica, Feb. 13, 2012, 5:34 p.m.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/n3tel/

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Even as presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, readies for the South Carolina primary after soundly winning the New Hampshire primary, both the Obama reelection campaign and the Occupy Wall Street crowd he hopes to capitalize on are sharpening the knives of wealth envy.

As the 2011 year closed, the media remained obsessed with the Occupy Wall Street protests. Not a day went by without video of the protesters camping out, clashing with police, or some soft-peddled story on the merits of the protests. Absent are all the admonitions hurled toward the Tea Party for loudly denouncing the Obama Care Law or the president’s insistence on spending more and more money in debt to somehow magically create a positive economy.

Make no mistake, however, just as the Tea Party galvanized opposition against the policies of the Obama administration from fiscal conservatives, so too, does the president hope to utilize the Occupy movement in a similar fashion in the 2012 presidential election. The contrast between the two movements is stark.

There were hundreds of Tea Party rallies, marches, and protests throughout the country in 2010. Yet, not a single venue was trashed, the streets, avenues, and parks were left in pristine condition, and the only reported police arrest occurred in the beginning of the movement, when three white Union members attacked an African-American male in a wheelchair.

Occupy Wall Street, however, has had rapes, shootings, drug use, assaults, and have pretty much used the parks as their own private bathrooms. There has been violence in every city in which an Occupy movement has occurred, and the only word from the mainstream media has been the talking point of not unfairly assessing the Occupiers through the actions of a few bad apples. The hypocrisy is larger than the increase in the national debt, but is not even the worse problem.

There is no single overwhelming theme or idea from Occupy Wall Street, but the one thing they do seem to hate is what they consider to be income inequality. That they are the 99 percent versus the 1 percent has become the mantra, and the 1 percent are not paying their fair share. There is a call for a more even distribution of income and assets.

The ideas for this range from higher taxes to socialism and to out-right communism. What I find annoying is the idea that there should be income equality to begin with and the underlying idea that the rich have an unfair advantage. The reality, of course, is that life is not fair. We are not all given the same or equal attributes.

Some people are born ugly and others beautiful. Some people are born smart, others have average intelligence, and some people are just born dumb. Some are tall; some are small. And yes, some people are born rich, and some are born poor. It is a fact of life. What is also a fact, however, is that the vast majority of people in the top one percent of income earners were not born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

In the 1920′s, well over 80 percent of the wealth in the country was gained through inheritance. A person was born, and if they hit the cosmic lottery, their parents were a Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, or a Kennedy. In 2010, the percentage of wealth gained through inheritance is two percent. The vast majority of the people in the top income and asset brackets were not born that way. They earned it in their lifetimes.

They did this through opening businesses or obtaining professional degrees, like becoming doctors (doctors make up most of people in the top one percent), or by savvy and patient investment. Any way you cut it, they were not handed their incomes and wealth through some lotto ticket. However, the occupiers, which are more like ‘whiners’, act as if someone handed these millionaires and billionaires their money.

They never stop and ask themselves whether they are willing to do the things, make the sacrifices, risk their capital, their health, and or their marriage in pursuit of a business or profession that leads to wealth. The answer to that question is clearly no. If they were willing to do those things, they would not be camped out in a park, defecating in the street, and bitching about someone else’s money.

Yet, it is obvious from the calls for “income equality” that these people want the money that the one percent have. Thus far, none have given a single logical reason why they deserve it. Sure, the general idea of fairness can make many people sympathize with the protesters. After all, no one feels sorry for a billionaire.

However, what is fair about someone working 70 hours a week to start a business that takes ten years to build, having to shell over their money to a twenty-something or thirty-something year old that does not want to make the same sacrifices?  If you use a sports analogy, why would an NFL team with the worse record deserve a part of the Super Bowl trophy? We all know the answer is a that they do not deserve it. Yet, many are duped into thinking that they have some divine right to the fruits of someone else’s labors.

It is unimportant that the top 1 percent owns upwards of 25 percent of the wealth in the country. They deserve it, and they own it because when you “own” as opposed to being a worker bee, your wealth and income are magnified. The beauty of America is that if you do not like what you earn, you can do things to earn more. Nowhere else in this world is it so easy to move up in both income and class without the right political or social connections.

Can you do that in China, Cuba, Russia, or India? No! In America, you can, and the proof of that is the people who make up the one percent. Go back 10 or 15 years, and the people there today were not there back then.

If you are part of the 99 percent, then the question is, “What have you done today, this week, this month, and this year to increase your wealth? What have you done to affect your income level?” If the answer is nothing, then Herman Cain is right, and you are poor because of yourself. It is no one’s fault, but your own.

As we have seen over the last few years, personal accountability has become a lost value for many in this country, especially for the spoiled children of baby boomers who expected the world to give them a silver spoon- even if it means taking it by force from someone else.

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On January 10, 2012, Liberty Institute announced a major pro-life victory when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declared constitutional the recently enacted Texas Sonogram Law, also known as HB 15.

The Fifth Circuit’s decision overturned a controversial ruling by U.S. District Judge Sparks, which enjoined the Texas law co-authored by Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sid Miller and was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry in May 2011. The law requires doctors and certified sonographers to perform a sonogram on women seeking an abortion at least 24 hours before the procedure.

“This is one of the most important victories in the past 10 years for informed consent for women seeking an abortion,” said Jonathan Saenz, Liberty Institute Attorney who heads the office at the Texas Capitol and provided the main legal testimony for the bill during the legislative process. “Women and unborn children in Texas are safer today because of this decision and no longer subject to the abuse of abortion doctors who deny women critical medical information.”

HB 15, which amends the 2003 Texas Woman’s Right to Know Act, requires the physician “who is to perform an abortion” to perform and display a sonogram of the fetus, make audible the heart auscultation of the fetus for the woman to hear, as well as explain to her the results of each procedure and to wait 24 hours, in most cases, between these disclosures and performing the abortion.

Senator Patrick said, “I was always confident that our bill would survive any constitutional question because our goal from the beginning was to protect the woman’s right to know, protect the unborn, and protect the constitution.”

Representative Sid Miller, said, “I commend the court of appeals for this just decision which confirms that women have every right to be fully informed about the abortion decision and that my fellow Texas lawmakers who supported this law stayed within the bounds of U.S. Supreme Court precedent.”

In August, on behalf of Senator Patrick and Representative Miller and in support of the law, Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit seeking to strike down Texas’ new sonogram law (HB 15), which was originally scheduled to go into effect on September 1, 2011.

Senator Patrick and Representative Miller were the authors of HB 15 in the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives, respectively.  Liberty Institute argued that HB 15 is consistent with The Supreme Court and only requires the disclosure of truthful and accurate information to allow women to make informed decisions regarding their pregnancies.

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Presidential candidates go to great lengths to claim the moral high ground as they jockey for support from the American public. While contenders from Gingrich to Obama seek the imprimatur of religious institutions across the land, the fractious political landscape scarcely reflects the values to which all would aspire.

Into the battleground of the farm state of Iowa comes an unusual native son: Marc Daniels, American-Jewish author of the German published ‘Der Himmelsgarten: Das Handbuch des Spirituellen Gartners’ (‘Heaven’s Garden: The Handbook of Spiritual Gardening’).

As the grandson of Ross Daniels, the inventor of the Ross Root Feeder, Marc Daniels’s horticultural and Iowan roots run deep. Yet it took an eight-year journey into the mystical heritage of Judaism and studies in both Germany and Israel to reveal the choicest fruits of his Hawkeye stock.

Daniels has come to Iowa for the January 3rd caucus to advance his campaign and to meet with press and potential US publishers. His book, preliminarily titled for English publication as ‘Weed Out Hate: Sow the Seeds of Peace,’ is the groundwork for the Weed Out Hate initiative and is ripe for American publication.

One need not have a spiritual disposition to appreciate the wisdom of this work. The Weed Out Hate initiative integrates family values by addressing the epidemic bullying problem through gardening pedagogy. It is the quintessential children’s grass-roots instrument that transcends party politics, cultural, and religious differences.

Elementary schools around the country have already begun to integrate his Weed Out Hate gardening pedagogy into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s tenants of social inclusion by distributing specially designed Sunflower Peace Seed Packs, donated by Daniels, to school children.

Each of the packages contains an anti-bullying message and encourages children to email President Obama asking him to organize a Weed Out Hate gathering. At this globally televised White House-sponsored mega event, the children of the world would be called upon to fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King’s Promised Land vision by rooting out hatred once and for all.

Daniels’s  initiative has attracted endorsements from around the world, including those from German President Christian Wulff and Chancellor Angela Merkel, to Dr. Walter Milton, Jr., Superintendent of the Springfield IL Public Schools. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, and Iowa Governor Terry Brandstad have all issued children-oriented anti-bullying proclamations, calling for weeds of prejudice to be extracted and seeds of peace and understanding to be planted.

With Senator Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) assistance, Daniels is pressing President Obama for a declaration of support. He has also received endorsements and encouragement for his initiative from Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachman, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum at various town hall and Republican Party sponsored forums.

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Socialbakers announced that it has launched a campaign to identify the most (and least) influential, engaging and popular presidential candidates on Facebook, including President Obama, via public information on the world’s largest social network.

Socialbakers’ social media analytics tracked more than 10 million Facebook Pages and Places and billions of individual user interactions. All findings are available through a new political infographic and microsite about each candidate on Facebook. With the upcoming Iowa caucus, this groundbreaking research reveals what drives engagement, influence and conversations for all eight Democratic and Republican presidential political candidates on Facebook.

Socialbakers tracked interactions between December 1-31 to measure engagement and changes in online candidate popularity. Socialbakers will also track the same information for January’s New Hampshire primary and upcoming debates and other newsworthy events. According to a recent Pew study, Facebook users are more politically engaged and are more than twice as likely to participate in political meetings or rallies. Socialbakers new infographic outlines which candidates are leading, and which are lagging.

“Politicians and brands have a tremendous opportunity to go beyond counting the number of ‘fans’ or ‘likes’ – they must pay attention to why people are talking about them and what they care about,” said Jan Rezab, Socialbakers CEO. “Fan and community engagement is the key to success. Politicians today can measure public information about Facebook user engagement to make more intelligent decisions about what to post, when to post and how to best stimulate conversation.”

Key Finding: User Engagement, Viral Reach and Popularity:

Viral Reach (The total reach for each candidate when people “like” and comment, multiplied by the average number of friends per Facebook user to provide a comparable number)

• Ron Paul has the highest overall viral reach, followed by Mitt Romney and Rick Perry
• Ron Paul leads with 59,554 “people talking about” him this past week (second to Obama)
• Rick Perry has the most engaging single-post amongst all candidates, followed by Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich
• Obama’s most engaging post was a family portrait, yet had the lowest overall engagement rate* when compared to the other candidates
• Ron Paul increased engagement rate by 69 percent, followed by a near tie between Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, with a 58-percent increase and 57-percent increase respectively
• Rick Santorum decreased engagement rate by -7 percent

Peer-to-Peer Interaction (all debates, comments, conversations to each other’s posts on candidate’s page)

• Michelle Bachmann leads in person-to-person interactions among Facebook users, followed by Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman
• Obama leads with 50 percent of the total interactions. Ron Paul leads the Republican Party with 19 percent, which is 2x and 3x higher than Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

Candidate’s Facebook Fans:

• Obama is leading with the most number of fans at 24 million, followed by Mitt Romney at 1.3 million, Ron Paul with 672,483 and Michelle Bachmann with 460,336.
• Rick Santorum has the fastest-growing fan base throughout the last 30 days (23-percent growth) surpassing Jon Huntsman’s growth (18-percent growth).

*Engagement rate: The number of “likes” and comments per post divided by a candidate’s number of fans.

Rich Koele / Shutterstock.com

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As the Republican primaries near, Zoosk, a romantic social network, recently surveyed more than 4,000 U.S. singles to gather their thoughts on the presidential candidates.  Questions ranged from which candidate has the best hairdo, to which contending couple would make for the best double date, and to who has the best sense of humor.  The survey findings resulted in the following:

Singles say the Obamas would be their first choice couple for a double date.

• 38% of singles say they would choose a double date with the Obamas over any of the other presidential candidate couples.
• 16% of singles would choose to enjoy an evening out with the Bachmanns for a double date.
• 9% of singles would pick the Pauls.  The Gingrichs, Perrys, and Romneys each received 8% of singles’ vote for double date companions.

Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney have the “best hairdos” among the Republican candidates.

• 35% of singles give Michele Bachmann their vote for best hairstyle. She is followed by Mitt Romney (21%) and Rick Perry (15%).
• Rick Santorum received the fewest votes for his “do,” nabbing just 4% of the vote.

Republican men prefer Newt Gingrich, while Republican women prefer Mitt Romney for the GOP nominee. When asked, “If you were to vote today, who would receive your vote?”…

• Republican men gravitated towards Newt Gingrich with 33% of men saying the former Speaker of the House is their top choice compared to 18% of men who would choose Romney.
• Republican women have a slight preference for Mitt Romney with the former Governor of Massachusetts gathering 25% of the Republican female votes compared to 24% of women who would chose Gingrich.

Who is the “sexiest” candidate?

• Clearly, Michele Bachmann gets the sexiest female candidate vote, but 41% of single women say President Obama is the sexiest candidate among the 2012 contenders.

Singles vote President Barack Obama as having the “best sense of humor” among the candidates.

• 30% of singles say President Obama has the best sense of humor among all the presidential candidates.
• 15% of singles prefer Newt Gingrich’s humor.
• Tied for third place with 12% each of the “best sense of humor” vote are Rick Perry and Ron Paul.

Singles wish Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were on the ballot.

• When asked who they wish were on the ballot in 2012, 57% of singles who identify themselves as Democrats and 30% of singles who identify themselves as Independents say Hillary Clinton.
• 30% of single Republicans say they wish Donald Trump were running for president in 2012.

More singles than ever plan to vote in the 2012 presidential election.

• Compared to 64% of Americans who voted in the 2008 presidential election, singles are a politically active group. An equal percentage of single men and women (87%) say they plan to vote next year.

The data for this report was conducted online in December 2011 and fielded 4,218 responses from singles in the U.S. who use Zoosk.  Respondents were equally divided among political parties with 30% being Democrat, 34% being Republican, and 36% being Independent.

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The ten worst media disasters of 2011 include a politician who lost his place, a country singer who lost his job, and a celebrity who lost his show. The list was published December 14 on the Mr. Media Training Blog, the world’s most visited media training website.

The media spokespersons were selected based on the impact of their gaffes. All ten people reinforced an existing narrative about their lack of preparedness for office, their lack of discipline, or their lack of compassion. Videos of all ten media disasters are available at http://www.mrmediatraining.com/index.php/2011/12/14/the-ten-worst-media-disasters-of-2011/.

10. Hank Williams, Jr. Compares President Obama to Adolf Hitler

In October, country singer Hank Williams, Jr. was fired up during an appearance on Fox and Friends. While reflecting on a golf match between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, Mr. Williams quipped, “It would be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu.” ESPN promptly dropped his theme song as its Monday Night Football opener.

9. Sarah Palin’s “Blood Libel”

Months before Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in Tucson, Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) released a “crosshairs map,” which placed a target over Ms. Giffords’ congressional district. In the days after the shooting, Ms. Palin was blamed by some journalists for the shooting.

Palin was upset by media stories connecting her to the crime; she was right that no evidence linked the shooter to her map. But she over-reacted, gracelessly blaming the media for committing “blood libel.” That term is most commonly used as an anti-Semitic slur referring to Jews murdering Christians. Her poll numbers immediately plummeted among Independents and Republicans.

8. NPR Fundraiser Ron Schiller Blasts The Tea Party

National Public Radio’s chief fundraiser, Ron Schiller, went to lunch with a couple of men claiming to be Muslim donors in March. It turned out they were Republican activists with a hidden camera. During the meal, Schiller called members of the Tea Party, “seriously racist, racist people.”

That he made those comments was bad enough; that he made them while NPR was already in the midst of a heated debate about its public funding was flabbergasting. His comments led to his immediate resignation and the resignation of NPR’s CEO. The House of Representatives voted to strip NPR of its federal funding; the Senate prevented that from happening – for now.

7. Rupert Murdoch Channels Tony Hayward

While testifying before the British Parliament in July, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch was asked whether he accepted the ultimate responsibility for his company’s phone hacking scandal. Not only did he say “no,” but he delivered his answer without even a hint of humility. By delivering such an indifferent answer, he gave former BP Executive Tony “I’d like my life back” Hayward competition as the world’s most clueless corporate executive.

6. Rick Perry’s “Oops” Moment

During a Republican presidential debate in November, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) confidently declared he would eliminate three government agencies – and promptly forgot what they were. For 47 painful seconds, Mr. Perry tried to recall the third agency he would eliminate. He finally gave up, shrugged his shoulders, and lamely said, “Oops.” That one moment likely sank any remaining chances Mr. Perry had of winning the nomination.

5. President Obama Jokes About Joblessness

With the nation’s unemployment rate above nine percent and millions of Americans desperate to find work, President Obama cracked a joke in June that few people found funny. When a questioner asked a serious question about the nation’s inefficient permitting process, Mr. Obama cracked wise about his two-year-old pledge to create shovel-ready jobs, joking, “Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.” Many people blasted the President for displaying an insensitive political tin ear.

4. Charlie Sheen’s Downward Spiral

There’s little funny about addiction, and Charlie Sheen’s dangerous spiral was sad to watch. Sheen stayed in the news for months, but it was his out-of-touch interview with sycophantic radio host Alex Jones in February that led to his dismissal from his top-rated sitcom, Two and a Half Men.

In that interview, Sheen made vaguely anti-Semitic comments about “Men” creator Chuck Lorre, called Alcoholics Anonymous a “bootleg cult,” and labeled Thomas Jefferson a “pussy.”

3. The Herman Cain Affair

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain was caught flat-footed in October when numerous women accused him of sexual harassment (another woman later asserted she had had a long-term affair with him).

Mr. Cain changed his story on an almost-hourly basis, even arguing that a “settlement” meant something different than an “agreement.” Mr. Cain dropped out of the race in December, maintaining his innocence to a public that no longer believed him.

2. (Alleged) Penn State Child Rapist Jerry Sandusky Speaks

When former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky spoke to NBC’s Bob Costas in November about horrific allegations that he raped numerous boys, no one was prepared for his jaw-dropping answer to this direct question: “Are you sexually attracted to young boys?” It took Sandusky 16 seconds to say “no.”

Instead, he began by saying how much he “enjoyed” young people and loves to be around them. Sandusky’s alleged actions, combined with Penn State’s ineffectual response, led to the firings of the University president and legendary football coach Joe Paterno.

1. Anthony Weiner’s Twitter Scandal

Self-immolations rarely come in more spectacular fashion than when Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) was caught tweeting naughty photos to strangers in June.

His approach to crisis management was to deny the charges and claim his Twitter account had been hacked; call a reporter a “jackass;” say that although he hadn’t sent the photos, he couldn’t rule out “with certitude” that the erect undies shot was of him; hold a tearful press conference to admit he had actually tweeted the photos himself; watch helplessly as a nude photo of his penis was released; and resign in shame.

After Mr. Weiner resigned, a Republican won his seat, costing Democrats a critical seat in the House of Representatives.

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Health care was a major issue at the November 9 Republican presidential debate hosted by CNBC titled, “Your Money, Your Vote: The Republican Presidential Debate.” With each Republican presidential candidate stating that they would repeal ObamaCare, the debate gave them the opportunity to address the steps to reform health care once elected to office.

Ron Paul, who has had previous experience in the medical field as a doctor, addressed the issue by stating that the solution to heath care was to get the government out of the business altogether. He stated that there should be the right to “opt out of ObamaCare,” as well as any health care program to bring health care back to patient-doctor relationships.

Paul also discussed the need for patients to have medical savings accounts, which would drive down the prices on major medicines. Rick Perry believes that Medicare should allow more options for people to choose from. He also said that the best solution was to send money to the states and have them decide on what program fits best for their state.

Mitt Romney, who is currently taking the lead in recent polls, has received criticism in the past on his stance on health care. His plan is often referred to as “RomneyCare” because of its similarities with ObamaCare. During the debates, he responded that he would appeal ObamaCare and the solution would also be to send money to the states and allow them decide which health care plans are best for their state.

Romney also stated that Americans should be allowed to purchase their own insurance, instead of being forced to receive it through their company. He also agreed with Paul, saying that health care should work like a market so that Americans have a stake in the quality of their insurance. Michele Bachmann also held the same stance. She also maintained her true “malpractice liability reform” stance.

Newt Gingrich stated that there was a need to restore patient-doctor relationships, as well as turn over the funds to the state level so that they can craft a plan, similar to what John Huntsman indicated. Gingrich then stated that there has to be more concentration and funding for research on brain science.

By finding cures for many leading diseases and illnesses, people wouldn’t have to pay for such federal programs. Senator Rick Santorum thought that many other candidates lacked his experience in the health care field, and that other candidates such as Romney were not consistent in their plans.

He stated, “I was always for having the government out of the health care business and for a bottom-up, consumer-driven health care, which is different than Governor Romney and some of the other people on this panel.” Though each candidate has different plans for repealing ObamaCare, health care will continue be a hotly debated topic in future debates.

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Rick Perry’s campaign strategy is looking for new ways to continue his campaign by focusing on interaction with voters instead of participating in debates. With disappointing performances in the past few debates, this may be the best alternative to boost his support.

Perry’s communication director, Ray Sullivan, has discussed Perry’s weakness in debating. “It’s not his preferred venue,” Sullivan said. He continued to say, “But we respect the process and intend to participate and are confident that he will have a solid performance.”

Sullivan also said that the debates take away valuable campaign time, especially because candidates only have a meek 30 seconds for a response, which is not as effective as alternative campaign tactics. He said it was important for Perry to concentrate on spending time in the town hall in Iowa with voters since the primaries are only a few months away.

Dana Loesch of the St. Louis Tea Party thought that it would not be wise for Perry to skip the future debates because it is the best opportunity to unleash many of his plans, which the public wants to see. Perry is already playing catch-up because he started late in the debates, making it to the last five out of eight debates.

According to CNN, over 5 million viewers tuned in to watch the debate in Las Vegas sponsored by CNN and YouTube, breaking the record in cable news history. The debates are probably the most important time for the candidates to get their messages out, but it also has brought criticism to some candidates, such as Perry.

These debates have significantly helped and hurt candidates, as seen with Herman Cain, who has risen to the top of the leader board most certainly because of his ease and likeability during the debates. Mitt Romney has also gained a spot in the lead because of his debate techniques and strategies. With Cain on top and Romney not far behind, it’s not too late for Perry to make it back into the top two.

If Perry does not show up at the next debate, it could hurt his image. Ed Rollins, the former campaign manager for Michele Bachmann said, “It makes him look like he’s not ready to be president.”

Perry will be at the next debate held on November 9 at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. It will be sponsored by CNBC, the Michigan Republican Party, and Oakland University. However, it has not be confirmed if Perry will appear at the debates before the primaries in January.

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Another intense GOP debate took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, that aimed at giving the nation another opportunity to get to know the candidates and their positions on certain topics. Throughout the night, finger-pointing was prevalent, especially surrounding the topic of illegal immigration.

As in past debates, illegal immigration was a significant topic of focus, but it was not only directed at Rick Perry.  Instead, every candidate got a chance to voice their opinion.  Perry has faced criticism over his previous policies on immigration, such as putting in place “magnets” that attract illegal immigrants.

During the Las Vegas debate, Perry turned the attention over to Romney’s lack of enforcement on illegal immigration.  He started quite a quarrel when he brought up Romney’s personal record on the subject. He stated, “Mitt, you lose all of your standing, from my perspective, because you hired illegals in your home, and you knew about it for a year.

And the idea that you stand here before us and talk about how you’re strong on immigration is, on its face, the height of hypocrisy.”  Romney responded that his lawn care service had illegal immigrants working for them, but were let go once he found out. Romney also proposed, as president, to set up an E-Verify System in which employers must check if their workers are legal and if their documents are real.

The other candidates have also had responses to immigration that have been voiced over the past few weeks, one being Herman Cain’s “electric fence” idea.  Herman Cain, who is now taking the lead in many polls, was asked about his idea of building an electric fence along the entire border of Mexico.

While receiving a few laughs, he responded, “Allow me to give a serious answer. Yes, I believe we should secure the border for real, and it would be a combination of a fence, technology, as well as possibly boots on the ground, for some of the more dangerous areas.”

Michele Bachmann also agreed with the idea of a fence and was the first candidate to sign a pledge that would build a double-wedged fence across the border. Rick Perry is opposed to building a fence in his home state of Texas, because he has explained that it would take 10-15 years as well as $30 billion.

Bachmann pointed out the long-term solution of spending money to build a fence now, instead of continuing to have an open border, by stating, “Every year, it costs this country $113 billion in the costs that we put out to pay for illegal aliens. It costs the state and local government of that amount $82 billion.”

Ron Paul also responded to border patrol and illegal immigration by saying that the border lacks resources because they are instead being utilized overseas. “We worry more about the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.  We need to bring the guard units home and the units back here, so we can have more personnel on our borders.”

Immigration continues to be a topic of debate as well as an issue the entire country faces, but what the nation thinks about each candidate’s plans is still to come.

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Occupy Wall Street, which has been going strong for well over a month, is beginning to be a new topic of discussion among the GOP presidential hopefuls. During the GOP debate in Las Vegas, the candidates were asked: “How do you explain the Occupy Wall Street movement happening across the country and how does it relate to your movement?”

Herman Cain has voiced his opinions previously about Occupy Wall Street in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks, if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself,” he said at the time.

Herman Cain clarified his earlier comments by making it clear that he thought the protesters are directing their anger at the wrong place. He believes that protesters shouldn’t be at Wall Street targeting the banks, but in front of the White House instead. Cain has also spoken out about how he thinks the protests have been a way to distract the public from Obama’s failed policies in hopes to get re-elected.

Congressman Ron Paul differed in his reaction to the movement. “I think Mr. Cain has blamed the victims,” he said. Paul has voiced his empathy for the middle class and blames the banks and the Federal Reserve for the current economic crisis. He also stated, “If you had to give money out, you should have given it to people who were losing their mortgages, not to the banks.”

In the previous debate held at Dartmouth, Newt Gingrich talked about the protesters on Wall Street. He stated, “I think the people who are protesting on Wall Street break into two groups. One is left-wing agitators who would be happy to show up next week on any other topic, and the other is sincere middle-class people who, frankly, are very close to the Tea Party people and actually care.”

He went on to say that the solution to the protests was to fire Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and that the protestors should be directing their anger toward the federal government.

Rick Perry discussed his stance on the regulations in Wall Street, and what he thought about the protesters in an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood. He states, “I hope what they will see is that America’s a fabulous country and it gives them the opportunity to go say your peace, go protest on the street.”

At an appearance in Florida, Mitt Romney talked of the protest by stating, “I think it’s dangerous, this class warfare.” With the protest showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, it seems as if Occupy Wall Street is beginning to be a legitimate topic that the Republican GOP candidates will have to face in the future.

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At a speech at the Citadel Military College in South Carolina on October 7, Mitt Romney outlined some of his goals for American foreign policy if he wins the presidential election in 2012. He made two large promises: first, he pledged to reverse cuts in defense spending, and second, he vowed to deploy missiles and ships.

He also assured the audience that he would rebuild the US economy, reverse President Obama’s “massive defense cuts,” and increase the number of soldiers in the military by 100,000. However, Obama has only slowed down the rate of increase in the defense budget, not cut spending. In the current fiscal year, Obama requested $533 billion for defense.

When Obama took office, the budge was $513 billion. In April, he asked the Pentagon to find where it would be feasible to cut spending by $400 billion in the next 12 years. Romney also wants to increase shipbuilding from nine ships per year to 15 ships per year. However, shipbuilding has been decreasing steadily since the 1980s because wars were concentrated on land.

Building military ships has not been a priority of the Pentagon for the last 10 years. The Navy said it needs a minimum of 313 ships. It currently has 284 ships, which is up from the 278 ships it had in 2007. The 24 Navy Aegis ships are equipped with missile defense technologies. Missile defense was another of Romney’s concerns.

Romney said he would like to intensify military presence against the Iranian regime “by ordering the regular presence of aircraft carrier task forces, one in eastern Mediterranean and one in Persian Gulf.” The US currently has full-time military presence in the Persian Gulf, but none in the eastern Mediterranean.

At the Republican candidate debate on October 11, Romney received some hard questions from fellow candidates about his healthcare initiatives and his decision to support the Wall Street bailout of 2008-2009.

Rick Perry asked about the Massachusetts healthcare plan that requires uninsured residents of the states to obtain healthcare. The plan served as a template for Obama’s healthcare plan. Romney claimed that the plan does not raise taxes or cut Medicare; however, he claimed that the Obama plan does.

The next Republican party debates will be on October 18 in Las Vegas. Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum will be attending the debate sponsored by CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference.
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Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin finally makes, or at least announces, her decision on the election. She remained quiet on the topic for most of the election season, leaving hope for some of her constituents that she might run, and this late in the game, her silence was announcement enough for most. However, Palin released a statement anyway on Wednesday.

“After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for president of the United States,” said Palin in a statement on her decision.” As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision.

When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.” During a radio interview on the “Mark Levin Show” shortly after she released her statement, the radio host asked if Palin would run as an independent candidate.

In response to the question she said, “I would assume that a third party would just guarantee Obama’s reelection, and that’s the last thing the Republican party can afford. So the consideration for a third party is not there, no.” “My decision is based upon a review of what common sense conservatives and independents have accomplished, especially over the last year,” Palin explained.

“I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office — from the nation’s governors to congressional seats and the presidency.” The former vice presidential nominee added, “Know that by working together we can bring this country back — and as I’ve always said, one doesn’t need a title to help do it.”

On the “Mark Levin Show”, she elaborated, “Not being a candidate really you’re unshackled and you’re allowed to be even more active.” Rick Perry, the Texas governor who is still barely holding on to front runner status, released a statement after Palin made her announcement. He said, “Sarah Palin is a good friend, a great American and a true patriot.

I respect her decision and know she will continue to be a strong voice for conservative values and needed change in Washington.” Palin’s announcement comes just days after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stated again that he is not going to run for President, despite the constant media speculation to the contrary.

It seems that much to many Republicans’ disappointment, the current field of contenders is who they will have to chose from come January.
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Herman Cain has been gaining support within the last several weeks, making him tied with Mitt Romney and right in front of Rick Perry. His dramatic increase in support could be based on his policies, less aggressive debates, a new book, or a combination of the three.

Cain took the victory in the Florida Straw Poll in September, and was in third place behind Perry, who was in second,and Romney in first, according to a Fox News Poll just a few weeks ago. To show just how much things can change week to week, a new CBS poll indicated on October 4, that Herman Cain is currently tied in first place with Romney, with Perry slowly sinking behind.

Some aspects that have set Cain apart thus far in the race are his 9/9/9 plan and his congeniality in debates. The 9/9/9 plan has been presented as a possible solution to creating more economic growth. His plan includes replacing the current tax code and introducing a 9% flat corporate tax, 9% income tax, and a 9% national sales tax.

This plan has been more straightforward compared to some other candidate’s proposals on how to solve the economy and could be a reason for his gaining more support. During the last debate Cain even received applause when the commentator brought up the 9/9/9 plan.

Cain has also hesitated to get involved in many negative battles, such as the ones between Perry and Romney. His focus is placed more on conservative views and a campaign aimed at changing Washington. He has also connected with many Americans making emotional appeals, which has evidently shown to  connect with the public and gain support.

One touching example was his link between Medicare and his battle against cancer in the debate held in Tampa, stating, “I would be dead on Obamacare.” Along with connecting with the audience, his simple humor has helped gain some support. He included in one of the debtates, “I would bring some humor to the White House.”

Herman Cain’s book was also released this past week, which will come with appearances and interviews. His book is titled, “This is Herman Cain! My Journey to the White House.” Over 3,000 people showed up for his book signing showing their support and he will continute to be making stops throughout the country.

His book has also hit the top 10 on Amazon.com and the book has been sold out in many locations. Cain may have played his cards right and not started off in the spotlight, but he has certainly gained enough popularity to put him in the top three. With the next debate being held on October 11, many will hope that Cain gets as much camera time as Perry and Romney and can stay in the top three.

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The 3^rd primary Republican presidential debate of the month took place in Orlando and may have been the first debate to really change up the race. For one thing, there were no longer just eight contenders on stage, but there was a ninth addition, Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico who joined the race.

Of course there was the same battle between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney that the audience has seen in past debates, but Romney came out stronger then Perry did in this particular debate. It seems as if some of Rick Perry’s policies have backfired on him.

What he believed originally was a vaccine to save young girls lives, turned out to be a controversial issue and one brought up repeatedly by Michele Bachmann. Perry admitted he was wrong about the mandatory HPV vaccines as in prior debates, but this time around he made a well-designed approach at justifying his actions with a story about a woman who was dying of HPV, who lobbied him for support.

Another instance was when Perry was called “soft” on border patrol and immigration. Perry thought it was a good idea to promote and educate illegal immigrants at Texas colleges by giving them in-state tuition, a total of $100,000 dollars in savings in some cases. This came off to the other candidates as a free pass for people who don’t necessarily deserve it and is rejected by many.

Santorum has been a main critic of this action and questioned Perry during the first half of the debate on it. John Huntsman got some speaking time in the debate and has shown to be picking up in polls in New Hampshire. People are now wondering if he can he pick up support nationally.

Other highlights throughout the night included Gary Johnson’s dog comment, which is making headlines throughout the nation. “My next door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than this administration.” This quote was made popular the next day especially for supposedly copying it from Rush Limbaugh.

A moving moment in the debate was presented by Herman Cain when he told his story of when he had cancer and explaining how he “would be dead on ObamaCare.” The story clearly connected him with the audience. Bachmann still didn’t get as much time as she probably would have hoped, but has been consistent in answering questions well.

The interactive aspects added by Google also contributed to shaking up the debate and put each candidate on the spot and added some pressure to the night. Some questions that were added to the debate were “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the education system. The number of viwers alsmot doubled from previous debates and had 6.1 million viewers tuning in.

This debate not only introduced a new candidate as well as a new way of interacting with candidates, but also presented a new outlook for the election.
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Those who have been watching the presidential debates or followed the 2012 presidential election know that there was one additional member on stage in last weeks’ debate in Orlando. Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, made his first appearance at the presidential debate chiming in with his occasional policies, but has so far not made any drastic changes to the presidential race.

Being his first debate, the candidate did not have as much experience as the others, but he seemed confident and will hopefully get more face time during the next few debates to really increase his following. Johnson was perhaps the least in-focus candidate throughout the night with a lot of the attention still being directed to frontrunners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

“I got four minutes tonight,” he added, “I tried to make the most of it. I’m not complaining. That’s four more minutes than I had a week ago.” Although only appearing for a total of four minutes in the debate, he got some main points across and managed to include the most note-worthy line of the night.

“My next door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than this administration.” Despite just getting laughs, this line also made Johnson stand out and was highly talked about days following the debate. Johnson is known to have similar stances as Ron Paul including his libertarian views and being anti-government.

He even answered that he would choose Ron Paul as his Vice President if he was elected into office as president after a hypothetical question during the debate. Some think that his entrance in the race might hurt Ron Paul or divide the support down the middle because of their similar views.

One position that he made clear in the debate is that he would promise to propose a balanced 2013 federal budget on his first day in office. When Johnson left office in New Mexico, his state had a balanced budget, along with only four other states across the country. His other positions include legalizing marijuana and supporting “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

He also supports withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and other countries that are not related to American defense such as Libya. He is also known for his frequent vetoing on legislation, and he said in the debate, “I promise to veto legislation where expenditures exceed revenue.

And if anybody doubts my willingness to veto bills, I think I vetoed more bills than any governor in the history of the United States. I think I vetoed more bills than all the other governors in the country combined.” Johnson will have to do some catching up in the race, and still only has support in the single digits, but he may have the track record and comic relief to gain the support he needs.
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Shockingly, I think almost every GOP presidential candidate has now won a straw poll or two. The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza won a Republican straw poll over the weekend in Florida. Herman Cain won 37 percent of the vote on Saturday. Texas governor Rick Perry came in second with 15 percent of the vote and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney had 14 percent of the vote.

Although straw polls actually mean so little, the candidates believe that straw polls are indicators on how they are doing in the race. “This is a sign of our growing momentum and my candidacy that cannot be ignored,” Cain said in a statement addressing the results.

“I will continue to share my message of ‘common sense solutions’ across this country and look forward to spending more time in Florida, a critical state for both the nomination and the general election.”

Perry, who was expected by many to win the straw poll, signaled his belief earlier in the day that it was a “big mistake” for rival candidates like Romney and Bachmann to opt against campaigning for support in the event. Perry said, “I’ve got all my hopes on Florida.”

The loss for Perry is just the latest in a series of bumps for the frontrunner. His performance in last week’s debate has left many Republicans scratching their head. Bachmann has also been plummeting. Although, she did not actively campaign in Florida, her 8^th place finish in the poll is still bad news for the Minnesota Congresswoman.

However, last week Bachmann said she’s “in it for the long haul” despite many people believing that the race will be a match-up between Perry and Romney for the Republican presidential nomination.

 
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So the Republicans are three for three now. In each debate, the narrowed minded audience cheered or booed something to make the rest of the country cringe. I am just now sure why the GOP continues to cater to this small subset of their party while alienating everyone else.

During the GOP debate on Thursday night, host Megyn Kelly played a Youtube clip for a question to Rick Santorum. The clip was a question from Stephen Hill, a soldier in Iraq who, up until this week, had to “lie about who [he] was” in order to serve in the army. Hill asked if Santorum would reinstate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

After the clip with Hill was played, several members of the audience booed him. Someone could also be heard yelling “faggot.” Nice reaction for the party that “supports the troops.” Santorum response was not much better. “I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military.

The fact they are making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to, and removing don’t ask don’t tell. I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military’s job is to do one thing: to defend our country… “

Kelly asked Santorum what he would do with soldiers like Stephen Hill. “What we are doing is playing social experimentation with our military right now. That’s tragic. I would just say that going forward we would reinstitute that policy if Rick Santorum was president. That policy would be re-instituted as far as people in, I would not throw them out because that would be unfair to them because of the policy of this administration.

But we would move forward in conformity with what was happening in the past. Which was- sex is not an issue. It should not be an issue. Leave it alone. Keep it to yourself whether you are heterosexual or homosexual. “

Although Santorum never denounced the audience’s absurd reaction, other GOP candidates did the next day. Jon Huntsman told Talking Points Memo that the booing was “unfortunate.” A Perry representative, also called the incident “very unfortunate.”

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The rift between Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry seems to widen. The Romney campaign stated on Wednesday that they have considered Perry’s idea about allowing states to run social security. “We reject turning the program over to the states,” Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told The Huffington Post in an email.

The Romney campaign issued six detailed questions for the Perry campaign about how a state level social security program would run. Gail Gitcho, communications director for Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, said Perry wants to “dismantle” Social Security.

“He has refused to answer questions on what the Social Security program would look like at the state level,” Gitcho said in the campaign’s release. “Governor Perry has the opportunity to clarify his proposal while he is in Florida — a state with an extraordinarily high number of retirees and near retirees.” The six questions take Perry’s idea seriously, raising logistical issues about the change.

Some of the questions include,  ”Would individuals retain national Social Security numbers or would each state administer its own system?”  or “What would happen to the Trust Fund that accrued while the [federal] system was in surplus? … How would those funds be equitably allocated to the states?”

A Perry campaign spokesman has not yet responded to a request for comment Wednesday. Although Romney also does not have any specific plan for social security, he has offered more details than Perry. In his 2010 book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness,” Romney said he would consider raising the retirement age at which Americans become eligible for Social Security, with exceptions for those physically unable to work.

He also said he would be willing to reduce benefits for “high-income individuals” by using the consumer price index rather than the wage index to determine payouts, and to give younger workers the option to “direct a portion of their Social Security tax to a private account.”

Perry has called social security a “Ponzi scheme” and a “monstrous lie.” These bold statements have won him some fans with members of the conservative grassroots. But, these statements have also opened him up for criticism nationally.

Romney’s campaign has tried to go after the substance of Perry’s past comments about moving the program to the state level and the questions about Social Security’s constitutionality that Perry raised in his 2010 book, “Fed Up.” The two will meet again in a scheduled GOP debate on Thursday in Florida.

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The GOP debate on Thursday night was, once again, an attack on Texas governor Rick Perry. In the past, candidates have gone after the governor for his HPV vaccination in the state. On Thursday, it was about immigration.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum first attacked Perry over immigration. “I would say that he is soft on illegal immigration,” Santorum said. “He doesn’t want to build a fence. He gave a speech in 2001 where he talked about binational health insurance between Mexico and Texas. I mean, I don’t even think Barack Obama would be for binational health insurance.”

Santorum called Perry “very weak on this issue of American sovereignty and protecting our borders and not being a magnet for illegal immigration.” Perry defended his stance on immigration, especially a policy where he allows children of undocumented workers to receive in-state tuition costs at public colleges.

He said that the other Republicans who opposed in-state tuition for children of illegals were heartless. “If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they’ve been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart,” Perry said.

Romney pointed out that students from states outside Texas have to pay full tuition, putting holes in Perry’s logic. “If you’re a United States citizen from any one of the other 49 states, you have to pay $100,000 more. That doesn’t make sense to me,” Romney said. Perry had some awkward moments throughout the debate and seemed to be off his game.

Pausing and struggling to answer some questions. And the polls reflect that performance. A focus group run by Fox News said after the debate that Romney was the clear winner, and that Perry lost a large degree of support. Romney’s poise, confidence and specificity is beginning to impress voters.  Surprisingly, Santorum is also gaining support.

He had another strong performance during the debate. Rep. Michele Bachmann is already fading to obscurity as Republican voters are starting to see the electability problems she has.

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Another intense night unfolded as the GOP presidential candidates continued to battle for the lead — which means knocking Rick Perry out of first place. The candidates might not agree on anything, but they seemed to have the same opinion on the President’s performance. In Tampa, Florida on Monday night the eight presidential candidates showed similar behavior as they did the previous week.

Perry continues as the front-runner in the race thus far and it was obvious that all other contenders were relentlessly trying to shake him. Michele Bachmann targeted Perry on his bill that requires teen girls to have the HPV shot in the state of Texas. She questioned if the drug company’s donations were the initiative behind the mandatory vaccinations or if it was actually about “protecting life.”

Mitt Romney challenged Perry by telling him how he really felt about his job creation, saying, “look I think governor Perry would agree with me that if your dealt four aces, that doesn’t make you necessarily a great poker player.” Romney and Perry continued their one-on-one battle throughout the night, as seen the week before. They still remain the top two candidates in the race.

Ron Paul also chimed in on Rick Perry’s job record and mentioned that as a taxpayer in Texas, and with Rick Perry as his governor, his taxes have doubled alongside spending since he came to office. Rick Perry was not the only candidate faced with criticism. Ron Paul also dealt with confrontation from Santorum and sustained booing from the audience.

The cause was an article posted on Paul’s website that stated the 9/11 attacks were America’s fault. Michele Bachmann had a strong night and was seen as a bit more aggressive in Tampa than she was the week before in California. This was essential for her position as one of the top three front-runners and secured her stay in the race.

Many viewers believe that Bachman performed the best out of every candidate. Bachmann said she had “wonderful positive feedback and comments from it, so we’re delighted.” Candidate Herman Cain chimed in from time to time with his policies and said, “he would bring a sense of humor to the white house, because America is too uptight,” which added some humor to the debate.

No matter what stance each candidate took throughout the night, it was made clear across the stage that President Obama had to be replaced in 2012, amid a sense of humor. Newt Gringrich said, “I’m not particularly worried about Governor Perry and Governor Romney frightening the American people when President Obama scares them everyday.”

Santorum stated, “Some people say that Barack Obama’s economy is a disaster, my feeling is it would have to make a dramatic improvement just to be a disaster.” With a few more debates left to go, it will be interesting to see if Perry will continue to be the target for other candidates and if candidates will continue to clobber the President in hope of republican support.

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The debate that took place at the infamous Ronald Reagan Library gave those who tuned in the opportunity to formally see where the eight GOP presidential candidates stand on some of the most burning issues facing the country. It was clear that two candidates carried the spotlight throughout the night. Romney and Perry didn’t waste any time and began their heated battle right from the start.

Each dealt with tough questions, and both were confronted on issues of job creation in their state and their plan for the economy. Romney, who was bumped down by Perry in recent polls to a second place, showed an adequate performance at last week’s debate. Romney was able to stay composed and focused even when faced with questions regarding some of his weak spots, such as healthcare.

Romney’s health care plan, often referred to as “Romney Care,” was one topic that Romney couldn’t avoid answering — the main reason being that all other candidates oppose Romney’s healthcare bill because it resembles that of President Obama. He will have to expand on the difference between his and the President’s in future debates.

Romney was also confronted with his ideas for job creation when questioned about his poor ranking as the 47^th state for job creation within his ten years as governor. Romney responded, “We were able to turn around the job losses and at the end of four years we had the unemployment rate down to 4.7%. That’s a record I think the president would like to see. As a matter of fact we created more jobs in Massachusetts than this president has created in this entire country.”

He also used his experience in the private sector to promote his foundation for forming jobs. Rick Perry, who is now in the lead in the GOP presidential election, is known to be inexperienced in live debates compared to the other candidates. However, this didn’t show and Perry was able to answer many questions, with only a few fumbles.

Perry was also faced with the topic of job creation and economy. He was asked about economic issues that surround Texas such as having the lowest minimum wage in the country and being one of eight states with the highest level of poverty.

Perry responded, “What Americans are looking for is someone who can get this country working again, and we put the model in place in the state of Texas. When you look at what we have done over the last decade we have created one million jobs in the state of Texas, the same time Americans lost 2 1/2 million.”

Although a good answer, Perry dodged many of the questions being asked and instead responded with his track record of creating jobs. The fact that Mitt Romney and Rick Perry were in the spotlight last at the first debate could indicate the direction of the race for the presidential nomination.

Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to President George W. Bush during his presidential campaign, responded to last week’s debate as, “great theater, good fireworks. Rick Perry is the front-runner and he did nothing last night to knock himself off that status. Mitt Romney was solid as he has been in the recent debates.”

With both candidates showing no signs of giving up, it will be exciting to see if the upcoming debates continue to play out like a boxing match between Romney and Perry, or if other candidates will want to step in for the fight.

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Rick Perry’s decision to mandate HPV vaccines for sixth-grade girls back in 2007 has become a bone of contention on the campaign trail. Under the terms of Perry’s executive order, 12 year old girls in Texas were supposed to receive the Gardasil vaccine, which inoculates them against the human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV is quite widespread, with approximately 50% of sexually-active adults acquiring it during their lifetime. However, according to the Center for Disease Control, in 90% of cases, the body’s immune system eliminates the virus without any adverse effects. But in the remaining 10% of cases, the virus can have serious side effects, including genital warts or cervical cancer.

It is because of the risk of sexually-transmitted diseases that many medical authorities recommend administering the HPV vaccine to all girls before they become sexually active. Even though the executive order was ultimately overturned by the Texas legislature, Perry’s attempt to impose the HPV vaccine by executive fiat is hard to reconcile with his promise to reduce the government’s role in people’s lives.

Fellow GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann criticized Perry’s decision, saying that “to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong.” Even Democrats have joined in the criticism. During the 2010 election, they ran attack ads featuring menacing images of a needle poised to strike a young girl’s arm.

Perry’s decision also vexes social conservatives because inoculating girls against sexually-transmitted disease flies in the face of their support for abstinence-only sex education. Conservative Christian leaders were vocal in their opposition to the executive order, and their opposition was instrumental in convincing the legislature to overturn it.

Another issue with Perry’s support for the HPV vaccine is that Merck, the company that makes Gardasil, donated $30,000 to Perry’s campaign. The company also employs Perry’s former chief-of-staff as a lobbyist. Naturally, these close connections have given rise to claims that the Texas governor was acting more for the benefit of a major donor than the general public.

Although Michele Bachmann accused Perry of “crony capitalism,” he claimed that there was nothing untoward about the situation. “”If you’re saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I’m offended,” he replied. However, as noted above, Merck’s contribution was actually much greater than the $5,000 quoted by Perry.

Furthermore, Merck and its subsidiaries also contributed $380,000 to the Republican Governors Association once Perry took the helm of that organization in 2006. Now that Perry is coming under fire for his decision, he seems intent on distancing himself from it. During a recent debate, he admitted that, if he had to do it all over again, he would have approached the matter differently.

Meanwhile, his spokesman Mark Milner, accused Bachmann and others of staging histrionics in order to draw attention to themselves. “You have candidates out there that are trying to get attention and will throw outlandish accusations out there just to get their name in the paper,” Milner said. “What drove the governor on this issue was protecting life.”

Despite the Sturm und Drang that this has generated, Perry is still the candidate most likely to appeal to the right wing of the GOP. His social conservative credentials are still stronger than those of Mitt Romney, who is still struggling to overcome grassroots Republican opposition to Massachusetts’ healthcare law.

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Rep. Michele Bachmann attacked Governor Rick Perry during the last debate in Florida. She strongly criticized the Texas governor for his executive order in 2007 that mandated human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for sixth-grade girls. However, after the debate, Bachmann appeared on Fox News and spoke about a woman from the audience.

“There’s a woman who came up crying to me tonight after the debate. She said her daughter was given that vaccine,” Bachmann said. “She told me her daughter suffered mental retardation as a result. There are very dangerous consequences.”

Perry said Wednesday morning that Bachmann’s comment “had no truth in it, no basis in fact.” Other people have criticized Bachmann’s comments as well, including her former campaign manager, Ed Rollins. “She made a mistake. The quicker she admits she made a mistake and moves on, the better she is,” Rollins said in an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday.

“Ms. Bachmann’s an emotional person who basically has great feeling for people. I think that’s what she was trying to project. Obviously it would have been better if she had stayed on the issue,” he said. Rollins admitted to Chris Matthews on MSNBC that Bachmann has taken what was a positive issue for her and at the least tainted it, allowing Perry to escape the full brunt of scrutiny he would have otherwise borne.

“I think the bottom line here is she has made what was a very positive debate and made the issue about Perry to where it’s now an issue about her, and she needs to move on,” Rollins said. After a few days of silence, the Minnesota Congresswoman is on the defensive.

“During the debate, I didn’t make any statements that would indicate that I’m a doctor, I’m a scientist or that I’m making any conclusions about the drug one way or another,” the GOP presidential hopeful told reporters.

Asked whether she would apologize for comments that outraged medical experts say will discourage parents from getting their children immunized, Bachmann said: “Oh, I’m not going to answer that.”

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After two Republican debates, Texas governor Rick Perry is having some difficulty. Other candidates have attacked Perry for his stance on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Perry issued an executive order in 2007 to mandate HPV vaccination for sixth-grade girls in his state.

He allowed parents to opt-out of the order; however, that hasn’t stopped the other GOP candidates from pouncing on the issue. Other Republican voters and pundits have questioned the governor’s character. Craig Robinson, a former Iowa Republican Party official who is now a full-time political blogger, wrote about the problem on his blog, the Iowa Republican.

“What the debate over Perry’s HPV mandate has really done is brought in to question Perry’s character and convictions,” wrote Robinson on his blog.  ”That is why the HPV issue has gained more traction and attention in recent weeks than Perry’s comments about social security.

Perry may want to put this issue to bed, but by the looks of things, his proposed HPV mandate could haunt him throughout the nominating process.” Perry was defensive during the first two debates but stated his goal was to prevent cancer.

When he first entered the race, Perry stated that he should have provided an opt-in for parents instead of an opt-out. But in both GOP debates over the past week, Perry pointed to the opt-out clause as a positive component of the executive order he signed. “I don’t know what’s more strong for parental rights than having that opt-out,” Perry said at his first debate in Simi Valley, Calif., last week.

Asked directly on Monday night, during his second debate in Tampa, Fla., whether the executive order he signed amounted to a mandate, Perry said it was not — because of the opt-out provision.”No, sir it wasn’t. It was very clear. It had an opt-out,” Perry said. But later in the week, Perry was back to stating that he should have had an opt-in instead of an opt-out.

This proves to be a difficult issue for Perry who, like other Republicans, believes Obama’s health care overhaul is unconstitutional. If Perry can force residents in his state to have a vaccine, then how can making people have health care be unconstitutional?

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After much criticism, Texas governor Rick Perry is attempting to soften his criticism on social security. This marks his fourth flip on the issue. Perry, the current front-runner in the Republican presidential nomination, wrote an op-ed piece on Monday for USA Today. Although he still maintained that social security needs to be overhauled, he refrained from some of the more inciting rhetoric he has favored in the past.

Instead of calling the system a “ponzi scheme,” he wrote of “dire financial challenges facing the nearly 80-year old program” and emphasized the need to protect benefits for current recipients and those “nearing retirement.” In his article, entitled “I am going to be honest with the American people,” Perry stated that older workers would still be protected. “For younger workers, we must consider reforms to make Social Security financially viable.”

“I am going to be honest with the American people. Our elected leaders must have the strength to speak frankly about entitlement reform if we are to right our nation’s financial course and get the USA working again. For too long, politicians have been afraid to speak honestly about Social Security. We must have the guts to talk about its financial condition if we are to fix Social Security and make it financially viable for generations to come,” Perry wrote in his short piece.

Despite the change in tone, it is unclear how long this will last. When he first jumped into the race, Perry attempted to distance himself from his book, “FED UP!” where he first described social security as a “ponzi scheme.” However, last week at the Republican debate, the governor doubled down on his initial assessment, repeating the phrase and calling social security, “a monstrous lie.”

Other presidential candidates have criticized Perry for his remarks; however, the statements have not hurt him in the polls. A new CNN/Tea Party Express poll out Monday showed Perry with the same lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as he had two weeks ago, 30 percent to 18 percent. Perry also is leading Romney over electability.

Forty-two percent of voters believe that Perry could beat President Obama compared to Romney’s 26 percent. Rep. Michele Bachmann continues slipping, dropping to four percent in the poll, down from ten percent just two weeks ago.

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It has already begun. The presidential election is over a year away, but former candidates are beginning to endorse their peers. Tim Pawlenty, who dropped out of the race last month, has placed his support behind Mitt Romney in an email to supporters on Monday.

“President Obama has failed to meet America’s economic challenges. … Fortunately, America may get a second chance: Mitt Romney is running for president, and I am proud to endorse him,” said Pawlenty in an email message sent out by the Romney campaign.

“[Romney] believes in the bedrock conservative ideals of limited government and free enterprise,” he continued. “He will stand up for America’s allies when they are threatened, with fortitude. And he will face down our adversaries. He is a formidable person, and he will certainly be a formidable president. Our allies can count on it, and our enemies should expect it.”

“He’s formulated an economic plan-a set of alternatives to the government-oriented programs that Barack Obama has put in place-that is unparalleled in the history of American electoral campaigns. By pressing for fundamental change in the way that Washington taxes and spends, issues regulations, uses energy, interacts with our major trading partners, and deals with our labor force, he fully envisions a way to place America back on the path toward rapid economic growth and full employment.”

Pawlenty also appeared on Fox News on Monday morning. He stated that Romney has significant experience in the private sector, which has influenced his decision to support the former Massachusetts governor. He also criticized Texas governor Rick Perry, specifically Perry’s reference to social security as a “ponzi scheme.”

“Governor Romney wants to fix Social Security — he doesn’t want to abolish it or end it,” Pawlenty said. “He doesn’t believe it should be thrown out — he thinks it should be reformed and fixed.” Responding to questions about his previous criticism of Romney’s health-care program, Pawlenty said he talked to Romney about his concerns and came away reassured.

“Mitt Romney is 100 percent dedicated and committed to repealing Obamacare,” Pawlenty said, citing Romney’s pledge to grant the states waivers from the federal law. Pawlenty will be a national co-chair of Romney’s campaign. He told Fox News that he had no vice presidential aspirations.

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