Endorsement Thread

gul · Oct 25, 2012

The New Yorker endorses Obama:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—the $787-billion stimulus package—was well short of what some economists, including Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, thought the crisis demanded. But it was larger in real dollars than any one of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal measures. It reversed the job-loss trend—according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as many as 3.6 million private-sector jobs have been created since June, 2009—and helped reset the course of the economy. It also represented the largest public investment in infrastructure since President Eisenhower’s interstate-highway program. From the start, though, Obama recognized that it would reap only modest political gain. “It’s very hard to prove a counterfactual,” he told the journalist Jonathan Alter, “where you say, ‘You know, things really could have been a lot worse.’ ” He was speaking of the bank and auto-industry bailouts, but the problem applies more broadly to the stimulus: harm averted is benefit unseen.
Click to expand...

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2012/10/29/121029taco_talk_editors

T.R · Oct 25, 2012

garamet · Oct 25, 2012

garamet said: ↑

garamet said: ↑

So what do you think, T.R? A newspaper announces its endorsement for a particular candidate and then what happens? Everybody who reads that paper says "Oh, gosh! I should vote for that guy!"?
Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Bob1370 · Oct 25, 2012

"If Romney gets elected and starts cutting PBS, Big Bird won't be the only one looking for funding."

We all will, when Romney follows through on his platform and raises taxes on people's salaries and slashes their deductions to narrow the deficit (while implementing the Ryan budget and cutting taxes to nothing on capital gains, dividends, inheritance and interest, giving himself and his pals like Vegas billionaire buddly Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers a tax rate of ZERO).

Bulldog · Oct 25, 2012

Bulldog for pie and tacos.

gul · Oct 26, 2012

Colin Powell for Obama.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/colin-powell-endorses-obama_n_2011162.html?ir=Politics

T.R · Oct 26, 2012

Interesting that once again Obama has accepted the endorsement of Bush's former Secretary of State. After all the years of railing against Bush's policies you would think an ex Bushy like Powell would not be welcome.

T.R · Oct 26, 2012

South Florida paper for Romney

Sun Sentinel endorses Mitt Romney for president

Brush away all the rhetoric, all the vitriol, all the divisiveness from the presidential campaign. To most Americans, only one thing matters — the economy......
Click to expand...

Enough said. This paper endorsed Kerry in 2004 and Obama in 2008.

T.R · Oct 30, 2012

FORMER HEAD OF DEMOCRATS ABROAD IN ISRAEL AND DNC DELEGATE NOW CAMPAIGNING FOR ROMNEY

Eighty-year-old Bryna Franklin says she’s never voted anything but Democrat from the time she could vote. In fact, she was so committed to her party she once headed the Israel branch of Democrats Abroad and was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. But the faith in her party has been shaken during the four years that Barack Obama has been president, and she has decided – for the first time in her life – to vote Republican.
Click to expand...

link

Bailey · Oct 30, 2012

T.R said: ↑

FORMER HEAD OF DEMOCRATS ABROAD IN ISRAEL AND DNC DELEGATE NOW CAMPAIGNING FOR ROMNEY

Eighty-year-old Bryna Franklin says she’s never voted anything but Democrat from the time she could vote. In fact, she was so committed to her party she once headed the Israel branch of Democrats Abroad and was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. But the faith in her party has been shaken during the four years that Barack Obama has been president, and she has decided – for the first time in her life – to vote Republican.
Click to expand...

link
Click to expand...

That endorsement basically boils down to "He isn't doing what Israel wants!"

T.R · Oct 30, 2012

Bailey said: ↑

T.R said: ↑

FORMER HEAD OF DEMOCRATS ABROAD IN ISRAEL AND DNC DELEGATE NOW CAMPAIGNING FOR ROMNEY

Eighty-year-old Bryna Franklin says she’s never voted anything but Democrat from the time she could vote. In fact, she was so committed to her party she once headed the Israel branch of Democrats Abroad and was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. But the faith in her party has been shaken during the four years that Barack Obama has been president, and she has decided – for the first time in her life – to vote Republican.
Click to expand...

link
Click to expand...

That endorsement basically boils down to "He isn't doing what Israel wants!"
Click to expand...

It also boils down to "Bye Bye Jewish vote."

garamet · Oct 30, 2012

T.R said: ↑

Bailey said: ↑

T.R said: ↑

FORMER HEAD OF DEMOCRATS ABROAD IN ISRAEL AND DNC DELEGATE NOW CAMPAIGNING FOR ROMNEY

Eighty-year-old Bryna Franklin says she’s never voted anything but Democrat from the time she could vote. In fact, she was so committed to her party she once headed the Israel branch of Democrats Abroad and was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. But the faith in her party has been shaken during the four years that Barack Obama has been president, and she has decided – for the first time in her life – to vote Republican.
Click to expand...

link
Click to expand...

That endorsement basically boils down to "He isn't doing what Israel wants!"
Click to expand...

It also boils down to "Bye Bye Jewish vote."
Click to expand...

Not really.

Fisherman's Worf · Oct 30, 2012

T.R said: ↑

Bailey said: ↑

T.R said: ↑

FORMER HEAD OF DEMOCRATS ABROAD IN ISRAEL AND DNC DELEGATE NOW CAMPAIGNING FOR ROMNEY

Eighty-year-old Bryna Franklin says she’s never voted anything but Democrat from the time she could vote. In fact, she was so committed to her party she once headed the Israel branch of Democrats Abroad and was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. But the faith in her party has been shaken during the four years that Barack Obama has been president, and she has decided – for the first time in her life – to vote Republican.
Click to expand...

link
Click to expand...

That endorsement basically boils down to "He isn't doing what Israel wants!"
Click to expand...

It also boils down to "Bye Bye Jewish vote."
Click to expand...

T.R · Nov 1, 2012

Chad said: ↑

Click to expand...

Laugh all you want. Israelis think this is serious.

Poll: Majority Of Israelis Want Romney As President

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) — If Mitt Romney was running for president against Barack Obama in Israel, the former Mass. governor would win in a landslide.

A new poll released by The Times of Israel on Thursday showed that 45 percent of Israelis would vote for Romney, compared to 29 percent for the president. Twenty-six percent of Israelis polled didn’t have a preference.

Obama has been criticized for not visiting Israel since he’s been in office, while Romney visited the Jewish state in July.

The poll, conducted by Smith Consulting for Israel Radio, interviewed 400 Israeli adults.

Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have clashed over how to handle Iran’s nuclear intentions. Netanyahu wants to draw a “red line” for the Islamic state and has hinted at launching a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities. On the other hand, the White House wants to force Iran’s hand with crippling sanctions, trying to avert a military strike.

Netanyahu told a French newspaper this week that the Middle East would be “relieved” if Israel took out Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Iran has continually said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

The latest Gallup Daily tracking poll has Romney with a 51 to 46 percent lead over Obama among likely voters.
Click to expand...

garamet · Nov 1, 2012

T.R said: ↑

Chad said: ↑

Click to expand...

Laugh all you want. Israelis think this is serious.
Click to expand...

How many of them will be voting here on Tuesday?

The laughter is not at the articles, but at your notion that "all Jews think alike and they all support Israel."

actormike · Nov 1, 2012

How many electoral votes does Israel have?

Fisherman's Worf · Nov 1, 2012

T.R said: ↑

Chad said: ↑

Click to expand...

Laugh all you want. Israelis think this is serious.
Click to expand...

T.R · Nov 1, 2012

[YT="Mr.Burns Endorses Mitt Romney"]ltCIEbLMaQg[/YT]

Okay, that was funny

Order2Chaos · Nov 1, 2012

The Economist goes for Obama: http://www.economist.com/news/leade...-fit-bill-which-one?fsrc=scn/rd_ec/which_one_

We very much hope that whichever of these men wins office will prove our pessimism wrong. Once in the White House, maybe the Romney of the mind will become reality, cracking bipartisan deals to reshape American government, with his vice-president keeping the headbangers in the Republican Party in line. A re-elected President Obama might learn from his mistakes, clean up the White House, listen to the odd businessman and secure a legacy happier than the one he would leave after a single term. Both men have it in them to be their better selves; but the sad fact is that neither candidate has campaigned as if that is his plan.

As a result, this election offers American voters an unedifying choice. Many of The Economist’s readers, especially those who run businesses in America, may well conclude that nothing could be worse than another four years of Mr Obama. We beg to differ. For all his businesslike intentions, Mr Romney has an economic plan that works only if you don’t believe most of what he says. That is not a convincing pitch for a chief executive. And for all his shortcomings, Mr Obama has dragged America’s economy back from the brink of disaster, and has made a decent fist of foreign policy. So this newspaper would stick with the devil it knows, and re-elect him.
Click to expand...

That bold bit is particularly damning, coming from The Economist.

garamet · Nov 1, 2012

Bloomberg Endorses Obama

Bloomberg Endorses Obama, Citing Climate Change
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

In a surprise announcement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Thursday that Hurricane Sandy had reshaped his thinking about the presidential campaign and that as a result he was endorsing President Obama.

Mr. Bloomberg, a political independent in his third term leading New York City, has been sharply critical of both Mr. Obama, a Democrat, and Mitt Romney, the president’s Republican rival, saying that both men have failed to candidly confront the problems afflicting the nation. But he said he had decided over the past several days that Mr. Obama was the best candidate to tackle the global climate change that the mayor believes contributed to the violent storm, which took the lives of at least 38 New Yorkers and caused billions of dollars in damage.

“The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the Northeast — in lost lives, lost homes and lost business — brought the stakes of next Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief,” Mr. Bloomberg wrote in an editorial for Bloomberg View.

“Our climate is changing,” he wrote. “And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it may be — given the devastation it is wreaking — should be enough to compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.”

Mr. Bloomberg’s announcement is another indication that Hurricane Sandy has influenced the presidential campaign. The storm, and the destruction it left in its wake, has dominated news coverage, transfixing the nation and prompting the candidates to halt their campaigning briefly.

More than that, it appears to have given a new level of urgency to a central issue in the presidential campaign: the appropriate size and role of government.

As the Federal Emergency Management Agency began undertaking relief efforts across the Northeast, Mr. Romney found himself in the tough position of having to clarify a statement he made last year in which he appeared to back giving the states a larger share of the federal government’s role in disaster response.

But Mr. Bloomberg’s endorsement was largely unexpected. For months, the Obama and Romney campaigns have sought the mayor’s endorsement, in large part because they believe he could influence independent voters around the country.

Mr. Bloomberg has steadfastly withheld his support, largely because he had grown frustrated with the tone and substance of the presidential campaign – recently deriding as “gibberish” the answers that Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney gave during a debate to a question about an assault weapons ban. He has expressed disappointment with Mr. Obama’s performance over the past few years, and concern about what he has described as Mr. Romney’s shifts in views over time.

In announcing his endorsement, Mr. Bloomberg listed the various steps Mr. Obama had taken over the last four years to confront the issue of climate change, including pushing regulations that seek to curtail emissions from cars and power plants. But the mayor cited other reasons for endorsing Mr. Obama, including the president’s support for abortion rights and for same-sex couples, two high-priority issues for the mayor.

At the same time, Mr. Bloomberg said he might have endorsed Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, except for the fact that the Republican had abandoned positions he once publicly held.

“In the past he has taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and health care – but he has reversed course on all of them, and is even running against the very health care model he signed into law in Massachusetts,” the mayor said of Mr. Romney.

Mr. Bloomberg did not endorse a presidential candidate in 2008, when Mr. Obama ran against Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.

Even in his endorsement, the mayor continued to express criticism of the president. He said that Mr. Obama had fallen short of his 2008 campaign promise to be a problem-solver and consensus builder, noting that he “devoted little time” to creating a coalition of centrists in Washington who could find common ground on important issues like illegal guns, immigration, tax reform and deficit reduction.

“Rather than uniting the country around a message of shared sacrifice,” Mr. Bloomberg said of Mr. Obama, “he engaged in partisan attacks and has embraced a divisive populist agenda focused more on redistributing income than creating it.”

In a statement, Mr. Obama said he was “honored to have Mayor Bloomberg’s endorsement.” The president acknowledged Mr. Bloomberg’s chief concern, saying climate change was “a threat to our children’s future, and we owe it to them to do something about it.”

“While we may not agree on every issue,” the president added, “Mayor Bloomberg and I agree on the most important issues of our time.”

And, alluding to the damage from the hurricane, Mr. Obama said: “He has my continued commitment that this country will stand by New York in its time of need. And New Yorkers have my word that we will recover, we will rebuild, and we will come back stronger.”

The endorsement is the latest effort by Mr. Bloomberg to affect the national political debate as he nears the twilight of his tenure in City Hall.

Last month, the mayor announced that he was creating his own “super PAC” to support candidates from either party, as well as independents, who he believed are devoted to his brand of nonideological problem solving, and who supported same-sex marriage, tougher gun laws or school reform. A billionaire, Mr. Bloomberg said he would spend from $10 million to $15 million of his money in highly competitive state, local and Congressional races.
Click to expand...

garamet · Nov 2, 2012

Harry Reid Un-endorsement

Reid says he can't work with Romney

Five days before the election, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has ruled out trying to work with Mitt Romney should he win next week.

"Mitt Romney's fantasy that Senate Democrats will work with him to pass his 'severely conservative' agenda is laughable," Mr. Reid said in a statement on Friday, trying to puncture Mr. Romney's closing election argument that he'll be able to deliver on the bipartisanship President Obama promised in 2008 but has struggled to live up to.

Mr. Reid, a Nevada Democrat and a Mormon, like Mr. Romney, has become the Republican presidential nominee's chief critic this campaign, at one point accusing him of failing to pay taxes — a charge that Mr. Romney has refuted.

With Democrats appearing poised to keep control of the Senate, a President Romney would have to be prepared to work with Mr. Reid, who would set the upper chamber's schedule and determine what bills make it to the floor.

Mr. Reid flatly ruled out following Mr. Romney's agenda, saying he and his colleagues have already voted down many of those proposals, including House Republicans' budget, written by Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan.

"Mitt Romney has demonstrated that he lacks the courage to stand up to the tea party, kowtowing to their demands time and again. There is nothing in Mitt Romney's record to suggest he would act any differently as president," Mr. Reid said.

Mr. Romney has argued over the last week that his experience in Massachusetts working with a Democratic-controlled legislature has left him prepared to work with Congress. He has also vowed to hold regular meetings with congressional leaders to let both sides talk through their issues.

Mr. Reid challenged Mr. Romney's memory of Massachusetts, saying he sealed "himself off behind a velvet rope instead of reaching out to build relationships."

With a huge agenda awaiting them, and control of Congress likely to be split, the next president will have to find a way to work with both parties.

Republicans in Congress — and even some Democrats — have criticized Mr. Obama for failing to do that during his first term. The president won passage of his health care law and the 2009 stimulus, but played defense for most of the last two years as Republicans pushed for spending cuts.
Click to expand...

actormike · Nov 2, 2012

Romney deserves no better than what Obama has gotten. They wanted four years of this crap? Fine, here's four more.

T.R · Nov 2, 2012

actormike said: ↑

Romney deserves no better than what Obama has gotten. They wanted four years of this crap? Fine, here's four more.
Click to expand...

Obama got exactly what Bush got
Bush got exactly what Clinton got

Welcome to the never ending grudge match that is Washington D.C.

garamet · Nov 2, 2012

T.R said: ↑

actormike said: ↑

Romney deserves no better than what Obama has gotten. They wanted four years of this crap? Fine, here's four more.
Click to expand...

Obama got exactly what Bush got
Bush got exactly what Clinton got
Click to expand...

Statistically inaccurate.

garamet · Nov 2, 2012

Speaking of Israel:

Haaretz Endorses Obama

Haaretz, Israel's oldest newspaper and one of it's most influential, has endorsed Barack Obama for reelection.

The newspaper, published in both Hebrew and English, is one of the most liberal in Israel. The article was published as an editorial today, titled "Obama is good for Israel."

Here's a key passage:

Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, assisted Israel's defense by toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq and deterring, albeit for a limited period, Iran's accelerated progress toward attaining nuclear weapons. Bush contributed to Israel's peace, even if partially, by being the first president to adopt the two-state solution. His support even enabled the evacuation of settlements from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.

Obama continued this two-way track vis-a-vis Iran and the issue of Palestinian statehood. Under his pressure, Israel suspended for the first time - for a while - construction in the settlements. Relations between the two countries' armed forces have never been so close. Obama's challenge in his second term, if he wins the elections, is to lead the region to a stable arrangement of peace and security.

Mitt Romney has tried to portray himself as a greater friend to Israel than Obama during the campaign, a tactic that may have worked — 1 in 3 Israeli Jews in a recent poll said they supported the Republican, according to Reuters.
Click to expand...

actormike · Nov 2, 2012

Can't be. Obama's never been there as President.

You know, just like Reagan.

gul · Nov 3, 2012

Order2Chaos said: ↑

The Economist goes for Obama:

Mr Romney has an economic plan that works only if you don’t believe most of what he says.
Click to expand...

That bold bit is particularly damning, coming from The Economist.
Click to expand...

The bold is what I've been saying about Romney all along.

tafkats · Nov 3, 2012

Chattanooga Free Press for Johnson:

For more than 80 years, the Free Press editorial page has been a voice for free market economic philosophies, personal responsibility and limited, responsible government. Endorsing the presidential candidate who most thoroughly represents those values has been an important function of the Free Press editorial page for nearly as long.

For most of those election cycles, we have endorsed Republican candidates for president. The GOP candidate, even when flawed, generally provided the best platform for ensuring that the United States remained on a path of limited, constitutional government and free market economic policies.

This election, however, the Republican Party nominee has failed to demonstrate a consistent commitment to conservative principles. As a result of his failure to provide clear methods for reducing the size and scope of the federal government, unwillingness to address structural flaws with entitlement programs, reliance on government to intervene in issues best left to families and individuals, and sporadic support of the Constitution and America's founding principles, Mitt Romney is too flawed to earn the Free Press' endorsement.

Romney may be less eager to tax, spend, attack personal freedoms and disregard the constitutional limits on government than his Democratic opponent, President Barack Obama, but only slightly.

To the extent that Romney offers an alternative to Obama, the difference is in degree, not in kind.

As a result, the Free Press editorial page endorses Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson for President of the United States.

Johnson, a former two-term governor of New Mexico, has more administrative experience than Romney, who served just a single term as Massachusetts governor.

While serving as governor, Johnson slashed New Mexico's gas tax, fought to reduce the state's income tax and championed school choice. Romney, on the other hand, implemented a myriad of new fees on Massachusetts taxpayers and famously enacted a compulsory health insurance scheme which became the framework for Obamacare.

Unlike Obama, Johnson understands that government spending, unsustainable bailouts and stimulus schemes only lead to more unemployment, a higher national debt, a weakened dollar and a less stable economy.

Johnson's platform includes presenting a balanced budget to Congress every year he's in office, completely overhauling America's ridiculous federal tax structure, and fundamentally restructuring entitlement programs to allow Americans more choice in health care and a greater opportunity to retire with dignity.

The former small business owner pledges to work to overturn Obamacare and encourage health care coverage through the free market by removing the arbitrary limits that inhibit competition among health insurers and prevent customers from receiving the best available health insurance plans and rates.

Johnson also seeks to limit military intervention abroad and overturn the restrictions on liberties at home that were created as a result of the overreaction to 9/11 and America's bungled War on Terror.

The threads that bind Johnson's policy platform are the beliefs that markets work better than governments and that people are more suitable and equipped than elected officials and bureaucrats to make the decisions that impact their lives and the lives of their family. As a result, Johnson promotes entrepreneurship and privatization, allowing parents the opportunity to choose which school their children attend and minimizing the amount of hard-earned dollars the federal government takes from taxpayers.

Some may argue that voting for a minor party candidate is a waste of a vote. While Johnson won't win on Nov. 6, the more votes Johnson receives, the more the Republican and Democratic parties are forced to consider adopting his policies. Voting for Johnson is the most effective way to inject the ideas of liberty and limited government into the political mainstream.

Others claim that it is wise to vote for the lesser of two evils. The problem with that, however, is that voting for evil only leads to more evil. A vote is an affirmation that a candidate is on the right track, but Barack Obama and Mitt Romney clearly aren't when it comes to limiting government, promoting individual liberty and protecting free market economic principles. Voting for bad policies and unprincipled people will only ensure that parties will give voters more of the same bad choices in the future.

With the founding principles and the economic future of our nation at stake, Gary Johnson offers the best plan to restore the values of limited government, personal freedom and free markets that made America the greatest country in the world.
Click to expand...

Fisherman's Worf · Nov 3, 2012

You know what they say: as goes the Chattanooga Free Press, so goes no one else.

tafkats · Nov 3, 2012

Chad said: ↑

You know what they say: as goes the Chattanooga Free Press, so goes no one else.
Click to expand...

Too bad. We could stand to have more people standing up to the two-party bullshit.

Log in or Sign up

Endorsement Thread

gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

T.R Don't Care

garamet "The whole world is watching."

Bob1370 professional radio talker

Bulldog Only Pawn in Game of Life

gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

T.R Don't Care

T.R Don't Care

T.R Don't Care

Bailey It's always Christmas Eve Super Moderator

T.R Don't Care

garamet "The whole world is watching."

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

T.R Don't Care

garamet "The whole world is watching."

actormike Okay, Connery...

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

T.R Don't Care

Order2Chaos Ultimate... Immortal Administrator

garamet "The whole world is watching."

garamet "The whole world is watching."

actormike Okay, Connery...

T.R Don't Care

garamet "The whole world is watching."

garamet "The whole world is watching."

actormike Okay, Connery...

gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

tafkats scream not working because space make deaf Moderator

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

tafkats scream not working because space make deaf Moderator

Log in or Sign up

Endorsement Thread

gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

T.R Don't Care

garamet "The whole world is watching."

Bob1370 professional radio talker

Bulldog Only Pawn in Game of Life

gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

T.R Don't Care

T.R Don't Care

T.R Don't Care

Bailey It's always Christmas Eve Super Moderator

T.R Don't Care

garamet "The whole world is watching."

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

T.R Don't Care

garamet "The whole world is watching."

actormike Okay, Connery...

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

T.R Don't Care

Order2Chaos Ultimate... Immortal Administrator

garamet "The whole world is watching."

garamet "The whole world is watching."

actormike Okay, Connery...

T.R Don't Care

garamet "The whole world is watching."

garamet "The whole world is watching."

actormike Okay, Connery...

gul Revolting Beer Drinker Administrator Formerly Important

tafkats scream not working because space make deaf Moderator

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

tafkats scream not working because space make deaf Moderator

Useful Searches