Rubio’s Pitch To Latinos Is All About Messaging
GOP Obscures Its Role In Blocking Immigration Reform, Blames Obama
Daniels: Romney Doesn’t Need To Target Women
TPM Editors’ Blog Opinions, Context & Ideas from TPM Editors
NYT Pub Ed: Is Obama Manchurian Candidate?
Today the New York Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane threw in his lot with those who say President Obama was never truly ‘vetted’ during the 2008 campaign and that Times itself was a major part of that failure.
Read More →Check The Source … Unlike Some People
Fox News host adds a few additional words to President Obama’s “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth” comment and the new “quote” gets picked up by WaPo (since corrected) and others.
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Happy Birthday, Fenway
You’ve probably heard that today is the 100th birthday of Fenway Park, but you probably haven’t seen this old photo of the park or the first ball pitched at the park’s 1912 grand opening or this photo from the 1912 World Series in Boston.
Tough Choices
One question I have about Gov. Jerry Brown’s push to fund high speed rail in California: Have proponents stripped the project down so far to make it politically palatable that they’ve doomed it with unworkable practical, technical, or economic constraints?
Honest question. I don’t know the answer. But it seems like the ingredients – or more specifically, the pressures – are there to create that kind of result. Curious what our California readers have to say on this point.
Old Bull Democrat Faces Stiff Test
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), saddled with a new district that has a fraction of his former constituents and with a new California law that eliminated party primaries, is facing his first real challenge since being elected in 1972 election.
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Prosecutors Caught Flat-Footed
Nick Martin on the surprising twists in today’s hearing in the Trayvon Martin case.
Coming Down The Pike
With a House vote scheduled for next week, the debate over the cybersecurity bill CISPA is intensifying.
Painful To Watch
I’m generally sympathetic to the political pinch Democratic elected officials in conservative states find themselves in. I’ve lived most of my life in red states, and I get the survival instinct on display when Blue Dogs and similarly situated Dems have to tack against the national party. But what can you say about Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)? The harder he tries, the worse it gets.
Man The Barricades!
Another conservative outfit has stepped in to take up the cause of voter ID laws now that ALEC has bowed out. Longtime readers will remember these guys.
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‘I Am Sorry For The Loss Of Your Son’
Watch George Zimmerman’s apology to Trayvon Martin’s parents.
Zimmerman Granted $150,000 Bond
The judge grants George Zimmerman release on a $150,000 bond, with conditions.
The Next Level
IBM developing lithium-air battery for electric cars that can go 500 miles between charges.
TPM Hiring: Marketing and Ad Operations Associate
TPM is hiring a Marketing and Ad Operations Associate at our New York Headquarters. We’re looking for an ambitious self-starter with an entrepreneurial spirit to work with our advertising and publishing team. The ideal candidate has a fanatical attention to detail and a creative mind, who thrives on working on many projects at one time. This position requires a great design eye and familiarity with Photoshop and Powerpoint. Interested?
Read more after the jump.
Read More →Flagging To Your Attention
This might be under your radar, but the looming legislative decision in California on whether to fund Gov. Jerry Brown’s high speed rail project could determine the future of these kinds of projects across the country.
Behold The Murdoch Pivot
Jon Stewart marvels at Fox News’ sudden embrace of Mitt Romney.
He Just Didn’t Have The Juice
Speaker John Boehner still trying to rewrite the history of the signature failure of his speakership thus far.
#Leadership
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) goes all Hamlet on whether he’ll vote to re-elect President Obama.
Latest In Trayvon Martin Case
The George Zimmerman bond hearing is just getting underway in Florida. You can watch it live here.
‘Baby, My Cash Money’
Having trouble following the sordid details of the Cartagena affair? We gotcha covered.
And Now Palin
Perhaps inevitably, the agent at the center of the Secret Service hooker scandal was part of the team guarding Sarah Palin and apparently joked about checking her out. And yes, the pictures.
Romney Spokesman Erases Tweets Attacking Women
Richard Grenell deleted over 800 tweets after grumblings about his offensiveness toward women and the press.
NYT Public Editor: NYT ‘Basked’ In Obama’s Election
New York Times public editor Arthur Brisbane says the paper “basked” in Obama’s 2008 election and needs to be tougher.
Most Recent Latest news stories from TPM reporters
Rubio’s Pitch To Latinos Is More Messaging Than Substance
Senator Marco Rubio may have a toned down version of the DREAM Act he hopes to sell to both his own party and Latino voters, but he is not holding back when it comes to talking about the plight of undocumented immigrants. Even if his party doesn’t have a solution for undocumented immigrants, he said, the least they can do is not paint them as evil-doers. “It does matter how you talk about the issue,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN’s Candy Crowley in an interview that aired Sunday…
Did Fox News Fabricate An Obama Quote?
In a recent campaign-trail speech, President Obama delivered a line that was widely construed as a jab at Mitt Romney. But whether it was a direct jab at Romney was at least arguable until a Fox News host pumped it up with three additional words that Obama never said. “Somebody gave me an education,” the President said last Wednesday in a Elyria, Ohio speech, discussing equality of opportunity. “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Michelle wasn’t. But somebody gave us a…
GOP Obscures Its Role In Blocking Immigration Reform
President Obama’s senior campaign adviser David Axelrod pushed back Sunday on Republicans for highlighting the lack of comprehensive immigration reform as a failed Obama promise. The president’s ongoing squabble with the GOP on this issue is indicative of how the two camps are trying to court Hispanic voters ahead of the election. “To say because you have an implacable group of Republicans in the Congress who simply aren’t to let that move, that the president hasn’t kept his promise, …
Today On The Trail: April 22, 2012
Here are ten things you need to know today. Sunday shows line-up: Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Peter King (R-NY) will be on NBC’s Meet the Press; Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN) will be on Fox News Sunday; David Axelrod, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Elijiah Cummings (D-MD) will be on CNN’s State of the Union; Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) will be on ABC’s This Week; Joe Lieberman and The…
Santa Fe Bandit Shoots Up Speed-Enforcement Vehicle (VIDEO)
One Santa Fe man is fighting back against the city’s program to crack down on people who speed by taking the matter into his own hands – literally. A video released Friday shows an elderly gentleman clad in a white nightgown pull up next to an unmanned speed-enforcement vehicle at about 1:20 a.m and casually unload five gunshots into the windshield before proceeding to drive off, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican. The man appears to yell something after firing the final shot. The…
Orrin Hatch To Face Primary In June – Fails To Clinch GOP Nod At Convention
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) will now face a Republican primary in his bid for a seventh term, following a vote of delegates at the state GOP convention, after having received a majority that fell just short of the 60 percent needed to win his nomination outright. Out of over 3,900 delegates in attendance on Saturday, Hatch received 57.2 percent of the vote on the first ballot, the state GOP announced, to former state Sen. Liljenquist’s 28.8 percent. All seven other candidates were then…
Today On The Trail: April 21, 2012
Here are 10 things you need to know today. Obama campaign raises $35 million in March: Campaign finance hauls were the news on late Friday, as President Obama’s camp took in $35 million last month, along with another $18.7 million brought in by the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising effort between the DNC and the campaign. Obama’s campaign had $104 million on hand at the end of March. Obama campaign releases campaign bundlers: President Obama’s camp released the names of major…
Will Orrin Hatch Get The Bob Bennett Treatment At Utah GOP Convention?
Sen. Orrin Hatch faces a crucial moment in his re-election race Saturday, with a key vote of delegates at the Utah Republican Party’s state nominating convention, when a year’s worth of targeting by right-wing groups, including FreedomWorks, and various tea party activists will be put to the test. But unlike two years ago, when his fellow Republican Sen. Bob Bennett was ousted at the convention, Hatch is favored to weather the storm – and he’s pushing right back at his opponents. …
Romney Trails Obama Big Time With Small Donors
President Obama ended March with a 10:1 cash advantage over Mitt Romney, powered largely by a dominant edge with small donors, a dynamic that’s cropped up throughout the campaign.
Obama’s campaign raised about $35 million in March 2012, leaving it with $104 million cash on hand. They raised an additional $18.7 million in March for a separate joint fund with the DNC. Romney raised $12.6 million in March and has $10 million cash on hand.
AT&T; Spills Details Of New Watson Speech Recognition App Platform
Watch out, Siri! AT&T on Thursday announced its intentions to compete in the burgeoning market of speech recognition technology by opening up its own, long-in-development system, AT&T Watson, to third party developers. “In June, we plan to launch several AT&T Watson SM Speech application programming interfaces (APIs) that developers can access to quickly create great new apps and services with voice recognition and transcription capabilities,” wrote John Donovan, an AT&T senior VP…
More Twists And Turns: Kobach An ‘Informal Adviser’, Romney Camp Says
On Friday, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign redefined its connection with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) – again. Kobach’s role with Romney has emerged as one of the central issues Romney faces as he tries to pivot away from his strong anti-immigration stance in the GOP primaries and head off President Obama’s expected strong showing with the Latino electorate in the general election. Advocates for the Latino community and Democrats have said that Romney’s ties tois…
Day In 100 Seconds: Fox Friday
Today was a busy day on Fox News, with government scandals, dog eating, media bias, voter fraud and women in bikinis all needing to be covered.
For those of you that aren’t normally glued to the network for ten hours a day, here is today’s coverage in under two minutes.
Watch:
Stark Choices: Pete Faces First Tough Race In Decades
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) is now finding himself in a situation he has not faced in a very, very long time in his safe Democratic district in the San Francisco Bay area: Having a real opponent. At a candidate forum this past Tuesday, Stark made an accusation against his opponent, fellow Democrat Eric Swalwell, that was – well, stark, alleging without any immediate evidence that Swalwell had taken “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” from a prominent real estate development…
Far From Routine: Prosecutors Hit With Series Of Surprises At George Zimmerman Hearing
Prosecutors in the case against George Zimmerman were not prepared for what hit them on Friday. Apparently expecting a routine hearing about whether the man accused of killing unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was too dangerous to be released on bond, they quickly discovered the matter was going to be anything but routine. The first surprise came when the judge allowed defense attorney Mark O’Mara to pepper one of the law enforcement investigators with tough questions about…
An Interview With The Creator Of HBO’s Veep
In Armando Iannucci’s new HBO series Veep, we join Selena Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, early on in her vice presidency. She has the potential to be powerful, but after assuming office alongside her running mate (a man the show never identifies), the former senator finds herself suddenly in the backseat. “There’s something interesting about being so near but so far,” Iannucci, the show’s creator, said of the vice presidency. “Having been influential yourself, to think you’re …
Nearing Vote, Fight Over Cybersecurity Bill CISPA Intensifies
Internet freedom and user rights advocacy groups on Friday mounted a last-ditch effort to stop a controversial cybersecurity bill known as CISPA from being passed by the House of Representatives in the coming days. “Everyone [in the advocacy community] who is working on this right now is trying to stop the bill from passing next week,” said Holmes Wilson, a co-founder of the advocacy group Fight For the Future, in a phone interview with TPM. Fight for the Future has launched a…
What We Know About The GSA’s Jeffrey Neely
Before the bureaucrat in the bathtub became the most famous face in the overspending scandal at the General Services Administration, Jeffrey Neely was a relatively anonymous public employee managing federal buildings in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada.
Neely, 57, went to Congress this week to testify about the scandal over the GSA’s spending at a 2010 conference in Las Vegas. He repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, refusing even to provide his job title.
Man On A Wire: Joe Manchin’s Two-Step Alienates Dems And Fails To Convince Republicans
Updated at 2:05 p.m. Sen. Joe Manchin’s may think running for re-election as a Democrat while remaining uncommitted to President Obama will buy him cover with … somebody. But it’s not with Republicans. “What a difference one Democratic Senator’s upcoming re-election and three years of failed economic policies by the Democrats makes,” emails Brian Walsh, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in a statement. “But no amount of election-year…
Conservative Group With Abramoff Scandal Ties Picks Up Voter ID Issue Where ALEC Left Off
Shortly after the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) announced it was dropping voter identification laws from its agenda, another conservative group is stepping in to fill the void. The National Center for Public Policy Research announced this week it had formed a “Voter Identification Task Force” to continue ALEC’s “excellent work” in “promoting measures to enhance integrity in voting.” Describing itself as a “conservative, free-market, non-profit think-tank,” the group…
Raese Digs In On No-Smoking Signs And Hitler – Won’t Be ‘Intimidated By A Bunch Of Bull***t’
Republican Senate candidate John Raese is standing by a controversial statement he made in his latest campaign for Senate from West Virginia – in which he compared mandatory no-smoking signs in businesses to the Star of David patches that Jews were forced to wear on their clothes in Nazi Germany. “I can’t find anything in my statement and during my speech that wasn’t true,” Raese told the Charleston Daily Mail. “I’m not apologizing to anybody or any organization. It’s my perfect…