Democracy | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Democracy: June 12, 2012
- Mystery of Citizens United Sequel Is Format, Not Ending
- Obama TV Ad Hits Romney on Massachusetts Debt
- Team of Mascots
- Jeb Bush Questions G.O.P.’s Shift to the Right
- Obama, Romney allowed to receive donations via texts
Excerpts and more top stories
Mystery of Citizens United Sequel Is Format, Not Ending
Adam Liptak, NY Times – At their private conference, the justices of the Supreme Court are scheduled to decide Thursday whether and how to take a second look at the Citizens United campaign finance decision.
The usual odds that the Supreme Court will agree to hear a case are about one in a hundred. This one is pretty much a sure thing.
Obama TV Ad Hits Romney on Massachusetts Debt
Devin Dwyer, ABC News – President Obama’s re-election campaign has spent weeks trying to drive home the point that Massachusetts was at the back of the pack in job growth under Gov. Mitt Romney. Now, a new campaign TV ad touts a stat on which Romney’s state surged to the front — per capita debt.
Team of Mascots
Todd S. Purdum, Vanity Fair - Four years ago, Barack Obama said he wanted a Lincoln-esque “team of rivals” in his Cabinet. Thanks to his own temperament, the modern White House, and the 24-hour news cycle, what the president has created is something that doesn’t look Lincoln-esque at all.
Jeb Bush Questions G.O.P.’s Shift to the Right
Jim Rutenberg, NY Times - For the better part of three decades, there has been no more prominent family in Republican politics than the Bushes.
But tough talk about the state of the party on Monday by former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida — who went so far as to say that Ronald Reagan and his father would have a “hard time” fitting in during this Tea Party era — exhibited a growing distance between the family, which until not very long ago embodied mainstream Republicanism, and the no-compromise conservative activists now driving the party.
Obama, Romney allowed to receive donations via texts
Staff, Washington Post - President Obama, Mitt Romney and other federal candidates can immediately start collecting contributions through text messaging services under a unanimous decision late Monday by the Federal Election Commission.
The ruling could open the floodgates to a whole new source of money for campaigns that are already pushing to raise as much cash as possible in preparation for the November elections. The proposal had attracted support from both parties as well as watchdog groups, who view it as a potential counterweight to the role of wealthy donors in politics.
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Angus King makes a last stand for moderation in Maine Senate race
Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post - Angus King, a popular former Maine governor and the favorite to become the state’s next U.S. senator, thinks the waly to win an election in 2012 is to stake out the middle ground, crusade against partisanship and present himself as a devout independent.
Maine voters know that King voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and plans to vote for President Obama in 2012. What they don’t know is whether their independent senator would align himself more with Republicans or with Democrats, and that has added an overlay of Washington intrigue to the contest.
In Spanish-Language Ad, Obama Supporters Target Romney
Carol E. Lee, WSJ - The Service Employees International Union and the top super PAC supporting President Barack Obama are teaming up to launch a $4 million Spanish-language ad campaign targeting Mitt Romney.
The radio and TV ad buy, to be announced Monday, will begin this week and air through the summer in three swing states where the Hispanic vote will be important: Colorado, Nevada and Florida.
Computer model shows perfect storm for Obama
Dan Lothian, CNN - President Barack Obama is running against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, but the economy may truly be his greatest opponent.
“It’s not the only factor, but it’s arguably the most important factor,” said George Washington University associate professor John Sides, who has created a computer model to analyze the impact of the economy on the presidential campaign.
“The forecasting model suggests a very close race with maybe a slight edge to Obama, but not necessarily a large edge — nothing he can be very confident in,” Sides said.
Krugman: Cutbacks In Public Sector Are What’s Hurting The Recovery
Paul Krugman, Real Clear Politics - “The real story about this economy is that the cutbacks at the public sector are what’s hurting the recovery,” Paul Krugman said in his defense of President Obama declaring the private second to be just fine.
Why Obama Caved in on National Security
Kevin Drum, Mother Jones – What happened to the idealistic Obama of the 2008 campaign who was going to shut down Guantánamo, end indefinite detention, try terrorist suspects in civilian courts, take civil liberties more seriously, and end the rabid secrecy of the Bush era? How did he turn into the guy who not only didn’t do any of that stuff, but became a drone-obsessed killing machine in the process?
