HEADING TOWARDS ELECTION DAY

We are about a month away from Election Day. And what a sad event it will be.
Ron Paul was not nominated by the GOP, and they are regretting their candidate
more and more. Romney cannot open his mouth without putting in foot. Last night he
did not do so badly against Obama, but O has his weak points, such as the economy, OK,
not really his fault, except for the fact that he, the good Democrat, once again drove the
getaway car as the GOP robbed the American banks.
But that's another story. We've, uh, 'moved on.' To a park bench because that is the only
place that some Americans call home. And if Romney gets in, we may run out of those
as he might call them a false sense of entitlement. Coming from the mouth of a man who did
no service (as Dr Paul did -  in wartime) this is rubbish.
I met Romney once; shook his hand, the whole bit. He held a fund raiser here in NYC
at the Sheraton Centre midtown, I got on the list with actor Mike Stranger, and he had his
cell phone out for the moment I got to shake Romney's hand. Which almost did not happen, as I am
not one of his rich kid groupies. After mentioning that I was an ex serviceman, one of about
all of three in the crowd of 500, he reluctantly allowed me to shake hand - and I told him
to his face that he was a weak, selfish and foolish person who would destroy America, then
asked him to step down.
SECURITY! All around me his acolyutes and paid thugs pushed me back, and grabbed Mike's
cell phone. DAMAGE CONTROL! OK, the party was winding down and I agreed to leave -
but NO, they wanted to arrest me - for embarrassing a candidate. That did it. These thugs were
not cops or even decent strongarms. I told them if they even tried I would get them arrested
and proceeded to embarrass his hapless attendees - who had paid $2,500 to get in - and Romney
did not even provide any drinks, as he boasted. Suckers!
I heard the BBC gave an account of it and talked about how in the US dissenters are dealt with. At
least I did not get tasered like some who go against the GOP.
So in a way, I guess I stand to gain from his getting in. I will have confronted and embarrassed
a president of the US. Not enough to die happy, but a modest gain for me; but not for the US,
and I hope he does not win.
And Paul may not either. OK, barring a miracle, he is off to write his memoirs, but solid and honest
memoirs they will be of decades of public and medical service.
Romney, ironically, came close to getting in - had he chosen the Latin candidate, Marc Rubio, as his
running mate, he could have scored big time - but no, he chose some Ayn Rand reading bozo
he would be more comfortable with instead.
The Latin community is perhaps better off not having this association.  I hear many of them
are voting for O - but as the lesser of two evils. They are not fooled. Romney is already a
footnote to them, and they have as much as written his obituary: Humberto Caspa,
in El Diario/La Prensa, 25 Septeber, has this to say:
'A Romney solo le importa Romney.'
Translation - 'The only thing that matters to Romney is Romney.'
Enough said. If only everyone understood this months ago, the GOP might have nominated Paul.
But geschehen ist geschehen. So I accept that he will not be president, my support made probably no
difference, and all I can do at this point is wish him a happy retirement.

Ron Paul is the only candidate who can get the Latin vote

Mitt Romney has struck out with the fastest growing sector of the US voting public: the Latin vote.
That said, he has allies among them in Florida - but that, as the rest of the Hispanic population is pointing out, is as far as it goes. No less a columnist that Maribel Hastings has trashed him in the largest Spanish language paper in the US, El Diario/La Prensa. Carlos Reyes sent over the entire article and provided a simple summary in English as follows, with the article posted below:

Romney is two-faced, and the Latin population in the US has rejected his attempts to woo their vote. True, he has allies in Florida, and may pick one for his running mate, but the Cuban vote is not typical of the Latin vote over all, and in the other 49 states, he will lose it. The Latin community smells a rat with this man and will avoid him, with many leaders already calling for this to happen.

Below is the full article in Spanish:

Maribel Hastings

Allana el terreno enarbolando posturas migratorias extremistas contraproducentes

Con la primaria republicana de Florida en puerta, la primera que manifiesta ampliamente el cortejo del voto hispano del estado del Sol, no deja de sorprender que republicanos como Mitt Romney sigan pensando que la estrategia que aplican para apelar al voto cubanoamericano del Sur floridano es la estrategia ganadora para atraer al voto latino del resto del país en una elección general.

En el caso de Romney, el aparente casi seguro nominado presidencial republicano, resulta no sólo sorprendente sino indignante que mientras busca el apoyo del voto hispano de Florida, o más bien del voto cubanoamericano del Sur de la Florida con anuncios en español y cafecitos, su retórica antiinmigrante siga subiendo de tono, deseche cada vez más la reforma migratoria integral, amenace con vetar incluso el proyecto de ley DREAM Act –ambas cosas promovidas por los políticos cubanoamericanos que lo apoyan–, y para colmo, se jacte del apoyo recibido del arquitecto de las leyes antiinmigrantes de Arizona, Alabama y Carolina del Sur, Kris Kobach, una de las figuras más extremistas y divisivas del país en el tema migratorio.

Como la moneda, Romney tiene dos caras.

Romney ya tiene en su esquina a los hermanos Díaz-Balart, Lincoln y Mario, ex congresista y congresista republicanos de Florida, respectivamente, a la congresista Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, y a una lista de ex funcionarios de la administración de George W. Bush, entre esos, el ex senador, ex Secretario de Vivienda y ex presidente del Comité Nacional Republicano (RNC), Mel Martínez, y al ex Secretario de Comercio, Carlos Gutiérrez, todos defensores de la reforma migratoria integral y del DREAM Act para legalizar a jóvenes indocumentados que quieren proseguir estudios universitarios o ingresar a las Fuerzas Armadas.

Todas estas figuras argumentan ahora que la elección general será determinada por la economía y que Romney tiene las ideas para ayudarla a repuntar. Es decir, nada importa que su postura en inmigración sea diametralmente opuesta a lo que han defendido por años.

Es de esperarse que los anuncios en español, los cafecitos y el apoyo de estas figuras que hace cuatro años prefirieron al senador John McCain como candidato presidencial republicano sobre Romney, impulsen al ex gobernador de Massachusetts en la preferencia de los electores cubanoamericanos de Florida.

Aunque Romney emerja triunfante de la primaria floridana y con una mayoría del voto cubanoamericano en su columna, la verdadera prueba de fuego para cualquier republicano sigue siendo atraer ese 40% del voto hispano en la elección general de noviembre.

Ni siquiera en Florida, donde se concentra el voto cubanoamericano más conservador del Sur del estado, eso está garantizado porque en otras partes del estado, particularmente en el corredor I-4, ese voto se diluye con el sufragio de electores puertorriqueños que tienden a apoyar más a los demócratas.

Romney, como otras figuras republicanas, está apostando al descontento de un sector del sufragio hispano con las promesas incumplidas del presidente Barack Obama de impulsar y promulgar una reforma migratoria integral y en su lugar deportar una cifra récord de inmigrantes.

Pero lo que olvidan republicanos como Romney es que el voto cubanoamericano no es la norma en el resto del país y que sus posturas migratorias extremas, particularmente contra los jóvenes que se beneficiarían del DREAM Act, son rechazadas por una mayoría de esos votantes hispanos que ya sea por lazos familiares, de amistad o por empatía, apoyan en grandes cifras una reforma amplia de las leyes migratorias, el DREAM Act y se ofenden ante las expresiones de los candidatos en contra de los inmigrantes, o de las cuestionables alianzas como la de Romney con Kobach.

Incluso en el voto cubanoamericano hay sectores que defienden el DREAM Act y que durante el intento fallido de aprobar la medida de manera independiente a fines del 2010 expresaron su rechazo a quienes se opusieron al proyecto por tratarse de jóvenes que no decidieron por cuenta propia ingresar a Estados Unidos sin documentos.

También persiste el rumor de que Romney estaría considerando sumar al senador cubanoamericano de Florida, Marco Rubio, como su compañero de fórmula, para atraer al voto hispano. Quizá lo ayude en Florida, pero no con el voto hispano del resto del país tener a otra figura opuesta a la reforma amplia y al DREAM Act, o al menos con posturas ambivalentes.

Como digo una cosa digo la otra. El presidente Barack Obama y los demócratas, aunque tienen el apoyo de la mayoría del voto hispano, tienen ante sí el gran reto de movilizarlo en cifras suficientes que garanticen su reelección en estados clave y por ende, a la presidencia.

Pero figuras como Romney le están allanando el terreno enarbolando posturas migratorias extremistas que serán contraproducentes en atraer ese sufragio en la elección general.

Eliseo Medina, secretario-tesorero del Sindicato Internacional de Empleados de Servicios (SEIU), dijo que Romney necesitará más de un cafecito para conseguir el voto hispano en una elección general.

Y el congresista demócrata de Illinois, Luis Gutiérrez, lo resumió así: “Los votantes latinos pueden oler a un farsante y pueden oler que eso es lo que Mitt Romney es. Y si Mitt Romney cree que puede sacudirse la hediondez (de sus posturas antiinmigrantes) seleccionando a Marco Rubio como su compañero de fórmula, debería pensarlo mejor”.

Ron Paul and the Latin vote

Just in from Carlos Reyes, who blogs at http://www.cuentasdebolivia.blogspot.com/

The candidates debates are getting more and more numerous here...but most seem to miss a large part of the audience, the ever growing Latino voter. UP 26% from 2008, it is now 12 million here in los Estados Unidos. Do the math; a winner needs at least 50 million votes. Even though the selection for the president is not based on a clear majority, it is done by electoral college, a system somewhat unique to this country, there is still a numbers game. So 12 million will make or break it for the candidate.

And then there is the black vote. And the Asian vote, and that of many other groups. Just now, Obama may think he has most of the minorities and is safe. Four years ago he could think so; but four years is a long time in politics. So he may be in for a serious disappointment; which some say he has been.

Personally, I don't think he is quite such a disappointment - but then again, how did he let the bankers off in the latest round of Wall Street scandals? That hurt everyone. And he ought to have sent the bums to jail, not bailed them out. I just mean that I do not blame him for everything, or the general state of the economy, which is bad worldwide. Too may candidates are making their platform out of an anti-Obama tirade. Michele Bachman comes to mind, who was mentioned in El Diario/La Prensa (the largest Spanish largest daily in the US) as having, after Mitt Romney, the largest possibility of winning the GOP nomination. Heaven help us! She is so gaff prone that it scares me so bad I would rather see Obama in...I mean, the woman does not know her American history...and she brags about a John Wayne coming from her hometown, oddly named 'Waterloo'...which she has right except that the JW from Waterloo is not the star of the silver screen but rather a JW Gacy who screwed young men in Chicago and then chopped them up. No one, least of all all a Hispanic, wants a woman from Waterloo with a pyscho killer living down the road from her to be in the White House. 

And the other candidates scare me as well, some simply for their lack of experience...or the fact that they quit the job they had to go on a campaign trail...

But on a positive note, there is one candidate in the GOP roster who has a good chance of getting that crucial 12 million votes: Ron Paul, who was listed as being in 4th back in November among the GOPers but has soared to second.  He is a doctor (as was Che Guevara...apropos of doctors, and just to digress a bit...) and a former flight surgeon in the US Air Force...no draft dodger here. 

His issues are spot on, with the economy at the top of the list. His district, in heavily Hispanic Houston-Galveston area of Texas, is doing very well. And of course, there is the big issue of immigration, which he is very realistic about. I say that in light of the fact that many think that to woo the Latin community they ought to go out and let in every last illegal and give them free this and free that. En absoluto; which translates as absolutely not. Those of us born here want to help our hermanos as much as we can, but we also have a respect for the law, and balance our desires in the light of reality. The US simply cannot let in everybody and their hermano...Nations have borders, whether they are between Texas and Mexico or Venezuela and Colombia. And people must work within the law or we would all just be stepping on each other. There is a problem with immigration to such an extent that it is not just illegals intruding into the realm of the anglo-sajone, but to the point that illegals are intruding upon their legal cousins and causing trouble in the ethnic communities in which they try to assimilate. And it cannot just simply go on.

That said, Obama is the only GOP candidate NOT endorsing the 'send 'em all back' mantra

or wishing to have an armed border.

Recently Obama visited Puerto Rico, in a veiled move to secure millions of votes - the boricua vote being the largest of any Spanish speaking voters. It may or may not work; the precedent for it is JFK, who gained a lot of support from that quarter, which has voted largely democrat ever since. That is how the likes of Charles Rangel stay in power here after all the scandals - bear in mind also he invests in the Dominican Republic, at least that is where he had his house which got him in trouble with the IRS. 

The GOP seems to alienate many Latin voters, especially the likes of John McCain who after being against a border fence with Mexico is now supporting it and blaming the recent wild fires on illegal aliens; as if there were no other source of forest fires in the summer in Arizona. The Latin community was itself aflame at his remarks, which were rebutted by the likes of Fernando Escuelas here in NY on Radio Wado (1280 AM) on 21 June. It is one thing to be realistic about immigration - but another to fan the flames of rhetoric with unfounded accusations that target the Latin community - there has been enough of that lately, what with Casey Anthony trying to blame the death of her daughter on the maid, and the news reporter falsely crying rape and blaming non-existent Hispanics. That the GOP should join this chorus does not do much to secure 12 million votes.

What the GOP supporting Hispanic sees in this party is the pro-life stance, especially as over 10 million of those votes are Catholic; but was not JFK of that flock? And few people seem to know this, but Joe Biden is also a Catholic. 

From perusing the Latin press, it would seem that the Latino vote is not set to go GOP - read Chris Canavan opining in El Diario/La Prensa on the 4th of July - and it is clear that the GOP, and its hardcore cousin the Tea Party, are not seen in a good light; he writes: "Al paracer, Bachman y sus aliados en el Tea Party prefieren ignorar la vision de Madison y, en su lugar, apoyar a una minoria  en el congreso que promete detonar una bomba atomica si no consigue todas sus demandas." In plain English, it seems that Bachman and her mates in the Tea Party perfer to ignore Madison's ideas and replace them with their own, supporting a minority in Congress that will set off an atomic bomb if their demands are not met. 

Of Democrats, who I personally see as much the same, I do not find such rhetoric in this or any other major Spanish language paper. Perhaps the fact that this paper is published in NY, along with a slew of others down to the freebies such as El Especialito - gives it a pro-Democrat slant; 11 out of 13 local reps are Democrats here, all or most long term incumbents. (12 out of 13 it was until Rep Weiner got caught with his pants down...)

And after such exposure Little Anthony got replaced by Bob Turner of the GOP, due in part to the Latino voters on Long Island. 

 

Obama will not go as easily as Weiner; but whether he goes or stays I can guarantee will depend on the Latino vote. Which is not leaning towards the GOP lately, especially as Mitt Romney is in the lead. Romney, the son of a Mexican immigrant, well, technically, as his father was born in Mexico and came to the US at the age of five, is against most immigrants, as Albor Ruiz noted so well a few days ago in the New York Daily News - just in time to cast light on Romney's efforts to recruit the Latin vote in Florida. Today I heard this effort laughed at on 1280AM. So no wonder that in a room of 500 or so fundraisers last night at the Sheraton, right here in NYC with millions of Hispanics, there was not one to be found; the room was whiter than  KKK meet in the deep south.

So with the far right of the GOP, or with the KKK, he may have made his mark. But he and most other GOP candidates these days are not wooing the 12 million.

It would behoove the GOP to choose the candidate(s) that will secure that for them, and Ron Paul is now the only choice.

Meeting Mitt Romney

Tonight a friend and I were on the list for a Mitt Romney fundraiser at the Sheraton in Manhattan. We went, we saw, and we were a bit puzzled. First off, it was completely devoid of any ethnic group other than white; which is my own, and I am proud of it, but this is America and something so unrepresentative of the US public as a whole, that is trying to represent and govern the US population as a whole, is off pitch. It also had a very low percentage of veterans - in a room of about 500 people, when asked to raise our hands, only about three hands appeared; and one of them was mine. So do the math; it was a bit awkward. Lots of rich white people who had little or no military experience between them trying to get a rich white man into the position of Commander-in-Chief of the world's largest military.

Then Mitt spoke; actually somewhat well at first, let me give him some credit, he is not a bad speaker. But then he went on and on, reciting stanzas of the US national anthem, and seguing into a story about how he personally took a casket of a dead soldier to the grieving parents, and how everyone on the plane had their hands on their hearts etc etc etc. He jerked those tears a bit too much, and should have refrained from using this family's loss as his personal photo op. When I reached out my hand to him and mentioned that I was a former serviceman, his face went dead and he could not turn away from me fast enough.

I guess he likes his servicemen dead in a casket. That kind does not talk back; that kind does not tell him that America needs a better man than him to lead, as I did. I came at him live, and all I got for it was a ridiculous security detail telling me it was a crime to embarrass the candidate.

A crime? Well, maybe, yes, somewhere in the world I am sure it is. But this was NYC, part of NY state, part of the US of A. Not a crime. A right. Then they told me not to leave, and physically blocked me from leaving. Which, as any American citizen might well know, is a crime. I was on the way out. They had no right to obstruct my exit. They would have been in their rights to open wide the door and see me out into the night, tossing out the dissenter with various exhortations about going to the lower realms, but instead they tried to hold me and threaten me with arrest. But none dared call the police, as they knew damn well what would happen. The NYPD does not allow itself to be used as a silencing tool for politicians. If they had made arrests, it would not have been me.

So their tough guy antics just served as welcome comic relief after listening to Mitt Romney making long speeches about how he loves the military - probably in an attempt to block out the reality of his multiple deferments. He needs to cut that nonsense out and refrain from threatening servicemen if they show up and ask him hard questions. Which they have every right to do - they fight for that right to exist when they join up. Romney did not fight for that right; he fought against it.
Truth will out. And it will embarrass people like Romney. But thanks to the Constitution, everybody here, whether they were in the military or not, have that right....unless maybe Romney gets in and sics his goon squad on us.

So I hope he doesn't. And I also hope that the US gets a better president that Romney, hopefully someone with real military service.

So my friend, who they told to stop filming this, met me outside and we just had a laugh about the whole episode. Lots of clowns get lots of money and try to buy the White House but we're pretty certain this is not going to happen. Watch for Mitt Romney to get voted out of any states that have lots of servicemen or non-white populations. The GOP would do well to take note of his lousy performance in NY and start thinking seriously about a candidate with a wider base of appeal and military service.

No news is no news

I haven't blogged for a while. There seems to be no news on Ron Paul, while every day Herman Cain
gets about a full page; Perry and Romney get almost the same. Why? For lying? For suddenly not being able to remember your words mid-sentence, or not knowing the voting age or the right date of election day in America?

All of which means that bad candidates get free press. Lazy journalists love it, they have lots to write about, but the voters do not get much information about sensible candidates.

In the meantime, much press has been given to the OWS movement, which is headed by rich kids who spend $700 a night on hotel rooms and eat luxury organic food. Another waste of time. 

The circus grinds on, fools are in fashion and clowns rule. Somewhere in the background a sensible candidate
is calling for the abolition of government red tape and for American farmers to grow hemp. And a tree falls in a forest. We hear nothing, we see nothing. Then we ask why it is all falling apart.

Herman Cain beats Perry

While it would be hoped that Dr Paul would have come in first in the Florida straw poll, there is some joy in seeing at least that Rick Perry has not; rather, Herman Cain placed first. So much for the papers saying that
there were really only 3 main GOP contenders, Bachmann, Perry and Romney. Bachmann, by the way,
only got 1.5% of the votes. Maybe this time she did not have funds to bus in voter, basically bribing them with free hotel stays and food.
Perry seems a bit meteoric. He rose on the word of journalists, and fell on his own word like a soldier falling on his sword. Even the far rigth John Podhoretz was quick to shoot the fallen horse.
Cain has been very supported on this site, but given his total lack of any experience in political office, we have slotted him for VP. Experience is a big issue. Personality is one thing, but when it comes to getting a job done, we all know that experience is key.
And Dr Paul has that.
Some are heavily backing Romney now, but who wants a president who contradicts himself on major issues? Consistency is another issue, and again, Dr Paul has that.
When will the press wake up?

Sarah Wheaton in the New York Times

On the 23rd, Sarah Wheaton of the NYT had a space devoted to GOP reaction to Libya; Michele Bachmann comes off as a dove, but one wonders if her protest is just to be contrary? I mean if W had nuked Libya, would she not be giving thanks and praise? One wonders...and one wonders why Wheaton omitted any word about Ron Paul. Are mentally challenged journalists shaking in their boots that there may come to power a president who does not do stupid things that they can go write about easily?
Just for the record, the complaints Romney and Bachmann make do not deserve the space - what is of note is the fact that Ron Paul wanted to limit the president's power to make war like this and he is right.
Whether or not Libya turns out OK, this is a democracy and the president's power needs to be limited in this regard as it was with Washington. Both parties have failed the American people in allowing this to happen. It could set a dangerous precedent - and just now it is too early to say if things are going well in Libya - but that is not the point; we hope the rebels establish a working government and there is lots of peace and love, which may not actually be the case - but whatever happens, it needs to happen lawfully.

Mitt Romney plans to demolish the White House

Just saw this on Mark of the Mask bloodspot...
very funny. Hope it's not true...


Mitt Romney has already decided that when he is elected president, he will have to demolish the White House as it is too small for him and his many kids and grandkids.
Last week he decided to demolish his $12million, 3,009 sq ft mansion in La Jolla and build a palace instead, which will be 11,602 sq ft.
He found his old homestead in Belmont, Mass too small, so he sold it for $3.5 million and also got rid of a chalet in Utah for $5.3.
He is keeping his $10 million waterfront house in New Hampshire. Live rich or die...
And oh, President is too small a title, the GOP wants Americans to call him Your Royal Highness.

Ron Paul on front page now of New York Times

So now Ron Paul gets mentioned, albeit only slightly, in an article on the front page of the New York Times yesterday by John M. Broder, whose theme is that all GOP candidates bash the EPA. Well, not quite in Ron Paul's case. But let's not let a good headline be spoiled by a detailed study of things...
It is almost true, given that Bachmann and Perry want to either padlock its doors or impose a moratorium on environmental regulation. So good news for idiots who want to pollute America.
Herman Cain disappoints me in that he is ready to have independent commissions which would include oil and gas execs. Why not let child abusers run the schools while you're at it.
Broder, not wishing to spoil his own headline, did not bother to mention that Ron Paul is supporting a hemp initiative...see it on http://www.hempforvictory.blogspot.com/ Recently one of his contsituents sent him a letter and he replied, it is up there. Broder and his mates at the NYT can check it out. Or just write simplistic articles, which is much easier.
But I have to admit the GOP is the party that scares me when it comes to the environment; remember the joke, how much energy does it take to destroy all America's forests? Just one watt...an allusion to James Watt, Secretary of the Environment in the Reagan days...back then they figured that trees caused pollution. Watt went after trees and falconers with a vengeance, trying to get them framed  (the falconers, not the trees) for smuggling in one of the biggest legal farces in US history. He did not like their pro-environemntal stance. Ultimately he, and not a single falconer, went to prison.
So there are lots of falconers in redneck states who are not going to vote GOP that easily, even if they are hunters. If the GOP is going to overcome its image as treekillers, it better get in Ron Paul.
And then there was an article on the back page of the paper, which said a lot of good about Ron Paul without bothering to mention him, but rather by NOT mentioning him; this one by Frank Bruni. Personally, of all the NYT political hacks, I like Bruni the best; I will forgive his ommission in regards to Dr Paul as his article was on GOP loonies, titled "Heroes, Until They've Arrived." It started off with Mr Mouth, Rick Perry; then made its way to mention Sarah Palin (the quitter), Chris Christie (of very little political experience), Paul Ryan ( Paul who?), Rudy Giuliani (of whom he notes: Some Republicans never learn), Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich (as the blue-eyed Grinch who stole Grandma's Boniva) and Marco Rubio (Marco who?).
So there you have it; that leaves us with Ron Paul and Herman Cain, even if the latter does have some less than perfect ideas about the environment.

Drum roll in Iowa

So the whole affair is looking a bit like a WWF event...and reporters are making their notes on it all.
They do tend to concentrate on the most way out contestants, rather than the well paced and sensible.
But the New York Times did mention Ron Paul again yesterday, if only to briefly note that he took exception to Michele Bachman's legislative record. What legislative record?
Michael Cooper of the NYT caught her out on a couple mistakes - sad, again, that press goes to candidates for making mistakes...such as the foot-in-mouth moment of Mitt Romney, who gave Ashley Parker a lengthy column in the paper to scourge him for his 'coporations are people' remark. No they are not; people pay taxes. Corporations do not. OK, I misspoke a bit; some corporations pay taxes.
So this is like the first couple of rounds here, with the novices coming out swinging and girating wildy while the older, more experienced fighters wear them down and bide their time to step in.

Federal Election Results for the candidates

The NYT yesterday published the FE results for the leading candidates, with Huntsman and McCotter (McWHo?) nor required to file this quarter.
So far, Obama has $46.3 million raised, with $11.1 spent in 2nd quarter.
Then it's Romney: $18.4/$5.7; Paul: $4.5/$1.6; Pawlenty: $4.3/$2.5: Bachmann: $3.4/$0.3
Cain: $2.6/$2.1: Gingrich: $2.1/$1.8: Santorum: $0.6/$0.4: Johnson: $0.2/$0.2

It shows a candidate pacing wisely, not having to spend all his ammunition to get name recognition.
Big business seems to like Romney and Obama more, both of whom have received in general much larger donations on average, thus their large war chests do not reflect more supporters.

This shows something about the amount of support, of course, but also about the way a candidate spends -
Paul's 2nd quarter spending is about 32.5% - compared to others of 100% or nearly that.

Weekend press and more info on Hunstman

The New York Post ran a piece on Romney on Saturday, in which it was shown how much he flipflops...I guess that is how he got to be a red governor in a blue state.
On Sunday, the New York Times did a feature on Huntsman, and yet again, an underlying theme there was, who is this guy? Even his campaign staff do not seem to know; many of them have just met him for the first time.
Matt Bai hangs out with him for a few days and gives us a view of the happenings, which are very illuminating. What I make of it is that Huntsman is a rather capable bloke in many fields, and I have a respect for him as he learned the Chinese language and culture. Or I ought to be more specific and say he learned Mandarin and the Chinese culture. And by way of digression, I might just add that this has become a very useful language to learn if you want a job...but getting back to our speaker of Mandarin, who is looking for a job on Pennsylvania Avenue, I think that despite this qualification, he will best serve the US as a diplomat, political analyst, governor of his native state, or, as the article suggest he might be looking at himself, in the post of VP. I see nothing to really dislike in him, and those voters whom he met found him an affable fellow; however, they did not find answers to specific questions on policies, and this did not sit too well with the likes of Travis Blais, the GOP chairman in Windham, New Hampshire. "His attitude seems to be, 'Well, I'm just up here introducing myself to people, and I'll let you know what my positions are later," Blais told the NYT; Blais summed it up with: " Frankly, people noticed...people said, 'Nice guy, very smart, but I have no idea what he thinks.' "
So there. Not quite presidential, but not a bad fish. Nate Silver, a politics blogger for the NYT, opined that Huntsman has not more than a remote chance of scoring the nomination. Even with the vast wealth of his father, who by the way invented the clamshell takeaway containter, he will most likely not be able to convince people to give him the #1 job in America, even if he does speak Mandarin.

Biography of Huntsman

The other day I did a post on Huntsman, of whom until then I had no knowledge, so I have been curious. The New York Times did another article on him, written by Jim Rutenberg on 23 June, in which they too asked: "Who is this guy? Utah, right?"
So I was not alone in my thoughts on this man who would be prez. Up in Exeter, N.H., where he went to canvass, a Leona Nelson was quoted as saying: "I didn't know anything about him when he came in today." He was in South Carolina on Wednesday, and folks there did not know much more about him either.
But in GOP circles it seems he has some explaining to do; Rutenberg ends his piece on this note, alluding to his role as US Ambassador to China under Obama. This does not do him a lot of good and does not get him the crossover votes that Ron Paul would have along with staunch GOP votes. Rather, it confuses the picture. And his term in Asia was not noted for anything significant; but neither was Bush's, who had that post and became prez; but not without also being head of the Republican Party, and a head of the CIA, and also a Congressman; from Texas. Which is where we hope another US president will be from in 2012.
But getting back to the contender, Jon M. Huntsman Jr., he is the eldest son of Jon M. Huntsman (once an acknowledged member of the Forbes 400, where he was ranked the 47th richest man alive) who started the Huntsman Corporation, a multi-billion dollar chemical and synthetic dye company, somewhat along the lines of the Du Pont Corp; even their logo is similar, "better lives through innovation". The Huntsmans are Mormons who previously supported Mitt Romney for president. Huntsman Jr. was elected governor of Utah in 2004, later became ambassador to China. His brother Peter R. Huntsman, Sr., took over as CEO of the Huntsman Corporation in 2000.
So there. He does not seem a bad choice, but just not quite what it takes to get into the Oval Office, and looking ahead, I could see him as a VP or in some top cabinet post, maybe Secretary of State. Just not as president, at least not yet.

Ron Paul is making news in New York!

A week ago, Ron Paul NYC Liberty went out to talk to the restaurant and bar employees and found them very enthusiastic about Ron Paul - who wants to make their tips tax free. The NY Post says he'll never have to pay for a drink in this town again...
But I hope he gets more than free drinks; votes are what he deserves. And votes are what Mitt Romney and, presumably Sarah Palin came after last week. Michael Walsh in the Post calls Romney's campaign 'substance free', and I have to agree. I am not that anti-Romney, and don't have a lot of bad things to say about him, in fact I think he may be  a good governor for Massachusetts, but would not make a good president. As to the latter, well, before she tries to become President of the United States she ought to learn the history of the United States; Paul Revere did not ride to 'warn the British'. Unless he was a double agent and she knows some secret history even the CIA does not have access to.
Tonight I'll be seeing some of the pub crowd at Walters, a bar on 8th that flies the USMC flags as the owner was a Marine. It's Karaoke and lots of fun...but I digress. I will also be discussing the making of a video in which we interview people on the East Coast about their support for Ron Paul. That too will be fun!