I thought this was interesting. It appears that two different healthcare lobby groups are using a strategy of grassroots and media campaigns in early primary states. I have copied the ad for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. The Hill runs a story about AARP and a bunch of patients Read more…
A week into the debate and Romney is already changing his tune. This weekend in South Carolina, Romney said: “If that’s not a form of amnesty, I don’t know what is,” Romney said. “I think we should not call it the ‘Z visa,’ we should call it the ‘A visa’ Read more…
The Washington Times has a good story about why this calendar is still in flux. First Florida moves up. Now the South Carolina GOP is talking about moving up: "We have the latitude as a party of setting our own primary dates and we are going to move our primary Read more…
9:05: McCain gets lucky with the first question on his best issue. He is 9:06: Thompson (is that hair real?) is asked about pressure on Iraq to get out. That’s a different version of revenue sharing. Winning the peace is a good line. 9:08: Romney ducks the question about whether Read more…
Given South Carolina’s social conservatism and Rudy Giuliani’s struggle in the last debate over abortion, you can expect that to be a significant focus of the debate tonight, or, at least, the press’s handling of it. Today in South Carolina, the State Senate will be voting on an ultrasound bill Read more…
First, of all, let me say that the recent ARG polls, strike me as a little weird. (I am suspicious of their likely voter model, especially in Iowa) My money is on these being outliers. Several things do occur to me though. First, the numbers: Republicans IA NH SC John Read more…
Earlier, I argued that the flux in the calendar could really squeeze places like South Carolina, especially because of Florida. Yesterday HotlineTV had a segment on this:
As has been repeatedly noted, the primary calendar is strongly in flux. However, one of the most interesting questions is: what happens if New Hampshire moves up sharply, as I expect it will. Consider some facts: New Hampshire is committed (and empowered) to move up before, at least, Nevada, meaning Read more…
Now, I’m no fan of straw polls. It is one thing if the voting universe is small. But it is not at many, and straw polls are usually arbitrary fundraising adventures for the hosts. And for the winners, they are a way of buying headlines. The Romney campaign has been Read more…
Last week, I said that Mitt Romney supported the South Carolina ultrasound-before-abortion bill. But I was wrong. He has said that it is a state issue and ducked, invoking the same federalism argument that Rudy Giuliani is using. From AP: "I would like to see each state be able to Read more…