GQ asked Marco Rubio, the GOP’s Great Hispanic Hope, how old the Earth is.
He replied, “I’m not a scientist.”
Is it too much to ask that a presidential hopeful live in the real world, a place that is about 4 1/2 billion years old?
I can’t believe in anyone who believes in Fred Flintstone.
President Obama won’t deport illegal immigrants who came here before they were 16 and are now younger than 30. In addition, they cannot have a criminal record and must have graduated from high school in this country or served in our military.
They won’t be granted citizenship, but will have the right to work. The new policy is technically “deferred action,” not amnesty.
These criteria will apply to about 800,000 young people. There are believed to be about 12 million illegal immigrants in the U. S.
The Administration’s rationale is that since these young people came here as children, they had no intent to break the law.
Some are questioning whether Obama can do this without Congress, so his action on illegals may itself be illegal.
Obama already has a huge lead over Mitt among Hispanic voters, but this move should help him even more in states like Virginia, Florida, Colorado, and Nevada.
I suspect that those who might vote against Obama over this were going to vote against him anyway.
That Heilemann article in New York Magazine also points out how propitious the electoral college map is for President Obama:
“The safe presumption…is that Obama holds the nineteen states plus the District of Columbia that John Kerry won in 2004 — which, recall, did not include Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, or Virginia, all of which Obama carried in 2008, giving the president a base of 246 electoral votes. There’s the western path: Obama holds Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Iowa for a total of 272. There’s the midwestern path: Obama holds Ohio and Iowa (270). There’s the southern path: Obama holds North Carolina and Virginia (274). And there’s the Florida path, in which Obama simply again takes the Sunshine State (275).
“In truth, the most promising of all the routes to 270 is the western one, because of the dominant lead Obama possesses over Romney with Hispanics. Indeed, if you factor in New Mexico, which the president nabbed in 2008 and is considered safe this time, and Virginia, which has a sizable Latino population, a relatively strong economy, and polls consistently showing Obama ahead, he can hit 270 without winning Iowa, Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, or North Carolina.” Emphasis added.
Mitt spoke to a Hispanic business group today. You’re probably wondering what he said about immigration. Actually, he didn’t even mention the word. Maybe he thought they wouldn’t notice.
Instead he spoke about education. He said American children are getting a “third-world” education. That’s what happens when you elect a president from Kenya.
And I’m sure Mitt will pick it up and run with it.
President Obama told ABC News that he supports gay marriage: “I’ve just concluded that, for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
This puts the President at odds with many of his African-American and Hispanic supporters. Will they vote for Mitt? No, but some of them will stay home.
The President has just spent a lot of political capital and hurt himself in some swing states (maybe created more swing states?) on something that he can’t do anything about.
An unforced error for Obama, a good day for Mitt. This steps all over the negative attention Mitt was getting for lying about his support for the auto bailouts.
I have a bad feeling about this. If Mitt has been dragged back into the past on social issues by the right-wing zealots, Obama may now have been dragged too far into the future by left-wing elites. The President is right when he says that support for gay marriage will continue to increase. But this is the 2012 election, not 2016.
The way to win is to appeal to the Goldilocks voter. Everything in moderation, people.
An interesting new PPP poll out of Florida —
President Obama leads Mitt by 5% in a contest with no Veep name. When you plug in Jeb Bush as Veep, Obama’s lead drops to 3%.
But when you plug in Florida Senator Marco Rubio (or as I think of him, Marco! Rubio!) as Veep, Obama’s lead widens to 7%, so Rubio actually hurts Mitt.
Rubio doesn’t even help Mitt get more Hispanic voters in Florida. Without Rubio, Obama leads Mitt among them by 52% to 37%. With Rubio on the ticket, those numbers remain the same.
How can this be? For one thing, Rubio isn’t all that popular in Florida right now. His favorables/unfavorables are 43/41.
For another, Cuban Americans tend to be fairly conservative, more so as a group than other Hispanic voters. They are out of step with other Hispanics on immigration policy because they benefit from their own rules. Mitt gets the Cuban Americans he’s going to get with or without Rubio on the ticket.
The GOP thinks of the Hispanic vote as much more monolithic than it is. Cuban Americans are a distinct community, and Hispanic Americans from other backgrounds, like Mexican Americans, don’t particularly identify with or relate to them, and vice versa.
The GOP, in its racist condescending way, just sees all these “brown” people who mow their lawns and thinks if you pick any one of them as Veep, you’ll suddenly attract all these Hispanic voters. Hispanics in places like Arizona and New Mexico aren’t going to abandon President Obama because Marco Rubio is Mitt’s running mate.
Mitt really needs to run with someone less slick, someone “softer” than Rubio. The two of them on a stage just ooze naked ambition for ambition’s sake. Rubio gives off the same “lean and hungry” vibe as Mitt.
With Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) making noises about being Mitt’s VP, Florida Senator Marco Rubio raced to endorse Mitt on Fox News today.
Marco Rubio — has there ever been a politician with more of that “lean and hungry” look?
Ryan has praised Mitt’s economic plan, but hasn’t officially endorsed him.
Who does Mitt want more — Hispanic voters or those obsessed with the federal budget? Mitt knows he definitely needs Florida.
Embattled Farmers 