Remember this gem from a few weeks ago?  Unfortunately, this new one doesn’t feature nearly as much Rick, but it features a new star – Anita Perry!

The ad has Anita telling the couple’s good ol’ American story – how they married after being high school sweethearts, lived the small-town life, and always upheld those good Christian values.  And then POP goes the Rick Perry, who jumps up behind Anita to say “BOO!” to declare that he “really approve[s] this ad!”

Perry’s new ad isn’t the only Republican spot starring a candidate’s wife vouching for her husband values and character.  The Romney campaign also introduced a new ad Character starring Ann Romney.

Mrs. Romney explains that

I think that’s why it’s so important to understand the character of the person.  To me that makes a huge difference.  Maybe some voters it doesn’t, but for me it makes a huge difference.

The ad also features some pretty precious old Romney family photos in which Mitt’s sporting locks a bit longer than we’ve seen recently.

Both of these ads are not so subtly attacking the other GOP front-runner – Newt Gingrich.  Gingrich is considered to have some values/character/wife issues.  Newt has been married thrice, left his first wife while she was in the hospital, and cheated on his second wife with his future third one while he was leading the impeachment effort against President Clinton during the Lewinsky affair.

And if he didn’t have enough problems, an online dating service that caters to married men and women looking to have an affair has rolled out an advertising campaign featuring…you guessed it!  Newt!

So what do you think?  Will Newt’s sordid past affect his presidential bid?  Are Romney and Perry’s new ads part of an effective strategy to appeal to the conservative, family values Republican base?

If you are a Republican voter today… you have a diverse buffet of candidates to choose from.

But what if, for example, you’re not a fan of Romney or Gingrich? (the only real viable candidates at this point).

Well… all the way from Salt Lake City we have a contender for you!!! Please welcome John Huntsman.

He’s got the hair, the brains, the charm and yet he has so much more! (except poll ratings)

While some have called him Romney’s twin, in fact, the Utahian (Utahinite?) Mormon actually has a stronger conservative record.

Erick Erickson over at Red State, posted back in November that Huntsman has the most free market tax plan of any in the field (including, don’t make us say it, Cain’s 9-9-9 plan).

Interestingly, with regards to Huntsman, Erickson has been more flip-floppy than Romney. Back in May he wrote a post entitled Why I will Not Support Huntsman. Ever.

He writes:

The reason I will never, ever support Jon Huntsman is simple: While serving as the United States Ambassador to China, our greatest strategic adversary, Jon Huntsman began plotting to run against the President of the United States. This calls into question his loyalty not just to the President of the United States, but also his loyalty to his country over his own naked ambition.

But in light of recent events Erickson and other conservatives are beginning to give Huntsman a second look. “I think I might have to eat my ‘never ever vote for Jon Huntsman’ post,” he told the Daily Beast.

The former governor surely made some enemies among the GOP electorate with his environmental views and ultimately his claim that his party is anti-science.

His stigma thus far is that he is a moderate. But with his free market economic plan and his whole hearted endorsement of the Ryan budget he is as fiscally conservative as anybody in the field.

He seems like a good alternative. What do you think of Huntsman, could/should he be the nominee?

Photo courtesy of the Huffington Post.

Herman Cain has announced that he is suspending his presidential campaign amid allegations of sexual harassment and dalliances from a host of women.

Cain had previously been supported through these allegations by multiple groups, including Women for Herman Cain (yes it exists), one member of which previously wrote,

“I believe you to be a God-fearing man who loves his wife and children. Don’t let Satan and his demons win.”

Although he did not cite any demonic forces in his explanation for his decision, Cain explains that this campaign move is necessary because,

“Because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters. Not because I’m not a fighter.”

The exit of Mr. Cain has left Republican candidates scrambling to gain the support of former Cain supporters.

Newt Gingrich has benefited the most thus far with a poll released late Saturday showing him in the lead with 25% support.

It’s only a month to go before the first votes of the Iowa caucus. Take our Poll and let us know who you think will be the next candidate to bite the dust.

Image from Flickr

All the attention on Occupy Wall Street has made it easy to forget another movement going on in the U.S.

Months before anyone spent the night in Zuccotti Park, there was another type of occupation happening in Wisconsin. In February, teachers and other public employees filled the state house to protest a law that would restrict  their rights to collective bargaining.

Now, the fight to unseat Gov. Scott Walker, who proposed the legislation, has officially begun.

The drive to collect an average of 9,000 signatures a day, fueled by anger over Walker’s successful push to take away nearly all public worker collective bargaining rights, began with pajama parties and other events after midnight. Daytime activities included rallies, neighborhood canvasses and booths set up around the state Capitol.”

Walker’s proposal and the protests that followed made national headlines. Since, others Republican governors have attempted similar measures.

The recall effort launches a week after voters in Ohio repealed a similar but harsher collective-bargaining law. The repeal has galvanized anti-Walker forces in Wisconsin, which has long been seen as ground zero for the broader Republican push to curtail union rights as a way to trim state budgets.”

The governor’s opponents will have to collect over half a million signatures to force the recall.

Will Walker’s move against public employees leave him publicly unemployed?

]]> http://www.usdemocrazy.net/2011/11/15/recalling-wisconsin/feed/ 0 http://www.usdemocrazy.net/2011/11/09/its-a-no-in-ohio/ http://www.usdemocrazy.net/2011/11/09/its-a-no-in-ohio/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:03:33 +0000 YourOtherLeft http://www.usdemocrazy.net/?p=14914

Thanks to Politico!

Ohio’s closely watched ballot initiative, Issue 2, was defeated on Election Day. The vote stops a recent anti-union bill from becoming law.

If passed, the law would have limited the bargaining rights of public employees, including police officers and firefighters. Republican Gov. John Kasich faced backlash for his support of the measure.

Ohio sent a message to every politician out there: Go in and make war on your employees rather than make jobs with your employees, and you do so at your own peril.

Issue 2 was one of many talked-about votes as Americans headed to the polls.

Thanks to ABC News!

If at first you don’t succeed…skip the rest of the GOP debates!

That seemed to be Rick Perry’s plan earlier this week. After numerous lackluster performances – credited for putting him behind Mitt Romney and Herman Cain in recent polls – the Texas governor’s campaign wasn’t committing to any more dates.

Now, they’ve changed their tune.

We’ll look at each debate and make an appropriate decision.”

If debates are Perry’s weakness, will he be able to win against an orator like President Obama?

Thanks to Politico!

That makes number… Another GOP debate?!

Rotten apple? Apple’s earnings take a hit.

Tit for tats: Israel and Palestine swap prisoners.

And, what are teen girls learning from reality TV?

Image from Politico

Best friends forever? New Jersey governor makes big endorsement.

Ambassination: Iranians accused of plotting murder.

Debate debacle: Bachmann goes after contender’s big plan.

And, ouch!

Image from LA Times

After reconsidering a run for president, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stuck with his original answer…

Heck no!

The Republican governor had originally said some time ago he wouldn’t seek the White House.  But, pressure from voters and donors unimpressed by the current Republican field caused him to give it one last look.

A media frenzy surrounded Christie’s possible entrance into the race, which would have offered an alternative to front-runners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

During a press conference, he cited his current role as governor as the driving reason behind his decision.

It did not feel right to me, in my gut, to leave now when the job here was not finished.”

That’s what Republican businessman Herman Cain would like to do.

Cain, who has never held an elected office, has been taking on the GOP political class and doing far better than anyone expected.

While he did once serve a term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas, he’s best known as the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. The rest of the GOP lineup includes four governors, one former senator, and three members of the House of Representatives (including one former speaker).

Cain, much like former Governors Gary Johnson and Jon Huntsman, was not a household name before campaign season began. And yet, he won the recent straw poll in Orlando. Big time.

National Review, a conservative magazine, was quick to observe that past winners of this straw poll have gone on to clinch the GOP nomination.

But Why is Herman Cain doing so well? How is it possible that the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza trounced both former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Texas Governor Rick Perry?

Is it his casual Muslim-bashing? For example,

“I would have to have people totally committed to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of this United States. And many of the Muslims, they are not totally dedicated to this country. They are not dedicated to our Constitution. Many of them are trying to force Sharia law on the people of this country.”

Maybe it’s his “9-9-9″ economic plan, which sounds an awful lot like a carryover from his pizza days, and about which one observer remarked,

“Everything he’s talking about is if you just provide tax cuts to rich people we will all fare well… But hasn’t that been the theme for 30 years and doesn’t everybody agree that the middle class does not fare well? This is a triumph of amnesia.”

Who is Herman Cain? Plain-talking outsider? Defender against the imposition of Sharia law on American soil? Presidential material?