HILLARY CLINTON PONDERS CHALLENGE OF 2016 ELECTION; SHE SHOULD RUN AGAIN IN 2020

HILLARY CLINTON PONDERS CHALLENGE OF 2016 ELECTION; SHE SHOULD RUN AGAIN IN 2020:

HILLARY LOST BECAUSE SHE HAD A BAD, MISMANAGED CAMPAIGN.

HILLARY HAD TOO MANY PEOPLE ON HER TEAM WHO JUST WANTED FAME & PAYCHECKS.

OBAMA DIDN'T REALLY WANT HILLARY TO WIN EITHER.

IF HILLARY HAD ME ON HER TEAM SHE WOULD HAVE WON.

TRUMP WON BECAUSE HE HAD A VERY WELL-FOCUSED CAMPAIGN, I SUPPORTED HIM AND HE DIDN'T WASTE MONEY.

I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAYS I STILL LIKE TRUMP BUT I WANT TO SEE HILLARY RUN AGAIN.

SHE WON'T REST UNTIL SHE RUNS AND WINS.

STOP BLAMING EVERYONE AND JUST RUN AGAIN TO WIN.

HILLARY BELONGS IN THE WHITE HOUSE AS THE FIRST WOMAN U.S. PRESIDENT.


Sources: NY Post, CNN, Youtube


***** Hillary Clinton still wants to challenge election results


Hillary​ Clinton just can’t face the fact that Donald Trump is in the White House and she’s not.

Ten months after her stunning defeat​ in the 2016 presidential election, the Democratic nominee held out the possibility of challenging the results if there’s solid proof of Russian interference beyond what has already been made public.

“I wouldn’t rule it out​,” Clinton told National Public Radio on Monday.


That seemed to floor the interviewer, Terry Gross.

“So what are the means, like, this is totally unprecedented in every way,” Gross said, grasping for a follow-up.

“It is,” replied Clinton.

But when asked how she would file such a challenge, Clinton was stumped.

“I don’t know if there’s any legal, constitutional way to do that​,” she admitted.

“There are scholars, academics, who have arguments that it would be, but I don’t think they’re on strong ground. But people are making those arguments. I just don’t think we have a mechanism,” she said.

Clinton got 3 million more popular votes than Trump but lost the presidency in the Electoral College, an institution she said should be eliminated.

“I do believe we should abolish the Electoral College, because I was sitting listening to a report on the French election and the French political analyst said, ‘You know, in our country the person with the most votes wins, unlike in yours.’ And I think that’s an anachronism. I’ve said that since 2000​,” she told NPR​.

Clinton insisted that if the roles were reversed — and Trump won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College — she would still be pushing for a full probe of Russia’s involvement in the election.

“Let me just put it this way — if I had lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College and in my first day as president the intelligence community came to me and said, ‘The Russians influenced the election,’ I would’ve never stood for it. Even though it might’ve advantaged me, I would’ve said, ‘We’ve got to get to the bottom of this.’ I would’ve set up an independent commission with subpoena power and everything else,” she said.

The NPR interview was part of a tour for Clinton’s new book, “What Happened,” in which she claims then-FBI Director James Comey cost her the election by announcing a new investigation into her ­e-mails 11 days before voters went to the polls.

In her chat with NPR, Clinton charged that Comey held her to a higher standard than Trump.

“Where I part company with him — and think he violated every rule in the book as a FBI director — was what he did on Oct. 28 [2016], because what he did then was to send a letter acting like he was reopening an investigation that had been closed to Congress, knowing it would be immediately leaked. And later on when asked, Well weren’t you also conducting an investigation into the Trump campaign and their connections with Russia? Yes. Well, why didn’t you tell the American people that?
Because it was too close to the election,” she claimed.

OBAMA & HILLARY CAMPAIGN TOGETHER TUESDAY IN ‪#‎CHARLOTTE‬ (BATTLEGROUND STATES)

‪#‎HillaryClinton‬

OBAMA & HILLARY CAMPAIGN TOGETHER TUESDAY IN ‪#‎CHARLOTTE‬, NORTH CAROLINA:

HILLARY HAS REQUIRED DELEGATES BUT CAN’T WIN WITHOUT OBAMA’S POLITICAL GENIUS.

DONALD TRUMP WILL CAMPAIGN IN RALEIGH SAME DAY.

NORTH CAROLINA REMAINS A BATTLEGROUND STATE.

Sources: Charlotte Observer, ABC News, Hillary Clinton Events, Youtube

***** 7 things to know about Tuesday’s Clinton-Obama rally in Charlotte

President Barack Obama returns to Charlotte on Tuesday for his first campaign appearance with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

They’ll hold a rally at the Charlotte Convention Center – three short blocks from where, four years ago, Obama accepted his own renomination before a packed house at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The visit is Clinton’s second in two weeks to what’s expected once again to be a battleground state. It’s her first visit to Charlotte since a March 14 rally at Grady Cole Center, a day before she won the state’s primary. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee,will be in Raleigh.

Obama and Clinton will arrive in Charlotte together at 2:25 p.m. on Air Force One and travel to the Convention Center for the 3 p.m. event. Doors open at 1.

Here are some things to keep in mind about Tuesday’s visit.

~ 1. Expect heavy traffic. If you’re going to the rally or just going to work, be prepared for afternoon traffic tie-ups.

Police say to expect intermittent road closures between Charlotte Douglas International Airport and uptown. Though the exact route hasn’t been disclosed for security reasons, previous presidential visits have caused congestion, even on Interstate 77.

Brevard Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard between Caldwell and College streets are expected to close at 9:30 a.m. One lane of Stonewall Street is expected to close for TV satellite trucks.
“We don’t anticipate huge gridlock based on the time frame, but we do expect some delays,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Estes of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Blue Line service uptown will be interrupted from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Trains will run north to the Carson Street Station, where passengers can board a bus to the transit center. For questions, call CATS customer service at 704-336-RIDE (7433).

~ 2. Critical time for Clinton. Clinton will arrive in Charlotte amid renewed and potentially damaging focus on the federal investigation of her use of a private email server as secretary of state.

On Saturday, the FBI interviewed her in Washington for more than three hours.

And even Democrats are still shaking their heads at the news that former President Bill Clinton met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on an airport tarmac in Arizona last week. Lynch has insisted Bill Clinton was making a social call and that they talked only about family. But she also acknowledged that the meeting had the appearance, to many, of a conflict of interest.

The Obama-Clinton visit comes eight years after an intense presidential primary fight between the two. Aides to Obama and Clinton told The Associated Press that the foe-to-friend narrative will be a key part of Tuesday’s events, with Obama acting as a character witness for his former secretary of state.

~ 3. Fewer no-shows. Two high-profile Democratic candidates have said this time they’ll appear with the president and his former secretary of state.

U.S. Senate candidate Deborah Ross and gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper both plan to be at the Convention Center. Both were no-shows last month when Clinton spoke at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.

One politician who won’t be there: Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts. The mayor, who ushered Clinton onstage in March, is on a family vacation.

~ 4. Why North Carolina? Because it’s an increasingly important presidential battlefield.

In 2008, Obama became the first Democrat in 32 years to carry the state, and he won by a slim 14,000 votes. Four years later, Republican Mitt Romney won the state by 2 percentage points. But it was the only Southern swing state that he won.

Polls compiled by Real Clear Politics show the 2016 race a virtual tie. Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics rates it as leaning Democrat.

~ 5. Trump’s in North Carolina, too.

A few hours after the Clinton-Obama event ends in Charlotte, Trump is scheduled to address a rally at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh. Will he or Clinton get the bigger crowd? Reporters and others will be counting.

Even with the president by her side, Clinton will have to share the day’s North Carolina media coverage with Trump, who will get the last word at his 7 p.m. event.

North Carolina was in the GOP column in 2012, and Trump needs to keep it there in 2016 if he hopes to become president. No Republican has won the White House without carrying North Carolina since Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

Clinton, who is leading in the polls in most battleground states, doesn’t have to win North Carolina to get the necessary 270 electoral votes. She only has to get Trump to spend precious time and money here so he can’t spend it in states such as Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania – probably must-win states for Clinton.

~ 6. Who’s paying? The Clinton campaign is paying to rent the Convention Center.

A spokesman for the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority said the contract is being finalized, but the Clinton campaign is “definitely paying” and being treated like any other rental client.
Her campaign will also pick up the tab for the costs of bringing the president to town.

~ 7. Also on stage … Warming up the crowd for Clinton and Obama on Tuesday will be four Tar Heel Democrats – three of them candidates this year.

Cooper and Ross will each get some time at the microphone in the Convention Center ballroom.

N.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Patsy Keever will also speak, as will U.S. Rep. Alma Adams – she of the extensive hat collection. The congresswoman will be returning to her new home, Charlotte, and may or may not try to get a photo op with Clinton wearing one of her hats.

Obama will depart Charlotte by 5:05 p.m., according to the White House press office.

According to The Associated Press, the last time Obama and Clinton traveled together was 2012 when they visited newly democratic Myanmar, a pet issue of Clinton’s.

While Obama and Clinton are only expected to be in Charlotte for a few hours, their schedules leave room for a possible unannounced stop around town that could showcase their personal rapport.

DONALD TRUMP vs BARACK OBAMA: A NEW POLITICAL MOVEMENT (3.0)

@realDonaldTrump

DONALD TRUMP vs BARACK OBAMA: A NEW POLITICAL MOVEMENT

TRUMP BORROWS A PAGE FROM OBAMA'S 2008 POLITICAL PLAYBOOK.

HILLARY CLINTON IS LEFT IN THE CAMPAIGN DUST AGAIN.

Sources: Political Insider,  MSNBC, The Hill, Rawstory, Webtrends, YouTube

In 2007 Barack Obama Jr officially launched his 2008 campaign for the Oval Office.

During his time on the campaign trail Pres Obama made new political inroads via his unmatched use of Social Media, Google and the Mainstream Media.

Needless to say due to such wise strategy, Obama ushered in a New Political Movement and emerged victoriously in Nov 2008 against his GOP challenger US Senator John McCain.

In fact many registered GOP voters cast their ballots for Obama in 2008.

Fast forward eight years later.

2016 Presumptive GOP US Presidential nominee Donald J Trump appears to have borrowed a page from Pres Obama's 2008 political playbook as it relates to Trump's command of Television Media and Social Media.

Trump has also persuaded large numbers of Democrat voters to switch parties and vote him during the GOP primaries.

So where is Trump's 2016 Democrat presidential challenger Hillary Clinton?

Trump appears to have left Hillary in the dust just as Obama did to her in 2008.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

This is not your Great-grandparents US Presidential election.

Grab a bowl of popcorn and a beverage of choice because this race is going to be ELECTRIC and On FIRE!

Stay Tuned

I predict that Trump is slated to WIN.

***** House Just Passed “Donald Trump Act” – Sends Big Message to Obama!

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is shining a massive spotlight on President Barack Obama’s amnesty agenda.

Trump knows that the border is so unprotected that dangerous criminals and terrorists can cross into America with ease.

That’s why the U.S. House of Representatives just issued a major defeat to Obama! Known as the “Donald Trump Act,” House Resolution 3099 takes direct aim at cities which don’t enforce federal laws about sanctuary cities.

The House passed it by an overwhelming 241-197 vote. This is a big deal!

Sanctuary cities have come under heavy scrutiny in the wake of Kathryn Steinle’s death on July 1 in San Francisco. Authorities charged Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez with her killing. Lopez-Sanchez, who is in the U.S. illegally, has a history of felony convictions and has been deported five times.

Critics of the sanctuary laws say such policies encourage people to immigrate to the U.S. illegally at the expense of citizens.

“A refuge for whom? A sanctuary for whom?” Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said. “A sanctuary for Kate Steinle? Or a refuge for a convicted felon with a 25-year-long criminal history?”

Democrats accused House Republicans of bringing up the bill in part because of real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s focus on illegal immigration and sanctuary cities; they dubbed the bill the “Donald Trump Act.”

“Just a few weeks into his campaign and Donald Trump has a bill on the floor of the House. That is better than some of the senators he’s running against.” Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) said mockingly.

via The Hill

Democrats can mock this legislation all they want. It’s clear that Republicans are getting serious about exposing the shameful problems caused by millions of illegal aliens flooding into this country.

OBAMA TO DELIVER FINAL SOTU ADDRESS; TUESDAY, JAN 12, 9PM ET (HIS LEGACY & HILLARY'S CAMPAIGN)

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OBAMA DELIVERS FINAL SOTU ADDRESS; TUESDAY, JAN 12, 9PM ET:

SPEECH WILL HIGHLIGHT HIS LEGACY & HELP HILLARY

*** OBAMA'S PRESIDENTIAL LEGACY (GOOD & BAD):

ELECTED IN NOV 2008 (FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT)

RE-ELECTED IN NOV 2012

ORDERED DEATH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN

PULLED TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ

REAL COMPENSATION FOR FAMILIES WHOSE LOVED ONES ARE MURDERED BY POLICE

BAILED OUT WALL STREET

BAILED OUT AUTO INDUSTRY

STIMULUS PACKAGE

REPEALED "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"

DODD-FRANK

FORECLOSURE PREVENTION

CONSUMER PROTECTION

APPOINTED NEW MEMBERS TO FEDERAL LABOR BOARD

OBAMACARE

CLIMATE CHANGE

LEGALIZED MARIJUANA

POLICE BLUE-LIGHT POLICE PROTECTION ACT

NEW GUN CONTROL LAWS

REPEALED "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND"

HELPED GOV NIKKI HALEY IN REMOVING CONFEDERATE FLAG AFTER CHARLESTON MASSACRE.

~ How To Watch President Obama's Final State Of The Union

President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address Tuesday at 9 p.m. and is expected to focus on the future, with the 2016 presidential election at stake later this year.

The president previewed the address in a video last week and said he wants his speech to highlight not only the progress the U.S. has made and what he wants to accomplish in his final year, but "what we all need to do together in the years to come."

The White House has invited a number of people to sit in the box with First Lady Michelle Obama during the address, and one seat has been reserved and will be left vacant to represent "victims of gun violence who no longer have a voice."

Mr. Obama spent all of last week highlighting his new set of executive actions on gun violence.

Other White House guests include Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D); the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella; Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court same-sex marriage case; 

Spencer Stone, one of the three Americans who thwarted a potential terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train in August; one of the partners of a San Bernardino terrorist attack victim; and a Syrian refugee who moved to the U.S. with his children in December.

The speech, which will be the first with Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, as speaker, will come just weeks before the 2016 primary season kicks off in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Mr. Obama wants to ensure that a Democrat succeeds him, but he also is focused on plans he'd like to fulfill in his final year in office.

The president, for example, is intent on delivering a plan to Congress that would permanently close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

He has challenged Congress to consider a new war authorization against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Criminal justice reform and getting approval for the Trans-Pacific Partnership are also among Mr. Obama's final priorities.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) is scheduled to deliver the Republican response after the address.

** What: President Obama's final State of the Union address
Time: 9 p.m. ET

Where to watch/listen:

On TV: CBS television affiliates or on CBSN streaming on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Xbox One
Mobile: CBSN streaming on the CBS News apps CBS News for Android and CBS News for iOS
Online: CBSNews.com
On radio: CBS Radio News affiliates

** Who attends: Vice President Joe Biden will sit behind the president, next to Speaker Ryan. Members of the House and Senate will file into the House chamber for the speech.

Some of the 2016 GOP presidential candidates will be there. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul will attend, but Ted Cruz is skipping it in favor of his own campaign event in New Hampshire.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be delivering his state of the state address on Tuesday.

A number of Supreme Court justices usually show up, as well as members of the president's cabinet.

There's always a "designated survivor," who is a member of the cabinet designated to be at an undisclosed location when he delivers the speech, in case something happens to the president, vice president and speaker.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was the designated survivor last year.

Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis who spent five days in jail defying a court order to license same-sex marriages will be in the chamber, although no one has revealed which lawmaker invited her.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, on Tuesday said he won't be there, and further, he has reserved an empty seat in the House chamber's gallery during the State of the Union to represent "the lives of more than 55 million aborted babies."

Sources: CBS News, NBC News

Obama Must Offer Bold Plan For Economy Or Risk Losing Like Carter; Go Bold Or Go Home!! (Videos)

A plan that offers Obama a fighting chance

At this point in 1980, Jimmy Carter was on the path to oblivion but didn’t know it. Barack Obama may share Carter’s fate if he doesn’t change course soon.

The 1980 presidential race was neck and neck until the end. It finally broke for Ronald Reagan when voters concluded that Carter could not cope with the economy and that Reagan, despite his conspicuous flaws as a candidate, was a viable alternative.

The Obama campaign is in a similar position. It might eke out a victory, but it is at risk of losing control of the economic narrative. Its best hope is to stop nickel-and-diming Mitt Romney and laundry-listing forgettable initiatives and, instead, give independents reason to think that Obama has a clear, viable plan to bolster the economy.

This election will be decided largely by independent voters, most of whom can probably tell you that Mitt Romney’s economic plan is to repeal Obamacare and shrink the government. It may not make much sense, but it’s clear. Ask what Obama’s plan is, and they won’t be certain. They will know, however, that what he has done hasn’t worked. And by the fall, many independents will have made up their minds.

The president’s failure, so far, to show that he understands the scope of the economy’s problems and knows how to fix them does not stem from having nothing to say: investment in education, energy, innovation and infrastructure are reasonable things. But they are also slow-acting, small-bore stuff. Such talk does not include additional economic stimulus, an element that many economists, especially Democratic-leaning ones, consider crucial to prevent a double-dip recession. Nor does it deal realistically with long-term growth in spending.

So Obama should draw a map and send it to Capitol Hill in the form of a bill — a president’s strongest statement that he intends action. A big legislative proposal can frame the issue and paint Obama’s intentions in bold colors.

It should include three elements:


1) Long-term fiscal retrenchment.

The easiest and best way is to adopt the Simpson-Bowles deficit plan. The Simpson-Bowles commission’s recommendations have been established as a credible bipartisan solution. Adopting its plan outright would signal that Obama is not playing partisan games and would redress the (justified) criticism that he has finessed the deficit. Not least, Simpson-Bowles compares favorably on grounds of balance, economic plausibility and public appeal with the budget of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), which Romney endorsed.


2) Short-term economic stimulus.

Republicans will howl about more spending. Let them. Stimulus measures make sense when unemployment is high and the world is teetering on the edge of a second recession. And provided they are coupled with a credible long-term retrenchment, they are politically and economically defensible. Such measures have a further political advantage: Obama and the Democrats would be running on what they believe is the right answer, instead of running away from it.


3) A two-year debt-limit extension.

Declare that another debt-limit fiasco is unacceptable and demand that the issue be taken off the table. Let Republicans explain why they want to hold a gun to the economy’s head.

Could Obama get something like this enacted before Election Day? Of course not. Could he even get it voted on? Possibly. Would he be justified in putting the package before Congress and demanding action? Absolutely. Doing so would show that he knows the economy is in trouble, that he believes the status quo is unacceptable and that he is determined to act.

One other advantage: Setting forth a boldly enunciated, easily graspable program puts Obama in a stronger position to criticize Romney’s plan as dangerously contractionary. Instead of going for Romney’s capillaries (his years-old record as governor; his even-older record at Bain Capital), Obama could go for the jugular by drawing a contrast that should be at the campaign’s core: The Republicans’ mistimed, precipitous austerity threatens to bring on another recession.

Obama could attempt to squeak through the election with a campaign modeled on, ironically, that of George W. Bush in 2004. Bush sowed just enough doubt about his challenger, and managed to pick off just enough swing voters in key states, to eke out victory. Obama is doing something like that now.

But the economic head winds Obama is fighting are much stronger than those faced by Bush, and his approval ratings are lower. In any case, a narrow victory based on electoral salami-slicing and negative advertising would leave Obama without a clear mandate or agenda for his second term. Ask Bush how that works out.

Time is short, Mr. President. Carterdom beckons.


Sources: CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, Youtube

North Carolina No Longer Ranked 2012 Swing State; Now Listed As Toss-Up State (NY Times Analysis)

Explaining The Times’s Battleground State Ratings

Six months before Election Day, nine states that President Obama carried four years ago are now firmly up for grabs in the latest New York Times ranking of key battleground states, while Mitt Romney holds an early advantage in two other states the president won in 2008.

As the general election race intensifies, Mr. Obama begins with a slim edge in several critical states and has a variety of paths to winning re-election, according to the Times analysis of electoral votes.

But there are considerable opportunities for Mr. Romney, whose candidacy is in a position of strength in enough states where a victory could deny the president a second term.

The Times ratings, which will be reviewed periodically throughout the campaign, find nine states are locked in the tossup category: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

In the quest to win the necessary 270 electoral votes, the president has 185 solidly on the Democratic side and Mr. Romney has 158 in safe Republican territory.

The analysis finds 115 electoral votes in the tossup category, with 32 leaning Democratic and 48 leaning Republican.

The Times rankings are based on interviews with Republican and Democratic strategists and the economic climate, political volatility, polling and electoral history in each state.

Here is a brief rationale for the current collection of toss-up states:

Colorado:

The president’s victory here in 2008 was among his favorites, after the state had voted Republican in eight of the nine prior presidential races. A wariness of big government is testing Mr. Obama this time, but Mr. Romney faces his own challenge appealing to independents and women, whose support was critical to Democratic wins in races for the Senate and governor in 2010.

Florida:

A wave of home foreclosures and a sour economy has complicated Mr. Obama’s path to a repeat victory here.

A growing number of conservative retirees offer Mr. Romney hope, but the outcome could hinge on whether he can win over Hispanic voters, particularly younger Cuban Americans in southern Florida and Puerto Ricans in central Florida.

Iowa:

The state that paved Mr. Obama’s path to the presidency could complicate his re-election, despite an economy that is more robust than many other states. Mr. Romney faces a challenge of exciting evangelical voters who did not support him earlier this year at the Iowa caucuses. In a close race, these six electoral votes are critical to both sides.

New Hampshire:

The president is leading in some early polls, but the state is too volatile to make any predictions at this point.

Mr. Romney has been seen as a favorite son, having been governor in the state next door, Massachusetts.

The Republican gains in 2010 have created a backlash among some Democrats in a state that will be a backdrop for the presidential campaign.

Nevada:

The Romney campaign has a ready-made laboratory to argue that the policies of the Obama administration have not worked, particularly in a state with the nation’s highest rates of home foreclosure and unemployment.

But the president is traveling to the state again and again, hoping his appeal to Hispanic and lower-income voters will deliver the state again.

Ohio:

It is hard to picture Mr. Romney winning the White House without Ohio.

An improving economy could help Mr. Obama, particularly with a revival in the auto industry, but the state’s conservative leanings still pose a significant challenge.

It will likely break late, with neither candidate winning the early enthusiasm race.

Pennsylvania:

Republicans have lost the last five presidential elections here, but it is not an automatic lock for Mr. Obama. Democrats have an edge in voter registration, but new voting laws concern party leaders.

This state could eventually lean Democratic as the campaign moves along, but the president has yet to prove that the key independent voters will be on his side.

Virginia:

The population shifts in Northern Virginia are changing the state’s political demographics. The president carried the state by seven percentage points in 2008, but that margin belies the true fight underway in the state this time.

This is one of the states Mr. Romney needs to put back in the Republican column if he is to be elected.

Wisconsin:

The political climate here is volatile, given the June recall election of Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican.

A flood of outside money – pro-union and antiunion – has created a charged dynamic.

The president has an early edge over Mr. Romney, but the environment is too uncertain to safely move the state into the Democratic-leaning column.

The Times rankings also include four states that lean Democratic, including Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Maine, which allows its electoral votes to be divided and Mr. Romney is fighting for at least one.

In this group, Michigan and New Mexico are the most competitive and could become true tossups as the race progresses.

In an interview last year, Mr. Romney declined to commit to competing aggressively in his native Michigan, saying he would make his determination on the state of the race rather than family sentiment.

This state is worth watching closely.

The Times rankings also include four states that are leaning Republican, including Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina.

(One electoral vote in Nebraska, which also allows its allocation to be divided, is also included in this category, after Mr. Obama won it in 2008.)

In this group, North Carolina is the most competitive and could become a toss-up as the campaign develops.

Four years ago, Mr. Obama narrowly carried the state and is aggressively targeting it again.

Arizona is another state to watch, with the president’s re-election team sizing it up over the summer to see if it is worth making a full investment in the fall.


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Sources: AP, ABC News, AlJazeera English, CBS News, CNN, McClatchy Newspapers, NY Times, Youtube, Google Maps

Romney vs Eric Fernstrom: Tax vs Penalty; Romney Calls Obamacare A "Tax"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Romney calls health care mandate a "Tax" contradicts top aide

Mitt Romney said the federal health care reform mandate constitutes a "tax" Wednesday, contradicting the way a senior adviser to his campaign characterized his position earlier this week.

But the similar individual mandate and fee he signed into law when governor of Massachusetts is not a tax, he said in a separate interview, citing the Supreme Court's decision last Thursday.

Of the federal law, Romney told CNN's Dana Bash and Shawna Shepherd, "Supreme Court is the final word, right? The highest court in the land? They said it's a tax didn't they?"

"So it's a tax, of course, if that's what they say it is," he continued.

Romney had first commented on the federal law in a CBS News interview Wednesday.

The high court last Thursday upheld the law's individual mandate – which requires individuals who can afford it to obtain coverage, or otherwise pay a fee collected by the Internal Revenue Service - under Congress' taxation power.

But it allowed states have broader powers, which Romney cited as the reason the Massachusetts fee is not a tax.

"States can implement penalties and mandates and so forth under their constitutions, which is what Massachusetts did," he said in the CBS interview. "But the federal government does not have those powers, and therefore for the Supreme Court to reach the conclusion it did – that the law was constitutional – they had to find it was a tax, and they did."

The Massachusetts law has been compared by some Republicans and Democrats alike to the federal law, but Romney has repeatedly rejected similarities. Romney has argued his law was a "state solution to a state problem" and has maintained he would move to repeal the federal law if elected president.

Eric Fehrnstrom, the senior adviser to Romney's campaign, said in a Monday interview that Romney thought the fee that will be generated by the federal law was not a tax despite the Supreme Court's ruling.

"He agreed with the dissent written by Justice Scalia which very clearly stated that the mandate was not a tax," Fehrnstrom said on MSNBC. And, when further questioned as to whether Romney agreed with Democrats, who have argued the mandate is not a tax, Fehrnstrom said "correct."

In the CBS News interview, Romney affirmed that he agreed with the dissent - the minority opinion of the high court – regarding the validity of President Obama's health care law but accepted that the majority opinion was law.

"I said that I agreed with the dissent and the dissent made it very clear that they felt it was unconstitutional. But the dissent lost," Romney said. "It's in the minority. And so now the Supreme Court has spoken, and while I agreed with dissent, it's taken over by the fact that the majority of the court said that it's a tax and therefore it is a tax."

Acknowledging the individual mandate as a tax also gave Romney an opportunity to criticize Obama over the law. This is the line of criticism most Republicans have taken since the ruling. Obama had said while campaigning that the mandate would not raise taxes.

"And the American people know that President Obama has broken the pledge he made," Romney said in the CBS interview. "He said he wouldn't raise taxes on middle income Americans."

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama's reelection campaign, suggested in a tweet that Romney's different positions on the Massachusetts and federal laws were contradictory.

"Mitt: Fed freerider penalty is 'tax,' identical MA law is not. If he were in WH, parsley would be official veg: Twister, national pasttime," he posted.

In March, Fehrnstrom made headlines for saying in a CNN interview that the transition from the primaries to the general election was "almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again."

Romney's Republican rivals seized on the remark, suggesting that voters could not trust Romney not to change his views as November approached.

Later that day, Romney stepped before the microphones to clarify his campaign's position.

"Organizationally, a general election campaign takes on a different profile," Romney said. "The issues I am running on will be exactly the same. I am running as a conservative Republican. I was a conservative Republican governor. I will be running as a conservative Republican nominee, at that point hopefully, for president. The policies and positions are the same."

Earlier this week, GOP backer and Newscorp head Rupert Murdoch said in a tweet that Romney's staff could use some retooling.

"Tough O[bama] Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros," Murdoch tweeted on Sunday.

Former GE CEO Jack Welch followed Murdoch's tweet with one of his own on Monday, saying he hoped "Mitt Romney is listening to Murdoch advice [on] campaign staff..playing in league with Chicago pols..No room for amateurs."


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Andy Griffith Endorsed Obama & Angered Some NC Residents; Buried Tuesday On Roanake Island R.I.P.

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The Late Southern Actor Andy Griffith was laid to rest on Roanoake Island in Dare, NC the SAME Day of his Death, Tuesday July 3, 2012.

Andy a WHITE North Carolina Native, and Democrat, was also a Proud Supporter of Pres. Barack Obama’s Election.

Pres. Obama’s Ethnicity did NOT matter to Andy, he just wanted a Democratic President to Win.

In 2008 Andy and his Co-Star “Son” Ron Howard (Opie) even filmed a Campaign for Pres. Obama.

Andy also filmed a more recent video expressing his Support for Pres. Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act.

What a Wonderful Display of Racial Equality & Acceptance.

Of course many people within North Carolina’s WHITE Power Structure Strongly Disapproved of Andy’s Endorsement of a BLACK Man leading this Country.

This includes both Democrats & Republicans.

If only other WHITE Citizens from the State of North Carolina, could be more like the late Andy Griffith, this region of the United States would begin to express Progress more rapidly.

Isn’t it time for North Carolina to Abandon the Klu Klux Klan's RACIST Philosophy and to Embrace Diversity. REAL, 21st Century Diversity?

R.I.P. Andy Samuel Griffith June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012



Andy Griffith was a Democrat, and N.C. disapproved

So many people wanted to place Andy Griffith in the past, in a place
that never really was.

Griffith himself preferred to live in the present.

There was surprise and some disappointment when in 2008, Griffith reteamed with his TV son, Ron Howard, to reprise their roles in a black-and-white, tongue-in-cheek, pro-Obama video message.

The president, in a statement mourning Griffith, who died on Tuesday, said, “A performer of extraordinary talent, Andy was beloved by generations of fans and revered by entertainers who followed in his footsteps.”

Griffith supported another Democrat, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue, in her campaign.

Counting down the days of her lame-duck tenure and fresh off the GOP legislature’s successful override on three bills she vetoed, she said in her statement: “Throughout his career, he represented everything that was good about North Carolina: a small town boy and UNC graduate who took a light-hearted approach to some of the attributes he grew up with and turned them into a spectacularly successful career.”

In 2010, an ad in support of health care legislation seriously dented Griffith’s approval numbers in his beloved North Carolina, a poll showed. Which was enough of a shock that a Democratic consultant suggested to the News & Observer, “It's a good time to call up Barney Fife.”

I get the feeling Griffith didn’t crave a sidekick at those moments; he mainly made up his own mind about things like that.

If he had done what a lot of folks, including me, wanted, he would have starred in more films like 1957’s “A Face in the Crowd.” That Elia Kazan classic revealed a dark heart beneath the lead character’s country charm while making prescient points about the dangers of media manipulation and the unleashed egos of the powerful.

Griffith instead preferred to serve up Southern comfort that confounded stereotypes without rocking the boat.

Griffith said in interviews that Mayberry was meant to be a throwback – and it was no doubt an escape for many – though its portrait of loving, understanding parents and respectful children who learned from their wiser, slyer elders was subversive in its own way. Perdue said, “In an increasingly complicated world, we all yearn for the days of Mayberry.”

Not all.

In the idealized small town of Mayberry, reminiscent of Griffith’s own Mount Airy, N.C., hometown, not much happened. When “The Andy Griffith Show” made its television debut in fall of 1960, of course, history-making change roiled the actor’s own North Carolina, with the image of Southern sheriff a ways off from Andy Taylor’s folksy friendliness.

Earlier that same year, four students from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro challenged segregation with the first sit-in, at a F.W. Woolworth lunch counter.

Mixing rose-colored fiction and real life, it would be nice to think Floyd the barber would have given those nice young men a shave and a haircut in Mayberry.

But not even Griffith believed that. A former colleague told me about a call back from Griffith to answer a question on race that he had stumbled on in an interview; it was about his decision to skirt that particular lesson in “The Andy Griffith Show.” It would have been the one thing Sheriff Andy could not have solved in a half-hour, he figured, so he left it alone, my friend reported.

But the man who thought a long time about that question lived to see his home state give a close victory to the black man he supported.




Andy Griffith Already Laid to Rest as President Obama Pays Respects, Tributes Keep Pouring In

Andy Griffith, who died this morning, has been buried on the grounds of his farm on North Carolina's Roanoke Island, according to Twiford Funeral Homes. A small group of family and friends held a private service beforehand.

But though Griffith was swiftly transported to his final resting place, the tributes to the Andy Griffith Show and Matlock star haven't ceased since news of his passing at 86 broke just hours ago, with everyone from James Van Der Beek to President Barack Obama paying their respects.





Andy Griffith buried shortly after death, source says


The body of Andy Griffith, a North Carolina native and actor who for years won over audiences with his folksy appeal, was buried Tuesday morning less than five hours after he died.

He passed away at around 7 a.m. ET at his home on Roanoke Island, authorities reported.

At the request of his family, Griffith's body was lowered into a grave on the island at about 11:30 a.m. ET, according to a funeral spokesperson who declined to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

"It had been planned for some time," said the spokesperson, who declined to reveal where on the island the body was buried.

"This was the wish of his family."

Most known for his role as the sheriff of Mayberry on the CBS series "The Andy Griffith Show," Griffith died Tuesday after an unspecified illness and "has been laid to rest on his beloved Roanoke Island," the family said in a statement.

But the speed with which the public learned of his death and was informed of his burial seemed especially fast, according to some observers.

"It's not very common," said Larry F. Stegall, executive director of the state's Funeral Directors Association. "I don't recall having heard of it, and I've been here 32 years."

Traditional funeral customs often allow for a more extended period between death and burial, so family and friends may have more opportunity to visit and pay their respects.

Still, said Stegall, "the family's wishes are always abided by."

"Andy was a person of incredibly strong Christian faith and was prepared for the day he would be called Home to his Lord," Griffith's wife, Cindi, said in a statement on Tuesday.

A member of the Television Hall of Fame, Griffith also was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. His 1996 album, "I Love to Tell the Story -- 25 Timeless Hymns," netted him a Grammy Award.

Born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, in 1926, Griffith was a 1949 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received a degree in music.


President Obama Remembers Andy Griffith


Andy Griffith, who charmed audiences for half a century as an actor, comedian, and gospel singer, died today in his home in Manteo, North Carolina. He was 86.

Griffith, known for his iconic roles as the sheriff of Mayberry and the defense attorney Ben Matlock, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

This afternoon, President Obama marked his passing, saying, "A performer of extraordinary talent, Andy was beloved by generations of fans and revered by entertainers who followed in his footsteps."


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