Paul Ryan

Indications That Senior Citizens And Veterans Are Switching To Support Of Barack Obama

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Recent polls indicate that two groups thought to be more likely to have majority support for Mitt Romney are instead switching to support of President Obama for the Presidential election in five weeks.

These are senior citizens and veterans, both of whom were seen as being considered part of the “47 percent” comments by Romney at a Boca Raton mansion last May, disparaging those who do not pay federal income taxes, although they pay lots of other taxes.

Usually, it has been thought that senior citizens were more likely to vote Republican, but the fear about changes in Medicare, represented by the plans of Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, is steering older retired people to vote Democratic, even though the statements of Romney and Ryan are that only people under 55 and not yet on Medicare would be affected by the proposed voucher system. There is a growing feeling that one cannot trust Romney and Ryan on such an important issue.

Veterans often vote Republican, but the Obama record on veterans’ issues is drawing many former military people, as well as serving troops, to support of the Commander in Chief. And the fact that Romney evaded the Vietnam War draft as a Mormon missionary in the late 1960s, and that none of his sons have served in the military, work against veteran support of Romney.

This election could be path breaking in many ways, as far as majority voter support among groups thought to be more likely to vote Republican, but now seen as likely to support Barack Obama. It will be fascinating to see what transpires!

Patrick Murphy, Tammy Duckworth, Jim Graves, Wayne Powell, Rob Zerban, Christie Vilsack—Congressional Candidates Challenging Six Targeted Republicans In House Of Representatives!

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The Democratic Party not only hopes to keep Barack Obama in the Presidency, but also to elect a House of Representatives majority in November, and keep control of the US Senate.

Six Republicans are particularly being targeted for defeat in the House of Representatives, and were they all to be “retired”, the nation would be far better off!

So we have Patrick Murphy of Florida, challenging Allen West, who has called the Democrats Communists and Socialists and attacked Debbie Wasserman Schultz as not worthy of being treated as a lady!

So we have Joe Walsh of Illinois, challenged by Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who lost both legs and one arm, and yet, Walsh thinks she does not deserve respect for her heroism; and he is also a bad parent, as he owes back child support payments over $125,000 to his former wife; and also constantly insults constituents at his public gatherings.

So we have Jim Graves challenging Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who ran for President in 2012, and has been a total terror as a Tea Party activist, calling Democrats “UnAmerican” in their loyalty, and is constantly coming across as nutty and loony in all her public utterances in the past six years in Congress. She is now seen as in serious trouble, and Graves seems to have a good chance to defeat her and remove her from public life!

So we have Wayne Powell challenging House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his Virginia district, and the opportunity to retire Cantor, who has worked to undermine Speaker John Boehner and has cooperated with the Tea Party Movement, and shown he has no principles other than his own ambitions, makes him an excellent target! His arrogance is a good reason to remove him from Congress,and end his chances of moving higher in House leadership!

So we have Rob Zerban, challenging Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, and head of the House Budget Committee, in his Wisconsin district. The chance to defeat Ryan twice is just too good to pass up!

And we have Christie Vilsack, wife of the former Iowa Governor Tom VIlsack, who is now Secretary of Agriculture under President Obama, who is challenging long time Congressman Steve King, who has been one of the wackiest, craziest members of the Republican Congressional majority, serving for ten years in the House, and being one of the leaders of the Tea Party Movement over the past few years.

It would be a great day for sanity and reason if all, or some of these leading Republicans in the House of Representatives were kicked out of Congress! Giving campaign contributions to Murphy, Duckworth, Graves, Powell, Zerban, and Vilsack would be an excellent investment!

The “Bandwagon” Effect Begins To Take Hold: Republicans On The Run, Including Paul Ryan!

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We are now seeing polls showing Barack Obama with a double digit lead in several states–Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida— and leads widening in Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire.

The “bandwagon” effect has begun to take effect, and Republicans are on the run, backing away ever more from Mitt Romney and his clearly failing campaign for President.

And all that Romney and his supporters can say is that the polls are wrong, and that the media are against them, even though even Fox News Channel polls show Obama’s lead widening.

So in other words, trust Romney, even though he constantly lies and deceives, and believe that he can win the election.

Gamblers are not taking bets that Romney will win, and instead the odds of Obama winning are about 80 percent, to 20 percent for Romney.

So Senate and House candidates are running scared, and many will likely go down in a massive Romney defeat six weeks from today!

And it turns out, even Paul Ryan, the Vice Presidential running mate, has come to recognition that he must save himself and his future, which looks a lot more cloudy now than it did before he accepted the Vice Presidential nomination.

Now, Ryan is in danger of losing his Congressional seat in an Obama landslide in Wisconsin, along with presiding over the US Senate and having illusions of being a future President!

So it has been reported by Politico that he is “going rogue”, as Sarah Palin did in 2008, doing what he wants at campaign rallies, saying what he wishes to say, ignoring direction from Romney aides, so as to make himself stand out and save his own skin.

One can sense that the relationship between Romney and Ryan is not what it was, and the body language shows it when they appear together, with Romney seemingly jealous that Ryan gains more applause than he does.

The possibility of a Democratic House and Senate seem more likely by the day, with the rapid implosion of Mitt Romney in evidence!

The US Senate Balance At Stake In 2012 Elections

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Presently, there are 51 Democrats, two Independents, and 47 Republicans In the US Senate.

There are 33 races for the Senate this year, with 23 being Democratic or Independent seats, and just 10 being Republican.

So the odds would seem to be in favor of the Republicans gaining seats, and possibly the majority of the Senate, if they can gain four seats, or three seats if Paul Ryan becomes Vice President.

Eleven Senators are retiring, 6 Democrats, one Independent (Joe Lieberman of Connecticut), and 4 Republicans.

Sixteen Democrats are seeking reelection, while six Republicans are seeking another term.

Many of these seats are seen as “safe”, with 11 Democrats out of the 16 seemingly safe, and four out of six Republicans considered to be assured reelection.

So the real struggle for the US Senate is for five seats held by Democrats, plus seven seats being vacated, for a total of 12 seats—plus three seats of retired Republicans, and two seats of Republicans running for reelection, for a total of 5 seats.

So 17 seats are up for grabs, and the maximum number of seats that could be gained by the Democrats would be five, making a possible total of 58, including two Independents, and for the Republicans, the maximum number of seats that could be gained is 12, for a possible total of 59 seats.

Will the Democrats have 58 seats, or the Republicans have 59 seats, in reality? The answer is NO, but it leaves the future of the Senate very much in play.

These races will be examined in the upcoming weeks until the election six weeks from now!

Early Voting Begins In Half Of The States, BEFORE Presidential Debates!

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Early voting has begun in 25 states, a week BEFORE the Presidential debates begin. And five more states will begin early voting by the end of September.

This includes the “swing” states of Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, so for many voters, it is already too late for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to change people’s minds, particularly after recent gaffes by the Republican team!

It is expected that one third of all votes will be cast before Election Day, a growing number every Presidential year, and therefore a “wild card” that will affect the election results!

Five Major Targets Of Democrats In House Races: Allen West, Joe Walsh, Michele Bachmann, Steve King, And Paul Ryan!

Ronald 1 Comment

The battle for control of the next House of Representatives is in full swing, with the Democrats needing to win at least 25 seats to gain control, and therefore remove Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor from their positions of power.

Among the Republicans who are on the hit list of most important to remove, are:

Allen West of Florida
Joe Walsh of Illinois
Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Steve King of Iowa
Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

These five, all Tea Party supporters, and extremist in their views and voting patterns, are facing strong opposition, and it would be a contribution if some, or all, were removed from the halls of Congress!

They have all “distinguished” themselves in their outrageous statements and actions, and have embarrassed themselves and the institution of Congress by their behavior!

And of course, Paul Ryan is trying to become Vice President under Mitt Romney, and it would be great if he could be defeated for both that office and his Congressional seat, since he has done nothing for his district in Wisconsin, and instead gained infamy and financial support from billionaires and millionaires for his plan to gut Medicare and Medicaid, while promoting more tax cuts for the wealthy!

This election year would be a great opportunity to clean up some of the damage done by the election of new House members West and Walsh, and rid the House of longer term members Bachmann, King, and Ryan!

Senior Citizens And The Romney-Ryan Threat To Social Security, Medicare, And Medicaid

Ronald 2 Comments

For a long time, it has been believed that senior citizens have been more likely to vote Republican than any other age group in the 2012 Presidential campaign!

Senior citizens as a group are seen as less likely to support abortion, gay rights and gay marriage, and sadly, some have a problem with having an African American President as well. Also, religious beliefs are often more important to many senior citizens, so that makes a majority of them likely to be conservative and vote Republican.

But forgotten is that these senior citizens have greatly benefited from “liberal” Democratic programs such as Social Security under Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, and Medicare and Medicaid under Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society,, and with their longevity, they are really gaining a lot more than probably future generations will benefit from these prograrms.

And many senior citizens sense that what Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan represent is a threat to them, even though there are claims that it will not affect anyone on these programs, or within ten years of going on these programs.

But then, many of these senior citizens also are concerned that their children under 55 will be forced onto a voucher program under the Paul Ryan plan on Medicare, and that Medicaid will be cut, and that Social Security could be privatized as well for the future, endangering what they and their children have contributed to for generations.

So now, the belief is developing that it is possible that senior citizens may be reconsidering their support of Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, as, after all, they are a combination of an extremely wealthy former Governor, who has never had to struggle, and a young Congressman who has inherited millions from his in laws, and has done very well on his own for a man of 42 years of age!

In other words, are these candidates able to understand the hopes and fears of average people, both senior citizens and their children who are under 55, but have paid into Medicare and Social Security for decades?

The answer is clearly NO!

The Republicans’ “Winning Strategy” Becoming A “Losing” Strategy

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The Republican Party, both on the Presidential level with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and on the Congressional level, has had a three pronged strategy to win, but every indication is that their plans are going awry!

First, the Republicans have done everything to promote lies, deception, and distortion about the Barack Obama record in office.

Secondly, they have, openly, worked to deny the vote to millions of Americans through Voter ID laws, when there is no evidence of voter fraud.

Thirdly, they have spent wildly, particularly with the backing of billionaires, trying to “buy” the election.

None of this is working, as the Democrats are being very effective in getting the truth out about Obama, and showing the constant contradictions and lies of the Romney-Ryan campaign.

Secondly, many attempts at Voter ID laws and cutting of early voting have been rejected by state and federal court judges, who have not been controlled by the Republican political machines.

Thirdly, the power of money in the hands of a few is being outweighed by three million plus ordinary citizens giving small contributions, and the power of money has been proved wrong before, as in California in 2010 for the gubernatorial and US Senate races, where Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina spent tens of millions of dollars, and still lost!

So the Senate looks more likely to remain Democratic, and the House is seeing gains by the Democrats, and the chance of winning control growing.

And Mitt Romney is floundering, as Obama gains momentum!

While still 47 days away, the election is looking good for Democrats, as the truth gets out!

Romney And Ryan On Way To Losing Every State Connected To Them, Except Utah!

Ronald 2 Comments

It seems clear that Wisconsin Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, will not be able to help win Wisconsin in the Presidential election, as one polls shows a 14 point lead now for Barack Obama.

But Mitt Romney, who has connections to five states in his life, also seems likely to lose all but Utah, the center of the Mormon Church/\.

Romney will not win Massachusetts, where he governed; Michigan, where he grew up; New Hampshire, where he has a home, but is running behind Obama; and California, where he has the infamous home which is having a car elevator installed!

What a pitiful record when neither running mate on the GOP line can claim a home state in their favor, and only the Mormon dominated Utah can be seen as supporting Mitt Romney!

Republicans Starting To Panic In Congressional Races After Romney’s “47 Percent” Comments

Ronald 1 Comment

The effects of Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comments, secretly taped in May at a fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida, are starting to be seen in Congressional races throughout the nation.

Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown; Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon and others are repudiating what he said, with Brown pointing out that his family needed “public assistance” when he was young.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, not on the ballot this year, was highly critical of Romney, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he wished to represent “all” people in his state, not just those who voted for him.

Conservative columnist Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal and Bill Kristol in the Weekly Standard were very harsh on Romney, saying that veterans and senior citizens, part of the 47 percent who do not now pay federal income taxes, are part of the Romney supporters, and that Romney should be able to win with the difficult economic conditions in the nation, but is running a horrible campaign.

Polls in many Senate races show the Democrats likely to win some GOP seats and retain many of their own this November, even though two thirds of the seats coming up are presently held by Democrats, and it was thought that the Republicans would gain seats and the majority in the Senate.

Much more about the Senate races will be covered and analyzed by this author over the next few weeks, but Romney is, seemingly, self destructing, further proved when running mate Paul Ryan said Romney had been “inarticulate” in what he had said!