Swing States poll: Romney and Obama tied; Gingrich trails. WASHINGTON – Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney essentially ties Barack Obama in the nation's key battlegrounds, a USA TODAY/Gallup Swing States survey finds, while rival Newt Gingrich now trails the president by a decisive 14 percentage points. That reflects a significant decline by the former House speaker since early December, when he led Obama by three points. The poll of the dozen states likely to determine the outcome of November's election addresses the electability argument that has driven many Republicans: Which GOP contender has the best chance of denying Obama a second term? In a head-to-head race, Romney leads Obama by a statistically insignificant percentage point, 48%-47%, the survey finds. But Obama leads Gingrich, 54%-40%. Gingrich fares less well than Texas Rep.
"Gingrich's efforts to win the Republican nomination have set back his efforts to win the general election," says political scientist Larry Jacobs of the University of Minnesota. Obama: The most polarizing president. Ever. President Obama ran — and won — in 2008 on the idea of uniting the country. But each of his first three years in office has marked historic highs in political polarization, with Democrats largely approving of him and Republicans deeply disapproving. For 2011, Obama’s third year in office, an average of 80 percent of Democrats approved of the job he was doing in Gallup tracking polls, as compared to 12 percent of Republicans who felt the same way.
That’s a 68-point partisan gap, the highest for any president’s third year in office — ever. (The previous high was George W. In 2010, the partisan gap between how Obama was viewed by Democrats versus Republicans stood at 68 percent; in 2009, it was 65 percent. What do those numbers tell us? Out of the ten most partisan years in terms of presidential job approval in Gallup data, seven — yes, seven — have come since 2004. The realization of that hyper-partisan reality has been slow in coming for Obama. Rep. Fixbits: Rep. Must-reads: President Obama, First Lady and VP Biden to Net $5.3M in One-Day Haul. Jan 31, 2012 6:19pm William Thomas Cain/Getty Images President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are all stumping for cash at fundraisers today – expected to raise at least $5.3 million combined for Democrats and the president for the 2012 campaign.
Obama will mingle with 50 supporters at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington tonight, where tickets start at $35,800 per person, a campaign official told ABC News. Then he’ll attend a fundraising dinner at a private residence in Chevy Chase, Md., with 70 guests. Meanwhile, both Michelle Obama and Biden have been outside Washington, delivering their re-election pitches on the road. The first lady will spend the evening fundraising at a private residence in Beverly Hills, Calif., with 135 supporters each contributing $5,000 or more to the Obama Victory Fund. Biden traveled to Texas to collect checks, first stopping at the Historic Hilton in Fort Worth, where 200-plus guests paid $5,000 each to see him speak.
Chavez wants good relations with US if Obama elected. 2012 State Of The Union Address: Enhanced Version. State of the Union? More Like State of the Campaign. 'State of the Union' Secret Weapon: Osama Killer | Danger Room. You probably don’t know what Adm. Bill McRaven looks like. That’s because the man who designed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden spent most of his life in the special-operations world, far below the radar. Even now that he’s the top officer in charge of the U.S.’ elite forces, he usually only shows up for the occasional congressional testimony or military-conference speech. But tonight McRaven’s getting the biggest audience of his life. He’ll be seated with Michelle Obama for her husband’s State of the Union address. Obama’s test-driven this message before.
This isn’t going to be cost-free. McRaven also sends another, subtler message, one that will resonate in the next few days, when the Pentagon releases its first austerity budget. There’s going to be more about foreign policy than the Osama kill in Obama’s speech tonight. Photo: U.S. Barack Obama's State Of The Union Ratings Continue To Decline, Down 12% From 2011. Obama challenges: Shrink gap between rich, poor. WASHINGTON (AP) - Declaring the American dream under siege, President Barack Obama delivered a populist challenge Tuesday night to shrink the gap between rich and poor, promising to tax the wealthy more and help jobless Americans get work and hang onto their homes.
Seeking re-election and needing results, the president invited Republicans to join him but warned, "I intend to fight. " In an emphatic State of the Union address, Obama said ensuring a fair shot for all Americans is "the defining issue of our time. " He said the economy is finally recovering from a deep and painful recession and he will fight any effort to return to policies that brought it low. "We've come too far to turn back now," he declared.
Obama outlined a vastly different vision for fixing the country than the one pressed by the Republicans confronting him in Congress and fighting to take his job in the November election. A rare wave of unity splashed over the House chamber at the start. "We can do this," Obama said. University - Fla. Poll: Romney Stronger than Gingrich in Faceoff vs. Obama. Despite Newt Gingrich’s momentum within the Republican Party, he would be a weaker contender than Mitt Romney in a general election contest against President Barack Obama, according to a Suffolk University/7NEWS (WSVN-Miami) poll of likely voters in Florida.
Romney led Obama by 47 percent to 42 percent in the Florida survey, while Obama topped Gingrich by 9 points, 49 percent to 40 percent. Among independents, Obama led Romney 44 percent to 38 percent and opened up a 56 percent to 29 percent advantage over Gingrich. Gingrich grabbed 12 percent of registered Democrats, while Romney secured 18 percent of registered Democrats. “Newt Gingrich is weak among Florida independents and likely Democratic voters compared to Romney,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. In the popularity contest, Gingrich again did not fare well. Majority say country on wrong track A rising economy would swing votes Analyzing VP choices Methodology Back to News »
Clinton: Done with the ‘high wire’ of politics. Really. - Checkpoint Washington. Posted at 02:49 PM ET, 01/26/2012 Jan 26, 2012 07:49 PM EST TheWashingtonPost President Obama greeted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at his State of the Union address earlier this week. (Win McNamee — Getty Images) Like President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she hasn’t been watching the Republican primary debates.
But at least Clinton has an excuse for tuning out — she says she’s quitting government after the election no matter who wins. “What could we do to persuade you to run for vice president?” “I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur,” said Clinton, who has insisted repeatedly that she will be a one-term secretary. The famously workaholic secretary said she has “no idea” what she will do in the future, and doesn’t want to think about it because it might divert attention from today’s diplomatic tasks. “It’s a little odd for me to be totally out of an election season,” Clinton said.