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Amid a massive backlash from the American public and a stampeding retreat from her supporters, Democratic National Committee advisor Hilary Rosen backtracked from her words about Ann Romney last night on CNN, stating a few moments ago, “As a pundit, I know my words on CNN last night were poorly chosen … I apologize to Ann Romney.” The report of that statement comes from Jim Acosta at CNN. The question is whether the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee will apologize to Romney, and whether they will fire Rosen over this incident. Rosen has long been associated with the...

Joe Biden, Bill Daley warned of contraceptive backlashBy JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 2/8/12 1:01 PM EST Two top advisers to President Barack Obama — both Catholics — warned him of the potential for controversy over his decision to require religious organizations to cover contraceptives in their health insurance plans. Vice President Joe Biden and former White House chief of staff Bill Daley both told the president that the decision would be cast as a government intrusion on religious freedom and that it could alienate Catholic voters in swing states, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The decision has whipped up a frenzy of criticism...

Best Buy Cancels Christmas Orders, Causes Consumer and Analyst BacklashDecember 22, 2011 7:02 PM EST With three days to go until Christmas and Hanukkah already underway, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) assured it won't be on many customers' "nice" lists this season. On Thursday, the national consumer electronics retailer notified a fraction of its online customers that it would not be able to complete their online orders -- some of which were placed in November -- and could not guarantee they would be able to get their purchased items by the holiday. The move is a considerable blow to an as-yet-undetermined percentage...

Putting Christ back into Christmas... or else! _______________________________________________________________________ What a great idea... and beautifully produced and performed by vocalist Carrie Rinderer and the American Christian Life United (ACLU!) Choir... Video/more at Reaganite Republican_______________________________________________________________________ ~Say 'Merry Christmas'~ If you don’ see merry Christmas in the window, no you don’t go in that store If you don’t see merry Christmas in the window, yes you walk right by that door Oh it’s all about the little baby Jesus and my Savior’s birthIt’s the one and only reason that we celebrate the season wishing love to all and; peace upon the earth...

Despite being embroiled in controversy last week, Herman Cain leads the Republican presidential field by 15 percentage points in Iowa, according to a new poll taken four days after news broke that the Atlanta businessman had been accused of sexually harassing women while head of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s. Cain attracts 30 percent support from Iowa GOP caucus-goers, according to the Insider Advantage poll. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney places a distant second with 15 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich rounds out the top three with 12 percent. The remaining candidates poll in the single...

URBANDALE, Iowa — Herman Cain’s Iowa state director thumbed through a stack of supporter sign-up forms at the campaign’s headquarters here, telling ABC News that the sexual harassment allegations that have rocked the Cain campaign this week have actually been a “catalyst” in this state. Larry Tuel, who runs Cain’s campaign in Iowa, said that the endless stream of news stories on Cain’s alleged misbehavior toward women have attracted new supporters and emboldened existing ones. “The story has made some people angry,” Tuel said in an interview on Thursday. “We think that people want to show their support for Mr....

Herman Cain - Iowa Fund

Herman Cain leads nationally . . . Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain leads the Republican presidential primary field with 30 percent, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 23 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 10 percent and Texas Gov. Rick Perry with 8 percent, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds. No other candidate tops 7 percent.

Our new national poll finds Herman Cain is the breakaway frontrunner for the 2012 Republican nomination despite the fresh disclosure that he faced sexual harassment in the 1990s. More Republicans and independents than ever say they want Herman Cain to win the Republican nomination. Our national scientific poll was conducted last night, two days after the Cain controversy erupted and one day after Cain emphatically denied ever committing sexual harassment. Among Republicans, Cain tops his next closest challenger, Mitt Romney, 33%-18%. They were followed by Newt Gingrich at 17% and Rick Perry at 12%. Independents favored Cain over Romney 30%-11%,...

Election 2012: South Carolina Republican Primary South Carolina: Cain 33% Romney 23% Gingrich 15%

<p>A poll released Wednesday puts Herman Cain ahead of Mitt Romney by seven percentage points in the presidential race, reflecting a margin wider than the sampling error.</p>

Washington (CNN) – Herman Cain's campaign says it raised more than $400,000 on Monday, a "clear vote of confidence from his supporters," after the story broke alleging he had been accused of sexual harassment while head of the National Restaurant Association. "In the last 24 hours, the Friends of Herman Cain campaign has had the single best day of fundraising since the start of the campaign," Mark Block, Cain's chief of staff, said Tuesday night. Block said Monday's donations, both online and by phone, doubled the normal daily average in Cain's campaign to become the Republican presidential nominee.

The context for Occupy Wall Street and proposals to tax the rich - "rich" being constantly redefined - is the broader issue of economic inequality. For years, liberal politicians, academics and pundits have complained about growing inequality, but their protests barely resonated with the public. When most people are doing okay, the fact that some people are doing better does not arouse much anger. No more. When many people do worse, or fear they might, the rich inspire resentment and envy. Glaring inequalities that once seemed tolerable become offensive. By and large, Americans regard the rich the way they do...

Hey, President Obama: The stock market’s in the toilet, the nation’s credit rating tanked and unemployment’s still over 9 percent, what are you gonna do now? He’s going to the Vineyard! The prez and his family are scheduled to arrive on The Rock late this afternoon to begin a 10-day vacation on the celebrity-choked summer home to the rich, famous and well connected. And as the first family got set to check into Blue Heron Farm, their $50,000-a-week summer rental in West Tisbury, the chorus of catcalls continued over the commander-in-chief’s ill-timed retreat. Former Mass. governor Mitt Romney said Obama...

Via Menzies House: A clear majority of Austrians support an anti-burka law, according to new poll results. The Austrian Independent reports: “Viennese public opinion agency Karmasin spoke with 500 Austrians to find that 71 per cent of them were in favour of such a law prohibiting wearing burkas in public places. Such veils cover women’s bodies expect a small gap for their eyes. Only 23 per cent spoke out against the introduction of such a bylaw, Karmasin found in its survey conducted for weekly magazine profil.” The seven in ten result isn’t surprising. Across right-leaning Europe, there is growing support...

A San Francisco State University instructor writes in Poynter today that the media is misrepresenting some basic features of the debate over the value of a college education. In reviewing recent coverage, Sarah Fidelibus argues that journalists are taking surveys out of context in making the case that a college education isn't worth young people's time and money anymore. The critique comes on the heels of a piece in the New Republic titled "Why the media is always wrong about the value of a college degree." In the latter article, Education Sector's Kevin Carey mocks media stories that profile woeful...

I want to elaborate, just a bit, on the point I made in my latest China Economic Review column about China’s high-speed rail investment, since it had to be cut short there due to space restrictions. Currently, China’s conventional rail system is stretched to capacity carrying two commodities: coal and people. And as Damien Ma, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, notes in a post today at The Atlantic, passengers takes politically priority over coal, requiring much of the nation’s coal to be transported by truck, leading to monumental traffic jams on China’s roads (including the famous 10-day, 62-mile backup...

Obama's tax-cut deal upsets many major donorsSome say they will withhold funds for the next election. Even if they come around before the campaign kicks into gear, the initial backlash could hurt early Democratic efforts to counter GOP-allied groups. By Matea Gold, Tribune Washington Bureau 4:39 PM PST, December 9, 2010 Reporting from Washington President Obama's advisors are confident that liberals dismayed by his agreement to extend tax breaks for the wealthy will forgive him by the time the 2012 election kicks into gear. But the current backlash on the left may intensify the immediate challenge Democrats face in building...

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Reuters) - A chastened President Barack Obama on Wednesday pledged to seek compromise with Republicans who won big in congressional elections and admitted he had lost touch with voters who delivered a "shellacking" to him and his Democrats. But on issue after issue, Obama gave little ground on his positions as the two sides gear up for negotiations over how to tackle the sluggish economy, the main reason the electorate has soured on his leadership

Japanese news today over here (newspapers above the fold, magazines, non-stop TV networks) are filled to the brim with news of Mr. Obama's humiliating defeat at the hands of the Republicans.Many of this is bringing Japanese up to speed as to how unpopular Mr. Obama really is, as for the last two years by and large they perpetuated the image of him being successful and popular (mostly in order to sell books and English instruction tapes using his speeches). What a rude awakening.Well, my favorite title is from this morning's Hokkaido Shimbun: Essentially: "Obama Agenda For "Change" Delivered Strong...

The Democrats suffered a debacle at the polls in the US on Tuesday -- and President Barack Obama is to blame. Once celebrated as a great communicator, the president has lost touch with the mood in his country. Now, he must re-invent himself. But can he succeed? On Thursday, US President Barack Obama will be leaving Washington behind. He is embarking on a trip to Asia, including a stop in Indonesia. The flight is a long one -- almost an entire day. But Obama lived for a time in Indonesia as a child, and the feeling of being at home...

SNIP The results from Indiana, Ohio and Virginia, where Democrats lost at least nine House seats, were particularly brutal for Mr. Obama, who even made a personal campaign stop last Friday...in a futile bid to rescue Rep. Tom Perriello. Mr. Obama won the White House in 2008 in part because he was able to sway voters in those states. Among those ousted were two committee chairmen, Rep. John M. Spratt of South Carolina and Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, who between them had 64 years of experience in the House. Republicans also picked up Senate seats in North Dakota, Indiana,...

SNIP The most pressing question as Mr. Obama picks through the results on Wednesday morning will be what lessons he takes from the electoral reversals. Was this the natural and unavoidable backlash in a time of historic economic distress or was it a repudiation of a big-spending activist government? Was it primarily a failure of communications as the White House has suggested lately or was it a fundamental disconnect with the values and priorities of the American public? “He will read the results carefully and hear the messages the American people are sending,” David Axelrod, the president’s senior adviser and...

Soon after Barack Obama's inauguration Sam Tanenhaus opined in The New Republic and later in a stylistic book, The Death of Conservatism, that liberalism had won a lasting political triumph in the 2008 elections and that conservatives were the wave of the past. Tanenhaus, who edits the influential Week in Review section of The New York Times, was expressing post-election conventional wisdom when he declared that conservative doctrine had "not only been defeated but discredited" by Obama's election... Another 2009 book, by the Democratic strategist James Carville, put the case bluntly. In 40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule...

Democrats fight to stay in office amid backlashBy Angela K. Brown, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 2, 11:04 am ET McGREGOR, Texas – Rep. Chet Edwards, an imperiled Democrat deep in the heart of Republican territory, finds exiting American Legion Post No. 273 slow going. Supporters and well-wishers keep stopping him. **SNIP** As the campaign becomes increasingly toxic for Democrats, none of it may matter. Some of the most senior Democrats in conservative districts are facing what could be their most difficult races: Missouri's 17-term Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and South Carolina's 14-term Rep....

Barack Obama’s Democratic party faces a series of dramatic defeats at every level of government in Washington and beyond in the November midterm elections, according to leading analysts and opinion polls. The University of Virginia’s widely monitored Crystal Ball will on Wednesday forecast sweeping setbacks on Capitol Hill and the loss of a clutch of state governorships on November 2. EDITOR’S CHOICE Obama struggles to convince voters - Aug-30Obama: Popularity peaks and troughs - Aug-26Opinion: Obama is right on China - Aug-30View from DC videos - Nov-11In depth: The Obama presidency - Aug-06In depth: US states of emergency - Jul-27It...

More good news for Republicans and bad news for Democrats keeps flooding in. Consider this morning’s polls reported in realclearpolitics.com. Mason-Dixon, polling for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has Harry Reid up over Sherron Angle by only 45%-44%–a statistical tie. The mainstream meme has been that Angle is unelectable. This poll refutes that. She’s certainly not a sure winner, but she’s not a sure loser either. And Harry Reid, who has been on statewide ballots in Nevada going back to 1970, when he was elected lieutenant governor, is stuck under 50%. Next is Scott Rasmussen’s poll in the Florida governor race: Republican...

It has the making of a stunning political turnaround that could change the course of the United States for the next 10 years. The 2010 U.S. mid-term elections -- in which every seat of the House of Representatives, a third of the Senate and 36 governorships are up for grabs -- could see the start of the Republican Party's march back to power and propel a Republican into the White House, likely a relative unknown, two years later. The possible about-turn comes as economic growth falters and unemployment rises, and amid growing frustration over unchecked illegal immigration. "The 2010 elections...

A new poll shows that while Americans continue to feel they are losing their freedoms under President Obama's agenda of government takeover of private companies, health care and energy, they are beginning to fight back with public statements such as bumper stickers and political buttons. "This may well represent a mainstream rebellion of the masses who are tired of being cowed by a national mainstream media that has offered little objective criticism of the president," said Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies. The August WND Freedom Index poll was conducted Aug. 13-16 with an automated technology calling a random sampling of...

Voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 of the important issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports. The GOP has consistently been trusted on most issues for months now, but in July they held the lead on only nine of the key issues. Republicans lead Democrats 47% to 39% on the economy, which remains the most important issue to voters. Those numbers are nearly identical to those found in June. Republicans have held the advantage on the economy since May of last year. But for the first time in months, Republicans now hold a slight edge on the...

Influential Washington news site Politico has a major piece this morning revealing mounting fears among leading Democrats over worsening prospects for retaining control of the House of Representatives in this November’s mid-terms. According to Politico: Top Democrats are growing markedly more pessimistic about holding the House, privately conceding that the summertime economic and political recovery they were banking on will not likely materialize by Election Day. In conversations with more than two dozen party insiders, most of whom requested anonymity to speak candidly about the state of play, Democrats in and out of Washington say they are increasingly alarmed about...

Andrew Romanoff entered the presidential robo-calls/appearances derby today, with a late entry from former President Bill Clinton. Clinton also brought up a fairly unexplored topic in this campaign, mentioning Romanoff as “the top-line candidate.” Tuesday’s results in Colorado may well turn up an indicator of how much Democratic candidates want to be seen with Obama for the general election campaign.

Pollster John Zogby predicts President Obama will become "toxic" for Democrats on the campaign trail if incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet loses to state legislator Andrew Romanoff in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Colorado. In an exclusive Newsmax.TV interview, Zogby says a loss by Bennet, a favorite of the Democratic establishment who has received strong personal support from the president, would send a clear signal to other Democrats, sharply truncating Obama's coattails come November.

Dick Morris predictions on the Mid-Term elections in 2010.....If Morris is anywhere close, the Democrats are looking at a wipe out in 2010...He sounds pretty confident tonight, Morris: "I don't if there has ever been a margin of switch as great as we're looking at in 2010"....

Perhaps even both houses of Congress- whilst the Dems begin to turn on one-another: _________________________________________ Under pressure, the Democrats are cracking. On both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, there is a realization that Nancy Pelosi's hold on the speakership is in true jeopardy; that losing control of the Senate is not out of the question; and that time, once the Democrats' best friend, is now their mortal enemy. Since January, when Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat, the President's party has tried to downplay in public what its pollsters have been saying in private: that Obama's alienation of independents...

With five months to go before the general election, a new poll finds that Republicans have opened their widest lead yet when it comes to which party voters prefer this fall. Gallup's generic congressional ballot finds that the number of voters who say they will vote GOP has jumped to 49 percent, compared with 43 percent for Democrats. That's not only the biggest lead Gallup has recorded for the GOP this election cycle, it's the largest lead Republicans have ever had in the poll, which Gallup has run since 1950. Why are Republicans surging? According to Gallup, the GOP gained...

Historically, the American public -- confident, independent and undemanding-has not expected much out of Washington. Live your silver lives of limousines, private jets, power and celebrity; just do no permanent damage to the nation. But in the last two years our Babylon on the Potomac -- with its irrational and unconscionable saddling of our grandchildren with multi trillion dollar debt (and its bizarre foreign policy of loathing our friends and ourselves, and loving our enemies)-- has vexed the public into a state of deep fear and anguish. However, Americans don't stay scared long -- we quickly convert fear to anger...

This month, three members of Congress have been beaten in their bids for re-election -- a Republican senator from Utah, a Democratic congressman from West Virginia and a Republican-turned-Democrat senator from Pennsylvania. Their records and their curricula vitae are different. But they all have one thing in common: They are members of an appropriations committee. Like most appropriators, they have based much of their careers on bringing money to their states and districts. There is an old saying on Capitol Hill that there are three parties -- Democrats, Republicans and appropriators. One reason that it has been hard to hold...

HONOLULU (AP) -- Republican Charles Djou (duh-JOO') has won a Democratic-held House seat in Hawaii in the district where President Barack Obama grew up. The special election is the latest triumph for the GOP as it looks to take back control of Congress.

José Carreño El Universal WASHINGTON Saturday May 6, 2006 Mexico has the highest marks of punishment against undocumented immigrants, according to a report by the Law Library of Congress. The document compares the laws that apply in Brazil, Egypt, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and Mexico. According to the findings, they all have severe penalties for illegal entry and presence, as well as fraud and forgery. The study notes: "The highest marks of punishment for immigration offenses are in Mexico, with the idea of facing the problem of migration en route to America." He explained that Mexican law provides penalties of up...

1 hr 24 mins ago WASHINGTON – The nation's most influential small business lobby is joining a court challenge to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, arguing that Americans cannot be required under the Constitution to obtain insurance coverage. The National Federation of Independent Business will announce Friday it is joining a federal lawsuit filed in Florida by 20 state attorneys general and governors, NFIB President Dan Danner said in an interview. All but one of the state officials are Republicans, and the case coincides with an election year. NFIB's involvement ensures that constitutional arguments for overturning the health care...

SCOTTSDALE - As the firestorm around SB 1070 picks up speed, a company called Arizona Sun is weathering the storm. But the reaction is different than expected. Bob Wallace runs the million-dollar skin care and hair care product business out of Scottsdale. The company supplies to thousands of locations across the United States. He was worried about a backlash, but Wallace says something odd is happening. While some are emailing that they will boycott Arizona Sun products just because of the Arizona connection -- others are buying products just to support the company.

Sanctuary city San Francisco is leading the charge in pressing municipalities and groups to consider a boycott of Arizona over its law that will allow police to ask people their immigration status. Mayor Gavin Newsom this week suspended all non-essential travel for city employees going to Arizona, meaning no conference in Scottsdale next weekend for members of the city's housing authorities. The city's Board of Supervisors also has taken the first step toward an economic boycott, a move that could result in the suspension of existing contracts with Arizona-based companies and a ban on new ones.

HONOLULU (AP) -- Republicans believe they've seen this movie before: Campaign ads blanketing the airwaves. Money from national political parties flowing in. And polls showing their candidate virtually tied with the competition.

For months the Brady Campaign has engaged in a relentless attack against Starbucks. The reason? Starbucks refused to cave in to the Brady Campaign demand that Starbucks violate the civil rights of law abiding citizens. At the height of the worst Depression since the 1930s, with unemployment at 17.9% (when all categories of unemployment are included), in a business driven solely by discretionary consumer spending, Starbucks stellar results for the quarter say a lot about its ethics and business practices. In standing up for its customers' Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, its customers stood up for Starbucks privilege...

White male voters are increasingly turning away from the Democratic party, according to a recent Gallup poll, and the shift could prove decisive in November's midterm elections. Here, a brief primer on why white men are making the move, and how the change affects the electoral math: How many white male voters are leaving the Dems? According to a recent Gallup poll, only 35 percent of white males said they would back the Democrats in the fall election. That figure has dropped 8 percentage points since July 2009. White male support for President Obama has dropped, too -- from 41...

Boxer: Dems need to match Tea Party energy as midterm elections near By Sean J. Miller - 04/17/10 02:07 PM ET Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) warned that Democrats must match the Tea Party's energy and enthusiasm or face the consequences in November. "At this point, I think the polls are showing that there is more enthusiasm with the tea party party," Boxer said before taking the stage at the California Democratic Party's convention in Los Angeles Saturday. "I think it is absolutely a fact that we have to match that enthusiasm." According to the Sacramento Bee she added, "I'm just...

The Senate Majority leader, who’s getting pounced in the polls over his support for president Obama’s health-care plan and is now facing an uphill battle for re-election in his home state of Nevada, thought he was coming to friendly territory. He is, after all, a Democrat and a recent fundraiser in New York City was set up by Gary Cohn, president of Goldman Sachs (GS: 184.865, -0.097, -0.05%) and himself a long-time Democrat. But the reception Reid received from Goldman was anything but friendly. According to people with direct knowledge of the incident, during the event, which was held in...

This is coming from the man who was RNC chairman during the 1994 Republican Revolution, Haley Barbour gives his assessment on the 2010 mid-terms on CNN State of the Union (Video)