He meant to (not) do that

Remember the horrifying graphic from Mitt Romney’s transition webpage that showed him as “President-Elect”?

Given his complete lack of qualifications for being president and the fact that he was so completely out of touch with most Americans, the very idea of Romney as “president elect” was enough give Democrats heart palpitations.

As it turns out, at least according to the story that’s being spun by Romney’s family and campaign officials, he didn’t really want to run for president anyway. It was something he did because he got talked into it by his son Tagg and his wife Ann.

Just another trophy to add to the shelf. Another item for his curriculum vitae. But not something he really wanted to do.

More analysis after the jump.

Or, how billionaires use wingnuts as human shields At first, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre’s press conference seemed like a tone-deaf failure, a PR disaster, a complete clusterfogetaboutit. But then I began to realize his goal had nothing to do with improving the NRA’s image. His goal was to feed the kind of dissension, fear and anger that sells […]

OK, that’s Time magazine’s thing. But we totally agree. I’m no Pete Souza and I didn’t have 48 hours with the President, but I do have a few photos and a story to share. Over the last four years I have had the privilege of photographing Barack Obama many times and, as I tell my story, I will include a […]

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you.

In his visit to the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Michigan today, Presdient Obama amplified and gave full-throated endorsement of the battle being fought to stop Michigan from becoming the nation’s 24th “Right to Work for Less” state:

“[B]y the way, what we shouldn’t do — I just got to say this — what we shouldn’t be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions. We shouldn’t be doing that. These so-called “right to work” laws, they don’t have anything to do with economics; they have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.”

PHOTOS and much more after the jump.

Stuff just got real

President Obama has weighed in on the Republican push to destroy unions in Michigan.

Considering that President Obama said nearly nothing during the anti-union war in Wisconsin last year, this is huge.

Thank you, President Obama.

The White House statement after the jump.

Pay no attention to the lobbyist behind the curtain

As LOLGOP pointed out this morning, there are Republicans who handily won re-election in their gerrymandered districts who do not fear the fiscal cliff. They can serve their two-percenter masters without fear that plunging our country into another recession will hurt their political careers in any way. But President Obama has a couple of things going for him. The first is that most Americans WILL blame the Republicans for “going there” if we do, indeed, go off the mythical cliff. Then there’s the fact that he won the election largely because he promised the super-wealthy would no longer be allowed to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.

Democrats are beginning to show some real spine in this debate. Politico reports today that many of them are ready to use their success on November 6th to restore some sanity to our budget.

Details after the jump.

Dorquist-(n) someone who would never cheat on Grover Norquist Here’s the problem: The GOP knows they lost the White House along with seats in the House and Senate. And they don’t really care. Sure, they recognize that if they lose the state of Texas the way they have California, they’re basically on a free-fall path to extinction. But the Republicans […]

The time for ACTION is NOW!

Last week, I wrote about the new website TheAction.org, a new organizing tool to help pass President Obama’s second term agenda. This weekend marks the first Day of Action using this organizing tool. The activities are designed to ensure that Congress passes a repeal of the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest 2% of Americans while preserving the middle class tax cuts that actually help stimulate our economy by keeping money in the hands of those who will immediately put it back into the economy.

Details on how you can get involved after the jump.

This isn’t your Braveheart moment. A defining feature of the most oblivious critics of President Obama is that they say that America’s is losing its “freedom.” Ask them what freedoms we have lost since he became president and your answer will probably start with, “Now I have to buy health insurance!” True, the insurance mandate—which begins in 2014—will pay charge […]

Respect, empower, and include. Repeat.

With another successful Obama election behind us, those who were involved with Obama for America (OFA) at the grassroots level are likely wondering, “What’s next?” After his first election, it wasn’t until the summer of 2009 that OFA 2.0, aka “Organizing for America” came into being. I was privileged to be chosen to attend a 300-person debriefing conference about a month after election, dubbed “The Legacy Confernce” where those of us who were deeply involved in the campaign got together to discuss OFA’s future.

The same type of thing is happening now and YOU can be part of it. Details after the jump.

Mitt Romney’s tax breaks did not win the last election. The GOP is still at war with facts, ObamaCare health insurance exchanges and Planned Parenthood. But when it comes to the Bush tax breaks for the rich, Republicans want a pass. President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts for all Americans in 2010 to order to secure the only job […]