New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / October 6, 2012

Victor Morton - The Washington Times

The Obama campaign apparently didn't look backwards into history when selecting its new campaign slogan, "Forward" — a word with a long and rich association with European Marxism.

Many Communist and radical publications and entities throughout the 19th and 20th centuries had the name "Forward!" or its foreign cognates. Wikipedia has an entire section called "Forward (generic name of socialist publications)."

"The name Forward carries a special meaning in socialist political terminology. It has been frequently used as a name for socialist, communist and other left-wing newspapers and publications," the online encyclopedia explains.

The slogan "Forward!" reflected the conviction of European Marxists and radicals that their movements reflected the march of history, which would move forward past capitalism and into socialism and communism.

The Obama campaign released its new campaign slogan Monday in a 7-minute video. The title card has simply the word "Forward" with the "O" having the familiar Obama logo from 2008. It will be played at rallies this weekend that mark the Obama re-election campaign's official beginning.

There have been at least two radical-left publications named "Vorwaerts" (the German word for "Forward"). One was the daily newspaper of the Social Democratic Party of Germany whose writers included Friedrich Engels and Leon Trotsky. It still publishes as the organ of Germany's SDP, though that party has changed considerably since World War II.

Another was the 1844 biweekly reader of the Communist League. Karl Marx, Engels and Mikhail Bakunin are among the names associated with that publication.

East Germany named its Army soccer club ASK Vorwaerts Berlin (later FC Vorwaerts Frankfort).
Vladimir Lenin founded the publication "Vpered" (the Russian word for "forward") in 1905. Soviet propaganda film-maker Dziga Vertov made a documentary whose title is sometimes translated as "Forward, Soviet" (though also and more literally as "Stride, Soviet").

Conservative critics of the Obama administration have noted numerous ties to radicalism and socialists throughout Mr. Obama's history, from his first political campaign being launched from the living room of two former Weather Underground members, to appointing as green jobs czar Van Jones, a self-described communist.

Obama-Romney polls start to see Romney debate bounce!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / October 6, 2012

 

 

Posted: 10/05/2012 5:43 pm EDT Updated: 10/06/2012 10:51 am EDT

 WASHINGTON -- Political junkies have been watching for any signs that the perceptions of a lackluster performance by President Barack Obama in Wednesday night's debate have translated into polling gains for Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

For the moment, the only evidence of a Romney bump comes from a handful of one-night, automated, recorded-voice surveys released Friday whose methods and timing may exaggerate the change. At the national level, the daily tracking surveys are still based on interviews conducted mostly before the Denver debate.
Friday's update of the Gallup Daily tracking poll shows Obama leading by five percentage points (50 to 45 percent), one point better for the president than the previous day's release. But Gallup reports numbers on a seven-day rolling average, so the post-debate interviews account for just one out of every seven interviews in its latest release.
The daily Rasmussen Reports automated phone survey reports results based on a three-day rolling average. Although a third of the interviews in its Friday release were conducted after the debate, Rasmussen shows no change. Obama leads 49 to 47 percent, the same two-point margin as the day before and a point better than earlier in the week.
The Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released Friday shows more of a shift. Their interviews, conducted from Monday through Friday of this week, show Obama's lead at just two points, 46 to 44 percent -- down from a margin of 48 to 43 percent.
Ipsos interviews voters over the Internet, with respondents selected from a non-random pool of individuals who volunteered to complete surveys. Internet-based polls rely on statistical adjustments to produce a representative sample of likely voters.
Within the swing states, the only fresh data come from one-day, automated, recorded-voice polls conducted by both Rasmussen and We Ask America (a subsidiary of the Illinois Manufacturers Association) in Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Generally, pollsters prefer to call over several nights in order to make multiple attempts to interview voters who might not be at home or otherwise available on any one night. So these Rasmussen and We Ask America results should be interpreted with caution.

Five of the six one-night polls show single-digit shifts to Romney. The change on the Rasmussen surveys is relatively modest, averaging a roughly two-point gain for Romney on the margin. The We Ask America surveys show much bigger shifts. The more subtle changes are to be expected on the Rasmussen polls, since the pollster weights its samples to match party identification targets.
Another reason for caution: The one-night, automated surveys either miss voters in cell-phone-only households entirely (We Ask America) or rely on a small number of cell-phone-only interviews conducted with a non-random Internet panel (Rasmussen). Roughly one-third of U.S. adults now live in cell-phone-only households.
The new state polls have helped narrow the Obama-Romney margin on the HuffPost Pollster tracking model of the national popular vote. As of this writing, the HuffPost model, which is based on all available surveys both national and statewide, gives Obama a roughly three-point lead (48.3 to 45.2 percent), though it will continue to update as new polls become available.
Over the next week, new polls will be released using more rigorous methods, including national surveys that are usually more accurate than statewide surveys. The polls still to come will reach voters with more distance from their immediate reactions to Wednesday night's debate and will also begin to reflect any response to Friday's jobs report (showing the unemployment level declining to 7.8 percent).
The HuffPost tracking model has seen Obama's lead expand and contract briefly several times this year. It will take a few days to know with greater confidence whether the latest move will persist.

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NC races to watch as the days dwindle down to a precious few. Election 2012 is upon us.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / October 6, 2012



Posted by Mike Cooper  The Clog / Wed Oct 3, 2012 

No doubt you are sick of the endless television advertisements, misguiding campaign mailers, soulless fundraising emails, and the traffic when Vice President Joe Biden or vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan come to town.

But bear with it at least until November: North Carolina is that much more important since it's a contested swing state. As we enter October, here is what to watch for in state politics, assuming you can pry yourself away from horror movie marathons:

Dalton vs. McCrory, is there any hope?
Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has consistently maintained a sizeable, usually double-digit, lead in the governor's race over his Democratic opponent Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton. The latest numbers from Public Policy Polling have McCrory up 47 percent to 37 percent.

Depressing, but not surprising. Gov. Beverly Perdue put Dalton in a tough spot when she waited until the last minute to decide not to run again, giving his campaign a late, awkward start. McCrory hasn't stopped running since Perdue beat him four years ago. He has successfully tied Dalton to her immensely unpopular administration and the supposed Democratic corruption in Raleigh going back to former Gov. Mike Easley. 

Independent voters and cross-over Democrats seem to be rewarding McCrory for his ability to propose bold ideas like off-shore drilling, fracking and charter schools, even if they do not entirely agree with them.

Dalton has offered fewer new ideas and has run a more comfortable establishment campaign that the state's progressive community has never fully embraced. This strategy has held back his fundraising from smaller donors and grassroots support in the field.

But Dalton does have a solid and hard hitting new ad out where African-American leaders take McCrory to task for supporting a voter ID bill. According to Public Policy Polling, McCrory has been receiving more of the black vote in North Carolina than Romney, and this ad and the recent endorsement of Charlotte's Black Political Caucus may help Dalton in the home stretch.


Some key U.S. House races

A string of bad news has plagued Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell in the nearby 8th Congressional District. He skipped the Democratic National Convention and received bad press because of it. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has pulled out their advertising money, which might mean they've given up on his chances of reelection.

But after 2010, Kissell has proved that he's a survivor, and the National Rifle Organization (of all organizations) has just endorsed him.

At least he is not tarnishing his political career by trying to save it, the way that fellow Congressman Mike McIntyre is doing right now.

McIntyre has a new ad out attacking his Republican opponent David Rouzer for "supporting amnesty for illiegal immigrants" and blames undocumented immigrants for "stealing our jobs." That's an awfully low position to stoop to for an incumbent Democrat, and it smacks of the type of immigrant bashing ad you'd have seen in 2002, not 2012. 

Like Kissell, McIntyre is running in a district that has been redrawn to favor conservatives. But there are ways to appeal to those voters - using values and tradition - without slinging borderline racist rhetoric.


Which presidential campaign has the better ground game in North Carolina?
The polls have \Romney and President Barack Obama running neck and neck in the Tar Heel State, with things looking like they will come down to the wire. Romney is reported to be benefiting from a "Debate Bounce" after Denver.

If Romney loses states like Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa and Pennsylvania - and it's looking like he will - it probably won't matter what happens here. That North Carolina even matters is a sign of how poorly Romney's doing because the only time before 2008 that a Democratic presidential candidate won the Tar Heel state was Jimmy Carter back in 1976. 

Should Romney can turn things around in the campaign's waning days, his comeback will probably start here in North Carolina. Obama still has much of the same organization in North Carolina that carried him to victory four years ago, with offices from the mountains to the coast.

But the state Republican party decided long ago they weren't going to be caught off guard this time. According to their spokesman Rob Lockwood, Republican volunteers have knocked on 100 times as many doors than at this time in 2008 and made 20 times the amount of phone calls. Their efforts could make a huge difference in a state where the race is so close.

Mecklenburg County will undoubtedly go for Obama. The question will be whether Obama's Organizing for America operation can turnout enough young and minority voters to offset Republican advantages in more rural parts of the state.

http://clclt.com/theclog/archives/2012/10/03/races-to-watch-leading-up-to-election-day

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Dalton vs. McCrory, is there any hope?
Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has consistently maintained a sizeable, usually double-digit, lead in the governor's race over his Democratic opponent Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton. The latest numbers from Public Policy Polling have McCrory up 47 percent to 37 percent.

 

Verne's summery (summary?) on Mitt - Barack TV dust-up.

 By Verne Strickland / October 5, 2012 

Since I deplore most everything that PBS does and stands for, I was overcome with mirth and hilarity at Mitt Romney's 'Big Bird' lines.

As Mitt pledged to cut funding to PBS he said, "I like PBS, I love Big Bird, and I even like you, Jim!"

Well, I just can't understand that. I mean, why does he like Lehrer -- a foppish numbskull liberal? I'm reminded of comic songster Randy Newman who famously crooned that short people "got no reason."

Well, in my book, Mr. Lehrer got no reason either. Never did. He needs to be put in a cage with Big Bird and Captain Kangaroo.

While I'm on the subject, I don't like Neuman much either, as I am a vertically-challenged Southern American boy who topped out at just four feet eighteen. Never was a problem, though, as both feet easily each the floor.

But back to the Talk-a-Thon, I choked on my Orville Redenbacher popcorn when Romney quipped: "Mr. President, you're entitled to your own airplane and your own house, but not to your own facts."

Bases loaded home run. Attaboy, Mitt! You're a stand-up guy. And not a bad stand-up comedian.

WRAL News Poll: North Carolina wants voter IDs!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / October 5, 2012

---

69% of NC voters polled want to require photo ID to vote -- WRAL

Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina voters overwhelmingly want people to present some form of identification at the polls before casting a ballot, according to a WRAL News poll released Tuesday.

SurveyUSA polled 641 registered voters statewide between Saturday and Monday and found that 69 percent want to require a photo ID to vote, while another 10 percent want an ID that doesn't necessarily have a photo. Only 16 percent said voters shouldn't have to present an ID at the polls.The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

The idea seems to have support across the political spectrum, with 90 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of Democrats and two-thirds of independents calling for a photo voter ID.

When examined through the lens of the presidential campaign, however, partisan fault lines start to appear.

Among supporters of Republican nominee Mitt Romney, 93 percent support photo ID, and just 4 percent say no ID should be needed. Meanwhile, only 46 percent of President Barack Obama's supporters want to see a photo ID for voters, while 29 percent are calling for no ID.The topic has been highly politicized.

Republicans say photo IDs are needed to prevent voter fraud, but Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue vetoed a voter ID bill passed last year by GOP lawmakers.

Gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory urged voters this spring to take IDs to the polls to make a point. U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says requiring identification is just common sense. "You can't cash a check without photo ID. Is the threshold for voting less than the threshold for cashing a check?" Burr said Tuesday.
Democratic leaders and civil rights groups say there's a big difference – cashing a check is not a constitutional right.

Bob Hall, executive director of political watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, said requiring a photo ID would stop people from exercising their right to vote.

"There are about 400,000 people that do not have a photo ID," Hall said. "Most of them are elderly, (and) they've stopped driving. They're disproportionately African-American. They're poor, more often than not."
The threat of voter impersonation is a fiction, he said, noting that study after study has found only a handful of cases nationwide.

Johnnie McLean, deputy director of the State Board of Elections, said most voter fraud involves registrations, double voting or mail-in ballots. Supporters of photo IDs may not realize that what they want at the polls wouldn't stop any of those problems, she said.

"I think that what it's going to produce is simply a perceived level of comfort to those people," McLean said.

• Reporter: Laura Leslie
• Web Editor: Matthew Burns

'We don't know you!' AARP gives Obama the cold shoulder. Or the bird. Whatever.

Verne Strickland / October 4, 2012

Posted on October 4, 2012

President Obama invoked AARP to defend his health care law last night, prompting the influential group to release a statement telling him not to do that again.

“While we respect the rights of each campaign to make its case to voters, AARP has never consented to the use of its name by any candidate or political campaign,” the group posted in a statement. “AARP is a nonpartisan organization and we do not endorse political candidates nor coordinate with any candidate or political party.”

Obama can perhaps be forgiven for thinking he could mention AARP given how they coordinated with him to pass Obamacare, which is a golden goose for the organization.

“Thanks to its cuts to Medicare Advantage, Obamacare is expected to expand the number of seniors buying “medigap” supplemental insurance plans,” The Washington Examiner explained in an editorial. “AARP controls 34 percent of the market for such plans. 

According to a 2011 House Ways and Means Committee report, AARP stands to make between $55 million and $166 million from Obamacare in 2014 alone.”

AARP reportedly stands for Almost Always Ready to Play. (Or so we hear.)

http://www.surenews.com/obama/we-dont-know-you-aarp-gives-obama-cold-shoulder.htm

Tags: AARP, campaign, medicare, obama, statement

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