By Colin Campbell 10/18/12 11:47am

snap!

Governor Cuomo speaking to reporters after Hofstra Unviersity's debate. (Photo: Getty)

Cuomo Says He’ll Hit the Swing States for Obama

In recent weeks, Governor Andrew Cuomo faced some quiet grumblings over his perceived unwillingness to help the presidential ticket, but countering that narrative this morning, Mr. Cuomo announced his plans to campaign in swing states for President Barack Obama–although he’s not sure where yet.

“My position is very simple. I’m 100 percent supportive of the president, I’ll help any way I can,” Mr. Cuomo said on Fred Dicker’s radio show. “They asked me to do surrogate work in other states, I’ll do whatever they ask me to do.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/16/12 6:38pm

keeping hope alive

(Photo: Getty)

Ahead of Debate, Obama Campaign Feels Good All Over

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.  – The race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney has seen polls tighten in recent days, but at Hofstra University ahead of tonight’s debate, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager Jim Messina repeatedly said the re-election effort is doing great in every swing state across the country.

“When you’re within the margin of error, you’re losing,” Mr. Messina declared on the floor of the media filing center as an ever-growing scrum of reporters gathered around  him. “And that’s exactly what they’re doing in Ohio. We are leading in battleground states. We’re leading in important places like Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin because there’s a clear difference of selection. Romney’s going to struggle to defend his positions on outsourcing….These issues matter and that’s what we’re going to hear about tonight.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/11/12 11:41am

tactics

Joe Biden (Photo: Getty)

Biden: ‘You Ever See Me Rope-a-Dope?’

Vice President Joe Biden will be facing off against Congressman Paul Ryan in their one and only debate tonight, and high anticipation has led to much speculation about the rhetorical tactics the two candidates will employ. Some of that speculation has included the thought that Mr. Biden will employ a “rope-a-dope” strategy, in which, in a game of psychological warfare, a debater initially adopts a losing position before rallying back to a win.

Asked about this possibility today at the New Castle Airport in Delaware, Mr. Biden quipped, “You ever see me rope-a-dope?” Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/09/12 4:41pm

setting the bar

You ready for this, Paul Ryan? (Photo: Getty)

Team Obama: Expect Joe Biden to Be ‘Forceful and Compelling’ in V.P. Debate

Vice President Joe Biden hasn’t had much in the way of media exposure since he came out for gay marriage in May. However, President Barack Obama’s representatives say the American people can expect an “exceptional spokesman” for the president to take the debate stage Thursday night when Mr. Biden faces off against his Republican counterpart Paul Ryan.

“There is a–there really is–it really is the case that the Vice President is an exceptional spokesman for the principles that are the foundation of the President’s policies when it comes to his economic agenda and the need to build our economy from the middle out,” Mr. Obama’s press secretary Jay Carney said on the campaign airplane earlier today, according to an official transcript. Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/03/12 8:53pm

happenings

Video

Mitt Romney plays Jenga to prepare for the debate. (Photo: YouTube)

WATCH: President Obama Debates Mitt Romney in Denver

As you may have heard, there’s an election going on.

To help voters decide between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the two candidates will go head-to-head in a debate tonight at the University of Denver, Colorado. The rhetorical contest will focus on domestic policy and be divided into six segments, the exact focus of which will be at the whim of moderator Jim Lehrer. Read More

By David Freedlander 5/15/12 10:55am

Sense of An Ending

Ron Paul Campaigns In New Hampshire

In Memo, Ron Paul Says Campaign Not Over, Lays Out Delegate Strategy

Ron Paul’s presidential campaign pushed back hard in a new memo this morning on the notion that the Texas congressman is ending his presidential bid.

“Let me be very clear.  Dr. Paul is NOT ending his campaign,” writes Jesse Benton, the chief strategist for the Paul campaign, even as he acknowledges that “barring something very unforeseen, our delegate total will not be strong enough to win the nomination.” Read More

By David Freedlander 4/04/12 6:55am

Primary Colors

Rick Santorum Announces Run For Republican Presidential Nomination

The Return of the Native: Santorum Comes Home, But Do Pennsylvanians Still Pick Rick?

BUTLER, PA.—Western Pennsylvania, land of coal, sharp-rising hills, shuttered mines. It is a part of the country that Rick Santorum isn’t so much from; it is a part of the country that Rick Santorum is. It was at the Somerset County courthouse, an hour to the south and east of Pittsburgh, that Mr. Santorum announced that he would run for president. It was to western Pennsylvania that Mr. Santorum’s grandfather had come to escape fascist Italy, spending a lifetime toiling away in the mines—a story that Mr. Santorum has repeated at nearly every campaign stop since that morning on the courthouse steps two years ago.

In speeches, Mr. Santorum rhapsodizes about the area, calling it the perfect place to grow up, telling voters, “I don’t have Wall Street experience, but I have experience growing up in a small town in western Pennsylvania, growing up in a steel town.”

He learned everything, he says, “growing up with folks who worked in the mills and the mines in western Pennsylvania.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/07/12 10:28am

campaign confidence

Assemblyman Lancman (Photo: Facebook)

Lancman: Turner Won’t Be Able to Use Israel Against Me

Last night, The New York Times reported Assemblyman Rory Lancman will be announcing his campaign against Republican Congressman Bob Turner today, and this morning, Mr. Lancman told The Politicker his campaign will be quite different from the special election waged last summer when former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s Twitter scandal left the seat suddenly vacant.

Mr. Turner famously used Israel as a wedge issue in that campaign, driving the conversation in his favor in the heavily Jewish district, but Mr. Lancman was unconcerned about the same thing happening to him.

“He can try,” Mr. Lancman responded. “But my Israel advocacy credentials are outstanding. It’s not just me talking the talk, but walking the walk.” Read More

By David Freedlander 6:17pm

Survey Says

Democrat Button - White and Blue

New Poll Gives Dems Hope In Bid To Retake the House

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent around a new poll out today from The National Journal which gives their side some hope heading into the fall elections.

The survey gives Democrats an 11-point lead (48-37) over Republicans when voters are asked if they would rather see them or the GOP take control of the House.  And the poll contains particularly good news for Democrats as they look at playing field that has been gerrymandered against them in recent months as Republicans, who swept into state legislatures across the country, have carved up districts to their liking. Read More