Girls star Lena Dunham has already shown an interest in local politics, but now, the actress-slash-auteur-slash-author is getting involved in the presidential election. Ms. Dunham taped a video for the Obama campaign filled with plenty of sexual innuendo and her reasons for supporting President Barack Obama. Read More
A Politicker examination of federal campaign finance disclosure reports submitted by Paul Ryan’s congressional campaign has uncovered indications Mr. Ryan may have improperly used funds raised for his re-election effort in Wisconsin for presidential campaign activities at the Republican National Convention in August. Mr. Ryan is simultaneously running for re-election in Wisconsin’s First Congressional District and on the GOP presidential ticket with Mitt Romney. At the RNC in Tampa, Mr. Ryan’s House campaign spent about $60,000. However, these convention expenses seem to go far beyond the scope of the activities and staff he had at the RNC for his bid to reclaim his House seat.
One prominent election law expert told us this is a “highly problematic” potential violation of Federal Election Commission regulations regarding candidates running for multiple federal offices. A spokesperson for Mr. Ryan’s opponent in Wisconsin’s First Congressional District described it as a possibly “troubling” element of “Paul Ryan’s overarching pattern of dishonesty in this race.” When we reached out to Mr. Ryan’s congressional campaign manager, we received a shifting series of explanations including at least one statement that was clearly untrue. Read More
Republican Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock sparked a firestorm after he discussed abortion in cases of rape in a debate last night and said, “I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” Democrats quickly went on the attack against Mr. Mourdock, focusing on an ad Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney recorded for him that was released online Sunday. Though aides for Mr. Romney issued statements expressing disagreement with Mr. Mourdock’s position on rape and abortion, the campaign is not asking for the ad to be pulled. Read More
Real estate mogul and reality television star Donald Trump unveiled his announcement of “something very, very big concerning the president of the United States” this afternoon. Mr. Trump’s promised major revelation prompted widespread rumors he might reveal something about President Barack Obama’s marriage or past drug-related activity. In the end, Mr. Trump used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to present a deal he hopes will yield new information about the president’s college years.
“I have a deal for the president–a deal that I do not believe he can refuse. If Barack Obama agrees (or has the universities and colleges agree) to give all of his college records and applications and if he provides all of his passport records and applications, I will give to a charity of his choice…a check for five million dollars,” Mr. Trump said in a press release that was posted on his Facebook and Twitter pages. Read More
One of the biggest gaffes during last night’s presidential debate came from the moderator, CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer, who accidentally referred to the late Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as “Obama bin Laden” while discussing Pakistan. Though this was one of the most talked about moments of the evening, for over twelve hours after the debate, there was no mention of the mistake on CBS News’ website where the posted transcript of the debate omits the exchange. Read More
While campaigning this afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden stopped by Schmucker’s Restaurant in Toledo, Ohio for a piece of pie. However, Mr. Biden may have gotten more than he bargained for at the restaurant. While he was eating, Mr. Biden found himself in conversation with another patron who was clearly eager to see the vice president and his running mate, President Barack Obama, lose the election and leave the White House. Read More
Donald Trump made headlines yesterday by promising to unveil “something very, very big concerning the president of the United States.” Mr. Trump is keeping his “big Obama announcement” under wraps for now, and at least one online gambling operation is taking bets about what presidential surprise the real estate mogul and reality television star has in store. Read More
As is her custom, provocative conservative commentator Ann Coulter was decidedly politically incorrect in her assessment of the final presidential debate last night. Ms. Coulter took to Twitter where she used a derogatory term to describe President Barack Obama.
“I highly approve of Romney’s decision to be kind and gentle to the retard,” Ms. Coulter wrote. Read More
Joe Biden has spent the past few days hitting the campaign trail for President Barack Obama and, as usual, his stops have been filled with many memorable moments and quotes. Today, Mr. Biden was in Ohio where he visited a fire department in Parma Heights along with his daughter, Ashley, and former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. Though the pool reporter, Politico’s Donovan Slack, said he “had a hard time hearing many of the exchanges” Mr. Biden had with the people who came out to meet him, Ms. Slack managed to eavesdrop on the vice president giving a little dating advice to a fireman and his pre-teen daughter. Read More
Earlier this evening, President Barack Obama sat down with Jon Stewart to tape an extended, fourteen minute interview for The Daily Show set to air later tonight. While we don’t know everything that was said, a good portion of the discussion was included in a recently-distributed White House pool report.
Mr. Stewart began by declaring he’s making a campaign scrapbook, and he showed Mr. Obama two pictures and said they came from the presidential debates. As the pool report put it, “One showed Michelle Obama looking at him very angrily onstage afterward, and the other showed her smiling broadly at him afterward.”
“Do you know which debate was which?” Mr. Stewart asked. Read More
