Democrats Excited About Bain Should Remember Jeremiah Wright (The Atlantic Wire)

It's odd David Axelrod is so excited to see the attacks on Mitt Romney's business career in the Republican primary, considering that four years ago, the early airing of another emotional issue in the primaries was expected to stop Axelrod's own candidate, Barack Obama. Axelrod told old The New York Times' Jackie Calmes Thursday that Romney won't get valuable practice in responding to his rivals' "vulture capitalism" attacks. "Rather than immunizing him, this will likely just open the floodgates," he said. "I guess the only downside is that Mitt Romney might not be the nominee." It seems like Axelrod is forgetting fairly recent history. In the long 2008 primary, Obama had to deal with the inflammatory comments of his former preacher, Jeremiah Wright, who said a lot of things white folks found provocative ("Goddamn America," and so on.) Not only did Obama go on to win the general election, he won North Carolina --  a state with such charged racial politics that it had a eugenics program of forced sterilization until 1974.

Related: The Likeness of Being Romney and Obama

In the spring of 2008, the conventional wisdom held that video of Wright's speeches meant Obama was doomed. "Liberal apologists who grasp the devastating impact the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has on Barack Obama's chances of being elected president of the United States this year join the candidate in explanation and excuses. Sorry. No cigar," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Cynthia Tucker wrote. The New York Times' Bob Herbert warned, "the apparent helplessness of the Obama campaign in the face of the Wright onslaught contributes to the growing perception of the candidate as weak, as someone who is unwilling or unable to fight aggressively on his own behalf." And yet, Obama gave a celebrated speech on race, and this fall the first black president is up for reelection.

Related: Obama Slips in Battleground States; Gingrich Slips in Iowa

Related: Gingrich Admits Negative Campaigning Is Great

Democrats are oddly unified in claiming the early Bain attacks are awesome. "We were shocked that his rivals went there but nonetheless pleased because now the charges about his status as a corporate raider enjoy the luster of bipartisan ship," a senior Democratic strategist emailed Politico's James Hohman. This senior Democratic strategist was so sure of this analysis that he or she emailed the exact same thing to Talking Points Memo, including the misspelling of bipartisanship. The senior Democratic strategist is one of the few who wouldn't lend his or her name to the analysis. “It’s a total win-win, ” pollster Geoff Garin, of the pro-Obama superPAC Priorities USA, told Calmes.

Related: Mitt Romney's Secret Weapon: Mormonism

Soon we'll have a chance to see Romney's practice in action. Politico's Reid J. Epstein reports that Romney's campaign is working on a response "tailored to rebut Republican and Democratic attacks separately." Here are two problems identified by conservatives that Romney can work on responding to now:

Related: Gingrich Is the Most Polarizing Candidate But Also Most Admired

Not everyone buys the "y'all are just haters" defense. In his New Hampshire victory speech, Romney said his rivals were echoing Obama's "bitter politics of envy." The Times points out that the National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru warned, “Careful, Mitt. Don't want to insinuate that people only oppose you because they resent your success.”Romney supported TARP. RedState's Erick Erickson summarized Romney's argument Wednesday, saying, "Bain participated in capitalism, revitalized defunct companies, spun off as needed, and from the ashes of creative destruction of capital made a profit, saved or created companies, and saved or created jobs therefore let’s not attack Romney for his time there." Okay then, Erickson says, "If Mitt Romney saw, knew, profited from and participated in the creative destructive of capital, why did he advocate the government passing the troubled asset relief program (“TARP”)? Why not let the creative destruction of capital solve the problem and potentially make a profit off it?"And it looks like Romney might get the chance to practice and get his competitors off his back. Wednesday, Newt Gingrich indicated he might back off Romney a little bit, because, "Obama just makes it impossible to talk rationally in that area because he is so deeply into class warfare that automatically you get an echo effect." Democrats might be officially let down by this retreat, but it's hard to imagine they feel the same way privately.

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Obama to accept nomination at Charlotte stadium (AP)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – President Barack Obama plans to accept the Democratic presidential nomination in the open air of Bank of America Stadium on the final day of his party's convention here next summer, repeating a page from his 2008 convention playbook.

Democrats also announced Tuesday that the convention will be shortened from the traditional four days to three to have a day to celebrate the Carolinas, Virginia and the South. That celebration would take place on Monday, Sept. 3, which is Labor Day, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The convention would run Tuesday through Thursday, with the first two days at the Time Warner Arena and the final day at Bank of America Stadium.

Obama will deliver his acceptance speech on Thursday, Sept. 6. Moving the speech to the 74,000-seat stadium, which is home to the NFL's Carolina Panthers, will allow thousands more activists and others to attend, officials said.

In 2008, Obama accepted the Democratic nomination under the open skies of Denver's Invesco Field.

"From the start, this convention has been about engaging more people in the process," said Democratic Party Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. "We saw in Denver in 2008 how holding the president's acceptance speech at Invesco Field allowed more American's to be part of the process and part of this experience."

"These people didn't donate any money. They weren't delegates. They were supporters from across the West who received community passes to attend. And we want to replicate that experience right here in Charlotte," said Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman.

Wasserman Schultz and other Democratic officials said they hope the changes create enough excitement to boost Obama's chances of winning North Carolina again. Obama won the state by 14,000 votes in 2008, the slimmest margin of all the states he carried, becoming the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter to carry the state.

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Barack Obama campaign announces $68 million raised with DNC (The Ticket)

Jim Messina, campaign manager for President Barack Obama's re-election effort, announced in an online video early Thursday morning that the campaign has raised some $68 million in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee over the past three-month cycle of fundraising. But while Messina touted the Obama operation's big-money gains, he also put in an appeal for additional financial support from Obama backers.

"Too many Obama supporters think we don't need their money, or [that] they don't need to give it now," Messina said. You can watch the video below:

Messina highlighted the large number of first-time donors--200,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011-- and noted that the support from Americans who've never before contributed to the campaign signals enthusiasm on the Democratic side.

Overall, the fourth-quarter total was still less than the Obama Victory Fund and the Democratic National Committee reported raising together in the third quarter ($70 million) or in the second quarter ($86 million).

Other popular Yahoo! News stories:

• Video: Michael Steele on candidates' attacks on Romney: 'inconsistent' with GOP principles

• Ron Paul to New Hampshire: 'We are dangerous to the status quo'

• Jon Huntsman claims 'solid, comfortable, confident position'

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or add us on Tumblr.

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Supreme Court throws out Texas election maps (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Court handed Texas Republicans a partial victory in a partisan fight over election redistricting that has erupted after a huge increase in the state's Hispanic population.

Throwing out a set of election maps that favored Democrats and minorities, the justices on Friday sent the case back to a lower court, forcing further review of a matter with a limited timetable for resolution as 2012 elections are fast approaching.

In its first ruling on political boundary-drawing based on the 2010 U.S. Census, the high court unanimously rejected interim election maps that had been drawn up by federal judges in San Antonio.

The court said the judges' maps did not sufficiently take into account an earlier set of maps that were drawn up by the Texas state legislature that favored Republicans.

Under the high court's ruling, the Texas judges must redraw the maps for primary contests set for April 3 that will decide party candidates for congressional and state legislature elections in November.

The case is typical of redistricting fights that unfold in states across the country every 10 years after a national census. In this one, protecting the voting rights of millions of minorities and substantial political power are at stake.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, said, "The Supreme Court's swift decision will allow Texas to move forward with elections as soon as possible under maps that are lawful."

The case is being closely watched because it could help decide whether Republicans or Democrats gain as many as four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in November. The Texas delegation now has 23 Republicans and nine Democrats.

MEXICAN-AMERICANS GROUP WEIGHS IN

A civil rights group representing Hispanics, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the ruling reaffirmed Texas' obligation to comply with the voting rights law. The group said it looked forward to further proceedings in San Antonio to secure fair interim maps.

Abbott had appealed to the Supreme Court, saying the lower court had overstepped its authority, and arguing that the judges should have deferred to maps drawn by elected lawmakers.

Those maps favor Republican candidates, but have been challenged for violating the voting rights of Hispanics and other minorities.

The Supreme Court ruled that the federal district court judges appeared to have unnecessarily ignored the state's plans in drawing certain districts and that those maps can at least be used as a starting point.

"Some aspects of the district court's plans seem to pay adequate attention to the state's policies, others do not and the propriety of still others is unclear," the court held in its narrow opinion limited to the unique facts of the Texas dispute.

Redrawing the Texas districts has been a major political and legal battle. The state's population went up by more than 20 percent, or 4.2 million people, over the past decade, with Hispanics accounting for 2.8 million of the increase.

FOUR NEW DISTRICTS FORMED

After the 2010 Census, Texas got four new congressional seats, giving it 36. The legislature's plan, signed by Texas Governor Rick Perry, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race on Thursday, created only one new heavily Hispanic district.

The Supreme Court, in the 11-page, unsigned opinion, said the judges, in coming up with new maps, must be careful not to incorporate any legal defects from the legislature's plan.

The interim maps drawn by the judges in Texas were designed to remain in place until a separate court in Washington, D.C., could decide whether the Texas state plan should be approved or rejected under the federal voting rights law.

A trial in that case is under way. That case and a different pending legal challenge in San Antonio are expected to determine the final maps to be used in Texas in future years.

The Obama administration, the state Democratic Party and minority groups have challenged parts or all of the state's redistricting plan for violating the voting rights law, and said the judicially drawn one should be used on an interim basis.

Justice Clarence Thomas issued a brief opinion agreeing with the judgment, but adding that he would have gone further. He said the legislature's plans have not been found to violate any law and should be used for the upcoming elections.

The Supreme Court cases are Perry v. Perez, No 11-713; Perry v. Davis, No. 11-714, and Perry v. Perez, No. 11-715.

(Reporting By James Vicini; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Vicki Allen)

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Beyond Democrat and Republican: A Closer Look at Third-Party Campaigns (ContributorNetwork)

There has been plenty of recent speculation in the media about a possible third-party run for president by current Republican candidate Ron Paul. Whether Paul, or any other candidate, will make a third-party play against President Barack Obama and the Republican nominee this November remains to be seen. In the meantime let's look at some of the more creditable third-party presidential runs of the past one hundred years:

* Theodore Roosevelt (1912) -- A century ago the old "Bull Moose" founded the Progressive Party after a rift with his hand-picked Republican successor William Howard Taft. Roosevelt was upset with Taft for not continuing his progressive platform after he had left office. Roosevelt was so fired up that the former president decided to enter the 1912 race as the candidate for the new Progressive Party. Predictably Roosevelt split the vote and handed the election to Woodrow Wilson. Still, TR's 27 percent of the popular vote remains the high-water mark for third-party candidates still today.

* Strom Thurman (1948) -- Aside from being considered by many historians as the biggest upset in presidential election history -- incumbent Democrat Harry S. Truman beat Republican challenger Thomas Dewey -- this election was famous for Thurman's State's Rights (or Dixiecrat) Party. The Dixiecrats were white Southern Democrats who deplored the moves that the Truman Administration were making toward desegregating the South. They formed their own party and chose Thurman to run against Truman and Dewey. Thurman won four Southern states and 39 electoral votes and managed to get 2.4 percent of the popular vote.

* Ross Perot (1992) -- The Texas pro-business billionaire decided to throw his hat into the ring as an Independent candidate in the 1992 election. Concerns about the state of the economy, and a general distrust-as always-of Washington insiders, helped fuel a surge of support for his candidacy. In May, six months before the election, Perot was actually polling ahead of the incumbent Republican George Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton. In the end Perot captured nearly 20 million votes and almost 19 percent of the electorate.

* Ralph Nader (2000) -- This was Nader's third run for president and, while his ultimate vote count was modest (about 2.8 million total votes and 2.73 percent of the electorate) his presence on the ballot might have proven to be monumental. That's because Nader took part in one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush. Many have suggested that, had Nader not been in the race. Gore, who actually won the popular vote, would have captured enough electoral votes to win the White House.

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Three Democrats Challenging President Obama for the Nomination (ContributorNetwork)

With all of the focus of the 2012 presidential election firmly, and rightfully, placed on the Republican Party's nomination process, most probably believe President Barack Obama is running unopposed as the Democratic Party's candidate. Technically, at least, that is untrue.

While these three candidates may have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning the Democratic nomination--and that is not an exaggeration, they do have a much better chance of getting struck by lightning--let's take a look at three of the Democrats who have decided to challenge the president in 2012:

* Darcy Richardson -- A former insurance specialist and progressive Democratic activist from Pennsylvania, Richardson is the author of a multi-volume history of third-party politics in the United States. He has never held public office before but, as Richardson states on his official campaign website, he was compelled to campaign for president because he has been "disappointed by President Obama's abandonment of many of the progressive values that he articulated so eloquently -- and passionately -- during the 2008 presidential campaign…" Richardson finished in ninth place in New Hampshire's Democratic primary with 264 votes.

* Randall Terry -- A pro-life Democratic from New York, Terry was arrested at Notre Dame in 2009 for protesting a commencement speech by pro-choice President Obama. Terry's sole purpose for running against Obama seems to be so that he can attack him for his pro-choice stance. He also strongly favors the legalization of marijuana, establishing a national sales tax, and the expansion of oil drilling, a diverse mixture of positions for sure. Terry had a better finish than Richardson in New Hampshire coming away with 442 votes, a full one percent of the total.

* Vermin Love Supreme -- A performance artist and anarchist who claims to be "the only bona-fide American presidential candidate to actually donate a living organ." Supreme favors colorful and odd outfits and also claims to be the only candidate who supports funding time travel research in order to go back to kill Hitler before he was born. According to his website, he also believes that brushing one's teeth should be mandatory. Perhaps this eclectic platform helped Supreme beat both Richardson and Terry in New Hampshire. Once all of the votes were counted he carried the day among all three challengers with 833 votes.

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Democrats taunt Romney as rich, forget flip-flop charge (Daily Caller)

The Democrats’ orchestrated and tweeted criticism of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney turned personal during Thursday’s South Carolina debate, and focused on his wealth and demeanor, not on his policy positions or policy changes.

Romney “is worth a quarter of a billion dollars,” and “is quadrupling the size of his Pacific Coast Mansion,” said tweets from Brad Woodhouse, the communications director at the Democratic National Committee, who invited his followers to share their ridicule of Romney via a tweet hashtag “#livedintherealstreetsofAmerica.”

Romney’s wealth was also targeted by Ben LaBolt, the press secretary for Obama’s 2012 campaign. “Speaking of vacations, when will Romney’s investments stop vacationing offshore in the Caymans?” he said halfway through the two-hour debate.

Paul Begala, a consultant who is working with the Obama campaign, tweeted out his taunts, saying one hour into the debate that “Mitt hates, hates, HATES being questioned about his taxes.Looks like he wants to fire the peons who dare question him about taxes.”

A little earlier, Begala announced that “Romney should save his threats of fist fights for his croquet & polo matches.”

The personal taunts, however, followed the Democrats’ increased efforts to portray Romney as an out-of-touch elitist

For example, Romney “made millions laying people off, bankrupting companies and shorting pensions and healthcare,” Woodhouse announced at 9:10 p.m.

The Democratic activists have largely dropped their previous effort to depict Romney as a flip-flopper, although Woodhouse’s DNC sent out several emails displaying a graphic that said, “Mitt Romney; Say Anything to get elected.’

Democratic spokesmen, however, did aim some taunts at other GOP candidates, usually lamenting their failure to disagree more with Romney.

“Holy smokes. Santorum at his best. Skewers Newt for erratic, inconstant leadership as Speaker.This is getting personal. Love it,” Begala tweeted midway through the debate.

Romney “looks like he wants to punch Rick Santorum in the mouth,” Woodhouse declared 36 minutes into the debate.

The nastiest tweet, however, came during the opening minutes of the debate from Begala, and was aimed at his old rival, former House Speaker Next Gingrich. “Newt walks out. Unflattering profile shot. But then again, the camera adds 200 pounds,” said Begala.

Back in 1994, Gingrich helped end the Democrats’ 40 years of majority control in the House of Representatives. The remarkable turnover forced Begala’s client, President Bill Clinton, to remain on political defense for the rest of his presidency.

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Read more stories from The Daily Caller

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Unpopular House Republicans aim to regroup (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – House Republicans, struggling to articulate a unified message after a year of fights among themselves and with Democrats, hope to use their annual retreat to craft an agenda that resonates with voters in November's elections.

That will be House Speaker John Boehner's main mission when he and his fellow Republicans gather on Thursday in Baltimore for three days of brainstorming behind closed doors.

There is also certain to be chatter about the party's frontrunner to be the presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, who is widely derided as an uninspiring moderate by members of the conservative base. And the lawmakers will hear from a rising party star: Chris Christie, the audacious New Jersey governor who is seen as a future presidential or vice presidential contender.

The retreat comes as Republicans, entering their second year in control of the House of Representatives, are hounded by disappointed voters, including many aligned with the Tea Party movement, a three-year-old grassroots conservative movement dedicated to smaller government, fiscal responsibility and individual freedom.

Recent surveys give Congress record-low approval ratings, with Democrats narrowly outpolling Republicans.

Adding to their gloom, after a year dominated by partisan brawls over spending and taxes, many conservatives feel they have little to show in their historic bid for smaller government.

In fact, polls show voters blame Republicans more than Democrats for partisan gridlock that pushed the U.S. government to the brink of shutdowns and unprecedented default amid a stubbornly high U.S. jobless rate now at 8.5 percent.

"Voters are frustrated and angry," said Representative David Dreier, a senior House Republican. "Their feelings are driven by the hard economic times" and the inability of the Republican House and Democratic Senate to agree on legislation to create jobs.

Representative Tim Huelskamp, a Tea Party activist, figures Congress's nationwide approval ratings of about 11 percent are much lower in his Kansas district.

"They're probably closer to 1 percent," said Huelskamp, who hosted seven town hall meetings with constituents during the recent holiday break.

While some House Republican boast of unprecedented efforts to downsize the U.S. government, Huelskamp and others say 2011 was a failure.

The first-term lawmaker sees little in the way of lasting, meaningful deficit reduction. He also complains that Republican leadership abandoned a 2010 campaign vow of transparency in favor of back-room deals with Democrats.

PAYROLL TAX CUT

One day before departing for the retreat, House Republicans huddled on Wednesday in the Capitol basement to assess last year's missteps, especially the December payroll tax cut debacle. The idea was to get gripes about 2011 behind them so that the retreat can focus on 2012.

"We were picking the right fight," Boehner said of his handling of the payroll tax cut last month. "But I would argue we probably picked it at the wrong time."

Boehner, the top U.S. Republican, acquiesced in December to internal and external pressures and agreed to Obama's demand for a two-month tax cut extension just before it was to expire.

Many Republicans are skeptical of the economic benefit of the payroll tax cut, part of Obama's jobs creation efforts, but opposition to the publicly popular measure was seen as a political liability.

Boehner's performance has drawn fire from critics who question his toughness. But others say the speaker is doing the best he can given the Tea Party movement's influence and Democrats' control of the Senate and presidency.

"There is a recognition by all that John has a very difficult job - and that there isn't anyone out there who can do it better," said Dreier, a Boehner ally.

In coming weeks, Republicans are expected to vote to renew the payroll tax cut beyond its February 29 expiration so they can move to other matters. They also hope to reform an antiquated budget process and hone their message on the need to streamline a clunky U.S. tax code - two moves they see as essential for restoring the nation's economic health.

The annual retreat comes before November elections that political pundits think will see Democrats gain at least a few seats in the 435-member House, but not the 25 needed to take control.

Yet control of the House could ultimately turn on the presidential race with Obama or his Republican foe providing their parties a needed lift.

Ron Bonjean, a former senior Republican leadership aide in the House and Senate, said he expects his party to coalesce around Romney as nominee.

"Republicans have a choice. Support a Republican or give up ground to President Obama. Most Republicans will decide to support a Republican," Bonjean said.

In Baltimore, House Republicans will focus on ways to boost their popularity, several aides and members told Reuters.

After years of Democrats branding them as "the party of no," Republicans will try to turn the tables and accuse Obama of blocking progress.

"We hoped the Democrats controlling the Senate and White House were willing to work with us in the interest of country," wrote Representative Jim Jordan in a letter published Tuesday on a congressional website.

"Unfortunately, the president spent the past year trying to boost his own chances for re-election by avoiding real cooperation," added Jordan, the head of the Republican Study Committee representing core House conservatives.

Last week, Republican Senator Ron Johnson, a Tea Party activist, wrote a Wall Street Journal column outlining his prescription for success in 2012 - ideas that leading House conservatives will echo, according to a Jordan spokesman.

Johnson called on Republicans to highlight, through House votes, differences between their party and Obama's Democrats, on matters from health care to domestic energy production.

(Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Cynthia Osterman)

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Battle lines stark as Wis. recall push nears end (AP)

MILWAUKEE – Sonja O'Brien heard from the hecklers outside the Potawatomi casino as she collected signatures in a final push to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

One man yelled at her for forcing the state to spend millions on a recall election. A woman told her she was annoying. And Jack Bublitz, a 75-year-old retired banker, said Democrats would never collect enough names.

"You're not going to do it! You're not going to do it!" Bublitz yelled at her.

But O'Brien figured these naysayers were relatively civil compared to most days over the past two months in what has become a bitter brawl to oust Walker from office. Now the fight is about to move from the streets to the courtroom.

Democrats want to wind up the signature drive this weekend and get the names to state election officials by Tuesday's deadline. GOP legal challenges are almost certain to follow.

The signature campaign has been a microcosm of a political landscape that remains toxic and highly divided a year after the Republican governor introduced his plan to strip almost all public workers of their collective bargaining rights.

"These people are being ridiculous," Bublitz said as he hurried inside the casino. "We elected Walker. Let him serve out his term."

O'Brien, a 57-year-old data technician, shrugged it off.

"We're making history," she said, clad in boots and a parka and armed with two homemade "Recall Walker" signs and a pair of clipboards. "It feels good to empower the people."

Walker argued he had to crack down on unions to balance the state's $3.6 billion budget deficit. But Democrats saw it as a doomsday attack on unions, one of their crucial constituencies.

Thousands of demonstrators protested at the Capitol around the clock for three weeks. The Senate's 14 minority Democrats fled the state in a futile attempt to block a vote on the plan, which Walker eventually signed into law last March.

Democrats have been itching for payback ever since. They ousted two Republican state senators in recall elections last summer, narrowing the GOP's edge in that chamber to just one vote. Now they've set their sights on Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and four more Republican state senators. They need 540,208 signatures against Walker and the same against Kleefisch to trigger separate recall elections.

That figure was on the minds of the dozen or so volunteers in the Madison recall field office Friday. Petition circulators trickled in, handing over yellow and white lists of names. The volunteers scoured the paperwork, searching for mistakes ranging from sloppy handwriting to January signatures dated 2011 instead of 2012.

"It's been full-tilt boogie here for the last two weeks. It's like Santa's political workshop," said volunteer Alan Ginsberg, a retired Madison teacher. "There are few things I've done in my life that are as satisfying as this operation."

The recall effort has intensified the already rigid battle lines. Republicans have decried the recalls as a frivolous power grab that the state can't afford. Democrats maintain Wisconsin can't take Walker for another three years.

A Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College poll released the same day as the recall signature drive began two months ago found 58 percent of respondents think Walker needs to go, which was up from 47 percent in April. "Recall Walker" signs line yards in Madison, the state's capital. Wisconsin roads are full of vehicles with bumper stickers supporting Walker or calling for his ouster.

In the early days of the signature drive, Walker's supporters vented their anger. In Madison, someone pulled up to a drive-up signature station, grabbed a paper with three signatures on it and ripped it up. Someone anonymously started a Facebook page imploring people to collect petitions and burn them.

The rancor forced state election officials to make an unprecedented call for calm. Then their estimate last week that a statewide recall election would cost $9 million sparked a new round of outrage from Republicans.

State GOP spokesman Ben Sparks said Walker did what he promised he would — make tough decisions to fix the state's finances.

"The Democrats are forcing this completely baseless and expensive recall on Wisconsin families," Sparks said. "Basically, this entire recall effort has been a completely politically driven effort."

Things didn't get brutal outside the Potawatomi casino Wednesday, but passions ran high.

As O'Brien and Karen Hartwell, an unemployed volunteer from Muskego, shivered on public property across the street, a parade of people said they'd already signed a petition. But Michele Corrao, 65, of Grafton, lit up when she saw O'Brien.

"Give me that baby," she said, reaching for O'Brien's clipboard. "I'm dying to sign."

One man berated O'Brien for helping force an election that could cost millions. O'Brien countered the expense would be less than the costs of a new law forcing Wisconsin voters to show voter IDs at the polls.

"We need voter ID because you people are crooked," the man shot back as he stomped off.

The volunteers weren't fazed. In fact, they said, the detractors this day were unusually mild.

"When they're in their cars, that's when they call you blankity-blank-blank," Hartwell said.

Democrats said in December they had collected 507,000 names but have refused to provide any more updates. They want to collect 720,000 signatures, nearly 180,000 more than they need, to ensure the recall withstands GOP court challenges. Sparks said the party has built a statewide network of volunteers to verify signatures, the first step toward a challenge.

Nevertheless, Democrats have scheduled parties around the state this weekend to celebrate.

"Whether or not we reach our internal goal of 720,000 signatures ... this has represented a great victory for democracy and the working people of Wisconsin in the face of a well-financed and totally dishonest corporate agenda run from afar," state Democratic Party chairman Mike Tate said.

Hartwell seemed relieved the drive was almost over. She was clearly suffering from her own personal recall fatigue.

"I've done my part," she said. "I've been out in the rain, in the bitter cold, and I'm done."

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Obama, DNC raise $68M in final 3 months of 2011 (AP)

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama hauled in more than $68 million for his campaign and the Democratic Party during the final three months of 2011, a show of force that allows him to compete — for now at least — in the new reality of freewheeling outside political groups.

The latest infusion of money, announced Thursday, adds up to more than $220 million in 2011 for the president's re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee, putting Obama far ahead of other Republican presidential candidates. In most years, it might amount to a substantial fundraising advantage, but a flurry of super PACs and big-dollar independent groups have changed the rules of campaign money.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a video to supporters that they collected more than $42 million for the quarter, with the DNC bringing in more than $24 million, along with $1 million for a joint fund to help state parties in key states. That beat an internal goal of $60 million combined for the quarter.

It came a day after the campaign of Republican front-runner Mitt Romney said it had raised $56 million for the primary through Dec. 31, including $24 million during the final three months of 2011.

Yet, even with the current money advantage over Romney and the rest of the GOP field, Democrats are hoping to remain competitive with Republicans because of the dominance of outside groups.

GOP-supportive super PACs have raised tens of millions of dollars this primary season, notably the Romney-leaning Restore Our Future and American Crossroads, which has said it plans to raise more than $200 million this election cycle. American Crossroads has ties to Karl Rove, a former political adviser to President George W. Bush,

Later this month, the outside groups are expected to disclose how much they have collected during the past six months, figures that will shed more light on their influence.

"We face some daunting odds ... to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars," said Vice President Joe Biden, in a primary night address to New Hampshire Democrats. "These guys have these super PACs now on the Republican side that will spend hundreds of millions of dollars in attack ads. We're not going to have those hundreds of millions of dollars in super PACs."

Republicans counter that Obama is more concerned with his re-election campaign than with his job of running the country, pointing to his fundraising edge on the GOP field. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said "the White House may try to pretend the president isn't focused on his re-election, but Americans know he's more interested in campaigning to save his own job than creating jobs for our country's unemployed."

The president's campaign has watched with concern as the outside groups have escalated a race for political money and roiled the Republican primary season, most notably the campaign of Newt Gingrich.

The former House speaker built a lead in Iowa only to watch it erode under a $3 million tidal wave of negative ads launched by the outside group supporting Romney, who eventually won a razor-thin victory in the leadoff caucuses. Gingrich finished fourth.

Restore Our Future has reserved $2.3 million in air time in South Carolina ahead of the states' primaries, while a pro-Gingrich group, Winning Our Future, has said it plans to spend $3.4 million on ads attacking Romney for jobs lost while he served as a top executive at private equity firm Bain Capital. Winning Our Future's effort was bankrolled by casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who gave $5 million to the pro-Gingrich super PAC. Outside groups backing Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum have also exerted influence.

Crossroads, for its part, says it is largely holding off ads until the general election, to counterbalance the anticipated flood of money from donors to Obama and the DNC.

Democratic-leaning groups like Priorities USA Action, founded by former Obama advisers, have not spent nearly the same amount as their GOP counterparts. Through late July, Priorities USA Action and sister organization Priorities USA had raised more than $5 million and has spent roughly $320,000 on ads and media-production costs opposing Romney, federal filings show.

David Axelrod, the Obama campaign's senior strategist, said the emergence of the super PACs represented a "concerning dynamic" for Democrats, likening it to facing "the secret air force and have them carpet bomb relentlessly."

"The prospect of hundreds of millions of dollars of negative ads raining down on us is not a prospect that I relish," Axelrod said in a conference call with reporters last week. But he said Obama was "thoroughly known to the American people," making him less susceptible to negative attacks.

With the prospect of a deluge of money opposing the president, Obama's campaign has tried to bat away suggestions that it will raise more than $1 billion, a substantial boost from the $750 million it raised in 2008. Messina said in the video that the lofty figures have created "a challenge that keeps coming up. Too many Obama supporters think we don't need their money or they don't need to give now."

"The billion-dollar number is completely untrue," Messina said.

Obama's campaign has emphasized a large number of donors and small donations generated from online giving. Messina said the campaign and DNC had generated 1.3 million donors, with 583,000 people giving during the most recent quarter. More than 98 percent were for donations of $250 or less and the average donation was $55, he said.

The money will help build Obama's organization, pay for a massive advertising campaign and let his advisers prepare for the upcoming campaign, a point the president emphasized at a large Chicago fundraiser on Wednesday night.

"If you're willing to work even harder in this election than you did in that last election, I promise you change will come," Obama said. "If you stick with me, we're going to finish what we started in 2008."

___

Associated Press writer Jack Gillum contributed to this report.

___

Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

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Wis. Democrats still searching for Walker opponent (AP)

MADISON, Wis. – Supporters of a push to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker from office are prepared to declare victory in their effort to force the Republican into a recall election. But a problem looms for Democrats: They still don't know who would run against him.

Recall organizers say they have gathered far more than the 540,208 signatures required to force the election against both Walker and GOP Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and will submit their petitions Tuesday.

Walker has meanwhile dominated the state's airwaves with ads defending his agenda, including the law enacted last year that ended nearly all collective bargaining rights for most public workers and spurred the recall effort in the first place.

He's also crisscrossed the country raising millions of dollars, taking full advantage of both the conservative rock star persona built as he put Wisconsin at the center of the national labor rights debate and a quirk in state law allowing those targeted for recall to ignore normal contribution limits until an election date is set.

Walker reported in mid-December that he'd already raised $5.1 million, with about half of that coming from out of state. He received $250,000 alone from Bob Perry, the Texas conservative who was one of the main financial backers behind the Swift Boat Veterans ads that attacked Sen. John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign.

Democrats and union leaders insist they're not concerned about not having someone actively running against Walker and trying to match his fundraising. In fact, they say it was part of their strategy.

"It forced Walker and his minions to run on their record and issues rather than to run against an announced Democratic candidate," said Marty Beil, president of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, the largest union of state workers. "That was part of the rationale through the whole recall petition collection process."

Democrats and union leaders said they also never anticipated competing with Walker on fundraising. Beil said the key for recall supporters will be to maintain the enthusiasm that fueled recall signature collection for the past two months.

"And we win with some resources, but we don't see matching him for dollar by dollar," Beil added.

Walker's campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said in a statement that the governor's record will "stand in stark contrast to whoever the eventual Democratic nominee is." She defended Walker's record from last year, noting he balanced the state's $3.6 billion shortfall without massive layoffs of state employees.

Democrats have framed Walker's budget-balancing tactics as an attack on labor unions, one of their key constituencies. Thousands of demonstrators staged non-stop protests at the Capitol for three weeks and the Senate's 14 minority Democrats even fled the state in a futile attempt to block the collective bargaining plan that Walker signed into law last March.

The Democratic field of would-be challengers to Walker is expected take shape once the Government Accountability Board certifies that petition circulators have gathered enough signatures. Beil said he expected it be clear by the end of the month, while state Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said he didn't expect a set field before March.

"I don't see any need for a candidate to dip their toe in the water until they absolutely feel it is necessary to do so," Tate said. "We have a blessing of riches in the Democratic Party. We have several people who would make wonderful governors."

Numerous prominent Democrats have said they're considering a run but the two highest profile ones — former Sen. Russ Feingold and retiring Sen. Herb Kohl — have repeatedly said they aren't interested.

Moderate Democrat state Sen. Tim Cullen has said he intends to take on Walker but has not made a formal announcement or been actively campaigning. He said he expects and welcomes a Democratic primary, which likely would be held in May, although the timing will be unclear until possible delays related to the signature verification process and any legal challenges are resolved.

"If there's not a primary, then who's actually deciding this?" Cullen said.

Walker and his allies say organized labor will decide the Democratic candidate. Public workers and their unions have been a driving force behind the recall, helping provide the manpower needed to circulate petitions.

Union leaders have made some of their preferences known. They've been clear in their distaste of a potential candidacy by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who lost to Walker by 5 percentage points in 2010. Barrett has angered some unions with cuts he made to the city budget and his support of a plan a couple years ago that would have given him control of the troubled Milwaukee Public Schools.

Beil and Mary Bell, the head of the statewide teachers union, met with Barrett in December and unsuccessfully tried to dissuade him from running, based on an email Bell sent to other union leaders that was first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Bell confirmed the meeting and email to The Associated Press but declined to comment in more detail about Barrett or who the union is supporting. Beil also has been outspoken in his opposition to Barrett but won't say who the union supports yet.

Barrett has announced that he's seeking re-election as Milwaukee mayor, which will be decided on April 3. But he's repeatedly dodged questions about another run against Walker, refusing to rule it out or commit to it.

"The candidate has to be a champion of these thousands of people who have said we need a change," Beil said. "The candidate has to be a champion, it can't be the same old message."

One potential candidate organized labor does like is Kathleen Falk, a retired Dane County executive who said she is considering running. Falk, who previously ran unsuccessfully for governor and state attorney general, has been traveling the state speaking out in support of the recall.

Other potential Democratic candidates include former U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, current U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, state Sen. Jon Erpenbach and state Rep. Peter Barca.

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Seeking more luxury suites, DNC might move Obama convention speech to stadium (Daily Caller)

With Democrats struggling to reach their $36.6 million fundraising target for the Democratic National Convention  in August, plans have emerged to move the event’s final day to the 74,000-seat stadium where the NFL’s Carolina Panthers play, reports the Charlotte Observer. That move will allow fundraisers to sell access to more luxury suites.

Democratic sources told Bloomberg News that Obama advisers are conscious of the political downside that could be associated with the move, but not because of the spectacle of a big-dollar cash grab. Party officials are instead concerned because Bank of America — one of the president’s most recent corporate whipping-boys — is the arenas named sponsor.

In October, Obama criticized the bank for its plan, which was later scrapped, to impose a $5 monthly fee on customers who use debit cards.

“People have been using financial regulation as an excuse to charge consumers more,” Obama complained on Oct. 6.

Charlotte businessman Cameron Harris, who is among the top fundraisers on the convention’s host committee, told the Observer that making Bank of America Stadium the site of Obama’s acceptance speech “was a possibility … from the very beginning.”

The committee is hamstrung by new fundraising restrictions, reportedly imposed by Obama himself, which prohibit them from accepting money from corporations and lobbyists.

But they still plan to raise up to $15 million in “in-kind” contributions from companies, and cash from wealthy individuals. The committee is also accepting unlimited funds from nonprofit organizations, including charitable foundations associated with the president’s corporate supporters.

Another member of the host committee, who spoke to the Observer on condition of anonymity, insisted that the Democrats will manage to meet their fundraising goals.

“Are they working hard and losing sleep over it? Yes,” the source said. “But they didn’t seem at all desperate. … I don’t have inside information, but I think they’re over halfway there, though.”

David is The Daily Caller’s executive editor. Follow him on Twitter

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Happy Anniversary, us!

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In bid to unseat Wisconsin governor, whither the challengers? (Reuters)

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – Critics of Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker showed on Tuesday how unpopular he is with many voters, filing more than 1 million signed petitions -- nearly twice the number needed -- to force the first-term Republican to defend himself in a special election.

On Wednesday, they faced what is likely to be a harder task: finding a Democrat who can beat the battle-tested 44-year-old.

"There is no single preeminent candidate," said Charles Franklin, a political scientist and visiting professor of law and public policy at Marquette University, said of the Democrats who might challenge Walker, who gained a national following in leading a successful push to curb Wisconsin's public unions.

Although some Democrats have hinted in recent weeks they might be interested in running against Walker in a recall, so far no one with a marquee name has committed to what is sure to be a bruising fight. No date has been set for the election.

On Wednesday, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced her candidacy. But Falk, who governs the county that encompasses Madison, the state's capital, is viewed by the Wisconsin political insiders as a weak candidate given her past political losses and her liberal fiscal platform.

Due to those factors, political analysts say Falk will almost certainly have company. Other Democrats mentioned as possible candidates have included Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, former congressman David Obey and State Senator Tim Cullen.

None has the cachet of Russ Feingold, the former Democratic senator popular among progressives. But an effort last summer to draft Feingold fizzled when he announced he was not interested.

"Polling shows that (Walker) has one of the highest name recognitions in the country among active governors," Franklin said. "None of the Democrats are at that same level of name recognition and familiarity."

In November, 2010, Walker defeated Barrett in the governor's election by 52 to 46 percent -- a margin of 124,000 votes out of 2.13 million cast.

A Democratic primary, needed if more than one Democratic challenger enters the fray, could divert time and money from the fight against Walker, who set off a firestorm by curtailing the collective bargaining rights of unionized public workers.

A weak Democratic candidate, and a Democratic loss in the special election, could have implications for President Obama's reelection hopes.

Indeed, a Walker triumph in a special election could turn Wisconsin, currently a battleground state, into a GOP stronghold, according to Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics and a professor of politics at the University of Virginia.

"If Walker is reelected and Republicans are energized because of this, that will have an impact in the presidential race," Sabato said. "I bet if the White House had their druthers the recall would not be happening."

Organizers of the drive to recall Walker submitted what appeared to be more than enough signatures on Tuesday to trigger the special election.

Sabato said that shows the polarizing effect Walker and his agenda has had on the state.

"The hatred for Scott Walker on the Democratic side is white hot and that is what generated the one million signatures and that is what gives them a great base," said Sabato.

Walker has remained undeterred during his tumultuous first year as governor. During the passage of collective bargaining legislation, the governor pressed on even in the wake of massive protests at the Capitol each day.

When 14 Democratic state senators left the state in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to deny the Republican-controlled body a quorum and halt action on the proposals, Walker and his allies engineered passage without them.

"He was in a bunker mentality very quickly in February of his first term and maybe having survived that may make a more resilient politician now," said Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.

The Republican hold on the state legislature has also survived the political storm kicked up by the collective bargaining reforms, which Walker and his allies defended as necessary to address a gaping budget hole.

Although six Republican state senators were forced to defend their seats in special recall elections this summer, only two lost their seats. As a result, Republicans held onto a razor thin majority, 17-16, in the Senate.

In addition to Walker, four Republicans Senators, including Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, are facing the possibility of recall elections in a second round of special elections triggered by the union fight.

Officials at the state's Government Accountability Board said last week they may need more than 60 days to verify the signatures submitted on Tuesday. Currently, the law requires the process to be completed in 31 days.

According to a Government Accountability Board report, processing recall petitions will cost the state more than $650,000. The total cost of recall elections for the state and municipalities may be more than $9 million, according to estimates from board officials.

(Editing by James Kelleher and Peter Bohan)

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Obama, party allies raise $68 million for re-election (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and its Democratic allies raised more than $68 million in the last three months of 2011, dwarfing Republican rivals as the White House race approaches.

In a video message sent to supporters on Thursday, Obama's 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina announced the haul, which brings the shared fundraising by Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee at over $200 million for 2011.

With most of that money said to be coming in small-dollar sums from thousands of Americans, the fundraising gives Obama, a Democrat, a nice cushion as he campaigns for re-election against Republicans sparring to see who will be their nominee in November's election.

Although the money given to the DNC is effectively Obama's for grabs, his own campaign -- which faces lower contribution limits -- received $42 million during the last three months of 2011.

Still, that far outstrips the amounts donated to the Republican campaigns, which do not yet receive financial backing from the Republican National Committee.

Front-runner Mitt Romney's campaign said on Wednesday it had raised $24 million in the fourth quarter. Ron Paul raised $13 million and Newt Gingrich raised $9 million.

The Obama team is shooting to top the roughly $750 million it raised when he was elected president in 2008.

Much of Obama's success in 2008 was credited to his grassroots support illustrated by small donations, which Messina said continue to flow. Similar to the previous quarterly report, 98 percent of the donations to Obama's campaign were made up of $250 or less, he said.

In the video, Messina again rejected the expectation that the campaign would raise $1 billion. That false expectation, he said, was giving donors the misimpression Obama did not need their financial support.

"Too many Obama supporters think we don't need their money, or they don't need to give now," he said in the video.

"We won in 2008 because every single supporter and volunteer viewed their role in this campaign as absolutely essential to us winning. But now we're in danger of letting that very belief slip through our fingers this time."

One major campaign donor highlighted the financial challenge Obama faces from "Super PACs," the groups that technically cannot directly communicate with campaigns but can accept unlimited donations in support of a candidate.

"The race is going to be expensive. The fact is that there are these unlimited buckets of (Republican) PAC money," he said.

"The Obama campaign is going to need money from here for the duration. And once (the Republicans) have a nominee, that's when it starts getting expensive."

Some 1.3 million Americans gave to Obama's campaign last year, including 583,000 donors in the fourth quarter alone. Of those, almost a third were first-time donors, Messina said.

The campaign beat its goal of raising $60 million in the fourth quarter, although the amount brought in was just under $70 million raised in the third quarter. Through the end of September, the campaign and the DNC had raised roughly $155 million.

Messina's email to supporters asked them to chip in $25 now; often Obama fundraising appeals start with a much lower $3 donation request.

The campaigns have until Jan 31 to release their full fourth quarter reports.

(additional reporting by Eric Johnson in Chicago and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Philip Barbara)

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In bid to unseat Wisconsin governor, whither the challengers? (Reuters)

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – Critics of Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker showed on Tuesday how unpopular he is with many voters, filing more than 1 million signed petitions -- nearly twice the number needed -- to force the first-term Republican to defend himself in a special election.

On Wednesday, they faced what is likely to be a harder task: finding a Democrat who can beat the battle-tested 44-year-old.

"There is no single preeminent candidate," said Charles Franklin, a political scientist and visiting professor of law and public policy at Marquette University, said of the Democrats who might challenge Walker, who gained a national following in leading a successful push to curb Wisconsin's public unions.

Although some Democrats have hinted in recent weeks they might be interested in running against Walker in a recall, so far no one with a marquee name has committed to what is sure to be a bruising fight. No date has been set for the election.

On Wednesday, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced her candidacy. But Falk, who governs the county that encompasses Madison, the state's capital, is viewed by the Wisconsin political insiders as a weak candidate given her past political losses and her liberal fiscal platform.

Due to those factors, political analysts say Falk will almost certainly have company. Other Democrats mentioned as possible candidates have included Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, former congressman David Obey and State Senator Tim Cullen.

None has the cachet of Russ Feingold, the former Democratic senator popular among progressives. But an effort last summer to draft Feingold fizzled when he announced he was not interested.

"Polling shows that (Walker) has one of the highest name recognitions in the country among active governors," Franklin said. "None of the Democrats are at that same level of name recognition and familiarity."

In November, 2010, Walker defeated Barrett in the governor's election by 52 to 46 percent -- a margin of 124,000 votes out of 2.13 million cast.

A Democratic primary, needed if more than one Democratic challenger enters the fray, could divert time and money from the fight against Walker, who set off a firestorm by curtailing the collective bargaining rights of unionized public workers.

A weak Democratic candidate, and a Democratic loss in the special election, could have implications for President Obama's reelection hopes.

Indeed, a Walker triumph in a special election could turn Wisconsin, currently a battleground state, into a GOP stronghold, according to Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics and a professor of politics at the University of Virginia.

"If Walker is reelected and Republicans are energized because of this, that will have an impact in the presidential race," Sabato said. "I bet if the White House had their druthers the recall would not be happening."

Organizers of the drive to recall Walker submitted what appeared to be more than enough signatures on Tuesday to trigger the special election.

Sabato said that shows the polarizing effect Walker and his agenda has had on the state.

"The hatred for Scott Walker on the Democratic side is white hot and that is what generated the one million signatures and that is what gives them a great base," said Sabato.

Walker has remained undeterred during his tumultuous first year as governor. During the passage of collective bargaining legislation, the governor pressed on even in the wake of massive protests at the Capitol each day.

When 14 Democratic state senators left the state in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to deny the Republican-controlled body a quorum and halt action on the proposals, Walker and his allies engineered passage without them.

"He was in a bunker mentality very quickly in February of his first term and maybe having survived that may make a more resilient politician now," said Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.

The Republican hold on the state legislature has also survived the political storm kicked up by the collective bargaining reforms, which Walker and his allies defended as necessary to address a gaping budget hole.

Although six Republican state senators were forced to defend their seats in special recall elections this summer, only two lost their seats. As a result, Republicans held onto a razor thin majority, 17-16, in the Senate.

In addition to Walker, four Republicans Senators, including Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, are facing the possibility of recall elections in a second round of special elections triggered by the union fight.

Officials at the state's Government Accountability Board said last week they may need more than 60 days to verify the signatures submitted on Tuesday. Currently, the law requires the process to be completed in 31 days.

According to a Government Accountability Board report, processing recall petitions will cost the state more than $650,000. The total cost of recall elections for the state and municipalities may be more than $9 million, according to estimates from board officials.

(Editing by James Kelleher and Peter Bohan)

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House Democrats want new housing regulator (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than two dozen House Democrats called on Wednesday for President Barack Obama to unseat the acting regulator of housing finance agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying he has failed to take steps that would aggressively address the nation's housing crisis.

The group of 28 Democrats, led by Representative Dennis Cardoza, are all from California, which has been hard hit by the housing market's collapse. In their letter, the lawmakers urged Obama to replace Edward DeMarco as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and to immediately nominate a new director.

"FHFA has consistently and erroneously interpreted its mandate far too narrowly and as such has failed to take adequate action to help homeowners," the letter said.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two congressionally chartered companies charged with providing liquidity to the U.S. housing market, were seized by the government in September 2008 as mortgage losses mounted.

DeMarco, a career civil servant who was named acting director of the FHFA in August 2009, has defended the steps he has taken as conservator as being well within the authority Congress has mandated.

DeMarco, who has never been selected as the FHFA'S permanent director, has argued that the roughly $169 billion in taxpayer-funded support paid out to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since they were seized was meant to get them back on their feet, not to provide relief to the housing market.

The Democratic call for a new leader at FHFA comes just days after Obama made a critical recess appointment of Richard Cordray as the director of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over Republican opposition.

"We urge that you take the same action to put in place a permanent director to the FHFA," the Democrats wrote.

The lawmakers said DeMarco has limited Fannie and Freddie from helping the troubled housing market by taking too narrow a view of his mission to protect the financial health of the two firms.

"There are steps that the FHFA can take to help prevent future foreclosures while also protecting taxpayers," the letter read. "Installing a permanent director of the FHFA will allow the FHFA to move forward to make key decisions that will help keep families in their homes and improve our economy."

The Obama administration had nominated North Carolina's banks commissioner, Joseph Smith, to be the FHFA's permanent director in November 2010, but Smith withdrew his name a few months later due to staunch Republican opposition. No new nominee has since been named.

(Reporting By Margaret Chadbourn; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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Gingrich: Romney Speaks French, Just like John Kerry (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Newt Gingrich is attacking Mitt Romney for speaking French in a new ad. However the Daily Caller is suggesting that this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, claiming that Gingrich is fluent in French as well.

The accusation comes at the end of the ad, in which Romney is compared to two other Massachusetts pols, Michael Dukakis and John Kerry, who tried to run for president and failed. It has Kerry publically speaking French and then Romney doing the same thing. Hence Romney equals Kerry in foreign language fluency.

The suggestion is made that Gingrich must be a French-speaker as well, due to the fact that his doctorial dissertation on education in the Belgium Congo cites numerous French language documents. Gingrich also interviewed a number of people in Belgium. French is one of the major languages in that country.

One supposes that Gingrich could have employed a translator, thus escaping the taint of being fluent in the French language. One wonders what the fuss is about, however.

To be sure Kerry seemed to speak French as a means to buttress his haughty, aristocratic mien, setting himself up as someone who suffered from Paris envy and not someone in touch with ordinary Americans. That included Cajun people from Louisiana who speak a kind of French. There is no evidence, however, that Romney has tried to put on airs just because he can parlez vous.

It is not a necessary requirement that a president of the United States be multi lingual; he would have plenty of people who can make him understood to President Sarkozy, for example. However it would be intriguing to have a president, like Jon Huntsman, who can speak Mandarin, the main language of China. Farsi and Arabic might also be useful.

Indeed, there has been more than one multi-lingual president of the United States. According to the Monticello website, President Jefferson could speak Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish and, of course, English. His acumen in foreign languages seems not to have hurt his ability to be president.

Gingrich is -- once again -- over reaching in his zeal to cut up Romney.

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Daniels defends right-to-work in 'State' speech (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mitch Daniels defended divisive right-to-work legislation that he only recently put his name behind, while asking House Democrats to end their boycott of the measure.

Daniels spent a large amount of his final "State of the State" speech Tuesday night touting the national reputation Indiana has developed over his seven years in office, as well as a modest 2012 legislative agenda ranging from more money victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse to a statewide smoking ban.

But he dedicated roughly four minutes of his half-hour speech to explaining his evolution in support of right-to-work this year. Daniels made no mention of the issue in his annual speech last year, and urged lawmakers to hold off lest it derail other legislation like an overhaul of the state's education system.

Indiana could become the first state in more than a decade to approve a ban on private contracts that require workers to pay union fees for representation. Indiana House and Senate Republican leaders have made it their top legislative priority this year, and Daniels has campaigned vigorously for it since announcing last month that he would support it the measure.

Republican lawmakers and guests who filled the House chamber applauded heartily throughout the speech, but House and Senate Democrats largely held their applause.

More than a dozen House Democrats skipped Daniels' speech in a rare move. Democratic House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer said afterward he left it to each lawmaker in his 40-member caucus to decide whether they would attend the speech.

Hundreds of union protesters packed the halls outside the House chamber, booing as Daniels walked in for his speech and chanting "Shame on you!" as he left. The protesters' boos and chants could be heard through the glass panes of the House chamber as he spoke about right-to-work.

Although lawmakers are only five days into the 10-week legislative session, the right-to-work battle in the House has stalled most work. House Democrats ended a three-day boycott over the measure Monday only to stall business again Tuesday following a party-line vote in favor of the labor bill earlier in the day.

In his final annual address to the Legislature, Daniels argued that other states win out in competition for new business because of their right-to-work laws.

"Too often we never get a chance, because a right-to-work law is a requirement. Especially in this poor national economy, a state needs every edge it can get," he said.

But he also took care not to downplay Indiana in a speech that was otherwise laden with plaudits about his work over the last seven years in office. Daniels is term-limited against running for re-election in November.

Toward the end of his right-to-work pitch, Daniels relayed an allegory about two politicians written in 1861. One Democrat and one Republican go to Kentucky to settle a political dispute in a knife fight. At the close of the story, Daniels takes two subtle shots at House Democrats — telling them they should stay in the state as well as in the House chamber.

Indiana House Democrats left the state for five weeks last year to block the right-to-work measure. This year, though they have stalled the still-young 2012 session, they have remained in Indianapolis.

"And we think we have disagreements!" Daniels says. "When we do, I hope we'll keep them not only in state, but also in this chamber, where the people's business is supposed to be settled."

When there are the numbers needed to conduct business, Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma has acted quickly to advance the right-to-work measure. Tuesday's speedy approval of the measure in committee, though, appeared to backfire with another Democratic boycott.

The Legislature's Democratic leaders said Daniels should have used the speech to bring the two parties closer together rather than drive a wedge further between them over the right-to-work bill.

"I was mostly disappointed he missed an opportunity he could have used tonight to bring Democrats and Republicans together he could have used the to bring House and Senate together to talk about how we are really going to serve the needs of Indiana," Democratic Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson said after the speech.

___

Tom LoBianco can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/tomlobianco

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Vermin Supreme Places Third in New Hampshire Democratic Primary (ContributorNetwork)

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Vermin Supreme, the self-described "friendly fascist" who ran on a platform of mandatory dental hygiene and a pony for everyone, came in third in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.

According to the state's Secretary of State, Supreme racked up 829 votes for 1.4 percent of the vote, just 117 votes less than environmentalist Ed Cowan, who was the runner-up to Barack Obama. That was 380 more votes than Randall Terry, the anti-abortion activist who had a public falling out with his gay son, whom Vermin sprinkled with pixie dust at a lesser-known candidates forum at St. Anselm College.

Supreme claimed Jesus told him to glitter bomb Terry in order to transform him into a homosexual, according to the Union Leader.

Performance

The gray-bearded candidate, who can best be described as a performance artist, satirist and political activist, wears a distinctive outfit of a lime green jacket and multiple neck ties. He often wears a green plastic Hulk fist holding an American flag as a cod piece.

What is most distinct about Vermin Supreme's appearance is his headgear: a large black rubber boot known as a wader. His campaign slogan is, "A vote for me is a vote truly wasted."

Armed with a bullhorn, he popped up early for a Rick Santorum rally at a Manchester restaurant and took over the podium. "My name is Vermin Supreme. I am a friendly fascist. I am a tyrant that you can trust and you should let me run your life as I know what's best for you," he explained.

"As you know, all politicians are, in fact vermin. I am the Vermin Supreme, and that is why I am the most qualified candidate in this race at this time."

He then cut to the heart of the matter.

"Yes I am a politician. I will lie to you because as I have no reason not to. I will promise you anything your electoral heart desires because you are my constituents -- you are the informed voting public -- and because I have no intention of keeping any promise that I make."

Third's A Charm

This was the third-place candidate's third crack at the Democratic nomination, though only his second appearance in the New Hampshire primary, which featured 14 Democratic candidates this year.

Supreme first ran for the Oval Office in 2004, in Washington, D.C.'s Democratic primary. He first threw his boot into the ring in New Hampshire in '08, but compared to his 2012 finish, the outcome was disappointing. The 2008 Democratic primary featured Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich.

He took only 41 votes in that tough contest, perhaps because he sported a less-attractive galoshes-style boot rather than his impressive wader of 2012. He even ran in the general election, garnering 43 votes nationally, according to the Federal Elections Commission.

With the Democratic field again wide open in 2016, Vernon Supreme's horizons are endless. Makers of oral hygiene products and breeders of ponies will rejoice.

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President Obama wins Democratic primary (AP)

CONCORD, N.H. – President Barack Obama has won New Hampshire's Democratic primary.

Obama, running uncontested, cruised to victory in voting Tuesday.

Far fewer voters participated in the Democratic primary than the competitive GOP primary, which was also being held on Tuesday.

Obama won New Hampshire in the 2008 general election, but he lost the Democratic primary four years ago. Hillary Rodham Clinton's narrow defeat of Obama, a dramatic upset coming after Obama's victory in the Iowa caucuses, led to a protracted race for the Democratic nomination.

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Indiana union bill: Even with Dems AWOL, lawmakers move closer to vote (The Christian Science Monitor)

Chicago – Most Indiana Democrats were absent from the House floor in Indianapolis Friday, the third day of session they skipped to protest a proposed bill they say is harmful to unions.

But their absence Friday did not prevent a House committee from hearing more than five hours of testimony on the bill in question, which would ban negotiations between a union and company if workers are forced to pay fees for representation.

The committee ended the day by voting to send the bill to the House for a full vote, which Republicans say will happen next week. However, a quorum in that chamber is needed for the vote. Actions by Democrats suggest they are not worried about the fines, at $1,000 per day per lawmaker, that they face for not showing up.

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Republicans will get their vote, but it’s a matter of when, says Brian Vargus, a political scientist at Indiana University in Indianapolis. Democrats are reluctant to give the Republican majority a victory because it may weaken union support.

“Unions are big contributors to the Democrats, and they feel with the decline of unionization, it would solidify Republicans. It simply comes down to that,” Mr. Vargus says.

The area’s diminished role in the steel and automotive industries has resulted in declining membership for Indiana unions. In 2010, the share of workers in Indiana who were unionized was 10.9 percent, lower than the national average of 11.9 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Last year, Indiana’s Republican leadership passed a collective-bargaining law that weakens the negotiating power of public unions in the state. The so-called right-to-work bill being contemplated this session would further clamp down on union activity.

Collective-bargaining legislation has been a bumpier road for neighboring states in the Midwest. For example, although Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) saw his collective-bargaining bill become law, it was not without a major fight that continues today with a recall effort to remove him from office. In Ohio, voters repudiated a collective-bargaining law in November. And in Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is on record as saying it is not the time to push for such legislation, which he called “divisive” last month.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) and House Speaker Brian Bosma (R) are ignoring the potential backlash because they probably see it as an opportunity “to weaken the Democrats in the state” in an election year, says Vargus. “If they can limit union power and union strength, they will feel it will benefit their candidates,” he says of the state Republican leadership.

Friday’s testimony came from both sides of the issue. Keith Busse, a former chief executive officer of Steel Dynamics in Fort Wayne, Ind., described the bill as a “jobs boon” because it would convince companies outside the state that Indiana is business-friendly and prepared to help create job opportunities.

The NFL Players Association also weighed in, most likely because this year’s Super Bowl is set in Indianapolis on Feb. 5. In a statement, the organization, which is based in Washington D.C., criticized the legislation, calling it “a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers’ rights.” The statement added, “it’s the wrong priority for Indiana.”

Democrats say they will not return for a vote until Republicans agree to hold a series of public hearings around the state to justify the bill’s passage to voters. Republicans say they will probably start enforcing the $1,000 penalty next week.

That threat has already been enough for three Democrats to show up since Wednesday, which was the first day of the session. One of those Democrats, Vanessa Summers of Indianapolis, told reporters Thursday that she “cannot stand the fine” because she is a single mother with a son in college.

“I’m on the right side of history. So whatever happens is going to bless me,” Representative Summers said.

Online fundraising efforts via ActBlue, a Democratic political-action committee, launched Friday to help offset costs for the Indiana Democrats still staying away.

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Romney says he'd work with Democrats (AP)

CONCORD, N.H. – Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney says he'll be able to work with Democrats as president.

In the Sunday debate, Romney pointed to his time as governor of Massachusetts as proof he will be able to compromise with people in the other party. He says he developed a "relationship of respect and rapport" with Democratic leaders in the Massachusetts state legislature that allowed him to accomplish policy goals.

As governor, Romney says, he passed tax cuts and encouraged charter schools, both conservative priorities. But Romney also signed a health care bill that included a mandate for Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance, an idea that conservatives now intensely oppose.

Romney was debating five other GOP hopefuls at an NBC News-Facebook debate Sunday.

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Indiana GOP zeroes in on ‘right to work’ law, despite Dems going AWOL (Daily Caller)

When Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin fled their state in February 2011 to hamstring Republicans working to limit the collective-bargaining rights of public-sector unions, their colleagues in Indiana were clearly paying attention. Beginning Wednesday, Hoosier State Democrats have been skipping out of work to prevent Republicans from passing a “right to work” law.

The legislative proposal, likely to pass the Republican-dominated state legislature — if everyone were present — aims to ban negotiations between companies and unions whose workers are forced to pay dues in order to keep their jobs.

But the Christian Science Monitor reports that although Democrats are AWOL, and risk $1,000 fines every day they are absent, Republicans are taking steps toward their goal. On Friday a House committee heard more than five hours of testimony on the bill.

Democrats, who rely on labor unions for political support, want to avoid a Republican victory. But they may not be able to hold their opponents off much longer.

“Unions are big contributors to the Democrats,” Indiana University political science professor Brian Vargus said, “and they feel with the decline of unionization, it would solidify Republicans. It simply comes down to that.”

Still, he told the paper, it’s a matter of when, not if.

Indiana’s Republican legislators already used their majority last year to pass a law similar to the one that caused the fracas in Wisconsin. And as steel mills and automotive plants decline in Indiana, unions have seen their memberships decline to 10.9 percent of the private sector workforce, a full percentage point below the national average

Democrats say they will not return for a vote until Republicans agree to hold field hearings throughout Indiana to justify the bill’s passage. Republicans say they will probably start enforcing the $1,000 per day penalty next week.

A Democratic-affiliated political action committee called ActBlue has already launched a fundraising effort enabling liberal voters to help offset those fines for Democratic lawmakers who continue to avoid coming to work.

David is The Daily Caller’s executive editor. Follow him on Twitter.

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DNC e-stalks Romney, ignores others (Daily Caller)

The Democratic Party’s attack machine is compulsively obsessed with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Since Jan 1, the Democratic National Committee and its subsidiaries has fire-hosed 34 anti-Romney emails into the The Daily Caller’s mailboxes.

His fellow GOP candidates can’t get hate, nor even love, from the DNC’s messaging architects.

The anti-Romney pitch is being broadcast via many channels by President Barrack Obama’s re-election team, which shows every indication that it most fears Romney, partly because he does well as among swing-voting, upper-income people. “Romney is the one they don’t want,” MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell told BreitbartTV during a New Hampshire interview. “They know they can beat anybody else. Romney, they think they can beat, but it’s a harder campaign.”

The most notable change within the DNC’s gusher is the gradual decline of the “flip-flop” charge, and the emergence of a “Mitt Romney will say anything to get elected” theme. That new pitch comes packaged with a pen-and-ink drawing from the 1989 John Cusack teen-throb movie “Say Anything.”

The new theme is intended to help Democrats combine their discordant claims that Romney is a populist flip-flopper and also an out-of-touch elitist.

The new theme has been included in six DNC messages since Jan 7. Its only prior appearance was back in October.

However, the DNC’s message mavens have yet to reconcile their simultaneous claims that Romney is both a say-anything compromiser and an extremist whose statements will alienate broad segments of the voting public.

The other GOP candidates barely get a insult in the DNC’s diatribes.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been cited in just five emails since Jan 1, each of which was principally focused on Romney. On Jan. 3, for example, Perry was mentioned in an email who subject was “Wasserman Schultz says Romney carries `baggage’ out of Iowa.”

Former Senator Rick Santorum also received mentions in five DNC messages, but they too were focused on Romney.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a seminal Democratic Party hate-figure, was similarly mentioned in eight DNC messages, all including Romney’s name in the subject line.

Huntsman was cited in just one message, but only because he too was criticizing Romney. The DNC email cited Huntsman’s criticism — “We became the top job creator in the country. Mitt in Massachusetts was number 47” — but didn’t venture anything negative about the second Mormon in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

The flood of emails mentioned Rep. Ron Paul only once, with the DNC passing on a Florida newspaper’s claim that Paul, Santorum and Romney were all “very extreme” on immigration issues. The DNC did not explain which candidates were merely “extreme” on urging implementation of existing immigration law.

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Ind. Dems end boycott, GOP plans initial vote (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS – A divisive labor bill is back in Republican hands after Indiana House Democrats on Monday ended a three-day boycott of the chamber to stall the measure.

Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said the right-to-work bill will get a committee vote Tuesday morning and could make it out of his chamber by the end of the week if Democrats continue to attend House sessions.

Indiana House Democrats returned to the Legislature after spending three days blocking the contentious bill but did not promise to stay long enough to allow a final vote on the measure. House Democratic Leader Patrick Bauer told The Associated Press that Democrats were returning "just for today."

The Democrats' return put the issue of Republican vote-wrangling back on the table, at least for a day. Bosma needs 51 votes to pass the measure. Although Republicans outnumber Democrats 60-40 in the House, some Republicans such as Rep. Ed Soliday of Valparaiso have said they plan to vote against the measure.

Bosma said he is confident he will be able to lock in the votes needed to pass the measure. "We'll just keep calm and carry on," he said, echoing the British World War II motto he has adopted for the right-to-work battle.

Republicans want to make Indiana the first state in more than a decade to enact right-to-work legislation, which bans employment contracts that require employees to pay mandatory union fees for representation. Supporters claim it would bring more jobs to Indiana, where the unemployment rate has crept back up to around 9 percent in the recent months. Opponents say it is a move aimed at breaking unions in Indiana and claim it would depress wages for all workers.

House Democrats stalled work at the opening of Indiana's 2012 legislative session last week by denying Republicans the 67 members on the floor they need to conduct any business.

The measure is expected to find an easy path through the state Senate, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 37-13.

National right-to-work advocates came close in November to making New Hampshire the first right-to-work state since Oklahoma passed the measure in 2001 but could not find the votes to override a veto from Democratic Gov. John Lynch. The issue had been largely dormant since the late 1940s and '50s but has enjoyed a resurgence following the GOP's sweep in statehouses across the nation in 2010.

Indiana Republicans approved new $1,000-per-day fines for prolonged absences after a five-week walkout by Democrats last year over the same issue.

Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, said that if House Democrats stay in session the right-to-work measure could make it to the governor's desk as soon as two weeks from now.

But if they use a start-and-stop approach to stall the measure further, Republicans will be ready with the same fines they levied last year, he said.

"So if their idea is, come in one day be gone two days, come in a day be gone two, that's not going to fly for very long at all," he said.

The measure could reach Gov. Mitch Daniels' desk before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Daniels has made the labor bill one of his top priorities for the 2012 session and appeared in television ads pushing the measure. Last week, the NFL Players Association called the bill "a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers' rights."

Daniels has kept his involvement to mainly wholesale lobbying pitches, talking with newspaper editorial boards and filming television ads for the measure, but said he will personally pitch House lawmakers if needed.

"I'm willing to in case there are some who are on the fence," Daniels said.

Some Republican lawmakers, such as Rep. Bruce Borders of Jasonville, say they are looking at exempting Indiana's construction workers from the ban but have not said definitively whether they will support the bill.

"I'm still keeping my powder dry," Borders said last week.

Bosma did not discount the idea of carving the Indiana State Building and Construction Trades from the measure, noting that he pushed for that exemption last year.

"I'm a little leery about that approach, but I know there are some people interested in that," Bosma said, adding that he would oppose efforts to put the measure on the ballot for voters in 2013.

___

Tom LoBianco can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/tomlobianco

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Is Democratic Socialism the Next Step in Our Political Evolution? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The last few months have seen some of the most prominent symbols of authoritarian communism falling. Protests have fired up in Russia against the almost dictatorial rule of Vladimir Putin (a former KGB officer and Communist Party of the Soviet Union elite). Allegations of election fraud and ballot-stuffing abound, and the people of Russia are now clamoring for real democracy.

Kim Jong-il has passed away and signals a change in regime of what USA Today calls "the world's last hardline communist state." While nobody is expecting a fair and free election in North Korea, the regime is changing. And the Glorious Successor Kim Jong-Un is reportedly "a whiz at computing and technology," which may open the door for freedom of information and communication in that country.

Finally, Cuba has slowly and quietly been instituting a number of free-market reforms, including privatizing real estate and allowing loans for private entrepreneurs. The anti-U.S. rhetoric of Fidel Castro has faded as he has, and Cuba is moving slowly toward a capitalist system. It is true that capitalism and democracy won the fight for world dominance decades ago in the intellectual and political trenches of the Cold War. But the fading historical bastions of communism must force us to consider this: What is the next step of human political evolution?

What is the next step?

This is what we must ask ourselves. Amid the chronic corruption and inequality that the current systems have promoted, and the subsequent economic collapses and global protests that they have inspired, there are any number of choices. Disciples of Ayn Rand would argue for a more capitalistic society (and would insist that the economic failures of the past century are due to the mixing of capitalism and socialism). However, there is another option.

Unfortunately, the words "socialism" and "communism" carry such a stigma these days that they are synonyms for unpatriotic and akin to treason (look no farther than the House Un-American Activities Committee which prosecuted members of the Communist Party at the height of the Cold War). But it cannot be ignored that all of the major communist societies in the past have also been authoritarian regimes. Communism equals authoritarian and capitalism equals democratic. This has been the norm, and thus the triumph of democracy has meant the triumph of capitalism. What has never been tried in any real way is a democratic socialist society, though it has existed in theory in the writings of various political philosophers like Erich Fromm and John Stuart Mill in his later writings.

What the collapse of the symbols of the last authoritarian communist regimes in the world should force us to consider is, are democracy and socialism incompatible? And if not, would a democratic socialist state thrive on the global stage?

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