Mark Kirk on the Primaries

Kirk: Illinois will matter in GOP primary

By Rick PearsonClout Street

December 19, 2011, 2:42 p.m.

U.S. Republican Senator, Mark Kirk, has endorsed Mitt Romney for president. He believes Newt Gingrich has good ideas but some of them are dangerous like the proposed foreign policy strategy for the country. Kirk thinks that Romney could help win independent support and help supply coattails to Republican congressional candidates running under a Democratic-drawn map in Illinois. He says that the Iowa nomination for GOP, which starts on January 3, will still be going when Illinois hold its primaries on March 20.
There is a possible chance that many states are waiting for Illinois to help make their decisions. Illinois's choice will influence the other states and therefore will have a critical role in deciding who our nominee is and who will be our next president.
Even though Romney seems to be towards social conservatism, Kirk said that he was a solid fiscal conservative. This is essential because the election will not be on social but economic issues.
Kirk then goes on and talk about gerrymandering. He says that while the Democrats draw new congressional districts to favor themselves, this will not help them. The support from the home-state (Illinois was where Obama was senator in) will be "underwater" in the suburbs, which should help GOP candidates.
His views on each candidate is this:
Romney: "is brilliant, a great historian, very experience on many issues. in my personal experience with him, he has five big ideas a day and four of them are good."
Ron Paul: critical to Paul's statement that US should not go into isolationism. He says that has not worked in the 20th century and the two examples are Pearl Harbor and the War in Afghanistan. "We realized that isolationism can't work and I don't think it can work here."
This article has taught me a lot of things. Excuse me for my ignorance, but I did not know that Obama used to be the Senator for Illinois. In addition, I did not think that Illinois was that much of an influence in the primaries. Originally, I just believed that Illinois had primaries as a way to be represented since it is a small state. However, I have learned that primaries are just more than that.
This article is not biased, it is simply summarizing the thoughts of Mark Kirk. However, Mark Kirk is obviously biased towards Mitt Romney.

Ron Paul, The Isolationist on Foreign Policy

GOP candidates blast Ron Paul over Iran policy. Is one side crazy?

By Mark Trumbull, Staff writer / December 16, 2011

The Texas congressman had some applause but in the end, walked out with 'precarious limb' with many conservative voters for arguing against the Republican candidates on US military policy.
The topic: Iran.
Overall, Paul believed that America has made some absurd decisions. The war in Iraq, he said, was useless. And now, he fears that Iran, will be "another Iraq." He argues "If we lived through cold war, which we did, with 30,000 missiles pointed at us, we ought to really sit back and think, and not jump the gun.... That’s how we got involved in the useless war in Iraq and lost so much." Understanding Iran's side, he says that Iran wants the respect that other nations with nuclear weapons get.
Michelle Bachmann passionately responds, " I think I have never heard a more dangerous answer for American security than the one we just heard from Ron Paul.... And the reason why I would say that is because we know without a shadow of a doubt Iran will take a nuclear weapon, they will use it to wipe our ally Israel off the face of the map. And they've stated that they will use it against the United States of America."
Ron Paul looked into Iran's regime to respond to Bachmann's comment. He agrees that though there are some radicals, it doesn't mean that we should feel threatened by them. Have they attacked Sweden or Switzerland yet?
I believe that this issue is essential. Paul was attacked by the other Republican candidates and could lose support for some Republican voters. Moderator Bret Baier questioned him and asked by opposing economic sanctions against Iran, is he running to the left of President Obama? As of now, Paul sounds like the most populist candidate. In favor, he could gain some moderate voters.

Bachmann on Cain, Gingrich, Iowa

Michelle Bachmann on Cain, Gingrich, Iowa

December 4, 2011

After Republican candidate, Herman Cain,decided to drop out of the primary race, the candidates are fighting for Cain's voters' support. Chris Wallace, host of the Sunday Fox News, tells Michelle Bachmann that Newt Gingrich is picking up most of Cain's supporters. However, Bachmann believes that many people are supporting and going to continue to support her. She states, "People realize that I am the true tea party candidate in the race." She is truly against the Obama health care plan and says that Gingrich and Romney do not completely disagree with him. Wallace then asks Bachmann on how she feels being currently fourth place in the race. She responds that it is not over. The poll fluctuates and what people are trying to find out is who is the most consistent on his/her views and she believes that she has been the most consistent.
It is also revealed that she has the "highest grade" than anyone else on immigration, that Newt Gingrich has the lowest. She wants strict immigration laws. She also oppose extending the pay roll on tax cuts, meaning that middle class families would face between $1000 to $1500 in taxes. She opposes it because she says that this is Obama's policy and it hasn't work. It pulled out $110 billion dollars in the social security trust fund and she believes that senior citizens need their social security. Ironically, the pay roll actually favors the middle class, typically Republican.
Judging from this talk show, I learned that Bachmann is a reactionary candidate. She is in the tea party and supports every idea of a conservative. She wants stricter immigration laws, against environmental regulations and Obama's health care.
Chris Wallace seems to be a fair host during the talk show. He asks her to elaborate on issues she has mentioned and is stating comments based on polls and facts.
Overall, though Bachmann seems to be behind in the race, she does not believe so herself. She thinks that the voters can always shift there views.

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/index.html#/v/1309416434001/michele-bachmann-on-cain-gingrich-iowa/?playlist_id=86913

Romney, The Family Man

Romney ad plays the family card against Gingrich (sort of)

Posted by Chris Cillizza at 03:38 PM ET, 12/07/2011


Romney's ad had just been released. Though Romney seemed confused on the number of years he had been married, the main point is that he is a family man. In his ad, he provides many visuals like old photos of his wife and kids. However, the second message that Romney is trying to say is that Newt Gingrich, his main rival, is not. Though Gingrich's name is not mentioned, it doesn't take a political genius to figure out that the ad is meant to remind Republicans of his past.
Gingrich has been married for three years. He has been trying his very best to avoid his martial past in campaigns and whenever it is brought up, he brushes off the problem by saying something between the lines of, "The past is the past. What we need to focus on is the future."
Surprisingly, Gingrich's past does not affect his popularity with voters. In a new Washington Post-ABC News Iowa poll, nearly eight in ten likely Republican caucus-goers said that his romantic past was not a factor in their vote. One percent even said that it was a major reason to support him!
What Romney is trying to do with his ad is to get the uneducated voters who did not know about Gingrich's past in hopes that they will support him. Gingrich's past is not an issue though because his past is not a major. Personal issues only impact a candidate's race when it unravels news that seem scandalous or on something that people have not heard about. Gingrich is accepting the fact that he has had many wives and therefore, is not new or scandalous news; it is not similar to the scandal of Herman Cain.
Romney's ad has without a doubt brought up the essence of prospective voters. He tries to attract prospective voters by stating that he has good moral values and is faithful to his family and business that he has been for many years.
This article is unbiased. Chris Cillizza provides a fair analysis on Gingrich's past because he is simply stating the message. In addition, he explains why it was not much of an impact to Gingrich's popularity by sourcing polls done. Cillizza informs readers about the types of "personal attacks" and what effects each one has.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/romney-ad-plays-the-family-card-against-gingrich-sort-of/2011/12/07/gIQAmtD6cO_blog.html

Gingrich Currently Winning The Love of Iowa

Title: In Iowa, Gingrich is Gaining Favor, New Polls Show

By JEFF ZELENY and MARJORIE CONNELLY

Published: December 6, 2011

According to the latest New York Times / CBS News Poll, the state of Iowa believes that Newt Gingrich is more prepared to be president than Mitt Romney and just as capable of defeating President Obama. Gingrich is rated more favorably than any of the other six remaining candidates in the race among the voters who say they are likely to attend the Republican caucus in Iowa. 

However, it is not the end for Romney. Two-thirds of voters remain open to changing their minds. Polls say that they are willing to embrace a candidate who is less conservative than they are and say that economic concerns are more than social issues. 

Mr. Gingrich is drawing more than twice as much support as Mr. Romney among men and those who consider themselves to be conservative. He receives three times more support than Mr. Romney from evangelical Christians. Romney gets more support from voters who call themselves moderates.

Dennis Halsne, a 65 retired salesman from Woodward, Iowa was interviewed. He stated, "Is he a perfect candidate? Absolutely not. None of them are. But right now, he is the one who I would back."

Overall, I learned that Gingrich is in the lead, followed up by Romney and Ron Paul who are both tied in second. However, voters could easily change their minds in who they support. They would like to see more proposals on economic solutions. Reading about Halsne's comment shocked me. He could be possibly representing what most of the Iowa-ians  are thinking, which is that they believe none of the Republican candidates are good. They are just simply following an obligation when they are telling who they support. 

There is a possible chance that this could just be some form of biased act. Publishing the answer to a person who bluntly says that none of the candidates are right is what a democratic source would do. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/us/politics/gingrich-leads-gop-rivals-in-iowa-poll-finds.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fpolitics%2Findex.jsonp