Welcome, friends. The purpose of this regular series is to promote enthusiasm and action among Daily Kos members. Romney will very likely out-fundraise President Obama. However, we believe that we can still win if (1) we can remain competitive financially, and (2) we volunteer our time and energy (GOTV, canvassing, phonebanking, LTE, ...).
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Democrats have been on the offensive regarding healthcare issues. One great example is nomandates' ONN diary last night entitled, "
Obama Nightly News: Women's Health Security." Another example is the Priorities USA Action advertisement that now has over half a million views and millions of dollars of free air time on mainstream media. Here's the video:
This particular ad is bad for Mitt Romney because of his link to RomneyCare. It has also created a divide between the Tea Partiers and the Monied Republicans. The greatest impact of the ad, however, at least in my opinion, is that it forces Republicans to implicitly and explicitly make the argument that healthcare is in no way related to health, illness or death.
Remember that guy? He really had us going for a while. Some people actually believed him. He's got a newer, equally devastating doppelganger:
A recent article from Modern Health looked at questions asked in the latest Quinnipiac polling in three important swing states about the importance of healthcare to Americans. This is the crux of their reporting:
Healthcare is the second leading issue for voters in three critical swing states, a national polling firm reported Wednesday.
About 20% of voters in Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin listed healthcare as their most important issue in the upcoming presidential election, while about half of respondents listed the economy as their most important issue, the Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll of likely voters found.
The respondents also narrowly preferred President Barack Obama's approach to healthcare over that of likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney, according to the poll. Specifically, Colorado voters said 51% to 41% that Obama would be better on healthcare; Virginia voters preferred the president's healthcare approach 49% to 42%; and Wisconsin voters said Obama would do better job on healthcare by 49% to 43%.
Did you notice that
Modern Health indicated that the President's approach was "narrowly preferred" over Romney's?
Narrowly? First, 7.666% is a landslide in national politics. Second, we're talking about ObamaCare -- the policy that America was supposed to hate. Shouldn't the headline be: "
ObamaCare Much More Popular Than Believed"? Third, these were
swing states. We're not talking about a poll of California, Massachusetts or Belgium. This is Virginia, Colorado and Wisconsin.
The cat is finally and purringly out of the bag. ObamaCare is a winner. Letting corporations and Republican governors cut your healthcare benefits is a loser.
In other news, President Obama has been running the country while kicking Mitt Romney's butt. Today, he issued an Executive Order regarding the Prevention and Response to Violence against Women. The entire Order can be seen here, and a snippet here:
Fact Sheet: Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Women and Girls Globally
Progress Toward a World without Violence Against Women and Girls
Today, President Obama issued an Executive Order on Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Women and Girls Globally to further enhance the Administration’s efforts to advance the rights and status of women and girls, to promote gender equality in U.S. foreign policy, and to bring about a world in which all individuals can pursue their aspirations without the threat of violence.
Violence against women and girls cuts across ethnicity, race, class, religion, education level, and international borders. Although statistics on the prevalence of violence vary, the scale is tremendous, the scope is vast, and the consequences for individuals, families, communities, and countries are devastating.
...
Today’s Executive Order, which creates an interagency working group co-chaired by the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), directs departments and agencies to implement the new United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally. This Strategy was developed by the Department of State and USAID in coordination with other relevant U.S. Government departments and agencies. The Executive Order will ensure that agencies prioritize this issue in their implementation of U.S. foreign policy, and that work in this area is evaluated. Recognizing that this is a long-term commitment, the Order directs the interagency working group to update or revise the Strategy after three years.
BREAKING: Attorney General Eric Holder attended a Memorial Service for the victims of the Oak Creek tragedy, and according to
New York Magazine, he mourned the senseless loss of life with the Sikhs and others at the service. The AG,
described the attack, which was carried out by white supremacist Wade Michael Page, as "an act of terrorism, an act of hatred, a hate crime." Calling the incident "the very worst of human kind," he went on to say that, "In the recent past, too many Sikhs have been targeted, victimized simply because of how they looked and what they believed."
As Friday's service began, three Sikh musicians in dark turbans sat cross-legged on the ground next to a row of six coffins and large, framed photos of the dead.
Mourners slowly walked past, including Sikhs in their traditional turbans and non-Sikhs using scarves and handkerchiefs to cover their heads in keeping with Sikh custom.
"You have taken this life. This is your will," a prayer leader said between hymns sung over somber music. "We accept your will. Please give us strength to bear this loss."
Our hearts to the people of Oak Creek, Wisconsin and their family and friends.
Finally, on the campaign trail, President Obama released a new ad titled, "Blatant," referring to a New York Times characterization of the lies in a Romney campaign ad dealing with welfare policies. It will air in the swing states of Virginia, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Nevada and Ohio.
Even Republicans are jumping ship on the lies in the Romney campaign advertising, as FactCheck.org noted with the following:
Ron Haskins, a former Republican House committee aide who was instrumental in the 1996 overhaul of the welfare program, told us the Obama administration should not have unilaterally changed the work-requirement rules. But Haskins said the Romney claim that Obama’s plan will “gut welfare reform” is “very misleading.”
“I do not think it ends welfare reform or strongly undermines welfare reform,” said Haskins, co-director of the Brookings Institution’s Center on Children and Families. “Each state has to say what they will do and how that reform … will either increase employment or lead to better employment” of recipients.
BREAKING: Ed Schultz led off his show tonight with a piece about this "Welfare Whopper." He noted that Romney is spending half his current spending on advertising spreading their lies about welfare. Dog whistle, anyone?