Visual source: Newseum
AP via WaPo:
But the Republican’s challenge is stark.
Romney must overcome history, political math and the missteps of a party that picked a fight over one provision of Obama’s health care law and ended up on the defensive over access to birth control. Romney also has work to do with female voters after inconsistencies or misstatements on issues such as abortion and the future of Planned Parenthood.
Republicans have faced a “gender gap” since 1980, with women generally favoring Democratic candidates. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that gap lifts Obama to a lead across a dozen crucial states. The poll showed women favor Obama by 18 percentage points while men split about evenly between the two candidates. Taken together, that means women boost Obama to a 51-42 lead over Romney in those states.
Greg Sargent channels the WH:
“As he campaigned across Wisconsin, Mitt Romney repeatedly praised Governor Scott Walker’s leadership, calling him a ‘hero’ and ‘a man of courage’. But with his signing yesterday of a bill make it harder for women to enforce in court their right to equal pay, Walker showed how far Republicans are willing to go to undermine not only women’s health care, but also their economic security. Does Romney think women should have ability to take their bosses to court to get the same pay as their male coworkers? Or does he stand with Governor Walker against this?”
Understand that Romney is battling not just Obama and Democrats, but the damaged GOP brand.
Reuters:
After watching quietly while Republican candidates fought each other, Obama is now trying to define his likely opponent in November as an out-of-touch multi-millionaire who would cut social programs for the elderly and the middle class while promoting policies to help the rich.
Obama's riff on Romney's use of the word "marvelous" to describe Representative Paul Ryan's budget plans carried a subtle message.
"It's a word you kind of associate with the upper class, and I think that the intention was to tweak Romney for being wealthy and, you know, sort of brought up in the kinds of circles where they would say ‘marvelous,'" said Kenneth Sherrill, a political science expert at New York's Hunter College.
"That's trying to get under his skin a little bit."
Ezra Klein:
There’s a bottom line here: You can’t cut spending without cutting spending. But Ryan wants to have it both ways: He wants to get the credit for cutting spending, but he doesn’t want to have to propose specific spending cuts. Oh, and he doesn’t want anyone to extrapolate what those cuts would be, either.
Of course, even Ryan’s supporters should see the problem here. If these cuts are too unpopular to detail, then they’re going to be too unpopular to pass. If the only way to defend Ryan’s budget is to beat back any attempts to make it specific, then it’s an empty, useless document.
Gallup:
Americans' self-reported daily spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online averaged $74 per day in March, up from $63 in February, and up 16% compared with the same month a year ago ($64). The best economic confidence in four years, strong job creation, higher gas prices, warmer weather than usual, and a relatively early Easter are likely responsible for sending self-reported consumer spending up in March.
Republicans, nonetheless, continue to hope for bad news so they have something to campaign on.
BTW, in case you missed it, John Derbyshire over at National Review is in deep doo-doo over his latest racial screed.
National Review writer ignites firestorm over 'disgusting rant' on race
Conservative columnist writes piece urging parents of 'nonblack' children to shield kids from contact with black Americans
See also:
• Why National Review Must Fire John Derbyshire (Forbes)
• Why John Derbyshire Hasn't Been Fired (Yet) (Atlantic)
• National Review cans racist writer (Daily Kos).
Good ol' Derb. Too bad we had to let him go.
Maureen Dowd:
The message of Jesus, after all, is not about exclusion, but inclusion.
Briggs said that most American Catholics will never go along with retrogressive dictates of the church, like the one against artificial contraception. “God,” he noted dryly, “only had one son.”
Happy Easter and Passover.