In a competitive US presidential race the best choice for a vice-presidential running mate is usually the blandest. Surveys consistently confirm that people aren’t generally induced to vote for a presidential candidate because of their affinity for the second name on the ballot. Yet those same surveys reveal that a bad vice-presidential pick — such as John McCain’s disastrous Sarah Palin miscalculation in 2008 — can hurt a campaign. So how is it, as the Republicans prepare to anoint Mitt Romney as their candidate at next week’s convention in Tampa, Florida, that they have ended up with Paul Ryan as their man’s running mate?
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have accepted Univision's invitation to attend forums focusing on Latino issues, albeit on separate nights. The "Meet The Candidate" events, hosted by Univision anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas in front of live audiences, will "directly address topics of importance to the Hispanic community in Spanish and English," according to a press release released late Thursday night. The events are being co-sponsored by Facebook; the dates have not been determined.
The "Meet The Candidate" events, hosted by Univision anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas in front of live audiences, will "directly address topics of importance to the Hispanic community in Spanish and English," according to a press release released late Thursday night. The events are being co-sponsored by Facebook; the dates have not been determined.
George W. Bush has spent much of the month with relatives at the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he played golf, rode bicycles and dined with friends. Back in Dallas, the former president will mostly play golf, ride bicycles and dine with friends. Bush, who left office in 2009 with a historically low popularity level, seems content in self-imposed exile. “I crawled out of the swamp, and I’m not crawling back in,” he said in a rare interview with the Hoover Institution this year.
Bush, who left office in 2009 with a historically low popularity level, seems content in self-imposed exile. “I crawled out of the swamp, and I’m not crawling back in,” he said in a rare interview with the Hoover Institution this year.
There is hope for the beer aficionados who want the recipe of President Obama’s “White House Honey Ale,” made in part from honey from First Lady Michelle Obama’s South Lawn beehive. ... last night on twitter, Carney wrote that enough people signed the “We the People” petition, the recipe would be released: “Got a Q today on @wethepeople petition asking us to share WH beer recipe: wh.gov/4y9b If it reaches the threshold, we’ll release it,” Carney tweeted. There’s a 25,000-signatures threshold. So far fewer than 5,000 have signed the petition.
... last night on twitter, Carney wrote that enough people signed the “We the People” petition, the recipe would be released:
“Got a Q today on @wethepeople petition asking us to share WH beer recipe: wh.gov/4y9b If it reaches the threshold, we’ll release it,” Carney tweeted.
There’s a 25,000-signatures threshold.
So far fewer than 5,000 have signed the petition.
Law enforcement authorities are investigating multiple threats made against Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), his family and staff in the days since his controversial comments about abortion and rape, a spokesman said late Thursday.
The anti-Mitt Romney group Dogs Against Romney will hold a rally in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, a day before the Republican National Convention begins. The group was founded specifically to knock Romney as a bad pet owner because he once strapped his dog Seamus in a crate to the top of his car during a 12-hour family road trip. The story came out when Romney ran in the GOP primary in 2008. Animal rights groups ASPCA and PETA both protested the Romneys’ treatment of the dog. [...] "Should we have a President that isn’t even qualified to adopt a pet?" asked Dogs Against Romney founder Scott Crider in a statement. "Dogs aren’t luggage, Mr. Romney. If this is how he treats a furry member of his own family, just think how this lap dog of Wall Street will treat middle-class families as President."
The group was founded specifically to knock Romney as a bad pet owner because he once strapped his dog Seamus in a crate to the top of his car during a 12-hour family road trip. The story came out when Romney ran in the GOP primary in 2008. Animal rights groups ASPCA and PETA both protested the Romneys’ treatment of the dog. [...]
"Should we have a President that isn’t even qualified to adopt a pet?" asked Dogs Against Romney founder Scott Crider in a statement. "Dogs aren’t luggage, Mr. Romney. If this is how he treats a furry member of his own family, just think how this lap dog of Wall Street will treat middle-class families as President."
A Norwegian court ruled Friday that confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was sane, deciding he was criminally responsible for the massacre of 77 people last summer. Reading the ruling, Judge Wenche Elisabeth Arntzen said that "in a unanimous decision ... the court sentences the defendant to 21 years of preventive detention." However, such sentences can be extended under Norwegian law as long as an inmate is considered dangerous. Experts have said Breivik is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Norway doesn't have the death penalty.
Reading the ruling, Judge Wenche Elisabeth Arntzen said that "in a unanimous decision ... the court sentences the defendant to 21 years of preventive detention."
However, such sentences can be extended under Norwegian law as long as an inmate is considered dangerous. Experts have said Breivik is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Norway doesn't have the death penalty.
May your son the doctor introduce you to his fiancée, Bristol Palin.
The Rev. Grant Storms, the former "Christian patriot" pastor whose marches against homosexuality at New Orleans' Southern Decadence festival briefly put him in the national spotlight, was convicted of obscenity Wednesday, for exposing himself while masturbating at Lafreniere Park last year.
Two people were killed and at least eight were wounded in a shooting outside the landmark Empire State Building in New York City on Friday, a New York police source said.
The latest 11 am EDT wind probability forecast from NHC gives Tampa a 17% chance of receiving tropical storm-force winds and a 1% chance of receiving hurricane-force winds on Monday. Tampa is in the NHC cone of uncertainty, though near the edge of it. At a minimum, Tampa will receive very heavy rains and wind gusts in excess of 40 mph. Isaac is going to be hard-pressed to bring hurricane-force winds to the city, though, since any path that takes it close to Tampa would keep the storm too close to land for significant intensification to occur. I put the odds of a mass evacuation being ordered for Tampa during the convention at 1%.