ABC Politics News4294988114 stories between 11/10/2009 at 19:28:06 and 05/20/2012 09:21:14
Palin Endorsements Still Work
Sarah Palin's endorsements, so crucial to the elections of 2010, still hold sway, even if her candidates don't always win. She brings attention to underdogs. A Texas endorsement will soon be tested, and a Nebraska primary win may or may not have been helped by a Palin endorsement.
12:11 PM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Obama and Camp David, by Mark Knoller's numbers
When President Barack Obama's national security advisor, Tom Donilon, set out Thursday to give reporters a bit of history about Camp David, he knew there was one person in the room he had to name-check: CBS News reporter Mark Knoller. "It's always risky to do this with the presidential historian, Mark Knoller, in the room, but I'll do this anyway -- at the risk of being corrected immediately," Donilon joked in the White House briefing room as he opened a briefing on the G8 Summit. That's because one of Knoller's standout traits in the White House press corps is his role providing the unofficial institutional memory: He keeps track of reams of presidential data. How many times has Obama met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin? How much money has Obama raised in this election cycle? What state has Obama visited the most? Knoller Knows ? and Knoller Shares. In that spirit, here is Knoller's online piece describing Camp David, why it's not...
12:11 PM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Mitt Romney's first general election ad makes day one' promises
Mitt Romney is out with his first campaign ad of the general election, a spot detailing what "day one" of his potential presidency would look like. Romney told reporters Thursday his first ad would be "positive," but the 30-second spot takes plenty of digs at President Barack Obama. Among other things, Romney vows to "immediately" approve the Keystone pipeline, "creating thousands of jobs that Obama blocked." The ad also says Romney will introduce tax cuts and reforms "that reward job creators, not punish them." And as the candidate mentions in virtually every stump speech, the spot says Romney will issue an order to "begin replacing Obamacare with commonsense health care reform." Romney aides did not say how much the ad buy is for or where the spot will run. But a Republican source told NBC News the campaign had reserved $1.3 million of ad time beginning Friday in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. More popular Yahoo! News...
10:31 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Mitch Daniels dismisses Romney veep talk: It won't happen'
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who endorsed Mitt Romney only after the Republican primaries, pushed back hard against the idea that he'll be chosen as Romney's running mate Friday. "Let me just give you the best tip you'll get all day. Make some easy money and bet against this whole idea," Daniels told MSNBC's Chuck Todd during an interview on "The Daily Rundown." "I'm not interested in doing that. It won't happen in any way. If I have something to contribute to the national debate we're in, then I'll look for other ways." Todd pressed Daniels on what he would do in the event Romney's calls him to offer the job, and Daniels dismissed the possibility entirely. "It's the call that won't come," Daniels said. More popular Yahoo! News stories: ? Gallup poll: Romney's 'favorable' rating jumps ? The man behind the 2012 Jeremiah Wright ads: Fred 'Demon Sheep' Davis' greatest hits ? Romney...
10:31 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics On 'This Week': Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
House Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi are interviewed exclusively on 'This Week.'
10:31 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Veep Beat: Rubio's Family Life, Pawlenty Hush-Hush
?MEET THE RUBIOS? In her first extended interview, Jeanette Rubio joined her husband Marco Rubio to discuss their family life with Politico and said that she is prepared for whatever scrutiny the couple may undergo as his national profile begins to rise. ?I?m prepared for...
09:41 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Edwards Facing Toughest Vote of Life
John Edwards is facing the biggest vote of his life as the case against the former president candidate is expected to be given to the jury this morning.
09:41 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Defining Moment (The Note)
By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone) and AMY WALTER (@amyewalter) NOTABLES: DEFINE OR BE DEFINED: With Democrats trashing Mitt Romney?s business record at Bain Capital, the presumptive Republican nominee is attempting to wage the presidential campaign on his terms. He released his first general election television ad...
09:41 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Watch: Facebook's Eduardo Saverin vs. U.S. Senate
ABC's Sunlen Miller on the bill to ban non-citizen Saverin from the U.S.
09:41 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Latest GOP Ad Player: A Lover of Bison, a Hater of Earmarks
Add Joe Ricketts to the list of rich conservatives Democrats might have to track closely during the general election.
08:01 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Obama hosts the G8 and NATO summits, plus more to watch for this weekend in politics
Diplomacy is the word for the weekend. President Barack Obama hosts the G8 Summit at Camp David on Friday and Saturday and then the NATO Summit in Chicago on Sunday and Monday. He kicks off the four-day stretch Friday morning with a meeting at the White House with new France President Francois Hollande. Top topics for the weekend: Reviving the global economy and winding down the war in Afghanistan. Mitt Romney will spend Friday campaigning in New Hampshire, a battleground state that Obama won in 2008, and CNN reports that his campaign will roll out its first general election ad on Friday. Romney is scheduled to spend Sunday in New York and Connecticut raising money. Ron Paul will be out there raising money this weekend, too, but not for himself. He'll be in St. Cloud, Minn., on Friday at a fundraiser for Senate candidate Kurt Bills, and he'll speak on Saturday at a fundraiser for the Minnesota Republican Party. And Herman Cain speaks on Saturday at...
08:01 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Romney Ad: What He'll Do on Day 1
WEST PALM BEACH ? The Mitt Romney campaign released today its first ad of the General Election, a 30-second spot that focuses on what the candidate would do on the first day in the White House. The ad, which according to reports is set to...
08:01 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics The Negative Political Ad: Risk Vs. Reward
The leak of a major ad campaign proposal that would go after President Obama?s past relationship with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright has had both Republican and Democrats ? even the billionaire who had requested the pitch ? trying to distance themselves. Yet dirty tricks, negative campaigning...
07:11 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics The Note's Must-Reads for Friday May 18, 2012
The Note?s Must-Reads are a round-up of today?s political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com Compiled by ABC News? Carrie Halperin and Amanda VanAllen MITT ROMNEY ABC News? Matt Negrin: ?Mitt Romney Defends...
04:41 AM on 05/18/2012 ABC Politics Obama saddened' by Donna Summer's death
President Barack Obama said Thursday that he and first lady Michelle Obama were "saddened" to hear of the death of "Disco Queen" Donna Summer. "Her voice was unforgettable, and the music industry has lost a legend far too soon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Donna's family and her dedicated fans," the president said in a written statement. The big-voiced star had '70s hits with "I Feel Love" and "Last Dance" and scored a 1983 smash with "She Works Hard for the Money." In December 2009, she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, honoring Obama. The president also mourned the passing of Dick Clark back in April. But he kept mum about the deaths of Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Beastie Boy MCA (Adam Yauch), a fervent activist on behalf of people in Tibet. More popular Yahoo! News stories: ? Gallup poll: Romney's 'favorable' rating jumps ? The man...
08:51 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Afghanistan, economy top the agenda as Obama hosts world leaders
President Barack Obama on Friday kicks off a frenetic four days of guns-and-butter diplomacy, including a pair of high-stakes international summits focused on reviving the sputtering global economy and winding down the unpopular war in Afghanistan. Both issues will shape Obama's legacy ? not to mention his hopes for re-election in November. And the back-to-back gatherings of the Group of Eight rich countries at Camp David and the NATO summit in Chicago offer vital opportunities to get the United States and its closest allies in closer harmony. White House officials have worriedly watched Europe's debt crisis, concerned that a recession there could infect the already-weak American economy. And the president has made a successful handover of security responsibility from NATO-led forces to their Afghan counterparts by the end of 2014 one of his signature foreign policy goals. Obama's diplomatic dash opens Friday with a visit from France's new president, François...
08:51 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Mitt Can't Remember But Stays Consistent, Ex-PATRIOT, Demon Sheep of GOP Admen (PM Note)
?Ex-PATRIOT? ? Schumer Targets Anti-Tax Facebook Set - Act to Target Eduardo Saverin ? It?s not a Bill of Attainder, they say, because they?d target any soon-to-be Internet billionaire who renounces his (or her) citizenship to avoid paying taxes ? http://abcn.ws/LgYc14 Eduardo Saverin Writes from...
08:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Die-Hard Yankees Fan Sonia Sotomayor Addresses Graduates at Yankee Stadium
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor had three opening words as she addressed the graduates of New York University on Wednesday who were holding their ceremony at Yankee Stadium. ?This is a-w-e-some. ?I grew up in a public housing project in the Bronx just a few...
08:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Tim Pawlenty Now Mum On VP Prospects
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty slightly changed his tune on his vice presidential prospects Thursday when he didn?t rule out the possibility that he might get picked as Mitt Romney?s running mate. Just days before, he had told reporters to take him off the list....
08:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Third Party Group Launches Ads on Behalf of Chris Christie
Ads that tout New Jersey governor Chris Christie?s education record and bipartisanship are set to run in his home state markets as part of a $1.6 million television ad campaign by an outside group, The Committee for Our Children?s Future. The group?s fourth ad will...
08:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Romney Defends Wright Quote: 'I Stand by What I Said, Whatever It Was'
What began as the resurrection of one of the most animated characters in the 2008 campaign on Thursday ended with Mitt Romney being forced to answer to reporters and consequently offer up a flub of an answer on whether he supports negative ads. After a...
08:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics The Mystery of the Capitol Hill Burglaries
After a number of Capitol Hill offices have fallen victim to a crime wave of burglary and theft this spring, the U.S. Capitol Police continues to investigate who might be responsible, leaving congressional staffers on high alert and clamping down on their personal belongings and...
07:31 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Super PAC plan denounced as divisive' by Obama spokesman
President Barack Obama's chief spokesman on Thursday denounced as "divisive" a reported plan by a conservative super PAC to assail President Barack Obama with ads featuring his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Press secretary Jay Carney also stressed that the president's focus remained the struggling economy. "To launch a multi-million-dollar, divisive attack campaign is not what the American people want. And I think there are moments when you have to stand up and say that that's not the right way to go," Carney told reporters at his daily briefing, adding that it was "somewhat reassuring" to see denunciations coming from Democrats and from Republicans alike. Carney noted that Obama had addressed questions about his controversial former pastor and about race generally in the 2008 campaign, notably in a "very memorable, detailed speech" in Philadelphia. "Right now, in 2012, we're focused on what the American people are focused on: Jobs, the...
07:31 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Sen. Marco Rubio Warns of 'Daily' Debt Ceiling Crisis, Weighs in on Facebook's Saverin
Congress won?t have to vote again on raising the debt ceiling until next year, but Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., warned Thursday that the country is dealing with a ?debt ceiling crisis on a daily basis? and suggested that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner?s claim that a...
06:51 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics John Edwards was a bad husband' but did not violate law, defense says
Closing arguments were delivered in the John Edwards corruption trial on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C., with prosecutors telling the jury that Edwards knew exactly what he was doing in 2008 when in using nearly $1 million in campaign funds to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter, and lawyers for the former presidential candidate arguing that while he may have been a " bad husband," he did not violate any federal laws in doing so. "John was a bad husband," Edwards' lawyer Abbe Lowell said. "But there is not the remotest chance that John did or intended to violate the law." "If what John did was a crime," Lowell added. "We'd better build a lot more court rooms, hire a lot more prosecutors and build a lot more jails." Edwards faces six criminal counts?including conspiracy, four counts of receiving illegal campaign contributions and one count of making false statements?for allegedly soliciting and secretly spending over $925,000 to...
06:51 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics G8 summit sleeping arrangements? That's classified, White House says
World leaders attending the Group of Eight summit at Camp David this weekend will find a "small and intimate" setting for talks on Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, and the sputtering global economy ? but at least they won't have to bunk together, said National Security Advisor Tom Donilon on Thursday. Still, not all of the bungalows at the secluded presidential retreat are the same size. So with a group of status-conscious politicians, who's sleeping where? "The allocation system, of course, is classified. I really can't go into that," Donilon told reporters at a briefing on the eve of the summit. "There are adequate facilities out there for each delegation ? each head of state ? to have his or her cabin, and for each to be accompanied by a key staff person, and in some cases two or three staff people," he explained. Obama expects leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia at Camp David, a military installation whose formal name is...
06:51 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics The Demon Sheep of GOP Admen
Witches! Demon Sheep! Dang Fences! If you saw a political ad in the last decade or so that really mad you scratch your head, there?s a good chance it came from Fred Davis. His ads range from arresting to odd and are often controversial. A...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics 'Americans Elect' Ends Online Primary
Americans Elect, the group that aimed to nominate a third presidential candidate through an online primary, ended its nomination process today after no prospective candidates met their minimum requirements. To run in its online primary a candidate had to get 10,000 ?clicks? of support (1,000...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Obama Courts Veterans for Votes
President Obama is making a targeted effort to court the votes of military veterans and their families, believing the constituency is in play for November and could make a difference in key battleground states. The Obama campaign today kicked off a grassroots organizing effort ?...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Scott Walker leads new Wisconsin recall poll
A new poll in Wisconsin has Scott Walker holding a growing lead over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the upcoming recall election. The Republican governor holds a six-point lead over Democrat Barrett, 50 to 44 percent, among likely voters surveyed by Marquette Law School, May 9-12. The poll's margin of error for likely voters was plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. The results represent a five-point increase for Walker over Barrett since Marquette's previous poll in late April. The findings released this week by Marquette mirror those released by other polling outlets. Public Policy Polling recently conducted a survey on the recall race for liberal site Daily Kos which showed Walker leading Barrett 49 to 45 percent. That poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Activists launched a recall effort against Walker following his 2011 war on state public employee unions. Barrett was chosen by state voters in the...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics What Palin Can Teach Obama About Seizing the Moment
Life is really about the moments and whether we?re ready to take advantage of them. We can meet someone and have a wonderful connection, then back off because of fear or pre-existing plans and hope another one comes along. But many times when that moment...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics The Return of Rev. Wright: Today's Q's for O's WH - 5/17/2012
TAPPER: Jay, you joined the Obama team long after President Obama had cut off his ties with Reverend Wright, but his name has re-emerged in the news lately. First of all, there?s this ? there was this proposal for a super-PAC, that The New York...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Drones Killing Civilians and Green on Blue Attacks - Today's Q's for O's NSA - 5/17/2012
TOM DONILON, NATIONAL SECURTY ADVISER: Hi, Jake. How are you? JAKE TAPPER: First of all, Tom, thanks for coming and doing this. I appreciate it. Two questions. One, given, according to Mr. Brennan, President Obama?s desire for there to be more transparency when it comes...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Rubio on VP choice: I'm curious to see who it's going to be'
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has said for months that he's not going to answer questions related to vice presidential speculation, but he said Thursday that he's at least "curious" to find out who Mitt Romney picks. During a Fox Business Network interview set to air Thursday night, Rubio, a possible contender for the job, told host Neil Cavuto that he has "no doubt" Romney will make a "great selection," and he's looking forward to hearing who the choice is. "I've said repeatedly I'm not going to discuss the vice presidential selection process," Rubio said. "I'm not going to discuss it in any way. Mitt Romney has a long history of making good decisions in his personal life, in his business life, in his political life. So, I have no doubt he's going to make a great selection as his running mate. And I'm confident of that, and I'm curious to see who it's going to be, like everyone is." Rubio has consistently downplayed the speculation about whether he's in the...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Born in Kenya': Obama's literary agent misidentified his birthplace in 1991
A possible source of the so-called "birther" issue--or at least a potential cause of the rumors that have dogged President Barack Obama--has been identified. Obama's former literary agency misidentified his birthplace as Kenya while trying to promote the then-Harvard Law grad as an author in 1991. According to a promotional booklet produced by the agency, Acton & Dystel, to showcase its roster of writers, Obama was "born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii." Miriam Goderich edited the text of the bio; she is now a partner at the Dystel & Goderich agency, which lists Obama as one of its current clients. "This was nothing more than a fact checking error by me--an agency assistant at the time," Goderich wrote in an emailed statement to Yahoo News. "There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can...
06:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Romney again rejects using Jeremiah Wright to attack Obama, despite doing so in the past
Mitt Romney continued to distance his campaign from a conservative super PAC's proposal to run ads linking President Obama to his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Speaking to reporters in Jacksonville, Fla., where he campaigned on Thursday, Romney said he rejects any efforts to link Obama with Wright. "I want to make it very clear, I repudiate that effort. I think it's the wrong course for a PAC or a campaign," Romney said. "I hope that our campaigns can respectively be about the futures and about issues and about a vision for America." But asked about comments he made during a February radio interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity in which he invoked Obama's connection to Wright, Romney said he was unfamiliar with his comments but nonetheless stood by what he said. As Politico was first to report, Romney brought up Wright after Hannity played a clip of Obama citing the diversity of the United States and declaring, "We are no...
04:51 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Mitt Romney Says Bain Attacks Are Part of Obama's 'Character Assassination'
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Mitt Romney said today that he is ?disappointed? in President Obama?s campaign for being ?focused on character assassination,? saying that he considers the president?s attacks on his career at Bain to be an attempt to make him seem to be ?not a good...
04:51 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Justice Breyer Robbed Again
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has been robbed again. This time a housekeeper discovered that his Georgetown home had been burglarized while no one was home on May 4th. The DC police is currently investigating the matter a court spokesperson said. It was only...
04:51 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Can John Edwards Come Back?
Can John Edwards recover a career from this scandal? That?s the question we?re answering today on The Bottom Line. First things first. Tomorrow the jury takes his fate in their hands, deciding whether he broke federal campaign laws with those payments funneled to Rielle Hunter. ...
04:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics Lawmakers Express Frustration Over Lack of Plan to Handle Tsunami Debris
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill expressed frustration Thursday that states, not the federal government, will have to deal with the majority of clean-up when marine debris from last year?s tsunami in Japan hits the West Coast. During the first hearing on tsunami debris held by the...
04:11 PM on 05/17/2012 ABC Politics |
