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Subscribe to RSSAfter a week off, we are gearing up for the next installment of Inside the Boiler Room! Please post your questions for Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro below.
You can also tweet us, @NBCFirstRead, @mmurraypolitics or@DomenicoNBC, or post on our Facebook page.
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Mark & Domenico,
What is your analysis for President Obama's recent rise in polling?
Does taking his message to the people have anything to do with it?
Do you think after accessing the current Republican field, moderates and independents are saying thanks but no thanks?
Nice to see voters are finally starting to pay attention as campaign season swings into high gear...
This is a serious question: do you think the Republicans are "throwing" the presidential race because it's too hard to be President during a recession? The establishment is attacking Cain, the Tea Party is unenthusiastic about Romney, none of the "stars" like Jeb Bush, Christie, or Mitch Daniels are coming forward to run, it doesn't look like the GOP really wants the Presidency.
HA!
All we've heard since 12:01 PM on January 20, 2009 is just how vulnerable President Obama will be shen he's up for re-election.
Well, if he's supposed to be such an easy target then, in the immortal words of Clara Peller, "Where's the beef?"
Where are the best and brightest that the GOP has to offer?
Daniels, Christie, McDonnell, Jindal, Barbour, Pataki...all of them are sitting this one out. Why?
Maybe because the view is good from the cheap seats and it's easier to sit back and criticize than it is to actually try and lead.
What are some of your sources for tips you get about stories? How do you choose which stories to follow up on?
Do we know who leaked the Cain story to Politico? I'm thinking it's Karl Rove.
The next POTUS only needs to win 11 states to have enough electoral votes to claim victory but how many states would it take if you take out Texas?
How many if you take out California?
Follow-up:
11 states are only 22% of all the states but just over 50% of the population. The electoral process allows as little as 26% of the population to determine the next President.
Shouldn’t this be a call to move to a popular vote, allowing everyone to have a say?
What is the probability that none of the GOP candidates could garner enough votes for nomination and we'd have a brokered GOP convention?
good question! "Brokered convention," haven't heard that term for awhile.
Impossible in the modern media age. The Parties want the Conventions to be one big campaign commercial.
Yes Bob 1887910,
But what could increase viewership more than not choosing one of the "loser" candidates that they put forward so far. The GOP needs the suspense factor. If they go in there with Romney having the thing all sewed up, who will watch?
Besides, the power brokers, the people paying the bills of the current candidates, like the Kochs, are indirectly financing Herman Cain's plummeting campaign probably as a foil to Romney. If they don't like any of the current candidates, wouldn't it make sense for them to spread the wealth, and the delegates, hoping to broker their own "unvetted by the media" candidate at the convention?
I think Huckabee, Christie, and possibly Rubio, may have been told to sit it out and wait for the call from the convention. The GOP certainly can't be happy with the current crop of misfits.
How many sexual harassment incidents does it take to kill a presidential campaign?
How far can the GOP run on a party platform that seems to be nothing more than "Anybody But Obama" and at what point do they have to present what they are running FOR instead of only presenting what they're running AGAINST?
Actually, just presenting what you are running against, in this particular election, would be more than enough.
Yes, that is how fed up the American electorate is with the whole Obama administration.
Strategy dictates a generic profile amongst the candidates on the actual issues. Once the winner of the primaries is chosen, then, we can expect more specifics from that candidate. In fact, I wouldn't reveal too much until the actual presidential debates. Timing is everything.
hey Mark & Domenico,
When will you write an article about Eric Holder and Fast & Furious
or the 4 "green " companies that helped bankrupt the tax payer,
or the Feds attacking Boeing for trying to create 1000 NON Union jobs in So.Carolina
or the Republican Bills which are sitting on Harry Reid's desk,
or the fact that the Dems do NOT have a budget ??
crickets......
Leona,
You left out the lawsuits, brought by the Federal government against three staets, for trying to do something about illegal immigration within their states.
or why the media does a crappy job of reporting... how spending us out of debt isn't working...
Basically how is it possible we could have elected a president that clearly wasn't ready for the job and a man whose past is such a mystery, while we seem to know every little detail about the Republican candidates?
One more question: How many democrats have seen the movie Ides of March?
Bill T, or more succinctly, how many democrats saw the movie Ides of March, and felt they were looking in a mirror?
If the president knew he wasn't vetted properly by the media back in 2008, did that give him an excuse not to use standard underwriting procedures with solyndra prior to giving them a $500,000,000 loan that was basically flushed down the toilet
The GOP establishment and TP are at odds with each other; Romney still sits at 23-25% despite the woes of the others. Do you think there will be a third-party candidate coming from the right?
If my immensely popular Governor Bob McDonnell helps flips the State Senate to the GOP next week, giving Republicans unprecedented full control of Virginia government, will he then top Marco Rubio in the Veepstakes rankings?
Bob who???
It's not ethical to use your own anonymous posts to boost your vice presidential ambitions. Besides, with this groups of Presidential candidates, I think the GOP would be better off going with Ronald McDonald for vp.
We've heard a lot of talk about whether Cain's actions towards women disqualifies him for the presidency. The obvious technical answer is no, there are no laws that say that once accused of sexual harassment you can no longer be president. But given the Republican field I'm wondering is there anything that is disqualifying electorally.
Think about it. Bachman is insane. Herman Cain is, well, you know. Perry is the first living brain donor and seems to take drugs of some sort. Romney has no soul and may well be a robot. Santorum is a frothy fool. Newt Gingrich was kicked out of his own party for being a scumbag of the first order.
WOW nisl,...
the liberal nasty venom is out !
......"insane", "brain donor", "takes drugs", "no soul", "frothy fool","robot", "scumbag"......
Mr.Obama respectfully asked for everyone to stop the name calling and "bring back civility."
I guess the Obama adoration society didn't get the memo.
Hey Mr.President ! The lemmings are ignoring your request !!!!!! LOL
Leona - Actually comments similar to those I made above* have been made by Republicans as well as Democrats and Independents.
If anything I'm being to nice to the lot of them.
* Okay, not many Republicans have called Santorum a "Frothy Fool". That's a bit of an inside joke. That said, Republicans have recently said of Santorum, “For pure, blind stupidity, nobody beats Santorum. In my 20 years in the Senate, I never met a dumber member.”
nisl,
Nice try. No one is buying it!
Mr.President! The liberal lemmings are spewing the hate speech again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol
sorry you @!$%#s on the right stole my party and took it so far right the soccer moms can't vote for you nuts bags....the party of hate calling liberals who learned from the right to fight fire with fire...and now you're mad...leona give it a rest go burn some books you'll feel better...
marc,
Sorry you're having a bad day but I am just reporting what I read here. The proof is in the rhetoric posted by people like "nisl"..........you should condemn this language from "nisl" too. Instead you defend it by making excuses.
No one is buying it.
nisl: "insane", "brain donor", "takes drugs", "no soul", "frothy fool","robot", "scumbag"......
I would like to know why with all of the TP obstruction and the Republicans bowing down to the TP, why do Democrats seem so fractured? Why are they not rallying around the POTUS and making a stand together?
Also why does the Republican Party not boot the TP and force them to form their own party? The TP is killing the good old Republican Party. I just know that Money is going to be the answer...
Alos, what can be done about all of the Voter ID stuff the GOP has passed like here in Texas? This law is simply to obstruct votes.
Robert:"...with all of the TP obstruction..."
With all due respect, haven't you heard over and over that the Repub bills are sitting on Harry Reid's desk and he won't bring them up for a vote??
Who's the obstructionist Party??
Put down the kool aid.
leona 781 bills are setting from pelosi's house that couldn't get by the 60 vote rule in the senate for the last three years answer that one honey....then we'll worry about your anti abortion bill and defense of marriage and tax cuts for the rich...
hey marc,
with all due respect.........from 2009 to 2010, Nancy Pelosi forced Obamacare on this country and went against 60% of the American people by doing so. The Dems and Obama shoved it down our throats. So let's not feel sorry for N.Pelosi.
I would like to know given the fact that over 80% of Americans say they are angry, disgusted and fed up with politics as usual in Washington, and with Congress in particular, why has nothing changed? Do the members of Congress not care? What will it take to change their intransigence?
Independent: "why has nothing changed?"
because we haven't impeached Obama yet.............
Obama: "there will NOT be any lobbyists in my White House !!" ( unless they come through the back door)
get money out of politics i went whitewater rafting with 17 congressional aides they said if your congressmen does something for you it was and accident...only goal is relection.....
leona who's responsibilty is it to pass bills the republican house and the divided senate that has never been in obama's control see 60 vote threshold please...think.....
With a 9% approval rating for Congress, what does the approval rating look like when the question turns to would you re-elect your own representative/senator?
Simple...MY representative is just fine...it's YOUR representative who is the problem.
Why do you think there's so much talk about term limits in Congress?
Fred lives in Hamilton, OH and hates Nancy Pelosi. Mike lives San Francisco, CA and hates John Boehner. The problem for both of them, as they see it, is that neither of them has any say about whether the other guy's representative gets re-elected.
"You're representative is what's wrong with Congress," they say.
So, why not get The Constitution to do what they can't?
Since I can't vote your guy out of office I'll make The Constitution get rid of them.
Hey maybe if Nancy Pelosi had "drained the swamp" in '08 of her own Dems ( who have committed crimes) , the approval rating of Congress would be better than it is??
You know ....people like Charlie "tax cheat" Rangel, Maxine "funneled tax money to my husband's bank" Waters, Anthony "sexted nude pics" Weiner, and Eric " I never heard of Fast & Furious" Holder.
Leona Hey baby, dinner? Pizza & koch. You forgot about your party's Class acts. Mark i like young pages who work for me Foley, Larry wide stance Craig, And last of all Newt I leaving your ass, please don't get up off your cancer bed. Gingrich!
Smitty,
You're struggling. I was speaking of real "crimes" committed.
The leaders of pack have zero or less chance of being president. That would be Perry, Romney. Cain. How come we don't have coverage on lessor knowns like Gary Johnson. He is the one I would like to hear more from.
Two questions for the leaders of this site:
1. How do you think the President will attempt to defend the record of his administration?
2. Do you feel the media will ask the hard questions of both candidates during the debates, or will they throw softballs to the President while throwing strikes to the opponent?
1. How do you think the President will attempt to defend the record of his administration?
He won't have to defend his administration. The Republican party is fielding the worst collection of candidates in history. Most of their candidates couldn't be elected class president. The first rule of politics -- when your opponent is making a fool out of himself (her) leave him along. The Republican candidates are simply a huge collection of fools.
So Charlie, then you like the statis quo of this administration and are happy with the direction it's taking?
Winemaker,
I do. The only thing is that I wish Obama had just let the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire instead of trying to bargain with Boehner and McConnell. I think neither of them can be trusted and they proved me correct. And I think the President should have taken the on the issue of growing wealth inequities sooner, before the 2010 midterm elections. Granted, he had other pressing disasters left over from the incompetence of the Bush years, but he still should have laid out a better warning of what people were in store for if they supported GOP candidates.
Now that we all know better, Obama's popularity is rising while the GOP is falling. And status quo is the correct spelling. Of course, I wouldn't expect a GOP poster to know Latin when they barely understand English.
MkeMike,
The name on the tax legislation is the Obama Tax Credit Bill. His Dems could have stopped the legislation and Obama has ownership of this document.
Can any politician be trusted? No, and that goes for the President as well. He has made his share of blunders, flip/flops and just down right lies.
But as for the issue of wealth distribution - why should this be something any President should be involved in? If I take the risk to start and grow a business, pay my expenses and the outragious taxes involved in a Chapter S Corporation, why should you or anyone else participate in whatever earnings I receive for my product and services? I took the risk and I should be the person to reap the rewards of my results.
Unlike you, I support results that will reduce the size of government, reduce unnecessary government regulations, limit the public sector unions, reduce the debt and make the politicians accountable to the taxpayers. Supporting GOP candidates isn't a bad thing - nor is supporting candidates of any party that want more responsive government. Do you believe you receive a good rate of return for your tax dollars today? We can't continue to spend our way out of a recession guy.
As for your last comment - be a libbie a$$ if you want. To paraphrase from the schoolyard: 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but names won't ever hurt me.' In the future, try harder to be insulting.
Depending on the poll, Obama isn't fairing well.
Read the real date teatards. Obama is beating every teatard candidate.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/president_obama_vs_republican_candidates.html
Any prognosis on the upcoming holiday spending season? Will the supercommitee squash it?
Seeing that the GOP and T-P movement oppose 99.9% of everything the 99'ers support
WHO is going to vote Republican aside from the 1% ?
Well Justina,
If you're correct in your statistics, then why even bother with an election. Just make Obama Emperor for life with a huge blank check. LOL
Obviosly you are just another ignorant liberal, with no idea of whats coming in November 2012.
i'm thinking ...plain bob 2012...
dang it...sometimes i get my head stuck...now here's my question...why do they make the pickle jars ...so small at the top...and my second question...why is everybody going the wrong way on the inter-state...
simple question to all if you want to cut the size of goverment what are you going to get rid of give me your budget.....that's all.....that will tell me everything i need to know about the canidate...what he values what he doesn't..
Why is the Christian Family Values Right and T-baggers embracing and rallying around a dangerous Sexual Harassment Predator like Herman Cain?
Oh I forgot .... his victims were just women
Why do Republicans believe the same policies that created this economic mess in the first place, tax cuts and deregulation, will now somehow get us out of it?
Hi guys...
Thanks as always for taking our questions.
It is fairly obvious that the overriding issue in the 2012 election will be the economy. However, the Presidency will be won or lost based on battles fought in a handful of swing states. What are some of the other issues that could move a swing state one way or another outside of the economy? (An obvious example would be social security and Florida).