The GOP Death March

esteban leading the charge! Onward through the fog!

GM soars, Obama rises, Romney sweats, Ron Paul talks about Austrian economists
By Brent Budowsky - 02/17/12 10:05 AM ET

It was a week that gave street cred to my latest column, “The GOP death march.” General Motors earnings soared to record levels after the success of the Obama auto program. Mitt Romney added new insults to the legacy of his great father, George Romney. Ron Paul continued his apparent flirtation with Romneyism, refusing to criticize the vulture capitalist while the Paul campaign begins to seriously fade.

The holy warriors of the far right continue their increasingly successful effort to persuade every woman to vote Democratic. Nancy Pelosi brilliantly points out that a Republican hearing panel about women's health did not include one woman. A leading GOP financier remembers the good old days when women put aspirin between their knees for birth control.

Let’s all rejoice in the success of the Obama auto program, the revival of the American auto industry, the comeback of the American economy, the reduction in jobless claims, the lowering of unemployment, and the increase in the creation of new jobs!

It now appears that Mitt Romney, who attacks Santorum over earmarks, was an earmark champion himself as governor and during the Olympics. Does Mitt ever take the same position on Tuesday that he did on Monday?

Mitt Romney devised two new insults this week aimed at his father, George Romney. While George spent a lifetime building good relations between labor and management, Mitt is now championing himself in Michigan as Mr. We Hate Unions! While George Romney was a free trader, his wayward son is now championing himself as Mr. Protectionist.

George Romney would not only endorse Obama today, he would take young Mitt across his knees and administer a serious spanking for pretending to be Mr. Surrender to the radical right.

Another sad case this week is Ron Paul, whom I now believe agrees with the vulture-capitalist ideals of Mitt Romney, and who certainly has refused to challenge Romney directly.

Paul has his devoted followers who will finance his campaign, but his wider support has begun to shrink, and he appears destined to revert to being a 12 percent candidate. By refusing to take on Mitt, Ron has lost his place in the campaign, which now appears like a seminar on Austrian economists that is unable to adjust to modern events.

Meanwhile, I will not name any names, but certain Republican consultants have begun to launch fierce attacks (I am laughing as I write this) against President Obama alleging (this is hilarious) that he is a racial bigot and bringing up (can you believe this?) Jeremiah Wright and Muslims.

As the week ends, the aspirin-as-birth-control wing of the GOP is riding high. The gender gap for Democrats is becoming intergalactic. Surly Republicans angrily peddle their greatest-hits album of losing arguments and continue to attack Clint Eastwood for hoping America succeeds. Jobs are coming back. The president's favorable numbers have risen 80 percent from his lows to his triumphant 2008 support.

If current trends continue it will be springtime for Obama as the death march of the GOP growls toward its final destination.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-bl...eats-ron-paul-talks-about-austrian-economists

 

Poll: Republicans on Verge of Political Death
By Kenneth T. Walsh

February 17, 2012 RSS Feed Print
There's more evidence that the Republicans have placed themselves in a perilous position as voters begin to focus on their choices in the November election.

The latest national survey by the Democrat-oriented research firm of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner finds that, "The Republican brand is in a state of collapse—over 50 percent of voters give the Republican Party a cool, negative rating. The presidential race and the congressional battles are interacting with each other to drive down their lead candidate (Mitt Romney), the party, and perceptions of the congressional Republicans."

[Obama's Re-election Chances Looking Good.]

The poll of likely voters finds that Democrats are consolidating many of "the progressive voters ... who were responsible for Democratic victories in 2006 and 2008. These voters—unmarried women, young voters, and minorities—dropped off in 2010 and lagged throughout 2011. They have returned in a big way for Democrats, led by a resurgence and re-engagement of unmarried women. Only young voters have not been re-consolidated, which is either a problem or an opportunity."

The survey also finds that, "Romney may be on the edge of political death. The shift against him is one of the biggest in the polls and he now competes with Republicans in Congress for unpopularity."

[Newt Gingrich's Popularity Falling Fast.]

The survey was conducted for Democracy Corps and Women's Voices, two Democrat-oriented research and advocacy groups.

Among the survey's findings:

--Sixty-eight percent of voters disapprove of the Republicans in Congress, a 22-point increase from a year ago.

--Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, gets a negative rating from 47 percent of voters. About 32 percent give him a very negative rating, up 7 points since last month.

--Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who is vying with Romney for front-runner status in the GOP presidential race, gets a negative rating from 38 percent of voters and a positive rating from only 29 percent.

--Among the reasons for the Republicans' decline is a public perception that they blocked a payroll tax-cut extension (which has now been approved) and their perceived focus on social issues when the voters are most concerned about the economy, according to the poll.

--President Obama leads Romney among unmarried women by 65 to 30 percent, up from a lead of 54-37 for Obama at the end of last year--a huge factor in the president's overall upswing.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/Ke.../poll-republicans-on-verge-of-political-death