This, That and Other Things…
Whooooa – Booooooos and lots of them. That’s what Rick Santorum got at a college campus in New Hampshire. Pretty tough time for the guy who basically tied Romney in the Iowa Caucuses and is considered the political man of the moment. So – here’s what happened: Santorum was drawn into a debate about same sex marriage, which, of course he’s against. He tried reasoning with the young crowd – but it didn’t work.
In other battles, Santorum’s been punching back at Gingrich - as Newt tried portraying Santorum as a rather junior member of the Republican Revolution during the 90s. Santorum said he’d been in on the action early, often and consistently. And he dismissed Newt’s notion that Santorum just doesn’t have the kind of cash and organization it takes to go all the way in the presidential race.
Mitt Romney’s way ahead in New Hampshire – where primary voting is just five days away. He took time out to visit South Carolina – next up in the game. Now, Romney is not beloved by Tea Party folk – and there are many of them in South Carolina ready to give him the cold shoulder, although the state’s governor took a chance and endorsed him.
Other candidates are doing the meetups in New Hampshire today and looking forward to two weekend debates – which could hurt or help them. (Of course, Governor Rick Perry’s still taking his time out in Texas.) Romney’s the guy to get – he’s polling in the 40 percentages in New Hampshire. Strategists say everybody’s gonna try to weaken him, and make Romney a frontrunner with a bad cases of the slooooows as he heads into New Hampshire. His challengers want to see Romney polling back down in the 20s, where we’re used to seeing him.
Back in D.C. – the new consumer watchdog went to work without apologies today – amid angry GOP threats of legal action against his appointment. Richard Cordray’s appointment will put him in charge of policing payday lenders, mortgage brokers and private companies that offer student loans. That’s along with banks and other financial institutions.
The big deal is that Obama put Cordray into office yesterday by appointment. It’s a kick – butt , pretty slick move. Basically, Obama went around GOP Senators who blocked the appointment weeks ago. The President said he just couldn’t wait any longer to protect the American people. Recess appointments are legal. But is the Senate in recess? Well, every few days a few people go in and gavel the empty room to order, gavel out without doing any business. It’s long been done that way, to keep a President from making unwanted appointments on his own. But Obama is calling that procedure a gimmick and calling the big time shots for his 2012 Campaign image. The GOP and others threaten lawsuits. Fun times ahead
