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New poll shows Obama holds slim lead over Romney in Wisconsin
A new poll shows a close presidential race in Wisconsin, Harry Reid isn’t satisfied by Mitt Romney’s tax talk, and Paul Ryan is headed to Florida this weekend.
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What we think about the 50 states — in 1 map
In politics, perception often trumps reality. Put another way: What people think they know about a politician, an issue or anything else goes a long way to determining how they feel about it — whether or not their initial perception is based in reality or not.
That perception obsession has lead us to seek out any and every tool that helps us get at how people think about their politics — and each other.
Paul Ryan’s stimulus problem
Updated at 6:10 p.m. with response from Romney campaign.
Paul Ryan says his office mishandled constituent requests for stimulus funding, which is why he claimed to have never requested stimulus funds even as the documents told a different story.
The GOP’s new vice presidential candidate has said repeatedly that he has never asked for stimulus funds, but recent reports indicate he has written letters on behalf of local businesses seeking them.
Mitt Romney seeks to shift the tax return debate
So, now we know.
After months of his campaign dodging direct questions on the matter, Mitt Romney said Thursday in South Carolina that at no time in the past decade has he paid less than a 13 percent tax rate.
“I’ve paid at least 13 percent and if you add in addition the amount that goes to charity, why the number gets well above 20 percent,” Romney said at a press availability in Greer, South Carolina. (The Romney team notes that this is only the second time — the first was at a press availability in Europe — that the candidate has been directly asked about his effective tax rate.)
4 things we (still) know about Joe Biden
Vice President Joe Biden has been all over the news this week — and not in a good way.
Biden’s trip through the swing state of Virginia has been marred by a series of missteps ranging from slips of the tongue (he pledged to win North Carolina again while in the Commonwealth) to downright gaffes (he used the word “chains” in reference to what a Romney Administration might do to the American public). (Make sure to read Jonathan Martin’s piece on how Biden’s staff tried to manage him — and the media.)
(POSTPONED) Rick Nolan’s 30 year Recess | #FixHangout at 1:30
Update: This event has been postponed. Stay tuned to The Fix for a new date and time.
How has Congress changed in the past 30 years? Former congressman Rick Nolan (D-Minn.), who retired from Congress in 1981, will have a unique take on that if his campaign to defeat Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) is successful in November.
Swing state voters don’t see U.S. economy rebounding
Despite some positive economic signs in a handful of key presidential swing states, voters in those states don’t see the U.S. economy being much better than the rest of the country, according to a new Gallup poll.
There has been a storyline bubbling beneath the surface this election year — The Fix boss wrote on it a couple weeks back — that despite the continued economic hardship in this country, there are signs of progress in a handful of swing states that could, in turn, perform better for President Obama than national polls suggest. The unemployment rate, for example, is either below the national average or trending downward in all eight states rated as swing states by The Fix.
Obama defends Biden comment but nation’s first black governor doesn’t
President Obama defended Vice President Biden’s “chains” remarks in an interview with People magazine Wednesday, while Douglas Wilder, the country’s first elected African-American governor since Reconstruction, has accused Biden of making a race-based appeal.
At issue is a comment Biden made at a campaign rally in southern Virginia on Tuesday. The vice president said that presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s approach to financial regulation will “put ya’ll back in chains.” Biden made the remark in front of a racially mixed audience that included African Americans.
Self-funded candidates struggle in Senate races
Being a government outsider with the ability to rely on personal money to finance a campaign isn’t proving to be a silver bullet this election cycle.
Across the country, self-funding political newcomers from the private sector have struggled in Senate races. Two have lost in less than two weeks in Missouri and Wisconsin, while a third appears likely to lose in Arizona later this month.
Why Mitt Romney isn’t releasing his tax returns, part 563
Mitt Romney still isn’t releasing his tax returns.
In an interview set to air on NBC’s “Rock Center” tonight, Ann Romney reiterated the now-familar position of she and her husband when it comes to putting any more than their 2010 and 2011 returns out: No way, no how.
“We have been very transparent to what’s legally required of us,” Ann Romney told NBC’s Natalie Morales. “There’s going to be no more tax releases given.”
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More persistent ridiculous rumor: Biden swapped for Hillary or Obama not born in US?
Paul Ryan said stimulus letters were treated as constituent service, "should have been handled differently." http://t.co/7vJZgYXO
PM Fix: New poll shows Obama holds slim lead over Romney in Wisconsin http://t.co/8GbEHtWM
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