Communications

Good morning, more evidence today’s Rose Garden event is just another gimmick – a shiny object to distract from the fact that Obama doesn’t have a solution for gas prices. In advance of his ceremony, administration officials held a conference call where they punted on the actual impact on gas prices and left it up to outside analysts to detangle.  Instead of more Rose Garden ceremonies, maybe Obama should consider having an actual energy policy that will help with Americans’ pain at the pump.

Yahoo News’s Olivier Knox live tweeted the call:

@OKnox: White House punts on whether today's Pres Obama announcement re: oil speculation would have any impact on gas prices. (cont'd)

@OKnox: "We would leave that to outside analysts to disentangle,” senior administration officials tells reporters on conference call.

@OKnox: White House also refused to describe impact/extent of enforcement of laws re: oil speculation over past year.

@OKnox: In short: White House won't describe extent of ... more

MEMO

FROM: Sean Spicer, RNC Communications Director @seanspicer

TO: Interested Parties

RE: Weekend Messaging Memo

This week, the RNC released a video highlighting how President Obama has gone from "hope" to hypocrisy since taking office. And in the last week, the president has showed us we were right on target.

He and his operatives have continued to peddle two desperate and divisive campaign tactics: class warfare and the so-called "war on women."

Class Warfare

Wednesday was President Obama's 21st attempt at selling the Buffett Tax, but he can't seem to get his story straight.

At first, he said the Tax would "help stabilize our debt and deficits for the next decade." Then, he claimed that it would help the economy. Next, he said it was just about "fairness."

Whatever the case, the facts are clear. This is not a serious attempt at deficit reduction, and it certainly won't fulfill his 2009 promise to cut the deficit in half. No, the Buffett Tax is merely a political ploy.

If ... more

Hilary Rosen Was “Enlisted” By The Obama Campaign To Advise DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “Obama advisers have occasionally told her to ‘tone it down’ and ‘back off a smidgen,’ Ms. Wasserman Schultz says. She agreed with them to enlist two seasoned Democratic female pros, Anita Dunn and Hilary Rosen, to begin giving her occasional political advice and media training, advisers say.” (Monica Langley, “Combative Top Democrat Gains Clout In Campaign,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/16/12)

Combative Top Democrat Gains Clout in Campaign

Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal

Monica Langley

“…In picking Ms. Wasserman Schultz to lead the Democrats, the president turned to a reliably liberal member of his party's House caucus rather than a moderate…

“While she revs up the Democratic base, she enrages the Republican opposition. She once suggested Republicans pushing voter-ID measures ‘literally want to drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws.’ At a New Hampshire forum last month, she ... more

National Journal: The Buffett Rule Won’t Get You a Job. “On the seventh and final page of its background report on the Buffett Rule, out this morning, the Obama administration finally dives into what it calls “the economic rationale” for imposing a new minimum tax rate on millionaires. If you’re an unemployed American, that placement should be your first red flag. The second should be the rationale itself. Once you read it, you’ll realize the Buffett Rule has nothing to do with helping you, or 13 million other Americans looking for work as of March, find a job.” http://bit.ly/HYu2HH

Christian Science Monitor: Buffett Rule: Could It Backfire On Democrats? “Yet polling suggests that taxing the rich might not be a winning issue for Obama in November. While the Buffett Rule is widely popular – more than 6 in 10 Americans support the measure, according to a March Reuters/Ipsos poll – the larger economic argument centered around “fairness” may be problematic for the independent voters ... more

MEMO

FROM: Sean Spicer, RNC Communications Director

TO: Interested Parties

RE: From Hope to Hypocrisy

What theme will you hear from the RNC in the days to come? Watch this video and find out.

It’s been a year since President Obama announced his reelection bid, and now we’ve seen exactly the kind of campaign he has planned.

It is negative, deceptive and distorting. He’s running from his record, rather than running on it. He’s campaigning using the very tactics he campaigned against four years ago. There’s no more hope and change. It’s all fear and division from now till November.

This reveals two things.

First, it proves just how phony the rhetoric of ’08 was--the optimism, the “change we can believe in” and the post-partisan aura. It was cynically contrived. It was an act.

Second, this bitter, petty tone shows how miserably Obama has failed to lead on the issues--jobs, the economy, health care, energy, the deficit, the debt, and more. As Obama himself said in 2008, “If you don't ... more

Please find below an updated delegate chart.  Please keep in mind that these numbers do not reflect any potential delegate disputes and this information may change based on the results that come in after the initial vote that may affect the delegate count. 

The following is based on the information provided to the RNC by each state party which has held a presidential primary, caucus or convention to date where delegates were bound or delegates have publicly endorsed a candidate.  It does not include states which do not bind delegates.  These numbers reflect the current results of the Congressional Districts and the actual results may not be certified for up to 2 weeks.  The current delegate tracking is set out in the chart below:   

DELEGATE COUNT AS REPORTED BY STATE PARTIES 

If President Obama’s TV ad buy in Iowa tells us anything, it’s that the Obama Campaign is panicking in a state he carried by nearly 10 points in 2008.  From rising gas prices, to dipping poll numbers, and voters fleeing the Iowa Democratic Party, Obama is in deep trouble in Iowa and his campaign clearly knows it. 

Back in January, DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman Shultz claimed Obama had the strongest organization in Iowa, but yesterday’s voter registration numbers show that either his organization isn’t so strong after all, or more likely, Iowans know they can’t afford four more years of President Obama.  Four years ago Barack Obama launched his campaign to “change Washington” in Iowa; today as he resorts to cynical, misleading attack ads, it is clear to Iowans that it was just phony rhetoric and they are ready for real solutions.  

SHOT… DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ CLAIMS PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS THE STRONGEST ORGANIZATION IN IOWA

• @DWStweets: Talking ... more
  
  

Today, Vice President Biden is in Virginia speaking about making college affordable. This is quite ironic considering the fact that since President Obama has taken office, the cost of tuition at a four year in-state college has increased 25%. Furthermore, in Virginia the average college student graduates with $23,327 in student loan debt.

For someone who was so concerned with the youth in 2008, he has an interesting way of showing it.  Obama’s most recent plan for increasing college affordability has done next to nothing to address the problem; rather, it is simply pandering to get the youth vote. In fact, it is estimated that his proposals would save the average student less than $10 a month.

“If the President wants to help recent college graduates, why are 40% of us forced to move back in with our parents? Why is our unemployment rate still much higher than the national average?  Mr. President thanks, but no thanks. We don’t need your handouts. I’d rather elect a President who ... more

Obama and Biden Fail to Keep their Promises to Veterans

Bearing Drift

Op-Ed

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus

April 3, 2012

http://bearingdrift.com/2012/04/03/obama-and-biden-fail-to-keep-their-promises-to-veterans/

“The vice president arrives in Norfolk today to deliver a speech, but the area’s military families would much rather he deliver on the administration’s promises. For months, if not years, veterans and military personnel have been waiting on the president and vice president to honor the commitments made to their families. It’s unacceptable, and it must end.

“Over the last four years, President Obama has made many promises to America’s veterans, but he has kept precious few of them. So many of our nation’s heroes have already borne a heavy burden overseas, and now they are faced with challenges at home, thanks to the president’s policies and misplaced priorities.

“The Obama economy has made finding a job difficult for many veterans. Since Obama and Biden took office, the ... more

MEMO

FROM: Sean Spicer, RNC Communication Director @seanspicer

TO: Interested Parties

RE: Weekend Messaging Memo - Say Anything Obama

This week, a hot microphone gave voters a chilling look at how President Obama really operates.

By now, we know the story. At an international summit Monday, Obama leaned over to the outgoing Russian president to ask for "space," promising "flexibility" after the election.

Flexibility for what? Disregarding public opinion?

In effect, he was telling President Medvedev what he hoped voters would never find out: that he will say anything to get reelected, but he doesn't mean any of it.

America's Campaigner-in-Chief has indeed proven he will say and do whatever is politically necessary. In 2008, he deployed phony rhetoric more unabashedly than any politician in history. It may have worked then. It won't in 2012.

That's because four years ago, Obama was an empty canvas. He could be anything to anybody: The post-partisan reformer to the disenchanted ... more