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ThinkProgress: In a CNBC interview with Larry Kudlow Mitt Romney defends his decision to release only two years of tax returns — both filed after he decided to run for President — by claiming that 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry also released two years….
…. In fact, John Kerry released not two years of returns, but 20.
More here
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Washington Post: New poll data from the Pew Research Center suggests that not only does President Obama enjoy a clear edge over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney among women but that younger women favor the incumbent overwhelmingly, a data point that suggests a potential long term problem for the GOP.
…. The number that really stands out is that among women between the ages of 18-29, Obama is beating Romney by 45 points. Yes, 45. While Obama is leading Romney among all 18-29 years old by 28 points (61 percent to 33 percent), the fact he is down by such a vast margin among young women has to set off red flags in Republican world.
…. lose women by any more than 11 points and it’s difficult for a Republican to get elected to the White House…. Republicans have to hope the yawning gender gap – particularly among young women — is temporary. If it’s not, it could mean big trouble not just for Romney but for Republican presidential nominees in four, eight or even twelve years time.
More here
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Des Moines Register: A week after he quit the presidential race, fundraising mailers from Rick Santorum arrived in Iowa mailboxes Monday with a strongly-worded warning.
“It truly frightens me to think what’ll happen if Mitt Romney is the nominee,” says the letter signed by Santorum and paid for by his campaign.
The undated letter says there’s still time for conservatives to make sure the GOP doesn’t nominate “a Massachusetts Moderate” and that Republicans would be “crippled” if Romney were to become the nominee.
The blunt message quickly had Republicans here speculating: Did Santorum order up the mailer right before he suspended his campaign on April 10, so its timing was just a simple and understandable mistake? Or, did Santorum, who is still raising money and possibly not quite ready to come to grips with his loss, send this wording out deliberately?
More here
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Steve Benen: Even before the race for the Republican presidential nomination effectively ended, many of Mitt Romney’s most notable supporters expressed deep misgivings about him. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), for example, said a day after endorsing the former governor, “There are a lot of other people out there that some of us wish had run for president — but they didn’t.”
On Capitol Hill, the dissatisfaction is considerably more acute. More than a dozen far-right House members chatted yesterday with reporters, and as Sahil Kapur reported, the group had “a hard time finding anything praiseworthy to say about their party’s presumptive presidential nominee.”
More here
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Herman Cain’s “Revolution on the Hill”:
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America’s First Tourists: The First Family Visits our National Parks:
President Barack Obama at the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Aug. 16, 2009
President Barack Obama and family tour the Gay Head lighthouse in Aquinnah, Mass., while on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 27, 2009
More here
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Morning everyone 
I’m waaaaaaaaaay behind replying to people’s emails, will try to catch up later today.
i knew it!
Congrats vc.
C O N G R A T S ! ! ! ! !
VC, you are on a roll!!!
Thank you, Ison, Alycee & Suzette!
I’ve only been hanging around the button since 7am, 
but it’s been worth it. The big grin on my face is doing wonders for my heart health. Of course, I can’t wait to do my gloating dance for CC! **whisper** I think she’s avoiding me, but I can be patient. 
Enjoy your day!
“I’ve only been hanging around the button since 7am”
Morning, Mr. Pres! Thanks for taking a moment to send a smile m way. Have a great day, Sir, with your head held high!
My very dear Ms Chips, did you notice that you owe me a picture from last night? Ahem! When you have a moment, do check the ‘keeping his word’ post, please. There’s no rush. The evidence is there.
Not that I’m counting or anything, but VC is now at three for April, so in keeping with my goal of one per month I’ve now got JUNE covered! Whoo hoo! 
Ah flip, I missed your moment of triumph yesterday!!! Actually, I think I missed everyone’s moment of triumph, it was one of those days
Will you forgive me?
You didn’t miss mine, Pegs, I missed it!
I’m thinking about it.
Plus now you’ll need to acknowledge the others before they start revolting.
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Well, okay, since you asked with that great Chips smile…and since you have now acknowledged my victory!
AND Ms Chips, I don’t say it often, but THANK YOU LOTS, for being YOU here in TODville! This is such a warm place because of your smile. I bet, I’d recognize your smile anywhere!
Ah, life’s simple joys are the best, eh, vc?
Stalker ….
Hey you, I’m about three days behind reading the comments, any luck in Kenya?
Ssssh! What’s the matter with you, Amk? Always trying to show me up!
Have to admit though that that stalking business is tiring and often frustrating – you take your eye off for a second to grab a sandwich or to answer a child and the target moves! So when you connect it’s a great feeling.
OMG!!!!!!! It’s VC!!!!!!!!
Wooooooooooooooooooooooot!!!!!!!
OMG! I love this photo. I’m so jelly vc.
No sweat, Mea, you can share it with me.
{Personally I get most jelly (nice term, by the way) when they’re with the kids.)
Now wait just a dog-goned minute…. What’s all this?
Only an example of persistence and pressing on paying off, Pamela!
Can you see the glow around me having Chips acknowledge my accomplishment – ‘OMG!!!!!!! It’s VC!!!!!!!!’ 
You can share in the glow for being such a supportive friend through all my training, trials and errors. ;lol:
Thank you for sharing, I had already taken a bite when I read this post! Oopsie! Lucky for me you are a generous One!
Congratulations VCPresOfan2
Please tell me your secret! hahaha!
Good morning TOD.
2nd!! Good Morning!
Close Allison. I would say we were even.
That Ann Romney cake just makes me laugh at the idiocy.
G’Morning All!
Morning Meabloom, morning everyone
Good morning
Also the large crowd at Herman Cain’s rally. LOL
It was HUGH Joyce!!!!
Bet you two thirds of them were just tourists who happened to wander into camera range.
Ah yeah, probably!
Joyce, that was certainly fun to see (lol).
I wonder what he would do if he actually got a large crowd…I predict run and scream (lol)
Half were prolly his girlfriends.
Congrats, vc. This is the first time in days that i’ve been able to get out of bed and come to computer because i’ve been so sick…ugh, but i’m glad i did to catch up on the wonderful pictures of our prez in the americas. Chips, you rock!!!
Ah, sorry to hear you’ve been sick Ladyvader, are you doing better today?
Feel better!
{{ladyvader}} Sending a hug or two your way.
Question: when the Campaign gets going in late July early august, is Willard just going to wait fir the Presidents itinerary, and then copy it?
What a jerk!
I don’t mind. I hope they also compare crowds. On another note, I don’t usually/mostly care for Maureen Dowd, but she took Queen Ann to the woodshed today.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
After the liberal strategist Hilary Rosen clumsily mocked Mitt Romney for relying on Ann to tell him what issues women care about when “his wife has actually never worked a day in her life,” Ann smashed that lob back.
Blasting out her first tweet, she said: “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.”
Shaken Democrats dived for cover and threw Rosen under the campaign bus. The media, worried about being perceived as favoring President Obama, jumped in on the side of the maligned Ann.
She pressed her advantage, scolding Rosen on Fox News. “She should have come to my house when those five boys were causing so much trouble,” Ann said. She alluded to her brave battles against breast cancer and multiple sclerosis: “Look, I know what it’s like to struggle.”
But at a fund-raiser at a private home in Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday, the night before her 63rd birthday, Ann made it clear that she wasn’t really aggrieved. She was feigning aggrievement to milk the moment.
It’s important when you act the martyr not to overplay your hand. If you admit out loud to a bunch of people — including Haake, who was on the sidewalk enterprisingly eavesdropping — that you’re just pretending to be offended, you risk looking phony, like your husband. (It also doesn’t fly to tell Diane Sawyer that your dog “loved” 12 hours in a crate on top of the car or that it’s “our turn” to be in the White House.)
More at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/opinion/dowd-phony-mommy-wars.html?_r=1
I know, right. I still despise Dowd, but she was right on the money with this.
Boner just released a Statement- beware Obama Boogeyman.
WTF? Now, he is calling the President the Boogeyman?
Is there someone, with the possible exception of Boehner’s own staff, who cares what Boehner says or thinks. He’s a joke.
Lol!
Is Boner still around? Hasn’t Cantorwont offer him yet? Boner is a lugie…..
*offed
Top of the mornin to all of my little “CHIPadees”. “Celebrate Each Day”
Think it’s interesting that polls are all of a sudden coming up with results showing a horse race. Messing with the crosstabs—–eliminating 6% of minority voters, reducing Dem voters by 10 million, increasing Repubs by 12 million etc. So they’re surmising minorities aren’t going to show up to vote this time? And/or—–proof again that you can make polls come out any way you want—-and get attention on the teevee.
Yup Yup…but when you look at the crosstabs, the same still holds. Women favor the President by alot, as do Hispanics…AND Romney;s favorables are still under water. Puhlease.
Dotster, this is why the OFA tells its people to ignore all polls and keep working. The only one that counts is on Election Day. Let the R’s get complacent.
Thank you Jackiegrumbacher, no poll can ever measure everyone, and Election Day will prove the facts. Polls are like the PNW weather, rain to showers, rain late, well, maybe and maybe not, the sun mot shine, well, maybe not! On and on and on. .. Hve a great day everyone! Keep an eye out for VC, she is traveling at warp factor 10!
That’s how bad the real numbers are for Romney. He’s headed for a serious smackdown and the pollsters know it.
Maybe the pollsters are planning on the Repub states’ voter suppression efforts eliminating a percentage of minority voters?
They’re in for a rude awakening. Because this President who never tips his hand I suspect has a major surprise in store.
The MSM and the pollsters are doing the president a favor because if they did a real poll, they would show the president way ahead and his supporters might get lazy and decide not to vote. As long as they want to pretend it’s a “close” race it just intensifies Obama supporters efforts.
Glad you’re feeling better, ladyvader. It’s just about impossible to catch up. So much information, so many interesting comments, it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. Sometimes I’m not even sure what thread I’m commenting on. I commented several times on Tally’s post, but can’t find at least three of them. Who know? Hope you’re over your illness and are now on the mend.
Morning, guys.
Did I miss something last month with Romney buying influence with CBS/NYT pollsters? Please fill me in.
No crosstabs, just please believe us! Meanwhile, robney is behind with Latinos by over 50 points, AA community by 90 points, women vote by 15 points, young vote by 25+, –
So, only old White Males now account for everybody else. Must be more Old White inflexible Males, than I thought!
OK, thanks. I’d read that but now I’m also seeing some allusions to Romney buying influence. Maybe it was an assumption.
I still can’t get over the “It’s Our Turn Now” comment from Ann Romney. They think the presidency is owed to them and that they are entitled to be in the White House. No need to have a silly election.
That attitude didn’t work out so well for HRC. Just sayin’.
Yup, I agree with Mrs. Romney, it’s their turn now to be beaten by President Obama. I remember Willard making a statement when Senator McCain had locked up the nomination and is bump was over, Willard said, “I could be the one beating beat my Senator Obama.” Don’t worry Willard you will but it will be “President Obama.”
REPOST FOR TYPOS FIXIN’
Yup, I agree with Mrs. Romney, it’s their turn now to be beaten by President Obama. I remember Willard making a statement when Senator McCain had locked up the nomination and his bump was over, Willard said, “I could be the one getting beat by Senator Obama.” Don’t worry Willard you will but it will be “President Obama.”
If they didn’t manipulate and show a horse race, they’d make no money the next six months. Always…follow the money. Richard Nixon’s best advice.
Except when the money led to his own door!
04/18/2012 7:00 AM
BP and the committee of plaintiff attorneys pressing the Gulf oil spill litigation are expected to file details of the settlements they reached over health issues and economic damage in federal court on Wednesday by 8:30 a.m. The documents will contain important information about what “risk transfer premiums” will be applied to different types of economic claims, or essentially, the multiplier on people’s damages.
When the deal was reached in early March, the plaintiffs committee said the multipliers would make resolution of claims through its settlement more lucrative than what Gulf Coast Claims Facility administrator Kenneth Feinberg was offering. Wednesday’s filing will be the first chance to evaluate that claim.
http://mobile.nola.com/advnola/pm_29230/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=cVb3UDfJ
My son goes to the same vacation spot in Florida several times a year….there was no damage from the spill…Yet..the person you has the job of putting “chairs ” on the beach received $15,000 from this by claiming loss of vacationers …he did not lose his job or one penny of pay.
There are several small business owners making claims and getting money for no reason.
O’Donnell is right when he says Nugent won’t try anything but that’s not the issue. What Nugent was trying to do is talk someone in that crowd or watching online into doing something. That’s a whole lot more dangerous.
Look at No 9 in the President’s national parks picture – every person has a smile – most have a camera & the only person not looking at the President is a SS guy – checking out the crowd.
All the lies in the world won’t stop people voting for 4 more years.
That frigging crowd wasn’t even nien, nien, nien. What a buncha jokers from the rethugs.
Crikey, PBO leads Willard by 45 – 45!!!! – points among women between the ages of 18-29 in the new Pew poll. 45!!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/a-permanent-gender-gap-problem-for-republicans/2012/04/17/gIQACtDlOT_blog.html
But but but the war in Mommys…
We need to do all we can to motivate them to vote! Walker is doing all he can to create obstacles to college and tech students voting.
That’s true pickle48, and when they numbers like these they’ll try to make it even harder for that age group to vote.
That is awesome!
We need every one of them to vote.
Another horrible mess with soldiers in Afghanistan again. Something crazy is going on there.
Horrific, and utterly depressing. Morning Meta.
Morning, Chips. Hope you have a great day ahead.
Hold the fort, guys, and keep the hoopla down if you can! Though it’s my catch-up-@TOD day, I’ve got to run out of town for a couple of hours. Will hurry back.
Have a Wonderful Wednesday, One and All!
See ya later VC – behave yourself!
GOOD MORNING TOD FAMILY…I LOVE THE WORDS FROM OUR PBO FOR THE LATINO COMMUNITY…IT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ SAFEGUARD THEIR DREAMS HERE! GOD BLESSED US WITH SUCH WONDERFUL RAINBOWS OF DIVERSITY AND WE NEED TO RESPECT EACH AN EVERY CREATION! WE ARE ALL ONE INDEED!
Morning Sue
I loved the part at the end, particularly when he speaks Spanish.
Expect EtchAMitt to follow suit soon.
zombey is a pathological liar in any language.
A Republucan only focus group of Robney in Florida-
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/
Martin Bashir Clear The Air – Where’s Romney’s Indignation over Ted Nugent’s comment?
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/martin-bashir/47079003/#47079003
Thanks Ladyhawke, here’s the YouTube version:
A GROWING INTEREST IN MR SECRECY
By Steve Benen
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I have to admit, I didn’t see this one coming. If Democrats notice that Romney is keeping his tax returns hidden, and he purchased 17 state-issued hard drives, purging the Romney administration’s email records in advance of his presidential campaign, this is all part of an elaborate scheme to talk about … Mormons?
Someone’s going to have to explain this one to me.
My sincere hope is that we won’t reach the point at which every criticism of Romney leads to shrieks from Republicans saying, “See? They’re attacking his faith!” This kind of response to legitimate and secular inquiries is cheap, lazy, and wrong.
————————————–
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/18/11265101-a-growing-interest-in-mr-secrecy
I live in the South. In the middle of the bible belt, and I am scratching my head at this strategy. If republicans want to use Mr. Romney’s religion as a form of safety. Invoking that he is being persecuted because of his religion anytime someone questions his taxes, etc. then I say be my guest. The tea party and bible thumping people I live around will not appreciate his religion or secrecy and it will remind them often of why they don’t want to vote for him. This strategy will bite them in the arse in my neck of the woods. Have at it boys!
THE MORMON SHIELD?
More fake outrage, they can’t be serious. This is just remarkable and dare I say it DISHONEST. But then you knew that already. I am just amazed that they think this is a smart strategy to try and shield Romney from providing any details about himself or his policies. That dog won’t hunt. The issue here is transparency. They criticize President Obama for everything under the sun while hiding behind their own opacity. Meanwhile, the only people that I have heard raise any questions about Romney’s Mormon faith are Republicans.
Agree, LH. I think they’re treading on thin ice here. People who don’t focus on religion may not know or want to know that he is a Mormom, but if it’s shoved in their faces, the questions may begin. Does he really want to spend the next several months having a conversation about mormonism and his exalted position in the church? Romney’s not smart enough to handle these questions and he gets all prickly about them. That will not go down well.
Why the Sierra Club just endorsed the President-
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/compass/2012/04/sierra-club-president-obama-endorsement.html
This is good!
And over the past four years as we’ve seen these victories, President Obama has had our backs. In the battle for our nation’s future, President Obama has stood on the side of health, prosperity, and progress for all American families and against the greed of corporate polluters. From enacting the mercury safeguards to setting carbon pollution standards for power plants, President Obama and his exemplary EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, have tackled some of the most dire and pressing threats to our health, our families, and our planet.
That’s why I’m proud to announce that today the Sierra Club is endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election. The President has demonstrated exceptional leadership in standing up to big polluters, implementing historic mercury protections, and strengthening the clean energy economy.
Lorraine,
This comment you made above is very interesting: “Mrs. Romney, it’s their turn now to be beaten by President Obama” (by Lorraine proud participant of TODville).
I can see your comment being modified a bit and made into a cool tee shirt or other campaign stuff with the words:
” It is our turn now to be beaten by President Obama”. I can see myself wearing such a tee-shirt
if it is okay with you Lorraine can someone please send the a twitt or other message to the Obama/Biden Team at Chicago or the DNC?
Hea, love if I say anything intelligent on the wonderful blog, please feel free to use it anytime. We are workers together in this moral undertaking to re-elect these amazing gentlemen. I’m just happy I can contribute.
Bob and the other members of President Obama’s Twitter Brigade, maybe you can make this trend today
Cool, I’ve never been a trend.
New post (pic) everyone:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/04/18/up-up-and-away-2/
The President has demonstrated exceptional leadership in standing up to big polluters, implementing historic mercury protections, and strengthening the clean energy economy.
And this is exactly why the big money, oil, gas and other major corporations are against him.
POLITICO has learned that the House Democratic campaign arm is reserving more than $32 million in broadcast TV advertising after Labor Day, the first real signal of the party’s strategy for winning back control of the House.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75273.html
Wow! 32 million? Me likey! Helps define your opponent early! Good job- Steve Israel!
Morning everyone:) Just a reminder…it’s tax time, so the same old whiners will be screaming about their taxes…..
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/04/17/102-things-not-to-do/
ted nugent and donald trump all demonstrating their support for mitt the liar on the same day sums up what kind of charcters make up the core of the gop today