Lets change the direction of this debate a little bit.
It’s all about sports gambling ladies and gentlemen.
As a member of the Missouri House of Representatives, I sponsored a resolution calling on Congress to repeal the Federal Professional And Amateur Sports Promotion Act of 1992 (PASPA). The 1992 law prohibited all but four states from offering sports gambling. The four states exempted from this act were Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon.
Missouri currently allows twelve gambling casinos in the State. They should have the option to put a sportsbook in each one of them. The federal law is outdated and is truly discriminatory towards 46 other states. These states should have the option to share in the major economic and revenue benefits that sports betting can provide.
Guess what…The Super Bowl is this week. Lets take a look at a few stats…
Read the rest of… The RPs Debate Gambling: Jason Grill Rebuts
There is no doubt Republican presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) has a great following. He has thousands of motivated volunteers, a bunch of money, and a message that is resonating with many including the 18-25 demographic. He never panders to any audience or anyone. He has enormous crowds chanting “President Paul! President Paul! President Paul!” He has been a success in the early primary and caucus states and has a strong organization going forward. He has a seat at the reserved table of Republican presidential politics.
So what is the problem? When asked by ABC reporter Terry Moran if he sees himself in the Oval Office, Paul answered “Not Really.” Do you think Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, or Newt Gingrich think this? Ron Paul and his campaign team believe they can go all the way to the Republican convention and garner enough delegates to either win or play a major role. At this point, Paul has not really attacked frontrunner Mitt Romney choosing rather to go after other rivals in hopes to make it a mano e mano race with Mitt. Most observers and pundits view a Ron Paul nomination as an impossibility at this point, but see the Paul candidacy and movement as something that could alter the Republican convention and platform moving forward.
So is Ron Paul a prophet or can he really become President of the United States? In my opinion, if he “really” wanted to take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January of 2013, he would run as a third-party candidate. His foreign policy message gives the hawkish Republican establishment hives. His social values and civil rights message excites some Democrats. His libertarian philosophy makes the young voters of this country do cartwheels.
Read the rest of… Jason Grill: If Ron Paul Wants to Be President, He Should Run with Third Party
Looks like this issue has almost been completely hashed out. Interesting responses and creativity throughout this entire debate on the RP.
Now, since I am charged with the late two-minute drill, let’s talk football:
Is it Tebow Time?
The Facts…
The Great: Career College Passing: 661 Cmp, 995 Att, 9285 Yds, 88 TD. Career College Rushing: 692 Att, 2947 Yds, 4.3 Avg, 57 TD, Heisman Award Winner (2007), BCS National Championship Winner (2007, 2009), 1st round NFL draft pick.
The Good: 8-6 as an NFL starting QB and 1-1 in the NFL playoffs.
The Bad: 18th QB scoring in Fantasy Football in 2011 (This is important to millions including me), ranked 32nd QB in passing yards (1,729), ranked 28th QB in overall rating (72.9), and ranked 34th QB in completion % (46.5) in 2011.
Tim Tebow is one of the best college QB’s of all time, but he is a below average NFL QB. Tebow will only continue to have a winning record in the NFL if his team’s running game and defense are great. In 2011, Denver finished 4th in the NFL in rushing and 6th in total defense.
Read the rest of… The RPs Debate Tim Tebow: Jason Grill Rebuts
Jon Huntsman had a good chance to beat President Obama in 2012, but the only problem was he was too mainstream and bipartisan to be nominated by the Republican party this cycle.
As a Democrat, I admired and respected his resume, intelligence, and ability to put pandering to his party’s base aside. A lot has changed in a week.
Why would a candidate whose campaign has ran more anti-Romney videos on their website than any other campaign suddenly endorse Mitt Romney?
Why would a candidate who has had deep family issues and a rivalry with the Romney’s now come to Mitt’s side?
One word…Ambition. There is no doubt Huntsman is coming to Romney’s side now for a potential secretary of state appointment should Romney take over the presidency.
Read the rest of… Jason Grill on Jon Huntsman’s Withdrawal
OK, folks, round two of the 2012 GOP presidential primary, which means round two of the fearless predictions of our recovering politicians.
Last week, our RPs boldly made their Iowa caucus prognostications, and with the exception of RP staffer Zack Adams (who predicted the correct finish of the top 6 candidates) and Artur Davis (the only contributing RP to predict the correct order of the top 3), well…let’s say they are lucky to get a second chance. But this web site is all about second acts, right?
And we ask you to join them in the comments section as well. No fun prizes, but instant fame and glory to the reader who is the closest.
So, here goes the New Hampshire experiment:
The RP: Romney 39; Paul 19; Huntsman 17; Santorum 12; Gingrich 11; Roemer 1; Perry less than 1%. Ron Paul let me down — big time — last week, but I still have confidence that the independents will keep him in a solid second place. And I predict that the media darling, John Huntsman, will underperform. And my big surprise: Buddy Roemer ekes out 6th place from under Rick Perry’s nose. Oh, yeah, and Mitt Romney wins big. Yawn.
Paul Hodes (contributing RP and former New Hampshire Congressman): Here goes from the Granite State…Romney 34; Huntsman 19; Paul 18; Gingrich 14; Santorum 12; Perry 3
Zac Byer (RP Staff):1st – Mitt Romney (32%); 2nd – Ron Paul (19%); 3rd – Jon Huntsman (15%). [Click here to read his Zac’s full report from Manchester, New Hampshire.]
Jason Grill: 1. Romney (Needs at least 35% or a 10 point win); 2. Huntsman (The candidate with the best chance to beat President Obama in the general); 3. Paul (Another third place finish, but still relevant); 4. Gingrich (Edges out Rick, but Tick…Tick…Tick…SC is next. Boom); 5. Santorum (No Iowa magic tonight); 6. Perry (Already hunkered down in SC for his last stand)
Greg Harris: Romney – 35; Huntsman – 21; Santorum – 16; Paul – 13; Gingrich – 11; Perry – 4
Steve Schulman: With apologies to Frank Sinatra…Mitt Romney – If he can’t win it here, he can’t win it anywhere…Ron Paul – He’ll do it his way…Jon Huntsman – Strangers in the night…Rick Santorum – Please don’t talk about him when he’s gone…Newt Gingrich – Fly him to the moon, let him play among the stars…Rick Perry – Ain’t that a kick in the head…And too bad Michele Bachmann dropped out … that lady is a tramp!
Read the rest of… The RPs Predict the New Hampshire Primary
After two years of campaign, hundreds of pundit prognostications, and thousands of cable news sound bites, at long last, what you’ve been waiting for…
Our fearless contributors — Contributing RPs, Friends of RP and RP Staff — offer their predictions for tonight’s Iowa caucuses.
And you can too — please give us your predictions in the Comments section below.
Without further ado…(Click on their name to find out their background)…
The RP: Paul 30%; Romney 25%; Santorum 21%; Gingrich 7%; Perry 6%; Bachmann 4%, Huntsman 1%. I don’t think Rick “Man On Dog” Santorum’s organization is strong enough to take advantage of his surge. I also think Paul’s support is underestimated in the polls because his grassroots support is so fervant, and the tin foil hat crowd among his followers are fearful of pollsters. Remember Pat Robertson?
Jeff Smith: Santorum 27; Romney 23; Paul 23; Perry 11; Gingrich 9; Bachmann 6. I think some Bachmann/Gingrich/Perry folks walk in to their caucus, see how outnumbered they are by Sant-mentum, and get on the bandwagon.
Jason Grill: Romney, Paul, and Santorum will finish first, second, and third. The order though is more “up in the air” than George Clooney was in his recent Oscar nominated movie. Organization and friends twisting other friends arms at the caucuses will decide the order of the top three. If Romney finishes third that WILL be news and change the race somewhat moving forward. He will be seen as an even weaker front runner if this happens. Also, it will be interesting to see where Perry and Gingrich finish tonight. Keep a lookout for their percentages at the end of the night. A fourth place finish for Perry over Gingrich will signal a potential showdown with Romney in South Carolina. Lastly, I am anxious to see how Huntsman finishes in next week’s New Hampshire primary after skipping Iowa.
Mark Nickolas: Paul (25%); Romney (23%); Santorum (22%); Gingrich (11%); Perry (10%); Bachmann (6%). Iowa requires a level of commitment from supporters unlike anywhere else. Those with the best state organization and strongest levels of commitment do especially well (Paul and Paul). Also, since Independents and Dems can participate if they want to cross over — as Indies did for Obama in ’08 — that’s likely to help Paul the most. Nefarious (aka loyal) Dems are going to support anyone but Romney to ensure a protracted GOP race, with Paul and Santorum benefitting most.
Rod Jetton: I think Ron Paul will just nip Romney and Rick Santorum will get third. Newt probably finishes in 4th. The Ron Paul forces are dedicated and with his numbers going up they and their friends have started believing he can win. They will turn out and surprise all the experts.
Greg Harris: Santorum – 26%; Romney – 25%; Paul – 21%; Gingrich – 12%; Bachman – 8%; Perry – 7%; Huntsman – 1%. Santorum’s diligent grassroots work throughout the State this past year will pay off, resulting in more ardent caucus warriors advocating his case, and moving some on-the-fence Bachman and Perry supporters. Ron Paul’s fanatical base will still assure him over an over 20% showing. The minority moderate voters will hold their noses and back Romney.
Read the rest of… Our Contributors Predict the Iowa Caucuses…
By Patrick Derocher, on Tue Nov 15, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Rick Perry’s debate performance up until that point was not horrible. Every candidate has lapses at some point, its human. However, the fact that Perry has been bad in earlier debates and the fact that he forgot the Department of Energy puts his White House viability on life support. Throughout the campaign the governor has championed what he has done with energy issues in Texas. This is why the lapse is even more troubling. At this point of the primary race, Perry needs to put most of his emphasis and resources on Iowa. He has the money and organization to stay in the race for the time-being, but this misstep could and probably will prove to be the knockout punch for Perry 2012.
Google is just supporting who is in power. There is nothing wrong with supporting Republican members in the House, while at the same time supporting Democrat members in the Senate.
As for 2012, Google is just hedging its bets in the presidential race. They want to be behind the winner no matter who it is. The choice is to donate to both nominees, donate to one candidate, or donate to no one. Most companies will chose the former or the latter in a tight race. Partnering with Fox News on a debate is just a way to expand their brand and hit millions of more people (Republicans) that will be watching these debates. The political pendulum swings back and forth very quick these days.
This is a reality. Google just wants to make sure it is on the right side of the pendulum no matter what happens.
By Patrick Derocher, on Tue Sep 13, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
With over 60 percent of Americans supporting an end to the Bush tax cuts for the richest one percent, would you support going back to the Clinton tax rate for the richest one percent of Americans in exchange for cutting of the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 20 percent?
President Obama must step up to the plate and hit a home run next Thursday night. However, let’s be honest here, Congress has to be willing to put politics aside and do what is in the best interest of this country and our economy.
Our government came together to bail out Wall Street and the banking system, using taxpayer dollars, almost as fast as Usain Bolt runs a 100-meter dash. Why are they not doing this with jobs, the economy, and unemployment?
This is a serious crisis. President Obama needs to present a strong jobs plan on Thursday night and put some new ideas into the fast lane. Congress needs to think about the future of this country rather than the 2012 elections. Congress has to be willing to play ball on job creation and the economy at such an important time. So is it election politics as usual or is Washington D.C. really going to help find real solutions to the problems that face our economy? Is the 2012 presidential race really more important than a 9.1 percent unemployment rate? We shall see…
Jason Grill: Rebuttal #3
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