GOP Tweets_ Turning It Over to Bill, Cenk and Charlie

We had a thought earlier this week when we were watching Karl Rove on Fox News at a Dunkin Donuts in Myrtle Beach, SC, the rare place in America where Southern evangelism and sultry wet t-shirts night clubs intersect. In fact, the city has hosted a Republican candidates debate in 2008.

A few minutes later, I realized that Rove looked strikingly similar to the blue aardvark cartoon character that used to air with Pink Panther cartoons when we were kids (Well, they were actually reruns as "The Ant and the Aardvark" aired in 1969). Much to our surprise, the aardvark was just called aardvark.

The person between Rove and the blue aardvark is former reality tv show star Heidi Montag, a Republican who endorsed John McCain in 2008, who was on "The Hills."

The folks I referred to in the header are liberal Current-TV show host Cenk Uygur, a fellow Turkish-American, who I agree with 90-percent of the time, Bill O'Reilly, who I agree with nine percent of the time, if that, and Charlie Rose, the always exceptional PBS talk show host.

Here are some tweets from tonight and earlier in the day, all concerning politics or the Republican Convention in Tampa, which was delayed from today until Tuesday because of Tropical Storm Isaac:

1) @stevensantos (Steven Santos): "Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate: Getting Pregnant From Rape Is 'Similar' To Having A Baby Out of Wedlock." (That candidate is Tom Smith; he is challenging Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat).

2) @scottlinnen (Scott Linnen): "Gotta love Donald Trump being preempted by a bigger windbag and replaced by Two Broke Girls."

3) @SeanHanity (Sean Hannity, a right-wing Fox News tv host):  "Ran into Karl Rove at the workspace, told me about his new column."

4) @DavidShusler (David Shusler, a Washington, DC-based journalist): "My chat @GOPConvention w @KarlRove. I said 'Hi Karl.' He said, 'hey, still on tv some place?' I said, 'Yes and you?' He walked on...."

5) @kesgrander (Ken Gardner, right-wing tweeter): "Wait....did Marco Rubio just compare Obama's policies to Castro's policies in Cuba? If so, brace yourself for the left's phony outrage."

6) @TroubleBiscuits: "My family is very similar to many Cuban Americans. I'll probably cry during Marco Rubio's speech. I'll admit that now."

7) @LOLGOP: "REPORT: The GOP may have to trim its convention down to three teleprompter jokes and five minutes of Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan high fiving."

GOP Day One (Delayed Due to Weather) Tweets

Today, we continue our tweets regarding the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa, Fla. We should explain that we decided to go with Cuban-flag flip flops because the Republicans depend on the small, but significant Cuban-American vote in the Miami area of Florida and because the GOP's candidate Mitt Romney has radically changed positions on abortion, gun control, health care and perhaps even which baseball team he roots for...

The Turkish tea glass is our way of making fun of the Tea Party, a mostly far-right movement which has actually thrown out Republican members in both houses of Congress deemed to be too moderate, and we thought that Democrats, like sharks, ate their own.

Lastly, we have an image of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) who represents a swing state, and we quote a tweet from him here as well.

So, to borrow a right-wing cliche; let's roll:

1) @hillballotbox ("The Hill," a journal covering Congress): "Poll: Women overwhelmingly back Obama, concerned about the economy."

2) @NickKristof (Nicholas Kristof of "The New York Times"): "Global warming may be linked to hurricane intensity. Do we see a divine reprimand of Republicans for climate skepticism?"

3) @theonion ("The Onion," a satirical faux news publication): "GOP Convention To Feature Strong Lineup of Conservative Women Listeners."

4) @LOLGOP: "For a guy who has betrayed every political belief he's ever had and lies about everything all the time, Mitt gets treated pretty well."

5) @ChuckGrassley (Sen. Chuck Grassley): "Read 2day wallstreetjournal editorial for treatsie on how ObamaCare will ration healthcare 15 bureaucrats will be dictating to doctors."

6) @hardball_chris (Chris Matthews of MSNBC): "It's ashame when the #RNC has to to go back to Ronald Reagan to pay tribute to a past president. What happened to GHWB and GWB?" (These are references to George and George W. Bush)

7) @Jasoninthehouse (Cong. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah): "Up at the Diamond Fork fine. Growing fast. May triple in size today. Very windy." (This is in reference to the awful weather in Tampa).

http://www.gopconvention2012.com

http://www.visittampabay.com

Our sister blog:

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

10 People Who Will Decide the Presidency (3 of 10)_ Termite Inspector in Tampa, Fla.

Name: Ahmet Jones

Job: Termite Inspector

Residency: Tampa, Florida

Age: 39

Race: Mixed

Will Likely Vote for: Obama

Note: The top photo is of termites; the bottom one is of cockroaches.


Today, we are profiling Ahmet Jones, 39, a fictional termite inspector who works for Bug Busters in Tampa, Fla. (note: there is a real company by that name in Portland, Oregon, but we thought of Bug Busters before googling them). He is one of the people who could well decide who will in November as President Barack Obama or his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Tampa, Fla., is also the city which is hosting the 2012 Republican Convention. WUSF-FM, the NPR station in Tampa, says that Tampa Police chief Jane Castor says her department is prepared for the tens of thousands who will come to town when the convention meets from Aug. 27-30.

Obama won Florida, which is considered to be among the key swing states in this year's election, by a 2.8 % margin; though John McCain lead in the Sunshine State until September. Florida was the state which also allowed George W. Bush to prevail over Al Gore in the most highly disputed, controversial election in American history in 2000.

"The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur," a liberal political talk show on Current TV said during the program's broadcast last night that Obama is currently narrowly winning in Florida.

The Hispanic vote, including the generally partisan right-wing Cuban-American community in the Miami area, will likely have a huge impact in the election, especially in Florida. Most non-Cuban Hispanics are strongly supporting Obama.

Obama won Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale), Miami-Dade and Volusia County (Daytona Beach) in 2008; McCain won Polk County (Lakeland), Seminole County (Orlando suburbs) and Lee County (Fort Myers) that same election cycle.


http://www.wusf.usf.edu

http://gopconvention2012.com

http://www.current.com

Ten People Who Will Decide the Presidency- (2 of 10) Casino Dealer in Nevada

Today, we continue our series of looking at how individual decisions can greatly affect the outcome of the American presidential election. So far, this year, there have been elections in  some 70 countries, including Egypt, Greece, France and Russia, but the American presidential election receives the most attention and it is conversely the most expensive.Dave Gilson of the liberal publication "Mother Jones" stated in a February column that President Barack Obama spent $730 million to become president in 2008.

Here is a look at today's fictional person who represents a real person who could decide the presidency; please see our disclaimer at the end of the blog_

Name: Linda Garcia

Age: 43

Residency: Las Vegas, Nevada

Will Likely Vote For: Barack Obama

Obama made significant gains over John Kerry to win the Silver State in 2008. Though Nevada has only five electoral votes, it is one of the main swing states. Nevada has chosen the president in every election cycle since 1912 with the exception of 1976 when the state picked Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter.

In the '08 election, Obama garnered 55 percent of the vote in Nevada. Regionally, his biggest win came in the Las Vegas-metro area. In 2004, George W. Bush won over Kerry by a mere 2.6 percent margin. The city of Elko was considered to be the one zip code responsible for the narrow re-election of Bush as the former president won a whopping 78 percent of the vote there. But, Obama trimmed the margins in Nevada's most conservative area by winning 32 percent of the vote in Elko.

Obama also won in the Nevada capital of Carson City and Reno, two areas that just barely went to Bush four years earlier. Many insiders expect the Hispanic vote to decide many western states. In addition to Nevada, the Hispanic vote will be crucial in New Mexico, Colorado and even Arizona, a state that went to John McCain (he is one of the state's two Republican U.S. Senators) in 2008.

According to the Pew Research Center, Hispanics voted for Obama by a 67-31 percent margin in 2008. Obama also became the first Democrat to win Florida's Hispanic vote by a 57-42 percent margin. And, he even made strides with the traditionally Republican Cuban-American vote by gaining 35 percent of the vote in that demographic. Cuban-Americans started becoming partisan Republicans after the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Linda Garcia is a fictional character. There are many people with that name including a Georgetown professor. There is also a Linda Garcia Cubaro, who is a former Air Force officer. But, this fictional Linda Garcia is not based on them in any way. Nor does this character necessarily reflect the politics of any individuals with her name.

While this has consisted of many political satires from a center-left perspective, this series is meant to be informative and non-partisan.

http://www.pewhispanic.org

http://www.capitolhillcubans.com

http://www.miamicubandems.org

http://www.nvdems.com

http://www.nevadagop.org

http://www.visitlasvegas.com