Afternoon at the Last Manatee

--Today's Gallup has President Obama at 51% approval rating.


--Obama has a 51-42 lead in Wisconsin
   Obama has a 50-38 lead in Virginia
   Obama leads 47-39 in Pennsylvania
   Obama leads 44-42 in Ohio
   Obama trails 44-43 in Florida
   Obama only trails by five in Montana


--Americans Elect have cancelled their caucus.


--This weekend the libertarians nominate former Governor Gary Johnson as their presidential candidate and Jim Gary, a federal prosecutor at their convention in Las Vegas.


--The Obama campaign in anticipation of Newt Gingrich's endorsement of Mitt Romney cut an ad recapping all the nasty things Newt said about Romney. Newt did bow out but he didn't endorse. 


--Mitt Romney seems to have Jimmy Carter on his brain. In a campaign stop in Virginia, he said that Obama had the worst record toward small business (not true) since Jimmy Carter, who weirdly enough had a good record toward small business. Some speculate that Romney keeps referring to Jimmy Carter to cement his relationship with conservatives. I think it actually may be some projection involved here. Romney can't overcome the fact that Jimmy Carter served in the Navy and no Romney for the last six generations have ever produced a veteran. Certainly, his comments about the bin Laden raid raised these issues.


--Perhaps it is my fixation but what are the odds of an American family being in this country for two centuries and breeding like rabbits not producing a veteran--not a hero but simply a veteran? The Romney clan has produced scads of sons down the ages. Even President Obama can boast a grandfather and an uncle who served in World War II. Wasn't there one "good war" since the 1840s? 


--Yesterday, when asked what he would do for the economy here in Virginia, Romney responded "the opposite of what Obama has done." This is the answer from the economic whiz-kid? For some reason,I am obsessed by this answer. Romney made his money in the late 1980s and 1990s during a boom economy. If he was the great turn-around artist, then wouldn't his expertise show is his days as governor of Massachusetts? After all, all his business experience had been acquired by that time. But he only managed to rank 47th of job creating governors. The only two lower states had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. So what are his plans for the economy. From his own campaign, they say his plans would not have any effect until late 2014.


--There is a lot of conjecture about why Romney will not release his tax returns. He gave the McCain campaign nearly 23 years of them when he wanted to be McCain's vice president. His father actually set the modern precedent in 1968 when he released 25 years of tax returns. Some say Romney wants to hide the low tax rate he pays. Others conjecture he has a maid problem, having paid his five maids less than the recommended wage. Others speculate that he is hiding the enormous number of overseas accounts--rumored to be just 23 in the Cayman Islands alone. Others,having seen his tax records from the last campaign, believe one item would make news--his holding a piece of the Iranian State Oil Company. Why problematic? Because he purchased it after George W's "Axis of Evil" speech, which targeted Iraq, North Korea and Iran. So far Romney is still playing hardball on his tax records.


--What is it with RNC Chairman Rinse Penis? He announced yesterday that North Carolina would be "ground zero". Even I,a recovering Republican, knows it is Ohio. I'm confident that Governor Scott will rig Florida. Then the RNC had a wave of anti-Obama robocalls. Don't you think this would be better if they did not come from call centers in the Philippines?


--We got the photo of Romney carrying out the pizzas with Rudy Guiliani. But what no one caught was that Romney didn't give the pizzas to the firemen but an aide to deliver. Classy, guy. 


--Kudos to President Obama for giving the Medal of Freedom to America's poet--the great Bob Dylan. If you want a super Dylan LP--purchase the four-CD set put out by Amnesty International--Chimes of Freedom.


--The Romney campaign is giving out new Flag buttons for this election. Maybe they shouldn't have made them in China.


--The past day has had economic news all over the joint. Lowest unemployment claims, worst factory reports,best manufacturing news in years, more service layoffs, best economic job numbers in years according to Gallup, bad figures from ADP. Flip a coin. We'll see the numbers tomorrow.