Breakfast at the Last Manatee

++Since the last post I've been in the Swing state of Ohio.  I watched the Obama ad against Bain Capital concerning the Steel mill. Sitting in Lorain County, the poorest county in the state, it was devastating. The best thing Romney should have done was change the subject. Instead, he cried "character assassination" and started a full-blown national debate on his days as a businessman. Reminding all of us that the last president with a Harvard MBA was George W. Bush.


++Ohio's Sherrod Brown ran an effective ad against the Republican attorney general Mandel. The state issue has been why is the attorney general jetting around the world on taxpayer's money when he has no business abroad. Brown has been attacked by millions upon millions of attack ads by weird SuperPacs. So far he still leads in all the polls.


++Mandel responded with what I think is a fading issue. He said elect him and he would repeal Obamacare. Watching the ad I wondered,"Why?" The ad doesn't say or explain so it is a dog whistle to the anti-Obama voter, who still can not explain why Obamacare should be repealed. 


++From the television coverage out in the Cleveland area, it is clear that it is not time yet for the electorate to pay attention to the general election. The airwaves were filled with sports--high school, college and the 1st Place Cleveland Indians. And remember this is a swing state.


++Over in Chicago, President Obama met with the NATO countries. Protestors showed up in force. Police conducted pre-emptive arrests of would-be protestors. Taking their charge from Phillip Dick, they raided houses where there were alleged protestors who hadn't protested yet. Luckily there was no Fred Hampton episode. But they did arrest 3 anarchists who were reportedly planning to bomb Rahm Emmanuel's house and the Obama campaign offices. I saw the news interview with the guy whose house they raided and who wasn't arrested. He said the bottles the cops took were used by him to make beer. In this day and age he's probably right.


++But, missing from this drama was the announcement that President Obama said "The war in Afghanistan is effectively over." So two wars down, Bin Laden dead, GM back, the depression temporarily averted. What more do you want from the guy?


++While away there was a resurgence of birtherism. Isn't it touchy that the Kenyan-born Moslem ended two ways, killed bin Laden, passed a healthcare law and nominated two women to the Supreme Court? Why didn't a white American do that? Anyway, the Arizona Attorney General, a member of the Romney election team, threatened to remove Obama from November's ballot if Obama didn't prove he was born in the United States. The Hawaiian Secretary of State is now fed up with these stunts and challenged his right to make such a judgement. Finally, yesterday they confirmed for the thousandth time Barack Hussein Obama was,indeed, born in Hawaii. The Arizona Attorney General apologized to his state. Meanwhile the Iowa State GOP adopted birtherism as its platform. I guess they ran out of ideas.  But don't worry Chief Arapaho has sent a member of his Posse to Hawaii to investigate fraud.


++Everybody is commenting that Karl Rove's Crosshairs America has produced a subtle ad that deficits and debt created the recession--of course under President Obama. A white housewife looks on as her sons--naturally--played basketball in the backyard and she worries whether they can pay back the debt. A real worry but somehow Karl is trying to persuade you that his former boss, George W. by cutting taxes for the wealthy had the right idea. 


++David Axelrod is blowing it. First, he said he would fire anyone on Team Obama who said Mitt Romney is weird. Then he has ruled Mormonism off-limits when he criticized Bill Maher for saying Mormonism is a cult, which it is. President Obama had previously ruled families off-limits. These guys are no fun.


++Cardinal Nolan told CBS news that President Obama had a stranglehold on the Catholic Church and that's why Catholic institutions are suing the administration for allowing birth control pills to be covered by private health insurance plans. Meanwhile in the 21st century, 90% of Americans believe birth control is moral. But no one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition.


++But if you live in Missouri some pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control pills. I wrote awhile back using the Guttmacher Institute numbers that there were over 900 laws being debated that limit women's reproductive rights. I was wrong--it is over 2,000.


++Finally along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I heard Romney ads attacking President Obama about dissing coal. Slight problem--there are more jobs in the coal sector today than at any time. 


++But speaking of Pennsylvania, Public Policy Polling (PPP) has their latest poll out with President Obama beating Willard Romney 50 to 42. The interesting tidbit is that if Romney chose Tom Ridge, he would pick up 5 points. No other Vice President choice helps him so much.