Monday, March 26, 2012
Republican race may narrow this week
From The Hindu
The Republican presidential nominee race, split four ways across an eclectic list of contenders, came to a boil this week.
Over the weekend, Rick Santorum, the former Senator from Pennsylvania and second-ranked candidate, swept to an expected victory in conservatives-dominated Kansas, bringing him a step closer to the top spot.
Yet he will have to work hard in the week ahead as the frontrunner, the former Massachusetts Governor and private equity boss, Mitt Romney, has trained his guns on the next two primaries offering a large prize in terms of delegate numbers—Alabama (50) and Mississippi (40).
Mr. Romney is leading in delegate numbers with 454, compared to Mr. Santorum's 217. A total of 1144 delegates are needed to secure the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Florida later this summer.
As the race appeared to tighten between these two candidates it also threatened to end the hopes of the third-place candidate, the outspoken if controversial former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Mr. Newt Gingrich has garnered a face-saving 107 delegates thus far, with notable wins in his home State of Georgia and in an early race in South Carolina. Yet pundits across the board warned that if he failed to make any significant inroads into Alabama and Mississippi, the knock-on effect in terms of his campaign funding may force him out of the race by Wednesday.
The fourth man, Ron Paul, is likely to hold on throughout the election season and has thus far cornered 47 delegates. He has won a fairly constant share of the votes across key States and his presence has consistently reduced the share of the pie going to the top contenders.
The Republican presidential nominee race, split four ways across an eclectic list of contenders, came to a boil this week.
Over the weekend, Rick Santorum, the former Senator from Pennsylvania and second-ranked candidate, swept to an expected victory in conservatives-dominated Kansas, bringing him a step closer to the top spot.
Yet he will have to work hard in the week ahead as the frontrunner, the former Massachusetts Governor and private equity boss, Mitt Romney, has trained his guns on the next two primaries offering a large prize in terms of delegate numbers—Alabama (50) and Mississippi (40).
Mr. Romney is leading in delegate numbers with 454, compared to Mr. Santorum's 217. A total of 1144 delegates are needed to secure the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Florida later this summer.
As the race appeared to tighten between these two candidates it also threatened to end the hopes of the third-place candidate, the outspoken if controversial former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Mr. Newt Gingrich has garnered a face-saving 107 delegates thus far, with notable wins in his home State of Georgia and in an early race in South Carolina. Yet pundits across the board warned that if he failed to make any significant inroads into Alabama and Mississippi, the knock-on effect in terms of his campaign funding may force him out of the race by Wednesday.
The fourth man, Ron Paul, is likely to hold on throughout the election season and has thus far cornered 47 delegates. He has won a fairly constant share of the votes across key States and his presence has consistently reduced the share of the pie going to the top contenders.
Labels: Republicans, U.S. Presidential elections
Thursday, February 23, 2012
A bitter pill for Republicans
From The Hindu
While candidates in the Republican nominee race continue to launch blistering attacks against each other more than a month into the voting season, their ultimate political enemy in the November presidential election notched up another achievement to his scoreboard.
On Friday afternoon Mr. Obama said that his administration would seek to amend the original contraception policy envisioned in his 2010 groundbreaking healthcare reform package with a compromise that would aim to please both Catholic Church leaders and his liberal base of supporters.
Mr. Obama, who doubtless hoped to end months of protracted negotiations between the White House and conservative leaders opposed to Church funding for contraceptive care for its employees, said that under the amended rule insurance companies would be required to directly provide contraceptive services free of cost.
“Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health,” Mr. Obama said at a briefing, however adding, “But if a woman’s employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company... will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles.”
While the President is likely to tout this amendment as a bipartisan compromise conservatives in the nominee race were quick to denounce the move.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is a Catholic, described the policy as “the Obama administration's attack on the Catholic Church;” former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, another Catholic, characterised the Obama administration as trying to “use their power to force people” to violate their beliefs; and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is usually attacked by conservatives for his positions on both religious and healthcare-related issues, called the policy an “assault on religion... and a real blow ... to our friends in the Catholic faith.”
The White House hit back at Mr. Romney in particular, with Spokesman Jay Carney saying it was “ironic that Mitt Romney is criticising the President” for a policy that Mr. Carney said was identical to the one Mr. Romney established as Massachusetts Governor.
At the heart of the debate is the question of whether the amended rule will in fact result in insurance companies bearing the full cost of providing contraceptive services to the employee in question, or whether that cost might be ultimately passed on to the employer.
Also of relevance to the debate is the nationwide opinion on the fiercely contested subject of the role of religion in private life. A Fox News poll released Friday was said to show that 61 per cent of Americans approve of requiring employer health plans to cover birth control for women and 34 per cent disapprove.
While candidates in the Republican nominee race continue to launch blistering attacks against each other more than a month into the voting season, their ultimate political enemy in the November presidential election notched up another achievement to his scoreboard.
On Friday afternoon Mr. Obama said that his administration would seek to amend the original contraception policy envisioned in his 2010 groundbreaking healthcare reform package with a compromise that would aim to please both Catholic Church leaders and his liberal base of supporters.
Mr. Obama, who doubtless hoped to end months of protracted negotiations between the White House and conservative leaders opposed to Church funding for contraceptive care for its employees, said that under the amended rule insurance companies would be required to directly provide contraceptive services free of cost.
“Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health,” Mr. Obama said at a briefing, however adding, “But if a woman’s employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company... will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles.”
While the President is likely to tout this amendment as a bipartisan compromise conservatives in the nominee race were quick to denounce the move.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is a Catholic, described the policy as “the Obama administration's attack on the Catholic Church;” former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, another Catholic, characterised the Obama administration as trying to “use their power to force people” to violate their beliefs; and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is usually attacked by conservatives for his positions on both religious and healthcare-related issues, called the policy an “assault on religion... and a real blow ... to our friends in the Catholic faith.”
The White House hit back at Mr. Romney in particular, with Spokesman Jay Carney saying it was “ironic that Mitt Romney is criticising the President” for a policy that Mr. Carney said was identical to the one Mr. Romney established as Massachusetts Governor.
At the heart of the debate is the question of whether the amended rule will in fact result in insurance companies bearing the full cost of providing contraceptive services to the employee in question, or whether that cost might be ultimately passed on to the employer.
Also of relevance to the debate is the nationwide opinion on the fiercely contested subject of the role of religion in private life. A Fox News poll released Friday was said to show that 61 per cent of Americans approve of requiring employer health plans to cover birth control for women and 34 per cent disapprove.
Labels: Catholics, contraceptives, U..S. birth control policy, U.S. Presidential elections
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Romney extends lead with New Hampshire victory
From The Hindu
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts and frontrunner in
the race for the Republican presidential nominee, has won the primary in New
Hampshire garnering close to 40 per cent of the vote and a second straight
victory after the Iowa caucus last week.
While New Hampshire was widely expected to be one of the easier
states for Mr. Romney to capture, all eyes are now on the next primary in South
Carolina on January 21, a far more conservative state where the Romney campaign
machine may have a harder time convincing voters. Success there may well give
him an unassailable lead, said observers.
Libertarian candidate Ron Paul also performed consistent with
expectations, and won close to 23 per cent of the vote. Mr. Paul is the only
other current candidate who has the national-level campaign infrastructure and
finance on a scale similar to Mr. Romney. His supporter base, comprising
numerous younger voters, has also acquired the reputation of being a loyal
voting bloc that returns consistent polling figures across elections.
In third place was Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah and
President Barack Obama's former Ambassador to China. He cornered close to 17 per
cent of the vote on the back of more than six months of intense campaigning.
Mr. Huntsman, whose adoption of Chinese and Indian girls was
recently attacked by a Paul-linked campaign group, said the third-place result
gave him a “ticket to ride” to South Carolina and he would not be dropping out.
As Mr. Romney's lead in New Hampshire became evident, he told
supporters on Tuesday night, “Tonight we celebrate. Tomorrow we go back to
work.” While he admitted that winning South Carolina would be an “uphill
battle,” he also trained his guns on rival and former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich and also Mr. Obama.
Mr. Romney said, “We expected President Obama to put free
enterprise on trial. We were a little surprised to see it coming from Speaker
Gingrich.” He was referring to attacks by Mr. Gingrich and others on Mr.
Romney's record at private equity firm Bain Capital, where he allegedly laid off
numerous workers in companies that his firm bought over.
Governor of Texas Rick Perry, who performed poorly in New
Hampshire winning less than one per cent of the vote, similarly accused Mr.
Romney of “vulture capitalism” that led to job losses in economically distressed
South Carolina. Mr. Romney has also become the prime target of Rick Santorum,
former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, who is one of the most conservative
candidates and may be on track for a good showing in South Carolina.
Labels: Democrats, Mitt Romney, New Hampshire primary, President Barack Obama, Republicans, U.S. Presidential elections
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