1 of 2. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign rally at the Henry Maier Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin September 22, 2012.
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Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney shakes hands with vice presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (L) after accepting the nomination during the final session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida August 30, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Shannon StapletonBy Patricia ZengerleWASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:10pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate has done little to attract voters to the Republican ticket and more think he is not qualified to be president than believe he is ready for the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll said on Monday.
Fewer than a third of registered voters, 29 percent, said the selection of Ryan made them feel more favorable toward Romney. But with 27 percent in the online poll saying it made them feel less favorable, Ryan's place on the ticket may have little effect on the November 6 election.
The results were largely split along party lines - with 46 percent of Democrats saying Ryan's choice made them less favorable, compared with 8 percent who said the opposite. And 56 percent of Republicans felt more favorable, versus 6 percent.
But Ryan has not swayed many political independents, the voters expected to play a decisive role in the election. Eighteen percent felt more favorable and 13 percent less so.
"Overall, he doesn't really appear to be impacting the top of the ticket much," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said. "He's still a bit of an unknown entity."
The survey was conducted September 20-24, a time when some Republican commentators have been pressing Romney's campaign to do more to promote Ryan, who is seen as a proponent of big fiscal ideas, like a plan to overhaul the government Medicare health insurance program for retirees.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that some conservatives think Romney's campaign has been too cautious by avoiding Ryan's big ideas and hoping that President Barack Obama will defeat himself.
Polls have given Obama a steady nationwide lead over Romney since the Democratic convention early this month. The Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll on Monday had Obama leading by 49 percent to 43 percent for Romney among likely voters.
"Obama's now been healthfully in the lead since the convention. If he can sustain this for another 45 days, it's done," Clark said.
BIDEN BENEFITS FROM INCUMBENCY
Forty-four percent of registered voters think Ryan is not qualified to be president, compared with 29 percent who feel he would be ready to step into Romney's shoes if necessary, the survey found.
A larger percentage thought that Joe Biden, 69, the incumbent Democratic vice president, is ready for the Oval Office. Biden led 43 percent to 36 percent, thanks to huge support among Democrats.
But more Democrats had faith in Biden, a former Delaware senator who is well-known as the incumbent, than Republicans had in the 42-year-old Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman who is chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee.
Among Democrats, 74 percent said Biden was more qualified, versus 8 percent who chose Ryan and 18 percent who did not know. Seventy percent of Republicans favored Ryan, compared with 13 percent for Biden and 18 percent who did not know.
The numbers were even among independents, with 30 percent each for Biden and Ryan, and 40 percent who did not know.
More registered voters have heard of Ryan than before Romney selected him, but he still falls short in national name recognition. Only 56 percent of registered voters said they were familiar with Ryan, versus mid-August's 35 percent.
Their opinions of him are split evenly. Forty-nine percent view Ryan favorably, versus 51 percent who don't, divided largely along party lines. Among independents, 48 percent view him favorably and 52 percent don't, the poll showed.
The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of 3.1 percentage points for the 1,313 registered voters surveyed and 3.5 percentage points for the 1,095 likely voters.
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U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin speaks to the media after a rally outside the Missouri Capitol with the New Women's Group in Jefferson City, Missouri September 21, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Sarah ConardBy Nick CareyJEFFERSON CITY, Missouri | Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:12pm EDT
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - If anyone in the Republican Party harbors illusions that Todd Akin will bow out of the Missouri U.S. Senate race by a September 25 deadline, he is quite happy to disabuse them.
"That's not going to happen," the Missouri congressman told Reuters after a rally Friday afternoon at the state Capitol. "The primary voters of Missouri gave me a job to do. That job is to beat (Democratic incumbent) Claire McCaskill."
Akin was pilloried last month when he said in a television interview that women's bodies have natural biological defenses against pregnancy following "legitimate rape."
The Republican party turned on Akin, including its presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who said Akin should step aside. Powerhouse conservative groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS pulled funding from Missouri, as did the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
What Republicans had seen as a likely win in a conservative state in their quest to seize control of the U.S. Senate became an uphill battle. Akin had led polls before the gaffe but a recent poll has McCaskill ahead by 6 percentage points.
President Barack Obama's Democrats now control the Senate, 53-47. Republicans would need a net gain of four seats on Election Day to take the chamber, 51-49. They would need just three, however, if Romney wins the White House because control of an evenly split Senate would be determined by the vice president, who breaks all tie votes.
"If I had to put money on it, I'd bet on a small victory for McCaskill," said Marvin Overby, a politics professor at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
With six weeks until the November 6 election there is still time for something dramatic to happen in this race, Overby said.
Akin could still leave the race if he files a court petition to do so by this Tuesday. But few believe he will.
Akin has several things going for him. He has grassroots conservative support, the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich is campaigning for him, and Tea Party king-maker and South Carolina U.S. Senator Jim DeMint says he may offer funds to Akin.
But he faces a well-funded opponent in McCaskill, who describes Akin as "on the far right" and herself as a bipartisan centrist in a bid for the moderate voters they both need.
"I believe his views are extreme and out of the mainstream for Missourians," McCaskill said on Friday in a debate with Akin in Columbia.
"RAPE IS RAPE"
Congressman Akin's rape comments have become the butt of a number of jokes, including an "illegitimate rape" whistle - "sounding off on legitimate stupidity" - sold by a group in St. Louis with proceeds going to charity.
Those passions prompted by the comments were on display at the Friday rally organized by Missouri Women Standing With Todd Akin, which was attended by around 100 supporters.
A few dozen protesters gathered across the road from the state Capitol and chanted "rape is rape."
"I am shocked there are women who would stand against their own interests by supporting Todd Akin," said Courtney Cole, sporting a "rape is rape" badge and holding a sign saying "women's rights are human rights."
"I hope this wakes women up," she said.
Supporters such as Mary Howerton, who said she has known Akin for 20 years and admires the fact that, like her, he had home schooled his children.
"I honestly don't know why people found Todd Akin's (rape) comments so offensive," Howerton said. "I asked my husband and he said he didn't find them offensive either."
Almost all of the speakers at the rally focused on abortion. Stacey Shore, "a mom, a wife and a proud Christian," said "they can call it (abortion) a choice, but the truth is, it's murder."
"We are not a moderate state," Shore said. "We are a conservative state and we stand by our Christian values."
Akin himself seemed relaxed, taking the microphone from the lectern and strolling in front of a statue of Thomas Jefferson.
Afterward, he said he expects Republicans donors "to take a look at this race" if it remains competitive. "Republicans are going to have to ask, 'Are we just going to ignore the fact that this is a race we can win?'" Akin said.
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE ME"
Political scientists note that Akin won the August 7 Missouri primary despite being outspent three to one, so he is no stranger to uphill battles.
According to the most recent regulatory filings, as of mid-July McCaskill has raised $10.3 million to Akin's $2.3 million - which he spent in the primary.
"He has to stay on message. He cannot afford off-the-cuff remarks if he wants to appeal to moderate suburban voters," Overby said.
Grassroots supporters say Akin needs to stay focused on jobs and the economy to win. His speech on Friday ended on the economy but otherwise was focused mostly on abortion.
McCaskill touts bipartisan compromise to win over moderates. In one television ad called "Fifty," she boasts of a National Journal 2012 ranking of senators from liberal to conservative that places her right in the middle.
"I work across the aisle and I don't think compromise is a dirty word," McCaskill says in the commercial.
Kay Henderson, a sales representative in the St. Louis area, describes herself as a moderate voter who "almost never" votes for Democrats and says she likes the McCaskill commercial.
"I see myself as a moderate and that ad really speaks to me," she said. "I don't know if it will make me vote for McCaskill, but I'm tired of extremes and want the folks in Washington to work together and get things done." (Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Greg McCune and Philip Barbara)
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U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama take part in a taping of the ''The View'' chat show at ABC's studios in New York, September 24, 2012. Also pictured are show hosts Whoopi Goldberg (L), Barbara Walters (2nd L), Joy Behar (3rd R), Sherri Shepherd (2nd R), and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
Credit: Reuters/Jason ReedBy Andy SullivanWASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:08pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As hundreds of world leaders and diplomats converged on New York for the United Nations General Assembly's annual meeting, President Barack Obama teed up a crucial meeting of his own on Monday - with Whoopi Goldberg.
With the November 6 election six weeks from Tuesday, Obama is squeezing in his duties as leader of the free world between an appearance on Goldberg's TV talk show and campaigning in Ohio.
Every U.S. president facing re-election must balance the demands of governing and campaigning. Obama's schedule in New York represents his attempt to show leadership on sensitive issues, navigate what could be a politically delicate week for him, and reach out to a key group of voters.
Obama will seek to reassure voters that he can handle the latest challenges in the Middle East and elsewhere in a speech on Tuesday before the U.N. General Assembly. Like his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, Obama then will address a conference hosted by former President Bill Clinton, a crucial ally.
But Obama will skip the traditional one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders that often accompany such U.N. meetings. And in a move almost certain to draw fire from Romney's Republicans, Obama taped an appearance with his wife, Michelle, on "The View," the daytime talk show on ABC popular with female voters, whose backing he needs to win re-election.
Obama continued to lead Romney on Monday in the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll, 49 to 43 percent. The Democrat has opened up a lead as Romney has stumbled through a series of missteps. These include his hair-trigger response to the attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Egypt and Libya this month, and a caught-on-tape moment in which Romney appeared dismissive of nearly half of America's voters.
Romney's stumbles shifted public attention from tensions between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nicknamed "Bibi." But those tensions are likely to return to the fore in what is likely to be a tougher week for Obama.
The president will try to finesse his touchy relationship with Netanyahu while striking a tough line against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who on Monday declared that Israel has no roots in the Middle East and would be "eliminated."
Romney, meanwhile, will be eager to highlight any friction as he seeks to regain momentum in the presidential race.
With the unemployment rate stuck above 8 percent, foreign policy has taken a back seat to the economy in the election.
But in some respects, foreign policy poses a greater risk to Obama's prospects for a second term.
Obama could face two more disappointing monthly jobs reports before the election, but he is not likely to have to deal with a catastrophic economic meltdown, along the lines of the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, that would cause voters to reassess their opinions of his stewardship.
Any Israeli attack on Iran, however, could prompt a spike in oil prices that immediately would hit voters in their wallets.
A dramatic deterioration of the Syrian civil war could force a confrontation with Russia, China and other allies of President Bashar al-Assad. And more attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East could prompt voters to question whether Obama has forged effective policies to deal with the Arab Spring.
"Probably the thing that keeps (Obama campaign manager) Jim Messina awake at night right now is stuff outside of the U.S. that they can't control," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic strategist who has worked on presidential campaigns.
NO FACE TIME FOR NETANYAHU
Aside from the crises, there are the headaches.
Obama and Netanyahu repeatedly have clashed over how to deal with Iran and a nuclear program. That has given Romney a chance to hammer his theme that Obama has not been assertive enough abroad.
Although the U.S. and Israeli leaders will not meet in New York, Netanyahu will have face time with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Obama's appearance on CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday signaled that his relationship with Netanyahu remains tense.
Obama said he agreed with Netanyahu that Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, but said he would ignore "noise that's out there" to draw a line in the sand, as Israel has urged. He also referred to Israel as "one of our closest allies in the region."
Romney allies said Obama's choice of words suggested he had not done enough to support Israel - clearly Washington's closest ally in the Middle East.
Campaigning in Pueblo, Colorado, Romney recounted a string of setbacks in the Islamic world, from the four deaths at the U.S. consulate in Libya to anti-American protests in Pakistan, as he argued that the United States should not be "at the mercy" of events in the region.
"We want a president who will shape events in the Middle East," he said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney tried to make the case on Monday that Romney and other critics were reading too much into the "60 Minutes" interview. "There is a certain rather desperate attempt to grasp at words and phrases here to find political advantage," Carney said.
Romney's argument that Obama has not done enough to support Israel doesn't seem to be making any headway with Jewish voters, who still back Obama by a wide margin. But Romney's hawkish stance on Israel has convinced billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson to spend tens of millions of dollars on Romney's behalf in the campaign.
Issues such as Israel and Iran matter a great deal to some voters, but they take a back seat to domestic concerns for most.
A survey released on Monday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 60 percent of voters said foreign policy was "very important" to their vote, ranking behind domestic topics like education and taxes. Some 87 percent said the economy was very important.
Obama can point to significant overseas triumphs during his tenure, such as the death of Osama bin Laden and the end of the war in Iraq.
Such victories can evaporate quickly in voters' minds, however.
Republican President George H.W. Bush's approval rating hit 89 percent after the United States won the first Persian Gulf War in March 1991, but plunged the following year as the economy stalled. He lost his re-election bid to Clinton.
Perhaps that's why Obama is reaching out to domestic daytime television viewers rather than world leaders.
"Daytime programming is an opportunity to connect with a segment of the female population the Obama team has clearly identified as crucial to his victory," said Brandon Lenoir, a political scientist at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
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WASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:36pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration should formally declare China a currency manipulator in a semi-annual report due to be released by the U.S. Treasury on October 15, a spokesman for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said on Monday.
"Governor Romney believes China should be labeled a currency manipulator - without delaying the report - and he will move to label them as such on Day One," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an emailed reply to a query.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department declined to say whether the Obama administration would release the politically sensitive report on time or delay it until after the November 6 election.
The Obama administration has frequently delayed the currency report, which examines the foreign exchange practices of major U.S. trading partners, as did the Republican administration of President George W. Bush.
Many U.S. manufacturers and lawmakers complain that China deliberately undervalues it currency to give its companies an unfair price advantage in international trade.
The Obama administration has pressed China diplomatically on currency issue and can point to a significant rise in the value of China's yuan since it took office.
But it has disappointed supporters by failing to formally declare China a currency manipulator in seven consecutive Treasury reports.
U.S. law calls for the reports to released on Oct 15 and April 15. The last two reports came out on Dec. 27 and May 25.
Romney has seized on the issue to try to sway votes in union-heavy industrial states like Ohio, which could play a decisive role in the outcome of the election. He has promised to declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office.
"China's currency manipulation has taken hundreds of thousands of jobs from the U.S. and, just like he has on so many other issues, President Obama is leading from behind on taking on China," Saul said.
The White House has taken a variety of actions against Chinese trade practices that threaten U.S. jobs, including imposing temporary tariffs on Chinese-made tires and filing cases at the World Trade Organization.
The tire tariffs, which the Obama administration says saved about 1,000 U.S. jobs, are set to expire later this week after being in force for three years. (Reporting By Doug Palmer; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Christopher Wilson)
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U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin speaks to the media after a rally outside the Missouri Capitol with the New Women's Group in Jefferson City, Missouri September 21, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Sarah ConardBy Nick CareyJEFFERSON CITY, Missouri | Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:12pm EDT
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - If anyone in the Republican Party harbors illusions that Todd Akin will bow out of the Missouri U.S. Senate race by a September 25 deadline, he is quite happy to disabuse them.
"That's not going to happen," the Missouri congressman told Reuters after a rally Friday afternoon at the state Capitol. "The primary voters of Missouri gave me a job to do. That job is to beat (Democratic incumbent) Claire McCaskill."
Akin was pilloried last month when he said in a television interview that women's bodies have natural biological defenses against pregnancy following "legitimate rape."
The Republican party turned on Akin, including its presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who said Akin should step aside. Powerhouse conservative groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS pulled funding from Missouri, as did the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
What Republicans had seen as a likely win in a conservative state in their quest to seize control of the U.S. Senate became an uphill battle. Akin had led polls before the gaffe but a recent poll has McCaskill ahead by 6 percentage points.
President Barack Obama's Democrats now control the Senate, 53-47. Republicans would need a net gain of four seats on Election Day to take the chamber, 51-49. They would need just three, however, if Romney wins the White House because control of an evenly split Senate would be determined by the vice president, who breaks all tie votes.
"If I had to put money on it, I'd bet on a small victory for McCaskill," said Marvin Overby, a politics professor at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
With six weeks until the November 6 election there is still time for something dramatic to happen in this race, Overby said.
Akin could still leave the race if he files a court petition to do so by this Tuesday. But few believe he will.
Akin has several things going for him. He has grassroots conservative support, the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich is campaigning for him, and Tea Party king-maker and South Carolina U.S. Senator Jim DeMint says he may offer funds to Akin.
But he faces a well-funded opponent in McCaskill, who describes Akin as "on the far right" and herself as a bipartisan centrist in a bid for the moderate voters they both need.
"I believe his views are extreme and out of the mainstream for Missourians," McCaskill said on Friday in a debate with Akin in Columbia.
"RAPE IS RAPE"
Congressman Akin's rape comments have become the butt of a number of jokes, including an "illegitimate rape" whistle - "sounding off on legitimate stupidity" - sold by a group in St. Louis with proceeds going to charity.
Those passions prompted by the comments were on display at the Friday rally organized by Missouri Women Standing With Todd Akin, which was attended by around 100 supporters.
A few dozen protesters gathered across the road from the state Capitol and chanted "rape is rape."
"I am shocked there are women who would stand against their own interests by supporting Todd Akin," said Courtney Cole, sporting a "rape is rape" badge and holding a sign saying "women's rights are human rights."
"I hope this wakes women up," she said.
Supporters such as Mary Howerton, who said she has known Akin for 20 years and admires the fact that, like her, he had home schooled his children.
"I honestly don't know why people found Todd Akin's (rape) comments so offensive," Howerton said. "I asked my husband and he said he didn't find them offensive either."
Almost all of the speakers at the rally focused on abortion. Stacey Shore, "a mom, a wife and a proud Christian," said "they can call it (abortion) a choice, but the truth is, it's murder."
"We are not a moderate state," Shore said. "We are a conservative state and we stand by our Christian values."
Akin himself seemed relaxed, taking the microphone from the lectern and strolling in front of a statue of Thomas Jefferson.
Afterward, he said he expects Republicans donors "to take a look at this race" if it remains competitive. "Republicans are going to have to ask, 'Are we just going to ignore the fact that this is a race we can win?'" Akin said.
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE ME"
Political scientists note that Akin won the August 7 Missouri primary despite being outspent three to one, so he is no stranger to uphill battles.
According to the most recent regulatory filings, as of mid-July McCaskill has raised $10.3 million to Akin's $2.3 million - which he spent in the primary.
"He has to stay on message. He cannot afford off-the-cuff remarks if he wants to appeal to moderate suburban voters," Overby said.
Grassroots supporters say Akin needs to stay focused on jobs and the economy to win. His speech on Friday ended on the economy but otherwise was focused mostly on abortion.
McCaskill touts bipartisan compromise to win over moderates. In one television ad called "Fifty," she boasts of a National Journal 2012 ranking of senators from liberal to conservative that places her right in the middle.
"I work across the aisle and I don't think compromise is a dirty word," McCaskill says in the commercial.
Kay Henderson, a sales representative in the St. Louis area, describes herself as a moderate voter who "almost never" votes for Democrats and says she likes the McCaskill commercial.
"I see myself as a moderate and that ad really speaks to me," she said. "I don't know if it will make me vote for McCaskill, but I'm tired of extremes and want the folks in Washington to work together and get things done." (Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Greg McCune and Philip Barbara)
View the original article here
U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama take part in a taping of the ''The View'' chat show at ABC's studios in New York, September 24, 2012. Also pictured are show hosts Whoopi Goldberg (L), Barbara Walters (2nd L), Joy Behar (3rd R), Sherri Shepherd (2nd R), and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
Credit: Reuters/Jason ReedBy Andy SullivanWASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:08pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As hundreds of world leaders and diplomats converged on New York for the United Nations General Assembly's annual meeting, President Barack Obama teed up a crucial meeting of his own on Monday - with Whoopi Goldberg.
With the November 6 election six weeks from Tuesday, Obama is squeezing in his duties as leader of the free world between an appearance on Goldberg's TV talk show and campaigning in Ohio.
Every U.S. president facing re-election must balance the demands of governing and campaigning. Obama's schedule in New York represents his attempt to show leadership on sensitive issues, navigate what could be a politically delicate week for him, and reach out to a key group of voters.
Obama will seek to reassure voters that he can handle the latest challenges in the Middle East and elsewhere in a speech on Tuesday before the U.N. General Assembly. Like his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, Obama then will address a conference hosted by former President Bill Clinton, a crucial ally.
But Obama will skip the traditional one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders that often accompany such U.N. meetings. And in a move almost certain to draw fire from Romney's Republicans, Obama taped an appearance with his wife, Michelle, on "The View," the daytime talk show on ABC popular with female voters, whose backing he needs to win re-election.
Obama continued to lead Romney on Monday in the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll, 49 to 43 percent. The Democrat has opened up a lead as Romney has stumbled through a series of missteps. These include his hair-trigger response to the attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Egypt and Libya this month, and a caught-on-tape moment in which Romney appeared dismissive of nearly half of America's voters.
Romney's stumbles shifted public attention from tensions between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nicknamed "Bibi." But those tensions are likely to return to the fore in what is likely to be a tougher week for Obama.
The president will try to finesse his touchy relationship with Netanyahu while striking a tough line against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who on Monday declared that Israel has no roots in the Middle East and would be "eliminated."
Romney, meanwhile, will be eager to highlight any friction as he seeks to regain momentum in the presidential race.
With the unemployment rate stuck above 8 percent, foreign policy has taken a back seat to the economy in the election.
But in some respects, foreign policy poses a greater risk to Obama's prospects for a second term.
Obama could face two more disappointing monthly jobs reports before the election, but he is not likely to have to deal with a catastrophic economic meltdown, along the lines of the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, that would cause voters to reassess their opinions of his stewardship.
Any Israeli attack on Iran, however, could prompt a spike in oil prices that immediately would hit voters in their wallets.
A dramatic deterioration of the Syrian civil war could force a confrontation with Russia, China and other allies of President Bashar al-Assad. And more attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East could prompt voters to question whether Obama has forged effective policies to deal with the Arab Spring.
"Probably the thing that keeps (Obama campaign manager) Jim Messina awake at night right now is stuff outside of the U.S. that they can't control," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic strategist who has worked on presidential campaigns.
NO FACE TIME FOR NETANYAHU
Aside from the crises, there are the headaches.
Obama and Netanyahu repeatedly have clashed over how to deal with Iran and a nuclear program. That has given Romney a chance to hammer his theme that Obama has not been assertive enough abroad.
Although the U.S. and Israeli leaders will not meet in New York, Netanyahu will have face time with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Obama's appearance on CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday signaled that his relationship with Netanyahu remains tense.
Obama said he agreed with Netanyahu that Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, but said he would ignore "noise that's out there" to draw a line in the sand, as Israel has urged. He also referred to Israel as "one of our closest allies in the region."
Romney allies said Obama's choice of words suggested he had not done enough to support Israel - clearly Washington's closest ally in the Middle East.
Campaigning in Pueblo, Colorado, Romney recounted a string of setbacks in the Islamic world, from the four deaths at the U.S. consulate in Libya to anti-American protests in Pakistan, as he argued that the United States should not be "at the mercy" of events in the region.
"We want a president who will shape events in the Middle East," he said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney tried to make the case on Monday that Romney and other critics were reading too much into the "60 Minutes" interview. "There is a certain rather desperate attempt to grasp at words and phrases here to find political advantage," Carney said.
Romney's argument that Obama has not done enough to support Israel doesn't seem to be making any headway with Jewish voters, who still back Obama by a wide margin. But Romney's hawkish stance on Israel has convinced billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson to spend tens of millions of dollars on Romney's behalf in the campaign.
Issues such as Israel and Iran matter a great deal to some voters, but they take a back seat to domestic concerns for most.
A survey released on Monday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 60 percent of voters said foreign policy was "very important" to their vote, ranking behind domestic topics like education and taxes. Some 87 percent said the economy was very important.
Obama can point to significant overseas triumphs during his tenure, such as the death of Osama bin Laden and the end of the war in Iraq.
Such victories can evaporate quickly in voters' minds, however.
Republican President George H.W. Bush's approval rating hit 89 percent after the United States won the first Persian Gulf War in March 1991, but plunged the following year as the economy stalled. He lost his re-election bid to Clinton.
Perhaps that's why Obama is reaching out to domestic daytime television viewers rather than world leaders.
"Daytime programming is an opportunity to connect with a segment of the female population the Obama team has clearly identified as crucial to his victory," said Brandon Lenoir, a political scientist at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
View the original article here
U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin speaks to the media after a rally outside the Missouri Capitol with the New Women's Group in Jefferson City, Missouri September 21, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Sarah ConardBy Nick CareyJEFFERSON CITY, Missouri | Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:12pm EDT
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - If anyone in the Republican Party harbors illusions that Todd Akin will bow out of the Missouri U.S. Senate race by a September 25 deadline, he is quite happy to disabuse them.
"That's not going to happen," the Missouri congressman told Reuters after a rally Friday afternoon at the state Capitol. "The primary voters of Missouri gave me a job to do. That job is to beat (Democratic incumbent) Claire McCaskill."
Akin was pilloried last month when he said in a television interview that women's bodies have natural biological defenses against pregnancy following "legitimate rape."
The Republican party turned on Akin, including its presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who said Akin should step aside. Powerhouse conservative groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS pulled funding from Missouri, as did the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
What Republicans had seen as a likely win in a conservative state in their quest to seize control of the U.S. Senate became an uphill battle. Akin had led polls before the gaffe but a recent poll has McCaskill ahead by 6 percentage points.
President Barack Obama's Democrats now control the Senate, 53-47. Republicans would need a net gain of four seats on Election Day to take the chamber, 51-49. They would need just three, however, if Romney wins the White House because control of an evenly split Senate would be determined by the vice president, who breaks all tie votes.
"If I had to put money on it, I'd bet on a small victory for McCaskill," said Marvin Overby, a politics professor at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
With six weeks until the November 6 election there is still time for something dramatic to happen in this race, Overby said.
Akin could still leave the race if he files a court petition to do so by this Tuesday. But few believe he will.
Akin has several things going for him. He has grassroots conservative support, the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich is campaigning for him, and Tea Party king-maker and South Carolina U.S. Senator Jim DeMint says he may offer funds to Akin.
But he faces a well-funded opponent in McCaskill, who describes Akin as "on the far right" and herself as a bipartisan centrist in a bid for the moderate voters they both need.
"I believe his views are extreme and out of the mainstream for Missourians," McCaskill said on Friday in a debate with Akin in Columbia.
"RAPE IS RAPE"
Congressman Akin's rape comments have become the butt of a number of jokes, including an "illegitimate rape" whistle - "sounding off on legitimate stupidity" - sold by a group in St. Louis with proceeds going to charity.
Those passions prompted by the comments were on display at the Friday rally organized by Missouri Women Standing With Todd Akin, which was attended by around 100 supporters.
A few dozen protesters gathered across the road from the state Capitol and chanted "rape is rape."
"I am shocked there are women who would stand against their own interests by supporting Todd Akin," said Courtney Cole, sporting a "rape is rape" badge and holding a sign saying "women's rights are human rights."
"I hope this wakes women up," she said.
Supporters such as Mary Howerton, who said she has known Akin for 20 years and admires the fact that, like her, he had home schooled his children.
"I honestly don't know why people found Todd Akin's (rape) comments so offensive," Howerton said. "I asked my husband and he said he didn't find them offensive either."
Almost all of the speakers at the rally focused on abortion. Stacey Shore, "a mom, a wife and a proud Christian," said "they can call it (abortion) a choice, but the truth is, it's murder."
"We are not a moderate state," Shore said. "We are a conservative state and we stand by our Christian values."
Akin himself seemed relaxed, taking the microphone from the lectern and strolling in front of a statue of Thomas Jefferson.
Afterward, he said he expects Republicans donors "to take a look at this race" if it remains competitive. "Republicans are going to have to ask, 'Are we just going to ignore the fact that this is a race we can win?'" Akin said.
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE ME"
Political scientists note that Akin won the August 7 Missouri primary despite being outspent three to one, so he is no stranger to uphill battles.
According to the most recent regulatory filings, as of mid-July McCaskill has raised $10.3 million to Akin's $2.3 million - which he spent in the primary.
"He has to stay on message. He cannot afford off-the-cuff remarks if he wants to appeal to moderate suburban voters," Overby said.
Grassroots supporters say Akin needs to stay focused on jobs and the economy to win. His speech on Friday ended on the economy but otherwise was focused mostly on abortion.
McCaskill touts bipartisan compromise to win over moderates. In one television ad called "Fifty," she boasts of a National Journal 2012 ranking of senators from liberal to conservative that places her right in the middle.
"I work across the aisle and I don't think compromise is a dirty word," McCaskill says in the commercial.
Kay Henderson, a sales representative in the St. Louis area, describes herself as a moderate voter who "almost never" votes for Democrats and says she likes the McCaskill commercial.
"I see myself as a moderate and that ad really speaks to me," she said. "I don't know if it will make me vote for McCaskill, but I'm tired of extremes and want the folks in Washington to work together and get things done." (Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Greg McCune and Philip Barbara)
View the original article here
WASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:36pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration should formally declare China a currency manipulator in a semi-annual report due to be released by the U.S. Treasury on October 15, a spokesman for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said on Monday.
"Governor Romney believes China should be labeled a currency manipulator - without delaying the report - and he will move to label them as such on Day One," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an emailed reply to a query.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department declined to say whether the Obama administration would release the politically sensitive report on time or delay it until after the November 6 election.
The Obama administration has frequently delayed the currency report, which examines the foreign exchange practices of major U.S. trading partners, as did the Republican administration of President George W. Bush.
Many U.S. manufacturers and lawmakers complain that China deliberately undervalues it currency to give its companies an unfair price advantage in international trade.
The Obama administration has pressed China diplomatically on currency issue and can point to a significant rise in the value of China's yuan since it took office.
But it has disappointed supporters by failing to formally declare China a currency manipulator in seven consecutive Treasury reports.
U.S. law calls for the reports to released on Oct 15 and April 15. The last two reports came out on Dec. 27 and May 25.
Romney has seized on the issue to try to sway votes in union-heavy industrial states like Ohio, which could play a decisive role in the outcome of the election. He has promised to declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office.
"China's currency manipulation has taken hundreds of thousands of jobs from the U.S. and, just like he has on so many other issues, President Obama is leading from behind on taking on China," Saul said.
The White House has taken a variety of actions against Chinese trade practices that threaten U.S. jobs, including imposing temporary tariffs on Chinese-made tires and filing cases at the World Trade Organization.
The tire tariffs, which the Obama administration says saved about 1,000 U.S. jobs, are set to expire later this week after being in force for three years. (Reporting By Doug Palmer; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Christopher Wilson)
View the original article here
1 of 4. Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney takes the stage at a campaign rally in Denver, Colorado September 23, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Brian SnyderBy Ros KrasnyDENVER | Mon Sep 24, 2012 6:25pm EDT
DENVER (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney vowed on Sunday that he would campaign more aggressively in battleground states in the final 43 days before the November election.
The comments, made to reporters aboard his campaign plane, suggested Romney was taking to heart criticism from his own party about the amount of time he has spent raising funds versus speaking to voters.
"I think the fundraising season is probably getting a bit quieter. I would rather spend the time in key states," Romney said in his first comments to reporters since Monday.
Romney is about to kick off a week of campaigning in battleground states, starting with Colorado and Ohio.
In 2008, Obama won Colorado by 9 points over Republican John McCain. Before that, the state voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964, with the exception of 1992.
He told reporters that Obama's campaign consistently mischaracterizes his positions on issues like taxes and abortion, and voters would get a better chance to learn about his positions during debates that begin on Oct 3.
Heavy advertising by Obama has coincided with a slow but noticeable decline in Romney's standing in opinion polls.
Although he is neck-and-neck with Obama in national tracking surveys, polls in specific battleground states like Ohio and Colorado, where advertising has been nonstop, show Obama with a slightly wider lead.
"I don't pay a lot of attention to the day-to-day polls. They change a great deal," Romney said. "And I know that in the coming six weeks, they're very unlikely to stay where they are today."
Sunday night's event in Denver kicks off a busier week for Romney, who spent much of Friday and Saturday raising money in Nevada and California.
Romney will visit Pueblo, Colorado, on Monday and head to Ohio Tuesday after a brief visit to New York to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative, where Obama will also speak.
His comments on the plane echoed a vow made in an interview broadcast Sunday on the CBS show "60 Minutes."
"I have to go across the country, particularly in the states that are closest and describe how it is I'm going to get the economy going, and how we're going to restore the economic freedom that built this economy in the first place," Romney said.
He defended his campaign as "very effective." Most of his top aides were in Los Angeles Saturday and Sunday for meetings thought to include debate preparation.
Still, many top Republicans are clamoring for a change in schedule and in tone for Romney.
"I want to see fire in the belly," Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said of Romney on "Fox News Sunday." He also said he wants the former Massachusetts governor to be "lit up and ready to go."
"You've got to get off the heels and get out and charge forward," Walker said.
On Sunday night at Denver's D'Evelyn High School, a slightly hoarse Romney spoke to a sizeable but subdued crowd, keeping his focus on Obama.
"He's out of ideas, he's out of excuses and we're going to get him out of office," Romney said. "We're taking back America. We're going to win this one."
DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
Asked on "60 Minutes" whether a Romney administration would take aim at popular tax deductions such as mortgage and charitable deductions, which are used by millions of middle-income Americans, and how he would balance the budget while still cutting income taxes as suggested, the candidate demurred.
"The devil's in the details. The angel is in the policy, which is creating more jobs."
At the Denver rally, Romney ran through many of the talking points on the economy that he has used for several months, focusing on energy, trade, lower taxes for small business, job training and education.
(Reporting By Ros Krasny; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
View the original article here
n">(Reuters) - A record low of 51 percent of U.S. adults are married, and Americans are waiting longer than ever to tie the knot, the Pew Research Center said on Wednesday.
The Washington-based Pew Research Center based its findings on an analysis of U.S. Census data for 2010.
The Pew Center's study also found the number of new marriages in the United States dropped 5 percent between 2009 and 2010, and the group said the slow economy could have contributed to that.
By comparison to the current record low of 51 percent of U.S. adults in married relationships, 72 percent were in wedded unions in 1960, the Pew Center said.
The Pew Center also found that the median age at first marriage for brides stands at 26.5 years and for grooms it is 28.7 years. That is the oldest Americans have ever been when first saying their vows.
Researchers noted the United States is not alone in seeing marriage rates fall, and that other advanced, post-industrial societies are seeing the same long-term declines.
The Pew Center said in its report on marriage rates that it is "beyond the scope" of the group's analysis to "explain why marriage has declined."
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Jerry Norton)
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n">(Reuters) - North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue on Wednesday vetoed an effort by legislators to gut a two-year-old law that lets death row inmates appeal their sentences on the basis of racial bias.
The state's Racial Justice Act, which Perdue signed into law in 2009, allows prisoners sentenced to death to use statistics to determine if race was a factor in their sentencing.
The measure requires judges to reduce a death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole if the original sentence is proved to have been handed out with any degree of racial bias.
"I am -- and always will be -- a strong supporter of the death penalty," the Democratic governor said in a statement.
"However, because the death penalty is the ultimate punishment, it is essential that it be carried out fairly and that the process not be infected with prejudice based on race."
Republican State Representative Paul Stam, one of the authors of the bill to repeal the law, said more than 150 people are on death row and all but three, white and black, have filed motions under the 2009 law.
He argued it essentially functions as a moratorium on the death penalty while inmates file their appeals.
"We've had no executions since 2006," he said. "If this veto stands, we won't have another one for another four or five or six years. What deterrent can the death penalty be if no one is executed for 11 or 12 years?"
(Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jerry Norton)
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1 of 2. Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Denver, Colorado September 23, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Brian SnyderWASHINGTON | Sun Sep 23, 2012 11:31pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he thinks it is "fair" that he pays a lower tax rate on his investment income of $20 million last year than someone who made $50,000 annually.
"Yeah," Romney said in an interview aired on Sunday on the CBS television show "60 Minutes," when he was asked if he thought his relatively low rate was fair.
Democratic President Barack Obama and Romney were both interviewed on the program, in a preview of their upcoming debates ahead of the November 6 presidential election.
"I think it's the right way to encourage economic growth - to get people to invest, to start businesses, to put people to work," the former Massachusetts governor said.
Democrats have been trying to make taxes paid by the former private equity executive a major issue in the campaign. They jumped on Romney's comment, immediately posting the video clip on the Internet and highlighting it to supporters.
Romney was asked about the 14 percent tax rate he paid on the $20 million he made on his investments in 2011. "It is a low rate," Romney said. "And one of the reasons why the capital gains tax rate is lower is because capital has already been taxed once at the corporate level, as high as 35 percent."
Romney released his 2011 return on Friday, which showed he paid an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent. Romney pays a lower tax rate because his earnings come from investment income. Earnings from wages can be taxed at a rate of up to 35 percent.
Romney has steadfastly refused to release more than two years of his tax returns, breaking a longstanding presidential campaign tradition.
Democrats contend Romney is hiding something, arguing that the American people have the right to the information so they can make their own judgments about the finances of a potential future president.
Romney has said releasing the returns would just give his rivals' "hundreds of thousands of more pages to pick through, distort and lie about."
(Reporting By Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Eric Beech)
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1 of 4. Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney takes the stage at a campaign rally in Denver, Colorado September 23, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Brian SnyderBy Ros KrasnyDENVER | Mon Sep 24, 2012 6:25pm EDT
DENVER (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney vowed on Sunday that he would campaign more aggressively in battleground states in the final 43 days before the November election.
The comments, made to reporters aboard his campaign plane, suggested Romney was taking to heart criticism from his own party about the amount of time he has spent raising funds versus speaking to voters.
"I think the fundraising season is probably getting a bit quieter. I would rather spend the time in key states," Romney said in his first comments to reporters since Monday.
Romney is about to kick off a week of campaigning in battleground states, starting with Colorado and Ohio.
In 2008, Obama won Colorado by 9 points over Republican John McCain. Before that, the state voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964, with the exception of 1992.
He told reporters that Obama's campaign consistently mischaracterizes his positions on issues like taxes and abortion, and voters would get a better chance to learn about his positions during debates that begin on Oct 3.
Heavy advertising by Obama has coincided with a slow but noticeable decline in Romney's standing in opinion polls.
Although he is neck-and-neck with Obama in national tracking surveys, polls in specific battleground states like Ohio and Colorado, where advertising has been nonstop, show Obama with a slightly wider lead.
"I don't pay a lot of attention to the day-to-day polls. They change a great deal," Romney said. "And I know that in the coming six weeks, they're very unlikely to stay where they are today."
Sunday night's event in Denver kicks off a busier week for Romney, who spent much of Friday and Saturday raising money in Nevada and California.
Romney will visit Pueblo, Colorado, on Monday and head to Ohio Tuesday after a brief visit to New York to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative, where Obama will also speak.
His comments on the plane echoed a vow made in an interview broadcast Sunday on the CBS show "60 Minutes."
"I have to go across the country, particularly in the states that are closest and describe how it is I'm going to get the economy going, and how we're going to restore the economic freedom that built this economy in the first place," Romney said.
He defended his campaign as "very effective." Most of his top aides were in Los Angeles Saturday and Sunday for meetings thought to include debate preparation.
Still, many top Republicans are clamoring for a change in schedule and in tone for Romney.
"I want to see fire in the belly," Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said of Romney on "Fox News Sunday." He also said he wants the former Massachusetts governor to be "lit up and ready to go."
"You've got to get off the heels and get out and charge forward," Walker said.
On Sunday night at Denver's D'Evelyn High School, a slightly hoarse Romney spoke to a sizeable but subdued crowd, keeping his focus on Obama.
"He's out of ideas, he's out of excuses and we're going to get him out of office," Romney said. "We're taking back America. We're going to win this one."
DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
Asked on "60 Minutes" whether a Romney administration would take aim at popular tax deductions such as mortgage and charitable deductions, which are used by millions of middle-income Americans, and how he would balance the budget while still cutting income taxes as suggested, the candidate demurred.
"The devil's in the details. The angel is in the policy, which is creating more jobs."
At the Denver rally, Romney ran through many of the talking points on the economy that he has used for several months, focusing on energy, trade, lower taxes for small business, job training and education.
(Reporting By Ros Krasny; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
View the original article here
U.S. Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney greets supporters at a campaign rally in Sarasota, Florida, September 20, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Jim YoungBy David MorganWASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 1:36am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even before his running mate was booed by a lobbying group for older Americans on Friday, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was losing support among such voters, whose backing is crucial to his hopes of winning the November 6 election.
New polling by Reuters/Ipsos indicates that during the past two weeks - since just after the Democratic National Convention - support for Romney among Americans age 60 and older has crumbled, from a 20-point lead over Democratic President Barack Obama to less than 4 points.
Romney's double-digit advantages among older voters on the issues of healthcare and Medicare - the nation's health insurance program for those over 65 and the disabled - also have evaporated, and Obama has begun to build an advantage in both areas.
Voting preferences among seniors could change in the final six weeks of the campaign, but the polling suggests that a series of recent episodes favoring Obama and the Democrats could be chipping away at Romney's support among older Americans.
Romney's selection of Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate put the federal budget and Medicare at center stage in the campaign. But the debate over spending and entitlement programs that Romney seemed to be seeking has not unfolded the way Republicans wanted.
At the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 5, former President Bill Clinton gave a folksy but blistering critique of Ryan's plan to revamp Medicare, warning that it could leave seniors unprotected from escalating healthcare costs.
Meanwhile, Democrats' efforts to portray Romney as a wealthy former private equity executive with little sympathy for the less fortunate got a boost last week, from Romney himself.
On a secretly recorded video released by the liberal magazine Mother Jones, Romney was shown telling supporters at a $50,000-a-person fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans would never vote for him because they do not pay federal income taxes, feel they are "victims," and depend on government benefits.
Democrats accused Romney of dismissing a range of Americans, including elderly people who depend on government programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
Romney's campaign rejected that, but the recent polls suggest that such claims may be resonating with Americans aged 60 and older, who for months had been the only age group to consistently support Romney over Obama.
Analysts say that if Romney cannot reverse the trend among older voters, he won't win on November 6.
"If Romney loses seniors, he loses this election, period," said Jonathan Oberlander, a health policy specialist at the University of North Carolina. "A bad showing nationally (among older voters) does not bode well for Florida and other states with big senior populations."
THE RYAN PLAN
Ryan's plan for Medicare would limit the program's costs by converting it from a provider of popular benefits to a system that would give future beneficiaries a financial stipend to help pay for private insurance or traditional Medicare.
Obama and fellow Democrats say Ryan's approach, which largely has been embraced by Republicans including Romney, would further expose seniors to rising healthcare costs and hasten Medicare's financial instability.
Republicans argue that their plan would preserve Medicare for future generations.
Medicare serves nearly 50 million retired and disabled Americans, and polls show stiff public resistance to the Ryan plan, with older voters opposing it by a 2-to-1 ratio.
Until now, however, there have been few tangible signs that opposition to Ryan's plan would translate into a preference for president.
A TURNAROUND FOR DEMOCRATS?
Pollsters say Obama's recent rise in popularity among older Americans could signal that Democrats are winning the advertising battle over Medicare.
That would be something of a turnaround for Democrats.
For much of the past two years, Republicans have helped to sway public opinion against Obama's signature legislative achievement, his overhaul of the healthcare system, by casting it as a government overreach that will kill jobs by raising costs for employers.
Republicans also said Obama would cut $716 billion from Medicare, an allegation rejected by Democrats and independent analysts. Even so, the Republican claims of Medicare cuts drew large numbers of seniors to the polls in the 2010 elections, when Republicans won control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
AARP, a grass-roots lobbying group with 37 million members aged 50 and up, backed Obama's healthcare plan against Republican critics. So it wasn't too surprising last week when Ryan, speaking at an AARP convention in New Orleans, faced a tough audience.
Less than five minutes into Ryan's speech, there were boos and cries of "No!" as he laid out the Republican message on Medicare and vowed to repeal "Obamacare."
But the data from Reuters/Ipsos polling - along with similar results from survey data of older voters by the Pew Research Center - indicate that the crowd's response in New Orleans could symbolize more than just one large group's discomfort with the Romney-Ryan ticket.
A Pew poll, conducted September 12-16 and released last week, showed Romney with only a 47 to 46 percent lead among registered voters aged 65-plus. He also trailed Obama by 7 points among people aged 45 to 64 - a huge potential voting bloc that analysts say is increasingly concerned about retirement security.
To illustrate the challenge that Romney could face in November, analysts note that Republican John McCain won 53 percent of the vote among those 65 and older in 2008, and lost to Obama with 46 percent of the overall vote.
"This is certainly a bit of a game changer," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said of the increasing support for Obama among older Americans. "Older individuals vote. They're the ones who turn up on Election Day, for sure."
Romney and Ryan are likely to need a clear victory among older voters to win the election, given Obama's advantages among other important voting groups such as women, minorities and young adults, analysts said.
"For Romney to win the election, he has to have the majority of the vote from people over 50," said Robert Blendon, a political analyst at the Harvard School of Public Health. "If they share voters over 50, Romney's really going to take a loss here."
(Editing by David Lindsey and Eric Beech)
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WASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:36pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration should formally declare China a currency manipulator in a semi-annual report due to be released by the U.S. Treasury on October 15, a spokesman for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said on Monday.
"Governor Romney believes China should be labeled a currency manipulator - without delaying the report - and he will move to label them as such on Day One," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an emailed reply to a query.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department declined to say whether the Obama administration would release the politically sensitive report on time or delay it until after the November 6 election.
The Obama administration has frequently delayed the currency report, which examines the foreign exchange practices of major U.S. trading partners, as did the Republican administration of President George W. Bush.
Many U.S. manufacturers and lawmakers complain that China deliberately undervalues it currency to give its companies an unfair price advantage in international trade.
The Obama administration has pressed China diplomatically on currency issue and can point to a significant rise in the value of China's yuan since it took office.
But it has disappointed supporters by failing to formally declare China a currency manipulator in seven consecutive Treasury reports.
U.S. law calls for the reports to released on Oct 15 and April 15. The last two reports came out on Dec. 27 and May 25.
Romney has seized on the issue to try to sway votes in union-heavy industrial states like Ohio, which could play a decisive role in the outcome of the election. He has promised to declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office.
"China's currency manipulation has taken hundreds of thousands of jobs from the U.S. and, just like he has on so many other issues, President Obama is leading from behind on taking on China," Saul said.
The White House has taken a variety of actions against Chinese trade practices that threaten U.S. jobs, including imposing temporary tariffs on Chinese-made tires and filing cases at the World Trade Organization.
The tire tariffs, which the Obama administration says saved about 1,000 U.S. jobs, are set to expire later this week after being in force for three years. (Reporting By Doug Palmer; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Christopher Wilson)
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Billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson (C) attends a fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (2nd R) at Red Rock Casino Resort Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada September 21, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Brian SnyderWASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:29pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has set a new record in political donations by giving $70 million to help Republicans in the 2012 elections, nearly triple the previous highest amount, according to news outlet Politico on Monday.
Adelson, 79-year-old chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS.N), has come to symbolize a new era in U.S. campaign finance that affords great power to individual wealthy donors through unlimited-spending outside "Super PAC" groups. These groups finance millions of dollars worth of advertising on candidates' behalf.
In a rare interview with a mainstream media outlet, Adelson told Politico he planned to spend up to $100 million -- "whatever it takes" -- to defeat President Barack Obama on November 6, a stance he also made to Forbes magazine in June.
According to disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission, Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have contributed about $37 million, almost all of it to Super PACs backing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, primary rival Newt Gingrich and party peers running for seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The rest of the $70 million presumably went into tax-exempt organizations that are not required to disclose donors. Politico reported that tax-exempt groups received $20 million to $30 million of Adelson's money but did not give further details.
Forbes magazine estimates Adelson's fortune to be $20.5 billion, much of it thanks to the exploding casino operations in Macau in China -- which are focus of a series of lawsuits and investigations in the United States and Macau.
The previous election-spending record was held by liberal billionaire financier George Soros, who has estimated he spent $27.5 million in 2004, giving to outside groups in a failed effort to defeat Republican President George W. Bush.
Adelson is credited with almost single-handedly propping up the failed presidential run of former House Speaker Gingrich as he and his various family members fed some $20 million into Winning Our Future, a Super PAC that aired attack ads against Romney and other Republicans vying for the party nomination.
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson have given $10 million to the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future; $5 million to YG Action Fund, run by former aides of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor; and another $5 million to Congressional Leadership Fund, linked to House Speaker John Boehner, among other donations disclosed to the FEC.
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh and Alexander Cohen; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney shakes hands with vice presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (L) after accepting the nomination during the final session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida August 30, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Shannon StapletonBy Patricia ZengerleWASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:10pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate has done little to attract voters to the Republican ticket and more think he is not qualified to be president than believe he is ready for the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll said on Monday.
Fewer than a third of registered voters, 29 percent, said the selection of Ryan made them feel more favorable toward Romney. But with 27 percent in the online poll saying it made them feel less favorable, Ryan's place on the ticket may have little effect on the November 6 election.
The results were largely split along party lines - with 46 percent of Democrats saying Ryan's choice made them less favorable, compared with 8 percent who said the opposite. And 56 percent of Republicans felt more favorable, versus 6 percent.
But Ryan has not swayed many political independents, the voters expected to play a decisive role in the election. Eighteen percent felt more favorable and 13 percent less so.
"Overall, he doesn't really appear to be impacting the top of the ticket much," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said. "He's still a bit of an unknown entity."
The survey was conducted September 20-24, a time when some Republican commentators have been pressing Romney's campaign to do more to promote Ryan, who is seen as a proponent of big fiscal ideas, like a plan to overhaul the government Medicare health insurance program for retirees.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that some conservatives think Romney's campaign has been too cautious by avoiding Ryan's big ideas and hoping that President Barack Obama will defeat himself.
Polls have given Obama a steady nationwide lead over Romney since the Democratic convention early this month. The Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll on Monday had Obama leading by 49 percent to 43 percent for Romney among likely voters.
"Obama's now been healthfully in the lead since the convention. If he can sustain this for another 45 days, it's done," Clark said.
BIDEN BENEFITS FROM INCUMBENCY
Forty-four percent of registered voters think Ryan is not qualified to be president, compared with 29 percent who feel he would be ready to step into Romney's shoes if necessary, the survey found.
A larger percentage thought that Joe Biden, 69, the incumbent Democratic vice president, is ready for the Oval Office. Biden led 43 percent to 36 percent, thanks to huge support among Democrats.
But more Democrats had faith in Biden, a former Delaware senator who is well-known as the incumbent, than Republicans had in the 42-year-old Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman who is chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee.
Among Democrats, 74 percent said Biden was more qualified, versus 8 percent who chose Ryan and 18 percent who did not know. Seventy percent of Republicans favored Ryan, compared with 13 percent for Biden and 18 percent who did not know.
The numbers were even among independents, with 30 percent each for Biden and Ryan, and 40 percent who did not know.
More registered voters have heard of Ryan than before Romney selected him, but he still falls short in national name recognition. Only 56 percent of registered voters said they were familiar with Ryan, versus mid-August's 35 percent.
Their opinions of him are split evenly. Forty-nine percent view Ryan favorably, versus 51 percent who don't, divided largely along party lines. Among independents, 48 percent view him favorably and 52 percent don't, the poll showed.
The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of 3.1 percentage points for the 1,313 registered voters surveyed and 3.5 percentage points for the 1,095 likely voters.
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U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama take part in a taping of the ''The View'' chat show at ABC's studios in New York, September 24, 2012. Also pictured are show hosts Whoopi Goldberg (L), Barbara Walters (2nd L), Joy Behar (3rd R), Sherri Shepherd (2nd R), and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
Credit: Reuters/Jason ReedBy Andy SullivanWASHINGTON | Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:08pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As hundreds of world leaders and diplomats converged on New York for the United Nations General Assembly's annual meeting, President Barack Obama teed up a crucial meeting of his own on Monday - with Whoopi Goldberg.
With the November 6 election six weeks from Tuesday, Obama is squeezing in his duties as leader of the free world between an appearance on Goldberg's TV talk show and campaigning in Ohio.
Every U.S. president facing re-election must balance the demands of governing and campaigning. Obama's schedule in New York represents his attempt to show leadership on sensitive issues, navigate what could be a politically delicate week for him, and reach out to a key group of voters.
Obama will seek to reassure voters that he can handle the latest challenges in the Middle East and elsewhere in a speech on Tuesday before the U.N. General Assembly. Like his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, Obama then will address a conference hosted by former President Bill Clinton, a crucial ally.
But Obama will skip the traditional one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders that often accompany such U.N. meetings. And in a move almost certain to draw fire from Romney's Republicans, Obama taped an appearance with his wife, Michelle, on "The View," the daytime talk show on ABC popular with female voters, whose backing he needs to win re-election.
Obama continued to lead Romney on Monday in the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll, 49 to 43 percent. The Democrat has opened up a lead as Romney has stumbled through a series of missteps. These include his hair-trigger response to the attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Egypt and Libya this month, and a caught-on-tape moment in which Romney appeared dismissive of nearly half of America's voters.
Romney's stumbles shifted public attention from tensions between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nicknamed "Bibi." But those tensions are likely to return to the fore in what is likely to be a tougher week for Obama.
The president will try to finesse his touchy relationship with Netanyahu while striking a tough line against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who on Monday declared that Israel has no roots in the Middle East and would be "eliminated."
Romney, meanwhile, will be eager to highlight any friction as he seeks to regain momentum in the presidential race.
With the unemployment rate stuck above 8 percent, foreign policy has taken a back seat to the economy in the election.
But in some respects, foreign policy poses a greater risk to Obama's prospects for a second term.
Obama could face two more disappointing monthly jobs reports before the election, but he is not likely to have to deal with a catastrophic economic meltdown, along the lines of the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, that would cause voters to reassess their opinions of his stewardship.
Any Israeli attack on Iran, however, could prompt a spike in oil prices that immediately would hit voters in their wallets.
A dramatic deterioration of the Syrian civil war could force a confrontation with Russia, China and other allies of President Bashar al-Assad. And more attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East could prompt voters to question whether Obama has forged effective policies to deal with the Arab Spring.
"Probably the thing that keeps (Obama campaign manager) Jim Messina awake at night right now is stuff outside of the U.S. that they can't control," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic strategist who has worked on presidential campaigns.
NO FACE TIME FOR NETANYAHU
Aside from the crises, there are the headaches.
Obama and Netanyahu repeatedly have clashed over how to deal with Iran and a nuclear program. That has given Romney a chance to hammer his theme that Obama has not been assertive enough abroad.
Although the U.S. and Israeli leaders will not meet in New York, Netanyahu will have face time with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Obama's appearance on CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday signaled that his relationship with Netanyahu remains tense.
Obama said he agreed with Netanyahu that Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, but said he would ignore "noise that's out there" to draw a line in the sand, as Israel has urged. He also referred to Israel as "one of our closest allies in the region."
Romney allies said Obama's choice of words suggested he had not done enough to support Israel - clearly Washington's closest ally in the Middle East.
Campaigning in Pueblo, Colorado, Romney recounted a string of setbacks in the Islamic world, from the four deaths at the U.S. consulate in Libya to anti-American protests in Pakistan, as he argued that the United States should not be "at the mercy" of events in the region.
"We want a president who will shape events in the Middle East," he said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney tried to make the case on Monday that Romney and other critics were reading too much into the "60 Minutes" interview. "There is a certain rather desperate attempt to grasp at words and phrases here to find political advantage," Carney said.
Romney's argument that Obama has not done enough to support Israel doesn't seem to be making any headway with Jewish voters, who still back Obama by a wide margin. But Romney's hawkish stance on Israel has convinced billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson to spend tens of millions of dollars on Romney's behalf in the campaign.
Issues such as Israel and Iran matter a great deal to some voters, but they take a back seat to domestic concerns for most.
A survey released on Monday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 60 percent of voters said foreign policy was "very important" to their vote, ranking behind domestic topics like education and taxes. Some 87 percent said the economy was very important.
Obama can point to significant overseas triumphs during his tenure, such as the death of Osama bin Laden and the end of the war in Iraq.
Such victories can evaporate quickly in voters' minds, however.
Republican President George H.W. Bush's approval rating hit 89 percent after the United States won the first Persian Gulf War in March 1991, but plunged the following year as the economy stalled. He lost his re-election bid to Clinton.
Perhaps that's why Obama is reaching out to domestic daytime television viewers rather than world leaders.
"Daytime programming is an opportunity to connect with a segment of the female population the Obama team has clearly identified as crucial to his victory," said Brandon Lenoir, a political scientist at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
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