“The Rock of our Family”

Iowa, August 15

First Hand with the President

Check the girl on the right (sitting on someone’s shoulders) 😆

More from Davenport soon

Heads Up: President Obama & Michelle in Davenport, Iowa

@brianwellner: Long lines to see the President

6:35: President Obama & Michelle Obama deliver remarks at Village of East Davenport in Davenport, Iowa

C-Span * CNN * CBS 1 * CBS 2

Streaming has started on CNN

Dubuque

****

Full video of speeches at C-Span

****

****

****

****

The Alliant Energy Amphitheater in Dubuque, Iowa, August 15

****

Next:

6:35: President Obama & Michelle Obama deliver remarks at Village of East Davenport in Davenport, Iowa

****

Waterloo, Iowa, August 14 (Scout Tufankjian)

****

Thank you Janelle

Heads Up: President Obama & the First Lady in Dubuque, Iowa

‏@bryonhoulgrave: Lucy Wilhelm, 11 months, of Peosta, is too young to vote, but showing support for the President in Dubuque

****

1:25: President Obama & Michelle Obama deliver remarks at Alliant Energy Amphitheater, Dubuque, Iowa

C-Span * KCRG * CNN * CBS 1 * CBS 2 *

CBS streaming has started

****

President Obama greets faculty members in Cascade High School, Iowa, August 15

****

Next:

6:35: President Obama & Michelle Obama deliver remarks at Village of East Davenport in Davenport, Iowa

President Obama on Star 102.5, Iowa

Star 102.5

****

Coming up:

12:00: VP Biden delivers remarks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va

1:25: President Obama & Michelle Obama deliver remarks at Alliant Energy Amphitheater, Dubuque, Iowa

6:35: President Obama & Michelle Obama deliver remarks at Village of East Davenport in Davenport, Iowa

C-Span * CNN * CBS 1 * CBS 2 *

****

Thanks Dotster

****

President Obama sits for breakfast at Riley’s Cafe with U.S. military veterans in Cedar Rapids, August 15

Rise and Shine

****

Times Republican: As President Barack Obama walked across the Miller Middle School gym floor arriving at the podium and saying “Hello Marshalltown,” an historic moment was made Tuesday.

Obama is the first sitting president to visit Marshalltown since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.

A crowd of an estimated 555 people were on hand, including recent Marshalltown High School graduate TJ Miller, 18, who was the third one to shake the president’s hand when he entered the gym. Miller seemed surprised that it has been 72 years since a sitting president visited town.

“That’s kind of amazing,” Miller said. “That kind of proves that he’s a personable guy and that he cares.”

…. After his speech, Obama walked around the crowd, shaking hands with dozens of people and even had something special for 100-year-old Mabel Coulter, of Marshalltown. “I said to him this lady is 100 years old and he said anybody 100 years old deserves a kiss and he kissed her,” said Betty Wehrman, Coulter’s daughter.

…. Miller Principal Jacy Large got to talk to the president before his speech, along with other area educational leaders.

“For me, it was breathtaking,” Large said. “He was very down to earth.”

****

President Obama kisses the forehead of 3-week-old Ethan Muhire during a campaign stop in Marshalltown, Iowa

****

Today:

12:00: VP Biden delivers remarks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va

1:25: President Obama & Michelle Obama deliver remarks at Alliant Energy Amphitheater, Dubuque, Iowa

6:35: President Obama & Michelle Obama deliver remarks at Village of East Davenport in Davenport, Iowa

7:50: Depart Moline, Ill. en route Joint Base Andrews

10:05: Arrive at the White House

****

****

Cagle

****

Paul Krugman: So, let me clarify what I believe is really going on in the choice of Paul Ryan as VP nominee. It is not about satisfying the conservative base, which was motivated anyway by Obama-hatred; it is not about refocusing on the issues, because R&R are both determined to avoid providing any of the crucial specifics about their plans. It is about exploiting the gullibility and vanity of the news media, in much the same way that George W. Bush did in 2000.

Like Bush in 2000, Ryan has a completely undeserved reputation in the media as a bluff, honest guy, in Ryan’s case supplemented by a reputation as a serious policy wonk. None of this has any basis in reality….

…. But a large part of the commentariat decided early on that they were going to cast Ryan in the role of Serious Honest Conservative, and have been very unwilling to reconsider that casting call in the light of evidence.

So that’s the constituency Romney is targeting: not a large segment of the electorate, but a few hundred at most editors, reporters, programmers, and pundits. His hope is that Ryan’s unjustified reputation for honest wonkery will transfer to the ticket as a whole.

So, a memo to the news media: you have now become players in this campaign, not just reporters. Mitt Romney isn’t seeking a debate on the issues; on the contrary, he’s betting that your gullibility and vanity will let him avoid a debate on the issues, including the issue of his own fitness for the presidency. I guess we’ll see if it works.

Full post here

****

Cagle

****

****

NYT Editorial: If you live in Butler or Warren counties in the Republican-leaning suburbs of Cincinnati, you can vote for president beginning in October by going to a polling place in the evening or on weekends. Republican officials in those counties want to make it convenient for their residents to vote early and avoid long lines on Election Day.

But, if you live in Cincinnati, you’re out of luck. Republicans on the county election board are planning to end early voting in the city promptly at 5 p.m., and ban it completely on weekends, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. The convenience, in other words, will not be extended to the city’s working people.

The sleazy politics behind the disparity is obvious. Hamilton County, which contains Cincinnati, is largely Democratic and voted solidly for Barack Obama in 2008. So did the other urban areas of Cleveland, Columbus and Akron, where Republicans, with the assistance of the Ohio secretary of state, Jon Husted, have already eliminated the extended hours for early voting.

…. In Ohio, as in other states, the Republican Party is establishing a reputation for putting short-term political gain ahead of the most fundamental democratic rights.

Full editorial here

****

Cagle

****

Jonathan Capehart: …. Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul claims that “President Obama’s campaign keeps sinking lower.” What was the offense? Vice President Biden said the word “chains.”

…. This is the campaign that seemed perfectly fine with Sununu saying he wished the president “would learn to be an American.” …. This is the campaign that continues to be a-okay with supporter Donald Trump’s racist birtherism …. This is the campaign that has been mute in the face of Rep. Allen West hyperbolic assertion that Obama would “rather you be his slave.”

…. Newt Gingrich is fond of calling Obama a “food stamp president.”A wicked phrase that has more racial baggage than a klansman’s El Camino … This is the campaign of the candidate who uttered the equally racially fraught “if they want more stuff from government … more free stuff” when talking to supporters in Montana about what he told the NAACP about his desire to repeal Obamacare.

This is the campaign that is running a completely dishonest ad about the Obama administration’s welfare policy…. …. this is the campaign of the candidate who could only muster, “It’s not the language I would have used” after Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a “slut,” a “prostitute” and much worse…

So, rather than rail against what they claim is Obama’s “desperate campaign based on division and demonization,” the Romney campaign and Romney himself ought to spend more time cleaning up the garbage littering their glass house.

Full post here

****

****

Morning everyone 😉