‘Obama for president: A second term for a serious man’

St Louis Post-Dispatch: Four years ago, in endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president, we noted his intellect, his temperament and equanimity under pressure. He was unproven, but we found him to be presidential, in all that that word implies.

In that, we have not been disappointed. This is a serious man. And now he is a proven leader. He has earned a second term.

Mr. Obama sees an America where the common good is as important as the individual good. That is the vision on which the nation was founded. It is the vision that has seen America through its darkest days and illuminated its best days. It is the vision that underlies the president’s greatest achievement, the Affordable Care Act. Twenty years from now, it will be hard to find anyone who remembers being opposed to Obamacare.

He continues to steer the nation through the most perilous economic challenges since the Great Depression. Those who complain that unemployment remains high, or that economic growth is too slow, either do not understand the scope of the catastrophe imposed upon the nation by Wall Street and its enablers, or they are lying about it.

To expect Barack Obama to have repaired, in four years, what took 30 years to undermine, is simply absurd. He might have gotten further had he not been saddled with an opposition party, funded by plutocrats, that sneers at the word compromise. But even if Mr. Obama had had Franklin Roosevelt’s majorities, the economy would still be in peril…..

….. The question for voters is actually very simple. The nation has wrestled with it since its founding: Will this be government for the many or the few?

Choose the many. Choose Barack Obama.

Full editorial here

Thanks to @jidts07

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And then there’s this guy….

‘He Said It, He Meant It’

Heads Up: President Obama in Ohio

2:30 ET: President Obama delivers remarks at Cleveland State University in Ohio

C-Span * CBS 1 * CBS 2 * CNN

Streaming has started at CBS

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This, That and the Other

@OFA_VA: Some of these folks have been out here since 9PM last night. Excited? We think so.

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AP

George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, Oct 5

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Paul Krugman: …. Today’s full-scale freakout over a decent jobs report is a sight to behold …. it’s ridiculous to imagine that the Obama administration could arrange (on short notice, no less) to cook the jobs numbers. The sheer logistics would be impossible, plus these are civil servants who have to live under both parties.

…. The thing is, although such antics are funny in a way, they’re also menacing. By attacking anyone who presents awkward facts, the right exerts an intimidating effect. It won’t get the BLS to retract today’s jobs report, but it might bully news organizations into avoiding objective economic analysis, and maybe even into blurring their reporting right now.

So this is crazy and stupid; but it’s also scary.

More here

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Steve Benen: The death of a talking point

If I had a nickel for every time Mitt Romney has said the unemployment rate has been above 8% throughout the Obama presidency, I’d have, well, nearly as much money as Mitt Romney.

Today, however, the talking point died. The unemployment rate fell unexpectedly, dropping from 8.1% to 7.8%.

Full post here

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Cagle

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BuzzFeed

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BuzzFeed: Romney Misstates Reason For Unemployment Rate Drop:

“The reason it’s come down this year is primarily due to the fact that more and more people have just stopped looking for work.”

But the labor force has actually grown since the start of the year….

More here

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Greg Sargent: Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his vice presidential nominee has drawn national attention to Ryan’s Medicare plan. One measure of this: Rob Zerban, the Democrat challenging Ryan for his House seat in Wisconsin, has been able to raise some $770,000 for his race — outraising Ryan himself.

According to the Zerban campaign, 84 percent of his contributions come from outside Wisconsin, underscoring the intensity of feeling among Democrats nationally towards Ryan and his plan.

In this context, the new ad that Zerban is set to run against Ryan is worth watching….

More here

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Scout Tufankjian for Obama for America

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Next:

2:30: President Obama delivers remarks at Cleveland State University in Ohio

C-Span * CBS 1 * CBS 2 * CNN

Heads Up: President Obama in Virginia

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

Streaming has started at CBS

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Later:

2:30: President Obama delivers remarks at Cleveland State University in Ohio

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Unemployment falls to 4-year low

Steve Benen: If recent history is any guide, Republicans will probably start complaining about the Bureau of Labor Statistics sample size any minute now, complaining it’s “skewed.”

The new jobs report released this morning was largely in line with expectations, showing a U.S. economy that added 114,000 jobs in September…..

Given the severity of the Great Recession that began in late 2007, and the losses associated with the years-long jobs crisis, no one should pop any champagne over 114,000 new jobs…..

The reason, however, that the new report is encouraging is the larger context: the unemployment rate dipped to 7.8%, which is nearly a four-year low, and the revisions found 86,000 additional, unreported jobs from the last two years.

More here

Rise and Shine

Newseum

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Today:

10:0: President Obama departs the White House

10:50: Delivers remarks at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va

12:05: Departs Va.

1:15: Arrives in Cleveland, Ohio

2:30: Delivers remarks at Cleveland State University in Ohio

4:55: Departs Cleveland

6:20: Arrives at the White House

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Newseum

Newseum

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Washington Post editorial: Here is one way to distill the confusing charges and countercharges of the first presidential debate:

President Obama has no adequate plan to cope with the frightening level of debt the U.S. government is accumulating. His proposal would only worsen the level of U.S. debt.

Republican nominee Mitt Romney has a plan to make it worse.

To understand that harsh assessment, you have to spend a few minutes with some facts that Mr. Romney did his best to obscure Wednesday.

“First of all, I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut,” he said. In fact, Mr. Romney has proposed lowering income tax rates, abolishing the estate tax and making other changes that would cost $5 trillion over 10 years…..

…. The Republican cites studies that he says prove that wrong, but when you look closely, they prove him wrong….

…. here’s the really scary part: Mr. Romney’s plan is irresponsible, even if he could pay for it….

Full editorial here

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