coming up

You can see the detailed schedule at the White House site

Check these sites for live coverage:

Herald Sun * Yahoo Australia * Sydney Morning Herald * ABC Australia

The White House site will have live coverage of the President’s address to the Australian parliament at 6:15 PM ET

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Read the President’s after-dinner remarks from last night here – hopefully the video will appear soon. Thanks Barb

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Quinnipiac

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SEIU

Thanks Jovie

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David Rothkopf (Foreign Policy): Watching this weekend’s Republican presidential debate …. by God’s good graces … the views expressed represented those of people who will have precious little influence over America’s international course. Only one of these people can be the Republican nominee. And, in part thanks to performances like what we saw on Saturday, even that individual is very likely not going to ever be president of the United States.

…. Romney isn’t going to be the next President either. In all likelihood that will be Barack Obama. Here are 10 reasons why….

…. Whoever is the Republican candidate has to run against the very disciplined, intelligent, well-prepared, charismatic president. Which of those folks you saw Saturday night can hold their own versus Obama?

…. And so, while making predictions a year out is a sucker’s game, for those of you who watched the Saturday debate and were disheartened there is at least all the above to suggest that none of it mattered that much anyway. As of right now the favorite to be the next president of the U.S. has to be the current president of the U.S.

Full article here

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Sun Times: Mayor Rahm Emanuel delivers his first major speech for President Barack Obama Saturday in Des Moines, drawing the spotlight away from Republicans who have been dominating the 2012 presidential news from Iowa.

“We could not be more thrilled,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Sue Dvorsky told me. I’m told by an Obama team member that a good portion of Emanuel’s speech will be personal testimony about working with Obama. It will “focus on his leadership and his character coming from someone who worked by his side for two years.”

More here

Thanks Jovie

‘get the message’

Greg Sargent: SEIU is launching a $1.5 million campaign, including TV and radio ads and direct mail, that’s designed to shift the conversation to jobs, and away from austerity, in six key swing states where unemployment is running very high.

The campaign, an SEIU official tells me, is meant to counteract ads being run by high profile conservative groups that are pushing an austerity agenda among voters who are struggling economically – and will pressure House Republicans to prioritize job creation over tax breaks for corporations and the rich.

…the TV spot will run in Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Virginia….

More here

stepping up

ABC: With organized labor under attack in the states, the president of the Service Employees International Union today praised President Obama’s role in the fight, saying the administration “has stepped up” to offer the full weight of their support.

“Our members in Wisconsin and Ohio were incredibly proud when the president spoke out about the real agenda in Wisconsin and Ohio being about eliminating workers’ voice and busting unions,” SEIU President Mary Kay Henry told us on ABC’s “Top Line” today.

“And that was a huge step forward. We then saw the Secretary of Labor issue a statement and then an op-ed and then do a speech that said union is in her family – that we have to have a way to solve problems at the collective bargaining table.”

“So we think the administration has stepped up in this moment. And that it’s up to us, the people all across this country, to hold our government accountable and get the private sector to reinvest in America.”

More here

Thank you cat48 😉