Campaign News

Santorum Suspends Campaign Without Endorsing Romney Rick Santorum's announcement that he was suspending his campaign was the lead story on all three network newscasts yesterday evening. As NBC Nightly News put it, "the start of the 2012 general election season might some day be traced right back to" to Tuesday "afternoon in Gettysburg, PA," when Santorum got out of a GOP race "that went on longer, was more brutal and divisive than anyone had first imagined."
While much of the coverage focused on the improbable nature of Santorum's underfunded campaign, many reports also pointed out that Santorum benefited from staunch conservatives' unwillingness to back Romney. That wariness on the part of conservatives is described repeatedly as not having abated despite Santorum's exit and Romney's apparent lock on the nomination.
The Washington Times , for example, quotes GOP pollster Michael McKenna as saying, "I'm willing to bet that a pretty significant chunk of the Santorum vote is simply going to exit the process or they're going to show up and vote for the Senate and congressional races, governors races if they have them, and not hang around to vote for president." The New York Times says Santorum's announcement "dash[ed] the hopes of social conservatives," and goes on to report that Romney "found his conservative credentials constantly in question by the durability of Mr. Santorum's candidacy."
ABC World News that Santorum "was the ultimate underdog when he announced his candidacy...last year," but "with an appeal to evangelicals" he "caught fire in Iowa, beating them all, going on to win nine other states, savaging Romney as a candidate without principles." In file footage, Santorum was shown saying, "Pick any other Republican in the country. He is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama."
The AP says Santorum's "shoestring campaign, which ended Tuesday, was a constant reminder of Romney's trouble connecting with the party's conservative core." The AP adds, "Santorum's presence in the race pushed to the fore polarizing social issues, such as abortion, access to birth control and gays in the military, that many in the party preferred not to delve into as the GOP prepared to court independent voters. ... Although he accused the media of unfairly focusing on that part of his broader campaign, Santorum was unapologetic about taking on such issues."
Dana Milbank, in his column for the Washington Post , writes, "Even in defeat, Santorum sounded defiant, not even mentioning Romney in his 15-minute speech."
On NBC Nightly News, David Gregory reported that "there was a conversation between Romney and Santorum today. Romney wants his support, wants the endorsement. The Santorum team indicating...they're going to need a couple days before they get all that together," but Romney is "not wasting any time, speaking out and speaking very positively about the campaign that Santorum ran."
The Hill reported that Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley said Romney "requested a sit down with Santorum to discuss an endorsement." The Hill adds that Newt Gingrich "said he had 'a great, great respect for how hard Rick worked' and kept up his attacks on Romney." Appearing on Mike Huckabee's new radio program, Gingrich "made a plea for Santorum-backers to join his campaign. 'I humbly ask Sen. Santorum's supporters to visit Newt.org to review my conservative record and join us,' he said."
Prominent Conservatives Remain Unenthusiastic About Romney The New York Times reports Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said, "It's going to be a much harder lift to take someone who seems like a moderate and try to get conservatives excited about it." Conservative activist Richard Viguerie is quoted as saying, "After having destroyed every conservative that came on the scene, you can't say 'You have to line up behind me.' No, no, no. Conservatives are not going to jump until they hear where Governor Romney wants to take everybody."
The Wall Street Journal quotes Gary Bauer as saying. "Most of the party will unite simply because four more years of Barack Obama is unthinkable. But to avoid losing three, four, five or six percentage points on the margins, which in a close election could be devastating, Gov. Romney will have to continue to make his case."
Raft Of Republicans Immediately Endorse Romney The Hill reported Sen. Pat Toomey and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal "are among the Republicans who threw their support to Mitt Romney immediately after Rick Santorum announced he was ending his presidential campaign. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) also endorsed Romney quickly after Santorum dropped out of the race." Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad "endorsed Romney just moments before Santorum's announcement."

WPost/ABC Poll: Obama's Lead Over Romney Driven By 19-Point Gender Gap George Stephanopoulos, on ABC World News reported that, based on a new ABC News/Washington Post poll , if the election were held now, President Obama "would win, 51-44." Stephanopoulos said, "Here's what's driving it right now, a huge gender gap. He's leading 57% to 38% among women, a 19-point lead even though Mitt Romney is winning with men by about eight points." Stephanopoulos added that Romney is "going to try to address the gender gap by turning around this rhetoric on the war on women by saying that women are the real victims of the Obama economy."
The Hill reports that in Wilmington, Delaware Tuesday night, Romney "made a strong pitch for women voters who have turned sharply in favor of President Obama in recent weeks." Romney said, "There's been some talk about a war on women," but "the real war on women has been waged by the Obama administration's failure on the economy." According to The Hill, Romney continued, "Do you know what percent of job losses in the Obama years have been casualties of women losing jobs as opposed to men? 92.3 percent of the job losses during the Obama years have been women who lost those jobs."

Polls Split In Two Key States A Public Policy Polling (D) survey of 452 Colorado "voters" taken April 5-7 shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney 53%-40%. Ron Paul actually outperforms Romney in the survey, trailing Obama only 47%-42%. The poll also shows Obama's approval rating at 50%, with 47% disapproving. PPP's Dean Debnam said, "Colorado flipped to the Democratic column in 2008 and it doesn't look like it's going back where it came from. Obama is looking exceptionally strong there."
However, a Roanoke College poll of 537 registered Virginia voters taken March 24-April 5 shows Mitt Romney leading President Obama 46%-41%. Still, Roanoke warns in its analysis that Romney "faces a clear 'enthusiasm gap' as compared to the incumbent, according to poll results. Romney supporters are less likely to say they are very certain they will vote for him (72% vs. 81% among Obama voters), are only half as likely to say they are very enthusiastic about their vote (31% vs. 62%), and are three times as likely to say they are not enthusiastic (22% vs. 7%)."

Christie Approval Up To 59% In New Poll A new Quinnipiac University survey shows New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) approval rating rising to a new high. According to the survey, 59% now approve of the job Christie is doing, while 36% disapprove in the heavily Democratic state. That's up from a 55%/38% split in a similar survey in February and a 53%/39% split in January. In the current survey, 64% of independents approve of the job Christie is doing, while 32% disapprove. Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll said, "Whether Gov. Christopher Christie is traveling the nation, campaigning for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, or traveling to Israel to tout New Jersey business, his job-approval rating at home in Trenton continues to climb." The poll surveyed 1,607 registered voters from April 3-9.

Washington News

Obama Again Champions Buffett Rule As A Means To Economic "Fairness" President Obama's Florida speech on the issue of tax fairness receives fairly widespread print and online coverage this morning, but only one network newscast, the CBS Evening News, mentioned his remarks yesterday evening. Local Florida TV coverage of the President's visit was extensive, and focused almost exclusively on his comments in support of the Buffett Rule.
Articles in the this morning papers, as well as analyses from commentators on both ends of the political spectrum, conclude that the President's focus on economic "fairness" was necessitated by the slow pace of the economic recovery. For instance, the Washington Post reports that "the White House believes that the [Buffett Rule] bill appeals to the public's sense of economic fairness, a theme that Obama has sought to accentuate as he ramps up his reelection campaign in a sluggish economy." And the New York Times says the President "seeks to talk about the still-weak economy and job creation in a way that plays to Mr. Romney's weaknesses...and underplays his own political liabilities at a time of continued high unemployment and gas prices."
According to Chris Matthews, on MSNBC's Hardball, the President is "not saying, 'I've done a great job as president,'" instead he is "saying, 'no, I'm on the right road, and the road is fairness.'" Likewise, Charles Krauthammer, on Fox News' Special Report, said the President "is running on...fairness, damn the economy" because he "can't run on his record."
The CBS Evening News reported that the President "took his re-election campaign to Florida," and "hammered away at what will be one of his main themes against Governor Romney, that high-income earners should pay more in taxes." Norah O'Donnell added, "Here's what the President is talking about: people who make their money from investments like stocks and bonds pay a tax rate of 15%, that's about what Mitt Romney paid in 2010. Billionaire investor Warren Buffet says it's unfair and wealthier Americans should pay more," and the President is "calling for a tax of 30% on incomes above a million dollars. ... Mr. Obama says making wealthier Americans pay more in taxes is an issue of fundamental fairness."
USA Today reports, "President Obama said Tuesday that the nation faces a stark economic choice: Continue giving tax breaks to the nation's wealthiest citizens, or fund programs that help grow the middle class." According to USA Today, "The president decried Republican budget plans that would give more tax breaks to the wealthy, and he dared the GOP to specify the kinds of budget cuts it would make to reach its goal of a lower federal debt."
Fox News' Special Report reported that the President was "targeting the wealthy and making it personal with his likely opponent." Fox's Wendell Goler added that "the issue has touched a nerve with Republicans who say it won't really lower the deficit, won't create jobs and has no chance of passing the House." Sen. John Cornyn said the President's speech was "a partisan manifesto created to try and justify a campaign tax hike."
The Miami Herald , in an article titled, "President Obama At FAU: Tax The Rich Plan, Tweet Congress," says the President "came to South Florida on Tuesday to raise money from millionaires and ask them to pay more in taxes. Obama interrupted his $2 million campaign-fundraising trip to advocate for his proposed tax-the-rich 'Buffett Rule.' Republicans say the president is waging class warfare while sticking taxpayers with his campaign travel expenses."
Obama: General Election Parallels Johnson-Goldwater Race The AP reports that the President said "the choice facing voters this November will be as stark as in the milestone 1964 contest between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater -- one that ended up with one of the biggest Democratic landslides in history. ... 'This election will probably have the biggest contrast that we've seen maybe since the Johnson-Goldwater election, maybe before that,' Obama told donors at the first of three campaign events" that "were expected to raise at least $1.7 million."

Stocks Post Worst Declines Of 2012 Stocks fell again Tuesday amid investor concern over the European debt. ABC World News noted that Wall Street "took the biggest one-day tumble so far this year, the Dow closing down more than 200 points, that makes five days of sinking stocks." The "dive was fueled by more troubling news about debt overseas, this time in Italy and in Spain." The CBS Evening News also said "the selloff continued as investors worried again about the European debt crisis dumped stocks." NBC Nightly News and the Wall Street Journal run similar reports.
The AP notes, "The decline extended the longest and deepest slump of the year for Wall Street to five days. More than half the first-quarter gain of the Dow Jones industrial average has been wiped out, and more than a third for the Standard & Poor's 500." The Dow fell 213.66 points to close "at 12,715.93, its lowest since Feb. 2." The Nasdaq finished down 55.86 points at 2,991.22, its "first close below 3,000 in more than a month." The S&P 500 "finished down 23.61 points, its worst decline this year, at 1,358.59."
The New York Times calls Tuesday "the first big swoon of 2012," while USA Today notes that while a "10% correction may still be a ways off for the wobbly stock market," it is "already a reality for many individual stocks." More than half the stocks in the S&P 500 index "are 10% or more down from their 52-week highs. A 10% or more drop from a recent high is the unofficial definition of a correction."

Average Gas Price May Have Peaked At $3.92 Per Gallon The Christian Science Monitor reports that the average retail price of gasoline is "still relatively high at $3.92 a gallon, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. But, after rising all through February and March, the daily increases in gasoline prices have ended – for now."
USA Today reports, "This year's surge in gasoline prices appears over, falling short of the record highs some had feared heading into peak summer driving season." USA Today adds, "In a Tuesday forecast, the federal Energy Information Administration predicted prices will average $3.95 a gallon through September and could peak at $4.01 in May. But those estimates reflect crude oil at $110 a barrel. EIA is forecasting a bit of a break in 2013 prices - $3.73 a gallon. That's 8 cents lower than this year's $3.81 average, but 20 cents higher than 2011 prices."