"I just want to sleep and exercise and travel for fun. And relax. It sounds so ordinary, but I haven’t done it for 20 years. I would like to see whether I can get untired."
- Hillary Clinton fantasizes about life after she leaves the State Department (via Walter Shapiro, who wisely assumes that won’t happen)
53 Notes

Is Barack Obama in danger of the second term curse?

Jeff Greenfield says maybe not:

Poor Barack Obama. After fighting and spending his way to a close but clear re-election, he’s doomed to four years of agony thanks to that “second-term” curse, which afflicts just about every president who has had the misfortune to win another four years.

The litany appears compelling: the martyred Lincoln; Grant mired in scandal; FDR suffering big political setbacks; Nixon’s disgrace; Reagan’s Iran-Contra scandal; Clinton’s impeachment; George W. Bush’s collapsing popularity. A second term sounds so unappealing, it’s almost surprising Obama didn’t ask for a recount.

Except…there are two things worth remembering about this “curse.” First, it doesn’t really afflict every second-term president. Second, for many presidents, the woes are rooted in actions and decisions taken during the first term—which raises a dicey question about what might come to afflict this president.

1 Notes

Even Cyndi Lauper is worried about the fiscal cliff

hollybailey:

She wrote an op-ed in Rolling Stone about it.

hollybailey
3 Notes
Cory Booker has been known to run into burning buildings to save his constituents. But last Thursday, the Newark, N.J., mayor’s biggest challenge was whether or not he could get through a single meeting without taking a nibble of one Christmas cookie. Booker, 43, and a rising star Democrat, has been living on just $33 of food over the last week as part of an effort to understand the plight of Americans who struggle to live on food stamps. The experiment ends Tuesday. Booker has said he’s trying to raise public awareness about the struggles of average Americans amid threats of federal funding cuts to food stamp programs around the nation. But the mayor’s very public campaign comes as Booker mulls a challenge to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in next year’s gubernatorial race. Cory Booker’s week on food stamps: political ambition amid the burned sweet potatoes (via The Ticket)

Cory Booker has been known to run into burning buildings to save his constituents. But last Thursday, the Newark, N.J., mayor’s biggest challenge was whether or not he could get through a single meeting without taking a nibble of one Christmas cookie.

Booker, 43, and a rising star Democrat, has been living on just $33 of food over the last week as part of an effort to understand the plight of Americans who struggle to live on food stamps. The experiment ends Tuesday.

Booker has said he’s trying to raise public awareness about the struggles of average Americans amid threats of federal funding cuts to food stamp programs around the nation. But the mayor’s very public campaign comes as Booker mulls a challenge to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in next year’s gubernatorial race.

Cory Booker’s week on food stamps: political ambition amid the burned sweet potatoes (via The Ticket)

57 Notes
yahoonews: The scientific community has come up with an unusual way of honoring President Barack Obama after his re-election—by naming an extinct lizard after him. (via Yahoo News)

yahoonews:

The scientific community has come up with an unusual way of honoring President Barack Obama after his re-election—by naming an extinct lizard after him. (via Yahoo News)

11 Notes

44 percent of Americans think Santa is a Democrat

More Americans put Romney than Obama on Kris Kringle’s “nice” list: 63 percent said the former Massachusetts governor would get presents, against just 51 percent for the president, PPP said.

Respondents gave Mommy quite a bit of latitude were she caught smooching Saint Nick: 43 percent would tell Daddy, while 40 percent would not, and 17 percent weren’t sure.

Did Grandma get run over by a reindeer? The poll suggested the jolly fat man wouldn’t have too much to worry about: 61 percent said they would not press charges, and just 24 percent said they would. There was a slight partisan split on that question, with 33 percent of Democrats saying they’d take Father Christmas to court, compared to 19 percent of Republicans.

By a 52-45 percent margin, respondents professed to believe in Santa, and 80 percent said they were on his “nice list.” Just 11 percent fessed up to belonging in the “naughty” column of the ledger. Forty-four percent said Santa was a Democrat, against 28 percent who said he was a Republican. (No word on whether the elves are, or should be, unionized or protected by OSHA’s workplace safeguards).

Yahoo News’s Olivier Knox on a very important public poll

10 Notes
Our favorite face from Tuesday night. (Liz Goodwin)

Our favorite face from Tuesday night. (Liz Goodwin)

2 Notes
oaicorp: Will post pictures upon installation, but here is a preview of our many printed materials for the Republican National Convention - taking place at the Tampa Bay Times Forum during the week of August 27! The company doing the banners for the RNC has a Tumblr, and has posted a preview of the signage that will be gracing the convention hall. 

oaicorp:

Will post pictures upon installation, but here is a preview of our many printed materials for the Republican National Convention - taking place at the Tampa Bay Times Forum during the week of August 27!

The company doing the banners for the RNC has a Tumblr, and has posted a preview of the signage that will be gracing the convention hall. 

oaicorp
7 Notes
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, considered a possible contender to become Mitt Romney’s running mate, recently met with the campaign aide in charge of the vice presidential vetting process, The Hill Newspaper reports.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, considered a possible contender to become Mitt Romney’s running mate, recently met with the campaign aide in charge of the vice presidential vetting process, The Hill Newspaper reports.

1 Notes
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