Romney ahead…in face time.

Date: December 16, 2011

Author: Michael A. Memoli

Topic: Romney  the  most  face time in GOP debates

A recent study in the University of Minnesota shows that Republican candidate, Mitt Romney had the most face/ speaking time on television than any other candidate. He has more than an hour on his fellow candidate, Rick Santorum. The closest to Romney was Perry who had almost 1 hour and 45 minutes of face time while Romney’s total was 2 hours and 16 minutes. Although Perry had a lot of  face time before when he just entered the race, he isn’t getting much now because his popularity pummeled to a point where he only got seven minutes in the last debate. Debates are the prime reason of getting time to talk and express opinions on different aspects of the well being of this country and when candidates do not get enough face time, their popularity goes down because the public does not know what their views are. Or could it be the other way around? Does popularity give a candidate more face time? Or does face time give a candidate more popularity? Which comes first? This is like the chicken or egg question. Popularity doesn’t arise from anywhere, it arises from exposure. Gingrich, for example, was fifth in rank for speaking time, but as his debating got better and his polls went up, he is now in one of the top ranks, but he is also the most popular candidate as of now. This popularity vs. face time question will just be left to whatever happened in the race in becoming the Republican candidate.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politicsnow/la-pn-debate-face-time-20111216,0,727846.story

They’re all antiabortion… but who they vote for?

Date: December 14, 2011

Author: Mark Z Barabak

Topic: Candidates tout antiabortion views before Iowa 

Well this isn’t gonna be an easy one…Santorum, Gingrich, Perry, and Bachmann appeared in Des Moines to sway Iowa social conservatives to vote for them especially since Iowa caucuses are less than a month away. They are all scrambling to make a good impression on Iowa since they all have the same view, but have different ways in expressing it. Santorum seems to be ahead in this race since he was responsible of every antiabortion bill passes in Senate. Gingrich went a step further and said he would defund all Planned Parenthoods and Perry even went a step further in saying that he stripped funding of Texas Planned Parenthoods and was ready for any fight against D.C. Bachmann blew all of them out of the park saying that she would be the first president to have ever participated in giving life as she is the mother of five children. It seemed like all of them were trying to out-do each other, with just building on what the previous candidate had just said. Iowa appeared to have liked Santorum the best because of the amount of applause for him. Rather than looking toward the future as the other candidates pledged to do many things in the name of Pro-Life if voted as president, Iowa conservatives are more retrospective in their views of the candidates and at this point Santorum has done the most for Pro-Lifers out there. We still don’t know for sure who Iowa’s caucuses will favor overall though. Abortion as one issue is not the only condition of the vote in Iowa, but it is an important aspect of the overall voting and soon we shall see the outcome of the candidate’s statements.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/la-pn-huckabee-candidate-forum-20111214,0,3314773.story

Too many comebacks and Romney's big mistake

Date: December 11, 2011

Topic: ABC News Debate in Iowa

On “This week with Christiane Amanpour”, The ABC News Debate in Iowa was full of comebacks and lashing out at the other candidates. Diane Sawyer’s and George Stephanopoulos’s analysis of the debate’s events were very accurate and they both provided points that the candidates made and also the interesting drama between the candidates. Although there were many statements that offended the candidates, there was none worse than Mitt Romney’s attempted $10,000 bet with Rick Perry. Although Romney basically dug himself into a deep hole, Sawyer felt that today was a good day for Michele Bachmann who stood firm in her views on the payroll tax and also with her statements involving “Newt Romney”, implying that both were the same person because of the many views that they have shared. According to Stephanopoulos,  Romney tried to point out that they were different, but it did not make a significant impact and caused him to receive even more negative treatment from Gingrich with the comeback of losing to Ted Kennedy in 1994. Perry made some statements about marriage and government having some of the same aspects which probably made Gingrich feel uncomfortable since he was married 3 times. Overall, both Sawyer and Stephanopoulos agree that today was a bashing day for the candidates but no one got severely hurt, unless you count Romney.

Then Amanpour interviewed Jon Huntsman, who was not invited to the debate and is still in New Hampshire and winning the hearts of the people in state. He is currently in the bottom line, but claims to be an underdog that will rise out of nowhere. Amanpour seemed to be coming at him throughout the interview and asked him what he was doing and other things that make everyone question why he is still in the race. He also said that in the Iowa debate, the most important issue of the “deficit of trust” had not been addressed and how he plans to make changed in Congress and the term length. Hunstman seemed bitter, but he still has high hopes that New Hampshire will help him on his way to victory.


URL: http://abcnews.go.com/watch/this-week/SH559082/VD55157403/this-week-1211-interview-with-jon-huntsman

"Iowa activists reevaluating Newt Gingrich’s candidacy"

Author: Dan Balz

Date: November 15, 2011

Topic: Iowa activists changing opinions

Iowa Republican activists have changed their minds about Newt Gingrich.  9 months ago, they had very little faith that Gingrich would be where he is now. Now he is the newest craze of the Republican primary race. He is said to have qualities that a president ought to have and people would trust him if a disaster would to strike the country.  As of now, Iowa has no preference and Gingrich, Cain, Romney, and Ron Paul are at the top of their list. Michele Bachmann was at first the favorite of activists, but soon enough they realized she was not ready for the position of president.

Gingrich is starting to make an appeal to the people and is getting ahead in this race.  He is said to be the new trend, like Perry and Bachmann were before against Romney, but could this trend be till the end? People are liking what he has to say and if he keeps this up, he could definitely be one of the two top contenders. This article is bias toward Gingrich and his steady climb up to the top. He is gaining favoritism among the masses as of now, but who knows if it will keep up? Articles are popping up everywhere with the same favoritism towards Gingrich. People who read the news will be influenced by the change in the line up and maybe even start liking Gingrich themselves.

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/iowa-activists-reevaluating-gingrichs-candidacy/2011/11/19/gIQAjGHlbN_story.html

"Gingrich, Romney prepare for January collision"

Date: December 7,2011

Authors: Dan Balz, Amy Gardner and Philip Rucker

Topic: Contest for Republican presidential nomination

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are almost neck to neck in this race for the Republican presidential nomination. The state battles in January will make it even clearer who will get the nomination. As of now, both candidates are trying to find new ways to appeal to the masses. Romney has been in the lead, but with Gingrich as a possible threat, he needs to have an impacting economic message and also be open to the media. Gingrich, on the other hand,  does not have as much money and people to fuel his campaign unlike Romney, and is currently looking for ways to build up both. Both candidates are scrambling to get ready for January contests. New Hampshire and Nevada are in favor of Romney while Iowa and South Carolina are for Gingrich as of now. Both Romney and Gingrich are trying to win over Florida as of now.

The decision for the Republican presidential nomination is going to be a tough one. No one can know for sure whether Gingrich  and Romney will be the top two candidates, but it seems as though Romney still keeps coming out as one of the top two. Who knows how long this trend will last? Voters in the first five states for contest could determine whether this race will be Gingrich and Romney for sure. There is definitely some bias towards Gingrich in this article and how the authors put on a display of a candidate who does not have enough help or money when they talks about how he only had two volunteers to make calls . This gave off some sympathy for Gingrich who voters might say is making it out on top without as much support as Romney. As it is, Republican leaders still say it is too early to make predictions that this primary will be a two-person race and even if Romney and Gingrich will still be standing when January and February are over. One point we can all agree on, the next coming months will be very hectic for the Republican candidates.

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gingrich-romney-prepare-for-january-collision/2011/12/07/gIQAlaHcdO_story.html