There's been a lot of speculation about whether Chris Christie will decide to run for president now that Rick Perry is slipping in the polls. This report from former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean might be the most concrete evidence yet that Christie may run:
Princeton professor Paul Krugman, talking about Paul Ryan's budget:
"...His budget would kill people. No question," Princeton University and Nobel Prize [w]inning economist Paul Krugman told CNN. "The cuts in Medicare he's proposing, the replacement of Medicare by a voucher system would in the end mean that tens of millions of Americans would not be able to afford essential health care. So that counts as cruelty to me."
Rick Perry has a new ad out today, following up on last Thursday's debate, and hitting Mitt Romney for changing a line in his book about the Massachusetts health care law:
In Newsweek, Eli Lake reports that “Obama Sold Israel Bunker-Buster Bombs.” Actually, as the story notes, it was George W. Bush who ordered the bombs toward the end of his second term. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert wanted them delivered in 2007, but Bush told him to wait until 2009-2010, and in 2009, according to Lake’s story, “Obama finally released the weapons.”
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is a proponent of raising taxes on everyone, criticized President Obama for using theatrics to trumpet his plan to raise taxes on the rich. "The Buffett thing is just theatrics," Bloomberg said this morning on NBC's Meet the Press.
Having watched the debate Thursday night, and having heard the candidates speak and having mingled with them over the subsequent couple of days, 70 percent of the activists attending the Florida Republican gathering this weekend cast a vote of no confidence in the two GOP frontrunners.
So, with all the usual caveats about not over-interpreting straw polls, I’d suggest:
Herman Cain won today's Florida Republican party straw poll with 37.1 percent of the vote. Rick Perry came in second at 15.4 percent, with Mitt Romney not far behind in third at 14 percent. Michele Bachmann, who won last month's straw poll in Ames, Iowa, came in last today with only 1.5 percent. Here are the full results:
Herman Cain, 37.1% Rick Perry, 15.4% Mitt Romney, 14% Rick Santorum, 10.9% Ron Paul, 10.4% Newt Gingrich, 8.4% Jon Huntsman, 2.3% Michele Bachmann, 1.5%
