It's time for Mitt Romney to put up or shut up on Syria. My new post on US News.com http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/brad-bannon/2012/05/31/mitt-romney-should-put-up-or-shut-up-on-syria#comments

The Medium is the Message

My new post for USNews http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/brad-bannon/2012/05/24/voters-tuning-out-flood-of-2012-super-pac-campaign-ads

The Medium is the Message

What would happen if the political operatives and political consultants running the presidential campaigns and superPACS threw a party and no one came? We may find out this fall.

One of the many things that make politics so interesting is the abundance of irony. This year, the presidential campaigns and superPACs (hat tip to the Supreme Court) will spend more money than ever on TV ads while voters pay less attention to them than ever. Voters have their remotes poised and ready to go.

There are many reasons why the cost effectiveness of TV ads in the presidential race will decline faster than Newt Gingrich’s political fortunes did.

This presidential race should be big on building turnout and small on voter persuasion. We’re headed for a very close presidential election because America is still a 50/50 nation. Voters are split down the middle on President Obama’s performance and his policies. Americans divide evenly on the effectiveness of the economic stimulus, the need for strict government regulation of business and marriage equality.

TV ads are all about persuading decided voters but finding one in this year’s presidential race is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. The candidate who wins the presidential race will win because his campaign was able to turn out every last breathing member of the party base like George W. Bush did in 2004. This means Barack Obama should focus on get out the vote operations geared to minority voters and Mitt Romney has to do the same thing with social conservatives. This will be the year of grassroots voters, not Nielsen families.

In the presidential race, earned media will be more important than paid media. Voters learn about presidential candidates by watching them on The View and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and even occasionally on NBC News with Brian Williams. Young voters get their info from YouTube and The Thomas Jefferson St. Blog.

Despite the evidence, don’t expect the avalanche of TV ads to slow this year. The smart way to go this year is news management which we used to call public relations. But news management and internet ads don’t make much money for consultants. Establishment Democrats had a fit a few weeks ago when liberal moneyman George Soros contributed two million dollars to grassroots progressive organizations instead of the pro Obama TV superPAC Priorities USA. And the Supreme Court opened a Pandora’s Box full of shrill negative TV ads in its Citizens United decision.

But voters shouldn’t despair. Not as long as they have their remotes and DVRs close at hand.

Mitt's Record at Bain is Fair Game

My new post on USNews.com
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-romneys-bain-record-a-winning-issue-for-obama/obama-has-a-right-to-question-romneys-business-credentials

Karl Rove believes the best way to damage a candidacy is to undermine the candidate's strength. Romney is running as the guy with the experience to fix the economy. Making the sale against the bully from Bain is the best way to undermine Romney’s campaign. Democrats learned this lesson the hard way in 2004 when the Swift Boat Veterans destroyed the military credentials that were a big part of Jon Kerry’s campaign.

Voters don’t want a cold calculating corporate CEO running the economy. Like a lot of other “corporate vultures” (Rick Perry’s words), Mitt made a mint shutting down companies, laying off hard working employees and sending American jobs to other countries. America needs more jobs not less of them.

Mitt Romney’s version of cold blooded capitalism won’t fly with the working families who are teetering at the edge of economic oblivion after decades of downsizing and income stagnation. A few guys like Romney and his banker buddies on Wall St. made fortunes as corporate pirates while worker productivity increased and wages declined. Americans won’t buy the Romney model as a way to fix an ailing economy.

While I’m on the subject, I disagree with Cory Booker’s critique of the validity of the issue. Romney’s record at Bain is fair game. He is running on his record as businessman. Americans have the right to hear the evidence and judge for themselves whether the Bain capitalist helped or hurt the economy while he ran the company.

My Interview on the Legal Broadcast Network

http://thelegalbroadcastnetwork.squarespace.com/

Bigots can slow the train of freedom but they can't stop it. See my interview on the Legal Broadcast Network on marriage equality and civil rights.

SuperPACS. Advantage GOP

http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Brad_Bannon_0DD82B58-8218-4661-BF8D-46A20AAA9326.html

The Supreme Court gave the GOP a president in 2000 and the money to elect another one in 2012.

Brunch w/Brad and Leslie Marshall Show Podcasts

http://bannoncr.com/audiohome.html

Check out podcasts of Brunch w/Brad and the shows I have hosted on Leslie Marshall's nationally syndicated talk radio program.

My Blast at the Bain Bully on the Leslie Marshall Show

http://mittismean.org/2012/05/18/brad-bannon-blasts-bain-bully-on-leslie-marshall-show/

Mitt is Mean. Hear my blast at the Bain Bully when I hosted Leslie Marshall's nationally syndicated radio show last night.

Your Can't Stop the March to Equality for USNews.com

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/brad-bannon/2012/05/17/equal-rights-for-gay-americans-are-inevitable-

Thursday is a big day that marks the eternal American quest for equality. On this day in 1954, U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Brown v Board of Education that declared that racial segregation was a violation of the equal protection clause in the 14^th amendment of the Constitution. Today is also the anniversary of the day in 2004 when the first gay couple in the U.S. was legally married due to the Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Cou

Thursday is a big day that marks the eternal American quest for equality. On this day in 1954, U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Brown v Board of Education that declared that racial segregation was a violation of the equal protection clause in the 14^th amendment of the Constitution. Today is also the anniversary of the day in 2004 when the first gay couple in the U.S. was legally married due to the Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Council’s ruling that the state could not discriminate against gay residents of the state.

This week we also observe the infamous anniversary of the high court’s Plessy v Ferguson decision in 1896 that validated racial segregation until the Brown decision. The 58 year gap between Plessy and Brown demonstrates how much time the march to freedom takes. Bigots can slow the march to freedom but they can’t stop it. Thomas Jefferson believed that once some people tasted freedom, everyone would push hard until they had the same rights. Women had to wait until 131 years after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution for political equality. Blacks weren’t able to enjoy the fruits of freedom until the 1960’s.

The path to full citizenship is slow but it’s just a matter of time until it comes. And it will come for gays in the same way that it came for blacks and women.  Within the next two years, the Supreme Court will hear a case about the constitutionality of Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage in California and the omens for the repeal of Prop 8 are promising. Hopefully, the court will rule that the equal protection clause of the Constitution mandates that states treat straights and gays the same way without prejudice.

Justice Anthony Kennedy is the swing vote on the nation’s highest court and he has supported two important court rulings that affirmed the rights of gays to be treated as first class citizens. The citizens of Colorado like California voters passed a ballot question that would have restricted gay rights.  Justice Kennedy was the author of the decision in Romer vs Evans in 1992 which stated that state attempts to restrict gay rights were a violation of the 14^th Amendment.

Justice Kennedy also supported the Court’s 2003 decision in Lawrence v Texas that declared the Lone Star state’s law against gay sex was unconstitutional. Kennedy’s rulings suggest that he could be the key vote that produces a SCOTUS decision in the CA case on Prop 8.

Freedom can take a long time to come but it can’t be stopped forever. Segregationists were able to delay social and political freedom for blacks but they couldn’t stop the inevitable march to freedom. Religious bigots won’t be able to stop the march for gay rights either.

Barack Obama’s endorsement of equality for gays represents a turning point in American social history in the same way that Abraham Lincoln’s opposition to slavery opened the door to freedom for black Americans. I’m not sure whether President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage was politically correct or not but I do know it was the right thing to do.  

Segregationists like George Wallace and Strom Thurmond who tried to restrict blacks to second class citizen hood are remembered as first class bigots. The same fate awaits the opponents of full citizenship for gays.

Even if the Court punts, it’s just a matter of time until the U.S. gives gay Americans the rights they are entitled to as citizens.  Millennials, the generation of Americans between 18 and 30 are poised to replace the baby boomers as the dominant force in American politics. And young Americans support the full force of freedom for gays by an overwhelming margin.

It’s time for Americans to board the train of freedom before it leaves the station.

ncil’s ruling that the state could not discriminate against gay residents of the state.

This week we also observe the infamous anniversary of the high court’s Plessy v Ferguson decision in 1896 that validated racial segregation until the Brown decision. The 58 year gap between Plessy and Brown demonstrates how much time the march to freedom takes. Bigots can slow the march to freedom but they can’t stop it. Thomas Jefferson believed that once some people tasted freedom, everyone would push hard until they had the same rights. Women had to wait until 131 years after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution for political equality. Blacks weren’t able to enjoy the fruits of freedom until the 1960’s.

The path to full citizenship is slow but it’s just a matter of time until it comes. And it will come for gays in the same way that it came for blacks and women.  Within the next two years, the Supreme Court will hear a case about the constitutionality of Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage in California and the omens for the repeal of Prop 8 are promising. Hopefully, the court will rule that the equal protection clause of the Constitution mandates that states treat straights and gays the same way without prejudice.

Justice Anthony Kennedy is the swing vote on the nation’s highest court and he has supported two important court rulings that affirmed the rights of gays to be treated as first class citizens. The citizens of Colorado like California voters passed a ballot question that would have restricted gay rights.  Justice Kennedy was the author of the decision in Romer vs Evans in 1992 which stated that state attempts to restrict gay rights were a violation of the 14^th Amendment.

Justice Kennedy also supported the Court’s 2003 decision in Lawrence v Texas that declared the Lone Star state’s law against gay sex was unconstitutional. Kennedy’s rulings suggest that he could be the key vote that produces a SCOTUS decision in the CA case on Prop 8.

Freedom can take a long time to come but it can’t be stopped forever. Segregationists were able to delay social and political freedom for blacks but they couldn’t stop the inevitable march to freedom. Religious bigots won’t be able to stop the march for gay rights either.

Barack Obama’s endorsement of equality for gays represents a turning point in American social history in the same way that Abraham Lincoln’s opposition to slavery opened the door to freedom for black Americans. I’m not sure whether President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage was politically correct or not but I do know it was the right thing to do.  

Segregationists like George Wallace and Strom Thurmond who tried to restrict blacks to second class citizen hood are remembered as first class bigots. The same fate awaits the opponents of full citizenship for gays.

Even if the Court punts, it’s just a matter of time until the U.S. gives gay Americans the rights they are entitled to as citizens.  Millennials, the generation of Americans between 18 and 30 are poised to replace the baby boomers as the dominant force in American politics. And young Americans support the full force of freedom for gays by an overwhelming margin.

It’s time for Americans to board the train of freedom before it leaves the station.

Thursday is a big day that marks the eternal American quest for equality. On this day in 1954, U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Brown v Board of Education that declared that racial segregation was a violation of the equal protection clause in the 14^th amendment of the Constitution. Today is also the anniversary of the day in 2004 when the first gay couple in the U.S. was legally married due to the Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Council’s ruling that the state could not discriminate against gay residents of the state.

This week we also observe the infamous anniversary of the high court’s Plessy v Ferguson decision in 1896 that validated racial segregation until the Brown decision. The 58 year gap between Plessy and Brown demonstrates how much time the march to freedom takes. Bigots can slow the march to freedom but they can’t stop it. Thomas Jefferson believed that once some people tasted freedom, everyone would push hard until they had the same rights. Women had to wait until 131 years after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution for political equality. Blacks weren’t able to enjoy the fruits of freedom until the 1960’s.

The path to full citizenship is slow but it’s just a matter of time until it comes. And it will come for gays in the same way that it came for blacks and women.  Within the next two years, the Supreme Court will hear a case about the constitutionality of Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage in California and the omens for the repeal of Prop 8 are promising. Hopefully, the court will rule that the equal protection clause of the Constitution mandates that states treat straights and gays the same way without prejudice.

Justice Anthony Kennedy is the swing vote on the nation’s highest court and he has supported two important court rulings that affirmed the rights of gays to be treated as first class citizens. The citizens of Colorado like California voters passed a ballot question that would have restricted gay rights.  Justice Kennedy was the author of the decision in Romer vs Evans in 1992 which stated that state attempts to restrict gay rights were a violation of the 14^th Amendment.

Justice Kennedy also supported the Court’s 2003 decision in Lawrence v Texas that declared the Lone Star state’s law against gay sex was unconstitutional. Kennedy’s rulings suggest that he could be the key vote that produces a SCOTUS decision in the CA case on Prop 8.

Freedom can take a long time to come but it can’t be stopped forever. Segregationists were able to delay social and political freedom for blacks but they couldn’t stop the inevitable march to freedom. Religious bigots won’t be able to stop the march for gay rights either.

Barack Obama’s endorsement of equality for gays represents a turning point in American social history in the same way that Abraham Lincoln’s opposition to slavery opened the door to freedom for black Americans. I’m not sure whether President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage was politically correct or not but I do know it was the right thing to do.  

Segregationists like George Wallace and Strom Thurmond who tried to restrict blacks to second class citizen hood are remembered as first class bigots. The same fate awaits the opponents of full citizenship for gays.

Even if the Court punts, it’s just a matter of time until the U.S. gives gay Americans the rights they are entitled to as citizens.  Millennials, the generation of Americans between 18 and 30 are poised to replace the baby boomers as the dominant force in American politics. And young Americans support the full force of freedom for gays by an overwhelming margin.

It’s time for Americans to board the train of freedom before it leaves the station.

Mitt Made Big Bucks as a Corporate Bully

http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Brad_Bannon_2F178892-4E40-4AA4-95A8-613371ED078B.html#.T7J0yWgn3VU.twitter via @POLITICO

Mitt's Mother's Day Massacre on Brunch w/Brad

http://mittismean.org/2012/05/14/brunch-with-brad-bannon-mothers-day-special/

WI Recall Down to the Wire from Politico

http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Brad_Bannon_B95BE027-30A4-4AA0-8D47-2E72EC38BF6A.html


The recall race in Wisconsin between Governor Scott Walker and Milwaukee mayor Tome Barrett is a tight as a tick and a hound dog. Voters are unhappy with Walker's attempts to break labor unions and with his economic policies which led Wisconsin to lose jobs last month while the national economy picked up steam.

Barrett isn't the issue in the campaign. The outcome will be a referendum on Walker's stewardship of an economy that is faltering. When Walker killed collective bargaining he promised economic progress and all Wisconsin got was economic decline.

GOP Celebrates Mother's Day by Slashing Aid to Moms

http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Brad_Bannon_39780116-CFE3-4F2C-AF3C-D011615FEF20.html

Romney Flips and then Flops

RT @usnews: Obama Should Go After Romney's Flip-Flops, Not His Extremism - Brad Bannon (usnews.com) http://bit.ly/IWaaM0

So many choices so little time. This is the dilemma that faces the Obama strategy team. The choice they must make is whether to go after Mitt Romney as a right wing extremist or as a serial flip flopper. God knows there’s plenty of ammo for either argument but I vote for the flip flop.

Trying to decide how to attack Romney is like trying to decide whether to have cake or pie for dessert. Campaign Obama is inclined to go after Romney as a right wing extremist. I can certainly understand the temptation to go that way but there’s a better way to skin the cat.

Romney supported the passage of a ballot question in Mississippi that would have banned virtually all abortions. This measure was so extreme that voters in one of the most conservative states in the union rejected it.

In Ohio, the presumptive GOP nominee supported the law which banned collective bargaining for public employees. Ohio is a presidential battleground state with 18 electoral votes and Buckeye voters killed that turkey by a two to one margin.

Romney, his budget buddy Representative Paul Ryan and the rest of the Republican mean machine supports a plan to cripple Medicare. Their attempt to kill Medicare will not go over well in Florida, a haven for seniors which has the most electoral votes, 29, of any swing state. The same goes for Pennsylvania which has an aging population and 20 electoral votes.

I realize that I’ve just made a compelling case for attacking Romney’s extreme positions. But painting Romney as a right wing extremist doesn’t have as much upside for Democrats as portraying him as a serial flip flopper. Romney will backpedal from his radical positions so fast that reporters and conservatives will get whiplash trying to keep up with the changes.

My guess is that the presidential race will be close and turnout will be the key to victory. If Democrats go after Romney as a conservative extremist, they run the risk of energizing voters from the tea party and the religious right. GOP conservatives are lukewarm at best about Romney, so Democrats should let this sleeping dog lie.

But attacks against the former Bay State governor as a flip flopper promise an even greater reward.

The new Romney takes a hard line against gay rights. But when Mitt Romney ran against Ted Kennedy in 1994, the Bain capitalist ran as a liberal. That was before Romney was a moderate and then a conservative. In a televised debate, Romney pledged to be as strong on gay rights as Senator Kennedy which is a very hard thing to do.  But Romney was willing to give it a try.

But that wasn’t the end of Romney’s liberal period or his support for Ted Kennedy’s positions. The 2012 version of Mitt Romney says he opposes a requirement that everyone has to buy health insurance. But as governor, Romney supported a health care reform law which became the prototype of Obamacare, mandatory coverage and all. For me, the best part of Romneycare was the signing ceremony. The Boston Globe published a picture of the event which showed Senator Kennedy standing over the governor as he proudly put his John Hancock on the law. There was a smile on Kennedy’s face as broad as the Grand Canyon. It was the smile of the cat that had just swallowed the canary.

Another example of Romney’s flexibility, some say hypocrisy is the federal loan that saved GM. Romney opposed the loan to GM which saved hundreds thousands of jobs in the Midwest. Romney bailed on autoworkers but he backed the banksters and billionaires when he supported the Wall Street bailout in the fall of 2008.

The biggest advantage of portraying the former Massachusetts governor as a serial flip flopper is that Romney will help Democrats make the sale. Romney already has whipped out his Etch A Sketch to erase many of the positions he took during the primary campaign and replace them with freshly drawn stands.

Voters vote for people, not policies. Americans can stomach a leader with strong beliefs but they won’t vote for a guy who doesn’t have the courage of his convictions. Ronald Reagan’s positions were too extreme for many Americans but they liked the former president because he stood up for his beliefs. I lived through Ronald Reagan’s presidency and believe me, Mitt Romney is no Ronald Reagan.

Presidential Race Will Be Close

http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Brad_Bannon_DCB27907-D712-4CA5-BC91-0677D1E8B2A5.html My new post for Politico.com.

The head to heads and the presidential approval ratings in recent national polls suggest that the presidential race will be very close. The spotlight is on independents but the outcome will probably depend on the ability of each party to turn out its base. This is why President Obama kicked off his re-election on college campuses Saturday and Joe Biden endorsed gay marriage yesterday. The president's goal is to energize the young people who put him over the top in 2008. Romney's challenge is turning out the Christian conservatives who did not support him in the primaries.

Obama Kicks Off Campaign with Youth

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/brad-bannon/2012/05/04/romney-is-winning-young-voters-for-obama

Why did Barack Obama officially kick off his presidential campaign yesterday at Virginia Commonwealth University and Ohio State University this weekend?

 Ohio and Virginia are easy since both are key presidential battleground states. But why start on college campuses? The answer is simple. To win re-election, the president needs the same kind of enthusiasm and support from young people he enjoyed in 2008. The president will have to work very hard to capture the magic of his last campaign. Not coincidentally, the Obama campaign just released a new viral video ad called the "The Life of Julia" which depicts the positive impact that Obama policies will have on the life and career of a 27 year old woman.

Rick Santorum may not recognize the importance of a college degree but most people do. A college degree gives young Americans the chance to compete effectively in a cut throat global economy. Helping young people get a college education is not snobbery, it’s just common sense. Data shows that college grads are less likely to be unemployed and more likely to make good money than people who don’t have degrees.

But the House Republicans want to make it more difficult for young people to compete internationally. Student loan interest rates will double by July 1 unless the GOP gets off its butt. But Republicans in true Darwinian fashion are pitting college students against pregnant women in the struggle for federal aid. But the GOP won’t even consider the idea of eliminating federal tax freebies for their budget buddies, the banksters and billionaires to fund college student loans and preventive health care for women. The banksters and billionaires have well heeled lobbyists and millions of dollars to contribute to GOP campaigns. Pregnant women and college students don’t have anything that matters to Republicans.

I am a part time college professor and many of the students I taught this semester won’t be back in the fall if House Republicans fail to block the increase in interest rates for college loans. Their absence will be a tragedy for America and our ability to compete in the global economy.

Since Mitt Romney has 2 degrees from Harvard, he should understand the importance of a college degree. But Mitt Romney doesn’t understand anything that matters to most Americans. Romney advised young people who can’t afford a college education to borrow money from their parents to go to school. Well that’s fine is your dad is as rich as Mitt Romney. But middle class Americans are just barely paying their mortgages and putting food on the table, so lending their kids money for a college education is just a pipe dream and another indication that Richey Romney doesn’t have a clue about the problems of working families.

Romney and other Republicans are doing everything they can to drive the millennial generation of Americans between the ages of 18 and 30 back into the Obama fold. When Barack Obama went on Jimmy Kimmel’s TV show, the GOP ran a TV ad which criticized the president for being "cool". Since young people like “cool”, the Republicans were simply spending their own money to reinforce the Obama message to the millennials.

It's just not the Republican position on college loans that is hurting the party. GOP positions on social issues are also keeping young people in the Democratic camp. Millennials are overwhelmingly pro choice and pro gay marriage. Young people believe that there should be an easy path to citizenship for immigrants and they support the president’s efforts to reform the health care system. The religious fundamentalists who dominate Mitt Romney and the GOP scare the living hell out of young people who are suspicious of any kind of religious orthodoxy. According to Morley Winograd and Mike Hais in their book "Millennial Makeover, the Republicans will pay an even higher price for their right wing social policies when the growing millennial generation becomes the dominant political force in American politics over the next decade.

Republicans feel that the president is too cool for school. But the kids in school will vote again for Barack Obama because of his campaign efforts and because of the help he is getting from Republicans.

Romney Flipped and Flopped on Bin Laden

The GOP and Romney won’t have much to be proud of
tomorrow on the first anniversary of Osana bin Laden’s death.

Elephants may have long memories but Republicans
don't. The GOP criticizes President Obama for boasting about his relentless
quest to kill bin Laden but has forgotten that President George W. Bush made
the removal of Saddam Hussein the focus of his re-election campaign in 2004.
Bush adviser Karl Rove even questioned the patriotism of Democrats like Barack
Obama who opposed the invasion of Iraq.

Republicans also have a bad case of sour grapes.
Barack Obama was able to accomplish something, in 2 years that President Bush
couldn't get done in 8. Moreover, President Obama was also able to depose a
dictator in Libya without the loss of a single American life. Over four
thousand brave young Americans died in Iraq during the Bush presidency.

The other reason why Republicans are so defensive
on the anniversary of bin Laden’s death is because it dramatizes another in a
long line of Mitt Romney flip flops. During his 2008 presidential campaign, Romney said “It’s not worth moving heaven and earth to get him.” And as usual he changed his position when
he stated “We’ll move everything to get him.”

Republicans want to have their cake and eat it
too. As rich as he is, not even Mitt Romney can have both.