Rand Paul's "African-American" Outreach Delivered for White Audience
In the latest failure of the GOP’s Rebranding campaign, the RNC dispatched Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to Detroit last week for the opening of a new African-American Engagement Office. Yet even in a city that is approximately 83 percent African-American, American Bridge’s footage from an event at the Grace Bible Chapel shows Paul’s audience to be predominantly white. As reported by the Huffington Post, “the launch event put into stark relief just how much work the GOP has to do.” While the GOP’s outreach won’t be taken seriously without a significant recalibration of policy priorities, the choice of Paul as designated emissary to minority communities suggests a particular hollowness in their efforts. Earlier this year, Paul gave a condescending speech to the students of historically-black Howard University in which his revisionist history of the Republican Party and racial politics conveniently omitted the previous 50 years. During that speech, Paul also lied about his previous remarks opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
What else could New Jersey use $12 million for?
Throwing common sense and fiscal discipline aside, Gov. Chris Christie today announced he is unnecessarily holding a special election to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg in October rather than including the race on the ballot for New Jersey's regularly scheduled November elections. Christie's willingness to needlessly throw away 12 million in taxpayer dollars for the sole reason of boosting his own reelection campaign tears down the myth of Christie as a bold and principled governor. Today's decision was not that of a leader, but one of a craven, self-interested politician. While Christie may not care what it costs, taxpayers surely do. What else could New Jersey do with $12 million? A lot. Here's a sampling, courtesy of American Bridge:
- Rebuild 1.3 miles of boardwalk in Asbury Park. [USA Today, 12/5/12]
- Fund two months of food bank and soup kitchen assistance for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy [Letter to Speaker Boehner From Office of the President, 12/7/2012]
- Pay for 150% the cost of rebuilding the Belmar City Boardwalk ($8 million) [NPR, 5/26/13]
- Restore over half of Christie’s cuts to medical services for the elderly (he cut them $21M). [NJ.com,6/29/12]
- Pay for all of the non-profit grants awarded by the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund with nearly $1M to spare. [Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, Viewed 6/4/2013]
- The entire cost of funding New Jersey’s Family Success Centers. [Christie Announcement Of Family Center Funding, 10/9/12]
- The cost of funding New Jersey’s Cancer Education and Early Detection Program [Office of the Governor, October, 2012]
- The cost of increasing local aid grants for improving street, safety and quality of life improvements by 15% (the state has spent $76.2M). [NJ.com, 5/1/13]
- More than the entire budget of the Skills4Jersey Training Grant Program (it’s $11M). [Notice of Grant Opportunity, Fiscal Year 2013]
- Brand new high tech fire trucks, police vehicles, ambulance vans, and other emergency management equipment, as recently granted by the federal government to Jersey City. [NJ.com, 6/9/12]
- Restore the vetoed tax cut for Jersey Shore production, with $11.5M to spare. [NYT, 9/26/11]
CAUGHT ON TAPE: Ken Cuccinelli, Part-time Attorney General
Gotcha. Today, American Bridge 21st Century released a new video demonstrating Ken Cuccinelli’s inability to fulfill his duties as Virginia’s Attorney General while he runs for governor. Shunning nearly three decades of precedent, including that of his predecessor Bob McDonnell, Cuccinelli claimed that he was able to both campaign and serve as Attorney General. However, as this video shows, Cuccinelli missed a significant portion of an important meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on School & Campus Safety while he was campaigning. Watch the video:
New Video Shows “Part-Time” Cuccinelli Neglecting AG Duties To Campaign
WASHINGTON -- Today, American Bridge 21st Century released a new video demonstrating Ken Cuccinelli’s inability to fulfill his duties as Virginia’s Attorney General while he runs for governor. Shunning nearly three decades of precedent, including that of his predecessor Bob McDonnell, Cuccinelli claimed that he was able to both campaign and serve as Attorney General. However, as this video shows, Cuccinelli missed a significant portion of an important meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on School & Campus Safety while he was campaigning.
Ken Cuccinelli: Part-time Attorney General
The past six Attorneys General of Virginia have resigned to run for Governor, including Governor Bob McDonnell, Jerry Kilgore and Jim Gilmore -- But Ken Cuccinelli says it "wouldn't be wise" for him to step down and focus on campaigning. Will Cucinnelli keep on as a part-time Attorney General? American Bridge will keep up the pressure.
Mitt thinks it would be easier as a Latino. Actually…. (New video feat. Rosie Perez)
American Bridge has partnered with Jewish Council for Education and Research (of Sarah Silverman, Great Schlep & Samuel L. Jackson video fame) to launch Actually.org. More info on the partnership below. Today we're releasing our first video. It features Rosie Perez taking Romney to task over his "joke" that it would be "helpful" to be Latino.
VIDEO: Christie/King 2016?
Chris Christie will be traveling to Iowa today to attend a fundraiser for embattled Representative Steve King, whose recent comments…
VIDEO: Romney's Cayman Daydream
Wonder what was going through Mitt Romney's head when Paul Ryan went off script and bashed tax shelters for the wealthy during their 60 Minutes interview? American Bridge president Rodell Mollineau said, "Paul Ryan is off to a rough start, and not just because he's less popular than Sarah Palin or Dick Cheney. In one simple thought, Ryan both embarrassed Mitt Romney and spouted falsehoods about the Republicans' agenda. In truth, the Romney-Ryan plan not only fails to eliminate loopholes and giveaways, it places a heavy burden on the middle class by lowering tax rates for multimillionaires like Mitt Romney to less than 1%."
VIDEO: Connie Mack Isn’t Doing His Job
Connie Mack is missing again. This week, Florida Rep. Connie Mack was once again absent from the House of Representatives after…
MEMO: Richard Mourdock’s Extreme Record
Let’s be clear about one thing regarding Richard Mourdock’s win over Dick Lugar tonight in the Indiana Republican Senate primary: Richard Mourdock did not win; Dick Lugar lost. Assuredly, Lugar’s precipitous drop in the final weeks was propelled by his stumbles over the residency issue. But Lugar’s vulnerability stemmed from being identified as one of the Tea Party’s top targets of the 2012 election cycle. Lugar will have been felled by the same extreme fringe of the Republican Party that took down several pragmatic Republican candidates in 2010. These extremists found a mouthpiece in State Treasurer Richard Mourdock and are nominating a candidate who is well outside the mainstream of Indiana voters.
The Republican primary has been a referendum on Lugar, not an endorsement of Richard Mourdock. As Hoosiers across the state learn more about Mourdock, they will realize that his soft-spoken demeanor belies a fervent, extreme view of politics and governance that would hurt Indiana’s middle class families, students, veterans, women, seniors, and farmers.BACKGROUND ON RICHARD MOURDOCK’S EXTREMISM
Mourdock Said Auto Bailout Was Illegal. According to a Mourdock Editorial in the South Bend Tribune, “By any traditional legal analysis, fundamental elements of the Obama administration’s Chrysler bankruptcy plan were illegal. It turned 200 years of U.S. bankruptcy law on its head by awarding more value to a select group of unsecured creditors than to secured creditors. Others are apparently willing to tolerate the violation of federal bankruptcy laws simply because they liked the result: It helped their friends. But most Americans, including the Hoosier retirees who had their property stolen away, see such picking and choosing by the federal government as fundamentally un-American.” [Mourdock Editorial, South Bend Tribune, 10/9/10]