Reuters: Politics: Human rights in focus at U.S. Supreme Court

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Human rights in focus at U.S. Supreme Court Oct 1st 2012, 06:32 Members of the public who received tickets to watch the second day of legal arguments over the Affordable Care Act march into the Supreme Court in Washington, March 27, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed By Jonathan Stempel Mon Oct 1, 2012 2:32am EDT (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court, back in session today after its summer recess, is expected to take up a closely watched case that could help it decide whether American judges are empowered to hear lawsuits over human rights atrocities abroad. The nine justices will review the reach of the Alien Tort Statute, an obscure 1789 law that was revived in the 1980s by attorneys pursuing international human rights cases. In the past two decades more than 150 Alien Tort Statute lawsuits, accusing U.S. and foreign corporations of wrongdoing in more than 60 foreign countries, have been filed in U.S. courts, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Last February, during the first oral arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, some of the court's conservative justices signaled a willingness to shield corporations from liability in U.S. courts over allegations that they had aided or acquiesced to foreign governments that abused their own people. On March 5 the justices asked both sides to reargue the case and address a larger question about the Alien Tort Statute: whether U.S. courts should be open to similar claims brought against anyone, not just corporations. Arguments are set to take place eight years after the court in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, which concerned the forced abduction from Mexico of a suspect in a murder, said an Alien Tort Statute claim that rested on "a norm of international character accepted by the civilized world" could be brought in U.S. courts. Of the cases in the new nine-month term, "Kiobel raises perhaps the largest question of them all: the relationship between America and the world," said Douglas Kmiec, a law professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and former U.S. ambassador to Malta. "The notion that Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain left open the door for a cause of action rocks the foundation of international human rights law in a good way, because most of human rights is diplomatic and aspirational, not enforceable," he said. Rehearings are rare and often foreshadow landmark rulings. Examples include the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case and the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case allowing unlimited spending by corporations and unions in elections. Several dozen briefs have been filed in the case, representing groups such as Serbian genocide victims, companies such as Coca-Cola Co and mining giant Rio Tinto Plc, and countries such as Argentina, Germany and the United Kingdom. NIGERIAN DICTATORSHIP The Alien Tort Statute lets federal courts review "any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States." Twelve Nigerian plaintiffs led by Esther Kiobel used it in litigation accusing oil companies of complicity in a crackdown on protesters - including torture, executions and other crimes against humanity - by military ruler Sani Abacha from 1992 to 1995. Kiobel's husband, Barinem, a local politician, and others were among those executed. In the original February 28 argument, Justice Samuel Alito revealed unease about letting U.S. courts reach out to address such cases and suggested that doing so could heighten international tensions. "What business does a case like that have in the courts of the United States?" he asked. "There's no connection to the United States whatsoever." Meanwhile, Justice Anthony Kennedy, known for looking to international legal practices for guidance, quoted from a Chevron Corp brief stating that no other countries give their courts "universal civil jurisdiction" over human rights abuses to which those countries have no connection. Kennedy is often a swing vote on the court. The high court has recently made it harder for other plaintiffs to sue in U.S. courts over non-U.S. conduct. In April it said civil lawsuits brought under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act on behalf of victims of killings and torture can be brought only against individuals, not groups such as the Palestinian Authority. Prior to that, in 2010, the court shut down many foreign securities fraud claims in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd, in which it concluded that U.S. statutes face a "presumption against extraterritoriality." In a court brief, Germany cited that case in urging a narrow reading of the Alien Tort Statute, saying "overbroad exercises of jurisdiction" make it harder for sovereign countries to control their affairs. Some say others might take matters in their own hands. "If the court says there is no limitation on jurisdiction, we can be certain that other nations will retaliate, and use their courts to expand economic or political power," said Matthew Kemner, a partner at Carroll, Burdick & McDonough in San Francisco who submitted a brief supporting Royal Dutch Petroleum on behalf of a group of international law professors. But supporters of the Nigerian plaintiffs say resistance elsewhere to addressing human rights abuses justifies allowing U.S. courts to step in. "People are asserting universal human rights, but there are many countries that don't provide a viable forum, so if the U.S. and similarly situated countries don't provide that forum, then those rights are meaningless," said David Sloss, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law who submitted a brief in favor of the Kiobel plaintiffs on behalf of Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. U.S. URGES RESTRAINT The Obama administration has urged that the court not adopt a categorical rule allowing lawsuits over extraterritorial conduct. It argued that courts instead could on a case-by-case basis allow claims based on conduct that might interfere with U.S. foreign relations or respect for human rights, such as torture and killings that foreign governments encourage or tacitly permit. Sloss said the Supreme Court could decide to end use of the Alien Tort Statute in "foreign-cubed" cases: foreign defendants suing foreign companies over conduct outside U.S. borders. Kmiec said a limited ruling was possible and noted that the law was adopted at about the same time as the Constitution. "I don't expect the court to be as categorical with the presumption against extraterritoriality as corporations hope," he said. "The pedigree of the Alien Tort Statute will have to be reconciled with our adherence to international law in the way a more modern statute might not." The case is Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 10-1491. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Howard Goller and Douglas Royalty) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Politics: Analysis: Despite turmoil, election seen yielding status quo in Washington

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Analysis: Despite turmoil, election seen yielding status quo in Washington Oct 1st 2012, 05:03 U.S. President Barack Obama waves to supporters during a campaign rally at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, Nevada September 30, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque By Thomas Ferraro and Samuel P. Jacobs WASHINGTON | Mon Oct 1, 2012 1:03am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In forecasting what the U.S. Congress will look like after the November 6 elections, Princeton University's Sam Wang is what his fellow analysts call an "outlier." Wang, one of a dozen or so leading academics who use statistical data to forecast elections, says there is a 74 percent probability that the Democrats will gain the net 25 seats they need to take control of the 435-seat House of Representatives from the Republicans. He cites President Barack Obama's recent rise in the polls, which Wang says could help other Democrats on House ballots. Wang says his estimate "suggests that in coming weeks, we might look for (congressional) district polls to move in the Democrats' direction." Since Obama jumped to a significant lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney during the past two weeks, there has been an increasing chance that the presidential race could create a larger-than-expected ripple across the congressional elections in the Democrats' favor. That has triggered anxiety among Republicans and raised hopes among Democrats. It remains a minority view, however. The conventional wisdom in Washington is that on November 6, a politically divided nation is likely to reinstall a largely familiar cast of characters at each end of Pennsylvania Avenue: a Democratic president, a Republican-led House, and a Democratic-led Senate. For all the turbulence of the last few years - including the rise of the conservative, compromise-resistant Tea Party movement and the resulting gridlock in Washington that led to historically low approval ratings for Congress, Americans are on course to keep most of the same people in charge, most analysts say. That may not be good news for those hoping to see an early deal between the parties on how to tackle the nation's high unemployment and debt and deficit problems. If there is no compromise in Congress soon, big tax increases and mandatory spending cuts early next year could send the economy over the "fiscal cliff" and back into recession. In the House - where every seat is up for election every two years - there likely will be a backlash against some of the 87 first-term Republicans, many of whom were elected with the Tea Party's support, who helped give their party control of the chamber. Democrats have targeted two dozen freshman Republicans in the House who are seen as particularly vulnerable. But district-by-district analyses by the Cook Political Report, the Rothenberg Political Report and others suggest that any gain in House seats for either party probably will be small. The most likely scenario: Democrats will have a net gain of a few seats - perhaps as many as 15 - but will remain in the minority. A big reason for such estimates: In many cases, the results of the November election for House seats essentially were decided months ago, when states went through the once-a-decade process of redrawing their congressional districts. In two dozen states with Republican-led legislatures, districts typically were redrawn to help the party's incumbent members of Congress win re-election by making their districts more conservative - and to make some Democrats more vulnerable. Democrats did the same thing, protecting their own in eight states where they control the legislatures. In Illinois, Democratic lawmakers carved up five congressional districts now represented by Republicans so that each had more Democrats. That is partly why Illinois Republican Representative Joe Walsh, an outspoken hero of the Tea Party, is likely to be bounced from the House by Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran. A recent poll in the district had Duckworth up by 14 percentage points. Other states used bipartisan panels to redraw House districts, in part to spread the political impact. Overall, however, the politically charged redistricting system is likely to help preserve the status quo in Washington. Analysts say that for this election, the calculus in House races would change only if there were a significant margin of victory in the presidential race. "If Obama wins by a wide margin - say, 53 percent to 46 percent - it could increase Democratic gains in the House from six seats to maybe 12 or 15," said Larry Sabato, who tracks congressional races at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. A ROMNEY ‘COAT TAIL' EFFECT? In the Senate - where 33 of the 100 seats are up for election - most analysts see Republicans making a small dent in the Democrats' 53-47 majority, but not enough for a takeover. The Senate is where the Tea Party's rising influence could really be felt - in ways that could help or hurt Republicans. Some analysts say Republicans need Romney to defeat Obama in the presidential race to have any hope of a "coattail" effect that could give them control of the Senate. The Tea Party is likely to have unprecedented power in the Senate. Three Tea Party-backed challengers - Ted Cruz in Texas, Deb Fischer in Nebraska and Jeff Flake in Arizona - are favored to win. A fourth, Richard Mourdock, is in a close race in Indiana against Democrat Joe Donnelly. Mourdock's emergence has become a symbol of the divisions within the Republican Party that could prevent it from taking over the Senate. In the Republican primary this year, Mourdock defeated six-term Senator Richard Lugar, a moderate Republican who would have been a fairly safe bet to win re-election. Now, with Lugar gone amid criticism from the Tea Party that he was too willing to work with Democrats, his Senate seat - which he had held since 1977 - is in jeopardy for Republicans. The race between Mourdock and Donnelly is widely seen as a toss-up. Republicans' hopes of controlling the next Senate also are in doubt because of the retirement of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican who cited partisan gridlock in announcing her departure. The favorite to replace her is Angus King, a former Maine governor who is running for the Senate as an independent but who both parties assume would caucus with Democrats. Then there is the case of Todd Akin, the Tea Party-backed Missouri congressman who won a three-way primary fight to oppose Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill. Both parties considered McCaskill vulnerable heading into this election year, but controversial comments by Akin suggesting that rape victims could naturally prevent pregnancy have shifted the race in McCaskill's favor. Akin has rejected calls by several Republican leaders to drop out of the race. More recently, several Republican Senate candidates trying to lure votes from Democrats have faced another headache: the videotape of Romney in which he dismissed the 47 percent of Americans who receive government benefits as "victims" who are looking for handouts. At least three Republican Senate candidates - Scott Brown in Massachusetts, Linda McMahon in Connecticut and Dean Heller in Nevada - have spoken out against Romney's remarks. "I'm Scott Brown. He's Mitt Romney," Brown said. "We disagree on a whole host of things." The University of Virginia's Sabato said Romney's fortunes could be key to Republicans' chances of winning Senate seats that have been held by Democrats in Virginia, Montana, North Dakota and Florida. "It's going to be very difficult for Republicans to take over the Senate if Romney doesn't capture the White House," Sabato said. "That's a different evaluation than a year ago, when the GOP (Republican Party) looked to be a good bet to grab the Senate." A ‘STATUS QUO ELECTION' Several months ago, Ethan Siegal of The Washington Exchange, a private firm that tracks Washington for institutional investors, predicted a Republican sweep of the White House, the House and the Senate because of the weak economy and polls indicating Americans were not satisfied with the direction of the country. "But now I think we are heading to a status quo election," with Republicans keeping the House and Democrats retaining the Senate and White House, Siegal said. He pinned his shifting view on Romney's struggling campaign for president. Romney, whose approval ratings have been lower than Obama's, "is stinking up the place," Siegal said, reflecting the anxiety among some Republicans over Romney's campaign. Republicans hope the former Massachusetts governor can gain some momentum in his three debates with Obama, the first of which is on Wednesday in Denver. Siegal said it is unclear if a status quo election would lead Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to be more willing to cut deals with Obama on issues such as the budget, taxes and the nation's escalating debt. "They could say it's time to compromise," Siegal said. "Or Boehner and McConnell could say, 'We should have won this year. We just had the wrong guy at the top of the ticket. We need to block Obama again and wait for the next election.'" (Editing by David Lindsey, Christopher Wilson and Philip Barbara) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Politics: California governor vetoes "Anti-Arizona" immigration bill

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California governor vetoes "Anti-Arizona" immigration bill Oct 1st 2012, 04:24 California Governor Jerry Brown speaks at a news conference to announce the Public Employee Pension Reform Act of 2012 at Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles, California August 28, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

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Reuters: Politics: Expectations game in full swing for U.S. presidential debate

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Expectations game in full swing for U.S. presidential debate Oct 1st 2012, 02:51 New Jersey Governor Chris Christie points as he delivers the keynote address to delegates during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, August 28, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer By Samuel P. Jacobs and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON/LAS VEGAS | Sun Sep 30, 2012 10:51pm EDT WASHINGTON/LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Three days before the first presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, allies of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney sought to influence expectations on Sunday, with the president describing his debating skills as "just OK." The Democratic incumbent and the Republican former governor of Massachusetts face off in Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday for their first of three televised debates. Advisers to both men have tried to lower expectations for their respective candidates, and Obama got into the action during a rally in Nevada. "Gov. Romney ... he's a good debater. I'm just OK," the president told a crowd of about 11,000 outside a local high school. "What I'm most concerned about is having a serious discussion about what we need to do to keep the country growing and restore security for hard-working Americans. That's what people are going to be listening for," he said. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie predicted fellow Republican Romney's performance would alter the course of the campaign. Polls show Obama with a slight edge nationally and in critical swing states that will decide the November 6 election. "This whole race is going to turn upside down come Thursday morning," Christie told CBS' "Face the Nation." His comments strayed from the script of both campaigns, which have tried to play down their own candidate's chances and talk up their opponent's, thus making it easier to claim victory or explain a defeat after the face-off. "I think what we need is a big and bold performance on Wednesday night, and that's what he's going to give us," Christie said of Romney on ABC's "This Week." Romney comes into the debate still trying to recover from a leaked video where the former private equity executive described nearly half of Americans as dependent upon government and who view themselves as victims. "We've had some missteps, but at the end of the day, the choice is really clear," Romney's vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan told "Fox News Sunday." Ryan tried to lower the stakes for Romney's debate performance. "I don't think any one event is going to make or break this campaign," he said. Ryan said Romney would give a major foreign policy speech in the days after the debate. ZINGERS, COMPLACENCY Obama's advisers said the president was not focused on scoring points or coming up with zingers to use against his rival. "He wants to speak directly to the families - the people who are on their couches at home, having snacks, drinking a beer, drinking soda, whatever it is, and tuning in for the first time - and that's who he's speaking directly to," campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Air Force One. Obama, who is in Nevada for intense debate preparation, was accompanied by White House adviser David Plouffe, campaign strategist David Axelrod, chief of staff Jack Lew, economic adviser Gene Sperling and speechwriter Jon Favreau. The White House and Obama's campaign are guarding against complacency, despite their strength in the polls. "We're not going to win battleground states by 10 or 12 points. This race is going to tighten," Plouffe said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Romney remained in Boston for private meetings, including debate preparation, at his campaign headquarters. Not all of Romney's hours have been devoted to studying and sparring with his debate partner, U.S. Senator Rob Portman. Romney attended a party Saturday evening at the Wellesley, Massachusetts, home of his finance chairman, Spencer Zwick. With a stretched Hummer limousine blaring party music and several school buses parked outside the home, chants of "Mitt!" could be heard from within. Romney departs for Denver on Monday. His wife, Ann, will campaign in Nevada and Ryan will embark on a bus tour of eastern Iowa on Monday. Both are swing states where victories would be critical for the path to the presidency. (Additional reporting by Sam Youngman in Boston, Susan Cornwell and Bill Trott in Washington; editing by Alistair Bell) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Politics: Momentum shifts to Democrat in tight Wisconsin Senate race

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Momentum shifts to Democrat in tight Wisconsin Senate race Sep 30th 2012, 19:30 By Nick Carey WEST SALEM, Wisconsin | Sun Sep 30, 2012 3:30pm EDT WEST SALEM, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Fresh off a nasty battle to recall Wisconsin's governor in the spring, the state has another high profile political fight on its hands for the U.S. Senate. But after an expensive four-way Republican primary that he won narrowly, Senate candidate and former governor Tommy Thompson was left "broke" - forcing him to raise more money and campaign less. Poor polling for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is an average of 8 points behind Democratic President Barack Obama in the state, has not helped. Thompson's Democratic opponent, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, meanwhile has been campaigning actively and spending freely on advertising, erasing a lead for Thompson and putting her ahead by an average of 5 points in September polling. "Tommy Thompson has gotten himself into somewhat of a hole," said Barry Burden, a politics professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "He's taken a pounding and he's not where he wants to be with less than six weeks to go." Thompson, Wisconsin's longest-serving governor, and Baldwin, who would be the first openly gay U.S. senator, both claim to be middle-class champions and anticipate a tough campaign. "I think you're going to see a closer, more competitive race than what you see in the polls," Baldwin said before campaigning in West Salem, a town of 5,000 in western Wisconsin. "Historically, this has been an evenly divided state." After a bruising 16-month battle over a law curtailing collective bargaining rights for public sector workers that ended in the unsuccessful recall of Walker, Wisconsin was seen as a tossup in Senate and presidential races. Romney's choice of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate does not appear to have helped Republicans here. Democrats now control the Senate, 53-47, and Republicans need a net gain of four seats on November 6 to ensure they take a majority in the chamber and control the legislative agenda. Thompson says that Baldwin campaign's cash advantage over the past six weeks "means that I have to work harder." "But now we got money and we're coming back." Charles Franklin, a professor at Marquette Law School in Milwaukee, says there is still time for the momentum to shift. "But time is beginning to run short," he said "FOR THE AVERAGE JANE" The issues in the race largely reflect those in the national election. Thompson argues lower taxes, fewer regulations, large spending cuts and entitlement reform will boost the sluggish U.S. economy. He also attacks Baldwin for supporting Obama's health care reforms, and vows to repeal them. The former governor has shifted from describing himself as a "true conservative" in the Republican primary to a "moderate conservative." Thompson says he had a successful record as governor and that Baldwin is an extreme liberal who favors "more taxes and government control of the economy." A February 2012 National Journal ranking of U.S. House members has Baldwin tied with two others as the 21st most liberal of the 435-member chamber. Republican voters like Doug Hass, who lives north of Madison, say Thompson will bring sanity to Washington. "We need to cut the debt and kill Obamacare," Hass said. Baldwin says deficit reduction is not enough and the United needs investments in infrastructure, education and research to create jobs. She says she is a champion for the middle class, while her opponent favors tax cuts for the wealthy. Acknowledging Thompson's residual popularity from his time as governor, she focuses on his record after leaving office in 2001 - as Secretary of Health and Human Services under George W Bush and then as a consultant for health care firms. When asked if her sexual orientation may be raised as an issue in the campaign, Baldwin returned to her main theme. "Voters want a fighter who is going to be on the side of hard-working, middle-class families," she said. Voters at the recent event in West Salem, a Midwestern corn roast complete with polka band, shared that view. "I don't care one bit about Tammy Baldwin's sexual orientation," said Darral Faas, 54, a part-time cashier. "What matters to me is that in Congress she was a staunch advocate for the average Joe and the average Jane." "RIGHT DOWN TO THE WIRE" Thompson scraped by in the August 14 Republican primary with just under 34 percent in the vote. Marquette's Franklin says this is a far cry from Thompson's gubernatorial campaigns, the last was in 1998, when he crushed his opponents. "Tommy is not the dominant figure he once was," he said. Thompson said the primary left him "$1 million in the hole." As of late July, Baldwin had more than $3.1 million on hand, according to regulatory filings, and has spent heavily on advertising to make full use of that advantage. Both sides have proxy groups advertising on their behalf. Republican strategist Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS spent more than $2 million on advertising attacking Baldwin in September. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent around $1.5 million attacking Thompson in September, while the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, the largest U.S. public sector union, spent almost $1 million. Although no Republican presidential candidate has won Wisconsin since 1984 and Obama won here by 14 points in 2008, the state has a history of tight races. John Kerry beat George W. Bush by around 10,000 votes in 2004, while Al Gore won by around 5,000 in 2000. With turnout here expected to reach 70 percent, getting people to the polls will be crucial. (Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Jackie Frank) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Politics: Before first presidential debate, allies debate stakes

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Before first presidential debate, allies debate stakes Sep 30th 2012, 17:33 New Jersey Governor Chris Christie points as he delivers the keynote address to delegates during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, August 28, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer By Samuel P. Jacobs WASHINGTON | Sun Sep 30, 2012 1:33pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three days before the first presidential debate, allies of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney debated on Sunday how the encounter between the White House contenders will influence the U.S. election. In typical straight-talking fashion, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie predicted that fellow Republican Romney's performance at Wednesday's debate would alter the course of the campaign, weeks before the November 6 vote. "This whole race is going to turn upside down come Thursday morning," Christie told CBS' "Face the Nation." His comments strayed from the script of both campaigns, which have tried to play down their own candidate's chances at the debate in Denver and talk up their opponent, thus making it easer to claim victory or explain a defeat on Wednesday. "I think what we need is a big and bold performance on Wednesday night, and that's what he's going to give us," Christie said of Romney on ABC's "This Week." Romney comes into the first of three presidential debates with poor poll figures in important battleground states and as he seeks to recover from a leaked secret video where the former private equity executive described nearly half of Americans as dependents on government who view themselves as victims. "We've had some missteps, but at the end of the day the choice is really clear," Romney's vice-presidential running mate Paul Ryan told "Fox News Sunday." Ryan lowered the stakes for Romney's debate performance. "I don't think any one event is going to make or break this campaign," Ryan said. Obama departed for Nevada, where he will bunker down with aides in a "debate camp." But Obama was not focused just on scoring points against his rival, senior adviser David Plouffe told NBC's "Meet the Press." "I think the president's view is, he's not worried about zingers and lines, he's got time with the American people to explain to them his case for re-election," he said. Obama was joined on Air Force One by Plouffe, chief of staff Jack Lew, economic adviser Gene Sperling, and speechwriter Jon Favreau. The White House and Obama's campaign are guarding against complacency, with polls showing the Democrat ahead nationally by around 5 points, and much more in some swing states. "We're not going to win battleground states by 10 or 12 points. This race is going to tighten. We've built a presidential campaign with a belief that it's going to come down to a few votes in a few states," Plouffe said. A PARTY AND PREP Romney remained in Boston for private meetings, including debate preparation, at his campaign headquarters. Not all of Romney's hours have been devoted to studying and sparring with his debate partner, U.S. Senator Rob Portman. On Saturday evening, Romney attended a party at the Wellesley, Massachusetts, home of his finance chair, Spencer Zwick. With a stretched Hummer limousine blaring party music and several school buses parked outside the home, chants of "Mitt!" could be heard from within. Romney departs for Denver on Monday. His wife, Ann, will campaign in Nevada and Ryan will embark on a bus tour of eastern Iowa on Monday. Both are swing states, critical victories on the path to presidency, where Romney has trailed in recent polls. (Additional reporting by Jeff Mason aboard Air Force One and Sam Youngman in Boston, Massachusetts, and Susan Cornwell and Bill Trott in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell and Doina Chiacu) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Politics: Five things to watch in the presidential debate

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Five things to watch in the presidential debate Sep 30th 2012, 17:36 1 of 2. U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he departs for travel to Nevada and Colorado, from the White House in Washington, September 30, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON | Sun Sep 30, 2012 1:36pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Wednesday marks the first time the two candidates will be able to challenge each other directly on the economic issues that have been the focus of the presidential campaign. Viewers should be able to determine how each candidate fares by keeping an eye on the following five factors: * ROMNEY ON OFFENSE, OBAMA ON DEFENSE With less than six weeks to go until the election, Romney is under pressure to deliver a performance that shifts the momentum in his direction. Obama, on the other hand, merely needs to avoid a catastrophic performance that could cause independent voters to reassess their support. Both are experienced and competent debaters, but neither appears to enjoy the give and take that occurs at these events. For each candidate, the challenge will be to rattle their opponent enough to prompt an off-script outburst. "Obama just wants to avoid any big mistakes. Typically candidates are undone more by their own mistakes than by the successes of their opponents, the witty ripostes or devastating one liners of their opponents," said George Washington University political science professor John Sides. "For Romney, there's more pressure and he really needs the debate to change the dynamic of the race." * EYES NEVER LIE Television is a visual medium, and the body language of the candidates can have a bigger impact than their words. Democratic Vice President Al Gore's repeated sighs in a 2000 debate with George W. Bush turned voters off, while Bush drew negative attention in 2004 when he scowled while his Democratic opponent John Kerry spoke. Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, looked at his watch in a 1992 debate, a move that many interpreted as impatient and aloof. Obama and Romney want to avoid obvious missteps like these, but more subtle signals can also signal to viewers that candidates aren't on the level. Shoulder shrugs indicate uncertainty, a wrinkled upper lip signals disgust, and eye blinking, either too much or too little, can convey stress, said body-language expert Janine Driver, author of "You Can't Lie to Me." On the other hand, a candidate conveys confidence when he turns his body to face his opponent. "We'll see them face each other when they think they're going to knock it out of the park," Driver said. "I call it 'navel intelligence.'" * WHO WINS THE FIRST ROUND? Alert viewers will be able to get a sense of how the debate will play in the news media by watching the first 30 minutes closely, although the impact of the debate probably won't register in opinion polls until several days after the event. Candidates need to establish their themes and launch their most important attacks early in the debate, while reporters and analysts are still forming their impressions about how the debate is going, according to former Gore adviser Ron Klain. "While you can lose a debate at any time, you can only win it in the first 30 minutes," Klain wrote in a memo for the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way. * THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS Both candidates have charged each other with playing fast and loose with the facts, and each will try to pin their opponent down on areas where they think they are vulnerable. Obama frequently charges that Romney's tax and budget plans "don't add up." Expect Obama to challenge Romney to explain which tax loopholes he would close in order to lower income tax rates without adding to budget deficits. "His tax plan seems to be to just extend tax cuts for the highest income. He has 90 minutes to give specifics," Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said last week. Romney, meanwhile, has indicated that he plans to press Obama when the president strays from the truth. He will have to do so without directly calling the president a liar - a move that could backfire among independent voters. "Am I going to spend my time correcting things that aren't quite accurate? Or am I going to spend my time talking about the things I want to talk about?" Romney said earlier this month. * WILL ROMNEY THROW BUSH UNDER THE BUS? Romney has tried to make the election a referendum on Obama's economic stewardship, but many voters still pin the blame for the sluggish economy and high unemployment on his predecessor in the White House, Republican George W. Bush. "Until Governor Romney can show why his policies would be different from Bush's policies, then we think it is highly unlikely that he can win," Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Brian Gardner wrote in a research note. The conservative National Review says Romney should acknowledge that problems like the mounting national debt and the Byzantine tax code were in place long before Obama took office, but argue the current president has failed to fix them. Taking on the Bush legacy will be tricky. The 43rd president remains an unpopular figure with the public at large, but an out-an-out repudiation could anger Romney's core Republican supporters. (Editing by Alistair Bell and Doina Chiacu) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Politics: As Obama and Romney prep for debates, VP candidates seek votes

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As Obama and Romney prep for debates, VP candidates seek votes Sep 29th 2012, 22:27 U.S. Vice President Joe Biden addresses the final session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina September 6, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON | Sat Sep 29, 2012 6:04pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden and Republican rival Paul Ryan sought votes in political battleground states on Saturday while their running mates took a day off the campaign trail ahead of a potentially make-or-break debate next week. President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney face off on Wednesday in Denver, Colorado, for the first of three televised debates that could be crucial for the trajectory of the November 6 election. Obama, who holds a small lead in national and many statewide polls, spent the day at the White House with no public events. He leaves on Sunday for Nevada, where he will engage in intense debate preparation with advisers. Romney, the Republican nominee, was in Boston at his son Tagg's home. Romney heads on Monday to Denver, where he will engage in debate preparation as well. The candidates' absence from the trail left the spotlight on Biden and Ryan. The two men have their own debate on October 11. Biden was critical of the Wisconsin congressman during a rally in Ft. Meyers, Florida, a state with a rich cache of electoral votes and a large population of seniors. The Obama campaign is seeking to woo seniors by warning that a Romney-Ryan administration would make radical changes to the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly. Biden said Ryan, whose budget was passed by the House of Representatives and included steep cuts in social programs championed by Democrats, illustrated how the two Republicans would govern if they won the White House. "What Governor Romney did in picking Paul Ryan is he has given clear definition to all those vague assertions he was making during his primary campaign," Biden said. "He picked Paul Ryan because Paul Ryan does represent the ideological - how can I say it - the center of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives." Obama and Biden have sought to portray themselves as standard-bearers for the middle class, including the poor and elderly who rely on programs such as Medicare and Social Security. The strategy appears to have legs in Florida, where Obama is ahead in the polls. Ryan, standing under a sign that said "We can't afford four more years," told a crowd in New Hampshire that he and Romney were more serious about tackling U.S. fiscal woes and accused Democrats of scaring the elderly. "We need to tackle our nation's challenges before they tackle us. We need to save and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and we're putting the ideas on the table on how to do that," Ryan said. "We're not going to try and scare seniors. We're going to save these benefits for seniors and for my generation so that these promises are kept." An average of polls by RealClearPolitics shows Obama leading Romney in New Hampshire by three percentage points. Romney's team believes a strong debate performance will help close the polling gap, and Obama advisers say they expect the polls to tighten. Both presidential candidates are slated to return to the campaign trail after the Denver debate. (Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert and Sam Youngman; Editing by Alistair Bell and Todd Eastham) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Politics: With charts and charm, Paul Ryan aims to steady a shaken ticket

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With charts and charm, Paul Ryan aims to steady a shaken ticket Sep 29th 2012, 13:26 Republican vice-presidential candidate U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) answers a question from the audience at a campaign stop in Dover, New Hampshire September 18, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder By Samuel P. Jacobs VANDALIA, Ohio | Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:26am EDT VANDALIA, Ohio (Reuters) - Trailing in the must-win state of Ohio, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney asked his running mate Paul Ryan to meet him here this week. After 24 days apart, Romney and Ryan reunited on an airport tarmac on Tuesday amid grumbling from some Republicans that the campaign has grown complacent, leaving Ryan, its strongest advocate, off the national stage. "Wow, that's quite a guy, Paul Ryan," Romney shouted to the crowd. "Isn't that something?" Romney's many conservative critics share that assessment. Weeks ahead of the November 6 general election, Romney is trying to lash his fortunes to the energetic congressman, admired by Republicans for his financial mastery and straight talk. Those efforts could prove too little, too late. On the trail, Ryan has become an enthusiastic champion for Romney, deploying charts and populist charm. But the man at the bottom of the ticket is not lifting the one at the top. POWERPOINT CANDIDATE With early voting underway in 30 states, Romney is struggling with dropping polls, the release of a secretly recorded video in which he condemned nearly half of Americans as dependents on government who view themselves as victims, and a shifting foreign policy landscape that does not play to his strengths as an economic Mr. Fix-It. Against those odds, Ryan is traveling through Ohio and other politically divided "swing" states that will largely decide the election, lauding Romney's credentials and mocking his opponent, Democratic President Barack Obama. During the past week, Ryan's argument has taken a new shape, as the campaign has used the U.S. House Budget Committee chairman to rebut the widely held notion - even among Republicans - that Romney has run a vague campaign, unburdened by details. Last Saturday Ryan delivered a PowerPoint presentation on rising government deficits and U.S. debt obligations, the focus of his stump speech. During his classroom-style lectures, Ryan returns to the same pose, placing his left hand on his hip, raising his prominent brow, and biting his lower lip, as if to say of Obama's handling of the economy, "Can you believe this guy?" Ryan's description of budget horrors and debt nightmares is intended to leave crowds believing that he is a teller of hard truths, a break from Romney's reputation as a waffler. "It's not what you want to hear. It's the truth," said Ken Warner, 50, a software engineer from South Dayton, Ohio, after hearing Ryan speak on Tuesday. FIGHTING THE DWEEB FACTOR Ryan, 42, is seen as a natural campaigner and savvy populist, with an average-guy demeanor that Romney has never worn well. During the Republican primary campaign, Romney memorably serenaded a crowd at a retirement community with a rendition of "America the Beautiful," which later became the soundtrack of a derisive ad by the Obama campaign. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Wednesday, Ryan appeared after country crooner Lee Greenwood sang to the crowd. "You know, I thought I wouldn't give a speech. I'm just going to sing. You OK with that? Just kidding. I would lose every vote here if I tried that," he said. Ryan is quick on his feet. Romney often is not. As a woman recovered from a fainting spell at a rally in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Wednesday, Ryan seized the moment to attack Obama's healthcare policies. "Good thing she has a good healthcare system to go to, if she needs it today," he said. The campaign is eager to play up Ryan's hunting background, fighting off any whiff that a man so enthusiastic about PowerPoint slides is a dweeb. On Tuesday Ryan made an arranged visit to a Bass Pro Shop in a suburb of Cincinnati, purchasing hunting gear for his 10-year-old daughter. As Ryan walked past camouflage jackets and toward a display of crossbows, Ryan asked reporters, "Is this your first time in archery, guys?" ‘ONE CAMPAIGN' There is little that Ryan's team can do to correct Romney's performance on the campaign trail. Vice presidential nominees have little impact on the decisions made at headquarters, said Republican strategist Dave Carney, who traveled in 1996 with Jack Kemp, the last Republican vice presidential candidate to run against a Democratic incumbent. "You're really not there," Carney said. "You don't have a chance to participate that much." A Ryan campaign aide disputed that characterization, saying, "There's constant communication between the folks on Paul Ryan's plane, the folks on the governor's plane, and the folks in Boston," where the Romney campaign is based. "Paul Ryan talks to the governor most every day, senior campaign officials every day. It is one campaign." As to whether there's frustration in the Ryan camp about the state of the Romney campaign, the aide said, "The name on the top of the ticket is Governor Romney. That's just the way it is." 'RUB OFF ON MITT' According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week, Ryan appears to have had little influence on the presidential race. Among political independents, the sliver of voters who could sway the election, 18 percent felt more favorable toward the Republican ticket and 13 percent felt less so. These numbers provide ammunition for Republicans who think Romney isn't using Ryan well. Speaking to a radio host last week, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said, "They not only need to use him out on the trail more effectively. They need to have more of him to rub off on Mitt." The campaign's turn to foreign policy hasn't benefited Ryan either. He jokes at nearly each stop that because he lives in Wisconsin, which borders Lake Superior, Canada is what comes to mind when he thinks "overseas." Aides say Ryan is having an impact. They point to splashy headlines like the one that ran this week in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, as evidence that he is generating positive coverage where he campaigns. But Ryan's soft polling numbers undermine the claim that he was such a bold pick from the start, the kind that would alter the course of the election. Despite Ryan's prominence in Washington, where he has spent the last two decades, there are plenty of places where he is not a household name. "I had never heard of him before," said Kay Mahaffey, a retired nurse, at Ryan's recent stop in Lima, Ohio. Regardless of the outcome on Election Day, the campaign ensures that Ryan will no longer go quite so unrecognized outside of Washington. "He'll be one of the new big leaders in the party," said Scott Pucket, 42, a Colorado State Patrol trooper, who heard Ryan speak in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Wednesday. "Whatever happens." (Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Fred Barbash and Xavier Briand) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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Reuters: Politics: Republicans dump voter registration firm after fraud reports

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Republicans dump voter registration firm after fraud reports Sep 29th 2012, 04:28 By David Adams MIAMI | Sat Sep 29, 2012 12:28am EDT MIAMI (Reuters) - Election officials in Florida were scouring their records for fraudulent voter registration forms on Friday after the Republican Party said it had fired a company hired to gather new voters because of reports its employees may have submitted bogus forms. The Palm Beach County elections office first reported finding 106 potentially fraudulent registration forms earlier this week that had been submitted by Strategic Allied Consulting (SAC), a Virginia firm hired by Florida's Republican Party. Since then scores more suspicious forms have been detected in at least five other Florida counties where election officials say SAC worked to register voters. Federal Election Commission reports from the state Republican Party show it paid SAC more than $1.3 million this summer for voter registration services. SAC was also hired to do voter registration work for the Republican Party in four other key swing states - Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, and North Carolina - for a total of $2.9 million, according to the Republican National Committee (RNC). "When we learned on Tuesday about the instances of potential voter registration fraud that occurred in Palm Beach County, we immediately informed the Republican National Committee that we were terminating the contract with the voter registration vendor we hired at their request because there is no place for voter registration fraud in Florida," state Republican Party Executive Director Mike Grissom said in a statement. The RNC, as well as the Republican Party in the other four states, also severed ties with SAC. "We have zero tolerance for any threat to the integrity of elections," RNC spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement. SAC issued a statement late on Friday saying the forms in question were "isolated incidents of individuals trying to cheat the system." It said it had registered more than 500,000 voters over the last eight years in more than 40 states, and criticized the "likely libelous comments" by the Florida Republican Party about its efforts in the state. "Strategic took swift action and terminated the identified individual (in Palm Beach) the same day that the alleged fraud was brought to Strategic's attention," the statement said. "Strategic is committed to working with state officials and law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute those individuals responsible for voter registration fraud," it added. The company was formed in June by Nathan Sproul, a conservative Arizona political consultant and a former executive director of the state's Republican Party, according to The Los Angeles Times. In 2008, ACORN - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - registered more than 1 million mostly low-income voters, who tend to vote Democratic. Thousands of those registrations ended up being fake, submitted by ACORN-hired workers who were paid based on how many names they registered. The scandal led to the demise of ACORN and inspired some of the anti-fraud laws impacting registration drives this year. 'EQUAL OPPORTUNITY OFFENDERS' The alarm over the latest potential fraud was first raised by Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher, who flagged 106 "questionable" registration applications turned in by SAC this month. Bucher said her staff had raised questions about suspiciously similar signatures and incorrect addresses and dates of birth on the forms. Some of the applications were for new voters while others were for changes to address or party affiliation, Bucher told Reuters. While the 106 application forms all bore the Republican Party of Florida's identification number, there did not appear to be an overwhelming partisan bias in the forms. "They were equal opportunity offenders. They were being paid an hourly wage so I think that was the motivation," she said. In a few cases the party affiliation was changed from Democrat to Republican and in some cases the addresses of real people were altered, potentially affecting their ability to vote. Bucher, who was elected on a nonpartisan platform but supports the Democratic Party, said she turned over copies of the applications to the State Attorney's office this week. Officials have not said if an investigation of the company's actions is underway. Election supervisors in at least five Florida counties were checking forms submitted by the Florida Republican Party for similar problems, she said. Paul Lux, supervisor of elections in Okaloosa County, located in the northwest Florida Panhandle, wrote an email on Thursday to other state election supervisors warning them "to be on the lookout," for bogus forms. More than 2,600 registration forms were submitted to his office by SAC, said Lux. He said dozens of forms contained suspicious data including fake-looking signatures and phony addresses, and had been turned over to the State Attorney's office. Others were still being reviewed. About 100 suspect forms also showed up in nearby Santa Rosa County, he said. Submitting deliberately false voter registration information, or altering information on an application without consent, is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. (Additional reporting by Michael Peltier in Tallahassee and Deborah Charles in Washington; Editing by Claudia Parsons and Xavier Briand) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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