Items from Around the Web 04/14/2012 (p.m.)

• Political Animal – Elections Are a Choice of Candidates

  “If they wanted a pure ‘referendum’ election, they should have themselves performed a bit better during their last period in power, and should not have spent most of the Obama administration indulging themselves in an ideological bender that makes references to J.P. Morgan and Barry Goldwater all too credible.”

  tags: GLOW 2012 Republican Hypocrisy Republican Extremism Republican Disarray

• How Ted Kennedy Took On Mitt Romney’s Women Problem – The Daily Beast

  “Perhaps they’re right, but a look at Romney’s political career suggests that his problems with female voters long predate the current political season, and it will take more than a few spasms of manufactured umbrage on behalf of stay-at-home-moms to make them go away.”

  tags: GLOW 2012 Romney Gender Republican Disarray

• Tell us more about Romney’s ‘private’ views – PostPartisan – The Washington Post

  “This is an important question because I think the Romney campaign will be engaged in a series of two-steps between now and Election Day. On the one hand, he needs to keep reassuring conservatives that he is really with them on a whole series of issues. But the whole premise that he was the most ‘electable’ Republican rested on the unstated — was this ‘private,’ too? — premise that he was the most ‘moderate’ candidate in the field and could thus appeal beyond the conservative hard core. Romney wants the GOP base to think he’s a staunch conservative and swing voters to believe he’s a closet moderate. That’s why I suspect we’ll hear more hints about Romney’s ‘private’ views on a lot of other matters. Romney is not the first candidate to try to be all things to all people. But he has a special problem because he has taken a great many contradictory public positions over the years, depending upon whether he was trying to appeal to a general-election electorate in Massachusetts or a Republican primary electorate nationwide. Keep an eye out for more hints about Romney’s ‘private’ views. At some point, he will have to reconcile what he says with what his aides hint at. And he will have to do this publicly. “

  tags: GLOW 2012 Romney Republican Hypocrisy Republican Irresponsibility Immigration

• The Maddow Blog – Chronicling Mitt’s Mendacity, Vol. XIII

  “Those looking for proof need only consider the 13th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt’s mendacity.”

  tags: GLOW 2012 Romney Republican Hypocrisy

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.