As the GOP primaries progress, Mitt Romney continues to dominate across the United States. Flaunting a massive 400-plus delegate count, Romney is comfortably placed as the current frontrunner in the 2012 presidential race. The election landscape has shifted from discussions concerning the economic state to social issues, like the Obama administration’s recent proposal to require health insurers to provide birth control coverage.
Republican campaigners have utilized this as a means to attack the President, causing Obama’s approval numbers to dive to 44 percent after the proposal. Since then, the President has rebounded, propelling to a 49 percent approval rating, according to political polling company Rasmussen Reports. While all eyes are focused on the Republican race, it remains unnoticed by mainstream media that the Obama campaign continues to grow in size, hosting almost 10,000 events since last April in the state of Virginia alone, according to the LA Times.
This country is much better off because General Motors is alive and Osama bin Laden is dead.
The Obama administration houses multiple campaign offices spanning the entire country, and a 50,000-square-foot headquarters in Chicago, Ill. The Obama campaign received $2 million in February, $1 million of which was donated by television host Bill Maher, according to USA Today.
Recently the Obama campaign released a 17-minute documentary, titled “The Road We Traveled,” highlighting the President’s four years in office. Directed by Davis Guggenheim and narrated by Golden Globe-recipient Tom Hanks, the film acts as a strong propaganda tool.
Democratic congressman Lloyd Dogget praised the move by the Obama campaign. He claimed, “This country is much better off because General Motors is alive and Osama bin Laden is dead. I think that speaks volumes about this administration.”
However, not all political pundits praise the documentary. In a KUVE interview, prominent Republican Michael Steer stated, “The nice commercials now are great, but it’s not going to hide the fact that [we have] $5 trillion of new debt [and] a healthcare plan that is taking over one-fifth of our nation’s economy. Right now, we all live in the land of a fairy tale.”
The President recently campaigned in Atlanta, Ga., where he attended an African American Leadership Council event. The event showcased pop artist Cee Lo Green, and ticket prices were as high as $10,000.
Following the event, the President attended an intimate dinner at the home of celebrity Tyler Perry, which was expected to raise approximately $35,000 per guest, according to CBS News.
Currently, Obama’s job approval rating sits at 46.9 percent, according to Real Clear Politics, a political polling website. However, the Republican-controlled Congress has a job approval rating of just 11.3 percent.
Still, Obama has only 229 days to produce a message that resonates with the American public. His multimillion-dollar superPAC continues to grow everyday, but not nearly as quickly as those of his Republican competitors, who have Super PACs worth more than $20 million, according to news source Pro Publica.
Unlike past election years, the President is utilizing his Vice President more often as a campaign tool. Vice President Joe Biden has been campaigning in Ohio to capture the blue collar vote, according to Reuters. Biden also attended a fundraiser for Sen. Bob Menendez last Monday, according to the Daily Record. Karen Tumulty, of The Washington Post, stated, “[Biden] has a way of connecting with middle-class, blue-collar voters in a way the President himself has really struggled.”
Elizabethtown College students weighed in on the President’s campaign tactics. David Nagel, a first-year business major, stated, “Obama has the competitive advantage, because he is the incumbent — the Republicans stand no chance against him.”
Brett Williams, a first-year international business major, described the Obama administration as being in an ideal political position. Williams stated, “Obama will attract more of the moderate voters in the general public — blue-dog Democrats, independents and even mild Republicans.”
First-year English major Matthew Davco commented on the Obama campaign strategies: “They don’t need to change strategies to defeat the Republican Party, as the Republican Party is doing a great job of defeating itself,” Davco said.
However, not all Etown students agree on Obama’s election future. Morgan Wenner, a sophomore biology major, described her reasons as to why she will not be voting for the incumbent. “Obama isn’t doing too much for some of the biggest problems in our country today. I know that our government is big on foreign policy and helping other countries in their time of need, but right now it’s our time of need, and I feel that we are getting pushed to the side. I think he needs to follow through on some of the promises he’s made before things get any worse,” Wenner said.
The next publicity event for the President is a speech on energy at Ohio State University, scheduled for later today.
