The RNC is asking women to collectively "break up" with President Obama, which is appropriate, because we all know how much he likes composite girlfriends. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett says student loans could lead to another Holocaust, which is a kind of step forward in political discourse if you consider that he didn't actually mention Hitler. And Barack Obama is making a risky play tonight, breaking what we assume is a hard and fast Ron Burkle rule: Never follow Bill Clinton. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Thursday, September 6th, 2012:
OBAMA EXCERPTS - "On every issue, the choice you face won't be just between two candidates or two parties. It will be a choice between two different paths for America. A choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future. I won't pretend the path I'm offering is quick or easy. I never have. You didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades. It will require common effort, shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one. And by the way -- those of us who carry on his party's legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from Washington."
Some of tonight's speakers: Jim Messina, Beau Biden, James Clyburn, Scarlett Johansson, Kerry Washington, Caroline Kennedy, Xavier Becerra, Jennifer Granholm, Eva Longoria, Brian Schweitzer, Charlie Crist, John Kerry, Jill Biden, Joe Biden, Dick Durbin, Barry.
ALL THOSE SWAG BAGS FOR (ALMOST) NOTHING: MEGA DONORS SKIPPED CONVENTION - Democratic fundraisers spent Thursday making final appeals -- "We know you're stretched thin, but..." -- to the collection of rich people that bothered to come to here. Plenty of them didn't. Politico: "Many of the party's biggest donors – folks like Jeffrey Katzenberg, George Soros, Peter Lewis and Rob McKay – are no shows here. And, while Katzenberg and McKay have been active giving and raising money for the super PAC supporting Obama's reelection, Priorities USA Action, Soros and Lewis have resisted ongoing entreaties to give more... a veteran Democratic fundraiser said 2012 'is the lowest turnout among big donors that I've ever seen at any convention,' adding that there were "10 times more" big donors at the 2008 convention...The drop in participation among the Democratic super-rich stems from a range of factors, including an aversion to the explosion of outside money in politics and unhappiness with Obama's record on environmental issues. But some big Democratic donors also have grumbled that Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee haven't engaged in the sort of pampering -- 'donor maintenance'' in fundraising parlance -- that rich supporters have come to expect." [Ken Vogel]
CLINTON GAVE SECOND SPEECH LAST NIGHT - Bill Clinton might've finally been coaxed off the stage last night, but immediately after, he was the star of an after-gavel party -- where he immediately broke into another long speech. A person in the room said he left after 20 minutes and Clinton was still going on. We picture him at a light-rail stop at 4 a.m. explaining to weary delegates how Solyndra began under Bush.
@brikeilarcnn: Arena floor entrances closed. Soooo, no leaving, even to go the restroom. We get off the air at 12. This'll be interesting.
PARANOID SELF-LOATHING GOP LOBBYIST STANDS UP FOR AMERICA'S FIRST PEOPLES - HuffPost Hill's Paranoid Self-Loathing GOP Lobbyist has been on high alert during the convention -- watching The Manchurian Candidate 8,000 times will do that to a person -- and was offended by Elizabeth Warren's very presence. "I watched Elizabeth Warren's speech last night. And I couldn't get this image out of my head of a 60 something Native American woman with a single tear running down her cheek," PSLGOPL writes, echoing the quips of every single conservative on Twitter. "Of course, She was crying because Warren stole her spot at Harvard 40 years earlier and continued the lie until she was caught. My heart bleeds for this Native American woman." Thanks, PSLGOPL!
@michaelscherer: Obama checked in on Foresquare at the Time WarnerCable arena. But he is not here yet, per pool. Pants on fire.
UPSIDE DOWNER - Datapoint suggests tomorrow's jobs report might not totally suck. "In the week ending September 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 365,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 377,000." [DOL]
AMERICA - Jasons Cherkis and Linkins drove out to the sticks to talk to real people: "At the sprawling Hillcrest Gardens cemetery, Bob Carlson finishes his morning work as a groundskeeper, and prepares for a 2 p.m. funeral. At 75, this counts as a second career, after 40 years in textiles. He said he needs the money for health insurance and gas. Carlson said he's voting for Romney, if not enthusiastically. "Don't have much choice if I don't vote for Obama," he said. Romney "has more of the ideas that I've got."...A police sergeant getting a jarhead cut at a barber shop on Tuesday afternoon insisted Obama wasn't born in the U.S. One chair over, barber Melvin Poole insisted the president was "out promoting homosexuality." "He approves of it," Poole said. Obama's gay sales are through the roof. "Everybody and their brother is now queer." Even in this county? "I wouldn't know," Poole said. "And I don't want to know.” Poole plans on voting for Romney." [HuffPost]
Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
OBAMA COMMENTS ON 'YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT' - The president made his remarks during an interview with NBC12 in Norfolk yesterday. Of the now infamous gaffe, the president said, "Obviously, I have regrets for my syntax...But not for the point, because everyone who was there watching knows exactly what I was saying." [NBC12]
Allen West's campaign is already capitalizing on yesterday's platform change in its latest ad: "Three times they said no to God," the ad reads as the clip of Antonio Villaraigosa calling for a voice vote three times plays along with a mashup of media reactions. "That's Patrick Murphy's party." [TPM]
Romney spokesman Ryan Williams responds to Bill Clinton's speech last night: "President Clinton drew a stark contrast between himself and President Obama tonight. Bill Clinton worked with Republicans, balanced the budget, and after four years he could say you were better off. Barack Obama hasn't worked across the aisle -- he's barely worked with other Democrats -- and has the worst economic record of any president in modern history. President Clinton's speech brought the disappointment and failure of President Obama's time in office clearly into focus." [HuffPost]
PRO-ROMNEY GROUPS BAILING FROM MICHIGAN (FOR NOW) - As much as it helps to have a state be your home state, folks often don't take too kindly to you telling it to go bankrupt. The Hill: "Conservative groups backing Mitt Romney have stopped airing ads in Michigan, an indication that Republicans might see the state as a likely win for President Obama in November. Pro-Romney groups are pulling money out of Michigan, the state where Romney was raised nd his father was governor, though they are continuing to spend money elsewhere to help the Republican nominee, according to the Associated Press. The last pro-Romney ad to air in Michigan came from the super-PAC Restore Our Future during the Olympics, the AP found." [The Hill]
WEST VIRGINIA GOVERNOR AVOIDS CONVENTION IN WORST POSSIBLE WAY - Charleston Daily Mail: "When Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's campaign said he would skip the Democratic National Convention it was because 'his time is best spent working in West Virginia.' But instead of going to Charlotte, N.C., for the final day of the convention on Thursday, Tomblin will be at a five-star resort in Pennsylvania to, among other things, raise money for his campaign. In the hours before President Barack Obama gives a convention-ending address to the nation Thursday night, the coal industry will fete Tomblin at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, a 2,000-acred luxury retreat in southwestern Pennsylvania." [Charleston Daily Mail]
REP. BARTLETT IDENTIFIES STUDENT LOAN/HOLOCAUST CAUSALITY - Maryland Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who is currently locked in a tough reelection battle with financier John Delaney, made the bizarre link during a Q&A at Allegany College yesterday. "Not that it's not a good idea to give students loans, it certainly is a good idea to give them loans," Bartlett said when asked about the matter. "But if you can ignore the Constitution to do something good today, tomorrow you will be ignoring the Constitution to do something bad. You could. There are more people in our, in America today of German ancestry than any other [inaudible]. The Holocaust that occurred in Germany -- how in the heck could that happen? And when you start down the wrong road, it can be a very slippery slope." [WaPo]
The RNC released an ad today featuring a woman breaking up with a cardboard cutout of President Obama: "Listen, this just isn't working," says Bettina Inclan, the organization's director of Hispanic outreach (though she's not labeled as such). "It's been four years," she says. "You've changed." She goes on to complain that he's always golfing and hanging out with celebrities. The viewer is asked to explain why they're breaking up with the commander-in-chief on BreakUpWithObama.com. So glad we're in the ideas portion of the campaign. [CBS News]
OBAMA GETS HIGHLY *TOXIC* PUTIN ENDORSEMENT - Russian Whateverheisnow Vladimir Putin, fresh off his winged migration, commented on America's leading presidential candidates, calling President Obama "an honest person who really wants to change much for the better". Of Mitt Romney, who has sharply criticized the Russian leader, Putin was far less kind, calling his words "mistaken" and suggesting that a Romney presidency would exacerbate tensions over the U.S.'s missile shield deployment in Europe. Don't expect this to be featured in any American Bridge ads. [Reuters]
President Obama held a conference call with the thousands of ticket-holding supporters who had planned to attend his now-moved speech at Bank of America Stadium. "I just want to begin by saying how much I regret that we're not all gathering together in one place to deliver my acceptance speech tonight," he said on the call. "I've got to tell you, I saw some of my key staff who had come down here and they've literally been working nonstop for months just getting the logistics of this all put together. Obviously they were a little bit crestfallen, and I know it's especially disappointing for a lot of you who worked hard to get your tickets to the event and traveled or planned to travel at your own expense to be here." [HuffPost's Amanda Terkel]
Stay classy, Joe Walsh: "Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) this week mocked Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran and double amputee, for speaking at the Democratic National Convention, charging that the only issue Duckworth cares about is her outfit." [HuffPost's Laura Bassett]
MICHELE OBAMA: 'IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN A BATTLEGROUND STATE, GET TO ONE' - No, the first lady was not urging Americans to move to Ohio and get their Bleeding Kansas on, but was encouraging members of the Democratic caucus to reach out to friends and acquaintances to donate to President Obama's campaign. Elise Foley: "The crowd was so rapturous that even Code Pink, a protest group whose members were in the room, didn't interrupt. The crowd applauded when asked whether they would work -- and work hard -- for President Barack Obama's reelection." [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Catroulette is exactly what you think it is.
COMFORT FOOD
- Two pieces of paper create some mind-boggling optical illusions. [http://bit.ly/TY3HQT]
- Kitten watching a nature program tries to catch the birds. [http://bit.ly/NTiiub]
- The eight Harry Potter films in 13 minutes. Spoiler alert: everything. [http://bit.ly/NSRTwI]
- Creative mashup has James Bonds past and present engaged in a car chase. [http://chzb.gr/RNdsQg]
- Vladimir Putin teaches baby birds how to fly, which is the type of thing you can do when you don't have to impress anyone to be elected to things. [http://bit.ly/RFwdZR]
- Earnest gentleman demonstrates the many ways you can crack a bullwhip. [http://bit.ly/RaVH29]
- Mom gets down to "Gangnam Style." [http://bit.ly/P19zu8]
TWITTERAMA
@ClaraJeffrey: His debate prep team must be thrilled.RT @nationaljournal Romney: I'm not watching Obama's speech bit.ly/QgK8kH
@attackerman: ACTUAL EMAIL I JUST RECEIVED FROM A GOV'T OFFICIAL: "Off the record, I am out of the office today."
@KagroX: Roscoe Bartlett says we can't have umbrellas tonight because Holocaust.
ON TAP
TONIGHT
4:30 pm - 7:30 pm: Members from the Energy and Commerce Committee attend "Gumbo Ya-Ya: Everybody Talk At Once," featuring cajun hors d'oeuvres. [E2 Emeril's Eatery, 135 Levine Avenue of the Arts]
9:00 pm - 1:30 am: Google takes a breather from collecting all of your information to butter up to the people who might be able to do something about it with a soiree. [Google Lot]
11:00 pm - 3:00 am: Conventions 2012 hosts "Late Night Charlotte" with members of Connecticut's delegation expected to attend.
10:30 pm - 2:00 am: Jessica Alba and Cash Warren host "Super-O-Rama," a convention send-off featuring performances by Scissor Sisters and Pitbull (sadly, they let him out of Alaska). [The Fillmore, 1000 NC Music Factory Boulevard]
TOMORROW
9:00 am - 5:00 pm: If you've got some time to spare before your flight -- and it appears that a lot of them might be delayed -- head over to the Charlotte Observer's offices for an exhibition of Bill Eppridge photographs of Robert Kennedy. [Charlotte Observer Lobby, 600 South Tryon Street]
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