Charlotte Douglas International Airport was filled with so many hungover Democrats this morning we swore we were in Northwest Washington at brunch time. Mitt Romney compared today's jobs report to a hangover, something he understands about as much as being unemployed. And Clint Eastwood, speaking of the first time since his infamous convention address, called President Obama "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people," though we're pretty sure his RNC speech wins that superlative. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, September 7th, 2012:
POLL SHOWS POSSIBLE CONVENTION BUMP - Despite our certainty that Costco CEO Jim Sinegal's convention address would plunge the president and his party into a public opinion hole from which they could never climb out, it appears the DNC was a hit. Mark Blumenthal: "Those looking for a convention bump may find what they are looking for in the Gallup daily tracking poll, which produced good news on Friday for President Barack Obama. Gallup's last three nights of interviewing of adults, conducted Sept. 4 to 6, shows Obama with a 52 percent approval rating, the highest approval percentage reported for Obama on the Gallup tracking poll since May 2011, just after the killing of Osama bin Laden. The latest results represent a seven percentage point increase in Obama's approval rating, from 45 percent, from Gallup's previous three-day sample, conducted Sept. 1 to 3." [HuffPost]
Ann Romney wants to gay marry the economy. Luke Johnson: "Ann Romney... repeatedly declined to answer questions about gay marriage or employer-provided contraception in an interview with Davenport, Iowa, television station KWQC on Friday. 'Here in Iowa, as you know, same-sex marriage is legal. Do you believe a lesbian mother should be allowed to marry her partner?' David Nelson, a KWQC anchor asked. 'You know, I'm not going to talk about the specific issues,' Romney responded, adding that 'hot-button issues' distract from the economy... Nelson then asked whether employers should be required to provide health insurance that covers birth control...She declined to answer. 'Again, you're asking me questions that are not about what this election is going to be about. This election is going to be about the economy and jobs.'" The economy couldn't be reached for comment. [HuffPost]
If you see HuffPost's front page editor Whitney Snyder hitchhiking his way up I-95, do be a dear and give him a lift. He missed his 8 a.m. flight from Charlotte.
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - There were 1.8 million Americans jobless 99 weeks or more in August, compared with 2 million in August 2011, according to unpublished Labor Department data. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted, so economists advise year-to-year comparisons instead of month-to-month comparisons. :(
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JOBS REPORT WEAKER THAN CAROLINE KENNEDY'S CONVENTION SPEECH - AP: "U.S. employers added 96,000 jobs last month... The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July. But that was only because more people gave up looking for jobs. People who are out of work are counted as unemployed only if they're looking for a job. The government also said Friday that 41,000 fewer jobs were created in July and June than first estimated. The economy has added just 139,000 jobs a month since the start of the year, below 2011's average of 153,000." As usual with this recovery, the public sector lost jobs, while the private sector gained. So the proposed solution is to cut back on public spending and lay more people off. Ugh. [AP]
If Mitt Romney had downloaded his 3.4.1 upgrade that included the dancing bug patch, he would've been dad dancing in the aisle of his plane. Instead, he released a statement. "If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover," it read. "For every net new job created, nearly four Americans gave up looking for work entirely. This is more of the same for middle class families who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression." [LA Times]
The White House reaction from Alan Krueger (this month): "While there is more work that remains to be done, today's employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007."
The White House reaction from Alan Krueger (last month): "While there is more work that remains to be done, today's employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007."
ROMNEY CARPET BOMBS AIRWAVES WITH ROMNEY - Television, that thing we suspect Mitt and Ann Romney use mostly to watch "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" on VHS, will soon feature their faces quite a bit. AP: "Romney announced the new ad campaign Thursday night shortly after President Barack Obama addressed the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina. The commercials suggest that Americans are not better off after nearly four years of Obama's leadership. They link Obama to high foreclosure rates, defense cuts, government regulations and the national deficit. Romney's campaign says it will run 15 separate ads spread across Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia." Note the absence of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Womp womp. [AP]
REPORT: 2012 REALLY JUST A PRELUDE TO 2016'S 2020 PREVIEW... OR SOMETHING - By 2024 we can confidently predict that political reporters will be scrutinizing day care centers, deciphering the coded ambitions of especially well-behaved toddlers. NYT: "Whether President Obama wins or loses in November, one thing is certain for Democrats on the morning after Election Day: the 2016 auditions begin. "Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland kept a bustling schedule here this week, starting one day with a visit to Iowa delegates... Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles could barely pass a television camera -- or an influential Democrat from an early-voting state -- without stopping. He quietly smiled when asked about his plans, even as he made arrangements to deliver a marquee speech this fall at the party gala known as the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Iowa. And Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who twice sought the presidency before joining Mr. Obama on the ticket four years ago, invited a few prominent Democratic officials from battleground states to join him in his skybox high at the convention hall." [NYT]
THE AWKWARD, THE AWKWARD AND THE AWKWARD: EASTWOOD COMMENTS ON RNC SPEECH - In what is probably The Carmel Pine Cone's greatest get ever, the former mayor of Carmel, California -- better known as Clint Eastwood -- discussed his perplexing address to last week's Republican National Convention. "President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people," Eastwood told the publication, probably not intending to come off as a birther, but instead the incredibly cantankerous man he's apparently become (he could have just as easily said "ruffian of the highest order," we suppose). "Romney and Ryan would do a much better job running the country, and that's what everybody needs to know. I may have irritated a lot of the lefties, but I was aiming for people in the middle." Eastwood added that Romney staffers asked him what he would talk about but were rebuffed. "They vett most of the people, but I told them, 'You can't do that with me, because I don't know what I'm going to say,''' That last part seemed to be true... even during the speech. On that same note, he said, "I didn't make up my mind exactly what I was going to say until I said it." Thanks, Clint! [Carmel Pine Cone]
If Bill Clinton gets tired of his current lifestyle of hanging out at Davos and BBMing with Bono, the president has a job for him. "President Clinton made the case in the way that only he can," President Obama remarked during a campaign swing in New Hampshire today. "Somebody e-mailed me after the speech and said, 'you need to appoint him Secretary of Explaining Stuff.'" [TPM]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Puppy and cheetah cub have grand old time. One day, that cub will eat that dog.
REPUBLICANS DATING IN D.C. MEET PARTISAN OBSTACLES - HuffPost DC: "A 40-something D.C. lawyer and sometimes-political operative named Tim didn't used to mention on his online dating profiles that he is a Republican. That changed a few years ago when Tim, who didn't want his real name used, went out with a nice woman. They slept together. Then she Googled him. She 'broke up with me over an op-ed I wrote,' Tim recently told The Huffington Post. 'After that, I just disclosed up front in the profile, and got several 'Thanks for your note, you seem interesting, but I can't imagine dating a Republican.'' Looking for love can be a fraught experience. But in the nation's capital, it seems that being a single straight Republican can be an especially lonely endeavor." [HuffPost]
JOIN HUFFPOST D.C. AT THE KENNEDY CENTER! - HuffPost DC: "The Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage will host a special HuffPost DC "Top 5" event Sunday night with The Huffington Post's local D.C. editon featuringa variety of musical, story telling, sideshow and other acts. HuffPost DC assistant editor Brandon Wetherbee, the brainchild behind the talk show "You, Me, Them, Everybody," will host the free event, which will begin at 6 p.m." [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- Quite possibly the funniest SportsCenter commercial ever. [http://bit.ly/RQitrj]
- Cat plays the piano because on the 8th day God rested and created the internet. [http://bit.ly/QpVdmW]
- Snippets of every Criteron Collection film in two-and-a-half minutes. [http://chzb.gr/P5UrvD]
- Apparently snapping is to cats what fingernails on a chalkboard is to humans. [http://bit.ly/RgBx77]
- A bad lip reading of Twilight -- it actually makes it more intelligent. [http://bit.ly/UwzMl5]
- In 1969 Janis Joplin and Tom Jones performed a duet. Here it is. [http://bit.ly/RgBfgA]
- "What your muffin choice says about you." [http://bit.ly/QikA6K]
TWITTERAMA
@DanFosterNRO: I've never seen so many hungover Democrats in my life. CLT airport is like the Walking Dead if zombies fed on Hope, Change, and Starbucks.
@indecision: If Mitt Romney really wanted to dig into Obama's base, he'd blame him for Amy Poehler and Will Arnett's divorce.
@delrayser: Fun sports/politics fact: A sitting President has never lost re-election in a year the Nationals made the playoffs.
ON TAP
Today - Tomorrow: Is there any more appropriate Republican getaway than a dove hunt? Jim Inhofe takes some donors on a two-day dove hunt (the birds not the dirty hippies). [Quartz Mountain Lodge and Resort, Lone Wolf, OK]
Sunday, 12:00 pm: It's a Blue Dog bonanza. North Carolina congressional candidate Hayden Rogers gets some help from Heath Shuler former House members Max Sandlin and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. [Mercury Public Affairs, 701 8th Street NW]
Monday, 2:30 - 4:30 pm: The National Marine Manufacturers Association gets in touch with its inner 99 percenter by chartering a yacht for a fundraiser benefiting Rob Wittman. [Capital Yacht Charters, 1300 Maine Avenue SW]
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