Depending on how you look at it, today is either the second day of the Republican convention, the *third* day of the Republican convention, or 1,240 days until Governor Christie is sworn in as president. Rand Paul isn't satisfied with Paul Ryan's budget, but then again, it does contain a conspicuous lack of Goldline references. And President Obama was watching sports instead of the Republican convention, which is totally understandable, as sporting results aren't predetermined. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, August 29th, 2012:
OBAMA CAMPAIGN: YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT... EXCEPT FOR THAT HOUSE OF LIES... THE REPUBLICANS TOTALLY BUILT THAT - During the press briefing on board Air Force One today, the White House's deputy press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the Republican convention's "We Built It" theme. "Well, if you look at all of the speakers last night, there was a theme of -- the theme of what they were talking about was really built on a house of lies -- not only the 'we didn't build it' comment, but talking about Medicare, talking about welfare. We've seen this in their ads. We saw it in a number of the speeches last night in their remarks."
Jay Carney also said the president didn't watch the convention and was instead "reading a lot of material, watching sports, but not watching the convention."
ANN ROMNEY: HISPANICS NEED TO GET OVER THEIR GOP 'BIASES' - During a convention event today, the wife of the now official Republican presidential nominee said that Hispanic voters need to overcome their allegedly unfair preconceptions about the Republican Party and, we suppose, forget about their cousins who're having a difficult time generating the necessary paperwork for job applications. "It really is a message that would resonate well if they could just get past some of their biases that have been there from the Democratic machines that have made us look like we don't care about this community," she said of her husband's agenda. "And that is not true. We very much care about you and your families and the opportunities that are there for you and your families." OK, then! [ABC News]
PARANOID SELF-LOATHING GOP LOBBYIST RETREATS FROM SOCIETY, ASSAILS LACK OF CABLE NEWS DIVERSITY - HuffPost Hill's Paranoid Self-Loathing GOP Lobbyist is peeved by alleged liberal media hypocrisy. "Eliot, Ryan and Arthur, Its hard to feel too guilty about the GOP's lack of minorities when the rich white people preaching at MSNBC are so rich and so white," PSLGOPL writes while on a beach vacation, where we can only imagine he's constructing a series of Lost-style bunkers to protect himself when the New Black Panthers track him down. "Important note. You three are really white too." Thanks, PSLGOPL!
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - TAMPA, Fla. -- Janice Pratt came here in the 1980s for the booming local economy, but now the city's unemployment rate is 9 percent. She hasn't had steady work since 2008 when she lost her job with a tech company after a lengthy marketing career. Pratt fears the mere fact that she is unemployed is hurting her chances of landing a job, both because employers don't want to hire the jobless and because she's losing her confidence. "With every interview I can usually rev myself up pretty good, but now, I'm a nervous wreck usually," Pratt said in an interview (during which she was all poise and no nerves). She doesn't tell her friends when she lands an interview to soften the letdown if she doesn't get the job. "My husband will be the only one I'll tell. It's too embarrassing," she said. "If I blow it, then it's just me and my husband, and I'll get over it." [HuffPost]
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WILL WE SEE CONVENTION BUMPS? - Polling bumps, that is, not the ones in reporters' midsections stemming from all that arena food and beer. Mark Blumenthal: "As surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center have shown, public interest in the campaign jumps substantially during the conventions... As political scientist Thomas Holbrook explained in HuffPost earlier this week, the last several election cycles show a 'general trend toward smaller bumps.'...In past decades, they were held earlier in the summer with a gap of three to four weeks between the two. In 2008 and 2012, the two conventions have been held over consecutive weeks. Other trends may also be at work, such as decreasing prime-time coverage by the broadcast networks, diminishing ratings for the networks that provide coverage and a continuing trend toward earlier campaign advertising, beginning before the conventions." [HuffPost]
On the matter of gay marriage, Orrin "Murtaugh" Hatch is getting too old for this shit. The Utah senator appears to be in the midst of an Obama-ish "evolution," telling HuffPost's Michaelangelo Signorile that he no longer supports the Defense of Marriage Act. "I'm a believer that the states should make their own determination," he said and that they "have a right to do it." Hatch remains an opponent of same-sex marriage in principle. [HuffPost]
RAND PAUL UNIMPRESSED BY RYAN BUDGET - Kentucky's junior senator wants a more aggressive approach than the vice presidential nominee is offering. In short, if we aren't melting down our public school bands' brass instruments and selling the raw material to pay down the debt, Senator Paul won't be pleased (come to think of it, there's gotta be some copper piping somewhere in those schools...). Jon Ward: "Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), on the eve of his address to the Republican National Convention, lived up to his maverick reputation, calling out the budget put forward by Mitt Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). "It's too tepid," Paul told HuffPost, pointing out that Ryan's plan does not balance the budget for 28 years. [HuffPost]
Fox News' Chris Wallace wasn't blown away by Chris Christie's convention speech/pee wee football boosting: "I have to say, personally, I thought it was one of the most off-key keynote speeches I ever heard," he said. "[I]t seemed sometimes as if he was promoting his own candidacy more than he was Mitt Romney's. People liked the speech, but not nearly the kind of intense reaction to it and intense listening to it that there was for Ann Romney." [HuffPost's Amanda Terkel]
SEVEN-FIGURE ROMNEY DONORS PARTY ABOARD THE S.S. TERRIBLE OPTICS - When it comes to pouring salt on political wounds, there could be worse news stories to break -- like spotting Todd Akin making it rain at one of Tampa's umteen billion strip clubs -- but, then again, it could always be worse. ABC News: "Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign toasted its top donors Wednesday aboard a 150-foot yacht flying the flag of the Cayman Islands. The floating party, hosted by a Florida developer on his yacht 'Cracker Bay,' was one of a dozen exclusive events meant to nurture those who have raised more than $1 million for Romney's bid...Romney's Cayman-based investments have come under fire during the campaign. The event, attended by no more than 50 people, along with Romney relatives, including older brother Scott, appeared on no public calendars. ABC News obtained a schedule of the Romney campaign's "Victory Council" and waited dockside to speak with members." [ABC News]
THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM IS ODD - Via WaPo, a list of some of the strangest items in the party's issue portfolio: "Repeal the Sixteenth Amendment... Affirmative action for Republican officials inside the District of Columbia... Step up the war against pornography... No minimum wage for the Mariana Islands." [WaPo]
Ben. Quayle. Is. The. Worst. Campaigner. In. History. Roll Call: "Rep. David Schweikert will be returning to Congress and Rep. Ben Quayle will not. The two Republican freshmen have engaged in one of the nastiest Member-vs.-Member primaries of the cycle. At the time the Associated Press called the GOP primary, Schweikert was leading Quayle, 53 percent to 47 percent. The two men shared similar political records. In the final stretch, it was a brutal, personal fight. Schweikert and his allies portrayed Quayle as an entitled playboy, while the Quayle camp repeatedly called Schweikert and his political consultant liars." [Roll Call]
'PERSONHOOD' MEASURE FAILS IN COLORADO - The proposal would define a fertilized egg as a person, thereby making everyone in Boulder, uh, nine months older? Laura Bassett: "The measure, which would define a fertilized egg as a person, fell nearly 4,000 short of the 86,105 signatures it needed to qualify for the ballot. The proposal has appeared on statewide ballots in Colorado twice before, in 2008 and 2010, and was soundly rejected by the voters both times...Meanwhile, Colorado Republican politicians who previously endorsed the personhood measure are now distancing themselves from the politically toxic proposal, which would also ban abortions without exceptions for rape or incest. Rep. Mike Coffman, who said he had supported the proposal in 2008 and 2010, and Republican congressional candidate Joe Coors, who donated $1,000 to the Colorado personhood effort, both shied away from supporting it this time around." [HuffPost]
FORGET DOG WHISTLING: CONVENTION ATTENDEES TOSSED FOR RACIST ATTACK - That thud you hear is the goodwill engendered by Ann Romney's address being stomped out by this vile and, well, attention-grabbing incident: "Two attendees at the Republican National Convention were thrown out of the convention center in Tampa on Tuesday after throwing nuts at a black CNN camerawoman and saying, 'this is how we feed the animals.' CNN reported that multiple witnesses saw it happen, and police immediately removed the two people from the premises...The convention condemned the incident in a statement, saying, 'Two attendees tonight exhibited deplorable behavior. Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated.'" [HuffPost]
Speaking of unfiltered racism: "The principal sponsor for South Carolina's voter ID law expressed regret on Tuesday in federal court that he thanked a supporter for a racist email about the state's ID law...'It would be like a swarm of bees going after a watermelon,' read the email. In response to the email, [State Rep. Alan] Clemmons acknowledged that he wrote, 'Amen, Ed. Thank you for your support of voter ID.' Clemmons said his words were a 'poorly considered response,' written from an iPhone." [HuffPost's Luke Johnson]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Kangaroo is a terrible playmate.
AMERICA: WE GOT ANIMALS - HuffPost DC: "The National Zoo's renovated American Trail reopens this weekend. You can dip your toes into a tide pool and eat sustainable seafood." [HuffPost]
PRECIOUS THEIF STEALING FLOWERS - HuffPost DC: "D.C.'s notorious flower thief may have been spotted this week with 'an enormous and very gorgeous bunch of hydrangeas in his hands' while walking north on Connecticut Avenue." [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- This gentleman took a photo of himself every day for five years and turned it into a stop motion video. There's also a stop-motion tattoo. [http://bit.ly/SOcWHa]
- Muscular guy plays instruments with his muscles. Also a saxophone that spews fire. [http://bit.ly/PO5aLj]
- Weird and cool: scientists have discovered two planets in close proximity orbiting two different suns. [http://bit.ly/RsklKL]
- Jaguar cub sleeps. Then stops sleeping. Continues to be a jaguar cub. [http://bit.ly/Oxdtei]
- In 2003 Pier 1 produced an employee training video rap that should go back to 1991, where it belongs. [http://bit.ly/PQkepf]
- Do you have a black belt in Tic Tacs dispensing? Probably not. [http://bit.ly/RYxg9N]
- In the wake of Neil Armstrong's death, here's the speech that William Safire penned in the event that Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin didn't make it off the moon, [http://bit.ly/Tuchqr]
TWITTERAMA
@RNCPodium: Paul Ryan's coming tomorrow! Going to hit some last minute P90x then Pledge myself up for him. Gotta look my best for that guy! #RNC2012
@pourmecoffee: Ayn Rand luncheon today in honor of Paul Ryan night -- you get a fishing pole and they point you to Tampa Bay.
@dceiver: REVISED THEME FOR DAY TWO OF RNC: "So, now you know what a civil ensign is."
ON TAP
TONIGHT
9:00 pm: The Hill hosts a "Women to Watch" party -- a perhaps misguided party name because this is Tampa, strip club capital of the world, we're talking about here.
9:00 pm: Blues Traveler performs a concert, though no word whether the Spin Doctors will also make an appearance. [Ritz Ybor, 1503 East 7th Ave.]
10:00 pm: Bawitdaba, baby: Kid Rock, though now less a trailer park prodigy and more of a man of the people crooner-type, performs. [Liberty Plaza]
10:00 pm: Meghan McCain, Lifetime and Variety salute Republicans without a y-chromosome, that is, "Republicans' Women Leadership." [Glazer Museum, 110 W Gasparilla Plaza]
10:00 pm: Wyclef Jean, not exactly the person we expected to show up at the Republican National Convention, performs a benefit concert for Got Your 6. [Dallas Bull, 3322 US 301 N]
TOMORROW
11 a.m. Condoleezza Rice, who looked absolutely pleased as punch to be at the convention last night, attends an event hosted byThe Ebony Elephany Foundation. [USF Sundome, 4202 E Fowler Ave]
4:00 pm: Allen West, who we imagines parties by indulging himself with a glass of fruit juice, makes an appearance at the Citizens United tent. [Liberty Plaza]
4:00 pm: The Republican Jewish Coalition, welcomes GOP state executives at its Salute to Republican Governors. [Crowne Plaza Tampa-Westshore, 5303 West Kennedy Blvd]
4:30 pm: Michele Bachmann, Wisconsin Lt. Gov Rebecca Kleefisch and Florida's AG Pam Bondi celebrate themselves at "A Celebration of Pro-Life Women Leaders." [Channelside Restaurants]
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