Leading indicators? Big crowds, Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together' & even a bear hug greet surging Obama FL

There are lagging indicators and leading indicators in presidential races.

Public-opinion surveys, like Gallup's daily tracking polls, are the former. They measure support after an event. And they suggest President Obama is picking up steam nationally from the just-ended Democratic National Convention.

Some leading indicators: big crowds at Obama's rallies from Tampa to Melbourne, people singing Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" before his West Palm Beach event Sunday, or the giant bear hug the president was given earlier by Scott Van Duzer, a Republican who voted for Obama in 2008 and the owner of Big Apple Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Fort Pierce.

Put it all together and it looks like there's an increase in enthusiasm for Obama that's visible in Florida.

However, all these positive signs for Obama are just indicators. And the Obama campaign has helped orchestrate all of this, right down to the unscheduled stop at the restaurant from Van Duzer, who said he received permission from the Secret Service to lift up the president. There's definitely some campaign showmanship going on. But that, too, is an indicator that Obama has his act together in Florida, where the campaign has thousands of volunteers and nearly 100 field offices in each of the 67 counties.

Antonio Villaraigosa plays Democrat empty suit to Clint Eastwood's GOP empty chair

The Democratic National Convention had its Clint Eastwood.

His name: Antonio Villaraigosa.

Like Eastwood arguing onstage with an empty chair at the GOP convention, Villaraigosa provided an unscripted moment that led to mockery and political trouble.

Specifically, the Democratic convention chairman messed up a political no-brainer: rewording the party platform to reinsert a reference to God and another concerning Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The language got in the platform.

But it took three chaotic voice votes, all called by a flat-footed Villaraigosa — the mayor of Los Angeles — who was caught grinning in confusion after a surprising number of Democratic delegates repeatedly shouted “No!” on the convention floor as TV cameras rolled.

Suddenly, a pro-forma vote that normally garners relatively little negative attention turned into drama. Lots of drama. It was satirized roundly on the liberal-leaning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

A needless and unforced error, it was a gift to Republicans. Just as Eastwood’s performance allowed Democrats to try to cast the GOP as a party of angry old white guys, the Jerusalem issue allowed Republicans to try to cast the Democrats as too hostile to Israel.

Like his fellow Californian Eastwood, Villaraigosa refused to acknowledge any error. “Not one person objected. It’s more a media concern than a delegate concern. I can tell you this — the president of the United States said, ‘Wow.’ The president said, ‘You showed why you were speaker of the California Assembly,’” Villaraigosa later told The Los Angeles Times. “The president, the vice president, Mrs. Obama, all of them acknowledged the decisive way I handled that.”

Did the president say “Wow!” or “Wow?”

The way Villaraigosa managed the situation gives an indication of why California is so messed up. And if Obama thought he did a great job, it speaks volumes about Illinois and the Democratic Party in general — especially when it comes to handling Jewish voters.

At the least, the incident underscores the needless political risk the party took in omitting Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/09/2993488/empty-chair-vs-empty-suit.html#storylink=cpy

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Miami-Dade's Cuban-American power brokers gather at Belen-Columbus high school football game

The best place to find Miami-Dade’s Cuban-American movers and shakers as the sun set Friday was not a staged ribbon-cutting or a stuffy fundraiser.

It was in the muddied grass parking lots outside Florida International University’s stadium, at dueling tailgates for the annual Belen-Columbus high school football game.

On the Belen side, former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, class of ’73, chatted with U.S. Congressional candidate Joe Garcia, class of ’82.

Later, on the Columbus sideline, Cuban American National Foundation and MasTec chairman Jorge Mas, class of ’81, cheered for a touchdown, then turned to shake hands with a fellow booster.

“Politicians tend to be Belen graduates,” Mas teased, “and businessmen tend to be Columbus graduates.”

That passes for trash talk between Miami-Dade’s two Catholic, all-boys private schools.

“We tell them that we’re going to end up representing them when they’re in jail,” Diaz countered. “Or when they’re looking for a job, they’re going to come to us to hire them.”

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Obama: Romney plan is like saying '2+2=5'

AP:

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- President Barack Obama says Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan get a failing grade on explaining how they'd pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts.

The two Republicans were asked separately on different Sunday morning talk shows what loopholes they'd close to pay for their tax proposal but neither was willing to give specifics.

Obama says that's like saying two plus one equals five. Obama says Romney and Ryan are practicing bad math instead of bold leadership.

Romney says he won't raise taxes on the middle class but will close unspecified loopholes enjoyed mostly by the wealthy to pay for lower tax rates for everyone.

Campaigning along Florida's space coast, Obama also highlighted NASA's recent Mars landing. He praised what he called "a new era of American exploration."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/09/2993316/obama-knocks-romneys-bad-math.html#storylink=cpy