#2012 rnc

[justinspoliticalcorner]

In tell-all book, Michael Cohen says Trump hired a 'Faux-Bama' during White House run

Before Donald Trump ever sought the Oval Office, he was preoccupied by its occupant President Barack Obama, publicly questioning his birthplace and privately describing him as "a Manchurian candidate" who obtained his Ivy League degrees only by way of affirmative action, according to a new book by Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen.

Erica Orden at CNN: 

Trump's disdain for Obama was so extreme that he took his fixation a step further, according to Cohen: Trump hired a "Faux-Bama" to participate in a video in which Trump "ritualistically belittled the first black president and then fired him."

Cohen's book, "Disloyal: A Memoir," doesn't name the man who was allegedly hired to play Obama or provide a specific date for the incident, but it does include a photograph of Trump sitting behind a desk, facing a Black man wearing a suit with an American flag pin affixed to the lapel. On Trump's desk are two books, one displaying Obama's name in large letters.

CNN obtained a copy of Cohen's book ahead of its Tuesday publication.

As an insider who spent years as Trump's personal attorney and self-proclaimed "fixer," Cohen says he is uniquely equipped to unleash on Trump, whom Cohen describes as "a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man" and a person interested in using the presidency exclusively for his personal financial benefit.

But according to federal prosecutors and Cohen's own guilty pleas, he, too, is a liar and a cheat. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of federal crimes, including tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign-finance violations he and prosecutors have said were done at Trump's direction to help him win the 2016 presidential election.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. 

In a statement to the Washington Post, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, "Michael Cohen is a disgraced felon and disbarred lawyer, who lied to Congress. He has lost all credibility, and it's unsurprising to see his latest attempt to profit off of lies.

"Cohen acknowledges and apologizes for his role in Trump's rise, saying he was "more than willing to lie, cheat, and bully" to help his long-time boss win the White House. And he recounts the pressure and guilt he experienced as he spoke out against Trump, writing that he considered suicide "as a way to escape the unrelenting insanity" in the weeks prior to testifying to Congress in 2019.

But in the book, he disputes having committed certain crimes to which he has already admitted, portraying himself a victim of the "gangster tactics" of the federal prosecutors of the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.

Still, Cohen's account of Trump's personal nature and presidency is damning, and during Cohen's time in prison, he writes, "I became even more convinced that Trump will never leave office peacefully."

Trump's model of a man in power, according to Cohen, is Vladimir Putin, and Trump is described as enamored of Putin's wealth and unilateral influence, and awestruck by what he sees as the Russian president's ability to control everything from the country's press to its financial institutions.

"Locking up your political enemies, criminalizing dissent, terrifying or bankrupting the free press through libel lawsuits -- Trump's all-encompassing vision wasn't evident to me before he began to run for president," Cohen writes. "I honestly believe the most extreme ideas about power and its uses only really took shape as he began to seriously contemplate the implications of taking power and how he could leverage it to the absolute maximum level possible."

But he reiterates his belief that Trump and his campaign officials were too disorganized to have coordinated with the Russians during the 2016 election. "What appeared to be collusion was really a confluence of shared interests in harming Hillary Clinton in any way possible, up to and including interfering in the American election -- a subject that caused Trump precisely zero unease," Cohen writes.

He also argues that, with Trump himself expecting to lose the presidential race, Trump's goal in cozying up to Putin was to position himself to benefit financially from a planned real-estate development in Moscow after the election.

"By ingratiating himself with Putin, and hinting at changes in American sanctions policy against the country under a Trump Presidency," Cohen writes, "the Boss was trying to nudge the Moscow Trump Tower project along." (One of the crimes to which Cohen pleaded guilty was lying to Congress about the duration of the negotiations regarding the Moscow development.)

[...]

Blacks & Latinos, 'They're not my people'

If Putin is held in the highest regard in Trump's mind, Cohen writes, Trump's own voters rank among those in the lowest. Speaking to Cohen after Trump gathered religious leaders at Trump Tower in the lead up to the 2012 presidential race, an encounter during which they asked to "lay hands" on him, Trump asked Cohen, according to the book: "Can you believe that bullsh*t?...Can you believe people believe that bullsh*t?"

In the wake of Trump's presidential kickoff announcement in 2015, in which he called Mexicans criminals and rapists, he dismissed concerns that he had alienated Latinos. "Plus, I will never get the Hispanic vote," Trump allegedly told Cohen. "Like the blacks, they're too stupid to vote for Trump. They're not my people." (Trump won 28% of the Latino vote in 2016.)

Trump's contempt, in Cohen's telling, extends broadly. Cohen characterizes Trump bluntly as racist, and says that while he never heard Trump use the "N-word," Trump used other offensive language.

Ranting about Obama after he won office in 2008, Trump said, "Tell me one country run by a black person that isn't a sh*thole...They are all complete f*cking toilets," according to Cohen. After Nelson Mandela died, Trump allegedly said of South Africa that "Mandela f*cked the whole country up. Now it's a sh*thole. F*ck Mandela. He was no leader."

Cohen also divulges personal details about Trump, including his hair routine, described as a "three-step" combover designed to disguise "unsightly scars on his scalp from a failed hair-implant operation in the 1980s."

Writing that he once witnessed Trump shortly after he showered, Cohen recalls that "when his hair wasn't done, his strands of dyed-golden hair reached below his shoulders along the right side of his head and on his back, like a balding Allman Brother or strung out old '60s hippie."

Many instances of Trump's alleged deceit have previously been detailed by Cohen and others in recent years: Trump's alleged inflation of his net worth to publications like Forbes and Fortune and his minimizing of the value of his properties to avoid taxes, Cohen's pressuring of the New York Military Academy to not release Trump's high school records to avoid their public disclosure, Cohen paying to rig CNBC and Drudge Report polls in Trump's favor, Trump campaign officials hiring extras for $50 apiece to attend Trump's 2015 announcement that he was running for president and the alleged fraudulent Trump University scheme, over which Trump settled a class action lawsuit for $25 million.

Harshest judgment for the media

And a healthy portion of the book is devoted to the incidents perhaps best known at this point: Trump's and Cohen's alleged efforts to silence women who claimed affairs with Trump during the 2016 election -- campaign finance violations that landed Cohen in prison and led prosecutors to say were done "in coordination with and at the direction of Individual - 1," otherwise known as Trump.

Trump has denied the affairs and any involvement with the payments.Cohen provides detailed accounts of the negotiations that led to the payments to two women -- adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, who goes by the name Stormy Daniels, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal -- efforts that, according to Cohen, deeply involved himself, Trump and Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who ultimately cooperated with prosecutors.

[...]

But in a way perhaps even Trump could appreciate, Cohen reserves some of his harshest judgment for the media, which he blames for falling for Trump's attention-grabbing tactics and propelling him to office.

"Donald Trump's presidency is a product of the free press," he writes. "Not free as in freedom of expression, I mean free as unpaid for. Rallies broadcast live, tweets, press conferences, idiotic interviews, 24-7 wall-to-wall coverage, all without spending a penny. The free press gave America Trump."

"Right, left, moderate, tabloid, broadsheet, television, radio, Internet, Facebook -- that is who elected Trump and might well elect him again."

In Michael Cohen’s soon-to-be released book Disloyal: A Memoir, Cohen highlighted that Trump used racist language in the wake of Barack Obama’s win by trashing former South African President Nelson Mandela and hired a “Faux-Bama” impersonater during the 2012 RNC to fire Obama. 

[theamericanbear]

Nice concise list.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mitt Romney’s speech to the Republican National Convention on Thursday night was riddled with misleading claims and critical omissions. In no section was this more true than Romney’s discussion of foreign policy. The GOP presidential nominee devoted only 202 words to national security and while his speech completely ignored the war inAfghanistan and any homage to American servicemembers, it contained a shocking number of misstatements and false and baseless attacks on President Obama:

1. Obama and America: “I will begin my presidency with a jobs tour. President Obama began with an apology tour. America, he said, had dictated to other nations. No Mr. President, America has freed other nations from dictators.”

THE FACTS: The notion that Obama went on an “apology tour” has beenrepeatedly and conclusively debunked, though it remains a staple of Romney’s post-truth campaign. The “dictated” line is likely of a similar provenance, but there’s an irony to the second half of that sentence — Obama has “freed other nations from dictators,” as he helped form and lead an international coalition that toppled Muammar Qaddafi in Libya. Romney’s position on the Libya intervention, by contrast, was something of an incoherent muddle.

2. Iran: “Every American was relieved the day President Obama gave the order, and Seal Team Six took out Osama bin Laden. But on another front, every American is less secure today because he has failed to slow Iran’s nuclear threat. In his first TV interview as president, he said we should talk to Iran. We’re still talking, and Iran’s centrifuges are still spinning.”

THE FACTS: There’s a reason the President decided to talk to Iran — the Obama administration is quite aware of the consequences of a nuclear weapons-equipped Iran, if its leaders decide to go that route, and has determined that diplomacy presents the “best and most permanent” means of resolving the crisis. Moreover, the diplomatic approach has produced concrete dividends. 

3. Israel and Cuba: “President Obama has thrown allies like Israel under the bus, even as he has relaxed sanctions on Castro’s Cuba.”

THE FACTS: The claim about Israel is utterly false; both stepped-up U.S. defense assistance and the statements of Israel’s own leaders testify to Obama’s record. As for Cuba, it’s true that Obama has relaxed restrictions on travel to Cuba, but that’s a good thing. The Cuba embargo is is an obviously failed policy with serious human costs, giving the Castro regime an excuse for the failures of communism while immiserating ordinary Cubans.

4. Russia and Poland: “[Obama] abandoned our friends in Poland by walking away from our missile defense commitments, but is eager to give Russia’s President Putin the flexibility he desires, after the election. Under my administration, our friends will see more loyalty, and Mr. Putin will see a little less flexibility and more backbone.”

THE FACTS: Romney conveniently ignores that Obama’s new missile defense plan provided Poland with a system it was “ready to participate” in, perhaps because Polish officials preferred it to the previous arrangement. Obama’s “flexibility” comment to Putin didn’t really worry Eastern European governments, but Romney’s hostile rhetoric about Russia is alienating a country whose cooperation is important on U.S. priorities like the Iranian nuclear program.

Romney concluded his remarks by saying “We will honor America’s democratic ideals because a free world is a more peaceful world. This is the bipartisan foreign policy legacy of Truman and Reagan. And under my presidency we will return to it once again.” 

h/t: Zach Beauchamp at Think Progress Security

[nearchaosblog]

THE QUESTION OF THE NIGHT was directed at the Code Pink infiltrating leftist being escorted out of the Republican Convention:  "Why aren't you dressed like a vagina?"

[justinspoliticalcorner]

TAMPA, Fla. — The 2012 Republican National Convention began with a day of canceled events, and ended with a bizarre unscripted moment in which Clint Eastwood lectured an empty chair. And there were few true bright spots in between.

The party’s rising star, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, failed to impress with his much-hyped keynote address. The vaunted vice presidential nominee? His speech took a pounding from fact-checkers, potentially knocking the Romney campaign off kilter just as it enters the home stretch.

And then there’s the racially charged flying legumes.

There was much for Republicans to celebrate in Tampa: the fresh faces on stage who energized the room and revealed a deep Republican bench of young talent, the emergence of Ann Romney as a beloved national figure and a final night that went a long way toward humanizing Mitt Romney with compelling personal stories.

• Isaac

The weather system known as Isaac (which strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurricane and back over the course of the convention) cast dark clouds over Tampa in the days leading up to the official start of the convention Monday. Though the storm took a turn away from the convention site, organizers had to scramble and cancel a day, leading to public bickering over who was to blame for placing the convention and its thousands of attendees in the path of a major storm.

• The Ron Paul Revolution

For months, Ron Paul supporters exploited obscure primary and caucus rules long after Romney’s victory was apparent to amass a decent minority of delegates, many of them bound to Romney, for the convention. But when RNC officials passed new rules trying to prevent Paul backers from poaching more delegates in 2016, the Paul crowd erupted in anger.

On the first day of the convention, tensions boiled over as they staged a rowdy protest during the official roll call vote. On the second night, they sat for a video tribute to Paul, then walked out en masse, chanting anti-RNC slogans.

Paul Ryan’s Factually Challenged Speech

Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan fired up the crowd with a tough speech attacking Obama’s economic record Wednesday night. But numerous factual inaccuracies in his address were so glaring that they quickly became a major story of their own.

In the most-cited example, Ryan excoriated Obama over a GM plant that closed in his Janesville, Wis., district, which he trumpeted as a sign of the president’s economic failures. But the plant closed in 2008 under President Bush, mostly due to market trends that long predatedObama. As Obama’s auto czar Steve Rattner noted, Ryan’s insistence that Obama should have saved the individual assembly line also ran directly counter to his frequent refrain that the government shouldn’t be in the business of “picking winners and losers.”

• Constant Distractions, On Stage And Off

Mike Huckabee marred the RNC’s outreach to women when he made a personal joke about DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on stage, which Democrats saw as sexist. Ann Romney, despite impressing just about everyone with her poised and warm address Tuesday, marred the Romney campaign’s outreach push to Hispanics when she said of Puerto Ricans, “you people know how to party.” Some Hispanic Republicans in the room were not happy.

• Clint Eastwood Debates An Empty Chair

The Romney campaign couldn’t have been more excited when word leaked that Clint Eastwood, a former Republican mayor in California, would make a surprise primetime appearance for the final night of the convention.

The Republican delegates loved it, at least. And so did the Internet, where people began taking photos of themselves arguing with chairs in a meme dubbed “Eastwooding.”

h/t: Benjy Sarlin and Evan McMorris-Santoro at TPM

[justinspoliticalcorner]

TAMPA, Fla. — President George W. Bush didn’t attend Mitt Romney’s Republican convention here this week, but he had a strong defender in his brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Thursday night.

The kind words about the former president didn’t appear in advance remarks of Jeb Bush’s speech, though he hinted he would be speaking about him in TV appearances earlier in the day. When he stepped to the mic, he delivered an addition to his original text that took on President Obama for blaming George W. Bush for the nation’s economic woes.

“Mr. President, it is time to stop blaming your predecessor for your failed economic policies,” Bush said. “You were dealt a tough hand, but your policies have not worked. In the fourth year of your presidency, a real leader would accept responsibility for his actions, and you haven’t done it.”

h/t: Evan McMorris-Santoro at TPM

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Tampa—The Republican National Convention has presented the Romney campaign with a conundrum: how to placate the religious right without alienating independents. The compromise has been giving social conservatives a handful of speeches that are in prime time for the delegates and Fox News viewers, but safely out of the 10 pm EST hour for the broadcast networks. On Tuesday night, the token social conservative slot was given to Rick Santorum. On Wednesday, it was Mike Huckabee.

But Christianists are experts at outside organizing. They played nicely with the Romney campaign in public, but they were sure to demand their pound of flesh. For weeks leading up to the RNC, the Family Research Council (FRC) blasted emails to their members informing them of the high stakes in the platform negotiations. Back in June they sent an e-mail titled “Protecting Life & Marriage—from the Republicans,” in which they asked for donations to send a larger lobbying team to the Platform Committee meetings last week. They warned that many leading Republicans were going wobbly on gay marriage. More recently, though, FRC President Tony Perkins breathed a sigh of relief over the fact that allies such as Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA) and Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) were overseeing the process. And, sure enough, the platform has planks opposing marriage equality and abortion rights.

Once the actual festivities started, social conservatives kept the pressure on. On Tuesday, the FRC honored Santorum, Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) and Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) for their leadership in opposing abortion rights. It cannot possibly be a coincidence that they chose to recognize three of Romney’s primary opponents, one of whom left the Senate six years ago. One interpretation would be that FRC is thanking them for pushing social issues into the campaign. Another interpretation, not mutually exclusive, is that they are implicitly drawing a contrast with Romney.

Santorum is trying to set himself up as the leader of the middle-class social conservative wing of the GOP, in opposition to Romney’s country club set. He has organized a group, called Patriot Voices, that is focused on mobilizing his supporters and like-minded voters in the Rust Belt swing states where Santorum gave Romney a tight race in the primaries.

On Wednesday afternoon Patriot Voices held a rally for a few hundred supporters. Leaders of the major social conservative organizations all came to speak and show their support. It was apparent that if Romney loses and Santorum runs again in 2016, he would receive organized social conservative support from the get-go.

At Santorum’s event, away from the official RNC podium, the religious right let loose. Gary Bauer, president of American Values, hosted. Bauer referenced the ludicrous, Islamophobic wingnut theory that Hillary Clinton’s longtime aide Huma Abedin is a Muslim Brotherhood operative. Bauer’s theme was getting America to “come back” to its principles such as, “when American foreign policy promoted American values and interests, instead of the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood.” And, of course, Bauer invoked, “When the President knew the capital of Israel was Jerusalem.” Bauer went beyond merely opposing gay marriage to also inveigh against gay adoption. “It’s not bigotry to believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and it’s not discrimination to know a child needs a mother and a father.”

Even though he is known for his fiscal conservatism, Paul Ryan is clearly more popular than Romney among social conservatives. Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, mentioned Ryan before Romney. “Are you as excited about Paul Ryan being on this ticket as I am?” He asked to big cheers. “Ryan is a full spectrum conservative: pro-marriage, pro-life, pro-family,” Reed assured the crowd, although it seemed unnecessary. “It says a lot about Mitt Romney that he had the guts and intestinal fortitude to pick Paul Ryan,” said Reed, damning Romney—as conservatives often do—with the faint praise of being only as good as his vice-presidential pick.

In a recurring theme of the RNC, Bauer attempted to disprove the existence of the Republican War on Women with patronizing tokenism. “We’ve got more articulate women who know the issues than the other guys,” asserted Bauer.

Ted Cruz, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, previewed a religious right effort to drive a wedge among Catholic Democrats. “The Democrats used to be proud of having nominated two Catholics for president,” said Cruz. “What would an Al Smith or Jack Kennedy think of a Democratic president who tells the Catholic Church, ‘change your beliefs of we’ll shut you down?’” Considering that Jack Kennedy’s brother Ted was a major supporter of the Affordable Care Act, to which Cruz is referring, it’s probably safe to say he would not mind.

Perkins, as he always does, argued that government can not be shrunk without a stronger family unit.

The room was filled with Santorum’s former primary supporters, and the event was, to some extent, a swan song for his campaign. When he was introduced the audience stood and cheered, and then had to stand awkwardly for several minutes as a video lionizing Santorum played before he came out.

Santorum referred back to his speech on Tuesday, in which he heavily emphasized abortion and odiously suggested that Democrats do not care for the disabled because they would allow parents to abort a future baby with a disability. After talking about his love for his developmentally disabled daughter, Bella, Santorum had said, “I thank God that America still has one party that reaches out their hands in love to lift up all of God’s children—born and unborn—and says that each of us has dignity and all of us have the right to live the American Dream.” The irony is that disability rights advocates are unified in their support for the Affordable Care Act, which Santorum would repeal. Santorum’s compassion for the disabled does not extend to making sure they can obtain healthcare. (Santorum also opposes funding the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, which protects disabled children from discrimination.)

“When I said ‘born and unborn’ last night, 51 percent of the people didn’t stand up, 95 percent of them stood up,” Santorum boasted. “We are the pro-life party. There is no division. There is no dissension.” Santorum also bragged about having helped lead opposition to ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. More than 120 countries and the entire European Union have ratified it, and it enjoys bipartisan support in the US Senate. The purpose is to assure protection from discrimination for people with disabilities in education, employment and voting. Disability rights advocates support it. But religious extremists such as Santorum worry that it could be bad for parents who home school their children. And so, thanks to Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), it has not been approved by the US Senate.

Santorum devoted less than a sentence to the importance of excluding gays and lesbians from the institution of marriage, but Huckabee gave it more attention. He also, like Reed, took up responsibility on selling Mormon Mitt to the Evangelicals. “Let me clear the air about whether guys like me would only support an evangelical,” said Huckabee. “Of the four people on the two tickets, the only self-professed evangelical is Barack Obama, and he supports changing the definition of marriage, believes that human life is disposable and expendable at any time in the womb or even beyond the womb, and tells people of faith that they must bow their knees to the god of government and violate their faith and conscience in order to comply with what he calls healthcare… I care far less as to where Mitt Romney takes his family to church than I do about where he takes this country.”

h/t: Ben Adler at The Nation

[justinspoliticalcorner]

My recap of the RNC: Day 2

Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap | Day 3 Recap

Here is my recap of the RNC for the 2nd night.

Mitch McConnell, help will NOT be coming for you this year, and I hope you're voted out in 2014. #MitchMcConnell #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 29, 2012

.@algore on GOP's 4 arms: Libertarian, tea, big biz/wall st., evangelical. Can they please all? #GOP2012 #Current2012 bit.ly/Oye6nL

— Current TV (@current) August 29, 2012

McConnell: "Obama's running for a spot on the PGA Tour, not for our Nation" #MitchMcConnell #GOP2012 #RNC2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 29, 2012

McConnell: "Calling this a 'recovery' is an insult of recovery." #MitchMcConnell #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 29, 2012

McConnell: "America cannot afford another four years of this." We CAN afford 4 more years of Obama. #MitchMcConnell #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 29, 2012

Rand Paul: "Obamacare is still 'unconstitutional.'" Shut the hell up, Rand! PPACA IS Constitutional. #RandPaul #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #PPACA

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 29, 2012

FACT: Rand Paul also thinks the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act are unconstitutional thkpr.gs/RnYyj5

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 29, 2012

Rand Paul's telling lies about the "You didn't build that" claim. #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #RandPaul

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 29, 2012

1%er shill Rand Paul: "When you punish the rich, the poor suffer." He's lying. #RandPaul #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #GOPLiars

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 29, 2012

Paul: "Democrats must acknowledge that their social welfare programs need reform." #RandPaul #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 29, 2012

Just FYI, Reagan raised taxes 11 times and nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. thkpr.gs/RnYyj5

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 29, 2012

2008 loser to Obama John McCain speaking. #rnc2012 #gop2012 #JohnMcCain #iginstagr.am/p/O7m1lHnRQe/

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

John McCain: "We can't cause our allies to doubt America's leadership." #JohnMcCain #GOP2012 #RNC2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

John McCain playing the "Bomb Iran" card. #JohnMcCain #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

14,500 teachers, cops, firefighters, librarians were laid off in Massachusetts when @mittromney was Governor. 140elect.com/mittrmoney/

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

MSNBC panel points out that liberals, conservatives, libertarians, and independents can agree: It's time to get out of Afghanistan. #GOP2012

— tylerc (@tylerc) August 30, 2012

Bondi and Olens are spouting idiocy. #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Bondi: "It is time to repeal ObamaCare. It is time that rights came from God. It is time from Romney/Ryan." #PamBondi #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

John Thune: "Obama's policies are harming farmers." False. #JohnThune #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Thune: "Gone will be attitude of Government knows best. I'll make government a plan to help America." #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Tad True: "Obama has been playing politics with the Keystone XL Pipeline." #TadTrue #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #KeystoneXL

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

There's nothing more hilarious than railing on government spending inside a structure built by government spending.

— David Sirota (@davidsirota) August 30, 2012

Rob Portman: "Which one will you trust with your savings?" #RobPortman #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Portman says Romney made money the "old-fashioned way. He earned it." Yes, he did, by outsourcing our jobs. #Current2012 #GOP2012

— Jennifer Granholm (@JenGranholm) August 30, 2012

Rob Portman: "You can't tax, spend, regulate, or blame your way out of the economic mess." #RobPortman #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

FACT: Sen. Portman said the budget-busting Bush tax cuts got the economy on track.

— TruthTeam2012 (@truthteam2012) August 30, 2012

As Bush's budget director Portman helped add a half-trillion dollars to the national debt thkpr.gs/RnYyj5

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 30, 2012

Portman: "China manipulates currency." #RobPortman #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Portman: "Which one will liberate America's spirit?" Crowd: "Romney." #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Rob Portman, YOU'RE part of a certain administration [Bush 43] that rose up the debt. #GOP2012 #RobPortman

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Four More Years, Four More Years, Four More Years! #FourMoreYears #Obama2012 #ObamaBiden2012 #P2 #TCOT #TopProg

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Hey, Rob Portman, we DON'T need Romney/Ryan! #RobPortman #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

FACT: Paul Ryan voted twice to shut out Puerto Rico’s voice from the U.S. Congress.OFA.BO/YW2qHf

— TruthTeam2012 (@truthteam2012) August 30, 2012

Tim Pawlenty: "This year is Barack Obama's retirement party." No, it's not. #TimPawlenty #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Pawlenty: "Obama is the 1st president to create more excuses than jobs." #TimPawlenty #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Pawlenty: "You're outta time, and we're outta money!" #TimPawlenty #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Pawlenty: "Just get the government off my back." #TimPawlenty #rnc2012 #gop2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Dear Tim Pawlenty: Help will NOT come via Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, but an Obama/Biden 2nd term. #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #TimPawlenty #RomneyRyan

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Wow was that ever an awful and sexist comment about DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz from Mike Huckabee. "awful noise" "bless her heart"

— Krystal Ball (@KrystalBall1) August 30, 2012

Mike Huckabee attacks Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama, calls them "radical leftists." #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #MikeHuckabee

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Huckabee: "Obama's intent on putting more people on food stamps. Romney wants to make them unnecessary." #MikeHuckabee #GOP2012 #RNC2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Debbie Wasserman Schultz >>> Mike Huckabee. #DWS #MikeHuckabee #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #P2

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Huckabee: "With Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, we will do better." #MikeHuckabee #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Huckabee: "Obama wants to change the definition of marriage and believes human life is disposable." #MikeHuckabee #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Huckabee: "An attack on Catholicism is an attack on me." #MikeHuckabee #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #Religion

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Huckabee raises doubts about Obama's religion. Calls him a "self-professed evangelical" thkpr.gs/RnYyj5

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 30, 2012

FACT: IN 2008, Romney gave 23 years of tax returns to McCain to be vetted for VP, but released only one year to the American public.

— TruthTeam2012 (@truthteam2012) August 30, 2012

Condi is lying off her ass. #Condifail #CondoleezzaRice #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

The GOP's VP choice Paul Ryan needs to be defeated TWICE! Vote Obama/Biden and Rob Zerban! #PaulRyan #RobZerban #WI01 #ObamaBiden

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Susana Martinez: "The budget hasn't been proposed in over three years." She's lying. #SusanaMartinez #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Tricky Mitt's VP pick Paul Ryan sucks!! #paulryan #rnc2012 #gop2012 #ig #instagram #trickymittinstagr.am/p/O73pBEHRey/

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Hey Paul Ryan, neither you nor Mitt Romney have any fucking decency whatsoever. #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #P2 #RyanFail

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan is bad for Janesville, bad for Wisconsin, and bad for America! #PaulRyan #Janesville #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan: "Why would the next four years be any different than the last four years." #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan voted to add $6.8 trillion to the debt during his time in Congress thkpr.gs/RnYyj5

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan: "Obamacare comes w/ 2,000+ pages of rules that have no place in a free country." #Obamacare #PaulRyan #GOP2012 #RNC2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Ryan: "Repeal Obamacare, elect Romney." Fat chance. #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Ryan says Obamacare has no place in a free country. What about Massachusetts? thkpr.gs/RnYyj5

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 30, 2012

Ryan's repeating the "$716 cut from Medicare by Obama" falsehood. WRONG, YOUR budget WILL cut it. #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Ryan: "Mitt Romney and me know the difference of saving a program and raiding a program" #PaulRyan #MittRomney #GOP2012 #RNC2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan: "What is missing is leadership in the White House." #PaulRyan#RNC2012 #GOP2012 #RyanSucks

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan: "The blame on the previous administration [Bush 43] is getting old." Not, it's not. #PaulRyan #Bush43 #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan's falsely claiming that Obama has added more debt than any other presidents combined. #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Who CAUSED dowgrading of USA CREDIT from AAA? YOU, #PaulRyan & the #GOP majority House. #RNC Not raising Credit Limit. #DEMS #P2

— BardOfEarth (@BardOfEarth) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan: "We will act with conviction that the United States will con't to be the best nation ever." #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Ryan: "I'll take freedom any day over the sanctimony of the central planners." #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan: "Mitt Romney is a fine man worthy of leading this country." Hell no he's not, and neither are you! #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan: "Our rights come from God, and not government." #PaulRyan #RNC2012 #GOP2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan: "We can make the safety net safe again." No! #PaulRyan #GOP2012 #RNC2012

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan Sucks! Paul Ryan Sucks! Paul Ryan Sucks! #PaulRyanSucks #RNC2012 #GOP2012 #PaulRyan #P2 #TCOT

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) August 30, 2012

Paul Ryan's line about 20-somethings in their childhood bedrooms offers zero solutions, but will the imagery be effective? #GOP2012

— tylerc (@tylerc) August 30, 2012

Worst Persons: B: Rob Portman. S: Mike Huckabee. G: Paul Ryan