Romney: I’m Good for Women

In light of a recent CNN poll showing Mitt Romney trailing Obama among women by a full twelve points, the presidential candidate spoke up, once and for all, to defend the Republican party—and more specifically, the Romney-Ryan ticket—against allegations of waging a ”war on women.” On Fox News Sunday, Romney pointed to his record as the governor of Massachusetts as evidence of his pro-woman policies, coming to the rare defense of Romneycare and its expansive health services for women. Didn’t expect to hear Romney tout the plan on Fox News? Don’t be too surprised—he continued to justify the policy as an excellent example of states’ rights in action.

John McCain, Four Years Later

If anyone knows what’s on Romney’s mind two days before the kickoff of the Republican National Convention, it’s gotta be the last guy to go up against Barack Obama in a presidential race. Senator John McCain took to Meet the Press not only to talk pre-campaign jitters, but also to delineate what the GOP can offer Hispanics and women, the two voter demographics most likely to swing left.

Marco Rubio: DREAM Act Still a Nightmare

A first-generation American himself, Florida senator Marco Rubio has become the GOP’s go-to spokesman on immigration—a topic that Mitt Romney, according to Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer, has ++refused++ [LINK: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/26/mitt-romney-s-achilles-heel-immigration.html] to take a clear stance on. While Rubio refused to speak for Romney, who he’ll introduce at the Republican National Convention this week, he asserted that the GOP is committed to supportting young immigrants “in a way that doesn’t encourage or reward illegal immigration.”

Reince Priebus: Dems Can’t Take a Joke!

Despite Hurricane Isaac’s looming presence over the Republican National Convention, the show must go on in Tampa. But what about that other routine in the GOP’s 2012 act: birther jokes? On State of the Union, RNC chair Reince Priebus dismissed the Obama campaign’s outrage over Romney’s recent birth certificate joke as “a nothing,” asking if political campaigns have “really gotten to the point where they can’t have any levity at all.”

Ann Romney: ‘Tough Places’ Ahead

They say that behind every great man stands a great woman—but just how many of her husband’s policy initiatives can Ann Romney really get behind? In a Fox News Sunday interview with the potential first couple at their New Hampshire abode, Ann maintained that, when it comes to policy, she and her husband are without a doubt a “united front.” Which sparked the question: where does that leave her past donation to Planned Parenthood, an organization Mitt has aims to defund?

Akin Incense: Real or Manufactured?

Sure, his “legitimate rape” comment was both misinformed and incredibly offensive, but Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin has apologized repeatedly and been publicly abandoned by his party as a viable candidate. How much more is there left to say? Apparently a lot, Howard Kurtz noted on Reliable Sources, as media outlets across the country continue to cover the politician’s downfall a full week after Akin’s ill-fated appearance on a St. Loius television station. Is this just another case of the media exploiting outrage for ratings, or does the Akin story still have legs?

Gov. McDonnell: Abortion Plank Is Just a Guideline

On This Week, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell defended the GOP’s official adoption of an anti-abortion platform that bears no mention of exceptions for cases of rape or incest, arguing that the language allows room for individual states to decide which special cases they’d like to consider. “That [language has] been there for 30 years,” McDonnell contested. “This [new uproar] is just one more attempt by the Obama administration to take the focus off the economy.”