Why Chris Christie bear hug will deliver White House to Barack Obama -- Did New Jersey governor deliberately snub Mitt Romney after VP diss?

Chris Christie and Barack Obama speak during the President's visit
to Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s bear hug embrace of Barack Obama during Hurricane Sandy will deliver the White House again to Barack Obama, I believe.

Since he did so the polls have moved perceptively to Obama, which should allow him to eke out a 51 per cent to 49 per cent victory in the popular vote I predict.

It was an extraordinary moment and a dagger aimed at the heart of Republican contender Mitt Romney who had passed Christie over for the Vice President slot after originally indicating he was choosing him as Politico.com revealed.

(There is no love lost between the two Republicans, they angrily disputed why Christie was not on the stage at a Romney rally in neighboring Pennsylvania on election eve.)

Christie saw himself on the sidelines and knew a victory for Romney essentially sidelined him for a possible eight years. He likely made a calculation that Obama would be re-elected.

Facing probable political oblivion, Christie acted.

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Embracing Obama ensured his re-election in New Jersey also with Obama hardly likely to champion a Democratic opponent. It also ensured that moderate Democrats will be naturally drawn to supporting him when he runs for re-election.

It was a lifeline to Obama. Barack Obama was in a desperate fight to the death last week and in a dead heat at best when the hurricane struck.

Americans rally to the president in a crisis and Obama has the Commander-in-Chief down to an art form.

But the Christie embrace was the icing on the cake. Americans yearn for the type of cross community politics that sees politicians from opposite sides work together.

There are few more popular figures than the larger-than-life Christie who has never met a doughnut stand he didn’t like and calls a spade a spade.

When he appeared all day with Obama it sent a clear message to Americans that despite the attempt to demonize Obama by the GOP, Christie was willing to work with him.

The polls that had been in a permanent freeze before Sandy began to tick back in Obama’s direction and he goes into Election Day with polls clearly moving in his direction.

In a very uncertain year, that last tilt in the polls will, I think, put Obama over the top. The October/November surprise in the end proved to be of all things a hurricane and a 350 pound governor from the opposite party feeling the love for the president.

That’s politics. Who wudda thunk it?

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Democratic near panic in Washington as Mitt Romney bandwagon rolls -- Contrast in mood with happy Republicans is very evident as race closes

Mitt Romney Republican candidate looking happy

Washington D.C: The contrast in confidence between Democratic and Republican supporters here in Washington is striking.

Our newspaper Irish Voice hosted our annual Legal 100 event here last night at the residence of the Irish Ambassador Michael Collins, and the talk among the well connected from both sides who showed up was all about the election.

There were many movers and shakers among the large crowd and the mood shift was evident.

Democrats frankly were grim. “It comes down to Ohio?” said a former prominent politician. “It did for Kerry in 2004 and he lost it right there and we could lose it too.”

“We have to hold Ohio,” said another stalwart and major fundraiser. “We have no hope other than doing that -- It looks like the ground game is the only way we can hold it.”

The main hope of the Democratic side seemed to be in that massive turn out the vote effort. “It’s not the economy stupid,” said one political leader, “it’s the turnout stupid.”

A Democratic foot soldier from Pennsylvania talked about the massive effort underway there. “We will add two points to the polls,” he predicted.

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Several referred to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s race in Nevada a few years back when polls showed him five behind, yet, because of his massive organization, he won the day.

Democrats frankly are reeling at how hard and how fast Obama appears to have fallen. The ABC /Washington Post poll on Thursday shows him three behind, a similar margin to several other polls.

At the end of September he seemed to be cruising to victory with polls showing him well ahead, now he enters the final week and a half gasping for his political life.

Republicans in Washington have a pep in their step. “We’re ahead in the national polls, no doubt about it and the state polls will adjust,” said one big campaign donor many years on the scene.

Obama wrote off Romney far too soon said another. This is a fifty-fifty election he said, it was always going to come down to that.

Obama’s attitude in the first debate clearly cost him dear they say. He was just not prepped enough thinking he would easily deal with Romney.

One person discussed a recent lunch with Bill Clinton saying there was no great wisdom there either, only a sense of deep frustration that Romney’s reposition had seemingly won over a large slice of the undecided.

Right now in Washington the GOP are confident, even cocky. The next ten days will tell whether that is justified or a celebration too soon.

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Ghost of George Bush haunted Mitt Romney in final debate -- A victory for Barack Obama by default as Romney lies low

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama during their final presidential campaign debate

There was a third candidate in the arena with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama last night as the ghost of George Bush hovered over the proceedings.

It was a night that was a clear victory for Obama. CBS had it 53 to 23 percent in their poll of undecided voters while CNN had it 48 to 40 percent in their poll of registered voters.

A battleground poll in the key swing states had voters there giving Obama 52 to 42 percent.

Overall Obama did himself some good and Romney certainly did not advance but it is debatable how much ground he lost.

Bush, like Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth, unsettled Romney enough that he never seemed to have Obama’s measure. He was strangely passive and defensive.

Obama had tried unsuccessfully to link Romney to Bush policies in the domestic debates but had failed—however. the shadows of Iraq and Afghanistan loomed too large for Romney to escape.

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As a result Mitt Romney came to play defense in the final debate but lost to a much more energized and feisty Barack Obama.

It was a strange performance by Romney who may have decided that he needed to look presidential and not a hothead when it came to international affairs.

What was clear was that Republicans still live in the shadow of George Bush and his failed presidency, especially on foreign affairs.

Romney knew he had to guard against reawakening echoes of the Bush era, now viewed as cowboy diplomacy at its worst.

In the process however, he was silent on Obama’s foreign policy.

The Benghazi incident that most debate watchers had predicted would be the biggest issue was hardly raised.

Obama mentioned Israel 43 times, a clear indication that he was safeguarding his nearly 4-1 lead among Jewish voters.

Romney mentioned how many times he agreed with Obama and seemed to punt every time he had the chance to go for it.

A puzzling debate that will have tongues wagging as to its ultimate impact for some days yet.

Here's the highlights from the debate:

Irish donnybrook as Joe Biden versus Paul Ryan key for presidential debate -- Gift of the gab Biden versus ‘just the facts’ new politician Ryan

Irish American politicians Paul Ryan and Joe Biden gear up for their first major battle

Incredible, but the presidential race could come down to the debating skills of two Irish American politicians who were viewed as bit players just a few weeks ago.

Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan were supposed to be the afters, while the main course was Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

However, after Romney’s sensational knockout of Obama in the first presidential debate the Ryan/Biden stand-off in Kentucky suddenly looms large.

The polls are essentially tied which means that any major mistake or a similar poor showing by Biden could doom the Obama campaign suddenly on the back foot.

For Paul Ryan, a complete unknown to most Americans, it will be the first and only chance to introduce himself. Is he the cost cutter and right-wing ideologue that the Democrats paint him as or a visionary young politician who will loom as a giant some day as Republicans believe?

Biden, whose secret service code name is “Celtic” will be trying to stop the rot that suddenly pervades the Obama campaign after the president’s faux pas in the first debate.

Paul Ryan, descendant of Tipperary Famine era immigrants, will seek to continue the upward momentum and the suddenly kinder, gentler image of the Romney/Ryan campaign.

The two men could not be more different. Biden is the Irish politician of legend; warm, gregarious, and downright sentimental at times. Ryan is a more withdrawn number cruncher, bright as all hell, and someone who sees politics as a battle about ideas not sentiment.

But those stereotypes will only carry both men so far. This presidential election is a battle about core ideas and both men personify the difference even more than the presidential candidates.

It is the small government, cut and slash spending view as against the traditional model that we can solve issues through government and private partnership.

This is what will make this debate so fascinating. The American people are finally engaged after the first debate and it is game on with polls showing the race the closest since Kennedy/Nixon and Bush/Gore.

Ryan has the tougher task, introducing himself to the American people under the harsh spotlight of a desperately close presidential campaign.

He is not in Wisconsin anymore and there has to be a sense of nervousness and anxiety heading into his big night.

Biden on the other hand has been known for his verbal gaffes and has to watch that Irish gift of the gab which isn’t such a gift on occasions.

Biden was chosen in 2008 by Obama to reach that Catholic working class voter who is so crucial in swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Ryan was also picked in part because of that profile and both men will be aiming directly at the undecided vote, which contains so many Catholic working class voters.

They say Vice Presidential debates do not decide elections, but in one as close as this it could have a massive impact.

After Obama’s poor performance the pressure on Joe Biden is greater than he has ever experienced in a long political career.

But I have a funny feeling it will be the old dog for the hard road when the smoke clears.

Read more: New information on Vice President Joe Biden’s Irish roots uncovered

Read more: The Paul Ryan American dream -- fleeing famine in Ireland to Vice Presidential ticket

Mitt Romney wins the first debate against a listless Barack Obama -- A debate with a flood of facts and figures to befuddle everyone

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama at the Denver presidential debate

Mitt Romney won the first debate against Barack Obama just by showing up in a fighting mood against a lackluster incumbent.

In a debate weighed down by facts and figures and financial data, Romney was faster on his feet than Obama.

The aura of invincibility that descends on every White House occupant was scraped off by Romney’s combative performance.

It was Obama’s first debate in four years and it showed. He seemed disengaged, not the fiery candidate who took the stage by storm four years ago against John McCain.

Beforehand 72 percent of Americans thought Obama would win, the typical numbers for an incumbent. So Romney did far better coming from a lower expectation base.

But while Romney won on style, Obama landed some punches, especially when focused on Romney’s plan to cut $5 trillion in taxes.

“We have a horse race,” said David Gergen on CNN, the most seasoned of all political operatives who gave Romney the verdict on a night that may have changed the course of the race for the White House.

Even James Carville, the attack dog Democrat, had little good to say about Obama’s performance, saying he gave the impression he did not want to be there.

“The president did not bring his “A” game," said Carville

Obama was somehow subdued, his best moments were in his closing remarks when he finally felt and looked passionate when asking the American people for four more years.

At the same time, the two were reminiscent of two fighters clutching each other in the center of the ring without landing any punches for very long periods.

In the end, there was no knockdown, no moment like when Ronald Reagan floored Jimmy Carter, or Lloyd Bentsen when he decked Dan Quayle with his “You’re no Jack Kennedy” line.

All of which means that Romney will pick up some momentum making this a closer race than the pundits were predicting just a few weeks ago.

Read more: IrishCentral's up-to-date stories on the US presidential election 2012 here

Cardinal Dolan right to see the light and agree to speak at Democratic convention -- Huge error appearing at Republican convention only with closing prayer

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan (Photo: AP)

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is doing the right thing speaking at both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican one.

His decision came after a storm of criticism about him appearing only at the Republican National Convention in Tampa and not at the Democratic one in Charlotte, North Carolina.

There was also news of a secret meeting between Mitt Romney and Dolan at Dolan’s office in New York which took many observers by surprise.

Why a secret meeting? Why not acknowledge out front that the Cardinal Archbishop of New York was meeting one of the two men who will be president come January next year?

Clearly Dolan, by far the most powerful figure in the American Catholic Church, was displaying a partisan approach that went down badly with many American Catholics.

On social justice issues such as immigration and caring for the poor, the church is far closer to the Democratic party.

On doctrinal issues such as abortion and church affairs, they are closer to the GOP.

The Catholic faithful are probably split in a similar manner with the more conservative wing leaning towards the Republicans and cultural Catholics siding with Democrats.

So the New York archdiocese and Dolan went ahead and finally did the decent thing and acknowledged both parts of their divided faithful.

In a statement on Thursday, the New York Archdiocese stated:

“Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, has accepted an invitation to deliver the closing prayer at next week’s Democratic National Convention. As was previously announced, he will also be offering the closing prayer at the Republican Convention on Thursday of this week.

The news of the Democratic convention gig also came after the New York Times revealed that Romney had secretly met with Dolan last month.

“The two had a private meeting, previously undisclosed, at the chancery in New York, across from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, said Peter G. Flaherty, a senior adviser to the Romney campaign on religious issues.


Secret meetings and offering benedictions to one side and not the other should not be the style of the Catholic Church and its undisputed leader.


Dolan has already displayed animosity to Obama and sued him over his health care law. He has made plain his disdain for this president and his policies.

On the other side, he positively gushed in a recent radio interview about GOP VP candidate Paul Ryan who hails from his home state of Wisconsin.

It has become obvious for some time that Cardinal Dolan loves his media image and pumps it up at every opportunity.

He positively preens in the spotlight which is harmless enough, but putting the Catholic Church squarely on the side of the Republicans was a major mistake.

It does not seem that long ago that Protestant churches mounted a savage campaign against Catholic John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Many of those churches never fully recovered from the backlash to that onslaught.

This is a deeply divided society right now, even at the level of the US Bishops where some have criticized VP candidate Paul Ryan for targeting his budget cuts at the poor.

Cardinal Dolan should have really known better than to totally align himself with one side.

Luckily he has seen the light.

Newt Gingrich is the real thing as Romney looks more like Elmer Fudd each passing day

Watching the Republican debate last night it really struck me forcefully.

Newt Gingrich is for real.

I fully expect him to win the Republican nomination.

Watching him in close combat with Romney I was reminded of the tortoise and the hare.

Romney had bolted to the front of the pack early but has never put his rivals away.

One by one they had their day in the sun coming close to him but eventually falling away.

Until Newt, the ultimate tortoise who was once so far behind that Romney could hardly glimpse him in the rear view mirror.

But there he was last night, big and bold, aiming deadly zingers at an increasingly flustered Romney who looks more and more like an Elmer Fudd.

Gingrich's line that Romney would have been a professional pol too if he had defeated Ted Kennedy in 1994 was the best line of the night

Romney's problem is that very few Republicans love him -- they tolerate him.

Newt on the other hand has a love/hate relationship going with most everyone.

He is fire to Romney's and indeed Obama's ice-- and he is all the better for that.

Sure there are times he puts his foot in it-- calling the Palestinians an invented people was too much even for the Israeli government.

But Republicans are beginning to sense that, for the knock down drag out fight they need to wage against Obama, Newt is much better placed to take the battle to him.

Like the hedgehog and the fox fable Gingrich is the hedgehog ---he knows one big thing, how to take the fight to Democrats as he did when he became House Speaker ending decades of Democratic rule.

Romney like the fox knows lots of other things but does not give off the impression that he is a true street fighter.

And that is undoubtedly true.

Sarah Palin now the favorite for the Republican nomination for president

As we have often stated in these columns, Sarah Palin is consistently underrated by Republicans, Democrats and media alike as a possible contender for the White House.

Now with the Republican field imploding in the past few weeks, suddenly Palin is back in the limelight again.

Truth is she has never given up her ambition.

She looks at this Republican field and sees huge weaknesses, from Mitt Romney's flip flops to Newt Gingrich's womanizing to Tim Pawlenty's lack of charisma.

Sure she ceded the stage to Donald Trump's ill-fated run, but it was always clear that Trump would eventually slink away once he had milked it enough.

Now Sarah comes swanning back into the limelight and no one has a hold on the Tea Party and Conservative wing like she has.

She has now moved to Arizona, a clever move in the circumstances which places her in the heart of the Republican belt.

She is running all right and has the backing and support others can only dream of.

She would easily win Iowa with its massive evangelical base if it was voted on tomorrow.

With that under her belt she automatically becomes favorite in new Hampshire.

If she could knock Romney off there the path to the nomination is clear.

We all thought Hillary would be the first major woman candidate for president nominated by her party.

We have to adjust out bifocals folks, here comes Sarah and she is running hard.

Good for her.

IRA Dissidents Still Dangerous

Posted by Niall O'Dowd at 5/23/2009 11:04 PM EDT

I see that dissidents in West Belfast this weekend attempted to destroy the car of Bobby Storey,a leading Republican figure, who played a key role in getting the Republican movement to take part in the peace process.

It is just the latest in a slew of attempts by dissidents to pressure leading Republicans. A similar attempt to intimidate senior Sinn Fein figure Mitchell McLoughlin recently took place and Martin McGuinness has been warned that his safety is at risk because of the dissident threat.

I don't take these actions lightly. Clearly there are a group of young thugs about the place determined to get their kicks by trying to restart The Troubles. While their attempts to draw Sinn Fein in have been laughable so far that is not to say they are not capable of much worse given the right set of circumstances.

They have only to be lucky once and as we saw from the dissidents in the killing of two British soldiers and a policeman recently, the tinder box that was once Northern Ireland could possibly be re-ignited unless cooler heads prevail.

That was certainly the case after those murders. Sinn Fein and Democratic Unionist politicians discovered they had far more in common than what separated them when it came to keeping the peace on track.

The fear is that some more recent Republican defectors, who have far more expertise than those young thugs who try to destroy cars and disturb the peace, may latch on to the dissident factions and create a new and more dangerous militant group.
The reality of any post-conflict situation is that resistance to the settlement will continue for many years in some form or fashion.

I have no doubt that the Tamil tigers,no matter how much the government in Sri Lanka is claiming victory will reorganize in some fashion. Rarely do revolutions die a quick death. That is why we must stay vigilant and committed to the process in Northern Ireland to continue to achieve through peaceful means .

Boredom and a sense that all has been achieved which spells complacency is our greatest enemy. The thugs who tried to destroy Storey's car this weekend have a message to deliver. It is up to all of us to ensure it does not spread.