And the winner is: Michele Bachmann

◼ Breaking: Michele Bachmann wins the Ames Straw Poll - Chris Cillizza/Washington Post
◼ Ames straw poll results: Bachmann wins narrowly over Paul - HotAir
◼ Iowa Straw Poll Winner Announced - Michelle Malkin
◼ "Michele Bachmann wins the Iowa straw poll. Ron Paul finishes second." - Althouse

Newt Gingrich: Supercommittee a 'dumb' idea

◼ Speaking Thursday during the GOP presidential debate in Ames, Iowa, the former House speaker questioned the legitimacy of the 12-member panel that Democratic and Republican congressional leaders filled this week. - Politico

"I think this super committee is about as dumb an idea as Washington has come up with in my lifetime," Gingrich said. "I used to run the House of Representatives. I have some general notion of these things. The idea that 523 senators and congressmen are going to sit around for four months while 12 brilliant people, mostly picked for political reasons, are going to sit in some room and brilliantly come up with a trillion dollars, or force us to choose between gutting our military and accepting a tax increase, is irrational.

"They're going to walk in just before Thanksgiving and say, 'All right, we can shoot you in the head or cut off your right leg, which do you prefer?'" he added. "What they ought to do is scrap the committee right now, recognize it's a dumb idea, go back to regular legislative business, assign every subcommittee the task of finding savings. Do it out in the open through regular legislative order and get rid of this secret phony business."

All eyes on Iowa

◼ Michele Bachmann has now given away 6,000 tickets at the Ames Straw Poll, a source familiar with the organization said. It's a number that suggests she'll leave the event with a serious head of steam.... Ron Paul's campaign is the other boasting of similar numbers... - Politico

◼ Iowa GOP

What's happening in Iowa today

◼ Video: A taste of the Ames poll environment _ Ed Morrissey/HotAir
◼ Get it all here - http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/

◼ Huckabee at the straw poll: ‘America needs Iowa to happen’
◼ Ron Paul has the most buses at Iowa Straw Poll so far, rough count shows
◼ Your Cliff’s Notes guide to the Iowa straw poll

The Iowa Republican straw poll has the power to alter the character of the 2012 presidential race even though it’s only a mock election. Candidates who fare poorly — at least in the eyes of the media — can go from Prince Charming to pumpkin faster than you can say Tommy Thompson. And sometimes the fairest of them all is the candidate who comes in second.

The candidates who are doing the best in media polls are not necessarily the ones who rise to the top in Ames. That fact makes the straw poll hard to predict, and there are a few extra wrinkles this year. The poll’s significance and fairness are always up for discussion as well.

◼ Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad explains why Iowa is the envy of the nation
◼ Bachmann is keeping a low profile
◼ Santorum to Iowa Straw Poll Republicans: “Obamacare” is greatest threat to American freedom
◼ Iowans divided as Perry elbows into presidential race, straw poll spotlight

Perry Makes It Official: He's Running for President

◼ Texas Gov. Rick Perry tossed his cowboy hat into the ring Saturday, shaking up the GOP race as he puts his undefeated political record on the line in his first presidential rodeo. - FOX

"It is time to get America working again and that's why with the support of my family and unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I declare to you today as a candidate for the president of the United States," he said in a speech at a RedState Gathering of conservative activists in Charleston, South Carolina.

◼ Rick Perry: Why I’m Running


◼ rickperry.org ◼ News ◼ Donate

Ron Paul could be a surprise victor in Ames straw poll

◼ On the eve of the Ames Straw Poll, the first major organizing test of the 2012 Republican presidential race, there is a strain of thinking that Paul could seriously challenge the likes of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty for supremacy on Saturday. - Chris Cillizza/Washington Post via Drudge (image source)

“He’s got the supporter passion of a Bachmann with the organization of a Pawlenty,” said one senior Iowa Republican strategist unaffiliated with any of the campaigns. “He builds on 2007 and the caucus last time, and I think he can turn out the 3,000 votes he needs to win.”

Rick Perry’s entry sets up a clarifying contrast

◼ Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s entry into the presidential race puts into especially sharp focus the clash of visions between Republicans and President Obama over the proper role of government. - Washington Post

Texas has no income tax, ranks 46th overall for the taxes it collects per capita and has the strongest job growth in the country. The state has accounted for between 30 percent and half of the net new jobs in the country in the past two years, depending on who is counting....

Perry not only defends the Texas approach but has taken the lead in resisting the Obama administration’s activism on health care, education and the environment...

◼ In Texas, Perry Outshines Obama - Investor's Business Daily
◼ Rick Perry to Kick Off Campaign Saturday - Michelle Malkin

Morning Jay: Obama Has No Clue What To Do With Himself

◼ For what it’s worth, this is what I think Obama should do. He needs to track down Dr. Emmett Brown -- I think he still lives in Hill Valley, Calif. -- and see if he’ll loan him his DeLorean. Then, the president should travel back in time to 2009 to talk himself out of all the terrible mistakes he made that year. - Weekly Standard

Barack Obama rejects calls for Eric Holder to resign

◼ President Barack Obama has forcefully rejected calls for Attorney General Eric Holder to resign over a controversial federal law enforcement operation that allegedly allowed hundreds of guns to flow to Mexican drug cartels. - Politico

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) and the National Rifle Association have called for Holder's resignation over "Operation Fast and Furious," the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives investigation that monitored suspicious gun sales. Several of the weapons have been recovered from drug gangs in Mexico and two guns were found at the scene of the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent last December.

However, when asked at a roundtable with Spanish-language print media on Monday whether Holder should quit, Obama said flatly, "No."

Hannity Interviews Sarah Palin in Iowa

◼ Sarah on Hannity at the Iowa State Fair - moms4sarahpalin
◼ TRENDING: Palin swarmed at Iowa State Fair - CNN

The Inside Truth Behind "Journalistic Integrity"

◼ Magazine editors and TV news people who talk about journalistic or editorial integrity always make me laugh. In most cases there is no such thing. - Yid With Lid

New Book: Barak Obama's father

◼ The Other Barack: a compelling biography by American journalist Sally H. Jacobs

Left's Agenda Inches Forward

◼ Left's Agenda Inches Forward - Peter Hannaford for The American Spectator

While the massive union effort to overturn the Wisconsin state senate failed, in California the Left quietly moved its agenda forward this week when Governor Jerry Brown signed the "National Popular Vote" bill whose purpose is to award the state's 55 electoral votes to the presidential candidate with the most popular votes nationally.

Why is this significant? California is the eighth state (along with the District of Columbia) to pass this legislation. It is written to take effect if and when states representing a majority of the 538 electoral votes have passed similar legislation. This means that if Candidate A wins the vote in your state, but Candidate B wins it nationally, your state's electors would be required to vote for B.

There is something highly unusual in watching a president call attention to his own impotence. The president is declaring to the world that he is simply too weak to govern.

◼ Not only that, he wants all of America to know that he’s darn frustrated about it. You can even hear it in his voice. The president is frustrated that on his watch, and for the first time in history, America’s credit rating has been downgraded. He’s frustrated that the economy is getting worse rather than better. - commentarymagazine.com

Texas governor Rick Perry calls global warming "all one contrived phony mess that is falling apart under its own weight."

◼ Unlike many of the other GOP presidential candidates, he hasn't expressed concern about climate change in the past, so he won't have to do any back-pedaling. - Guardian.uk

Palin Spotted – and Swarmed – at Iowa State Fair

◼ Sarah Palin arrived at the Iowa State Fair even as Rick Santorum was speaking on the fair soap box and Tim Pawlenty was grilling pork on a stick. - NYT (image source)

◼ Sarah Palin: Characterizing Michele Bachmann catfight 'ridiculous, sexist' - Politico
◼ Palin at Iowa State Fair: I’m still undecided on 2012 - Daily Caller

Full GOP Debate in Ames, Iowa - Aug. 11, 2011

Appeals court rules against Obama healthcare law

◼ Appeals court rules against Obama healthcare law - Reuters
◼ UPDATE 1-US appeals court rules against Obama healthcare law - Reuters

The U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, found that Congress exceeded its authority by requiring Americans to buy coverage, but also ruled that the rest of the wide-ranging law could remain in effect.

The legality of the so-called individual mandate, a cornerstone of the 2010 healthcare law, is widely expected to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Obama administration has defended the provision as constitutional....

"This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority: the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives," a divided three-judge panel said.

If you think Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a "non-profit, non-partisan watchdog group, think again.

◼ Group that Attacks Republicans Exposed!

Perhaps you’ve heard of the organization called the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). The mainstream media (and Rachel Maddow) darling is often described as a “nonpartisan watchdog.” Newspaper reporters and cable news commentators want you to think that this collective is keeping tabs on Washington and making sure that both sides of the aisle play fair. Don’t be fooled: CREW is as partisan as they come.

To find out the truth about CREW, go to CREWExposed.com. Here you’ll find a wealth of information about the hyper-partisan activities of this “nonpartisan” group. Among the nuggets:

• Overall, CREW targets Republicans or right-leaning organizations with Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Federal Election Commission (FEC), and congressional ethics complaints eight times more frequently than Democrats;

• 76 percent of CREW FEC complaints were aimed at Republicans/right-leaning groups,

• 100 percent of CREW IRS complaints were aimed at Republicans/right-leaning groups,

• 75 percent of CREW complaints/requests for action with the House Ethics Committee, and 83 percent of CREW complaints/requests for action with the Senate Ethics Committee, were targeted at Republicans;

• CREW has filed 51 lawsuits, 75 percent of which have been aimed at Republicans or the Bush Administration. Only 18 percent were aimed at Democrats.

When one looks at those who work at CREW, these facts aren’t surprising: An analysis of current and past staff members revealed that exactly zero had worked for Republicans or right-leaning organizations before joining CREW. Many of them had worked for Democratic legislators like Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden or liberal organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. And the organization was founded by, among others, Mark Penn, a close ally of the Clintons.

Where does CREW get their funding? You may or may not be surprised. Here’s a hint: A billionaire originally from Eastern Europe has kicked in some funds. Click here to find out more.

So is CREW a nonpartisan watchdog or Democratic lapdog? Go to CREWExposed.com. and you’ll find the answer is pretty obvious. Check out the site and share this with your friends so they aren’t duped by the next news article that features CREW propaganda.

So, how have women fared under the Obama presidency thus far?

◼ Obama & Women - Sharon Sebastian/Stop The ACLU

Reactions to the Iowa Debate

◼ GOP candidates go after Obama - and each other - Yahoo
◼ Fireworks Erupt at GOP Presidential Debate in Iowa - FOX
◼ Newt Gingrich: Take your 'gotcha questions' and ... - Politico

“There’s too much attention paid by the press corps to the campaign minutiae," and not enough attention "to the basic ideas that distinguish us from Barack Obama.”

◼ At GOP Debate Michele Bachmann Asked Whether Wives Should Be Submissive - Gateway Pundit
◼ Video: Pawlenty and Bachmann slug it out - HotAir
◼ THE SPIN ROOM IS OPEN! - The Other McCain

The Debate is live streamed on FOX

◼ HERE

◼ GOP Debate Open Thread 0 Michelle Malkin
◼ GOP Debate open thread - Protein Wisdom
◼ Corn-fed GOP Debate Liveblog - Ace of Spades

Rick Perry, tonight's missing man

◼ As the current Republican field takes the stage for the Fox News/Washington Examiner debate tonight, the political world still awaits the decision of the missing man -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry. - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

6:00 Eight GOP candidates on final lineup for tonight’s Republican Presidential Debate in Iowa

Fox News, the Washington Examiner and the Republican Party of Iowa are sponsoring the first debate in Iowa for the Republican presidential contenders - the two-hour Republican Presidential Debate takes place tonight, Thursday, August 11, at Stephens Auditorium at Iowa State University... The debate, with commercial breaks, starts at 9 p.m. Eastern tonight... Moderators will be Byron York and Susan Ferrechio from the Washington Examiner newspaper, one of the debate co-sponsors, and Fox News anchors Chris Wallace and Bret Baier.... Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn will address the audience briefly before candidates take the stage.

◼ Eight candidates have qualified for the Fox News/Iowa GOP debate Thursday night. - desmoinesregister.com

Eight candidates have qualified for the Fox News/Iowa GOP debate Thursday night.

Expected to appear on the nationally-televised stage in Ames are: Massachusetts’ Mitt Romney, Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann, Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty, Texas’s Ron Paul, Georgia’s Herman Cain, Utah’s Jon Huntsman, Pennsylvania’s Rick Santorum and Georgia’s Newt Gingrich, according to Michael Clemente, Fox’s vice president of news.

Rules required eligible candidates to have an average of at least one percent in five non-online national polls by a deadline of 4 p.m. today.

Much to their dismay, some candidates were shut out, including Michigan’s Thaddeus McCotter, who is the most recent to enter the race, and California’s Fred Karger, an openly gay candidate. McCotter’s name will still be on the ballot for the Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday because his campaign paid the $15,000 necessary to participate in the Republican Party of Iowa fundraiser.

◼ Big Expectations for Debate: One Stage, Eight Different Challenges - FOX
beyond the big stakes for the party and the nation tonight are seven men and one woman who come to the stage with their own baggage, opportunities and needs for this debate.... Here’s a look at the expectations for the field
◼ Tonight's Panelists: Ready to ask - Washington Examiner (image source)

◼ Candidacies on the line in tonight's debate - Washington Examiner (image source)
◼ REPUBLICAN DEBATE: SETTING THE STAGE - Dick Morris

Joe Scarborough: Rooting For The President But Someone In The White House Is Clueless

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

You Know The Left Truly Fears a GOP Candidate When…

◼ Some on the Left have begun to fear Texas Governor Rick Perry. He has increasingly dropped not-so-subtle hints about a run for the White House. This has caused the usual and predictable sources to start unloading the smears. - RedState

The second a leftist fears a Conservative politician; they immediately whip out either the race card or the class warfare card.

Obama to Vacation on Wealthy Island Retreat

◼ Obama to Vacation on Wealthy Island Retreat - Newsmax
◼ Obama, Still going on vacation... - Real Clear Politics via Drudge
◼ Carney Defends Obama Vacay To Martha's Vineyard; "No Such Thing As A Presidential Vacation" - but - ‘The Internet Doesn’t Forget’ - Pajamas Media

Disrespect: White House photo sparks protest

◼ Pentagon officials had said that because 19 of 30 of the American families of the dead had objected to media coverage of the remains coming off a plane at Dover Air Force Base, no images could be taken. In addition, the Pentagon rejected media requests to take photos that showed officials at the ceremony - Yahoo

An official White House photo of a saluting Obama was distributed to news media and published widely. It also was posted on the White House website as the "Photo of the Day." It showed Obama and other officials in silhouette and did not depict caskets.
Doug Wilson, head of public affairs at the Pentagon, said the department did not know the White House photographer was present and had no idea a photo of the event was being released until it became public. He said the photographers who routinely travel with the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were not allowed to go to the event, and no official Pentagon photos were taken or released.

Romney V Obama

◼ Republicans have yet to cast a single presidential primary vote, but already it's looking like all-out war between Mitt Romney and President Obama. - NY Daily News

Team Romney hit back after revelations Obama's re-election campaign has reportedly hatched a plan some dubbed "Kill Romney" to undermine the Massachusetts governor.

In an ad, the Romney campaign uses Obama's own words from a speech in which the president had previously called for "a more civil and honest discourse."

After showing news clips relating to Obama's reported plan, text appears asking, "Win at any cost? You decide."

The ad's rollout comes on the heels of a Politico report that Obama's re-election campaign will try to "destroy" Romney with a "ferocious personal assault" on Romney's "character and business background."

◼ Mitt Romney Comes to Des Moines, Attracts Massive Media Coverage - - Robert Stacy McCain

Sarah Palin heading to Iowa

◼ link - HotAir
◼ Sarah Palin to resume bus tour Friday at Iowa fair - AP
◼ Sarah Palin’s Bus Tour Re-Launching in Iowa Thursday - Michelle Malkin

__________________
Further fragmenting the media, President Obama is kicking off his own bus tour and will be in Iowa on August 16th (don’t miss the top 20 names for his “jobs” bus tour — my favorite: “Titanic on Wheels”). (His) tour will end in a place that serves as a monumental symbol of these tough economic times: Martha’s Vineyard.

"Those of us who were bewitched by his eloquence on the campaign trail chose to ignore some disquieting aspects of his biography: that he had accomplished very little before he ran for president"

◼ Democrats doubt Barack Obama's reelection chances Telegraph

President Barack Obama is facing mounting doubts within his own party about his re-election prospects, with fellow Democrats beginning to ask if Hillary Clinton would have made a better president.

◼ Buyer's Remorse: Liberals Regret Electing Obama - Katie Pavlich /TownHall

At a New York political event last week, Republican and Democratic office-holders were all bemoaning President Obama’s handling of the debt-ceiling crisis when someone said, “Hillary would have been a better president.”

“Every single person nodded, including the Republicans,” reported one observer.