Interests: Politics, Government, Media, Transportation, Space, Social Media, Civic Engagement, Washington, DC Following: The Obama Presidency, Decision 2012, The 112th Congress Work: myImpact.org- a non-profit working at the intersection of social media & citizen engagement
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
The Evening Report for Tuesday November 29 2011
35 DAYS UNTIL IOWA
TOP STORY: Iranian protestors today stormed the British embassy in Tehran, causing serious damage and replacing the British flag from atop the diplomatic post.
Tonight, British Prime Minister David Cameron is warning of “serious consequences” after the “outrageous and indefensible” attack. As the BBC reports:
“Mr Cameron said the failure of the Iranian government to defend British staff and property was “a disgrace”.
He said all British staff and their dependents had been accounted for and he praised Britain’s ambassador to Iran, Dominick Chilcott, for handling a “dangerous situation with calm and professionalism”.
“The Iranian government must recognise that there will be serious consequences for failing to protect our staff. We will consider what these measures should be in the coming days,” he added.
US President Barack Obama said he was “deeply disturbed” by the attack.
“That kind of behaviour is not acceptable, and I strongly urge the Iranian government to hold those who are responsible to task,” he said.
Germany, France and the EU also condemned the attack.”
But still tonight, it is not known what the consequences that Cameron talked about today will amount to beyond the continued international pressure and economic sanctions imposed on the country.
CAMPAIGN 2012
HUNTSMAN OUT OF DEBATES?- The Des Moines Register reports that former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman may fail to qualify for participating in the final two debates before the January 3rd Iowa Caucus. Huntsman has until Monday to reach 5% in a major national poll, a threshold that he has not yet reached, in order to qualify for a December 10th debate sponsored by ABC News and the Iowa Republican Party. FOX News, the sponsor of the final debate on Thursday December 15th, hasn’t yet released its qualification criteria. The Register says it is likely that only seven candidates- Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Perry, Romney, Santorum & Paul- will qualify.
HERMAN CAIN “REASSESSING” CANDIDACY- ABC News was first to report this afternoon that, in the wake of Monday’s revelations about Cain’s 13-year affair, the one-time GOP frontrunner is reassessing his path forward in the race, indicating it is possible Cain might drop out before voting officially begins and potentially before the final debates. Cain has spent the day holding conference calls with donors and supporters to gauge the landscape for his continued candidacy. Unlike when allegations of sexual harassment broke last month, many prominent social conservatives are not yet coming to Cain’s defense.
LOOKAHEAD: Due to ballot access laws, Cain’s name would likely remain on ballots in the early primary states in which he has already qualified, even if he exits the race, which could potentially lead to a situation where Cain earns Republican delegates at next summer’s national convention, due to the proportional manner in which the Republican Party is dividing early state delegates.
RICK PERRY HAS ANOTHER OOPS MOMENT: From the AP:
“You might say Rick Perry courted the youth, but not the whole youth, in a campaign appearance at a New Hampshire college.
Speaking at Saint Anselm on Tuesday, he appealed to students who will be at least 21 before Election Day to vote for him.
As for those younger than 21, he merely asked them to work hard on his behalf. Doesn’t he want their votes, too?
It turns out Perry didn’t know or had forgotten that the voting age in America is 18.”
Perry also forgot the date of the 2012 election- saying voting was on November 12th, not November 6th.
OBAMA FOR AMERICA has launched their first television ads, a duo airing on satellite television in select markets which is meant, campaign officials say, solely as a trial.
WATCH a 30 second ad encouraging supporters to sign up to volunteer for the campaign
WATCH “It starts with one person, making a difference”- another attempt at campaign volunteer recruitment
GALLUP has a new poll measuring “positive intensity” - essentially how enthusiastic and supportive respondents are about a particular candidate- out today. The survey finds Newt Gingrich at a high for GOP candidates this cycle, at 20, tied with what Romney was at in April. Romney, meanwhile, has fallen to his lowest intensity ranking of the cycle, at just 9%
WALL STREET: Developments in Europe continued to weigh on the markets, which finished mixed on the day
- DOW up 33
- NASDAQ down 12
- S&P 500 up 3
AMERICAN AIRLINES FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION: Statement from the airline, in part, “We took this action in order to achieve a cost and debt structure that is industry competitive and thereby assure our long-term viability and ability to continue delivering a world-class travel experience for customers. American Airlines and American Eagle are operating normal flight schedules, and our reservations, customer service, AAdvantage program, Admirals Clubs and all other operations are conducting business as usual”
HISTORY OF OTHER AIRLINES FILING FOR CHAPTER 11:
- Frontier- April 10, 2008
- Delta & Northwest (later acquired by Delta)- September 14, 2005
- US Airways- September 12, 2004
- US Airways- August 11, 2002
- United- December 09, 2002
- Pan Am Airways- January 08, 1991
S&P today announced it was downgrading the credit rating of major US banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, and other institutions.
From AP:
“S&P said the changes in 37 financial companies’ ratings reflect the firm’s new criteria for banks, and they incorporate shifts in the industry and the role of governments and central banks worldwide. The agency did not release its evaluation of each company but said it plans to discuss the changes during a conference call early Wednesday.
Bank of America’s issuer credit rating was cut to “A” from “A+,” while its Countrywide Financial Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. units and a series of related subsidiaries were cut to “A-” from “A.”
FINALLY...just seconds into the East Coast broadcast of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight, a fire alarm sounded in the studio, interrupting the lead-in to the first report, on American Airline’s bankruptcy. Williams handled it, “like a pro,” as Mediaite said when it posted video of the interruption
THE EVENING REPORT is finally ready to begin building our subscription list, after nearly three months of trial with a select handful of recipients. As of today, we are soft-launching a subscription page at www.eveningemail.com and launching our social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter.
The Evening Report for Thursday November 10, 2011
TOP STORY: Damage Control: day one. The fallout continues from Rick Perry’s embarassing performance in last night’s Republican presidential candidates debate. Here’s the latest from The Washington Post,
“We’ve got a debater in chief right now that’s not working out so well,” said the Texas governor [today], taking a shot at President Obama’s public-speaking talents. “We’ve got to focus on the substance of what’s killing America, and it’s Washington, D.C., spending too much money and creating too much debt.”
But even as the Perry rehabilitation tour went into full swing, Republicans inside and outside his campaign were skeptical of his prospects for survival.
“We’re in one of those stop-the-fights, throw-in-the-white-towel moments,” said Alex Castellanos, a prominent Republican consultant who supported Mitt Romney in the 2008 presidential race but is not affiliated with any of the 2012 campaigns. “It was just brutal. It turns out that being president is a very hard job. I think Perry’s taken himself out of consideration now.”
TONIGHT- Perry is on the Late Show with David Letterman, after beginning the day appearing remotely on all of the morning news shows. Last night, for the first time, Perry went into the spin room after the debate to talk with reporters.
ANALYSIS: As campaign 2012 develops a new story line, it’s important to remember which stories the campaign is no longer focused on (or at least the media covering the campaign isn’t): 1/ the Herman Cain sexual harassment allegations and 2/ anything about Mitt Romney. Perry’s gaffe transforms the race- at least for this week, at least for this moment, by taking the pressure off of Cain, and keeping public scrutiny away from Mitt Romney. We’re now within 60 days of Iowa, so the weekly story lines do matter. Now is the time when public perceptions are being formed about the candidates- and although its always possible to change that conventional wisdom, it becomes increasingly more difficult.
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION today delayed a decision on the controversial Keystone XL energy pipeline which would run across a large swath of the center of the United States and has become a lightning rod among environmental activists, until after the 2012 presidential election, as the New York Times reports:
“The move is the latest in a series of administration decisions pushing back thorny environmental matters beyond next November’s presidential election to try to avoid the heat from opposing interests — business lobbies or environmental and health advocates — and to find a political middle ground. Mr. Obama delayed a review of the nation’s smog standard until 2013, pushed back offshore oil lease sales in the Arctic until at least 2015 and blocked new regulations for coal ash from power plants.”
“I support the State Department’s announcement today regarding the need to seek additional information about the Keystone XL pipeline proposal,” the president said in a statement. “Because this permit decision could affect the health and safety of the American people as well as the environment, and because a number of concerns have been raised through a public process, we should take the time to ensure that all questions are properly addressed and all the potential impacts are properly understood.”
WALL STREET
- Dow up 113
- NASDAQ up 4
- S&P 500 up 11
MATERIAL FOR JAMES’ DAILY VIDEO SERIES: Another “Oops” moment occurred today..when S&P announced that it was downgrading France’s credit rating..and then announced that it had made a mistake. Just a minor detail. Here’s how the events played out, from the AP.
“In a statement, S&P says a technical error caused the automatic dissemination of a message to some subscribers of its Global Credit Portal “suggesting that France’s credit rating had been changed.”
S&P says that is not the case and France’s ratings remain at “AAA,” the highest investment-grade rating, with a “Stable” outlook.
The release was sent to some S&P Ratings subscribers under the headline, “DOWNGRADE,” and a link to the France ratings. Anyone who would have clicked on the link would have seen that France’s rating was unchanged, said S&P spokesman Martin Winn in London.”
FINALLY…Billy Crystal will host next year’s Oscars, one day after Eddie Murphy announced that he was bowing out as host of the annual awards ceremony.
From the Huffington Post, “The comedy veteran and eight time Oscar host tweeted on Thursday afternoon that he would be hosting the Oscars, though he added a sarcastic aside: “Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show.”
THE EVENING REPORT comes to you tonight from New York City, where we’re attending the 2011 Millennial Leadership Summit sponsored by Mobilize.org, an all-partisan non-profit organization built around the idea of building Democracy 2.0.
