PPP (D) South Dakota 2012 Presidential Survey
- John Thune 57%
- Barack Obama 37%
- Mike Huckabee 47%
- Barack Obama 41%
- Mitt Romney 46%
- Barack Obama 40%
- Barack Obama 44%
- Newt Gingrich 42%
- Barack Obama 48%
- Sarah Palin 40%
Senator Patrick Toomey (R-PA) introduced a bill last week to require the US Government to prioritize its debt obligations in the event that the statutory debt ceiling is not increased. Toomey’s bill, S.163, is co-sponsored by a number of our more right-thinking Senators, including a number of our newly elected stars.
This is an interesting piece of legislation indeed. I believe I can smell a floor amendment in the works so as to force a vote on this legislation by the full Senate, the results of which will be even more interesting.
Gov. Haley Barbour is the next potential 2012 contender to visit the Holy Land. Barbour’s trip, which begins this weekend, is being sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition (hat-tip Hotline):
The Republican Jewish Coalition announced Tuesday that it is sponsoring Barbour’s trip Israel starting this weekend. Barbour’s trip comes on the heels of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s trip there this week and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney trip to the Middle East last month.
According to the Republican Jewish Coalition, Barbour will meet with senior level Israeli officials. Those include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been meeting with all of the prospective Republican contenders as they tour his country. Netanyahu met with Romney last month and Huckabee earlier this week.
This is the second time the Republican Jewish Coalition has sponsored Barbour’s trip to Israel, the first was in 1994. In addition to meeting with Israeli officials, Barbour will tour the country and visit several Israeli facilities that specialize in new energy technologies.
Be sure to read the entire piece here.
Public Policy Polling South Carolina 2012 Republican Primary Poll
- Jim DeMint 24%
- Mike Huckabee 20%
- Mitt Romney 17%
- Sarah Palin 12%
- Newt Gingrich 10%
- Ron Paul 4%
- Tim Pawlenty 3%
- Mitch Daniels 2%
(without DeMint):
- Mike Huckabee 26%
- Mitt Romney 20%
- Sarah Palin 18%
- Newt Gingrich 13%
- Ron Paul 7%
- Tim Pawlenty 4%
- Mitch Daniels 3%
PPP surveyed 559 South Carolina Republican primary voters from January 28th to 30th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.1%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.
In an interview on FOX this morning, Gov. Mike Huckabee (who is currently on a tour of Israel) discussed the developing events in the Middle East. Gov. Huckabee did not hold back in his critique of the Obama administration’s handling of the Egyptian crisis, stating the the Israeli’s he is speaking to are shocked by the President Obama’s seeming willingness to surrender an ally that has done much to maintain stability in the region:
January 31, 2011 was the filing deadline for all Federal PACs for their 2010 Year-end report. It generally takes one day for the filings to be made public.
Here are the numbers for the four PACs we have been following all year long:
| (2010 Numbers) | Huckabee | Palin | Pawlenty | Romney |
| Starting Cash on hand | $192,151.24 | $928,436.61 | $884,075.19 | $1,125,375.21 |
| Contributions: | ||||
| Itemized | $292,535.34 | $1,078,001.76 | $1,604,814.32 | $3,362,449.35 |
| Unitemized | $651,822.48 | $2,437,317.88 | $417,050.22 | $1,289,992.17 |
| Other | $6,000.00 | $8,000.00 | $39,265.00 | $15,482.00 |
| Total | $950,357.82 | $3,523,319.64 | $2,061,129.54 | $4,667,923.52 |
| Other Income | $28,651.64 | $29,775.15 | $35,509.47 | $900,543.23 |
| Total Income | $979,009.46 | $3,553,094.79 | $2,096,639.01 | $5,568,466.75 |
| Federal Donations | $117,500.00 | $463,500.00 | $198,310.57 | $772,092.74 |
| Local Donations | $51,000.00 | $32,500.00 | $53,348.18 | $147,213.10 |
| Total | $168,500.00 | $496,000.00 | $251,658.75 | $919,305.84 |
| Other Expenses | ||||
| Total Expenses | $1,033,500.30 | $3,152,580.14 | $2,825,724.58 | $5,897,634.37 |
| Net Gain | -$54,490.84 | $400,514.65 | -$729,085.57 | -$329,167.62 |
| Ending Cash on Hand | $137,660.40 | $1,328,951.26 | $154,989.62 | $796,207.59 |
| Percentages of Interest: | ||||
| % Unitemized Contributions to Total Contrib. | 69% | 69% | 20% | 28% |
| % Donations to Contributions | 18% | 14% | 12% | 20% |
| % Local Donations to Total Donations | 30% | 7% | 21% | 16% |
Please note that these numbers only include the Federal PACs. I have found State PACs for all the candidates except Sarah Palin. Each state has their own rules and their filing requirements. Most states make the filings publicly available on the Internet. Some do not.
Bearing that in mind, here are some observations:
That last point is interesting. PACs generally spend more money than they take in during elections years. They save up money during off years so they can spend it when it is needed the most — an election year. So why did Sarah-PAC show a net gain of nearly half a million on the year?
It is doubtful that it is in preparation of a Presidential run. PAC money cannot be rolled over into Presidential campaign funds. A PAC can give a grand total of $5000 a year to a Presidential campaign. True, the PAC can help indirectly, but PACs have to be careful about such things. The FEC (and opponents) watch that sort of thing very closely. If PAC funds are spent helping a campaign beyond the $5K, the PAC can get into a whole lot of trouble.
-Did I miss an article? Broken Link? If so, please email me at kavon_w_nikrad@yahoo.com.
I owe a hat tip to our old friend Dustin Siggins for this one…
In the wake of revelations that Mitch Daniels might, after all, throw his hat in 2012 ring, the Race42012 community may find the following relevant:
Mitch Daniels has been a cheerleader for ethanol, pouring millions of Indiana taxpayers’ dollars into ethanol subsidies.
Now, I could not attest to the credibility of the author of the cited blog post, so I decided to do some more research. Apparently, Mitch does like the taste of corn; a local Indiana news story from 2009 states:
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is among 10 Midwest governors asking the Environmental Protection Agency to increase ethanol blending levels for gasoline to 15 percent. Currently, the levels are limited to 10 percent.
Katrina Trinko, of National Review, concurs:
There are four potential midwestern 2012 Republican presidential nominees: Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, South Dakota senator John Thune, and Indiana congressman Mike Pence. When it comes to doling out favors to the ethanol industry, none of them can credibly claim his attitude was “just say no.”
Now, for the record, I count myself among the fans of Gov. Daniels. He ranks squarely within my top five choices for the 2012 nomination. However, his record on ethanol does cast a small shadow on his most appealing attribute: his willingness (and even desire) to forgo the politically easy routes and advocate the policies in the best economic interests of his constituents. In the interest of intellectual honesty, we cannot omit blemishes like this from the 2012 debate.
