November 21, 2011

Romney, Gingrich Now Top Choices for GOP Nomination

Gingrich's support on the rise this month

by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ -- Republicans are most likely to name Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as their first choice for their party's 2012 presidential nomination, with Herman Cain close behind. Among all Republicans nationwide, Romney is the choice of 20% and Gingrich 19%. Among Republican registered voters, Gingrich is at 22% and Romney at 21%.

These results are based on a USA Today/Gallup poll of 1,062 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents conducted Nov. 13-17. Compared with the prior poll, conducted Nov. 3-6, Gingrich's support has increased from 12% to 19% among all Republicans. His support has gone up in each of the last three polls after bottoming out at 4% in August, and is now at his highest for the campaign to date.

Meanwhile, Cain, who has been dogged by allegations of sexual harassment, has seen his support dip slightly, from 21% to 16%. However, it remains well above the levels from earlier this year, which were generally in the single digits.

Rick Perry's support also slipped, to 8% in the latest poll, conducted after the two most recent candidate debates, including the Nov. 9 debate in which Perry failed to remember the names of all three cabinet departments he vowed to shut down if elected. Perry's support has declined in each of the last three updates after peaking at 29% in mid-August, shortly after he entered the race.

Romney, meanwhile, has been the leader or tied for the lead in nearly every poll conducted since May, when the Republican field largely came into shape.

Romney Appeals Equally to Conservatives, Moderates

Most of the candidates, including Romney, receive roughly equal support from conservative and moderate or liberal Republicans. Cain and, in particular, Gingrich, have greater appeal to conservative Republicans.

Overall, Gingrich has a slight edge over Romney and Cain among conservatives, while Romney has a wider margin over the others among moderates and liberals.

Older Republicans Lean Heavily to Gingrich, Romney

Republican presidential nominee preferences vary significantly by age. If the nomination were contested solely among senior citizens, it would be a two-man race between Gingrich (34%) and Romney (28%), with 6 in 10 Republicans aged 65 or older supporting one of those two candidates, and no other candidate above 8% in that age group.

In fact, Gingrich's support is heavily concentrated among Republicans who are at least 50, while his support is 4% among Republicans younger than 30. This pattern may reflect the fact that he has been out of public office for more than a decade, and thus a less familiar figure to younger Republicans.  Cain and Ron Paul do much better among younger than among older Republicans, a consistent finding for Paul throughout the campaign. And while Romney is competitive with the leaders in every age group, his support tends to be greater among older Republicans.

Older Americans in general are more likely to vote in elections than younger Americans, suggesting that Gingrich's and Romney's greater support among older Republicans may translate better to actual voting than Cain's and Paul's among younger Republicans.

Implications

With the first official nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses, now just six weeks away, there is no clear national front-runner for the Republican nomination. Romney remains at the top of the list, along with Gingrich, whose campaign has mounted a comeback in recent weeks, and Cain. Gingrich's rise coincides with the recent declines of Perry and, to a lesser extent, Cain,

Typically, well before the Iowa caucuses, Republicans have anointed a dominant front-runner who wound up being the nominee. The major exception was in the last campaign, when Rudy Giuliani led national polls by a healthy margin for much of 2007 but was largely uncompetitive in the 2008 primaries and caucuses.

Thus, the current contest stands to be the most competitive and perhaps most unpredictable for the Republican nomination since 1972, when the parties shifted the power to choose their presidential nominees away from party leaders at the national convention to the rank-and-file voters in state primaries and caucuses.

Track every angle of the presidential race on Gallup.com's Election 2012 page.

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Holiday Mail for Heroes Program

From the American Red Cross


The holiday season is just around the corner and it’s time again to start thinking about being part of the 2011 American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes. For a fifth year, American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are partnering to ensure all Americans have an opportunity to send a touch of home this holiday season to members of our U.S. military, veterans and their families, many of whom will be far away from home this holiday season.


Starting this fall and throughout the holiday season, the Red Cross is working with Pitney Bowes, a mail stream technology company, to collect and distribute holiday cards to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world. The process is very simple and takes no time at all - All you need is a pen and piece of paper to share your appreciation for the sacrifices members of the U.S. Armed Forces make to protect our freedoms The Holiday Mail for Heroes mail box is open and ready to receive for your cards. Please send all mail to:

Holiday Mail For Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456


 Sending a “touch of home” to American men and women who serve our country is the perfect way to express your appreciation and support during the holiday season.




 Card Guidelines:
Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country. Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:

1.  All cards being sent in for 2011 Holiday Mail For Heroes program should be postmarked no later than Friday, December 9, 2011.

2. Ensure that all cards are signed. Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program. Only cards are being accepted.

3. Do not send letters. Do not include email or home addresses on the cards, as the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.

4. Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos, as these items will be removed during the reviewing process.

5. We encourage participants to mail as many cards as they are comfortable sending. If you are mailing a large quantity, please bundle the cards and place them in large mailing envelopes or use a flat rate box from the post office. Each card does not need its own envelope, as cards will be removed from all envelopes before distribution.

6. Please refrain from sending holiday cards with glitter. Many of these cards will be delivered to military and veterans medical facilities and the glitter could interfere with a patient's recovery

US Attorney's Office Contact Information

The U.S. Attorney’s Office; The Northern District of Texas

The Dallas Division is the District's Headquarters Office and is located at: Earle Cabell Federal Building, 1100 Commerce Street, Suite 300, Dallas, Texas 75242-1699. The phone number is 214-659-8600 or TDD 214-659-8808.

Gallup Poll: Obama Approval Way Down on Economy

Obama Improves on Foreign Affairs, Struggles on Fiscal MattersApproval on the economy, creating jobs, and the federal budget deficit is stuck near record lows


by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, NJ -- There is a clear division in the way Americans today perceive the job President Barack Obama is doing on issues. He gets largely positive reviews for matters related to foreign affairs, particularly terrorism and the situation in Iraq. At the same time, majorities disapprove of his handling of several fiscal-related matters, including the federal budget deficit, the economy, creating jobs, and healthcare.

Find more charts and graphs to tickle your statistics funnybone here.

http://www.va.gov/

The Wells Report

On NewsTalk 660 KSKY—Dallas/Ft. Worth

Speech for: City of North Richland Hills Veterans Day Celebration

November 11, 2011
We gather today to honor the quiet heroes who, every day, stand like the Sentinels they are, and always have been…The protectors, and guardians of the United States of America...

Veterans Days started as Armistice Day…The day marking the end of World War I. The Armistice was signed inside a rail carriage in the Compiegne Forest at the 11th Hour, of the 11th Day, of the 11th Month.

In John 15:13, it is written that: “…Greater love has no one than this…that he lay down his life for his friends….”

While this is certainly true, what can and must be said, especially on this day…Is that the second greatest gift must surely be given by those who have taken up the Uniform, and have made the solemn offer to lay down their lives for our sake, and for the sake of these United States of America….

They are standing with you now…Look to your left and right, and know that without them, we would be someplace else today…A place less safe…A place less free…A place bereft of Liberty…

The United States Army was created on 14JUNE1775, by the Continental Congress. General George Washington and his men gave us this Country first…defeating the British and their allies time after time until we were free. Today, the US Army is quite simply the greatest army in world history.

Next came the United States Navy…created through enterprise, audacity and stealth on 13OCTOBER1775. Politicians of the day declared that that even the thought of creating a sea-going force of challenge to the Mighty British Navy was a fool’s errand…a waste of the precious and few resources of this new nation.

General Washington knew better…and did what he had to do to…He took command of 3 fast ships, and gave us a Navy.

Today, the US Navy is the long, unchallengeable arm of projected power of this nation. Thanks to their ancient heritage of enterprise, audacity, and stealth, no other sea-going force comes close…No other sea-going force ever will.

Fittingly, the United States Marine Corps came to be inside Tunn’s Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 10NOVEMBER1775. Captain Samuel Nicholas formed two battalions of Continental Marines, then stood with a tankard of ale…toasted the future of new Corps, and then passed out. Marine Corp NCO’s have been running the Marines ever since. Today, when the chips are down, and victory hangs in the balance…America calls on her Devil Dogs…and awaits the now famous words, “The Marines have landed…the situation is well in hand.”

In the early days of the 20th Century, the War Department looked to the air, and realized the United States needed to control it. As a part of the US Army, the Air Corps came of age in World War II, flying into clouds of steel rain, in broad daylight, sundering the Axis Powers into helplessness. Then on 18SEPTEMBER1947…just in time for the Cold War, the United States Air Force came to be as a service unto itself. Today, the wild blue yonder is its exclusive property….Nothing will, or can stop the US Air Force.

The United States Coast Guard was created as the United States Revenue Cutter Service by the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury; Alexander Hamilton, on 4AUGUST1790. Coast Guard Cutters have been guarding this country’s coastlines ever since, and today, represents the leading edge of the War on Drugs. Thanks to the Coast Guard, Americans also have safe waterways, and 10’s of thousands mariners owe their lives to the dauntless men and women who have sailed and flown into raging seas to save them.

Who are the Veterans here? Who here served in:
• The Revolutionary War

• The Civil War

• World War I

• World War II

• The Korean War

• The Vietnam War

• Grenada

• Panama

• Gulf War One

• Somalia

• Kosovo

• Iraq War

• Afghanistan

• The Cold War

God Blessed them with the Courage to take up arms in defense of this nation. God blessed this land with these Sentinels who stepped forward to protect us.

And so we stand today, on this 11th Day, of the 11th Month, at the 11th Hour to thank all those who have worn these Uniforms of Service, Pride and Valor…The guarantors of Freedom and Liberty…The Veterans of America’s Armed Services.

Veterans….Thank you for our Country… Thank You for The United States of America.