Here is a clip that will live in political history, to be shown again and again and again. Watch East Haven, CT Mayor Joseph Maturo, asked what he’d do for his city’s Latino community after four police officers were charged for using excessive force against undocumented immigrants and covering up abuses, say “I might have tacos for dinner.” Even worse: his interview is with a reporter...

In the wake of poll results released this morning showing Gingrich pulling ahead of Romney among likely Republican voters in Florida, the mail-in ballots Romney staff have been working for months to help people mail in are looking less like a firewall than a rope to cling to. Now in response to unrelenting demands that he release his tax returns, Mitt Romney finally has done so and it isn’t pretty. Despite...

EDITOR’S NOTE: We ran a post before on a CBS News story we picked off of a highly reliable and must-read site that aggregates news stories and blog posts but it turned out to be a year old. We regret the error. When we get a new news story with polling that is properly dated we’ll run it. We weren’t the only website to run this old story and not realize it was old — but we don’t...

Amid people who are counting finding out that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich drops Ronald Reagan’s name constantly, a Romney PAC has taken this factoid and run with it in this new ad:

Easily the best moment of the night as the chamber gives Congresswoman Giffords a well deserved standing ovation. Fellow Arizona Congressmen Grijavala (a liberal Democrat) and Flake (a conservative Republican) led her into the chamber and helped her stand when she wanted to applaud the President. Perhaps the most touching story though was of Congressman Louie Gohmert, a conservative Republican from Texas. Although...

This is a repost of my commentary from last year on the State of The Union speech. this year of course we will have a slightly different take because of the campaign aspects to the address. Both President Obama and Governor Daniels are likely to add more rhetoric and a bit more of a partisan tilt to their speeches. But overall I think the commentary stands As we move closer to the time for the State of The Union...

A lot of people are confused about the financial mess that Greece is in, and the EU’s attempts to rescue the country’s finances. But it’s really quite simple… Greece’s Present Financial Situation Explained (In Rhyme) Banks lend money to banks To lend to banks to lend to Greece Which uses it to pay the debt On bills unmet To banks that lent to banks Who now have fears Of debt regret. The...

Romney Feeling Deja Vu by Matt Mackowiak He simply cannot believe it may be happening again. Willard Mitt Romney, born to family with a CEO, Governor one-time Presidential candidate father and U.S. Senate candidate mother, grew up around politics. He’s entered into it throughout his career, first in 1994 when giving Ted Kennedy a run for his money, then again in 2002 when he won election as Governor of...

Though the Republican primaries and the presidential race now dominate the news, the disgust over governmental dysfunction and disdain for the two current parties remains. Polls have shown approval of the Republicans and Democrats at their lowest levels ever, along with ratings for Congress in the single digits. There is also a lack of enthusiasm for the presidential candidates of both parties. Americans may...

Be sure to check in with TMV tonight as we live blog the Republican Presidential debate beginning at 9 p.m. EST. We’ll also likely have posts by various TMV writers on their impression of the debate — and we invite your reaction in comments.

In these days of ideology and partisan-based new and old media commentary, it’s extremely hard to find a book that lays out solid information, is packed with research that recounts and analyzes current events, is reliable as a valuable reference tool for anyone of any party or ideology, and is written in a style that’s lively but as seriously and skillfully as columns by the Washington Post’s...

Word breaking this morning that Illinois Senator Mark Kirk (R) has suffered what is being described as a mild stroke. The senator reportedly checked himself into the hospital and underwent surgery to relieve swelling in his brain. The doctors also diagnosed a carotid artery dissection. Due to his youth the doctors are hopeful about his recovery but the condition is still quite serious. As with Congresswoman...

WASHINGTON – Newt Gingrich is toxicity personified, but his political ear has perfect pitch, as you might have seen yesterday on Meet the Press. Without a hint of shame, Gingrich presented himself as the anti-Washington outsider, even throwing a nod to the Ron Paul crowd on the Fed, while delivering a populist, the Republican and elite elite don’t like me, so I’m your guy pitch that would be remarkable...

There’s no constitutional requirement that the Supreme Court have nine justices. In fact, through much of the nineteenth century, this number fluctuated between six and nine several times. FDR’s Judicial Reorganization Bill in 1937 sought to increase that number dramatically in order to fill the court with more liberal justices, a notorious “pack-the-court” effort that went down in flames...

Talk about your mixed messages being sent. Former Congressman, Speaker of the House and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich won the female vote in South Carolina, according to exit polls and despite reports to the contrary, just the day before, of a significant gender gap that should have helped former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, if it really existed — which it...

[Adapted from Feb 5, 2008's, "Waiting To Breathe."] A pause before the oncoming secessionist storm. Well, here it is:  Super Duper Mega Hyper Tuesday — that monument to electoral greed pioneered by Southern Democrats in creating the first “Super Tuesday” in 1988. 24 states* now “Me-Too” it today. Which guarantees that campaigns will be mostly about media buys, and NOT about creating...

TMV will be offering live blogging of the South Carolina Republican Presidential primary once polls close. This will include results and a roundup of news and blog reaction and analysis. It will be at the top of the site and updated with a new lede once the votes are all in and the evening is over. CNN is saying they may be able to project a winner as soon as polls close. Look at the top of TMV for this mega-post...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy WASHINGTON – Why Mitt Romney and his team still don’t have a prepared answer for the tax return question now borders on political malpractice. He’s been programmed within an inch of his life since the start, but on this subject he’s floundered into real trouble. However, from Forbes to Christian Science Monitor,...

ABC did a little article on politicians who have led double lives. It seems they forgot one… or at least there seems to be one politician who has affairs that is missing… Not that huge of a deal but it is kind of odd to me.

I live in Pennsylvania. The state is in the process of introducing an asset requirement to receive food stamps. And they are doing it in an astonishing cruel and stupid way. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with having a personal asset limit to qualify for food stamps. Why should the government pay the food bill of the wealthy? But the amount of assets one should be able to retain and still qualify, which...

Given the attacks from the left on Bain Capital you’d assume they gave tons of money to the GOP. As it turns out, about 70% of their donations went to the Democrats over the last 3 cycles. I’m not sure it’s that big of a deal, businesses always give to both sides and in 2006 and 2008 the trend was to the Democrats. But it does make it harder to paint Bain as a GOP issue.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. After years of declining revenues and tumbling stock prices, Eastman Kodak has finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The venerable company that introduced the world to the snapshot has reached the end of the roll. Bankruptcy doesn’t always mean certain death, of course. Paramount Studios, Pepsi, Macy’s, MGM and plenty of other American institutions have...

Mitt Romney has so far refused to release information on his taxes. There is a good reason why he hasn’t. If those documents see the light of day, it will become immediately apparent that Romney is a poster child for precisely what is wrong with the American economy.. Paul Krugman writes that you don’t have to go back thirty years to see what has happened. The last twenty years provides plenty of...

These pictures are just amazing to me. And consider.. when the light that formed those pictures left the nebula Christopher Columbus was not yet alive and the Plantagenets still ruled England

WASHINGTON – Lunchpail Democrats don’t exist. To bring the point home, Pres. Obama is now warning Democratic activists to brace themselves for the budget. But after capitulating to conservatism over Democratic economic values throughout his entire first term what comes next really shouldn’t require a warning. From the Hill: Top White House officials are warning liberal and labor leaders to...