2012 US Presidential Election Megathread!

[KRonn]

First there was the war on women - Repubs hate contraceptives, and Dems hate working moms.

Now  the war on dogs.  Romney carried his dog on top of his car (in a dog carrier) on vacation, and Pres Obama ate dog, but probably didn't inhale.

When will the carnage end! No dogs, no womyn!!  What will be the next war!!?

[Sheilbh]

Oh the war on dogs goes way back.  That's one of the reasons I've been doubting Romney's humanity since 2007.

[Caliga]

I suspect going postal with a small knife in deepest kentucky is unlikely to produce many casualties.

Nice reference (yes, he did carry one of those ritual daggers).  But this is a city of a million people... hardly the 'deepest' part of the state.

IIRC he didn't acknowledge being fired... he just never showed up again.

[KRonn]

Why is Michelle Bachmann using "tar baby" and "Obama" in the same sentence?

Must be a raciss!!!

[Jacob]

Must be a raciss!!!

I don't think anyone is saying that she is; just that she wants to appeal to people who are racist without offending people like you and Berkut who are not.

[CountDeMoney]

Oh the war on dogs goes way back.  That's one of the reasons I've been doubting Romney's humanity since 2007.

[CountDeMoney]

Must be a raciss!!!

I don't think anyone is saying that she is; just that she wants to appeal to people who are racist without offending people like you and Berkut who are not.

[CountDeMoney]

  I love this guy.  It's like being given Mike Dukakis on a tank EVERY FUCKING DAY.

Mitt Romney's Newest Mini-Headache: 'Cookiegate'
In an awkward moment of forced small-talk, the GOP candidate inadvertently offended a local bakery – and 7-Eleven stores nationwide. Oops.

Having exhausted the social-media war over which candidate hates dogs the most, the traveling gaffe circus that is the presidential general election campaign has moved on to another hot-button issue: did Mitt Romney make an elitist quip about bakery cookies?

Romney's out of touch! Or this video clip was just another moment of forced small-talk by the Republican candidate. This Tuesday, the presumptive GOP nominee headed to Pennsylvania to attend an event in the Pittsburgh area, where he was seen in a video seated at a picnic table with a spread of picnic-type foods, including some cookies of mysterious origin.

"I'm not sure about these cookies," a tentative Romney says in the clip. "They don't look like you made them...they came from the local 7-Eleven...bakery or wherever."

Of course, as Pittsburgh's CBS and ABC affiliates point out, those weren't just any old 7-Eleven cookies. They were "from Bethel Bakery, a longtime South Hills staple known for its signature pastries, cookies and cakes," ABC's WTAE News reported.

Oops: Mitt Romney just offended a local dining establishment. Naturally, the bakery drummed up a creative sales promotion to capitalize on the attention of the inevitably named incident, "Cookiegate."

"7-Eleven bakery, where in the world is that?" John Walsh, owner of Bethel Bakery said in the news clip posted by CBS Pittsburgh. "Then I said...if we ever get a second shot at this, you know, he'll know that he had a treat that he just didn't realize just how highly coveted and beloved it really is."

The real entity harmed in the harmless political gaffe, however, has to be 7-Eleven. The fluorescent-lit mega-chain, after all, was the generic place that Romney assumed someone would buy cookies from. Naturally, the 7-Eleven director of communications, Margaret Chabris, didn't seem to see the comment negatively.

"Mitt Romney was right in thinking the cookies at a Pennsylvania event Tuesday could have come from a 7-Eleven bakery," Chabris said to CNN, later adding: "More than 5,500 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. get cookies, donuts, muffins and other bakery items made fresh daily."

Mitt Romney Sparks Outrage In Pittsburgh Over 'CookieGate'

"We wanted him to be welcomed with the best in the 'burgh, and he had no idea," bakery owner John Walsh told the local ABC affiliate WTAE. "This guy has no idea how beloved this institution is that provided these cookies."

The bakery is running a "Cookie Gate special" on Thursday, giving away half a dozen cookies with the purchase of a dozen.

"I'm sure he meant it all in jest and didn't mean to slam a local bakery," Bethel Bakery spokeswoman Julie Lytle told CNN. "It's nothing that we want to get really upset about ... no reason to be angry. We're just having fun with it."

But Walsh had one zinger for Romney in The Wall Street Journal later, saying: "Let him eat cake next time."

[DGuller]

In a tank, Seedy.  In a tank.

On a tank is pretty badass for a politician:



In a tank, not so much:

[Ed Anger]

The Yinzers would have been frothing if he insulted Primanti Bros.

[Sheilbh]

Not always:

[CountDeMoney]

Well, in Mike's defense, his was on a practice run; his tank wasn't shooting at the Supreme Soviet earlier in the day, like Boris'.  So it's not like Mike had an equal chance to display his virility.

[Admiral Yi]

What's the deal on Mike's jacket?  Looks like an artist's smock or a Chinese waiter outfit.

Interestingly, I've never seen his head that far out of the hatch before.

[Ed Anger]

Interestingly, I've never seen his head that far out of the hatch before.

That was a booster seat.

[DGuller]

Well, in Mike's defense, his was on a practice run; his tank wasn't shooting at the Supreme Soviet earlier in the day, like Boris'.  So it's not like Mike had an equal chance to display his virility.

You're confusing the tank episodes.  The one with tanks shooting the Supreme Soviet was in 1993.