A quick look at the political week that was…

  • Cory Booker was supposed to be a surrogate for the Obama re-election campaign but it didn’t quite feel that way in a now-notorious appearance on Meet the Press. The Newark mayor stepped all over a campaign message, claiming that he was “nauseated” by the attacks on Mitt Romney using Bain Capital.
  • Arizona “birthers” won’t go away and forced Hawaii to certify the president’s birth certificate yet again in order to allow him on their presidential ballot for 2012.  Hopefully they are satisfied this time.
  • Mitt Romney’s latest fundraising numbers show an impact from the “War on Women.”  Donations from women are down and significantly less than those who give to President Obama’s campaign.
  • An update on the very important battleground states shows that President Obama is up.  The lead is small and it’s very early but the latest NBC/Marist polling from Ohio, Virginia, and Florida shows Obama with small leads that don’t appear to be within the margin of error.
  • Mitt Romney unveiled his plan for higher education and it’s just as bad as we imagined.  The Republican presidential hopeful wants to reverse the student loan reform that was enacted by President Obama but that’s not all.  Romney has also proposed to push for severe cuts in pell grants which benefit many students in the African American community.  Romney’s proposal is yet another reminder of the real distinction between the choices this November.
  • Black voters in Maryland have flipped from opposition to support of marriage equality after President Obama publicly voiced his own support.  The opinions vary as to whether the president’s support has impacted these folks.