Photograph by Chris M. Rogers/Getty Images

Skeet shooting

A question came up at the White House today:

Just how much skeet shooting does President Barack Obama do at Camp David?

He said in an interview with The New Republic released over the weekend that he and friends go shooting “all the time” on the range that President Dwight Eisenhower opened at the presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains named for his grandson David.

There are pictures of John F. Kennedy shooting skeet there, pictures of George H.W. Bush and his young, at the time, son Jeb shooting skeet there.

But the Camp David Web-site offers no photo album of the 44th president’s riflery (make that shotgunry).

“I don’t know how often,” the president shoots skeet at the mountain retreat, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said today in response to a reporter’s question at the West Wing press briefing.  “He does go to Camp David with some regularity, but I’m not sure how often he’s done that.”

If there’s a photo of the president shooting skeet, Carney said, he hasn’t seen it.

Asked why this hasn’t been mentioned before — the president revealed it when asked in the TNR interview if he’d ever shot a gun, at this time when Obama is promoting a plan to curb gun violence — Carney explained: “Because when he goes to Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs.”

There is, however, video of the Kennedys at the Skeet Range — they liked to relax, and produced a lot of photographs, too.

Original post is More on Obama’s Skeet-Shooting: Camp David for Fun, Not Photos by Political Capital.

Photograph by Tim Sloan/AFP via Getty Images

President George W. Bush waves to supporters after a campaign rally speech at an outdoor baseball stadium in this 2004 file photo.

That’s how many states that either voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections or opposed him both times.

The three exceptions were Iowa and New Mexico, which voted for Bush in 2004 after backing Democrat Al Gore in 2000, and New Hampshire, which sided with 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry four years after Bush carried the state.

How many states that President Barack Obama won in 2008 will back Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the Nov. 6 election?

One state highly likely to do so is Indiana, where Romney has a comfortable lead in polls four years after Obama’s surprise one-point win in a state that abuts his native Illinois.

Obama and Romney are spending most of their time competing for 110 electoral votes in nine states, all of which voted Democratic four years ago. Obama’s winning margins of victory ranged from three-tenths of one percentage point in North Carolina to 14 percentage points in Wisconsin, the home state of Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan. The other so-called swing states are Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Obama probably won’t carry any state he didn’t win in 2008. Missouri and Montana were the only two states to back Republican nominee John McCain by fewer than five percentage points, and Romney has the edge in both.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 47 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine during the Democratic National Convention.

In the 2006 and 2008 elections, it wasn’t hard to find Democratic television ads attacking George W. Bush, who had poor approval ratings at the end of his eight-year presidency.

Now comes Tim Kaine, the Democratic nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Virginia, touting his collaboration with Republican Bush in a spot that’s designed to portray Kaine as a bipartisan-minded person willing to seek common ground.

“As governor, I worked with the Bush Administration” on a project to provide transit service to Dulles International Airport, Kaine says in the ad as it displays an image of Bush and Kaine together.

Kaine also cites his efforts with the Obama administration to prevent an aircraft carrier from relocating to Florida from Virginia.

“As your senator, I’ll partner with whoever’s president of the United States to do what’s right for Virginia,” Kaine says to camera.

Kaine’s ad first ran this morning in the Richmond area, according to Kantar Media’s CMAG.

Republicans including Kaine’s Nov. 6 opponent, former Senator George Allen, have said that Kaine held “the most partisan job in America” as Obama’s handpicked chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011. Kaine was an early backer of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Kaine and Allen participated in a candidate debate yesterday. They’re vying to succeed retiring Democrat Jim Webb in a race that polls show is close, with perhaps a slight edge to Kaine. Virginia also is a swing state in the presidential election.

Original post is Virginia Democrat Kaine Touts Work With Bush in Senate Ad by Political Capital.

Photograph by Brian Blanco/EPA

Matt Servitto, of New York City, stops to pose with a cardboard cutout of President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

That’s how many North Carolina counties voted for President Barack Obama in the 2008 election four years after backing the re-election of Republican predecessor George W. Bush.

By winning some historically Republican-voting counties, Obama became the first Democrat in 32 years to carry North Carolina, which includes the party’s convention city of Charlotte.

The “Obama-Bush” counties include Wake, a fast-growing area that takes in the state capital of Raleigh and is part of the state’s Research Triangle as well as North Carolina State University. Obama’s surge in Wake helped him win North Carolina by three-tenths of one percentage point. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney leads Obama by 47 percent to 43 percent, according to an Elon College poll conducted Aug. 25-30 and released yesterday.

Other North Carolina counties that voted Democratic in 2008 and Republican in 2004 include Cumberland, which takes in Fayetteville; Forsyth, which includes Winston-Salem and Wake Forest University; and Buncombe, which envelops Asheville in the western part of the state.

Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, 67 voted Republican in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections and 20 voted Democratic both times.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 13 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo

Michigan delegate Linda Lee Tarver shows off her ring at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

That’s the number of years since a Republican won a presidential election without carrying Florida. The last time it happened was in 1924, when Calvin Coolidge won the White House race despite losing Florida to Democratic challenger John Davis. Since Coolidge, Republicans have won 10 presidential elections, prevailing in Florida every time.

The Republican National Convention in Tampa underscores the importance party strategists place on winning the state, which backed President Barack Obama four years ago by three percentage points. Florida is the biggest swing state, with 29 electoral votes at stake in the Nov. 6 election.

Florida has usually sided with the White House winner, missing just once in the past 12 elections. The aberration was 1992, when Florida backed George H.W. Bush by fewer than two percentage points over the victor, Bill Clinton.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 88 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Robert Browman/Getty Images

Supporters cheer as Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at the St. Pete Times Forum in this May 21, 2008 file photo in Tampa, Florida.

That’s the percentage-point margin of victory in the 2008 election for President Barack Obama in Hillsborough County, Florida, where Republicans are holding their national convention in Tampa.

Hillsborough is a swing county in a swing state that is drawing the attention of Obama, Republican challenger Mitt Romney and allies of the candidates. Hillsborough also is a bellwether: the county has voted the way Florida has voted in presidential elections since the 1960s.

The 53.18 percent to 46.05 percent margin by which Obama won Hillsborough four years ago was close to his nationwide victory margin of 52.9 percent to 45.7 percent.

Obama ran ahead of 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry by seven percentage points in Hillsborough, which backed President George W. Bush by 53.0 percent to 46.2 percent, close to Bush’s Florida victory margin of 52.1 percent to 47.1 percent.

In just three other Florida counties — Osceola and Orange in the Orlando area and Duval in Jacksonville — did Obama exceed Kerry’s vote percentage by a larger margin than in Hillsborough.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 7.1 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Matt Stroshane/Bloomberg

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots in the U.S. presidential election at a polling station in Orlando in this 2008 file photo.

Four.

That’s how many Florida counties backed President Barack Obama in 2008 after voting four years earlier for Republican President George W. Bush.

One of them is Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, the site of this week’s Republican National Convention. Hillsborough backed Obama by 53 percent to 46 percent over Arizona Senator John McCain in 2008, a partisan mirror image of the 53 percent to 46 percent margin by which Bush carried the county over Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in 2004.

Another one of the four Obama-Bush counties is Pinellas, which abuts Hillsborough to the west and includes St. Petersburg. Pinellas backed Obama by 54 percent to 45 percent and Bush by 49.6 percent to 49.5 percent.

Obama won Florida by 51 percent to 48 percent four years after Bush prevailed there by 52 percent to 47 percent.

Hillsborough and Pinellas share a media market where about 7,000 presidential election ads ran in the 30-day period ended Aug. 20,  according to Kantar Media’s CMAG, which tracks advertising. That’s more than any other Florida market and the sixth-most in the nation.

By holding the Republican convention in Tampa, party officials underscored the importance they place on winning the region and state. Florida, with 29 electoral votes, is the most populous swing state, and the winner of Hillsborough may well again carry Florida and win the national election on Nov. 6.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: 4 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

President Barack Obama with former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush as they unveil their official portraits on May 31, 2012, in the East Room at the White House.

The presidents’ club is a small one and tradition dictates a gracious reception when a predecessor comes back to the White House for the unveiling of his official portrait.

There may also be a traditional speech, judging from comments that President Barack Obama made for George W. Bush today and the speech Bush delivered for Bill Clinton in 2004.

“President Clinton and Senator Clinton, welcome home,” Bush said to Bill and Hillary Clinton back then.

“President and Mrs. Bush, welcome back to the house that you called home for eight years,” Obama said today.

“All who live here are temporary residents,” Bush said in 2004.

“It’s fair to say that every president is acutely aware that we are just temporary residents,” Obama said eight years later.

“And so beginning today, the likenesses of President William Jefferson Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will take their place in a line that began with George and Martha Washington,” Bush said.

“And today, with the unveiling of the portraits next to me, President and Mrs. Bush will take their place alongside the men and women who’ve built this country and those who worked to perfect it,” Obama said.

The rhetoric hasn’t always been so kind. While Bush has made a point of staying largely away from the political arena in his retirement, he often serves as a foil for Obama, who blames Bush for contributing to the worst recession in more than seven decades.

Today, Obama focused on the positive. Using the occasion to once again mention the killing of Osama bin Laden under his watch, Obama said the victory was a shared one. His first call, he said, was to Bush, once he knew American troops were out of harm’s way.

Obama also had some unique things to say to his predecessor. For one: “You also left me a really good TV sports package,” he said. “I use it.”

Roger Runningen contributed to this post. 

Original post is Obama Likes Bush’s Sports Package . . . And His Words? by Political Capital.

Photograph by Charles Ommanney/Getty Images

In the last moments of their administration President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush welcome Barack H. Obama and his wife Michelle in the Blue room of the White House.

Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura drop by the White House today to check out their official portrait and have lunch with the Obamas.

The Bushes have pretty much avoided Washington like the plague since departing the White House, and Obama administration officials like to blame their predecessors for the deficits they inherited, so the conversation may tend toward the awkward side. Suggestions that the picture by Tennessee artist Michael Shane Neal will be hung prominently in a backroom closet are not true — it’s destined for the Grand Foyer, according to the AP.

The main U.S. derivatives regulator meets to discuss whether to tighten exemptions to a proposed ban on proprietary trading after JPMorgan Chase & Co. made its own unveiling — at least $2 billion in credit-derivatives trading losses. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is gathering input today for a final rule, required under the Dodd-Frank Act. CFTC Commissioner Gary Gensler will discuss the meeting agenda in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

Shuttering some of the hundreds of U.S. air-traffic control facilities across all 50 states may cause more dischord at a House hearing today than a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition. One of the goals of the NextGen air-traffic system is to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to save money over the long term by moving controllers to larger, consolidated monitoring centers. In the meantime, the new system may cost as much as $42 billion to install.

And speaking of imaging, the U.S. International Trade Commission trial starting today in Washington involves Apple’s patent-infringement claim against Samsung. Apple accuses its Suwon, South Korea-based rival of copying six patents including ones covering inventions related to touch-screen devices, headset detection and the look and shape of the iPhone. Apple is seeking to block imports of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet computer and phones including the Nexus, Captivate, Indulge, Infuse and Sidekick.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Picture This by Political Capital.

Photograph by Julie Jacobson/AP Photo

Mitt Romney talks about his plan for creating jobs and improving the economy.

“Day One:”

In 34 words, Mitt Romney is telling a general election audience what he wants them to know about his possible presidency.

What would he do with the White House?

“President Romney immediately approves the Keystone pipeline, creating thousands of jobs that Obama blocked,” the narrator of a Romney campaign ad making a debut today in a few critical swing states says.

“President Romney introduces tax cuts and reforms that reward job creators, not punish them,” the ad states in headline tones. “President Romney issues order to begin replacing Obamacare with commonsense health care reform.”

”That’s what a Romney presidency would be like.”

Airing in Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia, three states that President Barack Obama won in 2008 — the Southern states new found territory for any Democrat in modern times — the ad translates some of the presumptive Republican nominee’s campaign language into a perception of first-day action.

The pipeline may be an issue that a president could settle with the stroke of an executive order pen at a signing ceremony. Beginning to replace the health care law that Obama won in Congress — and which the Supreme Court is now weighing — is a little more than a first-day enterprise.  Introducing tax cuts — well — with the divided Congress that the president inaugurated in January will inherit, there is a long way from introduction to action on anything of any significance.

Yet these predictions mark the hard pledges of a nearly six-month campaign for Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, who has the backing of a Karl Rove-sponsored super-PAC airing its own ads on Obama’s “promise broken.”

It’s worth noting what’s not promised in this ad, which the Romney campaign circulated to supporters by email this morning: cutting the federal deficit. Obama vowed to cut the $1 trillion-plus deficit he inherited from President George W. Bush in half by the end of his first term. As Rove’s super-PAC ad notes, Obama “hasn’t come close.” Romney refrains, at least today, from committing himself to that benchmark.

In the context of Day One promises and allegations of promises broken, it’s also worth remembering the inherent limitations any new president faces.

One of the first things Obama did was order the closing of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — the one where the military trial of September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad is now getting underway.

Original post is Romney’s ‘Day One:’ 34 Words by Political Capital.