Hoekstra Super Bowl ad raises sensitivity question

FILE - In a July 13, 2010 photo, Republican gubernatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra debates in Rochester, Mich. U.S. Senate candidate Hoekstra is planning to air his campaign's first television ad during the Super Bowl on Sunday. The former congressman issued a statement Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 saying the ad was planned and is expected to air in Michigan. Hoekstra is working to fend off two other conservatives for the chance to run against Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

FILE - In a July 13, 2010 photo, Republican gubernatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra debates in Rochester, Mich. U.S. Senate candidate Hoekstra is planning to air his campaign's first television ad during the Super Bowl on Sunday. The former congressman issued a statement Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 saying the ad was planned and is expected to air in Michigan. Hoekstra is working to fend off two other conservatives for the chance to run against Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) ? The portrayal of a young Asian woman speaking broken English in a Super Bowl ad being run by U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra against Michigan incumbent Debbie Stabenow is bringing charges of racial insensitivity.

GOP consultant Nick De Leeuw flat-out scolded the Holland Republican for the ad.

"Stabenow has got to go. But shame on Pete Hoekstra for that appalling new advertisement," De Leeuw wrote on his Facebook page Sunday morning. "Racism and xenophobia aren't any way to get things done."

A media consultant who has advised Democrats also thought it could prove problematic.

"Some Asian-Americans may be offended by the stereotype that is portrayed in the spot," said Robert Kolt, who teaches advertising part-time at Michigan State University and had previewed a number of Sunday's Super Bowl ads. "Pete seems like a nice guy in the ad, but I think he is wasting a lot of money now. ... It's just not Super Bowl-worthy. It's not cute, it's not funny and it's not memorable."

Hoekstra campaign spokesman Paul Ciaramitaro said the ad is meant to be satirical. Hoekstra's Facebook page, which was getting a mix of praise and criticism for the ad, snapped back that those "trying to make this an issue of race demonstrates their total ignorance of job creation policies."

"Democrats talk about race when they can't defend their records," Ciaramitaro said. "The U.S. economy is losing jobs to China because of Stabenow's reckless spending policies. China is reaping the reward."

The 30-second ad was filmed in California and never mentions China directly. It opens with the sound of a gong and shows a young Asian woman riding a bike on a narrow path lined by rice paddies.

Stopping her bike, the woman smiles into the camera and says, "Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow. Debbie's spent so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie Spenditnow."

The scene then shifts to Hoekstra telling viewers near a cozy fire, "I think this race is between Debbie Spenditnow and Pete Spenditnot."

The Hoekstra campaign set up a website, www.DebbieSpendItNow.com, that features the ad and includes Chinese writing, paper lanterns, parade dragons and Stabenow's face on a Chinese fan. It accuses the Democratic senator of "pouring American dollars into the Chinese economy."

Democrats were quick to challenge the premise of the ad, referring to Hoekstra's 18 years in the U.S. House and the fact that he joined a Washington-based law and lobbying firm last year.

"Hoekstra's ad is nothing more than a hypocritical attempt at a Hollywood-style makeover because the fact is, Pete spends a lot," Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer said. "Hoekstra voted for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout and voted for trillions more in deficit spending before quitting Congress to get rich at a Washington, D.C. lobbying firm. Hoekstra is using the big game to play games with Michigan voters."

Hoekstra GOP Senate rival Gary Glenn of Midland struck a similar theme.

"Saving America from the Washington, D.C., politicians who gave us this crippling debt and deficit crisis, Republican and Democrat alike, means Hoekstra and Stabenow should both get benched," Glenn said in a release.

In response to the Hoekstra ad, the state Democratic Party launched a website, hoekstrahoax.com, as well as a 60-second Web ad Sunday that shows a 2010 campaign ad run against Hoekstra by GOP gubernatorial rival Mike Cox.

Hoekstra's hoping to get the same bump from his ad that now-Gov. Rick Snyder got with his 2010 Super Bowl ad portraying himself as "one tough nerd." Both ads were created by media strategist Fred Davis of California-based Strategic Perception Inc.

The new ad is a twist on the anti-Republican "moving jobs to China" theme that Michigan Democrats successfully used against 2006 GOP gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and tried to use against Snyder in 2010. This time, the focus isn't on Republican businessmen sending jobs to China but on what Hoekstra says is Democratic overspending that has weakened the U.S. economy.

Stabenow, who's running for a third term, has pushed for trade policies aimed at China that impose duties and penalties on countries that manipulate their currency and penalize companies that steal intellectual property from U.S. companies.

Hoekstra's campaign is spending $75,000 to air the ad statewide Sunday. Supporters who donated $7.50 got to see the ad online before it aired Sunday morning in the Detroit media market. It also was to be shown in the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo areas before the Super Bowl begins and during the game in the Traverse City, Flint, Lansing and Marquette media markets.

The campaign plans to run the ad over the next two weeks on cable TV shows targeted at GOP voters.

___

Follow Kathy Barks Hoffman at http://twitter.com/kathybhoffman

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-02-05-Senate-Hoekstra%20Ad/id-c303d54c21be461a9d4eae4d82881ca5

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Keith Urban makes return from vocal surgery

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2011 file photo, country singer Keith Urban performs during the 45th Annual CMA Awards in Nashville, Tenn. Urban returned to the stage during The Grand Ole Opry on Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, his first public appearance since he had vocal surgery to remove a polyp from a vocal cord last November. He played three songs and an encore. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2011 file photo, country singer Keith Urban performs during the 45th Annual CMA Awards in Nashville, Tenn. Urban returned to the stage during The Grand Ole Opry on Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, his first public appearance since he had vocal surgery to remove a polyp from a vocal cord last November. He played three songs and an encore. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Keith Urban is back.

The country star returned to the stage during The Grand Ole Opry on Friday night, hitting a few high notes in his first public appearance since vocal surgery late last year.

Urban let loose with a "Yeehaw!" after a standing-room only crowd at Ryman Auditorium leapt to its feet when he took the stage.

He played three songs and an unexpected encore. He was joined by a string quartet on "Long Hot Summer," then turned down the volume and sang "Making Memories of Us" microphone-free with the audience. His full band then joined him on stage for "You Gonna Fly" and "I Wanna Love Somebody Like You."

Urban didn't address the surgery while speaking with the crowd.

The 44-year-old Australian had a polyp removed from a vocal cord last November. His last public performance was at a taping for the "CMA Country Christmas" television special in mid-November. The surgery forced Urban to postpone the tail end of his 2011 tour and his "All For The Hall" benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame. That star-studded event is now being held April 10.

___

Online:

http://www.keithurban.net

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-02-03-People-Keith%20Urban/id-45547848d4df48409fe106dfae4bac94

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Hunting to build academic criteria, and provide college students

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Romney wins big in Florida, routing Gingrich (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. ? Mitt Romney routed Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary Tuesday night, rebounding smartly from an earlier defeat and taking a major step toward the Republican presidential nomination. Despite the one-sided setback, the former House speaker vowed to press on.

Romney, talking unity like a nominee, said he was ready "to lead this party and our nation" ? and turn Democratic President Barack Obama out of office. In remarks to cheering supporters, the former Massachusetts governor unleashed a strong attack on Obama and said the competitive fight for the GOP nomination "does not divide us, it prepares us" for the fall.

"Mr. President, you were elected to lead, you chose to follow, and now it's time to get out of the way,: he declared.

Returns from 79 percent of Florida's precincts showed Romney with 47 percent of the vote, to 32 percent for Gingrich.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum had 13 percent, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul 7 percent. Neither mounted a substantial effort in the state.

The winner-take-all primary was worth 50 Republican National Convention delegates, by far the most of any primary state so far.

But the bigger prize was precious political momentum in the race to pick an opponent for Obama in a nation struggling to recover from the deepest recession in decades.

That belonged to Romney when he captured the New Hampshire primary three weeks ago, then swung stunningly to Gingrich when he countered with a South Carolina upset 11 days later.

Now it was back with the former Massachusetts governor, after a 10-day comeback that marked a change to more aggressive tactics, coupled with an efficient use of an overwhelming financial advantage to batter Gingrich in television commercials over a 10-day campaign.

For the first time in the campaign, exit polls showed a gender gap in Romney's favor. He ran far better among women than Gingrich, winning just over half of their votes, to three in 10 for his rival.

Only about half of the women voters said they had a favorable view of the thrice-married Gingrich as a person, while about eight in 10 had a positive opinion of Romney.

As in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, about half of Florida primary voters said the most important factor for them was backing a candidate who can defeat Obama in November, according to early exit poll results conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks.

Not surprisingly, in a state with an unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, about two-thirds of voters said the economy was their top issue. More than eight in 10 said they were falling behind or just keeping up. And half said that home foreclosures have been a major problem in their communities.

Gingrich, from neighboring Georgia, swept into Florida from South Carolina, only to run headlong into a different Romney from the one he had left in his wake in South Carolina.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, shed his reluctance to attack Gingrich, the former House speaker, unleashing hard-hitting ads on television, sharpening his performance in a pair of debates and deploying surrogates to the edges of Gingrich's own campaign appearances, all in hopes of unnerving him.

Restore our Future, an outside group supporting Romney, accounted for about $8.8 million in the ad wars, and the candidate and the "super PAC" combined outspent Gingrich and Winning The Future, the organization backing him, by about $15.5 million to $3.3 million, an advantage of nearly 5-1.

Gingrich responded by assailing Romney as a man incapable of telling the truth and vowed to remain in the race until the Republican National Convention next summer. He won the endorsement of campaign dropout Herman Cain and increasingly sought the support of evangelicals and tea party advocates, a former House speaker running as the anti-establishment insurgent of the party he once helped lead.

Bombarded by harsh television advertising, some Floridians said they had soured on both candidates.

"The dirty ads really turned me off on Mitt Romney," said Dorothy Anderson, of Pinellas Park, adding she was voting for Gingrich. She said of Romney, "In fact if he gets the nomination, I probably won't vote for him."

At the same polling place, Romney supporter Curtis Dempsey expressed similar feelings but about Gingrich. "The only thing Newt Gingrich has to offer is a big mouth," he said.

Voters frequently say they are offended or appalled by negative ads. But polls show consistently that the commercials are able to sway the opinions of large numbers of voters, and they are a staple of nearly all campaigns.

Santorum had no money for television ads to back up his strong debate performances. He left the state at one point, saying he was going home to Pennsylvania to prepare his income tax returns. But he stayed longer than anticipated, because of the hospitalization of his 3-year-old daughter with pneumonia. The girl has a rare genetic disorder, Trisomy 18.

Santorum was already in Nevada Tuesday night, campaigning for the state's caucuses on Saturday. "Newt Gingrich had his chance. He had his shot," he said. Now Republicans are "looking for a different conservative."

Santorum and Paul both also campaigned in Colorado on Tuesday as Florida Republicans were voting. The state has caucuses on Feb 7, the same day as Minnesota.

Even before that come caucuses in Nevada, a state that Romney won when he sought the nomination in 2008 and is favored to capture again.

By contrast, both Romney and Gingrich campaigned across Florida on primary day as the polls opened.

Exuding confidence, the former Massachusetts governor said ? even though the figures said otherwise ? that he had been outspent in South Carolina.

"I needed to make sure that instead of being outgunned in terms of attacks, that I responded aggressively, and hopefully that will have served me well here," he told reporters.

Gingrich, combative as usual, said the race for the nomination won't be decided until summer, "unless Romney drops out."

More than 600,000 Floridians voted before the polls opened, either by absentee or early ballot, exceeding the figure from four years ago, and raising the possibility of a record turnout. Vote totals in the three contests to date ? Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina ? have all been records.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120201/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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$173,000 in fees sought in RI prayer banner case (AP)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. ? Lawyers for the 16-year-old Rhode Island atheist who sued over a prayer banner displayed at a public high school are asking a court to order the city of Cranston to pay $173,000 in attorneys' fees.

The request was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Providence by lawyers retained by the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The lawyers sued Cranston and its school committee on behalf of Jessica Ahlquist, a junior at Cranston High School West.

Earlier this month, a judge ordered the removal of the banner. The school committee has not decided whether to appeal the ruling.

The ACLU says Ahlquist is entitled to $25 in damages. The group also says the $173,000 request does not cover all the time spent on the case.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_re_us/us_school_prayer_banner

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A Cabinet Meeting Focused on Small Business | The White House

President Barack Obama holds a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Jan. 31, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Today, President Obama convened a meeting of his Cabinet to discuss the ideas he laid out in the State of the Union. Joining the meeting was a new member of that Cabinet -- Karen Mills, the head of the Small Business Administration.

The President elevated Mills to ensure that entrepreneurs always have a direct line to the Oval Office. He said:

I mentioned at the State of the Union that there have been discussions, bipartisan discussions between Republicans and Democrats, about a whole set of measures that can accelerate financing to startup companies; can provide tax breaks to startups and small businesses that are interested in either hiring more workers or increasing their wages; that looks at innovative ways for them to raise capital.?

And my expectation and hope is, is that they will get a bill together quickly, that they will pass it and get it on my desk. I will sign it right away, and I would like to see that bill signed this year.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks during the Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Jan. 31, 2012. At right is Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

The President also ran through what agencies like the Departments of Commerce, Energy, and Education are doing to help American businesses as well. He said:

[What] we want to do is to make sure that every single agency, even as they?re tending to their energy initiatives or providing homeland security or transportation or defense, that we?re also thinking about how are we advancing the cause of giving small businesses and entrepreneurs opportunities to start creating the next Google or the next Apple or the next innovative company that?s going to create jobs and improve our economy.

Read the full remarks.

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Learn more

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/31/cabinet-meeting-focused-small-business

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