TRAIL MIX: The Latest from Political Campaign Blogs

By: Emily Vaughan Mitt Romney may be looking for an upset of his own, but, in what may be a preview of what's to come, the former Massachusetts governor watched his New England Patriots miss their perfect season. Glenn Kessler on washingtonpost.com's The Trail had this to say about Romney's less than gracious response:

"Romney had watched the kick-off and part of the game with supporters in Maryland Heights, Mo., a St. Louis suburb, before missing part of the game as he flew here. Former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who is campaigning with Romney, also joined the crowd.

"When the team lost, Romney pronounced it 'one of the worst moments in sports history.' He turned to the others and said, "You can stay here and watch the celebration; I'm not gonna."

"Earlier, Romney had told reporters he had no plans to congratulate Sen. Hillary Clinton if the Giants had won."

Washington Post

But Romney came out swinging against his toughest GOP opponent, again painting John McCain as not enough of a conservative to win the Republican nomination. Pouncing on a statement about McCain's softer feelings on social issues, Romney issued a release using McCain quotes from a Washington Post and a Vanity Fair article. Don Frederick at the L.A. Times' Top of the Ticket had this to say:

"None of this will come as a big surprise to those within the GOP for whom opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage is paramount. Social conservatives long have known that although McCain's voting record is generally solid on their issues, it is not an agenda he could be expected to promote.

"The Romney camp, in its release, smartly paired McCain's expression of apathy toward social issues with comments he's made about his grounding in economics (i.e., 'I still need to be educated' on that subject.).

"As Romney seeks to keep his candidacy viable, he's hoping that these holes in McCain's GOP resume will eventually undercut his rival's momentum. But Romney may run out of time. It's clear that many well-known party members see the McCain train leaving the station, and they're rushing to hop aboard."

The L.A. Times.

Celebrities are endorsing candidates left and right in this election. Chuck Norris for Mike Huckabee. Sylvester Stallone for John McCain. But Barack Obama has racked up some of the most notable names, some of whom took to the stump with him in California. Michael Martinez at the Chicago Tribune's The Swamp had this to say about Obama's rally, with appearances by Oprah and Stevie Wonder:

"Oprah Winfrey was greeted with a rousing ovation that seemed largely composed of women, especially when they responded to Oprah?s remarks about women.

"Also attending the rally was Michelle Obama, who escorted Stevie Wonder on stage, though both stumbled up the stairs. Wonder later joked: 'By the way, I was so busy looking at the next first lady that I lost my way.'

"Wonder even sang a little dittie, with a harmonica, that was sung as if he were reciting the musical scales in ascending and descending order to the name of 'Ba-rack O-ba-ma.'"

The Chicago Tribune


It's not surprising that Hillary Clinton supporters dislike President George W. Bush, but one woman took the animosity to a new level, using an obscenity to describe the president while asking Clinton a question. Jill Lawrence on USA Today's On Politics had this to say:

"USA TODAY's Kathy Kiely reports that the incident occurred in St. Louis and the questioner asked about what she said was a treaty that 'Bush, the bastard,' had signed with Canada to unify its currency with U.S. currency.

"The crowd reacted strongly to the epithet, some with gasps and others with cheers, Kathy says. She says Clinton got a reproving look on her face but did not reproach the woman verbally.

"She did answer the question -- saying she does not believe the treaty exists, but 'if I discover there is such an agreement, it will be gone in a bird-dog minute.'"

USA Today

There is a new tension between the press and the Democratic candidates over "off the record" conversations mid-flight. Reporters on Hillary's plane requested that she not come back for any more off the record talks. On Obama's side, his off the record schmoozing with Washington Post writer Dan Balz brought up the same issue. Jim Rutenberg at the New York Times' The Caucus had this to say:

"But the argument did not stop there, with Mr. Obama's aides later saying that he should be able to go off the record on his campaign plane when he sees fit, and various reporters arguing back that everything a candidate for the presidency of the United States says in their presence is potentially newsworthy.

"At the heart of both incidents is the inherent tension between the campaigns? desires to use the celebrity of their candidates -- or surrogates like Chelsea Clinton with star power -- to charm reporters while protecting their candidates or surrogates from the risk of mistake that comes with off-the-cuff conversations with producers and reporters."

The New York Times