This fall's presidential election will pit two candidates who have about as much populism in their veins as, say, Queen Elizabeth or John Kerry. But while President Obama has made a promising start at poking fun at his patrician Republican opponent-having a pointed chuckle at Mitt Romney for calling Paul Ryan's budget "marvelous"-Mitt's attempts to paint Obama as a "pointy-headed elite" could use a bit of fine-tuning. Today, Romney returned to a variation on his favorite dig at his rival, telling folks in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that the president's problem is that he spent "too much time at Harvard." Obama did log three years there, getting his law degree. Romney's two Harvard degrees took four years to attain, however. Perhaps those years gave him a deep distaste for the place? Sure: so deep that he sent three of his sons there, has donated more than $50,000 to the school, and has more than a dozen Harvard advisers. In 2006, he told C-Span his time there was "terrific." Was it also, one wonders, marvelous?
So They Say
"If the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we'd have problems with caterpillars."
-Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, responding to a "war on women" question on Political Capital with Al Hunt.
Daily Meme: More Reasons the War on Women is a Pernicious Liberal Fiction
- Romney has a wife, Ann, who is his "female translator" and "secret weapon."
- And he gets that women only really care about money.
- The polls are lying!
- State laws that curtail women's ability to have abortions, or women's health care in general-they're actually the Democrats' fault.
- When it comes to birth control, Republicans don't hate women, they hate socialism.
What We're Writing
- Jamelle Bouie: We can thank the right for pushing Obama to the left.
- Paul Waldman: Has Gingrich's presidential campaign damaged his ability to fleece people?
What We're Reading
- Will the labor divide in Wisconsin help Scott Walker survive the recall?
- Marion Barry finds a whole new way to be embarrassing.
- Jon Huntsman, Romney surrogate? Not so much.
- An Occupier runs for Congress.
- Will the Christian right stick with Santorum?
- Major Garrett says that Rob Portman will be the GOP VP nominee, and you can quote him on that.
- Famous politicians text Hillary Clinton. Amusement ensues.
Poll of the Day
Romney leads a new GOP poll in Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania, which votes April 24, by 5 points.
