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Politics Today: Eric Cantor Pulls Out Of Debt Talks, The Rick Perry Presidential Guessing Game, And More

Tracy Bloom |
June 23, 2011 | 3:49 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has bailed on the ongoing bipartisan budget talks headed by Vice President Joe Biden. Cantor said he was pulling out of the talks because of an impasse over taxes.

Another round of the Rick Perry guessing game continues, this time courtesy of an anonymous source. In short, here's where we stand based on Thursday's developments: Rick Perry may run for president. Or he may not.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday: "A Republican campaign veteran tells us that Texas Governor Rick Perry has decided to run for President, though the official word from Team Perry is still a definite maybe."

That report, however, was followed up by a denial from Perry's Camp. The Hill reported: "'Nothing has changed,' said Mark Miner, a spokesman for Perry, in response to a Wall Street Journal story citing an unnamed Republican saying that the Texas governor had decided to enter the 2012 campaign."

The absurdity of every little rumor being reported led Jason Linkins of The Huffington Post to the following conclusion: "Rick Perry will do something at some point in the future, unless he does something else."

Republicans, apparently over the so far lackluster GOP presidential field, have turned their attention to a possible running mate. On that subject, it appears there is some agreement as to who the vice presidential candidate should be, according to Stephen Moore of The Wall Street Journal.

Moore wrote: "there's a lot of agreement on who the vice presidential pick should be: Marco Rubio, the freshman senator from Florida. My contacts in the Mitt Romney camp are boasting: "Doesn't a Romney-Rubio ticket sound great?" One senior Romney advisor told me: "We think that could be a dream ticket. Operatives from the pack of other wannabes are thinking ahead to the same Rubio marriage with their candidate."

Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is set to give what's being billed as a "major" policy address next Tuesday in New York to the Council on Foreign Relations, according to CNN.

An aide to Pawlenty said the speech "will focus on the challenges and opportunities presented by the Arab Spring."

Sarah Palin's bus tour will continue after the former governor of Alaska is finished with jury duty. One thing that has been cancelled, however, is her upcoming trip to Sedan. The trip was scrapped due to "scheduling problems."

A new Bloomberg poll reveals that Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Paul Ryan's Medicare plan. According to the poll, 57 percent of Americans believe they would be worse off, while just 34 percent said they would be better off if the country replaced the traditional Medicare system.

Ryan's bid to overhaul Medicare has also made him an unpopular in his own party. According to the poll, Ryan is the third-most unpopular member of his party, behind Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin.



 

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