Obama pitches middle while GOP eyes base

[NJMaverick]

Quote:WASHINGTON (AP) — The past week's dustup over contraception underscored President Barack Obama's early advantage in one important area: working to attract independent voters without alienating his Democratic base. His Republican rivals, meanwhile, are forced to keep emphasizing their conservative credentials to attract the right-leaning activists who dominate primaries and caucuses.
It's a dynamic that usually plays out when a president seeks re-election without a primary challenger, and a nomination fight wages on the opposite side.
While Obama already is in general-election mode with the luxury of wooing voters who don't ascribe to a political party, the eventual Republican nominee is moving to the right and likely will have to edge back toward the center once nominated. The farther he must go to the fringe to win the nod, however, the tougher his task.
The difference was clear Friday, at events two miles apart in Washington.
At the White House, Obama made a carefully calibrated concession to Catholics angered by his decision to require religious-affiliated employers — including Catholic hospitals and colleges — to cover birth control in their health insurance plans. The president tweaked the rule Friday. He said insurance companies would provide contraceptive benefits directly to employees, technically leaving employers out of the transaction.

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-obama-pit...40367.html

[jaxx]

I saw Santorum on MTP this morning and he was spouting the crap about taking away religious rights. Surprisingly Gregory was pretty good at keeping the questions coming about women and contraception. Preacher Rick looks like a neanderthal.