Current Event: Mitt Romney Backs Out Of Presidential Campaign
This past Thursday in front of an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Mitt Romney announced that he would no longer be campaigning for president. Romney made the audience listen as he pounded in their minds that he is a rock-hard conservative when it comes to social issues, economic issues, and national security issues. Romney knew that in a few hours John McCain would appear before the same audience and try to appease those conservative. Though Romney was departing the race, he seized the moment to present himself as the real thing and was attempting to position himself as the true leader of the movement. Which caused me to wonder: maybe Romney doesn’t want McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, to win in November. Whether or not McCain loses in November, Romney will remain the heartthrob of many conservative activists. But should McCain fail, Romney could potentially be chosen to be McCain’s running mate. And Romney would be able to use those millions of dollars he didn’t spend on this campaign and be well positioned for the next presidential campaign. Republican losers often come back and succeed. Not only did Reagan do it, but so did the first George Bush (who lost to Reagan in the 1980 Republican race) and Richard Nixon. So, Romney may not have to wait so long to have another shot. In 2012, he’ll be 65 years old. Reagan was 69 when he reached the White House.
Topic Of Choice: Writers Strike May Be Coming To A Close
One of my very first blog posts for this class was about the ongoing writers strike plaguing our television industry. However, this strike may be coming to an end sooner than later. Members of the Writers Guild of America are scheduled to meet Saturday in New York and Los Angeles, where union leaders will brief them on proposals that could end a strike that has crippled the production of television shows and stalled many Hollywood movie scripts. Guild leaders will try to sell a new contract to the striking members, who walked out over payment for their work in new media, primarily streaming or downloads of movies and television shows over the Internet. If writers agree to the contract terms, they could go back to work as early as Monday. However, it is still unclear what process they will follow for approving any deal, and if there is agreement, it could take longer to return. If the writers choose to return, they would resume working on top television shows. Many of the writers are lacking any sense of a script and would take six to eight weeks to come back. Studios have just recently offered writers a small flat fee for Internet use of their material, and a lengthy “promotional” window in which they wouldn’t be required to pay. In a compromise, however, they’ve agreed to shorten that window and, in the third year of this agreement they would convert the flat fee to a fixed percentage. Whatever the outcome of this meeting may be, I just want new episodes of my favorite television shows to air as soon as possible.