Nader 'Almost 100%' Certain Obama Will Face Primary

But liberal firebrand is trying to drum up a primary challenger

(NEWSER) - Ralph Nader isn’t holding his breath waiting for President Obama to go down in flames Jimmy Carter-style. “The stars are aligned” for Obama’s reelection, Nader writes in a Bloomberg op-ed. Here’s why:

• The Republican primary field is littered with hardcore ideologues. “Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump and others might as well be on the Democratic National Committee payroll,” Nader quips.

Nabs 60% of the vote or less in latest primaries

(NEWSER) - He's already clinched the Democratic nomination, but President Obama's performance in last night's primaries wasn't exactly definitive: In Arkansas, he was opposed by a Tennessee lawyer who claimed 40% of the vote to Obama's 60%; in Kentucky, Obama won almost 58% of the vote but another 42% voted "uncommitted." (Mitt Romney fared better, but still not all that well, in the two primaries, Politico notes.) John Wolfe, Obama's Arkansas opponent, was also on the ballot in the Louisiana, Missouri, and New Hampshire primaries, and will be on Texas' ballot as well. Obama had a similar experience in West Virginia, where a convicted felon won 41% of the vote against him. More»

Newt hits the campaign trail on Romney's behalf ... with advice for Obama

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich has some advice for president Obama: Don't attack Mitt Romney on his Bain Capital record. Gingrich, of course, aggressively did just that, with the pro-Newt super PAC creating an entire Bain-bashing documentary . But Gingrich's failure should be a clear sign that "that dog won't hunt," Newt tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Voters, he predicted, will think, "You want me to be mad because in one company somewhere Romney may have … been involved in someone losing their job while you as president have been involved in millions of people losing their jobs?" More»

That explains why he's doing so well in spite of everything: David Brooks

(NEWSER) - Why is the race between President Obama and Mitt Romney so close? In the New York Times , David Brooks cites a number of polls that seem to indicate Obama shouldn’t even be in the game: Americans have little faith in the economy, the country is shifting to the right, the president’s main policy initiative—ObamaCare—is quite unpopular. Yet his approval numbers are relatively high: “Obama is far more popular than his policies,” Brooks writes. More»

Cell phones confiscated in strange practice

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s re-election campaign is asking donors to not only open their wallets, but fork over their cell phones before entering small fundraisers, a practice that veterans of other campaigns find very odd. The practice of turning over cell phones is common in secure spaces where state secrets would be discussed and espionage is a concern, but BuzzFeed reports that it is unheard of in terms of protecting only political secrets. The president is relatively unscripted at fundraisers, and reporters are asked to leave before the Q&A sessions commence. More»