Mitt Romney Formally Announcing His Candidacy Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Mitt Romney will officially be a candidate for the 2012 Presidential election. He will be making his announcement from a large farm owned by Mr. and Mrs. Scamman located in Stratham, New Hampshire:

Here, somewhere between the chicken coop, the tractors and the hay bales, Republican Mitt Romney will launch his second presidential bid.

“It’s an honor,” said Scamman, a longtime Republican state legislator who served two terms as New Hampshire’s House speaker, and spent a few years as the state’s budget director. With land that stretches down to the Exeter River, “We have a great place to have big events, and it has very easy access,” he said.

Yesterday, as Romney’s earnest advance team scoped out the sun-scorched site, Doug’s wife, Stella, reminisced about all the other political fund-raisers and receptions they’ve graciously hosted on their sprawling farm.

“Both President Bushes made campaign stops here,” she said, “and so did Senators Bob Dole and Warren Rudman.”

The Scammans, both 69 and grandparents of five, said they decided to invite Romney to the farm after he stopped by their annual chili fest in September. Thursday’s campaign kickoff is free, but space is limited to people with tickets.

Both Scammans said they won’t need to be swayed by Romney’s speech. They’re already Romney supporters, through and through.

“He has created jobs, and the one thing we need in this economy is jobs,” said Doug Scamman.

“He’s got the background,” Stella Scamman added. “He has government experience, nonprofit work and business experience.”

You can watch Mitt Romney formally make his announcement live on Thursday, June 2, at 12:30pm EDT by placing an RSVP on Facebook. You can also watch the announcement on Mitt Romney's website, www.MittRomney.com. 

Tim Pawlenty Courageously Flip Flopping On Ethanol Subsidies

Tim Pawlenty needs to do a better job of telling the truth if he is going to make "Time for Truth" his campaign slogan. He launched his presidential campaign by calling for a gradual phase out for ethanol subsidies:

America is facing a crushing debt crisis the likes of which we've never seen before. We need to cut spending, and we need to cut it...big time. The hard truth is that there are no longer any sacred programs.

The truth about federal energy subsidies, including federal subsidies for ethanol, is that they have to be phased out. We need to do it gradually. We need to do it fairly. But we need to do it.

Now, I'm not some out-of-touch politician. I served two terms as Governor of an ag state. I fully understand and respect the critical role farming plays in our economy and our society. I've strongly supported ethanol in various ways over the years, and I still believe in the promise of renewable fuels - both for our economy and our national security.

But even in Minnesota, when faced with fiscal challenges, we reduced ethanol subsidies. That's where we are now in Washington, but on a much, much larger scale.

It's not only ethanol. We need to change our approach to subsidies in all industries.

It can't be done overnight. The industry has made large investments, and it wouldn't be fair to pull the rug out from under it immediately. But we must face the truth that if we want to invite more competition, more investment, and more innovation into an industry - we need to get government out. We also need the government out of the business of handing out favors and special deals. The free market, not freebies from politicians, should decide a company's success. So, as part of a larger reform, we need to phase out subsidies across all sources of energy and all industries, including ethanol. We simply can't afford them anymore.

Some people will be upset by what I'm saying.

Conventional wisdom says you can't talk about ethanol in Iowa or Social Security in Florida or financial reform on Wall Street. But someone has to say it. Someone has to finally stand up and level with the American people. Someone has to lead.

Tim Pawlenty is getting a lot of praise from many conservatives for beginning his campaign by being "tough" and "courageous" for taking a "risky" and "noble" position on a sensitive subject. He's bold for "speaking the truth to power" because Iowa is a state known for being a large recipient of federal ethanol subsidies and he went into the lions den by traveling to the state of Iowa and calling for a gradual phase out of government money for the ethanol industry.  

Even Tim Pawlenty is prasing himself on the back for his speech in Iowa. But as Michael Tomasky points out, "any time a politician feels the need to pat himself on the back that much, you should immediately raise your BS deflector shields."

Yet, if truth is the benchmark that Tim Pawlenty wants to be measured against and he makes truth his campaign theme, he falls short of his own standards by flip flopping on this issue. The real genuine truth is that 

Tim Pawlenty was a proponent of ethanol subsidies before he was "gusty" for speaking out against it:

In 2008, Alaska governor Sarah Palin got the vice presidential nod, much to the disappointment of one group: the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA). The group had been hoping that John McCain would pick Pawlenty, according to the trade magazine Ethanol Producer. Pawlenty, the MCGA said, had “more moderate views towards ethanol” than most Republicans. It was a telling endorsement, particularly when compared with the tongue-lashing the MCGA gave the GOP platform that year, which it considered anti-ethanol to the point of being “devastating” to the industry.

The endorsement was well deserved. Throughout his time as governor, Pawlenty has been a friend to ethanol. In 2004, Pawlenty created the JOBZ program, an innovative way to subsidize ethanol. While Minnesota was no longer approving producer payments (13 cents per gallon of ethanol) for new ethanol plants, the JOBZ program offered “a new incentive, one that many investors find nearly as alluring,” gushed Ethanol Producer. JOBZ, the magazine continued, “provides relief from corporate franchise tax, income tax for operators or investors, sales tax on business purchases and capital gains tax, and property taxes. It also provides an employment tax credit for high paying jobs.”

A year later, Pawlenty signed legislation mandating that all gas sold in Minnesota contain 20 percent ethanol by 2013, up from 10 percent. (Since the EPA has not yet approved the 20 percent blend, the mandate will most likely not go into effect in 2013.) In 2005, Pawlenty also urged other states, at a meeting of the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition (which had 31 member states at the time), to mandate that all gasoline contain 10 percent ethanol by 2010.

The “E85 Everywhere” program, which promoted the 85 percent–ethanol fuel, was launched in 2006. Pawlenty wanted there to be plenty of stations where consumers could purchase E85. He requested $12 million in subsidies for gas-station owners to encourage them to offer it. State legislators balked at the sum; instead, the state began offering $1.75 million in subsidies starting in 2007. But even with the subsidies, Minnesota did not achieve Pawlenty’s goal of 1,800 E85 stations by 2010. As of 2009, the state had 351 gas stations that sold E85.

What amazes me is that top notch conservative bloggers are falling for Tim Pawlenty's slick political move of getting people to buy in to his false portrayal of himself as a politician who is taking on issues that other politicians are afraid to address. For example, Allahpundit falls in love with the the deceptive propaganda of Tim Pawlenty as a speaker of truth:   

Pawlenty’s ethanol gambit forces them to rethink that by posing the following question: If he’s willing to confront Iowa voters about their little ethanol gravy train in the name of fiscal responsibility — even though his candidacy probably depends on winning the state — then who wouldn’t he be willing to confront? He’s got guts. I’m not so sure about his risk-assessment skills, but he’s playing to win.

Not only are well seasons conservatives buying into the false advertisement of Tim Pawlenty, but many conservatives will praise some candidates for boldly flip flopping and scorn others for doing so. It appears that conservatives like to cherry pick which flip flops they like and which they don't like. For example, the best example of this comes from Ed Morrissey over at HotAir.com:

[Former Minnesota Gov. Tim] Pawlenty went to Iowa and told the truth — that the federal government’s subsidies of ethanol were bad policy that we can no longer afford.  Romney went to Iowa and pandered for big-government solutions in a market that should either be standing on its own two feet by now or putting resources into other solutions instead.  Which candidate showed political courage?

If Tim Pawlenty is going to be praised for anything, he should be praised for his political courage to flip flop so brazenly and openly while getting the masses to praise you for doing it. But the truth is that it doesn't take a lot of courage for a politician to flip flop:  

While endorsing its substance — as an advocate of smaller government should — I wonder how much “fortitude” this announcement actually took for him to make. Was it instead simply a well-calculated move in a chess game for Pawlenty? Had he already decided that he was willing to sacrifice the pawn of his Iowa Caucus votes for a better chance at winning the game of the Republican presidential nomination?

Did he see that, like his former support for cap-and-trade Legislation, another issue on which he reversed himself, his past endorsement of ethanol subsidies could become a roadblock for him in securing the sought-after support of his conservative base unless dealt with at the outset of his campaign? And was throwing Iowa farmers under the bus his way of dealing with it? Reasonable questions to ask, I think.

If conservatives are going to scorn candidates for flip flopping, then they ought to be consistent in meting out their condemnation. Here, T-Paw was pandering to voters by flip flopping on a key issue and lying to the Iowan voters and the rest of the nation about his false courage for taking on ethanol subsidies. Yet, Mitt Romney was being consistent in his support for ethanol. He supported ethanol subsidies during the 2008 Presidential campaign and he still supports it now.  Watch Mitt Romney give his position on ethanol back in 2007:

As I said earlier, if if truth is the benchmark that Tim Pawlenty wants to be measured against and he makes truth his campaign theme, then Tim Pawlenty is not a courageous man. And that is the pure and unvarnished truth.

Romney-Cain Ticket For 2012!?

Matt Lewis writing for the Daily Caller has an intriguing idea that Mitt Romney and Herman Cain should run on the same ticket together in the general election: 

One possible match that is beginning to grow on me is the notion of a Romney-Cain ticket. (Stick with me here). Both are successful businessmen, so, in a way, this would be sort of like what Clinton-Gore did in 1992 when — instead of seeking to “balance” the ticket with an older Democrat from the North — Democrats doubled-down on the young, Southern thing. Cain would balance the ticket geographically and philosophically. But the primary message would be obvious: Romney-Cain are proven business leaders who can fix the economy. Period.

… I’m not suggesting the two team up now. But if Romney goes on to win the nomination (not an absurd possibility), there is something about it I like. Conservatives who are skeptical of Romney (or even hostile towards him) might be wooed to the ticket by the exciting Herman Cain. Romney would bring the establishment money and highly-professional operative team to the table, while Cain would bring excitement, energy, and authenticity.

There would, of course, also be the historical angle of electing the first black Republican vice president. And unlike McCain’s selection of Palin (which did inject the ticket with much-needed energy and enthusiasm) — Cain will have the advantage of having been through the ringer via running for president, himself. Palin was air-dropped in the middle of a presidential race, with little time to ramp-up. Conversely, Cain is making his mistakes now — when the stakes aren’t as high — and growing as a campaigner.

It could happen. Romney-Cain in 2012!

I am a fan of this idea. 

Even though it is too early to be thinking about who should be the vice president for 2012, I like the idea of a Romney-Cain ticket. I also like the idea of a Romney-Perry ticket too. 

But lets talk about why a Romney-Cain ticket could be a smart and powerful team for 2012. Mitt Romney is a strong candidate has run before in 2008. He knows how to organize a presidential campaign and is very skilled at raising cash for himself. He is also the most credible candidate on a wide range of issues such as the economy, health care, national security and social issues. He also has excellent leadership skills in both the public and private sector. 

Herman Cain would be an excellent choice as Mitt Romney's vice president.  Herman Cain supported Mitt Romney in the 2008 elections. Both men have extensive private sector experience. Moreover, Mitt Romney has a lot of support form independent and tea party voters. While these people are excited about Mitt Romney, they are even more excited about Herman Cain because his strength is the ability to get a grassroot network support going: 

“I cannot compete with a Romney when it comes to money. He has at his disposal his own personal fortune,” Cain said in an interview with POLITICO. “I don’t come anywhere near that, quite frankly. He has a fundraising network because he has run before. I have the advantage of a grassroots network.”

Thinking about vice presidential picks is no doubt a lot of fun. However, Right now, unemployment as the number one concern with the economy as the number two concern for Americans. As a result, we have a lot of Republican candidates who are seeking to capitalize on America's need for real economic leadership and are offering themselves as a leader who can fix America's economic and financial troubles.

As a result, we have candidates like Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman and Governor Rick Perry who are all contemplating jumping in for 2012 and plan to advertise themselves as people who can fix the economy. Sarah Palin and Rick Perry will talk about how they created jobs as governors of their states. Michelle Bachmann will talk about how she was an early leader in the TEA party movement as way to appear credible on the issue of jobs and the economy. 

However, Mitt Romney is the only 2012 candidate who has both private and public sector experience in creating jobs. No other candidate can make that claim. With that kind of impressive record, Americans are starting to warm up to Mitt Romney as someone they what to have in the White House. They are starting to rally around him because they are seeing that he is the best candidate who can defeat Barak Obama in 2012. 

In the end, its fun to think about and speculate who might Mitt Romney's V.P. pick will be. But that a choice that Mitt Romney has to make if he becomes the Republican nominee. The choice that Americans will have to make is choosing the right candidate to take on Barak Obama. 

The best choice that Americans can make is in voting for Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney's Official Annoucement For 2012 Will Come Next Week!!

Out of all the official announcements for 2012 made by various Republican candidates, Mitt Romney's announcement that he will officially a candidate on June 2 is the announcement that I've been waiting for: 

Emphasizing the importance of the first-in-the-nation primary state to his campaign, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will formally announce his candidacy for President in New Hampshire next Thursday, June 2.

UnionLeader.com has learned that a noontime barbecue at GOP stalwart Doug and Stella Scamman's Bittersweet Farm in Stratham will be the venue for the Romney announcement. Both Scammans are former New Hampshire House members; Doug Scamman is a former Speaker of the House.

While other candidates have made their formal announcements elsewhere, Romney will be the first of the 2012 cycle to announce in the Granite State.

The reason why I'm happy for Mitt Romney to officially become a candidate for 2012 is because he really is the kind of leader the Republican party needs and has been looking for. With many Republican candidates dropping out of the race, many conservatives are starting to rally around Mitt Romney because he is a conservative who has credibility on a wide range of issues. A recent poll found that the former governor of Massachusetts has the broadest appeal to conservatives when it comes to issues that are important to them:   

Mitt Romney is the candidate who'll be able to build a Republican coalition, but no one does better than Sarah Palin on connecting with GOP voters on social issues, according to a new Gallup poll.

Romney wins support from a wide swath of Republicans, pulling 16-18 percent regardless of whether their most important issues are government spending, the economy, national security or moral values. Palin has even stronger support among Republicans who put a premium on moral values — 23 percent of them back the former Alaska governor — but that's about the only segment of the electorate that picks her.

Not only is Mitt Romney the kind of leader that conservatives of all stripes can rally around, he's the kind of leader that all Americans can rally around. Mitt Romney has the broadest appeal of any Republican candidate in the field right now and receives support from people from a wide range of political perspectives. He enjoys support of liberals, independents, moderates, TEA party members, libertarians and conservatives. Which is very good news for Mitt Romney and bad news for Obama in the general election. 

Moreover, Mitt Romney is the best candidate that the Republican party can offer to the American people who are looking to eject Barak Obama from the White House. If Mitt Romney receives the Republican nomination, he will put a lot of swing states into play and they will lean in Romney's favor such as New Hampshire, Nevada, Michigan, South Carolina, Florida and other states as well. This will force Obama to spend precious time and resources into these states rather than directing his time and money to states that he really needs to be focusing on. Once again, this is good news for Mitt Romney and bad news for Obama. 

Finally, although the 2012 elections are barely warming up, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have been waging a silent battle against each other for quite some time. No other Republican candidate can raise the kind of cash that President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney are raising. As a result, when it comes to raising money,  the only person Obama is concerned about is Mitt Romney.

I've been waiting for this announcement for a very long time. I've been a long time supporter of Mitt Romney and I have always believed that he has been the kind of leader America has been yearning for. Americans are looking for a  President they can be proud of. We want a person whom all Americans can all rally around in times of peace or war. We want a person who will proudly represent America and will not apologize for the positive influence it has had around the world. Americans want a candidate who will promote freedom and liberty around the world and when a people in an oppressed nation rally for freedom, he will not waffle on what to do. 

This upcoming Presidential contest will be a very competitive race both in the primaries and in the general election. However, I am strongly confident that over time, people of diverse backgrounds and political perspectives will unite around Mitt Romney both as a candidate and as the future President. 

New Sarah Palin Documentary To Be Released Soon: Is It A Sign She Will Run In 2012?

Sarah Palin knows how to keep the public guessing about whether or not she will run. Some people, such as myself, think that she will not run in 2012. However, other people do think she will.  Here are the list of indicators that make people think she is running: 

1. The Movie After last fall's midterm elections, Palin contacted conservative director Stephen K. Bannon to make a movie highlighting her accomplishments as Alaska governor. Palin screened the movie last week.
2. Arizona Home Palin bought a house in Scottsdale, Arizona for $1.7 million through a shell company to keep her identity secret. The new home would make a far more conventient place to HQ a presidential campaign.
3. Public Appearances Palin will begin showing up at more public events "as early as this weekend."
4. New Staff Palin has hired two people to manage her schedule. This comes after hiring a former adviser to Bob Dole as chief of staff and dismissing two neoconservative advisers, Randy Scheunemann and Michael Goldfarb. The duo were replaced them with an adviser, Peter Schweizer, who is more skeptical of the American intervention in Libya.
5. Cultivating Supporters California lawyer Peter Singleton has been contacting Iowan Tea Party activists and Republicans to build support for a Palin candidacy, though he says he's acting alone.

According to some people, this soon to be released documentary about Sarah Palin is a significant indicator that she will run in 2012:

In the strongest sign yet of a possible Sarah Palin run at the presidency, filmmaker Stephen Bannon this week announced a $1 million documentary, "The Undefeated," about her term as Alaska's governor.

Scott Conroy, a reporter at RealClearPolitics.com and co-author of "Sarah from Alaska," got a sneak peek at the documentary and said on "The Early Show" Thursday he's heard from "several reliable sources" that, over the next couple of days, another "major indicator" is going to surface that she's ready to run in 2012.

Of the documentary, Conroy said, "This is really the biggest news that we've had in a while about Sarah Palin in terms of her presidential prospects. It's suggests strongly that she's been planning something all along. She's been kind of quiet."

So far, Sarah Palin's poll numbers don't look too good for her: 

* The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed her running in fifth place — with 10 percent — in a hypothetical Republican presidential primary race.

* A March Washington Post/ABC News poll showed Palin’s approval rating among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents had dipped below 60 percent — a far cry from her stratospheric near-90 percent approval ratings when she was named John McCain’s running mate in 2008.

* A February Des Moines Register poll of likely Republican voters in Iowa showed Palin’s favorable rating at 65 percent, down from 71 percent in a November 2009 survey. As importantly, those viewing Palin “very favorably” dropped from 27 percent in 2009 to 19 percent in 2011.

Not all poll numbers are bad news for Sarah Palin.Gallup released a poll today showing Sarah Palin tied with Mitt Romney as the top Republican contender if she were to become a candidate for 2012. However, despite the recent Gallop poll results, the evidence points to the fact that Republican support for her has declined.  

Not only does she not fare well with Republicans in the polls, but its the nation wide poll numbers that is  also hurting her as well: 

However you feel about Sarah Palin and regardless of what you think about her poll numbers, Sarah Palin has an public perception problem. As a result, this soon to be released documentary is designed to rehabilitate her image and boost her poll numbers among Republican voters: 

Whether the documentary is successful at rebuilding Palin's image remains to be seen, but it premieres in Iowa next month.

The documentary, Conroy said, covers Palin's years as governor in Alaska.

Conroy said, "A lot of people, even Sarah Palin's biggest fans, don't really know anything about her record in Alaska. And that's really what the film focuses on. Her record in Alaska as governor for the first two--and-a-half years that she was in office, the only two-and-a-half years, was very impressive for the most part. She accomplished a lot on oil and gas issues. She really was the kind of maverick that's now become sort of a cliche. But that's what attracted her to the McCain campaign. She had approval ratings that were consistently above 80 percent. And she accomplished a lot for the state. She was really a transformative governor in a lot of ways."

He continued, "So I think what the movie tries to do is it tries to reintroduce her to people who may have already written her off. You know, she became sort of a firebrand for conservatives in the campaign in 2008 and afterwards. But this is really going to try to recapture her independent streak."

This film will be a biased documentary about Sarah Palin. She commissioned this film. As a result, you will learn alot about her by what she chooses to reveal and not reveal about herself: 

The movie will not mention Palin's notorious reaction to criticism of her reaction to the January shooting of Democratic congresswoman Gabriel Giffords. She responded to suggestions that a now infamous campaign map showing Giffords's electoral district in the crosshairs of a gun had influenced the shooter Jared Lee Loughner by accusing her opponents of manufacturing a "blood libel", a phrase which refers to the false accusation that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals. Palin's use of language was widely criticised, and her reaction to the shooting compared unfavourably to the more statesmanlike response of President Barack Obama. Subsequently, her chances of building enough momentum to secure the Republican nomination for the 2012 race have appeared to dwindle.

Bannon's two-hour movie features interviews with Palin supporters in Alaska and conservative bloggers such as Andrew Breitbart. The politician does not appear on camera, but her voice is used for narration via clips from the audiobook version of Going Rogue. RealClearPolitics reports that the film makes "unmistakable allusions to Palin as a Joan of Arc-like figure".

You can watch a brief preview of the documentary "The Undefeated" over at TheRightScoop.com

I am still not convinced that Sarah Palin will run. I don't think that this film serves as good evidence that reveals her intent for 2012. And I'm not the only person who remains skeptical about the significance of this documentary: 

However, Palin choosing to actually launch a presidential bid is a different thing entirely. Neither Bannon's intentions, nor the film, serve as evidence for a genuine Palin campaign -- another publicity stunt is just as likely.

Even if she does run, the film may not have the effect Palin wants if how her reality television show is any indicator of how this documentary will turn out:

However, if Palin's TLC reality show, "Sarah Palin's Alaska," is anything to go by, the interest is unlikely to last (5 million people tuned in for the show's premiere; 2 million fewer watched Episode 2).

In the end, I could be entirely wrong about my prediction that she won't run. 

However, If she does run, it won't be an easy campaign for her. She has participated in a national campaign as John McCain's running mate but this is her first presidential campaign. Moreover, she will have to face well organized campaigns like Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney's. Finally, she will have to compete against TEA party favorites like Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain.

Rudy Giuliani Seriously Considering A Second Presidential Run

Rumors have been swirling around for some time now that Rudy Giuliani was considering second Presidential run. The former mayor of New York City first hinted at the idea of running a few weeks ago when he spoke at the Republican Lawyers Association 12th Annual National Policy Conference: 

Giuliani took only one question following his half-hour speech. Asked whether he had decided to launch a 2012 White House bid, he said “not yet,” but that it’s a possibility.

“I will sure think about it. … It’s too early and I want to see how it all develops,” he answered. “My major goal is to elect a Republican in 2012. If it turns out that I’m the best one to do that, I can probably be talked into doing it or convince myself to do it,” he said.

“If I thought somebody else had a better chance of doing it, I would be a very enthusiastic supporter of somebody else,” he added.

Now it appears he's gone from "I'm not sure yet" to "I probably will" for 2012:

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose presidential campaign fizzled in 2008, is leaning toward another race for the White House, according to a close associate.  New York Republican Rep. Peter King, who has known Giuliani for more than 40 years, says the former mayor “is very close to saying he’s going to run.”

“If he were to make the decision today, he would run,” says King.

Speaking at a dinner with reporters in Washington, King, who was an enthusiastic Giuliani supporter in 2008, said the former mayor has been quietly lining up support and exploring strategy. Giuliani has also examined the mistakes his campaign made in ’08, when he did not seriously compete in a contest until the Florida primary, by which time he was hopelessly behind in the race.

If Rudy runs, he will have a very difficult time from the very moment his campaign starts. With so many high profile candidates already in the race or very close to jumping into the race, Rudy will have hard time building up his campaign war chest since most of the big money donors have already made commitments to support other candidates. 

Moreover, he has no organizational structure and it will take a while to build a efficient, well organized campaign team across the country. A candidate can't afford to lose time in getting organized especially when facing off with campaigns who have established an intimidating organizational team like Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney. 

Then there's strategy. Rudy will have to come up with an entirely new game plan if he is in it to win. In 2008, Rudy decided to apply an untried theory that a candidate can become the front runner of a presidential campaign by skipping New Hampshire and Iowa, win Florida and go on to win many states on Super Tuesday. I'm not sure if he has a game plan in place for 2012. If he doesn't, he better think of one soon.

Donald Trump Can't Make Up His Mind: Is He In Or Is He Out?

 It was exactly one week ago that Donald Trump withdrew from the race. Now he's saying he might jump back in as a candidate for the 2012 election: 

"I can't rule out anything ... it's vital that we choose the right person, and at this moment, I don't see that person."

I agree with Donald Trump. Its important that we choose the right person to defeat Barak Obama. Unfortunately, he isn't the right person who can do that.