Chad’s Morning Brief: Second Presidential Debate Tonight, Hillary Accepts Blame for Libya, & More

Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of October 16, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11 am.

1. Debate Night

Tonight is the second Presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney. It all starts at 8pm Central and the debate will be a town-hall setting.

Obama's campaign has said that he will come out and be aggressive, but I'm not sure how aggressive he can really be in the type of setting that they will be in tonight. This type of setting is terrible for candidates wanting to take swings at each other. Instead tonight should be about reaching the undecided voter. That is exactly what I think Mitt Romney will do.

Look for Romney to come out tonight and answer the questions directly. Meanwhile, the pressure will continue to be on Obama and I believe he will come out and be too aggressive tonight. It won't play well, and Mitt Romney will continue to grow his lead.

What do you think about tonight's debate?

2. Hillary Takes the Fall (link)

The day before the second Presidential debate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fell on the sword for the Obama administration. According to CNN:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the buck stops with her when it comes to who is to blame for security ahead of a deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

"I take responsibility" for what happened on September 11, Clinton said in an interview with CNN's Elise Labott soon after arriving in Lima, Peru, for a visit. The interview, one of a series given to U.S. television networks Monday night, was the first she has given about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Clinton insisted President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are not involved in security decisions.

"I want to avoid some kind of political gotcha," she added, noting that it is close to the election.

The attack killed Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans at the consulate.

I've been saying that Clinton would take the fall for this. You have to wonder how this will play in tonight's debate and even next week when it comes to foreign policy. I don't buy that the White House didn't know. This administration lied to the American people. Now Obama is hiding behind Clinton. Other President's have said that the buck stops with them. With Obama, he's apparently willing to let it stop with Hillary Clinton.

Thoughts?

3. City-Owned iPads (link)

Should Councilman Victor Hernandez be using his city-owned iPad for personal and political use? Ysidro Gutierrez has a problem with it.

The use of an iPad owned by the City of Lubbock has become a point of contention.

Ysidro Gutierrez, who is running as a Republican for the Lubbock County Commissioner, Precinct 3 seat in the November 6^th election, says that District 1 Lubbock City Councilman Victor Hernandez has misused City property by posting political opinions to a social media site from the City-owned device.

The City of Lubbock has provided members of the Lubbock City Council with an iPad capable of 3G connectivity, and Hernandez says that he also uses the iPad for his law practice, personal use, political use, and city business.

In an email to Mayor Glen Robertson and Council members, Gutierrez said that as an attorney, Hernandez “is fully aware that use of taxpayer assets for partisan political purposes is not only unethical, but unlawful,” and requested that City Manager Lee Ann Dumbauld confiscate the device.

Gutierrez also says that he plans to file a complaint against Hernandez with the Texas Bar Association.

In his email, Hernandez included Gutierrez’s email, as well as one that Hernandez says he had sent to City Attorney Sam Medina last Sunday, October 14^th.

Hernandez has requested a legal opinion from Medina, a former State District Court Judge, as to his business and personal use of his cell phone, for which he receives a monthly stipend from the City, and the iPad, which was issued to him by the City.

Hernandez has not elaborated further on the issue. Gutierrez will face off against Democrat Bubba Sedeño in the election.

We will talk about the issue today on the show in detail. Why exactly does anyone on the City Council have a city-owned iPad? Do we really need to be paying for this?

4. Women for Romney (link)

Since the election cycle began, we have kept hearing about how Republicans hate women and that there is some war against women by the GOP. According to new polling data that is out, women aren't buying it. According to a new USA Today/Gallup Poll, women are actually pushing Romney ahead.

Mitt Romney leads President Obama by four percentage points among likely voters in the nation's top battlegrounds, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, and he has growing enthusiasm among women to thank.

As the presidential campaign heads into its final weeks, the survey of voters in 12 crucial swing states finds female voters much more engaged in the election and increasingly concerned about the deficit and debt issues that favor Romney. The Republican nominee has pulled within one point of the president among women who are likely voters, 48%-49%, and leads by 8 points among men.

The battle for women, which was apparent in the speakers spotlighted at both political conventions this summer, is likely to help define messages the candidates deliver at the presidential debate Tuesday night and in the TV ads they air during the final 21 days of the campaign. As a group, women tend to start paying attention to election contests later and remain more open to persuasion by the candidates and their ads.

That makes women, especially blue-collar "waitress moms" whose families have been hard-hit by the nation's economic woes, the quintessential swing voters in 2012's close race.

"In every poll, we've seen a major surge among women in favorability for Romney" since his strong performance in the first debate, veteran Democratic pollster Celinda Lake says. "Women went into the debate actively disliking Romney, and they came out thinking he might understand their lives and might be able to get something done for them."

This could be big in pushing Romney over the edge. Women see that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan aren't the monsters the Democrats make them out to be.

Other Top Stories:

Mayor Glen Robertson Wants to Reduce His Staff to Save Money

White House Considering Striking Libya?

Farrakhan Rips Romney and Republicans

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11 am on NewsTalk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.