The Curse of Jimmy Carter Hits the Romney Campaign

For years, Republicans have treated Jimmy Carter like a punch line. This feckless battered old beaten politician from generations past couldn't possibly do them any harm at this point, so why not? Let's drag his name through the mud some more. I mean, seriously! What's the worst that could happen?

Credited as a "research assistant" on the [secret Romney video tape] story is James Carter IV, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, who has been toiling online as an opposition researcher and is "currently looking for work," according to his Twitter bio. "I've been searching for clips on Republicans for a long time, almost every day," said Carter this evening. "I just do it for fun."…

The scion of Jimmy Carter! Of course he's emerged from the murky backwaters of history to take revenge for his family's besmirched name…

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Tags: Jimmy Carter, Mitt Romney, Mother Jones

Barack Obama's Approval Rating Even Higher Than Jimmy Carter's

Good news for the Obama campaign! His job approval numbers are… Well, they're not the lowest on record. And you've got to take your victories where you can get them…

Barack Obama averaged 46.8% job approval during his 14th quarter in office, marking a slight improvement from quarter 13. His quarterly average approval rating has improved at least slightly in each of the last three quarters after dipping to a low 41.0% in the 11th quarter…

The recent and continuing improvement in his approval rating, though, is a positive sign for his re-election prospects, but it remains below the 50% level that virtually assures a president of a second term in office. Obama appears in much better shape now than the two recently elected presidents who were denied a second term — Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush — both of whom averaged below 40% approval their 14th quarters in office.

You hear that? He has higher approval ratings than Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush! Both of them! That's… not nothing. It's sure as hell better than having worse approval ratings than Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, right?!

Sure, he's not rating quite as high as iconic presidents like Richard Nixon (57.8%) and George W. Bush (47.9%). But, c'mon, isn't that setting the bar a little high?

Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Polls

Our Endorsements: Bill Maher on Political Animals

* Bill Mahr on gay penguins.

* Presidential pups and pusses.

* The New Yorker makes a funny.

* McSweeney's Alec Bings on the mythos of Washington.

* Politics: What you say vs. what you mean, from College Humor.

* Celebrate the Greatest Generation's meh-ny accomplishments, with The Onion.

Tags: Bo Obama, College Humor, Daily Links, Jimmy Carter, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Richard Nixon, The New Yorker, The Onion, Washington, White House, WWII

Jimmy Carter Kind of Sorta Endorses Mitt Romney

At this point, we're getting kind of used to Mitt Romney receiving the tepid, unenthusiastic approval of prominent conservatives. That's getting a little bit played out.

So, just to mix things up and make things a little more interesting, how about some tepid, unenthusiastic approval from a prominent liberal?

"I think President Obama will be reelected," said Carter. "I think of all the Republican candidates who were prominent, I think Romney would be the one that I would rather see have the slight possibility to be president."

"You'd be comfortable with a Romney presidency," Jansing followed up.

"I'd rather have a Democrat," said Carter. "But I'd be comfortable. I think Romney has shown in the past in his previous years as a moderate — a progressive — that he was fairly competent as a governor and also running the Olympics."

That seems about as glowing a recommendation as we're likely to see from either side of the aisle.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Jimmy Carter, Mitt Romney

Stephen Colbert Chronicles the Executive Branch

Ah, the presidency. There may be no more rewarding an experience than the first time you cast your ballot and everything stays pretty much the same as it was before.

The Colbert Report airs Monday through Thursday at 11:30/10:30c.

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, Video