10 Things You Need To Know For Thursday

Israeli aircraft, tanks and naval gunboats pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and rocket salvos thudded into southern Israel on Thursday as terrified residents on both sides of the frontier holed up in their homes in anticipation of heavy fighting on the second day of Israel's offensive against Palestinian militants.The operation, launched in response to several days of rocket fire from the coastal territory, was Israel's most intense attack on Gaza since its full-scale war there four years ago.

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News in Photos: The 10 topics you should be ready to talk about today.

Top 4 Insensitive Remarks Romney Made on Campaign Trail

While campaigning for president, Mitt Romney made a series of remarks that alienated the working class, women and Latinos.

During his 2012 presidential campaign , Mitt Romney made a number of statements that made him look out of touch with the general public. The remarks indicated that Romney didn’t empathize with the working class and suggested that he was disconnected from women and Hispanics. Here are four of the most insensitive remarks Romney made while campaigning.

[ALSO READ: Is Romney in Self-Destruct Mode?]

At a private fundraiser in May 2012, Romney dismissed Americans who don’t pay income taxes. An event attendee secretly recorded Romney describing such Americans as irresponsible, government-dependent and, thus, fans of Barack Obama. “There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” Romney said. “... My job is not to worry about those people.”

Romney rubbed women the wrong way when he refused to stand up for reproductive rights and endorse equal pay for women. He made things worse when he discussed his efforts as Massachusetts governor to find qualified women to serve on his cabinet. Speaking at a debate on Oct. 16, 2012, Romney said, “I went to a number of women’s groups and said: ‘Can you help us find folks,’ and they brought us whole binders full of women.” Romney was ridiculed for the remark, as it reduced women to “binders” rather than human beings.

[ALSO READ: 'Binders Full of Women' Gaffe Goes Viral]

After winning the Florida primary in January 2012, Romney remarked on CNN that he was in the presidential race because he cares about Americans. He then seemed to contradict himself when he said, “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it.” Although he also said he wasn’t concerned about the rich, much of the public thought his remarks about the poor sounded callous. 

[ALSO READ: How Latinos Helped Obama Win Re-Election] 

Discussing immigration reform in January 2012, Romney remarked, “The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can’t find work here because they don’t have legal documentation to allow them to work here.” For Latinos and other immigrants who wanted a serious answer to immigration reform, this remark didn’t cut it, as it sidestepped the issue entirely. No wonder Obama won 71 percent of Latino voters on Election Day.

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Stacey Dash Has Election Depression, Writes Three Page Rant

1,344 words of Dash angst hits the web.

Newfound political pundit Stacey Dash wants you to know how she feels about President Obama getting re-elected.

So much that she wrote a 1,344 letter about it. Want to read it? Here it go. [PDF]

Addressed to no one in particular, Dash voices her sadness over Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan not winning a ticket into the White House. But she also let it be known that just because she was pro-Romney did not mean that she was anti-Obama.

"People get it wrong," she says. "My vote for Romney isn’t a vote against Obama. That’s not how full participants in the democratic process operate. We vote for candidates and we vote for issues."

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Racist "Obama Phone" Ad Was Created By a Black Man

A new ad in Ohio plays to the worst of racial stereotypes

If you thought the 2012 presidential election wasn't going to get racial and get racial fast, boy were you wrong.

Just as the race has tightened up into almost a dead heat, a newly created Super PAC, Tea Party Victory Fund, debuted its new "Obama Gave Us a Phone" campaign ad.

[ALSO READ: Romney Catches Up With Obama In Polls]

The ad stars an unidentified black woman yelling about the free phone she just got from President Barack Obama. She's asked a question by the cameraman to which she responds, "...you know minorities got Obama phone."

According to NewsOne, the ad is running in the "lily-white" counties of Lucas, Summit, and Mahoning in Ohio. The site also reports that the ad was created by a black man. Ken Blackwell, Ohio’s former secretary of state, is said to have written the campaign ad that asks, “Have Barack Obama’s policies empowered or enslaved Americans?“

[ALSO READ: Romney Urged Bosses to Threaten Workers Jobs]

The worst part of the ad may not be that it was written by a black man, or even how the ad blatantly plays on the worst elements of racism and racial stereotypes. The worst part is that the "Obama phone" claim isn't even true.

Think Progress explains:

"Although there is indeed a federal program, which provides low-income people with free or reduced-cost cell phones, it began in 2008 under President George W. Bush. The idea of providing subsidized phone service to low-income individuals originated with a program started under President Ronald Reagan."

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JetBlue Offering Voters Free Flights to Flee Country if Presidential Candidate Loses

Announcement comes on heels of first presidential debate

JetBlue is offering free international flights to voters whose presidential pick doesn't win this coming election. The airline site reads, "On November 6th, America will elect the next U.S. president. If things don't go your way, don't worry. Here's your chance to get a free flight out of the country." JetBlue will give 1,006 people a round-trip ticket to one of their 21 international destinations (totaling out to 2012 seats) if their choice of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney ends up losing. Senior vice president Marty St. George said, "Fun is one of our five founding values, and in this spirit we decided to give people a chance to recover from the political noise and follow through on their claim to skip town if their candidate comes up short. Most importantly, we want to highlight the freedom we have as Americans to exercise our right to vote and encourage everyone to do their part on Nov. 6. Live free or Fly!" (JetBlue)

[In the Loop: The 2012 Presidential Debate]

In the Loop: 2012 Presidential Debate Round 1

Matt Simon hits the streets in search of your opinion.

In the Loop: What People Have To Say About the Romney/Ryan Ticket

Mitt Romney Picks Paul Ryan as VP

Ryan pledges to restore "the greatness of the country."

The wait is over. Putting an end to months of speculation, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney officially tapped Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate Saturday morning, in front of the U.S.S. Wisconsin battleship in Norfolk, Va.

"Paul Ryan works in Washington but his beliefs remain firmly rooted in Janesville, Wis. He's a person of great steadiness whose integrity is unquestioned," Romney said.

Ryan, the author of "Path To Prosperity," a controversial budget plan that proposed to overhaul Medicare and Social Security, wasted no time in attacking President Obama as a leader with a "record of failure."

"We need new leadership to become part of the solution…new leadership to restore prosperity and to restore economic growth and jobs. It is our duty to save the American dream for our children and theirs," he said.

Accolades have been pouring in from Republicans like former GOP presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who tweeted, "Paul Ryan, conservative budget hawk..excellent choice who will underscore commitment to downsize Washington and restore job creation."

The duo, now dubbed "America's Comeback Team," may already have some coming back to do. In the highly anticipated introduction of Ryan, Mitt Romney asked the enthusiastic crowd to join him in welcoming "the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan." Awkward. But Romney joins an illustrious list of presidential wannabes who have made the same mistake, like when then presidential candidate Obama introduced his number 2 as "the next president" in 2008.

Ryan is set to face Vice President Joe Biden on the debate stage in October.

Read more here.

Sarah Palin Hasn’t Been Invited to GOP Convention

Ex-VP contender and Alaska governor says she’s paying price for criticizing both parties.

Not only is Sarah Palin not scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention in August she hasn’t even received an invitation to attend the event. How far she’s fallen since 2008, when Palin became the GOP’s main attraction after giving a rousing speech once she was unveiled as John McCain’s running mate.

Today, Palin still has fans among conservatives, especially the Tea Party set. On the other hand, McCain’s failed presidential run four years ago has largely been blamed on Palin. The former Alaska governor also told Newsweek magazine that she’s made enemies in conservative politics by unleashing critiques on both Democrats and Republicans.

“What can I say?” she told Newsweek in an email. “I’m sure I’m not the only one accepting consequences for calling out both sides of the aisle for spending too much money, putting us on the road to bankruptcy, and engaging in crony capitalism.”

[ALSO READ: Romney Should Release Tax Returns]

What’s more, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney doesn’t appear to be too fond of Palin either. That’s likely because Palin has never been a huge supporter of his. She backed his rivals during the Republican primaries and her endorsements of Romney since then have been described as “tepid” by the New York Daily News.

Palin doesn’t appear to have intentions to crash the convention. She described herself as having accepted the consequences of speaking up for her beliefs. She said, “One must remember this isn’t Sadie Hawkins and you don’t invite yourself and a date to the Big Dance.”

Romney may alienate Tea Party supporters if he doesn’t openly maneuver to feature Palin at the convention. Tea Party Patriots head Jenny Beth Martin told Newsweek that Romney needs Palin to be there.

“He needs to do something to rile up his base, to make them enthusiastic,” she said.