Thursday, October 11, 2012

Diversity Officer Suspended for Opposing Diversity

See what you think about this one. The Chief Diversity Officer at Gallaudet University signed a petition opposing a law giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry, and the university administration suspended her.

The Baltimore Sun:
Gallaudet University's diversity officer has been placed on leave for signing a petition to put Maryland's same-sex marriage law on the ballot, The Washington Blade has reported.

The official, Angela McCaskill, could not be immediately reached for comment.

In a statement to The Blade, Galleudet president T. Alan Hurwitz said: “It recently came to my attention that Dr. McCaskill has participated in a legislative initiative that some feel is inappropriate for an individual serving as Chief Diversity Officer; however, other individuals feel differently.

“I will use the extended time while she is on administrative leave to determine the appropriate next steps taking into consideration the duties of this position at the university," he said. "In the meantime an interim Chief Diversity Officer will be announced in the near future.”

McCaskill has worked at Gallaudet for 23 years and was the first deaf African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. from the university, according to her bio on the university's website. She is also on the Board of Trustees of the Maryland School for the Deaf, according to her bio on Gallaudet's website.

Her suspension fits neatly into a narrative that opponents of same-sex marriage are pushing: Approving gay marriage in Maryland will have unintended consequences, and opposition to it in the public square will not be tolerated. Gallaudet official suspended for signing anti-same-sex marriage petition
Nice of the Sun to raise that last question right from the start. This gesture by the university will of course be portrayed as some kind of "gays shoving it down our throats" situation, where good moral people are being forced to approve of sinful behavior or they will be punished.

Note: this is the Chief Diversity Officer of the university, taking a public stand against diversity.

I see, later in the story, the pro-marriage-equality side is adopting the other side's frame and joining them in considering this a matter of freedom of speech:
Kevin Nix, a sokesman for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, which supports same-sex marriage, said the campaign "strongly disagrees" with the university's decision and wants her to be "reinstated immediately."

"Everyone is entitled to free speech and to their own opinion about Question 6," Nix said.
(Strange amount of misspelling and weird grammar in this, don't you think?) Of course everyone is entitled to free speech without government interference, they are not guaranteed speech with no consequences at all.

Unless the whole position is a hoax, the role of the Chief Diversity Officer should be to represent minority students at the university, to find opportunities for them and help the others understand and tolerate the special circumstances of their classmates. The Office's web site says "The Office for Diversity and Inclusion will lead the university in realizing its potential to become a more welcoming, diverse, and inclusive University by empowering the community with a shared vision, understanding and acceptance of responsibility for diversity and inclusion."

Personally I don't think the administration should have put this person on leave, but they should definitely have had a serious, closed-door sit-down with her. They should reevaluate the meaning of diversity in the university environment and determine whether she is capable of supporting the needs of LGBT students and faculty. It appears the answer to that question will be negative. Terms of her leaving the university can be negotiated if administrators find that she is unable to do her job.

As for free speech, the government has not interfered with Angela McCaskill's right to express herself. She signed a petition and was not arrested, government agents did not question her.

Signing the petition did focus her bosses' attention on the question of whether she is qualified and capable of doing the job she was hired for. That has nothing to do with freedom of speech -- you wouldn't want your Chief Diversity Officer supporting the Klan, either. It is inconsistent with the ability to perform the job.

This year the Maryland legislature passed, and the governor signed, a bill extending the privileges of marriage to same-sex couples. Of course there was opposition and the issue will be presented as a referendum on the Maryland election ballot in a few weeks. Voting Yes on Question 6 supports gay and lesbian families.

The new law is not a matter of anyone forcing anyone to change in any way, it simply grants rights to couples who are so far deprived of them.

The Gallaudet Chief Diversity Officer has raised the question of her ability to perform her duties effectively and the university's administration has acted fast in taking serious steps to deal with her. Let's see how this one comes out.

78 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

the problem is that this person assumed, as most sane people do, that diversity refers to race, nationality, cultural practices, religious belief, et al

this is a benefit to our society

sexual desire and behavior are not areas where polite society has chosen to diversify

our generally libertarian society allows consenting adults the freedom to engage in any sexual behavior they choose

we have no obligation, legally or otherwise, to celebrate or endorse this behavior and these desires as positive aspects of our society

if homosexuals advocates can't accept this, perhaps we need to rethink the tolerance afforded gays

October 11, 2012 1:02 PM  
Blogger Orin Ryssman said...

Well put...I would not change a word, Amen.

October 11, 2012 11:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

poor, longsuffering Barry Obama said he lost the debate last week because he was just "too darn polite"

but who's going to ever say that about Joe Biden?

Dems may have liked that

but how many undecided voters will decide they want more of that?

America deserves a more dignified occupant of the second highest office in the land

October 12, 2012 8:32 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

I will point out to anonymous and Orin that until 2003 our "generally libertarian society" did not in fact allow that right to consenting adults, and does so now over the objection of anti-lgbt organizations, and only because of a Supreme Court decision.

October 12, 2012 9:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Robert, there were a few laws on sodomy around the country that were rarely enforced before the SC decision

really, few people care but most also object to the sense of entitlement to embrace that gay advocates seem to have

on other matters, all the likely voter polls in the RCP average over the last three days agree that Romney leads Obama by a point nationally

the race seems to have stabilized with Romney taking a huge lead in Florida

how could that be when the liberal line is that Romney is hopeless among Hispanics and liberals?

btw, I was portraying myself as the king of smuggery earlier in the week

I've now been dethroned by Joe Biden who apparently believes that a condescending smirk at the younger generation is what American voters are looking for in a vice-president

Joe, we already tried Spiro Agnew

it didn't work well

don't be a nattering nabob of negativism

October 12, 2012 10:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"how could that be when the liberal line is that Romney is hopeless among Hispanics and liberals?"

replace liberals with elderly

October 12, 2012 10:30 AM  
Anonymous The order is rapidly changing said...

This week's debate performance by Biden – capering, giggling, near-maniacal opera buffa – was targeted in one place: a dispirited, demoralized Democratic base on the edge of panic.

Paul Ryan was businesslike, steady, and on-point. He hit solid doubles all night, and that's all he needed to do. If he'd been as amped and manic as Biden, it would have been a political and imaging disaster.

Biden aimed to throw the Obama base a lifeline. He fed the Kos Kidz desperate need to see some fight, but at the cost of his remaining (and mostly notional) dignity. If you want a gibbering, snorting, mumbling clown with a rictus-grin locked on his mug a heartbeat away from controlling America's nuclear arsenal, Joe Biden's your guy.

Ryan aimed to meet the standard of gravitas and presence, to demonstrate to the fabled female/suburban/swing/moderate voters that he's not a scary granny-killing Terminator sent from the future to throw seniors into the snowbank. He had to demonstrate steadiness, stature and knowledge. Done and done.

The conventional wisdom this morning is that the debate was a tie. That conventional wisdom is (as is so often the case) dead wrong. Biden played to his base, trying to dig Obama out of the hole he's been trapped in since last week's debate trainwreck. Ryan played to the center, to the swing and to the late-engagers. The post-hoc coverage won't factor into their decisions: the pictures and Biden's mugging, drunk-uncle affect will. (Also, Biden opened several new, Costco-scale cans of worms for the Administration on the Libya scandal.)

In short, Biden did nothing to reset the race, and the edge of panic is still there in the Obama campaign.

When edifices – particularly political edifices built around the myth and personality of one man – collapse, they collapse suddenly. The center does not hold. The man dragged from the spider hole isn't a dictator, he's a prisoner. The Master of the Universe hedge fund manager who's really just a Ponzi schemer gets booked at Rikers like the rest of 'em. The spell cast by power, once broken, is hard to restore.

(And no, I'm not comparing Obama to infamous war criminals. I'm examining the way people view organizations centered on a leader, not on an idea, and why they're ultimately fragile.)

In the case of the Obama Personality Cult, we believed the Maximum Leader was more brilliant, more charismatic and more skillful than our own candidate. Sure, he was wrong on the issues, a disaster from start to finish, but we still felt a sense of intimidation. That changed last week, as I outlined here.

October 13, 2012 1:03 PM  
Anonymous sometimes even the President of the United States must have to stand naked said...

In the 2012 election, as long as Obama was inevitable, he was inevitable. Beyond the pundits, there was the emerging belief that the macro polling models of guys like Nate Silver could not be wrong. The basic message was, “Obama's certainty of reelection is so large entirely new domains of mathematics are required to state it properly.”

The arguments for Romney's election were always framed as, “Well, IF he wins Florida and IF he wins Virginia and IF Hillary is an Al Qaida sleeper agent and IF Biden is caught in a Delaware hotel room with a Guatemalan pan flute band and a non-consenting farm animal...then maybe there's a fraction of a chance.”

The political media declared Mitt Romney dead for thirty long days between the end of the convention and the debate. But somewhere in those thirty days, Mitt Romney was born again. Hard.

You can see the fear in the Obama campaign now, as they careen from message to message, flailing, desperate for something – anything – to stick.

You can see their gyros tumbling as they slew from Big Bird to abortion to “Mitt Romney is a lying liar liarpants McLiar” to the walking disaster that is Stephanie Cutter every time she opens her mouth to the remarkable, bizarre interview the Three Divas (Axelrod, Plouffe and Messina, obviously) gave Mark Halperin this week. Their campaign is out of control, and they know it.

They know how much they lost after the last debate. They know how many millions of television advertising dollars were flushed down the drain as Obama broke down in the last debate and as Mitt Romney introduced himself to the country. They know how, after the debate, Romney surged to a lead or a tie in the swing states. They know that there are a handful of states now that were solidly in Obama's camp that are wavering, teetering and suddenly uncertain.

Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Michigan have moved in the RCP averages from “Leans Obama” to “Toss-up”... today's polls are about to move a number of other states into the “Lean Romney” column. Florida will likely move there in the coming days. It's not just the swing states, and they know it.

The swing states matter, but when any of the states of Obama's “Blue Wall” flips in the polls to “Lean Romney,” the cascade effect will be psychologically devastating. For months, there were two underlying predicates for an Obama victory: first, that Obama was inevitable, and second, that Mitt Romney's path to 270 electoral votes was narrow and highly constrained.

Today, it's Obama's path that seems to be narrowing.

Their panic tastes delicious.

October 13, 2012 1:04 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

You know when Republicans have nothing to complain about but Joe Biden's debating style they've lost the debate on substance.

50% of independents think Biden won the debate, 31% of independents think Ryan won the debate and 19% think it was a tie.

Obama still has a large lead in Ohio and no Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio.

October 13, 2012 4:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

(((Yaaaawwnn)))

{{{stretch)))

Wake me up again when Romney is actually ahead in the EC vote count. It hasn't happened yet even just once this whole election cycle. Just look at Rove's site or RCP.

And stop wasting time claiming that since Romney is ahead 1% in some national poll it's evidence of Romney's inevitable win - you did that incessantly 4 years ago with McCain, even after it was explained to you that a 1% difference in a poll with a 3% margin of error is still in the noise.

You haven't learned a thing.

It's all about the EC vote count.

Watch Rove's site - it won't fill you with liberal cooties, and despite its conservative bias, it correctly predicted Obama's win 4 years ago long before you gave up on insisting McCain would win.

Given how bad the economy is, and how Republican's have made it their number 1 job to make sure "Obama is a one term president," you'd think Obama would be doing a lot worse in the EC vote count by now.

It's an indication of how totally pathetic and disorganized the Republican party is these days that they haven't managed to wrap this campaign up months ago. Why was Obama ahead even once?

Perhaps it's because the only thing the Republican party has to offer is more tax cuts, deregulation, and spending on the military. The same things that got us into this mess in the first place.














October 13, 2012 4:05 PM  
Anonymous biden my time said...

"You know when Republicans have nothing to complain about but Joe Biden's debating style they've lost the debate on substance."

this is fun. Priya, we're not complaining about a thing. I'm quite happy that Biden displayed, for the entire country to see, what type of maniac Obama has installed a heartbeat away from the nuclear trigger.

Substance? you know a party has lost the substance debate when their only feasible rhetorical strategy is to prevent the opponent from finishing his sentences.

Viewers knew it.

"50% of independents think Biden won the debate, 31% of independents think Ryan won the debate and 19% think it was a tie."

that was one poll, by an organization, CBS, which is so notorious for its liberal slant that one of its former anchors wrote a book about it

CNN, also took a poll, and found Ryan won

additionally, there's been no sign in the polls that Romney's surge is slowing since the VP debate

"Obama still has a large lead in Ohio"

actually, the latest polls have it varying between a small lead for Romney and a small lead for Obama

RCP now rates Ohio a toss-up

I have friends and relatives in Ohio and what I hear is that crowds are surging at Romney events there because of a growing sense he will be the next President and everyone wants to say they saw him

"and no Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio."

you have a chicken-egg problem

this fact is because Ohio voters tend to follow the national trend

if other heartland states go for Romney, so will Ohio

amd if that trend breaks, Romney will win anyway

"(((Yaaaawwnn)))

{{{stretch)))"

good debating strategy

maybe Obama should try this in the next debate

"And stop wasting time claiming that since Romney is ahead 1% in some national poll it's evidence of Romney's inevitable win"

I think the trends favor Romney now

the enthusiasm has gone out of the Dem base and it's not coming back

"- you did that incessantly 4 years ago with McCain, even after it was explained to you that a 1% difference in a poll with a 3% margin of error is still in the noise.

You haven't learned a thing."

well, I know hypocrisy when I see it

Obama-ites here were arguing the same for Obama not long ago

they can't do that now

"Why was Obama ahead even once?"

it's because Obama spent months running ads demonizing Romney and even now run ads with blatant lies in them

Romney hasn't done likewise, since he knew all along there would be a debate and people could see them unfiltered and draw their own conclusions

"Perhaps it's because the only thing the Republican party has to offer is more tax cuts,"

actually, they don't propose cutting taxes but cutting rates in a revenue neutral way to reform the tax system

we have one of the highest marginal corporate rates in the world and it is hurting our competitiveness

tax reform is a substantial thing to offer

Obama doesn't care because he wants to see America decline

"deregulation,"

another substantial offer

uncertainty of the upward trajectory of regulation is hurting business growth now

"and spending on the military."

Romney doesn't propose additional spending, he just wants to stop Obama from cutting the military to pre-WWI levels

"The same things that got us into this mess in the first place."

we got into our mess because Dems took control of Congress in 2006 and tinkered with the regulations

then, when the consequences hit, right before an election, they hyped the problems as a second great recession and got a Keynesian elected

since the advent of the Reagan era, recessions had been followed by recoveries of the same magnitude

and then we let we let a Dem try a Keynesian approach and, suddenly, we were back in that 70s show

in November, we'll put an end to that error

October 13, 2012 5:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

let's see....when was the last time an incumbent President ran for re-election?

that's right

it was 2004, John Kerry wanted to replace George Bush

and on October 13, 2004, George Bush led the RCP average of polls by 1.5%

and on October 31, 2012 (hey, that's today!!), Mitt Romney leads the RCP average of polls by 1.3%

MWAAAhahahahaha!!!!

Happy Halloween everybody!!

October 13, 2012 7:36 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

JimK: “Note: this is the Chief Diversity Officer of the university, taking a public stand against diversity.”

anon and Orin: “the problem is that … sexual desire and behavior are not areas where polite society has chosen to diversify

we have no obligation, legally or otherwise, to celebrate or endorse this behavior and these desires as positive aspects of our society”

--
Well put. If she cannot or is unwilling to tell the difference between a state of being and an act of behavior, then she is unqualified to do her job.

The same goes for, Kevin Nix, s[p]okesman for Marylanders for Marriage Equality.

Either he’s an idiot for not seeing the connection between her job and the opposite of her job, or he thinks that agreeing with these hate mongers will make them be seen in a better light, or he hasn’t canvassed their website.

As I’ve said before, “traditional marriage” is just a euphemism for what is thought of as traditional Love. Not only do they not see that our love is just as deep and just as intense and just as intimate as theirs, but they don’t want to.

And to be clear, it’s the “not want to” part that is the hatred part.

October 14, 2012 3:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"the difference between a state of being and an act of behavior"

whether sexual desires directed to certain types is a "state of being" is a matter of dispute

traditionally, character is something one is considered responsible for, not a victim of

btw, USA Today/Gallup gives Romney a four point lead IN THE SWING STATES, people

the main cause is a surge of women supporting Romney

they must not know they been declared war on

HAHAHAHAHAhohoHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHA!

October 15, 2012 7:50 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Anon and Orin: “whether sexual desires directed to certain types is a "state of being" is a matter of dispute”

Me: Not only do they not see that our love is just as deep and just as intense and just as intimate as theirs, but they don’t want to.

Problem is, even if it could be proven to your satisfaction that homosexuality was a state of being and not simply a sexual “behavior,” I don’t believe your love of hating us and our equality agenda would change one iota.

It would shatter your sense of superiority leaving you with a wounded ego in desperate need of another scapegoat.

The “dispute” is yours and yours alone. Take responsibility for it.

-imp

October 15, 2012 9:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The “dispute” is yours and yours alone."

hmmm....amazing how much I've been able to do on my own

so far, I've prevented 36 states from voting for gay marriage all by myself

I'm really something else!!

October 15, 2012 9:55 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Me: “The “dispute” is yours and yours alone. Take responsibility for it.”

Anon: “hmmm....amazing how much I've been able to do on my own … so far, I've prevented 36 states from voting [against] gay marriage all by myself”

The bandwagon effect is a well documented form of groupthink … As more people come to believe in something, others also "hop on the bandwagon" regardless of the underlying evidence.

Bandwagon Approach: “Everybody is doing it.” … since the majority of people believe an argument or chooses a particular course of action, the argument must be true…
--
Why, yes, Anon, you’re quite the independent thinker.

October 15, 2012 11:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

actually, the point of my comments is that I'm not alone

there's no bandwagon, my friend

this is common wisdom

the idea that marriage is not marriage unless it includes both genders is not some novel idea picking up steam

it is a fact

trying to change the definition of words by governmental mandate is the unusual idea here

October 16, 2012 5:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

there are three left before we finalize our decision to unceremoniously throw Obama out and he's already pitching a fit

now, he thinks the pollsters haven't been fair to him:

"Mitt Romney has opened a 5-percentage-point lead over President Obama in the 12 battleground states that are critical to determining the outcome of the 2012 election, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.

Romney has 51 percent support among likely voters in the poll, compared to Obama's 46 percent.

The poll was conducted in Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire.

The Obama campaign quickly disputed the poll's findings. It circulated a memo from pollster Joel Benenson calling the USA Today/Gallup poll “an extreme outlier” that defies “the trends seen in every other battleground and national poll.”"

October 16, 2012 10:30 AM  
Anonymous poor Barry, he hasn't a clue said...

"With polls showing Mr. Obama clinging to a very narrow lead in the crucial battleground of Ohio, a spokeswomen for the campaign, Jennifer Psaki, said, “We feel good about where we are in the race.”

The Obama campaign has been scrambling to halt the shift in momentum in Mr. Romney’s favor since the first debate in Denver, which left many Democrats disappointed with the president’s performance. Mr. Romney has jumped to a small lead over Mr. Obama in several national polls, as well as in battleground states like Florida, Colorado, and Virginia. But Ms. Psaki said that after two weeks of churn, the state polls were stable.

“It’s very, very close,” she said to reporters at Mr. Obama’s debate camp in this colonial tourist town. “There are some states where we’re up by a few points, there are some states where we’re down a few points.”

The White House and campaign officials were stingy with details about Mr. Obama’s preparation, beyond saying that it was dead serious. Ms. Psaki described the president as “calm and energized” and said he had interrupted his preparation only for a brief visit to the local campaign office Sunday, and to walk the leafy grounds at a golf resort here.

“We know the president is his own harshest critic and he knows that Mitt Romney had a better debate,” she said. “But people across the country aren’t voting on who is the better salesman-in-chief; they’re looking for who is going to better represent them in the White House.”

“That’s why he’s looking forward to answering questions from the American people tomorrow night,” she added."

October 16, 2012 11:18 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wayne Besen says

"I don’t like Paul Ryan. Ever since he greatly exaggerated his marathon time, I’ve thought he was an individual who had an uneasy relationship with the truth. And his nonsensical and cruel budget shows that he doesn’t find facts particularly useful. Did you know that he was also voted greatest brown nose in high school?

Well, if you still aren’t convinced that this man has serious character flaws, consider how he “ramrodded” his way into a soup kitchen for a photo-op. According to the Washington Post:

The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken pretending to wash already clean dishes in the dining hall.

Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University.

“We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.”

He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”

Ryan had stopped by the soup kitchen for about 15 minutes on his way to the airport after his Saturday morning town hall in Youngstown. By the time he arrived, the food had already been served, the patrons had left, and the hall had been cleaned.

“Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted. … But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans, and then take a picture,” Antal said.

What kind of a man does this other than an unscrupulous fraud? The kicker is that his budget would gut services to help the poor — so this is more than a run-of-the-mil photo op. It’s a sinister attempt to pretend that Ryan is compassionate, when he really is a heartless individual with little regard for those who suffer at the margins of society. This was nothing short of an extremist’s extreme makeover so his draconian views appear more palatable for the general election.

Shame on Lyin Ryan."

October 16, 2012 12:14 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

There's a reason why bad anonymous spends the majority of his days and nights obsessing about gayness, there's a reason a man of his age isn't married to a woman. Studies show the vast majority of homophobes are same sex attracted themselves. They fight gayness in society because they feel a need to fight it in themselves. They resent happy gays because they think every gay should suffer the same stress of suppression that they do. They don't think its fair that they struggle when other gays don't.

The studies show that heterosexual men are untroubled by gayness, they spend little time thinking about it, they don't spend their days and nights feverishly opposing gayness on LGBT blogs because heterosexuality comes naturally to them.

October 16, 2012 12:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"There's a reason why bad anonymous spends the majority of his days and nights obsessing about gayness"

actually, badass anonymous really only talks about gayness when it's the topic to respond to

he seems much more enthusiastic about politics

which is understandable, since his side is giving the Obama socialists another classic shellacking

all the liberals now know: Obama is a fraud and always has been

he has to win tonight so he's going to bring it

right...

that assumes he can bring it

he lucked into office without experience or accomplishment and hasn't heard from anyone other than yes-men for years and has been protected by the media and assorted celebs, who are all a little disgusted that they have to come to his rescue again

is he capable of anything himself?

tonight, he won't have a debate

he's going to a town square and be made to answer to the American voter directly

put the kids to bed early

it won't be pretty

"preacher preach of evil fates
teachers teach that knowledge waits
and get used to thousand dollar plates
but sometimes even the President of the United States

must have to stand naked

it's so right, now

he can't shake it"


October 16, 2012 1:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"There's a reason why bad anonymous spends the majority of his days and nights obsessing about gayness,"

and there's a reason nasty Priya brings up this tired line:

horror that badass anonymous was right all along and the Obama error is nearing an end

nasty Priya understandably would like to change the subject

America will rock with joy late into the night of the election

rush hour will be late the next day

October 16, 2012 1:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

leaps and bounds come to mind

after the Obama administration launched a scurrilous attack on the prestigious Gallup poll for releasing its finding yesterday that Romney now leads the polls by five points in the swing states, today's Gallup poll shows Romney ahead by four points among likely voters nationwide

if Obama doesn't make at least a decent showing tonight, this thing is over

it's like he has to make a 70-yard field goal and he's never kicked before

I don't even think we need to call a time-out to ice him

the guy is already shiering

October 16, 2012 1:45 PM  
Anonymous Cheating to win already said...

Some African American, Spanish-speaking and elderly voters in Florida and Virginia are apparently being targeted by anonymous voter-suppression groups trying to trick them or intimidate them into not voting in the November presidential election, according to election officials and voter protection organizations.

The Virginia State Board of Elections is warning residents that "some Virginia voters, particularly older Virginians, are receiving phone calls from unidentified individuals informing voters that they can vote over the phone. This information is false."

In Florida, the 866-OUR-VOTE election protection hotline run by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has received a report of a similar calls in Florida.

The lawyers' committee is also investigating reports from callers into African-American and Spanish-language radio stations in Florida that they had received warnings over the phone that election officials would be checking car insurance and registration status at the polls.

Attempts to deceive members of certain demographic groups into not voting have become an unfortunate staple of the American electoral process, but they normally don't start until much closer to Election Day, said Eric Marshall, manager of legal mobilization at the lawyers' committee.

In Florida, the voter who alerted the hotline described a phone call in which the caller said that a new law has passed that allows voters to vote by phone with just a name and address, he said. The caller knew the voter’s name, address and party affiliation.

Marshall said the caller evidently had access to voter rolls, and read back the information "to make it sound more official." "This isn't necessarily a new tactic," he said. "But it's early."

And just to be clear: "You cannot vote by phone," Marshall said.

What has changed the trickster calendar? "I guess with the increase of early voting, they're moving these types of tactics up earlier," Marshall said.

People who get such calls should try to get as much information about the call as possible, he said. They should get the caller's phone number and ask questions about where they're calling from. If the call is a recording, they should record it, and then report it to 866-OUR-VOTE, Marshall said.

Other historical attempts at voter suppression have included calls, fliers and even door-to-door campaigns trying to trick people into not going to vote. One of the most infamous attempts was in Virginia in 2008, when a flier was distributed telling Democrats they were supposed to vote on Wednesday, not Tuesday.

The disinformation campaign would appear to be a sort of illegal corollary to the Republican-backed campaign to demand photo identification from voters. What opponents say they seem to have in common is an intent to particularly block or dissuade African American, Latino and elderly voters from casting ballots.

October 16, 2012 4:52 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

“the idea that marriage is not marriage unless it includes both genders is not some novel idea picking up steam”

The definition of love is union. Thus, marriage is the uniting of two souls as being one.

Though men and women can love, platonically, members of the same gender more that that of the opposite gender, it is a universe away from the reality of homosexuality. Homosexual “behavior,” perhaps, but homosexuality itself, no.

I believe the Biblical love story between David and Jonathan was one such example:

David: “...I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.”

“Surpassing the love of women” being the operating phrase, implying that they were heterosexuals, and thus, not attracted to each other in a sexual way.

However, if they had been born or reincarnated as women, they would still be the same people (males), just in female bodies. As males (in female bodies), they would still be attracted to women, and the sexual component would then be at play -- Ergo, lesbians.

It is your belief systems that cause you to resist the fact homosexual couples can and do experience the same depth of romantic love that heterosexuals do.

“…marriage is not marriage unless it includes both genders … trying to change the definition of words by governmental mandate is the unusual idea here”

And therein lies the rub.

The idea that this has anything at all to do with words like “traditional” “redefinition of” or the ever clevers like “if we let gays marry, then what’s to stop people from marrying a banana peel?” is a propaganda tool that you’ve all bought into.

Marriage or unity = Love. “Traditionally” thought as only being capable between a male and a female. This is what is at issue.

This wordplay with “marriage” is a euphemism to hide the fact that you and you ilk are incapable of, or unwilling to accept that our love for each other is equal to that of your own, the understanding of which would obliterate the notion that if allowed, then anyone could marry anything.

Nor would it open the door to Government sanctioned incestuous and/or polygamous marriage for reasons essential to maintaining a civilized society.

“actually, the point of my comments is that I'm not alone”

Alone or not, like I said, it is your belief systems that are the source of your resisting the fact that homosexual couples can and do experience the same depth of intimacy that heterosexuals do.

And the crux of those beliefs lie the addictions to your egos (superiority, supremacy, etc.). To be fair, I have the same addiction, but I am aware of it, and so, am in better control of it, but most of all, don’t worship it.

It is difficult to challenge one’s own beliefs and conform to one’s that are more accurate -- you lose a part of your identity, but I’d rather be wrong in order to be right.

-imp

October 16, 2012 5:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

why would Romney need to suppress the vote in Virginia and Florida?

he currently leads the polls in both

the elderly and Hispanics are apparently not that concerned about him

Patrick, why do sign as "imp" sometimes?

btw, reports are that Obama is telling everyone he is shooting for a debating style like Ryan's in the VP debate

what does that tell you about Biden's performance?

you actually have to feel sorry for Obama

he has no idea what to do

he was never cut out for this

did you know there are leading members of Congress who have never had an in-depth conversation with him?

politics is really not his thing

he shouldn't have run again

October 16, 2012 6:15 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama gained ground on Republican rival Mitt Romney for the third straight day, leading 46 percent to 43 percent, according to the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released on Tuesday.

Released hours before the presidential contenders face off for their second debate, the poll showed the number of undecided voters had increased, indicating a drop of support for Romney among the coveted voting bloc.

The poll showed that Obama has recovered some ground after a poor showing in his first presidential debate. After dropping below Romney in the wake of the October 3 debate, Obama regained the lead on Sunday and has increased that by 1 percentage point each day this week.

"I think what we're seeing is after the first debate Romney definitely saw a surge. A lot of his surge wasn't coming from Obama voters, it was coming from undecided voters, which is exactly where both candidates are seeking support," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said.

"Now, we've actually seen the Romney bump decrease again a little bit," Clark said.

She said the number of people who have changed their minds and moved back to the undecided column took 2 percentage points off Romney's support and one point from Obama. Undecided voters now account for about 13 percent of likely voters, compared to 10 percent on Monday.

Among early voters, 59 percent said they had voted for Obama, while 39 percent said they had voted for Romney.

With early voters strongly breaking for Obama Romney will need to average 3 or 4 points more than Obama on election day to have a chance of winning - he won't get it. After Obama's strong debate tonight Romney's numbers are going to continue slipping and Obama will retake the lead he's enjoyed for the vast majority of this campaign.

Obama has a large lead in Ohio that is likely to grow after this debate and no Republican has ever won the whitehouse without winning Ohio.

October 16, 2012 11:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

RCP currently rates Ohio as a toss-up

historic things also happen every day

RCP also rates Pennsylvania and Michigan as toss-ups

either could substitute as Ohio in advancing Romney's cause

but, no matter

truth is, Romney will win Ohio

October 17, 2012 12:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"RCP currently rates Ohio as a toss-up"

And RCP shows Obama up by an average 2.2 points in Ohio.

"RCP also rates Pennsylvania and Michigan as toss-ups"

And RCP shows Obama up by an average of 5.0 points in Pennsylvania and 4.4 points in Michigan.

RCP also shows Virginia, Florida, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada to be toss ups and shows Obama to be ahead of Romney in all of them except three: Florida, North Carolina, and Colorado.

RCP gives Romney 191 electoral college votes. If he wins Florida (29), North Carolina (15), and Colorado (9), he ends up with 244, short of the 270 needed to win.

It becomes clearer every day, Mitt's math does not add up.

Even Rasmussen reported yesterday before his stellar debate performance last night, Obama leads in these swing states:

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

"The full Swing State tracking update offers Rasmussen Reader subscribers a combined view of the results from 11 key states won by President Obama in 2008 and thought to be competitive in 2012. The states collectively hold 146 Electoral College votes and include Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin...

In the 11 swing states, the president earns 49% of the vote to Mitt Romney’s 47%. One percent (1%) likes another candidate in the race, and two percent (2%) are undecided.

This is the first time Obama has led on the daily Swing State Survey since October 8. The candidates were tied yesterday after Romney had led for the previous six days, reflecting a modest bounce in his support from the first presidential debate. Prior to that, the president had led for 17 of the previous 19 days, with the candidates tied twice. The second debate is tonight. "

October 17, 2012 9:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the problem with all this is the differences are slender and it's a little hard to know what a likely voter is since the last Presdiential election was so different

it's hard to believe anyone is very enthusiastic about Obama

the only plans he's disclosed about his second term is that he wants to make sure rich people have some penalty for their success, regardless of whether it will have any effect on the deficit, and he wants to hire 100,000 teachers

you'll notice his only jobs idea is to have the government hire people

meanwhile, Romney did a great job a couple of times last night listing Obama's failures

if he just puts a tape of his comments there on continuous loop on swing states TVs, he'll win

October 17, 2012 11:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, is this a different Anon, or are you getting even dumber?

October 17, 2012 11:36 AM  
Anonymous put that in your bippy and smoke it said...

in the topsy-turvy world of liberals, where Obama has done a great job on the economy, I must be dumber

last night's CNN flash poll showed Obama "won" 46-39

but that may well be a charitable assessment and sympathy vote considering how poor his prior performance was

on issues that will decided the election, here's the poll results from CNN:

Romney Wins 54-40 on Economy,
49-46 on Health Care,
51-44 on Taxes,
59-36 on Deficit,
49-46 on Leadership

October 17, 2012 11:42 AM  
Anonymous Spin spin spin said...

"Forty-six percent of voters who watched Tuesday night's presidential debate said that the president won the showdown, according to a CNN/ORC International nationwide poll conducted right after Tuesday night's faceoff here at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island. Thirty-nine percent questioned said Republican nominee Mitt Romney did the better job....

DISCLAIMER: According to This Poll -- Interviews with 457 registered voters who watched the debate conducted by telephone on October 16. All interviews were conducted after the end of the debate. SPECIAL NOTE OF CAUTION #1: This poll does not and cannot reflect the views of all Americans. It only represents the views of people who watched the debate. SPECIAL NOTE OF CAUTION #2: The sample of debate-watchers in this poll were 33% Democratic and 33% Republican. That indicates that the sample of debate watchers is about 8 points more Republican than an average of CNN polls taken in 2012 of all Americans, so the respondents were more Republican than the general public."

October 17, 2012 2:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

today's poll of likely voters by the universally admired and prestigious Gallup organization has Mitt Romney leading by 6 points nationally

that's 4 points above the margin of error, people

this is turning into a blow-out

I think a lot of TTFers will soon be joining Priya in the frigid and socialist wasteland of Saskatchewan

have fun

maybe global warming will turn out to be your friend after all

October 17, 2012 2:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

looks like the Romney juggernaut is unstoppable

election night will be a blast

shoot off the fireworks, pass out the canndy to the kids, laugh at a liberal

frredom has won!!

October 17, 2012 2:55 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

“Patrick, why do sign as "imp" sometimes?”

My handle used to be “Emproph.” One of the Anons used to make fun of it by calling me “improv,” so it’s the abbreviated version of that.

I’ll use “Formerly known as Emproph,” next time -- at least for awhile.

October 17, 2012 3:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I should have caught on

don't know how to say this but you seem a lot more intelligent as Patrick

that improv guy was a hopeless mash-up of non sequiturs

October 17, 2012 3:35 PM  
Anonymous improved said...

it really is sad about "put gays in the" Barracks Obama

he seemed like such a nice guy for so long

now, all he can do is lash at at people he's jealous of

have you noticed how many of his answers last night wove in resentment of the successful?

he just can't shut up about it

and the American people are sick of it

we consider our national character to be aspirational and not envious

did you know that no candidate that had a 50% or more in a national poll of likely voters in mid-October has ever lost?

EVER...

it's mid-October now and Obama has never had a fifty percent in a national likely voter poll

NEVER...

Romney had 50% in yesterday's Gallup poll

today, Romney is up to 51%

Obama is already dead politically dead and he doesn't even know it

someone should tell him before he does something to REALLY embarass himself...

October 17, 2012 8:18 PM  
Anonymous time is running out for Barry said...

Obama has now given up on FL, VA, NC and CO

he is making his last stand pouring everything into Ohio

defeat is near at hand...

"What also became clear after the dust began to settle from the rumble on Long Island was the electoral map has narrowed and Obama's team, while conceding nothing publicly, is circling the wagons around Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Plouffe said Obama remains strong in all four states but would not discuss the specifics of internal polling or voter contact analytics, saying only Obama has 'significant leads' in all four."

"It is uncharacteristic of team Obama to concede any terrain but Plouffe offered no such assurances about Obama's position in North Carolina, Virginia or Florida. Romney advisers have seen big gains in all three states and now consider wins likely, though not guaranteed, in all three. They are similarly upbeat about prospects in Colorado but not confident enough to predict victory. That Plouffe left Colorado off his list of states where Obama's leading and can withstand a Romney surge might be telling though."

October 18, 2012 4:46 AM  
Anonymous barry, you're no Ronald Reagan said...

does anyone see any basis for Obama to make an historic comeback?

"The latest Gallup seven-day tracking poll released Wednesday shows a jump in support for Mitt Romney, giving him a wide lead over President Barack in the final weeks before Nov. 6.

According to the latest poll, Romney leads Obama among likely voters, 51 to 45 percent. This is Romney's biggest lead since Gallup began tracking likely voters earlier in Oct., as well as his largest lead in the survey. Romney also leads among registered voters, 48 to 46 percent.

"So it's mid-October and Romney is up 6 in Gallup," Ben Smith of Buzzfeed tweeted after the poll was released. "So the (common wisdom) is that he is going to be president."

A closer look at other Gallup data released Tuesday shows that Obama's support since 2008 has dropped the most among voters in the South, 30- to 49-year-olds, those with four-year college degrees, postgraduates, men and Protestants. Obama has also slipped among whites, Easterners, women and Catholics, while his support is roughly the same among 18- to 29-year-olds, seniors, nonwhites and voters in the West and Midwest.

Gallup's historical standards suggest it would take a historic comeback for the president to win the election, with Romney's current six-point lead. Since Gallup started tracking in 1936, the only person to mount a comeback down six points on Oct. 17 was Ronald Reagan."

October 18, 2012 8:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maryland leans toward historic embrace of same-sex marriage in vote next month

"Maryland voters are leaning toward legalizing same-sex marriage next month, something that has never happened at the ballot box anywhere in the nation, a new Washington Post poll finds.

A ballot question on whether to uphold a state law allowing gay nuptials is favored 52 percent to 43 percent among likely voters, according to the poll, reflecting a long-term trend toward greater acceptance of gay unions that has included President Obama’s backing this year.

Same-sex marriage has become legal in six states and the District through legislative or court action. But it has never been authorized by a popular vote.

Voters in Maine and Washington state will also be presented with the issue Nov. 6 — the first time since 2009 that any state has been asked whether to legalize same-sex marriage.

Although the measures are leading in polls in all three states, the election results are hardly a given. Historically, opposition to same-sex marriage at the ballot box has been stronger than polls suggested, and an expected ad blitz from opponents in Maryland has barely begun.

On Question 6 in Maryland, voters will decide whether to uphold a law championed by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) that won narrow legislative approval this year and was swiftly petitioned to referendum by opponents.

The Post poll finds sharp differences in support for Question 6 by race, region, age and political party.

...In The Post poll, white voters break in favor of gay nuptials, 56 percent to 39 percent.

But African Americans — who had become more supportive in national polls this year — tilt against the measure. In the new survey, 42 percent of black voters support the measure, and 53 percent oppose it.

Among Democrats, the racial divide is even more stark. While 76 percent of white Democrats back Question 6, support is 40 percent among black Democrats. Republicans in the state oppose the measure by 2 to 1, while independents support it 2 to 1.

Across the state, support is highest in Montgomery County, where 65 percent of likely voters back the measure and 31 percent oppose it.

Poll results flip in Prince George’s County, where 43 percent are in favor and 54 percent are opposed to it. Voters in Baltimore City and Baltimore County tilt in favor, as do those in Anne Arundel and Howard counties. Those in the more rural rest of the state are evenly split on the question...."

October 18, 2012 9:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it's going to be an interesting election

one wild card: if large numbers of conservatives come out to vote against the casino in PG County, that could work against gay marriage

since PG county voters oppose gay marriage, the effect could be magnified

October 18, 2012 9:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"if large numbers of conservatives come out to vote"

In Maryland? Keep dreaming!

Total Voter Registration in Maryland as of August 2012:

GOP -- 940,419
Dem -- 1,983,812

October 18, 2012 10:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

not all Dems are lunatic fringe liberals

black Dems, in particular, have common sense and oppose both gay marriage and casinos

btw, I haven't voted for Dems for years but I'm a registered Dem

October 18, 2012 11:24 AM  
Anonymous the sun's goin' down on Obama said...

Mitt Romney has a six-point lead on President Barack Obama, according to a Gallup poll of likely voters released Wednesday. He leads 51-45 among likely voters.

The Gallup poll showed Romney at 50-46 on Tuesday and 49-47 on Monday.

In the first week of October, Romney was tied with Obama at 48 percent each, according to Gallup.

October 18, 2012 11:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

that's what I'm talking about

October 18, 2012 11:28 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Once again bad anonymous picks the one poll most favourable to his candidate and which outlies all the other polls and tries to pretend that's reality.

Excluding the outlier Gallup poll the average of polls has Obama ahead. This lead is going to increase as polling after the last debate gets factored in.

Worse for Romney is that he's behind several points in Ohio and no Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio. Given that Ohio had the highest unemployment rate in the nation after the Bush financial collapse and now has the lowest voters there strongly prefer Obama. Worse for Romney is that 1 in 8 jobs in Ohio is related to the auto industry and Ohioans haven't forgotten that Romney opposed the bailout that saved all those jobs. It is virtually impossible for Romney to win Ohio and given that he'll need a 3 to 4 point advantage in the national polls to be reasonably assured of getting elected - he won't get it.

October 18, 2012 12:44 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

When David Stockman was named budget director for Ronald Reagan, he came in promising a supply side revolution. After four years on the job, he resigned and wrote a book about why the whole thing didn’t work as promised. After that, he went in to private equity, the same thing Mitt Romney did, and he’s now explaining why Bain Capital was a destroyer of companies rather than a saver of them:

"Bain Capital is a product of the Great Deformation. It has garnered fabulous winnings through leveraged speculation in financial markets that have been perverted and deformed by decades of money printing and Wall Street coddling by the Fed. So Bain’s billions of profits were not rewards for capitalist creation; they were mainly windfalls collected from gambling in markets that were rigged to rise.

Nevertheless, Mitt Romney claims that his essential qualification to be president is grounded in his 15 years as head of Bain Capital, from 1984 through early 1999. According to the campaign’s narrative, it was then that he became immersed in the toils of business enterprise, learning along the way the true secrets of how to grow the economy and create jobs. The fact that Bain’s returns reputedly averaged more than 50 percent annually during this period is purportedly proof of the case—real-world validation that Romney not only was a striking business success but also has been uniquely trained and seasoned for the task of restarting the nation’s sputtering engines of capitalism.

Except Mitt Romney was not a businessman; he was a master financial speculator who bought, sold, flipped, and stripped businesses. He did not build enterprises the old-fashioned way—out of inspiration, perspiration, and a long slog in the free market fostering a new product, service, or process of production. Instead, he spent his 15 years raising debt in prodigious amounts on Wall Street so that Bain could purchase the pots and pans and castoffs of corporate America, leverage them to the hilt, gussy them up as reborn “roll-ups,” and then deliver them back to Wall Street for resale—the faster the better.

That is the modus operandi of the leveraged-buyout business, and in an honest free-market economy, there wouldn’t be much scope for it because it creates little of economic value. But we have a rigged system—a regime of crony capitalism—where the tax code heavily favors debt and capital gains, and the central bank purposefully enables rampant speculation by propping up the price of financial assets and battering down the cost of leveraged finance.

So the vast outpouring of LBOs in recent decades has been the consequence of bad policy, not the product of capitalist enterprise. I know this from 17 years of experience doing leveraged buyouts at one of the pioneering private-equity houses, Blackstone, and then my own firm. I know the pitfalls of private equity. The whole business was about maximizing debt, extracting cash, cutting head counts, skimping on capital spending, outsourcing production, and dressing up the deal for the earliest, highest-profit exit possible. Occasionally, we did invest in genuine growth companies, but without cheap debt and deep tax subsidies, most deals would not make economic sense.".

October 18, 2012 12:45 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

This has all been explained before, of course, but the fact that it comes from a former supply-sider and Republican budget official lends it a bit more credibility. So how does he suggest fixing it? He spelled it out in an interview a few months ago:

Condon: Give me your prescription to fix the economy.

Stockman: We have to eat our broccoli for a good period of time. And that means our taxes are going to go up on everybody, not just the rich. It means that we have to stop subsidizing debt by getting a sane set of people back in charge of the Fed, getting interest rates back to some kind of level that reflects the risk of holding debt over time. I think the federal funds rate ought to be 3 percent or 4 percent. (It is zero to 0.25 percent.) I mean, that’s normal in an economy with inflation at 2 percent or 3 percent.

Condon: Social Security?

Stockman: It has to be means-tested. And Medicare needs to be means-tested. If you’re a more affluent retiree, you should have your benefits cut back, pay a higher premium for Medicare.

Condon: Taxes?

Stockman: Let the Bush tax cuts expire. Let the capital gains go back to the same rate as ordinary income. (Capital gains are taxed at 15 percent, while ordinary income is taxed at marginal rates up to 35 percent.)

Condon: Why?

Stockman: Why not? I mean, is return on capital any more virtuous than some guy who’s driving a bus all day and working hard and trying to support his family? You know, with capital gains, they give you this mythology. You’re going to encourage a bunch of more jobs to appear. No, most of capital gains goes to speculators in real estate and other assets who basically lever up companies, lever up buildings, use the current income to pay the interest and after a holding period then sell the residual, the equity, and get it taxed at 15 percent. What’s so brilliant about that?

October 18, 2012 12:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Friends:

The election is coming up on all of us and we all have strong feelings about it. I’ve been getting asked a lot about where I stand, so for those who are interested, here goes.

This presidential election is different than the last one because President Obama has a four year record to run on. Last time around, he carried with him a tremendous amount of hope and expectations. Unfortunately, due to the economic chaos the previous administration left him with, and the extraordinary intensity of the opposition, it turned into a really rough ride. But through grit, determination, and focus, the President has been able to do a great many things that many of us deeply support.

Domestically, that record includes working to increase and expand employment for all, protecting our all important social safety net, passing guaranteed health care for most of our citizens, with important new protections for all of the insured, rescuing the auto industry and so many of the American jobs that go with it, protecting and enhancing the rights of women, and bringing us closer to full acceptance of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

In foreign affairs, that record includes following through on the removal of troops from the misguided and deceptive war in Iraq, and vigorously pursuing our real foreign enemies, especially the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Right now the opposition’s resort to voter suppression in so many states is not receiving as much attention as it deserves. I believe that all of us, of whatever views, should be opposing these anti-voter, anti-citizen efforts.

Right now, for the President to be effective in his next term he needs our increased support and he needs support in the Congress, where some sterling candidates, such as current Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, challenger Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, and so many others, are fighting to make their constructive voices heard.

Right now, there is an ever increasing division of wealth in this country, with the benefits going more and more to the 1 percent. For me, President Obama is our best choice to begin to reverse this harmful development.

Right now, there is a fight going on to help make this a fairer and more equitable nation. For me, President Obama is our best choice to get us and keep us moving in the right direction.

Right now, we need a President who has a vision that includes all of our citizens, not just some, whether they are our devastated poor, our pressured middle class, and yes, the wealthy too; whether they are male or female, black, white, brown, or yellow, straight or gay, civilian or military.

Right now, there is a choice going on in America, and I’m happy that we live in a country where we all participate in that process. For me, President Obama is our best choice because he has a vision of the United States as a place where we are all in this together. We’re still living through very hard times but justice, equality and real freedom are not always a tide rushing in. They are more often a slow march, inch by inch, day after long day. I believe President Obama feels these days in his bones and has the strength to live them with us and to lead us to a country “…where no one crowds you and no one goes it alone.”

That’s why I plan to be in Ohio and Iowa supporting the re-election of President Obama to lead our country for the next four years.

Bruce Springsteen

October 18, 2012 2:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another federal court strikes down DOMA
The Second Circuit ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional

A federal appeals court in Manhattan has struck down the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act that blocks same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits. The three-judge panel for the Second Circuit ruled that the law violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution, in a 2-1 ruling.

In the majority opinion, Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs writes that “DOMA’s classification of same-sex spouses was not substantially related to an important government interest. Accordingly, we hold that Section 3 of DOMA violates equal protection and is therefore unconstitutional.”

The Second Circuit is now the second appeals court to strike down the law, after a court in Boston came to the same conclusion earlier this year. The Supreme Court has put off a decision about the law, but is expected to take up at least one of the four cases that have been petitioned, at some point this term.

October 18, 2012 2:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Once again bad anonymous picks the one poll most favourable to his candidate and which outlies all the other polls and tries to pretend that's reality."

oh look, it's Priya, anxious to make a great big ol' fool of herself, just to finish off the election season with a bang

"Excluding the outlier Gallup poll the average of polls has Obama ahead."

that's funny because he doesn't act like he's winning

he's desperately trying to hold on a quickly slipping Ohio

meanwhile every other swing state that isn't already solid Romney is moving that way

and states no one expected are suddenly in play

Obama was up eleven in Wisconsin at the beginning of the month

now, we're all tied up

I remember the Carter-Reagan election

seemed close most of 1980

then Reagan started surging near the end and wound pretty much sweeping the electoral college

"This lead is going to increase as polling after the last debate gets factored in."

apparently not

Gallup just released their daily poll and Romney picked another point

he leads by seven, 52-45

let's face it: the Gallup organization is synonymous with polling

only a fool would call them an outlier

"Worse for Romney is that he's behind several points in Ohio and no Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio."

Romney will win Ohio but there are other state combos moving toward Romeny with just as many votes

"Given that Ohio had the highest unemployment rate in the nation after the Bush financial collapse and now has the lowest voters there strongly prefer Obama. Worse for Romney is that 1 in 8 jobs in Ohio is related to the auto industry and Ohioans haven't forgotten that Romney opposed the bailout that saved all those jobs."

GM was headed for bankruptcy court where they would have been restructured and most jobs saved

what was saved, and Obama's real motivation, was the lush union benefit packages

but GM is weak again- they'll fail again before long

"It is virtually impossible for Romney to win Ohio and given that he'll need a 3 to 4 point advantage in the national polls to be reasonably assured of getting elected - he won't get it."

it's at seven and counting

The U.S. presidential race will pause for comedic relief tonight with both candidates making appearances in New York City for a charity fundraising event.

Just two days after their often-combative debate, current President Barack Obama and next President Mitt Romney will address the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. The white-tie gala at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel has been a customary stop for politicians for decades.



October 18, 2012 4:39 PM  
Anonymous 7 points up and climbing said...

the media has done its best to try and prop him up, but it's no use

Obama has made absolutely no case for why he wants a second term and what he would do with one

it's too late at this point

he kind of thought we'd just vote him back in because we're so entralled by him

it's like when he first became President

Chicago was in the top two to be awarded the next Olympics

Obama thinks "I'll go personally and they'll be so dazzled, I'll put Chicago over the top"

his presentation to the committee hardly mentioned why Chicago would be the perfect city for the Olympics

instead it was full of childhood anecdotes and comments about how the athletes could sleep across the street from where he grew up

he thinks he's Elvis

in a surprise, Chicago was eliminated in the next round after Obama spoke

"Newsweek has announced it is ceasing publication at year's end, and the New York Times' David Carr writes an obit.

Like the president it has --mostly-- fawned over, Newsweek no longer interests the majority of Americans. Even those who might pick it up in the doctor's office won't buy it. It has tried all sorts of stunts, and all sorts of absurd drama, but it cannot do its basic job against rising competition. It failed. It will go away.

Like the president. The post-debate euphoria of the left will fade today as it begins to notice, as it did after Joe Biden's debacle, that their cheers on Tuesday night did not much impress the middle of the country, and that the president has ben reduced to making binder jokes while the rest of the country talks about Libya, gas prices --and the lack of an agenda for an Obama second term.

Incredibly, the president is now trying to run as an energy guy in certain counties of Ohio, and the Wall Street Journal leads the laughter.

And the focus on Libya --where the president is caught in "a bright shining lie" -- is wearing down even his staunchest supporters.

You can feel, and see, the energy draining from the Obama campaign even as it swells on the Romney/Ryan side. The Rasmussen Reports daily tracking which shows Romney maintining his two point lead and a Rassmussen Ohio poll showing the Buckeye State at a standstill post-debate, will further demoralize the Chicago gang.

Jennifer Rubin says the Obama campaign is "off balance." I think that's gentle. It is in disorganized retreat and trying to find defensible lines behind which to rally. It is very bad news that Team Obama has to deny they are pulling out of Florida, North Carolin and Virginia.

And speaking of rallies, this was Romney's in Virginia last night:

[picture of vast crowd]

The Obama campaign resembles nothing so much as John McCain's did at this point in 2008 --aware of its pending defeat, but struggling on and hoping for some enormous "game changer" to arrive. The discipline and professionalism of Team Romney minimizes that possibility, and the experience of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will prevent unforced errors.

Even if the Gallup tracking tightens a bit, the edge is so great --and the early voting during these weeks of Romney ascenbdency so significant-- that the president knows and his inner circle knows there is defeat ahead. That sort of thing cannot be hidden.

Which means the last debate will be even more off-putting than the last two as a desperate incumbent again tries to make up for the lack of a record on which to run, and the failure to develop anything resembling a second term agenda. To late for that as well.

Turns out the "brain trust" in Chicago didn't have that many brains and ought not to have been trusted"


October 18, 2012 8:23 PM  
Anonymous Romney likes self-deportation, Maryland doesn't said...

Maryland voters broadly support a measure that would allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities, according to a new Washington Post poll.

A referendum on the law appears as Question 4 on the November ballot. The poll finds 59 percent of likely voters back the measure; 35 percent are opposed.

If passed, Maryland would become the first state nationwide to approve a form of the legislation, known as the Dream Act, by a popular vote. Lawmakers in 13 states have adopted similar policies, although none has faced a statewide test at the ballot box. Federal Dream Act legislation has for years remained stalled in Congress.

In Maryland, the poll finds fully three-quarters of Democrats and 58 percent of independent voters supporting the measure, which the General Assembly narrowly passed last year and Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) signed into law.

Republicans, some of whom led a petition drive to force the measure to referendum, are against the idea by about 2 to 1, with most expressing strong opposition, according to the poll.

Sharp racial and educational divides also underlie voters’ views on the matter. White voters divide roughly evenly on the subject, while non-whites favor it by a huge margin — 75 percent to 19 percent.

More than seven in 10 voters with postgraduate degrees say they would vote yes, including a majority who say they feel strongly about it.

October 18, 2012 8:37 PM  
Anonymous take the greyhound said...

it's all tumbling like dice now

the RCP electoral projection now has Romney ahead by five electoral votes

its picking steam now

columns are beginning to be written about how the Romney administration will work with Harry Reid

people are jamming the Romney rallies to get a glimpse of the next president

Virgil, quick come see

there goes Mitt Romney

TTfers should plan a trip to Saskatchewan the first week of November

when the election results come in, you'll want to be out of the country

stoned

reality will be too much to bear

October 18, 2012 8:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tumbling dice may be the view of GOP stoner troll who is obsessed with TTF, but here's some reality the prestigious Gallup reports.

In U.S., Unadjusted Unemployment at 7.3% in Mid-October
Unemployment, underemployment lowest since Gallup began tracking

October 17, 2012
by Jenny Marlar

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, is 7.3% in mid-October, down considerably from 7.9% at the end of September and at a new low since Gallup began collecting employment data in January 2010. Gallup's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 7.7%, also down from September. October's adjusted mid-month measure is also more than a percentage point lower than October 2011.

These results are based on Gallup Daily tracking surveys conducted by landline and cell phone with more than 30,000 U.S. adults from Sept. 16-Oct. 15. Gallup's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate incorporates the .04 upward adjustment used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in October of last year. The adjustment for September was an increase of .02, which explains the .04 drop in seasonally adjusted employment despite the .06 decline in the unadjusted number.

The percentage of Americans working part time but wanting full-time work is 9.0% in mid-October, up from 8.6% in September, but still better than 9.4% in October 2011.

Despite the increase in the percentage of Americans working part time but wanting full-time work, the underemployment rate declined slightly to 16.3% in mid-October. Gallup's U.S. underemployment measure combines the unemployed with those working part time but wanting full-time work. The underemployment rate is at its lowest mid-month or monthly level Gallup has measured since it began collecting employment data in 2010.

Implications

The decline in unemployment but uptick in the number of Americans working part time but looking for full-time work is likely the result of seasonal hiring, which picks up in the fall for Halloween and continues through the end of the holiday season. Still, seasonally adjusted employment, which accounts for these types of periodic fluctuations, has declined modestly since the end of September. This is a promising sign that employers are adding jobs that will last into the new year.

Gallup's mid-month unemployment numbers are a good early predictor of the monthly numbers released by the BLS. The decline in Gallup's unadjusted and adjusted employment rate suggests that the BLS may report another decline when it releases the October data on Nov. 2.

October 19, 2012 7:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

WASHINGTON -- In the wake of Rep. Paul Ryan's embarrassing soup kitchen photo-op last week, the organization that runs the facility tells The Huffington Post that donors have begun pulling their money out of the Youngstown, Ohio charity.

Ryan may have suffered a few late-night jokes, but the fallout for the soup kitchen appears to be far more bruising. Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, confirmed that donors have begun an exodus in protest over Ryan's embarrassment. The monetary losses have been big. "It appears to be a substantial amount," Antal said. "You can rest assured there has been a substantial backlash."

Antal says he can't give an actual dollar amount. "I can't say how much [in] donations we lost," he said. "Donations are a private matter with our organization."

Antal's charity represents the kind of organization that conservative Republicans might champion. But that was before the Ryan incident went viral a few days ago. According to The Washington Post, Antal said that the moment should never have happened. He told the newspaper that the photo-op was not authorized and that the campaign had “ramrodded their way” inside.

Ryan supporters have now targeted Antal and his soup kitchen, Antal said, including making hundreds of angry phone calls. Some members of Antal's volunteer staff have had to endure the barrage as well, he said. "The sad part is a lot of [the callers] want to hide behind anonymity," he said, adding that if someone leaves their name and number he has tried to return their call. In addition to phone calls, people have posted a few choice words on the charity's Facebook wall, including statements like "I hope you lose your tax [sic] emempt status," Anyone who is thinking about donations to you should think twice" and "Shame on you Brian Antal!"

On the phone with HuffPost, Antal seemed worn out by all the vitriol. "Honesty, I really don't need any more attention," he said. "I really just want this to go away."

Antal said doesn't understand why donors would take out their frustration over the incident on those who can't afford to pay for their own meals. "I'm a volunteer,' he said. "I receive zero compensation. Withholding donations is only going to hurt the over 100,000 we serve annually."

To make a donation to the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, money can be sent to P.O. Box 224, Youngstown, Ohio 44501. Donations also may be made online [ Donate to Society of St. Vincent de Paul here ] Online donors should specify that their donations are for the Youngstown, Ohio, soup kitchen.

October 19, 2012 8:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The decline in Gallup's unadjusted and adjusted employment rate suggests that the BLS may report another decline when it releases the October data on Nov. 2."

that's great!

just the thought of President Romney is picking up economic confidence in America

October 19, 2012 9:26 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

We're going to see a slew of numbers between now and Election Day, and they're not always going to add up.

Take, for example, yesterday's Gallup tracking poll that showed Romney up by 7 percentage points among likely voters nationally, 52 percent for Romney compared to 45 percent for Obama.

Compare that to a duo of NBC News-Wall Street Journal-Marist polls that found President Obama at 51 percent in two key swing states -- up 8 points over Romney in Iowa (51 percent to 43 percent) and up 6 points over the Republican challenger in Wisconsin (51 percent to 45 percent).

The latest polling suggests a couple of things, according to ABC News Political Director Amy Walter: First, one of these is terribly off -- it is impossible to live in a world where Romney is leading nationally by seven points and yet trailing in a battleground state like Iowa by eight points. Given that the Gallup poll departs greatly from other national polls which on average show Obama ahead most statisticians would agree it is the Gallup poll that is wrong.

Second, the margins of the polls are off, but the premise is correct: Romney is doing better in national polls, but continues to trail in Electoral College math. And that scenario, while rare, is looking highly possible. How would that happen?

Here's how: Romney over-performs in the South and even some blue states which would goose his national popular vote numbers. But, millions of dollars of attack ads have kept his vote ceiling low in many of these swing states. He can close the gap, but never overcome Obama in key swing states like Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Take a look at the Electoral College map: Both sides agree that North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Colorado are the best pick-up opportunities for Romney. If he gets all of those he's at 257. But, Iowa, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Nevada are most likely to stay in Obama column. That gives the president 263.

That leaves Ohio, with its 18 Electoral Votes, as the decider.

Democrats concede the race has tightened there but they are as confident that they are going to win it as ever.

The RCP shows the electoral count slightly favouring Romney but when one looks at the numbers in greater detail its clear Obama is still ahead in the electoral college count. RCP lists 131 electoral college votes as toss-ups but when one looks at the actual polling numbers for those states Obama leads in the majority of them sometimes by significant percentages while the ones Romney leads in are by much narrower percentages. In fact most of the states the RCP lists as toss-ups lean Obama and the ones Romney leads in are much closer to ties. Given this the actual electoral college count has Obama still in the lead.

October 19, 2012 1:55 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

If you look at the RCP electoral college no toss-ups map it has Obama leading Romney 281 - 257

October 19, 2012 2:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rove.com State of the Race shows Obama leading in the electoral college count too:

Obama 194 electoral college votes with 43 more leaning his way

Romney 159 electoral college with 47 more leaning his way

95 Toss Ups


October 19, 2012 3:23 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

A statistical analysis shows Obama has a 70.4% chance of winning while Romney has a 29.6% chance of winning:


http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/gallup-vs-the-world/#more-36284

The Gallup national tracking poll now shows a very strong lead for Mitt Romney. As of Wednesday, he was ahead by six points among likely voters. Mr. Romney’s advantage grew further, to seven points, when Gallup updated its numbers on Thursday afternoon.

The Gallup poll is accounted for in the forecast model, along with all other state and national surveys.

However, its results are deeply inconsistent with the results that other polling firms are showing in the presidential race, and the Gallup poll has a history of performing very poorly when that is the case.

With so much data to sort through, it will usually be a counterproductive use of one’s time to get overly attached to the results of any one particular poll. Whether you look at the relatively simple averaging methods used by Web sites like Real Clear Politics, or the more involved techniques in the FiveThirtyEight forecast, the Gallup national tracking poll constitutes a relatively small part of the polling landscape.

Perhaps the Gallup poll accounts for 5 or 10 percent of the information that an election analyst should evaluate on a given day.

The Gallup poll’s influence on the subjective perception about where the presidential race stands seems to be proportionately much greater than that, however — especially when the poll seems to diverge from the consensus.

This simply isn’t rational, in my view. As I discuss in my book, our first instincts are often quite poor when it comes to weighing information. We tend to put too much emphasis on the newest, most widely reported and most dramatic pieces of data — more than is usually warranted.

Gallup Performs Poorly When Out of Consensus

Usually, when a poll is an outlier relative to the consensus, its results turn out badly.

You do not need to look any further than Gallup’s track record over the past two election cycles to find a demonstration of this.

To be clear, I would not recommend that you literally just disregard the Gallup poll. You should consider it — but consider it in context.

The context is that its most recent results differ substantially from the dozens of other state and national polls about the campaign. It’s much more likely that Gallup is wrong and everyone else is right than the other way around.

.

October 19, 2012 3:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A pretty little girl named Suzy was standing on the sidewalk in front of her home.
Next to her was a basket containing a number of tiny creatures; in her hand was a sign announcing FREE KITTENS.

Suddenly a line of big black cars pulled up beside her. Out of the lead car stepped a tall, grinning man. "Hi there little girl, I'm Mitt Romney. What do you have in the basket?" he asked. "Kittens," little Suzy said. "How old are they?" asked Romney. Suzy replied, "They're so young, their eyes aren't even open yet." "And what kind of kittens are they?" "Republicans," answered Suzy with a smile. Romney was delighted.

As soon as he returned to his car, he called his PR chief and told him about the little girl and the kittens. Recognizing the perfect photo op, the two men agreed that the candidate should return the next day; and in front of the assembled media, have the girl talk about her discerning kittens.

So the next day, Suzy was again standing on the sidewalk with her basket of "FREE KITTENS," when another motorcade pulled up, this time followed by vans from FOX News, ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN. Cameras and audio equipment were quickly set up, then Romney got out of his limo and walked over to little Suzy.

"Hello, again," he said, "I'd love it if you would tell all my friends out there what kind of kittens you're giving away." "Yes sir," Suzy said. "They're Democrats." Taken by surprise, the candidate stammered, "But...but...yesterday, you told me they were Republicans." Little Suzy smiled and said, "I know...but today, they have their eyes open ."

October 19, 2012 4:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"just the thought of President Romney is picking up economic confidence in America"

Oh! So that explains it!

U.S. stocks slammed on worst day since June
Nasdaq Composite ends at lowest level since early August

October 19, 2012 6:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope President Huckabee will do something to rescue the stock market!

October 19, 2012 7:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I hope President Huckabee will do something to rescue the stock market!"

even as a private citizen, he's done more than Barry

"We're going to see a slew of numbers between now and Election Day, and they're not always going to add up."

really?

thanks for that brilliant analysis

"Take, for example, yesterday's Gallup tracking poll that showed Romney up by 7 percentage points among likely voters nationally, 52 percent for Romney compared to 45 percent for Obama."

if you do, don't take it as bad as Barry

it's worrying the hell outta him

"Compare that to a duo of NBC News-Wall Street in two key swing states"

uh, that's like comparing apples and oranges

hey, look at me, I'm a brilliant analyst just like Priya!

"The latest polling suggests a couple of things,"

well, I'd hope it would suggest at least that many thrings

"First, one of these is terribly off -- it is impossible to live in a world where Romney is leading nationally by seven points and yet trailing in a battleground state like Iowa by eight points"

well, any idiot would know it doesn't suggest that

btw, in the latest poll in RCP's average for Iowa, Romney leads by a point

October 20, 2012 10:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Given that the Gallup poll departs greatly from other national polls which on average show Obama ahead most statisticians would agree it is the Gallup poll that is wrong"

actually, since Gallup uses a larger sample than all the other polls and also calls those who only use cellphones, they would tend to be more accurate

"Second, the margins of the polls are off, but the premise is correct: Romney is doing better in national polls, but continues to trail in Electoral College math."

that may be put you haven't presented evidence it's so

Iowa is one state and the most current polls show Romney leading there anyway

"And that scenario, while rare, is looking highly possible. How would that happen?"

it just happened twelve years ago

everyone is well aware that there are many ways that could happen

the question is: will it this year?

the answer is: no

"Take a look at the Electoral College map: Both sides agree that North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Colorado are the best pick-up opportunities for Romney. If he gets all of those he's at 257."

dated information

RCP has now moved New Hampshire to Romney on the no toss-up map

Rommey now has 261

"But, Iowa, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Nevada are most likely to stay in Obama column."

actually, not

That gives the president 263.

That leaves Ohio, with its 18 Electoral Votes, as the decider."

you're an idiot, Priya

Ohio would be big but it's not the only possibility

now that NH has become likely Romney, we should remember four states: Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada

Romeny leads one in the current poll and Obama leads the other three but by less than the margin of error

the combination of any two puts Romney in the White House

"If you look at the RCP electoral college no toss-ups map it has Obama leading Romney 281 - 257"

changed while you were smoking a joint

it's now 277-261 as stated above

and the White House is not feeling warm and fuzzy about it

"statistical analysis shows Obama has a 70.4% chance of winning while Romney has a 29.6% chance of winning"

fascinating, why don't just consult the oddmakers in vegas?

this is the last election anyone will pay attention to this moronic "statistical analysis"

"Usually, when a poll is an outlier relative to the consensus, its results turn out badly."

actually, no

Rasmussen was an outlier in 2008 and got it exactly right

as a matter of fact, the consensus is often wrong

"To be clear, I would not recommend that you literally just disregard the Gallup poll. You should consider it — but consider it in context."

why consider it all if it's wrong?

we all see that this is smoke to disguise the fact that Obama's campaign is in disarray and spinning out of control

October 20, 2012 10:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ezra Klein this morning in the Post: Dig into the [Gallup] poll, and you’ll find that in the most recent internals they’ve put on their Web site — which track from 10/9-10/15 — Obama is winning the West (+6), the East (+4), and the Midwest (+4). The only region he’s losing is the South. But he’s losing the South, among likely voters, by 22 points. That’s enough, in Gallup’s poll, for him to be behind in the national vote. But it’s hard to see how that puts him behind in the electoral college.

Mitt Romney is George Wallace all over again!

October 20, 2012 10:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

and how could it be otherwise?

who could be excited about voting for Obama?

even if you're a liberal, he hasn't annunciated any plan to move your agenda forward

in the town hall this week, Obama didn't mention "poverty" once

Romney mentioned it five times

isn't reducing supposed to the goal of liberals

it was in the days of Kennedy and Johnson

indeed, on every question asked Obama, his answer circled back to: we need to tax rich people more, oil comanies are evil, and Mitt Romney is dangerous

well, taxing rich people more won't reduce the deficit and will hurt economic growth

oil companies have been the biggest producers of jobs during the Obama administration so it's hard to see why the government should try to mess that up

after the last two debates, Obama's summer-long effort to demonize Romney is in shambles

here's the issue people will vote in two weeks: jobs, deficit, gas prices, economic growth

polls now show Romney is favored by Americans on all four issues

the coming weeks debate will focus on the catastrophe Obama has made of foreign policy

we will also discuss why Obama attacks Romney for proposing to restore the drastic cuts in military spending Obama has made when a bipartisan commission and, even the Washington Post, has said the military spending Romeny has proposed is necessary

a fifth issue?

perhaps

October 20, 2012 10:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Ezra Klein this morning in the Post: Dig into the [Gallup] poll"

liberals are working overtime to discredit Gallup, an American insitution

it's true that Romney is much stronger in the South but the South is not what it was in the sixties

millions have deserted the rust Belt and moved there

if Romeny wins the popular vote by seven and loses the electoral college, we'll have a constitutional amendment to end the electoral college

the popular vore winner has lost before but never by that margin

in the past, it was so close that it was irrelevant

btw, George Wallace didn't come anywhere close to winning the popular vote

just like you won't come anywhere close to winning a Mensa award

October 20, 2012 10:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Halloween will really be scary for Democrats this year!

they're scared of the judgment America is about to make on their failed Keynesian and socialist policies

two new national polls of likely voters listed on RCP this morning have Romney in the lead

furthermore, RCP's tally of states where either candidate has a clear lead has Romney leading in the electoral

some of the states listed as toss-ups must send chills down the spines of Barry and Joe:

Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania

these states were considered out of reach for Romney a couple of weeks ago

never has a Presidential campaign fallen so far, so fast

Obama's list of firsts now include:

-first multi-racial President

-first President to win the Nobel Prize for just getting elected

-first President to push national health care through Congress

-worst President in history

-first President to fail to be re-elected because he lost a debate

it's a thriller

a chiller tonight






October 20, 2012 2:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what did Obama expect?

here's his platform:

-raise the taxes on the most successful people in our society so they get what's coming to them

-save Big Bird

-never put the resume's of women in binders

who could resist voting for such a compelling agenda?

face it: most of his supporters won't show up

jobs, deficit, economic growth, gas prices

the issues that will decide the election

Obama hasn't got the first idea what to do about any of it

nor does he pretend to

the american voter will put him out of his misery and back into community organizing

October 20, 2012 3:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


Republican Voter Suppression Nationwide

Arizona: County mails wrong Election Day notice to Spanish-speakers.

Florida: Republicans scam seniors with bogus "vote by phone" calls.

Ohio: Republican defies court order by slashing early voting hours.

Virginia: Republican arrested for illegally trashing registration forms.

October 20, 2012 5:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...



of course

Dems know they are losing so they start making these allegations

we've seen it before

when you get Barack Obama to start being honest and stop saying Mitt Romnet is planning to cut taxes by 5 trillion, let us know

the clock is ticking

defeat is very near for the dumb Dems

October 20, 2012 5:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A man originally reported to have been working for the Republican Party of Virginia was arrested by the Rockingham County, Va., Sheriff’s Office on Thursday and charged with attempting to destroy voter registration forms by tossing them into a dumpster behind a shopping center in Harrisonburg, Va.

“Prosecutors charged him with four counts of destruction of voter registration applications, eight counts of failing to disclose voter registration applications and one count of obstruction of justice,” according to a report late Thursday afternoon from TPM’s Ryan Reilly. More charges could be forthcoming, according to officials.

But there is more to the story, as evidence emerges to document that it ties into a still-expanding nationwide GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal that the BRAD BLOG first began reporting in late September, after we’d learned that the Republican Party of Florida had turned in more than 100 allegedly fraudulent and otherwise suspect voter registration forms in Palm Beach County. The story has continued to widen ever since, to a dozen Florida counties and several other states, now including Virginia, and even to the upper-echelons of the Republican Party itself.

The man arrested today was 23-year-old Colin Small of Phoenixville, Pa. As it turns out, he does not only work for the Virginia Republican Party. According to an online profile, he appears to be working for the Republican National Committee.

October 20, 2012 6:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good heavens!!

the Dems are getting desperate

try arguing for your agenda honestly instead of hiding it

if the people support you, it's not logistically possible to affect the outcome of the election by things like this, which I doubt are any more widespread among Republican fanatics than Democrat lunatics, if they're happening at all

October 20, 2012 7:14 PM  

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