Live Election Returns Map

The LA Times is running a live Election Returns Map which will be ongoing until the voting is over nationwide.

To keep track of it, Bookmark this page:

http://graphics.latimes.com/2012-election-results-national-map/

It will be a long while before a lot is up there (right now there is only a teeny bit of New Hampshire), but this will be a helpful track keeper.

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• How To Watch Tonight’s Election Results Online (readwrite.com)
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• Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Bookmark our poll closing times map & key races list for Tuesday (dailykos.com)

 

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Just Returned From Early Voting…

After having done the Friday Morning radio show on WSHC with John Case, Elly and I set out to go to Charles Town, WV, for a visit to the Jefferson County Courthouse for early voting. Since John and his wife, Carol, were already planning to vote today, Elly and I arranged to meet them at the polling place and to have lunch afterward at our favorite Charles Town restaurant, Mezzaluna.

We spent over an hour from getting into the Court House line through voting at the booth. I never expected that it would take that much time, but the lines were very, very long. It seems like many of our fellow citizens were there to vote early… but remember, this was the third day of early voting and it was still mobbed this morning.

But we HAVE voted and I feel very good about it. The odds are very low that West Virginia will agree with me on most of the votes… particularly it is not considered likely that WV will go for Obama. But you have to vote your conscience anyway, and I did.

The Courthouse is a famous location in Jefferson County since it was here that John Brown was tried and convicted for the Harpers Ferry raid during the Civil War. Now it’s famous as the place where Elly and I do early voting.

I hope everyone out there remembers to vote, either early or on election day.

Related articles

• Is Early Voting A ‘Quiet Revolution?’ (npr.org)
• Obama is First Sitting President to Vote Early: PHOTO (towleroad.com)
• Maryland To Monitor Storm Impact On Early Voting (baltimore.cbslocal.com)

 

Hey WV folks… it’s Early Voting time…

Today’s the day. Early voting starts today in West Virginia and I think Elly and I will be heading over to the Charles Town County Courthouse on Friday to cast our ballots for Obama. Speaking of Obama… he will be doing early voting in Chicago on his current speaking tour. That makes him the first President in office to vote early.

BTW… polls are open on Saturday.

 

The latest Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll finds President Obama had a lead of 53% to 42% among the 17% of the surveyed registered voters who said they had already cast their vote. Let’s keep it up!

Related articles

• Is Early Voting A ‘Quiet Revolution?’ (npr.org)
• Early voting is underway in many states… how about yours? (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
• Early voting begins in West Virginia (wvgazette.com)
• Tennessee early voting exceeding expectations (timesfreepress.com)
• Early Voting Information (arkansasmatters.com)
• Illinois Early Voting Begins Today (progressillinois.com)
• RNC: Check Out Our Early Votes in Swing States! (nationalreview.com)

 

Tax Benefits for the Middle Class with Obamacare

No matter what the Republicans in Congress say as they pass Eric Cantor‘s legislative move to repeal Obamacare (don’t worry, the Senate will send it to the crapper), it should be clear that the health care program benefits the Middle class. Especially with tax cuts.

Take a look:

Save this to argue with your Republican friends (as if they’ll listen!)

Related articles

• Eric Cantor: Republicans DID have an Obamacare alternative! (dailykos.com)
• BOEHNER: Congressional Republicans resolved to repeal Obamacare – Washington Times (gds44.wordpress.com)
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• Eric Cantor says House will vote on Obamacare repeal in July (radio.woai.com)
• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor schedules vote to REPEAL OBAMA-CARE for July 11, 2012. (investmentwatchblog.com)
• Mission Impossible: Romney’s ambitious first term agenda (firstread.msnbc.msn.com)

Virginia + GOP = Party Distrust

Things are Upside Down in Virginia

Since the announcement that Gingrich and Perry did not make the filing deadline of signatures to be on the VA primary ballot, and the upcoming legal controversy that VA does not allow write-ins, the relationship between state and registered voters takes away their choices for the future. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE PRIMARY!

You see,

Anyone who wants to vote must sign a form at the polling place pledging to support the eventual Republican nominee for president. Anyone who refuses to sign will be barred from voting in the primary.

– Richmond Times-Dispatch

So if you vote in the Virginia Republican Primary, you can write off any chance of changing your
mind after the fact… in other words, you give up your freedom to select the candidate of your final choice.

Let’s hear it for Virginia.

(Hey, thanks for pointing me toward this one, Josh.)

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• Virginia GOP To Require Primary Loyalty Oath (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Ken Cuccinelli’s statement on Virginia Primary Process (virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com)
• Virginia GOP to Require “Loyalty Oath” To Vote in the Primary (minx.cc)
• Newt the Unprepared (mhasegawa.wordpress.com)
• Gingrich Will Run An ‘Agressive Write-In Campaign’ In Virginia Primaries, Where Write-Ins Are Illegal (thinkprogress.org)
• Perry challenges Virginia ballot rules (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• VA GOP Primary: what a mess! (vivianpaige.com)
• After Only 2 Qualify For Presidential Primary, Virginia GOP Chairman Says State Should Change Election Law (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)
• Unconstitutional: Va. GOP to require loyalty oath in presidential primary (actualgrit.wordpress.com)

What’s your opinion… are congressional legislators ethical?

According to a poll reported on by The Hill:

58 percent of voters think most members of Congress are “unethical,” while only 25 percent consider the majority to be principled. Seventeen percent are unsure.

Furthermore, those polled didn’t seem to trust one party over another… and 68% believe that ethical standards have declined among politicians in recent decades while only 7% thought they had improved.

The poll was taken three days after Weiner announced his responsibility for sending suggestive photographs of himself to women he didn’t know.

69% of those polled said they somewhat or strongly disapproved of the job Congress is doing,  25% said they somewhat approved and just 3% said they strongly approved. 33% said men in office are less ethical than women.

The figures are based on a national survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted by Pulse Opinion Research.

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• Is Congress Getting More Unethical? (politicalwire.com)
• Poll: Weiner constituents say stay (politico.com)
• Everybody Hates Congress (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Pols misread polls, spin wrong message from Weiner (proseandthorn.wordpress.com)

A petition worth signing… make sure everyone can vote, not just the friends of Republicans!

Stop Vote Suppression!

Now that they control a majority of statehouses across the nation, Republicans are attempting a bold power grab to disenfranchise voters and repeat the Florida election debacle of 2000.

Right now, states with Republican governors or new GOP majorities are ramming through bills designed to make it harder for people to vote.

They’ll stop at nothing to steal the Presidency.

We have to act now to stop these bills from becoming law. The Democratic Governors Association is the only organization devoted solely to electing Democratic governors who will veto any and all attempts to limit voter rights. Use the form at the right to stand with the DGA and demand that Republicans stop their politically-motivated attempts to suppress votes.

 

Go HERE.

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• My new podcast is at 10 AM… I’m getting ready. (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Update:

As of 9:30 this morning:

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com   Scott Walker’s ‘Waterloo’: 19 Counties Flip To Democrats In Wisconsin Supreme Court Race   Walker Flipped A divisive budget battle between labor unions and Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) turned a state Supreme Court race into a nationally watched bellwether on the electorate’s mood heading into a recall campaign and the 2012 elections. Nearly 1.5 million people turned out to vote, representing 33.5 percent of voting-age adults — 68 percent higher than the 20 percent turnout officials had expected. JoAnne Kloppenburg has already declared victory, with the vote tallies showing her beating incumbent David Prosser by just a couple hundred votes. The race is expected to head to a recount. Significantly, 19 counties that went for Walker in the 2010 elections this time flipped and went for Kloppenburg, including LaCrosse (59 percent), Sauk (56 percent) and Dunn (56 percent). Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court serve 10-year terms, and unseating a member is extremely rare.

Digging his own Grave…

clipped from tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com   Poll: Wisconsin Voters Wouldn’t Elect Gov. Walker In Do-Over Wisconsin voters already have buyers remorse about electing Gov. Scott Walker (R).  In a PPP poll released Monday, a majority of registered Wisconsin voters say that in a hypothetical re-do of last year’s gubernatorial election, they would vote for Democrat Tom Barrett, whom Walker defeated in November. That finding comes as Walker continues to stand firm on his budget proposals that would strip most state public employees of long-held collective bargaining rights. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they would vote for Barrett if the election were held today, while 45% said they would vote for Walker. That’s almost exactly the opposite of what happened in the election, when Walker won the governorship with 52% of the vote to Barrett’s 47%. The huge shift comes, not surprisingly, from union members. The results are the latest findings to show Walker losing support as the stalemate wears on.

Perhaps this is happening everywhere that Republicans got in last November as they ignore the people and go for firming up the rich…

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• 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (usnews.com)
• The heroes in the Wisconsin Story (iflizwerequeen.com)
• Wisconsin union files unfair labor practices charge against Walker (+ link to full complaint) (wilderside.wordpress.com)

OK… DADT is now history… the Senate has voted it out and the bill is on its way to Obama.

So the score so far today is Democrats 1 (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is voted out), Republicans 1 (Dream act voted down… actually, it didn’t get passed the 61 vote filibuster requirement). Tomorrow they will be debating and maybe voting on the START treaty… whoever wins on that one will break the score.

 

I hope Harry Reid can keep everyone there until the work is done.

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• DADT Breaks Filibuster (talkingpointsmemo.com)
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• So Is DADT History? (talkingpointsmemo.com)
• Six GOP-ers push DADT over the top (politico.com)
• Fate of DADT and DREAM Act decided today (dailykos.com)

Polls in the East will be closing in a couple of hours…

…and then the television chatter will begin, especially on CNN, MSNBC and FOXnews. All of these stations started blabbering early today, pushing the polls and debating possible upsets and surprises. I’m not sure there will be any surprises, but that’s me. It would sure be nice if there WAS a surprise… like the Dems kept control of both the House and Senate, the Tea Party Crazies get voted down, or voter turnout meets no one’s expectations.

I’ll tell you one thing, this election season has made me much more of a Liberal (and I didn’t say “Progressive”.) But that’s me… I usually side with people who seem to be meeting a real challenge. Tomorrow I’ll be posting to this blog results and comments and guesses as to the future… then we can start working on 2012.

As of now, I’m taking the night off. See you all tomorrow.

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Tomorrow is Election Day… When you go to vote, REMEMBER:

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New Republican Strategy: Tell Dems it’s going to rain on November 2nd.

Today there was a string of articles…started, I think, by Politico (whose affiliation with the political right has been sort of present since its creation)… warning Democrats in advance that it was going to rain next Tuesday.  On top of the weather report is the series of “expert” statements that bad weather keeps Dems home from the polls, while Repubs seem to love voting in the rain.

Now, as one who has stood in line outdoors with many other Democrats to vote over the years, I’m not sure I want them to convince me that I don’t vote in the rain. In reality, I’ve voted already, as have more Dems than Repubs as I understand it from the news, and it was raining the day I voted. Oh well, I didn’t know rain was supposed to keep me home. I should have asked the other Democrats who were voting that day (there were a bunch) if they knew about our weather wariness. Apparently they didn’t.

And this piece turned up at The Hill (which also, it seems to me) is a non-progressive publication:

According to Laurel Harbridge, a Northwestern University political science professor, GOP voters are not typically discouraged by rain. “Republicans are helped by bad weather … it does harm Democratic prospects.”

Wendy Schiller, a political science professor at Brown University, echoed Harbridge. “Bad weather almost always hurts Democrats,” she said. “The traditional Democratic base tends to include lower-income people and the elderly. Both of those demographic groups have a hard time getting to the polls.”

Anyway… I think this time bad weather might even help Democrats. We will realize much more clearly that a great pile of these Republican/Tea Party candidates are more like bad weather than good government.

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How the House Voted Last Year (Thanks to Congress.org)

Click through the links below to see how your lawmaker voted:

1. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Passed (219-212)

In March, the House passed this bill, which would overhaul the nation’s health insurance system and require most individuals to buy health insurance by 2014.

2. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania Amendment; National Defense Authorization Act, FY2011
Agreed to (234-194, 10 Not Voting)

During the defense authorization bill debate in May, the House adopted this amendment that would repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the military.

3. Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
Passed (237-192, 4 Not Voting)

The House passed the final version of the financial regulation reform legislation in June.

4. Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act
Passed (247-161, 25 Not Voting)

In August, the House passed this bill to provide $16.1 billion to extend increased Medicaid assistance to states and $10 billion in funding for states to create or retain teachers’ jobs.

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I Voted…Now I wait to see the results (and push the people I support here and on the radio)

John Case and I still have politicians to talk with and about on Winners and Losers on WSHC FM (89.7 in Shepherdstown WV… or online at http://www.897wshc.org)… I’ll be on on Friday Morning (7:30 – 9:00 AM) and I may show up on Wednesday, too.

I voted a mixed ballot this time as I am in favor of Ed Dunleavy, who is an independent, for County Commissioner, so a straight Democratic ballot was not possible. I’m not the only one doing this around here… Dunleavy has quite a few supporters. I also voted for Virginia Graf for Representative in Congress, although the odds of her winning are near zero, partly because the way the District has been gerrymandered. To vote for the Republican, Shelly Moore Capito, would have made me vomit! She has done so little for West Virginia and has been part of John Boehner‘s conservative backbone in the House.

Of course, I voted for Manchin for Senate… even though he is much more conservative than I can stand… at the very least, he is not a creep like Raese the WV candidate from Florida. I hope Manchin makes it. It’s one thing to have a politician you disagree with, but whose overall record you can admire (like Delegate Doyle, who I also voted for, for instance) than to have a politician who is a complete idiot with no comprehension of contemporary government.

Now we just wait 2 weeks and see what happens.

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• West Virginia’s Senate Race: Joe Manchin vs. John Raese (time.com)
• West Virginia’s Senate Race: Joe Manchin vs. John Raese (time.com)
• Race is tight for Byrd’s Senate seat in West Virginia (cnn.com)
• WV-Sen: We’re not just from Florida. Colorado too. (dailykos.com)
• Clinton goes on attack for Manchin (politico.com)
• Michelle Obama Touts Early Voting, Will Cast Ballot in Chicago Thursday (politicsdaily.com)
• Jefferson County Commission… I’m supporting Ed Dunleavy (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)