Sunday, 3/2/14, Public Square

Monday, 11/4/13, Public Square

This is why the Republican Party must resort to restricting the vote.  The map below shows the way it ended five years ago today.

Four years later against Romney in the 2012 presidential election, President Obama won 281 electoral votes and Romney lost with 191.

 

Can’t they just be appointed?

An actual election isn’t necessary, is it?  Can’t the beauty queen and the centerfold simply take over as president and vice president?  They can decide who gets which office between them, or maybe they’ll rotate on a yet to be determined schedule.

What we do know for absolutely sure at this point is that when Brown won his Senate seat in Massachusetts that win had national importance that went far beyond simply winning a single seat in a single race!  🙂  At least that’s what everyone is telling us, so it must be true!

fnord

Managed Care Stocks Up; Hospital Stocks Down

In anticipation of the upset Republican victory in Massachusetts today, the Wall Street Journal tells us that Managed Care stocks are up while Hospital stocks are down.

I hope those making this bet lose the election and their money.

iggydonnelly

Obama may want to look at this….

Thursday, Jan 14, 2010 18:26 EST –  Salon website

Doomsday for Obama in 2012? Not quite

New poll shows Obama losing to unnamed challenger in 2012, but outlook may not be quite as bleak as it seems

By Emily Holleman

Depending on what side of the aisle you’re on, you may have woken up to some dispiriting – or validating – news this morning: A  National Journal poll in which 50 percent of respondents said they’d vote for “someone else” other than President Obama if the presidential election of 2012 were held today. Just 39 percent of those polled said they would “probably” or “definitely” vote to reelect the president.

The results broke fairly predictably along party lines with 86 percent of Republicans saying they would vote for someone else and 77 percent of Democrats reporting they’d vote to keep Obama in office. Among independents, the story’s a bit more troubling for Obama — just 33 percent in that group said they would vote to reelect him, while 54 percent said they’d opt for the alternative to-be-named.

Now, this clearly isn’t great news for the Obama camp, but the outcome isn’t nearly as damning as it appears at first glance.

The results may have been as dim as they are in large part because the question pitted Obama against an unnamed opponent from an unspecified party. Although pollsters often use this type of generic question, it tends to yield the worst imaginable outcome for incumbents, since respondents are free to picture the anonymous opponent any way they like.

“It’s going to tend to be a worst case scenario, because it allows you to imagine whoever you want,” Pollster.com’s Mark Blumenthal says. “If you’re an unhappy progressive, you may be imagining a primary challenger, even though you might be voting for a Democrat in a general election. If you’re a Republican, you may be thinking of your ideal candidate. It may be different if the Republican candidate is Sarah Palin or someone else you’re less happy with.”

2010 Elections are going to be interesting….

This article goes into key dates and key races to watch for the 2010 elections.  Will the pollsters be correct or will there be a surprise or two in the final count?

Lilac

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/01/12/2010_political_calendar/index.html

Tuesday, 11/03/09, Public Square

Today Virginia and New Jersey are choosing governors, voters in upstate New York and northern California are deciding who should fill two vacant congressional seats, and New York City and Atlanta are picking mayors. Maine will vote on whether to permit gay marriage while Ohio will choose whether to allow casinos.

The political ‘experts’ are saying this handful of elections will give hints about this country’s state of mind, provide lessons for both Republicans and Democrats, and shed light on answers to a few important questions a year before pivotal 2010 midterm contests.

• Did President Barack Obama’s campaigning in Virginia and New Jersey persuade the diverse voting coalition that lifted him to victory in 2008 to turn out for Democratic candidates in 2009?
• Did fickle independents stick with the Democratic Party?
• Did the out-of-power GOP overcome fissures within its ranks to find a winning strategy?

Here’s what I predict — those and other very important questions will be asked and answered by political pundits and there will be at least as many answers as there are pundits asked to share their opinions.

fnord

What defines a ‘true’ Conservative?

I’m trying not to be snarky here, but I once was (a few years ago before bush the lesser!) a conservative and today I feel betrayed, so my disappointment and (sometimes) anger might come out snarky.

I was reading the latest installment about the Young Republicans election of their new chairman written by John Avlon, “Bullying Behind GOP “Racist” Win, and he states, “The Young Republicans faced a stark choice at their convention in Indianapolis yesterday as they chose their next leader: a center-right twentysomething interested in greater outreach, or a self-described “true conservative” who is almost 40 and spent last week dealing with Daily Beast reports about her beliefs, which are, at best, often hateful, and at worst, downright racist. The delegates, in a vote of 470 – 415, chose the latter.”

Calling the newly elected chairman a “true conservative,” made me wonder anew what that title means. I suspect it has a different meaning for different people and that just might be one of the biggest challenges facing The Republican Party today!