Election 2012

[DanaC]

Just saw this on the BBCNews feed:

1550: Reports circulate of voting-machine glitches. Pennsylvania polling officials say one of their machines had to be rebooted after switching a vote from Obama to Romney. There was a similar snag on Monday in Pueblo County, Colorado, this time of machines turning votes for Romney to Obama. But an official told the BBC that was user error and those particular machines were not in use today.

[Ibby]

just sayin'... you won't convince me this ain't some racist shit going on.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Lots of shenanigans.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...egularities-2/

[Cyber Wolf]

I really have to give the Obama camp people in my area some kudos for effort.

The voting laws changed in Virginia. The new requirements aren't complicated, but the change would catch some who weren't prepared off-guard. Ever since around mid-August, I've been getting home visits and door-hanger pamphlets from groups supporting Obama. Each and every time, the material they left behind had a huge section that explained the changes in the voting laws, how and where to register to vote and what you would need to show when you got to the front of the line. When I actually opened my door to one of the home visits, they asked directly if I had any questions on how to register or what to bring. This past weekend, I had no less than 5 visit attempts. I stopped answering the door because 1) their efforts were wasted on me, that is I already was registered and knew what I needed well before this effort and 2) cmon... lemme have my weekend in peace! But even so, I was glad they were out there doing this.

I have not once ever gotten a home visit or a leave-behind from any of Romney's supporters. No fliers with reasons to vote for him, no fliers with reasons to not vote for Obama, no fliers with info on how to register or what to bring to the voting station. There could be a bunch of reasons why, such as this area was too blue for them to bother, or red enough so they didn't feel they needed to, or his local camps had a lousy print media budget, or there just wasn't a Romney camp presence like Obama's in my area or... I just know that, if I was really on the fence trying to decide and had my misgivings about both candidates, I'd feel the Obamatons want me to be involved in this process and Romneyites don't give a whatsit. And while that alone isn't enough reason to vote for someone, with all the encouragement by both candidates to get people to go out and vote, it does make it look better for him. I would also think his camp would be doing all they can to curry favor and, by proxy, some votes from people all over the state since even he says it's an important battleground state he really wants to win.

Romney: "Go vote!"
Obama: "Go vote! Here's how!"

[BigV]

572 vote difference at this moment with 77% precincts reporting in Florida. deja fucking vu.

[BigV]

Cyber Wolf, I gotta say AMEN!!

Just five minutes ago I answered a knock at the door to make sure that BD and BigV had voted. Yes, young lady, I've voted, we've all voted. Thanks!! she said, and walked away. I called her back and asked her what about the other voters registered here and she said, as she looked at her phone/app, this was just updated today, so they're not on the list.

She strikes me as an Obama supporter, though I didn't ask. This is all blue territory, and she's not the first one to knock on my door like that. The "ground game" is *all* Obama, and that shit makes a difference. Here in WA, the electoral votes were never in question, but we do have some down ballot issues that are also important, including governor.

[BigV]

more rapid fire observations...

I'm listening to two radios, one with (one of the) the local npr station(s) and the other with the local voice of the conservatives, KTTH. Interestingly, they're just the local guys on the conservative station, not the fox heavyweights that broadcast during the day (hannity, limbaugh, medved, beck, etc, etc). There's some sniping, some sour grapes, some wishful thinking. Lots of blaming. Especially hurricane Sandy.

***

just heard that turnout in my county is north of 87%. WOW.

[BigV]

Paul Ryan won his election for US House of Representatives. Yeah, *that* Paul Ryan.

[Lamplighter]

A milestone, and a major loss for the GOP

...the military vote split 50/50

* The shadow of the Lamp on the wall is smiling contentedly*

[Big Sarge]

the military split truly surprised me

[BigV]

why did it surprise you?

Isn't our military made up of the same stuff as our nation? the popular vote is quite close, about 50-50.

You *ahem* don't think half the military is ..I forget the words you used, but you know. dummies?

[xoxoxoBruce]

GOP has lost New England.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, did not capture a single electoral vote here. Sen. Scott Brown, who electrified Republicans with his upset victory in a January 2010 special election to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, was cast aside by Massachusetts voters in favor of Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

More Times Breaking News
Two injured in Sandwich crash - 2:51 pm Woods Hole man killed in early a.m. crash - 1:30 pm Predicting presidents, storms and life by computer - 10:30 am Singles Day: China's online shopping holiday - 9:45 am See All Breaking News Stories »Elsewhere in New England, Republicans lost every major election for Congress and governor. The six-state region will not have a single Republican U.S. House member, and only two Republican senators will serve in the next session. Only one of six governor's offices will be filled by a Republican.
~snip~
The rout extended to local races, as well. Republicans fell from eight to five out of 38 seats in the Rhode Island Senate, leading one Republican operative to observe on Twitter, "RI Senate GOP can caucus in a mid-size sedan. How convenient." The same can be said in Massachusetts, where only four of 40 state senators are Republican.
~snip~
Maine still has a Republican governor, tea party-backed Paul LePage, and Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont had Republican governors who left office in January 2011. But the overall trend has been Republicans losing ground, even in New Hampshire and Maine, once strongholds for the party.

In New Hampshire, the "live free or die" state that has long prided itself on low taxes and small government, Republicans lost both the state's U.S. House seats, as well as control of the state House of Representatives, although they retained narrow control in the state Senate. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, won the governor's office.

Maine still has a sitting Republican U.S. senator, Susan Collins. But Democrats on Tuesday won both chambers of the Legislature, and independent former Gov. Angus King won the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by centrist Republican Olympia Snowe.

The only other Republican who represents the region in Washington is Sen. Kelly Ayotte, of New Hampshire. Vermont's senators are a Democrat and an independent, Bernie Sanders, who calls himself a democratic socialist and caucuses with Democrats.

link

[Lamplighter]

For political junkies (like me), these are the best of times and the worst of times.
This morning, I started with a NY Times editorial about
the election and "inequities" of the Electoral College,
and then followed Google links to where ever they might lead.
It has been very entertaining ...


NY Times Editorial
Published: November 15, 2012
The Tarnish of the Electoral College


Rolling Stone
Tim Dickinson
November 7, 2012
President Obama's Six Keys to Victory

And then on to a "conservative" take on the election.
This is actually quite a thoughtful article...

NJ.com
November 12, 2012
The GOP's media cocoon

A long-simmering generational battle in the conservative movement is boiling over
after last week's shellacking, with younger operatives and ideologues going public
with calls that Republicans break free from a political-media cocoon
that has become intellectually suffocating and self-defeating.

GOP officials have chalked up their electoral thumping to everything
from the country's changing demographics to an ill-timed hurricane
and failed voter turn-out system, but a cadre of Republicans under 50
believes the party's problem is even more fundamental.
<snip>
The party is suffering from Pauline Kaelism.

Kael was The New Yorker movie critic who famously said in the wake of Richard M. Nixon's
49-state landslide in 1972 that she knew only one person who voted for Nixon.

But then just to prove the point, there was this...

Politico
11/16/12
Charlie Webster: Sorry for 'black people' claim

Earlier this week, Webster told a local television station that
“In some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens, dozens of black people
who came in and voted on Election Day. Everybody has a right to vote,
but nobody in town knows anyone who’s black.”

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Remember that post about John Ludlow

Now look at the crap going on in that election...

Times Union.com
STEVEN DUBOIS, Associated Press
November 2, 2012
Ballot tampering reported in Clackamas County
[Skuttle-butt says a female, temporary, employee in the Sec of State's office
was illegally marking ballots for John Ludlow when the original voter had not voted for either candidate.]

Republicans party officials are already denying everything,
and demanding an apology from Ludlow's opponent, Charlette Lehan,
after her campaign chairman made the following statement:

As a follow up to that mess...

Portland Tribune
Raymond Rendleman
25 April 2013
Former county elections worker pleads guilty to fraud charges

Deanna Swenson, a former Clackamas County elections worker,
was sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to official misconduct
and tampering with ballots cast for the November election.

Besides the jail time, Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Susie L. Norby ordered
Swenson to pay more than $13,000 in fines and perform community service.
After working in several elections, Swenson is now banned from the Clackamas County Elections Office.

“This prosecution sends a strong message:
Voter fraud will not be tolerated in Oregon,” said Secretary of State Kate Brown.
<snip>
Senior Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. McCauley prosecuted the case.
“Department of Justice investigators and prosecutors took this case from the initial tip
through investigation to indictment and guilty plea in less than six months,”
said Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum.
“Anyone attempting to subvert Oregon’s elections should know
from this quick and successful prosecution that such conduct is unacceptable.”

[xoxoxoBruce]

It's good she was caught and punished, but it doesn't correct the election, and it doesn't stop them from bringing in a throw-away shill again next time.