Daily Kos Elections liveblog thread #10

post from Daily Kos on 07 February 2012 11:56:47 PM. © Daily Kos

Tonight is the first multi-state night in the clown race we call the GOP nomination contest, with caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota, and a non-binding beauty contest in Missouri.

Results: CNN (CO, MO, MN) | Google (CO, MO, MN)

9:01 PM PT (Kaili Joy Gray):

Republicans just aren't sure if they can trust Mitt Romney to really take their Medicare away.
— @LOLGOP via Timely by Demandforce

9:02 PM PT (Steve Singiser): To alleviate some confusion, it appears likely that CNN is getting their counts separately from the "official tally" at the state GOP. That is how CNN is claiming that Rick Santorum has 3295 votes with 46 percent of the votes in, while the Colorado GOP has Santorum at 3073 with 17 percent of the precincts reporting. By either tally, however, Santorum continues to enjoy a double digit advantage.

9:04 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Here is a stunning coda to the vote in Missouri--only small Putnam County (less than 5000 residents) has not reported their tally yet. If Santorum carries Putnam, he will have won every county in the Show Me State tonight.

9:08 PM PT (Laura Clawson): Earlier, Steve highlighted Romney's drop-off from 2008 in Adams County, Colorado. We can see something similar in Elbert County, where Romney got 51 percent in 2008 and 27.8 percent tonight.

9:14 PM PT:

Nuggets crowd Monday was 14,501 in Denver (75% or so of capacity). Whole state's R caucus turnout might not match that
— @kkondik via web

9:22 PM PT: 62,000 turned out to caucus for the GOP, led by the uninspiring John McCain, in Minnesota in 2008. Tonight, they're getting maybe 40,000.

9:23 PM PT (Kaili Joy Gray): The liveblogging continues in the next thread.

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Hannity's "War On Religion" Campaign Undermined
By Catholic Support For Contraception Coverage

post from Media Matters for America - Latest Items on 07 February 2012 11:54:43 PM. © Media Matters for America - Latest Items

Continuing a Fox News campaign to portray President Obama as anti-Christian, Sean Hannity claimed the administration's requirement that insurers cover contraception for women was part of a "war on religion." That criticism is undermined by the fact that a majority of Catholics believe insurance policies should cover contraceptives.

ObamaAdministration Reaffirmed Health Insurers Must Cover Contraception

New York Times: "Obama ReaffirmsInsurers Must Cover Contraception." From a January 20 article in TheNew York Times:

The Obama administration said Friday that most healthinsurance plans must cover contraceptives for women free of charge, and itrejected a broad exemption sought by the Roman Catholic Church for insuranceprovided to employees of Catholic hospitals, colleges and charities.
Federal officials said they would give suchchurch-affiliated organizations one additional year -- until Aug. 1, 2013 -- tocomply with the requirement. Most other employers and insurers must comply bythis Aug. 1. [The New York Times, 1/20/12]

And While Polling Shows ThatCatholics Support Insurance Coverage For Contraception

Catholics For ChoicePoll Found 63 Percent Of American Catholics Support Coverage For"Contraception, Such As Birth Control Pills." According to a 2009 poll conducted forCatholics for Choice, 63 percent of American Catholics said that "healthinsurance policies -- whether they are private or government -- should cover... contraception, such as birth control pills."

[Belden Russonello& Stewart, September 2009]

And Several Catholic Groups Found A"Silver Lining" In The Move

CatholicUnited's Executive Director: "There Is A Silver Lining In Today's Ruling.Increased Access To Contraceptive Services Will Dramatically Reduce TheAbortion Rate In America." James Salt, executive director of the groupCatholics United, issued this statement in response to the contraceptionruling:

Although we recognizethe authority of Catholic teaching on the issue of contraception, we alsoacknowledge that there is a silver lining in today's ruling. Increased accessto contraceptive services will dramatically reduce the abortion rate inAmerica. Reducing abortion should be a goal recognized by both sides of thishighly polarized debate. Furthermore, we look forward to working with theadministration in finding a win-win solution that will both meet the medicalneeds of women while protecting the religious liberty of Catholic institutions.[Catholics United, 1/20/12]

CatholicDemocrats President Whelan: "These New Regulations ... Will Certainly HelpReduce The Number Of Unintended Pregnancies" And "Decrease TheIncidence Of Abortion." Dr. Patrick Whelan,president of Catholic Democrats, issued a statement on the HHS ruling thatnoted, "These new regulations, providing for greater access tocontraception, will certainly help reduce the number of unintended pregnanciesacross the country, and correspondingly are likely to further decrease theincidence of abortion." From Whelan's statement:

As a physician and pediatricspecialist, I know that news of the HHS regulations today means that more womenwill have access to the kind of health care that has been denied to millionsover the years because of the high cost. Over 50% of girls and women who usecontraceptives take them for reasons other than the prevention of pregnancy.Since the beginning of his first presidential campaign in 2007, President Obamahas emphasized the importance of preventing unintended pregnancy as the most moralapproach to solving the abortion problem. These new regulations, providing forgreater access to contraception, will certainly help reduce the number ofunintended pregnancies across the country, and correspondingly are likely tofurther decrease the incidence of abortion. [Catholic Democrats, accessed 1/26/12]

Hannity Accused Obama Of Waging "A War OnReligion"

Hannity: This Is A "War OnReligion." Hannity called thecontraception mandate an "assault on the first amendment, freedom of religion,a war on religion":

HANNITY:Do we all agree this is an assault on the first amendment, freedom of religion,a war on religion? Am I wrong? [Fox News, Hannity, 2/7/12]

Stuart Varney: PresidentObama Is Telling Catholics "You Must Abandon Your Faith, Or Abandon Charity." Stuart Varney called the contraception coveragemandate, "a cruel and arrogant move":

VARNEY:I'll go further, and I'll be harsher. I think this is a cruel and arrogant moveon the part of the president. It is cruel to tell Catholics that you mustabandon your faith, or abandon charity. That is a cruel decision to place uponanybody. [Fox News, Hannity, 2/7/12]

For Fox's ongoingcampaign to portray President Obama as anti-Catholic, click here

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Daily Kos Elections liveblog thread #9

post from Daily Kos on 07 February 2012 11:38:21 PM. © Daily Kos

Tonight is the first multi-state night in the clown race we call the GOP nomination contest, with caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota, and a non-binding beauty contest in Missouri.

Results: CNN (CO, MO, MN) | Google (CO, MO, MN)

8:42 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Mitt Romney: "This campaign is more about changing the soul of America, or protecting the soul of America, or saving the soul of America." He tries to turn this into an attack on Washington ... because Rick Santorum served in Washington. I guess that's how his machine plans to attack Santorum. But I'm not sure the DC insider label will stick to Santorum the way it does to Newt.

8:44 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Mitt Romney tells a rags to riches story about his dad. Think he's sensitive about the 1% thing? More than a little...

8:46 PM PT (Jed Lewison): LOL @ Mitt's closing line: "We've got a long way to go. And I sure love this country." Something tells me that was NOT on the TelePrompter.

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Open Thread

post from Crooks and Liars on 07 February 2012 11:30:14 PM. © Crooks and Liars

enlarge Credit: inspired by "suspicious quotation marks"

Okay now that campaign makes sense.

Open thread below....

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http://crooksandliars.com/bluegal-aka-fran/open-thread-233

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Daily Kos Elections liveblog thread #8

post from Daily Kos on 07 February 2012 11:14:05 PM. © Daily Kos

Tonight is the first multi-state night in the clown race we call the GOP nomination contest, with caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota, and a non-binding beauty contest in Missouri.

Results: CNN (CO, MO, MN) | Google (CO, MO, MN)

8:15 PM PT: Romney hasn't won a single county tonight in Minnesota or Missouri. And that county problem extends nationally:

Among the five states to have voted before tonight, plus the in-progress results from Minnesota and Missouri, Mr. Romney has won only 73 counties from among the 412 to have reported results in the Republican nomination race so far, giving him an 18 percent success rate.

8:18 PM PT (Steve Singiser): It looks like Colorado has decided to start tallying votes, after all. The number of votes has tripled (up to 3 percent reporting), and Rick Santorum still enjoys a wide lead here: he leads Romney 48-22. More important: with the snail's pace of the vote count in Colorado, he will be the beneficiary of the narrative tonight, even if Romney gets the win here some time on Wednesday.

8:22 PM PT: Goddam Ron Paul won't shut up. Ever.

8:23 PM PT (Steve Singiser): FYI: It is not showing up in the statewide numbers just yet on the Colorado GOP site, but they have tallied all the precincts in the Denver metro county of Adams County. Santorum carries the county by a 41-31 margin. Adams is the 5th largest county in the state. Thus, the overall margin is dominated by this result: Santorum 42, Romney 31.

8:25 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Whoa ... quick postscript to the Adams County results that just posted: our own David Jarman notes that Mitt Romney got 66 percent of the vote in Adams County in 2008. Tonight? Less than half. His night, clearly, is not getting any better.

8:29 PM PT (Jed Lewison): CNN's Jim Acosta reports Mitt Romney's election night "party" still has plenty of empty space?room not filled, even though it's in Denver. Maybe they should try an open bar next time.

8:30 PM PT (Steve Singiser): The following has to be considered a telling, and disturbing, statistic for Team Romney in Colorado. 17 counties have finished their tallies in the state. Rick Santorum has won 13 of them. Romney has won just one (Alamosa). Gingrich has won one (Bent). The other two counties (San Juan and Lake) were tied between Romney and Santorum.

8:32 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Tonight, Mitt Romney is finding out there's a hell of a lot more evangelicals in the GOP than Mormons

8:33 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Meanwhile, back in Missouri, a little extra indignity for Mitt: Barack Obama now leads him in actual votes: 64,019 to 63,489. Remember that Democrats really didn't even have a rationale for voting, since Obama is unopposed. That renders a "beauty contest" even more meaningless, and yet Obama is outpacing Romney there. The final margin, for what it's worth, looks like it will be 30 percent (Santorum 55, Romney 25).

8:34 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Mitt Romney is about to start speaking. He's going from a TelePrompter. Have you ever heard of a TelePrompter concession speech? Has that big shit eating grin that he often has when under stress.

8:35 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Mitt Romney congratulates Rick Santorum ... but says he still "expects" to be the nominee.

8:37 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Mitt Romney's sideburns are getting long. I get the feeling that he's hiding his seething anger about tonight's results in there. His speech so far is mostly focused on President Obama. I don't think he realizes that he needs to beat Rick Santorum first.

8:38 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Hahahaha: Mitt Romney just "borrowed" Newt Gingrich's food stamps attack. There's really nothing he won't say if he thinks it'll help him win.

8:39 PM PT (David Nir): The liveblogging continues in the next thread.

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C&L's Late Night Music Club With Beck, Bogert &
Appice

post from Crooks and Liars on 07 February 2012 11:04:26 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Title: SuperstitionArtist: Beck, Bogert & Appice

Here's a nice Stevie Wonder cover by the supergroup composed of Jeff Beck with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice of Cactus and Vanilla Fudge fame. What's your favorite 'Supergroup'?

Beck Bogert & Appice

Artist: Beck Bogert & Appice Price: $2.55 (As of 02/07/12 05:59 pm details)

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Wipeout

It's looking like Romney will not win a single county in Missouri. [...]

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That Doesn't Make Sense

The word coming from the Mitt campaign is that Missouri doesn't really matter because there are no delegates there and they didn't commit time or money. The problem, though, is that Santorum doesn't really have any time or money to commit there either. [...]

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Minnesota Goes To Santorum

Make that 2 out of 2 so far for Rick Santorum. Missouri and Minnesota, with Colorado still to be decided.[...]

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The "Southern Strategy" never gets old.

Man I can't believe that Rick [I should be in a] Sanitarium is beating up on Flipper tonight. I thought that Flipper had this thing wrapped up. These conservatives sure are making it hard for Mr. Stiff. Missouri is just a beauty contest, so it means nothing in terms of delegates. These candidates didn't really spend money in the states in play tonight, and where there is no need for money Flipper falters. He has a lot of money, but that's about it. Talk about underwhelming. He swamped all those media markets in Florida with negative ads. about Newt, and, as a result, he kicked his ass. But money can buy you votes, but it sure can't buy you love. And right about now these wingnuts have no love for Flipper.

Rick, you better watch out, those incoming negative scuds will be falling on your head soon. And you might want to put a bullet proof armor under those sweater vests.

Finally, while the political chattering class continues to obsess about this latest dust up between HHS and the Catholic Church. (A false controversy if I have ever seen one. To me, religious bigotry was being forced to join a f*&^%$g club to buy a bottle of wine in a restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah.) The real "okeydoke", of course, is taking place in state capitals all across the South.

"North Carolina State Senator Eric Mansfield was born in 1964, a year before the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote for African-Americans. He grew up in Columbus, Georgia, and moved to North Carolina when he was stationed at Fort Bragg. He became an Army doctor, opening a practice in Fayetteville after leaving the service. Mansfield says he was always ?very cynical about politics? but decided to run for office in 2010 after being inspired by Barack Obama?s presidential run.

He ran a grassroots campaign in the Obama mold, easily winning the election with 67 percent of the vote. He represented a compact section of northwest Fayetteville that included Fort Bragg and the most populous areas of the city. It was a socioeconomically diverse district, comprising white and black and rich and poor sections of the city. Though his district had a black voting age population (BVAP) of 45 percent, Mansfield, who is African-American, lives in an old, affluent part of town that he estimates is 90 percent white. Many of his neighbors are also his patients.

But after the 2010 census and North Carolina?s once-per-decade redistricting process?which Republicans control by virtue of winning the state?s General Assembly for the first time since the McKinley administration?Mansfield?s district looks radically different. It resembles a fat squid, its large head in an adjoining rural county with little in common with Mansfield?s previously urban district, and its long tentacles reaching exclusively into the black neighborhoods of Fayetteville. The BVAP has increased from 45 to 51 percent, as white voters were surgically removed from the district and placed in a neighboring Senate district represented by a white Republican whom GOP leaders want to protect in 2012. Mansfield?s own street was divided in half, and he no longer represents most of the people in his neighborhood. His new district spans 350 square miles, roughly the distance from Fayetteville to Atlanta. Thirty-three voting precincts in his district have been divided to accommodate the influx of new black voters. ?My district has never elected a nonminority state senator, even though minorities were never more than 45 percent of the vote,? Mansfield says. ?I didn?t need the help. I was doing OK.?

Mansfield?s district is emblematic of how the redistricting process has changed the political complexion of North Carolina, as Republicans attempt to turn this racially integrated swing state into a GOP bastion, with white Republicans in the majority and black Democrats in the minority for the next decade. ?We?re having the same conversations we had forty years ago in the South, that black people can only represent black people and white people can only represent white people,? says Mansfield. ?I?d hope that in 2012 we?d have grown better than that.? Before this year, for example, there were no Senate districts with a BVAP of 50 percent or higher. Now there are nine. A lawsuit filed by the NAACP and other advocacy groups calls the redistricting maps ?an intentional and cynical use of race that exceeds what is required to ensure fairness to previously disenfranchised racial minority voters.?

And it?s not just happening in North Carolina. In virtually every state in the South, at the Congressional and state level, Republicans?to protect and expand their gains in 2010?have increased the number of minority voters in majority-minority districts represented overwhelmingly by black Democrats while diluting the minority vote in swing or crossover districts held by white Democrats. ?What?s uniform across the South is that Republicans are using race as a central basis in drawing districts for partisan advantage,? says Anita Earls, a prominent civil rights lawyer and executive director of the Durham-based Southern Coalition for Social Justice. ?The bigger picture is to ultimately make the Democratic Party in the South be represented only by people of color.? The GOP?s long-term goal is to enshrine a system of racially polarized voting that will make it harder for Democrats to win races on local, state, federal and presidential levels. Four years after the election of Barack Obama, which offered the promise of a new day of postracial politics in states like North Carolina, Republicans are once again employing a Southern Strategy that would make Richard Nixon and Lee Atwater proud.

The consequences of redistricting in North Carolina?one of the most important swing states in the country?could determine who controls Congress and the presidency in 2012. Democrats hold seven of the state?s thirteen Congressional seats, but after redistricting they could control only three?the largest shift for Republicans at the Congressional level in any state this year. Though Obama won eight of the thirteen districts, under the new maps his vote would be contained in only three heavily Democratic districts?all of which would have voted 68 percent or higher for the president in 2008?while the rest of the districts would have favored John McCain by 55 percent or more. ?GOP candidates could win just over half of the statewide vote for Congress and end up with 62 percent to 77 percent of the seats,? found John Hood, president of the conservative John Locke Foundation." [Rest of story here] (h/t to my man Dan for this story)

I have to give it to republicans; they sure know how to hold on to power: polarize and sure up your base. It's brilliant!

I guess we will just have to put that "post-racial" thingy on hold for awhile.

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