RandySF
RandySF's JournalVirginia Officials Confirm Criminal Election Fraud Investigation of Gingrich Campaign
Nonetheless, The BRAD BLOG has received confirmation from two different state agencies that the 1,500 alleged cases of ballot petition fraud said to have been carried out on behalf of the Gingrich campaign, in their unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the Republican primary ballot in Virginia, are now being carried out by the state Attorney General's office.
In late December, after Gingrich had failed to turn in enough valid signatures to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, he was caught on video tape telling a supporter in Iowa that the reason for the failure was due to a campaign worker who created 1,500 fraudulent signatures.
"We turned in 11,100 --- we needed 10,000 --- 1,500 of them were by one guy who, frankly, committed fraud," Gingrich is seen and heard saying in video originally aired by CNN.
The former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives downplayed the incident, by explaining to the woman that the entire affair was "just a mistake," after they had "hired somebody who turned in false signatures."
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9099
WI Dems unveil recall candidates in three Senate races
he lineup is largely as expected: Former Sen. John Lehman will run against Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine; Rep. Donna Seidel will run against Sen. Pam Galloway of Wausau; and former Rep. Kristen Dexter will run against Sen. Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls.
Lehman served in the Senate for one term but was defeated in November 2010 by Wanggaard.
"With the announcement today of Kristin Dexter, Donna Seidel and John Lehman as candidates to replace Walker's blindly loyal lieutenants, Democrats are poised to complete the job of taking back the Senate which was begun last spring," said a statement from Mike Tate, chairman of the state Democratic Party.
Responded Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) in his own response: "Running retread candidates is exactly what we had hoped the Democratic Party would do, because their failed tax-and-spend records will provide stark contrasts to our senators’ records of fiscal responsibility and pro-jobs leadership."
Republicans run the Senate 17-16, so Democrats have a chance to take over the chamber. But if they do so, it will happen just before the regular November 2012 elections that will put control of the Senate in play.
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/138408584.html
CNN reporter just mentioned example of GOP voter fraud.
CNN reporter recounted story of Republican primary voter who walked into the booth and allowed her son to tell her whom to vote for.
Rep. Allen West To Switch Districts For Re-Election Campaign
Rep. Allen West (R-FL), the freshman Congressman and hero of the tea party, announced on Tuesday that he will seek re-election in a different district this year.
West will shift to Florida’s 18th district, which was freed up by Rep. Tom Rooney’s ® decision to run in the 17th district.
The 22nd district, where West won in 2010, was made far more favorable to Democrats under a new redistricting plan that was released last week.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/4937
Trouble ahead for Romney in OH and MO primaries.
Mitt Romney's headed for a big victory in Florida today but new PPP polls in Missouri and Ohio find the road ahead might be a little bit tougher for him, especially if Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum drops out of the race and leaves a single conservative alternative.
Rick Santorum is leading the way for next week's 'beauty contest' primary in Missouri with 45% to 34% for Romney, and 13% for Ron Paul. Newt Gingrich is not on the ballot for that, but he will be in the picture for Missouri's caucus and leads the way for that with 30% to 28% for Santorum, 24% for Romney, and 11% for Paul.
In Ohio Gingrich is at 26% to 25% for Romney, 22% for Santorum, and 11% for Paul.
What might be most interesting in both states is what happens in a head to head between Romney and either Gingrich or Santorum:
-In Missouri Santorum leads Romney 50-37 and in Ohio Santorum leads 45-38.
-In Missouri Gingrich leads Romney 43-42 and in Ohio Gingrich leads 42-39.
Two takeaways from those numbers: if this ever came down to Romney, Paul, and just one out of Gingrich and Santorum, Romney would be in a lot of trouble. And he'd be in more trouble if the single conservative alternative ended up being Santorum.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/01/trouble-ahead-for-romney.html
Why are the MSM ridiculing Biden for advising Obama not to authorize strike to kill bin Laden?
The president asked for Joe Biden's advice as to whether to authorize the SEAL Team 6 operation to kill Osama Bin Laden. Biden saw only a downside and said "no go". Obama thanked him, walked out of the room and said he would announce his decision (which we now know was to do it). Now Republicans and the MSM are making an issue. Why? Joe gave his honest opinion. Obama weighed it along with everyone else and made the call. That is a White House that knows how to function, not one that is in disarray.
HI-SEN: Democrats lead Linda Lingle in early polls.
The Republican party in Hawaii had hoped that the state’s first female governor might have what it takes to claim the seat of retiring Sen. Daniel Akaka (D), but recent polling shows Democrats with the inside track.
A survey conducted by Civil Beat shows former Gov. Linda Lingle ® trailing two prospective Democratic opponents.
In one matchup, former Congressman Ed Case outpolls Lingle 46 percent to 33 percent. Sitting Congressman Mazie Hirono holds a seven point advantage over Lingle, 46 percent to 39 percent.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/4913
OR-01: Democrat cruising to special election victory.
After late, underdog surges in the New York specials last year, Democrats received a mild scare two weeks ago when Rob Cornilles's campaign released a poll showing the Republican within the margin of error, though still behind. But most everything since then points to a snoozer when balloting closes Jan. 31.
-- Yes, the National Republican Congressional Committee went up with a coordinated expenditure for Cornilles soon after the poll, but that was its only involvement in the campaign, and it was limited. The real money came from uncapped independent expenditures, like the $1 million+ the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent to boost Suzanne Bonamici. The NRCC never indicated a willingness to make that kind of investment.
-- Last week, each campaign released closing TV ads, and it's not hard to see who's ahead based on their messages. Cornilles attacked Bonamici's connections to former Rep. David Wu, a tactic he bypassed earlier. Meanwhile, Cornilles didn't feature in Bonamici's last, purely positive ad.
-- Ballots went out Jan. 13 for the all-mail election, and over 30 percent were returned by this past weekend. Bonamici's campaign said last week that Democrats have a 16-point edge ballot returns, compared to an 11-point registration edge. That gap will drop as rural, GOP-leaning counties tally more ballots, but Democrats may end up over-represented in the final tally, a great sign for Bonamici.
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2012/01/not-so-special.php
Charlie Crist will not rule out joining the Democratic Party.
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) -- who left the Republican Party during his unsuccessful 2010 U.S. Senate bid -- told Chuck Todd that he'd consider voting for President Obama in November.
Said Crist: "Consider? Sure, I would consider that. I really think he's sincere and genuine. I think we have a lot time, a lot of issues to talk about, but I think, in his heart, he's trying to do what's right for the country overall."
Crist also said he wouldn't rule out running for office as a Democrat himself in the future.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/01/31/crist_could_run_as_a_democrat.html
Iowa GOP Chair Expected To Step Down After Iowa Vote Count Errors
Iowa GOP Chair Matt Strawn is expected to step down shortly, reports NBC. Not only did the Iowa Republican Party announce the wrong winner on Caucus night, but 8 final precinct numbers also went missing, making the exact outcome of the Iowa caucuses still unknown.
NBC notes that the exact timing and reason for Strawn’s resignation are unknown.
Update: Strawn has announced his resignation will take effect on February 11.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/4907
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 02:53 PM
Number of posts: 58,805