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FERNANDINA BEACH, FL -- Speaking under clear blue skies here as Hurricane Sandy pounds the Northeast, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan asked Floridians to keep those in the path of the storm in their thoughts and prayers.
“Look, Floridians, you are no stranger to big storms. You know better than anyone on the need for communities to come together and for neighbors to help one another,” Ryan said. “You know, as we were driving over here, Adam [Putnam, Florida commissioner of Agriculture] was telling me about the hundreds of Floridians, about the hundreds of utilities crews that left just today from Florida to go to the Northeast. Thank God for men and women like that. Thank you for sending your people. That’s what we do for each other in this country.”
Recommended: Sandy gives unpredictable twist to 2012 election
The Wisconsin congressman, who along with his running mate Mitt Romney cancelled all of their remaining events this evening and all day Tuesday, encouraged the nearly 2,300-person crowd to send financial assistance to the numerous states that have declared states of emergency.
“When you get home today, take a look at the Red Cross website. Think about donating to the Red Cross. We know how to help each other in this country. If you have friends and family in the path of the storm, make sure you call them. Make sure they listen to the warnings, make sure they check on their elderly neighbors,” Ryan said.
As the East Coast braces for Hurricane Sandy, the presidential campaigns have altered their schedules for the week. NBC's Domenico Montanaro also breaks down new polling from battleground states.
He noted that the campaign is in touch with “regional leaders” and are collecting supplies at their victory offices throughout the Sunshine State.
Before continuing on with his normal stump speech and encouraging people to help the GOP ticket beat President Barack Obama in 8 days, Ryan said: “Since we all love this country, lets put our neighbors in the north in our prayers. Lets do what we need to do to help them get through what is coming their due – what is coming in their way – and lets not forget the fact that this is the greatest country on the face of the earth.”
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Whatever he said today:
Last year, Romney said he would end FEMA.
And that it would be "immoral" for the federal goverment to fund disaster releif without cutting funding elsewhere.
PLEASE NOTE THAT: Paul Ryan opposed President Obama's work to build funding for disaster relief into the Budget.
The President was working to get around response DELAYS to the disaster last year -- CAUSED BY Eric Cantor and congressional Tea Partiers.
(Romney has also vowed to end the ACA/Obamacare, which will send millions to the Emergency Room, and run up bills for folks who cannot afford it -- for the rest of their lives.)
Hey Ryan, we used to be greatest nation on earth. Until you GOP came along and decided somewhere along the way that you would have it all for yourselves. And we victims would pay the bill.
There was a time when the United States believes in democracy, until you guys came along.
And could you please tell Romney to stop lying about Chrysler? Oh never mind. You are as big a liar as he is.
Any thoughts on the Mourdock statement?
We will again be a great country when people like Colin Powell and Col. Larry Wilkerson continue to tell the truth about today's Republican Party. The same party who didn't give a **** about our veterans or anyone else. The same party who wants to take away health care and Social Security and Medicare.
btw, is anyone down in FLA asking you about voter suppression. The same voter suppression that your party created?
Pat, hi,
Wilkerson (R) said the GOP party was "full of racists".
General Colin Powell praised President Obama's leadership, while criticizing Romney's domestic and foreign policy.
Chrysler has repeatedly called out Romney on his "fantasies" about Jeep going anywere but the United States. The only spoke of "output" = selling more jeeps abroad.
But Romney won't SHADDUP LYING. Folks are starting to think there is something beyond political games, that is wrong with his continuous lying.
Backhouse, we're so sick of your lies, and the lies of every Obamaphile. "Romney wants to eat your babies" is all you people been saying throughout this whole election. You're just using the storm to create doubt and fear in people's minds, and that's what "scumbags" do.
Explain to us why Obama LIED about calling Benghazi "AN act of terrorism" (which by the way he never did).
Tell us why he lied and said the attack was all about a video?
Tell us why he lied, and didn't tell the truth for two whole weeks?
Because they asked for additional security at our consulate, and didn't get it....and they died as a result THAT'S WHY HE LIED!
DEMOCRATS FOR ROMNEY 2012 !!!!!!!
You will not find a Democrat of your definition, from here to RomneyPluto.
RomneyRyan are for :
1) Cutting taxes for the wealthy.
2) Cutting services for everybody else.
You won't get a Democrat to support that ticket.
Little Eddie Muster don't in trouble like you did with those campaign funds.
Paul Ryan's 'Problematic' RNC Spending Spree
A Politicker examination of federal campaign finance disclosure reports submitted by Paul Ryan's congressional campaign has uncovered indications Mr. Ryan may have improperly used funds raised for his re-election effort in Wisconsin for presidential campaign activities at the Republican National Convention in August.
http://politicker.com/2012/10/paul-ryan-campaign-money/
4 more 4 44
Obama/Biden 2012
Ryan asks for support for hurricane victims
Who's he asking, The Tea-bag Congress? We saw what a bang-up job the Republicans did during Katrina.....
O&Joe 2012
Don't forget Little Paulie and the GOP brain trust over the past two years routinely held up funding for FEMA disaster relief, holding it hostage to try and further their agenda.
Blackhouse/Outhouse or what ever you call yourself. Stop your lies and your talking points and take it for what it is -- You and our President have broken every rule that there is. Are you trying to politicise the Hurricane also.
Romney, has now pulled ahead in Ohio. this is looking better. Please tell our President and his campaign to allow our troops to vote. Those people give their lives for us.
ZMan - you are no Democrat for Romney - there is no such person, a good Democrat would never vote for romney (or regan for that matter) - independents maybe, but not Democrats which makes you as much of a lier as romney/ryan.
Perhaps some of us are sick and tired of the middle east directing our elections and our country? I sure am! Besides, I think I'll be rather comfortable waiting until the full investigation is completed before I point fingers - there are enough ignorant republicans to do that.
Ryan asks for support ... so do I, so does everyone. He is not better for doing so.
Backhouse
One more week. Keep up the great work by using THEIR OWN WORDS to highlight the hypocrisy of this duo. They are without a doubt one for the ages.
One more week.
One more week.
One more week.
I remember in '08 I was ready to kick my tv in because of all the political ads, particularly from the Republican Party, with Sarah Palin and of course, The Founding Fathers.
This year it's the polls that are driving me to drink.
These polls are making me thirsty.
No, no.
These polls are making me THIRSTY.
No, this is how you say it -
THESE POLLS ARE MAKING ME THIRSTY!!!!!!
blackcatwhitecat - do you think he's put in a call to Donald Trump for that $5 million? Now that would be a nice gesture for the dumb Donald!
I'm still stunned by the idiotcy of the posts here by the far right. My God you could tell them anything and they'd believe it. Just look at the posts. They continue to post the same lies day after day hoping some fool will buy them. It's like the birther nonsense. They just never tire of it!
Just 8 more days!!!!!
Obama/Biden 2012
"Z-man," speak for yourself - you can say that YOU dislike Backhouse's posts, but most of us like them . . . and s/he is NOT lying . . . . you only think so because Faux News only tells you the news they think you want to hear (just like Myth Robme & Lyin' Ryan).
Just use Google - honestly, it's not that hard.
Backhouse is correct on these things:
Gen. Wilkerson (R) said the GOP party was "full of racists". [Google it - it's 100% true]
General Colin Powell praised President Obama's leadership, while criticizing Romney's domestic and foreign policy. [Google it - it's 100% true]
Chrysler has repeatedly called out Romney on his "fantasies" about Jeep moving/outsourcing jobs/factories anywhere but the United States. The only spoke of "output" = selling more jeeps abroad. [Google it - it's 100% true]
1) Cutting taxes for the wealthy.
2) Cutting services for everybody else.
Those are on Myth Robme's own website, and in Lyin' Ryan's budget . . . . and the tape that dismisses 47% of Americans as "not willing to take personal responsibility for their lives.
ALSO, CONDI RICE - remember her? Republican? she said President Obama was handling Beghazi correctly, and urged people to be patient & wait for all the intel.
SO, BACKHOUSE IS CORRECT (LOL - I ALMOST SAID "RIGHT!) AND YOU ARE . . . UNEDUCATED.
O & JOE - 2012, MYTH ROBME 1040'S (he lied about his Mass taxes, and he's lying about his Fed taxes)
The turd asked for stimulus too.
KJNC
Well said......
you're right, by the liberal standard on here, he is pandering and worse off for doing so. Now Obama does it, it is divine and golden.
Funny for a guy(Obama) that progressives seem to think walks on water he sure is having trouble with his poll numbers.
ZMan2012
Tell us ZMan2012
How W-T- F did you see?
Tell us why you a**holes had no problem when GW Bush did nothing prior to 9-11. Despiste Clinton leaving the briefs
How long did it take for GW BUSH to jump on the reports he got about bin Laden? You can't say can you because President Bush was clearing brush in Texas on his ranch while President Obama was clearing out bin Laden.
How about under Bush the violent attacks on American embassies in Yemen, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India and Turkey. A U.S. diplomat was assassinated in Sudan.
If diplomatic attacks are a sign of weakness, Bush was the weakest of all.
So did those attacks (and the 9/11 ones, for that matter) happen because of "perceived American weakness" to argue—that?
As for Obama, the attacks in Cairo and Benghazi are the first two attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission in an ostensibly peaceful country during his entire presidency—and they were sparked by that idiot wingnut Islamophobe Terri Jones. The embassy in Afghanistan was targeted by the Taliban last Sept. 13, but that's a country at war.
Panetta: Unclear early info slowed Benghazi response
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters that the U.S. military "was prepared to respond" to the Benghazi attack "but did not do so because it lacked what he called 'real-time information.' " The article quoted Panetta as saying, "You don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on ... (We) felt we could not put forces at risk in that situation." Panetta also told reporters, "It was really over before we had the opportunity to really know what was happening.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57540473/panetta-unclear-early-info-slowed-benghazi-response/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yet during every 24/7 Radio Rwanda aka FOX NEWS pushs multiple distortions about the Benghazi attack.
Keep scrambling to politicize LIBYA.While you're at don't forget Hurricane Sandy.
Any how the wind is out of MYTH'S sails. It's over.
4 more 4 44
Obama/Biden 2012
BTW: Why can't MYTH just go in his blind trust and take care of the victims since he hates the government so much? We know MYTH's got millions. WE just don't know how many millions!!!
Caesar Augustus-
There is a grain of genius in you ... plant it.
the soil here is too acidic
PS dont address my original statement, its easier to avert or abort or whatever it is you guys do here to avoid reality.
It is one of the thousand things he is going to do on DAY ONE.
I'm surprised Ryan didn't blame homosexuals for inciting god's wrath on Florida.
The religious zealots who live there wouldn't believe in man-made global warming if they drowned sitting in their living rooms.
Great statement...so many times down here, we see a flood of out of state utilities workers being sent down help out after a hurricane. Here's our chance to lend our expertise and manpower when it comes to restoring power after a hurricane. I feel for the people in the Mid-Atlantic / Northeast...but it's a nice change for us down here seeing our trucks leaving the state.
Stay safe up there everyone and heed the warnings of the local emergency management officials!!!
Hey, Frank!
My husband and I are grounded here in Key West until at least Wednesday- already coordinated with neighbors to hold Halloween II on Saturday. Princess and her parents are at our NJ house- we put in a 30kw natural gas generator after Irene, and the kids bought their house on the river, despite our warnings-so no issues.
Also moved my parents two miles away- off Marthat's Vineyard. (My father keeps lamenting that no one in the family is on island anymore. My brothers and my husband and I just heave a sigh of relief!)
Know what irks me? Here in Key West, we have no more wooden utility polls- they got replaced by cement and rebar polls two years ago. Why on earth hasn't that been done everywhere? It's common sense.
Ah, well- Romney has a Red Cross donation box on his website- and is moving supplies via his campaign headquarters to shelters in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia- a whole bunch of states- so, he's taking action.
Me? Well, I won't say I'm not concerned- but, I'm stuck in Paradise, in.my own house. Life could be a lot worse.
Hey no joe!
Hope everything goes ok with your family up in NJ. Looks like NJ figures to take the brunt of things.
As for the utility poles...I think we learned our lessons from 2004 and 2005 and wised up for the most part. I bought a generator in 2006 and thankfully haven't had to use it. Sounds like your NJ house has a pretty darned good one!!
I can think of worse places for you to be stuck than Key West!!!! Supposed to have our "coldest" weather in months tonight. Grab a drink over at Sloppy Joe's for me!!! :-)
frank and no joe: don't always agree with your politics, but I'm glad to hear your both "weathering the storm" with no real issues so far.
As to the concrete telephone polls vs. wooden polls [why are we talking about polls ? You'd think this was a political vine or something :) ] most states don't have telephone polls knocked out with the frequency of Florida and the keys. Concrete is very expensive and only becomes cost effective when the total cost of multiple wooden polls is greater than the cost of one more durable concrete poll.
Stay dry and warm, and hope your families do OK too.
NoJo
Please tell me that someone broke into your villa on the beach and wrote that. 99% of this planet lives in a lot worse, storm or not.
Hey dirp...
Down here in Florida, this storm was mostly a non-event, though there was some fairly bad beach erosion. Have family in Maryland that is well inland, so they should be okay with the exception of power outages. Yeah...I concur with you...we definitely have a greater likelihood of losing utility poles down here in Florida.
And I had to laugh at your comment, because each time I have typed the word "pole" I have actually typed "poll" first and had to catch myself and retype it. I will be sooooo glad when this election season is over!!! I think we all will!! LOL!!
Thanks, dirp.
My house in Jersey is in Monmouth County- we have polls knocked down when somebody sneezes hard enough. While the places serviced by PSE&G don't all have cement polls- the ones with a history of outages do have them.
JCP&L, on the other hand, seems to spend almost nothing on maintenance- what a lousy company!- so, I got pro-active. The peace of mind alone is worth what we spent.
Safe, dry, and fully powered- there and here. And the best part?
The kiddies won't miss Halloween- we'll have a do-over on Saturday.
This is a serious storm. I am 20 miles inland and I just saw 20 feet of roof come a house. No matter how you feel about politics we need to show support for the victims of this hurricane. There are a lot of very poor families that live in the Atlantic city area. Philadephia schools are closed tomorrow and the way this storm is hitting the northwest quadrant may be a direct hit on NYC. My thoughts and prayers go out to people suffering through this storm
Lisa, the dictum is always duck and cover ... be true to it. No voice is expendable.
lisa s...well said and please stay safe!!!! :-)
Frank, Thanks I will try and stay safe.
Hear Hear for Paul Ryan, putting it all in perspective. Human beings are what is most impoartant at a time like this.
We're getting ready to ride out the storm here in the northeast.
But, we're a hearty lot, and we'll be just fine.
I can't imagine any of the Obama disciples making a donation to the Red Cross, though. They're too busy trying to protect their own "entitlements," such as food stamps and welfare, to think about anyone else's lot in life.
Stay safe everyone, and stay home if at all possible. If not, get to your local shelters, and for god's sake take care of your kids, and your pets too!
We'll get through this, we've done it before.
DEMOCRATS FOR ROMNEY 2012!!!!!!!!!!
RomneyRyan are for :
1) Cutting taxes for the wealthy.
2) Cutting services for everybody else.
You won't get a Democrat to support that ticket.
Obama is for
a) subsidies for large corporations
b) gutting the military budget
c) expansion of government entitlement programs such as welfare and food stamps
d) tax increases on middle, upper-middle, and upper class income earners.
e) apologizing to the Arab world for being the greatest, free-est, and most respected country on earth.
You will not get a BLUE DOG Democrat to support him this time around. 9% of those polled, who voted for Obama in 2008, stated they will NOT vote for him again this year.
Many Blue Dog Democrats already have embraced Mitt Romney, and many more will do so on election day.
DEMOCRATS FOR ROMNEY 2012!!!!!!!!!!
Zman - you are very wrong and you sound very young - sorry you don't remember all that I've lived or you would know true Democrats would never vote for a republican (Heck, I won't even eat dinner with one).
Zman: any "so called" Democrat who would vote for Mitt Romney is not a real American.
Remember your history: the Republican party is the same one that brought you two of the most corrupt, criminal administrations in the history of the country: Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. More members of those two administrations were convicted for crimes done while in office than any before or since.
We don't need more criminals in office.
Vote Democratic
as ifbecause the fate of the world depends on it.Romney, Ryan and the GOP just pull yourself up by your boot straps. If your house is destroyed by wind or flooding don't count on the government for help. You blood sucking, sap sucking 47% people ask parents for a loan not the government. You all are bunch of low lifes this is the Romney Ryan way!
If Willard's car elevator in MA (I'm sure he has one there too) gets flooded, I'll bet he will be among the first in line to beg for freebies from FEMA.
Yup, those greedy, maybe unionized utility crews, those 'takers'!
Communities should build their own power lines, individually!
Lyin Ryan should tell them to be self-reliant, don't depend on the government over-reach, personal responsibility........
Freedom!
Mitt Romney's campaign is savvy enough to know that they cannot allow a news cycle to pass by without connecting it to the election and using it as an indictment against President Obama and the administration. Since they know that Hurricane Sandy is the dominant news story for the next few days, their focus will be on injecting themselves into that story and then spinning the aftermath as a failure by the current administration. As soon as the rain clears, I fully expect Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to go on tour with local Republican governors and complain about how disastrously the federal government has mishandled the response and how it's inept bureaucracy cannot help anyone impacted until there is a leadership change.
I am so looking forward to the end of those Republican ads where people are moaning and groaning about the state of America, mothers worried their adult children will never marry and leave home, coal miners worried some tree hugger will chain themselves to their drill, and OH GOD OBAMA IS BOWING!
The horror. And it's all supposed to "turn around" if we can just get grandma to stop leeching off the government!
Agree with you both, Amy & Nathan!
If President Obama does anything to help people through this disaster, the OP/TB's will howl that the only reason he is doing it is because it provides a photo-op; if he were to do any campaigning, they would howl that he is not doing his job.
. . . which is exactly what they have been told to do . . . they are part of that whole conspiracy that the Rethuglicans created to try to make Obama a 1-term president. He has been in a lose-lose situation for nearly 4 years.
I admire him so much for what he has been able to accomplish in the face of unprecedented opposition!
If you have not read "Obama's Way," in Vanity Fair, you can locate it with Google - it's great!
O & Joe!
What next, a photo op of Little Paulie in a soup kitchen? Will he tell his buddies Boehner and Cantor to sign off on a clean disaster bill this time? Or will the GOP take hostages again on this issue. You know Willard is on record as saying FEMA is "morally wrong" and wants to privatize FEMA. Blackwater to the rescue folks! The same outfit that electrocuted our troops in Iraq!
The next photo op, that I predict, will show Romney and/or Lyin Ryan helping to load up the "Victory Bus" with supplies going to storm affected areas along the east coast.
Agree, AlaskaGirl!!
. . . then they will need the Fed's to evacuate them. Myth Robme & Lyin' Ryan are Panderers in chief . . . do or say anything to fool people into voting for them, even the 47% that they despise.
. . . they ill fool around with water bottles the same way Lyin' Ryan pretended to clean pans that were already clean. . . .
nothing useful, just in the way of the grown-ups!
O & JOE, 2012 - Myth Robme - 1040's (he lied about his Mass taxes, and he's lying about his Fed taxes)
Yo, FR, I know that Sandy is dumping big time, but you are not the weather channel. Can we not avoid dumping several threads at the same time? It is like you had a bad lunch and barfed.
blackcatwhitecat
BCWC - did you not know that the administrations motto is "Never let a serious crisis go to wait" The President has used it and he is already doing it again.
Rahm Emanuel Quotes
You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.
Rahm Emanuel
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/rahmemanue409199.html#XdTVAZcCrPx5iZLi.99
October Surprise:
Gee, I guess this is why the rightists are so concerned about Bengwhatever and have stopped carping about the economy. Carl Rove should have realized that, even with the vast extent of the debacle they instigated, people would eventually get tired of a recession and start spending. It always happens eventually.
You can scare all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but...
Anybody got an extra barf bag?
Obama/Biden 2012 "Because the President cares about 100% of the people in America"
Romney and Ryan cannot say much because they are on record for wanting to end F.E.M.A. in its present form.
All Electoral College maps, even Rasmussen's have President Obama double digits ahead.
Obama: 237 - Romney: 206 - Toss-up: 95
Rasmussen used to have FL as leaning Romney....just this week it turned FL to toss-up.
Gov Christie praises President Obama for his handling of the storm prep.
Gov. Christie knows he's going to need Obama over the next 4 years. Better start cozying up to him now!
Obama/Biden 2012
Chris Christie knows he will be asking Pres. Obama for federal money, real soon and for the next 4 years.
When the great governor of Texas decided he wanted to complain about FEMA and then didn't get any help with drought relief money from FEMA, an important lesson was learned.
Although tornado season is almost over, you know that Paul Ryan is thanking God every day that no major storms hit Wisconsin. Woulda looked real silly to be dissing FEMA one month, then begging for FEMA money the next month.
Presidential Polls 2012; Latest Rasmussen Polls Show Romney Leading Three Points Over Obama
By Dexter Keyton, EnStarz | Oct 29, 2012 12:58 AM EDT
The latest presidential polls show Mitt Romney remaining in the lead against President Obama.
As of Sunday, Mitt Romney remains in a three point lead over Barack Obama, according to Rasmussen's daily Presidential poll.
Romney currently has a three point lead with 50 percent of voter support over President Obama with 47 percent. The poll also showed one percent of voters supporting a third-party candidate and one percent still undecided.
The results for Sunday's poll were based on phone interviews over three consecutive nights.
Romney had a four point lead over Obama since before the third debate, but now as the poll fully takes into account voters' opinions of the candidates' performance on the last debate the Republican challenger's lead has diminished slightly.
Currently Romney is attracting more support from his party, with 90 percent of Republican voters, as well as having the lead with voters not affiliated with either party that give him an additional 11 points. Barack Obama has the support of 86 percent of Democrats.
Rasmussen also reports that there is an age gap between voters. Voters under 40 prefer President Obama while those over 40 prefer Romney.
The latest Electoral College projected reports show President Obama leading with 237 Electoral Votes and Romney at 206. In order to become President of the United States, a candidate needs 270 Electoral Votes. With 95 Electoral Votes remaining outside what are considered firmly decided states, the latest toss-up states are Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire.
Latest polling numbers from North Carolina show Romney with a six-point lead. In Pennsylvania Obama's lead over Romney is currently at five points.
Election Day is nearing and each day is becoming more crucial to the candidates' chances of taking the presidency.
dirp; Paul has already looked real silly ranting about the stimulus and then writting letters asking for stimulus money.
Race42012 Electoral Map: Choose Your Own Adventure Edition
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obama: 242 (+26) Romney: 248 (-1) Tossup: 48 (-25)
Without Tossups:
Obama: 270 (-6) Romney: 268 (+6)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's getting down to it now, folks: just eight days away from Election Day 2012. That means after today there will only be one more update to the Race42012 electoral map… and what a wild ride it has been.
In mid-to-late September, it appeared that President Obama was going to run away with this race. As the calendar turned to October, nearly everyone had thrown in the towel on a possibility of a Romney/Ryan administration in Washington. Then, the first debate went down in Denver and everything changed. People realized Mitt Romney was not the evil caricature he was being demonized as. They realized he sounded intelligent, competent, and reasonable.
After that debate, Romney's favorability numbers shot up, and they have been rising ever since. That has launched Governor Romney into a huge lead with independents in almost every single poll out there, at the national or state level. In fact, no presidential candidate from either party has enjoyed such huge margins among independents since Ronald Reagan.
Therein lies the rub, however. Coming down the homestretch we are faced with incredibly conflicting information. Romney leads by 10-20 points (sometimes more!) with independents, yet he is still losing key swing states like Ohio and Wisconsin. Romney leads by 3-5 points nationally, yet he is still losing those states. Romney's favorability numbers are now higher than President Obama's, yet he cannot pull ahead in those states which will determine the outcome of this race.
So which indicators are we to believe? It's easy to point to reasons the state polls might be off: loose likely voter screen, overweighting those who have already voted, skewed party ID splits. But at some point it begins to feel like tilting at windmills to simply pronounce that all the polls are wrong. After all, not a single poll has shown Romney with a lead in Ohio, for instance, since right after that first debate back at the beginning of the month.
But at the same time, an incumbent with a sub-48% job approval rating and lower favorables than the incumbent simply does not win re-election. An incumbent who is losing independents by 20 points and is forced to put out ads comparing voting to sex in order to rally college-age folks to vote again does not win re-election. An incumbent who spends the final two weeks of a campaign visiting college campuses and comedy shows does not win re-election. It should be that simple.
It should be, but it's not. Because the states in yellow on our map there are not trending to Romney nearly as well as the national numbers are. We're coloring three of them (plus a congressional district in Maine) light red on our map with no tossups — Colorado, Iowa, and New Hampshire — but truly, the latter two could still probably fall either way at this point. In Colorado, Romney sports a 0.3% lead among five polls. Dropping the Grove poll (which is a Democratic firm and a clear outlier) boosts Romney's lead to 1.0%. Adding that the Republicans are actually leading the early voting in the state by 3-4% at this point makes this the easiest yellow state to shade red.
Getting into Iowa and New Hampshire, however, things get trickier. Rasmussen pegged Iowa as a tie ball game last week. Two weeks ago, however, We Ask America showed Obama up by 3 points. Given that the WAA poll is about to drop off the average (only made it on this week's map by one day), that Rasmussen is a newer poll, and that the Des Moines Register endorsed Romney over the weekend, I'm shading this one light red as well. According to Adrian Gray, a former Bush campaign official, the Republicans are now doing better than they needed to among the early vote in order to walk away with a win in Iowa next week.
New Hampshire has been home to erratic polling all year long, and this update is no exception. Rasmussen and ARG both give Governor Romney a two-point lead in the Granite State; however, the University of New Hampshire shows Obama up by eight. That gives Obama a 1.3% lead in the average, but in the case of such widely disparate results an average doesn't really give you a true picture of what's going on. Either Romney is up by 2 or Obama is up by 8. Since two polls both clocked in at Romney +2, I'm shading New Hampshire red on our map.
In Ohio and Wisconsin, the other shoe falls, however — stopping Romney just short of reaching the 270 votes necessary to win. Eight polls out of Ohio give Obama an average lead of 2.0%. These polls have been all over the place as well, though, and the problem of overweighting the early vote runs rampant in these surveys. Rasmussen, Gravis, Suffolk, and the Ohio Newspaper Organization all show an exact tie (at 49% for OH News, 48% for Rasmussen, and 47% for the other two). However, on the other end of the scale sit CNN (O+4), TIME (O+5), and Quinnipiac (O+5). Again, we have this issue where one group of polls paints one picture and another trio paints an entirely different one. Instead of looking at the average, then, the question becomes: who do you believe? Even if we believe the first group of polls, however, they still does not show Governor Romney with a lead – just a tie. So Ohio, the potential key to the entire electoral puzzle, remains light blue.
Wisconsin is much more straight forward: one poll shows Obama up 2 (and barely made it into the average), and the latest poll shows an exact tie. Obama is barely ahead in the Badger State, but I would not be at all surprised to see Romney and Ryan turn it red over the next eight days. If they can manage to do that (by a large enough margin to overcome the consistent vote fraud out of Milwaukee), Iowa + Wisconsin would be enough to put Romney over the top without Ohio.
The next five days should be incredibly telling as to the actual state of this race. Why? Because this is the time when pollsters begin putting out their final polls of this election season — the polls which everyone will remember and which the pollsters will be judged on. As such, this is the time when pollsters will dig deeper and come up with more money to do the best job they can do. Survey more people. Tighten down the likely voter screen. Weight the results more accurately. By this weekend, we should know if the momentum Romney began building back on October 3 will roar on into a victory on November 6, or if it will sputter out just short of the finish line.
What a lot of bovine fecal matter from Lyin' Ryan. Now her wants us to believe he is really concerned about people?
Sure hope I do not have to rely on my bright red Republican state for disaster relief because this state is flat broke and does not have a nickel beyond what it needs to meet the every day essentials.
And so it begins, the privatization of disaster relief.
Ryan needs to ask the wizard for a heart and a brain.
Interesting how Romney is urging supporters to donate money and items at his victory centers that would supposedly be sent on to Red Cross. Someone could easily get confused and "accidentally" put the crisis money into the campaign fund...whoopsy daisy!
Just one more week, our resident leftists here, will face the reality of an Obama loss...they will whine, make excuses and propound wild conspiracy theories..
They will then do what they claim Rush Limbaugh did four years ago : immediately express dislike and hatred toward the new President-elect. They will express a hope that he fails.
Suddenly!!!!!!,....one week prior to the election.....New Convert Paul Ryan baptized and transformed into Mother Theresa asking support for hurricane victims.......lets hope he continue his volunteer job in good faith......
Presidential candidate Gov. Mitt Romney announced yesterday .....Republican campaign bus will abandon original agenda, and resort immediately to assisting victims of both hurricanes....."SANDY" & "ROMNESIA"....
.....ONLY ...HOPING....MITT THE TWIT.....DO...NOT...FLIP/FLOP.......TOO SOON....ON...THIS..ONE.....
Little "Richie Rich" Ryan only cares for individuals with the most weatth. He has made it clear that the Middle Class, the Working Poor, the elderely, and the disabled are not worth helping. Little "Richie Rich" Ryan has no humanity, no dignity, no common sense, and he has no sense of reality. He is a Tea Begger with no regards to the US Constitution, the US Bill Of Rights, and the Voter Rights Act OF 1965. What a joke!
Why doesn't Lyan just ask his running mate to dig into his many offshore accounts and cough up some of his tax-free dough?
Romney and Ryan will be wearing FEMA jackets this week.NJ's Chris Christie is already shining up his tin cup for some FEMA action.May we all help speed the recovery of Sandy's victims.
Where were these guys during the drought and fires of last summer? Oh yeah, cutting FEMA funds.
Where was Ryan and the repubs when we needed to get unemployed and especially vets back to work last 4 years? I don't know if any of our pols had this idea but I have said it on various blog comments last couple years that we have needed expanding our FEMA with response crews and National Guards / Reserves for manpower to help in these disasters both immediate response and the recovery that can last years. Every unemployed vet capable of working should be offered jobs on national emergency response crews, they could work like FDR's conservation crews did in maintaining parks and other gov properties when they are not at emergency work.
If we can't afford to pay them much, set it at minimum wage with food stamps or military level diner stations, and even provide cheap housing on old closed military and other gov facilities (there are dozens of large closed military bases around country) if their wages can't afford decent homes. Find places near VA med centers to station them at so they can get care when needed.
They and their families deserve at least the basics of life they could barely afford on their military service pay before they left and became civilians. They are basically ready right now to help if they were in the service recently, trained to help in emergencies and recovery. In many areas they would be stationed around the country they could attend community or 4 year colleges part-time to prepare for full good employment after this "transition job" on federal emergency teams. Not to provide them basic jobs, food, med care and roofs over their heads like this after they protected us is a crime. Doing this first with all the unemployed vets is a start, then expanding it to giving all the homeless and chronic unemployed some job duties like emergency response, forest fire fighting support, and other work to get them on their feet feeling sense of worth and accomplishment while training to get employed is needed since we have had a hard time with unemployment and undermployment for so long in this Great Recession.
This just in: Hurricane Sandy strikes New Jersey and New York. Governor Romney faults Obama, blaming it on "divisive relations with Mother Nature", one of our staunchest allies in our war on women. Meanwhile Chris Christie in New Jersey agrees, and says "Hey everyone in New Jersey, you're on your own".
Sandy is one very upset lady, and she is hunting down the Tea Begger Policies of the GOP/RNC "Intervert and Chief." Sandy does not like her Civil and Reproductive Rights being threatened by a very 'confused' individual. The GOP/RNC "Romney The Romulian" finds the female body too "Alien" for him to respect or understand. The GOP/RNC "Intervert and Chief" is hiding in one of his many quiet rooms with his 'special' Tea Begger "Buddies." Now that is just scary America!
It takes an entire nation to help with emergencies of this scale. States cannot do it alone, usually because they just had a, DUH, disaster.