Dems Ahead in Three Midwestern Governor Races

Three

NBC News/Marist polled possible match ups for governor in three key Midwestern states:
• In Wisconsin, Tony Evers (D) leads Gov. Scott Walker (R), 54% to 41%.

• In Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer (D) leads Bill Schuette (R), 47% to 38%.

• In Minnesota, Lori Swanson (D) leads Tim Pawlenty (R) 51% to 40%, while Tim Walz (D) leads Pawlenty (R) 51% to 40%.

Romney, the Financial Genius, Gets Less Bang for His Buck than Santorum

$10.40

What the Mitt Romney campaign and his PAC, Restore Our Future, paid for each vote cast for their guy in Michigan, according to Electablog. Romney’s funding sources poured a total of $4.27 million into the state, while Rick Santorum’s supporters spent $2.27 million, or about $6 per vote. Nine out of ten Romney ads were negative, but they netted him 32,393 more votes than Santorum, or 3%.

Romney-bot Suffers Motherboard Meltdown in Michigan: ‘Trees Are the Right Height’ … ‘I Love Cars’ … ‘Dais-ee, Dais-ee, Give Me Your Ansuurrrrhhh…’

ROMNEY-BOT: A little history. I was born and raised here. I love this state. It seems right here. The trees are the right height. I like seeing the lakes. I love the lakes. There’s something very special here. The Great Lakes, but also all the little inland lakes that dot the parts of Michigan. I love cars. I dunno, I mean, I grew up totally in love with cars. It used to be in the fifties and sixties, if you showed me one square foot of almost any part of a car, I could tell you what brand it was — the model and so forth. Now, with all the Japanese cars I’m not so good at it. But I still know the American cars pretty well. And, uh, drive a Mustang. I love cars. I love American cars. And long may they rule the world, let me tell you. I want to do well.

Big Government Republicans: Michigan Fiscal Martial Law Czar Seizes Assets of Predominantly African-American Town

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Raw Story:

Benton Harbor, MI is 10,235 population town. 85.5% of the residents are African-American. The per capita income is among the lowest in the state: $10,235.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder recently castrated the city government of the struggling town, using his controversial “Emergency Financial Managers” law. The law, as Raw Story previously reported, allows Snyder to “take over municipalities that don’t pass a financial stress test.”

On Tuesday night, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow made the case that Snyder, Whirlpool (global headquarters in Benton Harbor), Harbor Shores (a developer) and assorted political cronies are using the newly enacted law to grab prime beachfront property deeded to the city’s residents in 1917 in order to develop it into a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and luxury “signature” homes.

[…]

Despite ‘Small Government’ Campaign Spin, GOP Tea Party in Power Produces Big, Intrusive Authoritarian Programs

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

On her MSNBC show last night, Rachel Maddow took an in-depth look at the stark contrast between Republicans’ campaign rhetoric about limited government and what they actually do when they gain power, which is to use the government to curtail the rights of the citizenry.

The prime example of this today is union-busting:

MADDOW: Your freedom to associate in this country is guaranteed by the Constitution, your freedom to join a union if you want to. But to the extent that the government can be used to limit that right of yours, Republicans in Wisconsin and in Ohio and in Indiana and in New Hampshire and in Florida and in Tennessee and in Oklahoma and in Nebraska, Republican governors and legislators in all these states all over the country are stretching the power of government to try to end that right of yours.

Beyond union-busting, the current crop of Republican governors have put their states on a forced march toward authoritarianism:
[…]