Day: February 28, 2012

Declaration of Independence: More Maine Voters are Undeclared Than Members of Any One Party

Trish

335,154

Number of voters in Maine, where Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) announced she will not seek another term, who are registered to vote but are “undeclared” for any party. An additional 294,586 are registered as Democrats, 256,520 as Republicans, and 31,064 are members of the Green party. Snowe was facing a tea party challenger in the Republican primary.

How to Talk to Republicans: Dem Gov. O’Malley Excoriates Gov. ‘Vaginal Probe’ McDonnell – in His Face

Jon Ponder

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In this segment from Friday’s “Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC, Maddow marvels at the abrupt change in fortunes of Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, a tea-party rock star who until recently was on the Beltway punditocracy’s short list for the GOP vice presidential nomination. That prospect has become unlikely in light of the central role McDonnell has played in passing legislation that would require state-enforced vaginal probes of women seeking abortions in Virginia.

You should watch the whole segment, but if you only have a few seconds, fast-forward to about minute 4:00. There you will witness a rare moment in which a Democrat — Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland — pummels an elected tea party Republican, mano a mano, about the bait and switch his faction pulled on independent voters in 2010, when they campaigned on jobs, jobs, jobs and the economy but, once elected, governed on anti-women, anti-gay, anti-middle class, pro one-percenter agendas.

The full transcript of the RMS segment follows, but here is the excerpt of O’Malley’s statement:

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