Day: November 5, 2012

Screwing Up Voting as Only Florida Can: Look for a Very Bad Election Day 2012

Trish

This picture of the line for early voting on Saturday in Miami* should explain why a Florida judge ruled on Sunday that early voting must be allowed to continue today, despite Gov. Rick Scott’s order that it would end.

What’s happening at the polls in Florida feels a lot like “self voter suppression.”

The Republican super majority in the state legislature loaded the ballot with ONE DOZEN deceptively and circuitously worded amendments. These would, among other things, exempt Florida from healthcare reform; interfere with a woman’s right to choose; provide more tax breaks to big business that will cut funding from schools, fire, and police; and give the legislature the ability to meddle with the state Supreme Court, among other GOP wish list items that would be unconstitutional if not passed by voters.

The amendments take up a full three 8 1/2 x 14 pages, front and back, on the ballot and it is estimated that it would take the average voter at least 45 minutes to read them all, and that’s not counting the time it will take to consider all the other offices and local initiatives. Officials, of course, have been stressing the need to bring a filled-in sample ballot to the polls.

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The Three Things That Mark a Losing Campaign

Buck Banks

The first thing happens is, ‘Don’t believe — the public polls are wrong.’ That’s the first sign of a campaign that’s about to lose. The second thing, ‘We’re going to change the nature of the electorate,’ and you’re not seeing it reflected in the polls. And the third thing is, ‘The only poll that counts is Election Day.’ When you hear those things, you know you’re about to lose.

— Matthew Dowd, telling ABC News that every time “you feel a losing campaign, these three things happen.”

GOp Ready to Blame the ‘Demographics’

Buck Banks

If I hear anybody say it was because Romney wasn’t conservative enough I’m going to go nuts. We’re not losing 95% of African-Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics and voters under 30 because we’re not being hard-ass enough.

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Politico, saying that demographics would be the only reason for a hypothetical Mitt Romney loss Tuesday.

The Latest Battleground State Polls

Buck Banks

Here are the latest polls from the battleground states:

Colorado: Obama 52%, Romney 46% (Public Policy Polling)

Florida: Romney 52%, Obama 47% (InsiderAdvantage)

Florida: Obama 50%, Romney 49% (Public Policy Polling)

Florida: Romney 50%, Obama 48% (Pulse Opinion Research)

Florida: Obama 50%, Romney 45% (Zogby)

New Hampshire: Obama 51%, Romney 48% (WMUR)

North Carolina: Obama 49%, Romney 49% (Public Policy Polling)

Ohio: Obama 48%, Romney 46% (Pulse Opinion Research)

Ohio: Obama 50%, Romney 44% (Zogby)

Ohio: Obama 50%, Romney 49% (University of Cincinnati)

Pennsylvania: Obama 49%, Romney 46% (Pulse Opinion Research)

Virginia: Obama 48%, Romney 47% (NBC/WSJ/Marist)

Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 48% (Pulse Opinion Research)

Virginia: Romney 50%, Obama 48% (Rasmussen)

Virginia: Obama 52%, Romney 44% (Zogby)

Wisconsin: Obama 49%, Romney 48% (Pulse Opinion Research)