January 25, 2013
Exclusive: The GOP Plan to Take the Electoral-Vote-Rigging Scheme National Gehrke isn’t saying which states the project might initially target. He says he’d like to see the plan implemented in every state, not just the ones where clever redistricting has given Republicans an edge, and he justifies it in policy, not political terms. A presidential voting system where the electoral college was apportioned by congressional district might not be perfectly fair, he says, but it would be better than what we have now. It would bring democracy closer to the people, force presidential candidates to address the concerns of a more varied swath of the American populace, and give more clout to rural areas that are too often ignored.  Read more. [Image: Reuters]

Exclusive: The GOP Plan to Take the Electoral-Vote-Rigging Scheme National

Gehrke isn’t saying which states the project might initially target. He says he’d like to see the plan implemented in every state, not just the ones where clever redistricting has given Republicans an edge, and he justifies it in policy, not political terms.

A presidential voting system where the electoral college was apportioned by congressional district might not be perfectly fair, he says, but it would be better than what we have now. It would bring democracy closer to the people, force presidential candidates to address the concerns of a more varied swath of the American populace, and give more clout to rural areas that are too often ignored. 

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

11:50am
(Notes: 85)
  
Filed under: GOP Politics Voting Race Obama Romney 
November 9, 2012
The GOP Must Choose: Rush Limbaugh or Minority Voters There will be plenty of talk in coming weeks about the Republican Party, the conservative movement, racial demographics, and whether they’ll inspire significant changes in policy or philosophy.That conversation is more important than this one.It would still be prudent for conservatives to take some advice that seems blindingly obvious, but apparently isn’t: Stop letting prominent voices of movement conservatism get away with saying things that are a) actually just racist; b) demagogic race-baiting; or c) so obviously tone-deaf that anyone with common sense can see how terrible it would sound. Why is that so hard?!  Read more. [Image: Reuters]

The GOP Must Choose: Rush Limbaugh or Minority Voters

There will be plenty of talk in coming weeks about the Republican Party, the conservative movement, racial demographics, and whether they’ll inspire significant changes in policy or philosophy.

That conversation is more important than this one.

It would still be prudent for conservatives to take some advice that seems blindingly obvious, but apparently isn’t: Stop letting prominent voices of movement conservatism get away with saying things that are a) actually just racist; b) demagogic race-baiting; or c) so obviously tone-deaf that anyone with common sense can see how terrible it would sound. 

Why is that so hard?! 

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

12:28pm
(Notes: 139)
  
Filed under: GOP Rush Limbaugh Minority Politics Election 2012 Obama Romney 
November 7, 2012
Liberals Win Big, Up and Down the Ticket From landmark victories for marijuana and same-sex marriage to picking up seats in the Senate, the left gained much more than the presidency Tuesday. Read more. [Image: Reuters]

Liberals Win Big, Up and Down the Ticket

From landmark victories for marijuana and same-sex marriage to picking up seats in the Senate, the left gained much more than the presidency Tuesday.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

9:30am
(Notes: 464)
  
Filed under: Warren Politics News Liberals GOP Election 2012 
November 7, 2012
A Few Moustache Recommendations for Joe Scarborough The terms of the Scarborough’s bet with the impeccably moustachioed David Axelrod were: if Obama lost Minnesota, Michigan or Pennsylvania then David Axelrod would shave his moustache “of forty years” live on Morning Joe. But if Obama won Virginia or Florida then Scarborough would grow a moustache.  [Image: AP]

A Few Moustache Recommendations for Joe Scarborough

The terms of the Scarborough’s bet with the impeccably moustachioed David Axelrod were: if Obama lost Minnesota, Michigan or Pennsylvania then David Axelrod would shave his moustache “of forty years” live on Morning Joe. But if Obama won Virginia or Florida then Scarborough would grow a moustache. 

[Image: AP]


9:18am
(Notes: 129)
  
Filed under: Moustache Joe Scarborough Politics GOP Obama Nate Silver 
November 7, 2012
"It needs to be said that the GOP’s retrograde positions on gender, and general ignorance of human biology, has evidently cost them a shot at the Senate."

— Ta-Nehisi Coates 

9:10am
(Notes: 326)
  
Filed under: Politics Gender Women Sex GOP Election 2012 
October 24, 2012
Republican Senate Candidate Says Rape Pregnancies Are a ‘Gift from God’ Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, an Indiana Republican, turned a few heads and dropped a few jaws on Tuesday night when he said that pregnancies resulting from rape were “something that God intended to happen.” It happened during a debate between Mourdock and his opponent, Democratic Congressman Joe Donnelly and did not go unnoticed. Another thing that did not go unnoticed was the ad featuring Mitt Romney endorsing Mourdock that dropped earlier this week. It was the first such endorsement Romney’s made for a Republican candidate, and it may or may not still be valid. Read more. [Image: AP]

Republican Senate Candidate Says Rape Pregnancies Are a ‘Gift from God’

Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, an Indiana Republican, turned a few heads and dropped a few jaws on Tuesday night when he said that pregnancies resulting from rape were “something that God intended to happen.” It happened during a debate between Mourdock and his opponent, Democratic Congressman Joe Donnelly and did not go unnoticed. Another thing that did not go unnoticed was the ad featuring Mitt Romney endorsing Mourdock that dropped earlier this week. It was the first such endorsement Romney’s made for a Republican candidate, and it may or may not still be valid.

Read more. [Image: AP]

10:15am
(Notes: 293)
  
Filed under: Rape Sexual Assault Women Pregnancy GOP Politics 
September 25, 2012
Don’t Forget: Hardcore Conservatives Sold the GOP on Mitt Romney Should Mitt Romney lose the presidential election, movement conservatives are widely expected to blame RINOs, Beltway conservatives, and moderates who insisted that the former Massachusetts governor was the best candidate, supposedly foisting him on reluctant conservatives. Don’t believe that spin.  […]Sean Hannity announced on his show that he would vote Romney rather than backing Rudy Giuliani. Glenn Beck supported him too. Ditto Bill Bennett and Dennis Prager. Even Mark Levin, the least enthusiastic of Romney’s supporters, said, “The only one left standing, the only one, after all these weeks of voting, who can honestly be said to share most, most of our conservative principles is Romney,” also remarking that “When you look at Romney —  that’s one of the things that struck me sitting next to him, a gentleman, a class act. Didn’t attack in any personal way. I mean we’re talking about president of the United States potentially here, ladies and gentlemen.” Read more. [Image: Reuters]

Don’t Forget: Hardcore Conservatives Sold the GOP on Mitt Romney

Should Mitt Romney lose the presidential election, movement conservatives are widely expected to blame RINOs, Beltway conservatives, and moderates who insisted that the former Massachusetts governor was the best candidate, supposedly foisting him on reluctant conservatives. 

Don’t believe that spin. 

[…]Sean Hannity announced on his show that he would vote Romney rather than backing Rudy Giuliani. Glenn Beck supported him too. Ditto Bill Bennett and Dennis Prager. Even Mark Levin, the least enthusiastic of Romney’s supporters, said, “The only one left standing, the only one, after all these weeks of voting, who can honestly be said to share most, most of our conservative principles is Romney,” also remarking that “When you look at Romney —  that’s one of the things that struck me sitting next to him, a gentleman, a class act. Didn’t attack in any personal way. I mean we’re talking about president of the United States potentially here, ladies and gentlemen.”

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

2:43pm
(Notes: 35)
  
Filed under: Romney Election 2012 GOP Pundits 
June 7, 2012
The GOP’s Bizarre, Disturbing Passion for Raising Taxes on the Poor The Republicans, it goes without saying, are the party of low taxes. Their position for the past two years has been simple: Budget deficits should be reduced solely through spending cuts, not increases in tax revenues—even if those revenues are increased solely by closing loopholes in the tax code. The vast majority of Republicans in Congress have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which commits them to vote against any bill that would either increase tax rates or increase tax revenues. That should be the whole story. But it isn’t. As Bruce Bartlett reminds us in his latest Economix column, leading Republican figures, including Eric Cantor, as well as a majority of party members, argue that taxes should go up … on the poor. They are talking about the famous “47 percent” who don’t pay federal income taxes. Read more. [Image: Reuters]

The GOP’s Bizarre, Disturbing Passion for Raising Taxes on the Poor

The Republicans, it goes without saying, are the party of low taxes. Their position for the past two years has been simple: Budget deficits should be reduced solely through spending cuts, not increases in tax revenues—even if those revenues are increased solely by closing loopholes in the tax code. The vast majority of Republicans in Congress have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which commits them to vote against any bill that would either increase tax rates or increase tax revenues.

That should be the whole story. But it isn’t.

As Bruce Bartlett reminds us in his latest Economix column, leading Republican figures, including Eric Cantor, as well as a majority of party members, argue that taxes should go up … on the poor. They are talking about the famous “47 percent” who don’t pay federal income taxes.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

9:14am
(Notes: 135)
  
Filed under: Politics GOP Republicans Taxes Income Income inequality Wealth 
April 12, 2012
Chart of the Day: The CafePress Primary You’ve probably heard of retail politics — the dirty business of hitting the road, shaking hands, meeting as many voters as possible, and wearing out the soles of your shoes, Adlai Stevenson style. It’s what helped Rick Santorum win his upset win over Mitt Romney in Iowa and launch the improbable insurgent campaign that ended Tuesday. But here’s another definition: how much merch the candidates are moving. CafePress sent over this infographic. It’s admittedly unscientific, although they boast that sales of Barack Obama products predicted the 2008 election (really, though, were even the most rabid John McCain backers likely to sport T-shirts?). Some of the results are fairly intuitive: For example, people on the Internet really like Ron Paul, which explains why he’s continued to capture at least a plurality of Republican merchandise sales on CafePress for most of the campaign, even as he has become less and less relevant to the nomination battle. The spikes for Herman Cain and Rick Perry, corresponding to the zeniths of their campaigns, make sense, as does the gradual but inexorable growth of Romney sales. Check out the second graph, though, for a demonstration of how the primary season has hurt Republicans. You might think that the chance for GOP voters to go to the polls would have them more fired up or that they’d want to show their support in advance of ballots. On the contrary, though, the Republican share of sales starts to tank right around December 1, as the full attention of the political sphere turned to Iowa. So as the candidates became more visible, their voters got less excited; meanwhile, Obama’s got more enthused. Read more. [Image: CafePress]

Chart of the Day: The CafePress Primary

You’ve probably heard of retail politics — the dirty business of hitting the road, shaking hands, meeting as many voters as possible, and wearing out the soles of your shoes, Adlai Stevenson style. It’s what helped Rick Santorum win his upset win over Mitt Romney in Iowa and launch the improbable insurgent campaign that ended Tuesday.

But here’s another definition: how much merch the candidates are moving. CafePress sent over this infographic. It’s admittedly unscientific, although they boast that sales of Barack Obama products predicted the 2008 election (really, though, were even the most rabid John McCain backers likely to sport T-shirts?). Some of the results are fairly intuitive: For example, people on the Internet really like Ron Paul, which explains why he’s continued to capture at least a plurality of Republican merchandise sales on CafePress for most of the campaign, even as he has become less and less relevant to the nomination battle. The spikes for Herman Cain and Rick Perry, corresponding to the zeniths of their campaigns, make sense, as does the gradual but inexorable growth of Romney sales.

Check out the second graph, though, for a demonstration of how the primary season has hurt Republicans. You might think that the chance for GOP voters to go to the polls would have them more fired up or that they’d want to show their support in advance of ballots. On the contrary, though, the Republican share of sales starts to tank right around December 1, as the full attention of the political sphere turned to Iowa. So as the candidates became more visible, their voters got less excited; meanwhile, Obama’s got more enthused.

Read more. [Image: CafePress]

3:07pm
(Notes: 20)
  
Filed under: CafePress 2012 Politics GOP Republicans Obama Romney 
April 10, 2012
3 Ways Rick Santorum Hurt Mitt Romney’s Chance at the Presidency 1. He has pulled Romney to the right on key issues. Romney’s challenge has always been to convince the right wing of his party he is conservative enough without moving too far to the right and endangering his standing with swing voters in the general election. Santorum, a social (if not necessarily small-government) conservative of unimpeachable credentials, has made that much harder. Romney’s latest tax plan, for example, closely resembles a conservative plan previously released by Santorum. It’s been a similar story on a range of issues. But perhaps the most dangerous topic to have been pulled to the right on is contraception and women’s issues, which have become a flashpoint in the race. Santorum’s strict views forced the formerly pro-choice Romney to take stronger stands. Even with Santorum fading in recent weeks, those views have stuck to Romney, and he now trails President Obama among women by as much as 19 percent. Read the rest. [Image: Reuters]

3 Ways Rick Santorum Hurt Mitt Romney’s Chance at the Presidency

1. He has pulled Romney to the right on key issues. Romney’s challenge has always been to convince the right wing of his party he is conservative enough without moving too far to the right and endangering his standing with swing voters in the general election. Santorum, a social (if not necessarily small-government) conservative of unimpeachable credentials, has made that much harder. Romney’s latest tax plan, for example, closely resembles a conservative plan previously released by Santorum. It’s been a similar story on a range of issues. But perhaps the most dangerous topic to have been pulled to the right on is contraception and women’s issues, which have become a flashpoint in the race. Santorum’s strict views forced the formerly pro-choice Romney to take stronger stands. Even with Santorum fading in recent weeks, those views have stuck to Romney, and he now trails President Obama among women by as much as 19 percent.

Read the rest. [Image: Reuters]

4:15pm
(Notes: 68)
  
Filed under: Politics Romney Santorum 2012 GOP Republicans 
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