The wrong information was sent to Spanish speaking voters in Arizona, while the English voters received the correct information. According to election officials in the Republican controlled state, about 50 mailings went out to voters.
Category: Arizona
A measure that passed Arizona’s Senate claims that it would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but experts say that the bill is far more restrictive, effectively banning abortions after 18 weeks and declaring that a woman could be pregnant 2 weeks before she even had sex.
Arizona’s HB 2036 takes Nebraska’s 20-week abortion ban one step further by starting the clock on pregnancies at the woman’s last last menstrual period, which could be two weeks before fertilization.
Specifically, the bill would “[p]rohibit abortions at or after twenty weeks of gestation, except in cases of a medical emergency, based on the documented risks to women’s health and the strong medical evidence that unborn children feel pain during an abortion at that gestational age,” where gestational age is defined as “age of the unborn child as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman.”
Source: Mother Jones
Mitt May Win Right To Lose Michigan in the Fall!
Democrats, Pro-Vomit Vote Not Enough For Santorum!
Arizona Goes Romney! Border Remains Calm!
Mitt Romney did almost enough to dispel any lingering doubts that he will be the Republican Party’s nominee for president by defeating Rick Santorum in the all-important Michigan primary yesterday. Romney crossed the 40% threshold but failed to defeat his chief rival by more than 10%, which would have ended any debate about Romney’s being the GOP standard-bearer. Still, a win is a win, and now the field moves on to Super Tuesday where there is now even a doubt that Newt can win his home state of Georgia.
How did I do with my predictions? Let’s check.
For Arizona:
Prediction Actual
Romney 43% 47.3%
Santorum 30% 26.6%
Gingrich 18% 16.2%
Paul 8% 8.4%
For Michigan:
Romney 39% 41.1%
Santorum 37% 37.9%
Paul 12% 11.6%
Gingrich 10% 6.5%
All told, not too bad.
So now it’s on to Tuesday Grande, where the big prize will be Ohio and the attack ads will come fast and furious. It’s difficult to fathom what else Mitt and Rick could say that could be any more outrageous than their embarrassing forays into trees, bodily functions, automobile choices, anti-intellectual diatribes and invocations of Satan/Obama (really, have you ever seen them in the same room together?) Interesting.
For more, please visit www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and Twitter @rigrundfest
This week’s report begins with a question:
What would you call a candidate who LOST the following primaries: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas, New York, Massachusetts, California, Florida and Michigan?
How about, Mr. President.
That’s right. Candidate Barack Obama lost every one of those primaries, and more, in 2008 yet won the nomination. That’s why I’m not getting agitated over the latest results of the Republican race. As I’ve said over and over and over and over, Mitt Romney will be the GOP’s nominee in 2012 even if he loses some big states. Granted, Michigan is different for Mitt; he’s claiming pseudo-residency in the state and has set it up as a make-or-break contest. Obama at least won his home state, Illinois, so the comparison isn’t perfect. But still, the national media’s focus on whether Rick Santorum can win the nomination is a moot point. He can’t, and he won’t. To further muddy the picture, though, I will say that if he does manage to win it, the GOP will have committed hari-kiri.
The past three weeks have seen some extraordinary developments in the Republican Presidential Primaries. Rick Santorum caught fire (and brimstone) as the new, and probably final, conservative darling in the race. Romney made a few gaffes that have certainly hurt him, playing to a near-empty Ford’s Field and citing his wife’s two Cadillacs to name the main ones. What does it all add up to? A contested race that will probably drag on into the spring and even give Newt a chance to win his home state of Georgia.
On to the predictions.
First, in Arizona, the latest polls show that Mitt will win rather handily mainly because Santorum and Gingrich have pretty much conceded him the state. Arizona has a large Mormon population that will easily beat back the large Tea Party contingent at the polls (assuming that the Partiers can rush back from guarding the Mexican border in time to cast votes). Still, I think that Romney will need to win over 40% of the vote to make it convincing. Thusly:
Romney 43%
Santorum 30%
Gingrich 18%
Paul 8%
In Michigan, things get complicated. In my view, Romney will need to win over 40% of the vote AND win by 10+ points to make a convincing statement. The polls aren’t showing that, but if enough voters decide at the last-minute that Santorum would be a sure loser in November, it could happen. I don’t see it.
What is more likely to happen is that Mitt wins, but by 3 points or fewer and gets below 40%. In that case, Santorum can claim a win-by-losing argument because Romney keeps saying that this is one of his home states (even though most voters don’t see the connection). The conservatives will have made their point and Santorum can then move on to Ohio and perhaps win that primary. He can also assume he’ll win Pennsylvania, which would greatly complicate Mitt’s message about electability.
Prediction:
Romney 39%
Santorum 37%
Paul 12%
Gingrich 10%
The race moves on to Super Tuesday. The national press will continue to talk about a brokered convention, which will not happen. Romney will eventually be the nominee. Or have I said that already.
For more, please visit www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and Twitter @rigrundfest
The Birthers are back, or maybe they just never left.
Even after President Obama officially put an end to the nonsense of Birtherism by providing the very document they’ve asked for since he walked into office, some people just can’t accept the fact that this Black man is living in the White House.
Arizona Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, has decided to form a posse – a five member group called the Cold Case Posse – to investigate the President’s birth, his birth certificate, or his certificate of live birth…whatever you want to call it, Arpaio’s posse will investigate it. Arpaio says the citizens of Maricopa County demand this investigation be done.
“This investigation does not involve politics,” Arpaio told WND. “I listen to all the residents of Maricopa County who come to my office with complaints, regardless what their politics are.
“My door is open to everyone, and I don’t kick them out. If a complaint is legitimate, I don’t dump it into the wastebasket,” he continued. “When I get allegations brought to me by the citizens of Maricopa County, I look into the allegations, just like I am doing here.”
Arpaio is responding to a complaint brought to his office by representatives of the Surprise Tea Party in Surprise, Ariz., who have expressed in writing their concerns that the voting rights of Maricopa County residents in the 2012 presidential election could be compromised if Obama were to use a forged birth certificate to establish his eligibility under Article 1, Section 2, of the Constitution.
“The Cold Case Posse is a good place to put this investigation,” Arpaio said. “The individuals on this posse have been sworn in by me and I have granted them the authority required to conduct this investigation.”
Arpaio explained to WND that in the final analysis, all decisions stop with him.
“I will have the ultimate authority to decide,” he emphasized. “I gave the Cold Case Posse the authority to investigate, but the results of their investigation ultimately come to me and I will then decide how best to proceed from there.”
I wonder what else this posse would want to see as proof that Barack Obama is an American? Every possible item that can be given as proof of his citizenship has been provided, but he and the citizens of Maricopa County aren’t satisfied yet.
I remember the years they hounded President Bush for his proof of citizenship…oh wait…this wasn’t an issue then as he set off to destroy America’s economy. As a matter of fact, this has never been an issue since George Washington’s inauguration. But then again, all the Presidents before Mr. Obama, have been white.
Charles Barkley couldn’t wait for the conversation to come up. During an on-air radio segment on ESPN Radio, the group briefly spoke about Joe McGinniss’s book, where the claim was made that Glen Rice had a one night stand with former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin.
Barkley, who has a history of looking for the most controversial thing to say about everything, put in his two cents.
“You know I have a thing for Sarah Palin, I do. I think she’s hot! I wouldn’t vote for her, but she is hot now. I’m talking both. I’ve always said, ‘I’ve got a crush on Sarah Palin.’ I would never vote for her. I always vote Democratic because I think you have a better chance of helping poor people if you vote Democratic.
But, I’ve always had a thing for Sarah Palin. When I read that… Glen Rice is my new hero! He’s my new hero. You know she just moved in my neighborhood and I haven’t had a chance to meet her. I stay in Philadelphia in the summer, and I go back to Arizona when it starts getting cold. That cold is creeping up on me. I’m talking 50 or 60 degrees. So, I’m heading back to Arizona soon and I look forward to meeting Sarah Palin. Hey listen if that story is true, more power to Glen Rice.”
Barkley sounds a little too excited about meeting Sarah now. Maybe Todd should pack up Sarah and the family and move as far away from Barkley as possible.
Just eight months ago, a crazy gunman walked up to Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona at a democratic political rally, shot the congresswoman in the head in an apparent assassination attempt and killed six people as he emptied his glock into the crowd. Today, a Republican fundraiser in Arizona is offering the same type of weapon, a glock 23, as a prize in their raffle.
For just $10, readers can purchase a raffle ticket (out of 125 offered) for a chance to win a brand new handgun. Not just any handgun, but a Glock 23
Arizona Republicans surely know just how effective this particular brand of gun can be. After all, it was only eight months ago that Jared Lee Loughner used a Glock 19 in Tucson – the seat of Pima County – to shoot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head. Giffords survived, but six other people, including a nine year old girl and a federal judge, were killed in the same shooting.
The raffle gun comes preloaded with adjustable grips, a case, and three 12-round magazines. Glock USA describes the model as “a slightly reduced size of a full-size handgun for easier concealment but still retains the performance on the level of a serious big bore.
These people are mentally sick.
Even in Alaska, Sarah Palin’s popularity is plummeting. A new poll is shedding some light on the Republican and her possible quest to run for President in 2012.
Ivan Moore Research finds that nearly half of all Alaska voters view Ms. Palin in negative terms. Forty-nine percent of the 647 registered Alaskan voters it polled said they felt negatively about Ms. Palin , while only 39 percent say they held a positive opinion of Ms. Palin.
The poll comes as the former Alaska governor continues to consider entering the 2012 race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Ms. Palin, who has increased her national profile in recent weeks, launched a nationwide bus tour last month, but abandoned the media spectacle after just one week.
Now we understand her possible move to Arizona.
By the Associated Press
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill that cracks down on illegal immigration by increasing some enforcement powers and requiring many employers to check the immigration status of new hires.
Deal on Friday signed the bill that has some similarities to a controversial bill enacted last year in Arizona.
Most parts of the Georgia law are set to enter into effect July 1. But opponents have said they plan to file lawsuits seeking to block it.
A requirement for private employers to use a federal database to check the immigration status of new hires is set to be phased in.
The new law also authorizes law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of certain suspects and to detain those who are in the country illegally.
Jan Brewer appeared on CNN this week to discuss her veto of the latest attempt by the Birthers movement to stop President Obama’s re-election campaign. The bill, if it was signed into law in Arizona would have required all elected officials to give proof of citizenship before their name would be allowed on the Arizona ballot. The proof, according to the legislation, would possibly include the candidate’s circumcision records, and was a direct shot at the Birthers claim that President Obama was not born in the United States.
“Well, you know, it seems to me that we have talked about this issue now going on probably two years, and that I believe that most people have reached out and they did their investigations, and it’s become such a huge distraction,” said Brewer. “I for one, I believe that what I have seen, and after speaking with governor — or the prior governor of Hawaii — that indeed he [Obama] was born in Hawaii.” She continued;
“It’s just something that I think is leading our country down a path of destruction, and it just is not serving any good purpose.
“It was a bridge way too far to give one person in the state of Arizona — a partisan person at that — the ability to keep a person off the ballot. And it wasn’t just the President of the United States — it was all the way down the path of allelected officials.
“So, it was something that I felt very uncomfortable with signing, having been a prior Secretary of State. And I think we just really need to move on. Everybody’s had two years to prove, if they wanted to, that he was not born in Hawaii. They haven’t come up with any of that kind of proof.
“So, it just seems to me that it’s more political rhetoric, and that it takes the ball off the kinds of subjects that we all ought to be discussing, and that would be jobs and the economy.”
This cannot be the same Jan Brewer who recently signed the racial profiling law in her state. It simply cannot be!
Source: Talking Points Memo
We didn’t think she had it in her. But today, Jan Brewer vetoed a bill passed by both the Arizona Senate and House, and would have required all Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates to prove they are United States citizens.
The bill, which was sponsored in part and written to appease the Birther movement, would have appointed a person to determine the eligibility of presidential candidates, based on nothing else but their birth certificate and if that wasn’t available, their circumcision certificate (for males only, of course. Don’t ask what proof they’re asking of women).
“I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions,” Ms Brewer said in a statement.
For some reason, and we’re not quite sure what that reason is – *wink wink* – birth certificates or questioning whether or not a president was born in this country, was never an issue with previous presidents. Something about President Obama – and we haven’t quite put our finger on it – has triggered an entire movement, now led by presidential hopeful Donald Trump, requesting this particular president comply with their demands.
“I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their ‘early baptismal circumcision certificates’ among other records to the Arizona secretary of state,” Ms Brewer said.
I guess knowing what the presidential candidate’s penis looked like was not an appealing thought for Mrs. Brewer. Too bad her fellow Republicans felt otherwise in the vetoed bill.
Great! Just when you thought it was safe to go to Arizona, the Birthers officially took over the place.
Today, the Arizona Republican Senate bowed to the Birthers, and passed a bill requiring all presidential candidates to prove he or she is a natural-born citizen of the United States, prove their age and also prove that they meet the residency requirements, as dictated in the bill. If the presidential contender cannot provide the required proof within the alloted time period, then according to the bill, that person’s name cannot appear on the Arizona presidential ballot.
Also according to the bill, which passed both the Arizona House and Senate, the political party of the candidate must “provide to the Secretary of State written notice of that party’s nomination for President and Vice President.” The bill then states that within 10 days after the political party provides the names of their nominee, an affidavit must be presented to Arizona, stating “the candidate’s citizenship and age and shall append to the affidavit documents that prove the candidate is a natural-born citizen.”
And get this… just in case the candidate cannot provide their long-form birth certificate, the legislation has an alternative. The presidential candidate will be allowed to put their name on the Arizona ballot if they can provide, among other things, their circumcision certificate.
So to understand exactly what is required to be on the Arizona presidential ballot starting in 2012, all candidates will need; proof of age, proof of residency, a long-form birth certificate, and if all else fails, then your circumcision certificate will do.
Of course, that requirement is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, which clearly states, “no person except a natural born Citizen” shall be eligible for President of the United States. But apparently, the founding fathers forgot to mention the circumcision certificate as proof of eligibility.
The bill now heads back to the Arizona House for a final vote where it is expected to pass, then it goes to Republican Governor Jan Brewer’s desk for her to sign it into law. That too, is expected to happen.
Wonder if those founding fathers ever thought that a description of one’s penis will be a qualifier for a United States presidential candidate?
I don’t think so.
