Author Archives: PEB
He’s got binders full of women, well not really
During last night’s presidential debate, Republican Tea Party (GOTP) footnote Willard Mitt Romney boasted how as governor of Massachusetts, he was so frustrated by the lack of qualified women for positions in his cabinet he sent women’s groups out to actively recruit them.
“I went to a number of women’s groups and said, ‘Can you help us find folks?’ and they brought us whole binders full of women,” he said.
There’s just one small problem with Willard’s story, it’s not true. According to news sources, a bipartisan coalition of women’s groups known as MassGAP approached Romney and his Democratic challenger Shannon O’Brien before the 2002 gubernatorial election and pressured each to sign a pledge to appoint more women if elected.
Liz Levin, chairwoman of MassGAP at the time, reportedly told reporters during the 2002 governor’s race, the group spent months identifying, vetting and collecting resumes of qualified women for the high-level appointments.
“They told us … that they were going to send [the binders] to us,” O’Brien recalled in a Wednesday interview with The Huffington Post. “Whoever won was going to get this.”
Carol Hardy-Fanta, former co-chair of MassGAP’s higher education subcommittee agreed with that assessment, “He didn’t go out looking for these binders,” she said.
So, what’s the problem?
Well, Willard said during last night’s debate he initiated the search, “I went to my staff, and I said, how come all the people for these jobs are — are all men?
“They said, well, these are the people that have the qualifications. And I said, well, gosh, can’t we — can’t we find some — some women that are also qualified?
“And — and so we — we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. I went to a number of women’s groups and said, can you help us find folks? And I brought us whole binders full of — of women.”
Once more Willard reached into his past and pulled out a half-truth, a prevarication, a lie. He didn’t initiate the search. He didn’t think to himself, “Gee, we need more women.” He’s a fraud, and he thinks women are too dumb to see he’s a fraud. Problem for Romney is he thinks he’s starring in an episode of Mad Men and “dames” just won’t catch on.
Supreme Court declines GOTP ploy to block Ohio early voting
The United States Supreme Court decided to side with “We the People”, refusing to block early voting in the battleground state of Ohio, a ploy developed by the Republican Tea Party (GOTP) there in an effort to restrict voting.
The court refused the GOTP request to become involved in the dispute over early voting in the state on the three days before Election Day, something that’s always been allowed in the past, but which the GOTP decided needed to curtailed during this presidential election year.
President Obama’s campaign along with Ohio Democrats sued the state over changes in Ohio law designed to take away the three days of voting for most people saying nearly 100,000 people voted in the three days before the election in 2008. But hey, what’s a mere 100,000 votes amongst friends? Well, in a state where only 262,000 votes separated the President from John McCain in 2008 that’s a sizeable chunk of votes being potentially disenfranchised.
In a time when the Supreme Court has given disastrous rulings regarding election spending – aka Citizen’s United – this is a fresh breeze of liberty blowing into the current election cycle.
Latest 2012 Presidential Polls – 16 Oct 12 Edition
Three (3) weeks – 21 days – until the November election and Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential footnote Willard Mitt Romney will debate President Obama in round three of the presidential/vice presidential debates; round one went to Romney, and round two (VP debate) went to Vice President Biden, but who will win round three? Romney has two choices, continue the 180 charade (no doubt the President will be prepared for that) or return to uber-right wing Mitt (what the President was prepared for before Denver). It may prove he should’ve pulled the 180 switch tonight, meaning he shot his wad too soon – which does not have its origin in sexual connotations. The real question is which President Obama will show up; the election is his to lose not Romney’s to win. Tonight’s debate is in a town hall format, which should favor the President, one thing’s for sure, the President can’t allow the challenger to set the tone as he did in Denver.
So, how does the GOTP candidate stand up against the President this week?
The Politico/GWU/Battleground poll of likely voters conducted from 7 – 11 Oct 12 has the President with a 53% favorability rating compared to Romney’s 51%. So, who’s more electable right now?
In the most recent viable’ national poll(s) – which are any group other than the WeAskAmerica or Rasmussen (which are generally always skewed not just to the right, but far to the right – usually by five or more points) or ARG (which only polls landline phone numbers, thus eliminating a huge portion of the electorate) – the most recent ABC News/Wash Post poll of likely voters conducted from 10 – 13 Oct 12, if the general election was held today:
President Obama 49/Romney 46
According to other recent polls, if the general election was held today …
Gallup Tracking poll of registered voters conducted from 8 – 14 Oct 12 had different numbers:
President Obama 47/Romney 49
IBD/TIPP Tracking poll of likely voters conducted from 9 – 14 Oct 12:
President Obama 47/Romney 47
Politico/GWU/Battleground poll of registered voters conducted from 7 – 11 Oct 12:
President Obama 49/Romney 48
Monmouth/SurveyUSA/Braun poll of registered voters conducted from 8 – 10 Oct 12:
President Obama 46/Romney 47
Pew Research poll of likely voters conducted from 4 – 7 Oct 12:
President Obama 45/Romney 49
Politico/GWU/Battleground poll of likely voters conducted from 1 – 4 Oct 12:
President Obama 49/Romney 48
On this day four years ago SEN Obama led SEN McCain in the polls 49.5/42.7 and ultimately losing to SEN Obama by a margin of 52.1/44.5.
So, if the general election was held today, according to the latest national polls, Willard Mitt Romney loses to President Obama in the general election.
According to state polls, if the General Election were held TODAY (note these are based on current poll numbers – not projections), the Electoral College totals based on all available current poll numbers President Obama defeats Romney 303/235.
As a comparison, President Obama defeated John McCain 365/173 in 2008
Results of 10 consecutive simulations based on poll data as of 16 Oct 12
Obama 305/233
Obama 295/243
Obama 317/221
Obama 279/259
Obama 321/217
Obama 294/244
Obama 287/251
Romney 283/255
Romney 299/239
Romney 280/258
The simulations use cumulative polling data by state and are not based off of national polling data.
As to the status of the United States Congress, according to polling data available if the election was held today the Democratic Party would retain its majority in the United States Senate 54-46; while Democrats will be picking up at least 13 seats in the House of Representatives, the GOTP would retain control of the lower House, but just barely at 229/206.
The Liberty Tree 