Tonight we will know

 

Which will the country choose?

An Election Guide

The outcome in nearly three-quarters of the states, plus the District of Columbia, is almost certain.  Unless something truly unforeseen happens, Mitt Romney will win in 23 of those states (including Texas), while Obama will win in 14 (including California, New York, and Illinois) plus Washington, D.C.  Through those 37 states and D.C., the electoral vote will almost surely be as follows: Romney 190, Obama 183.

This is a nice breakdown of what each candidate must have as the returns come in.  

CNN’s Last Poll

“Among those likely voters, 41 percent describe themselves as Democrats, 29 percent describe themselves as Independents and 30 percent describe themselves as Republicans….

…Rasmussen projects that 39 percent of voters will be Democrats and 37 percent Republicans, leaving 24 percent Independent.

Let’s apply Rasmussen’s voting percentages to CNN’s polling results assuming 1,000 voters made up of 390 Democrats, 240 Independents and 370 Republicans. Voting for President Obama, we would have 363 Democrats (93 percent of 390), 89 Independents (37 percent of 240), and 4 Republicans (1 percent of 370), for a total of 456 votes. Voting for Gov. Romney, we would have 366 Republicans (99 percent of 370), 134 Independents (56 percent of 240), and 20 Democrats (5 percent of 390) for a total of 520 votes. So, President Obama would get 46 percent of the vote and Governor Romney would get 52 percent, again, a huge Romney victory.

This CNN poll is truly great news for Republicans unless you believe that Democrats will vote 11 percent more than Republican this year and very few people do 

The November Surprise

Rasmussen revealed that for the month of October, its data showed that among likely voters, the electorate is 39 percent Republican and 33 percent Democratic. 

This comes from a survey of 15,000 people taken over the course of a month. Yes, 15,000 people —15 times the number in a statistically significant poll. 

This number might be discounted, since Rasmussen has a reputation as leaning Republican. Except that last week, Gallup — the oldest and most reputable national pollster — released its party ID survey of 9,424 likely voters. And it came out 36 percent Republican, 35 percent Democrat.

This means two firms, with huge numbers of likely voters in their surveys, are finding on election eve that there are more Republican than Democratic voters.

If the numbers come out with more Republicans than Democrats, Romney wins.  If it comes out with Rasmussen’s numbers it’s a landslide.

When all else fails, lie

“We tried our ideas. They worked. The economy grew. We created jobs. Deficits went down. We tried their ideas. They didn't work. The economy didn't grow, not as many jobs, and the deficit went up.”  Barack Obama 11/5/2012

You have to have no shame to make this kind of a statement.   

The final Presidential Debate

It was last night, but didn’t include either Obama or Romney.

Obamacare: Unintended Consequences

Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week. That is the threshold at which large employers in 2014 would have to offer workers a minimum level of insurance or pay a penalty starting at $2,000 for each worker. . . .

Peggy Noonan:  It’s Romney

There is no denying the Republicans have the passion now, the enthusiasm. The Democrats do not. Independents are breaking for Romney. And there’s the thing about the yard signs. In Florida a few weeks ago I saw Romney signs, not Obama ones. From Ohio I hear the same. From tony Northwest Washington, D.C., I hear the same. 

Is it possible this whole thing is playing out before our eyes and we’re not really noticing because we’re too busy looking at data on paper instead of what’s in front of us? Maybe that’s the real distortion of the polls this year: They left us discounting the world around us.

Bob Dylan says it Obama in a landslide

Dylan says, "Don't believe the media. I think it's going to be a landslide."

I agree not to believe the media and that it will be a landslide, but it will by a Romney landslide.  

The Obama voter

It seems to me that many left-wingers confuse good intentions with good outcomes and mistake the feeling of virtue for virtue itself. I hear them say things like, “Well, at least Obama cares,” as if the presidency were not an important job that could be done well or badly. Would they choose to be operated on by a surgeon because he cares or would they prefer one who knew what he was doing and could get the job done? They praise programs for their intent without considering their outcomes or costs. They do not weigh their liberty in the balance of their reason. At their worst, they cherish a sense of themselves as good and generous because they vote for the people who tell them they are good and generous, and hold as hateful those who will not join in praising the emperor’s new clothes.

This is the problem.  The law of unintended consequences never seems to sink in to the liberal brain. 

A good sign?

Howard Dean is claiming voter suppression adding that the only way Obama can lose this is if his voters are kept away from the polls.  This may be a good sign that the excuses have started already, or it may be just the ramblings of a paranoid old pol. 

Obama the cold fish

Personal relationships with much of Washington - Obama is frighteningly weak. Last week, I asked a member of the Senate if he knows of anyone who really knows Obama.  He said he does not. Washington is thick with stories about Obama's insularity and distance. We hear how he does not listen to criticism - he sometimes just walks out of the room...

Politico and Media Matters go after one another.

It appears the “kids” are jockeying for position as the Obama Administration’smouthpiece.

Benghazi and Biden

Even Leftist Pundits were taken back by Biden’s performance

And for those who think my disdain for Joe’s juvenile behavior is rank partisan perturbation, his own party’s cheerleaders derided him for his derisive behavior. Check it out:

NBC News’ David Gregory: “Biden’s smile is out of control.” (David Gregory, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12)
NBC News’ Mike O’Brien: “Biden really has to rein in his mannerisms.” (Mike O’Brien, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12)
CNN’s Piers Morgan: “Joe, seriously, STOP SMIRKING. This is serious stuff. Be Vice-Presidential.” (Piers Morgan, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12)
CNN’s Gloria Borger: “It was condescending at times, to Paul Ryan and I think I could’ve done with a lot less eye rolling and chuckling on the part of Joe Biden.” (CNN’s “Inside The Spin Room,” 10/11/12)
Bloomberg’s Josh Barro: “Biden smirk is … not good.” (Josh Barro, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12)
NBC News’ Betsy Fischer Martin: “Biden constant smiling is reminding me of Gore constant sighing in 2000.” (Betsy Fischer Martin, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12)
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza: “Ok. I have decided. I find the Biden smile slightly unsettling.” (Chris Cillizza, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12)

The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake: “Biden making lots of noise/motion while Ryan is talking.” (Aaron Blake, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12)
WPHT Philadelphia’s Chris Stigall: “Biden laughs like this is a game. Disgraceful.” (Chris Stigall, Twitter Feed, 10/11/12)

Biden’s performance in retrospect

For starters, try to imagine being Paul Ryan last Thursday: a young politician in the hot seat, the eyes of the world pressing upon him, as he tries to make careful and succinct statements in a most-intense environment, while all along, literally nearly every minute -- Biden interrupted Ryan 80-plus times -- his opponent smirks, scoffs, laughs uncontrollably, flaps his arms, and, generally, acts like a petulant child. I ask readers: Could you have endured what Paul Ryan handled? Given what he was up against, Paul Ryan's debate performance was truly remarkable. It was extraordinary. For poise alone, Ryan won hands down.

As for Joe Biden, his disrespectfulness was of historic proportions. Anyone but the blindest partisan Democrat concedes that the man was obnoxious. Only really, really angry liberals -- granted, there are many -- liked what Biden did.

Biden’s two biggest lies

Biden lied about Benghazi and about Obamacare’s mandate.  Both of those lies will cost them in the coming election.

Biden and Benghazi:  The October surprise?

Many people in the diplomatic and intelligence communities say that the Obama administration, behind the scenes, is in complete disarray in the aftermath of al-Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. That tension burst into the open during last Thursday’s debate, when Vice President Joe Biden said the administration “did not know” that U.S. personnel in Libya had made repeated requests for more security before the September 11 attack. “We did not know they wanted more security there,” Biden claimed.

The thrill going up many liberals leg last Wednesday may be fading as more comes out about Libya and the lies the VP told us.  

Lies our government told us

It appears the truth is slowly coming out and with them the realization that the Obama Administration was lying through its teeth regarding Benghazi.

State was sitting on money for security for consulate

Last week during congressional testimony from State Department officials who were on the ground in Libya, we heard over and over again that more security for the consulate in Benghazi was requested but denied. We also heard repeatedly from Democrats, including Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee Elijah Cummings, claiming a lack of funding was at fault for less security in Benghazi during the time of the attack on 9/11 that left four Americans dead. State Department officials said funding had nothing to do with the situation and now, Chairman Darrell Issa has revealed the State Department is sitting on $2 billion for consulate security, but won’t spend it.

This keeps getting worse and worse for the Democrats.  

Obama surrogate dodges Benghazi Question

David Axelrod dodges the question of how soon Obama met with his National Security Council regarding Benghazi which begs the question; did he ever meet with them regarding Benghazi? 

When Obama loses CNN…

“CNN has learned tonight that the White House chose to leave out key intelligence from the attacks on Americans in Libya. There are three things U.S. intelligence has now confirmed to be true: the attackswere preplanned, terrorist attacks, and the work of Al-Qaeda- linked groups. None of these three points were in talking points distributed to congress and other government officials.  U.S. intelligence knew of the al-Qaeda link within 24 hours of the attacks. And the now infamous comments by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice that the attacks were not preplanned and not the work of terror came four days after that. This doesn’t add up.”

This is an excellent article that goes far beyond the CNN quote.  

Obama’s two new problems

The momentum of the Romney Campaignis only growing, and while Obama and his cohorts throw out Big Bird jokes, the fact remains that we are witnessing the collapse of Obama’s foreign policy right before our eyes. Big Bird memes are not as distracting as the Obama Campaign had hoped, and the American voters are continuing to ask inconvenient questions about the handling of Benghazi-gate, what we plan to do to secure our embassies and why this was allowed to happen in the first place.

Further plaguing the Obama Administration is the poor economy that has affected all of us at one point or another. The promises of, “It will get better,” are just not enough to keep people hoping for change anymore. Even the “official” dropping of the unemployment rate from 8.1% to 7.8% last month only bought Obama fifteen minutes of goodwill.

Obama’s Breaking Point

Is it starting to look like November 1, 1980? 

In the first debate, Romney was not just far better-informed and spoken, but far more likeable. Joe Biden’s frenzied rudeness was the sort of debate performance that mesmerizes one by its very boorishness, eliciting a weird reaction in the room like “Come over and check this out: I can’t believe the Vice president of the United States is trumping The Joker” (after all, the sick Joker is more entertaining that the sober and judicious Batman) — but within hours leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth of something along the lines of “Surely, we could have done better than that rude buffoon?”

Washington Post shows Obama ahead 49%-46%

The posts opines on a number of reasons Obama is ahead, but failed to mention the main one.  Their poll had +9 Democrats which give Obama a +3 margin.  Using simple arithmetic, you can see that means the independents are going for Romney by a 60-40 margin. 

The Cost of Regulation

Right now it costs small businesses 40 cents of everydollar to comply with government regulations.  And this is before Obamacare.  This is also the reason big companies don’t mind regulation because it gives them a competitive advantage over small companies. 

Is Elizabeth Warren paying her fair share?

Elizabeth Warren has built her progressive rock star image and her campaign by attacking the wealthy factory owners and others who supposedly do not pay their “fair share” and take advantage of loopholes to live off of infrastructure paid for by others.

Yet Warren appears to be one of those people who takes advantage.

Warren falsely and without any legitimate legal basis claimed to be Cherokee for employment purposes.  Warren also chintzed by failing to register for the Massachusetts Bar despite an active practice of law in Cambridge since the mid-1990s, thereby evading Bar registration dues.  Howie Carr has a great column today about Warren’s class warfare phoniness.

Add another example to the long list:  Warren obtained fee waivers from at least 50 federal bankruptcy courts so she would not have to pay for access to the federal PACER system, even in years when she had a high 6-figure income and an 8-figure net worth.

The more you know about Ms. Warren, the more you like Scott Brown.  

2012 election helps Postal Service

It seems all that annoying junk election mail you are getting is a life saver for the postal service.

NHS:  A preview of Obamacare?

Older patients must not be denied NHS operations on the grounds of their age, a report by surgeons says.

It provides damning evidence of variations in surgical care based on patients' ages, with the chances of being operated on peaking in middle age and plummeting for those in their 60s, 70s and 80s.

Older heart attack victims, breast cancer patients and those needing new hips and knees are missing out on treatment routinely offered to younger patients even though they could benefit, it says.