We must compete in every state and every region, building relationships with communities we haven’t before…Simple ‘outreach’ a few months before an election will not suffice. In fact, let’s stop talking about ‘reaching out’—and start working on welcoming in.Planned remarks by Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus for the group’s upcoming winter meeting. Since November, we’ve heard a lot from the GOP about “re-calibrating” its message to appeal to demographics it lost in 2012 (Hispanics, women, young people, African-Americans, LGBT folk, and others). What we haven’t yet heard is how, if at all, those recalibrations will manifest themselves policy-wise. Will Priebus, or anyone else at this RNC meeting, be able to articulate what policies the GOP has to offer the people who voted to reelect President Obama last year and expand the Democratic majority the the Senate? Or will they insist that it’s just a matter of messaging? Speaking of messaging, Priebus probably isn’t too happy about Republican darling Allen West’s latest. source
BRUTAL Twitter burn. Also, hilarious.
Plus, all he’s selling is a stupid book, one you have to mail something in to buy and giving away a personalized bookplate to go with. He’s totally missing out on an opportunity to sell sleepwear — you know, a Karl Robe.
Obama wins Florida, tops Romney 332 to 206 in electoral votes
Barack Obama has been declared the winner in Florida, topping Mitt Romney in the final electoral vote tally 332 to 206, AP reports.
Florida officials said Obama had 50% of the vote to Romney’s 49.1%, a margin of about 74,000 votes.
Photo: President Barack Obama addresses supporters during his election night rally in Chicago, Nov. 6, 2012. (Kevin Lamarque / Reuters)
It’s official, guys.
Infographic: How long Tumblr users waited at the polls
The amount of time 137 ShortFormBlog and Tumblr Election readers spent waiting at the polls to vote today. (We asked earlier tonight.) One unlucky person waited three and a half hours. :(
— Ernie @ ShortFormBlog
I voted day-of, so it was slightly more complicated, but I was in and out within half an hour. I got there around 5:30 p.m. EST. — Ernie @ SFB
in light of the contentious nature of the upcoming election, and some of the rhetoric indicating possible civil unrest, I have decided to close the community gates 24/7.Cottages of Woodstock, Ga. HOA president Bill Stanley • Saying in an e-mail to residents that they would lock the gates to the community out of fear of civil unrest. The community is made up of people 55 and over. Beyond this current situation, some have previously suggested civil unrest if Obama is elected again. These people are on crack.
Get ready New York…
Brilliant. Such a show of quiet resiliency. Their best cover since this one.
Thanks again to last week’s guest editors, safely ensconced on the West Coast: Cord Jefferson and L.A. Liberty. For those of us back east, we may be off to a rocky start for the week due to Hurricane Sandy, so your election-blogging may vary.
However, we’d still like to extend the usual official welcome to this week’s guest editors. They are itinerant commentator and Nation correspondent Ari Melber, plus the voraciously productive and comprehensive newsy known as ShortFormBlog. Big hugs all round.
So yeah, this is kind of a weird week for this. But we’re still going to try our best to make it awesome. Yeah elections whoo!
Today in political cartoons with an extra dash of clever: xkcd’s take on electoral precedent.
Yahoo wants to buy Hulu now too. They’re going on an “I...
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Does social media predict how people vote? This here infographic makes said argument. Check it out.
If your presidential candidate loses the election in November, and you win an online contest, JetBlue Airways will give you a free round-trip ticket, one of 1,006, to escape to Mexico or Caribbean or other international destinations and ease your pain.
The campaign, from ad agency Mullen, includes TV, radio, digital, mobile and event marketing, along with social-media and in-flight efforts. A PSA encourages people to get out and vote.
“Fun is one of our five founding values, and in this spirit we decided to give people a chance to recover from the political noise and follow through on their claim to skip town if their candidate comes up short,” said JetBlue Senior VP Marketing and Commercial Strategy Marty St. George in a statement. “And with service to more than 20 international destinations JetBlue is the perfect fix. Most importantly, we want to highlight the freedom we have as Americans to exercise our right to vote and encourage everyone to do their part on November 6. Live Free or Fly!”
And it’s not one-way because …
Just announced! Political Ad Sleuths: Campus Challenge, a national project aimed at shining some much needed sunlight on who is paying for all those political ads on local TV.
We are mobilizing and training political ad sleuths on college campuses around the country from now through the election. And there are prizes!
Interested in learning more? See my blog post here, and email CampusChallenge@freepress.net and please help spread the word.
For student journalists who want to sleuth a little and fans of muckraking.
» Not much bang for the buck: Tons of money is needed to get a political campaign off the ground, but that doesn’t mean being rich out of the gate is a sure-fire win for wannabe politicians. In 2010, wrestling magnate Linda McMahon spent $50 million on her own Senate campaign only to be crushed by Richard Blumenthal, who’d raised a (relatively) modest $8.7 million. More recently, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst lost the GOP primary after giving $24 million to his own war chest—the most so far of any candidate this cycle. But this doesn’t seem to be discouraging wealthy candidates: McMahon is running for the Senate again this year, and her $8.8 million contribution constitutes 90% of what she’s raised so far.
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