201,000 Floridians didn’t vote in November because the lines were too long source
In an alternate reality, this would be Mitt Romney’s first web presence as President-Elect. He prepared a transition site in preparation for victory, and it was live for a brief period of time before it was clear he’d lost the election. Big ups to Taegan Goddard for grabbing screenshots before the site was toast. source
Michael Bloomberg endorses Obama: Shortly after delivering some extremely harsh criticism of President Obama in The Atlantic this month, the Mayor of New York has endorsed Obama for reelection, attributing much of his decision to Obama’s leadership on, of all things, climate change. “Obama has taken major steps to reduce our carbon consumption, including setting higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks,” Bloomberg wrote in his endorsement. He had nice words for Mitt Romney, but criticized him for reversing otherwise “sensible positions” on a variety of issues. “If the 1994 or 2003 version of Mitt Romney were running for president, I may well have voted for him,” said Bloomberg. (Photo credit: AP) source
To be brutal, a certain amount of bad weather on election day helps conservatives in every democracy. In crude terms, car-driving conservative retirees still turn out in driving rain, when bus-taking lower-income workers just back from a night shift are more likely to give rain-soaked polls a miss.The Economist, speculating on what effect—if any—Hurricane Sandy might have on the outcome of the election. “School closures are a particular problem for low-income families or single mothers scrambling to find childcare,” the columnist adds, and this could further surpress Democratic turnout. However, there’s also the possibility that Sandy could help Obama’s chances. The theory here is that the news coverage devoted to the storm will prevent any serious change in the media narrative of the race from taking hold, and because Obama is still the favorite for reelection, this could end up “freezing the election campaign, and Mr Romney’s perceived momentum, in place.” In truth, it’s anyone’s guess as to what effect Sandy will have on the polls. Thankfully, though, the storm is expected to clear up by November 6th, so it may ultimately be a moot point. —Seth @ ShortFormBlog (via election)
Colin Powell endorses President Obama for reelection: This is big news; Powell, a Republican, commands massive respect from partisans on both sides of the aisle, and his endorsement is one of the most sought-after in politics. Powell says that he “saw the president get us out of one war, start to get us out of a second war, and did not get us into any new wars,” and commends his anti-terrorism policies as “very, very solid.” Some had suggested that Powell, who endorsed Obama in 2008, would sit this election out and opt not to endorse anybody. source
Ayn Rand is one of those things that a lot of us, when we were 17 or 18 and feeling misunderstood, we’d pick up. Then, as we get older, we realize that a world in which we’re only thinking about ourselves and not thinking about anybody else, in which we’re considering the entire project of developing ourselves as more important than our relationships to other people and making sure that everybody else has opportunity – that that’s a pretty narrow vision.President Obama, in an interview with Rolling Stone, when asked about Paul Ryan’s “obsession” with Rand. source
Or how Obama wins without Ohio or Florida? Or what the most likely path is to a 269-269 electoral tie? Larry Sabato’s got you covered.
2012 Debates Memorandum of Understanding Between the Obama and Romney Campaigns
The guidelines of tomorrow’s presidential debate, as agreed upon by both campaigns (technically, this is a “memorandum of understanding,” not a list of official rules). Good get by Mark Halperin over at Time, who highlighted some of the more interesting bits in the 21-page document. source
I can’t add much to what’s already been (and will be) ...
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
Glad nobody was hurt. Police haven’t identified a suspect, but do have a “possible vehicle of interest.” source
So, which one is it? You sort of have to, you know, take a position on these things. source
They include in their ranks Congressman Allen West, former GE CEO Jack Welch, and more. The panel at Morning Joe cast suspicion on the numbers (“it doesn’t make sense”) but didn’t accuse anyone of cooking the books. Ezra Klein dismisses the claims outright, theorizing that we’re at “that moment in the election when people begin to lose their minds.” Labor economist Betsey Stephenson says that “anyone who thinks that political folks can manipulate the unempt data are completely ignorant about how BLS works & how data are compiled,” and Michael Tomasky notes that “if the administration were somehow manipulating the data, then they’re doing a terrible job at it.” Far-right Obama-hater Erick Erickson doesn’t doubt the numbers’ validity, though he doesn’t think they’re ultimately good news. source
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