SOTU Blogathon (2 of 3): Does Bernie Sanders Like Moo Goo Gai Pan?

With images of President Barack Obama, Washington Wizards star John Wall, and Cong. Peter King (R-NY), we present with a second round of tonight's tweets regarding the SOTU:

1) John Harwood of CNBC: Obama: 'We're threatened less by evil empires and more by failing states."

2) Lizz Winstead: Peter King needs some Activa.

3) Roll Call: Obama: 'The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. But, there are still threats.'

4) Miriti Murungi: Bernie's about to order Chinese food (image of him pulling out iPhone was beneath tweet).

5) Ken Rudin (NPR): A little history here. This is the first SOTU where the two men standing behind the president debated each other in the last election.

6) Jonah Goldberg (National Review): Wait.....WAIT!! Barack Obama killed Osama Bin Laden? I never heard that before."

7) The Onion (satire news): Biden Urges Paul Ryan To Check Out Nude Scenes from 'Porky's' on Phone.

8) Politico: Obama: "If you doubt America's commitment or mine to see that justice is done, ask Osama bin Laden."

9) The Weekly Standard (conservative magazine): Obama's talking foreign policy at SOTU right now. But, he's leaving out the sailors detained by Iran today.

10) Catholic Democrats: Did anyone ever think 8 years ago that a Democratic president would be quoting a pope in his SOTU?

11) Nicholas Kristof (New York Times): Obama has been mostly in law professor mode. But he showed passion when he denounced attacks on Islam as unfair and counterproductive.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics

http://www.theonion.com

http://www.weeklystandard.com

http://www.newrepublic.com

SOTU Blogathon: Let's Drop the Gloves (1 of 3)

With our hearts and minds on the ISIS terrorism victims from today's senseless ISIS attack in Istanbul, Turkey, which we hope to dwell into later this week, we focus on tweets from tonight's State of the Union Address (SOTU), the final one for President Barack Obama.

Picture here we have Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Alex Ovechkin captain of the Washington Capitals, and new Speaker of the House Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.).....

Here are tweets from right, left and center.........

1) Ana Marie Cox: Paul Ryan thinking about how tomorrow is legs day.

2) Mormon Democrats: Obama calls for bipartisan work on criminal justice reform.

3) Susan Davis (NPR): Prescription drug abuse is one of those issues that crosses party lines. Big and growing problem in both red and blue states.

4) Molly Ball (The Atlantic): Oh god, the WH livestream is full of cheesy graphics.

5) Larry Sabato: Camera focused on Bernie. Those stars in his eyes are actually polling numbers.

6) Chris Cillizza: Direct Trump shot: "Promising to restore past glory if just get some group or idea that was threatening America under control."

7) Michael Crowley (Time): Only two sentences on Iran in this speech.

8) Washington Week: Obama asks: "How can we make our politics reflect what's best in us, and no what's worst."

9) New Republic: Paul Ryan and Joe Biden: Awwkwarrdddd

10) NBC Nightly News: Former Congresswoman Gabbie Giffords is attending tonight's SOTU.

11) Post Politics: Obama: 'I want to focus on the next five years, ten years, and beyond. I want to focus on our future. '

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.rollcall.com

http://www.politico.com

SOTU Tweets: Right, Left and the Fog Machine

Greetings to our blog readers in Canada, Scotland, Luxembourg and the city of Yozgat, Turkey, where it will be 4:00 a.m. when President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address; you Canadians are perhaps just as aware that the Edmonton Oilers will be across town in America's capital where they will play the Washington Capitals.

There are reasons why we have images of Cong. Bob Latta (R-Ohio, his district is around Toledo), Donny Osmond and Vice President Joe Biden, but let's go ahead and present some tweets from the early evening hours here in les etats unis:

1) Cong. Latta: I applaud RepFredUpton and SenJohnThune for developing a proposal to establist clear, reasonable rules for the Internet.

2) Mormon Democrats (yeah, they are the reason we chose Osmond though he is a Republican): The GOP forgets that GW Bush's resolve didn't stop Putin from invading another country, nor did it prevent North Korea from obtaining nukes.

3) The Onion (a satirical journal): Biden Arrives Early to Set Up State of the Union Fog Machine.

4) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont): The typical middle class American family made less last year than it did 25 years ago.

5) Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia): Not only did Lisa drive from Botetourt County to be my SOTU guest, she brought cookies form Mrs. Rowe's in Staunton! (I actually went to high school with Sen. Kaine's guest Lisa Shutters Barnett; Botetourt County is four hours south of Washington, DC)

6) Ken Rudin (NPR political analyst): "It's 4 p.m. on the day of the SOTU and that only means one thing: Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) is already sitting in the House chamber."

7) The Baltimore Sun: SOTU preview: Obama calls for increasing taxes on the wealthy, free community college and expanding paid leave."

8) Joy Ulfelder (political scientist): Save an hour of your life and read the SOTU instead of watching it tonight. Most boring theater ever.

9) Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri): "RT if you agree every American deserves a chance to succeed.  Our top priority should be working together to create good paying jobs."

10) Martha MacCallum (Fox News host): "I will be hosting On the Record tonight_ see you soon!"

11) David Corn (liberal reporter): "Mitt Romney shifts his position on Climate Change_ Again!"

http://www.theonion.com

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.baltimoresun.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.c-span.org

http://www.rollcall.com

A Quote from Lee Marvin for Veteran's Day

We heard some touching news today: Richard Overton, age 107, was honored by President Barack Obama at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., just outside Washington, DC for Veteran's Day.

Today was also Remembrance Day in Canada.

Oscar-winning actor Lee Marvin, a World War II veteran, is buried at the military cemetery, which was shut down a few weeks ago due to the federal government shutdown.

Here is a quote from Marvin:

"I only make movies to finance my fishing."

We have another quote from one of Marvin's co-stars Jimmy Stewart (both were in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a 1962 western directed by John Ford which starred John Wayne).

To see Stweart's quote, go to our sister site:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Teaser for DC Week (1 of 2): Meet the Dutch Ambassador

On Thursday, we will begin a one-week, eight entry series entitled "DC Week" (We chose not to name it "Washington Week" because we don't want Gwen Ifill, our favorite television political/government reporter, who host a PBS called "Washington Week" to sue us for $2.3 million).

We will feature all sorts of fun things, which we aren't quite ready to disclose yet, and we are also weary of the fact that Edward Snowden may have too much time on his hands, and in his spare, he may opt to surf the internet, where he could come across this blog.

The reason for this series is to support our nation's capital during a time of great economic turmoil for the city as the federal government, which oversees the Smithsonian Institute, is closed for business as is the city's historic Ford's Theatre.*

In case you are wondering about the images, they are of: 1) Cong. Gerry Connolly (D-Va., who represents the northern Virginia suburbs of DC); 2) The Lincoln Memorial (which is alas closed for business due to the shut down) ; and Ambassador Rudolf Bekink (pictured with President Barack Obama) who is the Dutch ambassador to the United States.

*- But, the current production of Ford's Theatre's play "The Laramie Project" may continue at another location in DC; we hope to have that info to you the blog-reader in Latvia by tomorrow.


http://connolly.house.gov/

http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/

http://www.fordstheatre.org/

http://dc.the-netherlands.org/

http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://washington.org/

Tweets Considering All Things Washington DC (1 of 2)

Just because we have a photo of Sen. Ted Cruz, that does NOT we are endorsing him.

Here are some tweets about Washington, DC, today, and not just Congress and the federal government (well, this entry is):

1. Politico: "Delay is not a major blow to Obamacare, exchanges for individuals are still expected to open on time."

2. Hunter: "Obama is supposed to negotiate with ppl who refuse to negotiate even with their own party. Yeah, that will work."

3. The Daily Show: "Ted Cruz cites a children's book about a stubborn jerk who decides he hates something until he's tried it."(They are referring to "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss)

4. Tea Party Cat/Top Conservative Cat: "#GOPDEMANDS: All liberals must watch all 21 hours of Ted Cruz's filibuster until they proclaim him as a savior."

5. Cong Virginia Foxx (R-NC): "Americans aren't interested in spin, they're concerned about whether they'll be paying more for health care on Jan.1"

6.The Onion: "It was a gamble, but 'it paid off'...............45th President of the United States: Ted Cruz."

http://www.politico.com/

http://www.theonion.com/

Presidential Quotes: Barack Obama

This week, we are posting quotes from the eight last presidents of the United States on this blogs as well as quips from the first eight presidents on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com
Today, we start with President Barack Obama, who was visiting Tanzania this week:

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."

SIDEBAR: Perhaps one can thank the respective French and Uzbeki soccer teams for preventing World War III, though we are a bit miffed that France beat Turkey 4-1 in the Under-20 World Game. To make things worse, France won on Turkish soil as the game was played in the southeastern city of Gaziantep, which is also known for its pistachio nuts.

Earlier in the day yesterday, in a game that was also played in Gaziantep, Uzbekistan beat Greece 3-1. Thus, there will be no Turkey-Greece match which could have started the third great international war (we are joking of course_ well, to an extent).

Today, American soccer player Maurice Edu, who has played pro soccer in Turkey and is of Ghanaian heritage tweeted that Ghana upset Portugal 3-2 in a U-20 game that was played today in Istanbul (we believe).

Of course, I am not going to suggest a boycott of Asterix and Lucky Luke (know as Red Kit in Turkey), the world's two most famous French comic book heroes. In fact, one can find these comic books at Chapel Hill Comics in Chapel Hill, NC.

http://www.chapelhillcomics.com

And, for more on the U-20 cup, one check our friend Ahmet Bob Turgut's soccer blog at: http://www.turkeyfootball.blogspot.com

Things We Learned on Bing Today_ All Things Washington DC

Hmm.........we suppose if Bill O'Reilly or some fringe right wing tv or radio personality is reading this, he might be wondering why we have a photo of President Barack Obama with Bulgarian Ambassador Elena Poptodorova; well, O'Reilly can read below to find out in this edition of 'Things We Learned on Bing Today.'

1) Elena Poptodorova, 52, is the Bulgarian ambassador to the United States; she took office in 2010.

2) Cong. Ralph Hall (R-Tex.), 90, a former Democrat, is the oldest active member of the House of Representatives; Cong. John Dingell (D-Mich.), 86, is the oldest Democrat in the House.

3) Cong. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), 30, is the youngest member of the House.

4) Mayor Vincent C. Gray, 70, is the current mayor of Washington, DC. The office was previously held by Adrian Fenty.

5) Coach John Thomspn III, 47, has been the head coach of Georgetown University's men's basketball team since 2004. Thompson, the son of legendary Hoyas coach John Thompson, previously coached at Princeton University, his alma mater.

Links:

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.cq.com

http://www.c-span.org

http://www.bulgaria-embassy.org

http://www.guhoyas.com

Election Day by the #s- Ok, Maybe This Was a Bad Idea

First of all, we salute our veterans today on Veteran's Day. I am particularly remembering my late stepfather Donald Sullivan (1918-2003) who served in the European theater in World War II. He sure is missed.

When we started this project of tallying Election Day results, we had no idea how involved we would get in the process, and our efforts have seemingly not paid off, as we have received very few hits. But, perhaps there is someone in Singapore who wants to know how swing states, like Nevada, Colorado and Florida voted. And, hopefully, for that particular person, this information is beneficial.

Here are the numbers:

50.9- Percentage Mitt Romney got in Jefferson County (Martinsburg), West Virginia

46.9- Percentage for President Barack Obama in Jefferson County, W.Va, the jurisdiction he came closest to winning in the Mountaineer State.

106- The number of votes that Obama won by in the City of Winchester, Va.

51.2- Percentage of the vote that Obama got in the City of Staunton, Va.

61.3- Percentage that Romney got in rural Floyd County, Va.

68.3- Percentage Obama got in Santa Cruz County, Ariz., his highest in a state that went red.

76.6- Percentage Romney got in rural Yuma County, Colo., a state that went blue

55.4- Percentage Obama got in Pueblo County, Colo.

64.6- Percentage Cong. Jim Moran (D-Va.) got in his re-election bid

61- Percentage that Cong. Gerry Connelly (D-Va) got in his re-election bid; Cong. Bobby Scott (D-Va) is other Democratic congressional representative from Virginia, which has eight Republican members of the house.

94.4-Percentage that Cong. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the house minority leader got in his re-election bid; he is the only Democrat from South Carolina on the Hill.

90.4- Percentage that Romney got in Cimmaron County, Oklahoma, one of three states where he won every county.

58.2- Percentage Romney got in Salt Lake County, Utah, the most progressive part of the Beehive State

49.8- Percentage Obama got in Sandusky County, Ohio, a vital swing district

47.9- Percentage Romney got in Sandusky County, Ohio

75.2- Percentage Romney got in Elko County, Nevada- a state that went blue.

54.7- Percentage Obama got in Teton County, Wyoming, the lone county he won in that state.

59.5- Percentage Romney got in York County (Rock Hill), SC, which is a Charlotte, NC-suburb

63- Number of votes Obama won by in Clark County, Iowa

50- Percentage for Obama in Bucks County, Penn., a county Romney campaigned in two days before the election.

49.8-Percentage Romney got in Bucks County, Penn.

344- Number of votes Romney won by in rural Dinwiddie County, Va. (near Petersburg)

148- Number of votes Romney won by in Van Buren County, Mich.

83- Percentage of Puerto Rican vote that went to Obama in Florida.

48-Percentage of Cuban vote in Florida for Obama, an all-time high for a Democratic candidate

Election Day by the #s (3 of 4)_ How Obama Won in Virginia

The image above is of Natural Bridge, which is located near Lexington, Va. Though his opponent Mitt Romney fared better in the Shenandoah Valley, with the exception of college towns like Harrisonburg, Obama dominated in the Washington, DC-suburbs, and Richmond. Obama also won in the cities of Roanoke, Danville and Norfolk.


Here is a look at the numbers for my home state:

22,179_ Votes that Obama got in the City of Roanoke, my hometown

14,116- Votes for Romney in Roanoke

19,753- Votes for Romney in Lynchburg, Va., home of Liberty University

15,905- Votes for Obama in Lynchburg, a jurisdiction he won in 2008

60.6-Percentage for Obama in Danville

38.6-Percentage for Romney in Danville

52.2- Percentage for Romney in Halifax County (South Boston)

46.6- Percentage for Obama in Halifax County

260,835- Votes Obama got in Fairfax County

173, 286- Votes Romney got in Fairfax County

81.2-Percentage Cong. Bobby Scott (D-Va) got in his reelection bid

58. 8-Percentage Cong. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) got in his reelection bid

907- Number of votes Romney got in Rich County, Utah

83- Number of votes Obama got in Rich County, Utah

Election Day By the #s (1 of 4)_Good Thing Hawaii Isn't a Swing State

Yes, the camel wrestling match is over and kudos to President Barack Obama in winning re-election over a feisty challenger in multimillionaire Mitt Romney.

Before we get to the numbers, let's run down three major U.S. Congress races:

Tammy Duckworth, 44, the double-amputee from her years of services in the Iraq War,  won as the Democratic challenger to Cong. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who was just one of 20 incumbents to lose his or her seat.

But, Cong. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), one of most far right members on the Hill, maintained her seat by the slimmest of margins over Democrat Jim Graves.

Similarly, though he lost as Romney's veep choice Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) had a surprisingly close scare from his challenger Rob Zerban, but in the end Ryan won by a 55-44 percent margin.

And, in another surprise, a Democrat won a House election in Montana as state senator Kim Gillian won over Republican Jonathan Paton.

Now, as they say on "Market Place," one of our favorite daily NPR radio programs, 'let's do the numbers:'

60,602,103_ The number of votes Barack Obama got in the 2012 election.

57,776,942_ The number of votes Mitt Romney got in the 2012 election.

48,886,097_ The number of votes George H.W. Bush got in the 1988 election (The first year I voted)

41,809,074_ The number of votes Michael Dukakis got in the 1988 election

62.7 %- The percent Obama got in New York state

62.3 %- The percent Romney got in West Virginia

56%- The percent Obama got in Maine

52%- The percent Obama got in Pennsylvania (a swing state)

303- The number of electoral votes Obama got (if the present holds up, it will equal the same number that President John F. Kennedy got over Richard Nixon in 1960)

206- The number of electoral votes Romney got

29- The number of electoral votes for Florida which has yet to be called

53- The number of Senate seats belonging to Democrats

45- The number of Senate seats belonging to Republicans

5-The number of Senate seats which changed hands

3- The number of Democratic gains in the Senate (Conn., Indiana and Mass.)

2- The number of seats won by independents in the Senate (Maine and Vermont, both will sit with Democrats)

1- The number of seats gained by Republicans (Nebraska) and independents (Maine)

0-The number of Senate incumbents who lost his or her seat

It's Election Day in America

As a resident of North Carolina who is from neighboring Virginia, today's election, in spite of the constant tv ads, radio spots, mailings and robo calls, is of great interest: North Carolina carries 15 electoral college votes whereas Virginia has 13. But, Ohio with 18 electoral college votes is considered the most important battleground swing state.

In the Sunday edition of "The Washington Post," Chris Cillizza who is an excellent non-partisan political analyst with his 'Post" blog 'The Fix,' predicts that President Barack Obama will get 277 electoral college votes while his challenger Mitt Romney will have 261; Reid Wilson of the non-partisan "National Journal" forecasts that Obama will get slightly more votes 294 for Obama and 244 for Romney.

Hopefully, everyone will get a chance to vote. I am fortunate to live in a swing state and I realized that people in Fort Mill, South Carolina, which neighbors the Tarheel State, and Bluefield, West Virginia, which neighbors Virginia, have to be agonized over the fact that their state is not in play.

Similarly, people in far away places like Baku, Azerbaijan, and Nairobi, Kenya, are watching this election very closely, perhaps in some cases just as much as Americans.

Lastly, in order to be 'remotely' objective, we should point out that the top image is of a Greek donkey (it may actually be from Macedonia); I am a Turkish-American:)

http://www.nationaljournal.com

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix

http://www.theonion.com (a satirical publication)

12 of the 24 Countries Mentioned in Last Night's Debate

Last night, 24 countries were mentioned in the last debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. David Brooks, a center right columnist for "The New York Times" and commentator for PBS said the debate was a tie that will probably not swing polls much in either direction. Mark Shields, also of PBS, said that he was surprised that India and Japan, two global economic powers, were not mentioned at all.

The debate last night also proved history repeats itself as Romney said Obama should have done more to help Iran, a charge that then-president Ronald Reagan laid out against the Jimmy Carter administration when he debated Walter Mondale, Carter's veep, in a 1984 presidential debate.


In case you are wondering, the flags above are for: 1) Greece (Prime Minister Antonis Samaras), 2) Turkey (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan), 3) Israel (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu). There is sort of an in-joke here as Turkey, my late father's country, has a long-standing rivalry with Greece and there is currently diplomatic turmoil with Israel.

Here are 12 of the countries in alphabetical order:

Afghanistan, Cuba, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Yemen


For the 12 other countries, go to our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time." http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Monday Night Post-Debate Tweets: Triumph the Comic Insult Dog Wins Debate

Tomorrow morning, we are hoping to post an entry dedicated to the 24 countries mentioned in the foregin policy debate from Boca Raton, Fla., tonight (12 countries on each of our two blogs). But, for right now, we have lots and lots of tweets to get to.

Before we do that, the first image is of far right political figure Sarah Palin; the former Alaskan governor was John McCain's running mate in 2008. The Second figure is a game of chess. And, the third is of Conan O'Brien's Triumph the Comic Insult Blog. The BBC says some 10 million tweets have been tweeted. They further report that folks in Colombia were disappointed that Latin America wasn't discussed more. Of course, how this debate will impact voters in swing towns like Akron (Ohio), High Point (North Carolina) and Reno (Nevada) remains to be seen.

Here are the tweets:

1) @JoshuaGreen (Joshua Green is a columnist for "The Boston Globe"): "Haha, Palin's trashing both candidates on Fox News in hapless, tongue-tied signature style."

2) @CrowleyTime (Michael Crowley, a reporter for "Time" who has also written for "The New Republic and "Rolling Stone"): "The Iraq exchange was confusing but I think Obama got away with pretending he's glad we're fully out when that really wasn't actually his policy."

3) @GregMitch (Greg Mitchell is a blogger for "The Nation," a liberal journal): "Disgusting how so many pundits ignore national security and only care how worker in Ohio reacts on economy."

4) @Chris_Moody (Chris Moody is a reporter for Yahoo News): "Not joking; both Pauly Shore and Triumph the Insult Dog are in debate spin room tonight."

5) @AlexMacGillis (Alex MacGillis a contributor to "The New Republic"): "Actually think it's a bit unfair to judge challenger against POTUS on foreign policy stuff. But, Romney was more anxious than previously."

6) @LailaLalami (Laila Lalami is a contributor to "The Nation"): "If Romney loses the election, he can always become a 'Hair for Men' model! Wait no. He'll buy the company and ship the jobs overseas."

7) @ariannahuff (Arianna Huffington, the founder of The Huffington Post): "Wouldn't have predicted that North Mall would get more mentions than Europe."

8) @citizencohn (Jonathan Cohn is a columnist for "The New Republic"): "GOP post-debate spin: Sure Obama won on points. But his aggressive posture proves that he was losing."

Ten People Who Will Decide the Election (10 of 10)- Ohio

It is 5:00 a.m. in Liverpool, England; 7:00 a.m. in Eskisehir, Turkey; and 8:00 a.m. in Yerevan, Armenia. On a personal note, we are hoping the Armenian-American news and opinion web site http://www.asbarez.com publishes my comments regarding the very interesting, heated inner party political race between Cong. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Cong. Howard Berman (D-Calif.); it should be pointed that the 'executive editor of this blog' is a Turkish-American named Tilly Gokbudak, who happens to be me. They have apparently been reluctant to do so, and even though my statements were not hostile towards the Armenian community, we are concerned that the reason maybe because of ethnic politics.

But, for right now, we are focusing on Ohio, and the city of Akron, Ohio, which is home to Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of The Pretenders, and here is our fictional voter, who will be making a big decision in 26 days:

Name: Thanh Nguyen

Residency: Akron, Ohio

Occupation: Bartender

Will Likely Vote for: Barack Obama

There are no exact numbers of how Vietnamese-Americans are voting in the 2012 election, at least to our knowledge, but Barack Obama did win Ohio by a 4.6 % margin over John McCain in 2008. Currently, "Politico" shows Obama with a slight .8% lead over Mitt Romney.

Summit County where Akron is located went to Obama by a 58 to 42 % margin in 2008. And, the local newspaper "The Akron Beacon-Journal" reported that Romney gave a stump speech in nearby Mount Vernon where he promised to lower taxes.

To our knowledge, Big Bird did not come up, but Romney's mention of the beloved "Sesame Street" character and a hint of the possibility that he would guy public broadcasting in the United States if elected has many educators and parents concerned.

According to a column in today's online version of "The Washington Post," the controversial Obama campaign video with Big Bird, which the producers of "Sesame Street" have asked to be removed, has 1.6 million views on Youtube.

http://www.politico.com

http://www.ohio.com

http://www.sesamestreet.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/thefix

http://www.barleyhouse.com (a bar in Akron, Ohio)

10 People Who Will Decide the Election (8 of 10) _ New Hampshire

Name: Mary Murphy (a fictional person)

Age: 68

Occupation: Antiques Dealer

Residency: Dover, New Hampshire 03820

Political Affiliation: Independent leaning Republican

Will Likely Vote for: Mitt Romney (but her state will likely vote for Barack Obama)

Today, we continue to look at how an individual in a given swing state can impact the election. Older people tend to vote Republican, so much so that the faux news publication "The Onion" wrote an article stating that GOP operatives were working diligently to keep older voters alive on Election Day, which is four weeks from today. But, women voters are favoring President Barack Obama.

In New Hampshire, Obama holds a relatively comfortable lead over Mitt Romney by a 50-44 margin according to the "Politico" swing state map. Obama is faring even better in Massachusetts, a state that Romney governed. The margin there is 59-34.

It thus appears highly likely that Romney will be the first presidential candidate to lose his home state in an election since Al Gore lost Tennessee to George W. Bush, in the highly controversial/dubious election of 2000. 

The last person elected president to lose their home state was Richard M. Nixon in 1968.

And, in case you were wondering, Barry Goldwater's running mate in 1964 was William E. Miller.

That's all we have time for today; there will be another installment in this series tomorrow.

http://wiswallhouseantiques.com (An antique store in Durham, NH)

http://www.politico.com

http://www.theonion.com

10 People Who Will Decide the Election (7 of 10) Donna Scott of Portland, Maine

Yikes! "Politico," on the last objective sources for news in the United States, along with "The Washington Post," has stated Mitt Romney has made tremendous gains on President Barack Obama following last week's debate in Denver, Colo., in which Romney interrupted moderator Jim Lehrer at least 17 times (more or less). NPR, which the likes of Bill O'Reilly seem to proclaim as being as radical left-wing as Radio Havana, Cuba, said that the race is now a 'virtual dead heat.'

But, 'Politco' also shows Obama winning the race 303-235 though the president is only winning Colorado 47.4 to 47.2 percent. Conversely, the numbers are also close in a very politically divided Virginia, my home state, in which one congressional district represents the rural hamlet Boones Mill, where one can see signs for far-right third party candidate Virgil Goode (from nearby Rocky Mount) and the collegetown of Charlottesville, by a margin of 47.8-47.5 percent.

Today, we are turning our attention to Maine, which seemed like a possible swing state when we planned this project over the summer, where Obama is winning 53.3-38.0 percent.

And, we are choosing a fictitious person named Donna Scott, whom we will say works at an independent bookstore in Portland (Maine). We will say she is 37, white, pro-choice and would likely vote for Obama.

Lastly, welcome to our Armenian-American blog readers. This afternoon, I posted a comment on the web site for "USA Armenian Life," (I am a Turkish-American, there are some differences between the two groups- to put it mildly) where I endorsed Cong. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) over his arch rival Cong. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) or was it the other way around?

For those of who reside in Provo, Utah, or Tashkent, Uzbekistan, who might be oblivious to American national politics, Berman and Sherman, who both represent the suburban area around Los Angeles, which has a large Armenian-American population, are entangled in a congressional race with each other due to gerrymandering, even though both are Democrats.

http://www.politico.com

http://www.armenianlife.com

http://www.ataa.org (ATAA is the leading Turkish-American group in the United States and Canada)

Portland, Maine, independent bookstores, hopefully, none of their employees has the name of Donna Scott:

http://www.nonesuchbooks.com

http://www.longfellowbooks.com

10 People Who Will Decide Who Becomes President (6 of 10)_ Michigan

Name: Oscar Lee Davidson

Age: 45

Race: African-American

Residency: Kalamazoo, Michigan

Occupation: Car mechanic

Will Likely Vote for: Obama

In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama won 12 out of 15 of Michigan's congressional districts, including four held by Republicans. Kalamazoo, in southwestern Michigan, is not a part of the state where Obama fared as well John McCain. Kalamazoo's metro area is located within the fourth district represented by Cong. Dave Camp (R) where McCain won 50-48 percent. The Arizona senator fared even better in the sixth district which is held by Cong. Fred Upton (R).

But, in urban area, such as Detroit, Obama decimated McCain; this includes the 14th district represented by Dem. John Conyers Jr. (D) which he carried by a whopping 86-14 percent. African-American voters also voted for Obama by a 95-4 percent margin and that number is expected to be similar this year.

The non-partisan "Politico," a daily web site and journal dedicated to politics has Obama winning Michigan, a key swing state, 49-41 percent.

Michigan is the home state of the very liberal filmmaker, activist Michael Moore, but the rural sector is very Republican, as is the case for most American states outside of New England. Michigan is also the birth state of Republican nominee Mitt Romney, whose late father Sen. George Romney represented the state.

The state has actually lost a point in the Electoral College; it was worth 17 points in 2008. It will be worth 16 points this year.

The Kalazmazoo-metro area has 336,589 residents according to the latest census. The local newspaper "The Kalamazoo Gazette" is dedicating a series to important issues that ballot-voters are considering in this year's election.

http://www.kalamazoocity.org

http://www.mlive.com/kalamazoo

http://www.michigandemocrats.com

http://www.migop.org

http://www.politico.com

10 People Who Will Decide Next President (5 of 10)

Name: Adam Youngman

Age: 26

Race: White

Residency: Glendale, Arizona

Will Likely Vote for: McCain....ooops, sorry we mean Mitt Romney

Baxter the Bobcat is the actual mascot of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, which one game below .500. Though Arizona was considered a possible swing state when we devised this blog series, it now appears that Romney will win the state unless his problems with foot and mouth disease further catch up with him.

Arizona's governor Jan Brewer is a highly controversial right-wing figure who has clashed with President Barack Obama over immigration. The state of Arizona borders Mexico.

Of course, if the person in the mascot's outfit is really named Adam Youngman that is puerly coincidental, and this is a fictional person indicative of a given demographic. We also don't know what the mascot's actual political leanings are?!

http://www.azdem.org

http://www.azgop.org

 

Ten People Who Will Decide Who Becomes President (4 of 10)

Well, kids, it has been a long time since we last posted in this series, July 6th was the latest one in fact. And, since the American presidential election is less than two months away, we have some catching up to do.

Today, we focus on my home state of Virginia, with this fictional person in mind:

Name: Nelson Faulk

Occupation: Naval Officer

Party Affiliation: Independent

Race: Afrircan-American

Age: 24

Residency: Norfolk, Va.

Will Likely Vote For: Obama on a coin-toss

In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama got 71 percent of the vote in Norfolk. While the city is overwhelmingly Democratic surrounding areas, such as Virginia Beach, tend to vote Republican.

The Hampton Roads area is home to both a large naval base and the Rev. Pat Robertson's headquarters, so it's not surprising that both Obama and Mitt Romney have sought this region out on the campaign trail. In fact, Romney declared Paul Ryan to be his running mate aboard the U.S.S. Wisconsin in Norfolk.

Radical right-wing candidate Virgil Goode, a former member of Congress from Rocky Mount, Va., who served as a Republican and (before that) ironically as a Democrat, will take a long-shot at becoming Virginia's ninth president as he represents the Constitution Party. 

http://www.barackobama.com

http://www.mittromney.com

http://www.vademocrats.org

http://www.rpv.org