Posts

Did Super PACs Violate Election Laws in 2014 Midterms? Twitter Offers Clues

/3 Comments/in , /by

Twitter-bird_standard_600x400Republicans and outside groups covertly conspired to skirt campaign finance laws using one of the most public social media available: Twitter.

That’s according to a report by CNN’s Chris Moody, “How the GOP used Twitter to stretch election laws,” that suggests that Republicans and Republican-oriented super PACs and advocacy groups used Twitter accounts to share internal polling data ahead of the midterm elections, “a practice that raises questions about whether they violated campaign finance laws that prohibit coordination,” writes CNN.

The strategy appears to be something out of a spy movie.

Anonymous Twitter accounts, including @TruthTrain14 and @brunogianelli44, named after the fictional character in “The West Wing” who pushed for the use of “soft money” in campaign funding, were set up in the months leading up to November’s midterm elections. Enigmatic messages were periodically tweeted; inscrutable to most, they conveyed internal polling data, which could signal to outside groups where to devote campaign resources.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska's Election Nightmare

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP

Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP

[Thousands of voters have used] Alaska’s first-in-the-nation internet voting system. And according to internet security experts, including the former top cybersecurity official for the Department of Homeland Security, that system is a security nightmare that threatens to put control of the U.S. Congress in the hands of foreign or domestic hackers.

Any registered Alaska voter can obtain an electronic ballot, mark it on their computers using a web-based interface, save the ballot as a PDF, and return it to their county elections department through what the state calls “a dedicated secure data center behind a layer of redundant firewalls under constant physical and application monitoring to ensure the security of the system, voter privacy, and election integrity.”

That sounds great, but even the state acknowledges in an online disclaimer that things could go awry, warning that “when returning the ballot through the secure online voting solution, your are voluntarily waving [sic] your right to a secret ballot and are assuming the risk that a faulty transmission may occur.”

That disclaimer is a pre-emptive admission of failure, says Bruce McConnell, who served until 2013 as the top cybersecurity officer for DHS. “They admit that they are not taking responsibility for the validity of the system,” McConnell told The Intercept. “They’re saying, ‘Your vote may be counted correctly, incorrectly, or may not be counted at all, and we are not taking any responsibility for that.’ That kind of disclaimer would be unacceptable if you saw it on the wall of a polling place.”

In 2012, Alaska became the first state to permit internet balloting for all voters, and no problems were reported during the system’s first deployment. But there weren’t any high-profile races then, and Alaska wasn’t an electoral factor in the presidential race.

Read more from this story HERE.

Surprise: Many Rock the Vote Celebs Didn't Vote in 2010 Midterms

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: TownHallIn case you missed Rock the Vote’s video this year, celebrities such as Lena Dunham, Sophia Bush, and Ireland Baldwin explain in a parody of Lil Jon’s “Turn Out for What” why they’re going to vote in the midterm elections. The group bills itself as a non-partisan organization seeking to drive the youth vote, but it’s really about as liberal as you can get, as Cortney has already explained.

It probably comes as no surprise, then, that at least five of the celebrities in the video didn’t even vote in the last midterm election.

Didn’t vote in the last midterm elections? It turns out many of the celebrities pressuring young people to vote in tomorrow’s off-year elections didn’t cast a ballot last time, either.

According to the Washington Post at least five stars who participated in a recent Rock the Vote video urging youth to exercise their franchise didn’t bother to show up to the polls themselves in 2010.

View co-host Whoppi Goldberg, Orange is the New Black’s Natasha Lyonne, Glee’s Darren Criss, Girls creator Lena Dunham and Rich Kids of Beverly Hills star E.J. Johnson did not vote in the last midterm election, the Post discovered.

Read more from this story HERE.

West Urges Christian Voters to the Polls

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Jim JessBy Jim Jess.

Retired Lt. Col. Allen West, a former member of Congress, urged a crowd of voters at Marietta’s Roswell Street Baptist Church on Sunday afternoon to turn out to vote this week, and encouraged them to get their friends to the polls as well.

The meeting was organized by the Faith & Freedom Coalition of Georgia and Marietta-basedGeorgia Tea Party.
West, a former Florida congressman, told the crowd of 150 that if Christians did not defend their faith, they would lose their freedom to the onslaughts of secular humanists, who have an inaccurate understanding of religious freedom in the First Amendment.

West explained that separation of church and state does not mean that Christians must deny who they are or ignore their faith when considering public policy issues or candidates. He also said that Christians were lights to the world.

Read more from this story HERE.

__________________________________________________________

Rand Paul: ‘Dumb’ Focus on Voter ID Could Squander GOP’s ‘Huge Opportunity’ to Win Black Voters

By Josh Siegel.

Sen. Rand Paul today said it would be a “dumb idea” for Republicans to focus on voter ID laws because doing so would turn off black voters, whom the GOP has a “huge opportunity” to attract.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Kentucky Republican and likely presidential candidate stressed that he supports requiring identification to vote in elections. But, he said, Republicans should avoid prioritizing the issue.

“It doesn’t mean that I think it’s unreasonable,” Paul said of conservatives’ efforts to tighten voting laws and rules to prevent voter fraud. “I just think it’s a dumb idea for Republicans to emphasize this and say, ‘This is how we are going to win the elections.’”

Paul’s remarks to host Chuck Todd recalled similar comments on voter ID laws that he made last spring in an interview with a reporter, drawing sharp criticism from some conservatives.

Read more from this story HERE.

Should You Just Hold Your Nose and Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils?

/8 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Rare.usImagine you are a politician considering a run for national office.

You examine the landscape of your potential supporters, and you find a party divided. On the one hand, you have the old guard, rich with money and political power, albeit resistant to change, a bit corrupt, and willing to change sides in any argument if the price is right.

On the other hand, you have a passionate group of grassroots activists desperate for a dramatic change in the way the country is being run.

Many politicians would face a difficult choice in deciding which of these two factions to ally themselves with, and most would probably search for some way to appeal to both, at least to a certain extent.

Now, imagine further that this grassroots movement had been around for quite some time, and that while they hollered loudly at protests and mailed a lot of angry letters to Congress, when it came right down to it, their thought leaders, TV and radio personalities, and community organizers would, without fail, take to the public airwaves and offer the following bit of advice:

“Look, we know you’re tired of the way we do things in Washington. We know you want a change more in line with your own values. And that’s great. We love that about you. But although you may not like your party’s candidate very much – you may even hate the guy – you have to admit that he’s better than the other party’s guy, don’t you? We can’t let him win! So hold your nose and vote down the party line, because it’s better than the alternative, and maybe we’ll do better next time.”

Now, as a potential candidate who has heard this speech time and time again, what, then, is your incentive to earnestly appeal to the concerns of the grassroots?
I’ll wait.

Incentives matter, as any economist will tell you. Any politician who knows that the grassroots will turn out and vote for a candidate they despise, simply because they despise the other guy slightly more, has no reason to try to honestly diminish his despicability to any considerable degree.

The insiders and the lobbyist class have money, they have connections, and they have the might of government behind them. These are the weapons with which they wage the war of politics. To oppose all this power and the corruption that comes with it, our side has only one weapon. It is a simple one, but powerful nevertheless.

Our weapon is the threat to withhold our vote.

Read more from this story HERE.

Early Voting Alters Campaigns' Strategies, Costs

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP / Michael BloodFor over 1 million Californians, the Nov. 4 election is over. That’s because they’ve already voted.

A growing throng of early voters in the nation’s most populous state — perhaps comprising half of all votes to be cast in California’s general election — has stretched Election Day into weeks. Candidates who wait until the end to close the deal with voters will be too late.

“The election is not a one-day event anymore. It’s a 30-day event,” said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who is spearheading Kennedy clan member Bobby Shriver’s campaign for Los Angeles County supervisor.

The midterm elections are just over a week away and California is one of more than 30 states in which some form of advance voting is shaping the way campaigns must be conducted. In some rural areas of the state, 8 of every 10 ballots cast could come through the mail.

The strategy-shifting dynamics caused by early voting are coming into play in states such as Florida, where Republican Gov. Rick Scott faces a tough re-election challenge from Democrat Charlie Crist, and Iowa, where GOP Senate candidate Joni Ernst hopes to defeat Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley and pick up one of the six additional seats the party needs for a majority.

Read more from this story HERE.

Mark Steyn: A GOP Win in November Doesn't Change Anything (+video)

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: nmhschoolCould Republican’s win big on Election Day and still be behind the ball in the grand scheme of things? Mark Steyn seems to think so.

According to the conservative columnist, even though conservatives and Republicans may do well on Nov. 4, liberals are winning the other 364 days throughout the year, or the “culture stakes,” with tremendous effect on our society.

“Election Day is one day a year, and the culture is the other 364 days a year,” said Steyn. “So if you’re not in there competing in the schools, competing in the pop culture, competing in the media, competing in the main-line churches, then the air we breathe becomes liberal.”

“That’s the default setting in society. Whoever gets elected on a Tuesday morning in November doesn’t actually make much difference. . .The reason candidates don’t get traction is when they’re trying to move toward the center. . . Effective conservative leaders, [Ronald] Reagan and [Margaret] Thatcher, take the two most obvious examples, move the center towards them,” he said. “Mrs. Thatcher had a great line. Before you can win the election, you have to win the argument.”

Read more from this story HERE.

AP-GfK Poll: Most Expect GOP Victory in November

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP / Matt RourkeTwo weeks before Election Day, most of the nation’s likely voters now expect the Republican Party to take control of the U.S. Senate, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. And by a growing margin, they say that’s the outcome they’d like to see.

But the survey suggests many will cringe when they cast those ballots. Most likely voters have a negative impression of the Republican Party, and 7 in 10 are dissatisfied by its leaders in Congress.

The Democrats win few accolades themselves. Impressions of the party among likely voters have grown more negative in the past month. In fact, Democrats are more trusted than the GOP on just two of nine top issues, the poll showed.

The economy remains the top issue for likely voters — 91 percent call it “extremely” or “very” important. And the GOP has increased its advantage as the party more trusted to handle the issue to a margin of 39 percent to 31 percent.

With control of the Senate at stake, both parties say they are relying on robust voter-turnout operations — and monster campaign spending — to lift their candidates in the final days. But the poll suggests any appeals they’ve made so far haven’t done much to boost turnout among those already registered. The share who report that they are certain to vote in this year’s contests has risen just slightly since September, and interest in news about the campaign has held steady.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama to Hide Obamacare Rates Till After Election Day

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: TownHallHealthCare.gov, the online portal where millions of Americans must by health insurance, will not display premiums for 2015 until after the 2014 elections, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Obama administration officials told the AP that Americans will not be able to find out if their health insurance premiums are going up “until the second week of November,” which conveniently falls after Americans will go to the polls November 4th.

“Insurers say one big challenge for next year will involve millions of returning customers,” the AP reports. “It’s not really a technology issue, but a time crunch that also coincides with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Fox News Poll: Republicans Have Edge in 2014 Midterm

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox NewsThe latest Fox News poll finds that if the 2014 midterm elections were held today, 43 percent of voters would back the Republican candidate in their House district, while 39 percent would vote for the Democrat.

Of course the election isn’t today. It’s five months away. And for the fifth straight time this year, the results on this congressional generic ballot question have reversed in our Fox News poll.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS

Last month, the Democratic candidate had the edge by three percentage points. In April, the Republican was up by three. In March, it was Democrats +2 and before that it was GOP +2.

Democratic pollster Chris Anderson says this indicates an unsettled environment among voters.

“That said,” Anderson adds, “most other findings in the poll suggest an increasingly favorable environment for the Republicans heading toward the midterms.”

Read more from this story HERE.