Registered voters are being illegally purged from the voter rolls and being disenfranchised in several battleground states.  Many states are not following federal law which mandates procedures for voter registrant removal from the voter rolls.  “The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) limits the circumstances in which a state may cancel a voter’s registration,” the Fair Elections Legal Network, a Washington-based voting rights consortium.  We have cited examples of alleged/actual illegal activity in Michigan, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, and Ohio.  It is that time in this political race were the dirty tricks begin to manifest in various forms of dress but the goal is clear…….disenfranchise voters.  It is important to be ultra vigilant with respect to your registration, the registration of your family members, etc.  Go to your states Secretary of State or Board of Elections website to verify/confirm that you are registered to vote. If you have moved you may have to reregister with your new address/change your address.  Check your states rules with respect to changing your address.  Also, check your voter status online if possible. See the articles here and here and here.  Please send us an email at progress@progresspolitics.com if there are any irregularities in your state or more specifically with your voter registration.

Thus far we have heard of Michigan:

In Michigan, the issues are more complex. Advancement Project’s Heard said there has been an overall lack of “transparency” regarding several aspects of the state’s voter purge process. In 2006, he said, Michigan election officials did a statewide mailing to all voters that did not mention the mailing would be used to verify voter registration information. Still, Heard said the returned postcards were used to remove 230,000 registered voters from voter rolls within 90 days of that year’s general election, which also violates the NVRA, he said.  

In MICHIGAN, voters can check status here

For VIRGINIA, check voter status online here.  

Colorado:

In swing-state Colorado, the Republican Secretary of State conducted the biggest purge of voters in history, dumping a fifth of all registrations. Guess their color.

In COLORADO, voters can check status  here     

Florida:

In swing-state Florida, the state is refusing to accept about 85,000 new registrations from voter drives – overwhelming Black voters.

In FLORIDA, voters can check status here 

New Mexico:

In swing state New Mexico, HALF of the Democrats of Mora, a dirt poor and overwhelmingly Hispanic county, found their registrations disappeared this year, courtesy of a Republican voting contractor. 

Nevada and Ohio:

In swing states Ohio and Nevada, new federal law is knocking out tens of thousands of voters who lost their homes to foreclosure.

In OHIO, voters can check status online here 

In NEVADA, voters can check status online here

This was not the post planned for today but there is definitely a need for comment.  Okay, right now our country is facing an illigitimate war that continues to claim thousands of american lives, an employment crisis, a record deficit, a credit crisis, a mortgage crisis, a weak dollar, a bear market, skyrocketing oil prices, and $5 a gallon gas.  What does the media do?  They fabricate a controversy about, Obama, a little boy, and a fist bump.  It was widely reported all over main stream media that Obama refused to give a little boy fist bump.   Huh???? First of all it’s not true.  The little boy asked Obama to sign his hand, he did not ask him to fist bump him.  Obama politely and jokingly said to the little boy that he could not sign it because he didn’t want to get in trouble with the little boy’s mother.  However, it was reported that Obama refused to fist bump the little boy.  This is completely rediculous that with all our problems this is what the main stream media decides to focus on.  Come On!!!!!!  Can we get back to the issues please?????

There is a question that should be answered with respect to recent results in the Ohio and Texas primaries.  Rush Limbaugh who broadcasts to a national audience urged his listeners in Ohio and Texas to influence the democratic primaries on March 4th by voting for Hillary Clinton.  Limbaugh’s motivation?  To drag out the democratic race and get Obama all “bloodied” up from Clinton attacks for the general election against John McCain.  Apparently, the Clinton campaign doesn’t care how it wins because Bill Clinton went on the Rush Limbaugh show (Bill Clinton on Rush Limbaugh?????) the day of the primaries in an effort to, what can only be interpreted as, encourage such strategy.  A little back story for those who have lived in Siberia during and since the Clinton administration.  Rush Limbaugh hates Bill and Hillary Clinton.  Limbaugh has done nothing but insult, rail, disparage, and spew vitriolic attacks against the Clintons since Bill Clinton was elected in 1992.  So the fact that Bill Clinton went on the radio show of his most vehement public enemy tells me that he endorses this republican manipulation. In Texas, it turns out that Obama did win the republican vote 53-46, however, of the conservative republicans who voted, Clinton won them 52-45 for the first time since Super Tuesday.  Republican turnout in the Texas and Ohio primaries was up overall by 3-5 points from previous open democratic primaries.  Not to mention that conservative republicans voting in the democratic primary was up by at least 7% from previous contests.  Side note: the conservative wing of the republican party sole mission is to keep the Clintons out of the White House, the Senate, and any other public office.  However, Clinton won an additional 16% of the conservative republicans voting in the Texas democratic primary who said that Obama is the most electable candidate.  Coinkydink? probably not.  One can conclude from such a contradiction that the 16% are voting for who would be the weakest candidate in the general election so that their candidate, John McCain, has the best chance of winning.  Considering that the Texas primary was won by Clinton with only a 2.8% margin, and republican turnout in the Texas primary was up from previous state contests by at least 3% and in some states as much as 5%, chances are that such tainted votes played a significant part in Clinton’s win in Texas, and to a lesser extent, Ohio.  I have said this before, the longer the democrats drag this out, the increased likelihood of mischief by the Republican Party thereby allowing the conservative right wing of that party to choose the democratic nominee rather than the choice being made by true affiliates of the party.   As mentioned in an earlier post, even republican governor and staunch John McCain supporter,  Bill Crist is trying to influence the choice of democratic nominee.  Those who think that a long drawn out fight is good for the Democratic Party should respond to the points in this post.  This is not the way to get more voters involved in the process especially if such process is ripe for and can so easily be manipulated thereby making all the voter enthusiasm, dedication, and commitment, moot.

The latest Reuters/CSPAN/Zogby poll released today show a tightening race in Ohio.  Clinton is slightly leading, but is within the margin of error, with 44% to Obama’s 42%.  Update:  new polls released on March 1st,  show that Obama has essentially closed the gap on Clinton’s lead in Ohio.  Cleveland Plain Dealer, Zogby, Rasmussen, Survey USA, and Real Clear Politics polls, all show the two candidates tied or within the margin of error.  Less than two weeks ago, Clinton was leading in Ohio by double digits. The latest Reuters/CSPAN/Houston Chronicle poll for Texas shows Obama leading with 48% to Clinton’s 42% where again, two weeks ago, Clinton was leading by double digits.  The rolling poll questions were asked to likely democratic primary voters.  The breakdown of the candidates voting blocks are somewhat similar to voter breakdowns of previous contests.  Obama leads in Ohio among cross-over republicans, independents, young voters, higher income voters, and blacks.  Clinton leads among women, older voters, Catholics, union households and voters living outside of Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati.  Of voters who decided in the last month, Obama is significantly ahead of Clinton.  Whereas Clinton is ahead with voters who made their decision over a month ago.  It seems that Obama’s momentum continues despite what appears to be a pile-on from all directions.  Clinton, McCain, and now even George Bush has joined in by telling Obama that he should be concentrating on winning the Democratic nomination instead of what is going on in the current White House.  Can someone tell George Bush that he should be worrying about what is going on with gas prices in the United States rather than who said what in the Democratic primary.  A reporter asked Bush yesterday, during a White House press conference, about analysts recent predictions of a potential increase of gas prices to $4 a gallon.  Bush responded by saying that “he had not heard that.”  Uhhh…..but you do know the latest tit-for-tat between the primary candidates.  President Bush, please concentrate on your job, which is, in case you failed to read the job description, addressing several pressing issues facing our country, e.g.,  skyrocketing gasoline prices, the economy, foreign affairs, the Iraq war, etc…. We do not care about your punditry with respect to our next president.  In case you haven’t noticed Mr. President, your approval rating is at 30%.  It may be because you are watching too much television and not tending to the job that you were sent to Washington, DC to do.  Anyway, back to the current candidates.  Most say that Clinton has to win both Texas and Ohio, including her husband, to remain relevant in this race.  Two weeks ago, most were saying that she not only has to win but has to win by large margins.  Now they’re saying that even if she wins by a small margin as long as she wins.  And the absolute latest from the pundits and the from some in the Clinton campaign is that she only has to win either Texas or Ohio to remain in the race. Whoops…I spoke too soon, the absolute absolute latest is that Obama must win all four contests on Jr. Tuesday for Clinton to be no longer viable.  Unbelievable!! The goal post keeps moving for Clinton, and she accuses Obama of receiving special treatment from the press.  It really is time to choose a nominee, regardless of how much enjoyment the media is getting out of this long protracted primary season.  The longer this stretches out, the less time voters have to really weigh the positions of the general election candidates and make an informed decision about our next leader. 

The Texas contest is somewhat complicated in that it is a mixture of a primary and caucus.  Voters in essence get to vote twice.  First voters vote during the day at the primary, which is an open primary where republicans and independents can vote.  Then right after the doors shut at 7pm on March 4th, the caucus begins and lasts until Texas’ democratic caucus on June 6th.  Voters can come back after 7pm in the evening on the same day and vote again during the caucus. There are 193 Texas delegates at stake on March 4th.  Of the 193, 126 of the delegates will be handed out from the primary portion.  And the 67 remainder delegates will handed out at the state convention in June.  Delegates are allocated based on how voters turned out in past elections.  The greater the turnout in the district the more delegates the district receives in the next election.  As for delegates relating to heavily african-american and hispanic districts in Texas, this year’s allocation favors the heavily african-american districts because such districts turned out in greater numbers in the last election than the heavily hispanic districts.   Therefore, african-american districts in Texas will receive more delegates than many of latino districts in Texas.  Early voting in Texas began on February 19th.  Primaries are also being held in Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island.  Both the democrats and republicans hosts primaries in all four states on March 4th, except Texas also hosts a caucus. The two most delegate rich states are Texas and Ohio.  For the democrats, 370 delegates at stake on Tuesday.  Texas distributes (126)193, Ohio distributes 141, Vermont distributes 15, and Rhode Island distributes 21 delegates.  Currently Obama is leading with 1192 delegates to Clinton’s 1036.  For the republicans, 256 delegates are at stake on Tuesday.  Ohio distributes 85, Rhode Island distributes 17, Texas distributes 137, and Vermont distributes 17.  Currently McCain has 930 delegates and only needs 261 more to clinch the nomination. 

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had their final debate, before the Jr Tuesday March 4th primaries, in Ohio.  Both candidates held their own.  There were a couple of tense moments where both candidates accused each other of negative campaign tactics and clashed over Healthcare, NAFTA, Iraq, and foreign policy.  Clinton mentioned the Saturday Night Live clip and attempted to rehash the joke by asking whether the moderators wanted to offer Obama a pillow.  I don’t think that she got the response from the audience that she hoped for.  Clinton also mentioned that she is always being called on first for questions but doesn’t mind, however, did want the moderators to be aware of it.  Some predict that the statement was an attempt to garner sympathy from voters regarding her alleged unfair treatment by the press.  I also think that Clinton was trying to find an opening to use the Saturday Night Live skit, and when one didn’t present itself soon enough, she created an opening.  Unfortunately for her, again, the attempted joke fell flat.  Maureen Dowd writes an article in the New York Times regarding the alleged Obama favorable press charge by the Clinton campaign.  The gist of the article is that the charge is silly because of the special treatment that the Clinton campaign has received.  As an example, the article offers as proof of the openmindness of the press, the fact that no other candidate could lose 11 contests in a row by such large margins and still be embraced and touted by the press as a major contender.  We have all heard it, “don’t count a Clinton out,” “Hillary could come back.”  Does anyone actually believe that if the situation were reversed and Obama had lost 11 contests in a row by such wide margins that the press would still be touting him as a contender?  Visions of Mike Huckabee comes to mind.  Democratic party leaders would be asking him to fade out so that the party can began moving toward the general election.  Clinton also finally said that she regrets her vote on the Iraq war.  Unfortunately for the Clinton campaign, the debate was not a game changer.  The Clinton campaign went in hoping for a major blunder by Obama, or at least a big moment, that will somehow turn the tide in its direction.  That moment didn’t come.  Both candidates performed well and the debate seemed to this writer to be a draw.  However, current MSNBC post-debate polls show that 70% of the people watching the debate thought that Obama won, while 30% thought Clinton won out of the 97,000 people who have voted.  Latest national polls released before the debate also revealed that Obama is now leading Clinton by double digits.  The latest Rasmussen poll shows Obama closing in on Clinton’s lead in Ohio with Clinton at 48% and Obama at 43%.  According to the latest CNN poll, Obama is leading in Texas with 50% to Clinton’s 46%.

Hillary Clinton has developed a different posture since her closing comments at the CNN debate last Thursday.  Most believed that Clinton’s final comments on Thursday were those of a conciliatory candidate.  This writer did not necessarily agree with such sentiment due to Clinton’s final statementswipe at Obama at the end of the debate.  What began as a congenial closing comment by Clinton, ended with her in essence saying that she hopes that the American people will survive if voters do not choose her as the nominee.  But that’s a side point.  Apparently, no one told Hillary that the race is over because she has ratcheted it up a few hundred notches since Thursday.  What ticked her off?   Allegedly, it was campaign mailers that the Obama campaign has been circulating, regarding Clinton’s position on NAFTA, for almost a month.   At a press conference this past weekend, Clinton accused Obama of Karl Rove (GOP operative accused by democrats of dirty tricks campaigning) tactics as well as attempted to scold Obama by saying ”shame on you Barack Obama.”  Senator Clinton also mocked Obama’s unity message this weekend in an effort to discredit the Illinois Senator with Texas and Ohio voters.  Many opined that Clinton sounds more schoolmarmish than presidential.  Besides the obvious point that this new tone will certainly not attract the white men that have migrated away from her candidacy in droves.  This different version of negative campaigning is also not positioning her as the candidate able to bring both parties together to move Washington beyond the party gridlock of the last eight years.  Instead, it seems to reinforce the polarities of her candidacy.  Is sarcasm the best weapon available in the Clinton arsenal?  If so, perhaps it is time to make a graceful exit.  Further, what is that saying about the supporters who have embraced Obama’s message, should they be mocked as well?  In which candidate playbook does it say that you gain votes by insulting voters? Nothing like the demonization of hope and unity that sends me running towards a candidate.  One last question, is Hillary Clinton the only person in the United States that is aware of the realities of Washington?  And, if Hillary is the only person, now would be a good time to apply some of that awareness to the strategies and management of the Clinton campaign.   In addition to the new tone, the Clinton campaign is being charged with attempting to smear Obama by circulating pictures of the Illinois Senator donning traditional Somali garb while visiting Africa.  This is something that most dignitaries do, including Hillary, while visiting other countries to show respect for the culture.  When asked why the Clinton campaign released the photos, the campaign did not deny circulating the photos but flipped the script and gave the nonresponsive “we will not be distracted” answer.  Many think that this calls into question the judgment of the Clinton campaign as to why they think this would be an effective campaign strategy.  I am at a lost as to why the Clinton campaign would push to circulate such photos.  Is this show and tell day and the Clinton’s are sharing how Obama spent his summer vacation?  Or, is there a more sinister karlrovian tactic at play here?  Clinton tells Obama “shame on you,” yet resorts to what most have described as the divisive, fear mongering, campaign tactics of the past.  So as a final go-for-broke strategy, Hillary Clinton has decided to go karlrovian, aggressively negative, with a big dose of sarcasm, and whatever else that sticks.   At this point, the schizophrenic nature of the Clinton campaign strategies are giving me whiplash.  However, the latest has sold me.  The New York Senator’s final posture taken this past weekend went something like this;  enough of the speeches….enough of the big rallies…enough of the popularity of his message…..enough with the optimism……just knock it off, “get real,” and vote for me unless you want a couple of knuckle swats with my ruler.  Hmmm………the corporal punishment strategy…..works for me!  Yes maam!  Sign me up IMMEDIATELY!                                                  Debate tonight on MSNBC @ 9pm ET

After several substantial losses in a row, the Clinton campaign is scrambling.  After Virginia, the campaign is frantically trying to hold on to its coalition. In Virginia, Obama won three stronghold groups of Clinton; women, catholics, and Latinos.  In light of this new development, the Clinton campaign has made some strategy changes.  Campaign Clinton has now directed their focus towards two groups; women and working class whites.  It also appears that the campaign has decided to go negative…again.  However, this time it looks as if they will do it carefully.  Clinton is already running a negative ad in Wisconsin criticizing Obama for his decision not to debate in Wisconsin.   Not to mention, the very public and concerted effort by campaign Clinton to try and seat Florida and Michigan, even though only Clinton’s name appeared on the ballot in Michigan.  My question is…how does that pass the fairness test?   Now, lets talk about campaign financing.  The Clintons raised 140 million dollars that they spent by Super Tuesday.  How do you spend 140 million dollars in a month and a half?  The fact that the campaign was unable to manage and properly allocate resources does not bode well for the Clinton Economic Plan.  Apparently, the campaign spent the bulk of the 140 million before Super Tuesday not expecting the Obama campaign to last past that point.  One thing that may have contributed to the lack of funds is Clintons’ hiring of two jets, one for her, and one for the press.  It is only recently that Clinton started flying on the press plane.  But according to Bill Clinton, they were operating on a “shoestring.”  The Clintons far out raised Obama in 2007, yet the Obama campaign does not appear to be having such struggles.  Next for Clinton, all eyes are on Texas and Ohio.  The campaign has adopted the Giulianni strategy and is putting all their chips in a big Texas basket.  On Tuesday, when Clinton arrived in Texas and spoke to a very large crowd, the Senator told the crowd “we are family…starting right now.”  So was she a mere acquaintance prior to that?  And what about March 5th, the day after the Texas primary, does the relationship revert back to acquantance status?  James Carvill, one of Clinton’s biggest supporters,  said very bluntly last night that if Clinton does not win Texas and Ohio, it’s over.  Latest polls show Clinton ahead in Ohio and Texas.  By the way, there are two additional primaries before Ohio and Texas.  Wisconsin and Hawaii??  These primaries take place on February 19th.