Month: September 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona's shadow governor, Chuch Coughlin and his Highground Inc. political consulting firm, hired GOP pollster Moore Information to poll the senate and presidential races in Arizona. It looks like Arizona is a close race and the Democrats have the momentum according to the pollster and Arizona's shadow governor. GOP poll: Ariz. Democrats gaining in Presidential and Senate races:

Chuck Coughlin's political consulting firm HighGround, Inc. released a new poll showing Democrats are making a late charge in presidential and senate races. 

According to the survey, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is holding a slim lead over Democratic president Barack Obama. [The new poll poll shows Romney leading Obama 46 percent to 42 percent.]

At the same time, the survey shows Democratic Senate candidate Richard Carmona within a few points of his Republican rival, Congressman Jeff Flake. [The new poll shows Flake leading Carmona 43 percent to 40 percent.] 

The results in both races were within the margin of error, meaning it's a dead-heat heading into the last six weeks of the campaign.

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Coughlin, who has a reputation as a fierce Republican political consultant, said he released the poll because he wanted voters to have a fair assessment of where the state stands right now.

"This is not going to be a landslide election one way or the other,' Coughlin said. 

* * *

Coughlin said the results of his latest survey mean these races will come down to who "can grab the momentum in the next two weeks and who can close effectively."

In the Senate race, Coughlin said it’s Carmona who has the momentum on his side. But, he warned, that can change quickly, especially for a first time candidate like Carmona. 

Recent polls show Carmona gaining on Flake appear to back up Coughlin's claims.

* * *

That same trend appears to be happening in the presidential race.

Bonus poll number from this poll: Proposition 121, the Top Two Primary ("Jungle Primary") is losing badly, with the no vote at 53%, and the yes vote at a dismal 37%.

UPDATE: HuffPo's Howard Fineman agrees Arizona's senate race is a tossup. Huffington Post: A GOP Senate Is Slip-Sliding Away: Countdown Day 40: "[T]he Carmona-Flake race is considered a tossup, and President Barack Obama, though still behind, is slowly but noticeably gaining ground."

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I posted a detailed account of the illegal voting fraud scandals perpetrated by the GOP's voter suppression specialist, Arizona's own Nathan Sproul, back in 2008. GOP voter registration fraud: Mark Jacoby arrested, Nathan Sproul under investigation (again) (snippets):

Arizona's very own renowned GOP voter suppression specialist, Nathan Sproul, is back in the news. Those of us in the election integrity community have been pursuing this evil GOP bastard for years (here's a brief summary of his activites in the 2004 election (Team Bush Paid Millions to Nathan Sproul–and Tried to Hide It | BaltimoreChronicle.com), but he has been protected by the Bush "injustice" department (possibly tied to the U.S. Attorney Gate scandal, hmmm?), and the Arizona McMedia who will not investigate or report about his misdeeds because Sproul does consulting work for the McCain campaign (and many other Arizona Republicans).  Here are a number of BRAD BLOG reports on Sproul & Associates (now known as Lincoln Strategy). (A shout out to Brad Friedman!)

CNN affiliate KLAS-TV in Las Vegas reported that "Federal, state, and local officials are gathering information about allegations of voter registration fraud that were first raised by Channel 8 Eyewitness News." Las Vegas Now | Investigation into Trashed Voter Registrations:

On Tuesday afternoon, Las Vegan Eric Russell and his girlfriend took a packet of documents to the Las Vegas FBI office but left before filing a formal complaint about what Russell says was a deliberate effort to disenfranchise local voters.

Russell worked for a company called Voters Outreach of America, along with 300 other people. He says he got into a beef with the company over a pay dispute, and witnessed his bosses ripping up registration forms that had been filed by Democrats.

"They were thrown away in the trash. I grabbed them out," said Eric Russell.

* * *

In Oregon, the same company that was operating here has been criticized for its tactics in signing up voters. There, it used the name America Votes, which is actually the name of a Democratic organization.

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The Campaign Legal Center provides additional background. "This company  was hired directly by the Republican National Committee.  Identical allegations were made against this company in Pennsylvania in 2004."

– Sproul's role in voter registration drives this month triggered official investigations in several other states with canvassers alleging they had been told to discard Democratic voter registration forms, leaving voters who thought they had registered off the rolls.

– The firm has a contract with the Republican National Committee to register new voters and has operated using the name Voters Outreach of America.  Sproul's chairman, Nathan Sproul, is a former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party.

– Voters Outreach of America is also under investigation in Oregon for "alteration and destruction of voter registration cards," said Anne Martens, a spokeswoman for Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury.

– The FBI and local election officals are inverstigating the allegations.

by David Safier So far as I know, Republican City Council member Steve Kozachik hasn't made a formal endorsement in the Nancy Young Wright/Ally Miller race for Pima County Supervisor, District One. But on Arizona Illustrated (August 31, 2012), the Koz made it clear he thinks Miller is unsuited for the job and suggests Republicans, … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Actor Samuel L. Jackson riffs from his hilarious audio book rendering of the adult bedtime story “Go the F**k to Sleep,” which was written by Adam Mansbach who also wrote the script for this risque video for President Obama, "Wake the F**k Up." As always, not safe for work. Laugh your ass off funny!

According to Slate.com, the online ad was financed by liberal super PAC the Jewish Council for Education & Research. Don't just watch the video, it's time to go to work!

Video below the fold.