.jpg)
Monday, December 17, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Saturday, December 15, 2012
STEELERS FOOTBALL 12-16-12
STEELERS at COWBOYS
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2012
KICKOFF - 4:25 PM - CBS
Steelers Game Notes
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2012
KICKOFF - 4:25 PM - CBS
Steelers Game Notes
If You Liked Too Big To Fail, You Will Love Too Big To Indict
Did you know that there is now such a thing as “too big to indict”? This generally refers to institutions that are so big and so central to the entire economy of the whole world that there is nothing anyone can do to punish criminal activity and specifically refers to HSBC, a multinational banking conglomerate that laundered money for Mexican drug cartels and conducted business on behalf Iran and Sudan in spite of international sanctions. My, that sounds fun! READ MORE »
Friday, December 14, 2012
We have been informed by Mike Huckabee, his God kills children unless it receives sufficient attention......
Huckabee: Schools ‘A Place Of Carnage’ Because We ‘Systematically Removed God’
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee attributed the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in part to restrictions on school prayer and religious materials in the classroom.
"We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools," Huckabee said on Fox News, discussing the murder spree that took the lives of 20 children and 6 adults in Newtown, CT that morning. "Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?"
Law enforcement has released few details on the alleged gunman, but Huckabee suggested that the separation of church and state may have spurred his rampage.
"[W]e've made it a place where we don't want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability -- that we're not just going to have be accountable to the police if they catch us, but one day we stand before, you know, a holy God in judgment," Huckabee said. "If we don't believe that, then we don't fear that."
He said those suffering from a crisis from faith should look to God in the community's response to the violence. But he added that "Maybe we ought to let [God] in on the front end and we wouldn't have to call him to show up when it's all said and done at the back end.".............
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee attributed the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in part to restrictions on school prayer and religious materials in the classroom.
"We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools," Huckabee said on Fox News, discussing the murder spree that took the lives of 20 children and 6 adults in Newtown, CT that morning. "Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?"
Law enforcement has released few details on the alleged gunman, but Huckabee suggested that the separation of church and state may have spurred his rampage.
"[W]e've made it a place where we don't want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability -- that we're not just going to have be accountable to the police if they catch us, but one day we stand before, you know, a holy God in judgment," Huckabee said. "If we don't believe that, then we don't fear that."
He said those suffering from a crisis from faith should look to God in the community's response to the violence. But he added that "Maybe we ought to let [God] in on the front end and we wouldn't have to call him to show up when it's all said and done at the back end.".............
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Blasts Catholic Church For Creating A ‘Culture Of Dependency On Government, Not God’
THINK PROGRESS
In a little-noticed September speech at the Cherish Life Ministries Christian Life Summit, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R), the state Republican Party’s apparent choice for governor in 2013, took aim at the Catholic Church for its advocacy on behalf of the poor, immigrants, and the uninsured. Because the Church’s leadership has advocated for the government to provide a social safety net, a role he believes is the responsibility of the Catholic Church itself, Cuccinelli said, “they have made themselves out to be nothing but the largest special interest group in America.”
Though the gathering was titled “Defending the ‘Least of These,’” Cuccinelli, a devout Catholic, blasted his church for attempting to do just that:
The comments convey his extreme view that the government should not provide services to those with the least. But when he claims that churches are asking the government “to step up and take on their role,” Cuccinelli unfairly suggests the Catholic Church has abdicated its own role in helping the poor. Through Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Church supports a wide array of programs aimed at reducing poverty in America. These include programs providing housing for the homeless, helping formerly homeless people rebuild their lives, and distributing food to the hungry. Both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney praised their vital work in serving the nation’s poor. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development also gives millions of dollars in grants annually to programs that work to address the root causes of poverty in America.
A spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told ThinkProgress that in 2010, Catholic Charities USA provided food services to more than 7 million people, housing services to almost 500,000, and emergency services including assistance with clothing and prescription drug purchases to nearly 2 million.
Rev. Gerry Creedon, pastor at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Dale City, Virginia, told ThinkProgress that the Church can’t do it all alone. “Not everything can be done with charity,” he explained, “The tithes of our church can’t deal with the housing crisis [or hunger]. Those are issues that goes beyond private donations.” He noted that the 1986 pastoral letter from the nation’s Catholic bishops “Economic Justice for All,” lays out the reasoning for the Church’s longstanding commitment to supporting public policies that reduce unemployment, poverty and other forms of economic inequality.
The September remarks were not the first time Cuccinelli has been openly critical of the Catholic Church’s focus on economic justice. In a June 2011 speech to the Virginia Christian Association, he mocked the Arlington Catholic Herald for including in its voter guides both issues like poverty assistance and health care access for the uninsured, in addition to the issues he deems more important, such as abortion. From a moral standpoint, abortion, he told them, was a much more important political issue than poverty and hunger. “For people who take seriously those considerations when they vote, it’s acceptable to distinguish between them,” he told them, “In fact, I would suggest to you that in your role, part of your role is to distinguish between them.”
In a little-noticed September speech at the Cherish Life Ministries Christian Life Summit, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R), the state Republican Party’s apparent choice for governor in 2013, took aim at the Catholic Church for its advocacy on behalf of the poor, immigrants, and the uninsured. Because the Church’s leadership has advocated for the government to provide a social safety net, a role he believes is the responsibility of the Catholic Church itself, Cuccinelli said, “they have made themselves out to be nothing but the largest special interest group in America.”
Though the gathering was titled “Defending the ‘Least of These,’” Cuccinelli, a devout Catholic, blasted his church for attempting to do just that:
I’m probably not the guy most Catholic bishops care to see anymore because I zero-in on them every time I spot them in the room and they get sort of the three-minute version of the church piece of this. They’ve helped create a culture of dependency on government, not God. And rarely do you see the two – once churches get out of the business of serving the poor, or not get out of the business but hand over and argue that they shouldn’t be the primary institution in a society that is responsible for service to the poor.Watch the video:
The comments convey his extreme view that the government should not provide services to those with the least. But when he claims that churches are asking the government “to step up and take on their role,” Cuccinelli unfairly suggests the Catholic Church has abdicated its own role in helping the poor. Through Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Church supports a wide array of programs aimed at reducing poverty in America. These include programs providing housing for the homeless, helping formerly homeless people rebuild their lives, and distributing food to the hungry. Both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney praised their vital work in serving the nation’s poor. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development also gives millions of dollars in grants annually to programs that work to address the root causes of poverty in America.
A spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told ThinkProgress that in 2010, Catholic Charities USA provided food services to more than 7 million people, housing services to almost 500,000, and emergency services including assistance with clothing and prescription drug purchases to nearly 2 million.
Rev. Gerry Creedon, pastor at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Dale City, Virginia, told ThinkProgress that the Church can’t do it all alone. “Not everything can be done with charity,” he explained, “The tithes of our church can’t deal with the housing crisis [or hunger]. Those are issues that goes beyond private donations.” He noted that the 1986 pastoral letter from the nation’s Catholic bishops “Economic Justice for All,” lays out the reasoning for the Church’s longstanding commitment to supporting public policies that reduce unemployment, poverty and other forms of economic inequality.
The September remarks were not the first time Cuccinelli has been openly critical of the Catholic Church’s focus on economic justice. In a June 2011 speech to the Virginia Christian Association, he mocked the Arlington Catholic Herald for including in its voter guides both issues like poverty assistance and health care access for the uninsured, in addition to the issues he deems more important, such as abortion. From a moral standpoint, abortion, he told them, was a much more important political issue than poverty and hunger. “For people who take seriously those considerations when they vote, it’s acceptable to distinguish between them,” he told them, “In fact, I would suggest to you that in your role, part of your role is to distinguish between them.”
Oops: Michigan Republicans Have Passed a Right to Work Law that may be Impossible to Implement
By: Sarah Jones
Did Michigan Republicans even read the ALEC-Koch “Right-to-Work” legislation they just passed?
It doesn’t appear likely. Why? Because the law may not be able to be implemented as intended.
Just as the Wisconsin law violated their state constitution, so it appears the Michigan law does the same, albeit for different reasons. In addition to the violation of the state constitution, just as in Wisconsin, we also have a lawsuit filed over the violation of the Michigan Open Meetings law. But to the constitutional issue…
Michigan Senate Democrats report, “The Michigan Constitution gives clear authority to the Civil Service Commission over conditions of employment for the state’s workforce. Experts have suggested today only a vote of the Civil Service Commission could enact Right to Work policies for state workers.”
Oopsie.
This is the sort of thing that happens when a national organization is writing your legislation for you. But one assumes that the big boys at ALEC did not count on the uber laziness of the Republicans. Surely they were meant to fine tune the bill to suit their state. But then, when you shove a bill through in a lameduck session and don’t hold it open for debate, these things tend to happen.
Senator Bert Johnson (D – Detroit) pointed out that not only the public, but also the lawmakers were not given a chance to read the bills, “The public was not given an opportunity to read these bills, legislators were not given an opportunity to read these bills, and we now know that the Governor himself either didn’t read or didn’t understand these bills himself. This process has been a complete affront to Democracy from the start and was nothing more than a political gift to the Koch Brothers and ALEC who bought and paid for this legislation.”
Over and over again, we see Republicans violating the law to pass ALEC legislation, and we also see them refusing to even read the bills they present let alone the bills of the opposition. What, exactly, are they being paid by the people to do, if not read and write legislation that actually fits the laws?
The same law that Governor Walker passed in violation of Open Meetings laws and in violation of the state constitution was struck down by the courts in September. The millions wasted on passing legislation illegally and fighting it in courts speaks to the seriousness of Republicans when they talk about deficits. There’s always money to enact a political agenda aimed at the opposition party, but there’s no money for starving kids.
Further irony is provided by Michigan State Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons (R-Alto), who called the passage of the “right-to-work” law “freeing” the workers. Apparently Ms. Lyons didn’t want her husband freed. He is a corrections officer and Ms. Lyons fought to have corrections officers exempted from the law. She explained, “When we talk about the brave women in police and fire we need to remember people in corrections. These guys work in conditions that we can’t even begin to imagine. It’s not financial. It’s philosophy. I am saying we need to treat our corrections officers that way we treat our police men and women and firefighter men and women.”
So, Ms. Lyons believes that we should treat our corrections officers (like her husband) the way we treat our police and firefighters, which she implies is better than we treat the other workers, because they work in tough conditions and therefor deserve or have earned the right to be treated better. And yet, she calls denying the right to collectively bargain freedom. What we have here is an admission by a Republican that when it comes to their own personal lives, they’ll take the union, please. No doubt Ms. Lyons is familiar with all that the union does to protect her husband. If she’s lucky, the law she supported will be struck down.
Did Michigan Republicans even read the ALEC-Koch “Right-to-Work” legislation they just passed?
It doesn’t appear likely. Why? Because the law may not be able to be implemented as intended.
Just as the Wisconsin law violated their state constitution, so it appears the Michigan law does the same, albeit for different reasons. In addition to the violation of the state constitution, just as in Wisconsin, we also have a lawsuit filed over the violation of the Michigan Open Meetings law. But to the constitutional issue…
Michigan Senate Democrats report, “The Michigan Constitution gives clear authority to the Civil Service Commission over conditions of employment for the state’s workforce. Experts have suggested today only a vote of the Civil Service Commission could enact Right to Work policies for state workers.”
Oopsie.
This is the sort of thing that happens when a national organization is writing your legislation for you. But one assumes that the big boys at ALEC did not count on the uber laziness of the Republicans. Surely they were meant to fine tune the bill to suit their state. But then, when you shove a bill through in a lameduck session and don’t hold it open for debate, these things tend to happen.
Senator Bert Johnson (D – Detroit) pointed out that not only the public, but also the lawmakers were not given a chance to read the bills, “The public was not given an opportunity to read these bills, legislators were not given an opportunity to read these bills, and we now know that the Governor himself either didn’t read or didn’t understand these bills himself. This process has been a complete affront to Democracy from the start and was nothing more than a political gift to the Koch Brothers and ALEC who bought and paid for this legislation.”
Over and over again, we see Republicans violating the law to pass ALEC legislation, and we also see them refusing to even read the bills they present let alone the bills of the opposition. What, exactly, are they being paid by the people to do, if not read and write legislation that actually fits the laws?
The same law that Governor Walker passed in violation of Open Meetings laws and in violation of the state constitution was struck down by the courts in September. The millions wasted on passing legislation illegally and fighting it in courts speaks to the seriousness of Republicans when they talk about deficits. There’s always money to enact a political agenda aimed at the opposition party, but there’s no money for starving kids.
Further irony is provided by Michigan State Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons (R-Alto), who called the passage of the “right-to-work” law “freeing” the workers. Apparently Ms. Lyons didn’t want her husband freed. He is a corrections officer and Ms. Lyons fought to have corrections officers exempted from the law. She explained, “When we talk about the brave women in police and fire we need to remember people in corrections. These guys work in conditions that we can’t even begin to imagine. It’s not financial. It’s philosophy. I am saying we need to treat our corrections officers that way we treat our police men and women and firefighter men and women.”
So, Ms. Lyons believes that we should treat our corrections officers (like her husband) the way we treat our police and firefighters, which she implies is better than we treat the other workers, because they work in tough conditions and therefor deserve or have earned the right to be treated better. And yet, she calls denying the right to collectively bargain freedom. What we have here is an admission by a Republican that when it comes to their own personal lives, they’ll take the union, please. No doubt Ms. Lyons is familiar with all that the union does to protect her husband. If she’s lucky, the law she supported will be struck down.
Police Question Fox Contributor’s ‘Punch’ Tale
TPM
If Fox News contributor Steven Crowder wants justice after being assaulted during right-to-work protests in Michigan this week, he sure has a weird way of showing it. That’s the word from Michigan State Police, who are ready to investigate and prosecute the man who punched Crowder multiple times on camera Tuesday — if only Crowder would let them.
The video of Crowder taking those punches has gone viral, even as Crowder’s story about the circumstances has started to unravel. Regardless of exactly what happened leading up top the punches, however, there’s a potential crime caught on film and according to Michigan State Police, Crowder has so far shown no interest in having it investigated.
“There is video footage of him being assaulted. We don’t know who the suspect is, but we could do a several month investigation and find the suspect,” Inspector Gene Adamczyk, spokesperson for the state police, told TPM on Thursday. “But if Mr. Crowder is not going to prosecute, we have not gained anything, we’ve wasted resources.”
So far Crowder has not sought out police help after he was hit. Adamczyk pointed out he’s instead turned the video into a national conservative media tour.
“I saw Mr. Crowder’s interview on Sean Hannity and he wants to have an MMA-sanctioned fight with this individual,” he said. Crowder told Hannity that if the suspect doesn’t come forward for the MMA fight (which he said would be held for charity), Crowder would “press charges.”
Adamczyk did not sound impressed by the plan.
“You can’t leverage the law for personal gain,” he said. “Either you’re the victim, or you’re not. So if he’s the victim of an assault, and he wants to file a complaint, we will definitely investigate it.”
Meanwhile, media reports have poked holes in the original, edited video Crowder posted online after he was punched. The New York Times reported “a look at the video broadcast on the Sean Hannity show appears to show quite clearly that [Crowder] left out an important section of the footage when he put together his edit.”
The unedited footage shows “the man who punched Mr. Crowder being knocked to the ground seconds before and then getting up and taking a swing at the comedian,” the Times reported.
Adamczyk doesn’t understand why Crowder wouldn’t report the crime to the police and get the perpetrator prosecuted. He stressed that the MSP will not go forward with an investigation unless a crime is reported, and “there are all types of personal reasons” people sometimes don’t report a crime, he said.
“If somebody broke into your house, wouldn’t you immediately report it to the police? If someone assaulted you or your family member wouldn’t you report it immediately to the police?” Adamczyk said. “Well, why wouldn’t you, unless there’s a personal agenda there.”
If Fox News contributor Steven Crowder wants justice after being assaulted during right-to-work protests in Michigan this week, he sure has a weird way of showing it. That’s the word from Michigan State Police, who are ready to investigate and prosecute the man who punched Crowder multiple times on camera Tuesday — if only Crowder would let them.
The video of Crowder taking those punches has gone viral, even as Crowder’s story about the circumstances has started to unravel. Regardless of exactly what happened leading up top the punches, however, there’s a potential crime caught on film and according to Michigan State Police, Crowder has so far shown no interest in having it investigated.
“There is video footage of him being assaulted. We don’t know who the suspect is, but we could do a several month investigation and find the suspect,” Inspector Gene Adamczyk, spokesperson for the state police, told TPM on Thursday. “But if Mr. Crowder is not going to prosecute, we have not gained anything, we’ve wasted resources.”
So far Crowder has not sought out police help after he was hit. Adamczyk pointed out he’s instead turned the video into a national conservative media tour.
“I saw Mr. Crowder’s interview on Sean Hannity and he wants to have an MMA-sanctioned fight with this individual,” he said. Crowder told Hannity that if the suspect doesn’t come forward for the MMA fight (which he said would be held for charity), Crowder would “press charges.”
Adamczyk did not sound impressed by the plan.
“You can’t leverage the law for personal gain,” he said. “Either you’re the victim, or you’re not. So if he’s the victim of an assault, and he wants to file a complaint, we will definitely investigate it.”
Meanwhile, media reports have poked holes in the original, edited video Crowder posted online after he was punched. The New York Times reported “a look at the video broadcast on the Sean Hannity show appears to show quite clearly that [Crowder] left out an important section of the footage when he put together his edit.”
The unedited footage shows “the man who punched Mr. Crowder being knocked to the ground seconds before and then getting up and taking a swing at the comedian,” the Times reported.
Adamczyk doesn’t understand why Crowder wouldn’t report the crime to the police and get the perpetrator prosecuted. He stressed that the MSP will not go forward with an investigation unless a crime is reported, and “there are all types of personal reasons” people sometimes don’t report a crime, he said.
“If somebody broke into your house, wouldn’t you immediately report it to the police? If someone assaulted you or your family member wouldn’t you report it immediately to the police?” Adamczyk said. “Well, why wouldn’t you, unless there’s a personal agenda there.”
Hostess Executives Teach Us All A Little Lesson About Personal Responsibility
Today is really a red-letter day for corporate malfeasance and incompetence here at Wonkette, isn’t it? It is! And such a day wouldn’t be complete without a discussion of the Hostess CEO, whose corporate “maneuvers” might “deprive” workers of some of their pension money by using it for “operations.” (This is corporate speak for saying that the CEOs padded executive pay by stealing money from worker pensions.)
READ MORE »
READ MORE »
.jpg)
Rock stars turn out for superstorm Sandy benefit concert
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
More than $30m (£18.6m) was raised for those affected by superstorm Sandy at the 12:12:12 benefit gig in New York.
Rock royalty The Rolling Stones, The Who, Michael Stipe, Chris Martin, Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters played at Madison Square Garden.
The surviving members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, joined Sir Paul McCartney on stage to perform.
The storm caused the deaths of 120 people when it hit the Caribbean and US in October
After the show, Grohl spoke about teaming up with Sir Paul for the new track Cut Me Some Slack.
Speaking to Billboard, Grohl said: "It's funny because I think people were expecting us to do a Beatles song or a Nirvana song but when I first called Paul to see if he would jam with us, none of us wanted to do a Beatles song or a Nirvana song.
"We wanted to do a new song, so we wrote and recorded a new song in a day and it's heavy as..."
Joining forcesThe concert was also streamed online, aired on radio and was shown in theatres worldwide, raising more than $30m (£18.6m) for the Robin Hood Foundation in ticket sales alone.
s
About 13,000 tickets to the gig were sold ranging from £100-£1,500.
Celebrities including Kristen Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Devito were also on hand to take donations during the telethon.
The night of collaborations was started with Bruce Springsteen inviting Jon Bon Jovi on stage to perform Born To Run, repaying the favour later to sing Who Says You Can't Go Home.
Roger Waters played a set of Pink Floyd material and was joined by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder for Comfortably Numb.
Former REM frontman Michael Stipe joined Coldplay's Chris Martin on stage to sing his old band's 1991 Grammy award-winning song Losing My Religion.
Martin said: "I know you really wanted One Direction, but it's way past their bedtime. That's why you get one-quarter of Coldplay."
When the Rolling Stones took to the stage, performing You've Got Me Rockin and Jumping Jack Flash, Mick Jagger commented: "This has got to be the largest collection of old English musicians ever assembled in Madison Square Garden. If it rains in London, you've got to come and help us."
r
The Who performed Quadrophenia track Bellboy, with a video of the late Keith Moon singing on it, and other tracks including See Me Feel Me, Pinball Wizard and Baba O'Riley.
Actor Steve Buscemi and comedian Adam Sandler also took to the stage.
The star-studded benefit show was closed by Alicia Keys singing her hometown anthem Empire State of Mind at 1:19am after the show went on for nearly six hours.
Damage caused by the superstorm which hit the East Coast of the US in late October has been put at $82bn (£50.8).
The death toll has been placed at 120, after the storm carved a path through the Caribbean later hitting New York and its surrounding areas, leaving millions without heat or electricity.
From bbc.com
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
GOP Pollster: Republicans Have ‘Run Out Of’ White Voters
TPM
Republicans need to dramatically improve their standing with Latino voters or risk becoming a “regional party” of disaffected whites, according to a study released Wednesday by a GOP pollster.
“Republicans have run out of persuadable white voters,” Resurgent Republic pollster Whit Ayres and the conservative Hispanic Leadership Network’s Jennifer Korn concluded in a memo detailing the results of the study.
Resurgent Republic surveyed Latino voters in four states — New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Florida — and concluded that the GOP brand was on life support. Respondents said Republicans did not respect their community’s values and concerns by a 51-44 margin in Florida, 54-40 in New Mexico, 59-35 in Nevada, and 63-30 in Colorado. By contrast Democrats were seen as respectful by a dominant 67-28 spread in Florida, 72- 23 percent in both New Mexico and Nevada, and 76-20 in Colorado.
“If Republicans achieve 40 percent or more of Hispanics nationally, they can elect conservative Republicans to national office,” the memo authors wrote. “Settling for a quarter or less of the Hispanic vote nationally will relegate Republicans to a regional party with few national prospects.”
In past elections, Republicans were able to offset losses with minorities by running up the score with whites. But Ayres and Korn noted that Romney “won a landslide among white voters,” dominating Obama 59-39 and winning majorities of every subset, from women to Catholics to young people. Thanks to Obama’s dominant performance with Latinos, Asians, and African Americans, the president was nonetheless re-elected by a comfortable margin.
In a conference call with reporters, Ayres dismissed suggestions from Republican pundits like the New York Times’ Ross Douthat that moderating on immigration might cause whites to abandon the GOP. He cited George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign, in which the party reached its high water mark with Latino voters in exit polls while also turning out white evangelicals at high rates, as a model.
“It is not a mutually exclusive endeavor in the hands of a gifted candidate,” Ayres told TPM.
The good news for Republicans, Ayres said, is that the party has some clear paths to improve their performance. He recommended a combination of immigration reform paired with a better and more extensive outreach campaign designed to slowly rebuild the party’s standing over several elections. Winning the majority of Hispanic voters anytime soon isn’t realistic, but a reasonable goal might be winning just Hispanic conservatives — usually around 40-45 percent of the electorate in the states surveyed.
Another ray of light is Republican success in recruiting more Hispanic candidates. While it didn’t rescue them from defeat in 2012, Ayres argued that it shouldn’t be viewed as a sideshow either. He pointed out that the GOP brand was stronger in Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada, than in Colorado, where as many as 87 percent of Latino voters went for Obama. The difference? Florida has Sen. Marco Rubio (and a more conservative Cuban population) and New Mexico and Nevada have popular Republican governors of Latino descent in Susana Martinez and Brian Sandoval. By contrast, Colorado’s “de facto” Republican nominee for governor in 2010 was anti-immigrant third party candidate Tom Tancredo.
“Campaigns matter and candidates matter and we see the effects of those leaders,” Ayers said.
Republicans need to dramatically improve their standing with Latino voters or risk becoming a “regional party” of disaffected whites, according to a study released Wednesday by a GOP pollster.
“Republicans have run out of persuadable white voters,” Resurgent Republic pollster Whit Ayres and the conservative Hispanic Leadership Network’s Jennifer Korn concluded in a memo detailing the results of the study.
Resurgent Republic surveyed Latino voters in four states — New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Florida — and concluded that the GOP brand was on life support. Respondents said Republicans did not respect their community’s values and concerns by a 51-44 margin in Florida, 54-40 in New Mexico, 59-35 in Nevada, and 63-30 in Colorado. By contrast Democrats were seen as respectful by a dominant 67-28 spread in Florida, 72- 23 percent in both New Mexico and Nevada, and 76-20 in Colorado.
“If Republicans achieve 40 percent or more of Hispanics nationally, they can elect conservative Republicans to national office,” the memo authors wrote. “Settling for a quarter or less of the Hispanic vote nationally will relegate Republicans to a regional party with few national prospects.”
In past elections, Republicans were able to offset losses with minorities by running up the score with whites. But Ayres and Korn noted that Romney “won a landslide among white voters,” dominating Obama 59-39 and winning majorities of every subset, from women to Catholics to young people. Thanks to Obama’s dominant performance with Latinos, Asians, and African Americans, the president was nonetheless re-elected by a comfortable margin.
In a conference call with reporters, Ayres dismissed suggestions from Republican pundits like the New York Times’ Ross Douthat that moderating on immigration might cause whites to abandon the GOP. He cited George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign, in which the party reached its high water mark with Latino voters in exit polls while also turning out white evangelicals at high rates, as a model.
“It is not a mutually exclusive endeavor in the hands of a gifted candidate,” Ayres told TPM.
The good news for Republicans, Ayres said, is that the party has some clear paths to improve their performance. He recommended a combination of immigration reform paired with a better and more extensive outreach campaign designed to slowly rebuild the party’s standing over several elections. Winning the majority of Hispanic voters anytime soon isn’t realistic, but a reasonable goal might be winning just Hispanic conservatives — usually around 40-45 percent of the electorate in the states surveyed.
Another ray of light is Republican success in recruiting more Hispanic candidates. While it didn’t rescue them from defeat in 2012, Ayres argued that it shouldn’t be viewed as a sideshow either. He pointed out that the GOP brand was stronger in Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada, than in Colorado, where as many as 87 percent of Latino voters went for Obama. The difference? Florida has Sen. Marco Rubio (and a more conservative Cuban population) and New Mexico and Nevada have popular Republican governors of Latino descent in Susana Martinez and Brian Sandoval. By contrast, Colorado’s “de facto” Republican nominee for governor in 2010 was anti-immigrant third party candidate Tom Tancredo.
“Campaigns matter and candidates matter and we see the effects of those leaders,” Ayers said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)