RandySF
RandySF's JournalLatest Iowa absentee ballot numbers (as of October 23)
Another commitment kept me away from my computer for most of the day, but after the jump I've enclosed the latest data on absentee ballots requested and returned statewide and in each of Iowa's four Congressional districts. All figures come from the Iowa Secretary of State's Office. Click here for previous tables going back to September 22.
Democrats slightly extended their statewide lead in absentee ballot requests and regained a small lead in absentee ballots returned to county auditors, after Republicans had held an edge of a few hundreds ballots the previous day. However, Republicans now lead in absentee ballots returned in Iowa's third Congressional district as well as in the fourth. Here's hoping some of the Republicans who have already voted in IA-03 followed the lead of conservatives who oppose David Young.
http://www.bleedingheartland.com/diary/7205/latest-iowa-absentee-ballot-numbers-as-of-october-23
Another poll confirms movement for Begich.
A string of recent polls through this week had shown all good news for Dan Sullivan, the Republican challenger for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Democrat Mark Begich.
That changed Friday, with a poll released by Begich’s Democratic allies in the morning showing the race in a dead heat -- and a second survey released by a Republican pollster in the afternoon showing Begich leading Sullivan 49 percent to 39 percent.
The second poll was conducted by a firm owned by Anchorage Republican pollster and consultant Marc Hellenthal, who was hired by several individuals including lobbyist Sam Kito Jr.
Kito, who's not registered with a party and whose clients include the Alaska Cruise Association, the Alaska Travel Industry Association and GCI, said he had commissioned the poll along with three or four other people whom he declined to name -- but added that none of them is affiliated with candidates.
If anything, the results show the unpredictability of polling in Alaska, a state that’s notorious among national pundits for being difficult to survey.
Hellenthal, in an interview, attributed part of the divergence in his results to the fact that the vast majority of his respondents had been reached on mobile phones. Landlines, he added, have had a very poor response rate; he noted that one of his firm’s recent polls resulted in 76 survey completions for about 1,100 calls to landlines.
One answering machine reached by Hellenthal’s callers, he said, actually had a recording saying: “If this is a survey, hang up. We are not interested.”
http://www.adn.com/article/20141025/2-new-polls-raise-begich-hopes-us-senate-race
English-speaking students misidentified as 'English learners'
A mother, who asked not to be identified, told KTVU problems for her two youngest children started when she filled out a parent survey before her kids entered kindergarten in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. The questionnaire asked about languages spoken in the home.
"They also ask if there's a second language, so we marked 'Spanish,'" said the woman, who came to the United States from El Salvador in 1980.
The mother says that answer prompted the school district to give her children the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). Their scores fell short of qualifying them as proficient in English. They were labeled "English learners" and placed in the English Learning Development program even though English is their first language.
Now in fourth and fifth grade, the brother and sister have been unable to get reclassified. Parents cannot opt out of having their children tested.
"I feel like a hostage to the system. Because you really don't have an out. Once they're labeled, they're labeled," said the children's mother.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/2-investigates-english-speaking-students-misidenti/nhnpG/
Milbank: Grimes puts Kentucky back in play
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. • Last week, the national Democratic Party left Alison Lundergan Grimes for dead.
So why does she still have a pulse?
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said it was stopping its TV ads for Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state and the Democrats’ challenger to Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader.
In political Washington, this was a nail in the coffin, coming after the candidate’s embarrassing and repeated refusal to say whether she voted for President Obama and the televised pronouncement of "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd that she had "disqualified herself" — a clip McConnell’s campaign gleefully replayed in his ads.
But Grimes’ look into the abyss did her some good. In politics as in medicine, near-death experiences have a way of changing one’s outlook. When I visited Kentucky on Wednesday to see Grimes on the campaign trail, I saw a candidate who was much less cautious and scripted than the one I had been hearing and reading about. It was as if the reduced expectations had liberated her.
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/1738058-155/grimes-kentucky-mcconnell-washington-campaign-gave
Republican poll gives Begich a 10 point lead. Alaska Guard story hurting Republicans?
A new Hellenthal Associates (R) poll in Alaska finds Sen. Mark Begich (D) leading challenger Dan Sullivan (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 39%.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2014/10/24/begich_holds_double-digit_lead_in_alaska.html
Alaska National Guard Sex Abuse Scandal Threatens GOP Governor's Re-election
WASHINGTON -- The Alaska National Guard is facing down some grave allegations: A recruiter trying to give alcohol to high school girls, botched responses to sexual assault complaints, embezzlement, a former porn company owner keeping his job despite military investigators finding that he failed to respond to sexual assault, and whistleblowers terrified to speak out.
The alleged misconduct, detailed in an assessment by the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations and in investigations by local news outlets, is threatening the re-election bid of incumbent Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R). The governor, who is commander in chief of the Guard, fired three top officials from the military unit this week. His office has said that he took action each time he was made aware of misconduct, and that he was ultimately misled by his top general.
But Parnell's critics -- including whistleblowers and victims -- claim that his office failed to do enough to respond to allegations of abuse over several years. Local news outlets are now suing the governor's office to get access to internal emails that may show how much Parnell knew about the allegations, and what he did in response.
Last month, at Parnell's request, the Office of Complex Investigations released a scathing report on how the Alaska Guard has handled misconduct, detailing some of the allegations. Following the report, Parnell requested the resignation of the Guard's top general, Maj. Gen. Thomas Katkus. Parnell has since fired additional officials.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/22/gop-alaska-governor_n_6024862.html
McConnell loans his campaign $1.8 million
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to counter the influx of Democratic spending aimed at defeating him by writing a big personal check.
The Republican leader is loaning his campaign $1.8 million out of his own bank account, exceeding a $1.5 million investment by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Senate Majority PAC to bolster the prospects of Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes.
A McConnell campaign official told POLITICO Friday that his boss is making the donation because he has long said that the National Republican Senatorial Committee should spend money in other hotly contested races — not his own.
“Sen. McConnell has maintained a longstanding personal commitment to his members that he won’t draw any resources from the team,” said John Ashbrook, McConnell’s spokesman. “So he’s going to match Obama’s money men out of his own pocket.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/mitch-mcconnell-18-million-check-112195.html#ixzz3H7Y6ZIbp
Remember when toys were built to last?
Whenever we travel to vista my parents' house in Michigan, they always bring out my old toys for my son to play with. Last time, I took a good look at them and realized they are just no longer built to last. Remember Tonka Trucks made in America with real metal welded and screwed together to take on any outdoor adventure in dirt and rocks? What about Fischer Price, whose toys were made simply, with no moving parts, still in great condition after nearly 40 years. Now, if I go to the toy store, everything looks like they might break in one's hands with the least amount of effort. What happened?
Latest Iowa absentee ballot numbers (as of October 22)
ix weeks ago, Bleeding Heartland argued that it was too soon for Iowa Democrats to celebrate a lead in early voting, in part because Republicans had plenty of time to catch up. Yesterday, the number of absentee ballots registered Republicans had returned to county auditors exceeded the number of ballots returned by registered Democrats. A press release by a GOP consultant noted that it's the first time Iowa Republicans have ever led in early voting.
Democrats still lead in absentee ballots requested, but Republicans also claim that in recent days, they have generated more ballot requests from Iowans who did not vote in the 2010 general election.
I've enclosed below the latest data on absentee ballots requested and returned statewide and in each of Iowa's four Congressional districts. All figures come from the Iowa Secretary of State's Office. Click here for previous tables going back to September 22.
http://www.bleedingheartland.com/diary/7201/latest-iowa-absentee-ballot-numbers-as-of-october-22
GOP candidate with fetish-related felony record warns against ‘homosexual agenda’
A Michigan Republican with a criminal record for breaking into cars and masturbating is urging residents to move out of state to avoid the “homosexual agenda.”
Jordan Haskins briefly suspended his campaign for an open state house seat after his criminal convictions were revealed.
“If the state wants to trample religious freedom, we go somewhere else where our values are welcome,” Haskins posted Oct. 8. “Michigan loses tax money, economic performance, jobs, etc. if they choose to be entrenched with the homosexual agenda, it’s time for conservative christians (sic) to vote with their feet and their dollars.”
Haskins accumulated criminal records in Michigan and North Carolina, where he broke into vehicles at least four times between April 2010 and January 2011, disconnected ignition wires, and started the engine.
As the snapped wires threw off sparks, Haskins would pleasure himself in a sexualized ritual he has described as “cranking.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/gop-candidate-with-ftish-related-felony-record-warns-against-hmosexual-agenda/
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Current location: San Francisco, CA
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