I think he's running because he's egotistical, as are all presidential candidates, and because he sees a Mormon in the White House as a pivotal moment in the history of his religion. I think he's willing to take whatever policy positions he needs to so as to get the job.

I think the Paul campaign is well aware that they won't win the Republican nomination but his supporters are tired of the "small government" Republican party policing the world and trying to run peoples personal lives. I think the goal is to try to influence the party's platform, maybe shore up a cabinet spot or primetime convention speaking slots, and send a warning that he could easily go third party and hurt Romney much worse than Obama. (Though I agree with your earlier post that a lot of anti-war/anti-police state liberals aren't very impressed with Obama's first term either)

Like JPhillips said the Republican party treats him like a red-headed step child and will do anything possible to bend the rules so he can't use the delegate approach but I really do think Paul has a following that could "tea party" the election to Obama. And given the two choices at least a lame duck Obama might actually try to scale down the endless wars and police state here in America where Romney will just make it worse. (I see no difference ecomonically between the two candidates)

No doubt. Trying to accomplish what his father could not.

I see the opposite. I don't think there's a ton of difference foreign policy wise, with the great exception of a possible Iran war, but the difference between a negotiated budget and the Ryan plan is huge.

The great exception being the Iran war might be the difference between Middle East war and possible WWIII with China and Russia? I really think Obama might do something if re-elected about the wars but maybe they will be so set on Hilary '16 that they will be just as bad as Romney would be.

As far as the Ryan budget goes... to me its all rhetoric. So they supposedly were about to shut the government down over the debt ceiling last year and where are we now? Same out of control spending/pointless laws from both parties.

EDIT: But given the choice of a Republican house battling Obama or Romney with a Repubican house I will gladly take an Obama election win.

This is an interesting deilemma (and test) for Obama. Wonder how this will play out.

Escaped Chinese activist in U.S. embassy, friend says - CNN.com

Nice to ratchet up our presence there and seeing cooperation from our allies.

US deploys F-22s to base near Iran | Fox News

How it came out was awkward and not sure if Obama really would have publically stated it without the Biden incident but glad its out and there is a clear distinction on this matter between Romney and Obama ... how times have changed.

Poll: Majority approves of Obama’s marriage decision – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Iraq is no longer in the news and its all Afghanistan now. I like how he is committed to winding down the war but frankly, am not sure its the right way. Like Bush, Obama's legacy will be written around 2 wars, war on terror, OBL and the great recession. It'll be interesting to read the history books in 20 years.

Obama predicts 'hard days ahead' in Afghanistan at NATO summit opening | Fox News

9th Circuit denies en banc request in Prop 8 case. SCOTUS here we come! Or, more accurately, Anthony Kennedy here we come.

Ninth Circuit Declines to Rehear Prop 8 Case | Backstory Blog | Human Rights Campaign

Anyone in Vegas throwing down odds on if the Supreme Court will decide to hear it or not?

There is a DOMA case and Prop 8 case both coming up to SCOTUS... my, won't this be an interesting upcoming term.

If things hold up as they should, Scott Walker will survive the recall challenge. This will be a black eye for the Democrats IMO. They needed a better challenger. Democrats haven't groomed any new blood in Wisconsin and the old Farmer (Rural)-Labor coalition is no longer.

There are four Republican senators up for recall, so if they can get one of those seats, that'll give them a majority at least. As it stands right now, a RINO (I use the term endearingly) holds the power in the Senate.

Turnout in Wisconsin is reportedly extremely high. Despite the spending, that doesn't bode well for Walker and the GOP. We'll see what the exit polling looks like when polls close in a few minutes.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/e...CTION=POLITICS

Big turnout in Madison is a good sign.

Amy at WTDY ‏@AmyBarrilleaux

Madison City Clerk tells me turnout is on pace to hit 119% in Madison, adding "That would be unprecedented."

A virtual dead heat across the board.

Those who went out on Tuesday to cast ballots were nearly evenly divided along party affiliation, the exit polls showed, with 35% of those voting being Democrats, 33% Republicans, and 32% independent voters.

Neither party had an edge among voter's favorability: Republicans and Democrats alike were seen as unfavorable to 50% of those who cast ballots on Tuesday, and 47% saw each party as favorable.

The electorate was also divided along their opinions of the collective bargaining limitations, with 48% disapproving and 50% approving.

Exit polls show close Wisconsin recall race – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Among the more interesting numbers I've seen is that hardly anyone made up their minds recently, the enormous advertising push may have influenced turnout to some extent but had little room to impact how people voted (somewhere in the 80's percent had made up their minds as far back as April).

LOL.

Those are like Chicago kinda numbers ;)

They have same-day voter registration so that muddles things.

NBC News calling it for Walker.

Ohhhhhhhh, okay.

(I really thought that was a funny quote, either intentionally or unintentionally)

RT @chucktodd: Our models indicate that once all the votes are counted, Walker's final margin will be somewhere in the 4-6 point range

Wouldn't that be equal to or slightly better than what he won by in 2010? Meaning that all of the hooha actually changed pretty much nothing as far as the electorate goes?

The whole thing was a total waste of time and money. Made even more of a waste by running the same guy who lost the first time.

The various media outlets appreciate the $60m in extra revenue however.

Yeah. He won by about 5.7% the first time (Which I didn't realize until I googled was also against Barrett. Oops.)

Apparently 60% of exit voters polled this year said that they thought that recalls should only be used for criminal malfeasance, not because you didn't like what they decided to do when elected.

19% of Walker voters said they voted for Obama in 2008.

Seems silly to run the same guy against the guy you didn't like and expect a better result.

This blog notes something I mentioned elsewhere earlier: that there were quite a few Obama/Walker votes in this one.

There were some Walker-Obama voters on Tuesday - JSOnline

And I'm sure the Republicans will take this as "a mandate" and will extend their hand too far and then everything will swing back to the Democrats as the pendulum swings again.

I'm sick of every vote result being "a mandate."

Why in the world do you make it sound like it's a bad thing?? If we had a Rep president and Dem Senate, I would expect and hope for the exact same results. The worse scenario in WashDC would be the same party in both executive and legislative.

Sounds like another Democrat-induced stimulus package to me.

All the hoopla that went with this doesn't change much. Everything Walker passed in his first few months was with a clear majority in the State Senate but after the recalls last year, the Republican edge went to 17-16 with my own Republican Senator pretty much blocking anything controversial that Walker tried to put through after the first batch of recalls.

Senate and Assembly elections will be crucial this fall. Don't think the Dems can swing the assembly but the Senate might be possible. Tonights Senate recalls were terrible for the Democrats too, but it doesn't matter as the legislature won't be in session until after the election.

Overall, as a Wisconsin liberal, I think the Democratic Party here sucks. Tom Barrett was honestly the best they could come up with. That doesn't bode well.

Those are folks who might find themselves on the wrong side of things when all is said & done.

I'm trying to interpret this one. Wrong side of some authoritarian conservative government that will send their secret police to eliminate him? You've really got to get out of your fantasy world once in a while. (Apologies if I'm misinterpreting)

A brief recall effort was staged by Republicans around here but never got off the ground. Electorally, he's safe.

Yeah, you're waaaaaaay off here.


This is what I was referring to. We tend to beat people like that in primaries, screw the recall mess. Wasn't really thinking about where he/you/everybody is in the election calendar / cycle though.

Got to admit, it's hard to tell sometimes with you :) I also have to admit your writing reminds me of Jake Featherston at times (I know you'll get that one)




I don't see him losing a primary. He has gone along with things like voter ID and concealed carry but blocked a big mining bill. It's just too moderate or even liberal of a district for the Republicans to jeopardize losing the seats to the Democrats.

That's great, but not everyone agrees with you. Why are you acting surprised that someone would want the side that represents their beliefs to have more power?

There's one huge race left in Wisconsin. With 1 precint remaining, Lehman (D) leads Wanggaard (R) by 800 votes. If that holds, then the Dems have retaken the state senate.

Indeed I do :)

I personally think there is a huge difference between disagreeing on ideological grounds and being an obstructionist. When I hear that the Republicans vote against the President because they think a bill is "big government", then I understand and can sympathize. When I hear that Republicans vote against the President because he is a Democrat, and they want to obstruct progress as much as possible to prevent him from being re-elected, then I think that is wrong and damn close to treason. This isn't a Rep/Dem thing, I think the same thing when the roles are reversed.

Dear Mr. Congressman, I didn't send you to Washington to get re-elected and to bash the President. I sent you there to get something done.

With 60/60 reporting, looks like ~800 ended up being the final margin for Lehman.

More and more I think the best bet for the country is just to make sure we ALWAYS have opposing parties in the different branches. If you like one side for the executive branch, that's fine but make sure to vote the opposite side for the congress.

That way we only get stuff that is truly beneficial for the majority.

I went to bed thinking the Senate wouldn't flip... Glad Lehman pulled it off. Not that it matters before November, but it's one less seat the Dems have to win or protect.

If this holds after November, the Wisconsin GOP will get a dose of the National GOPs obstruction tactics in the legislature.

This is exactly what I have been saying to people. I don't like everything that Walker has done, or the way that he has done it. He did get fairly elected, though, and I think the time to act for those that want him out is the next election. The recall is expensive, and you end up with one of two results. 1. You win and guarantee that every elected official faces a recall attempt going forward. 2. You lose and and give the other party a "mandate" for what they are doing.


This is the result I was hoping for on the recall election. Giving one party total control seems to lead to trouble. It also doesn't help that Republicans tend to take that total control and run with passing everything they can, while Democrats don't seem to be willing to do the same thing. Without a split government, we don't actually have checks and balances.

And there's nothing more important my Congressman can "get done" than discomfit the left every time they're off base.

"Getting something done" is just giving too much credit to a group of people who proven time and time again that all they want to do is live off the teat of the public that is stupid enough to keep re-electing them.

I forgot about the gerrymandering Republicans did when redrawing districts in WI. Senate will probably flip back Republican after November.

"Getting something done" is also what has led to 90% of the bullshit laws we're now stuck with. We're far more concerned with Doing Something than actually solving problems.

and the monstrous legislations (and federal programs) that result in so many dollars benefiting the fewest possible.

I still wish Mitch Daniels was running for President.

Most intelligent Republican I've heard in a long time.

Which of course means he's absolutely unpalateable to the base.

Yeah, he says that part of the message has to be "hope". That slogan didn't go over too well with Rs in 2008.