Worth Noting
Ohio Early Voting: Not Enough Bang for the Buckeye State
Because of a quirk in the law this year, Ohio voters were allowed to register to vote and then cast their ballots on the same day during a brief six-day window. The Ohio Republican Party went to court in an effort to stop this procedure from being implemented, but lost.
A great deal was made about the ability of Democrats to use this new voting rule to their advantage. They were hoping to register many first time voters – such as students – and then ensure that they cast their ballots early right after registering.
Monday was the last day for Ohioans to register and vote on the same day, and apparently the excitement by Democrats at the new voting procedure was much ado about nothing. As I mentioned on Fox News Sunday, the Democratic hope of registering droves of same day voters just didn’t pan out.
Hamilton County, Ohio boasts nearly 600,000 registered voters. How many turned out to register and vote on the same day? 675 people through when the polls closed yesterday. That’s about one tenth of 1% of registered voters.
Cuyahoga County has nearly 1.1 million registered voters. Only 1784 folks showed up to register to vote and then voted on the same day. That’s about one sixth of 1% of registered voters in Cuyahoga County.
Finally, in Franklin County, which has about 825,000 registered voters, only 1776 people registered to vote and voted on the same day during the period through which it was allowed. That’s about one fifth of 1% of registered voters in the county. Franklin County is the home of Ohio State University. This should give Sen. Obama cause to worry about Ohio. All of the talk about Democrats bringing in busloads of early voters, particularly students, to register and then vote didn’t turn into action. There were not many new registrants added to the roll. It seems that those busses of folks being driven to the polls were full of a lot of people that had already registered, and may have simply voted on election day anyway.
Biden: Factually Wrong
Karl Rove joined Hannity & Colmes to share some post-VP debate thoughts and outlined where Sen. Joe Biden got it wrong. From misinterpreting the constitutional role of the vice president to misrepresenting Sen. McCain’s record on key issues, including tax increases and funding of troops in Iraq, Karl Rove counted 10 factually wrong statements made by Sen. Biden during the course of the debate. Below is a clip from Karl’s appearance on Hannity & Colmes, followed by some of his notes on each of Sen. Biden’s misstatements.
Notes from the Architect:
- Sen. Biden claimed that Sen. McCain voted the same way that Sen. Obama did on the Democratic budget resolution that calls for a tax increase on those making as little as $42,000 a year. In fact, on March 14, 2008 and again on June 4, 2008, Sen. Obama voted for the Democratic budget resolution, while Sen. McCain did not.
Sources: U.S. Senate Legislation & Records – March 14, 2008 Vote, Resolution; U.S. Senate Legislation & Records – June 4, 2008: Vote, Resolution - Sen. Biden claimed that in an Obama Administration the top earners in America would "pay no more than they did under Ronald Reagan." When President Reagan came into office, the top marginal tax rate was 70 percent. While in office, he lowered the top marginal tax rate to 28 percent. In an Obama Administration, the top marginal tax rate would be raised to 39.6 percent, which is higher than President Reagan's 28 percent.
Sources: The Impact of the Presidential Candidates' Tax Proposals on Effective Marginal Tax Rates; Lowering Marginal Tax Rates: The Key to Pro-Growth Tax Relief - Senator Biden claimed that it would take 10 years to get any oil from new production. However, the chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute estimates that some offshore installations could be brought online within only 2-3 years.
Source: CNN Money: American's favor offshore drilling - On the Resolution to Authorize the Use of Force Against Iraq, Sen. Biden stated that he "voted for the power because he [President Bush] said he needed it not to go to war but to keep the United States, the UN in line, to keep sanctions on Iraq and not let them be lifted."
In fact, on October 2, 2002 before Sen. Biden voted for the resolution, President Bush said that if Saddam Hussein "persists in his defiance, the use of force may become unavoidable."
Source: White House Office of the Press Secretary: President, House Leadership Agree on Iraq Resolution - Senator Biden claimed that "with regard to Barack Obama not quote funding the troops, John McCain voted the exact same way." That is incorrect, as Sen. McCain voted for the final passage of the bill funding the troops while Sen. Obama voted against the bill.
Sources: U.S. Senate Legislation & Records – May 24, 2007 Vote H.R. 2206; Bill - Sen. Biden claimed "we spend more money in three weeks on combat in Iraq than we spent on the entirety of the last seven years that we have been in Afghanistan building that country."
In reality, according to the Congressional Budget Office and Department of Defense, of the funds appropriated for activities related to the war on terror around Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007, "Operation Iraqi Freedom accounted for approximately 85 percent of all reported obligations; Operation Enduring Freedom (which refers mainly to operations in and around Afghanistan) accounted for another 15 percent." The US spends as much in 51 weeks – not 7 years – in Afghanistan as it spends in every three weeks in Iraq.
Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2018 - Sen. Biden said of Vice President Cheney that, "He doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch."
However, Article I of the Constitution is actually about the Legislative Branch of government and the Vice President is mentioned in both Article I (Sections 3) and Article II (Sections 1 & 4).
Source: Cornell University Law School: The United States Constitution - Sen. Biden said that Gov. Palin "imposed a windfall profits tax up there in Alaska." The Encyclopedia Britannica defines an excess or windfall profits tax as a tax on an amount of profit that exceeds a set standard. An example of a windfall profits tax is President Carter's 1980 tax on oil company profits, where the government took 50 percent of everything above $26 a barrel.
However, Gov. Palin's energy policy was an increase in the royalties paid for oil pumped from state lands, not a windfall profits tax.
Sources: Britannica Online Dictionary - Sen. Biden claimed "Barack Obama, first thing he did when he came to the United States Senate, new senator, reached across the aisle to my colleague, Dick Lugar, a Republican, and said, "We've got to do something about keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists."
"They put together a piece of legislation that, in fact, was serious and real. Every major – I shouldn't say every – on the two at least that I named, I know that John McCain has been opposed to extending the arms control regime in the world."
In fact, this vote was so uncontroversial and unimportant that it passed the Senate by voice vote, where the votes of Senators are not even recorded. For more information on Sen. Obama's backing for what was a Bush Administration initiative and more examples of Senator Biden's hype, see my Weekly Standard piece, Biden's Exaggerations.
Sources: Sen. Obama Press Release: Lugar-Obama Bill to Keep Weapons Out of Terrorists' Hands Passes Congress - Sen. Biden claimed that on US action in Bosnia "initially John McCain opposed it along with a lot of other people."
However, Senator McCain actually helped to pass a Senate resolution supporting the American mission in Bosnia. He voted for the resolution on December 13, 1995.
Sources: Q&A/John McCain: Why Senate Skeptic Backed Bosnia Mission, U.S. Senate Legislation & Records – December 13, 1995 Vote
Democrats to Let Offshore Drilling Ban Expire
Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.
FULL ARTICLE: Democrats to Let Offshore Drilling Ban Expire
Election Is About Obama
BENTON HARBOR - The two-year, wide-open White House race with no incumbents for the first time since 1952 boils down to one factor, according to Karl Rove.
Rove, who masterminded President George W. Bush's successful White House bids in 2000 and 2004, told The Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan Monday night at Lake Michigan College Mendel Center, "This election is about Obama."
Rove said the presidential election "would be over" had Obama selected Hillary Clinton for vice president instead of Joe Biden, robbing John McCain of an opening to energize his campaign by selecting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president.
FULL ARTICLE: Election is about Obama
Debate Effects
The first of three presidential debates is scheduled for this Friday, the 26th of September. We can expect to see the two campaigns positioning themselves and trying to manipulate (lower) expectations in the coming days, and we can also expect the media to focus on how pivotal the debates might be to determining the contours of the remaining weeks of the campaign. These things will happen because of the high visibility nature of these one-night events and the relatively high stakes if one side or another does a lousy job.
But do debates really have much of an impact on the campaign? Are elections won or lost because of debate performances? Is there much of a debate bump? In Do Campaigns Matter? I argued that debates have relatively limited effects because they occur relatively late in the campaign, when opinions are less pliable, and because--unlike conventions--the information flow is relatively balanced, with both sides making their case.
FULL BLOG ENTRY: Debate Effects
Karl Rove talks health care with Paul Howard
On September 17th and 18th, the White House Writers Group and the West Wing Writers hosted a conference entitled "America’s Health Care at Risk: Finding a Cure," which brought together major stakeholders in the health care debate for a high-level dialogue to generate real and lasting solutions. Paul Howard, Manhattan Institute's director for its Center for Medical Progress and managing editor of MedicalProgressToday.com, interviewed several of the panelists and speakers who participated in the conference.
The Losers Have Spoken
Can't they accept responsibility for their own defeats?
- "Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself. And what's more, Senator McCain, who once railed against the smears of Karl Rove when he was the target, has morphed into candidate McCain who is using the same "Rove" tactics and the same "Rove" staff to repeat the same old politics of fear and smear. Well, not this year, not this time. The Rove-McCain tactics are old and outworn, and America will reject them in 2008." - John Kerry, Remarks to the Democratic National Convention, 8/27/08
Now I'm a Vietnam Prison Guard
He's wrong. My campaign plans are too complicated to be drawn with sticks.
Preston on Politics: Bueller? Bueller? -- McCain needs Rove
Ben Stein says he knows how Sen. John McCain can win in November: Karl Rove.
That's right, that Karl Rove.
At a time when McCain is seeking to distance himself from President Bush, Stein argues McCain needs to enlist Bush's chief political guru in order to defeat Sen. Barack Obama.
"I don't discount the possibility that some really smart person at the McCain campaign might go over to Karl Rove, and say 'We will offer you all the kingdoms of the world if you will come and guide our campaign,' " a hopeful-sounding Stein said in a recent interview, during which he also discussed Al Franken's Senate bid and his thoughts on a sequel to the 1986 box office smash "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," which launched Stein's film career.