Over the weekend, Doug Preisse, chair of the Republican Party in Franklin County, Ohio, explained that he had no interest in “contorting” early voting rules in his county to “accommodate the urban–read African-American — voter turnout machine.”
The sentiment was not unusual coming from a partisan Republican but the context was: Preisse also serves as a member of the county’s election board, along with another Republican and two Democrats. He had voted against extending early voting. The board sets many of the rules for the counting and casting of votes and resolves election disputes. Ohio Secretary of State, Jon Husted, a Republican elected official, breaks election board ties throughout the state.
The battle over voter identification laws is only one front in the voting wars. Today, we turn our attention to the issue of who runs our elections and how they do it. We are one of the only mature democratic nations to allow partisans to run our elections, and to give local officials, often underfunded and sometimes incompetent, control over key aspects of the voting process. Read More
Everyone is outraged by Todd Akin’s statements about rape and female fertility. Indeed, everyone is so outraged that the most outraged people seem to be the ones who agree with Akin on pretty much everything about abortion, rape exceptions and the rest, which is really saying something. So, to back up for a moment, what did Todd Akin really say that was that outrageous? Read More
TPM Reader TF plumbs some more of them …
What strikes me about this whole flap is that Akin’s response, and Republicans’ response to him, is that use of the phrase “legitimate rape” was what was offensive. Akin’s “apology,” as well as many statements from people decrying the original flap, imply that it’s terrible to say that rape is sometimes “legitimate.” But as Brian pointed out, this is not what Akin said at all. Rather, he was distinguishing genuine rape from rape that the woman may actually have wanted, or falsely claimed, or something like that.
Tampa Mayor: We’re “prepared” to call off Republican convention if Hurricane Isaac hits.
House Republican helped finance and run a phony primary campaign against his Democratic opponent.
Judge/County Commissioner down in Texas says a small tax increase is needed to handle civil war and/or imposition of UN rule after Obama reelection.
This afternoon we received a press release from the site that bills itself as the “world’s largest sugar daddy dating website” announcing a poll of its membership’s presidential preferences. And the results came back with a smashing win for Mitt Romney.
The former Massachusetts Governor tops President Obama by an 8 point margin and the “millionaires” who make up the site’s male clientele. Read More
The main exponent of Todd Akin’s theory that rape victims don’t get pregnant is a pro-life activist and doctor named Jack Willke. And he claims that he got a private meeting with Mitt Romney as recently as late last year. Read More
For a little project we’re putting together, when did you first start reading TPM and why?
As the guy who’s been on the receiving end of your emails for more than eleven years, folks come in different cohorts: people who were there from day one, ones who came in with the Trent Lott story, an appearance on Bill Moyers or Al Franken’s show. Or relatively more recently, the Social Security battle in 2005 or the USA Attorney firing scandal in 2007.
If TPM is important to you and/or you’ve been reading for a long time, we’d love it if you’d share your story about how you joined the fold.