RNC Happy With Fundraising Numbers

Reince Priebus via Wikipedia

In a note to the press, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus touted his effort to pay off $11 million in debt while having $14.1 million in the bank. The Democratic National Committee has $10.5 million in comparison, and the DNC raised $6.7 million in November while the RNC grabbed $7.1 million.
That $6.7 million includes almost $3 million from a fundraising account run by the DNC and President Obama’s campaign. But it doesn’t reflect money raised in the parties’ committees for congressional candidates.
While Priebus said that “political momentum” is on Republicans’ side, Democrats have the advantage of a president who can raise millions of dollars by himself, said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic consultant.

ABC

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Virginia: Kaine, Allen In Dead Heat For Senate Seat

Tim Kaine by Getty Images via @daylife

Voters in Virginia are having a difficult time deciding who would make a better U.S. senator -- a former Republican governor or a former Democratic governor. According to a poll by Quinnipiac University, the Virginia U.S. Senate race remains too close to call, with Republican George Allen at 44 percent and Democrat Tim Kaine at 42 percent. 

WAMU

George Allen via Wikipedia

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Republicans Love Tim Tebow... And of Course Democrats Don't

Tim Tebow via Wikipedia

Tim Tebow is viewed favorably by 68% of Republicans but only 39% of Democrats. Just to put those numbers into some context, none of the Republican Presidential candidates are even seen positively by 68% of Republicans. He's more popular than any of them.
27% of GOP voters pick him as their favorite QB, putting him in first place by a mile, but among Democrats he's only tied for 6th at 9%. The Mannings are the preferred quarterbacks of Democratic voters. 13% pick Eli as their favorite and Peyton has the best net favorability with them at +39 (49/10).

PPP

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New Jersey Redistricting

Steve Rothman via Wikipedia

Scott Garrett via Wikipedia

A lot of speculation is pointing to Scott Garrett (Republican-5th District) and Steve Rothman (Democrat-9th District) being thrown into one competitive district by the bi-partisan committee which is supposed to redraw the lines. New Jersey is dropping from 13 to 12 districts. Currently the 13th district is the racially gerrymandered "Hispanic District," which means that district will now be called either the 5th or 9th district (if the most likely scenario does indeed play out).

Illinois Will Play a Larger Role in the GOP Nomination

Image via Wikipedia

The Land of Lincoln doesn’t have a lot of influence in the Party of Lincoln.

Also, Illinois traditionally holds its presidential primary in March, after the must-win states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. (The 2008 primary was in February, but that was to help Barack Obama on the Democratic side.) Sen. Mark Kirk thinks changes in the GOP’s nominating process will finally make Illinois relevant in choosing a presidential candidate. The party is switching from a winner-take all system to a system in which delegates are awarded proportionally. Also, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are tied in the polls.

NBC Chicago

Democrat Website Claims Gary Johnson Will Run as Libertarian

Image via Wikipedia

Politico says:

Gary Johnson will quit the Republican primaries and seek the Libertarian Party nomination instead, POLITICO has learned. The former two-term New Mexico governor, whose campaign for the GOP nomination never caught fire, will make the announcement at a press conference in Santa Fe on Dec. 28. Johnson state directors will be informed of his plans on a campaign conference call Tuesday night, a Johnson campaign source told POLITICO. 

Politico

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1 in 5 Democrats Not Sold on Obama

Image by Bogdan Migulski via Flickr

Most Democrats want to re-elect President Barack Obama, but one in five of his party’s supporters remain uncertain about keeping him in the White House, a new Salt Lake Tribune national poll shows.

The survey also reveals that 37 percent of likely U.S. voters — Republicans, Democrats and independents — want to give Obama four more years. The rest are split among a wide field of Republican contenders, led by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 17 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 14 percent (the only GOP hopefuls in double digits).

Salt Lake Tribune

Newt & Romney Lead Obama in the Following Battleground States...

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are both ahead of President Obama in key swing states that will decide the election in the latest USA Today/Gallup poll released Tuesday.

Image by Bogdan Migulski via Flickr

Romney bests Mr. Obama by 5 percentage points, 48 to 43, in the survey of voters in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Gingrich leads 45 percent to 43 percent.

CBS News

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But then again, you should be voting for Rick Santorum!

Ohio: Liberal Website Bemoans GOP Redistricting Success

To this I say huzzah!!!

The maps, approved by the Republican-run state legislature in September, favor Republicans in 12 of Ohio’s 16 new congressional districts. And they strengthen the majority of likely Republican supporters in at least 17 state house districts, according to the mapping consultants' own calculations.
The congressional maps also split voters in Toledo into three separate districts, a move the mayor said would make the city “politically irrelevant,’’ and put two longstanding Democratic members of congress who live 110 miles apart in the same district, a tactic redistricting experts call "hijacking." (See our rundown of various redistricting techniques, such as packing, cracking and hijacking, or watch our redistricting music video.)
A spokesman for Ohio’s House of Representatives said the email messages and accompanying report, released by the Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting, were an attempt to garner “salacious” and “malicious” headlines. Mike Dittoe, director of communications for the Ohio House of Representatives and for Republican Speaker Bill Batchelder, said Ohio’s redistricting was “a fully transparent process that yielded a fair and legal map.”

ProPublica

For President: Rick Santorum

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Image via Wikipedia

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Image via Wikipedia

The Interested American endorses Rick Santorum for the Republican nomination.

Virginia: Governor Cuccinelli?

The key development since an August poll that showed Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli with a wide margin over Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling in a 2103 Republican gubernatorial nomination fight is that Cuccinelli declared his candidacy in the time between.
What's largely unchanged over that period is Cuccinelli's advantage among Republican voters polled, according to Public Policy Polling results out Tuesday that give Cuccinelli a 44-25 percent advantage over Bolling, with 31 percent undecided.
The Democratic polling firm had Cuccinelli up 45-21 percent in a poll four months ago, suggesting Bolling has gained modest ground without significantly narrowing the divide. Its latest survey finds Cuccinelli far ahead with self-identified Tea Party members, while Bolling is up among moderates. 

Hampton Roads

Pennsylvania: Proposed Congressional District Map Released

According to Politics PA, here is the new map that still has to be voted on by the Republican house, senate and governor:

Politics PA

Voters Still Against Obamacare, 55 to 35

Image by go thunk yourself via Flickr

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 55% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law passed by Congress in March 2010, while 35% at least somewhat oppose repeal. The intensity remains on the side of the law’s opponents since these findings include 42% who Strongly Favor repeal versus 26% who are Strongly Opposed.

Rasmussen

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New Hampshire: Romney 33, Gingrich 22, Paul 18

Mitt Romney via Wikipedia

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters shows Romney with 33% of the vote, followed by Gingrich at 22%. Paul now picks up 18% support, his best showing in the Granite State so far. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman comes in fourth with 10% of the vote, with no other candidate reaching double digits.

Rasmussen

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Hussein's Henchman: Axelrod Practices 'Civility' by Comparing Newt Gingrich to a Monkey

Image via WikipediaImage by Getty Images via @daylifeImage via WikipediaImage via WikipediaAt briefing for reporters, Chicagoan says of the Georgian: "The higher a monkey climbs on the pole the more you can see his butt."

Time: http://thepage.time.com/2011/12/13/axelrod-sets-sights-on-gingrich/#ixzz1gRlDoqS2

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Glenn Beck's Death Rattle

Pop-populist buffoon Glenn Beck goes out with an ugh.

Supreme Court Freezes Texas Redistricting, Good News for Republicans

Image by jmtimages via Flickr

With a one-paragraph order on Friday night, the U.S. Supreme Court froze the Texas congressional and legislative elections and replaced pre-holiday candidate filings, politicking and fundraising with uncertainty and chaos.
For now, there are no new legislative districts in Texas, no new congressional districts. None of the maps has been declared illegal, but no maps for House, Senate and congressional districts are in effect either. What the Legislature drew earlier this year remains mired in court, awaiting preclearance under the Voting Rights Act from a panel of three federal judges in Washington. Maps drawn by a separate panel of judges in San Antonio — drawn because time was running out and the legislative maps hadn't been approved, or even heard by the D.C. court — were temporarily blocked Friday evening by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Texas Tribune

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Florida: Republican Redistricting Map Makes it Harder for Their Own Rooney Brothers

Tom Rooney via Wikipedia

These guys are receiving some friendly fire. Did the family step on somebody's toes?

They are members of a politically prominent family and incumbents in the party that rules Tallahassee. But both U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, and his brother, state Rep. Pat Rooney Jr., R-West Palm Beach, found their positions weakened in the initial redistricting plans put forward by the Florida legislature.
The maps released this month would shift Tom Rooney's congressional district from a GOP-leaning, heavily agricultural expanse to a more compact district that's split nearly evenly between Republicans and Democrats.
Pat Rooney, elected last year in a state House district where Republicans held an 8-point registration advantage, would see his district transformed to one where initial maps show Democrats enjoying a registration edge of 2 percent to 7 percent.

Palm Beach Post

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Civitas Action Gives Every Cumberland County Democrat Legislator an 'F'

Every Democratic lawmaker who lives in Cumberland County got a letter grade of F. The county delegation's only Republican, N.C. Sen. Wesley Meredith, received an A.
The rankings come from Civitas Action, the political arm of the John W. Pope Civitas Institute in Raleigh.
Civitas Action graded the lawmakers based on dozens of votes on issues of importance to the organization. Here is a sampling:
Reform annexation laws by giving residents more voice and holding government more accountable.
Expand abortion regulations.
Support holding a referendum on a marriage amendment in May.

Fayetteville Observer

Knowing Obama Voters are Lazy & Need Extra Time to Vote, Democrats Fight Early-Voting Limits

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Among states with new restrictions: Wisconsin and Florida, presidential swing states that also are key battlegrounds in the fight for control of the U.S. Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow advantage. In Florida, nearly 3.3 million Democrats cast in-person ballots before Election Day in the 2008 contest that swept President Obama into power. By contrast, 810,666 Florida Republicans participated in the in-person early voting that year, according to the Florida secretary of State's office. Obama won the state by 3 percentage points. Five other states — Ohio, Georgia, Maine, Tennessee and West Virginia— this year approved laws shortening early voting, according to the non-partisan National Conference of State Legislatures. With the exception of West Virginia, Republicans control the governor's offices and legislatures in those states.

USA Today for more...

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Illinois: Joe Walsh Will Run in Less Favorable District to Protect Randy Hultgren

Joe Walsh by Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Conservative firebrand and tea party star Rep. Joe Walsh said Thursday that he will run for re-election next year in a different district so as to avoid a primary fight against a fellow Republican congressman.

Walsh, who was elected to his first term last year in a district north and west of Chicago, said he'll run next year in the newly-drawn 8th District, which is closer to Chicago and covers areas more favorable to Democrats than the one he currently represents. 

Chicago Tribune

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Randy Hultgren by Getty Images via @daylife

Senate 2012: Races to Watch

Linda Lingle via Wikipedia

Connie Mack IV via Wikipedia

Robert Menendez by Getty Images via @daylife

Image via Wikipedia

George Allen via Wikipedia

Democrats now have 53 seats in the 100-member chamber, including two held by independents who usually caucus with them. Almost half of these seats are being contested at the same time as the presidential election on November 6, 2012, with more than 20 defended by Democrats.
Here are some races that could tip the balance.

Reuters

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