Commissioned by the GOP leaning firm, HighGround Public Affairs Consultants:

If the election for President was held today for whom would you vote?

46%     Mitt Romney, Republican
42%     Barack Obama, Democrat
3%       Gary Johnson, Libertarian
1%       Jill Stein, Green
2%       None
7%       Don’t know/refused

 

If the election for U.S. Senate was held today for whom would you vote?

43%     Jeff Flake, Republican
40%     Richard Carmona, Democrat
4%       Marc Victor, Libertarian
1%       None
11%     Don’t know/refused

Demographics: Age

11%     18-25
15%     26-35
14%     36-45
18%     46-55
16%     56-61
25%     62+
1%       NA

Demographics: Party Registration

41%     Republican
35%     Democrat
24%     Independent/Other

I haven’t checked demographics age data, but 25% 62+ seems awfully high. But the party registration is easy to check. From the AZ Secretary of State, the registration roll from August 2012 has it:

35.97% Republican
31.88% Democrat
31.23% Independent

Their demographics over samples Republicans by 5%, under samples Independents by 7%, and slightly over samples Democrats. Obama is likely almost tied with Romney and Carmona is likely leading Flake – he is very popular with Independents.

If you’re not registered to vote, register - because we’ve got a real election on our hands here in Arizona. If you’re not on the Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL), request it, so that you can vote from the convenience of your home. Most importantly, VOTE!

The Vietnam War was one of the most troubling, challenging times for America. It was America’s most unpopular war, and it sharply divided our country. Some proudly enlisted and volunteered for duty. Some had to be drafted, but served their country and did their duty. Many protested against the war. And some even immigrated to Canada to avoid the draft. But as diverse their views and opinions were they shared one thing in common: they formed their opinions and then followed their convictions. But there was one who didn’t: Willard Mitt Romney.

That’s Mitt on the right in May 1966, at Standford University. Some students had organized a sit-in demonstration protesting the war, the draft, and university President Sterling’s support for the war. So Mitt joined a counter demonstration supporting the war in Vietnam and the draft. He thought those anti-war protestors should just shut up and prepare to be drafted and deployed. When he was running for President in 2007 he claimed in an interview with NBC that he wanted to serve and fight in Vietnam:

“I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there, and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam”.

But when he was running for the Senate in 1994, he told the Boston Herald something a little different:

“It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft“.

As Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott wrote long ago: “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”. Because once you start lying it quickly gets difficult keeping things straight. Yes, Mitt, you did take actions to remove yourself from being eligible for the draft. Four times. You got your first deferment in 1965, a student deferment while at Stanford. And then you took a religious deferment from 1966 through 1969, when you did your Mormon Mission in Paris. Where you dreamed longingly of Ann, while lounging at the beach.

While those you told to shut up and go to Vietnam were also on the beach, but under somewhat different conditions:

Anti-war demonstrator, draft dodger, draft server or volunteer, they all the courage to follow their convictions. While Mitt Romney said one thing and did another. Just like he did when he cares about all Americans, but then in a private fundraiser shows his disdain for 47% he says it’s not his job to care about. And Romney’s actions avoiding the Vietnam war  explains why it never occurred to him to honor and thank our men and women in uniform when he accepted his party’s nomination to be Commander in Chief. Let Vietnam War veteran, Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb explain it to you:

During the year I was in Vietnam, 1969, our country lost twice as many dead as we have lost in Iraq and Afghanistan combined over the past 10 years of war. Not a day goes by when I do not think about the young Marines I was privileged to lead. Those young Marines that I led have grown older now. They’ve lived lives of courage, both in combat and after their return, where many of them were derided by their own peers for having served. That was a long time ago. They are not bitter. They know what they did. But in receiving veterans’ benefits, they are not takers. They were givers, in the ultimate sense of that word. There is a saying among war veterans:  “All gave some, some gave all.”  This is not a culture of dependency. It is a part of a long tradition that gave this country its freedom and independence. They paid, some with their lives, some through wounds and disabilities, some through their emotional scars, some through the lost opportunities and delayed entry into civilian careers which had already begun for many of their peers who did not serve.

And not only did they pay. They will not say this, so I will say it for them. They are owed, if nothing else, at least a mention, some word of thanks and respect, when a presidential candidate who is their generational peer makes a speech accepting his party’s nomination to be commander-in-chief.  And they are owed much more than that — a guarantee that we will never betray the commitment that we made to them and to their loved ones.

All gave some, some gave all. And one did neither.

Invasion of the Zombies on their way to the voting booth? Mitt Romney campaign political director Rich Beeson dismissed yesterday dismissed recent polls showing every single battleground state slipping away from Mitt Romney.

“The public polls are what they are. I feel confident about where we are. At the end of the day, Ohio is going to come down to the wire.”

Come down to the wire? The latest swing state polls from Quinnipiac University, CBS News and the New York Times show Obama holding leads of 10 points in Ohio, 9 points in Florida and 12 points in Pennsylvania.  In all three states, 51 percent of voters prefer Obama over Romney to preside over the national economy — a policy area over which the president has seized the upper-hand in the last month. About 60 percent of voters in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania say Obama understands and cares about their problems, while similarly large majorities say Romney does not.Obama’s consistent advantage among women voters has spanned virtually the entire campaign, but the gender gap has swollen considerably in the three states. The president holds commanding leads among women voters in Ohio (25 points), Florida (19 points) and Pennsylvania (21 points).

Mitt Romney campaign political director Rich Beeson  claimed the competitiveness of the race in states like Wisconsin and Iowa suggest a close national contest. “This is a wide open race” he claimed.

Meanwhile, back in the land of reality, last week’s NBC/Marist poll has the President leading Romney 50-42% in Iowa. The same poll has Obama leading Romney 50-45% in Wisconsin; PPP has it 52-45%. Does Mr. Beeson see dead people planning on coming back from the grave and into a voting booth? Or is their internal polling done by the same make believe NFL referees that gave Seattle a winning touchdown over Green Bay? Langer Research Associates poll for ABC News & Washington Post 9/19-23:

Overall, do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of the way Barack Obama is running his presidential campaign?
Favorable: 53
Unfavorable: 45

…the way Mitt Romney is running his presidential campaign?
Favorable: 36
Unfavorable: 61

  …Romney’s recent comments about people who don’t pay income taxes?
Favorable: 33
Unfavorable: 54

Yes, election day is still 6 weeks away and anything can happen. Well, sorta. Except for that little thing called early voting. Early voting kicks off tomorrow in  Iowa, and with more swing states following close behind, including Ohio next Tuesday, George Mason University professor Michael McDonald, who researches early voting behavior, forecasts that 35% of the vote will be cast before Election Day. That’s nationwide; in many states it’s much higher. In the swing state of Colorado, 78% of all votes in 2008 were cast prior to election day; this year it;’s predicted to be 85%. Here in Arizona, where we start getting early mail-in ballots 2 weeks from tomorrow, it’s predicted over 65% of all ballots will be cast prior to election day.

So, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Republicans are getting desperate. In the Massachusetts Senate race, GOP darling Scott Brown decided to make his closing argument challenging Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s claim of Native American ancestry because  . . . she looks white to him. At a campaign rally yesterday Warren supporters were taunted with Indian war whoops and tomahawk chops. Among those doing the taunting were Brown’s deputy Chief of Staff Greg Casey and Constituent Service Counsel Jack Richard. Those guys’ salaries are paid by taxpayers, and they belittle Native Americans? Scott Brown, you deserve to loose. And Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin? After he made those remarks Republican Party leaders demanded his resignation, calling his remarks “disgraceful”. Yesterday those same party leaders were saying “Todd Akin is a principled conservative who is committed to winning and fighting for freedom in the U.S. Senate”. Why the sudden about face? Yesterday was the absolute deadline for Akin to drop out of the race and have his name removed from the ballot, and their fading hopes of gaining control of the Senate is more important to them than principle. No rape is legitimate, and no, women who are rape victims have no magic defense from getting pregnant. Mr. Akin, you deserve to lose.  And here in Arizona, Democratic Senate candidate Richard Carmona released a new ad pointing out a series of votes Jeff Flake cast on veterans’ issues, including cuts to services and his opposition to a bonus for Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. Jeff Flake, you deserve to lose.

The Mecklenburg County VA Republican Party’s Facebook page:

Nice. You guys all deserve to lose. Big time.

It was quite a sight as the space shuttle Endeavour soared gracefully in the sky above southern Arizona and Old Pueblo. Thousands stopped what they were doing to gather together and watch it pass overhead.

Including Gabby and Mark.

It was quite sight out here in Cochise County as well.

I was at the unofficial “community center” for the Cochise-Sunsites-Pearce area, our county trash and recycling station on Birch Road. I call it a “community center” because I always run into a neighbor or old friend and stop to talk to him or her, or sometimes it’s just a complete stranger that I find something in common we can chat about. Folks are pretty friendly out here in rural communities. I was chatting with a sweet little old lady, helping her unload her bags of old magazines into the recycling bin when  another fellow shouted “Hey! Look at that!” We turned to see the space shuttle atop the 747 gliding gracefully across the sky to the north. “I wonder why it’s so low?” the lady wondered out loud, “I hope it’s not in trouble”. I wondered too, it wasn’t more than 10,000 feet above the ground. And then it dawned on me “That’s the Endeavour” I explained, “the one that Gabby’s husband Mark piloted on it’s last flight. I bet it’s doing a low flyover over Tucson in a tribute to Gabby & Mark”. The lady nodded in agreement.

But it was also a bittersweet day for us out here Cochise County. That’s what I had been chatting about with the lady – the sudden loss of our Cochise County Sheriff, Larry Dever.

Sheriff Dever died this past Tuesday evening when he lost control of his pickup on a dirt road in northern Arizona, he was on a hunting trip with his family. Sheriff Dever’s death is a sad loss for all of us here in Cochise County, he was a very good man. First elected in 1996, he’d been sheriff so long it’s hard to imagine anyone else being sheriff. He was a Republican, and I voted for him. Yeah, he often ran unopposed, as he was this election. He was that well liked, he was that well respected. You see, Sheriff Dever did worry about that 47%, and didn’t think of them as “victims”. Sheriff Dever thought it was his duty to protect 100% of Cochise County residents from ever being a victim. Rest In Peace, Sheriff Dever.

And have a great weekend, Tucson Citizens. And give it to those Ducks, Go Wildcats!

.

I grew up watching Gilligan’s Island on TV and loved the show. Gilligan and the Skipper, the Professor and the bombshell Ginger – they all made me laugh. But it was Thurston Howell the Third and his wife “Lovey” that made me laugh the most. They would make my Republican father and Democrat mom share a laugh over their complete lack of understanding of the lives of “common folks”. Like the episode where Gilligan and the Skipper build a small raft to try to get off the island and get help, and Mr. Howell demands he and Lovey go with them. “Mr. Howell, You don’t know what it’s like out there in the ocean, you may be bitten by a shark!” the Skipper tells him. “A shark bite a Howell, ha ha he wouldn’t dare!” Mr. Howell retorts. “Besides we don’t have room enough for your luggage” the Skipper adds. Mr. Howell responds: “Well that’s different. If I can’t go first class I won’t go at all!”

I also enjoy David Brooks, columnist for the New York Times. I look forward to the Shields and Brooks segment every Friday on the PBS Newshour, where Mr. Books squares off with the liberal columnist Mark Shields. David Brooks is a conservative, but a Northeastern conservative – articulate, thoughtful, knowledgeable and not afraid to be bluntly critical when a Republican goes to far off in the right wing la la land. Northeastern conservatives are fiscal conservatives, but socially moderate and reasonable.  Here in Arizona conservatives call people like that “bleeding heart libruls” or, more affectionately, “libtards”. Mr. Brooks wrote an opinion article the other day entitled Thurston Howell Romney, in which he was bluntly critical of comments that Mitt Romney made last May at a $50,000 a plate fundraiser – comments that he thought would never leave the room.

These are not the sensible arguments that Mitt Romney made at a fund-raiser earlier this year. Romney, who criticizes President Obama for dividing the nation, divided the nation into two groups: the makers and the moochers. Forty-seven percent of the country, he said, are people “who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it”.

This comment suggests a few things. First, it suggests that he really doesn’t know much about the country he inhabits. Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare?

It suggests that Romney doesn’t know much about the culture of America. Yes, the entitlement state has expanded, but America remains one of the hardest-working nations on earth. Americans work longer hours than just about anyone else. Americans believe in work more than almost any other people. Ninety-two percent say that hard work is the key to success, according to a 2009 Pew Research Survey.

Ninety-two percent of Americans believe that hard work is the key to success. But what about the other 8%? I’m inclined to believe many of them think the key to success is to just be smarter that the other guy. To sell investors mortgage backed securities that you assure them are solid, safe investments – while buying derivatives that will make you a pile of money when those mortgages go belly up. To buy companies, load them up with debt and milk their cash reserves dry with “management fees” so that you and your investors make millions in profits as the company goes bankrupt, lays off all it’s workers and closes up. To make sure your income is classified as “capital gains” and taxed at only 15%, instead of income from wages & salaries like “commoners” and taxed at a much higher rate, with Social Security and Medicare taxes to boot. And if that’s still too much taxes to your liking, you hide your money in the Cayman Islands and Swiss bank accounts. As the wealthy hotel magnet Leona Helmsley once told her hired help: “Only little people pay taxes“. She was later convicted and jailed for income tax evasion.

You see, that’s the real contradiction here – Romney and his fellow Republicans condemn the 47% who don’t pay federal income taxes as “leeches and moochers”, feeding off the “Culture of Dependency”. Never mind that those 47% pay plenty in other taxes – sales taxes, utility excise taxes, gasoline taxes, property taxes either directly or though rent that their landlord uses to pay property taxes.  How dare they not pay income taxes, they have no skin in the game! But at the same time they think it’s their duty to use every quirk and loophole in the tax code, to use every trick in the book – to not pay income taxes!. Offshore tax havens? That’s our right and our duty to avoid the clutches of the evil big government! Carry forward losses recorded when times are bad, like 2008, to shield your income from taxes when times our good? That’s our God given right! They’ve made figuring out ways to avoid paying taxes on their loot into a competitive sport. But if someone doesn’t pay incomes taxes because they’re living on Social Security and retirement savings that don’t add up enough to meet the federal income tax threshold? Freeloader! Bottom feeder on the ‘Culture of Dependency’! They live by the Golden Rule: He who has the gold rules.

That’s the hypocrisy of the well off, those who pay $50,000 a plate to listen to a guy who is promising them yet another tax cut – so they won’t have to work so hard to avoid them. As Thurston Howell the Third said: “It is rather difficult being rich. If it wasn’t for the money, I’d rather be poor“.

Then there’s the hypocrisy of politicians like Paul Ryan. He was out on the campaign trail yesterday echoing that ‘Culture of Dependency’ meme. Well, at least he knows what he’s talking about. When his father died when he was only 16, Ryan collected Social Security Survival Benefits until he was 18. He saved them and used the money to pay for part of his college tuition. He paid the rest of it with student loans – federally guaranteed, federally subsidized low interest student loans. And then he’s been on the federal government payroll pretty much since he graduated from college. He knows it’s no ‘Culture of Dependency’, it’s the role of government ensuring that everyone gets a fair chance to work hard, get ahead, and succeed. Paul Ryan just thinks it politically advantageous to repeat the false claim of ‘Culture of Dependency’ to play to the conservative party base who have been told that enough times they believe it. Paul Ryan is a hypocrite, but he’s no dummy – he also probably knows that is was Ronald Reagan’s Tax Reform Act of 1986 and George W Bush’s 2001 & 2003 tax cuts that wiped out the income-tax liability for many Americans. GW Bush sold his tax cuts in part by saying it would remove over 8 million people from the tax roll with his new 10% tax rate and doubling the child tax credit from $500 to $1,000. It was also part of the Welfare reforms in the 1990s – income tax credits for the working poor to be the working poor, not welfare queen poor. But welfare poor or working poor they’re still poor and the people Romney was speaking to at that fundraiser still consider them “the help” and look down on them. So Mitt pitched to his audience, belittling those who don’t pay income taxes as “moochers” and “freeloaders”.

Republicans a quick to accuse Democrats of “class warfare” and “class envy”, resentful of the wealthy. Not at all – I’m loving that well to do person who paid $50,000 for lunch so they could take their video camera into Mitt’s fundraiser to record what he said when he thought only rich folk like him would hear what he really thinks. And I’m loving that the very well to do Mitt Romney is running the most inept campaign challenging an incumbent President since George McGovern in 1972.

I try to not post more than one article every couple of days, to give the many other great bloggers here a chance, and also to not tilt the terrific community aspect of Tucson Citizen too much into politics – I’m certain that many, if not most, TC readers will be quite happy when this election is over and all the noise is behind us.  But a number of videos of Mitt Romney speaking to the wealthy at private fundraisers surfaced today, and I think it’s important to point out who the real Mitt Romney is.

The first is Mitt joking to a wealthy, entirely white audience that his father, who was born in Mexico, was “unfortunately” not born to Mexican parents because if he were Latino he’d have a “better chance” of winning:

“My heritage, my dad as you probably know was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico, and, uh, had he been born of, uh, Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot at winning this. [Rich donors cracking up]

But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. And, uh, uh, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be, uh … Latino.”

Yeah Mitt, how unlucky you are your Dad was born to white, American parents in Mexico. Arizona and Texas, and some counties in California  are the only jurisdictions outside the old Confederacy to fall under the preclearance requirement of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act because of their long history of discrimination against Latinos in registering to vote and and voting. Latino Americans had to work long and hard to overcome prejudice and take their rightful place in our society. And Mitt Romney thinks it’s cleaver to joke about being born Latino when he’s clearly insincere. I’m old enough to remember a sign at a gas station in northern Florida that said “Notice: We do not serve n**gers, cubans, porto ricans [sic] or mexicans”.

And then here’s Mitt Romney telling more rich donors that 47% of Americans will vote for Obama because they’re leeches on the government dole and pay no income taxes:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax. My job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Romney’s statement was centered on the myth perpetuated by the Wall Street Journal that 47 percent of all Americans don’t pay federal taxes. But that number only applies to the federal income tax. Two-thirds of those people still pay federal Social Security and Medicare taxes. And all of them pay state & local sales taxes, utility excise taxes, and many more. And just because they don’t earn enough to pay federal income taxes doesn’t mean they’re all on food stamps, medicaid, or Section 8 housing. And the one-third that don’t pay any federal incomes taxes or Social Security or Medicare? They’re almost entirely retirees living on Social Security. And they earned that by paying plenty of income, Social Security and Medicare taxes before they retired. But Mitt doesn’t think it’s “his job” to worry about them. I have two words for Mitt Romney: one starts with an ‘f’ and ends in ‘k’, and the other word is ‘you’. But I can’t use those words in polite company. So I’ll just say what a pathetic, out of touch, elitist snob. As Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said:

It’s shocking that a candidate for President of the United States would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the American people  view themselves as ‘victims,’ entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take ‘personal responsibility’ for their lives.  It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.

The new U.S. Senate that convenes in early January will likely be very narrowly divided, with independent thinking, moderate Senators in the driver’s seat. Above are two of them – Angus King of Maine and Richard Carmona of Arizona. And after the miserable failure of the current Do Nothing Congress, there will be no shortage of challenges facing the next Congress. Undoing that jobs destroying “Sequestration” budget cuts of over $100 Billion imposed on us by the current Congress, which many economists say that if they go into effect as scheduled next year will push us over the “fiscal cliff” and back into recession. The Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year. The Democrats say keep the tax cuts for the middle class and let the tax rates for those earning over $250k per year revert back to what they were under President Clinton, when the economy was just fine; actually, really fine. The Republicans say it’s all or nothing, if they don’t get the tax cuts for the wealthy, then everyone suffers. What we need is independent, centrist Senators to break this gridlock and get each side to meet them in the middle. Like Senator Angus King and Senator Richard Carmona. Why do I think they can succeed? Let me explain what I think will happen on Nov. 6:

President Obama and Vice-President Biden will be reelected. Mitt Romney has run a miserable candidacy, and has nothing but the tired old Republican meme that more tax cuts for the wealthy will magically kick start the economy. Sound familiar? It should – that’s how George W Bush sold his tax cuts back in 2001 & 2003. It’s never worked before, it didn’t work then, and won’t work now.As the old saying goes, it ain’t over until the fat lady sings – but she’s about to start warming up. Respected pollster statistician Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com rates Obama’s reelection chances at 75%. Bettors at Intrade.com have Obama’s reelection at 66.5%, Romney chances at 33.3%.

It pains me to write this, but the gavel of the Speaker of the House will remain in John Boehner’s hands. At least he will have less of a majority and hopefully he’ll be more inclined to pass legislation that can pass with moderate Republican and Democratic support instead of only legislation he can sell to his teapublicans on the far right. Real Clear Politics (RCP) currently rates the House as 229 Republicans, 183 Democrats, and 23 tossups. My prediction is for 235 Republicans and 200 Democrats, a net gain of around 9 for the Democrats (there are currently3 vacancies, 2 Dem and 1 GOP ).

It’s the U.S. Senate where is gets interesting. Currently there are 51 Democrats, 47 Republicans, and 2 Independents, both of whom caucus with the Democrats. One of them is retiring, Joe Liberman. RCP currently rates the Senate races as 48 Democrats, 46 Republican, and 6 tossups. But for my scoring, I’m taking 2 seats they rate as “leans Republican” back and including them in tossups – Arizona and Nevada -  for a total of 8 tossups.

• 4 Republican Seats: AZ, IN, MA & NV. I think Democrat Elizabeth Warren will win in MA, Dems +1, 3 Tossups
• 4 Democratic Seats: CT, MT, ND & VA.  I think Democrats will hold CT & MT No change, 2 tossups

So, let’s say Republicans hold IN & NV but Carmona wins here in Arizona, and Republicans win in ND & VA. That would give us a Senate evenly divided 50-50. With VP Biden presiding over the Senate, his tie-breaking vote gives the majority to the Democrats. Except for one little detail: RCP is counting Independent Angus King as a Democrat, and he has steadfastly refused to say which side he would caucus with. And he appears to be truly independent. He was elected twice as Governor of Maine as an Independent, defeating Republican and Democrat opponents. He endorsed GW Bush in 2000, but John Kerry in 2004. He endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and again this year – but with the caveat “considering the alternative”. He appears to relish the role of Kingmaker, no pun intended, and will no doubt make Harry Reid or Mitch McConnell earn his vote for Majority Leader, and on every other vote. And I have no doubt longtime Independent Richard Carmona will be right at his side. Perhaps not on who should be Majority Leader since he is running on the Democratic nomination, but certainly on the many vital issues the new Senate will face. And they could convince other centrists to join them in a Centrist Coalition in the center to get Republicans and Democrats to compromise and tackle the problems and issues facing us. On the Republican side, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who lost the GOP nomination in 2010 and won reelection with the votes of Democrats & Independents. Fellow Maine Senator Susan Collins. On the Democratic side, Jon Testor of Montana, who like many Montanans has an independent, centrist streak. New Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Mark Begich of Alaska, Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Just 6-8 independent, centrist thinking Senators could tip the balance for legislation they support. Meaningful compromise to tackle the deficit through careful, targeted spending reductions coupled with increased revenue. Letting the tax rates revert back to pre-2001 rates for those best positioned in this economy – those earning over a quarter million a year. Ending welfare – corporate welfare – by ending the billions in subsidies for big oil and other industries who don’t need taxpayers to subsidize them.

Jeff Flake has already been in Washington for a dozen years. He’s towed the line for Republicans without compromise, voting for both Bush tax cuts, voting for the Iraq war, voting to increase the debt limit under George W Bush with no pre-conditions, while joining with other Republicans to impose the stupid “sequestration” spending cuts for the debt limit to be increased under Obama. We have a clear choice in Arizona: send a partisan, Washington insider to the Senate to continue the partisan gridlock in Washington. Or, send a new, Independent voice to the Senate to work with fellow independent centrists to break the gridlock and tackle the vital issues that will face the next U.S. Senate.

As most of you have heard or read, U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and 3 other U.S. diplomats were killed yesterday in Benghazi, Libya. A mob of extreme Islamic jihadists had earlier attacked the U.S. Consulate  in Benghazi, overrunning it and setting ablaze. Ambassador  Stevens and 3 other diplomats died in the attack.  According to the Libya Herald, citing local witnesses, those who attacked the US mission included members of the hardline Islamist group Ansar Al-Sharia. It reported that Libya security forces tried to defend the embassy building but withdrew under heavy fire. Since the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, Libya’s transitional government has struggled to rebuild an effective police force, control the weapons that have flooded the streets and restore public security. Local Islamist militant groups capitalizing on the security vacuum have claimed responsibility for some attacks, and some reports on Tuesday suggested that one such group, Ansar al-Sharia, had claimed responsibility for that day’s assault.

The assault followed a protest in neighboring Egypt where demonstrates scaled the walls of the US embassy, tore down the US flag, and burned it. What is fueling this anger among extreme Islamist zealots? An attack on their religion and Prophet Mohammed by Christian and Jewish zealots.  The mobs were set off by Egyptian media reports about a 14-minute trailer for the video, called “Innocence of Muslims,” that was posted on Youtube. The trailer uses cartoon like scenes to depict the Prophet Muhammad as a child of uncertain parentage, a buffoon, a womanizer, a homosexual, a child molester and a greedy, bloodthirsty thug. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, the violence against U.S. diplomats in Libya is an “attack that should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world”.But someone sure knows how to get extreme Islamist riled up.

The trailer was uploaded to YouTube by Sam Bacile, whom The Wall Street Journal Web site identified as a 52-year old Israeli-American real estate developer in California. He told the Web site he had raised $5 million from 100 Jewish donors to make the film. “Islam is a cancer” Mr. Bacile was quoted as saying.

The video gained international attention when a Florida pastor began promoting it along with his own proclamation of Sept. 11 as “International Judge Muhammad Day.” In a statement on Tuesday, the pastor, Terry Jones of Gainesville, Fla., called the film “an American production, not designed to attack Muslims but to show the destructive ideology of Islam” and said it “further reveals in a satirical fashion the life of Muhammad”.

“Not designed to attack Muslims”??? It is against their religion to even depict Mohammed in an image. And I wonder how Pastor Jones would feel if someone depicted his beloved Jesus as a child of uncertain parentage, an idiot, a homosexual preying on children, and a bloodthirsty thug? You may remember Pastor Jones for his “Burn a Koran Day” crusade on September 11 2010:

He ultimately backed down after pressure, and after it was pointed out to him that Islamist mobs rioting in outrage would endanger the lives of American men and women in uniform in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. With folks like Pastor Jones spreading the word of the Lord, Satan doesn’t need any help. I can understand one’s calling to spread the word of their religion, but the need to insult and tear down someone else’s religion totally escapes me. I’ve been an Agnostic Buddhist for a long time now. But when I was a child my parents had me go to Methodist church and Bible School and I sure don’t remember any of that hate and contempt for other religions from the teachings of Jesus. And I lived and worked in Morocco and Egypt for several years when I worked in hotel management, and I don’t remember any of that violence and killing in the teachings of Mohammed as explained to me by my Muslim friends. What happened in Egypt and Libya should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world. Well said, Secretary Clinton. And in the name of sanity, can we all just stop with attacking other people’s religious beliefs and just be content in our own religious beliefs, or lack thereof?

And once again Mitt Romney demonstrated how woefully unprepared and inadequate he is to assume the role of Commander in Chief. He used the tragedy to launch a personal attack on President Obama, suspending his self-imposed break from politics on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 by releasing the following statement late last night:

“I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi, It’s disgraceful that the Obama Administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks”.

Um, jumping the gun there a bit, Mitt? President Obama and/or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hadn’t even released a statement yet, as they will still confirming the reports from Libya. What Romney is referring to is a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo which condemned the anti-Muslim film and the posting of the trailer online.  But that statement was released by the embassy before it was even attacked by the mob, and long before the attacks in Libya. Yet this morning Romney repeated the lie, saying the Cairo Embassy’s statement was “in my view a disgraceful statement on the part of our administration to apologize for American values”. American values???? No, Willard, vilifying someone eles’e religion is NOT an “American value”. Debasing deviling their Prophet as a  child molester of questionable parentage is NOT and “American value”.  Look at how downright smirking Romney is as he leaves his press conference:

And notice how grim the expressions are on the reporters’ faces? This is how you look Presidential in light of a tragedy:

President Obama said that his administration would work with the Libyan government to bring those who killed four Americans in Benghazi on Tuesday to justice, in a statement delivered at the White House Wednesday morning.

“Make no mistake, justice will be done”.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the violence against U.S. diplomats in Libya an “attack that should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world.”

We aren’t alone in feeling Mitt Romney has just made an ass of himself:

Mark Halperin, Time Magazine:

“Unless the Romney campaign has gamed this crisis out in some manner completely invisible to the Gang of 500, his doubling down on criticism of the President for the statement coming out of Cairo is likely to be seen as one of the most craven and ill-advised tactical moves in this entire campaign”.

Politico:

“Over the top: Yesterday we noted that Mitt Romney, down in the polls after the convention, was throwing the kitchen sink at President Obama. Little did we know the kitchen sink would include — on the anniversary of 9/11 — one of the most over-the-top and (it turns out) incorrect attacks of the general election campaign”.

Tweet from the National Journal:

“A ham-handed and inaccurate response from Romney. There is a reason why politix stops at water’s edge.”

Peggy Noonan on Fox News:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Pudj64El23s

“Trying to exploit things for political gain . . . Mitt Romney hasn’t been doing himself any favors the past few hours”.

The final day of the Democratic National Convention began with wonderful lady from Old Pueblo leading the convention into reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. It brought the house down, and tears of joy to more than a few set of eyes. Mine included. Because there’s no quit in Gabby Giffords.

Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth addressed the convention. She introduced herself as the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran, whose family has worn our nation’s uniform since the American Revolution. She’s also the daughter of a Thai-Chinese mother, an immigrant who joyfully obtained her American citizenship in her fifties. Her husband is an Army officer. Tammy herself was an Army officer, an assault helicopter pilot, working her way up to command a Blackhawk helicopter company. In 2003, her Illinois National Guard unit was mobilized, and she became one of the first Army women to fly combat missions in Iraq. Almost a year into my tour she was wounded. Let her tell you in her own words:

On November 12th, 2004, I was co-piloting my Blackhawk north of Baghdad when we started taking enemy fire. A rocket-propelled grenade hit our helicopter, exploding in my lap, ripping off one leg, crushing the other and tearing my right arm apart. But I kept trying to fly until I passed out. In that moment, my survival and the survival of my entire crew depended on all of us pulling together. And even though they were wounded themselves and insurgents were nearby, they refused to leave a fallen comrade behind. Their heroism is why I’m alive today.

There’s no quit in Tammy Duckworth.

John B. Nathman, retired United States Navy Admiral who served as the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command until May 2007 then gave a rousing speech detailing what the Obama Administration has done for our veterans and men and women in uniform:

And since the day he took office, President Obama has demonstrated that he respects and understands the challenges for those who wear a uniform. For every veteran who comes home wounded, the president invested in the VA and expanded care to more than a half million returning troops who deserve that care. For every family waiting at home, anxious every time the phone rings, the president, the first lady, and Dr. Jill Biden are engaging whole communities to support those families. And for every man and woman coming back to an uncertain future, the president strives to help veterans apply their talents, expand their skills and get good jobs. Last year, he challenged American businesses to hire 100,000 veterans and military spouses. He and the first lady got businesses across the private sector to sign on, supported by tax credits for hiring our veterans and wounded warriors. Last month, these same participating businesses reported that they’ve exceeded the goal by 25 percent— ahead of schedule—and now they’re committing to bring on a quarter million more new veteran jobs. And it’s not just about finding jobs today; it’s about giving these men and women the chance to learn the skills for the jobs of tomorrow. That’s why I’m proud that the president is offering veterans the best education benefits since the original GI Bill. This education is something that can and will change their lives, and it guarantees American progress, vitality and growth.

At the end of his speech, veterans from all across the nation joined him on the stage, and the delegates thanked them for their service.

There’s no quit in our veterans and brave men and women in uniform.

And what did Mitt Romney and the Republican Convention have to say about our veterans, our men and women in uniform who serve this country, or about his plan for bringing them home from Afghanistan?

That’s right – absolutely nothing. Not a single word.

And there’s no quit in President Obama.

I recognize that times have changed since I first spoke to this convention. The times have changed –- and so have I. I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs. America, I never said this journey would be easy, and I won’t promise that now. Yes, our path is harder — but it leads to a better place. Yes our road is longer — but we travel it together. We don’t turn back.

If you turn away now — if you buy into the cynicism that the change we fought for isn’t possible — well, change will not happen. If you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, then other voices will fill the void: lobbyists and special interests; the people with the $10 million checks who are trying to buy this election and those who are making it harder for you to vote; Washington politicians who want to decide who you can marry, or control health care choices that women should be making for themselves.

Only you can make sure that doesn’t happen. Only you have the power to move us forward.

When asked about Osama bin Laden, Mitt Romney said it wasn’t worth moving heaven and earth just to catch one person. Well Mitt, you don’t have to worry about that. Because President Obama trusted his instincts, trusted our Intelligence capability, and because he trusted the ability of our brave Navy SEAL Special Operation Forces, Osama bin Laden is no longer on this earth.  He’s lying at the bottom of the ocean.

Gabby Giffords, Tammy Duckworth, a tribute to our veterans and brave men and women in uniform. And my Conservative/Republican blogger colleague here at Tucson Citizen, Fort Buckley, yesterday called it “the second trimester of Abortionpalooza”. Well, there’s been a lot of name calling in this campaign, too much. When a courageous young woman named Sandra Fluke stood up for her right to have her healthcare choices dictated by her decisions and that of her doctor – not by the decisions of her employer – Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut”. Well, we’ve been telling you that this election represents the starkest choice in a generation. This election represents the starkest contrast in choosing the direction of the country since the 1964 election between LBJ and Barry Goldwater. Do we repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Act and go back a wheeling & dealing Wall Street and banks charging you $45 for a $1 overdraft? Do we repeal the Affordable Care Act and go back to denials of coverage because of preexisting conditions, annual and lifetime caps on what insurance companies will pay when you need to actually use your health insurance? Do we turn our back on the nearly 50 year history of Medicare and turn it into “Vouchercare” and leave our seniors to the mercy of private, for profit insurance companies who would have no incentive to insure and protect them? Do we go back to more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, in hopes trickle down economics might finally work? Or do we move forward under the leadership of President Obama and protect and strengthen our middle class? Choose carefully, chose wisely.

No, there’s no quit in America. We have our ups and downs, but we always get right back up, dust ourselves off, stand tall, and continue to move forward. No one should ever make the mistake of betting against America. Just ask Osama bin Laden.

It was a simple line in the Democratic National Convention Keynote address by San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. But for me it really defines the difference between Mitt Romney and the Democratic Party. Mr. Castro was referring to remarks Romney made at a university in Ohio, urging students to “start a business”. “But how?”, one student asked. “Borrow money from your parents if you have to“, Romney told them. That’s when Julian said, shaking his head and smiling broadly said “Gee, why didn’t I think of that?“. Smiling, because he and his twin brother Joaquin were raised by their grandmother and mother, who had no money to loan him. “My grandmother never owned a house,” Julian explained. “She cleaned other people’s houses so she could afford to rent her own. But she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone“. Shaking his head because Willard M. Romney doesn’t get that.  A son of privilege, Romney went to private schools and never had to worry about excelling and outperforming his classmates so he could get a scholarship enabling him to attend Stanford like Julian and Joaquin did. Romney’s dad paid his tuition. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that – George Romney earned his money and can spend it anyway he wants. And, as most parents do, he no doubt wanted to help his son in any way he could so that he could be successful and have a better life than he did. As Julian explained: “Some people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents, but that shouldn’t determine whether you can pursue your dreams. Not in America. Not in the 21st century“. His mother and grandmother wanted Julian and his brother to be successful and have a better life then them, the same as George Romney wanted for his children. What they had to give was this:

“When I think about the challenges in front us, I think about the importance of teachers who can inspire you, the individual difference that they can make in the classroom, the beauty and the strength of a parent who loves his or her child, and is committed enough to stay involved in their education, and make a difference in it.  And the importance of a child who has aspirations — they see the stars and they want to reach them.”

The product of a middle class family, I didn’t have it nearly as tough as Julian and his brother, but I can relate to their story. My father was one of 7 brothers and sisters orphaned in the midst of the Great Depression. He never got to pursue his dream of a college education, but took correspondence schooling and night classes and was able to work his way up to a position as a mechanical design engineer in the aerospace industry. As a parent his new dream was that each of his three children would have what he couldn’t have – a college education. He put my brother and sister through college, and both are very successful. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I graduated from high school and decided to work for a while. When I finally figured out what I wanted, it was something my father couldn’t give me. I wanted a degree in Hotel Management, and I wanted a degree from the premier school for that – the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. My father said he would try to help, and a I politely told him no, he wouldn’t – I would do it. I wasn’t the most stellar student in high school, so first I went to Community College for a year and got straight A’s. I worked as a waiter in a restaurant to pay for it. Then I applied to Cornell, and was granted a very generous scholarship. That coupled with student loans and Pell Grants enabled me to earn my Bachelor’s Degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University. But, I didn’t “build that”. The generosity of Cornell alumni who went before me, contributing to the scholarship endowment fund helped me build that. The United States Government, through grants and low interest student loans helped me build that. The drive and determination to succeed that was instilled in me by my father and mother helped me build that. We all “built” my Bachelor’s Degree, together.

What defines us as Democrats? I think Julian Castro said it best last night:

“We know that in our free market economy some will prosper more than others. What we don’t accept is the idea that some folks won’t even get a chance. We all understand that freedom isn’t free. What Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan don’t understand is that neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it.”

Gee, Mitt – why didn’t you think of that?