On Donald Trump

And on Richard Mourdock

or if you have the time,

In considering which candidate to endorse, The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board had hoped that Romney would exhibit the same talents for organization, pragmatic problem solving and inspired leadership that he displayed here more than a decade ago. Instead, we have watched him morph into a friend of the far right, then tack toward the center with breathtaking aplomb. Through a pair of presidential debates, Romney's domestic agenda remains bereft of detail and worthy of mistrust.

Therefore, our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.

Rivera can seek a hearing to dispute further the charges or enter into a settlement. And, the ethics commission found no probable cause of a voting conflict--- due to a five-year statute of limitations.

The Miami Herald has also reported that Rivera  ran a puppet candidate in the Democratic primary against Democratic challenger , Joe Garcia.  The candidate, Justin Sternad, a hotel worker told the FBI that Rivera was secretly behind the race,  giving $43,000 in cash to Sternad.  One witness in the case who describes herself as a "Republican Political Guru and Conservative Bad Girl" disappeared hours before she was scheduled to talk to prosecutors.  This bad girl has not yet surfaced.

Sad on R-74, because up until the last two weeks the polls had all been moving steadily in the direction of approval. Now the anti-gay zealots from everywhere else are pouring last-ditch million$ into the state, and it seems to be having an effect. Never doubt the power of fear.

As for the governor's race, I cannot abide the thought of living in a Rob Mckenna-run WA. Women will have less access to birth control (yes, this is vintage McKenna: say you believe in the right of women to have birth control, but then promote policies that will deny them access to it), corporations will continue to enjoy all their unnecesary state tax breaks, and kids and the poor will see their health care safety net disappear. On top of that, the charter schools initiative may actually pull out a win, which means this state will be lost for a long time. It's going to be very, very, bad.

As for the intiatives and referenda, those can't even be considered Dem or Rep issues anymore. Lots of Reps have come out in favor of R-74, R-502 (legalizing marijuana) and some former Dem public school proponents and very serious money is now backing 1240 (charter schools). You already know this, Donald, but while WA may be a Dem blue state when it comes to certain candidates, it's also heavily independent and libertarian, and continual passage of Tim Eyman's stupid and unconstitutional anti-tax initiatives proves that. It's not longer a Cascade curtain divide. This year is looking very different from other years. Add to that the big corporate money from Bill Gates and Steve Balmer (not real liberals) backing charter schools, more outside money pouring in, and more general disaffection and distaste for the same old-same old Dems (which is why McKenna may win a governor's seat that has not gone GOP since the early 1980's).

"We do not need the UN interfereing with Texas.Maybe it is time to succeed."

Hmm. Alrighty then.

I think the Romney campaign's guarantee of victory has mattered much less than the Obama campaign's recent aura of defeat.

Losing campaigns have a certain feel to them: They go negative hard, try out new messaging very late in the game, hype issues that only their core supporters are focused on, and try to turn non-gaffes and minor slip-ups by their opponents into massive, election-turning scandals. ... ever since the first debate cost Obama his air of inevitability, he and his surrogates have sounded more like McCain did with Joe the Plumber than like a typical incumbent president on his way to re-election. A winning presidential campaign would not normally be hyping non-issues like Big Bird and "binders full of women" in its quest for a closing argument, or rolling out a new spin on its second-term agenda with just two weeks left in the race, or pushing so many advertising chips into dishonest attacks on its rival's position on abortion. A winning presidential campaign would typically be talking about the issues that voters cite as most important -- jobs, the economy, the deficit -- rather than trying to bring up Planned Parenthood and PBS at every opportunity. A winning presidential campaign would not typically have coined the term "Romnesia," let alone worked it into their candidate's speeches.

Especially disturbing is a lot of this is coming not from surrogates but from the President himself.

The argument is this is base-energizing activity.  Maybe.  But that's not how it plays to a mainstream audience.

We have all played sports.  We know what a losing team looks like.

The Huffpo electoral college map shows Obama with a lead of 277 to Romney's 191.

It would seem that the information provided depends on who you ask and to whom you rely upon as sources.

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Twenty-five people were indicted today in New York on charges related to a $50 million sports-gambling ring. This marks the culmination of an 18-month long joint investigation by the NYPD, FBI, Queens District Attorney's Office, and Nevada Gaming Control Board.