Turns out, McCain's tour will pass a series of landmarks he opposed funding for or even voted against.

Bon voyage, Senator McCain!

Details below:

Though the fate of the Democratic race to the nomination remains uncertain, one thing is for sure: voters are turning out for the Democratic primaries in number that absolutely shatter previous records — which may be a troubling sign for Republicans looking ahead to the general election.

We may not have a nominee yet, but I'll tell you this, when you look at these numbers from the across the country, one thing is for certain: our Democratic nominee will be competitive anywhere.

STATE: MISSOURI
PREVIOUS RECORD: 528,000
VOTES TONIGHT SO FAR: 778,000 (98% reporting)
% CHANGE OVER PREVIOUS RECORD: +47%

STATE: ILLINOIS
PREVIOUS RECORD: 1,504,000
VOTES TONIGHT SO FAR: 1,809,000 (91% reporting)
% CHANGE OVER PREVIOUS RECORD: +20%

STATE: NEW YORK
PREVIOUS RECORD: 1,575,000
VOTES TONIGHT SO FAR: 1,744,000 (99% reporting)
% CHANGE OVER PREVIOUS RECORD: +11%

STATE: NEW JERSEY
PREVIOUS RECORD: 654,000
VOTES TONIGHT SO FAR: 1,104,000 (99% reporting)
% CHANGE OVER PREVIOUS RECORD: +69%

STATE: MASSACHUSETTS
PREVIOUS RECORD: 793,000
VOTES TONIGHT SO FAR: 1,170,000 (98% reporting)
% CHANGE OVER PREVIOUS RECORD: +48%

STATE: ARIZONA
PREVIOUS RECORD: 239,000
VOTES TONIGHT SO FAR: 314,000 (67% reporting)
% CHANGE OVER PREVIOUS RECORD: +31%

Here's a shocker: Gov. Mike Huckabee won his home state of Arkansas.

Gov. Mitt Romney was able to hold on to the state he, apparently, despised for the twenty-plus years he lived, raised his kids and governed there.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain won in Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut.]]> http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/02/more_polls_clos.php http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/02/more_polls_clos.php Blog Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:44:18 -0500 This comes from an editorial with the New Jersey for Hope campaign, who are fighting to advance stem cell research:

21 days from today, New Jersey voters will vote on if the state should spend forty-five million dollars a year for 10 years on stem cell research. The funding would go toward advancing medical treatments and attracting leading scientists and research companies to the state.

The New Jersey for Hope political committee is a group of citizen activists, medical professionals, and elected officials who have come together for the purpose of advocating the passage of the public Stem Cell Ballot Question.

Today we are asking help from all who believe in the promise of stem cell research. Support the campaign in New Jersey by contributing $21 today by visiting our website:

www.njforhope.org.

Voting YES offers the best hope we have today for treating and curing diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Stem cells also hold great promise in addressing spinal cord injuries and birth defects. Scientists are making tremendous progress. We want to do everything we can to support this research.

Please support us today so we can keep moving forward towards groundbreaking treatments and cures. Again, New Jerseyans vote for Hope in just 21 days. Please consider contributing $21 today to our campaign to fund stem cell research by visiting www.njforhope.org

Think of elections that have been lost by a narrow margin-what would we give to have a chance to change that? We don't want to look back on New Jersey , the day after the election, and say, it might have been. We almost got half a billion for research-almost? Not good enough for so many who are depending on the treatments and cures that will come from stem cell research.

There are 21 days until the vote: let us use those days. We can make sure our stem cell research supporters know what is at stake, and rouse the State to turn out and vote, this coming November 6th, and stand up for stem cells!

Also, be sure to read a profoundly moving Op-Ed authored by Carl Riccio, a longtime stem cell research advocate and a hero to New Jersey residents who favor stem cell research, that ran in last Sunday's Bergen Record. In it, Carl makes a compelling argument for Voting YES on November 6th. Read Carl Riccio's Op-Ed Here

If New Jersey wins, everybody wins-- cures have no boundaries.

But first, the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Bond Act must pass

State parties will publish their delegate selection rules and clearly explain how to participate in the summer of 2007.

New Jersey Democratic Party
196 West State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
609-392-3367
609-396-4778 (fax)

District-Level Delegates: 70
At-Large Delegates: 23
Pledged Party Leader & Elected Official (PLEO) Delegates: 14
Unpledged Delegates: 20
TOTAL Number of Delegates: 127

Alternates: 18

TOTAL DELEGATION SIZE: 145

System type: Primary

State convention page: None available.
State plan: Plan Available (PDF)
State filing form: Not available online. Please contact the state party to receive a copy.

** This information is prepared by the DNC's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection and may be subject to change. For more information, please call 202-863-8000.

The question: "Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush's overall job performance?" Of the voters polled, 18% approve, 71% disapprove, and 11% are undecided.

In the final tally, Jeff Grayzel beat Republican Joe Calvanelli by 441 votes. This is the first time since Watergate that a Democrat was elected in Morris Township. After his victory, Grayzel said:

"We've been telling people change is coming, change is coming. Well, change is here."

Among Romney's rapidly shifting positions are:

• Romney refused to sign a "no new tax" pledge while running for governor in 2002 and drastically raised fees and taxes while governor, but signed the pledge last month. [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
  
• Romney once bragged that his views on gun control were "not going to make me the hero of the NRA," but now he’s emphasizing his new pro-gun stances and even misled the voters about whether he himself is a gun-owner. [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
  
• While campaigning in Massachusetts, Romney expressed support for a women's right to choose, but now is emphasizing his newfound "pro-life" positions. [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
  
• Romney once claimed to be "an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush" who was "not trying to return to Reagan-Bush," but now calls President Reagan his "hero" and praises "Ronald Reagan's brand of visionary and courageous leadership." [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
  
• Romney once opposed a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage and pledged to provide "more effective leadership" on establishing "full equality for America's gay and lesbian citizens" than Senator Ted Kennedy. [Boston Globe, 10/17/94] Now Romney supports a constitutional amendment on marriage and tried to allow religious agencies to block adoptions to same-sex households. ["Transcript of Romney Address to Liberty Sunday," EvangelicalsforMitt.com, 10/16/06; Boston Globe, 3/16/06]

"Smooth talking Mitt Romney's campaign to talk his way out of his record knows no bounds," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. "On issue after issue, the right wing Romney we see today has been crisscrossing the country desperately trying to distance himself from the moderate Mitt who ran for office in Massachusetts. Voters will soon realize that smooth talking Romney will say just about anything to anyone to secure this nomination."

Romney Vs. Romney: Conservative Leaders Chose Neither

Tony Perkins, Paul Weyrich, Other Prominent Conservatives Concerned About Romney Letter Arguing For Gay Rights. "Prominent conservatives are upset after reviewing a 1994 letter signed by Mitt Romney when he ran for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts against Sen. Ted Kennedy. In the 1994 letter addressed to the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican group, Romney strongly argued for gay rights. 'We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern,' Romney wrote, adding that he would be more aggressive than Senator Kennedy in pushing for gay rights. . The New York Times reported Saturday that the Family Research Council, among others, expressed disappointment with the contents of the Romney letter. 'This is quite disturbing,' said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. 'This type of information is going to create a lot of problems for Governor Romney. He is going to have a hard time overcoming this.' Paul Weyrich, head of the Free Congress Foundation, tells the Times that Romney may be cornered. 'Unless he comes out with an abject repudiation of this, I think it makes him out to be a hypocrite,' Weyrich said. 'And if he totally repudiates this, you have to ask, on what grounds?'" [www.NewsMax.com, 12/11/06]

Orlando Christian-Right Activist Said Romney Has "10 Year History" Of "Liberal Policies On Our Core Issues. "Romney also has what Orlando Christian-right activist John Stemberger described as "a 10-year history of what I think you could call liberal policies on our core issues, namely same-sex marriage, gay rights, abortion rights." Romney has said for years that he opposes restricting choice on abortion because of the death years ago of a relative from an illegal abortion. His view changed, he says, while he and the Massachusetts Legislature were considering stem-cell research legislation in 2005. A Harvard researcher supporting the legislation expressed what Romney considered callous indifference to the deaths of human embryos during the research. Romney says he came to believe that legal abortion has "cheapened life." That researcher, Douglas Melton, responded that Romney 'mischaracterized my position ... I explained my work to him, told him about my deeply held respect for life.'" [Tampa Tribune, 1/7/07]

Americans For Truth President Called On Romney To Retract The Anti-Brian Camenker Web Posting. "Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera expressed dismay at former Republican Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's public attack against Brian Camenker, the head of Mass Resistance and an American hero in the fight against the radical homosexual agenda.' . 'It's not Camenker who is extreme but Romney's (former) 'gay' Log Cabin Republican friends, who wouldn't even endorse President Bush for re-election in 2004 because he favors a Marriage Protection Amendment,' LaBarbera said. He urged Romney to retract the anti-Camenker web posting and apologize to the pro-family advocate, noting that Camenker has done nothing wrong in 'reminding the American public that Romney has flip-flopped from being a very committed pro-abortion and pro-homosexual-activist politician.'" [Christian Newswire, 1/13/07]

American Spectator: Romney's Doing His Best To Persuade Conservatives, But His "Own Messages Keep Getting Mixed Up." According to the Washington Prowler column in the American Spectator, "After weeks of attacks from social conservatives, former Gov. Mitt Romney and his press agents are doing their best to persuade conservatives that the Man from Massachusetts is one of them. But unfortunately, Romney's own messages keep getting mixed up. For example, within the past week, the Romney campaign attempted to clarify -- if not solidify -- Romney's position on stem cell research. As Romney's bona fides as a dedicated convert to the pro-life positions continue to be called into question, the campaign and surrogates have ratcheted up the volume on messages that Romney really does believe in the sanctity of life in ways he did not a decade ago." [American Spectator, 1/17/07]

American Conservative Union Board Member: Romney Willing To Compromise On Issue That Many Of Us Would Not Compromise On. Citing Romney’s support in 2005 for "obtaining stem cells from fertility clinic embryos because those would probably be discarded anyway and because they were created with the intention of helping couples generate life," a board member of the American Conservative Union is quoted in the American Spectator as saying: "That's the problem some social conservatives have with Romney. He was willing to compromise on an issue that many of us would not compromise on... If you are a Republican and a conservative, you've seen what happens when you support compromisers. I don't care how many people say they know Mitt Romney's heart. President Bush said he knew Putin's and look where that's gotten us.'" [American Spectator, 1/17/07]

"Clearly the GOP's 'Southern Strategy' is alive and well in Maryland. It's appalling that Michael Steele rolled out his own modern day version of the 'Southern Strategy,' designed to deceive African American voters," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "Is this the kind of leadership Steele plans to offer the national party if he were chairman? And when will the GOP stop using trickery to win elections?

"Last Tuesday, despite the efforts of Steele and national Republicans, the American people went to the polls and rejected the Karl Rove politics of hate and division, and overwhelmingly voted for fundamental change. Democrats are offering a new direction for America that protects the right to vote for all, and protects all voters from intimidation and deception at the polls."

Listed below is a small sample of the tactics used by Republicans in recent elections to intimidate voters across America. For more information about the Democratic Party's comprehensive national voter protection program to ensure the American people can vote with confidence in all 50 states visit www.democrats.org/voterprotection:

Republicans Tried to Scare Hispanic Immigrants From Voting. State investigators have linked a Republican campaign to letters sent to thousands of Southern California Hispanics warning them they could go to jail or be deported if they vote next month, a spokesman for the attorney general said. In fact, immigrants who are naturalized U.S. citizens can vote. [USA Today, 10/19/06]

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Vowed to Challenge Voters at the Polls. During an appearance on behalf of the GOP gubernatorial candidate in Virginia in 2005, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman vowed to "do whatever we can to help make sure Jerry Kilgore becomes the next governor of the state" - including, according to the AP "having poll workers on hand to challenge voter eligibility." [AP, 05/26/05]

Convicted Republican Phone Jammer Blamed GOP "Culture" and Was Afraid to Push Back on RNC Official. As he finished serving a prison sentence for "jamming Democratic phone lines in New Hampshire during the 2002 US Senate race," Allen Raymond told the Boston Globe that the "scheme reflects a broader culture in the Republican Party that is focused on dividing voters to win primaries and general elections. He said examples range from some recent efforts to use border-security concerns to foster anger toward immigrants to his own role arranging phone calls designed to polarize primary voters over abortion in a 2002 New Jersey Senate race." The scheme led to "the convictions of Raymond and two top Republican officials, and a Democratic lawsuit that seeks to determine whether the White House played any role." Allen said "he got caught up in an ultra-aggressive atmosphere" and that "he had been reluctant to turn down a prominent official of the RNC, fearing that would cost him future opportunities from an organization that was becoming increasingly ruthless." [Boston Globe, 06/10/2006]

Virginia County Asked to Halt Plan for Armed, Uniformed Police at Polling Places. The ACLU said that the planned police presence is a reminder of when armed government officials were used to prevent minorities from voting and will only intimidate many potential voters, causing them to avoid the polls. [http://www.aclu.org/VotingRights/VotingRights.cfm?ID=16862&c=32, 10/21/04]

RNC Funded Company Trashed Voter Registration Forms: "Voter's Outreach of America" aka "America Votes" is responsible for ripping up democratic voter registrations in Nevada. According to the investigative report, hundreds and perhaps thousands of individuals who think they are registered to vote actually are not. The organization has reportedly left Nevada and gone to Oregon. Full transcript of story attached... Well, the company [Voter's Outreach for America, aka America Votes] has been largely, if not entirely funded by the Republican National Committee. We should also point out that similar complaints have been received in Reno, where the registrar there has asked the FBI to investigate. It's a complicated story and we'll have a lot more tonight and I think in the days ahead." [KLAS Las Vegas Channel 8, 4pm news, Oct. 12, 2004]

Armed, Plain Clothes Police Officers Intimidated Elderly Black Voters In Orlando. Plain clothes police officers, revealing their side arms, made house calls to elderly, black voters who voted in Orlando's mayoral race in March 2003. The voters were in large part campaign workers or volunteers that helped to organize and get out the vote, mainly using absentee ballots, for African- American Mayor Buddy Dyer. Dyer won with just under 51% of the vote. His challenger, Ken Mulvaney and other defeated candidate alleged that Dyer aide, Ezzie Thomas, the 73-year old head of the Orlando League of Voters, filled out multiple absentee ballots on behalf of black voters. These actions came in spite of the fact that in May 2003 the Florida Dept of Law Enforcement had concluded "that there was no basis to support the allegations of election fraud."[Bob Herbert Column, New York Times, 8/16/04, 8/20/04; AP, 7/17/04]

Florida Election Officials Sought To Purge African-Americans From Voter Rolls. Florida Officials Struck Over 2,000 Eligible Voters From Voting Rolls, 62% Were Democrats, More Than Half Were Black. An analysis by the Miami Herald found that the Florida Division of Elections had improperly included 2,119 voters who were on a list of more than 47,000 felons potentially ineligible to vote in the November elections. Florida law requires convicted felons to request clemency in order to regain their right to vote. Of the 2,119 people on the list, 62% were registered Democrats, almost half were Black and less than 20% were Republican. Only sixty-one Hispanics were included on the list of over 47,000 felons though they comprise 11% of the prison population, a politically significant fact for the November elections since Hispanics in Florida vote overwhelmingly Republican while Blacks vote Democrat. [Miami Herald, 7/2/04; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 7/7/04, 7/8/04; New York Times, 7/10/04]

Native Americans Told "To Go Home" In June Primary. Poll workers demanded identification from Native Americans in South Dakota's June primary, and they illegally turned away Native American voters from the polls when they did not have it. The state's elections auditor sent out a memo to state poll workers stating that all voters must have IDs, but did not widely disseminate information that said that voters could sign an affidavit in lieu of showing identification. State Democrats say that the actions by poll workers were an extension of a wider move by the GOP controlled state legislature to suppress Native American turnout. The law requiring voters to show identification was passed last year. One South Dakotan voter turned away from the poll was told by an elections worker that "if she didn't' have a photo ID, she could just turn around and home." [Argus Leader, 6/11/04]

Kentucky Republicans Will Place Vote Challengers In African American Precincts. Kentucky's Jefferson County Republican Party announced that it will place Republican vote challengers in predominantly African American precincts during the November 2004 elections, reiterating their 2003 attempt to suppress voter turnout. In 2003, county Republicans placed challengers at 18 polling places in predominantly black districts. However, even Republicans have taken offense this year, and a dozen Republicans including two African Americans joined together to protest their party's actions. [AP, 7/30/04; Courier-Journal, 8/3/04]

Michigan Republican Lawmaker Says Gop Needs To "Supress" The Detroit Voters. Michigan State Representative, John Pappageorge, told members of the Oakland County Republican party that the GOP would do poorly in this year's elections if it failed to "suppress the Detroit vote." Pappageorge's comments were a thinly veiled mandate to suppress African American voter turnout in a city where 83% of the population is Black and overwhelmingly votes Democratic. [Detroit Free Press, 7/16/04; AP, 7/21/04; Washington Post, 8/26/04]

Missouri - Senate
Claire McCaskill (D) 49%
Jim Talent (R) 49%

New Jersey - Senate
Bob Menendez (D) 51%
Thomas Kean, Jr. (R) 44%

Ohio - Senate
Sherrod Brown (D) 54%
Mike DeWine (R) 43%

Tennessee - Senate
Harold Ford (D) 44%
Bob Corker (R) 52%

Virginia - Senate
Jim Webb (D) 50%
George Allen (R) 46%

*These polls were conducted October 26-29, and have a 3% margin of error.

Federal support for stem cell research, a minimum wage increase, and the enactment of the 9/11 commission recommendations. Three reasons to vote for Democrats. Three reasons to hope for the future. And in these last seven days, three reasons to take action.

This November it will have been 25 years since the RNC scheme was used in New Jersey by Republican operatives who compiled a list of 45,000 voters to challenge at the polls because mail to the address at which they were registered had been returned. RNC poll watchers tried to have those voters removed from the rolls, and Republican operatives employed off-duty county sheriffs and local police to watch polling places in predominantly African-American and Latino precincts where they had posted signs warning minority voters that it was a crime to violate election laws.

In 1986, the RNC tried the same tactic in Louisiana targeting 31,000 voters, and the "consent decree" was subsequently expanded forcing the RNC to obtain prior court approval for all efforts to allegedly combat "voter fraud" other than standard poll watcher activities. The amended "consent decree" remains in effect, and requires the RNC to provide the DNC with 20 days notice prior to going to court to submit "ballot security" programs for approval. Since the November 7th elections are less than 20 days away and the RNC has not notified the DNC of any such initiative, the letter calls on Republican Chairman Mehlman to confirm that no such activities are planned by the "RNC itself, its state or local parties, Republican candidates or allied organizations such as the Republican National Lawyers Association or National Republican Senatorial Committee."

In the letter Dean reminded Mehlman that "as the chairmen of the two major national parties, we have a responsibility to encourage people to participate in the political process and aggressively guard their constitutionally protected right to vote." Dean further urged Mehlman to reply promptly "so that all eligible registered voters can be assured of a fair election and of having the opportunity to vote free from harassment, intimidation or other efforts to deny them the right to cast their vote and have it counted."

Copies of the letter were also presented at a press conference in New Jersey marking the 25th anniversary of the scheme.

Listed below is a small sample of the tactics used by Republicans in recent elections to intimidate voters across America. For more information about the Democratic Party's comprehensive national voter protection program to ensure the American people can vote with confidence in all 50 states visit http://www.democrats.org/voterprotection.

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Vowed to Challenge Voters at the Polls. During an appearance on behalf of the GOP gubernatorial candidate in Virginia in 2005, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman vowed to "do whatever we can to help make sure Jerry Kilgore becomes the next governor of the state" - including, according to the AP "having poll workers on hand to challenge voter eligibility." [AP, 05/26/05]

Convicted Republican Phone Jammer Blamed GOP "Culture" and Was Afraid to Push Back on RNC Official. As he finished serving a prison sentence for "jamming Democratic phone lines in New Hampshire during the 2002 US Senate race," Allen Raymond told the Boston Globe that the "scheme reflects a broader culture in the Republican Party that is focused on dividing voters to win primaries and general elections. He said examples range from some recent efforts to use border-security concerns to foster anger toward immigrants to his own role arranging phone calls designed to polarize primary voters over abortion in a 2002 New Jersey Senate race." The scheme led to "the convictions of Raymond and two top Republican officials, and a Democratic lawsuit that seeks to determine whether the White House played any role." Allen said "he got caught up in an ultra-aggressive atmosphere" and that "he had been reluctant to turn down a prominent official of the RNC, fearing that would cost him future opportunities from an organization that was becoming increasingly ruthless." [Boston Globe, 06/10/2006]

Virginia County Asked to Halt Plan for Armed, Uniformed Police at Polling Places. The ACLU said that the planned police presence is a reminder of when armed government officials were used to prevent minorities from voting and will only intimidate many potential voters, causing them to avoid the polls. [http://www.aclu.org/VotingRights/VotingRights.cfm?ID=16862&c=32, 10/21/04]

RNC Funded Company Trashed Voter Registration Forms: "Voter's Outreach of America" aka "America Votes" is responsible for ripping up democratic voter registrations in Nevada. According to the investigative report, hundreds and perhaps thousands of individuals who think they are registered to vote actually are not. The organization has reportedly left Nevada and gone to Oregon. Full transcript of story attached... Well, the company [Voter's Outreach for America, aka America Votes] has been largely, if not entirely funded by the Republican National Committee. We should also point out that similar complaints have been received in Reno, where the registrar there has asked the FBI to investigate. It's a complicated story and we'll have a lot more tonight and I think in the days ahead." [KLAS Las Vegas Channel 8, 4pm news, Oct. 12, 2004]

Armed, Plain Clothes Police Officers Intimidated Elderly Black Voters In Orlando.
Plain clothes police officers, revealing their side arms, made house calls to elderly, black voters who voted in Orlando's mayoral race in March 2003. The voters were in large part campaign workers or volunteers that helped to organize and get out the vote, mainly using absentee ballots, for African- American Mayor Buddy Dyer. Dyer won with just under 51% of the vote. His challenger, Ken Mulvaney and other defeated candidate alleged that Dyer aide, Ezzie Thomas, the 73-year old head of the Orlando League of Voters, filled out multiple absentee ballots on behalf of black voters. These actions came in spite of the fact that in May 2003 the Florida Dept of Law Enforcement had concluded "that there was no basis to support the allegations of election fraud."[Bob Herbert Column, New York Times, 8/16/04, 8/20/04; AP, 7/17/04]

Florida Election Officials Sought To Purge African-Americans From Voter Rolls.
Florida Officials Struck Over 2,000 Eligible Voters From Voting Rolls, 62% Were Democrats, More Than Half Were Black. An analysis by the Miami Herald found that the Florida Division of Elections had improperly included 2,119 voters who were on a list of more than 47,000 felons potentially ineligible to vote in the November elections. Florida law requires convicted felons to request clemency in order to regain their right to vote. Of the 2,119 people on the list, 62% were registered Democrats, almost half were Black and less than 20% were Republican. Only sixty-one Hispanics were included on the list of over 47,000 felons though they comprise 11% of the prison population, a politically significant fact for the November elections since Hispanics in Florida vote overwhelmingly Republican while Blacks vote Democrat. [Miami Herald, 7/2/04; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 7/7/04, 7/8/04; New York Times, 7/10/04]

Native Americans Told "To Go Home" In June Primary. Poll workers demanded identification from Native Americans in South Dakota's June primary, and they illegally turned away Native American voters from the polls when they did not have it. The state's elections auditor sent out a memo to state poll workers stating that all voters must have IDs, but did not widely disseminate information that said that voters could sign an affidavit in lieu of showing identification. State Democrats say that the actions by poll workers were an extension of a wider move by the GOP controlled state legislature to suppress Native American turnout. The law requiring voters to show identification was passed last year. One South Dakotan voter turned away from the poll was told by an elections worker that "if she didn't' have a photo ID, she could just turn around and home." [Argus Leader, 6/11/04]

Kentucky Republicans Will Place Vote Challengers In African American Precincts.
Kentucky's Jefferson County Republican Party announced that it will place Republican vote challengers in predominantly African American precincts during the November 2004 elections, reiterating their 2003 attempt to suppress voter turnout. In 2003, county Republicans placed challengers at 18 polling places in predominantly black districts. However, even Republicans have taken offense this year, and a dozen Republicans including two African Americans joined together to protest their party's actions. [AP, 7/30/04; Courier-Journal, 8/3/04]

Michigan Republican Lawmaker Says Gop Needs To "Supress" The Detroit Voters.
Michigan State Representative, John Pappageorge, told members of the Oakland County Republican party that the GOP would do poorly in this year's elections if it failed to "suppress the Detroit vote." Pappageorge's comments were a thinly veiled mandate to suppress African American voter turnout in a city where 83% of the population is Black and overwhelmingly votes Democratic. [Detroit Free Press, 7/16/04; AP, 7/21/04; Washington Post, 8/26/04]

Below is a copy of the letter as delivered to the RNC:

October 30, 2006

Honorable Ken Mehlman
Chairman
Republican National Committee
310 First St., S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003

Dear Mr. Chairman:

As the chairmen of the two major national parties, we have a responsibility to encourage people to participate in the political process and aggressively guard their constitutionally protected right to vote. As you know, the modified consent decree in the case of Democratic National Committee v. Republican Committee, C.A. No. 86-3972, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, entered on July 29, 1987, remains in effect. That decree, as you know, resulted from the RNC engaging in so-called "ballot security" programs targeted at challenging minority voters in African American and Hispanic communities.

That consent decree prohibits the RNC from engaging in, assisting in or participating in any "ballot security program," other than "normal poll watch functions," "unless the program (including the method and timing of any challenges resulting from the program) has been determined by this Court to comply with the provisions of the Consent Order and applicable law." Applications by the RNC "for determination of ballot security programs by the Court shall be made following 20 days notice to the DNC which notice shall include a description of the program to be undertaken, the purpose(s) to be served and the reasons why the program complies with the Consent Order and applicable law."

At this point, it is too late for the RNC to comply with the 20 day deadline for notifying the DNC of any intended application to the Court for approval of any ballot security program. We assume, therefore, that the RNC does not intend to apply to the Court for approval of any such program, and that you intend to respect both the letter and the spirit of the law. For that reason, we also assume that the RNC will refrain from engaging in, assisting in or participating in any "ballot security program" carried out by anyone, including the RNC itself, its state or local parties, Republican candidates or allied organizations such as the Republican National Lawyers Association or National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Please confirm to me as soon as possible that our assumption and understanding in regard to the consent decree are correct, so that all eligible registered voters can be assured of a fair election and of having the opportunity to vote free from harassment, intimidation or other efforts to deny them the right to cast their vote and have it counted.

Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter and I look forward to hearing from you promptly.

Sincerely yours,

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
National Chair

US In Iraq Nearly As Long As World War II; "Gap" Exists Between Bush's "Rhetoric And Reality." "The president's conviction is obvious. But whether it's supported by facts - and whether there's a real path to victory as he defines it - is dubious. There continues to be a yawning gap between his rhetoric and reality. 'Absolutely we're winning,' Bush said. But only 19% of Americans in last weekend's USA TODAY/Gallup Poll agree. And just 14% of Iraqis surveyed recently say the U.S. impact on their country is mostly positive. ...Whatever happens next, the Iraq mess won't be resolved by new slogans, speeches, news conferences or Power Point presentations. After 3 years, nearly the same length as U.S. involvement in World War II, the only meaningful progress in Iraq is clear and convincing success on the ground." [USA Today, 10/26/06]

New Jersey Star Ledger: "Getting the Job Done" Is The New "Stay the Course". "President Bush yesterday tried to assuage Americans' concerns about the war in Iraq but instead delivered a confused message that was far from encouraging. 'I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation there,' he said, acknowledging the mounting painful losses. Ninety-three Americans have been killed in Iraq this month. It's difficult to understand why he would then say, 'We're winning and we will win unless we leave before the job is done.' ...When 'the job is done' sounds very much like 'stay the course,' a phrase that the White House has banished because, as press spokesman Tony Snow said Monday, it leaves the wrong impression. Now the catchphrase is 'getting the job done.'" [New Jersey Star-Ledger, 10/26/06]

In the Face of Midterm Election, Bush Administration Changes Iraq Rhetoric. "A democratic Iraq that can defend itself without Americans continuing to sacrifice their own lives in its behalf certainly must be the goal, whether or not it amounts to 'staying the course.' That term, which Bush has used so often as a signal of his determination, not surprisingly was disavowed by the White House this week in the face of the American public's growing disenchantment with the war amid the run-up to next month's congressional elections." [(Raleigh, NC) News & Observer, 10/26/06]

Bush Fails To Reassess Strategy In Iraq But Says That He's "Not Satisfied" And That "We Are Winning." "'I'm not satisfied either,' Bush said. That was a welcome concession. But Bush still gave no firm indication of how he intends to change U.S. strategy to confront Iraq's sectarian violence and prevent the eruption of an all-out civil war. More worrisome was this statement: 'We are winning and we will win, unless we leave before the job is done.' It defies reality to say we're winning. And for Bush to say victory will come unless U.S. troops leave prematurely is absurdly optimistic, unless he can back this prediction with a serious and convincing reassessment of strategy." [Newsday, 10/26/06]]]> http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/10/editorial_board.php http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/10/editorial_board.php Iraq Fri, 27 Oct 2006 13:50:39 -0500 From Bluejersey.com:

The NJ Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in the marriage equality case, finding that New Jersey's State Constitution requires equal rights for all - but, left it to the legislature to decide what to call it.

The ruling on the case, Lewis v. Harris, amends the state's marriage law to either include same sex couples, or to create a similar legal category for gay couples.