RandySF
RandySF's JournalAny word of today's AL/MS primaries?
It aure is quiet out there compared to the past two weeks.
Maine Republican: Health plans shouldn’t be required to cover pap smears.
We reported last weekthat Rep. Lance Harvell (R-Farmington) suggested that health insurance plans should not be required to cover pap smears.
"Why should my 20-year-old son have to get a mandate for insurance that would require him to have a pap smear?
Why would someone without children, need insurance for autistic children?
Why should the youth of this state, whose median age is now over 46 and not in very good health, be required to continually fund what they have not been responsible with the only thing that God has given them perhaps: good health. This is really what this is about."
http://www.thestateofmaine.org/audio-rep-says-health-plans-shouldnt-be-required-to-cover-pap-smears/
How empty is Marco Rubio's suit?
Rubio has even hired investigators to look into his own background, since he knows Democrats are doing the same. His political action committee paid a firm more than $40,000 to conduct opposition research on Rubio, and it’s preparing to spend thousands more to dig into family stories, financial documents and real estate records — anything that could pop up in a political “oppo” file.
The effort to hard wire Rubio’s version of his life story into the public psyche is remarkable for a freshman senator, more on the scale of a presidential candidate. Some in his operation say the staffing and money spent are comparable to Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s efforts when they arrived in the Senate with big names and even bigger ambition.
Several Rubio aides and advisers declined to speak on the record for this story, but given the unusual level of scrutiny facing their boss, they say he’s been left with little choice.
“We spent a day and a half explaining what church he went to when he was 8,” lamented one top adviser. “We are getting a proctological exam on a daily basis.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73908.html#ixzz1oxJBfOOX
Nicolle Wallace: Game Change Film 'True Enough To Make Me Squirm'
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, the Palin campaign didn't like it. How true to life?
WALLACE: Well, true enough to make me squirm. But, you know, look, this isn't a movie about campaign staff, and this isn't even really a movie about McCain and Palin. This is a movie about the vast gray area in which 99 percent of our politics actually takes place. And I think that what gets boiled down or sometimes the fights or the instant analysis or the black and white, who's up and who's down.
But the truth is -- and I think everyone around this table has had some experience in their political careers -- where you're just feeling your way through a very gray area and you're doing your best. And this campaign was certainly one of those instances for me.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/nicolle-wallace-game-change-film-true-enough-to?ref=fpb
Berkeley police chief sends sergeant to reporter's home to request story changes
Minutes after reading a late-night news story online about him that he perceived to be inaccurate, Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan ordered a sergeant to a reporter's home insisting on changes, a move First Amendment experts said reeked of intimidation and attempted censorship.
Meehans's actions were "despicable, totally despicable," said Jim Ewert, general counsel of the California Newspaper Publisher's Association. "It's the most intimidating type of (censorship) possible because the person trying to exercise it carries a gun."
Bay Area News Group reporter Doug Oakley said he was shaken by the 12:45 a.m. Friday knock on the door of his Berkeley home. He said at first he and his wife thought something was drastically wrong or perhaps that a relative had died.
Meehan apologized Friday.
"I would say it was an overzealous attempt to make sure that accurate information is put out," Meehan said. "I could have done better." Meehan said he didn't think Oakley would be upset or intimidated because the police sergeant, Mary Kusmiss, regularly deals with the media.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20143269/berkeley-police-chiefs-decision-send-sergeant-reporters-home
Poll: Romney slightly ahead of Santorum in Illinois.
Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney's campaign has long considered Illinois to be in its win column, but a new Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows the candidate has some work to do to make that a reality.
The survey found Romney slightly ahead of Rick Santorum, 35 percent to 31 percent — within the poll's 4-percentage-point margin of error. Trailing far behind were Newt Gingrich with 12 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul with 7 percent. Another 16 percent were undecided.
There's room for movement ahead of Illinois' March 20 primary, however. Fully 46 percent of voters said they could still change their minds before the election.
The survey of 600 confirmed registered voters likely to vote in the Illinois Republican primary was conducted Wednesday through Friday, prior to Santorum winning Kansas' GOP caucuses.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-poll-20120311,0,1617767.story
Uncommitted wins in U.S. Virgin Islands. Romney comes in third.
384 total cast
112 to Paul (29%) Won one delegate
101 to Romney (26%) Won three delegates plus three RNC member pledge. (Pick up a uncommitted delegate after the balloting for a total of seven.)
23 to Santorm (6%) No delegates
18 to Gingrich (5%) No delegates
130 Uncommitted (34%) Two delegates but one changed to Romney after the vote totals were announced
If you count the votes, Uncommitted came in first. Paul came in second, and Romney came in the. (An earlier version of this post has Paul winning and Uncommitted second).
http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com/diary/5207/romney-did-not-win-usvi-ron-paul-did-romney-was-3rd
A reminder to those who deny the accuracy of Game Change.
On the Saturday night before the election, John McCain went on Saturday Night Live, threw Sarah Palin under the bus and took part in an opening skit that mocked her.
Romney Used Private Email Accounts As Governor
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and some of his top aides used private email accounts to conduct state business at times when Romney was governor of Massachusetts, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The communications were legal, even though Romney's own administration warned state agencies against the practice due to cyber security concerns. The state archives in Massachusetts — which learned about Romney's emails from the AP — now says the private emails should have invoked rules about preserving copies of state records.
Private email accounts used by public officials to perform their public jobs are effectively off limits to review by citizens, watchdog groups, political opponents and news organizations because they're often used secretly. Free accounts from commercial providers also are more vulnerable to hackers who exploit easy-to-use features to reset email passwords.
Romney's use of a free Microsoft Hotmail account and a private email address linked to his 2008 presidential campaign was revealed in documents the AP obtained under the Massachusetts Public Records Law. The Romney files, which span four months in mid-2006, represent the first substantive emails written by him to surface since he left public office in 2007. When the AP examined dozens of boxes of archived materials last summer in Boston from Romney's former administration, it found no emails or memos written by or to Romney himself.
Some of the emails obtained by AP describe Romney's internal deliberations on his health care policy and the state's 2006 budget crisis: "I hate appearing as if I am just playing national politics," Romney wrote in November 2006 during sensitive negotiations on state budget cuts, when he was preparing his 2008 presidential campaign. Romney chose to use his full name as his Hotmail username.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=148313319&ft=1&f=
Scott Walker Establishes A Separate Legal Defense Fund
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), who is facing a recall election likely to occur in June, released this statement Friday through his campaign committee, on the ongoing investigation of former aides during his time as Milwaukee County Executive:
“For nearly two years, Milwaukee County officials have been examining issues related to former employees of the County. I have repeatedly pledged my cooperation with that inquiry. I also made it clear that no public money has been used, or will be used, to pay for the attorneys needed to review documents and assist me in cooperating. To fulfill my commitment, I have today formed a legal fund to pay for the expenses incurred in cooperating with the inquiry. The fund will operate in accordance with the Wisconsin law authorizing these accounts, which was passed almost thirty years ago.”
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/scott-walker-establishes-separate-legal-defense-fund
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