Missouri

The Potential For A Massive Hillary Clinton Landslide Of Historic Proportions In 2016!

The Republican Party is managing, by its rhetoric, including most recently, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, to insult women about their libidos, and that only helps the Democratic Party and its likely Presidential nominee in 2016, Hillary Clinton.

Between the issue of women, and also alienation of African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, gays and lesbians, labor, environmentalists, the struggling middle class, the poor, those who believe in science’s validity over religious dogma, and those who have an open mind on social issues, the GOP is continuing to promote its own suicide, and the potential is there for a massive Hillary Clinton landslide of historic proportions, particularly for a Democrat!

The assumption is that Hillary Clinton can count on the 26 states and the District of Columbia which voted for Barack Obama in 2012.

Additionally, the potential for Indiana and North Carolina, which voted for Obama in 2008 but then turned “Red””, to go back to the Democrats, is seen as highly likely.

Then, the states of South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas in the South, along with Arizona and Montana in the West, and Missouri in the Midwest, (usually a bellwether state but not so in 2008 and 2012) to go Democratic in 2016, particularly with the growing Hispanic and Latino population, is seen as possible, or if not in 2020 for sure.

That would make 34 states, and then there is the issue of five other states which went for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, but then turned “Red”, so the question is could the wife of Bill Clinton, because of the Clinton brand 20-25 years ago, by 2016, be able to convince those five states (West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana) to switch over to the Democrats, with those states also having growing numbers of Hispanics and Latinos? After all, Arkansas is the Clintons’ “home” state, and Tennessee was Vice President Al Gore”s “home” state, while the other three states, all extremely poor and deprived, were Democratic in the 1990s!

So the maximum number of states could be 39, plus the District of Columbia, leaving only eleven states which were solidly Republican in the 1990s, and have remained “Red” ever since—Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska.

So were those eleven states to vote predictably, which is extremely likely, the GOP nominee for President would have ONLY 55 electoral votes, meaning Hillary Clinton would have won a grand total of 483 electoral votes! Imagine an election of 483-55 for the Democratic Party, which would certainly make for a Democratic dominance in the Senate and a majority in the House of Representatives, as well, as such an electoral vote landslide would insure a “coattail” effect!

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill Endorses Hillary Clinton For President, Even Though Hillary Has Not Announced!

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill has startled many observers by coming out today for Hillary Clinton for President, the earliest endorsement of a Presidential candidate, long before she even announces her intentions for the White House!

Interestingly, six years ago, McCaskill was one of the first public figures to come out for Barack Obama for President, angering Bill and Hillary Clinton.

McCaskill, herself fortunate to have retained her seat, due to a moronic Republican opponent, Todd Akin, is a moderate Democrat, and despite the fact that her state did not back Barack Obama in either 2008 (although close) and 2012 (by a big margin), Missouri did back Bill Clinton twice, and this could be a step toward insuring that Hillary Clinton, if she runs, could count on Missouri, further insuring a massive victory in the Electoral College over any Republican Presidential nominee in 2016!

Twenty Women In The United States Senate In The 113th Congress: All Time High!

The 113th Congress will have TWENTY women, the highest number in American history!

The 112th Congress had seventeen women, 12 Democrats and 5 Republicans.

The 113th Congress will have 16 Democrats and 4 Republicans, with Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, both Republicans, retiring!

Five new women will join the Senate—Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts,.Tammy Baldwin of WIsconsin, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Deb Fischer of Nebraska, with Fischer being the lone Republican. Fifteen women Senators will remain, including three Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The twelve returning Democratic women include: Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Diane Feinstein of California, Barbara Boxer of California, Parry Murray of Washington, and Maria Cantwell of Washington.

Also, three states have both Senators being women—New Hampshire, California, and Washington!

And to top it off, New Hampshire not only has two women Senators, but also both House members are women, and the new Governor is a woman, the first state to have an all female representation in Congress and the Governorship!

How far America has come as we enter the year 2013!

Missouri Loses Its Bellwether Status In Presidential Elections

The state of Missouri has long been seen as a bellwether state, as it had correctly voted for the winner of the Presidency in every election in the 20th century, except 1956, when it voted for Adlai Stevenson over Dwight D. Eisenhower by a small margin of a few thousand votes.

The Missouri tradition of voting for the winner continued in 2000 and 2004, but again, in 2008, by a few thousand votes, Missouri voted for John McCain over Barack Obama.

So only twice did the Presidential winner lose Missouri since 1900, but now it has happened a third time, and this time not only a few thousand votes separate Mitt Romney from Barack Obama.

So the margin is 260,000 votes, a massive lead for Romney, making Missouri clearly lose its status as a bellwether state, at least for the time being!

Tea Party Nasty, Mean Spirited Conservatism Lost Big: The Republican Party MUST Change Or Be Replaced!

The Tea Party Movement of 2010 has lost BIG in 2012, and the nasty, mean spirited conservatism it represents must be overcome by the Republican Party, which MUST change or be replaced!

Congressman Allen West of Florida, Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois, Senate nominee Todd Akin of Missouri, and Senate nominee Richard Mourdock of Indiana headline those who lost.

Never again can the Republican Party try to dictate to women about their reproductive lives; never can the GOP attack Hispanics and Latinos in a nasty, mean spirited way and expect to gain their support; never can the party of 2012 allow itself to let religious extremists to control its destiny and dictate religious doctrine to the nation at large; never can they promote foreign wars and aggression as the neoconservatives did under George W. Bush; never can they promote lack of concern for the middle class and the poor, as Mitt Romney made clear in his “47 percent” speech; never can they allow themselves to become the captive of billionaires such as Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers; never can they allow Donald Trump and other jerks like him to take control of their public message: never can they allow racists and talk show hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh, and other extremists and hate mongers to dictate to them—and in many other ways, they must liberate themselves from their demons, or become part of the dustbin of history!

They must become more like the Conservative Party of Great Britain, which is far to the left of the present Republican Party, but still to the right of the Labour Party of Great Britain!

It is up to them, and purging and house cleaning must begin in earnest!

Final Projection On Presidential Race: Obama-Biden 332 Electoral Votes, Romney-Ryan 206 Electoral Votes

This author has spent a lot of time and effort in studying, analyzing, evaluating the Presidential Election contest of 2012, and is now ready to project the final result.

Barack Obama has been long predicted to win at least 237 electoral votes to Mitt Romney’s 191 electoral votes, with nine states in play as “swing” or “battleground” states, all of which Obama won in 2008.

The prediction that the author wishes to make is that Obama will win ALL of the nine competitive states, except North Carolina, giving him 332 electoral votes to Romney’s 206 electoral votes!

So Obama will win New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Colorado, with a total of 95 electoral votes, added to the 237, making the final total of 332 electoral votes.

Romney, by winning the 15 electoral votes of North Carolina, will go from 191 to 206 in the final total of electoral votes.

It also means that Obama will have won every state he won in 2008, except Indiana and North Carolina, and a total of 26 states and the District of Columbia. Romney will win 24 states.

Also, expect that the popular vote will be close in North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Arizona, Georgia, and Montana, with Romney winning, but with hints that Democrats will have a grand opportunity to win those states in 2016 and beyond, with the growing Hispanic-Latino vote. The first hint will be the likely victories for the Senate of Democrats Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Claire McCaskill in Missouri, Jon Tester in Montana, and Richard Carmona in Arizona.

Additionally, Obama should win about 52 percent of the vote to 47 percent of the vote for Romney, with Gary Johnson and other third party candidates winning slightly more than one percent of the total vote.

This means Obama will have won by a slightly smaller percentage of the popular vote and fewer electoral votes, but with the factor of reapportionment of seats due to the Census of 2010 changing downward many of the Frost Belt states which support Barack Obama, plus the loss of North Carolina and Indiana from 2008.

Still, overall, a very impressive performance can be expected!

Comments on this projection of the results are welcome!

Urgent To Defeat “Tea Party” Republicans Running For Senate—Akin, Mourdock, Fischer

There are three “Tea Party” type Republicans running for Senate seats in the Midwest, who are facing tough fights by Democratic opponents, and the hope is that all three of these irresponsible Republican nominees are defeated.

The three are:

Congressman Todd Akin, challenging incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri.

State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, challenging Congressman Joe Donnelly in Indiana.

State Senator Deb Fischer, challenging former Senator Bob Kerrey in Nebraska.

Akin, Mourdock, and Fischer represent extremism that would create more conflict and confrontation in the US Senate. And Akin and Mourdock have made outrageous statements about rape, angering any decent person who cares about women’s rights.

McCaskill has been a courageous Senator, and Kerrey was once a Presidential candidate twenty years ago, who now has been endorsed by his former Republican Senate colleague, Chuck Hagel, a true example of crossing the aisle. Both Kerrey and Hagel were outstanding US senators, and once could wish that both were still in the Senate, but now there is an opportunity to return Kerrey to the Senate.

Donnelly is a responsible moderate Democratic Congressman, who would be a great improvement over Mourdock although neither would fully replace retiring Republican Senator Richard Lugar, defeated by Mourdock in the Indiana Senatorial primary this past spring.

These are certainly key Senatorial races to watch on Tuesday night!

What Is It With Republicans And Women’s Rights?

The Republican Party of 2012 is absolutely crazy and loony when it comes to the rights of women.

Just look at Richard Mourdock of Indiana and Todd Akin of Missouri, both running for the Senate, and sounding like coming from past centuries, and medieval religious ideas And see how Mitt Romney endorses and supports them, showing no guts to defend women’s rights. But then again, remember he is a Mormon, a religion which promotes inferiority of women, so why should he have an open mind?

Republicans want to deny women equal pay at work.

Republicans want to deny women the right to contraceptives being covered on employer health plans.

Republicans want to deny women the right to control their own reproductive lives, and have the nerve and gall to justify rape as ordained by God, and force women to have babies born out of violence.

Republicans want to deny women the right to decide they do not wish to have a baby caused by incest of a sibling or parent or other relative.

Republicans want to deny women the right to their own life, if the life of the baby can be saved.

Republicans want to deny women the respect that allows them to decide their own futures, and instead allow religious zealots, whether Catholic, evangelical Christian, Orthodox Jews, or Muslims, to dictate to them, and treat them as second class citizens who must obey their husbands and fathers, and have no free will.

Republicans want to deny women the right to an education and professional or business career, preferring they go back to the image of women in the 1950s—obedient, barefoot and pregnant too many times, and good housewives and cooks who remind men how wonderful they are as the head of the household. They want the era of Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, and Leave It To Beaver!

Well, intelligent women are NOT going to tolerate such abuse any longer, and it is time for even “religious” women to realize they are being controlled and dominated by the men in their lives, and make it clear that they will NOT be dictated to about their work or educational lives, their sex lives, and their reproductive lives!

The days of obedience and submission of women to men is over, and the Republican Party needs to be taught a punishing lesson this November, that their attempt to go back in time, and show lack of respect and equality for women, will be punished severely by elimination from our political system.

Also, there is a need for churches and synagogues and mosques to forget “tradition”, and recognize we are in the 21st century in the most advanced nation on earth, and modernization and change are not an option, but rather essential and pronto!

We are not a backward nation of the “third world”, and it is time for women to be treated with dignity and respect!

There are a total of FIFTEEN Republican Senate candidates wishing to deny rape victims the right of abortion, and all of them need to be soundly defeated!

The Ultimate “Firewall” For Barack Obama: The Midwest

This author has commented before about the fact that the Midwest, an area of declining electoral votes and representation in Congress, because of the rapid migration from the “Frost Belt” to the “Sun Belt”, remains an area that has had a dramatic effect on American politics and Presidential elections.

Ohio and Missouri have been the ultimately accurate states to predict elections, with Missouri only voting with the loser twice—1956 and 2008—and Ohio, also only twice with the loser—1944 and 1960—since 1900.

And now, with Obama clearly winning Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, and seemingly ahead in Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin, the President could afford to lose the three Southern states he won in 2008—Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina—and still win the Electoral College.

With 237 electoral votes in Obama’s camp, and only needing 33 more, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin would give him 34, raising his total to 271, exactly what George W. Bush won in 2008, against Al Gore, who won the national popular vote by more than 500,000 votes.

With some observers seeing a popular vote surge to Mitt Romney, we could be witnessing a scenario of the same situation as in 2000- –the winner of the electoral vote NOT winning the popular vote, which would make it the fifth time in history, and the second time in 12 years, that such a situation occurred.

The difference is that this time the Democrat will have benefited, while the last time, the Republican benefited.

In a way, if that happened, it would be “justice” for Al Gore supporters and Democrats!

However, it would also lead to growing demands to change the Constitution and get rid of the Electoral College, with the reality being that the likelihood of such a change is near zero!

The Shame And Embarrassment Of Missouri: What Has Happened To The “Show Me” State?

Missouri is smack in the middle of the United States, and is the ultimate swing state, having successfully gone with the winner of the Presidency in every election since 1900, except for 1956 (picking Adlai Stevenson over Dwight D. Eisenhower) and 2008 (picking John McCain over Barack Obama).

However, both times the final result was not known for days, and the victory was only by about 4,000 votes statewide.

Missouri is also the state historically of the following statesmen:

President Harry Truman (1945-1953), who had served in the Senate from 1935-1945 (Democrat)
Senator Thomas Hart Benton (1821-1851) (Democrat)
Senator Carl Schurz (1869-1875) (Republican)
Senator Stuart Symington (1953-1977) (Democrat)
Senator John Danforth (1977-1995) (Republican)
Senator Thomas Eagleton (1969-1987) (Democrat)

But now, Missouri is represented by Senator Roy Blunt, who used to be one of the top Republicans in the House of Representatives, and has become connected to the Blunt Amendment proposal, allowing any employer to prevent medical services based on religious grounds to any employee, a measure defeated by the Democratic majority in the US Senate. This is seen as anti women, interfering with their right to have birth control as part of medical plans.

And now, Congressman Todd Akin, controversial for his comment about “legitimate” rape, but refusing to withdraw as the GOP nominee for the Senate seat of Senator Claire McCaskill, is putting Missouri into the strange position of possibly having both Senators on record as against the rights of women to control their own reproductive lives, and trying to prevent abortion if a victim of rape or incest, or her life itself is threatened, an extremely right wing position.

The Republican Party and Mitt Romney had backed away from support of Akin, but now that he is remaining in the race for the Senate, the question is whether the Republican Party will change its mind and end up supporting Akin’s candidacy financially.

This McCaskill-Akin race could well be the decisive one that determines whether the Democrats keep control of the US Senate, or if the Republicans gain control.

It would seem that McCaskill should win, not only because of the controversy raised by Akin, but because she has done a good job in her one term in the Senate.

But Missouri is an odd state, with strong evangelical roots, and it would be a major shame and embarrassment for the state were they to end up having two right wing Senators at the same time.

The state would lose all respect of political observers who see moderation as the way to get things done in the Senate, and it would be a major step backwards for women’s rights!

So everyone should contribute to this pivotal race, as the key one which could determine the political future in so many ways!

And it is up to Missouri voters to show they are indeed the “Show Me” state, and will not tolerate having an extreme right winger in the Senate, joining Senator Roy Blunt!