November 7, 2012

Sherrod Brown: 'Karl Rove Had A Bad Night'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/sherrod-brown-ohio-senate_n_2088601.html?1352315772

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the unassuming, unabashed progressive who was a top target for Republicans this cycle, faced down $40 million in conservative attack ads -- and won.

"Karl Rove had a bad night," said Brown at a press conference on Wednesday morning, fresh off his victory over State Treasurer Josh Mandel (R).

(snip)
"The significance of this victory last night, yesterday, is that it might make some of my colleagues a little less intimidated by some of this outside money, and it might make the outside money -- as typically sleazy as it is -- a little more reluctant to come into a state," he said.

Brown also said it showed the need for campaign finance reform to "fix these awful kinds of campaign rules." The Democratic senator has been a critic of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates to corporate and anonymous spending from outside groups, and said he would continue to press for reform in the Senate.

November 7, 2012

Reid: No Messing With Social Security. Senate Democrats won't

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Social Security is off limits in upcoming negotiations over how to replace steep automatic tax increases and tax cuts with more targeted deficit reductions.

"We're not going to mess with Social Security," he said.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/reid-no-messing-with-social-security

Senate Democrats won't "mess with Social Security": Reid
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Wednesday reaffirmed his opposition to tinkering with the Social Security retirement program in pushing for a bipartisan deficit-reduction deal.

"We are not going to mess with Social Security," Reid told reporters as he left a post-election news conference that he used to call for cooperation between the two parties in dealing with U.S. fiscal woes.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/senate-democrats-wont-mess-social-174641778.html;_ylt=A2KJ3CagqZpQ_D4ANtHQtDMD

November 7, 2012

Fordham Study: Public Policy Polling Deemed Most Accurate National Pollster In 2012

Fordham University has published a ranking of the most accurate pollsters of the 2012 in terms of national trends, and (both) top spots were held by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, the North Carolina-based firm.

Director of Fordham's Center for Electoral Politics and Democracy, Dr. Costas Panagopoulos, based the study on pre-election polling and compared it against the results from election day.

"For all the ridicule directed towards pre-election polling, the final poll estimates were not far off from the actual nationwide vote shares for the two candidates," said Dr. Panagopoulos said in a statement. Here's the whole list:

1. PPP (D)*

1. Daily Kos/SEIU/PPP*

more at link
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/fordham-study-public-policy-polling-deemed-most-accurate


PPP poll for Daily Kos/SEIU was the most accurate of 2012
by kos
(snip)
Ha ha, look at Gallup way at the bottom, even below Rasmussen. But let's focus on the positive—PPP took top honors with a two-way tie for first place. Both their tracking poll and their weekly poll for Daily Kos/SEIU ended up with the same 50-48 margin. The final result? Obama 51.1-48.9—a 2.2-point margin.

PPP is a robo-pollster that doesn't call cell phones, which was supposedly a cardinal sin—particularly when their numbers weren't looking so hot for Obama post-first debate. But there's a reason we've worked with them the past year—because their track record is the best in the biz.

So thanks to PPP for making us look good, and thanks to SEIU for sponsoring our weekly State of the Nation poll for the past two years. It's been an awesome ride.

One last point—YouGov and Ipsos/Reuters were both internet polls. YouGov has now been pretty good two elections in a row. With cell phones becoming a bigger and bigger issue every year, it seems clear that the internet is the future of polling. I'm glad someone is figuring it out.

But let's be clear, you have to go down to number six on the list to get to someone who called cell phones. And Gallup called 50 percent cell phones and they were a laughingstock this cycle.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/07/1158157/-Most-accurate-national-popular-vote-pollsters

November 7, 2012

Obama Supporters Around The World Celebrate After Election Is Called

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http://www.youtube.com/user/tpmtv

November 7, 2012

Obamas, Bidens Embrace After Learning Of Victory (PHOTO)

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama embrace Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden after learning of their projected victory on election night, in Chicago.

(Photo Credit: White House)


http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obamas-bidens-embrace-after-learning-of-victory-photo

November 7, 2012

Kos: If Romney won't concede, Obama can bring an empty chair out on stage

Markos Moulitsas ?@markos
https://twitter.com/markos

RT @KagroX: If Romney won't concede, Obama can bring an empty chair out on stage with him tonight.