Daily Presidential Update
Tracking polls via Real Clear Politics:
Swing State Polls from the Last 2 Days:
Friday, Nov. 2:
New Hampshire (New England College) – Obama 50, Romney 44
Iowa (Gravis) – Obama 49, Romney 45
Thursday, Nov. 1:
Colorado (CNN) – Obama 50, Romney 48
Colorado (Rasmussen) – Romney 50, Obama 47
New Hampshire (MBC/Marist/WSJ) – Obama 49, Romney 47
Iowa (Rasmussen) – Obama 48, Romney 47
Iowa (NBC/Marist/WSJ) – Obama 50, Romney 44
Nevada (LVRJ/SurveyUSA) – Obama 50, Romney 46
Wisconsin (Rasmussen) – Obama 49, Romney 49
WAFF: Nonunion Ala. crews turned away from Sandy recovery
Alabama Politics
WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL
The hurricane-ravaged east coast has been receiving north Alabama help, but crews learned they’ll be doing work in Long Island, New York instead of in New Jersey.
Crews from Decatur Utilities headed up there this week, but Derrick Moore, one of the Decatur workers, said they were told by crews in New Jersey that they can’t do any work there since they’re not union employees.
The crews that are in Roanoke, Virginia say they are just watching and waiting even though they originally received a call asking for help from Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
Understandably, Moore said they’re frustrated being told “thanks, but no thanks.”
Huntsville Utilities said they were not turned away and are up in storm ravaged areas working.
Joe Wheeler EMC said they did not respond to New Jersey, but did go up to Maryland and headed home once they were done.
Some still reporting it’s true, others…
Our newsroom tells us the “power crews from Alabama turned away because they are non-union” story is false.
— James Spann (@spann) November 2, 2012
PRESS-REGISTER: Sen. Arthur Orr: There is no good reason not to vote YES on removing racist language (Guest Column)
Alabama suffered a damaging blow in 2004 when a worldwide audience learned that the state voted to keep racist language in our state constitution related to poll taxes and segregation in schools. The actual vote centered around the possibility of judicially-mandated tax increases, but stereotypical images of “Jim Crow” Alabama resulted when the outdated language wasn’t removed. It’s offensive that such language is allowed to remain in our state’s governing document.
Additionally, in the competitive world of recruiting new jobs to Alabama, racist language in the state’s Constitution is used against us by competing states – even though the language has been negated by U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Old stereotypes and perceptions are dredged up to cast our great state in a bad light, at times discouraging companies from bringing new jobs here because of our past.
That’s one of the reasons why Dr. David Bronner, head of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, is encouraging his more than 300,000-member organization to vote YES on Amendment 4. The amendment has also received support from groups like the Alabama Retail Association and the Business Council of Alabama, who said they support Amendment 4 for the “sole purpose of enhancing the image of the state of Alabama in the recruitment of new business and industry to the state.”
Last year the Legislature passed a very narrowly tailored bill to focus solely on removing the existing language and avoiding the controversial issues that led to the 2004 defeat.
But just three short weeks before the November 6th vote, the state teachers’ union began an orchestrated effort to defeat Amendment 4.
The president of an accrediting agency says he has seen little or no evidence of improvement by the Birmingham Board of Education since he originally had concerns this summer, and has given the board until Dec. 1 to submit a complete implementation plan on what steps will be taken to improve the function of the school system.
Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of AdvancEd, the accrediting arm of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, sent a letter to Birmingham school Superintendent Craig Witherspoon saying it is “essential the school system take immediate steps to stabilize its governing functions so the focus can be on improving the overall effectiveness of the educational programming and condition of the school system.”
Elgart originally sent a letter July 31 to then-board President Edward Maddox, saying he was concerned about micromanagement and board governance and demanding a response by Oct. 1. The board responded by passing a resolution Sept. 25 saying it intended to go to board governance training and would continue to implement future phases of a financial recovery plan, necessary for the district to remain solvent.
“However, commitment to take action is not evidence of addressing the concerns,” Elgart said in his latest letter, dated Oct. 30 and distributed to board members this evening. “It is imperative that the system implement actions that are supported by demonstrable evidence of improvement related to the governance issues.”
Elgart stopped short of saying he would be launching an investigation into the board’s governance – which he threatened to do if he wasn’t satisfied with the board’s Oct. 1 response. Instead, he is giving the district until Dec. 1 to submit the implementation plan and then a Feb. 1 deadline to submit a progress report on how the implementation plan is going.
Natioinal & International Politics
How Do You Kill 11 Million People?
WEEKLY STANDARD: The Day After: Four scenarios for the next four years
The election of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney may be either a larger victory or a narrower one. The resulting four scenarios are as follows:
1. The larger Obama victory, which can be called “Vindication,” refers to a result in which the president wins by a margin of some 3 percentage points or more, in which the Democrats gain more than 12 seats in the House, and in which the Democrats, while losing a seat or two in the Senate, retain control of that body.
2. A narrower Obama victory, labeled “Hanging On,” describes a scenario in which the president ekes out a win by under a point and perhaps captures an Electoral College victory while losing the popular vote, maybe even by a considerable margin. (This result is what many polls suggest would be the outcome if the election were held today.) Democrats pick up only a few seats in the House, under 10, while Republicans gain a tie in the Senate or, against all odds, capture a majority.
3. A narrower Romney win, “Reversal,” describes a victory margin of under 2 points, a modest loss of 6 to 10 seats for the GOP in the House, and a gain of a couple Senate seats, still leaving Republicans short of a tie or an outright majority.
WASHINGTON POST: Poll shows Obama, Romney in a dead heat – Challenger’s backers more enthusiastic than president’s
President Obama and Mitt Romney are deadlocked with each holding 49 percent support nationally as they head into Tuesday’s election, though Mr. Romney holds a lead on enthusiasm, according to this week’s The Washington Times/Zogby Poll of likely voters, released Thursday night.
Mr. Obama has more votes already in the bank: About a quarter of those surveyed said they’ve cast their ballots by absentee or early voting, and they broke 53 percent to 45 percent in favor of the president.
But Mr. Romney, the Republican nominee, leads when it comes to those who have yet to hit the polling booth but who said they are certain or very likely to make it on Tuesday — suggesting that his key to victory is persuading his backers to actually turn out next week.
When it comes to issues, the president leads when voters are asked about foreign affairs, national security, energy and immigration, but Mr. Romney has a lead when it comes to handling jobs and the economy, which have dominated this year’s election.
“It’s what brings it to a tie — the fact that he does better on the economy,” said John Zogby, The Times’ pollster, who said it reminded him of the 2004 race, when Democratic nominee John F. Kerry led President George W. Bush on every issue except for national security, where the incumbent held a commanding lead, which powered him to re-election.
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