During supposedly bipartisan meeting with Senators, Donald Trump insults Elizabeth Warren and claims that Democrats bused in thousands of illegal voters to steal New Hampshire from him.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News: 

President Trump repeatedly referred to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas" during a bipartisan lunch meeting with senators earlier this week, according to sources.

As soon as photographers and reporters had filed out of the Roosevelt Room, Trump jeered at the gathered Democrats, "Pocahontas is now the face of your party," according to officials familiar with what was discussed. The pejorative was in reference to Warren's rebuke of newly instated Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this week, which triggered Senate Republicans to formally silence her, and left-leaning Americans to celebrate her. 

Trump coined the racially-charged nickname for Warren during the campaign, and has continued to use it despite outrage from critics. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on Trump's alleged remarks, which were first reported by CNN and Politico.

I would assume that Trump keeps insulting Warren in the hopes that it increases her stature among the Democrats becasue he is convinced he could beat her if she ran against him in the 2020 election.

After all he beat the highly qualified Hillary Clinton, so why would he think he needed to fear another female candidate?

And Trump was not finished there.

Courtesy of Politico: 

On Thursday, during a meeting with 10 senators that was billed as a listening session about Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, the president went off on a familiar tangent, suggesting again that he was a victim of widespread voter fraud, despite the fact that he won the presidential election.

As soon as the door closed and the reporters allowed to observe for a few minutes had been ushered out, Trump began to talk about the election, participants said, triggered by the presence of former New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who lost her reelection bid in November and is now working for Trump as a Capitol Hill liaison, or “Sherpa,” on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch. 

The president claimed that he and Ayotte both would have been victorious in the Granite State if not for the “thousands” of people who were “brought in on buses” from neighboring Massachusetts to “illegally” vote in New Hampshire. 

According to one participant who described the meeting, “an uncomfortable silence” momentarily overtook the room.

In response to these claims the FEC commissioner is demanding that Trump provide evidence.

Which of course he can't do. 

The very fact that Trump is still lying  about having electoral votes stolen from him speaks to his overwhelming insecurities and possibly even a subconscious recognition that he is a fraud and undeserving to hold the title President of the United States.

Apparently somebody is very insecure about his presidency. 

Wisconsin rejects request for hand count, Jill Stein to sue.

Courtesy of the Journal Sentinel:  

The Wisconsin Elections Commission set a timetable Monday for a recount of the presidential election but rejected a request to require a count by hand made by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who quickly responded that she would sue. 

Also Monday, Stein filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania to force a recount there and her supporters began filing recount requests at the precinct level there. Stein — who received just a tiny piece of the vote —also plans to ask for a recount in Michigan on Wednesday. 

Unless Stein wins her lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court, officials in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties would decide on their own whether to do their recounts by hand. That could mean some counties perform recounts by machine and some by hand.

The Elections Committee Chairman, who happens to be a Democrat, stated that he did not think the recount would change the outcome of the election.

Of course the problem with rejecting a hand count, and allowing some counties to use machines, is that a large portion of Americans will remain unconvinced in the outcome of the Wisconsin election.

Besides considering the fact that Donald Trump himself recently claimed that he only lost the popular vote due to millions and millions of illegal ballots, and claims there may be voter fraud in California, New Hampshire, and Virginia, I don't see how we can trust the results coming out of ANY state until she conduct a hand count of each and every vote cast in this election.

I mean if even the guy who won the election is convinced that there was cheating going on, I do not see how we can move forward with this process until we can get to the truth.

And I am sure that if any reporter can get close enough to Donald Trump to ask him about this, that he would agree.

Right?

Bernie Sanders to join Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire tomorrow.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Bernie Sanders will join Hillary Clinton on Tuesday for a rally in New Hampshire, Clinton's campaign announced Monday. 

Sanders will campaign with Clinton at a high school in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, less than two weeks before the party's convention begins in Philadelphia.

The Vermont senator's campaign announced his participation minutes after the Clinton team's email hit inboxes, with both announcements sharing the same language that the two former primary rivals will "discuss their commitment to building an America that is stronger together and an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top." 

I think it's a safe bet to assume that tomorrow Sanders will endorse Clinton and officially end his campaign. 

Sanders and his delegates have pushed to craft the most progressive platform in history, so that should be more than enough to convince Sanders that his work here is done.

However I must again point out that the platform literally means nothing unless the Democrats can get enough support to pass their policy ideas into law, and that will undoubtedly include compromise which Sanders and his supporters seem to reject out of hand.

Personally I am just glad that this whole thing is about over so that I no longer have any reason to write another word about Bernie Sanders.

New Hampshire Primary Open Thread. Update!

Okay so here we go again.

Right now the polls have Bernie Sanders leading in the Democratic race, and Trump trumping his opponents in the GOP race.

I actually think that is pretty accurate, so I do not expect to be surprised by much this evening.

But having said that this is the 2016 race, so just about anything is possible.

The polls closed at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard time so the results are being tallied as we speak.

You can keep track by clicking here, or for more drama follow along on Twitter.

Update: So sorry folks I was at some appointments and not able to  update the blog before now.

So yes as predicted Bernie Sanders won (By a whopping 19 points) and Hillary of course is second.

And also as predicted Donald Trump easily won as well, but more surprising is that John Kasich (Who?) came in second.

And yes since the Donald won, guess who is taking her victory lap:

NH Living Up to State Motto: "Live Free or Die" 

NH competitive primary reveals this independent state's choice for a leader who will free our country from our out-of-touch government. Congratulations Donald J. Trump! 

No doubt voters there asked themselves the question we should all ask before pulling the lever: Will this candidate allow me to be freer? Or not? Are his issues intended to make us freer? Or more dependent on politics-as-usual in Washington? It takes an outsider, beholden to no one but We the People, to shake it up and shake off the bureaucratic shackles that have stymied American exceptionalism. 

Thank you to Granite Staters for standing solid behind our next President who'll let you make America great again! 

Now, on to South Carolina - can't wait to see the energized electorate ‪#‎stump4trump‬ in the Palmetto State!

Of course Palin had nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to do with Trump's victory.

But that will certainly not stop her from lapping up any reflected glory, even though most of her supporters now spend their days lobbing insults at her on Facebook. 

Yes it's time for yet another GOP debate.

I actually missed the fact that this was on tonight until about six hours ago.

Probably a case of cognitive dissonance on my part.

So I have a handful of predictions for tonight, because those of us covering these events are supposed to do that sort of thing.

Mine are rather simple.

After missing the last debate Trump is going to go out of his way to make a mark tonight so that the people of New Hampshire have him on their minds when they caucus next week. So expect plenty of  Trumpisms and insults.

Speaking of insults Trump is also going to punish Ted Cruz like a naughty puppy for beating him in Iowa.

EVERYBODY is going to go after Marco Rubio. Especially Chris Christie and Jeb Bush.

Unfortunately nobody can go after Carly Fiorina because apparently she has now been sent to the back of the bus and will not be on stage with the fellas.  (Come on, it's the GOP did anybody REALLY think that her candidacy was going to be taken seriously?)

But most important of all is that those of us who were blown away by last week's Democratic debate are going to be totally underwhelmed by the low blows, backstabbing, and cat-fighting which defines the GOP debates.

If that happens just do what I'm planning to do and imagine Hillary or Bernie eating these idiot's lunches for them. 

As always I will be on Twitter.

And I will also be back to update the post as events warrant.

So white nationals are making robo-calls on behalf of Donald Trump in New Hampshire, so that should help.

Source

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

A white nationalist group that made robocalls on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Iowa is now targeting New Hampshire voters ahead of next week's primary. 

"We don't need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people," says one of the voices on the call. 

"I am a farmer and white nationalist," says another. "Support Donald Trump." 

As CNN first reported Friday, the robocalls are bankrolled by William Johnson, a California attorney, through the American National Super PAC. Johnson is chairman of the American Freedom Party, a group designed to "represent the interests and issues of European-Americans," according to its website. 

Johnson confirmed to The Huffington Post that he is responsible for the calls and said they went out to every landline number in New Hampshire. 

"Donald Trump has a unique combination, politically, of populism with nationalistic sentiment," Johnson said. "He's forthright and doesn't back down."

You know it's just so nice that the racists finally have a candidate that they can call their own.

Don't you think?

After all the base of the Republican party wants what it wants.

So it appears that Hillary Clinton did indeed win the Iowa caucus. But only by the slimmest margin ever!

Courtesy of the Iowa Democratic Party:

IDP Chair Dr. Andy McGuire released the following statement on tonight’s 2016 Iowa Democratic Precinct Caucuses: 

“Tonight we saw an historically close Iowa Democratic Caucus that featured one of our strongest turnouts ever and passion and energy from Democrats all across our state. 

“After a year where Iowans took the time to see candidates, ask them thoughtful questions, and became volunteers and leaders themselves, tonight 171,109 Iowa Democrats came together with their neighbors to engage in a spirited discussion on the future of our country. We saw passionate, engaged Iowans turn out in all 99 counties, and for the first time ever, the IDP ran both a Tele-Caucus and satellite caucus locations, fulfilling our promise to expand participation and improve on an already incredible process. 

“The results tonight are the closest in Iowa Democratic caucus history. Hillary Clinton has been awarded 699.57 state delegate equivalents, Bernie Sanders has been awarded 695.49 state delegate equivalents, Martin O’Malley has been awarded 7.68 state delegate equivalents and uncommitted has been awarded .46 state delegate equivalents. We still have outstanding results in one precinct (Des Moines—42), which is worth 2.28 state delegate equivalents. We will report that final precinct when we have confirmed those results with the chair.

Okay so essentially, according to the Iowa Democratic party, there are not enough outstanding results to move the needle far enough to give Sanders the victory.

That's good to know because last night I went to bed unsure as to who exactly should be taking a victory lap.

In fact when Hillary gave what was essentially a victory speech, I was a little put off and thought it was arrogant.

However as it turned out she was right, so hat's off to her for having better information than the rest of us.

Of course before she takes any victory laps it must be noted that several of the counties that the Clinton campaign "won" were decided by a coin toss.

Personally I have less confidence that Hills can win in New Hampshire, however if she pulls it off, even with margins as slim as the ones in Iowa, that could start her inevitable surge to the nomination.

Bernie Sanders now leads Hillary Clinton by 27 points in New Hampshire. Gonna be a squeaker.

Courtesy of ABC News:

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has opened up his widest lead yet over rival Hillary Clinton in the crucial state of New Hampshire, according to a new poll released Tuesday. 

The new WMUR/CNN poll out this afternoon shows the Vermont lawmaker with a whopping 27-point lead over the former Secretary of State -- 60-33 percent. That’s a climb of 10 percentage points for Sanders since mid-December and a drop of 7 points for Clinton. It marks Sanders’ highest support and widest lead in any poll in any state so far. His popularity in the state is also sky-high, earning a 91 percent favorability rating among Democrats there. 

The shift comes despite the Clinton campaign waging an all-out blitz on the Granite State since the New Year.

I thought you guys might like some non-Palin news today. 

Ultimately while this is concerning news for Hillary, she has already corralled most of the super delegates in order to hedge her bets.

I think it would be very ill informed for anybody to think that Hillary is not prepared for just about ANY contingency that might arise this time around.

And yes that includes possible issues with her e-mail server.

The race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is tightening up.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Hillary Clinton holds a three-point edge over Senator Bernie Sanders in Iowa, a tightening of the race with roughly three weeks until voting begins, according to a new set of surveys of likely voters from NBC/The Wall Street Journal/Marist. 

In Iowa, Mrs. Clinton has 48 percent of support and Mr. Sanders has 45 percent as the competition between the two has become more contentious. Martin O’Malley, the third Democratic presidential candidate, has 5 percent in Iowa, meaning he will most likely qualify for the next presidential debate. 

But in New Hampshire, the survey also found Mr. Sanders at 50 percent, to 46 percent for Mrs. Clinton. 

That margin is smaller than a recent Fox News survey, in which Mr. Sanders led Mrs. Clinton by 13 points. An NBC survey last month showed Mr. Sanders ahead by nine points in New Hampshire.

Damn that's a squeaker!

I still contend that Hillary will ultimately be the nominee, and that having Bernie as our candidate makes us more vulnerable in the general, but I certainly have to give mad props to Bernie for his ground game. The man certainly knows how to rally support.

The article also pointed out that in Iowa Ted Cruz maintains a four point lead over Donald Trump.

I find that somewhat less compelling than the Clinton/Sanders match up however.

New Hampshire poll shows Ben Carson losing ground fast.

Uh oh, they're catching on.

Courtesy of Yahoo Finance:  

Fox News released the results of its latest New Hampshire primary poll on Wednesday, and it doesn't look good for Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson. 

The poll, the first conducted since Friday's attacks in Paris, finds Donald Trump leading the GOP field with 27% of Republican primary voters. Marco Rubio came in second with 13%, with Ted Cruz trailing behind him at 11%. 

Everyone else is in single digits. 

Jeb Bush and Ben Carson received 9% each. Ohio Gov. John Kasich received 7% and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie received 6%.

 Gee it's almost as if talking about pyramids serving as grain silos, lying about trying to stab somebody, and having a picture of you and black Jesus just being bros, was a bad thing.

I think we all knew that this Carson thing was not going to last very long.

Still not sure what's going on with Trump however.

New Hampshire teenager attacks Planned Parenthood clinic with an axe. Gee, I wonder what inspired him to do that?

Courtesy of the New Hampshire Union Leader:  

A hatchet- wielding juvenile was arrested inside the city’s Planned Parenthood office Wednesday morning, police said. 

Police were conducting a building check of the Planned Parenthood office at 136 Pleasant St. in the early morning hours Wednesday when the juvenile was discovered. 

Earlier this month, police had increased patrols and building checks of the office after an Oct. 6 vandalism incident in which the outside of the building was hit with black spray paint, including the word “Murderer” painted on the front window. 

“It became immediately obvious that the intruder had done significant damage to the facility,” Scott said. “The intruder, a juvenile, was caught on scene and taken into custody. Seized at the same time was a hatchet and a can of spray paint.” 

The teen did significant damage to the clinic which included destroyed computers, axed office and medical equipment, and broken water pipes.

The Vice President of public policy for Planned Parenthood knows exactly why this attack took place:

These acts have no place in New Hampshire. For decades, we have provided high-quality essential health care and information to thousands of women and men, and we know that the Claremont community and the State of New Hampshire stand with us against extremism. Unfortunately, this latest crime is a predictable ripple effect from the false and incendiary attacks from anti-abortion groups and politicians whose rhetoric fuel violence.

I am sure that this kid is as dumb as a rock and is simply responding to a barely understood emotion  which resulted from watching doctored videos that were designed to elicit such an emotion.

In my opinion the bill for the damage to this clinic should be mailed to the folks who created that video, and if they fail to pay they should be taken to court immediately.

Note to parents. NEVER let Ted Cruz talk to your children.

So apparently ole Rafael Cruz was talking to a group of people in New Hampshire at an event sponsored by the Strafford County Republican Committee.

As he was launching an attack on Obama, with a little dig at Hillary as well, he turned to a little girl in the audience and.....Well here let reporter Adam Smith fill you in.

Ted Cruz literally just scared a little girl in NH. "The world is on fire?!" she asked, repeating his line on Obama-Clinton foreign policy
— Adam Smith (@adamsmithtimes) March 15, 2015

Here's more courtesy of Raw Story:  

“The world is on fire,” Cruz replied, turning to face the girl and her mother. “Yes! Your world is on fire!” 

Realizing that his rhetoric might have gone too far, the Texas Republican decided to do some damage control. 

“But you know what?” he asked. “Your mommy is here and everyone is here to make sure that the world you grow up in is even better.”

I have a standing rule in my life. If your presence makes children uncomfortable, or you scare them, then I don't trust you as far as I can throw you.

Which by the way is one of the reasons that I really like this guy.

 Now I know I have ideological differences with the conservatives, but honest to god I have NO idea what they find appealing about Ted Cruz. No idea.

That awkward moment at a tailgate party where your supporters start yelling out misogynist comments aimed at your female opponent. Scott Brown's solution? Just keep on smiling as if nothing is happening.

(Video contains language NSFW.)

Courtesy of the Daily Kos:

In the video, Brown never stops smiling as several men in the crowd of tailgaters surrounding him shout things like "Fuck Jeanne Shaheen" and "Fuck Elizabeth Warren" and "Fuck her right in the pussy" and something about a "cunt." 

These were not a few stray catcalls, as you'll see on the video. They were constant and unmissable, but Brown just kept gladhanding his way through the crowd, obviously not bothered by the aggressive misogyny of his supporters. This tone is also nothing new to a Scott Brown campaign. Sexism was a constant undertone in his campaigns against Martha Coakley and Elizabeth Warren, with the candidate himself once offering a female reporter beer while saying "I’ve seen you in the bars before, don’t act like you’ve never been to a bar ... We’re gonna have her dancing in the back of the truck." 

According to tweets, Brown gave out beer to undergrads at the event, though his campaign denies it. Presumably the campaign's next move will be to deny that Brown heard anything resembling "Fuck Jeanne Shaheen," but it's going to be difficult to persuade anyone who's seen the video of that. This really isn't going to help Brown tighten the gender gap.

Look what was Brown supposed to do?

I mean should he have manned up, confronted these individuals and risked losing their support?

Or simply resorted to his strongest hand which is always to play dumb?

Well it's Scott Brown so that is really not a choice. (Besides don't we all think he secretly agrees with the frat guys?)

The GOP presidential field is so weak that in New Hampshire President Obama gets 282 Republican primary votes.

"What? I received 282 votes in a Republican primary? 2012 is going to be a great year."

Courtesy of Politico:

Apparently not all Republicans dislike President Barack Obama quite so much: Nearly 300 registered GOPers in New Hampshire voted for him to be their nominee. 

Indeed, 282 Republican primary voters wrote in Obama to be their candidate for the presidency, according to final results posted by New Hampshire’s secretary of state. 

Just to put this into perspective, Obama only received 65 votes less than Michele Bachmann, and 122 MORE than Herman Cain.

And not to rub it in but the President received 282 more votes than Sarah Palin. Who received absolutely none.

Did you feel that?  That was the complete lack of any earthquake whatsoever.

Teabaggers essentially destroy public education in New Hampshire.

"Yes Jennie, what curriculum do YOUR parents want me to teach you?"

Courtesy of the Huffington Post:

The Tea Party dominated New Hampshire Legislature on Wednesday overrode the governor's veto to enact a new law allowing parents to object to any part of the school curriculum. 

The state House voted 255-112 and Senate 17-5 to enact H.B. 542, which will allow parents to request an alternative school curriculum for any subject to which they register an objection. Gov. John Lynch (D) vetoed the measure in July, saying the bill would harm education quality and give parents control over lesson plans. 

"For example, under this bill, parents could object to a teacher's plan to: teach the history of France or the history of the civil or women's rights movements," Lynch wrote in his veto message. "Under this bill, a parent could find 'objectionable' how a teacher instructs on the basics of algebra. In each of those cases, the school district would have to develop an alternative educational plan for the student. Even though the law requires the parents to pay the cost of alternative, the school district will still have to bear the burden of helping develop and approve the alternative. Classrooms will be disrupted by students coming and going, and lacking shared knowledge." 

Under the terms of the bill, which was sponsored by state Rep. J.R. Hoell (R-Dunbarton), a parent could object to any curriculum or course material in the classroom. The parent and school district would then determine a new curriculum or texts for the child to meet any state educational requirements for the subject matter. The parent would be responsible for paying the cost of developing the new curriculum. The bill also allows for the parent's name and reason for objection to be sealed by the state.

This is the dumbest, most disruptive, anti-educational piece of legislation that I think I have ever seen.

What the fuck New Hampshire?

I simply cannot imagine how this does NOT have a devastating affect on public education in the state, as well as their ability to hire new teachers, and their ability to help struggling students. Teachers already have TOO much on their plate to have to deal with a separate curriculum for individual students, simply because their parents demand it.

If I was a teacher I would not go near New Hampshire even if they were paying teachers double!

I am very interested in your input, ESPECIALLY the teachers among you.

And no you certainly do not have to hold back.

Dozens upon dozens show up to hear Sarah Palin give a speech in a pitch that only dogs and porpoises can hear.

Photos courtesy of Slates' Dave Weigel:

 Fox News reported that she "drew hundreds of supporters to Monday afternoon's rally."

However according to Wiegel (Who is such an objective reporter that I believe he wears his patented Sarah Palin Underoos when he covers her events), said that the "crowd" dispersed after Palin finished scaring away the pigeons and deafening small children for a three mile radius.

If that is true then how do we explain this video apparently taken in between Palin's speech and the appearance of Sharon Angle and Buddy Roehmer?


Just how fast did that crowd "disperse?" Was there a fire?
Perhaps the Teabaggers are just not that into the Palin political prick tease anymore?  Here is more from that Fox News report:

A New Hampshire tea party leader couldn't hold back his frustration Sunday night at another rally hosted by the Tea Party Express. 

"Once again it is time to determine-- are you here to sell books or are you here to run for president of the United States?" asked Corey Lewandowski, state director for Americans for Prosperity, a tea party ally. "The people of New Hampshire deserve to know, are you serious? And if you are serious, then welcome to the race. And if you're not serious, get out of the way because we're going to elect a new president." 

Aside from Monday's visit -- her second in New Hampshire over the last three months -- local operatives say Palin has not moved to hire staff or organize a ground game here in the state that will host the nation's first presidential primary in roughly five months. 

"At this late stage, there's been so little infrastructure work for a potential candidacy, I think this is simply Sarah Palin wanting to be part of the process and to help shape the debate for the presidential campaign," said Michael Dennehy, who led Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign four years ago, but is uncommitted this year. "At some point immediately -- meaning the next week or two -- she's going to hurt herself badly if she does not announce that she's not going to run for president." 

The head of prominent Granite State conservative think, also a tea party ally, says there is a growing sense of indifference among local conservatives. 

"If she had done it right she could be popular here," said Kevin Smith, executive director of Cornerstone. "But I don't feel a lot of energy or enthusiasm here about a Palin run. Voters here in this state, who frankly have been taking this primary seriously since the beginning of the year, are indifferent." 

Some have been asking WHY Palin might have faked participating in that Iowa half marathon on Sunday.  This is why.

Just like like writing fake letters of support to the local newspapers, wearing glasses that she does not need to hide her lazy eye, or faking a pregnancy to garner support from the pro-life people, THIS is the purely cosmetic approach that Sarah Palin uses to drum up support, or portray herself as healthy, or convince people she is still the gung-ho politician that she was during her campaign for governor.

If you know ANYTHING about Sarah Palin you have to know that her doing something like that is not only feasible, it is predictable.

New Hampshire Straw Poll puts things back into perspective.

Courtesy of Hampton-North Hampton Patch:

Ron Paul got a great birthday present Saturday, as the 76-year-old defeated 11 other Republicans in Saturday's New Hampshire Young Republicans Straw Poll. 

Paul, a congressman from Texas, won a commanding 45 percent of the vote and bested runner-up Mitt Romney by 35 percent despite not attending the event, which was held in New Castle and also included a lobster bake. 

There were 302 ballots cast Saturday, and the full vote results are as follows, in the order the candidates were listed on the ballot: 

Jon Huntsman - 3 percent ; 
Herman Cain - 5 percent; 
Rick Perry - 8 percent; 
Fred Karger - 0 percent ; 
Paul - 45 percent; 
Mitt Romney - 10 percent; 
Thaddeus McCotter - 8 percent; 
Rick Santorum - 3 percent; 
Michele Bachmann - 5 percent; 
Buddy Roemer - 3 percent; 
Gary Johnson - 6 percent; 
and Newt Gingrich - 1 percent.

It appears that as we go farther east, Dominionism does not have quite the same cachet as it did in Iowa.

As you can see Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum barely caused a ripple.

Of course as we well know NONE of these straw polls really mean a damn thing. However I think it is worth noting whose name received too few votes to even deserve mention in BOTH contests.

It seems like the whole country is pretty much over Snowdrift Snooki, with the exception of those poor souls trapped on that rocky outcropping in the middle of the Sea O'Pee.

Sarah Palin just cannot catch a break in New Hampshire political polls.

"Missed it by that much!"

From Salon.com:

Today, PPP is out with a new poll of the state's GOP voters on the '12 presidential race:

Mitt Romney 31 percent
Newt Gingrich 14 percent
Ron Paul 13 percent
Mike Huckabee 12 percent
Sarah Palin 9 percent
Tim Pawlenty 3 percent
Mitch Daniels 1 percent
Someone else/undecided 16 percent

Journalist Steve Koracki goes on to add this:

Remember, as I noted yesterday, no one in the modern era has gone on to claim a major party nomination after finishing worse than second in the New Hampshire primary.

Yep I think reality is going to prove to be a huge slap in the face for the Palin-bots.  It is easy to let your imagination run wild while ensconced in the warm embrace of Fox news, Facebook, and Twitter, but once Palin has to actually stand up in front of a group of people NOT suffering from some sort of mental deficiency...well simply put.... she's fucked.

Is Palin endorsement the kiss of death for New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte?

From Public Policy Polling:

Kelly Ayotte's seen her appeal to moderate voters crumble in the wake of her endorsement by Sarah Palin and her lead over Paul Hodes has shrunk to its lowest level of any public polling in 2010- she has a 45-42 advantage over him, down from 47-40 in an April PPP poll.

There's not much doubt that the shift in the race is all about Ayotte. Hodes' favorability numbers have seen little change over the last three months. Where 32% of voters saw him positively and 39% negatively in April, now 35% have a favorable opinion of him to 40% with an unfavorable one. But Ayotte's seen a dramatic decline. Her favorability spread of 34/24 in April was the best we've measured for any Republican Senate candidate so far this year but her negatives have risen 15 points since that time while her positives have increased only 2 and she now stands at 36/39.

The Palin endorsement may well be playing a role in this. 51% of voters in the state say they're less likely to back a Palin endorsed candidate to only 26% who say that support would make them more inclined to vote for someone. Among moderates that widens to 65% who say a Palin endorsement would turn them off to 14% who it would make more supportive.

Again I have to ask when when will these politicians learn that Sarah Palin's support is like tying am anchor around their political career?

And isn't it interesting that this is happening in New Hampshire?  Not like it is important in a presidential election or anything, right?

More evidence that the New Hampshire vote changed by Diebold machines.

Clinton Optical scan 91,717 52.95%Obama Optical scan 81,495 47.05%

Clinton Hand-counted 20,889 47.05%Obama Hand-counted 23,509 52.95%

The percentages appear to be swapped. This seems highly unusual.

There is much more data in the link above, the gist of which is that there is pretty good evidence that Diebold changed Obama votes to Hillary votes.

The website uses something called "math" to make his point. I have a long and adversarial relationship with "math" and therefore cannot account for the veracity of his claims.

However I am absolutely certain that the Republicans want Hillary in office, and will cheat to get her there. I also am convinced that these Diebold machines are fixed and have been since 2000.

But here is a rather disturbing thought. If the Clinton campaign made some deal to get help from Diebold, then that means they KNOW that they stole the election for George Bush. Or else how would they know that they can help them? And let's face it, they would HAVE to know that something was not right.

If the Clinton's knew, or suspected, that the last two Presidential elections were stolen, and do nothing to bring the people responsible to justice, they are truly screwed! Their reputation is virtually destroyed! That would place them in the same category as George W. Bush.

So much for the Clinton legacy.