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11.08.2011 — 05:36 PM

Election Night Ahead

We'll be tracking the returns in Ohio and Mississippi tonight here at TPM.

In Ohio, there's the big battle over collective bargaining for state employees where voters look poised to repeal Senate Bill 5, which stripped many of those rights from workers. It's a contest with national implications for both parties. More background here.

In Mississippi, voters decide on the "personhood" amendment which would define life as beginning at the moment of fertilization.

You can see all the results on the TPM Scoreboard.

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 05:32 PM

So Hard To Pick

Which was the best Cain-ism of the day?

Was it declaring that he belongs on Mt. Rushmore?

Or was it his claim that men get sexually harassed, too?

Or maybe it was the destined to be immortal "I don't even know who this lady is!"

Late Update: A late entrant making a strong push: "I'm not an expert on how the brain works."

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 05:19 PM

Shorter Herman Cain: I Am The True Victim

This Herman Cain presser is a doozy, with him taking on the role of aggrieved victim of false accusations and unscrupulous media. Of one of his accusers, Cain says: "The Democrat machine in America has brought forth a troubled woman."

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 05:07 PM

The Knives Are Unsheathed

The conservatie media backlash against Herman Cain accuser Sharon Bialek is something to behold. Take a look.

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 05:04 PM

Watch Live

Herman Cain press conference. Watch.

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 04:44 PM

Photo Of The Week

Courtesy of the White House.

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 04:39 PM

If The Gays Are For It, It Must Be Bad

A reader sent us a newspaper ad in Maine that opposes a same-day voter registration proposal on the grounds that gays are for it. We looked into it, and you'll never guess who is behind the ad.

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 03:23 PM

Rush Goes to 11

Reacting to the latest in the Herman Cain melodrama today, Rush Limbaugh lamented that political correctness 'has now spread to behavior -- not just speech."

I think that's probably awesome enough to speak for itself. But this is just a very funny thing to say. The issue with 'political correctness', to the extent it's reasonable, and I think some of it is, is that speech is a protected thing in our society. So there's a necessary tension necessarily at play. But I think we've always been pretty down with the idea that you can't just take any action you want, right? I don't like you. So I bonk you on the head. But don't come at me with your anti-bonking 'political correctness'! Trying to control who I am, man!

Listen to Rush.

— Josh Marshall

11.08.2011 — 02:06 PM

More On Today's Court Ruling On ACA

Law professor by day, TPM reader by night:

I think what's important about Seven-Sky is not so much that there are now two appellate opinions by conservative judges that uphold the Affordable Care Act as that the opinion is so well crafted.

Read More →

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 01:17 PM

Hill Dems: Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead

Congressional Democrats, rejoicing over Bill Daley's reduced portfolio as President Obama's chief of staff, tell TPM the change occurred several weeks ago and is already yielding a more productive working relationship with the White House.

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 12:54 PM

Just A Hunch

With today's ruling by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the individual insurance mandate in the health care reform law, we may have reached the point where the weight of jurisprudence now favors the Supreme Court upholding the law.

Of course, the Supreme Court doesn't weigh the number of rulings in favor against those opposed to reach its own decision -- and this court in particular has not been shy about putting bold new imprimaturs on the law. So take my hunch for what it's worth, but my sense is there is enough disagreement among conservatives legal minds on this Commerce Clause issue (see Brett Kavanaugh's dissent today, for example) that the Supreme Court will stop short of a wholesale reworking of the modern constitutional underpinning in this area.

Happy to have our con law readers weigh in here.

— David Kurtz

11.08.2011 — 11:42 AM

Let the Trashing Begin

Details come out about Cain accuser Sharon Bialek's professional and financial history and the Cain camp rolls out the big trashing cannons.

— Josh Marshall

11.08.2011 — 08:08 AM

Was Nice Knowin' Ya

Why the Super Committee is heading into the fearful forest of epic fail.

— Josh Marshall

11.08.2011 — 12:06 AM

Cain Accuser, Awesome Euphemism Edition

Couldn't help passing on this choice paragraph from the Chicago Tribune's profile of Herman Cain's latest accuser, Sharon Bialek.

Bialek met her fiance [Mark Harwood] online several years ago. After communicating via email for many months, they fell in love on their first date, which lasted 72 hours, Harwood said.

— Josh Marshall

11.07.2011 — 11:06 PM

'I Respected Him, I Looked Up To Him'

Cain's latest accuser takes the discussion to Piers Morgan's show.

— Josh Marshall

11.07.2011 — 08:49 PM

Plates Keep Shifting

Last month I noted that while President Obama's poll numbers remained grim, the national conversation had shifted significantly away from deficit reduction and toward jobs in the month or two since the end of the budget shutdown. That shift now seems much more clear and durable than it was then. And we're now seeing the first signs -- though still very marginal -- that President Obama's political and electoral fortunes are shifting too.

Read More →

— Josh Marshall

11.07.2011 — 07:59 PM

Campaign in 100 Seconds

In today's Campaign in 100 Seconds relive Herman Cain's greatest campaign moments before Gloria Allred's client said he put his hand up her skirt when she asked for job advice. Truly a candidate made for the era of mash-up reels. Watch.

— Josh Marshall

11.07.2011 — 07:43 PM

Self-Parody Alert

Rep. Issa (R-CA) wants Feds to probe ACORN's role in 'Occupy' movement.

— Josh Marshall

11.07.2011 — 03:17 PM

Uh-Oh

Still unnamed 'second accuser' says Bialek accusation sounds "very similar" to her experience with Cain.

— Josh Marshall

11.07.2011 — 03:05 PM

This is Your Politics ... On Guns

You know about the 'Fast and Furious' drug running scandal in which the Obama Justice Department allowed guns to be sent into the hands of Mexican drug cartels in a misconceived effort to track illegal gun sales across the border. But the NRA isn't buying it. The NRA is now saying that the 'gun walking' effort was part of a grand conspiracy to let the gun situation get out of hand as a pretext for Obama to outlaw guns.

— Josh Marshall