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Nine members of Congress aligned with the far-left group J Street either abstained or voted against a House bill that would reinforce the U.S.’s commitment to the State of Israel. The United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 soared through the House on a vote of 411-2. That was without the help of 10 J Street stalwarts, one who voted against the bill and nine who originally voted “present.” The bi-partisan bill, which was sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself in the face of terror attacks and redoubles Congress’ support for...

. . . when Massachusetts Republicans went to their caucuses on Saturday, many didn’t vote for Mitt Romney’s picks. Less than half of Romney’s 27 chosen delegates won, and the losers included some notable Massachusetts Republicans - including former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey and House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. {and Charlie Baker, failed gubernatorial candidate}

Police and organizers shut down proceedings at one of Missouri’s largest caucuses today, as Ron Paul supporters feuded with local GOP leaders. “It’s like the Hatfields and the McCoys around here,” St. Charles County’s former GOP chairman told ABC News, after police arrived on-scene with a helicopter and removed Paul backers. In St. Charles, an exurb of St. Louis and one of the state’s largest GOP counties, Paul supporters sought to elect their own chairman and adopt their own rules when proceedings opened — both of which are part of standard caucus rules and procedure. But as they argued with...

Police and organizers shut down proceedings at one of Missouri's largest caucuses today, as Ron Paul supporters feuded with local GOP leaders. "It's like the Hatfields and the McCoys around here," St. Charles County's former GOP chairman told ABC News, after police arrived on-scene with a helicopter and removed Paul backers. In St. Charles, an exurb of St. Louis and one of the state's largest GOP counties, Paul supporters sought to elect their own chairman and adopt their own rules when proceedings opened - both of which are part of standard caucus rules and procedure. But as they argued with...

Cassville, Mo., is a little town on the edge of the Ozark Mountains. During the Civil War, the Confederate state legislature convened here. Tuesday, the Republican presidential caucus was the big draw. Most of the rest of the state will hold its caucuses Saturday morning. Confusion On Caucus Night The first caucus was a messy process. More than 250 people showed up, most planning to vote directly for the candidates. But that was not to be. David Cole, the chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, told caucusgoers that they would be voting on delegates to attend district and state conventions....

After months of preparation, education, and activism by conservatives, all over Missouri, caucus day arrived, and in St. Charles County it came and went without awarding delegates. The Francis Howell North High School bleachers were packed and there was a standing room only crowd after the caucus was called to order, an hour and a half late. Clearly crowds exceeded expectation as checking in the overflow crowd took much longer than expected. Most in the crowd waited longer to be checked into the caucus than the caucus lasted. The beginning of the caucus started with the reading of the pre-approved...

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich intends to make a two-day campaign swing through Kansas in conjunction with the March 10 statewide caucus. Gingrich, who has devoted much of his attention to home state Georgia, is expected to appear next Friday morning at Kansas Republican Party headquarters, 2605 S.W. 21st, in Topeka and meet over the noon hour with legislators at the Capitol. "It's confirmed," said Clay Barker, executive director of the state's Republican Party. Forty delegates from Kansas are on the line. Voting will occur at 99 caucus sites on Saturday, March 10. The vote in Kansas will be the...

FAIRBANKS - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney maintained a strong lead with most of the results counted in the Alaska Republican presidential preference poll held today. With 4,225 votes, the former Massachusetts Governor took 32.6 percent of the statewide vote. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum took 29 percent, Texas congressman Ron Paul took about 24 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took 14 percent. At 10:30 p.m., 95 percent of the vote had been counted. Alaska was one of 10 states to participate in the Republican nomination process today and will divvy up 24 of its delegates according to...

Here's tonight's schedule. Results will update at the link: Alaska: Caucuses begin at 8 PM ET Georgia: Polls close at 7 PM ET Idaho: Caucuses begin at 9 PM ET Massachusetts: Polls close at 8 PM ET North Dakota: Caucuses begin at 6:30 PM ET Ohio: Polls close at 7:30 PM ET Oklahoma: Polls close at 8 PM ET Tennessee: Polls close at 8 PM ET Vermont: Polls close at 7 PM ET Virginia: Polls close at 7 PM ET Wyoming: Caucuses begin at 7 PM ET

Kennewick About 1,500 people were turned away from pooled Benton County caucuses in Kennewick by event organizers after rooms at the Three Rivers Convention Center reached capacity this morning. Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/03/03/1849623/politics-hundreds-turned-away.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Three of the four major Republican presidential candidates will be in Washington state Thursday and Friday seeking support in advance of the Washington caucuses on Saturday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, coming off an easy win in Arizona and a narrow victory in Michigan, has long been scheduled to hold a $1,000-per-person fundraiser in Bellevue on Thursday evening. UPDATE: The Romney campaign announced a "Meet and Greet with Mitt" at 8 a.m. Friday in Bellevue. Romney will appear at a Thursday afternoon rally in Idaho Falls. Idaho will hold its own presidential caucuses on Tuesday and Romney is expected to...

As the WA state primary is this Sat, March 3, I was wondering why I hadn't received my primary ballot in the mail. After looking around on the web, it turns out that the RAT controlled legislature cancelled the mail-in ballots for the 2012 GOP primary, with a reversion to a caucus system, like Iowa. Therefore, at the provided link, there is some information about navigating through this method of choosing amongst Gingrich, Santorum, or any other stragglers for the GOP 2012 candidate. The excerpt below is from the provided link: Washington became the first U.S. state to suspend its...

Today at the Republican Party of Otter Tail County convention, we had delegates disrupting the meeting. These people were democrats, posing as Republicans. They wasted hours offering amendments to our platform, then trying to become delegates. We all knew what they were, but rules and laws prevented us from showing them the door. We finally passed a motion to require photo id to make these clowns prove they lived in the township they purported to represent. They showed us college id's. The problem we were having was that not all delegates that we were to vote to the state convention...

PORTLAND, Maine — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney narrowly edged Texas Congressman Ron Paul in Maine’s nonbinding GOP presidential preference poll on Saturday, ending a string of defeats for the Republican front-runner. According to unofficial results announced Saturday evening by Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster, Romney took 39 percent of votes during statewide caucuses held during the last few weeks. Paul finished second at 36 percent. “It’s good news. I’m hopeful this ends Romney’s little slide,” Maine House Speaker Robert Nutting said shortly after the announcement. “Romney is the best candidate to beat President Obama in the fall.” Peter...

Apart from not having the first delegate commitment, exactly what have “victories” in Iowa, Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota acknowledged? First, that participants in caucuses are underwhelmed to voice their solidarity with their higher ground constituents. This “group think” forum is void, by necessity, of critical thought. This is not to say that the caucus forum is the antithesis of the primary process. It is always much easier when espousing your “heartfelt commitment” to an issue to take the high road when exposed to the crowd in a non-binding farcical display. These same “voters” will doubtlessly “rethink” that stance when confronted...

The real story of the three results from Tuesday night is not that Rick Santorum picked up some wins -- though that is big. No, the real story is that three states held votes and nobody came. Almost nobody, that is. Consider that the total turnout for Missouri, Colorado, and Minnesota combined was barely over half of the turnout of South Carolina alone and -- worse yet -- barely over half the turnout for the same three states in 2008. Thus, after South Carolina's record-setting primary turnout, the Republican Party has now seen a total of five events in a...

Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster told The Associated Press that Romney is expected to speak Friday evening at a rally at Portland Yacht Services.

There is a lot of blame to go around over the mishandling of the Iowa Caucus results. However, a good chunk of the blame lies with the Lee County GOP central committee. There were eight precincts in the state, out of 1774, that failed to turn in the necessary paperwork to have their votes certified. Four of those precincts were in Lee County. The central committee met on Monday for the first time since the Iowa Caucus. Many in the crowd of 50 were eager to discuss the numerous failings. “We’re going to talk about the caucuses,” one central committee...

Today, for the first time this cycle, multiple states hold their Republican presidential nomination contests on one day, two caucuses (Colorado and Minnesota) and one primary (Missouri). They all have two things in common. First, none of them are binding, so no delegates will be formally assigned from the vote. Second, they all represent Rick Santorum’s best shot at changing the trajectory of this race and positioning himself as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. One final series of snap polls from PPP shows Santorum with a double-digit lead in Missouri, and nearly as much of a lead in Minnesota:...

LAS VEGAS — A special Saturday night Republican caucus intended to accommodate orthodox Jews who couldn’t vote until after sundown became the scene of controversy and confrontation after caucusgoers were told that to gain admittance they had to sign a legal declaration under penalty of perjury that they could not attend their daytime caucus because of “my religious beliefs.” The use of the declaration brought protests from many supporters of Representative Ron Paul of Texas who arrived at the polling place — a school in an upscale neighborhood here named after its benefactors, the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his...

As it turns out, Maine Republicans in a few towns will caucus this Saturday (January 28). The original plan I spoke with the Maine Republican Party about back in September revolved around the idea of holding caucuses within a window from February 4 and February 11 with a big reveal on that final date. That is still mostly true as most of the caucus venues will hold party meetings within that window. However, there are a few caucuses that branch out quite far from those two bookend dates. The collective caucus Lincoln, Lowell, Burlington, Chester, Enfield, Winn and Howland will...

oday the Iowa state GOP announced that Rick Santorum beat Mitt Romney in this year's caucuses after all, but that they can't be totally sure because vote totals in eight precincts somehow went missing. Here's to hoping this results in a major rethinking of the caucus process, if not stripping Iowa of its first in the nation status altogether. I've been a longtime critic of the outsized influence Iowa has in electing a president. Not only does it get showered with attention from candidates who voters in later states won't have a chance to support, but most of its population...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iowa Republican Party will certify this month's presidential caucuses as a split decision between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, citing missing data from eight precincts, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday.

A recount of the Jan. 3 Iowa Republican caucus results has Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney in the race for the GOP presidential nomination by 34 votes, with data from 8 precincts missing and never to be certified, GOP officials told The Des Moines Register on Wednesday. Despite Santorum's advantage, the state Republican party views the results as a wash.

I have been a fan of country music since the mid-1970s, when Ellie Dylan jockeyed disks on Chicago’s WMAQ radio. There are different kinds of country fans, of course – those who like the modern guys more, or the modern gals more, or the oldies more, and of course there are the “traditionalists” who think that nobody’s REALLY been country since we lost Hank Sr. But we’re still all country fans. So, when the internet came along, and fans gained the opportunity to vote for the top 20 songs of the week, and then the top 20 videos of the...

"When Mitt Romney won Iowa by eight votes and I've got a 20-vote discrepancy here, that right there says Rick Santorum won Iowa," True said. "Not Mitt Romney." True said at his 53-person caucus at the Garrett Memorial Library, Romney received two votes. According to the Iowa Republican Party's website, True's precinct cast 22 votes for Romney. "This is huge," True said. "It essentially changes who won." Read more: http://www.kcci.com/news/30144582/detail.html#ixzz1idkjA1l6

For those that were wondering how my predicted simulation worked out, it was okay if you switched Gingrich and Santorum's numbers for the most part, moved Bachmann to where Santorum was and bump Paul up more. I've done some analysis on the results. I was in the process of doing a county-by-county note update, but after 30 counties of 99, it's taking too damn long. So I'll just get to the basics: As for accuracy, it seems I know the people of Davis County like Rush knows his glorious naked body /sarc. It was my most accurate projection county-wise though...

Both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party should adapt the "Majority Preferential", or also refered to as the Alternative Vote, for a fair and truly democratic outcome in presidential primaries and caucuses.Under the Alternative Vote system, regardless of the number of candidates, if a candidate garners a true majority [50+%] of all votes cast, then they are declared the winner.But if no candidate garners a true majority [50+%] of votes cast, then a voters 'alternative or 2nd preference' is counted:["Elections under Alternative Vote are usually held in single-member districts, like FPTP elections. However, AV gives voters considerably more options than...

Had voting in the Iowa Republican caucuses been restricted to voters under the age of 40, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas would have won easily, according to an entrance poll published by CNN. By contrast, according to the poll, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania won among voters between 40 and 64, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won among voters 65 or older. Voters at the caucuses tended to be older citizens, according to the poll, with fully 60 percent of them being at least 50 years of age. Only 25 percent of the caucus-goers were under 40, and...

“Game on.” That was the opening statement from a somewhat vindicated and jubilant Rick Santorum. Santorum found himself at the end of an incredible journey; a journey that included all of Iowa’s ninety-nine counties, three hundred and eighty-one town hall meetings. The finish line showed Santorum losing Iowa by a mere eight votes but most would conclude that Rick Santorum was the big winner. There may be more than three tickets leaving Iowa but quite a few are going to miss the plane. Rick Perry finished in a disappointing fifth place behind Newt Gingrich, who also experienced some difficulties in...

Keeping-in-mind the state's pitiful track record at picking eventual Republican presidential nominees, here's considering the Iowa Caucus results and what they mean (if anything): Santorum and Romney are locked in a dead-heat late into the night, nearing 25% of the vote each.  Romney appears to be pulling into the lead with a late surge, though. Ron Paul is third and Newt a battle-weary fourth, the take-away for Team Doughboy being "attack ads work", shame that it is. The rest are left licking wounds and re-assessing hopes in the wake of disappointing finishes, particularly Michelle Bachmann (who actually won the Iowa Staw Poll five months ago) and ...

Rick Santorum had the good fortune to surge right into Tuesday’s Iowa caucuses, where he virtually tied Mitt Romney. Several other GOP candidates, including Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, have risen to the top of the polls only to fall quickly to earth. Even if the ex-Pennsylvania senator can avoid implosion, he still faces a daunting road to the nomination. Romney has a nationwide campaign with lots of cash. Many early contests appear to favor him.

7 Things The Iowa Caucus Results Mean, and 3 Things all Conservatives Should See.1) The Establishment has successfully co-opted the Tea Party.Iowa is prime Tea Party territory (socially conservative, fiscally conservative, and grassroots oriented). If the voters in Iowa would not stand up to Mitt Romney and defeat the establishment no one will. By convincing voters that a Massachusetts Moderate is most electable against Barack Obama the GOP establishment has won. 2) Old School Politics still work. Rick Santorum did things the old way, by going out, meeting voters, and persuading them to vote for him. Unlike some of the...

Maybe it's time for a GOP rebellion. Why should voters listen to the GOP or Rove when they helped us into this soup? Does anyone think Romney has the guts to cut a trillion dollars in spending? Would he or Gingrich demand a declaration of war before putting troops in harms way? Are either of them going to get back to the Constitution, or just give it timely lip service?

This absolutely sickens me. It is the lowest of the low. Liberal Alan Colmes mocks Rick Santorum for treating his dead son with dignity. Colmes was suggesting that voters would shun Santorum once they “get a load of some of the crazy things he’s said and done, like taking his two-hour-old baby when it died right after child birth home and played with it so that his other children would know that the child was real." Notice the word "it." Colmes said the Santorum's took "it" home. My goodness, even a child that is born is still an "it"...

"..........And this, as much as anything else, is why Rick Santorum—a man who was stuck at 4 percent in the local polls as recently as one month ago, and is still stuck at 4 percent nationally—is going to win the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday........

Live thread to cover today's GOP caucus. News, predictions, opinions, totals, and the like. Will be heading out about 4 pm or so to get our site ready and do a final review with the precinct chairs. I expect it to be bigger than 2008 with very heavy turnout and we are preparing for that. We are also ready for disruptions. They simply won't be tolerated. The state party sent us a memo saying if there's any trouble call the cops immediately. Anyone trying to cause problems is going to get a rude awakening. My predictions of the outcome are...

Now that the Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year’s season has ended, another new season begins, one that I call SILLY. WELCOME to the SILLY SEASON called United States of America 2012 Presidential elections politics. On this day of the Iowa GOP Republican Caucus, when those who are part of this caucus voting effort, the ball gets rolling to get a candidate who can not only survive the grueling campaign for the White House, but all the attacks coming from other GOP Republican candidates in the weeks and months ahead. Best wishes to the remaining candidates in the GOP Republican Presidential 2012 field. Best...

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are arguing like girls on the playground. The USA Today piece is funny, but it shows the absurdity of meaningless rhetoric. Voters who knew and understood Herman Cain's 999 plan may be left to wonder what Romney and Gingrich stand for except attacking each other, and defending themselves. Iowans do not like candidates bickering with each other.

For months on the campaign trail, former Senator Rick Santorum was an afterthought for many potential voters. However, in the past week, his popularity has increased tremendously right before the Iowa Caucus. Along with his rising poll numbers, the traffic on RickSantorum.com has exploded as well. The traffic-tracking website Alexa did not even rank RickSantorum.com in the top 100,000 websites on the internet in the three months leading up to the surge. Yet, in the past week, not only has the site gone above 100,000, but it has broken 40,000: (Three Month View) (One Week View) To put this into...

The Republican Iowa Caucus is tomorrow and by all accounts it will be a very close race. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have been neck-and-neck in the polls for months now, but a Rick Santorum surge in the last week makes Iowa appear to be a three-way race. Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich are also on the ballot. Who will win is completely up in the air at the moment and will be until tomorrow night. However, right now, who would you vote for if you had a chance to voice your support in the Iowa...

Well here we go, the Iowa Caucuses are now just a day away. While I felt good about the simulation I performed last week, it appears all but shot now. The good news is that the numbers are still good, I just have to move the names around a little bit. In this thread, we’ll go county-by-county and analyze the vote totals and the most likely outcomes. Your own comments and analysis are always welcomed. Again this isn’t as scientific as some might think, and probably relies more on common sense. One last item. If this does turn out to...

<p>In what may be an anomaly in Iowa caucus history, voters are still flitting from candidate to candidate in the final days of the race.</p>

A popular social conservative radio talk show host whose program is heard statewide in Iowa is backing Newt Gingrich for president. Steve Deace's endorsement comes four days before the Hawkeye State's January 3 caucuses...

Iowans might feel a bit overwhelmed by the choices for next Tuesday’s Republican caucuses for the GOP presidential nomination, but one independent group has begun running radio ads insisting that there is still room for one more choice. Calling itself “Sarah Palin’s Iowa Earthquake,� the group will target specific markets in Iowa asking voters to line up behind the Republican Party’s most prominent non-candidate, and other ads will apparently follow: Can Iowans caucus for Palin at this late date? Sure. Unlike primary states, there is no “ballot� in the legal sense at caucuses. Attendees can write in names on the...

Full Primary/Caucus Calendar Jan 3 Iowa (caucus) 28 Delegates Jan 10 New Hampshire (primary) 12 Delegates Jan 21 South Carolina (primary) 25 Delegates Jan 31 Florida (primary) 50 Delegates Feb 4 Nevada (caucus) 28 Delegates Feb 4-11 Maine (caucus) 24 Delegates Feb 7 Colorado (caucus) 36 Delegates Minnesota (caucus) 40 Delegates Missouri (primary) 52 Delegates Feb 28 Arizona (primary) 29 Delegates Michigan (primary) 30 Delegates Mar 3 Washington (caucus) 43 Delegates Mar 6 Alaska (caucus) 27 Delegates (Super Georgia (primary) 76 Delegates Tuesday) Idaho (caucus) 32 Delegates Massachusetts (primary) 41 Delegates North Dakota (caucus) 28 Delegates Ohio (primary) 66 Delegates...

Polls? Screw the polls. If you want any good information you have to find it yourself. So that’s what I set out to do last week. It took about two weeks to produce/run the simulation but I think my product (while nowhere perfect) should be just as good an indicator of what is going to happen in Iowa as a sample poll. Here is what I did. I went painstakingly through all 99 counties analyzing the numbers on voter turnout and results from both the 2004 General Election and the 2008 Iowa Caucus and General Election to find the most...

The Politico reported on Tuesday that some Iowa Republicans are worried that a Ron Paul victory in the state’s upcoming caucuses could damage its first-to-vote influence in future elections by anointing a candidate with little chance to win the GOP nomination and who is unrepresentative of the party. Whoever is angsting about that, can angst some more over a new poll showing Paul in first place. Paul runs ahead of the GOP presidential pack with 27.5 percent support, followed by Newt Gingrich at 25.3 percent, Mitt Romney at 17.5 percent, Rick Perry at 11.2 percent and everyone else in single...

FReepers, Need your Help: Very shortly I'm going to be releasing my county by county analysis of the Iowa Caucus, projecting based on polling data and previous history the most likely outcome, along with an analysis of what % of each county vote the eventual GOP nominee will need to capture to have a shot at winning Iowa. I don't know a whole lot of IA history, so I've been surprised to see so many voter totals going down in response to people leaving. Most of the counties I've analyzed so far have had a 1-8% decrease in voter turnout...

Three new polls came out today on the Republican race for the nomination. At first glance one seems way out of line with the others, until you tally up the numbers and notice that it only comes to 64%. (36% no response/undecideds, CBS? What's up with that?) So if you add 50% to the total for each candidate in the CBS poll below, you can see the results match the other polls to a very high degree. Here are the results, with my 'adjustments' for CBS in brackets: Candidate - CNN - ABC - CBS Gingrich - 28 - 30...