States Ranking by Percentage in Poverty & the 2008 Election

Below is the ranking of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia by the percentage of their population living in poverty. The ranking was done by the United States Census Bureau. If you look at the top ten states, two of them went for Obama and the other eight went for McCain. Conversely if you look at the bottom ten, you will find that nine of those states went for Obama, while only one went for McCain. Ohio, by the way, ranks 21, with 13.3% of its population living in poverty.

1
Mississippi
21.1
2
District of Columbia
19.6
3
Louisiana
19
4
New Mexico
18.5
5
Arkansas
17.3
5
West Virginia
17.3
7
Kentucky
17
7
Oklahoma
17
9
Texas
16.9
10
Alabama
16.6
11
Tennessee
16.2
12
South Carolina
15.7
13
Georgia
14.7
13
North Carolina
14.7
15
Arizona
14.2
15
New York
14.2
17
Missouri
13.6
17
Montana
13.6
17
South Dakota
13.6
20
Michigan
13.5
United States
13.3
21
Ohio
13.3
21
Oregon
13.3
23
California
13.1
24
Maine
12.9
25
Indiana
12.7
26
Florida
12.6
26
Idaho
12.6
28
Kansas
12.4
29
Illinois
12.3
30
Pennsylvania
12.1
31
Colorado
12
32
Washington
11.8
33
Nebraska
11.5
34
North Dakota
11.4
35
Delaware
11.1
35
Rhode Island
11.1
37
Iowa
11
37
Wisconsin
11
39
Alaska
10.9
40
Utah
10.6
41
Nevada
10.3
41
Vermont
10.3
43
Massachusetts
9.9
44
Minnesota
9.8
45
Virginia
9.6
46
Wyoming
9.4
47
Hawaii
9.3
48
New Jersey
8.7
49
Connecticut
8.3
50
New Hampshire
8
51
Maryland
7.8

Plain Dealer Article on Dem Gains in Ohio

The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an interesting article last week on November 10, 2008 about Dem gains and GOP gains in the Ohio presidential election. As you can see from the map, McCain only gained on Bush's performance in 11 counties while Obama did better than Kerry in 77 counties. You can read the article here.

Barack Obama's Election and Household Income

Below is a ranking of the fifty states of the United States, plus the District of Columbia, and how they rank in terms of median household income. You will note that of the top 20 states, which includes the District of Columbia, Obama carried all 20 of them. Of the bottom 20, McCain carried 15 and Obama carried 20. The information was obtained from the website of the United States Census Bureau,which can be found at www.census.gov.


Rank Median Income
1
New Jersey
52,487
2
Connecticut
52,372
3
Massachusetts
51,960
4
Maryland
51,316
5
District of Columbia
49,544
6
Alaska
48,703
7
Washington
48,331
8
New Hampshire
48,254
9
Michigan
47,329
10
Virginia
47,063
11
Illinois
46,526
12
Minnesota
46,349
13
Delaware
46,043
14
New York
45,833
15
Rhode Island
45,544
16
Colorado
45,017
17
California
44,905
18
Pennsylvania
43,402
19
Wisconsin
42,380
20
Ohio
42,346
United States
42,210
21
Indiana
41,991
22
Wyoming
41,913
23
Hawaii
41,821
24
Nevada
41,717
25
Oregon
41,536
26
Utah
41,475
27
Louisiana
40,765
28
Georgia
40,646
29
Kansas
40,595
30
Missouri
40,443
31
Vermont
40,119
32
Maine
40,116
33
Arizona
40,056
34
Iowa
39,753
35
Kentucky
39,595
36
Alabama
39,528
37
Texas
38,797
38
Idaho
38,278
39
North Dakota
38,179
40
Florida
38,005
41
Nebraska
37,828
42
West Virginia
37,622
43
Tennessee
37,589
44
North Carolina
37,545
45
South Carolina
37,194
46
New Mexico
37,064
47
Oklahoma
36,655
48
Montana
36,378
49
Mississippi
35,617
50
Arkansas
35,144
51
South Dakota
34,937

How the Obama Effort in Medina County Paid Off

The headline of this article might seem a little strange given that Obama lost Medina County by 7184 votes. As far as the Obama campaign was concerned, though, it wasn't just the total spread between the candidates that mattered. What mattered was how the Obama campaign did in Ohio's counties compared to the Kerry campaign in 2004. Applying that standard, the Obama effort in Medina County paid off.

In 2004, George W. Bush got 48196 votes and John Kerry got 11924. The spread between Bush and Kerry was 11924. The total Medina County vote for the two candidates was 84468. In 2008 John McCain got 46829 and Barack Obama got 39645. As mentioned above, those figures meant that the spread between the two was 7184. The total Medina County vote for the two candidates was 86474.

This meant that on a higher total vote, Barack Obama reduced the GOP lead in Medina County by over 4000 votes. Medina County wasn't unique. In almost every "red" county, Barack Obama did better than John Kerry. This meant that when he got 60% of the vote in the eight largest Ohio counties, John McCain couldn't offset that vote with votes from smaller counties like Bush did in 2004. By fighting for every county, Barack Obama was able to carry Ohio.

Obama Wins Dixville Notch and Hartville's Location in N.H.

You know that you are obessing about an election when you get up at 3:00 am to check out whether Obama carried Dixville Notch in New Hampshire. Dixville Notch, and another little town, Hartville's Location, have a tradition of getting their voters out at midnight on Election Day to cast the first votes in the nation. By the way, when we say "little", we aren't kidding. The total votes cast this year in these two towns numbered 50.

So here I am at 3:00 am checking out the numbers. It turns out that Obama won both towns. In Dixville Notch he won by a vote of 15 to 6 and Hartville's Location by 17 to 10, for a total of 32 to 16. In Hartville's Location there were two write-in votes for Ron Paul. Ralph Nader was on the ballot in both locations, but got no votes.

Dixville Notch almost always votes Republican. In fact, since 1960, it has only gone Democrat for President one time, and that was in 1968. So, the fact that Obama won could mean something, or it might not mean a thing. In any event, there it is. You can read the whole article about Dixville Notch and Hartville's Location here.

McCain Campaign Running Robocalls in AZ

Okay, now this is interesting. Talking Points Memo is reporting that several of its readers who live in Arizona have received robocalls attacking Obama. The robocalls are being paid by the Republican National Committee. Apparently the RNC is freaking out over recent polls that show Obama within two points of Angry John in his homestate. So this means that in the closing week of the campaign, the RNC is being forced to play defense on McCain's home turf. Gee, how is that selection of Sarah Palin working out for you now, Johnny?

Watch McCain Get Tongue Tied

Cindy McCain's 2007 Income: 4.1 Million

Well, you have to hand it to John McCain, he certainly hit the jackpot when he cheated on his first wife to get Cindy McCain. In 2007, her family business earned her 4.1 million dollars. She paid taxes of 1.1 million. That means she paid taxes at a percentage of less than 25%. No wonder Johnny Mac is working so hard to defeat Barack Obama, he does't want his wife to pay more in taxes.

The fact that Barack Obama's tax plan would raise his family's taxes and the fact that John McCain's tax plan would lower his family's taxes tells you all you need to know about the two men and their concern for others.

One Weird Political Pic

This photograph from Reuters taken after the third presidential debate has to be one of the strangest political photographs ever taken. We have been trying to come up with a caption for this picture, but all the ones we have come up with can't be put on a g-rated or even a pg-rated blog, so you will just have to use your own imagination.

Obama Campaign Takes McCain's "I'm not President Bush" and Runs With It

Pic of McCain at ACORN Sponsored Rally

Back in the day when McCain actually supported his own immigration reform bill, he appeared at a rally in Miami that was sponsored by, among others, ACORN. You know, the organization that his campaign is now trying to blame for the subversion of American Democracy. Here is a pic of the event:

Politifact.com Goes After McCain on Obama-Ayers Link

Although the bogey-man de jour for the radical right and the McCain campaign seems to have shifted from William Ayers to ACORN, if you are looking for information to debunk the Obama-Ayers links, try this article from Politifact.com.

We especially like this quote from the article:

The campaign appears to have confused two different definitions of the word "radical." Clearly the invitation referred to "a considerable departure from the usual or traditional," rather than "advocating extreme measures to retain or restore a political state of affairs."

So not only are McCain's campaigners making unfounded attacks on Obama, but they aren't too bright.

GOP Congressional Representatives Won't Comment of McCain Housing Plan

Huffington Post has a great article up on its website about how the GOP House members that it contacted won't comment on John McCain's plan to buy up bad mortgages. Here is a quote from the article:

On Thursday afternoon, the Huffington Post reached out to roughly two dozen press offices for Republican members of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees, not one of which was ready to talk about the GOP presidential candidate's proposal in even the broadest terms.

Further, Marc Ambinder of the Atlanic Monthly points out that some commentators think that the plan is specifically prohibited by the recently passed bailout bill.

John McCain's Mortgage Buy-Out Plan: Both stupid and illegal.

McCain Refers to Americans as his "Fellow Prisoners"

This gem comes courtesy of the fine folks at Talking Points Memo.

Check it out:

Dow Heads South for Fifth Day in Row

This is why the McCain campaign has come unglued over the last two weeks. The American economy is heading south, along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Americans are worried about their families' economic future. The "free-market" philosophy of the GOP, which McCain has been a part of ever since he became a politican, has no answers for what is happening.

That's why, during the presidential debate of October 7TH, McCain came out with this rather amazing idea of buying up all the bad mortgages in America and replacing them with government loans. Now, apparently, the recently passed bailout bill does give the President the authority to do just that, and maybe it is a great idea, but it is not a conservative, free market idea.

One of the interesting developments over the next few days will be to watch how conservatives react to this proposal. Our guess is that they won't like it one bit. It will further demoralize the base of the Republican Party, which was getting behind McCain because of Palin. Now, along comes McCain and suggests something that even the Democratic candidate running for President didn't suggest. Not something designed to appeal to the base.

Des Moines Register Columnist Calls McCain Anger "Unsettling"

You may have read or seen on You Tube or Talking Points Memo the interview that McCain gave the Des Moines Register editorial staff. The Register, like other newspapers, video tapes its interviews with candidates seeking the newspaper's endorsement. A lot of people have commented on how angry and upset McCain appeared. A lot of the comments came from writers on blogs that are Obama supporters or lean toward Obama. An interesting view, however, was given on Sunday by one of members of the Register's editorial staff.

Here is a quote from Rehka Basu's column titled Is McCain too thin-skinned for presidency?:

John McCain is angry.

You can feel it in the clenched muscles in his throat, the narrowing of his eyes, the controlled tone with which he handles a question he doesn't like, as if struggling to contain something that might spill out. We've seen that body language on TV. But around a Des Moines Register table Tuesday, the anger and tension were palpable. And unsettling.

You can read the entire column here.

Obama Ad Attacking McCain for McCain's Attack Ads

The Obama campaign runs an ad attacking McCain for going negative:

Obama Campaign Getting Ready to Use Keating Five Scandal Against McCain

Back during the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, five United States Senators were found to have been influenced by Charles Keating, Keating was from Ohio and up to his eyeballs in the whole savings and loan mess. The Obama campaign is apparently getting ready to make this part of McCain's past part of the 2008 campaign, as the video below shows"



You can learn more about the Keating Five scandal here.

Columbus Dispatch Poll Has Obama Up by 7 In Ohio

The picture above is the headline on an article that appears on the Columbus Dispatch website. The article is about the results of a mail-in poll that was conducted in Ohio among likely voters. The poll shows that Obama is leading 49% to 42%. The last time the Dispatch reported on a poll that it took of likely voters, McCain led by one percentage point. That poll was conducted in mid-August, right before each party's national convention.

The internals of the poll are rather interesting. One is that if you look at the state's regions, the northwest and the northeast are where Obama is leading McCain. Another is that 18% of former Clinton supporters are backing McCain,66% of former Clinton supporters are backing Obama, and 14% of Clinton primary voters are undecided. Overall, Obama was getting the support of 84% of Democrats, McCain was getting 7% of Democrats, and 8% of Democrats were undecided. McCain is getting 90% of Republicans, Obama is getting 5% of Republicans, and 5% of Republicans were undecided. Since, however, Democratic identification ran 10% higher in this poll than Republican identification, Obama can afford to lose a higher percentage of his own party than McCain.

The Dispatch article points out that McCain, by pulling out of Michigan, means that Ohio becomes even more important to his chances. Likewise, if Obama can take Ohio, then the chances of McCain winning enough states to capture the 270 votes needed to win the electoral college are very slim, if not impossible.

Expect to see even more negative campaign ads from the McCain campaign here in Ohio. You know, the ads that a friend of ours refers to as "the Obama is going to come to your home and take your women" ads. In other words, once again we will see typical Republican bs on our TV screens. Given our economic problems here in Ohio, however, our betting is that it won't work.

MSNBC Knuckes Under to O'Reilly Pressure and Pulls Independent Ad on McCain's Health

Here is the ad that MSNBC pulled. It is a good one and raises legitimate questions about McCain's health: