Spokane County no longer 'Paul Country'?

As a 'Liberal' in the land of Conservatives, I very often just like being on the outside looking in.

Spokane is and always has been a very Conservative town and County. Over the last several years, this has been 'Ron Paul Country'.

But now this :

Spokane
Gingrich - 411 - 8%
Paul - 1,340 -26%
Romney - 1,521 -30%
Santorum - 1,511 - 30%

The total for the State :
Total
Gingrich -  5,221 - 10%
Paul - 12,594 - 25%
ROmney - 19,111 - 38%
Santorum - 12,089 -24%
From : http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2012/by_county/WA_President_0303.html?SITE=AP&SECTION=POLITICS

Washington State, this caucus, is just a 'beauty contest' with no delegates awarded.

Will that matter and especially in Ohio on Tuesday?

'Right to Vote' in Kennewick, Wa. Republican Caucus

"I think it's illegal," Swenson shouted to a gathered crowd, many of whom were filming him with cell phone cameras'.

"I think it's unconstitutional," he said. "Our right to vote is the most fundamental right in the Constitution'.
From : http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/03/03/1849623/politics-hundreds-turned-away.html

While you cannot be denied the 'right to vote', the Constitution never explicitly ENSURES the 'right to vote'.
See : http://www.usconstitution.net/constnot.html#vote
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Democracy/A_Right_to_Vote.html

'This may be a conservative reading of the Constitution, but it is black-letter law. True, the Constitution contains specific, hard-won language in the 15th and 19th Amendments that forbids discrimination in voting on the basis of race or sex. But these prohibitions don't establish a universal right to vote. Thus, Congress cannot selectively disenfranchise women in the District of Columbia but can, and does, render all of its residents voiceless in Congress by denying them representation in the House and Senate. The Florida legislature may not (theoretically, anyway) dismiss only the votes of African Americans; but as the Supreme Court kindly reminded us in Bush v. Gore, it can dismiss everyone's votes'.

Is it nit-picking? Yeah. (GRINS!) But consider this. The Founding Fathers as they wrote the Constitution were white, of property and over 21 years of age.

Women did not vote.
Slaves did not vote.
American Indians did not vote.

In fact if you were not white, over 21 and owned property, you did not vote.

Don't abuse the Constitution. Understand it's purpose at the time and it's use as the foundation for a civil society and functioning government today.

Washington State - Thank You Representative Dicks

'Rep. Norm Dicks, the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, announced today he is retiring at the end of the year'.

“After 18 terms representing the people of the 6th Congressional District of Washington, preceded by eight years on the Staff of Senator Warren G. Magnuson, Suzie and I have made the decision to change gears and enjoy life at a different pace,” the Democrat said in a statement'.
From : http://atr.rollcall.com/appropriations-ranking-member-norm-dicks-to-retire/

Should be an easy 'hold' for the Democrats :

'The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee quickly described the 6th district as a likely hold for the party, while national Republicans in the immediate aftermath were assessing how competitive the district is with Dicks no longer running'.
From : http://atr.rollcall.com/washington-no-shortage-of-successors-looking-at-norm-dicks-seat/

And for the other retiring members of Congress this session :
http://www.rollcall.com/politics/casualtylist.html?pos=opol

The Weekly 2012 - Super Tuesday

Washington State has a Caucus on Saturday and Romney is in a comfortable lead.

Georgia - 76 delegates - Proportional
Gingrich is leading.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/213515-ohio-is-next-battlefield-for-the-gop

Massachusetts - 41 delegates - Proportional
Romney and big.

Ohio - 66 delegates- Winer Take All
Santorum up slightly in Ohio. He's trying to get away from the "God is good, God is great, all the rest are second rate' message. If he can, big win here.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-and-centers/polling-institute/ohio/release-detail?ReleaseID=1714

Oklahoma - 43 delegates - Winner Take All
Another big lead for Santorum.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/213515-ohio-is-next-battlefield-for-the-gop

Tennessee - 58 delegates - With majority, Winner Take All
Santorum up and up big.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/213515-ohio-is-next-battlefield-for-the-gop

Vermont - 17 delegates - With majority, Winner Takes All
Romney but not big.

Virginia - 49 delegates - With Majority, Winner Takes All
Romney holds big lead. Bet Santorum wishes he'd gotten on the ballot now. (Newt's failure not to do so wouldn't have made much of a difference.)
http://roanoke.edu/News_and_Events/Campus_News/RC_Poll_March_2011_Republican_primary.htm

Alaska - 27 delegates - Caucus
Paul.

Idaho - 32 delegates - Caucus
Likely Paul but a large Mormon population too.

N.Dakota - 28 - Caucus
Paul and Santorum?

Washington - Romney
Georgia - Gingrich
Massachusetts - Romney
Ohio - Split
Oklahoma - Santorum
Tennessee - Santorum
Vermont - Romney
Virginia - Romney
Alaska - Paul
Idaho - Romney
N. Dakota - Paul

We are looking at a possible at, around or even less the 200 delegates for Romney on (cough) Super Tuesday.

Only 'winning' Michigan by 3 points and Santorum NOT getting on Virginia's ballot are two big loses for both campaigns.

But worse, Super Tuesday will allow Santorum to get back ON message (and off of the piety stuff) and doesn't give Romney the knock out punch with all of the splits and delegate sharing. If Santorum wins in Ohio, it just adds to the same doubt as the 3 point Romeny 'win' in Michigan.

Sweet Home Washington (State)

Usually Washington State is an also mentioned. Say Washington and almost everybody thinks of D.C.

So it's always of note when any national agency or organization takes the time to spotlight us.
Thank you PPP.

We are going to have a new Governor this year and so far the race is pretty close 'PPP finds the race for Governor of Washington tied, with Jay Inslee and Rob McKenna each at 42%'.
McKenna has been our State's Attorney General since our current Governor left the job. (Check me on that.) He's also been running for Governor almost as long.
Inslee is the D and depending on the trend in National politics and a couple of in State initiatives, that will more then likely determine his fate.

Our State legislature recently passed and the Governor signed into law the 'same sex marriage' law. Even before it was signed, opposition was started against it.

'-The vote on gay marriage in Washington looks like it should be pretty close. 50% of voters say they'll vote to uphold the law legalizing gay marriage, while 46% say they would vote to repeal it. You see the standard huge generational gap on this issue. Young voters support gay marriage 63/32, while seniors oppose it 56/39. Even if voters do repeal the law this fall, it's pretty clear the direction things are moving in'.

That pretty much sums it up. An initiative of 'everything but marriage' passed 3 years ago so if you can't see the writing on the wall it's because you don't want to look.

And the other issue - '-Washington voters are also leaning toward legalizing marijuana. 47% of voters say they're currently inclined to vote yes on Initiative 502 to 39% who are opposed. This leads by double digits with every age group except for seniors, who oppose it 45/35'.

Again more writing on the wall.

I was very surprised to see this - 'Christine Gregoire continues to be one of the most unpopular Governors in the country with 40% of voters approving of her to 53% who disapprove. The only Governors we've found with a higher disapproval rating than her in the last year are Hawaii's Neil Abercrombie and Florida's Rick Scott'.

The bulk of our State's revenue is sales tax based. Gregorie has done a decent job but with the recession AND having to depend mostly on sales tax, not a lot of wiggle room.

But wow! to be in the same neighborhood as Florida's Rick Scott?!

We also have a US Senate seat up for grabs.

One of the people running for the seat is a teabagger form my area of the State.Michael Baumgartner. 2 years ago when he was running for State Senator his opponant charged that the teabagger was only using the Senate race as a stepping stone. And of course the teabagger said 'Oh of course I'm not'.
Less then a year after winning the State Senate seat, the tea bagger announced he was running for US Seante.

That will be the focus of the campaign against him. Accountability. Remember THAT tea party?

Well that and the last I saw Cantwell had raised $1.5 Million and Baumgartner had rtaised $150,000.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/washington-state-poll.html