Debate Co-chair Says Candy Crowley as Moderator was “Mistake” February 19, 2013

Politico:
Frank Fahrenkopf, a co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, said tonight (Tuesday) that the Commission made a “mistake” by selecting CNN anchor Candy Crowley to moderate one of the 2012 presidential debates.

Fahrenkopf, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, was speaking at the Las Vegas Country Club in Nevada. According to Jon Ralston, the Nevada-based political journalist, Fahrenkopf told the audience there that he was proud of the 2012 debate moderators, but added: “We made one mistake this time: Her name is Candy.”

Crowley, who moderated the second, town-hall-style debate, drew heavy fire from conservatives for challenging Mitt Romney after he suggested that President Obama had not called the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, “acts of terror.”

According to an agreement between the Obama and Romney campaigns, the moderator of the town hall debate was to refrain from asking questions or participating in the debate. Crowley had promised to defy that agreement even before the debate started.

Crowley later defended the interjection, saying she was just “trying to move the conversation along.”

UPDATE (9:49 p.m.): Janet Brown, the executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates, declined to comment on Fahrenkopf’s remarks.

Missouri House tries to Straighten Out Presidential Primary as It Passes 1st Bill, With “Kinder Clause” January 24, 2013

Kinder

The Missouri House has passed an elections bill aimed at straightening out the confusing process surrounding the Missouri Presidential primary system.
The Associated Press reports the plan, to move the state’s Presidential primary back from February into March, is aimed at making the state more relevant in the 2016 nominating contest.
The February/March Missouri 2012 primary and caucuses were confusing and unsatisfactory to many participants, especially in the then-contested GOP primary campaign
“The national Republican Party had warned that states holding their contests too early would lose half their delegates to the party’s national convention – a penalty intended to avoid a scramble among states to be near the front of the presidential nominating line. Missouri lawmakers sought to comply and delay the primary, but a bill that included the change was vetoed by Nixon for unrelated reasons. A second effort then bogged down during a contentious 2011 special legislative session.
Seeking to avoid the penalties, the Missouri Republican Central Committee opted to make the primary nonbinding and instead hold spring caucuses to allot delegates. However, state law still required the primary to be held. The nonbinding primary attracted few voters and was won by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The report says The election legislation, approved 115-45, was the first bill passed by a House chamber that now is controlled by a Republican supermajority. The bill now goes to the state Senate, where Republicans also hold a two-thirds majority.
The main thrust of the measure, however, does not deal with the state’s primary system.
Instead, it focuses on the gubernatorial powers to replace a member of the Executive Branch. It is being driven by the potential that GOP Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder could be selected as the Republican nominee for the southeast Missouri (Mo-8) Congressional seat. Jo Ann Emerson retired earlier this week to become a lobbyist.
Under the bill, the governor could appoint an acting officeholder to fill a midterm vacancy as lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, auditor or U.S. senator. The office then would appear on the statewide ballot during the next general election. Supporters said the bill would prohibit the acting officeholder from immediately running for that position to mitigate the advantages of incumbency.
Missouri law currently allows the governor to appoint a replacement as secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, auditor or U.S. senator. But there has been uncertainty about how to fill an opening for lieutenant governor. Clarifying that process has gained new importance with newly re-elected Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder among the candidates competing for the GOP nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, who resigned from Congress on Tuesday.
If Kinder wins the southeastern Missouri congressional seat, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon has claimed the authority to appoint a replacement while citing history. House Speaker Tim Jones has said he believes a special election is required. Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey has called the situation “unclear” but says he does not believe the governor can appoint the lieutenant governor.
The elections legislation is sponsored by Rep. Jason Smith, who also is seeking Emerson’s seat in Congress. Smith, R-Salem, has sponsored similar legislation previously and said that requiring the election of statewide officials would “give the power back to the people of Missouri.”

Campaign Epilogue: Missouri’s Electoral College Members to Meet Today December 17, 2012

(AP) — The drama is long over, but Missouri’s official vote for president is ready to be cast.

Ten people chosen by their fellow Republicans are gathering Monday at the Missouri Capitol to cast the state’s Electoral College vote for president.

Because Republican Mitt Romney won the state’s popular vote, the electoral voters are expected to follow suit. But there is nothing legally preventing them from voting for Democratic President Barack Obama.

Though Obama won re-election, Romney carried nearly 54 percent of Missouri’s vote in the Nov. 6 election.

Missouri’s 10 Electoral College voters include one person from each of the state’s eight congressional districts and two people chosen at large.

Dole Institute Pulls Back Campaign Curtain During Post Election Meeting December 9, 2012

Top Republican operatives were frustrated during the campaign. They could not find an issue that dented the popularity of President Obama, despite a wobbly economy.
That is one of the points made during an election break down session at the Dole Institute last week in Lawrence, Kansas, Politico reported.
“When we would test message point after message point after message point, there was almost nothing that would stick to this guy because they just liked him personally,” said Romney Deputy Campaign Manager Katie Packer Gage, according to Politico.
President Obama’s campaign team, on the other hand, feared the on-going court battles over early voting. They worried the more voters heard about it, the more they’d reject the idea.
“Our polling, focus groups, everything showed that the more we talked about it, the less people voted — that there is a chilling effect,” said Brent Colburn, Obama’s national communications director.said. “So we actually went out of our way aggressively to not talk about these court cases,”said Colburn,

OTHER THINGS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN:

-Romney Team believes the drawn out GOP primary hurt them. During the seminars they said they think the presence of Super-PACs kept candidates like Rick Santorum and newt Gingrich in the primary longer, at Romney’s expense.

– Obama’s campaign sent Massachusetts Democrats on Romney’s trail to trash his claims he worked well with Democrats when he was Mass. Governor.

-Romney’s campaign believes early voting hurt their chances.
“I’m not sure, frankly, that people voting in the middle of September is a good thing,” Gage said. “You’ve got people voting before any of the debates.”

-Obama’s Campaign didn’t like ‘The Blue Goose’
After the first debate, Chicago wanted to get the President into more town hall style events, without using the presidential podium.
“We were fighting to not use the ‘blue goose,’” Colburn said, a reference to the name for the podium. “We lost that fight. You usually lose fights with the Secret Service,” Colburn said.

More:http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=2FA650B0-585C-4202-8651-97322C11B38A

Nearly 2/3rds of Missouri Voters Cast a Ballot in November December 5, 2012

From Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s office, just to make you sound smart at a holiday party.
But don’t dwell on this stuff.
It creeps some people out:
“Approximately 65.7 percent, or 2.7 million, of Missouri’s 4.2 million registered voters cast a ballot in the November 6 election compared to a 57.5 percent average turnout nationally, as reported by the Center for the Study of the American Electorate. Osage County again reported the highest turnout in the state with an estimated 72.4 percent; in 2008, the county also ranked first with 76.8 percent.”