Greg Corombos of Radio America and Daniel Foster of National Review Online are stunned by the story behind the complete meltdown of Romney’s voter turnout effort. They also sigh as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is rumored to be a likely successor to Eric Holder at Attorney General. And they speculate as to how much Chris Christie’s political future has been impacted by his embrace of President Obama last week.
Tuesday’s elections not only decided critical races around the country, but it also means the blizzard of political ads mercifully came to a stop. The Capitol Steps reflect upon the media onslaught in Super PACs. Our guest is Steps star Elaina Newport.
Tuesday’s elections resulted in the re-election of President Obama, but they also brought the enshrinement of gay marriage in three states and the defeat of a traditional marriage amendment in a fourth.
Voters in Maryland, Maine and Washington gave thumbs up to legalizing same-sex marriage and the people of Minnesota rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have defined marriage in the Gopher State only as the union of one man and one woman. The results end a string of more than 30 states which approved traditional marriage amendments or voted down efforts to legalize gay marriage.
Liberty Counsel Chairman Mathew Staver is one of the most prominent legal defenders of traditional marriage. He says the news from Tuesday is far more than a bad night for cultural conservatives.
“An amazing thing, a disturbing thing happened on Tuesday. This was not just an election. This could be the beginning of the death of America,” said Staver. “God has called us to be faithful and we have to be faithful. Everything that America believes, all of our values will be challenged over the next four years. We can’t allow the America that we’ve inherited to simply go up in flames.”
Staver says he’s fully aware that assessment may seem like an overreaction, but he insists the fears are well-founded.
“Now somebody says that’s a pretty radical statement. It’s absolutely true,” he said. “I’m not an alarmist. I’m a very optimistic individual, but we’ve got our work cut out for us and we’ve got to make sure that we really pray, that we really act and that on our watch this America that we love, the shining city on a hill continues to be so after another four years.”
Staver says the threats to this nation will come from countless directions.
“What will take place over the next few years will be significant threats to our biblical and moral values, particularly marriage, abortion (and) religious liberty, not to even mention the economy, our national security, the defense of Israel, the Middle East, the rise of radical Islam,” said Staver. “We are going to be on a very bumpy roller coaster over the next four years. We have to just simply remain faithful. We’ve got a country to save.”
As for where the marriage debate is headed, Staver says it is “significant” that traditional marriage forces came up short in all four states on Tuesday. He says the reason for that can be traced in part to the contest at the top of the ballot.
“Over the last four years, this president, Obama, has tried to undermine the marriage laws. And in doing so, he has energized the same-sex agenda,” said Staver, referring to Obama’s Justice Department refusing to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act and publicly stating his support for gay marriage.
The definition of marriage will soon be before the U.S. Supreme Court, and which way the current court might rule is anyone’s guess. Staver says the legal precedent is on the side of traditional marriage since 41 states have statutes or amendments defining the institution.
“That says something about the culture and the public policy that the states have adopted,” said Staver. “Plus we have the long history of tradition with regards to our constitutional jurisprudence that has never recognized same-sex marriage.”
But he admits a strong legal case does not necessarily guarantee victory.
“On the other hand, you’ve got justices on the United States Supreme Court,” he said. “We know irrespective of the law and the history, we got Roe v. Wade. They invented it out of thin cloth. And that’s a problem.”
Staver expects a decision by June of 2013 on the definition of marriage stemming from legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act.
There’s another issue related to the court that could bring even more concern to cultural conservatives, and that’s the composition of the court. Staver sees Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a likely retirement in the next four years but does not expect any of the five conservative or moderate justices to step down the bench. If one of them does leave, Staver says the impact will be immense.
“If one of the other justices like Thomas or Scalia or Alito or Roberts or even Kennedy were to step down, then this president nominating a justice will literally change the direction of the court for the rest of our lifetime,” said Staver. “So we’ve really got to pray for this Supreme Court. We have to be in serious prayer and repentance and be involved over the next four-plus years during this second term.”
Staver is bracing for major cultural battles in other areas as well, including the abortion provisions inside the Obama health laws that take effect next year.
“In 2013, we will have a clash between religious freedom and this president’s Obamacare policies,” he said. “Will there be widespread disobedience by the Roman Catholic churches, by Protestant churches and by Protestant organizations and Christian businesses when they’re forced to fund abortion? That’s a line that many people just simply will not cross.”
Staver’s concerns don’t end there. He says political correctness, specifically the homosexual agenda, is invading every part of our government and will only intensify over the next four years.
“At the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), he has appointed Chai Feldblum, who is someone who says that if the so-called lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) agenda collides with religious liberty, guess which one wins?” asked Staver. “The First Amendment free exercise of religion? No. The homosexual LGBT agenda. We’re going to see those kind of things happen in the next four years.”
Staver says this not only will happen, it’s been happening for four years.
“We already know that he’s hired, back in 2009, a czar essentially, to push the LGBT agenda in every one of the agencies,” he said. “The FBI, the CIA, all the intelligence agencies…is being infiltrated with that kind of immorality, and that’s just going to continue to escalate over the next four years.”
Mitt Romney should have embraced the Republican platform and the current Republican in leaders in Congress should step down from leadership as a result of their “massive failure”, according to legendary conservative activist Richard Viguerie.
Viguerie has been a fixture in the conservative movement for over 50 years, pioneered direct mail political advertising and is chairman of conservativehq.com.
After great initial concern about Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee, Viguerie says the former Massachusetts governor did a good job of embracing conservative policies. But he says Romney needed to fully embrace the core values of the GOP.
“Romney took good conservative positions. The problem is he did not follow through,” said Viguerie. “Phyllis Schlafly says the Republican platform adopted in Tampa this past August was probably the most conservative platform ever. And I think that’s probably true, but Romney did not run on the platform and the Republican Party did not run on the platform.”
Instead, Viguerie says Romney ran on his business record and his accomplishments in Massachusetts.
Republicans are now doing a bit of reflection to figure what can be done better in future campaigns. Some conservatives insist their principles are fine but the marketing of conservatism needs some updating to appeal to a wider audience.
Others say the GOP must take more moderate positions on issues ranging from gay marriage to amnesty to rape exceptions to the pro-life position. Viguerie says moving to the Left is never the right answer for conservatives.
“The idea that conservatives need to abandon our principles and move left is nonsense,” said Viguerie. “The way that we win elections and not just appeal to the base but to the American people is when we make the campaign about our issues, our views our values. Republicans never win national elections unless we nationalize the elections and present to the voters two dramatically different world views – a world view of a big, all-encompassing, powerful government versus a small government, individual responsibility, traditional values, lower taxes (and a) balanced budget.”
The current crop of Republican leaders in Congress has never impressed Viguerie, and he says Obama’s re-election means the GOP needs new blood at the top.
“What I would like to see from them is that they resign,” he said, noting that in most governments party leaders step down in the wake of massive failures like Obama’s re-election. “This president was just hanging on by his fingernails. Most people expected he would lose his re-election and he won a strong victory. The leadership of the party, including (Reince) Priebus at the Republican National Committee, Speaker Boehner and Leader Mitch McConnell and all the others, including John Cornyn of the Senate campaign committee, they all need to resign and bring some new leaders in there.”
However, Viguerie isn’t holding his breath.
“I don’t expect that they will do this,” he said, hoping for Tea Party challengers to the leaders in 2014. “They’ve been complicit in growing government – Boehner, Mitch McConnell and a lot of other Republican leaders. Today’s Republican Party is not yesterday’s Republican Party and they just can’t continue to grow government and hold on to the levers of power they have at this time.”
Americans voted to re-elect President Obama and keep Republicans in control of the House of Representatives. With a myriad of tax cuts ready to expire and the “fiscal cliff” looming less than eight weeks away, both Obama and House Republicans are vowing cooperation but neither side seems ready to budge on the issue of tax hikes for wealthier Americans.
“We have to remember this is not about competition. This is about conviction,” said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, which is the caucus of House conservatives. “Someone’s got to convince me that raising taxes on job creators is going to create more jobs. It just doesn’t work that way.”
Jordan lauded House Speaker John Boehner’s statement on Wednesday, in which he called for big solutions on tax reform, spending reductions and entitlement reform but firmly rejected the frequent Obama call for higher taxes on the highest wage earners.
So with less than two months before we fall of the fiscal cliff, which side will blink?
“We will see,” said Jordan. “The Republican Party has had a longstanding position on this key principle that when you actually lower tax rates you get additional revenue which is what we need to deal with the deficit and the debt situation. That’s the right approach. John F. Kennedy understood that and put that into practice. Ronald Reagan understood that and put that into practice. That’s the model to follow, not this idea that we can raise taxes on a few Americans and somehow that’s going to fix the problem. The math doesn’t work.”
Jordan says he hopes for a new tone from Obama, noting that the president campaigned in 2008 as a post-partisan figure and then “became the most partisan president in American history.”
Many critics of Obama called the 2012 elections the last chance to stop our debt from swallowing us and to stop the Obama health plan. Now that he’s been re-elected will those dire predictions be realized?
“Let’s hope this president understands that you cannot keep spending a trillion dollars more each year than what you take in and not have a debt crisis hit this country,” said Jordan. “Let’s hope he figures that out.”
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Dan Foster of National Review Online cautiously cheer House Speaker John Boehner for refusing to raise tax rates and for wanting to bring certainty to the tax code. However, they fear Boehner will give away too much to the Democrats, much like in 2011 on the continuing resolution and 2012 on the debt ceiling. They’re disappointed but not surprised that Boeing is cutting many jobs in its defense division just two days after the election. And they appalled as the anti-Mohammed filmmaker blamed for the Benghazi terrorist attack is sentenced to a year in prison on probation violations.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Daniel Foster of National Review Online glumly dissect President Obama’s re-election with Dan seeing some hopeful lessons in the outcome and Greg seeing a nation getting way too comfortable with the new normal. They also discuss what went horribly wrong for Republican efforts to regain a Senate majority and list the good and bad news in the many House races.
With just hours left to vote in the battleground state of Virginia, former Senator George Allen is campaigning to the last moment in his effort to defeat former Gov. Tim Kaine and win back the seat he lost in 2006.
Allen is urging all Virginians to head to the polls but suggests that common sense should convince people to pick him to serve in Washington.
“I feel that anybody who pays taxes, works for a living or lost a job, anybody who drives a car or uses electricity or anybody who believes health care decisions ought to be made by doctors and patients rather than by a panel in Washington should be on our side,” said Allen Tuesday afternoon while on the road to Richmond. “Virginians are going to make a decision about the future of our country. I’m hopeful and optimistic that they’ll want our country ascending once again.”
Allen says there are several major issues on which he and Kaine differ strongly, including Allen’s passion to lift restrictions on coal production and offshore energy exploration while Kaine has been less committed on that front.
Allen says there are also huge differences on defense spending and taxes. In a defense-heavy state like Virginia, Allen says pushing a trillion dollars in cuts for national security spending is a terrible idea.
“A big difference with my opponent are these devastating defense cuts,” said Allen. ” He continues to say that this sequestration deal is the right thing to do and there’s over 200,000 defense-related jobs and technology jobs at risk in Virginia and obviously our military readiness is going to be harmed from it.”
The GOP nominee also blasts Kaine for pushing tax hikes on the wealthy to fight the nation’s huge deficits.
“Raising taxes will only make our economy weaker and there will be more job losses,” said Allen. “What we need to do is have a balanced approach and one of the best ways to raise revenues is with a vibrant, strong economy.”
One of Kaine’s most frequent campaign strategies is to portray himself as someone who reaches across the aisle and works well with others to get things done in the interest of all Virginians and all Americans. Kaine contends Allen’s record is one of partisanship, but Allen says the facts prove otherwise.
“I’m the only candidate who has actually produced results working with a Democratic majority in the state legislature when I was governor,” said Allen, who served as the commonwealth’s chief executive from 1994-1998. “We cut taxes, we froze college tuition, we abolished a lenient, dishonest parole system, put in ‘truth in sentencing’ and over 300,000 net new jobs were created. When Tim was governor, he spent his last year in the most partisan job in America as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, advocating so many of these initiatives that are hurting Virginia. In fact, Democrats and Republicans voted against his massive tax increases.”
Allen says Virginia lost 100,000 jobs while Kaine was governor between 2006-2010.
Allen has run statewide three times in the past and this is his third senate race. He says he is seeing energy and enthusiasm like never before.
“We do see much more enthusiasm on our side,” he said. “People do recognize that our children and grandchildren aren’t going to have the same opportunities that we had growing up if America continues down this dismal path with diminished opportunities.”
Polls in Virginia are open until 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
Polls were only open for a couple of hours when the first allegations of voter suppression and intimidation came in from Philadelphia. Whether or not those irregularities have an impact on today’s elections is yet to be seen, but election experts already see many avenues for cheating in our current system.
John Fund writes for National Review Online and is author of the new book, “Who’s Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk.” He says America’s system is an embarrassment.
“We have the sloppiest election system of any industrialized democracy,” said Fund. “The Pew Research Center, which is a non-partisan group, says one out of eight of our voter registrations are either invalid or contain major errors. That’s a problem. They also say we have two million dead people on the voter rolls. Look, I believe the dead deserve honor and respect, but they don’t deserve representation without respiration.”
Fund says another major headache is the four million people registered in more than one state. He says the argument that no one actually votes in more than one state is a terrible excuse.
“A Democratic congressional candidate in Maryland, the nominee of her party, a couple of months ago it was found she had voted in both Florida and Maryland,” he said. “She was very civically engaged and she had to resign her position. We have a lot of underbrush, and when you have underbrush you can have fires and I fear we could have a fraud fire.”
Several states have recently attempted to secure the vote by mandating photo identification to vote. The idea has been approved in some states and is wildly popular across the country, but the Obama administration has led a fight to block the new laws, claiming they suppress the vote and disenfranchise minorities and the poor. Fund says the obstruction from Washington goes even further.
“In Florida there was an effort to get non-citizens off the rolls,” he said. “We discovered (this) through the work of an NBC News affiliate in Ft. Myers, Florida. They went to their county jury records and they found that hundreds of people had claimed that they couldn’t serve on a jury because they were not citizens. But they were registered to vote and in some cases actually voted. They went to the Obama Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security and said ‘You have the best lists of foreigners living in the country both legally and illegally. Please give us the names so we can cross-reference it with our voter registration rolls.’ The Justice Department refused and they spent ten months trying to get them. Finally, when they took them to court and they were sure to lose in court, the Obama administration finally turned over the records.”
In another case, Fund says the Bush administration was trying to clean up the voter rolls in a Missouri county where the number of registered voters exceeded the number of adults over 18 years of age. The Obama administration quickly dropped the case shortly after coming into office.
For those who say voter fraud could happen but isn’t a real concern because it doesn’t happen, Fund says to look no further than the Project Veritas videos showing a young white man easily getting handed the ballot for Attorney General Eric Holder or others being handed ballots in the names of dead people.
Shoplifting is the analogy Fund likes to use to warn about voter fraud. He says if you have no posted warnings about shoplifting and no video surveillance then you are encouraging shoplifting – and the same goes for voter fraud. And just as simple safeguards help deter shoplifters, the same goes for those looking to create mischief in the electoral system.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Daniel Foster of National Review Online applaud Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for running a campaign based on big ideas and themes. They also rip the government for failing to get ballots to overseas military voters on time. And we share our personal experiences at the polls from this morning.
