A handy account here on Talking Points Memo of the efforts by Republicans to purge new voters and otherwise suppress votes in battleground states. Funny how busy the GOP is in key electoral states. The good news is the successful pushback.
The Huck PAC’s work to elect Republicans didn’t keep one prominent Huckabite from straying from the fold. A prominent New Hampshire Republican who chaired Mike Huckabee’s campaign in the state has endorsed Barack Obama. Obama. Huckabee. Who can tell the difference?
Good report on KATV last night.
The Arkansas Public Policy Panel has also sent the word to its members.
You get the feeling that legislators aren’t comfortable about the Game and Fish Commission’s position that all its gas windfall is the commission’s and the commission’s alone. Or maybe I read too much into a recent attorney general opinion request about the legality of requiring payments in lieu of taxes by Game and Fish when it buys private property — as it did recently with gas proceeds – and converts it to tax-free public use.
The automatic news story of the hour is the "surge" of early voting. Agreed: More will vote early than ever before, in part because more and more states are making it easy to vote early, a wonderful convenience.
Here’s my but ….
Do we really know that early voting will translate into a surge in overall voting? Are the early voters just the same people (like me and most Blog readers) who ALWAYS vote?
Will the young people really turn out in a record percentage? Will minorities do the same?
GORE, Okla. — A vehicle belonging to a missing Oklahoma teenager has been recovered in Muskogee County.Even though the car was burned, investigators still believe Jenny Lynn Spradling, 17, of Gore, is a runaway.Spradling has been missing since Sept. 12 after applying for job at a Gore pizza restaurant. Investigators said they think Spradling ran away from home. Some of her friends have told investigators she may be in Florida or California. (Read the full post about ‘Missing Okla. Teen’s Car Found Burned’…)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Election day may still be 10 days away, but it’s already over for many Arkansas voters.Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels said 130,000 people cast early ballots this week.Daniels is predicting up to 70 percent of the state’s 1.6 million registered voters will participate in the election this year. Early voting in Oklahoma begins Friday. (Read the full post about ‘Early Voting Draws 130K To Polls’…)
FORT SMITH, Ark. — Police continue to look for a man they said was an enforcer at the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries.John Erwin Kolbeck is facing a felony battery charge and has not been seen since FBI agents and Arkansas State Police troopers raided Alamo’s compound in Fouke last month.People have told police that Kolbeck beat them over minor infractions. Those alleged beatings took place at the Alamo compound and at his church in Fort Smith, investigators said. (Read the full post about ‘Police Still Seeking Alamo Associate’…)
FORT SMITH, Ark. — Police have released new details about a Fort Smith man who is connected to evangelist Tony Alamo and is now wanted on suspicion of battery.A former Alamo follower said John Kolbeck beat him twice.Police said Kolbeck first came to their attention in March 2006 after an anonymous call about a marriage between a 34-year-old man and a 13-year-old girl at Alamo’s Fort Smith church. Kolbeck told police that he performed that wedding ceremony. Police said when they asked him if the bride was 13, Kolbeck told them “maybe.” (Read the full post about ‘Police Release Details About Kolbeck Case’…)
McDONOUGH, Ga. — T.I. has had his say as a voter — but the rap star did so only after finding out that he was still eligible to cast his ballot, despite being a convicted felon.
T.I. — whose real name is Clifford Harris — said that he did some research and found out that under a Georgia law, convicted felons are eligible to vote if they aren’t currently serving probation or prison sentence.
The rapper said that was “a relief.”
He stood in line for about 10 minutes before going into a polling center to vote for the first time in his life. T.I. said that it made him feel good to be “leading by example.”
T.I. (Read the full post about ‘Loophole Allows For Rap Star Felon’s Vote’…)