Stumble of the Week

in
  • Mitt Romney. If he’s the candidate, said Rick Santorum, “we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future."
  • Rick Santorum. “[I]t is clear,” wrote Romney’s political director, “that he is becoming the most valuable player on President Obama's team."

Silver Lining. Etch A Sketch’s stock price nearly tripled in yesterday’s trading.

  • Georgia. In a report published by the Center for Public Integrity that ranked the most corrupt states, Georgia came in dead last. The other states receiving failing grades: South Dakota, Wyoming, Virginia, Maine, South Carolina, North Dakota and Michigan.

Silver Lining. The top two states were #2 Connecticut and #1 New Jersey. Huh? Apparently the horrendous ethical histories of both states (Connecticut supreme court justices, state officials and governors have been indicted for abuse of power; in the last decade in New Jersey, “at least five state legislators were convicted on corruption charges.”) led to such public outrage that the voters have demanded – and instituted – significant reforms.

  • Young and minority voters. When Virginia’s pending Voter ID bill becomes law, 13 states, with 189 electoral votes (70% of a majority) will have new laws that (take your pick) reduce voter fraud or disenfranchise voters, almost all in states with Republican legislative majorities. But the real problem is not that too many people vote in this country, but too few. In the 2010 elections, 37.8% of those eligible voted. Two years earlier, the figure was 56.8%, the highest since 1968. Question: why would groups who did better in 2010 want to dampen the turnout we saw in 2008?