Mitt Romney

Finally, we heard a discussion about women's health that recognized the significance of private medical decision-making and the common ground solutions we can all work on together.

Sarah Palin slashes support for teen mothers, ab-only proponents spin Bristol Palin's pregnancy, Romney waffles on ab-only and Obama unveils a new ad on abortion.

"We don't have to be divided by race or gender...Our time has come."

Barack Obama is giving a speech at his headquarters in Chicago and in true Obama style is inspiring his supporters as much at 11pm on the close of a day that will easily go down in history as he did at the dawn of this day. When a supporters yells to Obama that she loves him, without missing a beat he yells, "I love you back!"

And with California polls just having closed and Obama and Clinton in a head to head race for delegates that is incredibly close, today has truly lived up to its "super" status. Clinton is leading on the Democrats side in California right now with only 10% of precincts reporting. John McCain is leading the Republican pack, with Romney in second place.*

The age gap is alive and kicking. Clinton has easily won the support of voters 60 years and older across the country while Obama brought out the younger voters, 18-29 years old in droves. Meanwhile, black voters - 8 out of 10 of them - voted for Obama.

As I put my young children to bed this evening, listening to Hillary Clinton speak at her headquarters, I drew a breath. I told my children that they were listening to an amazing moment in political history. A woman has never come this far. An African-American man has never come this far. We have already won - all of us - Americans everywhere have won.

And here's a quick recap of the states won and lost thus far before I sign off myself:

Clinton has won: Arkansas, Tennessee, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma

Obama has won: Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Utah, Minnesota, Connecticut, Kansas, Alabama, Idaho, North Dakota and Delaware

*California has been called for Hillary Clinton and John McCain though the delegate count won't be known until tomorrow at some point.

Not yet able to call for the Demorats yet: Arizona, Missouri, California

Total delegates awarded thus far today: Obama - 211 awarded Clinton - 206 delegates awarded

Popular votes - 100,000 popular vote difference between Obama and Clinton.

"Evangelicals haven't fallen in love with any candidate yet," said MSNBC's Lester Holt, analyzing the Republican presidential primaries. Tsk tsk.

They are dividing their votes fairly evenly three ways tonight between John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee. If I were Keith Olbermann, I might try to figure out who is worse, worser, and worst person in the race for reproductive rights. But it's such a toss-up that I'll pass on awarding that prize, so coveted by the fundamentalist hard right. . All three would overturn Roe v Wade faster than you can say "Supreme Court". But that's just the beginning of the damage each would do to women's most fundamental human rights to make their own childbearing decisions--including access to birth control--without government interference.

When I write that last phrase about government interference, I think about the late Senator Barry Goldwater--known as Mr. Conservative--would turn over in his grave. His wife Peggy was a founder of Planned Parenthood in Arizona and Barry was a staunch supporter of reproductive rights precisely because he believed such personal matters weren't the government's business. And he once said good Christians ought to kick Moral Majority founder Rev. Jerry Falwell in the ass. Republicans of Goldwater's stripe are rare as hen's teeth these days, thanks to an unholy alliance between the Republican party and the fundamentalists that was nurtured over a generation at the grassroots precinct level where control of the party mechanism begins. That's why those who think the fundamentalist right is losing steam need to think again.

Yes, everyone wants to fall in love with a candidate. But in the end, this is a group that does what all citizens in a democracy should do: the unromantic work of sustained participating in the political process. And if history is a predictor, they are likely to continue to do so in a much more disciplined way than the Democratic constituencies tend to do. So watch out. If you care about reproductive justice, be very afraid of any of these candidates. Batten down the hatches and be prepared to work very hard between now and November. Because when it comes to advancing the fundamentalist right’s goals, Tina Turner was right: love has very little to do with it.

And more returns are coming in...

Missouri for Clinton, Massachusetts for Clinton, Connecticut for Obama, New Jersey for Clinton, Tennessee for Clinton.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee has been declared winner in Arkansas.

More returns are coming in: Sen. John McCain has won the Republican primary in New Jersey, Illinois, and Connecticut, and Mitt Romney has won Massachusetts, the state in which he was governor from 2000-2004. Sen. Barack Obama has won Georgia and Illinois, and Sen. Hillary Clinton has won Oklahoma. So far, no big surprises.

Georgia is the first state to close its polls and it looks like Barack Obama will walk away a winner.

The Republican race is still too close to call.

With over five million registered voters in the state, Georgia has 103 total Democratic delegates and 72 total Republican delegates.

Barack Obama is not only the projected winner, he's winning big. So far, he's captured 65% of the vote; with 63% of Democratic voters female and 37% male. Interestingly, the largest percentage of voters (35%) in Georgia were between the ages of 45 and 59 years old.

Thus far, Obama has swept the black vote bringing in from 75% to 95% across the various age demographics - except when it comes to young people ages 18 to 29 years old. Maybe unsurprisingly, Obama has captured the support of both black and white voters in this age range.

On the Republican side, McCain is running 36% of the vote to Romney and Huckabee's 30% - the race is close. What I find most interesting about the Republican race in Georgia so far is that it's Huckabee who is garnering the lion's share of the young vote while Romney's sweeping the older American vote.

Georgia looks like it's all Obama this Super Tuesday.

 

This afternoon, Focus on the Family Action issued a strongly-worded press statement that Rev. James Dobson "cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain."

The cultural outreach arm of Focus on the Family, the Colorado Springs-based evangelical religious center and publishing powerhouse, relayed Dobson's statement, which it stressed, was a personal opinion and not made on behalf of the tax-exempt nonprofit ministry.

"I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.

I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry's running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.

But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country."

Much to the surprise of the conservative religious movement, Dobson also withheld an endorsement from fellow preacher Mike Huckabee's presidential bid at the Values Voter Summit last October, as reported by Colorado Confidential.

Mitt Romney's candidacy has not been well-received by religious leaders on the political left or right due to deep, long-standing theological differences between mainline Christians and the Church of Latter Day Saints, in which Romney is a prominent member.

While Dobson was not expected to throw his hat in the Romney camp, it has created a bit of a political pickle for him as Colorado's GOP establishment - long-time allies of Focus on the Family -  are publicly supporting the former Massachusetts governor.

The democratic race for the presidential nomination has got progressives hotly debating who is the better feminist candidate. What is truly fascinating, however, is the potential for a new, dynamic definition of feminism to emerge from the debate.

The presidential campaign for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney must be stinging a bit on the news that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee carried West Virginia today, but you wouldn't know it from the latest supporter email.

Just a few moments ago, the Romney campaign sent out an email message to supporters highlighting the differences between its candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain. While McCain, who has been downing the poli-vitamins sans water since his Straight Talk Express was nearly pronounced dead-on-arrival in Iowa last summer, is arguably the Republican frontrunner and deserving of Team Romney's scrutiny in these final hours, the email is notably silent when it comes to Huck. He's not mentioned.

The loss of all of West Virginia's 18 Republican delegates has to hit the Romney Campaign hard as it struggles to sustain viability - especially since the candidate himself addressed the convention. Those on the ground in West Virginia are reporting that McCain supporters, following a miserable first-round showing, threw their support to Huckabee in an effort to deny Romney the delegates.

Here in Iowa, a national loss by Romney, the Republican candidate who tossed millions of campaign dollars and untold hours of time into the state, to McCain, a candidate who largely ignored Iowa, doesn't bode well. The same holds true on the Democratic side of the coin if New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is named the Democratic nominee. The conventional wisdom is neither Clinton nor McCain would be strong supporters of Iowa's traditional role as first-in-the-nation.