Democrats Beg For Black Votes After Abandoning Black Community

Black Voters May Sway 20 House Races In 2010 Nov. Elections


On the corner of Collington Road and Route 301, a bright blue poster screams the Democratic Party's wishful thinking at passing cars: "We've got your back President Obama."

The poster, not quite big enough to qualify as a billboard, reflects an unspoken bargain between Obama and Black voters: He asks, they deliver.

Last week, Obama asked.

Polls indicate many Minority Voters are discouraged and won't turn out Nov. 2 as they did for Obama two years ago, yet a solid showing among Blacks could still swing several House, Senate and gubernatorial races, according to some analysts.

Ruy Teixeira, a political demographer for the Center for American Progress, said certain parts of the Democratic base -- particularly young voters and minorities -- typically "tune in" just before an election, and Democrats could improve their chances if they galvanize those constituencies.

"It is not at all clear that the outcome is going to be as grim for the Democrats as at least some polls suggest today," Teixeira said. "The Democrats could possibly get out of this election and still hold the House. I think it's going to be very difficult, but it is not as impossible as it might appear."

Black Voters are "Strategically Located" to impact as many as 20 House races, mostly in Southern states, explained David Bositis, a senior researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, who has analyzed the black electorate for more than two decades. They also could sway more than a dozen Senate and governor's races, Bositis said.

"It's not something where the Democrats and the candidates are going to be out there yelling, 'We want the black vote,"' Bositis said. "They're going to work through the black churches, the black media."

Page Gardner, an analyst who tracks women and minority voter enthusiasm, said she has seen an uptick in interest among unmarried women, young women and minorities. If that trend continues, they could become a factor in several House races, Gardner said, pointing out that last midterm, 15 tightly contested House races were decided by roughly 2,000 votes.

"You're talking about a small number of voters that change the tide," Gardner said.

Bositis said this election could echo midterm elections in 1986, when significant black turnout helped Democrats gain House seats and take control of the Senate, and again in 1998, when Democrats picked up governorships in Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia.

Both of those elections followed events that resonated with black voters: Jesse Jackson's historic presidential campaign in 1984 and the GOP effort in 1998 to impeach President Bill Clinton.

While many Democrats are distancing themselves from Obama, the party's approach with black voters is to make the election about the president and his agenda.

University of Chicago political scientist Cathy J. Cohen said Democrats hope that by framing the election around the attacks on Obama and racial polarization arising out of the tea party movement, "black voters will mobilize in particular districts so they can tip the balance."

"I still think that black people will come out and vote for what they think is the president's agenda, which is to vote Democratic," said Cohen, author of a new book on black youth and politics, "Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics."

To that end, the Democratic National Committee is spending $3 million on ad buys in African-American media, far more than it spent on such buys in previous midterm elections. The president himself stopped by a White House briefing earlier this week for black bloggers and journalists from black-oriented media. Later this week, he will meet at the White House with the Trotter Group, a group of black newspaper columnists.

Obama also spoke at an Oct. 7 rally for Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley that drew 7,000 people to historically black Bowie State University. The school, about 20 miles east of Washington, is located in Prince George's County, Md., which, according to census data, is the nation's wealthiest majority black county -- 65.6 percent black with a median annual household income of $71,696.

The "got your back" posters stand at several major intersections in Prince George's, which also is home to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. "We've got your back, we've got your back," the crowd at Bowie State chanted when Obama took the stage with O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who is black.

"What the other side is counting on is that this time around, you're going to stay home," Obama told the crowd. "They figure Obama's not on the ballot, you're not going to come out and vote. Well, Maryland, you have got to prove them wrong."

Whether that message is getting through to enough black Democratic voters to make a difference is an open question.

Andrew Robb, 47, of Upper Marlboro, Md., said he plans to vote and is not buying into the notion of significant Democratic losses. "The Democrats are going to prevail. I think it's a lot of hype with the Republicans," Robb said.

But Joyce Walker, 55, of Bowie, also a Democrat, said she feels Democrats "might take a big hit" because many core voters are not fully engaged.

"Most people, they're not enthusiastic about the governor's election. They're mostly enthusiastic about the president," said Walker, who does plan to vote on Nov. 2 when O'Malley faces Republican challenger Bob Ehrlich in the governor's race.

The 20 House races where black turnout could determine the winner, according to Bositis' analysis, are in 14 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.


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Sources: AP, WCNC, NY Times, WWLTV, Youtube, Google Maps

Black Voters Are Angry! Black Agenda Ignored! Decision 2010

Low Black Voter Turn Out During The 2010 November Elections Is What The Democrats Get For Insisting That NO Black Agenda Was Needed!

President Obama & Other Democrat Party Leaders Actually Thought Black Voters Were Stupid.

Can You Believe It?

Elite Democrat Leaders Foolishly Thought They Could Just Throw The American Black Community Under The Bus Without Retribution.

Wake Up!

Why Do You Think Adrian Fenty (DC's Former Mayor) Was Recently Kicked Out Of Office?

Here Black People Are Currently Experiencing A 34% National Unemployment Rate Mostly Due To Blatant Racism Yet No One In Congress, Nor Any Local Black Leaders Appear To Give A Darn!

Now We'll See Who's Stupid On November 2nd.

Will Black Voters Sit Out This Election?

Of Course Not! Our Votes Are Too Valuable For Such Complacency.

Many Of Us Will Just Cast Our Ballots For GOP Candidates.

See You At The Polls.

Ha Ha Ha!

Peace









How Adrian Fenty Lost His Re-Election Bid For D.C. Mayor


One afternoon in late June, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's political advisers invited their boss to a downtown conference room to report an unsettling development: Focus groups commissioned by the campaign were saying that Fenty's leadership style was offensive and that he was oblivious to constituents' concerns.

If the mayor had any chance of winning them over, the prospective voters told the campaign, he needed to apologize for his actions.

Tom Lindenfeld, the mayor's chief political strategist, proposed a cure, a one-page letter to be delivered to thousands of voters across the District, a letter in which Fenty would acknowledge mistakes and express remorse. He would promise to change.

"What is this?" the mayor said, reading the letter and tossing it away.

"The things you don't do now will be much harder for voters to ignore later," Lindenfeld told him.

The mayor slammed his hand on the table.

"I'm proud of my record," Fenty shot back, according to Lindenfeld and two others present at the meeting. The mayor stood and walked out.

Across the decade in which he shot to the top of the city's political pyramid, Fenty relied on unrelenting energy and a well-honed internal compass - his gut - to navigate three elections and the often treacherous complexities of running a big city. His instinct told him he could win a D.C. Council seat in 2000, even against a veteran incumbent. He was right. In 2006, he ignored the doubters who said he was too young at 35 and unaccomplished to capture the mayoralty. He was right then, too.

As the 2010 Democratic primary campaign arrived, the mayor's instinct told him that his accomplishments would far outweigh complaints that he seemed aloof and uncaring. Overhauling the school system meant something, he told loyalists. Building swimming pools and soccer fields affected people's lives. His handpicked police chief was popular across the city. When it was time to vote, the mayor was confident, the substance of his administration's work would trump all.

How Fenty came to squander that success and the goodwill that catapulted him to office is the story of a mayor who misread an electorate he was sure he knew better than anyone, who ignored advisers' early warnings that key constituencies were abandoning him, who shut out confidantes who told him what he did not want to hear and who began to listen only when the race was all but lost. The account is based on interviews with more than a dozen of Fenty's advisers and supporters, including some such as Lindenfeld and campaign chairman Bill Lightfoot, and others who talked only on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to appear critical of the mayor. The sources were interviewed Tuesday or earlier with the agreement that the information would not be published until after the election. The mayor was interviewed in the final hours before the campaign ended.

Fenty, an incumbent with a $5 million war chest who lost to council Chairman Vincent C. Gray on Tuesday, used many of the same tactics that had won him the mayoralty in 2006, frustrating advisers who thought he needed a more sophisticated campaign. He refused to pay for pollsters to measure the public mood, for example, or hire researchers to dig up dirt on Gray. Instead, the mayor appeared to run as an insurgent and relied on what had delivered him to the apex four years earlier: door-to-door campaigning and that internal compass that no longer seemed to work.

Fenty, in an interview, said he has lots of advisers but that he himself is a student of political history, citing books he has read about past elections and presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. He said he trusts himself to know the path to victory, when it's time to attack an opponent or acknowledge a mistake.

"Ultimately," Fenty said, "the candidate and person in charge has to make the final decision."

But Lindenfeld, who found his advice to the mayor ignored, said Fenty's belief in his own radar was misplaced.

"His campaign's failing resulted from a combination of tenor, hubris, pride and political malpractice," Lindenfeld said Tuesday. "Campaigns that win are ones that are nimble. He's got only one play in his playbook: knocking on doors."

Blind to a rising tide


As the year began and the mayor prepared for his reelection campaign, he knew that he could remind voters that crime was down and students' math and reading scores were up. Despite a double-digit unemployment rate, the District's economy had fared far better than nearly all other cities during a national recession. On top of that, the mayor's campaign war chest had surpassed $4 million at that point, and months passed without a formidable challenger emerging.

Still, within his inner circle, concerns arose that a long string of decisions that threatened to alienate voters, such as the mayor's unannounced vacation in Dubai that was paid for by a foreign government; his refusal to share Washington Nationals baseball tickets with the council; and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's dismissal of hundreds of teachers and dozens of principals for what she said was poor performance. Allegations that the mayor's fraternity brothers had gotten lucrative city contracts prompted the council to sponsor a special investigation and hold months of public hearings.

Advisers, including Lindenfeld and Lightfoot, warned Fenty in the spring that he needed to take notice. They questioned why Fenty was still traveling the campaign trail with Sinclair Skinner, a friend at the center of the contracts scandal. Independent polls showed the mayor's popularity slipping, including a January survey sponsored by council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), a Fenty ally who took it upon himself to stop by the mayor's office to share the results.

"I thought it was time to take the subject seriously and to start reversing those declining numbers if he was going to mount a serious reelection effort," Catania said.

But the council member said Fenty seemed unfazed. "I didn't see a sense of urgency on his part," Catania said.

In mid-March, Fenty campaigned in Southeast, taking along his stepbrother, B. Seth Bryant, 40, who was surprised by the hostility they encountered.

Bryant wondered why there weren't reporters around to record the moment. For months, the mayor refused to release a campaign schedule to the media or the public, a policy that confused some advisers.

"You need to have some cameras going with you door to door," Bryant recalled telling the mayor, whom he described as unresponsive. "I think a lot of supporters, myself included, have been surprised at how insular his administration has been."

On that afternoon in Southeast, Bryant said, the cameras would have caught the grateful woman who told the mayor that she had once been homeless and that his administration had helped find her an apartment.

On March 30, after weeks of speculation, Gray announced his candidacy, declaring that the city needed inclusive and transparent leadership, a direct appeal to those who thought that Fenty was too secretive, ruled by fiat, and had shut them out.

That night, four people were killed and five wounded in shootings on South Capitol Street, the deadliest spasm of violence in the city in years. The mayor didn't show up to the crime scene until 24 hours later, his arrival prompting boos from the crowd and a renewed wave of complaints that he was disconnected.

Where had Fenty been? Initially, he and his aides were vague about his whereabouts, but then they confirmed that he had been on a family vacation in Jamaica. During an interview Saturday, the mayor amended the story to say that after Jamaica, he had taken his two sons to a tennis tournament in Florida, which is where he was when he learned of the shootings.

Asked where in Florida, Fenty said, "Can't you just say Florida?"

A campaign in peril


Less than two weeks after the shootings, a couple hundred supporters, many of them Fenty appointees and paid staff members, listened to the mayor declare his candidacy for reelection at his Georgia Avenue NW headquarters.

The broad spectrum of former loyalists and donors missing from the crowd also suggested how the mayor's fortunes had changed since 2006. Gone were people such as philanthropist Judith Terra, education advocate Marc Borbely and gay rights activist Peter Rosenstein, all of whom now support Gray. Fenty punctuated his speech with a mantra that seemed aimed at those who had questioned his hard-charging style: "We did it because it was the right thing to do!"

Despite Fenty's defiance, his advisers were concerned about the anger toward the mayor that simmered in black neighborhoods. In May, Lightfoot asked Darryl Wiggins, a business owner who was vice chairman of the mayor's 2006 transition committee, to host a meeting at which a half-dozen prospective black voters, a cross section of professionals and blue-collar workers ages 40 to 60, would be encouraged to speak candidly about Fenty.

For several hours, Wiggins recalled later, the group railed about Fenty's failure to appoint African Americans to top administration posts, his approval of the mass firings of teachers, many of whom are black, and his apparent lack of concern for their struggles during an economic downturn. By the end of the meetings, Wiggins said, he was sure that, in a city that is majority black, the mayor's campaign was deeply troubled.

"Black people are not going to go out quietly," Wiggins said.

Based on the group's attitudes, Lightfoot urged Fenty to pay for additional focus groups, since he would not agree to commission polls. Their campaign was in peril, and they needed to know the way forward. Fenty agreed, if grudgingly.

By May, some of Fenty's advisers thought he needed to counter Gray's unceasing focus on the allegations of cronyism that shadowed the mayor, a strategy that would represent a dramatic departure from his usual style. In three previous campaigns, including the 2006 mayoral race, Fenty's draw as a candidate was at least partially rooted in his positive message and refusal to beat up opponents.

But advisers such as Ronald Moten, Fenty's friend and a community activist, recall telling the mayor that "if the public doesn't find out who Vince Gray is, there's a good chance you could lose."

Fenty's response, Moten said, was cautious: His shots would come at the right time. Moten couldn't wait. By mid-May, the activist launched his own Web site devoted to attacking Gray.

On June 3, Fenty jumped into the fray, using a Democratic candidates forum in Foxhall to criticize his opponent's past record as director of the Department of Human Services, a gambit that surprised members of his campaign team who were in the audience and thought it made the mayor look petty to personally deride the council chairman. They believed surrogates should be enlisted to attack Gray.

Fenty persisted. Over the ensuing weeks, they thought that Fenty had no focus to his attack, meandering from DHS to a fence that Gray had improperly installed at his home to other matters. Some advisers thought the mayor's delivery was unpolished, should have bored in solely on DHS and would have been more effective in campaign literature. At Fenty headquarters, the meetings to map strategy became less frequent, if they were held at all. The mayor, it seemed, was both candidate and campaign manager.

Fenty, in an interview Tuesday, said his reelection strategy was rooted in what had worked for him in the past. He hadn't needed pollsters before, and he did not need them now. "I've never polled. It's a decision I made 12 years ago. It's always worked, so why change?" he said. "I ran this campaign like I ran all my campaigns.

"There's no one thing that wins elections," he said.

By early June, whatever the mayor was telling himself was not producing results he wanted.

On June 17, Gray beat Fenty in a straw poll in Ward 3, an area of Northwest that the mayor counted as his most enthusiastic base. The mayor's allies were beginning to sense a changing landscape. Gray was raising money - nearly $100,000 more, in fact, than the mayor had in the three previous months.

One friend recalled driving along on 13th or 16th Street NW, near the mayor's home, and being surprised by the number of Gray lawn signs. "It was like, 'Wow, What's going on?' " said the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn't want to appear to betray the mayor. "It was like 50-50, and it dawned on me, this thing is a lot closer than I thought."

Contrition, too late


By early July, the mayor remained unwilling to follow his advisers' recommendation that he apologize for offending Washingtonians. But he agreed to deal more head-on with voters' criticism. He approved a commercial in which supporters voiced the common complaints about his apparent arrogance and indifference, and then provided their own answer for what mattered most: the results that his administration delivered.

Yet nothing seemed to turn the electorate toward him. On Aug. 4, Democrats in the mayor's home district, Ward 4, held their straw vote, an event that drew so many people to the ballroom at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church that Lightfoot couldn't get inside. Standing on the sidewalk, Lightfoot eyed the arriving masses of Gray supporters, many of them senior citizens, and knew the mayor was in for a difficult night.

The mayor's performance during the forum - he lashed out at Gray on a range of topics - only further confirmed Lightfoot's fears. "He's supposed to be the king," the campaign chairman said later. "The king doesn't get dragged out to the gutter."

Gray won the straw poll 581 to 401, leaving Fenty's aides scrambling to play down the significance of the mayor losing in the ward that had launched his political career.

Almost immediately, friends began urging the mayor to shift gears: He needed to show contrition. He needed to prove to Washingtonians that he understood their disappointment with him. More than ever, he needed to apologize.

Neil O. Albert, the city administrator, and council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) helped assemble a list of more than 100 activists and former supporters for Fenty to call. On Aug. 11, during a debate with Gray, he inched closer to a mea culpa, saying, "I haven't done a good job of communicating and including people."

On Aug. 29, The Washington Post published the results of a poll that put into numbers what many in the Fenty campaign had feared. The mayor for months had refused to conduct a poll. Now he learned that he trailed Gray by 17 points among likely Democratic voters, a margin that seemed too much to make up with slightly more than two weeks to go. His wife, Michelle, later described herself and the mayor as "shocked" at the poll.

On that Sunday morning, Fenty summoned his staff members to campaign headquarters. He stood in the middle of the large room, pacing as he spoke, then grabbing a chair and sitting down, urging them not to lose hope.

Remember his race against council member Charlene Drew Jarvis in 2000? He had been the underdog and he had won. Or how about Obama after Hillary Rodham Clinton had surprised him in New Hampshire?

You get down, Fenty said, but you bounce back. This is when the work begins.

The staff erupted in cheers, some grabbing the mayor's hands as they chanted, "One, two, three! Fenty!"

Three days later, at the last of the debates, Fenty asked for forgiveness and a second chance and said that "even mayors can make mistakes and that people can learn from their mistakes," words not unlike those his advisers had proposed he tell voters more than two months before, when they urged him to apologize.

By September, though, an electorate once electrified by Adrian Fenty's youth and energy no longer seemed to be listening.


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Sources: Charmeck.org, NY Times, Newsone, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

GOP Calls Out Democrats On Low Job Numbers: Decision 2010 (Videos)

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Sources: MSNBC, Zimbio, Youtube, Google Maps

Tea Party Express Fires Up Voters Prior To 2010 Nov. Elections

Tea Party Express Fires Up Army Of Supporters In Kick-Off Of Fourth National Tour


Some two weeks before the midterm elections, Tea Party Activists are set to fire up their army of supporters to forge ahead in, what they see as, a political war.

Their prime tactic: crisscross the country urging voters to oust Democrats from office and purge the Republican Party of members deemed "RINOS," or "Republicans in Name Only" considered not conservative enough.

On Monday, that tactic is on full display in Reno, Nevada as the Tea Party Express kicked off its fourth national tour. The group's "Liberty at the Ballot Box" tour is their fourth since 2009 and their last of the 2010 election cycle.

It will make 30 stops over 15 days, ending in Concord, New Hampshire one day before the critical midterm elections.

The Reno kickoff is being headlined by none other than Sarah Palin. Hours before she was set to appear, fans of the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice-presidential nominee streamed onto the site of the rally. Many in the crowd and on stage were enthusiastic to hear from Palin.
However, the crowd was considerably smaller than the last rally Palin kicked off for the Tea Party Express, in Searchlight, Nevada in March.

Palin has lent political star power and considerable time helping to spread the message of Tea Party movement: smaller government, less taxes, deflating a bloated federal deficit and urging lawmakers toward more faithful adherence to the Constitution.

Palin, and other supporters of the movement, staunchly support Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle as she tries to unseat the most powerful Democrat in the Senate: Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Polls show the race between the two candidates to be essentially deadlocked.

Tea Party activists hope to help Angle surge ahead in the Nevada race as well in other races with Tea Party-backed candidates such as Christine O'Donnell in Delaware, Rand Paul in Kentucky and others.

Democrats continue to push their own strategy to smack back the bids of Tea Party candidates. Vice President Joe Biden will also campaign in Reno, on Wednesday, for Reid. President Obama will appear at fundraisers on Reid's behalf on Friday from Vegas. This is in addition to campaigning for Democratic Senate candidate Chris Coons in Delaware, last week.


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Sources: CNN, Tea Party Express, Youtube, Google Maps

Bank Of America Immediately Halts All U.S. Foreclosures To Help Consumers! 50 States!

Bank of America Halts All U.S. Foreclosures


Bank of America, the nation’s largest bank by assets, is placing a moratorium on all foreclosure proceedings and sales across the United States, according CNBC and a report on The Wall Street Journal’s Web site. The postponement takes effect Saturday.

Separately, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. is halting most foreclosures and evictions in 23 states for a month so it can review whether documents it submitted to courts complied with state laws.

An official at the Pittsburgh-based bank confirmed the PNC decision, which was reported earlier by the New York Times. The official requested anonymity because the decision hasn't been publicly announced.

The moves come amid mounting political pressure on big U.S. banks to examine foreclosure-documentation problems. Bank of America is the first financial institution to stop all foreclosure actions amid revelations that the banking industry had used "robo-signers," people who sign hundreds of documents a day without reviewing their contents, when foreclosing on homes, the Journal said.

In a statement released Friday, Bank of America said it will stop foreclosure sales until “our assessment has been satisfactorily completed. Our ongoing assessment shows the basis for foreclosure decisions is accurate. We continue to serve the interests of our customers, investors and communities. Providing solutions for distressed homeowners remains our primary focus.”

PNC becomes the fourth major U.S. lender to halt some foreclosures amid evidence that mortgage company employees or their lawyers signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.







Bank Of America Gets Friday Deadline To Halt Foreclosures In N.C.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper is giving Bank of America until Friday to halt foreclosure proceedings in the state amid concerns the Charlotte bank and other lenders haven't properly reviewed documents.

In a letter sent to the bank, Cooper questioned why Bank of America voluntarily suspended foreclosures in 23 states that involve a judicial process but not in its home state. North Carolina requires a "quasi-judicial" process in which clerks of court frequently review affidavits submitted by banks.

"If Bank of America has halted foreclosure proceedings in other states due to flaws in its affidavit process, we do not understand why Bank of America should routinely continue with foreclosures with the same flaws in North Carolina," Cooper's office wrote.

The attorney general wants the bank's foreclosures suspended until it shows its processes are legal. Bank of America said it's responding to officials' concerns.

"Our initial assessment findings show the factual loan information underlying our foreclosures is accurate," spokesman Dan Frahm said, adding the bank continues its "exhaustive efforts to assist our customers who have been unable to make their mortgage payments."

The statement did not address how Bank of America would respond to the Friday deadline set by Cooper.

Cooper has asked 13 other large mortgage servicers to also halt foreclosures in the state until they prove compliance. Those lenders have until Oct. 12 to respond to the attorney general's questions.

North Carolina is also seeking more information about practices at Ally Financial, which has halted foreclosure-related evictions in North Carolina and 22 other states.

In an interview, Cooper said lenders could be breaking an N.C. law requiring a good-faith effort to work out loan modifications if they're improperly handling foreclosure paperwork. One of his main concerns is that homeowners get a "fair shot" at loan modifications, he said.

The attorney general has broad powers to investigate unfair and deceptive business practices, including assessing civil penalties. Cooper said he didn't want to discuss possible penalties until he has heard back from the lenders.

"We are looking to work with the lenders to make sure they get it right," he said.

Among the lenders, Wells Fargo has said its procedures are appropriate and that it doesn't plan to halt foreclosures. BB&T and HSBC also said their processes comply with the law. Citigroup said it doesn't believe a suspension is necessary because it has no reason to believe its employees haven't been following procedures. JPMorgan and Ally have said they are reviewing affidavits and will fix any problems.

SunTrust said it's reviewing the attorney general's letter, while MetLife said it intends to cooperate. OneWest declined comment. Others didn't respond or couldn't be reached.

The attorney general's move comes after Bank of America, Ally and JPMorgan Chase stopped some foreclosure-related actions in about half of the country after concerns that employees and outside lawyers signed documents without verifying information. JPMorgan's moratorium includes North Carolina.

Attorneys general in other states and members of Congress have also called for foreclosure suspensions as well as investigations of lenders' procedures. On Wednesday, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., called on bank regulators to review the foreclosure activities at Bank of America, JPMorgan and Ally.

In some cases, in a process nicknamed "robosigning," bank employees have said they have rapidly signed documents, raising questions about whether they are properly verifying information about homes that are being foreclosed upon. In a deposition obtained by the N.C. attorney general, a Bank of America employee in Texas testified that she would sign as many as 8,000 documents in a month, often in batches.

In another case, a Wells Fargo supervisor based in Fort Mill testified to signing 50 to 150 documents per day. A Wells spokesman noted a judge reviewed the bank's procedures and dismissed the borrower's case, confirming the foreclosure as valid.

Although foreclosures are traumatic for homeowners and damaging to neighborhoods, analysts say the selling off of these homes to financially stable buyers is an important step in a much-needed recovery for the housing market. "If you freeze foreclosures, the overhang in housing gets worse," said Virginia-based banking consultant Bert Ely. "The market isn't clearing."

Cooper said he hopes lenders can work quickly through the process of verifying their practices.

"We don't want to stop foreclosures that are legitimate and need to happen," he said.

"We want to make sure that homeowners are getting a fair shot at keeping their homes and the process has been done legally."










New Foreclosure Mess Shows Need For Reform In North Carolina

For many North Carolina homeowners, losing their homes to foreclosure was devastating. It is beyond outrageous that many banks were so cavalier with the process that employees didn't even bother to read or verify the information in foreclosure documents.

It is even more dismaying to us that one or both of Charlotte's big banks may be among the culprits in this travesty of faulty work known as "robo-signing."

Bank of America has halted foreclosures while it investigates and straightens out faulty paperwork. It's delaying foreclosures in 23 states including South Carolina. Over the weekend, questions arose about Wells Fargo's foreclosure documents. Wells said it doesn't plan to delay foreclosures because it's confident its foreclosures documents are accurate.

We're not so confident. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper is right to ask lenders to suspend foreclosures in this state until they can show their process conforms with the law. Given how badly this state was hit with foreclosures, banks involved in lending to North Carolinians should be probing robo-signing practices.

Nationwide, Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage unit and JPMorgan Chase have halted tens of thousands of foreclosures. Ally stopped evictions here and in 22 other states. Robo-signing is so prevalent more banks are expected to follow suit.

What are those practices? In some cases, bank employees admit they signed foreclosure papers without reading them or determining if crucial information - such as how much borrowers still owed on the property - is accurate. Sometimes documents were notarized illegally with indications that the notary did not actually witness the signing of papers.

These practices are unacceptable. Some appear to be illegal. The N.C. attorney general's office notified Ally last week that using unverified affidavits could constitute fraud. Cooper is right when he says that such practices could mean that "some N.C. homeowners may not be getting a good-faith shot at loan modifications."

This mess is exasperating. The reckless lending practices of financial institutions helped cause the foreclosure tsunami that swept over the country. That damage has been so hard to repair in part because many have been tight-fisted with money they could have loaned consumers and small businesses. Many lenders have been reluctant to modify mortgages, instead moving much too swiftly on foreclosure.

Some of that rush resulted in faulty paperwork that will be costly to fix. Courts may impose sanctions on lenders or force banks to pay borrowers' legal costs in these cases. Judges may even dismiss the foreclosures, barring lenders from refiling and awarding the home to the borrower.

These lenders deserve to be penalized if they failed to meet legal requirements before evicting defaulting borrowers from their homes. Consumers, who often also were losing their financial stability, deserved that consideration.

Belatedly, many lenders will now have to meet those requirements. Investigations by attorneys generals in several states and a probe by federal regulators are forcing them to do so. It did not have to come to this. But it is an apt reminder of why reforms and better oversight of financial institutions are so badly needed.


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Sources: BOFA, CNBC, McClatchy Newspapers, MSNBC, Telegraph.co.uk, Wikipedia, WRAL, Google Maps

GOP Picks Up New Voters In 2010: Dems & Independents

CNN Poll of Polls: Likely voters Favor GOP Candidates By Six Points


According to the first CNN Poll of Polls in this year's battle for control of Congress, likely voters favor Republican candidates over Democrats in the midterm matchup that's just 27 days away.

The CNN Poll of Polls, compiled and released Wednesday, indicates that 50 percent of likely voters would choose a Republican candidate for Congress if the election were held today. Forty-four percent of likely voters say they would choose a Democrat.

The generic ballot question asks respondents if they would vote for a Democrat or Republican in their congressional district, without naming any specific candidates. It's used by many polling organizations, including CNN/Opinion Research Corporation surveys.

The latest CNN Poll of Polls is an average of four national polls conducted from late September to October 3: CNN (September 21-23), Newsweek (September 29-30), Gallup tracking (September 23-26, September 30-October 3), and ABC News/Washington Post (September 30-October 3). The Poll of Polls does not have a sampling error.

The GOP's single digit lead in the CNN Poll of Polls is similar to the three-point advantage that the party held in mid-October polls in 1994. By late October of that year, the GOP margin had grown to ten points, and in November the Republicans grabbed 54 seats back from the Democrats, winning control of the House of Representatives. They also captured the Senate.

In the battle for control of Congress, the generic ballot is arguably the most watched polling indicator. But it should not be considered one-stop shopping.

"The problem with interpreting the generic ballot is that a national poll cannot produce the same results that 435 separate polls in 435 House districts would produce," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "That's why analysts tend to look at other measures as well."

Among the other indicators to consider are the favorable ratings of the two parties, questions about which party should control Congress, ratings of the parties on major issues, and the president's approval rating.

"Some academic experts have done a good job forecasting the results of midterm elections with statistical models that pay little or no attention to the generic ballot," Holland says. "But if you're looking for just one number that tries to forecast what will happen in 435 different House races, the generic ballot is usually the one most analysts focus on."


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Sources: CBS News, CNN, Youtube, Google Maps

Obama's Failure To Feel Voters' Pain Could Backfire In Nov. 2010

Obama, Empathy And The Midterms


MY homework for an hour long interview with President Obama last week began with reviews of his earlier speeches and interviews, and conversations with economists and political operatives. It ended around a dinner table.

That’s where, over salad and swordfish, former aides to another Democratic president, Bill Clinton, explored principal questions hanging over the coming midterm elections.

How can Mr. Obama do better at defending his record and his party’s candidates from the wrath of an unhappy electorate? Why doesn’t he receive more credit for winning passage of expanded health care coverage, new financial regulations and an economic stimulus package that many independent economists say helped end the Great Recession? Why can’t he get his message out?

Republicans argue that it’s because Mr. Obama has expanded the size of government and swelled federal deficits, with little to show for it, in the face of public resistance. But Democrats, who share the president’s philosophy, look for other explanations.

The former Clinton aides, like many pundits, turned to Mr. Obama’s cool, cerebral public style. Emotional connection was an aspect of leadership at which Mr. Clinton, for better or worse, excelled. If only Mr. Obama could more effectively demonstrate empathy, they argued, he might be able to convince the supporters he thrilled in 2008 that he’s still on their side.

That observation has gained wide acceptance in Washington. Mr. Obama may have played like a rock star in the campaign arenas of 2008, according to this view, but he displays a Spock-like emotional aridity in more intimate settings. In reality, however, a look back at previous midterm elections, especially during economic weakness, suggests that dollars and cents matter far more than hugs or lip-biting.

It’s not that the Obama administration isn’t striving to touch economically squeezed voters in more direct and personal ways. Mr. Obama risked criticism for breaching presidential decorum by appearing on “The View.” He has begun holding backyard meetings with suburban families.

Last week’s hourlong “town hall” on CNBC, which I moderated, was part of that effort.

But Mr. Obama declined to offer any Oprah-style emotional revelation when I asked whether his unusual background — as a biracial child who spent part of his youth overseas, then attended Ivy League schools — made it harder to connect with average Americans.

“When the unemployment rate is so high and people are having a tough time, it doesn’t matter if I was green, it doesn’t matter if I was purple,” he said matter-of-factly. “I think people would still be frustrated.”

Perhaps that was a moment missed, but history offers scant evidence to think so.

Despite President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s celebrated World War II record, voters didn’t “like Ike” enough to keep his fellow Republicans from losing 48 House seats amid the 1958 recession. For all his talents, Mr. Clinton watched his party lose control of both the House and Senate in the 1994 midterm election, in which economic weakness was one of many factors. “We have a controlled experiment,” observed Stan Greenberg, one of Mr. Clinton’s pollsters, downplaying the significance of Mr. Obama’s empathic skills. “Clearly Bill Clinton had the ability to connect emotionally. He got slaughtered in 1994.”

Moreover, the unemployment rate Mr. Clinton faced then never got higher than 6.6 percent — nowhere near the 9.6 percent rate Mr. Obama faces today. Late last year, notwithstanding his stimulus program, unemployment hit 10 percent for the first time since the 1982 recession, during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

After studying their predecessors in similar circumstances, aides to Mr. Obama have come to see Mr. Reagan’s challenging midterm campaign that year as something of a model. “This one feels more like 1982 than 1994,” said Daniel Pfeiffer, the White House communications director.

Mr. Reagan, like Mr. Obama, had assumed immense economic challenges after succeeding a deeply unpopular president of the other party. After persuading Congress to cut tax rates and spending, Mr. Reagan beseeched voters to “stay the course,” and warned against a return to the policies of Jimmy Carter and tax-and-spend Congressional Democrats. He held Republican losses to 26 House seats — a level that, if repeated this year, would allow Democrats to retain control of the chamber.

It’s easy to forget how politically weak Mr. Reagan appeared for much of that year. According to Gallup, Mr. Obama’s current mid-40s approval ratings are comparable to or slightly higher than Mr. Reagan’s at a similar point in 1982 (as well as Mr. Clinton’s in 1994).

Mr. Obama aims to use President George W. Bush’s record in the same way Mr. Reagan used Mr. Carter’s. It was Mr. Bush and his Republican allies in Congress, he tells campaign audiences, who drove the economy “into a ditch.”

The velocity of contemporary media, not to mention its ferocity, may render that argument more difficult to make. In the ever-advancing news cycle, on cable television and the Internet, news tends to get old faster.

Thus, Mr. Pfeiffer asserted, in 1982 “Carter’s presidency seemed more recent than Bush’s presidency” does to voters this year. To compensate, he added, Mr. Obama and his aides began t contrast themselves with Republicans long before the traditional Labor Day campaign kickoff. In any event, the raucous and frenetic quality of the Information Age almost certainly hinders Mr. Obama more than his demeanor.

The town hall ended up carrying an emotional wallop anyway. But it didn’t come from my questions or Mr. Obama’s answers. Instead, it came from an audience member, Velma Hart, a black Obama supporter who works at a service organization for military veterans.

“I’m exhausted — exhausted of defending you, defending your administration,” Ms. Hart said, looking straight at the president. “I’ve been told that I voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. I’m one of those people and I’m waiting, sir.”

Her riveting statement struck some observers as an embarrassing public relations setback for Mr. Obama. Jon Stewart, on Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” called Ms. Hart an “Obama-sapping machine.”

White House aides hope that the exchange will have a different effect: to demonstrate that Mr. Obama isn’t isolated inside the presidential “bubble,” deaf to the suffering a weak economy has engendered. As it happens, that view of the hour’s emotional impact was endorsed by the master of the genre.

“I may be one of the few people that think it’s not bad that that lady said she was getting tired of defending him,” Mr. Clinton told Politico. “He needs to hear it.”


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Sources: CNBC, NY Times, Google Maps

North Carolina Decision 2010: Best Of State Election Picks: Burr & Murray!

"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Albert Einstein



Decision 2010!



November 2010 North Carolina Best Of State Picks:


U.S. Senate: Richard Burr (R) (Only Because Cal Cunningham Is No Longer In The Race.)


U.S. House Of Representatives: (12th District) Greg Dority (R)

U.S. House Of Representatives: (9th District) Sue Myrick (R)

U.S. House Of Representatives: (8th District) Harold Johnson (R)


N.C. Senate: (35th) Tommy Tucker (R)

N.C. Senate: (37th) C. Morgan Edwards (R)

N.C. Senate: (38th) Cedric Scott (R)

N.C. Senate: (39) Bob Rucho (R)

N.C. Senate: (40th) John Anarella (R)


N.C. House Of Representatives: (98th) Thom Tillis (R)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (99th) Michael T. Wilson (R)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (100th) Tricia Cotham (D)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (101th) Rebecca H. Steen (R)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (102th) Becky Carney (D)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (103th) Bill Brawley (R)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (104th) Ruth Samuelson (R)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (105th) Rick Killian (R)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (106th) Michael Cavallo (R)

N.C. House Of Representatives: (107th) Kelly M. Alexander Jr. (D)


Superior Court District 26B: Bill Constangy (Non-Partisan)

Superior Court District 26B: Donnie Hoover (Non-Partisan)


District Court 26: Twyla E. Hollingsworth (Non-Partisan)

District Court 26: Rickye McKoy-Mitchell (Non-Partisan)

District Court 26: Theo Nixon (Non-Partisan)


Mecklenburg County District Attorney: Andrew Murray (R) (Excellent Choice For Mecklenburg County's Next District Attorney's Office. I Strongly Believe Mr. Murray Will Treat Everyone Fair. Please Support Him In This Election.)


Mecklenburg County Sheriff: Chipp Bailey (D)


Mecklenburg County Commissioner At-Large: Harold Cogdell Jr. (D) (I Really Appreciate How Well He Represents Mecklenburg County. Please Support Him In This Election.)

Mecklenburg County Commissioner At-Large: Jim Pendergraph (R)

Mecklenburg County Commissioner At-Large: (Dan Ramirez) (R)


Mecklenburg County Commissioner: (1) Karen Bentley (R)

Mecklenburg County Commissioner: (2) Vilma Leake (D) (I Really Appreciate How Well She Represents Her District. Please Support Her In This Election.)

Mecklenburg County Commissioner: (3) Barbara Eveland (R)

Mecklenburg County Commissioner: (4) Virginia Mewborne Spykerman (R)

Mecklenburg County Commissioner: (5) Neil Cooksey (R)

Mecklenburg County Commissioner: (6) Bill James (R)


Voters Haven't North Carolina Residents Endured Enough Corruption The Past 112 Years??

Along With President Obama's Historic Election In 2008, The November 2, 2010 General Elections Could Be One Of The Most Important Elections Of This Century.

I Am Encouraging Every Eligible, Registered North Carolina Voter To Please Get Out & Vote!

If You Don't Vote, Than Later On Don't Complain!


Here Are My Election Picks For The Citizens Of North Carolina & Mecklenburg County.

This Are The Candidates I Support. You Don't Have To Agree.

Due To How Poorly Democrats Have Represented Black Voters In This State For 112 Years, I Am Throwing My Hat In The Ring For A Republican Majority.

Thus Most Of My Picks Are Republicans.

Once Again These Are MY 2010 Election Picks!

For The Record I Would Like To Remind North Carolina's Black Voters That Despite A Democrat Controlled Government For The Past 112 Years, North Carolina Remains Very Racist State, With Clear Evidence Of Blatant Discrimination In All Levels Of Government.

Including:

Public Schools (Segregation), Small Business Opportunities, Government Contracts For Black-Owned Businesses, Health Care, Mental Health Care, Mass Transportation (Especially In Charlotte), Housing, Criminal Justice, Civil Rights, College Funding, Death Penalty, Intentionally Killing Young Black Men Or Putting Them In Prison, Not Investigating Murders Of Black Women & Sexual Abuse Of Black Girls, Intentionally Keeping Black Children In Foster Care To Secure More Federal Funds, Highest Unemployment Rate Among Blacks But Not Wanting To Give Black Unemployed Residents Unemployment Benefits, Highest Number Of Blacks Losing Their Homes To Foreclosure, Enforcing Unfair Taxation Laws For Blacks, Allowing Developers To Build Shoddy Homes For Black & Hispanic Homeowners (Charlotte), Artificially Inflated Property Home Values (Charlotte), (Closing Libraries & Pools In Black Communities, Higher Utility Bills For Black Consumers Vs. White Consumers, Intentionally Violating Federal H.U.D. Laws For Affordable Housing (Charlotte), Allowing Developers To Include Mandatory Crooked HOA (Home Owner Associations) Contracts Into Home Loans Contracts For Black Home Buyers (Charlotte), etc.,


I Also Want To Remind Black Voters That The Democratic Party Doesn't Own The Black Vote.

Black Voters Own The Black Vote!


As I've Mentioned Several Times Previously, I Do NOT Advocate Or Support Straight Ticket Voting!

Before Returning To The Polls This November Please Do Your Research. I Suggest Very Carefully.

Vote Your Conscious NOT Ethnic Group/ Race Or Culture.

Vote Your Conscious NOT Political Party.

And Please Check Public Service Records & Double Check Resumes!

More Importantly Pray & Seek God's Wisdom On Whom To Cast Your Ballots For This November.

Its Time For Real CHANGE In North Carolina!!

See You At The Polls.

Peace


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Sources: Charmeck.org, McClatchy Newspapers, UNC-TV, WCNC, Youtube, Google Maps

Harry Reid's Re-election Is A 50-50 Toss-Up

Sources: Politico

Derek Jeter, Minka Kelly Getting Married This November

Derek Jeter, Minka Kelly Set To Become Mr. and Mrs. "November"


Women of New York, start weeping.

After months of speculation that the Yankees' hunk and his sexy steady Minka Kelly are headed to the altar, The Post has learned that the super couple may have settled on a wedding date -- Nov. 5

And while it may bring little solace to Jeter's legion of female admirers, fretful Yankees fans will be glad to note the date is at least two days after the World Series ends.

After getting a tip about the upcoming nuptials, The Post confirmed the date by spotting a curious entry in the official calendar at the ritzy reception palace Oheka Castle in Huntington, LI, for the first Friday in November that read simply "JETER wedding."

Page Six broke the story of their secret engagement in August. And in November, The Post also ran photos of Jeter and Kelly frolicking in the water off St. Barts -- and looking very much in love.

The sumptuous Long Island site is certainly suitable for the superstar shortstop. The opulent Oheka features a French-style chateau hotel and spa, with an exquisite main ballroom and formal gardens with eight reflecting pools and three fountains.

The castle -- the second-largest private residence in the United States -- has hosted lavish parties for royalty, Hollywood stars and heads of state for nearly a century. Teen idol Kevin Jonas was married there last month.

Oheka, known for fiercely protecting the privacy of its guests, would not comment.

But a Post reporter, posing as a bride-to-be seeking to book a wedding that weekend, was shown a scheduling calendar printout as sales manager Rick Bellando explained that the castle hosts just one wedding per day -- and the entire weekend in question was already booked.

A quick peek at the calendar revealed Jeter's name in big bold letters.

When our spy asked if couples were ever open to switching dates for money, Bellando said most were so wealthy, money was not an issue.

"I guess if it were Derek Jeter getting married, he really wouldn't care about my money," our reporter suggested, pointing to the entry.

Bellando chuckled, but quickly tried to dismiss speculation.

"Oh, that's not Derek Jeter. We wouldn't use his real name if it were. When the Jonas brother got married here last month, we used a different name."



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Sources: NY Post, NBC Sports, CelebTV, Comcast, Google Maps