Adventures of a Battleground State voter- "Fame" edition

The Des Moines Register released its poll this week.  The Register is known for its long-standing history as a barometer as what is actually going to happen.  (Remember in December when they said Romney would stomp Santorum 24%-15%?  Well, okay, that may not have been their fault).

Obama 49%
Romney 45%
Other 4%

So, what can we conclude from this?

Well, simple math shows that only 2% fall in undecided.  Now, 10% did say they were capable of changing their minds, which still makes things in play for both camps.

No info is given on who the Other are, though I suspect that's largely Gary Johnson, though Virgil Goode could get some of that Far Right 'Anyone but Mitt' support.

Recent polling by other groups are in line with this.  WeAskAmerica has Obama 48.7-45.9 with Johnson polling 1.2% and 4.2% undecided in Iowa.  While ARG shows it even 48-48 in a poll that they put out this week.

Rasmussen had Romney ahead last month, but now show Obama ahead 49-47 with 15 other, 2% undecided.

The Obama camp has brought in the big guns.  Bruce Springsteen is performing a free concert in Ames (Romney's most famous Jersey support comes from Chris Christie: Advantage: Obama)

In recent weeks, Ashley Judd, Justin "I'm a Mac" Long, Alfre Woodard (who I only know from True Blood, but is apparently important) and Jon Bon Jovi (local news called him "80s rocker" Jon Bon Jovi.  Burn!) have made trips here in support of Barry& Joe.

Personally, I don't believe celebrity endorsements mean anything (although the Justin Long visit almost makes me consider voting for Gary Johnson), but they do drum up support around the party base.

Meanwhile, the Romney campaign has been adamant that they are sending no celebrities to Iowa.

this proves a few things:

1-No celebrities like Mitt
2- Okay, that isn't true.  These people do.  It's the usual suspects- lead singers of country bands and 80s arena rockers.  Once you get past them, it's Niki Minaj, Scott Baio, Jerry Bruckheimer, and WWE CEO Vince McMahon (which is funny because Linda McMahon is a Republican candidate for Senate and she has distanced herself from Romney)
3-Okay, Gene Simmons likes Romney, but he doesn't do anything for free
4-Porn Star Jenna Jameson said she supported Romney, but she may have been joking.

Which is all well and good since when Romney does get celebrity help, he forgets to ask them exactly what they have planned.

Besides who needs celebrities, Iowans don't like that stuff.  You see, Iowans like politicians who pose in front of tractors.

Adventures of a Battleground State voter- "Binders full of Women" edition

I had been sitting on this a few days, but figure now was a good time to examine The Des Moines Register's analysis of the women's vote.

You see, Obama leads Mitt in this demographic,

It's still close, and one suspects that Mitt just needs maybe a manilla folder of women voters to put him over here.

If you haven't been following, things have went like this:

Mitt went Far Right to pander for votes, saying things like "Planned Parenthood, We'll get rid of that".  His GOP buddies said "LOL WUT?" when asked if women should be paid the same as men,  Obama hammered Romney on these views for months.  The GOP started a bunch of Ladies Love Cool Willard websites (which appear to be more anti-Barack than pro-Mitt, but there you go).  Mitt wend Midle for the general election, and said "Of course I'm anti-abortion, but it's not like I'm going to do anything about it."

So, what did the Register find:

-No 19th amendment, Iowa goes Red.  Iowa Women have Obama +13%, men have Romney up by 6%.
-Women don't like Romney (41% favorable, 55%unfavorable), but they like Paul Ryan (52%like,38%unfavorable)
-Iowa women identify as Democrats (37%), 25% identify as Republican, and 36% independent.
-Women have their mind made up.  Only 7% said that they could change their mind. 12% of men said they could.
-Most important issue: Women say Economy and Health Care, Men say Economy and Deficit.
-The Honesty question, women find Obama to be more honest by a margin of 51-34 (Men said Obama 45-41).  Trust on foreign affairs issues ran similar (women preferred Obama 56-38, while men said Obama 47-44)
-As far as women's issues, 60% of women said Obama would be better than 28% for Romney.

Meanwhile, in other Iowa election news.

100% of the Muppets are in favor of Obama



The Dems bring in The Boss for a free concert today.  The GOP still has no plans for celebrity endorsements though they did bring the orangest man this side of George Hamilton to campaign last night in eastern Iowa.  Boehner didn't talk to the media and didn't answer any questions about a failed agreement around the new farm bill in the House.

On the Shelf 077: Muse

So, Muse has a new album out.

I have been a fan of the band since the very first (which is more impressive in that Showbiz was barely a blip on the American charts). I love them despite what detractors might find as their limitations (though to be fair, Glen Beck is still the bigger fan, not only being publicly rebuked , but even after that like the best of crestfallen lovers still dreams of the day they could be together).

I was worried that this might be where I jumped off though.

"Survival" was Muse's Olympic song, and tried to outQueen- Queen. That song was not only over-the-top, it was Spinal Tap-ish silly.

Second and third singles "Madness" and "Panic Station" didn't help matters. The former a bit uninspired and the latter a detour that was probably best not advised.

Add to this, that this was supposed to be Muse's venture into dub-step, and album that was inspired by Skrillex, and I figured this was where I was going to be forced to abandon ship.

The 2nd Law isn't where I leave though. No doubt, it's a misstep, but it's an ambitious one.

It works well as a collection of songs (and the singles, even "Survival" fare better as part of the whole).

Nor is the dubstep addition anything to complain about. The dubstep stuff (a genre I have little tolerance for) fits into the Muse schema quite well (It actually sounds more logical in a muse song than it does used in say, a Pitball or Alex Clare dance hit).

"Panic Station" still walks the fine line of cheese (as does some of the more ballady stuff), but it is certainly a grower, One suspects that somebody snuck The Uplift Mofo Party Plan on Matt Bellamy's iPod and labelled it "Unreleased Queen album).

So, while admitting most would do best by avoiding this, Muse at least seem to be making the right moves in trying to stay fresh. In many ways, I think I prefer this to The Resistance. Still like U2 (who Muse resemble here as well, when they aren't in Radiohead or Queen territory) two albums after a defining release in their career, this may be Muse's Pop. Black Holes and Revelations would be hard to repeat without some distance and new direction.

Thus, Muse does seem to be ready for what's next.