This is the same state that just passed a voter initiative banning Sharia Law.
In other words, this Oklahoma school just instituted Sharia Law against gays.
Trilogy says the Facebook margin of victory only explained about 13% of voting results. For gubernatorial races, that correlation is even lower, with the strength of a candidate's Facebook presence only explaining about 0.8% of the vote margin. And for House races, there was actually a slight negative correlation, meaning a stronger Facebook popularity was associated with a smaller margin of victory.
Of course, a strong social network presence is like a strong blog presence -- it serves to energize and recruit base supporters, but it won't garner the votes necessary to win an election.
Conservatives turned out heavily for the 2010 elections but, among registered voters as a whole, the percentage of conservatives only increased by 3% between 2006 and 2010 [...] The 3% increase in conservatives among registered voters occurred entirely among Republicans and already Republican-leaning independents - not because of increasing conservatism among either Democrats or genuinely non-partisan independents.
Conservatives turned out heavily for the 2010 elections but, among registered voters as a whole, the percentage of conservatives only increased by 3% between 2006 and 2010 [...]
The 3% increase in conservatives among registered voters occurred entirely among Republicans and already Republican-leaning independents - not because of increasing conservatism among either Democrats or genuinely non-partisan independents.
This part is key:
There are now more Republican-leaning independents among independents in general than there were in 2006, but the main reason is that the number of actual Republicans has significantly declined. OK, so why has the weight of Republican-leaning independents among independents increased? This is a tricky question, but possibly the most important single factor is that there has been an actual decrease in the number of straight Republican identifiers among registered voters (down 2 points) which has produced a concomitant increase in the number of Republican-leaning independents over the 2006-2010 time period. It's also interesting to note that that this switch can account for most of the 3 point overall increase in independents over the time period.
There are now more Republican-leaning independents among independents in general than there were in 2006, but the main reason is that the number of actual Republicans has significantly declined.
OK, so why has the weight of Republican-leaning independents among independents increased? This is a tricky question, but possibly the most important single factor is that there has been an actual decrease in the number of straight Republican identifiers among registered voters (down 2 points) which has produced a concomitant increase in the number of Republican-leaning independents over the 2006-2010 time period. It's also interesting to note that that this switch can account for most of the 3 point overall increase in independents over the time period.
Those are all teabaggers too embarrassed to say they were Republicans after their 2008 drubbing. So they've rebranded as "independents", but they're still Republicans.
It's the maverick way -- spend a year studying whether soldiers deserve full civil rights, and a half an hour deciding who will be your presidential running mate.
However, I do look forward to that documentary in 20 years, in which John McCain plays the role of George Wallace.
GOHMERT: Listen, if it takes a shutdown of government to stop the runaway spending, we owe that to our children and our grandchildren. I don’t have any grandchildren yet, but if we don’t stop the runaway spending — even if it means showing how serious we are — okay, government is going to have to shut down until you runaway-spending people get it under control. And if you can’t get it under control, then we just stop government until you realize, you know, yes we can.
Yes we can!