Egypt's Copts Choose New Pope http://thebea.st/TqWPwi #cheatsheet
Newsweek 
9:34 AM - 4 Nov 12 · Details
Egypt’s Copts Choose New Pope
Pope Tawadros II was selected as the new leader of the Egyptian Coptic Church on Sunday. The faith’s adherents have dealt with increasing uncertainty since their last leader, Pope Shenouda III, died earlier this year. Copts in Egypt have been uneasy about their place in the country since the downfall of dictator Hosni Mubarak and distressed in particular by the rise of powerful Islamist factions. Christians make up about 10 percent of the population in the country of 83 million.
Obama 50, Romney 48 in Columbus Dispatch poll. http://ow.ly/f0i3L
8:33 AM - 4 Nov 12 · Details
Dispatch Poll: Ohio's a toss-up
Obama has edge, but high GOP turnout could turn Ohio to Romney
RELATED ITEMS
POLL RESULTS
Dispatch Poll of 1,501 Ohioans, conducted Oct. 24 through yesterday:
President
Barack Obama (D) - 50%
Mitt Romney (R) - 48%
U.S. Senate
Sherrod Brown (D) - 51%
Josh Mandel (R) - 45%
President
Barack Obama (D) - 50%
Mitt Romney (R) - 48%
U.S. Senate
Sherrod Brown (D) - 51%
Josh Mandel (R) - 45%
EXTRAS
Dispatch political reporters separate fact from fiction in this season's campaign ads.
Find out how many times presidential candidates have been to Ohio with this interactive map.
NATE BEELER | DISPATCH ILLUSTRATIONS
The “Ohio firewall” precariously stands for President Barack Obama, but a strong Republican turnout could enable Mitt Romney to tear it down on Election Day.
The final Dispatch Poll shows Obama leading 50 percent to 48 percent in the Buckeye State. However, that 2-point edge is within the survey’s margin of sampling error, plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Ohio remains the consensus top battlefield in the 2012 presidential election, and the campaigns are showing it: Both candidates and both running mates are here today, and three of the four are coming back on Monday. That will make 83 visits by presidential candidates to Ohio this year, a record at least in modern history.
Many in the Obama camp have said if the president can build a “firewall” in bellwether Ohio — which has backed a loser only twice since 1900, the nation’s best record — Romney’s road to the White House will be all but blocked. A Republican has never won the presidency without carrying Ohio, and without the state this year, Romney’s electoral challenge becomes steep.
One key to Obama’s lead: He is winning by more than 2-to-1 among the 11 percent of Ohio voters who say they didn’t cast a ballot in the 2010 governor’s race, which Republican John Kasich won by 2points.
In general, the Obama campaign wants to avoid the Democratic underperformance of 2010 that brought sweeping GOP victories and instead return to a 2008 turnout model in Ohio when Obama won by 4.6 points. And the Romney team looks longingly at the high GOP turnout when George W. Bush took a second term by turning back John Kerry in 2004 — when a same-sex marriage issue also was on the Ohio ballot.
The new poll also shows:
Sen. Sherrod Brown is besting GOP state Treasurer Josh Mandel by 6 points, 51percent to 45 percent.
State Issue 2, which would revamp how congressional and legislative districts are drawn in Ohio, is going down big, with opposition from 60percent.
Two Supreme Court justices, Robert R. Cupp and Yvette McGee Brown, are in danger of losing their seats — although voting in such down-ticket races is often subject to late swings. Justice Terrence O’Donnell appears to be cruising to re-election.
Obama leads by 15 points among the 40 percent-plus of voters who say they have or will cast an early ballot. Romney leads by 11 points with those who plan to vote on Election Day. Through Friday, more than 1.6 million Ohioans had cast an early ballot.
More than a quarter of Ohio voters view their presidential vote this year as “the lesser of two evils.” About 21percent of Obama supporters agreed with that sentiment, as do 30 percent of those voting for Romney.
“Obama has many flaws, but he is the better of the two candidates,” said poll participant Arlene Fine, 65, a journalist from Beachwood near Cleveland. “Romney and Ryan are scary, and I worry that Dick Cheney is sharpening his claws eagerly waiting in the wings for an encore appearance.”
Cincinnati high-school history teacher Catherine Koch Schildknecht, 60, is backing the former Massachusetts governor despite saying, “I am not happy that Romney is the GOP candidate. My support falls under the category of that of the lesser of two evils. This is the second consecutive election in which I felt this to be the case.”
Obama’s lead is built on a 10-point advantage in heavily Democratic northeastern Ohio and a 5-point margin in central Ohio, regarded as a swing area this year. Romney rolls to a 23-point bulge in heavily Republican southwestern Ohio, a 17-point lead in western Ohio and a 4-point edge in northwestern Ohio, which in past elections has proved a reliable barometer for the whole state.
“I’m supporting President Obama because I believe he has begun to fix the economy without any help from the Republicans in Congress,” said Andrea Ramsey, 35, from Groveport, who is self-employed. “I believe Republicans in Congress have purposely impaired our recovery from this recession in (an attempt) to get back into the White House after the debacle of the Bush years, and I will not reinforce that behavior by voting for Mitt Romney.”
Shirley Lassiter, 56, an executive secretary from Brookville near Dayton, said she is voting for Romney because of both his economic plan and his moral values.
“After listening to both candidates, I am excited to support someone that believes in the America that I grew up loving. I am proud to be an American, and we should never apologize for America and what it stands for.”
In the Senate race, Brown is winning by 14 points among women, while Mandel is taking men by 2 points.
“I support Sherrod Brown because he stands with the middle class, veterans, women’s rights, the auto bailout that saved 1 in 8 jobs in Ohio, and his trade policies with China,” said Jessie Bigley of Marietta, a 70-year-old retiree.
Cincinnati firefighter/paramedic Joe Mast, 37, prefers Mandel because “Sherrod Brown has voted for legislation and spending that I don't agree with. Also, the ability of Congress to vote for a raise for itself is wrong. Career politician is not what was intended by the founding fathers. Government service was designed to be a term of service then to return to the private sector.”
In the races for three Ohio Supreme Court seats, the poll shows two challengers winning by 53 percent to 47 percent: former appeals court Judge William M. O’Neill topping incumbent Republican Cupp, and Republican Butler County Judge Sharon Kennedy over McGee Brown, the seven-member court’s sole Democrat.
O’Donnell is easily besting Democratic state Sen. Michael Skindell, 73 percent to 27percent.
The lack of party labels on the ballot for judicial races can render them especially volatile and difficult to forecast, often rendering them a last-minute name game. For instance, a quarter of Democrats say they are voting for Kennedy instead of their own party’s candidate. And nearly that share of Republicans is voting for the O’Neill, a Democrat.
The first Dispatch Poll this year, conducted in August before the political conventions, had both the presidential and Senate races deadlocked. Just before the presidential debates, Obama had opened a 9-point lead and Brown was ahead by 10.
The latest poll shows that those debates helped Romney more than Obama. While 52percent said they had little or no impact on their vote, 27percent said the face-offs moved them toward Romney, 20 percent said toward Obama.
The mail poll of 1,501 likely Ohio voters Oct. 24 through yesterday has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. The partisan breakdown of those who returned the poll: 40 percent Democrat, 36percent Republican, 21 percent independent, and the rest divided among the other four political parties recognized in Ohio.
The final Dispatch Poll shows Obama leading 50 percent to 48 percent in the Buckeye State. However, that 2-point edge is within the survey’s margin of sampling error, plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Ohio remains the consensus top battlefield in the 2012 presidential election, and the campaigns are showing it: Both candidates and both running mates are here today, and three of the four are coming back on Monday. That will make 83 visits by presidential candidates to Ohio this year, a record at least in modern history.
Many in the Obama camp have said if the president can build a “firewall” in bellwether Ohio — which has backed a loser only twice since 1900, the nation’s best record — Romney’s road to the White House will be all but blocked. A Republican has never won the presidency without carrying Ohio, and without the state this year, Romney’s electoral challenge becomes steep.
One key to Obama’s lead: He is winning by more than 2-to-1 among the 11 percent of Ohio voters who say they didn’t cast a ballot in the 2010 governor’s race, which Republican John Kasich won by 2points.
In general, the Obama campaign wants to avoid the Democratic underperformance of 2010 that brought sweeping GOP victories and instead return to a 2008 turnout model in Ohio when Obama won by 4.6 points. And the Romney team looks longingly at the high GOP turnout when George W. Bush took a second term by turning back John Kerry in 2004 — when a same-sex marriage issue also was on the Ohio ballot.
The new poll also shows:
Sen. Sherrod Brown is besting GOP state Treasurer Josh Mandel by 6 points, 51percent to 45 percent.
State Issue 2, which would revamp how congressional and legislative districts are drawn in Ohio, is going down big, with opposition from 60percent.
Two Supreme Court justices, Robert R. Cupp and Yvette McGee Brown, are in danger of losing their seats — although voting in such down-ticket races is often subject to late swings. Justice Terrence O’Donnell appears to be cruising to re-election.
Obama leads by 15 points among the 40 percent-plus of voters who say they have or will cast an early ballot. Romney leads by 11 points with those who plan to vote on Election Day. Through Friday, more than 1.6 million Ohioans had cast an early ballot.
More than a quarter of Ohio voters view their presidential vote this year as “the lesser of two evils.” About 21percent of Obama supporters agreed with that sentiment, as do 30 percent of those voting for Romney.
“Obama has many flaws, but he is the better of the two candidates,” said poll participant Arlene Fine, 65, a journalist from Beachwood near Cleveland. “Romney and Ryan are scary, and I worry that Dick Cheney is sharpening his claws eagerly waiting in the wings for an encore appearance.”
Cincinnati high-school history teacher Catherine Koch Schildknecht, 60, is backing the former Massachusetts governor despite saying, “I am not happy that Romney is the GOP candidate. My support falls under the category of that of the lesser of two evils. This is the second consecutive election in which I felt this to be the case.”
Obama’s lead is built on a 10-point advantage in heavily Democratic northeastern Ohio and a 5-point margin in central Ohio, regarded as a swing area this year. Romney rolls to a 23-point bulge in heavily Republican southwestern Ohio, a 17-point lead in western Ohio and a 4-point edge in northwestern Ohio, which in past elections has proved a reliable barometer for the whole state.
“I’m supporting President Obama because I believe he has begun to fix the economy without any help from the Republicans in Congress,” said Andrea Ramsey, 35, from Groveport, who is self-employed. “I believe Republicans in Congress have purposely impaired our recovery from this recession in (an attempt) to get back into the White House after the debacle of the Bush years, and I will not reinforce that behavior by voting for Mitt Romney.”
Shirley Lassiter, 56, an executive secretary from Brookville near Dayton, said she is voting for Romney because of both his economic plan and his moral values.
“After listening to both candidates, I am excited to support someone that believes in the America that I grew up loving. I am proud to be an American, and we should never apologize for America and what it stands for.”
In the Senate race, Brown is winning by 14 points among women, while Mandel is taking men by 2 points.
“I support Sherrod Brown because he stands with the middle class, veterans, women’s rights, the auto bailout that saved 1 in 8 jobs in Ohio, and his trade policies with China,” said Jessie Bigley of Marietta, a 70-year-old retiree.
Cincinnati firefighter/paramedic Joe Mast, 37, prefers Mandel because “Sherrod Brown has voted for legislation and spending that I don't agree with. Also, the ability of Congress to vote for a raise for itself is wrong. Career politician is not what was intended by the founding fathers. Government service was designed to be a term of service then to return to the private sector.”
In the races for three Ohio Supreme Court seats, the poll shows two challengers winning by 53 percent to 47 percent: former appeals court Judge William M. O’Neill topping incumbent Republican Cupp, and Republican Butler County Judge Sharon Kennedy over McGee Brown, the seven-member court’s sole Democrat.
O’Donnell is easily besting Democratic state Sen. Michael Skindell, 73 percent to 27percent.
The lack of party labels on the ballot for judicial races can render them especially volatile and difficult to forecast, often rendering them a last-minute name game. For instance, a quarter of Democrats say they are voting for Kennedy instead of their own party’s candidate. And nearly that share of Republicans is voting for the O’Neill, a Democrat.
The first Dispatch Poll this year, conducted in August before the political conventions, had both the presidential and Senate races deadlocked. Just before the presidential debates, Obama had opened a 9-point lead and Brown was ahead by 10.
The latest poll shows that those debates helped Romney more than Obama. While 52percent said they had little or no impact on their vote, 27percent said the face-offs moved them toward Romney, 20 percent said toward Obama.
The mail poll of 1,501 likely Ohio voters Oct. 24 through yesterday has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. The partisan breakdown of those who returned the poll: 40 percent Democrat, 36percent Republican, 21 percent independent, and the rest divided among the other four political parties recognized in Ohio.
