• GOP embraces cosmetic makeover, tweaking tone not principles

    Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

    U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-OH, addresses the media following a Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. From left are: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-VA, Conference Vice Chairman Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-KS, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, Rep. Susan Brooks, R-IN, Conference Chairman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, and Rep. Tom Price, R-GA.

    By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

     

    Published at 4:35 a.m. ET: After their electoral drubbing last November — their second straight in a presidential contest — Republicans have faced a choice. Do they change their policies or their tone?

    For now, many top Republicans in Washington seem to have opted for the latter, deciding that a more articulate re-statement of the party's long-held principles will suffice in their effort to attract new voters to the GOP.

    "I wouldn't say shift in policy," pollster Jim McLaughlin said of his advice for fellow Republicans. "Republicans have to make adjustments there, but they have to stick to their principles."

    McLaughlin's words echo what many Republicans have argued since the election: It's not the party's long-held principles that are the problem, but rather, the way the party's leaders articulate those principles to voters.

    House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., offered a perfect example of current Republican thinking when he delivered a major policy speech that rehashed a number of familiar policies on education, immigration and entitlements under his new "make life work" veneer.

    The No. 2 Republican in the House re-framed some of his party's most familiar proposals as an agenda intended to ease the plight of most American families. (The lone new pronouncement was Cantor's endorsement of the thrust of the DREAM Act, a proposal to allow undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children a pathway to citizenship.)

    He disputed the notion that his speech was part of a broader effort to soften the GOP's image: "The average American is not thinking about and wondering about where the Republican Party is," Cantor told one questioner.

    But the Virginia congressman's speech is representative of an emerging consensus that a more modern restatement of their long-held principles will suffice in seeking to broaden the party's appeal.

    And indeed, President Barack Obama's agenda seems poised to stress-test some of the Republican Party's most bedrock policies.

    If Republicans can rebuff the president, it could prove the resiliency of their stances. A victory for the president, on the other hand, could tear through the GOP like a buzzsaw. The GOP is arguably facing the most direct challenge in decades to the tenets that have formed the foundation of Republican Party politics for the better part of three decades.

    Republican Eric Cantor calls for legal residence and citizenship for children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington conservative think tank.

    Public opinion shifting
    Republicans' decision to hew closely to those long-held principles is not without dissent, however.

    "People focus on the 2012 elections, but it's deeper than that," said former Ohio Rep. Steve LaTourette, a Republican who leads the moderate "Main Street Partnership."

    "It can't just be tone," LaTourette argued. "Because just changing the tone is going to be like putting a lipstick on a pig — it pretties things up, but doesn't really change the fact that it's a pig."

    The next four years — the midterm elections in 2014 and the next presidential contest in 2016 — will offer a major test of which school of thought is right.

    Obama's second term agenda seems almost directly intended to challenge the GOP on taxes, entitlements, immigration, social issues and foreign policy.

    Terminally low taxes, hawkish foreign policy, largely unfettered gun rights and opposition to abortion and gay rights have defined the GOP since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. And as recently as 2004, President George W. Bush's re-election seemed to signify a sweeping affirmation of these central principles.

    But Obama already won new revenue during the first installment of the "fiscal cliff" fight, and his forthcoming budget is almost sure to seek more tax increases. The president is demanding an immigration bill and the first major gun law since the 1990s. Obama has also consistently advocated for new gay rights, and public opinion has followed (however slowly). And last month's NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that a majority of Americans support abortion rights — an issue which Democrats used against Republicans to great effect during the election — for the first time in history.

    On an even more foundational issue, last November's exit polls revealed a change in tide against Republicans' opposition to new taxes under any circumstances. Almost half of voters — and 70 percent of independents — agreed that income taxes should increase, at a bare minimum, for households earning more than $250,000 per year.

    For Republicans, the road map back to victory involves speaking less stridently about some of these issues, and emphasizing certain elements of the GOP platform over others. Virtually all Republicans recoil at the comments last fall about "legitimate rape" by Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, but no mainstream GOP leader has suggested that the party jettison its longstanding opposition to abortion rights. The new strategy might involve sidestepping conversations altogether about abortions in the instances of rape, instead emphasizing Republican policies that might support women's economic mobility.

    And already, a new effort led by former Bush political guru Karl Rove has vowed to combat candidates like Akin in primaries and help to nominate more electable Republican candidates. (A separate effort spearheaded by another onetime Bush adviser, Ed Gilliespie, and two Hispanic GOP governors, Suzana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada, will look to recruit more minority Republican candidates.)

    LaTourette, the former congressman, suggested the answer might be simpler. The GOP, he said, is should just get things — something, anything — done.

    "There needs to be some sort of reasonable approach to demonstrate that we're all in this together," he said, "a willingness to do the doable and get things done."

    Related:

    NBC/WSJ poll: Majority, for first time, want abortion to be legal

    Rape remarks sink two Republican Senate hopefuls

    Social conservatives say they deserve seat at table in retooled GOP

  • Legalized pot, gay marriage: Are we all Washington now?

    By Isolde Raftery, NBC News

    The images out of Washington state toward the end of 2012 — all-night parties celebrating legalized pot and same-sex marriage — sparked hope among liberal activists that the tide has turned on these two issues.


    Even though national polls show more openness to pot and gay marriage nationwide, it raised the question — why Washington?

    Oregon, the state’s blue neighbor to the south, has not successfully mounted campaigns to approve pot or same-sex marriage. California has had a messy relationship with both issues, and Idaho swings solidly right.

    There are a number of unique factors that made Washington ripe for these liberal reforms, experts say.

    "There’s a libertarian streak in Washington, and there are more atheists. Religion is part of this," University of Washington Professor John Findlay told NBC News. The state is one of the least religious, with only about half of Washingtonians telling the Gallup poll in 2008 that religion plays a part in their daily lives.

    Beyond pot and same-sex marriage, Washington also allows physician-assisted suicide (as do Oregon and Montana) and was one of four states that decriminalized abortion before Roe v. Wade in 1971. To top off its liberal cred: A Democrat has been in the governor's office since 1980 — longer than any other state.

    Cliff Despeaux / Reuters

    Washingtonians light up near the Space Needle in Seattle after the law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana went into effect in the state.

    But to describe Washington as a purely liberal state is to oversimplify its politics. Outside of the Puget Sound area, Washingtonians have more in common with Red State residents than they do coffee-craving Seattleites.

    "Without Seattle, we’d be Idaho," says pollster H. Stuart Elway. Seattle-area voters accounted for one-third of the state total.

    Washington has no income tax, and the possibility of implementing one is rarely mentioned, even during tough economic times; in 1998, voters nixed affirmative action; two years later, they approved $30 license plate tab renewals, a dramatic fee reduction that cut into city and state coffers, hiking up bus fares and leaving potholes unfilled.

    What ties all these measures together, beyond a "live and let live" ethos, is the state's initiative and referendum process, which gives voters, not lawmakers, the power to set policy much more directly than in other states.

    Findlay says the initiative process can be traced back to the state’s early days, when Washingtonians, buoyed by the progressive and populist movements, didn't trust their politicians. While politicians in most other states manage what goes on the ballot, Washingtonians can pay $5 to submit an initiative or referendum. Get 241,153 valid signatures (120,557 for a referendum) and that measure is inked on the ballot.

    "There’s a legacy of distrust of the Legislature stemming from 100 years ago that has continued to shape politics for more than a century," Findlay said.

    Although 24 states and the District of Columbia have an initiative process, it has been most used by the Western states, particularly California, Oregon and Washington, making them laboratories for special interest groups.

    Take marijuana, for example, where outside money was a big part of the campaign. Drug Policy Action in New York fronted $1.6 million; Progressive Insurance CEO Peter Lewis, who supports drug reform and lives in Ohio, donated about $2 million.

    Elaine Thompson / AP

    King County Executive Dow Constantine, right, embraces Pete-e Petersen as her partner, Jane Abbott Lighty, watches after Constantine issued the the county's first marriage license to a same-sex couple. On the night that same-sex marriage became legal in Washington state, many of the state's issued marriage licenses beginning at midnight.

    Given their success in Washington and Colorado, Drug Policy Action is looking to push similar campaigns in California and Oregon in 2014 or 2016. Both states have legalized medical marijuana and in California, medical pot has becoming a booming business since it was approved in 1996. A 2007 federal study estimated that Californians consume one million pounds of pot a year.

    "We have these results in Colorado and Washington under our belt, so that sort of fertilizes the ground," Dale Gieringer, who heads the California office of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told Reuters. 

    Outside money also played a role in the battle over gay marriage, but so too did some Washington billionaires, including Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, who collectively gave more than $3 million to the campaign to approve same-sex marriage.

    "The populist and progressive movements are over, and the feelings are over, but there’s this tool," Findlay said. "A lot of us complain about those things, but it doesn't matter, because it’s going to shape politics in this state. This is the tool we have that most other states don’t have. It’s part of how we do things here. And it doesn't work exclusively for progressives or conservatives."

    Other reasons floated for the state’s unique positions on issues: Unions have long had a stronghold in the state, as have female politicians -- the state was home to Dixie Lee Ray, the fiery former governor whose motto during her 1976 campaign was “Little lady takes on big boys.”

    But, as Elway noted, Washington’s votes often come down to the Seattle area. Elsewhere on Election Day, conservative Washingtonians watch in dismay as their leads are turned upside down as results from the metropolitan area trickle in.

    State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur told the Seattle Times that the votes speak for themselves.

    "Washington has always been a socially liberal and economically conservative state," he said.

    To be fair, Washington may not be so far ahead of the rest of the country on social issues such as pot and same-sex marriage, according to Mark Smith, who teaches political science at the University of Washington.

    Smith noted that 53.7 percent of Washingtonians approved same-sex marriage. Polling figures show a similar, if slightly lower, level of support nationwide.

    "We’re not that far ahead of the nation,” Smith said. "The whole nation is trending; we’re just further along than the rest of the country."

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  • Hispanics to Obama: We helped you, now you help us

    Cliff Owen / AP

    Gustavo Torres, director of Casa in Action, center, and others chant during a rally of immigration rights organizations, in front of the White House on Thursday. They called on President Barack Obama to fulfill his promise of passing comprehensive immigration reform.

    By James Eng, NBC News

    Hispanic voters, who were instrumental in putting Barack Obama back in the White House, now hope the president will work diligently in his second term to cross some big to-dos off their legislative wish list: jobs, affordable education, health care access and immigration reform.


    Hispanics voted for Obama over Mitt Romney by a resounding 71 percent to 27 percent and may have put him over the top in several key swing states. The total number of potential Hispanic voters this year reached a record 23.7 million – up about 80 percent since 2000 – and Hispanics now compose about 10 percent of the total electorate, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

    “The Latino electorate arrived Tuesday, there’s no question about it,” said Rafael Collazo, director of political campaigns for the National Council of La Raza. The organization, which bills itself as the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, says it helped register more than 90,000 new Hispanic voters this year.

    “States like Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania, even Ohio -- the Latino vote was a net gain for the preferred candidate and was the deciding factor or at least very, very close to being the decisive factor,” Collazo told NBC News.

    "The Latino giant is wide awake, cranky and is taking names,” labor leader Eliseo Medina, of the Service Employees International Union, told NBC Latino. 

    With the election behind them, Hispanics now want Obama and Congress to work on issues identified in surveys as their priorities – more jobs, affordable health care, access to higher education and immigration reform.

    GOP faces immigration fight after election

    The latter issue has been more important for Hispanics than for other U.S. voters, said Mark Hugo Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization.

    Hispanic support for Obama was high even before he announced in June that the government will stop deporting, and begin granting work permits to, some undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children.

    “However, when it comes to asking Hispanics which party is more concerned for the Hispanic community, after the deferred action program was announced the (Democratic) share went from 45 to 61 percent – the highest we’ve measured in Pew Hispanic surveys in 10 years,”  Lopez said.

    “In his acceptance speech, Obama mentioned that comprehensive immigration reform was something that needed to be addressed, and we’re going to hold him to that,” Collazo told NBC News.

    The day after the election, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised to introduce an immigration reform package next year. He said if Republicans block the legislation, they would do so "at their peril."

    Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union and former chairman of the Republican Party in Florida, agreed that the immigration debate has been detrimental for the GOP.

    “Across the board generationally and demographically, the immigration issue has become a wedge issue … because it’s become a litmus test of respect and caring in that community,” Cardenas said. “My advice for conservatives and the party as a whole is to get bipartisan immigration reform done in next 100 to 200 days.”

    A survey of Hispanic voters by the firm Latino Decisions found that Hispanics pushed Obama over the top in Colorado, Florida and Nevada, swing states where they turned out in unusually high numbers.

    Cardenas said the GOP can’t pay short shrift to minority groups if it wants to put a Republican in the White House.

    NBC Latino: We voted – now let’s get to work, say Latinos after historic vote for Obama

    “The so-called mainstream vote is no longer sufficient,” he said. “The coalition of all of these minority votes is a priority in these elections today. The Hispanic vote is the most numerically significant of all of these groups. We need to develop a precise, aggressive, winning political game plan to address that community.”

    The Hispanic community is a diverse one, according to the Pew Center's Lopez:

    • Country of origin: Among eligible Hispanic voters, 58 percent are Mexican Americans, 14 percent are Puerto Ricans, and 6 percent are Cubans. (The remainder are from Central and South America). Historically, Cubans have supported Republican candidates more than other Hispanic groups; in Florida this year, 49 percent of Cubans went for Obama and 47 percent for Romney.
    • Youth: People ages 18-29 make up about a third of all eligible Hispanic voters, but just 20 percent of all general voters.
    • Naturalized U.S. citizens: Among Hispanic eligible voters, 25 percent are immigrants who are naturalized. But among whites, only 3 percent are naturalized U.S. citizens.

    Callazo said that despite this diversity, Hispanics displayed a rather consistent, Democratic-leaning voting pattern across many states.

    “The numbers of how Latinos voted in Arizona compared to Ohio and Colorado were fairly close,” Callazo said.

    “Yes, there are differences and nuances … but if you look at the polling and all the anecdotal work and the outreach we’ve done over the years, the core issues are very, very similar," he added.  "At end of day, Latino voters are voting for the candidate they feel will best reflect their values."

    NBC Latino contributed to this story.

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  • Washington state passes same-sex marriage

    Ted S. Warren / AP

    Revelers display U.S. and gay pride flags as they celebrate early election returns favoring Washington state Referendum 74, which would legalize gay marriage.

    By NBC News staff

    SEATTLE -- The side opposed to same-sex marriage in Washington state has conceded that Referendum 74 will likely pass.


    “While we are disappointed, we are not defeated,” said Joseph Backholm, chairman of Preserve Marriage Washington, in a statement. “We are fighting for a cause that is true, and beautiful, and right – the sacred institution of marriage. It’s a cause worth fighting for, and we will continue to educate citizens and policymakers on the timeless truth that real marriage is the union of one man and one woman.”

    NBC has also projected the measure will pass, marking a victory for advocates of same-sex marriage, who also saw successes in Maine, Maryland and Minnesota. The Senate also ushered in its first openly-gay senator, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

    In Washington state, approving Referendum 74 changes the legal definition of marriage as a “civil contract between two persons." Previously, the law stated that marriage was between “a male and a female.”  

    Related: 1 for 31 no more: Gay rights movement ends dismal record

    The referendum also specifies that religious institutions may not be sued for refusing to marry same-sex couples.

    The margin was too thin to determine whether the referendum had passed on Tuesday night, largely because of Washington’s mail-in ballot system. Votes postmarked Tuesday, Election Day, didn’t arrive until Wednesday or Thursday.   

    Tuesday’s returns indicated that the referendum would pass, however, which ignited Capitol Hill, Seattle’s traditionally gay neighborhood. There, several blocks were shut down, a DJ blasted music, and the smell of marijuana wafted through the air. (The state had also passed the legalization of marijuana.)

    Zach Silk, campaign manager for Washington United for Marriage, responded to the concession in a statement:

    “From the beginning, this campaign told the stories of loving couples and their families who simply want to get married. All of us, from our volunteers, to our staff to the nearly 20,000 donors who invested in the freedom to marry, are enormously grateful to the voters of Washington State. Yes, we made history, but more importantly, we helped protect and defend thousands of families across the state.”

    Advocates of same-sex marriage raised $14 million – far more than their opponents, who raised $2.7 million. That was partly thanks to a $2.5 million donation from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and his wife MacKenzie, and $600,000 from Bill and Melinda Gates. Both couples live in the Seattle area.

    The opposition mounted a national campaign that was largely headed by the same team that passed Proposition 8 in 2008. More than $1 million of the campaign’s money came from the National Organization for Marriage, according to Washington state’s Public Disclosure Commission. The ads opposing same-sex marriage in Washington recycled footage that had been used in ads in Maine, Maryland and Minnesota.

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  • Hurricane Sandy may have cost Obama 800,000 votes

    By NBC’s Domenico Montanaro

     

    Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour asserted this morning on NBC’s TODAY that “Hurricane Sandy saved Barack Obama’s presidency.” 

    But did the president’s perceived leadership during the immediate aftermath of the storm really move 2.9 million votes? That’s highly unlikely. 

    In fact, Sandy may have actually cost the president 800,000 votes.

    It’s difficult to quantify the tangible impact of the good scores the president received during the storm. But public polls before the storm largely proved to be similar to the actual results on Election Day. 

    In the days after the storm, First Read projected that in the counties most affected by the storm in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, the president could lose a net of 340,000 votes.

    It wound up being about half that across the states, with a net-reduction of about 160,000 votes -- 200,000 in New York, 10,000 in Connecticut, 10,000 in Rhode Island. The president gained about 60,000 net votes in New Jersey, but it could have been higher, given the margin increase.

    Obama held his margins in all those states, but with turnout down across all of them, the president got about 802,000 fewer votes than 2008 – 500,000 less in New York, 161,000 in New Jersey, 123,000 in Connecticut, and 18,000 in Rhode Island. 

  • Man admits Election Day burglary of Nancy Pelosi house, cops say

    Uncredited / AP

    Kevin Michael Hagan, seen in a photo provided by Napa County Sheriff's Office, is suspected of breaking into House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's home.

    By NBCBayArea.com

    A suspect was arrested on suspicion of burglarizing the California home of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as voters went to the polls, a sheriff's captain in Napa County said.

    Kevin Michael Hagan, 21, admitted six burglaries since Halloween, including two at Congresswoman Pelosi's residence on Zinfandel Lane outside St. Helena on Monday and again on Tuesday, which was Election Day.

    Capt. Tracy Stuart said nobody was home at the time and it's unknown what was taken. Pelosi was re-elected on Tuesday night.

    Deputies found a glass door to the main Pelosi residence and a glass door to the pool house had been smashed when they responded to an alarm there around 2:50 p.m. local time (5:50 p.m. ET) on Nov. 5.

    No one was home at the time and it's unknown what was taken, Stuart said.

    Read more news from NBCBayArea.com

    On Nov. 6 at 9:50 a.m. local time (12:50 p.m. ET), a caretaker at the Pelosi home discovered plywood that was placed over the broken glass doors the day before had been removed, and someone entered the main house and pool house, Stuart said.

    It appeared someone looked through drawers and cabinets, Stuart said.

    Mark Wilson / Getty Images

    House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi walks up to speak at a news conference on Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C.

    Sheriff's deputies responded at 10:10 a.m. (1:10 p.m. ET) Wednesday to a residence at 2150 Silverado Trail outside St. Helena after a caretaker found an upstairs door open and a locked bedroom door, Stuart said.

    Thinking someone might be inside the house, the caretaker called police, Stuart said.

    A sheriff's deputy discovered a window had been removed and a suspect was inside the house, Stuart said.

    Hagan was found and admitted burglarizing the Pelosi residence twice and two other properties on Zinfandel Lane, Stuart said.

    Stuart said Hagan did not realize it was Pelosi's home the first time he burglarized it but he was aware the second time.

    Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi both drove in the first nails on the platform that will be erected on the U.S. Capitol in January for the next president's inauguration. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    Hagan took deputies to the properties and he was arrested on suspicion of 10 counts of burglary, felony vandalism and a violation of probation for prior burglaries and thefts, Stuart said.

    Hagan had a watch and coin collection taken from the Pelosi residence and Bose headphones taken from another victim's residence, Stuart said. He was booked into the Napa County jail.

     

  • Dead candidates win elections in Florida, Alabama

    By Barbara Liston and Verna Gates, Reuters

    Florida Democrat Earl K. Wood and Alabama Republican Charles Beasley won their respective elections but they will not take office.

    Both men died weeks before the November 6 election yet managed to beat their very much alive opponents by comfortable margins.

    Wood died on October 15 from natural causes at age 96, during his campaign for a 12th term as Orange County Tax Collector in Orlando, Fla.


    Criticized for rarely coming into the office while collecting a $150,000 salary and $90,000 pension, Wood initially announced he would step down, only to change his mind when a longtime political foe made plans to seek the seat.

    Wood's wide name recognition after almost half a century in office scared off several serious contenders. His name remained on the ballot and he took 56 percent of the votes to 44 percent for a Republican who promised to eliminate the office altogether if elected.

    Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

    Beasley, 77, died on October 12, possibly due to an aneurysm, while trying to reclaim his old seat on the Bibb County Commission in central Alabama.

    Beasley's name also remained on the ballot and he won about 52 percent of the vote. His Democratic opponent, incumbent Commissioner Walter Sansing, took the loss especially hard.

    "It is a touchy situation. When you are running against a dead man, you are limited as to what you can say," Sansing told Reuters.

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    He blamed people voting straight Republican tickets for his loss.

    In Orlando, Scott Randolph, an outgoing Democratic state legislator and state party activist, was selected by his party to receive votes cast for Wood and he will assume the office. In Alabama, the governor will appoint a new commissioner with input from local Republicans.

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  • Embattled Jesse Jackson Jr. wins re-election despite criminal probe

    Katy Wolpoff / NBC Chicago

    Jesse Jackson Jr. won re-election to Illinois' 2nd Congressional district by a landslide Tuesday night, NBC Chicago reported.

    By Andrew Greiner, NBCChicago.com

    CHICAGO — U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., who has made no public appearances since for several months amid illness and who faces a criminal probe into alleged misuse of public funds, easily won re-election to his Chicago-area district on Tuesday.

    Jackson, a Democrat who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1995 and who was diagnosed earlier this year with bipolar disorder, won re-election to Illinois' 2nd Congressional district by a landslide, beating his two opponents, Marcus Lewis and Brian Woodworth.

    As of 2 a.m. local time Wednesday (3 a.m. ET) and with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Jackson had captured 63 percent of the vote.

    "My deep and sincere thanks to the people of the 2nd Congressional District, I am humbled and moved by the support shown today," Jackson said in a written statement. "Everyday, I think about your needs and concerns. Once the doctors approve my return to work, I will continue to be the progressive fighter you have known for years. My family and I are grateful for your many heartfelt prayers and kind thoughts. I continue to feel better everyday and look forward to serving you."

    Jesse Jackson Jr. under federal investigation over alleged financial improprieties

    Jackson reportedly spent the night at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

    August 2012: Former Rhode Island U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy visited longtime friend and colleague U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., who is undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder. Kennedy described their mutual struggle with depression in this extended interview with NBC News.

    Jackson disappeared from public view before the primary when he left for a treatment center in Arizona in early June. He later moved on to Mayo where he was diagnosed with bipolar depression and gastrointestinal issues.

    More stories from NBCChicago.com

    In October, federal prosecutors and FBI agents in Washington, D.C., launched a criminal investigation into Jackson involving alleged financial improprieties.

    At the same time, a House Ethics Committee continues to look into Jackson's supposed involvement in trying to be appointed to now-President Barack Obama's seat in the U.S. Senate. Jackson has admitted he wanted to be appointed to the Senate, but has repeatedly denied allegations he sent emissaries to offer campaign cash to then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for the seat.

    The emissary that he denies sending to negotiate with Blagojevich, Raghuveer Nayak, was arrested on 17 counts of fraud in June.

    Once a rising star, the Illinois Representative has not been seen in Congress since early June. Friends and colleagues say Jackson was being treated at a facility in Arizona. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

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  • New Jersey's email voting suffers major glitches, deadline extended to Friday

    Julio Cortez / AP

    Ed Lippman, 58, wears a message on his jacket on Election Day while walking home, Tuesday, Nov. 6, in Hoboken, N.J.

    By Bob Sullivan, Columnist, NBC News

    New Jersey's emergency experiment with email voting hasn't fared well. One election official described it as a "catastrophe" and voters are complaining that computer glitches are blocking their last-minute efforts to obtain electronic ballots. An avalanche of requests for email ballots that overwhelmed county clerks' offices forced the state to extend its email voting deadline to Friday afternoon at 8 p.m., though email ballot requests had to filed by 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.

    "It has become apparent that County Clerks are receiving applications at a rate that outpaces their capacity to process them without an extension," said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadango in her order extending the deadline.

    Several election officials say misunderstanding is at the root of the problem: Email ballots are only permitted for residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy, but many who are not displaced are nevertheless deluging the system.

    "The numbers are overwhelming. The county clerks are inundated with requests," said Michael Harper, clerk of the Board of Elections for Hudson County, N.J. which includes Hoboken, one of the hardest-hit regions recovering from Sandy. Asked to describe the situation, he said, "I would lean more towards catastrophe."

    New Jersey has taken the extraordinary step of allowing votes to be cast all the way up until Friday. This applies to voters in counties affected by Hurricane Sandy, and could make the state vulnerable to lawsuits. NBC's Pete Williams reports.

    New Jersey's email voting law allows overseas residents and active duty military to request ballots electronically; it was extended by state executive order on Saturday to apply to residents displaced by the storm.

    NBC News Justice Department correspondent Pete Williams said the extreme step of extending the voting deadline could expose New Jersey to lawsuits.

    "This raises some interesting legal questions," Williams wrote. "A federal law requires all states to choose their presidential electors the same day. But another law says if a state fails to do that, then its legislature determines how its presidential elections are determined. Some legal experts say they believe while New Jersey may be in technical violations of federal laws if it does this, it's Congress that makes the ultimate decision about whether to accept a state's electoral votes. And they doubt that Congress would fail to count the votes of a state brought to its knees by the storm. "

    Another hitch is this: Residents must email or fax their requests to their county clerk's office, which must respond individually to each request. The mountain of last-minute requests is crushing clerks' capacity to respond.

    Janet Larwa, the deputy clerk at the Hudson County Clerk's office, told NBC News there were eight workers trying to process 3,000 email requests as of mid-day Tuesday.

    Frustrations weren't limited to Hudson County. In Essex County, which includes the state's largest city, Newark, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit after it received 25 complaints from residents who said they'd requested email ballots, but hadn't received them. Voters reported that emails sent to the county clerk's office were bouncing, indicating the clerk's inbox was full or not functioning. 

    "You've got people who are trying to utilize this email or fax voting capabilities the state has said they are entitled to," Alexander Shalom, policy counsel for the ACLU, told NJ.com. "The counties are so overwhelmed with these requests, they are not able to reply. People have emailed in requests to get ballots and they are not hearing back."

    The ACLU sought a court order that would have allowed displaced residents to fill out a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, typically used by overseas voters who apply for but don't receive their blank absentee ballots in time, but an Essex County judge rejected the petition on Tuesday night.

    Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin tried to ease the problem by giving out his personal email Hotmail address to voters, inviting them to send ballot requests there,  according to a message posted on the official Facebook page for West Orange, N.J., a city in Essex County.

    In Morris County, BuzzFeed.com reported that emails sent to that county's clerk were bouncing. The Daily Record reported the clerk there was struggling under a mountain of 1,000 requests.

    Harper, from Hudson County, said the problems stem from the wider email voting process being "thrown upon us at the last minute," not to mention the unprecedented volume. Larwa said that voters who aren't displaced from their homes are being turned down. Her office is calling some voters and denying their email ballot requests, telling them to go to their usual polling place. With power restored to much of Hudson County within the past 48 hours, very few polling locations have been relocated, she said.

    The problems might not stop with delivering email ballots, however. Experts are also worried that even if all New Jersey voters who need them receive email ballots in time, there will be confusion about submitting the ballots. The state's email voting procedure is a three-step process which is new to nearly all voters, and ripe for confusion, according to J. Alex Halderman, an electronic voting expert at the University of Michigan.  Voters must request a ballot electronically; email or fax the completed ballot to the clerk; then mail the original hard copy to the clerk. 

    "I'm not sure that voters will understand they still have to mail the ballot," Halderman said. "They may not be aware for requirement, even though it's on the form. If people don't do that, it will be fodder for lawsuits."

    Halderman is also concerned that computer hackers can intercept email ballots and alter votes, or otherwise electronically tamper with the process.

    "Email voting is tremendously risky ... you never want to make last minute change to an election process. That's a recipe for chaos," he said. "It's a reflection of desperation and seriousness of the situation New Jersey (post-Sandy) that officials are using email voting."

    Voting officials in New York apparently agree with Halderman. New York State Board of Elections co-chair Doug Kellner said during the weekend that his state rejected emergency email ballots because, "they're hackable and they're not verifiable," according to USA Today.

    Still, Halderman is worried that voters who get a taste of email voting may clamor for it in future elections.

    "We are definitely concerned that voters will want to have access to this again if they it convenient," he said. "But transmitting votes by email doesn't have good secrecy or integrity protection. It's easy to spoof an email, intercept an email, find it in someone's outbox and alter it ... It's possible to hack email servers and change votes after they are received. It's the highest level of risk for any kind of electronic voting." 

    With reporting by NBC News Talesha Reynolds.

    Follow Bob Sullivan on Twitter; He writes for NBC News at the Red Tape Chronicles.

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  • Amid destroyed homes, Hurricane Sandy victims question going to the polls

    John Makely / NBC News

    Billy Hague takes a break from cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy at his mother's house in the Ocean Breeze neighborhood of Staten Island, N.Y. on Monday.

    By John Makely, NBC News

    I've covered a fair number of disasters, but standing next to destroyed buildings with debris piled high, I've never asked anyone, "Are you going to vote in tomorrow's election?" Even with vastly different viewpoints of the two leading presidential candidates and the important issues that they represent, the question almost seems absurd standing in the mud, talking to people who have lost almost everything due to Hurricane Sandy.

    Billy Hague took a break from cleaning up his mother's house on Quincy Ave. in the Ocean Breeze neighborhood of Staten Island, where the water reached almost ten feet. "You wander around aimlessly because you don't know what to do next,” he said.

    In storm-hit areas, some polling places changed on Election Day

    Hague, a contractor, said all of his tools were submerged in salt water, so they are now virtually useless. After police chased away looters a couple days ago, he made a big sign warning trespassers, though he adds, "Not that there is anything left to take." Asked about the election, Hague does not care. "People need basics right now, give me a break. It doesn't matter anyway because [New York] is a blue state."   

    John Makely / NBC News

    A sign in front of Billy Hague's home reads 'No Trespass-will be shot.' in the Ocean Breeze neighborhood of Staten Island, New York on Nov. 5.

    Around the corner from Hague lives Peter Emelock. A proud resident of the block for thirty-five years, though Emelock says he's a newcomer. "There are people who have been here for eighty years," says Emelock, as he takes a minute from cleaning his modest home. "What are you going to do? You have to rebuild. I'm learning this as I go. I gotta move on."

    John Makely / NBC News

    Peter Emelock takes a minute from cleaning his modest home in the Ocean Breeze neighborhood of Staten Island, N.Y. on Nov. 5.

    He wonders if it might have been better if the house was completely gone. Emelock, his wife and their dogs barely escaped the storm surge as the water rushed in from the beach over Father Capodanno Blvd. "A neighbor called and said, 'You gotta get out' so we had a go bag and barely made it out in time. Next time when they say 'evacuate' we're gone."

    Full election coverage from NBC Politics

    "I am voting tomorrow. I feel like I should. My polling place is still open but my problem is the gas," says Emelock, as he wonders how much gasoline it will take to drive to the polling station, and if the state could do something more.  "This is a Katrina for Staten Island and the East Coast. It took too long for [FEMA] to bite into this."

    John Makely / NBC News

    Marines work alongside members of the New York Sanitation department to clear debris from the Midland Beach neighborhood in Staten Island, N.Y. on Nov. 5

    Related content:

    Slideshow: Recovering after Sandy

    Mel Evans / AP

    Residents across the Northeast pick up the pieces after Superstorm Sandy killed more than 100 people in 10 states and left a trail of destruction.

    Launch slideshow

    Slideshow: Election 2012

    Reuters, Getty Images

    Campaigning with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, voting and election results.

    Launch slideshow

  • In storm-hit states, some locations changed for balloting on Election Day

    By Tom Curry, NBC News national affairs writer

    Updated 7:48pm ET In the storm-ravaged states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, officials have moved some Election Day voting locations, although many remain unchanged.

    As of noon Monday, Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill said that utility companies in her state have reported that electricity has been restored to all but two of 773 voting precincts in the state.

    Gov. Cuomo signed an order allowing any voter to vote at any polling place on Tuesday – and in New Jersey, it's possible to vote via email or fax. NBC's Ron Allen reports.

    Her Web site posted the two voting place changes:

    · Bridgeport’s Longfellow School polling place has been relocated to Aquaculture School, 60 St. Stephens Road, Bridgeport.

    · New London’s Ocean Beach polling place has been relocated to Harbor School, 432 Montauk, Ave, New London.

    Recommended: Romney, Obama hit must-win states in 'barnburner' campaign day

    In New Jersey, storm-displaced voters who are temporarily staying in a part of the state where they are not registered, are permitted to go to any polling place in New Jersey on Election Day and vote by using a provisional ballot. The ballot will be forwarded to the county of the voter’s residence.

    Tim Aubry / Reuters

    Utility trucks and first responders navigate flood waters on the main stretch of road in Peahala Park, N.J., in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, in this photograph taken on October 30, 2012 and released on Oct. 31.

    Displaced New Jersey voters also have until 5 p.m. ET on Election Day to fax or e-mail a request for a mail ballot to their county clerk.

    More information is available at the New Jersey Division of Elections website, on voting by fax or e-mail.  The voter must transmit the ballot to the county board of elections no later than 8 p.m. ET on Election Day.

    Some counties in New Jersey have posted changes in voting locations or have alerted voters about the status of voting locations in their area.

    Here are a few:

    · Union County: County officials have posted an announcement that “almost all polling places are expected to be open on Election Day, Tuesday November 6. An updated list will be available later today.”

    ·   Ocean County: The county has posted a list of changes in voting locations here.

    ·  Atlantic County: The elections board has posted a list of changes in voting locations here.

    ·  Monmouth County: The county has posted a list of locations here.

    The county also says: “Provisions have been made for residents in two of the most severely storm-ravaged boroughs to vote in neighboring communities. Sea Bright residents will vote at the Fair Haven Fire House on 645 River Road in Fair Haven. Loch Arbour residents will be voting at the Allenhurst Fire House on 311 Hume Street in Allenhurst. All other residents will vote in their own community.”

    Recommended: Romney adds Election Day stops in Ohio, Pennsylvania

    In New York, as of Monday morning, some counties were still in the process of finding new voting locations but had not yet posted them on their Web sites.

    Suburban Nassau County, which was hit especially hard by last week’s storm surge and flooding, has posted a list of the voting locations that have been moved or consolidated, here.

    In addition, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order on Monday that will allow displaced voters from one of the federally-declared disaster counties, such as Nassau, who may temporarily be in a county other than where they live to vote by affidavit ballot.

    The affidavit ballot will be sent to the board of elections where the voter is registered. According to Cuomo’s press office, these votes by affidavit ballot will count for the office of president and United States senator “and for any other candidate and ballot initiative that appears on the official ballot where the voter is registered.”

    Listed below are links to the polling place search tools that each state offers, but be aware that in some cases changes in polling locations might not be reflected in the voter lookup tool databases.

    · Search tool for New Jersey voters here.

    · Search tool for New York state voters here.

    · Search tool for New York City voters here.

    · Search tool for Connecticut voters here.

    For voters who want to use early voting or an absentee ballot, here’s some information:

    · In New York, a voter needs a specific reason to vote by absentee ballot, such as being out of the state on Election Day, having a disability, or being in prison due to having been convicted of a non-felony offense. The State Board of Elections has announced that the deadline for applying in person for an absentee ballot is Monday. Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than Monday, Nov. 5. Those mailed ballots have until Nov. 19 to arrive at the local Board of Elections.

    · In New Jersey, any voter can vote by mail. A voter may apply in person to the County Clerk until 3:00 p.m. ET Monday. Vote by mail ballot must be received by the County Board of Elections no later than 8 p.m. ET on Election Day.

    · In Connecticut, voting by absentee ballot is limited  to the sick and disabled, those in active service in the armed forces, and those absent from their town for all of Election Day. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Monday and the deadline for returning the absentee ballot is 8 p.m. ET on Election Day.

  • Obama, Romney cap election eve with rallies in states that launched them

    By Michael O'Brien, NBC News

     

    Updated 11:27 a.m. - President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney returned Monday evening to the states that launched their respective bids for the presidency, wrapping their campaigning ahead of Election Day. 

    Joined by their spouses, Obama returned to Iowa -- where he won the 2008 caucuses -- and Romney stopped in New Hampshire -- where he won the primary at the beginning of this year -- to bring to an end their long, hard battle over whom Americans would select as their president for the next four years. 

    "I've come back to Iowa one more time to ask for your vote," a visibly emotional Obama told a crowd near his first campaign office in Des Moines. "Because this is where our movement for change began. Right here."

    "It's out of my hands now," he said. "It's up to you."

    Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

    Mitt Romney holds a rally at Orlando Sanford international airport in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 5, 2012.

    Both Obama and Romney seemed to drink in the adulation of their supporters in the closing hours of the campaign, before voters would take to the polls in fewer than 12 hours to render their verdict on the election.

    "This is a special moment for Ann and for me, because this is where our campaign began," Romney said to a crowd in New Hampshire. "Your primary vote put me on the path to win the Republican nomination, and tomorrow your votes and your work here in New Hampshire will help me become the next president of the United States."

    The stops mostly concluded the campaigning of the 2012 election. Romney was set to make stops Tuesday in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and Republican vice presidential nominee would also stop in Cleveland and Richmond. Those stops, though, were billed as less formal than the giant, raucous rallies that have dominated the candidates' schedules in the closing days of the campaign.

    Obama and Romney capped what was a "barnburner" final day of campaigning, as he and Romney hop-scotched across the country to make stops in the states on which they're relying tomorrow.

    Ryan launches campaign 'barnburner' in Obama-leaning Nevada

    So far, more than 4.5 million Floridians have already voted, sometimes after waiting in hours-long lines. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

    Romney made a four-state tour through Florida, Virginia and Ohio – states that are critical to his hopes of becoming president – before concluding in New Hampshire, the cornerstone of Romney’s victory in the GOP presidential primary earlier this year, and the state neighboring Massachusetts, where Romney served as governor and his campaign is now headquartered.

    Both sides agree, winning Colorado could be key. A recent NBC/WSJ/Marist poll had the race tied at 48 percent each. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.

    The president spent the day visiting Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio -- the states composing his Midwestern "firewall," where he's sought to build an advantage over Romney.

    Their schedules, coming on the heels of a jam-packed weekend of campaigning across the country by both the candidates and their surrogates, was nothing short of a “barnburner,” as Ryan put it at first rally of the day, in Nevada.

    “We're doing a barnburner today,” Ryan said in the state, which is seen as leaning toward Obama in NBC News’ battleground map. “We are crisscrossing the country – Mitt and I are because we are asking you to work with us, to stand with us to get our country back on the right track.”

    Both Obama and Romney stuck to well-worn scripts that they had used throughout the frenetic final days of the campaign. The candidates at times seemed to acknowledge that much of the campaign’s outcome might be out of their hands, pleading with supporters to sway a winnowing number of swing voters over to their cause.

    How will the Hispanic vote and the white vote impact the presidential election? What about older voters and younger voters? How much of an impact will Hurricane Sandy have on voting? NBC News' Chuck Todd and Time's Mike Murphy join a conversation on the issue.

    “Your voices are being heard all over the nation loud and clear, thank you,” Romney said in Virginia. “I also want to thank many of you in this crowd that have been out there working on the campaign – making calls from the victory centers, and by putting up a yard sign, in your neighbor’s yard and maybe convincing a coworker to vote for Paul Ryan and me.”

    Obama kicked off his first rally of the day with rocker Bruce Springsteen, who would hitch a ride with the president to Columbus for an afternoon rally, which was also to feature rapper Jay-Z.

    "I get to fly around with him on the last day I'll ever campaign, so that's not a bad way to end things," he said of Springsteen, who will accompany Obama to Columbus, Ohio, on Air Force One.

    The state with 13 electoral votes could go either way in this election, and may play a critical role in determining not only the next president, but also which party will control the U.S. Senate. NBC's Tom Costello reports.

    Both Obama and Romney’s schedules, though, sent a powerful signal about their fundamental strategy for Election Day.

    The states Romney is visiting, for instance, are virtually essential for his hopes come Tuesday. Failing to win Florida, for instance, would force Romney to have to win every single other remaining battleground state.

    Obama’s stops, meanwhile, suggested attentiveness to his so-called “firewall,” which Republicans have argued is cracking amid surging Republican enthusiasm in battleground states.

    Slideshow: Election 2012

    Reuters, Getty Images

    Campaigning with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, voting and election results.

    Launch slideshow

    Vice President Joe Biden, during a stop at a cafe in Sterling, Va., predicted the bloc would hold.

    “I think we’ll win Ohio, I think we’ll win Wisconsin, I think we’ll win Iowa. I think we’ll win Nevada, I think we’ll win new Hampshire,” he told reporters. He added that Florida would be “close,” but said he thought “have a real shot of winning” the Sunshine State.

    As they made their final arguments to sprawling crowds throughout the day, both Romney and Obama got an assist from additional superstars who entertained audiences before rallies had begun.

    Larry Downing / Reuters

    Supporters hold a sign as President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event at Fifth Third Arena at the University of Cincinnati, Nov. 4, 2012.

    Obama was traveling with Springsteen and Jay-Z on Monday, but Katy Perry and John Mellencamp had played before other Obama audiences over the weekend. Romney’s rally on Monday in Ohio was also slated to feature the Marshall Tucker Band.

    Both Springsteen and Jay Z each did special songs for the Obama campaign, in Jay Z's case, changing an epithet in one of his songs to reference Romney instead.

    "If you're having world problems, I feel bad for you son," he said, "I got 99 problems, but Mitt ain't one."

    In the past six presidential elections, Wisconsin has been reliably blue – but this year, thanks to Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, the race is much tighter. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

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