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• Go Mitch Daniels… Wish you were running for President… http://t.co/y0SOVadU #
• in 2008, I noticed that Romney had trouble breaking out of the richest voters. Same in IA http://t.co/HK7Jl2Hx #rsrh #
• It is clear that South Carolina will be fun. And nasty. #
• @MelissaTweets Ron Paul's success has more to do with being a caucus. I would end those before going closed. in reply to MelissaTweets #
• @seanhackbarth true that SC is always nasty. but we will see people attack Romney + Santorum in the media. Neither has happened yet. in reply to seanhackbarth #
• @SeanTrende I agree. Pluralities are all this thing takes. SC was split 3 ways in 2008. @FtLauderDaniel in reply to SeanTrende #
• Rick Santorum is like Mike Huckabee without humor or personality. this is so depressing. #
• how is Santorum doing on ballot access in OH, IL, VA, NY? Those are the hard states. Probably can't even be on the ballot there, right? #
• first santorum success failure: their google search budget has been hit. when you search "santorum" you get the bad stuff. #
• @dankennedy_nu yes. but Santorum had been running google ads to drive people to the website to manage the issue in reply to dankennedy_nu #
• yeah, Ron Paul has done more to move the debate on monetary policy than Obama has on just about anything … #
• Only if he blinks … RT @PatrickRuffini Is Rand positioning himself as a more electable, pragmatic version of his father? in reply to PatrickRuffini #
• @PatrickRuffini we won't even know for 6 months … Ron Paul will contest delegates like they did 4 years ago in reply to PatrickRuffini #
• newt is going to go nuclear on everyone. and with Newt Inc, he can keep running. #
• @Bytor3BP @LisaStickan Upshot that a lot of people made it because of the extra time, in spite of the new lines. in reply to Bytor3BP #
• it is going to be fascinating to watch how DoD handles the Ron Paul supporter in uniform. Interesting martyr #
• the thing about Rick Santorum … he actually is in control of enough substance to hold his own in a debate #
• @walteralarkon very true. But it looks like he's going to have Newt explaining him…. in reply to walteralarkon #
• Yeah, this is just smart politics … McCain To Endorse Romney Tomorrow http://t.co/fNPiJhlM #
• opening with CS Lewis. Wow. Yeah, he's fighting. #
• Santorum is an interesting shift of geography. While I am not a fan, he is a suburban/small town northeastern/midwestern catholic. #
• man of substance unlike many blips RT @secupp Anyone who knows Santorum is not surprised he can give this kind of speech without notes. in reply to secupp #

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• @craig_montuori @PatrickRuffini yeah, we used private accounts and had people reporting from polling stations. monitored all poll action. in reply to craig_montuori #

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• MF Global was about as good of an investment as Social Security. ZING! http://t.co/fTzhr76i #

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• I don't think that this outfit, http://t.co/Zg6B7OWU via @elise_foley is in order. Nor is it compliant with house rules #

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There’s an interesting scandal right now in New Mexico right now. You see, the New Mexico constitution tries to stop corruption, a real problem in the  state as the Economist recently noted, by requiring that state legislators cannot draw a salary from other sources during the legislative session. But Channel KRQE has reported that there is a set of legislators who do not abide by this constitutional requirement: teachers, and in particular teachers union members. One of the state legislators has come under particular scrutiny, Rep. Cheryl Williams Stapleton, a Democrat from Albuquerque:

The issue became salient after reports on KRQE-TV about APS paying House Majority Whip Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque, her salary while she was in Santa Fe on legislative business. According to a Journal analysis, she was paid more than $63,000 in salary during the past three years while she was away from her administrative job as coordinator of vocational education.

Stapleton’s paid leave was approved by supervisors even though it wasn’t allowed under district policy. That policy said all nonteachers who served in the Legislature should take unpaid leave while in Santa Fe.

So recently, in discussions with her fellow member of the state House’s education committee, Nora Espinoza (R), Whip Stapleton decided to share her perspective on attempts to resolve and understand this complicated legal and constitutional issue. You see, she said that Espinoza was “carrying the Mexican’s water on the fourth floor.” This was a reference to Governor Susanna Martinez, whose office is on the fourth floor of the Capital building.  So the Democratic Whip in the most Latino state in the country is referring to the first Latina Governor in the country as “the Mexican.” I wonder if the Democrats will try to hold her accountable for this kind of speech? Probably not. After all, Harry Reid said that doesn’t know how any Hispanic could be a Republican.

Now, cleaning up the state is something that the teachers unions have long been opposed to. They funded a nasty attack ad against Martinez that backfired when it turned out that Martinez had convicted the husband of the woman the teachers union put in the ad to attack Martinez:

But maybe they are just trying to stop the person trying to take away their gravy train?

• RT @mikeroman Wis Election Officials accept "Mickey Mouse" as a valid sig on Walker recall petitions. Can he vote too? http://t.co/XoYAEEXO in reply to mikeroman #

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• A SWORD? … Police seize weapons near Occupy Portland protest | The Columbian http://t.co/GYS1ZY6D #
• #occupy tries to #occupychristmas http://t.co/KZR7Ym17 #

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• @jbharrington the workforce shrunk hugely. That's a problem. #
• This is what historians do… Gingrich's Freddie interview – Ben Smith – http://t.co/AzyDr6ne http://t.co/BMx5cT18 #

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• Imagine if "none of the above" had a spot on the ballot. http://t.co/eZW9f6Hz #

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So, I confess, I had to look up who Luther Campbell was, aside from a guy who came in fourth in a race for county mayor in Miami-Dade County. He was a somewhat high-profile music promoter, fronting for groups like 2 Live Crew. But it is his electoral experience, as described in his column in the Miami New Times, that draws our attention today. He describes some of the more ugly experiences that someone like him has when trying to put together a campaign in Miami and the strange offers he gets:

The only way to get that many absentee ballots is by hiring brokers who charge candidates thousands of dollars to deliver bundles to the county elections department. The brokers are the ones responsible for dead people voting in the ’80s and ’90s. Now they go around strong-arming the elderly residents at assisted living facilities or fooling them with free breakfast at the local IHOP. The brokers also pay off preachers so they can set up shop inside houses of worship to sign up absentee voters.

I saw it firsthand when I ran in the recent county mayoral race. One guy, who I won’t name, guaranteed he could deliver thousands of absentee ballots in North Miami and North Miami Beach for $3,000. I took a pass. It showed on Election Day. I had more early and Election Day ballots than absentee votes.

Sure would be neat if he said more about this. We know that this problem isn’t necessarily unique to south Florida, as there were a bunch of arrests in more rural north Florida earlier this month. One wonders if these are the sorts of “manufacturing ballots” stories that former Rep. Artur Davis was talking about in neighboring Alabama.