CHICANO RADIO NETWORK U.S.A. Blog

Gonzalez is the head of Rampart Records, which earned a measure of fame in the 1960s as the originator of the “West Coast Eastside Sound” — and whose founder dreamed of its becoming a Mexican American Motown.

That was Eddie Davis, who produced bands from Boyle Heights, East L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley with names like the Blendells, the Romancers, the Premiers, and Cannibal and the Headhunters. The last group toured with the Beatles in 1965 after scoring a big hit with “Land of a Thousand Dances.”

Rampart’s stable of musicians consisted of kids from the barrios, often discouraged by their parents from speaking Spanish because they were afraid they would be discriminated against. Their role models were often black artists. One weekend they might share the same stage at the El Monte Legion Stadium with Chuck Berry or Ray Charles, and the next vie with mariachis for gigs at baptismal parties, quinceañeras and weddings.

But by the 1970s, with immigration from Mexico booming, the distinctly Mexican American sound that Rampart championed — almost all of it sung in English — became overshadowed by Mexican music, which appealed to both the American-born and the immigrant.

Even though several Mexican American bands, including East L.A.’s Los Lobos, have gained fame since, Gonzalez believes most acts are largely overshadowed by Spanish-language artists, particularly from Mexico, who get to tap into a colossal media network including TV giants like Univision and popular Spanish-language radio stations.

“The Mexican American isn’t seen as being as profitable, man,” he says, revealing an undercurrent of tension between the two groups. “The immigrant is more profitable.”

That hasn’t stopped him from trying to resurrect the dream of a Mexican American Motown, re-releasing classic albums, making the music digitally available in scores of countries and signing new acts.

He knows it won’t be easy. But he believes it’s his destiny.

“I figured I’m going to try to be the guy, even if I end up homeless.”

Read More:

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/08/local/la-me-rampart-records-20130109

BY Dee Dee Garcia Blase
Viva Samuel Ramirez is active with the Mexican-American community in Arizona. He is also the Arizona field director with Voto Latino.

Here is what he says about the immigration speech President Obama gave in Las Vegas, Nevada, yesterday:

POTUS speaks some REAL TRUTH to the people in Nevada yesterday:

“…It’s really important for us to remember our history. Unless you’re one of the first Americans , a native American, you came from someplace else…somebody brought you. You know, Ken Salazar- he’s of Mexican American descent, but he points out that his family has been living where he lives for 400 years… so he didn’t emigrate anywhere.”

The POTUS ‘s symbolic speech in former ‘OLD MEXICO’ territory delivers an invitation to the nation to redefine the way we think of immigrants and exactly who they are. This is a rare example of a politician at the highest level, demonstrating bravery and honesty as he recognizes the heritage of the people who inhabit this great nation. He did it with pride, without reluctance, and as a matter of fact – the way I would have done it.

This statement will do a lot to deflate the negative connotation in the word IMMIGRANT which haters have used for so long to degrade everyone who is different than they are. While I can’t say that my sentiment extends to the entirety of his speech, I was unexpectedly impressed with the words I quoted above. I realize that it may not have even registered to the masses looking on across the county, but to this Mexican American…it was A TODA MADRE!!!!

Indio, California: Joe Ortiz, veteran broadcaster, journalist, talk show host, public relations consultant, published author and blogger, was honored by his hometown of Indio, California, on December 19, 2012. Elaine Holmes, incoming Mayor for the City of Indio, presented her first ever proclamation to Joe Ortiz, a “Lifetime Achievement” award, recognizing him for his over 40 years career as a communications specialist and for his work with the poor.

Upon acceptance, Joe shared a brief history of his life and who he is.

In attendance were Joe’s closes friends, actor Richard Yniguez, legendary Chicano Rock Artist Mark Guerrero, with his girl friend Sylvia Corrales, and his sister-in-law, Patricia Marcil Ortiz..

Read more: https://sites.google.com/site/theendtimespassover/main-page

By BRETT ZONGKER | Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Latinos are taking a more prominent role in President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, from the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice swearing in the vice president to a star-studded concert celebrating Latino culture.

Eva Longoria, a co-chairwoman for Obama’s campaign, hosted “Latino Inaugural 2013: In Performance at the Kennedy Center” as a salute to the president Sunday evening ahead of his public swearing-in Monday. Jose Feliciano, Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno and Latin pop star Prince Royce all performed. The lineup also included Mario Lopez and Wilmer Valderrama.

Vice President Joe Biden and his family appeared onstage, drawing big cheers, to help open the show. He said he wanted to thank Latinos for their support in last year’s election.

Biden said something profound happened with the enormous Latino support for Obama, and he said the Latino community underestimates its power.

“One thing that happened in this election, you spoke. You spoke in a way that the world, and I mean the world, as well as the United States, could not fail to hear,” Biden said, calling the Latino vote decisive. “This is your moment. America owes you.”

Feliciano opened the show by singing the national anthem.

Marc Anthony later drew big cheers when he applauded Latinos’ growing political influence.

“Our united voice got us all here tonight and got the best man for the job in the White House,” Anthony said.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who gave the keynote speech at last year’s Democratic National Convention, recalled the admiration Latinos held for another president more than 50 years ago. Portraits of President John F. Kennedy still hang in many homes, he said.

“As we said ‘Viva Kennedy’ 50 years ago, today we say ‘Viva Obama,'” Castro said.

A children’s choir from San Juan, Puerto Rico, closed out the show, singing “This Land is Your Land.” They were joined by a larger Latino choir, including Hispanic members of the U.S. military, in singing “America the Beautiful.”

Earlier Sunday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee who is the first Hispanic justice on the highest court, administered the oath of office to Biden. And Richard Blanco, a son of Cuban exiles, is Obama’s inauguration poet.

Latinos have a distinct presence at this inauguration after raising funds and turning out the vote for Obama in the 2012 election. Hispanics voted 7 to 1 for Obama over his challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, whose Hispanic support was less than any other presidential candidate in 16 years. Analysts said Romney’s hardline stance on immigration was a factor.

San Antonio philanthropist and business leader Henry Munoz III, who coordinated the Latino inauguration event with Longoria and other Obama supporters, said this is a special moment when the Latino community is positioned to take an expanded role in shaping the country’s future.

“Without question, the presidential election of 2012 proves that Latinos are perhaps the most important influence from this point forward in the election of the president of the United States,” Munoz said. “It’s important that the leadership in Washington view us not as a narrow interest group but as a vibrant political force” that carries not just votes, but influence and financial resources.

Organizers planned a series of symposiums, dinners and events ahead of the inauguration to keep people talking about issues that matter to Latinos, from immigration reform to building a Latino history museum on the National Mall. Munoz led a presidential commission that called on Congress in 2011 to authorize such a museum within the Smithsonian Institution, but Congress has not yet passed such a bill.

Munoz said it’s important to keep Latinos engaged through the inauguration and beyond.

“Our work is not done. It doesn’t end,” he said. “We have a tendency to look at this phenomenon as ending on Election Day, when the reality is now it’s time to get to work.”

Longoria said this is her first inauguration. She has taken on a new role as political advocate since her days on “Desperate Housewives,” pushing for a Latino history museum in Washington and raising funds for Obama’s re-election.

Even though this is Obama’s second inauguration, Longoria said there is still much to celebrate, including Sotomayor’s role swearing in the vice president.

“There’s something special about seeing a president recommit himself to the people of this great nation,” she said before the show.

Longoria said she hopes to help influence policies, including immigration reform, and hopes Obama will make that his top priority as an economic issue. She called the Latino fundraising effort for the president a historic turning point.

“I think we have a permanent seat at the table, and now we’re going to be able to have influence on what affects our communities,” Longoria said. “I take civic responsibility very seriously, and I want to do what I can to help my country.”

Rampart Records’ founder had hoped it would become a ‘Mexican American Motown.’ Its current head just hopes it can keep on going.
January 08, 2013| By Hector Becerra, Los Angeles Times

Hector Gonzalez earlier had a career as a TV sound-man, receiving an Emmy award as part of a team covering the 1984 Olympics. He took a buyout from CBS after the Rampart Records founder died and left the business to him in 1994.

Hector Gonzalez earlier had a career as a TV sound-man, receiving an Emmy… (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles…)

Hector Gonzalez straps a five-string bass guitar over his belly inside a music studio on a dreary stretch of Monterey Park. He plays as a smooth, prerecorded tenor joins a funky accordion through his headphones.

Trying to bite a bullet, or sometimes count to 10,

For the sake of argument, let’s just pretend,

We both agree to disagree.

Gonzalez is helping a silky-voiced old band-mate record a nostalgic-sounding soul album. But in a larger sense, the 59-year-old music producer is trying to keep alive a legacy he inherited 18 years ago.

Gonzalez is the head of Rampart Records, which earned a measure of fame in the 1960s as the originator of the “West Coast East-side Sound” — and whose founder dreamed of its becoming a Mexican American Motown.

That was Eddie Davis, who produced bands from Boyle Heights, East L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley with names like the Blendells, the Romancers, the Premiers, and Cannibal and the Headhunters. The last group toured with the Beatles in 1965 after scoring a big hit with “Land of a Thousand Dances.”

Rampart’s stable of musicians consisted of kids from the barrios, often discouraged by their parents from speaking Spanish because they were afraid they would be discriminated against. Their role models were often black artists. One weekend they might share the same stage at the El Monte Legion Stadium with Chuck Berry or Ray Charles, and the next vie with mariachis for gigs at baptismal parties, quinceañeras and weddings.

But by the 1970s, with immigration from Mexico booming, the distinctly Mexican American sound that Rampart championed — almost all of it sung in English — became overshadowed by Mexican music, which appealed to both the American-born and the immigrant.

Even though several Mexican American bands, including East L.A.’s Los Lobos, have gained fame since, Gonzalez believes most acts are largely overshadowed by Spanish-language artists, particularly from Mexico, who get to tap into a colossal media network including TV giants like Univision and popular Spanish-language radio stations.

“The Mexican American isn’t seen as being as profitable, man,” he says, revealing an undercurrent of tension between the two groups. “The immigrant is more profitable.”

That hasn’t stopped him from trying to resurrect the dream of a Mexican American Motown, re-releasing classic albums, making the music digitally available in scores of countries and signing new acts.

He knows it won’t be easy. But he believes it’s his destiny.

“I figured I’m going to try to be the guy, even if I end up homeless.”

::

Gonzalez is sitting in his Rampart Records office in a squat stucco cottage in Santa Fe Springs, across the street from a gentleman’s club and conjoined to a smog-testing business.

It’s a cave of an office, about the size of a cruise ship cabin, packed with vintage Vox amplifiers, recording equipment, vinyl albums, master tapes and promotional material from the ’60s and ’70s, and random toys like the monster from Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic “Alien.” A promotional pamphlet Davis conjured up in 1970 proclaims: “The Sound of a New Generation, Chicanos are Happening!”

The office doubles as his home, with a fridge and a sink. In a back room, an over sized guitar — or guitarron — hangs over his bed, along with a poster of Robert De Niro from “Taxi Driver” and a painting of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus. He likes to work on his music at night, when the noise outside on Norwalk Boulevard ebbs.

Nothing in the office suggests that a would-be music mogul occupies it except Gonzalez’s energy. Stocky, with a robust mustache and a baseball cap, Gonzalez drives a pale olive green ’65 Thunderbird with a rust-marbled top and talks in fast superlatives.

“My whole thing was to keep the legacy and the voice of the Mexican American going,” he says. “The musical voice of us.”

Gonzalez is telling the story of how he met Davis, a music impresario who was a former child actor turned restaurant owner. Davis had started his career as a music mogul in the late 1950s, producing both black and white artists. As a child his family moved to Boyle Heights, and by the early 1960s, he was a committed producer of Mexican American rock.

It was a good time to do this. Ritchie Valens had inspired many young Mexican Americans, and elsewhere, other Mexican American acts were making their mark, including Michigan’s Question Mark and the Mysterians (“96 Tears”) and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (“Wooly Bully”).

Gonzalez had never heard of Davis while growing up in South L.A. and then Bell. But after starting a soul band with some friends, he began to ask older musicians for advice on breaking out, and they told him to go find Eddie Davis. He tried, but it wasn’t easy.

“I went through the Yellow Pages. It was impossible to find him,” Gonzalez says. “Finally, I found him. He was under Record Manufacturer. He had an office in Hollywood.”

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/08/local/la-me-rampart-records-20130109

Rapper Fat Joe has pleaded guilty to tax evasion, according to The Associated Press. As a result of his crimes, he could face up to two years in prison.

Joseph “Fat Joe” Cartagena is more than a little behind on his taxes. Reports indicate the rapper owes around $718,000 to the United States government. This tends to happen when you don’t pay your taxes for over two years.

According to the New York Post, Fat Joe earned around $1.3 million from concerts and music sales in 2007. This number jumped to around $1.4 million the following year. Unfortunately for the rapper, his failure to file income tax returns with the federal government might send him to prison for a while.

In addition to paying the monies he owes Uncle Sam, the musician is facing a fine of up to $200,000. All of this is in addition to the penalties the Internal Revenue Service may throw at the rapper.

Fat Joe was released after forking over $250,000 for bail.

The Miami Herald explains that Cartagena said he clearly understood the charges against him. The rapper’s lawyer said Fat Joe had “already taken steps to resolve this situation.” In fact, he hopes to have everything paid back in full before sentencing next year.

The plea was reportedly entered in New Jersey since Cartagena has a number of companies incorporated in the state.

Earlier this month, the feud between Fat Joe and fellow rapper 50 cent reached a turning point when the Curtis Jackson said he was interested in putting their problems aside.

“Joe never did anything to me. I never actually physically did anything to Joe. It’s really hip-hop — this music and people being competitive — and over time, you forget what the actual source of the situation is,” 50 Cent recently told Billboard.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/448007/fat-joe-says-hes-guilty-of-tax-evasion/#XSJKI5AwE24F3Gtd.99

Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade teacher Vicki Soto tried to shield her students from the maniacal shooter. ‘She put herself between the gunman and her students,’ her cousin Jim Wiltsie told the Daily News.

She took a bullet for her kids.

Teacher Victoria Soto used her body to shield her students from the maniacal gunman who launched a massacre at a Connecticut school,
Soto paid for her bravery with her life. But in doing so, the 27-year-old may have saved her first-graders from the murderous wrath of Adam Lanza — and became a hero.

“The family received information she was found shielding her students in a closet,” Soto’s cousin Jim Wiltsie told the Daily News. “She put herself between the gunman and her students.”

Wiltsie said police told the family of Soto’s bravery at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“I’m very proud to report she was a hero,” said Wiltsie, who is a police officer in Fairfield, Conn. “I would expect nothing less from Vicki. Instinctively her training kicked in. She did what she was trained to do, but also what her heart told her to do.”

MONTERREY, Mexico — The wreckage of a small plane believed to be carrying Jenni Rivera, the U.S-born singer whose soulful voice and unfettered discussion of a series of personal travails made her a Mexican-American music superstar, was found in northern Mexico on Sunday. Authorities said there were no survivors.

Her family said they were in mourning and Rivera’s brother would travel to Mexico on Monday to identify what they presumed were her remains.

Born in Long Beach, California, Rivera was at the peak of her career as perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated regional style influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchero styles.

A 43-year-old mother of five children and grandmother of two, the woman known as the “Diva de la Banda” was known for her frank talk about her struggles to give a good life to her children despite a series of setbacks.

She was recently divorced from her third husband, was once detained at a Mexico City airport with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, and she publicly apologized after her brother assaulted a drunken fan who verbally attacked her in 2011.

Her openness about her personal troubles endeared her to millions in the U.S. and Mexico.

“I am the same as the public, as my fans,” she told The Associated Press in an interview last March.

Rivera sold 15 million records, and recently won two Billboard Mexican Music Awards: Female Artist of the Year and Banda Album of the Year for “Joyas prestadas: Banda.” She was nominated for Latin Grammys in 2002, 2008 and 2011.

Transportation and Communications Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said “everything points toward” the wreckage belonging to the plane carrying Rivera and six other people to Toluca, outside Mexico City, from Monterrey, where the singer had just given a concert.

“There is nothing recognizable, neither material nor human” in the wreckage found in the state of Nuevo Leon, Ruiz Esparza said. The impact was so powerful that the remains of the plane “are scattered over an area of 250 to 300 meters. It is almost unrecognizable.”

Rivera’s father, Pedro Rivera, told dozens of reporters gathered in front of his Los Angeles-area home that “I believe my daughter’s body is unrecognizable.”

Rivera said his son would travel to Monterrey early Monday morning to identify his sister’s presumed remains.

No cause was given for the plane’s crash, but its wreckage was found near the town of Iturbide in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Oriental, where the terrain is very rough.

The Learjet 25, number N345MC, took off from Monterrey at 3:30 a.m. local time and was reported missing about 10 minutes later. It was registered to Starwood Management of Las Vegas, Nevada, according to FAA records. It was built in 1969 and had a current registration through 2015.

Media and celebrities in Mexico sent condolences to Rivera’s family, but authorities still had not confirmed that she was aboard the plane and said there will be an investigation to identify the remains found.

“My friend! Why? There is no consolation. God, please help me!” said Mexican pop singer Paulina Rubio on her official Twitter account. Singer Miguel Bose, who appears on the Mexican show “The Mexican Voice” along with Rivera, wrote on his Twitter account: “My dear Jenni, you will always be in my heart. Forever. I love you.”

Also believed aboard the plane were her publicist, Arturo Rivera, her lawyer, makeup artist and the flight crew.

Though drug trafficking was the theme of some of her songs, she was not considered a singer of “narco corridos,” or ballads glorifying drug lords like other groups, such as Los Tigres del Norte. She was better known for singing about her troubles in love and disdain for men.

Her parents were Mexicans who had migrated to the United States. Two of her five brothers, Lupillo and Juan Rivera, are also well-known singers of grupero music.

She studied business administration and formally debuted on the music scene in 1995 with the release of her album “Chacalosa”. Due to its success, she recorded two more independent albums, “We Are Rivera” and “Farewell to Selena,” a tribute album to slain singer Selena that helped expand her following.

At the end of the 1990s, Rivera was signed by Sony Music and released two more albums. But widespread success came for her when she joined Fonovisa and released her 2005 album titled “Partier, Rebellious and Daring.”

Besides being a singer, she is also a businesswoman and actress, appearing in the indie film Filly Brown, which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, as the incarcerated mother of Filly Brown.

She was filming the third season of “I love Jenni,” which followed her as she shared special moments with her children and as she toured through Mexico and the United States. She also has the reality shows: “Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis and Raq-C” and her daughter’s “Chiquis ‘n Control.”

In 2009, she was detained at the Mexico City airport when she declared $20,000 in cash but was really carrying $52,167. She was taken into custody. She said it was an innocent mistake and authorities gave her the benefit of the doubt and released her.

In 2011, her brother Juan assaulted a drunken fan at a popular fair in Guanajuato. In the face of heavy criticism among her fans and on social networks, Rivera publicly apologized for the incident during a concert in Mexico City, telling her fans: “Thank you for accepting me as I am, with my virtues and defects.”

On Saturday night, Rivera had given a concert before thousands of fans in Monterrey. After the concert she gave a press conference during which she spoke of her emotional state following her recent divorce from former Major League Baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza, who played for teams including the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I can’t get caught up in the negative because that destroys you. Perhaps trying to move away from my problems and focus on the positive is the best I can do. I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other woman,” she said Saturday night. “The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up.”

Rivera had announced in October that she was divorcing Loaiza after two years of marriage.

There have been several high-profile crashes involving Learjets, known as swift, longer-distance passenger aircraft popular with corporate executives, entertainers and government officials.

A Learjet carrying pro-golfer Payne Stewart and five others crashed in northeastern South Dakota in 1999. Investigators said the plane lost cabin pressure and all on board died after losing consciousness for lack of oxygen. The aircraft flew for several hours on autopilot before running out of fuel and crashing in a corn field.

Former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker was severely injured in a 2008 Learjet crash in South Carolina that killed four people.

That same year, a Learjet slammed into rush-hour traffic in a posh Mexico City neighborhood, killing Mexico’s No. 2 government official, Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, and eight others on the plane, plus five people on the ground.

___

Associated Press Writer Galia Garcia-Palafox contributed to this report from Mexico City.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

President Barack Obama handily defeated Gov. Mitt Romney and won himself a second term on Tuesday after a bitter and historically expensive race that was primarily fought in just a handful of battleground states. Obama beat Romney after nabbing almost every one of the 12 crucial battleground states.

The Romney campaign’s last-ditch attempt to put blue-leaning Midwestern swing states in play failed as Obama’s Midwestern firewall sent the president back to the White House for four more years. Obama picked up the swing states of New Hampshire, Michigan, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Ohio. Of the swing states, Romney picked up only North Carolina. Florida is still too close to call, but even if Romney wins the state, Obama still beat him in the Electoral College vote. The popular vote will most likely be narrower than the president’s decisive Electoral College victory.

In a sweeping victory speech early Wednesday morning, Obama thanked every American who voted, and vowed to work with leaders from both parties to tackle the country’s challenges.
“Our economy is recovering, a decade of war is ending, a long campaign is now over,” he told a crowd of cheering supporters in Chicago. “And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you and you have made me a better president.” Obama added he has “never been more hopeful about America. … We’re not as divided as our politics suggest. We remain more than a collection of blue states and red states.”

In his speech, he offered clues to the policy goals of his second term, which included a deficit reduction plan that combines tax increases with spending cuts, a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s federal immigration laws and tax reform. He called on Republicans to join him in achieving those goals.

The battle for the White House between Obama and Romney divided the nation, causing, at times, bitter disputes between the parties. Obama urged his supporters to look beyond the fight of the past several months and defended the process of choosing a president.

“I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly,” Obama said. “And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics who tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of evils or the domain of special interests. If you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out to our rallies and along the rope lines of high school gyms, or saw folks working late at campaign office or some tiny county a long way from home, you’ll discover something else.”

Romney conceded in Boston in a speech around 1 a.m. ET. “Like so many of you, Paul [Ryan] and I have left everything on the field. We have given our all to this campaign,” Romney said. “I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead your country in another direction. But the nation chose another leader.” Romney congratulated the president and his campaign on their victory.

The Obama victory marks an end to a years-long campaign that saw historic advertisement spending levels, countless rallies and speeches, and three much-watched debates.

The Romney campaign cast the election as a referendum on Obama’s economic policies, frequently comparing him to former President Jimmy Carter and asking voters the Reagan-esque question of whether they are better off than they were four years ago. But the Obama campaign pushed back, blanketing key states such as Ohio early on with ads painting him as a multimillionaire more concerned with profits than people. The Obama campaign also aggressively attacked Romney on reproductive rights issues, tying Romney to a handful of Republican candidates who made controversial comments about rape and abortion.

The ads were one reason Romney faced a steep likeability problem for most of the race, until his expert performance at the first presidential debate in Denver in October. After that debate, and a near universal panning of Obama’s performance, Romney caught up with Obama in national polls, and almost closed his favorability gap with the president. In polls, voters consistently gave him an edge over Obama on who would handle the economy better and create more jobs, even as they rated Obama higher on caring about the middle class.

President Barack Obama handily defeated Gov. Mitt Romney and won himself a second term on Tuesday after a bitter and historically expensive race that was primarily fought in just a handful of battleground states. Obama beat Romney after nabbing almost every one of the 12 crucial battleground states.

The Romney campaign’s last-ditch attempt to put blue-leaning Midwestern swing states in play failed as Obama’s Midwestern firewall sent the president back to the White House for four more years. Obama picked up the swing states of New Hampshire, Michigan, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Ohio. Of the swing states, Romney picked up only North Carolina. Florida is still too close to call, but even if Romney wins the state, Obama still beat him in the Electoral College vote. The popular vote will most likely be narrower than the president’s decisive Electoral College victory.

In a sweeping victory speech early Wednesday morning, Obama thanked every American who voted, and vowed to work with leaders from both parties to tackle the country’s challenges.
“Our economy is recovering, a decade of war is ending, a long campaign is now over,” he told a crowd of cheering supporters in Chicago. “And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you and you have made me a better president.” Obama added he has “never been more hopeful about America. … We’re not as divided as our politics suggest. We remain more than a collection of blue states and red states.”

In his speech, he offered clues to the policy goals of his second term, which included a deficit reduction plan that combines tax increases with spending cuts, a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s federal immigration laws and tax reform. He called on Republicans to join him in achieving those goals.

The battle for the White House between Obama and Romney divided the nation, causing, at times, bitter disputes between the parties. Obama urged his supporters to look beyond the fight of the past several months and defended the process of choosing a president.

“I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly,” Obama said. “And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics who tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of evils or the domain of special interests. If you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out to our rallies and along the rope lines of high school gyms, or saw folks working late at campaign office or some tiny county a long way from home, you’ll discover something else.”

Romney conceded in Boston in a speech around 1 a.m. ET. “Like so many of you, Paul [Ryan] and I have left everything on the field. We have given our all to this campaign,” Romney said. “I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead your country in another direction. But the nation chose another leader.” Romney congratulated the president and his campaign on their victory.

The Obama victory marks an end to a years-long campaign that saw historic advertisement spending levels, countless rallies and speeches, and three much-watched debates.

The Romney campaign cast the election as a referendum on Obama’s economic policies, frequently comparing him to former President Jimmy Carter and asking voters the Reagan-esque question of whether they are better off than they were four years ago. But the Obama campaign pushed back, blanketing key states such as Ohio early on with ads painting him as a multimillionaire more concerned with profits than people. The Obama campaign also aggressively attacked Romney on reproductive rights issues, tying Romney to a handful of Republican candidates who made controversial comments about rape and abortion.

The ads were one reason Romney faced a steep likeability problem for most of the race, until his expert performance at the first presidential debate in Denver in October. After that debate, and a near universal panning of Obama’s performance, Romney caught up with Obama in national polls, and almost closed his favorability gap with the president. In polls, voters consistently gave him an edge over Obama on who would handle the economy better and create more jobs, even as they rated Obama higher on caring about the middle class.

By DeeDee Garcia Blase

Why does it seem like FOX news in Phoenix is supporting the weakest candidate for Sheriff Joe Arpaio to beat in the Arizona Maricopa County Race? Perhaps a boycott of FOX News is going to have to be in order and it will be easy for Latinos to do just that. Every self-respecting Chicano/Hispanic/Latino knows how FOX news is typically swayed towards conservative Republican reporting. Hell, FOX News enjoys giving Arpaio the microphoneevery chance they get like when they wanted him to chime in with regard to Arpaio’s endorsement of Mitt Romney. Joe Arpaio has been on FOX News and FOX News 10 numerous times and everyone in Arizona knows that. I have also talked about how I believe FOX may be supporting a sham candidate here.
Damn the fringe groups on both sides of the political spectrum who are trying to minimize the Independent 2nd largest party in the State of Arizona. Independent voters in the State of Arizona DO have a voice and we are hell bent in making that statement in 2012. Arizona independent voters are going to rise up and take our power back as we go towards supporting an open primary in Arizona.
Mike Stauffer (independent candidate) received 5x the endorsements of Maricopa County voters when he received 30,000 signatures which is 5x more than any other candidate involved in this race. In fact, Mike Stauffer was the first official candidate who was the first to announce his candidacy against Joe Arpaio, and Mike was also the first to submit his signatures. He submitted his signatures before Joe Arpaio.

Question: Why is it that Joe Arpaio mentions only his democratic opponents?
Answer: Because Joe Arpaio knows darn well his Democratic opponents are the easiest to beat here in Arizona — specifically in Maricopa County. Care to guess how many Republican precinct committeemen there are in Maricopa County and how their grassroots organizers operate under the AZ GOP Vice Chair Russell Pearce? There is a reason why it took aRepublican Moderate like Jerry Lewis to beat extremist Republican Russell Pearce. Notice how the Democratic Party ensured a democratic candidate did NOT run against Pearce in Mesa? They know the Mormons in this state swing conservatively and Pearce’s district is near the Mormon Temple. The Arizona Democratic Party knew damn well a Democratic candidate could not beat Pearce — and that explains the unity behind Jerry Lewis.
The Arizona Democratic Party is going to participate in screwing up the Maricopa County Sheriff’s race because just like the Russell Pearce Special elections — the Sheriff’s race is not yet ready for a Democratic candidate … specifically a Democratic candidate who has no command leadership experience to run the 3rd largest county in our Country. FOX is giving Democratic candidate Penzone who has no leadership more exposure than the Democratic candidate John Rowan who has command experience. Why is that? When everyone knows Arpaio is going to attack Penzone on his lack of leadership skills.
It is no wonder Joe Arpaio wants to go up against the Democratic candidate who has no command experience. Furthermore, the Arizona Democratic Party had 20 years to try and oust Joe Arpaio to NO AVAIL. Again: Mike Stauffer has already received 5x the endorsements from regular voters in Maricopa County than anybody else. Joe Arpaio also knows the independent candidate (Mike Stauffer) has received massive broad bipartisan support from Republicans, Libertarians, Independents and Democratic Blue Dog Voters and this is why Arpaio is running scared.
Indeed the Arizona Republican Party is so afraid of the Independents and independent voters in our state that we see Russell Pearce and Joe Arpaio supporters wanting to take away Independent voter power away because they do NOT support an open primary election. The open primary would restore sanity to our state and give independent voters (2nd largest party in Arizona) more power toward moderate and centrist views.
I wrote about it here:
The “2nd largest Party” in Arizona, and Russell Pearce and Joe Arpaio supporters don’t want Independents to have an “open primary”
Indeed the Sheriff’s race IS crowded, and we all know that Joe Arpaio is giving signals that he wants to run against his democratic opponents over the strongest Independent candidate that can actually beat him because Joe knows that Mike has already received 5x the endorsements than any other candidate in this crowded race.
Make no mistake, the moderate Independents in the State of Arizona which is the 2nd largest Party in our state (and swings conservatively) … is keeping track of both the Arizona Republican Party as well as the Arizona Democratic Party. Woe to the Arizona Democratic Party on November 6, 2012, when they discover the final count in the Sheriff’s race. Independents already know how extreme the AZ GOP has become, but if the Democratic candidate spoils the vote the same way Olivia Cortes was used as a pawn in the Russell Pearce elections … we will remind everyone how the Arizona Democratic Party did not take a lesson from the Pearce Special elections race. Several disgruntled Independents, Republicans, Libertarians and Blue Dogs will get on the band wagon and spank them for falling into the FOX News pawn game.