Latest Polls Show The Blue States Solidly Behind Clinton

Donald Trump is having trouble trying to keep some of his red states in the fold (Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina). Hillary Clinton doesn't have that kind of problem with states normally considered blue states.

The chart above reflects the latest polls in 10 blue states -- California, Virginia, Oregon, Maryland, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maine, Rhode Island. Clinton leads in all of them, and is expected to carry them rather easily in November. That's good, because it allows her to put more emphasis on the swing states.

NOTE -- You can click on the state name to get the poll dates, sample size, and margin of error.

April 26th States Make Their Presidential Preference Known

Yesterday's five-state primary turned out to be a big night for Hillary Clinton, as she won four out of the five states. She won big in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. She also won a closer victory in Connecticut. Bernie Sanders rather easily won Rhode Island.

Here are the results for each state:

CONNECTICUT
Clinton...............52%
Sanders...............47%

DELAWARE
Clinton...............60%
Sanders...............39%

MARYLAND
Clinton...............63%
Sanders...............33%

PENNSYLVANIA
Clinton...............56%
Sanders...............44%

RHODE ISLAND
Clinton...............43%
Sanders...............55%

But the important part of the night was what happened with the delegate totals. Here is how that stands, with some of Tuesday's delegates still to be determined (according to NBC News):

Primary/Caucus Delegates
Clinton...............1594
Sanders...............1297
difference...............297

Total Delegates
Clinton...............2117
Sanders...............1330
difference...............787

That means Hillary Clinton just needs to get 266 more delegates to win the nomination, while Bernie Sanders needs 1,053 more delegates. There are now 10 states left to vote (plus the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico).

PPP Survey - Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, R. Island

Public Policy Polling has released its final surveys of four of the states voting today in Democratic primaries -- Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Their numbers, except for Maryland, look a little better for Sanders than some previous polls have shown. They have him four points ahead in Rhode Island, two points behind in Connecticut, and ten points down in Pennsylvania.

That means Sanders could win Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Delaware (which has not been polled). But the victories, if they happen, would just be moral victories -- and he needs to do much better than that. The truth is that to have a shot at the nomination, he needs to win 70% of the delegates in the remaining states -- and he will come far from doing that in any of the April 26th states.

Today's voting will just get Clinton closer to the Democratic nomination, and make it much harder for Sanders to compete.

Finally - A Poll Of Rhode Island Democrats Is Released

Five states will choose their Democratic presidential preference on April 26th. Three of those states have had several polls released -- Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Connecticut -- and those polls show Hillary Clinton leading in all three.

But Rhode Island and Delaware remained mysteries, probably because of their small size -- with Rhode Island having 24 delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, and Delaware also having 24. Now we finally have a poll showing the preference of Rhode Island Democrats.

It is the Brown University Poll -- done between April 19th and 21st of a sample of 436 likely Democratic primary voters, with a 4.6 point margin of error. It shows Clinton with a 9 point lead over Sanders, but with a large 16% of voters still unsure who they will vote for.

Sanders needs to not only win these April 26th states (including the low-delegate states), but he needs to win them by a huge margin to get himself back in the presidential race. That would mean he needs all of the 16% of unsure voters to vote for him (which is not likely). It looks like Tuesday is shaping up to be another big disappointment for Sanders.

New Polls In Seven U.S. Senate Races

Rasmussen Poll

Rasmussen Poll

Rasmussen Poll

Rasmussen Poll

CNN / ORC Poll

CNN / ORC Poll

Des Moines Register Poll

Another Step Taken Toward Equal Rights

On Thursday, the state of Rhode Island became the tenth state in the United States to vote for equal rights for all of their residents. After both houses of the legislature approved the legalization of same-sex marriage with a final vote, Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law. It will go into effect on August 1st.

Governor Chafee said, "Today we are making history. . .we are living up to the ideals of our founder." He added, "When your belief and heart are in something, it's easy work. I am proud to say that now, at long last, you are free to marry the person you love."

Here are the states that have approved marriage rights (equal rights) for all of their residents:
Rhode Island
Iowa
New York
Vermont
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Maine
Maryland
Washington
The District of Columbia also allows same-sex marriages. These states compose about 16.1% of the United States population (based on 2012 census estimates).

This is a day to celebrate, as one more state recognizes that everyone must have the same rights (or the rights of everyone are in danger). But the fight is still far from over. There are still 40 states that believe some citizens deserve more rights than other citizens -- and they cling to this indefensible position in spite of a growing majority of Americans demanding equal rights for everyone.

Rhode Island Decriminalizes Possession Of Small Amounts Of Marijuana

Two days ago, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee signed a new bill into law. The bill decriminalizes the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. Under current law in that state, a person possessing less than an ounce of the gentle herb would be guilty of a criminal misdemeanor -- punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $500 fine. The new law would make possession of less than an ounce a civil offense, much like a traffic offense, and would be punishable by a $150 fine only. Here is specifically what the new law would do:

• Individuals over the age of 18: Possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for individuals 18 and older will be penalized with a $150 civil offense and forfeiture of the marijuana for the first and second offenses within 18 months.

• Individuals under the age of 18: Possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by individuals under 18 will subject these minors to the same civil violation as adults for a first or second offense within 18 months. The minor offender will also be required to attend a drug education course as well as perform community service.

• Failure to provide identification or to honestly give name: Law enforcement may arrest an individual found in possession of up to an ounce of marijuana if he or she fails to produce picture identification when requested or he or she fails to honestly provide his or her name.

• Failure to pay fines: The civil fine will double to $300 if not paid within 30 days of issuance and double again to $600 if it has not been paid within 90 days.

• Civil violations for marijuana possession will not be grounds for revocation of parole or probation.

• Subsequent offenses: For all individuals found in possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, a third offense within 18 months could result in a misdemeanor conviction punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $500.

The new law will now go into effect on April 1, 2013 ( about 9 months from now). This is an improvement over existing law, but it is still not enough. It makes no sense for marijuana possession to be subject to a fine when the possession of other, much more dangerous drugs (like alcohol and tobacco), are legal for an adult to possess.

Why not make marijuana legal and subject to the same regulations as alcohol? That would still keep marijuana out of the hands of people under the age of 18 (at least as well or better than current laws do), and it would allow local, state, and federal governments to tax it heavily -- providing a much-needed new source of revenue ( a revenue stream that would be much larger and steadier than the collection of fines).

It makes no sense to keep marijuana illegal -- especially in a country that prides itself on individual freedom.

Romney Moves Closer To GOP Nomination

The GOP nominating process marches on, as Willard Mitt Romney won another 5 states last night. Here are the results from those states:

DELAWARE (99% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............16,057  (56.59%)
Newt Gingrich...............7,659  (26.99%)
Ron Paul...............2,984  (10.52%)
Rick Santorum...............1,676  (5.91%)
Others...............0  (0.00%)
TOTAL VOTES...............28,376

CONNECTICUT (96% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............36,690  (65.74%)
Ron Paul...............7,903  (14.16%)
Newt Gingrich...............6,034  (10.81%)
Rick Santorum...............4,035  (7.23%)
Others...............1,148  (2.06%)
TOTAL VOTES...............55,810

RHODE ISLAND (99% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............8,228  (63.31%)
Ron Paul...............3,088  (23.76%)
Newt Gingrich...............789  (6.07%)
Rick Santorum...............734  (5.65%)
Others...............157  (1,21%)
TOTAL VOTES...............12,996

PENNSYLVANIA (99% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............286,272  (56.90%)
Rick Santorum...............97,560  (19.39%)
Ron Paul...............66,053  (13.13%)
Newt Gingrich...............53,216  (10.58%)
Others...............0  (0.00%)
TOTAL VOTES...............503,101

NEW YORK (91% reporting)
Mitt Romney...............93,669  (62.22%)
Ron Paul...............23,787  (15.80%)
Newt Gingrich...............19,520  (12.97%)
Rick Santorum...............13,574  (9.02%)
Others...............0  (0.00%)
TOTAL VOTES...............150,550

As expected, Willard Mitt Romney (aka Wall Street Willie) swept all five states and took most of the delegates (but not quite all). That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is that even though no candidate can now keep Romney from winning the nomination (although it will likely take him another month to clinch it), there is still a strong anti-Romney segment of Republican voters out there. These voters are not yet ready to fall in line and accept Romney as their candidate.

The five states that voted yesterday were likely going to be Romney states -- even before Santorum suspended his campaign. And yet, 34.26% of Connecticut voters, 36.69% of Rhode Island voters, 43.10% of Pennsylvania voters, 43.41% of Delaware voters, and 37.78% of New York voters all voted against the presumptive GOP nominee.

MSNBC.com led with the headline last night that Romney had kicked off his general election campaign. That seems a little premature to me. It looks like he still has work to do in getting his own party behind him. I still think many of the anti-Romney voters could vote for a third party or just stay at home on election day in November.