Campaign Blog: News & Updates

» WaPo: Rep. Tom Lantos Dies at Age 80

One of my favorites for his foreign policy views ...

Rep. Tom Lantos, 80, a California Democrat whose experience during the Holocaust shaped his concern for human rights and his staunch view in favor of U.S. military intervention abroad, died early this morning, a spokeswoman told the Associated Press. He had esophageal cancer and died at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

Lantos, born in Budapest to Hungarian Jews, served 14 terms in the House of Representatives. He is the only Holocaust survivor elected to Congress. His district included southwest San Francisco and much of San Mateo County, where he was known for supporting the socially liberal agenda of his constituents. Last year, he announced he would not seek reelection because of his cancer treatment.

Lantos was a powerful figure on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where he had been the senior Democratic member since 2001 and its chairman since 2007.

What bloggers do with new toys ...

Obviously, not terribly helpful for the Presidential campaigns traipsing about town for primary votes. But still interesting visuals. This is pretty much the end of me doing these maps with a combination of mouse and canvass report. Next step is to automate the data portion of this and get the whole state painted in one stroke of the digital brush.

For matter of consideration, the precincts are painted blue or red based on the following criteria:
1) Moody-Willett outcome.
2) For Harris County, whether the precinct was won by a State Rep. candidate.

There's bound to be some hiccups in there. You don't edit 2-3,000 shapefile polygons by hand without a few slipups.

Discuss among yourselves.