Marco In Amber
What’s going on with Marco Rubio?
He’s got credit card problems, don’t you know.
Buying Amber Stoner’s travel
Could make his campaign unravel,
Sending his Senatorial dreams down the tubio.
Month: September 2010
Verbatim
Listen, I’m going to get into a black Suburban and I’m going to drive back to the governor’s residence, go upstairs and order a pizza. I’m going to turn on a baseball game. You all can call me when you decide to reopen the government.
— New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), quoted by the Camden Courier Post, recounting what he told legislators when they threatened a government shutdown.
Turning off Fox: GOP ‘News’ Channel’s Ratings Are Down 21% Overall, 26% in Younger Demo
In year-to-year comparisons, the GOP’s Fox channel lost 21 percent of its overall viewership as well as over a quarter of younger viewers versus the same period last year.
A more remote possibility is that millions of Fox viewers — the average of whom is 65 — have simply died off.
According to TV Newser:
[The] network was down -21% in Total Viewers and down -26% in younger viewers compared to Sept. 2009 (Total Day, Mon-Sun)…
“The O’Reilly Factor” was the top program in cable news[*], averaging more than 2.8 million Total Viewers and 680,000 A250-54 demo viewers, but the show was down -12% (Total Viewers) and -21% (demo) compared to Sept. 09. “Hannity,” “Glenn Beck,” “Special Report” and “On the Record” rounded out the top five — but all shows were also down double digits compared to Sept. ’09.
Overall, FNC was the fourth most-watched network on cable, behind entertainment juggernauts USA and TNT, and sports leader ESPN, which has seen a boost from its coverage of “Monday Night Football.”
MSNBC experienced a slight uptick in ratings. The GE-owned channel remains the top rated legitimate news channel.*
Tea Baggers Aren’t Big Readers
2
Number of pages in a smaller “pocket card” version of the Republican Party’s “Pledge to America,” created after complaints from some Tea Party activists about the original 45-page document, according to the Wall Street Journal.
TV Shows That Advertisers Avoid Because They Generate Both Strong Ratings and Controversies Are Said to Be ‘Empty Calories’
empty calories Refers to broadcast programming that draws great ratings but is so controversial or outrageous that advertisers avoid it. Usage: From Being Glenn Beck in the New York Times: “…As of Sept. 21, 296 advertisers have asked that their commercials not be shown on Beck’s show (up from 26 in August 2009). Fox also has a difficult time selling ads on ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ and ‘Fox and Friends’ when Beck appears on those shows as a guest. Beck’s show is known in the TV sales world as ‘empty calories,’ meaning he draws great ratings but is toxic for ad sales.”
Nearly 300 Fox Advertisers Have Boycotted Glenn Beck’s Show Since He Called the President a Racist
296
Number of advertisers who have boycotted Glenn Beck’s show on Fox since Sept. 28, 2009 — the day he accused Pres. Obama of having “a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture,” and said, “I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people, I’m saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist.”
Dems’ California Firewall Expands – Brown, Boxer Both Up by 9 Points in CNN Poll
The new CNN poll finds leads for Democrats in the California races for governor and senator.
In the governor’s race, Democrat Jerry Brown, the state’s attorney general and former governor, leads billionaire former eBay executive Meg Whitman, 52 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. Brown has a 13 point advantage among registered voters, 52 percent to 39 percent.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, seeking a fourth term, leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, by the same ratio, 52 percent to 43 percent. Among registered voters, Boxer’s lead widens to 19 points, 56 percent to 37 percent.
This is the first poll in which either candidate for governor has been above 50 percent in recent weeks. It is Boxer’s second 50-plus percent result.
The CNN poll is also the fourth consecutive poll that shows the Democrats ahead in California.
Verbatim
We don’t spend much time thinking about her. I think that long term, the more sway and power she has in the Republican Party, the worse off the Republican Party will be.
— Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, in a CNN interview, about a possible presidential bid by Sarah Palin.
Most Republicans are Tea Baggers
71 percent
Share of Republicans who “described themselves as tea-party supporters, saying they had a favorable image of the movement or hoped tea-party candidates would do well in the Nov. 2 elections” in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. The survey also found that tea-party supporters “make up one-third of the voters most likely to cast ballots in November’s midterm elections.“
Breitbart Hosts Tea Bagger Rally in Beverly Hills and Racism Breaks Out
Yeah, big shock. I know.
In August, the RNC abruptly canceled a fundraiser in Beverly Hills that was to be headlined — not by GOP top-draw candidates like Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina — but by one of the new lead GOP race-baiters, Andrew Breitbart.
It wasn’t a fundraiser, but last weekend, Breitbart did attend a tea bagger rally in Beverly Hills. There were a few celebrities there — if you define “celebrity” down to people lower in Hollywood claim to fame than the Kardashians, by which I mean Pat Boone and Victoria Jackson.
(And this was literally a tea bagger rally, as the Los Angeles Times photographed one attendee with tea bags stapled to his headgear.)
Breitbart spoke, of course, as did serveral others but the white people on the stage stood aside to allow one of the few African Americans in the crowd of 200 get to the heart of what animated the tea party movement from the outset and what drew them all together in Beverly Hills that morning:
