Month: November 2009

Poll Shows McCain’s Re-Election Bid in Trouble

Trish

hayworthJohn McCain doesn’t even have an opponent in the 2010 U.S. Senate primary, but a new poll shows the race would be tied if he did. Conservative polling firm Rasmussen asked likely Republican voters whether they would vote for McCain or J.D. Hayworth, a former Arizona U.S. Representative and talk radio star. McCain had only a two-point lead, with 45 percent choosing him and 43 percent backing Hayworth, who hasn’t even declared himself a candidate yet.

Hayworth’s appeal is apparently to younger, hot-headed, anti-immigrant Arizonans. He and his former chief of staff wrote the book, “Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration, Border Security, and the War on Terror,” in which, according to Wikipedia, he criticized George W. Bush for taking contributions from industries like meat packing and construction that depend on immigrant labor. He also claimed the Constitution bars children of illegals from U.S. citizenship, and advocates “Americanization” ala Henry Ford, who said immigrants should speak English and be taught “the right way to live.”

The bombastic Hayworth, described by Wonkette as an “Arizona-American,” currently hosts an afternoon drive-time radio show from Phoenix and fills in for Laura Ingraham when she is indisposed.

Hayworth ran into trouble while serving in Congress from 1995 through 2006, not for taking huge donations to his PAC from Jack Abramoff, but for using about a quarter of all the money raised by his PAC to pay his wife for bookkeeping services.

McCain has drawn no Democratic opponent in the race.

Texas Anti-Gay Constitutional Amendment in 2005 May Have Inadvertently Outlawed All Marriages in State

Jon Ponder

The price of hate: In a panic over the prospect of gay couples having the right to marry, homophobic lawmakers in Texas passed an amendment to the state constitution in 2005 that was so poorly worded that it banned all marriages, including those that the anti-gay amateur porn star Carrie Prejean once described as “opposite marriages” — or so suggests the Democratic candidate for state attorney general:

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.
The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that “marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.” But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

“This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky … says the wording of Subsection B effectively “eliminates marriage in Texas,” including common-law marriages.

Radnofsky blames the inclusion of such poor wording in a document as august as the state constitution on the current Republican attorney general, who approved the language.

While there’s little chance that the poorly worded clause will put the marriage rights of straight Texans into play, Radnofsky says, “This breeds unneeded arguments, lawsuits and expense which could have been avoided by good lawyering. Yes, I believe the clear language of B bans all marriages, and this is indeed a huge mistake.”

Kiss of Death? Palin Might Endorse Rubio in Florida Senate Race

Trish

rubioMost people were stunned when, after weeks of auditioning the Republican party’s best and brightest, Sen. John McCain chose the unknown and inexperienced Sarah Palin as his running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign. But Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was probably even more disappointed than most. After all, Crist battled hard for the number two spot on the ticket, ignoring the needs of his state, becoming engaged to a female New York socialite, and even talking about selling Florida down the river and reversing the state’s policy on coastal oil drilling.

“I’ve sold my soul,” Crist must have thought, “and he picks somebody that’s prettier on the outside? Eff that!”

Crist might soon have even more reason to resent Sarah Palin. She’s considering endorsing his opponent in the 2010 Florida U.S. Senate race.

She suggests, meanwhile, that there might be encouraging news coming Marco Rubio’s way. She says she’s had a chance to look at the Crist-Rubio race “just on the surface.” But she adds, “I’m just being asked about it really in the last week or two, so I’ll dig more into it. I’ll find out what the guys are holding in terms of positions and see where maybe I can help.”

Even though it’s possible that Doug Hoffman, the candidate who recently appeared to go down in flames after Sarah Palin campaigned on his behalf, might yet win, it’s safe to say that Palin’s backing is a mixed blessing.

Rubio is a strong candidate on his own, and unlike Hoffman, to whom big bucks flowed from the various PACs backed by lobbyist Dick Armey, Rubio’s campaign is, so far, focused on substance and experience in public service. While he might accept a radio spot voiced by actor Fred Thompson, as Hoffman did, he likely won’t need one. And trying to imagine him sharing a stage with Sarah Palin, while plausible, is just…well, awful.

It’s obvious Rubio is highly motivated in his race against Crist. Whether he’s willing to do as Crist has, and sell his soul to win, remains to be seen.

Lugar Promises to Buck Fellow Republicans to Support Obama Judge

Trish

lugarThere’s another crack in the Republican wall of opposition to Pres. Obama’s policies, nominees, and general existence. Sen. Richard Luger (R-Ind.) says he will vote to confirm the president’s first appeals court pick, Judge David Hamilton of Indianapolis. He is nominated for a seat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Chicago.

Hamilton, appointed by Pres. Bill Clinton in 1994 to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, has been labeled a judicial activist by right-wingers and a moderate by lefties. Among his rulings was a decision that children’s First Amendment rights don’t mean that parents can’t be required to give permission for them to access video games that depict extreme violence and explicit sex. That determination was later overturned. On the other hand, his sentence of 100 years for a child pornographer was upheld. The son of a United Methodist minister also ruled that prayers and invocations in government proceedings must remain higher power neutral, avoiding “proselytizing” themes like references to Jesus as our personal savior.

Lugar said during a Senate speech Monday that Hamilton’s rulings have been “within the judicial mainstream.” The Republican senator says opponents have misconstrued Hamilton’s decisions on issues such as prayers in the Indiana Legislature and striking down part of a state law on abortion counseling.

In bucking the hysterics of his party, like Alabama’s Sen. Jeff Sessions, who claim Hamilton is an extremist, Lugar is putting the interests of his constituents above partisan allegiance. And that, kids, is just what the people’s representatives should do.

Verbatim

Buck Banks

By the way, I don’t know if we call him Levi — I hear he goes by the name Ricky Hollywood now, so, if that’s the case, we don’t want to mess up this gig he’s got going … Kind of this aspiring, aspiring porn — the things that he’s doing. It’s kind of heartbreaking.

— Sarah Palin, in an interview on Oprah, about the father of her grandson.

I just look at her in disgust … It’s almost funny, that she’s like, 46 years old, and she’s battling a 19 year old, and I’m winning. And I’m telling the truth. She’s lying and losing … If you look at her face, she’s got — she’s really — you can tell her mind’s going 100 miles an hour when Oprah asked her those Levi questions … I’ve got a lot more knowledge and credibility than she gives me credit for.

— Levi Johnston, in an interview on The Insider, about Sarah Palin.

Verbatim

Buck Banks

The Lloyd’s Prayer

Our Chairman, Who art at Goldman, Blankfein be Thy name. The Rally’s come. God’s work be done on Earth, as there’s no fear of Correction. Give us this day our daily gains, and bankrupt our Competitors as You taught Lehman and Bear their lessons. And bring us not under Indictment. For Thine is the Treasury, the House and the Senate, forever and ever. Goldman.

— From an e-mail that was circulated around Wall Street this morning.