Tag: Campaign 2010

Florida Gov. Candidate Rick Scott Doesn’t Know What You Mean

Trish

In this footage from depositions that then-CEO tea Rick Scott gave when Columbia/HCA was under investigation for Medicare/Medicaid fraud in 1995, Scott makes Bill Clinton — who famously told investigators into his sex life that his answer depended on what your definition of “is” is — look like an over-sharer. Although Columbia went on to receive the nation’s biggest fine ($1.7 billion) for its guilt, and Scott was forced to resign to avoid criminal prosecution, investigators got farcically little cooperation from the man who now wants to run Florida “like a business.”

NC Sen: Dem Elaine Marshall Moving Up – Kos: ‘Most Winnable Race of Cycle Ignored By DSCC, This One Ain’t Over’

Jon Ponder

As a long-time Tar Heel in my past life, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall‘s campaign to unseat GOP Sen. Richard Burr has been on my radar for months. Burr — an ideological intellectual featherweight along the lines of Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell and former Sen. Lauch Faircloth — is the biggest political embarrassment to my home state since the retirement of the bizarre racist homophobe Jesse Helms.

Marshall is North Carolina’s first woman secretary of state — she defeated NASCAR legend Richard Petty for the job in 1996, 53 percent to 45 percent. She has been running a smart, effective campaign on a shoe string, but with no cash to buy ads, her polling has been so anemic that Sen. Burr has already taken a “victory lap” tour around the state. Talk about measuring the drapes.

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CA Sen: Fiorina Must Apologize for John McCain’s Vindictive, Personal Attack Against Sen. Boxer’s Patriotism, Support for Troops

Pensito Editors

Transcript:

Barbara Boxer is the most bitterly partisan, the most anti-defense Senator in the United States Senate today. I know that because I have had the unpleasant experience of having to serve with her. So when you hear her say that she supports the men and women in the military, my friends, she does not. Because she has never supported the mission; she has never supported victory…

McCain’s statement continued:

…whether it be in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or anywhere else in the world. Barbara Boxer wants to wave the white flag of surrender and endanger this nation’s national security. It’s time she went back to San Francisco with [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi.

After this disgraceful performance, McCain doubled-down his personal attacks Boxer in an appearance ABC News’ “Nightline”:

In an interview with ABC, McCain justified his attack on Boxer. “[Working with Boxer] has been an unpleasant experience because Barbara Boxer personalizes the political discourse that we have and that’s why she’s had so very little effect of any kind in the political process,” he said. “There is no Republican that will work with her.” And McCain added this about the Obama administration, “This is the most partisan administration that I have ever seen … and I came to the congress in 1983.” He also said: “I consider myself a person who stands up for what they believe in. When I was against President Bush on a number of issues I was called a maverick. When I was against President Obama, then I’m called a partisan. What I was trying to say — I’m the same person.”

California Not Feeling GOP Wave in House Races – Just Three of 53 Districts in Play and One Is GOP

Jon Ponder

Democrats (from left) Bera, Sanchez and McNerney
Democrats (from left) Bera, Sanchez and McNerney

If Republicans take the House next month, the “wave” of seats flipping from blue to red in the Rust and Bible belts will stop at Nevada’s western border, according to analysis by Mackenzie Weinger writing for CalBuzz.

“We’re a Dem-leaning state and President Obama’s approval ratings are a bit higher here than they are elsewhere, and in some ways that insulates us from that backlash,” said UC San Diego political science professor Thad Kousser, according to Weinger. “And secondly, the post-2000 redistricting means there are a lot less competitive seats.”

Within the state’s 53-seat House delegation, Weinger found just three seats up for grabs and one of them is held by Dan Lungren, a Republican. Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez, one of the most prominent members of the California delegation, is in a competitive race for the first time since she was elected in 1996, and Rep. Jerry McNerney, the other Democrat, is opposed by the tea bagger who made news last week calling for closing all public schools in America.

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NY Gov: New Yorkers to Tea Bagger Paladino, ‘Drop Dead’

Jon Ponder

24%

Percentage of voters who told pollsters for the New York Times they planned to vote for GOP-tea bagger candidate Carl Paladino for governor, compared with 59 percent who said they would vote for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. About Paladino, just 11 percent had a favorable view of the upstate real estate mogul, and when asked to say a word that came to mind when hearing Paladino’s name, voters said things like “angry,” “bigoted” and “obnoxious.” (And remember, these are New Yorkers talking.) Finally, 59 percent said Paladino did not have the right temperament and personality for the job, and 55 percent said he didn’t have proper experience.

CA Sen: US Chamber’s $3.2 Mil Ad Buy for Fiorina Paid for with Anonymous, Possibly Foreign Funds

Jon Ponder

logo-uschamberYou have to read down to the 13th paragraph in Maeve Reston’s story on funding in the California U.S. Senate race — “Boxer, Fiorina nearly even in fundraising” — before you get to this:

Most of the outside spending in the California Senate race has been on Fiorina’s behalf. A group affiliated with Karl Rove spent $1 million on a weeklong ad buy in August. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had spent more than $3.2 million on ads through the end of September criticizing Boxer’s record.

It’s unclear whether the $3.2 million in anonymously donated funds the Chamber spent on Fiorina’s campaign includes the $1,173,625 reported by Campaign Money Watch.

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Dems Gain 5 Points in Key House Races, Have $41 Mil, Twice GOP’s Cash – No Longer a ‘Death March’

Jon Ponder

graph-npr-midterm-10-2010From Rupert Murdoch’s GOP-Fox controlled Wall St. Journal:

The poll, for National Public Radio [PDF], found that in 58 Democratic-held battleground districts, 47 percent of likely voters preferred the Republican for Congress in their district, while 44 percent preferred the Democrat, a the percentage-point gap. The Republican lead was larger among voters with high levels of interest in the election. The GOP edge had been eight points in June.

New fund-raising numbers for the July-to-September period, due to federal officials at midnight Friday, could set the stage for the final dash to the Nov. 2 election.

The Democrats’ House committee on Friday reported $41.6 million in the bank, more than twice that of its GOP counterpart. Spending by non-party groups, such as labor unions and independent organizations, are backing up many candidates whose own bank accounts have run low.

Here’s analysis from Joe Conason at Salon:

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Jeb! Sends Lawyers After Deb! for Using Exclamation Point

Trish
jeb!
Jeb! implores the almighty to protect U.S. Trade Mark Registration No. 2,826,942

If anyone thought there were issues too petty for a former governor to unleash his lawyers over, Jeb Bush’s most recent actions should put such ideas to rest.

Even Florida’s most jaded political observers — including the Republican ones — are shaking their heads now.

Not only does Bush want Florida Senate District 8 candidate Deborah Gianoulis (D) to stop using her nickname in campaign materials, she is not to use the exclamation point, the colors red and white, or the letters “e” and “b.”

I’m serious.

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