Tag: Elections

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Republicans Terrified of YouTube Debate

Trish

It’s not their checkered pasts, their questionable financial dealings, or even their bizarre religious tenets. You know what really scares the Republican candidates for the presidency? We do.

Mitt Romney — who recently faced questions about his common sense for strapping his dog in its carrier to the top of his car during a 12-hour drive, causing the animal to defecate over his windshield — said the format is beneath his dignity

After pulling a party-line no-show at the recent National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) convention, aka, THE event for Latino movers and shakers, they are now discovering a rash of scheduling conflicts at the prospect of facing the chilling YouTube questioners in debate.

Just like with the Latino forum, all the Democratic candidates participated in the recent YouTube debate led by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. But Republicans, including Rudy Giulliani, are balking.

Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani may have better things to do than answer YouTube users’ questions at the GOP debate in St. Petersburg.

The news broke late Thursday that the former New York City mayor has scheduling issues with the Sept. 17 date, jeopardizing the showdown at the Mahaffey Theater…

Giuliani campaign officials could not be reached late Thursday to elaborate on the specific scheduling conflicts.

Mitt Romney — who recently faced derision and questions about his common sense for strapping his dog in its carrier to the top of his car during a 12-hour drive, causing the animal to defecate over his windshield — came right out and said the format is beneath his dignity.

“I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman,” Romney told the Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader this week.

Only John McCain and Ron Paul have accepted; all the other Republicans are still checking their calendars.

The Republican candidates, or should we say middle-aged white guys in black suits, are obviously more comfortable with the old snore-fest format of moderator asking question and candidates answering question.

If the chickenhawks chicken out, it will be a blow to Florida’s Republican governor, Charlie Crist, whose Serve to Preserve Climate Summit to address global warming already made party hardliners in Tallahassee uncomfortable. The debate is the highest profile event since Crist and others had the Florida primary moved up in the 2008 cycle.

How Appropos — FlaDems Meeting at Disney World

Buck Banks

I can’t think of a more appropriate place for a Mickey Mouse organization to convene than the fantasy land of Disney World. Between their ineffectual Five Point Plan and lead cheerleader Karen Thurman (the Annette Funicello of the Florida Democratic Party), these folks believe it’s a small world after all and they are living in their own Cinderella’s castle if they think they actually will be a factor in the upcoming elections.

Surprisingly, they are running out of blocked hotel space for the Oct. 25-29 statewide party convention, and have booked more space at Disney’s Yacht & Beachfront Resort, which is an ersatz New England coastal village (think Kennebunkport).

Seems a perfect venue for a faux political party.

Republican Cash MIA Over Slate of Drippy Candidates

Trish

Not only have Republicans told pollsters they don’t like their party’s candidates, they are also holding back donations.

First came the news that “none of the above” is increasingly the top choice among potential GOP voters.

The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that nearly a quarter of Republicans are unwilling to back top-tier hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain or Mitt Romney, and no one candidate has emerged as the clear front-runner among Christian evangelicals…

A hefty 23 percent can’t or won’t say which candidate they would back, a jump from the 14 percent who took a pass in June.

GOP Donor: ”It’s hard for some of us who have been loyal to one family for so long just to flip over to someone else… Ask yourself: Is it going to be the same as it was with Bush 41, with Jeb or with W?”

Now we hear that the big money in Florida, one of the deepest pockets for the Republicans, is missing in action.

Two-thirds of the top Florida donors to President Bush have yet to write a check to any Republican presidential candidate this year, reflecting a nationwide disquiet in the GOP that threatens to undermine its hold on the White House…

”We’re six months before the Florida primary. I would think at least half would be signed up with one campaign or another,” said Fort Lauderdale lobbyist Justin Sayfie, a top Bush donor turned fence-sitter.

The habit of giving to those lovable, whacky Bushes is hard to break, and harder to replace.

A Bush — the 41st president named George, the 43rd governor of Florida named Jeb, or the 43rd president named George W. — has appeared on seven of the last 10 general-election ballots in Florida.

”It’s hard for some of us who have been loyal to one family for so long just to flip over to someone else,” said Michael Hightower, a Jacksonville healthcare executive who served as the local GOP chairman. “I’m not saying we don’t have good candidates, but you ask yourself: Is it going to be the same as it was with Bush 41, with Jeb or with W? And the realistic answer is no, because we don’t have the same relationship.”

Excuse me while I gag.

Our team, of course, is doing fine.

Among Democrats, it’s a different story. About three-fourths of the leading fundraisers for the 2004 Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry, have put their money on a 2008 contender.

Those who really can’t find anyone they like still have a choice. The Committee Against Mediocrity in Politics (CAMP) is urging them to back an amendment that would let them vote for None of the Above.

CAMP is calling for Amendment XXVIII to the United States Constitution. This Amendment would add “None of the Above” to all federal election ballots, allowing voters to choose not to vote for a ballot of mediocre candidates.

Should the “None of the Above” option receive a majority of votes in any given election, then that election would yield no winner and the election would need to be rerun with new candidates on the ballot.

Ralph Nader should love it.

Karen Thurman is Screwing Up the Florida Democratic Party and Florida ‘Progressives’ Say ‘Who Cares?’

Buck Banks

Co-editor Trish tried to get the Florida Progressive Coalition in their weekly radio blog to address the problem of Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman taking money from Republican lobbyist Al Cardenas. You know what they said? It’s a non-issue and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot.

Well, you know who the idiots are? Florida Democrats, that’s who. (Full disclosure: I am registered Independent, but I still don’t want to see the FDP screw up — again).

Karen Thurman, whose intellect and capabilities I have questioned before, is paid $100,000 per year by the Florida Democratic Party to lobby for the Florida Democratic Party. That she takes $3,500 per month from Cardenas to lobby for Republican issues is an issue, and if these numbnuts don’t think it’s an issue, then they are as useless as the FDP.

Look, Florida stands the first chance in a long time in the coming presidential election of turning from red to blue, and the “brightest lights” of the “Florida progressive movement” don’t think it’s an issue that the chair of the Florida Democratic Party is in bed with a Republican operative?

Anyone who thinks that is really an idiot.

Are We Still in Iraq So Democrats Can Win?

Trish

Independent weekly columnist and author Hal Crowley was no doubt already working on this masterpiece when headlines proclaimed that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would — incredibly — not yet consider impeachment an option for either Bush or Cheney.

Crowther tries to MOVE US ALREADY from our collective inertia and the delusions we’ve accepted about what we have to lose by leaving Iraq (nothing) and by impeaching Bush/Cheney (nothing).

He also asks a damn good question.

The Bush administration is a cadaver decomposing on America’s doorstep—yet no one will take responsibility for it, no one will give it a decent burial, no one even has the courage to step over it and try to get on with a nation’s decent business.

Democrats are so desperate to win the presidency in 2008 that they refuse to relinquish their two most persuasive, most visible arguments for regime change

This is the president who cannot be resuscitated and cannot be removed. A lame duck is a thing we’ve dealt with before…A dead duck in the White House is a constitutional crisis no scholar ever anticipated and no think tank ever analyzed.

The president’s Memorial Day speech at Arlington was a crowning outrage, one that pushed many a patient, hopeful citizen over the edge into incoherent despair… “Now this hallowed ground receives a new generation of heroes,” he declaimed. “I hope you find comfort in knowing that your loved ones rest in a place even more peaceful than the fields that surround us here.”

…Hypocrisy of such concentrated toxicity seems almost superhuman. “Shame!” the dead cry, but in America, shame died years ago and lies buried in an unmarked grave, perhaps at Arlington…

As Baghdad disintegrated, body bags proliferated and his henchpersons’ interlocking scandals reverberated—as his approval rating scraped bottom near an historic 25 percent, meaning he’s squandered the trust of at least half the people who voted for him in 2004—President Bush faced no future but no certain reckoning. Can no one rid us of this albatross?

…Across the country, from Hawaii to Maine, 70-odd city councils and 14 state Democratic parties have voted to impeach both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney…But in Congress no one seems to have the stomach for the job.

[…]

January 29 — Another Reason I’m Glad I’m Not a Democrat

Buck Banks

The Democratic Party of Florida is trying its mightiest to put a positive spin on its reprieve from punishment by the Democratic National Committee and chair Howard Dean. Appears the Deanster won’t whup up on Florida for moving its primary to January 29 after all.

Here’s how Karen Thurman, the reality-challenged chair of the state Dems, spins it:

It’s not as if Floridians aren’t used to being regularly disenfranchised — only every time we have a presidential election.

As Chair of your Party, I am proud to officially announce that Florida’s Democratic Presidential Preference Primary will be held on January 29, 2008, in accordance with a new state law and the will of Florida’s Democratic voters.

Although Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules can penalize states (except for Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina) that hold 2008 primaries prior to February 5, the Florida Democratic Party’s leadership determined that holding a process outside the state-run January 29th election would be detrimental to the voters of this state.

Only problem with that is, it wasn’t the Democrats who made the decision and passed the state law to move the primary date, it was the Republican majority in the state legislature in collusion with our Republican governor, Charlie Crist. In response, Dean and the national party threatened to rob Florida of its delegates, render its primary meaningless and punish any candidates who campaigned in the state. By contrast, the Republican Party was willing to give Florida’s wingnuts a pass on breaking the same primary rules.

But that didn’t stop Thurman from trying to make it sound like it was a Democratic idea all along:

Florida Democrats made it clear that a date other than January 29th would potentially disenfranchise voters and inhibit preparations for a winning 2008 campaign — a campaign that will deliver the state’s 27 crucial electoral votes on November 4, 2008, to the Democratic Presidential nominee.

It’s not as if Floridians aren’t used to being regularly disenfranchised — only every time we have a presidential election.

The Florida Democratic Party missed an opportunity to point out on a national stage the Republican machinations that nearly resulted in the country’s fourth most populous state’s primary being rendered meaningless. The Republicans engineered it, Howard Dean very publicly condemned it and now the Florida Dems are trying to sugar-coat it.

I will go to polls on January 29, to vote for property tax reform and local politicians, but, as a registered independent, I won’t vote in the primary. So I won’t be a party to the next round of Republican electoral shenanigans and, thankfully, I won’t be a part of Karen Thurman’s sorry excuse for a political party.

Republican Candidates to Boycott Latino Convention

Trish

I hate going to Disneyworld too, so I understand every major Republican presidential candidate wanting to stay away. But…staging what amounts to a virtual boycott of what is known as the Latino political convention doesn’t seem like a smart move.

Especially when, according to a June 11 press release, all the Democrats will be there.

Do they take the votes of this demographic as a given, or are they writing them off as going Democrat?

Los Angeles, CA – The Democratic contenders in the 2008 presidential campaign will participate in a candidate forum hosted by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) in Orlando on June 30…

The participating candidates will include, in alphabetical order, Senator Joe Biden (DE), Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Senator Chris Dodd (CT), former Senator John Edwards (NC), Representative Dennis Kucinich (OH), Senator Barack Obama (IL) and Governor Bill Richardson (NM).

NALEO extended identical invitations to the Republican presidential candidates to participate in a separate forum. All have declined to date.

So the question is, why do the Republicans think they can snub Latinos? Do they take the votes of this demographic as a given, or are they writing them off as going Democrat?

…several factors put the Hispanic vote in play. Among them: Non-Cubans aren’t as likely to have historical ties to the Republican Party as Cuban-Americans.

“Living in Weston, I see it just walking around the neighborhood. There are people from Colombia, Venezuela and Peru. They don’t have the same preconditioning to vote Republican,” said Weston resident Andrew Torres, president of the new Broward chapter of the state Democratic Party’s Hispanic Caucus…

Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said once Castro is gone, “you will see Cuban-Americans shift to the Democratic Party.”

…Torres said the increasing numbers of younger voters and people from countries other than Cuba make this a good time to capitalize on trends favoring Democrats.

The explanation could be simple, of course.

National and state Republican officials did not comment on why GOP hopefuls will not participate in the conference, but the campaigns of Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney cited scheduling conflicts.

Those durn scheduling conflicts. Funny how they never crop up when it’s time to come to South Florida and fund-raise. And no matter how you slice it, boycotting the convention of their fellow elected officials can’t win many friends. Not to mention there are two other groups piggybacking off the event — the National Hispana Leadership Institute and the Orlando Chamber of Commerce’s Hispanic Summit.

Maybe there really is a simple reason. Republicans might just want to distance themselves from immigrants — and please their xenophobic base — as much as possible.

Before You Leave for the Weekend…Important Friday News Dump

Trish

It’s coming hot and heavy:

Gen. Pace is out as chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gates blames it on Congress; says Pace wouldn’t have been able to be reconfirmed when his current term is up in September.

Gonzales will face “no confidence” vote in the Senate on Monday. Bush says he’s doing a heckuva job and the vote is simply “political thee-AY-ter.”

The CIA denies claims by more than 30 current and former intelligence officers here and in Romania and Poland that it abducted and tortured people at secret prisons in Europe. The fully documented report, filed by the European Parliament, is “biased and distorted,” the CIA said.

Cheney needs his pacemaker replaced. The batteries are going dead, and he could presumably follow. Nuff said.

Bush is over his hangover. “The president already was dressed when he began feeling ill in the morning, [Spokestool Dan] Bartlett said. He stayed in bed for several hours to rest and recuperate, missing one session with African leaders and another with leaders from China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, all developing nations not G-8 members. Bush returned to the talks in time for the closing lunch, where he engaged in extensive conversation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Paris Hilton is back in jail. And reportedly just thrilled to be there.

Florida: More Experiments in Voting

Buck Banks

Still glad I’m an Independent: Florida thinks it has been getting the short end of the presidential primary stick, so it has struck out into the no man’s land of January to set its vote date. This, despite the fact that the Democratic National Committee has threatened penalties, like stripping the state party of delegates, making the vote nonbinding and penalizing candidates who campaign in the state.

Whoa, them’s fighting words, but, like the big Republican-controlled brute it is, the Florida legislature moved the state’s primary from March to January, despite the threats.

Who needs Katherine Harris?

The result could lead to a scenario like this:

On Jan. 29, Florida Republicans and Democrats head to the polls to pick presidential nominees. Republican votes count, just as you would expect, but the results for Democrats would be nonbinding. No delegates would be awarded based upon the results and instead party activists and insiders would decide on some later date how to divvy up the state’s more than 200 delegates to the Democratic national convention.

See, while the Dems face stiff penalties for the primary shift, the Repugs don’t face any. So, we could potentially see Dem candidates giving the state a pass while Repugs campaign all over the place, with a predictable effect on the general election.

Who needs Katherine Harris when you’ve got a Republican-controlled state legislature to influence the presidential election outcome and guarantee we stay a red state.

Novak Pans Fred Thompson’s First Campaign Speech

Jon Ponder

Republicans who are unhappy with the current crop of 10 GOP candidates for president have pinned their hopes of “Law & Order” actor Fred Thompson. A former senator from Tennessee and (formerly?) a good friend of second-place candidate Sen. John McCain, Thompson has been sending signals that he plans to enter the race.

Republicans stumbled the last time they nominated someone whom they believed to be Reaganesque. After being fooled into believing that George W. Bush was Reagan’s political heir, he turned out to be the heir of his actual ancestor, Pres. Franklin Pierce, a one-termer who left office in disgrace in the 1857.

Thompson made his first campaign-style appearance Friday night in Orange County, the fountainhead for GOP fundraising in California. I happened to catch part of the speech on C-SPAN over the weekend and was surprised at how bad he was. His delivery was flat and unenergetic, and the message was less than inspiring — talking points strung together in no particular order.

Of course, Fred Thompson doesn’t stand a chance with me. I’ve never voted for a Republican, for one thing. For another, I am immune to the charms of millionaire Republicans like George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan who project folksiness.

However, no less than the prince of conservative darkness himself, Robert Novak, who was in the room, had a similar take:

“It was not Reaganesque.” “No red meat.” “Too low key.” That was the preponderant reaction I heard to Thompson’s half-hour presentation (leavened by a few favorable comments, mostly by women, that he was more “statesmanlike” and “presidential” than the announced candidates). Lincoln Club members, like many conservative Republicans, have been unimpressed by the existing field of Republican hopefuls and envisioned Thompson as the second coming of Ronald Reagan. They did not get it Friday night…

Surprisingly for such an experienced performer, however, Thompson had trouble with the podium microphone as his low, conversational tones faded in and out. He ended his speech on a down note by reporting a recent visit to 6-year-old schoolchildren and what they had told him. Thompson worried that the long Lincoln Club program preceding his speech may have turned off the audience, but he may have been the one who lost his enthusiasm.

Novak also gave notes on the debate among the 10 announced candidates last week in Simi Valley, Calif.:

Dissatisfaction with the current presidential field was intensified by the chaotic debate of 10 Republican candidates broadcast nationally the previous night. Rudy Giuliani seemed uncomfortable dealing with standard conservative issues. John McCain sounded harsh and hawkish. Mitt Romney’s newfound conservatism still seems contrived to many in the Republican base.

Republicans stumbled the last time they nominated someone whom they believed to be Reaganesque. After being fooled into believing that George W. Bush was Reagan’s political heir, he turned out to be the heir of his actual ancestor, Pres. Franklin Pierce, a one-termer who left office in disgrace in the 1857. (Pierce was the only sitting president rejected by his own party for a second term.)

Despite Thompson’s stumble in front of the big-money crowd Friday night and his lackluster record in the Senate, he may still be the best candidate the Republicans have to offer next year.