Tag: Elections

Topic Header

Soros Donates $75k to Wesley Clark’s PAC

Jon Ponder

Bushevik New York Sun:

A billionaire investor who spent more than $25 million to defeat President Bush in 2004, George Soros, is giving a financial boost to the political fortunes of a former four-star general, Wesley Clark, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and is poised to mount another bid in 2008.

Mr. Soros gave $75,000 in July to a political group led by General Clark, Wes-Pac, according to a report filed yesterday with the Internal Revenue Service.

It is the largest known gift from Mr. Soros this year to a political organization affiliated with a contender for the presidency in 2008…

In April, Mr. Soros hosted a fund-raiser for WesPac at his home in Manhattan. General Clark also serves on the board of a nongovernmental organization supported by Mr. Soros, the International Crisis Group.

Bush Obsessing Over “Really High Stakes” of Failure

Trish

Not only can I not stand to listen to George W. Bush — the only president who consistently evokes Jimmy Cagney when speaking by using the word, “see” to start or end nearly every sentence — I can’t stand to watch him talk either.

But Julie Mason can, and she records some sharp observations about his recent Rose Garden press conference.

Bush has been using a different speaking style lately, with more angry-sounding, often highly partisan rhetoric and stronger body language.

He grips the podium, jabs a finger and raises his voice. He squares his shoulders, mocking Democrats and scoffing at critics of his policies.

Mason concludes that Bush is in campaign battle mode.

Key issues for Bush are North Korea and the Middle East, where the stakes, Bush said, “are really high.” And numerous: Bush alluded to the “stakes” 11 times in just more than an hour in his Rose Garden news conference.

Bush has been using a different speaking style lately, with more angry-sounding, often highly partisan rhetoric and stronger body language.

In fact, “the stakes couldn’t be any higher,” Bush said. “I understand the stakes. I’m going to repeat them one more time.”

He added, “As a matter of fact, I’m going to spend a lot of time repeating the stakes.”

The stakes are high for Bush in November. If he can’t lead his party to another majority in the House and Senate, his domestic agenda may wind up as scraps of forgotten rhetoric. He could also face stronger and more effective resistance to his Iraq policy…

Everyone got that? See, the stakes are really high. For once I’ll take Bush’s word for it. So get out and vote, see? Because undermining Bush’s ability to have his way is the highest stake of all.

South Slammed as Rest of the Country Gets Free Pass — Again

Trish

A never-ending debate here at PR* concerns the degree of racism in the South, compared to the rest of the country. Editor-in-Chief Jon, who was born in Texas, grew up in North Carolina, and considers California home, feels the South is correctly maligned regarding racism. Editor Trish, who was born in North Carolina but grew up in Florida and considers it home, feels the South is used as a scapegoat to allow the rest of the country off the hook and an air of superiority to boot. Editor Buck, who was born in Florida and returned here after college, largely stays out of the argument.

George Stephanopoulos covered the Tennessee Senate race to fill Bill Frist’s seat on This Week. He unknowingly bolstered Trish’s case when he explained about candidate Rep. Harold Ford, that “if elected, he would be the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction.”

Because you know how we are down here: all unenlightened and everything, unlike the rest of you who are so colorblind and forward thinking. Take a moment now and pat yourselves on the back because it’s not at all surprising to hear Southern states would have sent less African-Americans to the Senate than say, California. Or New York. Or Ohio.

Except that none of those places has ever sent any.

In fact, only five African-Americans have served in the U.S. Senate — two from Mississippi, two from Illinois, and one from Massachusetts.

My point is not that the South is right to have done so little to erase color barriers in this country, rather that it is not alone in this deficiency. And as long as people can point to the South as the “real problem,” they avoid solving what is, in fact, an American problem. So what George Stephanopoulos should have said is that Ford would be the first African-American elected to the Senate in 48 states since Reconstruction.

And that sucks. Go, Rep. Ford.

*Where —full disclosure — we are all white.

Rove’s October Surprise Is Still Out There

Jon Ponder

When will the other shoe drop?

This election is far from over, and Pres. Bush and his team are desperate. Their entire agenda — not to mention their freedom from investigation and perhaps indictment and even impeachment — rests on a Republican victory on Nov. 7.

On Sept. 21, Raw Story reported that Karl Rove was telling conservative groups that he had a surprise scheduled for the last two weeks of October that would turn the midterms in the Republicans’ favor.

Now, as mid-October approaches, we have to assume that Rove’s other shoe will drop within a week or so.

We have already seen how suddenly the narrative can change in an election. Eight days after the Raw Story report, Rove found the shoe on the other foot, for once, when an unnamed Republican operative outed GOP Rep. Mark Foley as chickenhawk who had been stalking Capitol Hill page boys for years. And worse, GOP leaders, including Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader John Boehner and others, have known about Foley’s predatory ways for months and years, and have been covering it up to keep Foley’s seat in GOP hands. The scandal has had Republicans on the defensive and off-message for two weeks.

There may be more surprises coming in the Foley case — a wholesale outing of all the GOP staffers and elected officials on Capitol Hill has been threatened, for example. But it is just as likely that the story will fade, or be trumped by bigger news. (When was the last time the word “macaca” was in the news?)

What is Rove’s October surprise? As early as Sept. 8, we suggested that the Bush team could have captured or killed Osama bin Laden recently, and have been waiting to reveal this news closer to the election. Others, including BuzzFlash, had similar thoughts.

This election is far from over, and Pres. Bush and his cohorts are desperate. Their entire agenda — not to mention their freedom from investigation, perhaps indictment and even impeachment — rests on a Republican victory on Nov. 7.

They will do anything to win.

Katherine Harris Descriptive Quote of the Day

Buck Banks

“I have never heard of a candidate taking money out of a campaign coffer like it’s an ATM. It absolutely boggles my mind,” said former Harris campaign manager Jim Dornan. “This is a woman who has completely lost touch with reality. You don’t take your campaign contributors’ money, whether it’s yours or not, and spend it to renovate your house. This is absolutely insane.”

Florida Governor Race — How Did These Losers Get On the Ballot?

Buck Banks

Underqualified and underwhelming: Charlie Crist and Jim Davis may not be the most flamboyant candidates for Florida’s governor — okay, they aren’t even mildly interesting — but until today I didn’t know how totally unprepared they are to govern our state. Their financials were published today, and what they reveal about these guys is disturbing.

They’re both losers, at least by most financial measures. Maybe that’s why they’re running for a job that pays $132,000 a year with free room and board at the guv’s mansion in Tallahassee.

Crist, 50, has never bought a house. He’s a renter. He’s never run a business. He’s divorced with no kids and until five years ago never held a job that paid more than about $40,000 a year. He has a net worth of $423,000, including about $185,000 for retirement, $97,000 in an investment account and $16,000 in cash. He gave $1,000 to charities last year, most of it to his church. He keeps his investments in a Fidelity Fund to avoid any conflicts of interest. His 74-year-old father is his financial advisor, and Crist earns about 5 percent per year on his investments.

They’re both losers, at least by most financial measures. Maybe that’s why they’re running for a job that pays $132,000 a year with free room and board at the guv’s mansion in Tallahassee.

There has been some speculation on this Web site in the past regarding whether Crist is gay. According to the article I read, he supposedly has a girlfriend with whom he vacations occasionally. Sure, okay, I’ll buy that. But then when one finds out what he drives, one starts to wonder all over again: a 1997 Jaguar XK8 convertible, bought used, and a leased yellow 2006 Mustang convertible. Hmmmmm.

Davis, 48, is the bigger loser, however. He supports a wife and two teenage sons on his $159,000 congressional salary, so he would actually take a pay cut to be governor, though I guess he’d make it up in food and housing costs. His net worth is $405,000. The family’s major asset is their home, which was purchased in 1989 for $152,500 and is now assessed at $421,871 because of rising property values. There is a $63,000 mortgage.

Davis paid $26,920 in income taxes and declared he had given $4,170 to charity last year. He owns no stocks or bonds, and has not enrolled his sons — in 1oth and ninth grade — in Florida’s prepaid college program, so he hasn’t saved anything for their education. Davis drives a three-year-old Ford Taurus and sleeps in the spare bedroom of his sister’s Georgetown home when the House is in session.

These guys do share one thing in common — they’re basically career politicians who have few, if any, accomplishments outside their political work, and virtually none in their careers. Neither has ever run a business or managed a complex land transaction. At least Jeb Bush was a millionaire developer before he won the governorship. Not that that’s such a good thing, but at least the guy had some experience managing people and swinging real estate deals.

Other examples of governors with little or no practical governing experience — fake wrestler Jesse Ventura and muscle-bound action figure Arnold Schwarzenegger come to mind. And look what those guys have done for for Minnesota and California, respectively.

Gone are the days of Lawton “He-Coon” Chiles, a man of conviction who really cared about Florida and its people, and who actually governed the state pretty well, even as it slid toward a Republican majority. Now, the choice is between a couple of empty-suit politicos with crappy taste in automobiles.

Oh well, throw a dart and let’s get on with the election.

Polls: Public Not Buying Hastert’s, GOP’s B.S. in Page Case

Buck Banks

Foley factor: According to National Journal’s PollTrack, recent polls seem to indicate the American public have a growing distrust and distaste for the GOP. To many, the Democrats are looking better — though the sentiment may be more like, “They may be ineffectual, but at least they ain’t creepy.”

The newest batch of polls following the week-old Mark Foley scandal confirms congressional Republicans’ worst fears: A majority of the country believes they chose to save their own political hides over the safety of young male pages.

Most respondents said their feelings about the president will impact their choices in the voting booth.

Nearly two-thirds of ABC News/Washington Post respondents said Republican leaders tried to cover up the Florida Republican’s sexually tinged communications with pages after first learning of them more than a year ago. Fifty-four percent of Gallup/USA Today and 52 percent of CNN respondents smelled a GOP cover-up. And nearly eight in 10 Americans polled by CBS News/New York Times believe GOP leaders fretted more over protecting their political standing than the teenage pages.

Republicans have tried to ping cover-up talk back onto Democrats and the “liberal media,” but Americans aren’t giving the party a pass. Three-quarters of CNN respondents and a slim majority polled by CBS/Times said the Republican leadership improperly handled the situation.

The new polls indicate that Americans want House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who knew of the inappropriate e-mails and whispers about Foley’s predilections for at least a year, to lose his post. More than half of CNN respondents said the Illinois Republican should step down; pluralities of 43 to 46 percent agreed in the four other polls.
[…]

President Cranky Pants

Jon Ponder

I read an account recently of the scene around George W. Bush when John Kerry conceded in the 2004 presidential election. Our macho el presidente broke down in tears and blubbered. He hugged everyone in the room except for Vice President Dick Cheney, according to the account I read.

Now, two years later, with a month to go before midterm elections, things are not looking good for his party’s continued control over the House and maybe even the Senate. How is the tough-guy-in-chief handling the bad news? Not so well:

[…]

Republicans Way Down, Democrats Way Up in Newsweek Poll

Trish

If we could turn back the hands of time to 2004: Can’t, but the next best thing is knowing that more of us share that wish. A new poll from Newsweek shows Bush & Co. held in the lowest esteem yet. And Democrats strong, strong, strong.

Democrats now outdistance Republicans on every single issue that could decide voters’ choices come Nov. 7

For the first time since 2001, the NEWSWEEK poll shows that more Americans trust the Democrats than the GOP on moral values and the war on terror. Fully 53 percent of Americans want the Democrats to win control of Congress next month, including 10 percent of Republicans, compared to just 35 percent who want the GOP to retain power. If the election were held today, 51 percent of likely voters would vote for the Democrat in their district versus 39 percent who would vote for the Republican…

Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has fallen to a new all-time low for the Newsweek poll: 33 percent, down from an already anemic 36 percent in August. Only 25 percent of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, while 67 percent say they are not. Foley’s disgrace certainly plays a role in Republican unpopularity: 27 percent of registered voters say the scandal and how the Republican leadership in the House handled it makes them less likely to vote for a Republican Congressional candidate; but 65 percent say it won’t make much difference in determining how they vote.

Most of the participants in the poll seemed to have it right. Instead of magnifying the Foley disaster into a more generalized dissatisfaction with his party, those questioned correctly connected the dots from the Iraq disaster to everything else.

While 52 percent of Americans believe Hastert was aware of Foley’s actions and tried to cover them up, it’s part of a larger loss of faith in Republican leadership, thanks mostly to the war in Iraq. For instance, for the first time in the NEWSWEEK poll, a majority of Americans now believe the Bush administration knowingly misled the American people in building its case for war against Saddam Hussein: 58 percent vs. 36 percent who believe it didn’t. And pessimism over Iraq is at record highs on every score: nearly two in three Americans, 64 percent, believe the United States is losing ground there; 66 percent say the war has not made America safer from terrorism (just 29 percent believe it has); and 53 percent believe it was a mistake to go to war at all, again the first time the NEWSWEEK poll has registered a majority in that camp.

I saved the best for last.

Democrats now outdistance Republicans on every single issue that could decide voters’ choices come Nov. 7. In addition to winning—for the first time in the NEWSWEEK poll—on the question of which party is more trusted to fight the war on terror (44 to 37 percent) and moral values (42 percent to 36 percent), the Democrats now inspire more trust than the GOP on handling Iraq (47 to 34); the economy (53 to 31); health care (57 to 24); federal spending and the deficit (53 to 29); gas and oil prices (56 to 23); and immigration (43 to 34).

So why do I have this niggling doubt? Maybe it’s because somewhere along the road from 2000 to 2004, I lost faith in my country’s ability to hold honest elections. Maybe 2006 will restore an idea I never used to question — that our votes will be counted correctly.