Tag: Elections

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Coulter Vote Fraud: Hateful Skank Wants Law Exemption, Based on Making Enemies as a Hateful Skank

Trish

Killer editorial in the Sunday Palm Beach Post. The Post is the Florida paper that broke the story about Ann Coulter joining the ranks of Republicans who can’t vote straight.

It was only last year that Bush puppetmaster Karl Rove was discovered cheating on his voter registration in order to cheat on his taxes in Texas.

Rather than admit her error, correct her registration and move on, Ms. Coulter has hired former U.S. Attorney Marco Jimenez to defend her from the indignity of having to follow the law…

…the self-appointed defender of American democracy and values is fighting allegations, which The Post’s Jose Lambiet first exposed in February, that rather than correct her address, she voted in the wrong precinct during the Feb. 7 Palm Beach election. Rather than admit her error, correct her registration and move on, Ms. Coulter has hired former U.S. Attorney Marco Jimenez to defend her from the indignity of having to follow the law…

During her Tuesday spewfest on Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes, Ms. Coulter made clear that she doesn’t want her home address to grace a public record, even if it is required for voting… “Should we get my stalkers on the line with my address and apartment number?”

Works for me.

But what I really want to know is why the hateful skank is allowed to pedal her wares on a book tour, instead of every interview being about the felony of which she stands accused.

Va. Sen: Experts Expect Only 3% to 5% of Registered Voters at Polls on Tuesday

Jon Ponder

And I thought California was a hotbed of voter apathy! Prognosticators are predicting that only 3 percent to 5 percent of registered voters will turn out in the Democratic primary for the senate in Virginia this Tuesday. The candidates are a former Republican, James Webb, who was secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, and Harris Miller, a Democratic Party insider.

Advantage: quasi-crypto neo-confederate GOP Sen. George Allen, who currently holds the seat, but who is planning to run for president in 2008.

Newspaper Sues to See 2008 Republican National Convention Bid

Trish

Update: The Tampa Tribune is now reporting that the cost of the convention will be $124 million, with about $85 million coming from public sources. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be honorary chair.

The Tampa Tribune had to sue to see the city’s bid to host the 2008 Republican convention. And even though the city — which had outsourced the bid work to the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau — caved, they still didn’t exactly throw open the gates to the information.

The Tribune’s lawsuit, filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, states that Tampa delegated to the visitors bureau the governmental function of preparing the bid and, therefore, the bid is a public record.

Dianne Jacob, senior vice president of marketing for the bureau, said the bid is in a 2.5-inch-thick binder. The bureau will allow reporters to view the document but not photocopy it.

“That’s just our policy,” Jacob said.

What would there be to hide in the bid? If you answered, “Republicans trying to bill the taxpayers for another lavish party,” go to the head of the class. St. Petersburg Times:

According to supporting documents from the city, the convention would cost the city and other governments $12.7-million in direct expenses and in-kind services.

A majority of the expense would be for security, including $5.5-million for police and $3.7-million for barricades.

Tampa is competing with three other cities for this “honor” — Cleveland, Minneapolis, and New York. Tampa was first runner-up for the 2004 convention. New York’s smarm factor, however, was irresistible to Rove and the other 2004 puppet masters, who envisioned Bush wrapping himself in a flag atop smoldering World Trade Center rubble. But rarely are conventions held in the same city twice in a row, especially when New York is becoming more associated with Hillary Clinton.

Republicans stole the 2004 election with help from Ohio’s secretary of state, Kenneth Blackwell, so Cleveland might well be rewarded this time.

“It comes down to Ohio and Florida because they’re the battleground states,” [chairman of the Ohio Republican Party Robert] Bennett said.

Florida’s got one thing Ohio doesn’t, though — hurricanes, especially in September, when the convention is set. And how would it look if Republicans had to evacuate, just as they’re practicing their speeches on the lack of proof of global warming?

CA Gov: One Day before Primary Voting, Dem Voters Still Undecided on Angelides and Westly

Jon Ponder

With primary voting tomorrow, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez aptly summed up the current state of the Democratic race between Phil Angelides and Steve Westly for California governor:

State Controller Westly has 35 percent to state Treasurer Angelides’ 34 percent, with 26 percent undecided.

California’s Democratic primary for governor, in particular, is an affair so sleazy and vicious it would inspire revolt, except that no one is paying attention.

The latest Field Poll underscores this:

“During the 60-year history of the Field Poll, there never has been as large a proportion of voters undecided so close to the election in a top-of-the-ticket major party primary,” according to DiCamillo and Mervin Field of the Field Poll…

The Field survey found that Angelides and Westly remain tied, each with about one-third of the Democratic vote, but with more than one-quarter undecided…

State Controller Westly has 35 percent to state Treasurer Angelides’ 34 percent, with 26 percent undecided.

Advantage: Schwarzenegger.

Poll: Hillary’s War Stance Could Be a Problem

Buck Banks

Running on Iraq: According to a new Zogby International telephone survey, if Sen. Hillary Clinton were to face a challenge from an anti-war candidate in the fall election, she could find herself in a real battle for re-election.

Right now she seems a lock to win the nomination for re-election to a second term in the Senate. The survey of 705 likely voters in New York, including 344 Democrats, showed she has the backing of 74 percent of Dems — not one of her three opponents garners over 3 percent support. But 21 percent said they are unsure, perhaps based on her support for the war in Iraq.

Asked if the race were between Hillary Clinton and a challenger who opposed the war in Iraq, 38 percent said they would support Clinton, while 32 percent said they would back the unnamed anti-war candidate. Another 31 percent said they would support someone else or were not sure. On that question, Clinton performed better among NYC voters (45 percent versus 28 percent for the anti-war opponent), and fared well among likely voters upstate (37 percent for Clinton, 29 percent for the anti-war candidate). However, she did worse in the voter-rich suburbs of NYC, trailing the unnamed anti-war candidate, 40 percent to 31 percent.

Among independent voters, 38 percent said they would favor the anti-war candidate and 28 percent would favor Clinton. Among women, Clinton would win, 42 percent to 32 percent. Men were split, with 33 percent supporting her, 33 percent supporting an anti-war candidate and 34 percent unsure or supporting someone else.

A likely anti-war opponent has emerged in New York politics, but he’s unlikely to beat Clinton. Jonathan Tasini, a labor activist and former head of the National Writers Guild, tried to place an anti-war resolution on the Democratic platform at the state convention over the weekend, but was rebuffed on a technicality.

Tasini did not receive sufficient votes at the convention to be placed on the ballot to challenge Clinton in a primary. He has pledged to mount a petition drive to collect 15,000 signatures to force a primary campaign between him and Clinton.

Good luck, Jonathan. Hillary Clinton has every appearance of being an unstoppable steamroller through the Senate campaign and onward two years down the road when it seems inevitable that the Democrats will forfeit another presidential campaign by placing her on the ballot.

Texas was Hammered by DeLay

Trish

Tom DeLay messed with Texas big time by placing party above…well everything, according to columnist Patricia Kilday Hart in the Dallas Morning News.

Redistricting Republicans into virtually every office has left the state with few ranking members, and now that DeLay himself has been forced from office under a cloud of scandal, Texans are crying in their Lone Stars.

The Texas delegation went from the most powerful to one of the weaker large state delegations, really as a result of DeLay’s efforts

…the Texas delegation underwent dramatic change after the 2004 elections, which were based on the Republican-friendly map Mr. DeLay forced through the state’s Legislature…In that election, Texas lost 85 years of seniority and three powerful ranking members of Congress.

“The Texas delegation went from the most powerful to one of the weaker large state delegations, really as a result of [Mr.] DeLay’s efforts,” says Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic research operation…

DeLay’s timing of his cut and run couldn’t be worse, Hart adds.

With Mr. DeLay’s retirement, Texas enters what one state official calls “uncharted territory,” with a delegation now claiming only one committee chairman and no leadership position — perhaps the state’s worst portfolio since the Great Depression. What’s more, this decline in stature coincides with President Bush’s lame-duck phase — and Mr. Bush’s precipitous decline in the polls.

…And then there’s also the question of what happens if the Republican Party loses its majority. “If the Democrats regain control of the Congress, the Texas delegation will be without a single chair or a single ranking member,” Mr. Angle notes.

Yes indeedy. “Democrats regain control of Congress.” Has a real ring to it, doesn’t it?

God Sez: Charlie Crist Next Florida Governor

Trish

Dear Lord: First, thank you for all your blessings upon me and my family and friends. But can I ask you something? Why are you always giving the inside scoop to rightwing ministers like Pat Robertson and the Rev. O’Neal Dozier? You told Pat about hurricanes and now you’re tipping Jeb crony Rev. Dozier about Charlie Crist.

Lord, you know I live in Florida. I’d appreciate a little direct communication from time to time too. That’s all I’m saying. Southwest Florida Herald Tribune:

“The Lord Jesus spoke to me and he said ‘There’s something I want you to know. Charlie Crist will be the next governor of the state of Florida.'”

A reverend who introduced Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist during a breakfast with other pastors Monday said the Lord came to him in a dream two years ago and told him Crist would be the state’s next governor.

The Rev. O’Neal Dozier said that before the dream he did not know Crist, nor had Crist made known his plans to run for governor.

“The Lord Jesus spoke to me and he said ‘There’s something I want you to know,'” said Dozier, pastor of the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach. “‘Charlie Crist will be the next governor of the state of Florida.'”…

“It’s the most amazing thing anyone’s every told me,” Crist said. “It’s beyond overwhelming, but the reverend has a very strong faith in his heart and he’s a good man. I’m very grateful for his help and his support and his belief.”

Gov. Jeb Bush, who appointed Dozier to a group that nominates judges in South Florida, didn’t directly respond to the remark, but praised Dozier.

“Far be it from me to judge about people’s faiths and what occurs because of it,” Bush said.

As you know, God, none of this has prevented some of your people from speculating that Crist will be undone once he’s exposed as a homosexual who, according to people like Rev. Dozier, you have condemned to hell. It also hasn’t stopped rightwingers who think Crist is too liberal from putting up cheesy anonymous web sites ridiculing him, like SorryCharlie.com

Evangelicals Becoming Politically Irrelevant

Buck Banks

Do unto others: Right-wing Christian groups are losing their ability to drive the Republican Party’s agenda and, by extension, their ability to push policy in the mid-term elections. That’s the assertion of Nathan Gonzales, writing in the Rothenberg Political Report.

President Bush is an easy target these days. Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing and even Bush’s loyal supporters are taking the opportunity to pile-on. Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and other evangelical leaders are criticizing the president for inaction on social issues dear to their hearts and threatening to withhold their support in the November elections.

While the threat seems intimidating at first glance, the concept of staying home in November carries little long-term consequences for President Bush and Republicans but virtually certain consequences for the very issues social conservatives wish to promote.

Note to evangelicals: it will be harder to get your agenda passed by exercising a strategy that allows political friends to be defeated for reelection.

Gonsales notes that Bush is not on the ballot in November, and while evangelicals took credit for re-electing the president, giving the GOP a majority in the House and taking over the Senate, their core issues remain marginalized to a great extent, at least on the national stage. While some states are passing legislation against gay marriage, neither Bush nor any Repugs in congress have pushed for a national gay marriage ban. But if the Christian rightwingers try to punish Bush for not strongly condemning gay marriage in November, they’ll really end up hurting their cause, noted Gonzales:

So, by attempting to punish Bush in November by staying home, evangelicals will actually punish conservatives like Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sen. George Allen (R-VA), Cong. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Cong. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Cong. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), and others who could be sent packing by voters instead.

Note to evangelicals: it will be harder to get your agenda passed by exercising a strategy that allows political friends to be defeated for reelection. Then you’re left with an uncooperative and unpopular president, minorities in Congress, and no friends in those minorities.

On a macro-level, Republicans are already in danger of losing their majorities, but dismal turnout by base Republicans will make Democratic takeovers near-certainties. Then, conservative evangelicals would have no hope of getting their issues passed and would be lucky to get a meeting with the new majority, let alone private nurturing.

Gonzales says that the Babble-thumpers have placed themselves in a political predicament that King Solomon probably couldn’t resolve. They put all their eggs in the Republican basket, but with Bush becoming increasingly irrelevant they have nowhere to turn, having long ago alienated centrists and liberals.

The current rhetoric of Dobson, Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, and others shows a complete misunderstanding of the political environment. President Bush is not broadly unpopular because he has failed to ban same-sex marriage.

Yet, conservative evangelicals continue to press him to do so.

With the War in Iraq and increasing threats from Iran, if President Bush were to spend all of his time and energy on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, he would simply look silly, and his job approval ratings would likely plummet even further.

The idea of “staying home” to punish the Republican Party is absurd. For conservative evangelicals to tout the fundamental need for freedom and democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, but simply ignore their own opportunity to vote here in America is hypocritical.

For too many conservative evangelicals, the message appears to be: if you don’t get what you want, stay home. Apparently, to some of these evangelical leaders, the best way to win the political game is to take themselves out of it. That makes little sense in today’s world, or in today’s politics.

The Bush Effect: Pollsters Add More Vulnerable GOP House Seats to List for November

Jon Ponder

I’m starting to worry about all the high-fivin’ on the left over the likelihood the Dems will take back Congress this year. Still, it’s okay to dream:

The Bush effect now amounts to a drag of five percentage points or more in many districts.

Some veterans of the 1994 GOP takeover of Congress see worrisome parallels between then and now, in the way once-safe districts are turning into potential problems. Incumbents’ poll numbers have softened. Margins against their Democratic opponents have narrowed. Republican voters appear disenchanted. The Bush effect now amounts to a drag of five percentage points or more in many districts.

The changes don’t guarantee a Democratic takeover by any means, but they are creating an increasingly asymmetrical battlefield for the fall elections: The number of vulnerable Democratic districts has remained relatively constant while the number of potentially competitive Republican districts continues to climb.

Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of a political newsletter, now has 42 Republican districts, including Drake’s, on his list of competitive races. Last September, he had 26 competitive GOP districts… “That’s a pretty significant increase,” he said. “The national atmospherics are making long shots suddenly less long.”

At the Cook Political Report, Amy Walter has revised an analysis of the battle for control of the House, taking into account the sour mood toward Republicans nationally as a potentially significant factor in races that might otherwise turn on local issues, candidate performance or the size of campaign war chests.

“In a nationalized election, the typical laws of gravity get thrown out the window,” Walter said. “Under-funded candidates beat better-funded candidates, and entrenched incumbents lose to first-time challengers.”

It also becomes harder for Republicans to steal elections when the results are not evenly divided.