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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pundit fall asleep on a live set during a television interview. It happens in this clip — via Connecticutblog — during a taped interview with Sen. Joe Lieberman, the rightwing Democrat from Connecticut.
Since the rightwing media has annointed Hillary Clinton as the 2008 Democratic nominee, I think we “leftist extremists” (as your humble editors were once called in this site’s comments) should nominate our favorite candidate for the GOP nomination.
Therefore I am throwing my full support to Newt Gingrich to be the Republican Party’s 2008 nominee. After all, he is tanned, rested, full of ideas — and just about everybody has forgotten that he left the office of House Speaker in disgrace after it was revealed that he’d been having an affair with a coworker while he was driving the GOP’s persecution of President Clinton over his adulterous affair with a coworker that led to the president’s impeachment.
Despite being one of the foremost hypocrites in the history of politicsi, Gingrich is on the campaign trail in New Hampshire:
It’s almost always a joy listening to Gingrich when he’s on a tear. And he’s almost always on a tear of some sort. I caught up with Newt as he wandered around New Hampshire last week, which is what people who think they’re running for President do. Please, God, no, you say. Not that angry guy again. “He’s probably carrying too much baggage to be President,” said Peter Bergin, a Republican state representative from Amherst, N.H. “But he sure is a terrific idea man. He needs to be part of the debate.”
What’s the only thing more annoying than a Christmas ad in July? How about political ads in heavy rotation six months before regular campaigning gets underway.
If you think the barrage of campaign ads that usually starts after Labor Day and escalates until election day is unbearable, then please feel our pain in California. We’ve been assaulted with a feel-good campaign about Gov. Schwarzenegger — whose approval ratings have been down at Bush levels — that ran for months, seemingly on the quarter hour, until last week when they abruptly went dark.
The last of these, titled “Remember?” was designed to soften public sentiment about the governor by comparing him to his predecessor, the inartful Gray Davis. Message: “Arnold may be bad, but at least he’s not as bad as the last guy.”
Because Schwarzenegger’s accomplishments are so few, the ad is short on specifics and long on Reaganesque “Morning in America” symbology. In a key shot, we see him taking the oath of office, projecting pride and reverence for duty. And tellingly, Arnold is seen but not heard throughout.
Sponsored by the U.S. Chamber in Washington, D.C., nominally at least, the ad is categorized as part of an “independent issue advocacy program,” a status which allows the chamber to skirt California election laws that would otherwise require disclosing funding sources and adhering to donation limits.
However, the Los Angeles Times reports today that the funding for the ad allegedly comes from the governor’s closest supporters in California who routed the money through the chamber:
TerriPAC, the political committee created by Michael Schiavo in honor of his late wife, Terri, whose linger coma caused controversy last year, has endorsed Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor (D) in Florida’s 11th Congressional District:
Castor is vying for the seat left vacant by Rep. Jim Davis (D-Fla.), who is leaving Congress to run for governor. Castor is leading in money with $392,089 on hand. Her closest rival, state Sen. Les Miller (D) had $173,209 on hand at year’s end.
Michael Schiavo recently met Castor and came away impressed, prompting the TerriPAC endorsement. In a statement, he said, “Kathy Castor has proven she will take the lead and stand up for our privacy and freedom and against powerful interests.”
TerriPAC is due to endorse candidates in the Florida governor’s race soon, as well as congressional races in California, Pennsylvania, Colorado and elsewhere.
Independents everywhere might want to give more thought to signing on with one of the two major parties. CBS is reporting that Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is considering running for re-election as an Independent.
“I have not foreclosed the option,” Lieberman said at a news conference at the Capitol. “If I wanted to run as an independent, I would. I’m running as a Democrat. I’ve been a Democrat all my life.”
Well, maybe not quite all his life.
I always wondered what Al Gore was thinking in 2000. It was bad enough to be stuck running against Bush. But to be running with Lieberman? Why?
“I feel very strongly the world is safer without Saddam Hussein in power. We have to complete the job in Iraq,” Lieberman said.
Are they sure Lieberman said that? I know I’ve heard every member of the Bush White House say it too.
Lieberman isn,t going down alone but plans to take the whole party with him. In a year when Democrats finally have a chance at gaining ground in both the Senate and the House, Joe is thinking of himself first, and staying in the race even if “his” party backs someone else.
Ned Lamont, a Democratic activist and anti-war candidate, is challenging Lieberman for the party’s nomination this year. He has been garnering support from some Connecticut Democrats dissatisfied with Lieberman’s stance on Iraq and his perceived closeness with President Bush’s administration…
Paul Streitz, who is seeking the Republican nomination, said he would gain if Lieberman is upended by Lamont and runs as an independent.
“A Republican would win, obviously,” he said. “It would split the Democratic vote.”
I bet Zell Miller is proud. Or jealous.
Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pennsylvania is one of a handful of florid, sputtering, endomorphic GOP House members — like Duncan Hunter, R-California, James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, and Howard Coble, R-N.C. — who look like they could explode at any minute.
Weldon’s pet topic is the purported Able-Danger warnings about 9/11 that, if true, would conveniently pin the blame for the attacks precisely where the GOP has always wanted it: on Bill Clinton. Get Weldon talking about Able-Danger and soon there’s more spittle flying than in one of Chris Matthew’s rants about Hillary Clinton.
After 20 years in the House, Weldon is facing serious competition for his PA-07 seat, and the challenge has already brought out his true colors. When a Democratic opponent, retired Adm. Joe Sestak, was dealing with his four-year-old daughter’s diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor, Rep. Weldon couldn’t resist piling on:
Weldon also suggested Sestak should have sent his daughter to a hospital in Philadelphia or Delaware, rather than the Washington hospital.
I guess this is how Rove Republicans say, “Best wishes to your little girl. Hope she gets well soon.”
And then there was Weldon’s attendance at a Republican-oriented event in U.S. government-owned building in which cult-leader Rev. Sun Yung Moon, publisher of the GOP’s Washington Times newspaper, crowned himself God:
An example of the wacko side: Weldon’s presence at a Washington ceremony at which the Rev. Sun Myung Moon was crowned as “humanity’s Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent.”
Those aren’t my words. Those are the words of the Unification Church, which sponsored the 2004 event at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Weldon, at first, denied he was present. Later, when a videotape was produced showing him there, he said he had left before the Rev. Moon was, well, deified.
My name is Rev. Moon, but you can call me God.
My colleage Buck might say, “Lord, it is time to call Curt home.” But our friend Charlie, a student at Swarthmore College, which is in Weldon’s district, speaks for everyone who would like Weldon to endure some of what he’s dished out before Jesus calls him home:
I was surprised to see the folks at NBC award Florida to Vinick in the West Wing presidential election, even before Leo’s untimely death.
This only shows how pervasive the whole red state/blue state stereotypes have become, and how, like most generalizations and simplifications, they are both wrong and self-perpetuating.
Gore won Florida in 2000 – BEELEEVE it! The final result — the absolute best you could say for Bush, even with all the revisionist shenanigans — was 48.8% for Bush to 48.8% for Gore.
In 2004, even with the world’s worst Democratic candidate on the ticket (sorry Jon), for whom I myself could just barely stand to cast my vote, and could only do so by reminding myself repeatedly just how bad Bush was in comparison to Herman Munster-Kerry, a minimum of 47.1% of Floridians were able to force themselves to do the same, depending on whether you believe exit polls or Diebold machines.
Kerry lost Hispanic votes nationwide, and I think that had less to do with Bush’s appeal than with Kerry’s awkward, New England Yankee elitism. It’s the same reason all those people said they would rather quaff a beer with Bush — Kerry just wasn’t one of us.
But the fictional Santos is, and despite slanted redistricting, real-life Republicans aren’t a slam dunk in the Sunshine State. And even though in the 2000 census only 2.3% of the total 16.8% of Floridian Latinos were Mexican-American, you can depend on Florida to line up behind a legitimate Latino/Hispano/Cubano/and even Mexicano candidate.
Santos would have won Florida. I hope in 2008 we have a real choice again, and I am proven right. And Diebold is out of the picture.
How important is this year’s election? According to the Boston Globe, it’s the whole ball of wax.
A Democratic-led Congress could bury the last vestiges of Bush’s legislative agenda and subject the administration to high-profile investigations of the Iraq war, the CIA leak case, warrantless eavesdropping and other matters.
Tom DeLay felt the same way, and it’s one reason he decided not to run again. The point of the Globe story is how bad Bush’s numbers are now that people are getting sworn court documents that show he’s a vindictive (alert: sexist slang ahead) prick. But it also underscores how much our side has to lose if we don’t get our act together.
The AP-Ipsos survey is loaded with grim election-year news for a party struggling to stay in power. Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction — the largest percentage during the Bush presidency and up 13 points from a year ago.
“These numbers are scary. We’ve lost every advantage we’ve ever had,” GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio said. “The good news is Democrats don’t have much of a plan.”
The thought of Howard Dean leading the charge for our team isn’t that reassuring to me. And the saying, “the election is his to lose” doesn’t help. If anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it’s Dr. Dean.
So what are we going to do? Let’s start with getting ourselves an education. There are some great books out there on what we need to do differently. “Start Making Sense” by the editors of Alternet; “Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots and the Rise of People-Powered Politics” by Jerome Armstrong, strategist for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, and Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitas Zuniga; “Gods Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It,” by Jim Wallis; “Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future” by James Carville and Paul Begala are just a few, and most of them are available at Buzzflash and other sites.
Next, if you’ve volunteered in a political campaign before, do it again. If not, make this the year you start. Look around and pick the non-Republican candidate you think has the best shot and throw your support (money, time, influence) to that person.
Yes, it’s an off-year. No, we’re not voting for a president this time. But something tells me the presidency is still at stake in this election, in a personal way for the current occupant of the position, and in a larger sense for our country. Don’t sit on the sidelines.
Spending spree: You’d think they had just won the lottery, the way both houses of Congress are spending money they don’t have. And the profligate payouts are conspicuously bipartisan.
According to Congress Daily, Tuesday the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2006 emergency supplemental spending bill that is $15 billion more than the White House had requested. The measure next heads to the floor, where senators likely will try to attach billions more to the bloated bill.
The supplemental package, meant to cover wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hurricane relief and other purposes, has hit $106.5 billion. After Tuesday’s committee action, it was about $10 billion heftier, with additional dollars earmarked for everything from Midwest drought relief to aid for New England lobstermen. The money was ladeled out in such a spirit of bipartisan largesse that none of the bill’s appropriations required a recorded vote.
During the final two hours in committee, money was pumped into the bill at an astounding rate of more than $80 million per minute.
The Spend-ators are not done yet, so when the bill goes to the floor after the Easter recess look for such amendments as $1.2 billion for veterans’ medical care. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is saying she’ll hold up all of President Bush’s nominees and appointments until he asks Congress for $6 billion more to rebuild levees in New Orleans.
The committee approved the bill 27-1, with the lone protest vote cast by Senate Budget Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H.
Even the White House — no slouch when when it comes to running up tabs — is alarmed by the sight of senators spending money like drunken sailors:
“The continued progress toward passage is good news, but the Senate committee’s funding level is significantly higher than the president’s request and that’s a cause for serious concern,” said Office of Management and Budget spokesman Scott Milburn.
The House of Repre-spendatives passed a more conservative $92 billion spending measure, so whatever final supplemental bill emerges in conference will be somewhere between that figure and the Senate’s $106.5 billion-plus.
But of course much of this frenzied spending is related to the fact that mid-term elections are looming on the horizon. House Republicans are seeking to add $7.2 billion for domestic — read “pork barrel” — programs.
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., who faces a tough re-election fight, co-sponsored a $4 billion amendment providing crop and livestock assistance for farmers and ranchers hurt by drought, frost and floods across the country.
Other amendments include $2.3 billion to combat avian flu; $1.1 billion in aid for the commercial seafood and recreational fishing industries, including $20 million for New England lobstermen affected by last year’s toxic red tide; $648 million for port security; $600 million for Katrina evacuee housing; $594 million for emergency highway repairs, and a measly $350 million for education.
Outta here: The latest round of Wall Street Journal/Zogby Interactive statewide polls shows an interesting political terrain for both Democrat and Republican incumbents and challengers.
California: Terminator Terminated
California voters are seriously dissatisfied with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fewer than one in three (30 percent) approve of his job performance in Sacramento, and just one-third (34 percent) think he deserves re-election. Matched up against potential Democratic opponents, the Gubernator does better than previous poll numbers had suggested, but he still trails both potential opponents. State Treasurer Phil Angelides leads Schwarzenegger by five (46 percent to 41 percent) and state Comptroller Steve Westly holds a nine-point advantage over the incumbent, 47 percent to 38 percent.
Pennsylvania: Santorum Toast
For Sen. Rick Santorum, considered the most vulnerable incumbent in the nation, election night is shaping up to be a big disappointment. But the race is far from over, with a nasty battle brewing within Democratic ranks over Democrat Bob Casey Jr.’s support for the pro-life position on abortion. The state Treasurer, Casey is beating Santorum by eight points, 47 percent to 39 percent. Just 40 percent give Santorum a positive job approval rating, and fewer (38 percent) think he deserves to be re-elected.
The fight for the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion continues to be close. But incumbent Democrat Ed Rendell, former Philadelphia mayor and Democratic National Committee chairman, may be opening up a lead over former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann. However, as an African American Republican with high name recognition, Swann will be able to attract national Republican resources for his race.
Illinois: Democratic Stronghold
In spite of a mere 33 percent job approval, incumbent Gov. Ron Blagojevich still holds a six-point lead (43 percent to 37 percent) over the GOP nominee, Judy Baar Topinka. However, Topinka, the Illinois state treasurer, receives more positive approval ratings (44 percent) than give Blagojevitch positive marks (42 percent).
Illinois voters remain strongly Democratic, the survey shows, reflecting the same political make-up that gave John Kerry a victory there in the 2004 election. Just 37 percent give President Bush positive marks for his work on the job, and Democrats enjoy a 50 percent to 36 percent lead when Illinois voters say which party’s congressional candidate they intend to vote for in November.
Florida: Still Red
The governor’s race is looking very close, with Republicans holding only a slight margin, despite outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush’s job approval rating of 54 percent. Republican Attorney General Charlie Crist currently is the marginal front runner. He tops both Democrats — Congressman Jim Davis by two points (42 percent-40 percent) and State Sen. Rod Smith by five points (43 percent-38 percent). Democrat Davis tops the other Republican candidate, state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, by three points (41 percent-38 percent), but Gallagher is in a dead heat with Smith at 38 percent each.
Despite President Bush having just 42 percent of voting Floridians approving of his performance, the state remains closely divided. Democrats have a slight edge (44 percent-40 percent) in the generic Congressional ballot, but most Florida voters think Republicans better represent their conservative principles.
In the diplomatic ranks, trained professionals toil,
To keep the peace and tamp down foreign turmoil.
But for Greek ambassador,
Trump picked an artful dodger —
The grifting, drunken blackmailer Kimberly Guilfoyle.
