Cool, Classy and Possessing of Great Integrity. Also the only major news guy who I actually met (Carter June '76 Primary, Toledo OH).
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Not So Fast, Georgie
From CNN:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- John Bolton's prospects for staying on as U.N. ambassador essentially died Thursday as Democrats and a pivotal Republican said they would continue to oppose his nomination.
It was another blow to President Bush, two days after Democrats triumphed in elections that will give them control of Congress next year. On Wednesday, Bush had announced that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a polarizing figure and face of the Iraq war, would step down
This Would Be A Problem For The Dems
The man had good ads and ran a clean campaign. A very different face for the GOP.
Defeated Maryland Senate candidate Michael Steele (R) is considering "a bid for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee," according to The Fix. "Steele would not challenge current RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, but chatter among Republican insiders is that Mehlman has made clear for months that he might not return to his current post."
It's Sooo Hard To Act Butch
Of Course this:
CNN's John King just reported that Ken Mehlman will be leaving as chair of the Republican National Committee (i.e., head of the Republican party) by the end of the year. Apparently Kenny's just tuckered out. According to King, "He's been on the gerbil wheel, as one of his close friends put it, for well in excess of six years now and he's tired."
Has nothing to do with this:
Partial transcript of Bill Maher's Live appearance on Larry King Live:
BM: A lot of the chiefs of staff, the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican Party, are gay. I don't want to mention names, but I will Friday night...
LK:You will Friday night?
BM: Well, there's a couple of big people who I think everyone in Washington knows who run the Republican...
LK: You will name them?
BM: Well, I wouldn't be the first. I'd get sued if I was the first. Ken Mehlman. Ok, there's one I think people have talked about. I don't think he's denied it when he's been, people have suggested, he doesn't say...
LK: I never heard that. I'm walking around in a fog. I never...Ken Mehlman? I never heard that. But the question is...
BM: Maybe you don't go to the same bathhouse I do, Larry.When CNN re-aired the interview later that night, they edited out Larry King and Bill Maher's discussion of Mehlman's potential homosexuality.
Say Goodnight Ken. Oh, and while you're still here, why does your staff think of Gerbils when they think of you?
Just asking.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
We Ain't Ready For Reform
From the Chicago Tribune:
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has decided against a run for Chicago mayor in 2007, avoiding a potential showdown with Mayor Richard Daley, sources in Jackson's camp said Wednesday.
Abra Cadabra
From Washington Monthly:
...Christina Larson documents the pain of the Club for Growth's Pat Toomey. It seems the Club took a poll before the election and they didn't like the results:
"Two-thirds agreed with the notion that the GOP used to be the party of fiscal responsibility and limited government but was not today. By an 11-point margin, likely voters expressed greater confidence in Democrats to handle select fiscal matters responsibly. “We have lost our brand,” Toomey bemoaned."
Get real, guys. The Club for Growth and its ilk have never cared a tenth as much about lower spending as they have about lower taxes. They know perfectly well that if a Republican administration actually cut spending to match its tax cuts it would get voted out of office for the next century.
And they've never cared. They just want low taxes (the easy part of fiscal responsibility) without the spending cuts (the part that gets you voted out of office). It's similar to the GOP's Iraq strategy: they want the glory of winning a war, but without the pain of making the hard choices it would take to actually do so.
At the moment, the Republican Party is the Party of Magic. That's the brand they need to fix.
Homo Phobia?
Two words, as in fear of Homos. Andrew Sullivan reports that BillO and David Frum are both refusing to debate conservatism with him.
See, authoritarians are just chicken-hearted bullies.
See, authoritarians are just chicken-hearted bullies.
MO 2000 in miniature
Remember when John Ashcroft lost his Senate seat to a dead guy?.....
Dead woman wins county commissioner's race
S.D. candidate gets 100 votes; official says voters knew she was deceasedPIERRE, S.D. - A woman who died two months ago won a county commissioner's race in Jerauld County on Tuesday.
Democrat Marie Steichen, of Woonsocket, got 100 votes, defeating incumbent Republican Merlin Feistner, of Woonsocket, who had 64 votes.
Jerauld County Auditor Cindy Peterson said she believes the county board will have to meet to appoint a replacement for Steichen. Peterson said she'll check with the state's attorney to be sure that's the process.
Quote of the Day
One French Man-On-The-Street (via The A/P):
“Americans are realizing that you can’t found the politics of a country on patriotic passion and reflexes,” he said. “You can’t fool everybody all the time — and I think that’s what Bush and his administration are learning today.”
Solid South? Forget em...
From Political Wire.
Thomas Schaller, author of Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South, sent Political Wire this analysis of the midterm results several hours before the polls even closed yesterday.
There seems to be a developing narrative which suggests that expected Democratic victories this year are somehow the result of Democrats "running as conservatives." Republicans, and conservative Republicans in particular, have an obvious stake in perpetuating such a narrative. But it is patently untrue.
Pull back the lens and what appears to be happening this year is a regional-ideological partisan correction in which Rockefeller-Ford Republicans are purged from the NE/NW Rust Belt, and prairie progressives pick off selected seats in the Far West. The regional realignment over the past 40 years, which slowly converted Dixiecrats into Republicans, has now entered its final stage, as voters north of the Mason-Dixon line and west of the Mississippi provide a countervailing response to the southern-led Republican majority.
This transformation is occurring at the Senate, House and gubernatorial levels. Indeed, because Rust Belt Republicans will be replaced by progressive Democrats, regardless of the final totals tonight, the 110th Congress, in both chambers, will become more progressive as the Democratic shares grow and more conservative as the Republican shares shrink. As just one indication of this trend, consider this stunning fact: If Pelosi gets her majority, for the first time in 52 years, the party with a minority of House seats in the South will the majority party chamberwide.
Rock The Vote
Although only my father would call "Dance With Me" and "Still The One" Rock.
Ex-Rocker John Hall Wins Upset in NY Congressional Race
NEW YORK John Hall, leader of the rock group Orleans that recorded such hits as "Still the One" and "Dance With Me," has won a stunning upset in his race for Congress in upstate New York, narrowly defeating Republican incumbent Sue Kelly 51%-49%.
Hall's views on the differences between political and music journalists were recently profiled on E&P Online. At one point, he had to struggle to be taken seriously by the press as a policy man. He ended up gaining the endorsements of all four top dailies in his district.
The upset was more surprising, as this contest was never on the national Democratic Party's list of most likely pickups.
Hall closed his victory speech by singing Steven Van Zandt's song "I Am A Patriot." [ I soooo love that song - GT12] Numerous musicians played benefits for Hall throughout the campaign, though he was still badly outspent by his opponent. They included Bonnie Raitt, Steve Earle, Pete Seeger and Jackson Browne.
Hall, who ran as an antiwar candidate, is also an environmental activist and drew wide labor backing. He was a key organizer of the fabled "No Nukes" concert and movie in 1979.
He recently appeared on the Colbert Report and fared well, even singing "Still the One" with the host, in an appearance that was seen as drawing much interest in the campaign.
Tester Claims Victory
Jon Tester (D) declared victory this morning over Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), according to the Great Falls Tribune."Following the resolution of a software issue in Butte, which proved there was not a large number of unaccounted for votes as was feared, Tester's camp declared victory. The final numbers in Butte had Tester's margin increase by 700 votes, increasing his statewide lead more than 3,000 votes. Meagher County has yet to report, but it is expected less than 900 votes will come from that precinct."
Well, That Was Quick
GOP officials: Rumsfeld stepping down
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years as Secretary of Defense, Republican officials said Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years as Secretary of Defense, Republican officials said Wednesday.
MT VA Update
Political Wire just received this from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee:
Montana Vote Situation: Jon Tester leads Conrad Burns by approximately 1,700 votes (as of 11am EDT) and counting. In Silver Bow County (Butte), a Democratic stronghold, votes are still being counted but Tester is winning there with 66% of the vote. We expect to gain the majority of these uncounted votes and to add to Tester's margin.
Montana Process: When the counting phase is completed, a canvass will verify the vote tallies. That process could take as long as 48 hours, and must begin within three days and end within seven. Unless the canvass shows the margin to be within 1/4 of 1%, there is no recount. As the loser, Burns would have to request the recount. When the votes are all counted, we expect to be outside that recount margin.
Virginia Vote Situation: Jim Webb is up by approximately 8,000 votes and once the provisional ballots are counted, we expect Webb's margin to increase. (Please note that VA absentees were included in the tallies from last night.)
Virginia Process: A canvass is underway to verify the results and we expect that process to finish within a day or so. To be in recount, the margin needs to be less than 1% and Allen (as the loser) would have to request it. Because of Virginia voting laws, the margin would have to be much tighter than it currently is to see any change in the outcome. Given the current margins, that is highly, highly unlikely.
Montana Vote Situation: Jon Tester leads Conrad Burns by approximately 1,700 votes (as of 11am EDT) and counting. In Silver Bow County (Butte), a Democratic stronghold, votes are still being counted but Tester is winning there with 66% of the vote. We expect to gain the majority of these uncounted votes and to add to Tester's margin.
Montana Process: When the counting phase is completed, a canvass will verify the vote tallies. That process could take as long as 48 hours, and must begin within three days and end within seven. Unless the canvass shows the margin to be within 1/4 of 1%, there is no recount. As the loser, Burns would have to request the recount. When the votes are all counted, we expect to be outside that recount margin.
Virginia Vote Situation: Jim Webb is up by approximately 8,000 votes and once the provisional ballots are counted, we expect Webb's margin to increase. (Please note that VA absentees were included in the tallies from last night.)
Virginia Process: A canvass is underway to verify the results and we expect that process to finish within a day or so. To be in recount, the margin needs to be less than 1% and Allen (as the loser) would have to request it. Because of Virginia voting laws, the margin would have to be much tighter than it currently is to see any change in the outcome. Given the current margins, that is highly, highly unlikely.
More Great (or at least good) News
I knew that I shouldn't trust FoxNews.
Mr G. Baker sends us this:
Here's the rest.
Mr G. Baker sends us this:
Cancel the Funeral: 'Studio 60' Isn't Heading Off Into the Sunset Just Yet
Despite the assurances from those in-the-know around the blogosphere that the struggling freshman NBC hour "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was mere hours away from cancellation with its low ratings and extravagant $2 million-per-episode pricetag, the opposite now in fact appears to be true. While not yet official, key industry sources are confident that NBC will, in the next few days, announce the show's pickup for its back nine episodes (giving it a full season complement of 22) in the wake of two consecutive Mondays of upwardly-trending numbers.
Here's the rest.
Equal Time
Let's read Fred Barnes (a man whose jeans visibly rise when he thinks about our Dear Leader).
It starts like this:
And ends like this:
Nothing very surprising in and of itself. What is interesting is that the message was so clear that W-Worshippers are unable to miss it.
I'm sure W will though.
It starts like this:
THIS ONE IS PRETTY EASY TO EXPLAIN. Republicans lost the House and probably the Senate because of Iraq, corruption, and a record of taking up big issues and then doing nothing on them. Of these, the war was by far the biggest factor. Unpopular wars trump good economies and everything else. President Truman learned this in 1952, as did President Johnson in 1968. Now, it was President Bush's turn, and since his name wasn't on the ballot, his party took the hit.
And ends like this:
Conservatives won't want to hear this, but the Republican who maneuvered his way into the most impressive victory of the election was California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Okay, he's sui generis. But he won a landslide victory after moving to the center, while holding onto conservatives by not hiking taxes. Just think if he were eligible for the White House in 2008. Even (some) conservatives would be clamoring for him to run.
Nothing very surprising in and of itself. What is interesting is that the message was so clear that W-Worshippers are unable to miss it.
I'm sure W will though.
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