2010 Elections, Political News

And I’m not talking about that heinous Power Point presentation that looks as though it was done by a toddler using Corel Draw. Here’s my slogan for Shakowsky: JAN SCHAKOWSKY: A COMIC SANS KIND OF GIRL I’m talking about repurposing the hallmark of scifi Americana for a cheap partisan attack against conservatives. Duh, everyone knows that the evil Empire wanted to suppress free trade, over-regulate, and control the galaxy, much in the same way that socio-progressive policies believe in heavy government regulation of the private sector and individual mandates that penalize people for not choosing government health care. Shakowsky is a Paplatine sycophant, I suspect she lacks the force sensitivity to even register as a Sith apprentice. Sorry, Schakowsky but as a Star Wars nerd I personally reject your rudimentary knowledge and bastardized galactic analogies. Filed under: Democrats , Lame , Video

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Jan Schakowsky Blasphemes Against Star Wars

CREW , Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, not to be confused with the infinitely more awesome crue , released a list of the Mostly Republicans We Hate “ Crooked Candidates ” for 2010. They’ve been getting play on a couple networks and former Democrat activist and CREW head Melanie Sloane has been insisting at every opportunity that her group is “non-partisan.” Right. Non-partisan in that seemingly every person listed as a title-holder on the group’s website is a democrat and that members have worked with SEIU, Tom Harkin, Al Gore’s climate protection initiative, and even Joe Biden (Sloane), which I think is important to mention considering the majority of CREW’s criticism is, momentarily, directed entirely at Christine O’Donnell who is vying for Biden’s old seat. The group is also funded by far left umbrella Democracy Alliance, an outfit founded by two former Clinton operatives who publicly lists George Soros as a major donor. But hey. NON-PARTISAN. Their list of crooked candidates lists two from Missouri (but oddly, not a whisper about Russ Carnahan who is now at the center of a controversy being that he voted ‘yes’ on the stimulus and  his brother’s windfarm received $90 million dollars in stimulus money ) and of course, Christine O’Donnell. They make hay over the allegation from a disgruntled O’Donnell staffer but their website makes no mention of the below, among others: The Pigford scandal which could cost Americans billions if passed by congress in invetted USDA claims The story of Eleanor Holmes Norton who was caught on tape violating FEC law by calling lobbyists and shaking them down for cash in voicemail Geithner, save for this , the most critical of the words written him (previously as reference only) on the website – note the difference in aggression when compared to O’Donnell An in-depth look of stimulus waste (it seems they focus mainly on lobbyists) An examination of non-elected health panels and the new process by which the FDA will regulate medicine under health control The ridiculous disparity between their address to Democrat candidates and their over-the-top, torches and pitchforks approach to Republican candidates. To wit: a letter CREW sent “expressing concerns” over the Dodd-Frank act in the Consumer Protection Act: Today, CREW and 10 other government transparency advocates sent a letter to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) outlining concerns with provisions in the recently passed Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Chris Dodd, one of the causes of the Fannie/Freddie disaster and they “express concerns.” Did they send a Hallmark card apologizing afterwards? Meanwhile their homepage is the equivalent of the graffiti on a girl’s bathroom stall wall, subject: O’Donnell. They pay a penance of going after fish-in-a-bucket target Charlie Rangel but a handful of obvious easy criticisms does not make a group non-partisan; consistency and lack of ties to a well-known progressive sugar daddy does. Filed under: Democrats , Election 2010 , FAIL , Liberals , Media

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Surprise: Liberal Group Releases List of Republicans It Hates

And of course Olbermann is having a field day with it. I can’t say that I agree with Glenn Beck on his recent decree that tea partiers should stop wearing costumes and the like to rallies. Keith Olbermann recently featured my husband’s tongue-in-cheek quasi fictions rock band, The Sounding Fathers , in a video montage wherein he criticized Beck’s newfound insistence that ralliers leave the costumes and signs and dress “normally.” What Olbermann doesn’t get is that The Sounding Fathers, who played a set of liberty-infused rock like Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” was entertainment. Rallies of that size are entertainment first and politics second. What Beck doesn’t seem to get is that it was this stuffed shirt reserve that made conservatism look uncool in the first place. People are finally discovering that conservatism is truly counter culture, rebellious, anti-excessive authority, James Dean , so don’t demand that folks go all pants-suit and abandon the implements which made this movement fun, attractive, and mainstream. Conservatives lost ground in academics because they gave it up. They lost ground and completely ceded arts and entertainment because they thought themselves above it. They almost ceded social media, were it not for the #dontgo movement. Now you want to take what has been a successful grassroots movement and morph it into a watered-down country club style-protest? I may be exaggerating, but is it not also exaggeration of some extent to focus so much attention on whether or not someone wears a costume to an event? Beck acts like it’s akin to a furry convention instead of a few people here and there. Who says political revolutions have to be stuffy and solemn? Who appointed an arbitrator to decide what is or is not acceptable dress, performance in what is a self-policing movement? Beck isn’t talking about the rare, if not planted, signs at events here. Beck says : I’m saying that maybe it’s time to lose — oh, I don’t know — the Statue of Liberty costume, you know? Maybe no more dressing up, you know, with Abe Lincoln or, you know, putting the foam finger on your head or something like or the “Obama is a socialist” T-shirt. You might want to put it back in the drawer and let me explain why. It’s very important that you understand the image — the image. Do what you want to do, but when you dust off the Statue of Liberty costume and wear it to a rally, guess who gets plastered on the front page of the news? You. And this is a problem. I was in Seattle about a year ago and there were 10,000 people there. And as I was leaving, I saw somebody who was wearing a Statue of Liberty outfit. And I thought to myself, that’s going to be the one person they pick — just to make you look like you’re crazy. Guess what was in the Seattle P.I. the next morning? That one person. And as much as my daughter says, “Dad, I don’t care what people say about my clothing” — well, other people do. Other people do. Don’t give the media even a chance to typecast you. Why, after all of these months of Beck telling his audience not to measure their success by liberal media accounts does he suddenly backtrack and tell people not to dress up else liberal media will put you on the front page of a publication that no one reads anyway? The media typecasted conservatives BEFORE the movement or a few people in costume, they will continue to do it AFTER because why? They don’t like what we believe or who we are. Period. They typecast us for wanting limited government, for wanting to privatize social security, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I’ll tell you, you know what aides in this typecasting? Beck inadvertently assisting this narrative with the above. The majority of Americans ALREADY identify more with the tea party than congress. They already think we have a better understanding of the issues . The majority of Americans ALREADY define the Democrats’ agenda as extreme . If this shows anything, it shows that the typecasting doesn’t work. It hasn’t been working for a long time, so why throw them a bone by encouraging people to be less … excited about grassroots? The directive completely contradicts some hidden ethos of a movement inspired by, in part, a desire for more individual liberty. I’ve met Beck, I’ve hosted an event for him here in my city when he came in for Bold/Fresh. He’s a genuinely nice guy, but on this, I must disagree. Make the revolution fun, betray the conservative stereotype, don’t feed it. Filed under: Conservatism , FAIL , tea party

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Beck to Tea Party: No More Costumes

As a college kid working in his White House, I saw what he’s talking about.

No one fought harder to defeat Christine O’Donnell than the Delaware Republican Party. But the conservative marketing consultant won the GOP Senate primary this week and state party Chairman Tom Ross issued a statement Thursday afternoon calling for party unity (although we couldn’t help but notice that he makes no specific reference to the O’Donnell victory). “After a hard fought primary it is time to come together and unite over our shared principles and determination to rescue our economy from the destructive policies advanced by Democrats,” Ross said. “The Delaware Republican Party plans on doing what it does every election year – working hard for our candidates. We have reached out to the [national Republican campaign committees] to ensure that our candidates have as much support as possible,” he continued. “The winds of change are blowing hard in Delaware and together we can take our state and country back. I will honor my commitment to our party’s grassroots activists and continue to serve as Chairman of the Republican Party of Delaware.” It was Ross, of course, who said last week that O’Donnell could not win an election for dog catcher.

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Delaware GOP Chairman: Time to Unite

Compare your midterm predictions with the experts — and the crowd. The experts of the CQ-Roll Call Politics team and Stu Rothenberg , editor of The Rothenberg Political Report , offer their takes on who will win congressional races in November. What’s yours? Rate the races as safe for Democrats, safe for Republicans or somewhere in between. Let’s see how you match up with the experts on Election Day. Craig to talk about midterms on CNN “Rick’s List Tonight 8:00 PM ET and Tomorrow (9/16) 3:00 PM ET

Roughly 11 hours after tea party-backed Christine O’Donnell shocked the Republican establishment in Delaware’s GOP Senate primary, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) promised to “stand by all of our Republican nominees, including Christine O’Donnell.” “I reached out to Christine this morning, and as I have conveyed to all of our nominees, I offered her my personal congratulations and let her know that she has our support,” Cornyn said in a statement. “This support includes a check for $42,000 – the maximum allowable donation that we have provided to all of our nominees – which the NRSC will send to her campaign today.” It was widely reported late Tuesday night that the NRSC would largely ignore O’Donnell, who is thought to have little appeal to the independents and Democrats who dominate the First State’s political landscape. O’Donnell defeated establishment-backed Rep. Mike Castle, who was favored to win the Senate race in November had he become the Republican nominee. Cornyn did not rule out the possibility that the NRSC would make independent expenditures in the Delaware race, which is covered by the expensive Philadelphia media market. But he didn’t offer much cause for optimism for the cash-strapped O’Donnell campaign, which reported just over $20,000 in the bank as of Aug. 25. “We remain committed to holding Democrat nominee New Castle County Executive Chris Coons accountable this November, as we inform voters about his record of driving his county to the brink of bankruptcy and supporting his party’s reckless spending policies in Washington,” Cornyn said. “In the weeks ahead, we will decide where to best allocate additional financial resources among the large number of competitive races at stake this November. While it’s not in Republicans’ interest to advertise our spending strategy to our opponents, it’s worth noting that just yesterday, the NRSC’s first independent expenditure ad aired in support of Dr. Rand Paul’s campaign in Kentucky, where we firmly believe that he will win in November.” Public Policy Polling released a survey Wednesday morning that showed O’Donnell well behind in general election matchup, although the poll was conducted before her upset victory on Tuesday. Coons begins the contest with a 50 percent to 34 percent lead over Christine O’Donnell, the survey from the Democratic firm found. Meanwhile, Castle would have led Coons by a 45 percent to 35 percent margin, according to a survey of 958 likely Delaware voters taken Sept. 11 and 12. It’s worth noting that PPP is the same firm that released a poll that showed O’Donnell ahead of Castle in the days before Tuesday’s primary. The new survey found that O’Donnell is much better known but much less liked than Coons, with a 29 percent to 50 percent favorable/unfavorable rating to Coons’ 31 percent to 33 percent favorability rating. Forty percent of those polled said O’Donnell is too conservative and the poll found that 49 percent of respondents said O’Donnell not fit to hold public office. “A small group of Delaware Republicans most likely cost their party this seat and any chance at gaining control of the Senate last night,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. “What has looked like an easy Republican win the entire cycle now looks like an easy one for the Democrats.”

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Delaware: Cornyn ‘Personally Stands By’ O’Donnell

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The state Republican Party’s fierce attacks on tea party-backed Christine O’Donnell offer Democrats plenty of ammunition in the U.S. Senate race after her shocking upset of a nine-term congressman and former governor.

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Tea party win stuns Delaware GOP, thrills Dems

Embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), who faces a looming House ethics trial, fended off a handful of primary challengers to secure his party’s nomination for a 21st term Tuesday. Rangel had 53 percent, with 59 percent of precincts reporting when the Associated Press called the contest. His closest challenger was Adam Clayton Powell IV, who secured 25 percent of the vote. Powell is the son of former Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D), whom Rangel ousted in the 1970 Democratic primary. Rangel is heavily favored to win re-election in November in the staunchly Democratic Harlem-based 15th district. Still, his victory on Tuesday will be viewed as a loss in some Democratic corners because it will help keep his ethics issues in the spotlight during the battle for control of the House this fall. An ethics subcommittee in July charged Rangel with 13 counts of wrongdoing, including allegations that he misused federal resources to solicit donations for a City College of New York center named in his honor, accepted a rent-stabilized apartment for his campaign office, failed to pay taxes on a Dominican Republic villa and filed inaccurate financial disclosure forms. Republicans have worked to make Rangel a symbol of corruption within the Democratic Party and to turn his ethics case into a state and national campaign issue. After he was stripped of his Ways and Means chairmanship this summer some Democrats hoped the Congressman would simply resign and move the ethics issue off the table. But Rangel has chosen to take his fight to the House floor as well as the court of public opinion and many Democrats privately say that’s the last thing they need in an already tough election cycle.

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Despite Ethics Cloud, Rangel Wins Renomination

Businessman Randy Altschuler won an ugly, a three-way primary Tuesday to earn the Republican nomination against Rep. Tim Bishop (D) in New York’s 1st district in the eastern end of Long Island. Altshuler’s victory comes as a major relief to Republicans who feared that the general election might become a three-way contest if the wealthy businessman lost the GOP race but continued to run as the Conservative Party nominee. Altshuler had 46 percent of the vote with 88 percent reporting when the Associated Press called the contest. Altschuler was the early favorite of state and national party leaders due in large part to his personal wealth, which he tapped to the tune of $2 million during the primary. But Altschuler’s early momentum ground to a halt after the entrance of Chris Cox, a business consultant and the grandson of President Richard Nixon. Former Securities and Exchange Commission attorney George Demos also complicated what became a nasty primary, especially after he won the endorsement of conservative icon Rush Limbaugh. He took second place Tuesday night. Despite the bloodletting on the GOP side, Republicans believe they can capitalize on conservative unrest and favorable voter registration numbers in the 1st district and that the Congressman will face the race of his life this fall. In his victory speech Tuesday night, Altschuler said that Americans are sick of “the status-quo, the bloated federal bureaucracy and the culture of corruption” on Capitol Hill. “Simply put, Tim Bishop, Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats have failed us and so now we are coming to take our government back,” Altschuler said.

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N.Y.: Tim Bishop Will Face Altschuler in November