An Election Apple Dividend for Senate GOP

Most domestic political attention focuses on the race for the White House and whether or not the $45 million Obama raised in February is enough (he raised $56 million in February 2008). In other news quite relevant to what types of policies President Obama or his eventual GOP challenger will be able to enact is which party wins control of the Senate.

Many Republicans, I believe, expect their presidential candidate to lose to the personally popular Obama. Instead, they have set their sights on capturing the Senate and retaining control of the House.

Read the rest here.

The Oil Slick that is Charlie Crist

There is a reason why, this entire election season I have used the same refrain when it came to Charlie Crist.

I said that you'd pry this Senate Seat..

" from his COLD.DEAD.HANDS."

I meant it too, and I believe all of it...

from his refusal to drop out and become an ' independent', to his courting of the so-called moderates...to this latest con game of ' Bill Clinton said that Kendrick Meek agreed to drop out. '

FROM HIS COLD.DEAD.HANDS.

So, what do I read today?
TPM.com

Crist Adviser: He Would Caucus With The Dems In The Senate
Everyone knows that Republican Marco Rubio is ahead in the polls for the Florida Senate race, helped in part by a split in the anti-GOP vote between independent (and ex-GOPer) Charlie Crist and Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek. Crist has often refused to say for certain which party he would caucus with if he were elected. But as the Wall Street Journal an adviser to Crist says that he would caucus with the Dems if he were to win the election:

That's a big "if." Mr. Crist is trailing Republican candidate Marco Rubio in most polls. But the declaration by Florida trial lawyer John Morgan sheds light on one of the many mysteries in the Bill Clinton-Charlie Crist-Kendrick Meek imbroglio.

"Crist is going to caucus with the Democrats," Mr. Morgan said. "I don't think there's any ifs, ands or buts about it. It would be, in a very tight year, almost like a Democratic pickup in a solid Republican state."

This followed the recent story that former President Bill Clinton, who had supported Meek, attempted to get the Dem to drop out of the race and endorse Crist, who would reportedly then caucus as a Democrat.

Morgan told the Journal that the likelihood of Crist organizing as a Dem was unrelated to any potential deal, and Crist's campaign has denied that Crist ever agreed to caucus as a Dem as part of the Clinton-Meek maneuver.

Of course, this is probably all hypothetical. The TPM Poll Average currently gives Rubio 44.6%, Crist 30.2%, and Meek 19.6%.

I call absolute and utter bullshyt on this.

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The Wrong in the Florida Senate Race

I have been voting since I was 18 years old. I have voted in enough elections to know....YOU DON'T ALWAYS VOTE FOR THE ULTIMATE WINNER OF THE ELECTION.

It feels good to vote for the winner. For the person you thought should win DOES win.

But, no, you don't always vote for the winner of the election.

Which is why the shenanigans down in Florida make me sick.

In case you don't know, there was a story that broke yesterday that Bill Clinton was contacted by the Charlie Crist campaign to try and get Kendrick Meek out of the Senate Race.

From msnbc.com

Fla. Senate candidate denies Clinton asked him to quit
A Florida Democrat running a distant third in the state's three-way Senate race again denied Friday that former President Bill Clinton asked him to withdraw from the race in order to help Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a former Republican who is running as an independent.

Democrat Kendrick Meek told NBC's TODAY show that he had discussions about the race in Florida with Clinton during the former president's visits to the state to campaign on his behalf. But he denied that Clinton asked him to step down. "I never once told him that I was getting out and he never once asked me to get out."

A number of media on Thursday, including Politico and CNN, reported Clinton had tried to persuade Meek to drop out of the race to prevent a win by the contest's frontrunner, Republican Marco Rubio.

"The argument was: 'You can be a hero here. You can stop him, you can change this race in one swoop,'" a Democrat familiar with the conversations told Politico.

According to the Politico report, Meek agreed, and planned to endorse Crist, but then failed to go ahead with the withdrawal. Politico cited Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna.

A Florida Democrat running a distant third in the state's three-way Senate race again denied that former President Bill Clinton asked him to withdraw in order to help Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
..Meek denied there was any plan for him to drop out. He also rejected poll numbers showing him getting only about 15 percent of the vote in next Tuesday's election.

The thing is, I'm sick and tired of this bullshyt. Kendrick Meek is the Democratic Party's Nominee for the Senate from the State of Florida.

Without no much as ONE PUBLIC SENTENCE FROM CHARLIE CRIST EVER ON PROMISING TO CAUCUS WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IF HE WON..

we have seen a drumbeat of mofos calling for Meek to drop out.

G-T-F-O-H



They pretend that Charlie Crist isn't an amoral oil slick, who, if the GOP took over the Senate wouldn't go ' I don't know you' to all the Democratic Clowns who are calling for Meek to step down.

They pretend like Meek would be the first Democrat to lose a statewide race in Florida.

They pretend like Kendrick Meek was appointed the Democratic Nominee instead of putting together his campaign from scratch throughout the state. It's not like Meek woke up 1 month ago and said, 'I'm the Democratic Nominee for Senate.'

No, he went through a year long( if not more) process, building everything from scratch.

THERE WAS NO REASON WHY ANY OTHER DEMOCRAT IN FLORIDA COULD NOT HAVE DONE THE SAME THING.

But, Kendrick Meek did the hard work. He did all the legwork. He shook the hands. He went to meet the people, and, it is not his fault that no other Florida Democrats, outside of that shady creep who ran against him at the last minutes was the only one who would run. Meek won the nomination WITHOUT crapping on his base (cough:::Artur Davis, Adrian Fenty:::cough).

Meek won his right to win, and yes, to lose, this election.

I don't know if all this leaking so soon before the election is meant to encourage or suppress the Black vote. I do know, if I was in Florida, I'd be tempted to ONLY vote for Kendrick Meek and let the rest of the Florida Democratic Party to go play in traffic during rush hour.

But, I like what lamh32 has said about this situation:

This is gonna be my last comment of the night on FL Senator. Charlie Crist is playing Dems/Meeks/Clinton/FL voters for fools. And Marc Rubio is gonna laugh his way to the Senatorial bank and Charlie Crist is not gonna give a damn. Don't forget, Crist won't care if Rubio wins, hell, he was a part of the Repub party anyway, 'til the primaries didn't go his way. This is all about him, and he played Bill Clinton, he played Meeks, and he play FL Dems.

tell the truth, why don't you.

found more truth in a post by Town:

Well, we know the Democrats/fauxgressives want Meek out, and Crist wants Meek out. They tried to pressure Obama out back in '08 but he had the numbers on his side. Sadly for Meek, he does not.

I can pretty much rule out Rubio in this scheme, since having Meek in the race helps him out at the voting polls.

I think it went down like this:

FL Democrats want Meek gone. They've tried all their tricks, he's like a roach, he refuses to leave. Bill Clinton knows Meek is a loser, but campaigns for him because he did have their back even when the other 99% of black people were for Obama. Someone from the FL Democrats camp contacts Crist's camp, says we'd love to help you out but this dude won't leave. At this point we can't be seen pushing out the black guy in favor of you. But we want to help you. Bill Clinton knows he's a loser, here's Clinton's number. Give his camp a call, we're sure Clinton can convince him to exit stage left and hand his voters to you.

Crist's camp calls Clinton's camp, and says Meek's a loser, convince him to get out of the race so we can stop this teabagger. Clinton goes to Meek, says "ya know, I'm gonna campaign for you and do whatever you want. But you're kind of low in the polls. Have you ever thought about leaving the race?"

Meek says naw, son, let's campaign and Clinton backs off. Clinton's camp asks around Meek's camp and they're like, "look man, y'all gonna lose, maybe ya'll need to exit stage right."

Meek's people are like "we don't wanna lose in a landslide, our careers would be over, we'll try to work him over." So Clinton's people report to Crist's people, the FL Dems and the WH that the option of leaving was presented to Meek.

The WH is like "oh, ok, keep us posted." Clinton campaigns with Meek again and is like "Well you know you still have some time to drop out if that's what you're thinking," and Meek again is like "I ain't....goin nowhere...I ain't...goin' nowhere...I ain't stoppin'... so kiss my ass to-nite."

Clinton is like (kanyeshrug)"ok well I tried" to Crist's people. Some of Meek's people are pissed he didn't drop out so they runteldat to Crist's people that Clinton even tried to get him to drop out and he's still in it. Crist is pissed that Meek is messing his plans up and that Clinton couldn't get the job done so he spills the T on Keith Olbermann and Politico.

Sometimes, you read things and go 'WOW'. Marco Rubio has made me do that.

hat tip-djchefron

I have to admit, I didn't believe it could be true.

But, the headline confirmed it:

Marco Rubio says deport all the immigrants

Yes, you read right.

Marco Rubio says deport all the immigrants

Are there words?

Here is a quote from Rubio:

Then Rubio explained that he is against letting illegals become legal:

Rubio also rejected the notion of a "path to citizenship" or "amnesty," despite "the human stories."

"There are going to be stories of very young kids that were brought to this country at a very young age who don't even speak Spanish that are going to be sent back to Nicaragua or some other place. And it's gonna feel weird and I understand that," he said, suggesting that those hardships would be a price worth paying.

Hah! That's a quote from Marco Rubio, son of Cuban refugees. Cubans were, for decades, welcome to settle in America without visas or papers or anything, and they are still allowed to enter the the U.S. via Mexico without fear of being deported.

But Nicaraguans? Ugh, no. Marco Rubio says GO HOME.

Ain't that a bitch?

IFFFFF they were from any other country (cough, Haiti, double cough), Cubans would be considered ILLEGAL and SHIPPED BACK.

They aren't here through legal channels.

But, HE and HIS have made it, and the rest of you can go f-yourselves.

All the Latinos in Florida who are thinking of giving Rubio a chance in part because of ' Latino Pride'...

well......

when the chips are down, and he needed to take a stand...

look what stand he took.

Look who he sucked up to.

Look whose ass he kissed...

He's showing you who he is....

we have a term for folks like Rubio in the Black community....one of my current favorite terms is Slave Catcher.

may your vision be clear as you look at Rubio.

Republican Obstructionism Measured & Confirmed

Republican obstructionism has finally been quantified, at least to some degree. Former White House insider Ira Shapiro discussed via NPR this week, how the filibuster is used much differently by the Senate minority today than it was decades ago. For those who say... "Oh, there has been partisanship in the past...it's healthy. The Senate has only had a handful of super majorities (60+ seats by one Party) in over 220 years, and they were still able to get things done. The sky isn't falling"- I believe they are misreading current events. This is basically what Congressman Alan Grayson stated recently - that nothing has really changed. Grayson seems to believe that with the American public falling for Right wing propaganda and turning against Democrats - handing the Dems 3 big ominous political losses in a row in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts - legislation is going to move forward as normal. But I have to respectfully disagree with Grayson. It is true that In the past the Senate was able to get things done. If we were in a normal political period, more would certainly get done. But we aren't in normal times politically. As I have been saying for over a year, there has clearly been a change in the level of obstructionist behavior over the last few years, especially after the election of President Barack Obama. There is a clear & deliberate effort to make Obama's Presidency a failure- to weaken his ability to govern and even to delegitimize his Presidency.

Soure: The conservative American Enterprise Institute (even their own numbers show it)

This is part of why the U.S. won't be able to manage and keep up with all of the challenges that it faces in the months and years to come. The U.S. will continue to fall behind the rest of the industrialized world. We have a broken government that will not allow the necessary changes to be made. The structure of the U.S. political system is so bureaucratic & inefficient that it won't be possible to keep up with the nations challenges - challenges that are now compounding because so many old problems have been left unattended. Now those problems (from 20, 30, & 40 years ago) are now creating new problems. And the cycle will continue. Add corruption to the mix and you have a government that is incapable of functioning. Even if the Senate were functioning normally, it wouldn't be able to deal with all of the problems the Country faces. The fundamental structure of the Congress makes it almost impossible to get things done efficiently and effectively.

As long as corporations and other special interests continue to control legislation, and drown out the needs and concerns of everyday citizens, this problem will get worse. Meanwhile, other nations are leaving the U.S. in the dust... from green industry, to manufacturing, to civil engineering & transportation, to education, to infrastructure, to health care, to the economy, and most importantly...to quality of life.

The Senate Passes Their Healthcare Bill

60-39.

video hat tip-Icebergslim

The President's Remarks:

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Minnesota Supreme Court Says AL FRANKEN is the Winner

From The LA Times:

Minn. rules for Franken in Senate fight
From the Associated Press
11:21 AM PDT, June 30, 2009

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Supreme Court has ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race.

The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling.


Justices said Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office. With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibuster.

Coleman hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention

Now, it's time for that punk Pawlenty to certify it, and give Minnesota Equal Representation in the U.S. Senate.

Getting Franken in there would mean that the Democrats would have 60 votes and NO MORE EXCUSES.

Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek to Run for U.S. Senate

From USAToday.com

Fla. Rep. Meek to run for Senate

TALLAHASSEE, Fla (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who led the effort to put class-size limits in the state constitution, plans to announce his candidacy for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, say sources close to Meek.
Meek would be the first major candidate to get in the 2010 race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Mel Martinez.

Meek, 42, is beginning his fourth term in Congress. He sits on the powerful Ways & Means Committee and the Armed Services Committee and has a close relationship with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Miami resident previously served eight years in the Legislature. As a senator, he staged a sit-in protest in then-Gov. Jeb Bush's office complex over a proposal to strip affirmative action protections from state contracting and university admissions.

Good luck to him.

Well, isn't this interesting: Reid pressured Blagojevich not to appoint Jackson Jr. to Obama’s U.S. Senate seat

Uh huh.

How it gets more interesting by the minute.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times:

Reid pressured Blagojevich not to appoint Jackson Jr. to Obama’s U.S. Senate seat
January 2, 2009
BY NATASHA KORECKI, CHRIS FUSCO AND LYNN SWEET

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.

Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis — both democratic congressmen from Illinois — and against Jones — the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama — because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election.

Read rest of the article at link above.

First of all, this isn't about Davis or Jones, who would have been nothing but caretakers anyway. Actually, scratch Davis. Nobody thinking who actually follows Danny Davis, thought that he was SINCERELY considering leaving his SAFE Congressional seat, and the ability to pad that federal pension for another easy decade for something that would be OVER in 2010.

Jones, who had retired from the Illinois Senate, would have been a caretaker. Period. He's in his 70's, and this would have been the capper for a long public service career.

No. This was all about Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Deciding from ' on high', that Jesse Jackson, Jr. couldn't win.

Well, excuse me, if I think that's up to Jesse Jackson, Jr. to try and if he doesn't win in a Democratic Primary in 2010, so be it. But, if he won the Democratic Primary, it would be up to the ILLINOIS Democratic Party to put out and help him get over the hump in 2010.

Now, we 'hear', from the likes of Politico.com :

Sources say Blagojevich’s s successor if he’s removed from office, Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, is likely to point someone who is African- American, but likely not Burris because of the taint or Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill), who is often mentioned as a possibility but would be too controversial.

Sources said the choice is likely to be someone young and dynamic, like Dan Seals, who ran in a northeast Illinois House district in 2006 and 2008. It needs to be someone who would appeal to the white Republicans in downstate Illinois, to prevent the seat going to the GOP in a future election.

Let me get this straight right now.

The 'Black Street' don't know Dan Seals. I know him,because I'm a poltiical junkie, but color me cynical about this. I'm going to tell you why this is SUS-PECT to me. Quinn had all the time to get this out to the newspapers when this first broke about Blago (to position himself for when he became Governor). You don't nominate someone Black that Black people have never heard of, and has no connection to the Black community - other than skin color.

If Quinn had 'dropped' his intentions of nominating someone African-American, or at least making it clear that Black folks were on this list, it would be a whole other story. But, He DID NOT.

Sorry, if my cynical self isn't buying it.

What is his base?

I'm just askin'.

He's a Half-Black man with a NON-Black wife, who has NO Chicago connections whatsoever. The Black vote IS Cook County, and we don't know him.

So, the thought that they'd throw away Burris - who IS well known and rooted in the Black community.

For Seals, who is a NOBODY in the Black community.

I know some folks live in post-Obama racial delusion. But, wake up.

That SEALS would be chosen over the numerous presently elected Black officials?

Uh huh.

Yes, Barack Obama was a nobody. But, he was a nobody who built his FOUNDATION in the Black community.

I don't speak of where other folks live. I'm a Chicago gal. I went east to school, but came back home after college and graduate school.

Barack Obama built his foundation in the Black community. Folks want to pretend that I don't know where I live.

Dan Seals doesn't live in the Black Community. He doesn't work in the Black community. He doesn't work for the Black community. He has absolutely NO connection to the Black community of Cook County, and we ARE the Black vote in Illinois.

Black folk in Cook County aren't going to be his ' base', just because he's Black. He doesn't even have a political base where he lives, because he couldn't even win the elections where he ran in not one, BUT TWO OVERWHELMINGLY PRO-DEMOCRATIC CYCLES.

If folks want to live in post-racial eutopia, that's fine. But, I'm talking about Illinois politics. And, choosing a Black candidate who doesn't even have a Black voting base from which to depend upon and build for the 2010 Democratic Primary, makes even the possibility of the choice of Seals, just as tokenist as Clarence Thomas.

The beauty and barbershops don't know Dan Seals. And can't point to one reason to choose him - other than he's Black, and despite what folks might think - Black folk DO need something more than that.

Black folk know Roland Burris. That's why we can separate him from Blago.

We don't know JACK about Dan Seals, and 2 years isn't long enough to build it.

Look at the visual.

Work with a Sista.

They would kick out Burris, who has a 30 year history with the Black community. Who won 4 STATEWIDE elections.

To bring in this half Black guy that nobody knows shyt about with absolutely NO connections to the Black community that hasn't won ANYTHING.

And, Chicago/Cook County, has all these politicos and Black business folk that could be chosen who actually HAVE TIES to the Black community.

Stand back and look and see how that looks to us.

What reason would I have to support Dan Seals - other than he is Black. I know a half dozen WHITE candidates that I could POINT TO things that they have done for the Black community - before I could support Seals. There are Black folks who could stand up and speak for these White candidates - because they've worked with them on projects. And, they understand Urban life.

Who Black is going to stand up for Seals and vouch for him on anything related to the Black community?

There's a difference between supporting someone because they're Black, and being asked to support them ONLY because they're Black.


And being told by the likes lf Harry Reid and Pat Quinn that THIS is the kind of Negro that is acceptable?

Hell-to-the-naw.

If I'm going to support a Black candidate that supposedly ' has no chance', then I'd just as soon see Jesse Jackson, Jr. in that spot.

I want someone to tell me, how Seals is a better candidate than Jackson Jr., who has a legislative record, who has an actual base, who actually has been building coalitions across communities from the moment he stepped into Congress, and he's actully WON elections.



PS- For those of you who say that folks like me can't see the forest, and that Reid was only trying to protect the Seat for 2010, the Democratic Primary IS the battle for 2010. And whomever wins that will be able to look good for victory in November 2010.

PPSS-When this all began, 'the talk' in the beauty and barbershops was, "Man, it looks like they're trying to knock out all the Black candidates." To wit, Black folk were called ' paranoid'. And the whole, ' well, we just need the most qualified person for the job.', bullshyt, which always, once that phrase is used, seems to EXCLUDE Black folks. Guess we weren't so ' paranoid' after all.

President-Elect Barack Obama Resigns from the U.S. Senate

Effective Sunday.


Via Press Release:

"It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate. In a state that represents the crossroads of a nation, I have met so many men and women who’ve taken different journeys, but hold common hopes for their children’s future. It is these Illinois families and their stories that will stay with me as I leave the United States Senate and begin the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation’s next President," said President-elect Barack Obama.

Hagel Won’t Seek Re-election to Senate

Per the NYTimes.com

Hagel Won’t Seek Re-election to Senate
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and JEFF ZELENY
Published: September 9, 2007


WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 — Senator Chuck Hagel, the Nebraska Republican and outspoken critic of the Iraq war who had been mulling a run for president, will retire at the end of his term in early 2009 and will not run for the White House, aides said on Saturday.

Mr. Hagel has scheduled a formal announcement in Omaha on Monday morning, the aides said. Mr. Hagel declined interview requests on Saturday.

In announcing his retirement, Mr. Hagel will fulfill a promise he made to voters when he first ran for the Senate in 1996 that he would serve only two terms. But his decision presents yet another challenge for the Republican Party in its effort to stop Democrats from extending their majority in Congress next year.

Former Senator Bob Kerrey, a Nebraska Democrat who has been president of the New School university in New York City since leaving office in 2001, has said that he might return to Nebraska to run for office again. Mr. Kerrey is also a former governor of Nebraska.

Mr. Kerrey has informed the New School’s board of trustees of his potential interest in running for Mr. Hagel’s Senate seat and has said that the board was supportive.

But in an e-mail message on Saturday, Mr. Kerrey declined to comment on his intentions. In an interview last month, he had expressed skepticism about running, but added: “These moments don’t happen very often. It’s a possibility.”

Rest at link above.

Like the story says, this is a possible pickup for the Democrats in 2008. Senator Hagel's stance on the war, I respected, and after reading a piece on him at The New Republic, I understood more about his position. The Republicans may not know it yet, but it is their loss.

Senator John Warner (R-VA) to retire

From Politico.com:

Warner to retire


Virginia Sen. John Warner (R) said Friday that he will not seek reelection.

Warner, 80, long a Capitol Hill power as a result of his post as chairman of the Armed Services committee when Republicans controlled the Senate, said of his five terms: "I have done my best" and closed with a quote from Thomas Jefferson on the historic campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He said he'd made the decision in the "last day or two" and had wanted to first make one final trip to Iraq.

Warner said his age had been a factor in his decision. "You got to face that I"m now 80," Warner said. "I would be near 88 when I finish (a sixth term) . . . I want to be fair to this wonderful state."

This is very interesting. Virginia is what could be considered a Purple state. A long time of voting solidly Republican, but over the past five years, has elected Democrats in major offices, including Governor and the election of Jim Webb as Senator in 2006.

With Warner's retirement, the race will be on - who will run? Not only from the Democrat's side, but also, from the GOP side. Will recently defeated George Allen run again? Remember, there was the Bob Novak column about the DLC wanting Hillary to choose the former Governor Warner as her running mate, but now with the Senate Seat open will he go for that?

This could become a major political soap opera in 2008.