Category: Elections

This is a Google Adsense On Drugs, Any Questions?

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One Step Forward, One Step Back

Well, Google™ Adsense™ gets one right, for a change.

I live in Maryland, and I am a Democrat, and in any case Robert “Bad Hair” Ehrlich is a complete prat.

I would also note that in 2004, I exchanged about 20 words with Martin O’Malley, and was convinced that he would be president one day.

He is an impressive candidate, and I think that it is likely that he will throw his hat into the ring in 2012 2016.

This ad takes you to Martin O’Malley/Anthony Brown campaign’s home page.

But after they get one right, they put up an ad for the Freedom Works teabagger AstroTurf 9/12 rally. (sorry, no link to those evil f%$#s, not even with the “nofollow” tag.)

I wonder why about 95% of the political ads that show up on my page are all about conservative causes though.

As for the rest, they seem to be HAMP scams.

**sigh**

I Expect This to Be a Prelude to Regulatory Capitulation

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The FCC is now saying that it will delay any ruling on net neutrality until after the election.

I take this as a sign that Obama, and FCC Chair Genachowski intend to sell out completely to the incumbent telcos and cable companies, but they do not want to enrage the netroots base, as well of the users of a little service called Facebook, see the survey numbers on social media users, really care about preserving net neutrality.

In my opinion, they are waiting until after the election to screw the base in order to benefit the big players, and they know that this will cost them votes if it comes out in September of October.

I should note however, that the redoubtable Harold Feld, who does this for a living, is more optimistic than I am about such things.

Obama is Losing Bob Reich

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He cuts Obama a new one over his proposed corporate giveaways:

President Obama reportedly will propose two big corporate tax cuts this week.

……

The economy needs two whopping corporate tax cuts right now as much as someone with a serious heart condition needs Botox.

Mr. Reich took a lot of crap when he endorsed Barack Obama early in the primary cycle, because he was Bill Clinton’s former Labor Secretary, and has pretty consistently been an Obama fanboi.

When you are pissing off people like him, you are driving your somewhat less involved and motivated voters who might vote for you deeply into their couches.

This will be an ugly election.

Pass the Popcorn

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Lisa Murkowski’s people, though not Senator Murkowski herself, are making noises about her trying to run for reelection on the Libertarian ticket:

Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has received significant support since narrowly losing to Joe Miller in the August GOP primary, a spokesman said Sunday.

Murkowski has yet to endorse her Republican rival, leading to widespread speculation that she is evaluating options for a possible re-entry into the race. She has two options if she wants to re-enter: to be invited to run under the banner of the Alaska Libertarian Party or to mount a write-in campaign.

“She has received a huge outpouring of support from Alaskans, both individuals and groups,” Murkowski spokesman Steve Wackowski wrote Sunday in an e-mail to the Daily News-Miner. He cited support from Alaska Native groups and the fishing and energy industries.

I don’t think that she is going to run, and if she does, it is not clear who she would draw more votes from, though my money is on pulling more from Miller than from Democrat Scott McAdams.

Additionally, the Libertarian Party has already been cool to the idea of putting her on the ticket.

I don’t think that she will run, but that this will freeze Miller’s campaign in place, and not do so for McAdams, because Miller’s campaign is very different with Murkowski in the race, and Mcadams’ isn’t.

C=MI*

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Seriously, It Sounds Like Tertiary Syphillis


And then when challenged by the press, she flees

I don’t know what is going on with Arizona governor Jan Brewer, but I hope that she has a substance abuse problem, because if her opening statment at the debate and her interview post debate are any indication, if it’s not that, she has a serious neurological problem.

Of course, I am an engineer, not a Doctor, Dammit†, but her goes well beyond someone who, thanks to Barack Obama hiring Napolitano, was promoted well past her capabilities, she has a serious screw loose.

Props to here opponent Terry Goddard, who, when accused of being responsible for the boycott, or at least supporting it, responds that when the governor of the state is lying about beheadings, it makes her a part of the tourism downturn.

I still think that Brewer is going to win, particularly with Sheriff Arpaio continuing his attempt to intimidate and harass Hispanic voters in the Phoenix area, but what passes for a mainstream Republican these days just buggers the mind.

*Conservatism = Mental Illness.

†I LOVE IT when I get to go all Doctor McCoy!!!

We Are F%$#ing Doomed

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Thanks, Barry!

The latest Gallup poll is out with the generic Congressional ballot, and Republicans have a 10% lead, the highest since Gallup started running this poll in 1942!

You know, continuing with Bush’s Kangaroo courts and surveillance state, selling out homeowners to banks, and ranting against your party are working really well, aren’t they?

If we don’t end up with Boehner as speaker, I would be very surprised.

[on edit]

It’s worse than I thought. It’s not a daily tracking pool, it’s a weekly.

At this rate, we will lose the Senate too.

I Hate It When a Complete Asshole Agrees with Me

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Case in point, House Minority leader John Boehner calling for Tim Geithner to be fired:

U.S. House Republican leader John Boehner called on President Barack Obama to fire Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the other remaining members of the president’s economic team.

In a speech today to the City Club of Cleveland, Boehner said Obama’s stimulus policies are failing to create jobs.

It would make me wonder about whether I was being too tough on Timothy “Eddie Haskell” Geithner, but I am reassured by the words of this guy:

[MSNBC Commentator Jim] Cramer during Tuesday’s Stop Trading! took issue with comments from a key House Republican, who called on President Obama to fire his economic team.

Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said during a speech in Cleveland that the president should get rid of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Larry Summers for starters. But Cramer stepped in to defend Geithner.

Boehner’s comments were “outrageous,” the “Mad Money” host said. “Geithner’s done a remarkable job.”

While I am troubled that I agree with John Boehner on this, I am reassured that I am still on the other side of the issue from Jim Cramer.

Jon Stewart showed just what Cramer’s opinions are worth.

Big Surprise, Harry Reid Chooses Cowardice Over American Values

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He’s called for the Lower Manhattan Islamic center to move:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has now spoken out on the Muslim community center in New York — saying that while the organizers are free to construct the project, it should be moved somewhere else.

“The First Amendment protects freedom of religion. Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else,” said a statement from Reid spokesman Jim Manley. “If the Republicans are being sincere, they would help us pass this long overdue bill to help the first responders whose health and livelihoods have been devastated because of their bravery on 911, rather than continuing to block this much-needed legislation.”

If he weren’t running against Sharron Angle, I’d be rooting for the Republican.

Of course, he is running against Sharron Angle, so I am merely ambivalent.

Of course, it’s so transparently craven that it probably hurt him more, but cowardice when it is both self-destructive and stupid appears to be a basic Democratic Party value.

Billy and Barry, That Lincoln Endorsement Worked Out Really, Didn’t It?

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The DSCC is looking at cutting off Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, because with less than 3 months to go, she is down about 20 points in the polls.

These were her number before our current and former presidents went balls to the wall for her in the primary, and got a lot of money sent her way.

I don’t know why Barack Obama had decided on an unprecedented level of White House interference in primaries, I understand why Bill Clinton did, Lincoln is a protege of his, but the net results seem to be primary losses, weak candidates in the general, and a dispirited base.

Primary Night

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Unfortunately, we just got money manager, and Corproatocrat Michael Bennet won the primary for Colorado Senate.

He’s bad on policy, and he was a money man who as superintendent, allowed the Denver School District in invest in disastrous interest rate swaps, when he should have known better, and that will be a real vulnerability.

In Connecticut, crotch kicker, and co-conspirator in steroid distribution, Linda McMahon won the GOP Senatorial primary, should make for a fun election.

Also, in the CT Governor’s race, Ned Lamont lost the primary to Dan Malloy, which makes me mildly disappointed, I still appreciate Lamont saving the Democratic Party in 2006 by showing that running against the Iraq war was a winner, but I really have not followed this race too closely.

In Minnesota, Keith Ellison, the only Moslem in the Congress, resoundingly wins renomination, good for the people of Minnesota.

Additionally, Bachmann ran unopposed, so we will have plenty we w the crazy from her as she continues to campaign.

Kidnapped, Made to Smoke a Bong, and Worship Aqua Buddha?

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We have a report that as a some sort of twisted college prank, while an undergraduate at Baylor, Rand Paul and his friends kidnapped a coed, and then made her take bong hits worship “Aqua Buddha” in a stream.

This is whack, and I hope that Paul doesn’t do drugs any more, but it raises a question: If he was into this, why did he go to Baylor, where they ban premarital sex because it might lead to dancing.

This is a weird news day.

Primaries Tonite

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Michigan, Missouri, and Kansas, with the updated results here.

The only remotely close race was the MI governor’s race. The rest of the races, congressional and gubernatorial, were not even remotely close on the Dem side.

As to the ‘Phants, I really don’t care, but you can click on their tool too.

Colorado Senate Race-Primary Update

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It looks like Andrew Romanoff, who recently sold his house to lend money to his campaign, appears to have moving ahead of incumbent appointee corporate raider/DINO Michael Bennet in the polls, with the most recent poll showing a lead of 48%-45%, though the Bennet campaign is claiming that they still hold a 4 point lead in internal polls, 41%-37%.

Note that the rule of thumb is that undecideds break at least 2:1 for the challenger, so either number looks like a very likely loss for Bennet, which to my mind would be a good thing.

Real Democrats win, and then they push good policies in office.

Rather unsurprisingly, the Obama administration come out rather strongly in favor of Bennet, as it has routinely in the case of Corporatocrats this cycle.

The primary is next Tuesday, and here’s hoping that Romanoff wins, particularly since the Republicans seem to be busy self-destructing in their primary.

I’m Buying Futures in Fig Newtons and Ice Cream Sammiches

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It appears that California’s Proposition 19, which would legalize and tax marijuana in the state has support fairly consistently polling ahead of opposition.

It should be noted that on human mediated polling, the initiative is down by between 1% and 4%, while in automated polling it is ahead by 10% and 16%, which Nate Silver thinks this is largely because people do not want to tell another person that they are voting for pot, though automated polls might miss minorities who tend to be more opposed to legalization.

I think that it will pass, because it is being sold on unrealistic magical thinking: If you vote for pot, and it is taxed, then California’s fiscal crisis is washed away by a font of “potro-dollars”.

This argument has a grain of truth, reduced costs of enforcement and the resulting criminality, along with the tax revenue, are not insignificant, but it’s not enough to fix the state that was ruined by the California voters and their initiative petition process.

Blue Dog Dem Goes Chicken for MRIs

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Stupid is as stupid does

Ben Chandler of Kentucky spoke approvingly of the days when people paid their doctors with chickens, and a constituent got it on tape.

He voted against the healthcare bill, because he’s a Blue Dog, and he kisses health insurer’s asses.

Obviously, this is not as bad as Sue Lowden’s doubling down on barter for MRIs, he was just being nostalgic, but it’s likely that his Republican opponent will hammer him for it anyway, and I, for one, am glad.

We need fewer faux Dems in the Congress.