Category: Elections

Moron

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Chris Dodd, the senior Senator from Connecticut, is not running for reelection because he cannot win. He is too unpopular.

In fact, about the only person in the state that he might beat is Joe Lieberman, the junior Senator from Connecticut, who is currently polling behind a case of the clap.

Well, now that Dodd is not running, the new front runner in the state is Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Unfortunately, he has decided to take his cue from Joe Lieberman:

Barack Obama shouldn’t expect an invitation from fellow Democrat Dick Blumenthal anytime soon: Blumenthal said in a New Haven stop that the president “may not want to come here” to stump for his U.S. Senate campaign, given how independent he claimed he’ll be if elected.

That turnabout in partisan loyalty emerged Monday night as Blumenthal continued tacking away from his liberal roots —including through newly expanded support for military tribunals for domestic terror suspects.

(emphasis mine)

The explanation is that Massachusetts changes everything.

No, it doesn’t. The election of a Republican in Massachusetts was all about voters disgusted with Democrats not getting stuff done when they had near historic majorities.

And who prevented anything from getting done?

Well, that would be Senators like Joe Lieberman.

I will leave Mr. Blumenthal with the words of Harry S Truman, “Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, , people will vote for the real Republican all the time”

I Spoke too Soon

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The Ukrainian Supreme Court has temporarily suspended the election results for the Presidential election, so the official declaration of Viktor Yanukovich’s victory is on hold.

It has not suspended the inauguration, so it may largely be a formality, but my guess is that they will give a few days for Yulia Tymoshenko to present evidence.

I don’t expect much in the way of vote fraud to be found, and certainly not enough to change the results, but my record on predictions is a bit spotty.

I May Have Been too Tough on Bayh

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Not that I care all that much, but the Hill is reporting that Republicans are pissed off about the timing of the announcement:

Republicans are livid about the timing of Sen. Evan Bayh’s (D-Ind.) retirement announcement.

They have at least four candidates in the upcoming primary while the Indiana Democratic Party will get to decide its nominee.

Indiana required nominating petitions to be filed by noon Tuesday. Bayh announced Monday he would not seek reelection, giving would-be candidates less than 24 hours to get on the ballot.

………

Republicans have called on Bayh to ask for an extension of the filing deadline.

“The reality and ramifications of this timing cannot, and should not, be ignored,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said in a statement.

“Assuming there is no qualified candidate that files the appropriate documentation before the deadline, Sen. Bayh should call on the state Democratic Party to ask an Indiana court to extend the candidate filing deadline — both for this Senate candidacy and for any House candidacy that is left open by a Democrat House member who runs for the Senate nomination,” Cornyn said. “Doing so would remove any appearance of unfair gamesmanship by the Democrats while affirming their belief that voters, and not party bosses, should be the final arbiters of elections.”


Bummer of a birth mark,
Indiana Republicans

Boo-f%$#ing-hoo.

Your strongest candidates, Rep. Mike Pence, Secretary of State Todd Rokita, and Governor Mitch Daniels, didn’t want to run because of Bayh’s $13 million war chest, and now the best you can find is former Senator Dan Coats, who retired as a Senator, then moved to DC to be a lobbyist, and is on tape joking about leaving Indiana.

Bayh’s decision might not have been quite the f%$#-you to Democrats that I had previously thought.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Proposing Budget Prohibition on Enforcing DADT

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Moving to prohibit the military from spending money to enforce DADT is a good idea.

Among other things, it is a non-filibusterable measure, and when the usual crowd of Republicans start screaming, it’s an opportunity to show them up as hypocrites, since they are now ignoring the military leadership and the budget and HR needs of the military.

It also raises a question about Senator Gillibrand (D-BY).

She was, when she was the Congresswoman from New York’s 20th district a very conservative lawmaker, but now, that she’s in the Senate, far more liberal in her record.

The 20th is a conservative district, R+2 according to the Wiki, and it is understandable how a politician might find it in their best interest to represent the needs and wants of their district.

On the other hand, since being appointed by Governor Paterson to replace Hillary Clinton, she has also faced the prospect of viable primary challengers from the liberal wing of the party,* and her positioning may simply be an attempt to forestall any challengers, much in the same way that Arlen Spector is doing in Pennsylvania.

There is nothing wrong with her attempting to represent the views of her constituency, and her constituency has changed, and become significantly more liberal with the change in office.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know if this is driven by a constituent considerations, or if it is driven by primary election considerations.

If it’s the former, she should be a decent Senator. If it’s the latter, then come November, we’ll have another wanker in the Senate, at least for the next year or so, until she positions herself for the regularly scheduled election for that Senate seat.

*We’ll ignore the Harold Ford, corporatist DLC puke “candidacy” right now, because I’m not sure if it’s a serious candidacy, an attempt at extortion, or an exercise in masturbatory ego stroking.

F%$# Me!

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Well, we may now have a reason as to why Bayh announced when he did, because he wanted the party to select his successor, which, my guess, he found preferable to the possibility someone who is not a right wing preening DINO (i.e. Blue Dog) getting the nod:

On a conference call with county Democratic Party chairs this afternoon, Sen. Evan Bayh and Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker declared that not having a Democratic primary to find a replacement for the retiring Bayh would have its upsides, according to a source who was on the call.

It appears that he wanted the party apparatus to select someone from their “deep bench,” which means, I guess, that he was looking at another right wing F%$#.

Unfortunately, no one thought about Tamyra d’Ippolito, who now appears likely to have the required signatures in time to get on the ballot, and it’s likely that the Republicans are helping:

Tamyra d’Ippolito, a cafe owner who has been seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat currently held by Evan Bayh, just told TPMDC that she does have the minimum number of ballot-petition signatures need to get on the ballot for the Democratic primary. If her petitions do in fact work out, that would seriously complicate the efforts by the party to pick a new candidate to replace Bayh, the retiring incumbent Democrat, on the ballot this November.

……

I asked d’Ippolito about the possibility that Republicans may have given her a hand. Erick Erickson, for example, personally encouraged his Indiana readers to sign her petitions. “God bless him, because anybody can sign the petition,” said d’Ippolitio. “Republican, Democrat, independent, teabag person, any registered voter with a warm pulse can sign.”

D’Ippolito was not specifically aware of Republicans who signed her petitions in order to cause problems for the Democrats, but she didn’t have a problem with it: “I have no way to know that for sure, but I’m sure that is happening. It’s common sense, I think that would be realistic.”

Late Update: After telling TPM that she already had the necessary signatures collected, d’Ippolito is now denying to Greg Sargent that she has them yet, saying instead that she would have them in time.

This makes Bayh either incompetent or malevolent, you choose. He either tried to be cute about it, and got bitten, or he was just being a dick.

Here’s hoping that D’Ippolito has some problems with the signatures, because in addition to having worked for Lehman, her business, where she is also living illegally, is facing eviction.

I Have Neglected the Ukraine

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They had elections for President, and in the first round, current President Viktor Yushchenko was completely blown out, and the top vote getters, Russian friend Viktor Yanukovych, and current Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko went to a runoff.

Well, Yanukovych won the election, though Timoshenko is still contesting the election.

As a result, investors are avoiding a Ukrainian debt issue like the plague as a result, because:

  • Investors don’t like an unstable government, and because they prospect of Timoshenko remaining in government unsettles them because:
  • She has a reputation for obstructionism that makes John Boehner look like Doctor Ruth The cabinet that she has nominally been in in charge of has been unable to agree on budget cuts that the bond investors are demanding.

It’s a mess.

Update on the Bayh Announcement

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I don’t like the idea of a yet another Blue Dog becoming the Senator from Indiana, but Tamyra D’Ippolito is a political horror show.

She’s not just a political neophyte, she is also a 20 year veteran of Wall Street, including time at Lehman brothers.

So, what she appears to be is someone who spent 20 years on Wall Street, some of it at one of the more infamous players in finance, and then retired and decided to play dilettante.

It’s a toxic combination of ties to the financial crisis and political inexperience.

I’ll stick with what I said earlier, I’m pulling for Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel, though I am going to hate spelling his name.

Bowing Out Like a Punk

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Yeah, like this will go over with Indiana voters

Evan Bayh will not stand for reelection.*

Yes, unlike Chris Dodd, who announced well in advance, and was frank about the reason, that he thought that he would lose, Evan Bayh’s announcement comes as a complete surprise to to everyone, with 1 day left to the primary filing deadline, and the only person close to having the signatures necessary being a protest candate, Tamyra d’Ippolito, a café owner in Bloomington.

If she gets the necessary signatures, 500 signatures in each Congressional district, it means that if any Democrat wants to run against her, they will have to do so as a write in candidate in the May primary.

If she gets the signatures, expect the Dem establishment to challenge every signature.

If she doesn’t get the signatures, then the Indiana Democrat Party appoints a nominee, with the likely suspects being, “Dem Reps Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill, and Evansville mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel.”

I’m hoping for the mayor, because I don’t care about the municipal government of Evansville, but I do care about the composition of the United States House of Representatives, and both Ellsworth and Hill are Blue Dogs.

Mother Jones nailed it when they said, “Evan Bayh quits in a huff“, because the manner of his withdrawal makes it clear that he is doing this in a way most calculated to cause damage to the Democratic Party, either by leaving them without a viable candidate for the Senate, or by pulling in a candidate from one of the Democratic Congressmen, which leaves that seat open.

On the other hand, most of the potential big name Republican candidates have already elected not to run, which leaves former Senator Dan Coats, who, as Charles Lemos shows, moved out of the state, and has to rent a house to run. (See video)

Still I do not think that this is an attempt to jam up the Republicans, he did it out of pique.

Why else would he have waited until after the news was public to tell Harry Reid?

I agree with Mark Ambinder who nails it in a tweet, either 100 characters, or 81 if you don’t count spaces:

Why Bayh? He wanted to be POTUS and came to hate the Senate and liberal activists. He wanted no mas.

He not only voted for the Iraq invasion, he was a f%$#ing cosponsor for the bill, which means that he will never be president, and now he is pouting.

Joe Lieberman writ small.

*Like Evan Bayh ever stood for anything, except perhaps for the ambition of Evan Bayh.

Oh, This is Rich

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Bummer of a birth mark, Harold

You know that Harold Ford, chairman of the corporatist squish faux Democratic DLC and failed US Senate candidate in Tennessee is considering a Senate run in New York State.

Well, now it turns out that he’s never filed a New York state tax return, despite the fact that he has been employed at Merrill Lynch since 2007:

Ford claims to have moved to New York three years ago, and says paying “New York taxes” makes him a New Yorker. But his spokeswoman confirms to Gawker that he’s never filed a New York tax return — meaning that he’s never paid New York’s income tax, despite keeping an office and a residence in New York City as a vice chairman of Merrill Lynch since 2007: “He pays New York taxes and will file a New York tax return in April for the first time,” Ford’s spokeswoman Tammy Sun told Gawker. “He will file all necessary personal disclosure and tax forms that candidates are required to file if he chooses to run.” (According to Sun, Ford admitted to the tax dodge yesterday at a press availability in Albany, but we can’t find any news accounts mentioning the remarks.)

Now it appears that there has been some damage control from his PR folks, who are now saying that he will be filing a return for the first time in April, which means that he’s been breaking New York state law, which requires that out of state residents pay taxes on income earned in New York, and so file.

Someone has broken the law, and put his foot in it again.

Note: Tennessee, of course, has no personal income tax.

[on edit] Not completely true: There are no income taxes in Tennessee on wages and salaries, other forms of income, interest and dividends for example, are taxable.

News of the Unsurprising

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It turns out that almost all money donated by HP employees and HP related PACs in the California Senate race is going to Barbara Boxer, not Carly Fiorina.

In fact, more HP money has gone to her GOP challengers, most notably Chuck Devore, than has gone to Carly.

When Carly Fiorina was fired by Hewlett Packard*, employees at every level, spontaneously burst into song.

The song? Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead!

The idea that HP employees, and HP tied political institutions, view her with anything but unbelievably well justified disgust is not news.

*Sorry, HP, one of her innovations was to drop the “Hewlett” and “Packard” after they stood up to her disastrous policies.

Talk About Mixed Emotions

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Dan Coats will run against Evan Bayh for the US Senate in Indiana, and I have mixed emotions about this.

Coats is clearly a wingnut, he was screaming “wag the dog” about Clinton military activities in addition to being a fierce supporter of Harriet Miers, but he is running against Evan Bayh, and Evan Bayh really sucks.

I know that LBJ said that, “Better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in,” but Bayh is inside the tent pissing in.

What’s more, he’s corrupt, bought and paid for though his wife, who gets highly remunerative board positions by virtue of his pro-special interest votes.

Since he’s given up on being President, he’s moved very far to the right, and he’s more of a hurt than a help.

OK, I Might Consider Donating to Fiorina

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Rachael Maddow’s take


Full ad

If just because she is an even bigger disaster as a candidate than she was as CEO of HP, where staffers broke out into “Ding, dong, the witch is dead” upon announcement of her firing.

You see, she has followed up the worst political website ever with the worst political ad ever.

I’m beginning to wonder if former HPers are working on her campaign ad just to f%$# with her.

In any case, when one considers her history at HP, where she demoralized and hurt the company but got pay increases, or her history at AT&T, where her staff falsified sales data, she is a poster child for over-privileged senior management, and so would be dead meat on the table in the general.

But right not, she is flinging sheep at Republicans, so she’s doing “God’s work.”

Illinois Primary Results

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Well, Governor, for both parties is still to close to call, but for Senator, Alexi Giannoulias is the Democratic Nominee, and Mark Kirk is the ‘Phant nominee.

Unfortunately, Mr. Giannoulias last job, his current one is as state treasurer, was as vice president of his family’s bank, Broadway bank, which appears to be circling the drain.

So the Dems just nominated someone who will be campaigned against as a corrupt banker……………This is like when the LaRuchians won the nominations a few years back, which put Republicans in just about every state wide office.

Well, if the banks problems get worse, I hear that Martha Coakley is looking for something to do.

Chicago Tribune Election Center

Tax Sanity from Oregon

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Having gone to high school in Portland, I am shocked that Oregonians have passed initiatives increasing taxes on the wealthy and large corporations, measures 66 and 67, by large margins.

This is surprising for Oregon?

I’m sure that a lot of you are saying, but it’s Oregon, it’s liberal, and you would be wrong.

In the 1920s, Oregon was the most Klan dominated state ever, and on taxes:

The double-barreled victory is the first voter-approved statewide income tax increase since the 1930s. Other states, facing similar budget woes, are watching the outcome closely because Oregon, after all, is a state that capped property taxes and locked a surplus tax rebate program into the constitution.

The last time voters approved a tax increase was 2002, when they agreed to bump up tobacco taxes to help pay for the Oregon Health Plan. Voters rejected income tax increases twice in recent years.

People in Oregon, which has a vociferous anti-tax streak in the electorate, have realized that if you want services, you have to pay for them.

More notably, it’s a broad based tax.

Cigarette taxes are seen as punishment for bad behavior, while the income taxes are seen as dues for being a part of society.

This is a big deal because it’s not a sin-tax, or a lottery, it’s a real broad based tax.

The Boys from Brazil

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Or maybe Crawford, TX, and Bush’s pig farm.

OK, so this picture is captioned, “Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, also known as Joe the Plumber, right, appears with Arkansas Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Conrad Reynolds.”

Does Mr. Reynolds look familiar, as in Boys from Brazil familiar?

The Republicans are cloning George W. Bush.

Tekeli Li!!!! Tekeli Li!!!! Tekeli Li!!!!

shiver

H/t Jollyreaper at the by invitation only Stellar Parthenon BBS for the catch.

What the Hell is it With South Carolina

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First they start the Civil War, then there is the entire Confederate flag thing, which is followed by the Governor who makes the phrase, “hiking the Appalachian Trail,” suspect, and now we have their Lieutenant Governor, and candidate for Governor calling for a eugenic program to exterminate poor people:

GREENVILLE – Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has compared giving people government assistance to “feeding stray animals.”

Bauer, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, made his remarks during a town hall meeting in Fountain Inn that included state lawmakers and about 115 residents.

“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better,” Bauer said.

In South Carolina, 58 percent of students participate in the free and reduced-price lunch program.

I know Southerners of all stripes, and whether they are young or old, or conservative or liberal, they are generally very offended by what they see as the insinuation that Southerners are somehow stupid as a people.

They are correct, of course, there are some stupid people in any group that you define.

That being said, electing Andre Bauer to any office, including dog catcher or head of the PTA, would tend to reinforce that unfortunate stereotype.