Category: Elections

Breaking: Bernard Kerik Pleads Guilty

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So, the man who Rudy Giuliani mentored to the position of New York City Police Commissioner has copped a plea deal, and pled guilty to on 8 counts, “two counts of tax fraud, one count of making a false statement on a loan application — the most serious — and five separate counts of making false statements to the federal government,” and is likely to be sentenced to 27 to 33 months.

The false statements are in connection to his statements to federal agents when he was being vetted to be head of DHS by Bush and His Evil Minions™.

Basically, he got a $¼ million in renovations for his apartment from a mob tied contractor that he later recommended for city business.

Basically, Giuliani’s right hand man was mobbed up.

This guy was pretty low level until Giuliani decided to smile on him, and it says something about Rudy’s judgment, and could, and should be an issue if he chooses to run for governor.

Rahm Emanuel is a Such a Pissant

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So, after Barack Obama went full throttle in supporting Former Goldman Sachs CEO Senior Partner John Corzine, who got beaten handily, Anthony Weiner (D-NY-9) suggested, given the unexpected closeness of the NY Mayor’s race that, “Maybe one of those Corzine trips could have been better spent in New York. Who knows?”

The response, from a anonymous White House source responded, “Maybe Anthony Weiner should have manned-up and run against Michael Bloomberg.

That would be Rahm, or someone who speaks just like him, and he is being such a bitch.

Election Results

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I’m heading off to bed, but here are the numbers from NY-23 and the Hate Amendment in Maine.

It looks like I was wrong on NY-23. Owens could win, though I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Unfortunately, I was right on Maine. The bigots won again.

88% reporting N.Y. District 23

N.Y. District 23
Candidate Party Votes Pct.
Bill Owens Dem. 60,458 49.0%
Doug Hoffman Con. 56,174 45.5
Dede Scozzafava Rep. 6,796 5.5

It looks to me like Hoffman would need to pull in more than 60% of the remaining votes to win this, but I think that the wingnut precincts are reporting late.

76% reporting Maine: Reject Gay Marriage Law

Maine: Reject Gay Marriage Law
Answer Party Votes Pct.
Yes — 231,273 52.2%
No — 211,634 47.8

Christie (R) Wins in New Jersey

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Damn.

This is going to f&^% over the people of New Jersey something fierce.

As bad as Republicans are when times are good, in a recession, with declining revenue, they are horrendous. See Schwarzenegger, Ahnuld.

That’s one of my predictions that wasn’t right.

In related election news, Michael Bloomberg was reelected to a 3rd term as mayor, though by a much smaller margin than previously anticipated: 49.8% to 46.9%.

There is a lot of anti-incumbency out there.

Republicans Horrified that N***ers Vote

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Yep, it’s John Fund, whose other claim to fame is to have bedded a mother and her daughter roughly 20 years apart, and when police came to investate a resulting domestic abuse charge, he hid in the bathroom:

Appearing on Fox News’ Glenn Beck, John Fund claimed that Hispanic voters in Camden, New Jersey, are being told that there is “a new way for you to vote, la nueva forma de votar” — an anecdote Fund suggested was evidence of voter fraud in the state’s 2009 gubernatorial election. In fact — as Fund himself wrote in a Wall Street Journal column published hours earlier — that incident actually occurred in Philadelphia in 1993.

Of course, there is also the fact that anyone in New Jersey can vote by mail if they so choose, as opposed to Pennsylvania 16 years ago, where absentee ballots were supposed to be available only to those who could show a good reason to not be in town that day.

In NJ, anyone can mail in a ballot for any reason.

Wanker of the Day

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Blue Dog Jason Altmire, who is wishing for Democratic defeats in the elections:

Centrist Blue Dog Democrats might see their position strengthened if Democrats suffer broader losses Tuesday, one Blue Dog member suggested.

Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) argued that an election night rebuke for Democratic candidates across the nation could lead some in the party to rethink their plans on healthcare reform and other issues.

Seriously, he needs to be primaried, and possibly needs a Green Party challenger in the general.

Stay classy, Rush

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Yeah, Rush Limbaugh is now saying that former Republican candidate in New York’s 23rd district has, committed bestiality by endorsing the Democrat in the race.

Seriously, when one inventories the number of times that Limbaugh uses a sexual metaphor to describe someone that he does not like is striking.

I’m thinking that Mr. Limbaugh has issues, but then, that has been a likely ever since he returned from the Dominican Republican with a bunch of Viagra®.

Abdullah Abdullah Pulls out of Afghan Presidential Runoff

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He says that he is doing so because the electoral commission and process is hopelessly corrupt, and that they have refused to do anything to correct the issue.

He is correct, the changes proposed for the runoff made fraud more, rather than less, likely:

Despite having fewer poll workers and a declining security situation, Afghanistan’s election commission announced Thursday it would increase the number of polling centers for the presidential runoff.

While some analysts suspect the goal is to achieve high-enough turnout for a credible result, the ambitious plan heightens concerns that fraud will once again mar the election

The experts are wrong. Fraud is the goal, not increased turnout.

Unsurprisingly, the electoral commission, which is packed with Karzai cronies, has declared him the elected president.

I hope that the statement from the US embassy is just pro forma:

“We congratulate President Karzai on his victory in this historic election,” said a statement from the United States Embassy in Kabul, “and look forward to working with him, his new administration, the Afghan people and our partners in the international community to support Afghanistan’s progress towards institutional reforms, security and prosperity.”

Because if they see a stolen election in the context of a civil war as legitimate, it’s Diem in Vietnam all over again.

NY-23 is Getting Jiggy

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So, I told you about how the the national wingnuts had driven the Republican candidate, Dierdre “Dede” Scozzafava, who was among the more conservative members of their caucus in the New York State Assembly, out of the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional district in favor of Conservative Party (it’s a New York thing) candidate, heavy duty wingnut Doug Hoffman..

She suspended her campaign, and now she has officially endorsed Democratic candidate Bill Owens:

I want to thank you for your support and friendship. Over the past 24 hours, I have had encouraging words sent to my family and me. Many of you have asked me whom you should support on Tuesday.

Since announcing the suspension of my campaign, I have thought long and hard about what is best for the people of this District, and how to answer your questions. This is not a decision that I have made lightly.

You know me, and throughout my career, I have been always been an independent voice for the people I represent. I have stood for our honest principles, and a truthful discussion of the issues, even when it cost me personally and politically. Since beginning my campaign, I have told you that this election is not about me; it’s about the people of this District.

It is in this spirit that I am writing to let you know I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same.

It’s not in the cards for me to be your representative, but I strongly believe Bill is the only candidate who can build upon John McHugh’s lasting legacy in the U.S. Congress. John and I worked together on the expansion of Fort Drum and I know how important that base is to the economy of this region. I am confident that Bill will be able to provide the leadership and continuity of support to Drum Country just as John did during his tenure in Congress.

In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He will be an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York. Bill understands this district and its people, and when he represents us in Congress he will put our interests first.

Please join me in voting for Bill Owens on Tuesday. To address the tough challenges ahead, we must rise above partisanship and politics and work together. There’s too much at stake in this election to do otherwise.

Dede

I have no clue how this will effect the race, and I agree with people who say that Owens is, at best, a Liebercrat.

I’m not that concerned about the effect of changing the party what would of the least senior congressman for the next year and a half, but the sound of wing-nut heads exploding is sweet.

(On edit)

Frank Rich wrote about it, and it’s titled, “The G.O.P. Stalinists Invade Upstate New York.”

Heh.

Election News

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In California, it looks like it will be Jerry Brown running as the Dem for Governor, because Gavin Newsome has quit the race, because of weak support and poor fund-raising.

Additionally, in the very odd special election for New York’s 23rd Congressional district, Republican Dierdre Scozzafava has suspended her campaign, after coming up short on money and placing 3rd in recent polls.

The numbers were about 35% for Doug Hoffman, the Club for Growth approved Neanderthal, 35% for Bill Owens, the Democratic candidate about whom I know nothing, and about 25% for Scozzafava.

Her name will remain on the ballot, which is, I think a message to Hoffman that he should go Cheney himself, but I’m an engineer, not a psychologist, dammit!*

I think that this puts Hoffman the live dead girl/live boy† favorite in the overwhelmingly Republican district now, though I think that there are a number of people who will vote for Scozzafava anyway, because they do not want to vote for Hoffman, who is a carpetbagger with absolutely no interest in the real issues of the district, but cannot bring themselves to pull the “D” lever.

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

†Edwin Edwards, when discovering that he would be facing David Duke in the Louisiana governor’s race, said that the the only way that he would lose were if he were, “caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy”.

If Andrew Cuomo Does Not Announce for NY Governor Soon

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Spitzer on Ratigan

Eliot Spitzer should.

Listen to him here. He gets what is going on with Wall Street, and knows exactly what the monster is, and how to slay it.

Andrew Cuomo knows this about Wall Street too, and doesn’t have that whole, “Hypocrite Mr. Clean who paid for Blow-jobs from a Skanky New Jersey Prostitute” vibe, so I prefer Cuomo.

Incumbent “accidental” Governor David Paterson, by contrast, has been very much in the pocket of Wall Street, fighting kicking and screaming about anything that could possibly inconvenience the “Masters of the Universe”, and the Governor of New York needs to be more than that.

What’s more, David Paterson is dead meat on the table, he’s polling at Dick Cheney numbers:

Only 15 percent of the 624 voters polled between October 14 and 18 would re-elect Paterson while 72 percent preferred someone else, the poll by Siena College’s Research Institute found.

The governor’s job performance was rated negative by 79 percent to 19 percent.

The only question is whether he bows out, gets beaten in the primary, or gets beaten in the general.

I think that David Paterson is beginning to get a clue about this, probably because he is having trouble raising funds.

Seriously, and if a Republican takes the state house in 2010, it means that redistricting will remain what it is in New York, and we’ll be stuck with an over-representation of Republicans in an overwhelmingly Democratic state.

It’s how the ‘Phants held the State Senate for 40 years.

Seriously, his numbers are so bad, that Rudolph Giuliani could beat him without running a campaign.

Even more impressively, Rudolph Giuliani could beat him if he did run a campaign, because if there is anything that the 2008 Republican Presidential primaries showed, it was that finding Rudy Giuliani on the campaign trail was a lot like finding a cockroach in your coffee.

Honduran Talks Still Up In Air

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2 days ago, Ousted Honduran President ManuelZelaya was saying that the talks had broken down, but now he is saying that an agreement is imminent.

I think that there has likely been some movement on the part of the forces behind the Coup who currently hold power, and that the denial of entry visas into the United States for current Honduran office holders was a part of this change of heart.

It would have been nice if the US had gotten tough on the coup from day 1 though.

Buy Bye Bernie

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Not Madoff, the other crook Bernie, Bernard Kerik.

About a month ago, the judge in charge of the Bernard Kerik case, Federal Judge Stephen Robinson, took him and his defense team to task for releasing information that was under seal.

Well, it appears that Kerik has tried other ways to leak this information out, potentially tainting a jury pool, so he revoked Kerik’s bail, sending him to jail:

Judge Stephen C. Robinson of Federal District Court in White Plains said Mr. Kerik could not be trusted to honor a consent order prohibiting him from revealing confidential information. The judge cited an email that Mr. Kerik sent to the head of his defense fund that apparently included such information.

Mr. Kerik had been allowed to remain free on $500,000 bail, which was secured by his house in New Jersey. The judge turned down a request by Mr. Kerik’s lawyers to keep him from being put behind bars for 48 hours while they prepare an appeal.

Before revoking the bail of Mr. Kerik, Judge Robinson described him as a “toxic combination of self-minded focus and arrogance, and I fear that combination leads him to believe his ends justify his means.”

It appears that Kerik, not only sent an email to the lawyer running his defense fund, Anthony Modafferi, but then tweeted to people directing them to his posts, which raises stupidity to a whole new level.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with the case at hand, which is for taking bribes from mobbed up businesses in the form of things like renovations.

It’s one of the things that Rudy Guiliani will have to deal with if he runs for office: The guy who he plucked from obscurity and made police commissioner is mobbed up, which makes him more vulnerable as a candidate, as is the fact that the more he campaigns, the less people like him.

The only way that he can win is if he runs against a complete loser like David Dinkins or David Paterson….osh#@!