Category: Elections

Tom Ridge Not Running for PA Senate

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I don’t think that he could have won the primary anyway, but this puts former head of the Club for Growth Pat Toomey in the driver’s seat for the ‘Phant 2010 PA Senate Nomination.

Also, considering that Toomey is a very heavy duty wing-nut, it puts whoever wins the Dem primary at a substantial advantage in the general election.

I even if I thought that a primary contest would make it more difficult for Dems to hold the seat, and I don’t, I just cannot see a decent candidate losing in Pennsylvania if they don’t screw it up.

Why Primary Arlen Specter?

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Because he’s just switched parties, and he is already running against the Democratic party, when he said, “No. And you misquote me, David. I did not say I would be a loyal Democrat. I did not say that. And last week, after I said I was changing parties, I voted against the budget because the budget has a way to pass health care with 51 votes, which undermines a basic Senate institution to require 60 votes to impose closure on key issues. …I did not say I am a loyal Democrat,” on Meet the Press this Sunday.

Arlen Specter has been, and continues to be, primarily all about Arlen Specter.

It should be noted that there has already been some pushback on Specter by the Senate Democrats, who are angry enough about Harry Reid’s promise that Specter be given his full seniority that the Senate Majority Leader was forced to backtrack from that promise, instead saying that the status of Specter’s seniority is up to his colleagues.

Specter Switches Parties

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This is obviously the big news of the day, which is that Arlen Specter is changing parties, and becoming a Democrat.

The immediate effect is that Coleman-Franken goes on for another year, because now when Franken gets seated,* the Dems have the votes necessary for cloture.

If you read his official statement, he does not say that he is becoming a Democrat, just that he will be running in the Democratic primary, which is a less than sterling endorsement of the party, though his statement that, “The Republican Party has moved far to the right,” is no endorsement of them either.

Personally, it’s nice having a 60th vote for cloture, whenever the damn Minnesota recount is done,* but fundamentally, I see this as being all about Arlen Specter.

He squeaked out a primary victory in 2004 against wingnut Pat Toomey, and realized that, with moderates increasingly changing party affiliations to independent or Democrat, he had no chance of winning.

As a final thought on him: Quoth the Atrios, who was quoting Harry Reid, “Arlen Specter’s with us except when we need him.”

He’ll be a weasel, and will remain so.

I expect this to continue, particularly with regard to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) labor legislation, which he says he will continue to oppose, despite sponsoring it a few years back.

*Please, just make it stop…..This recount is going on forever!!†
†Why yes, that little self-destructing man will continue to be a part of my Minnesota recount coverage.

This Whole Rep. Harman Thing is Going Very Weird

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First, we have a report that the “Israeli agent” that Jane Harman was having a phone conversation with was an Israeli-American named Haim Saban, if the name sounds familiar, it’s because you watch the credits for Mighty Morphin’ Power rangers.

He’s a producer who made much of his fortune by importing and redubbing the children’s show.

Then we have Ron Kampeas at the JTA noting that the phone call in question happened in the Summer of 2005, which is pre-Katrina, has her discussing becoming Intel committee chairman.

Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. It was around a week before the scope of the incompetence hit, and began destroying whatever remained of Bush’s post 911, so the possibility of a Democratically controlled house was remote. People were still talking about a permanent Republican majority.

In any case, Keampeas points us toward

Laura Rozen at Foreign Policy magazine, who appears to have a line on the personalities, and the machinations therein within the intelligence establishment that might figure in this:

  • That Bush Era intel officials felt on the defensive about the recent torture and wiretap revelations, and might want to push back.
  • Porter Goss authorized the wire tap, and Goss has always, “intensely disliked,” each other. (It is claimed that FBI Chief Mueller was unavailable at the time the warrant was requested)
  • According to an interview with Goss, Harman was the only member of Congress briefed on water boarding whose reaction wasnot , “encouragement,” which included, “Reps Pelosi and Harman, and Sens Rockefeller and Sen. Pat Roberts.”

On the other side, the statement from the Neww York Times editor that Harman did not attempt to influence the publication of the illegal wiretap article may not be true, as Bill Keller has clarified his statements, and it appears that she contacted Washington Bureau Chief Phil Taubman regarding the matter, at the request of Michael Hayden, who keeps showing up in every bit of evil in the intelligence establishment like a demented Amway salesman.

It also means that Harman was actively working against the election of John Kerry, because if the Times had published before the election, it would likely have swung the race.

Finally, we have Jane Harman asking for the transcripts of her phone calls to be declassified and released.

Here is my older post on this, and try to figure this out.

It’s beginning to read like a John le Carré novel.

Elections Update

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Tho the surprise of no one, and to the disappointment of almost everyone, Norm Coleman has appealed the decision of the election court to the Minnesota Supreme Court. His lawyers are claiming that it’s the principal of the thing.

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, the NY-20 vote count continues apace, and it looks like Scott Murphy is picking up votes with each round.

What is interesting here is that it looks like Democratic campaigns are out-hustling Republicans on absentee ballots, which in years past, always seemed to trend Republican.

It’s a very good development.

Tedisco Murphy Tally: Racism and Law Breaking Edition

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The Tedisco campaign is objecting to student ballots, in violation of the law and established court cases, and they are striking absentee ballots of voters with “Jewish” Names, who are assumed to be Democratic voters, and many of the folks have been registered in, and voting in, the district for decades:

The Democrats plan to argue in court, citing precedent, that the votes are valid so long as voters with multiple residences don’t cast ballots in multiple places. Garry even went one step further, holding up his yellow pad and showing the names of those challenged, suggesting that Walsh was also acting with regard to ethnicity.

“Cohen, Pollack, Rosegarten, Winakor—there’s a pattern: they’re Democrats and they’re Jewish,” he said.

If you think that Jews have a home in the Republican party, you are an idiot.

Election Board Rules for Franken, Coleman Plans Appeal

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The three judge panel soundly rejected Norm Coleman’s arguments, using the term “absurd” in their opinion to describe some of his arguments, and hit his campaign with sanctions, requiring that the Coleman campaign reimburse both the election court and the Franken campaign for a portion of their legal expenses. (click image for full size)

Coleman has 10 days to appeal to the state Supreme court, and will probably use all of that time, since delay is what the ‘phants are paying for, and now everyone’s 2nd favorite Minnesota slimebag, Governor Tim Pawlenty, has signed on to the delay Franken at all costs camp, because it will help his bid to the the Republican nominee for President in 2012.

For weeks, he has said that he would sign the certification when the state courts ruled, and now he’s saying that he’s likely to wait for the federal courts, in contravention of Minnesota law.

Election Updates

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They have finished counting the 300 some odd absentee ballots in Minnesota, and Franken picked up 90 votes, which puts him ahead even if the throw out the lost ballots counted on election night, or any other scenario, except for Bush v. Gore judicial nullification, so it looks like the fat lady has sung.

In the NY-20 special election Murphy is setting up a legal fund for the clearly telegraphed legal challenges from Tedisco, hoping to get ahead of delaying tactics of the Norm Coleman variety.

Gillibrand Announces Big Fund Raising Quarter

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) raised in excess of $2.3 million since her Senate appointment.

I think that she is doing this to fend off/scare off a primary challenge from Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY-04), who is now polling ahead of her 33%-29% in the latest polls, though she is still below the magic 50% safe number for incumbents against Peter King, leading 40%-28% in the general too.

I think that Gillibrand will end up moving to the left over the next few months in order to fend of McCarthy, but time will tell.

Massive Rally in Ukraine Triggers Yuschenko Backdown on Elections

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I’m not sure how much of this is gamesmanship and how much is unrest over an economy falling at a double digit rate, but Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has now said that he is open to new elections, which is a big walk back, seeing as how he is at 3% in the former Soviet Republic.

Honestly, Ukraine needs to develop a slightly less adversarial relationship with Russia, even if they are not fond of Russians themselves, a stance which the more pragmatic (and less batsh^% insane) Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko’s chief rival understands while he does not.

Colman-Franken: The Fat Lady is Warming Up

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The election court has ruled against the Coleman campaign’s request that 1,400 absentee ballots be reviewed, instead allowing only 400 to be reviewed, many of which were stricken by the Coleman team.

With a 225 point vote gap, this comes very close to being “game over” at least in the state courts.

I think that one of the interesting subtexts here is that the ‘Phants have donated very large sums of money just to tie this up, and that Cornyn is suggesting that they will continue to refuse to seat Franken, which does not bode well for Republicans in Minnesota.

But, great googly moogly, make it stop!