Letting the GOP Stop Healthcare Reform Didn’t Make Joe Lieberman Feel Douchey Enough
- Sen. Joe Lieberman (R, bascially-CT) will campaign for Republicans in 2010 and then run for re-election in 2012 on the highly popular “with us on everything but the war” platform. (ABC News)
- Whoops! Somebody accidentally put the names of over 30 members of Congress who are under investigation by the House Ethics Committee on “The Internet.” Unfortunately, the Washington Post is also aware of this “Internet,” so they have that list now. (WaPo)
- While you were sanitizing your hands for the 83rd time of the day last night, America got its Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin! Swine flu vaccines for everyone! (CNN Political Ticker)
- Nobody in the Parks and Recreation Department in Frederick, MD, could have predicted that hanging dummies that look like dead bodies from trees, a la a lynching, might not appeal to the city’s residents. (Frederick News-Post)
- Even Stephen Colbert does not care for the Guantanamo Bay prison and the torture that goes on there. (New Security Action)
- Oh look, totally unbiased FOX News is bringing back the “death panel” lie, in case you’d thought the healthcare debate had calmed down too much. I bet Robert Gibbs will say something mean to them again! (TPM)
10/30/09 3:06 pm | | Permalink | Tags: 2010, CT-Sen, death panels, ethics, FOX News, Guantanamo Bay, Halloween, healthcare, House Ethics Committee, Joe Lieberman, Regina Benjamin, Stephen Colbert, surgeon general
GOP Candidates to Palin: Stay Away
Now that Sarah Palin has announced that she will quit the governorship of Alaska in a few weeks, some Republican candidates are hoping that she’s really quitting everything:
Republicans facing tough elections in 2010 don’t want Sarah Palin campaigning with them.
Though the soon-to-be-former Alaska governor is seen as popular with the conservative grass roots, several Republicans said she’d help them by staying home in Wasilla.
Several of these Republicans hail from districts or states carried in 2008 by President Obama, a frequent target of Palin’s criticism. Republicans must keep these districts and win others where Obama is popular if they are to gain seats next year.
GOP Rep. Lee Terry (Neb.), who squeaked out a victory despite his district’s overwhelming turnout for Obama, said he’d rather have House colleagues campaign for him than Palin.
“There’s others that I would have come in and campaign and most of them would be my colleagues in the House,” Terry said.
Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican from Northern Virginia, which is increasingly becoming Democratic territory, offered caution when asked whether he’d welcome a Palin fundraiser.
“I don’t generally need people from outside my district to do a fundraiser,” Wolf said.
Several other lawmakers indicated a wariness about accepting help from Palin, but did not want to criticize the GOP’s vice presidential candidate from last year. They said Palin could hurt them by firing up Democrats.
An unnamed GOP lawmaker representing a district that Obama carried in 2008 told The Hill that if Palin came into his district, his opponent would “probably be doing a dance of joy.”
And by the way, despite what The Hill says, Frank Wolf has been representing my home district (VA-10) in Congress since before I was born and is hardly the most vulnerable GOP Congressman.
Still, I think people like Wolf and Terry who need moderates and independents if they want to be re-elected are right to be concerned about the effect that Sarah Palin’s wingnuttery and general ignorance will have on their districts. I just don’t think their protestations will matter to Palin, whose motto since she entered the national spotlight has clearly been Country Me First.
If she can’t be stopped, I happen to like John’s idea:
Why not bring the entire freak show- Rush could emcee, Santorum and George Allen could do their greatest hits, Sanford and Ensign could come and talk about family values, then Sarah could bat clean-up and tell 70% of the district that they aren’t real Americans and like the wrong mustard.
With friends like those, who needs political enemies?
7/10/09 9:04 am | | Permalink | Tags: 2010, Frank Wolf, GOP, Lee Terry, Sarah Palin
- Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau learned the perils of the Intertubes after pictures of him groping a cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton appeared on his Facebook profile. He has privately offered Clinton one of the most awkward apologies in American history. (CNN)
- Expect to hear soon that Chris Matthews has signed a long-term contract with MSNBC to continue hosting Hardball, which would take him out of the running for the Pennsylvania Senate. Arlen Specter breathes a sigh of relief. (Politico)
- It looks like Louisiana’s 4th Congressional election (one of two that was held yesterday) will go into a recount, as Republican John Fleming leads Democrat Paul Carmouche by only 356 votes. Provisional ballots, which tend to favor Democrats, were not counted in the current totals. The district is currently held by retiring Republican Jim McCrery. If Carmouche wins, it would make up for the seat lost by indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson. (KSLA)
- Bronx Borough president Adolfo Carrion Jr. hinted on Friday that he may be tapped for Obama’s cabinet. Most speculation suggests that he will be asked to head HUD. (New Haven Independent)
12/7/08 1:50 pm | | Permalink | Tags: 2008, 2010, Adolfo Carrion, Chris Matthews, Department of Housing and Urban Development, LA-04, Obama Administration, PA-Sen, Paul Carmouche
Bush for Senate, and more
- John Cole helps Republicans understand why Obama won. Hint: it’s because of all the things Republicans screwed up. (Balloon Juice)
- Jeb Bush, who has kept a pretty low profile after leaving office as his brother destroyed the world over the past few years, is thinking about running for Senate to replace retiring Republican Mel Martinez. The former governor is still pretty popular, but I can’t imagine most people will want to put “Bush for Senate” stickers on their cars. (Politico)
- The Vatican has announced that it opposes a UN resolution that would encourage nations to decriminalize homosexuality. They use the Christian bigot stock answer that the resolution would prevent the Church from opposing same-sex marriage, but, of course, the resolution has nothing to do with gay marriage but rather condemns countries that imprison or kill homosexuals. “Sanctity of life” is apparently for heteros only. (Times of London)
- Here’s your health tip of the day: a Missouri man died of rabies this weekend, the state’s first rabies death since 1959, after being bitten by an infected animal and not seeking proper medical attention. If you get bitten by any wild animal, whether or not it appears rabid, make sure to check with a doctor. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
12/3/08 10:26 am | | Permalink | Tags: 2010, Barack Obama, Catholic Church, FL-Sen, homosexuality, Jeb Bush, John Cole, Mel Martinez, rabies
Is 60 Still Possible? and more
- First of all, your blogging overlords demand that you take this reader survey. Do it. Do it now!
- Saxby Chambliss wins reelection in what could turn out to be a landslide. So far, he’s far outperforming his Nov. 4 results. Oh well, we’ll get the bastard next time. (CNN)
- 60 Democratic Senators is officially out of reach for this Congress, but maybe not for too long. Mel Martinez (R-FL) will not seek reelection in 2010, leaving his already vulnerable seat wide open for the taking. In two years, this will be the seat to watch. (New York Times)
- In the midst of this economic disaster, some Congressmen have decided to take advantage of Barack Obama’s displeasure with the BCS and are considering opening a Congressional investigation. Basically, the BCS messed with Texas (specifically the University of Texas) and now a bipartisan cohort consisting of Congressmen Abercrombie (D-HI), Westmoreland (R-GA), Matheson (D-UT), and Simpson (R-ID) want to bring the BCS down. (MSNBC)
12/2/08 7:56 pm | | Permalink | Tags: 2008, 2010, Bowl Championship Series, FL-Sen, GA-Sen, Mel Martinez, Saxby Chambliss
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