It wasn’t so much a Lamont victory as a Lieberman loss. I’m sure the political blogosphere will have a lot of post-game analysis about why Lieberman lost. Much of it will no doubt suggest that Lamont won only because of the blogs (even the mainstream media has reported that angle). The "bloggers did it" meme is silly. They may have … Read More
All Eyes On Connecticut
I’ve been following the CT primaries closely, and despite an apparent surge from the incumbent this weekend, it looks like progressive newcomer Ned Lamont is going to the Dem primary over former VP candidate and Bush appeaser Joe Lieberman. The punditry on this issue is overwhelming, so I can add little to the mix. Clearly, Joe Lieberman is the first … Read More
Primary Day 2006 (Updated and Bumped)
UPDATE: Well, dear Nathan lost, getting roughly 32% of the vote, compared to Brunstetter’s 44%. He’s a two-time loser now, having lost his bid for NC Congress in 2004 (Note to Nathan: you can take down these websites after a couple of years). Name on Ballot Party Statewide Ballot Count Peter Samuel (Pete) Brunstetter REP 4,423 Nathan Tabor REP 3,167 … Read More
The Catholic Vote
Glenn Greenwald notes that part of Rove’s tactics for winning the 2004 election against Kerry was to take the Catholic vote. Rove did this in part by impugning Kerry’s catholicism, i.e., Kerry wasn’t a "good" Catholic. Part of the reprehensible tactics included parading Catholic Republicans in front of the microphones to suggest that Kerry shouldn’t receive communion because of his … Read More
Whose Government?: The Politics of “Portgate”
Bluememe, via Glenn Greenwald, deconstructs Bush’s language: Bush took the rare step of calling reporters to his conference room on Air Force One after returning from a speech in Colorado. He also stopped to talk before television cameras after he returned to the White House."I can understand why some in Congress have raised questions about whether or not our country … Read More
Church And Politics
Oy. They’re are it again. And right down the street from me: The North Carolina Republican Party asked its members this week to send their church directories to the party, drawing furious protests from local and national religious leaders. "Such a request is completely beyond the pale of what is acceptable," said the Rev. Richard Land, head of the Ethics … Read More
From the GOP Playbook
In Election 2004, Bush/Rove played the homophobia card. Bush condemned gay marriage, and that ignited homophobia from "middle America". So they voted Bush into office so that he could do nothing about gay marriage (but he did give tax cuts to upper-income American). Looks like we’re going to see the same thing again this election year. Senate Majority Leader Bill … Read More
Dems Looking Better To America
The latest poll from the Pew Research Center (PDF) is out, and as always, it provides some interesting information. Kevin Drum notes that the public is evenly split (at 48%) on the question of whether to keep troops in Iraq until it is stable vs. bringing them home as soon as possible. I, however, was struck by the advances that … Read More
Nathon Tabor Update
John Plecnik writes a piece promoting Nathan Tabor, the wingnut running for State Senate in my district. World O’Crap has some fun: Who is Nathan Tabor? We answered that on Friday. In his home state of North Carolina, Nathan is known as a self-made, small businessman who ran for congress. I believe that even in NC, Nathan is known as … Read More
Election Night 2005
First of all, am I prescient or what? Second of all, what The Talent Show says: This is a really weird election night. I’ve got this strange feeling that I can’t put my finger on. It’s not like envy, or even hungry. It sort of like funny, that’s not it because I never feel that way on election nights. For … Read More
Election 2005 Predictions
I haven’t been following this much, but I think today will be a good day for Democrats. I suspect that Kaine (D) will beat Kilgore (R) for Virginia governor (despite — or perhaps because of — Bush’s last minute joint appearance with Kilgore) Corzine (D) will defeat Forrester (R) for New Jersey mayor. And while Bloomberg (R) will remain mayor … Read More
Election 2006 Outlook
This is encouraging: Republican politicians in multiple states have recently decided not to run for Senate next year, stirring anxiety among Washington operatives about the effectiveness of the party’s recruiting efforts and whether this signals a broader decline in GOP congressional prospects. Prominent Republicans have passed up races in North Dakota and West Virginia, both GOP-leaning states with potentially vulnerable … Read More
Republicans Screw The Pooch
This news as huge ramifications for the upcoming elections. From Political Wire: As the 2006 midterm election season approaches, Political Wire has seen a copy of a new Winston Group (R) poll that shows Americans turning away from the Republican party. (There’s no link yet on the firm’s website.) Those surveyed had less confidence in Republicans to handle a wide … Read More
My, Oh My, Ohio
The special election for Ohio’s Second District House seat was a real nail-biter. A highly conservative area, it should have been a shoe-in for Republican nominee Jean Schmidt. But her Democratic opponent was a Bush-bashing Iraqi War veteran named Paul Hackett. He lost . . . barely, and there are lessons to learned. From The Left Coaster: Major Paul Hackett … Read More