2 Count ‘em 2 New Episodes of JoinCrossTV
ArchPundit
3 Gives some good information on how the HRO came to be and 4 is the plea for what they are aiming to do. Click on the ad to the Right!
2004
More Numbers
Blagojevich is ridind decently, but not as high as previously with an 8 % Excellent rating and 45% Good rating for overall approval of 53%. 36% Fair, 6% Poor and 7% don’t know. Over all pretty good, though not as strong as he once was.
Finally, in probably the most surprising bit:
Would you favor or oppose placing limits on the amount of money a person can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits for pain and suffering in Illinois?
FAVOR 36%
OPPOSE 55%
NOT SURE 9%
I’m wondering if the issue is framed the way most people think about it and if the wording might have confused people, or it could be that people don’t see pain and suffering damages as the cause of the problem.
Polling Fun
In comments a bunch of folks are asking questions about what is going on with polling this year. The best place to check out the polling issues is Donkey Rising which offers some good coverage of this cycles polling.
And Greg Blankenship suggests one should be skeptical of polling which is true–especially of any single poll. I have two big days coming up this week, but I hope to do a series on polling and how to intelligently consume them without getting too up or too down. I think the one safe result we have regardless is that Alan Keyes couldn’t be sinking any faster than if you tied him to a boulder and threw him in Lake Michigan–something I’m pretty sure a few folks have considered.
That said, Leader Loopers come to his defense: (passed along from Tim Sasse in mail)
I believe that the recently published “polls” that were referenced in the title of this thread are skewed, biased deceptions perpetrated on us to tamp down the sizable and enthusiastic Amb. Keyes vote.
I have to tell you that down here in Southern Illinois, the Amb. Keyes is catching fire and building a huge bulwark of support the likes of which I have never seen before in this state.
I believe that Dr. Keyes? support is growing with each passing week and I have heard rumors of internal polls showing the Amb. Keyes pulling within the margin of error of the opponent. These true and accurate polls that I have heard show the Amb. Keyes overtaking the opponent sometime in the next couple of weeks and riding this glorious momentum to power in Nov.
Renewal with Keyes in 04 and Beyond.
That’s delusional.
Here is the silver lining: I believe that this move
indicates some very favorable internal polling that I
have been hearing about for the Amb. Keyes. I have
heard from several sources that internal polls show
the Amb. Keyes as pulling within the margin of error
and gaining momentum fast. Therefore the campaign
probably recognized that the kind of outreach that
Fran was brought on to organize was largely already
achieved and thus unnecessary at this time.Amb. Keyes is coming on strong people and it is only a
matter of time before he overtakes his opponent.
Don?t pay attention to those skewed ludicrous and
liberal polls, Keyes is building a huge bulwark of
support and is going to be virtually unstoppable by
Nov.
Statehouse Shooting
Rich Miller has the breaking news
Looks like a robber fleeing the crime scene went to the State Capitol. You know, where there’s a lot of security.
Anticipation Builds for Keyes
As the press tries to figure out how to bait him next (a good thing given the race is a farce), but the Leader has a different idea:
Much has been written about Alan Keyes. We owe it to ourselves, as inheritors of that noble title, ?American citizen? to see for ourselves whether this man is what others say he is. Let Alan Keyes and his issues speak for themselves. Join us for breakfast or for a run, but only if you are ready to be challenged, informed and encouraged by a man of principle.
Drum on the Memos
Kevin Drum tracked down a lot of the early leads on Bush’s guard service and given the just released apology from CBS/Rather, he has this interesting statement:
I really want to hear this story. I talked with Burkett at length back in February, and speaking as someone who believes his story about Bush’s files being purged, I still wouldn’t trust him for a second if he suddenly produced a bunch of never-before-seen memos out of nowhere. If he really is CBS’s “unimpeachable source,” they’ve got some very serious problems with their news judgment.
So congrats to CBS for infuriating everyone.
Keyes on WYLL
His inner Marvin The Martian comes out here (MP3)
Here’s Obama’s last appearance on Air America. Franken does a spot on impersonation of Keyes that is only funnier after hearing the above.
Proft on WYLL
From what I heard of him and Patrick O’Malley, the entire argument was that because a majority of pro-life voters were backing Obama, they just didn’t have enough information–ignoring that abortion is clearly the line in this campaign and discounting the notion that, just maybe, some pro-life folks vote along other issues. O’Malley then took some shots at Jim Edgar for not doing enough. Call it foreshadowing for the Governor’s race in 2006 where O’Malley seems to be lighting the fire already.
Soros, Barack And Abu Ghraib
Berkowitz joins in with Lynn Sweet complaining about the Obama team not being forthright enough about outstate fundraising–Jeff adds in complaints about policy information–though I’ve heard and in a couple small cases experienced very different response time everyone can see what he has to say. The outstate fundraising issue is one of those issues that the public doesn’t care about, though I think all campaigns should be better about it. Ultimately, campaigns want to stay in control of their message and questions regarding outstate events takes away from that.
However, let me take issue with Jeff over this quote:
Robert Bluey writes, “Obama, however, is different from most Democrats because of his willingness to embrace the controversial Soros. Shortly after Soros equated the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Obama joined him for a New York fund-raiser [on] June 7, 2004.” See CNSnews.com, June 27, 2004
Now did Soros equate Abu Ghraib and September 11th? Yes, but not in anyway like is implied above. The above implication assumes Soros indicates the two incidents were of the same moral standing–which is not what Soros said.
Here is what Soros did say:
So for about 18 months the critical process, which is so essential to a democracy, was stifled. And it is only when things started going wrong in Iraq that it was re-opened. I think that the picture of torture in Abu Ghraib, in Saddam’s prison, was the moment of truth for us, because this is not what this nation stands for.
I think that those pictures hit us the same way as the terrorist attack itself, not quite with the same force because in the terrorist attack we were the victims. In the pictures we were the perpetrators, others were the victims. But, there is, I’m afraid, a direct connection between those two events, because the way President Bush conducted the war on terror converted us from victims into perpetrators.
This is a very tough thing to say, but the fact is that the war on terror as conducted by this administration has claimed more innocent victims than the original attack itself.
What is being compared is how the US’s higher standards of morality are challenging US citizens when they see such acts being undertaken by the US Soldiers. It is because the US has higher standards of morality than Al Qaeda that it had a similar effect.
The next line is true, though certainly whether it is better in the long run is a question many would debate.
More importantly though, the only “radical” view that Soros seems to have concerns drug legalization, but people continue to spread the story that he is some sort of fringe political character.
That Pesky Record of Bringing Money to the District
From the Daily Herald:
Crane’s campaign manager, Dennis O’Sullivan, calls it “petty” and a sign Bean’s campaign is “grasping at straws because they know they are going to lose.”
He objects to Bean’s constant characterization of Crane as a ineffective congressman, noting his record for snagging federal dollars to fund local projects.
Yeah, like the Superfund site that has been waiting 22 years
In 1982 the Environmental Protection Agency identified the Wauconda Sand and Gravel landfill as a toxic waste dump that should be cleaned as soon as funds become available. But 22 years later, there has been no clean-up and the poison has spread. Residents blame the lack of action on long-time Congressman Phil Crane for not applying pressure on the E.P.A.