Go Read Rob on Jackson Jr’s Comment
ArchPundit
Misusing the pardon was expected by the Founders
Why do Republicans hate the Constitution?
Democrats Make a Play for Hastert Seat
Democrats Make a Play for Hastert Seat June 28, 2007 By Nicole Duran, Roll Call Staff It would be difficult to find a Republican, or Democrat, in Washington, D.C., or Illinois who thinks former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) will seek a 12th term next year. Even with the tantalizing prospect of an open seat dangling in front of both parties, Democrats seem to be the only ones mobilizing. "I think it speaks to the real appetite for change in the district and the frustration on the part of voters that not much is being done in Washington," said Thomas Bowen, campaign manager for physicist Bill Foster (D). Foster already has a team in place, dropped his first mailing and declared this week that he intends to spend $1 million of his own money to secure the 14th district Democratic nomination and another $1 million if he makes it to the general election. But he will not have the Democratic field to himself.
Read More
DCCC Targets Kirk and NRCC Adds Kirk to Program to Aid Incumbents
Wilmette, IL– The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced yesterday that it will be targeting Congressman Mark Kirk with a series of ads focusing on his continued support for the President and his failed Iraq war policies. Mr. Kirk’s office attacked Dan Seals yesterday in response to the activity by the DCCC.
Mark Walker, a member of the Northwest Suburban Veterans Advisory Council, stated that, “It is too bad the needs of veterans have become political footballs, and personal attacks on candidates have already begun.”
He continued, “We all should be working together to meet these needs. Dan Seals has shown a direct and personal interest in Veterans’ issues, and has asked for input from local veterans, specifically on benefits for veterans and their families, healthcare, the VA claims process, and PTSD challenges. He has shown a sophisticated understanding of funding and budgeting shortfalls for veterans at the national level.”
Meanwhile, the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) added Congressman Kirk to a list of their most vulnerable incumbents. By adding Mr. Kirk to the ROMP (Regain Our Majority Program), it’s an acknowledgement of his vulnerability and the competitive nature of the race taking shape for 2008.
View the press release from the DCCC at: http://www.dccc.org/news/headlines/Dems_prepare_attack_ad_GOP_targets06282007/
View the DCCC video at youtube.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZl1y6K5FkM&mode=user&search
View the press release from NRCC: http://www.nrcc.org/news/view_article.asp?id=274
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/JZl1y6K5FkM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Happy 4th of July
I’m Not Angry About Libby
I’m just numb at this point. Not everyone is
He’s Saving Us Per Diem
Fritchey reports in from London:
Having spent the last six days in London, I figure that it’s time to share my thoughts on a few random different topics, the first of which being to preemptively answer why I didn’t postpone my trip in order to remain in Springfield, as well as my thoughts on the upcoming special sessions (which experience has shown me are never that special).Had I thought that anything substantive was going to occur requiring me to postpone my trip, I would have done so. But the last couple of months of (in)activity in Springfield left me relatively confident that nothing of consequence was on the verge of happening. For better or worse, it appears I was right.
And no the title isn’t a shot at Fritchey. He has some good analysis below.
Just Ran Across These Comments
===This is absurd. I will eat my computer if the Republicans lose 30 seats in the House and the safe money says they retain the Senate. John Kerry guaranteed at least 4 points across the board when he demeaned our fine men and women in uniform. But he’s been doing that for 35 years now.
==Look for Republicans to make huge advances in the next week… polls are already showing a Republican surge as the economy races further ahead (Oil at record lows and the Dow blowing past 12,000). The Dems were never as far ahead as the polls indicated as the samples were skewed over and above the normal 5-6 pct. Dem bias.
Those are from a resident troll last summer and fall who disappeared after November 4th. We hope that it wasn’t from heavy metal poisoning while ingesting his computer.
Usually
Campaigns with lots of small donors brag about it to cover up disappointing results.
Plouffe brings up the the basic points about polling this far out. He forgot one example though from 2004.
September 2003–5 1/2 months from election day
Hynes 10
Hull 9
Obama 8
Chico 7
Pappas not included
January 2004 2 months out
Hynes 14
Obama 14
Pappas 14
Hull 10
Survey USA January
Hynes 20
Obama 19
Hull 19
Pappas 18
Survey USA February
Hull 29
Hynes 19
Obama 19
Pappas 14
I was wrong on two counts during that race. First, I thought it would be a turnout race on election day. It wasn’t. Obama blew the field away. Second, I argued that Hull would be in a close race with Hynes and Obama at the end. With the shape of this primary season, money is going to be vital for Florida and then February 5th–more than in any other year. The ability to ramp up fundraising for those without a lot of money early on is going to be a real problem for those contests. Obama and Clinton clearly will have the resources, but not only will Edwards or any other candidate have to do well, they’ll have to run the table to get the free media they will need to compete while getting their fundraising in gear.
Few are paying attention right now. As we get into the fall and October and November, Obama will need to be increasing his numbers then, but for now, the fight is over organization and dollars–something he has put together before.
Missing Jim
Jim Capozzola passed away tonight. He wrote Rittenhouse Review and back when blogging was just beginning he wrote one of the most important pieces on the DC Press corps. You probably haven’t read it, but if you read Atrios, Markos, Yglesias, etc., on the DC press, Jim is the guy that crystallized in many of our minds what is deeply wrong with that city. Jim was one of the first people to link to me outside of the small bunch of Illinois blogs as I recall. He linked to me back before December of 2002 and was a major source of traffic for me in 2003
We only traded a few e-mails over the years, but he was always funny. His health had been declining and I forgot to spin by as often in the last year, but he was a fantastic and funny writer who I will miss.
Rule of Law
A phrase that should never come out of anyone’s mouth who supports this move
When is that accountability moment coming?
I Believe We Now Have a Name for This Overtime Session
Fuck me? Fuck me? No, FUCK YOU!