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    links for 2009-10-06

    • President Obama yesterday rolled out the red carpet — and handed out doctors' white coats as well, just so nobody missed his hard-sell health-care message.

      In a heavy-handed attempt at reviving support for health-care reform, the White House orchestrated a massive photo op to buttress its claim that front-line physicians support Obama.
      ++++++
      How stupid is this?

      (tags: Obamacare)
    • Former New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) leads Rep. Paul Hodes (D) by seven points, according to a new survey, giving the GOP hope of holding on to a seat it once openly worried about losing.

      Ayotte is the choice of 40 percent of voters in the University of New Hampshire’s Granite Poll, sponsored by WMUR-TV, while 33 percent pick Hodes.

      Hodes leads two other Republicans — attorney and former gubernatorial nominee Ovide Lamontagne and Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney — by nine points.

      (tags: Kelly_Ayotte)
    • The decline in President Obama's poll numbers — and those of his party — over the first eight months of his administration has led to a bumper crop of Republican recruits in the House as GOP candidates who sat on the sidelines for the last two election cycles are now leaping at the opportunity to run.

      The latest example of this environmental recruiting is in Nevada's 3rd district where former state senator Joe Heck (R) will announce today that he is abandoning his gubernatorial bid to pursue a race against freshman Rep. Dina Titus (D) in 2010.

      "The Republicans are starting to become resurgent," said Heck.
      Early returns are promising for Republicans. The Cook Political Report counts 72 Democratic-held seats as marginally competitive as compared to just 35 Republican-held districts while Stu Rothenberg pegs the playing field at 31 competitive Democratic seats and 17 competitive Republican seats.
      +++++++
      Good news for the GOP.

      (tags: GOP)
    • The state is looking into backup procedures in case the standard execution techniques fail, as they did on Sept. 15, when technicians at the state prison in Lucasville tried for over two hours to maintain an intravenous connection in order to inject Romell Broom with lethal drugs for the abduction, rape and murder of a teenage girl in 1984. A hearing to consider whether Mr. Broom can be executed in conformity with constitutional requirements is scheduled for Nov. 30.

      “More research and evaluation of backup or alternative procedures is necessary before one or more can be selected,” Mr. Strickland said in his order.
      +++++++
      Lethal injection is becoming a deterrent to capital punishment. How about going back to hanging or the gas chamber?

    • Furthermore, the American Medical Association (AMA) has endorsed the public option after an appeal from the President and despite, according to ABC News, the fact that “some member physicians at the group’s annual meeting [in June] likened the notion to communism.”

      Beverly Gossage, Research Fellow for Show-Me Institute and founder of HSA Benefits Consulting wondered which insurance companies rejected the most claims. She found her answer in the AMA’s own 2008 National Health Insurer Report Card. The chart below appears on page 5 of the 16-page report.

  • Cheryl Burke,  Tom Delay

    Tom Delay to Withdraw from Dancing With the Stars

    Former GOP House Majority Leader Tom Delay dances with Cheryl Burke on ABC TV’s Dancing With the Stars

    Well, Delay has stress fractures in both feet.

    Sources tell PEOPLE that the former Republican House Majority Leader will withdraw from Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday’s live results show due to stress fractures in both of his feet.

    DeLay was advised by doctors and the show’s producers not to perform on Monday’s show, but decided to go ahead with his samba with partner Cheryl Burke, saying on the broadcast, “What’s a little pain when we can party?”

    And, why would Delay want to quit when his partner, Cheryl Burke, is the hottest dancer in the whole-wide world?

    The pain must be unbearable.


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  • Beau Biden,  Joe Biden,  Mike Castle

    Delaware GOP Congressman Mike Castle to Run for United States Senate in 2010

    Delaware’s Congressman Mike Castle and the Congressional Delegation join the Air National Guard for the Groundbreaking of their Network Warfare Squadron Building in New Castle

    Republican Congressman Mike Castle will be running for the United States Senate in Delaware.

    Rep. Mike Castle (R), a fixture of Delaware politics and a prominent centrist in the House, will announce Tuesday that he is running for an open Senate seat in 2010 — a victory for Republican strategists in a Democratic-leaning state where Castle has been politically dominant.

    Looks like a full court press by the National Republican Senatorial Committee to challenge the Democrats’ super-majority in the United States Senate. This seat was previously occupied by Vice President Joe Biden and Castle’s likely Democrat opponent is Biden’s son, Beau.

    More on the race from Jim Geraghty.

    Update:

    NRSC Chairman Cornyn’s Statement On Rep. Mike Castle’s Senate Candidacy

    Today, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), issued the following statement in response to U.S. Representative Mike Castle (R-DE) officially announcing his bid for the U.S. Senate:

    “Mike Castle’s announcement today instantly transforms Delaware into one of the most competitive Senate races in the country in 2010. As an independent and experienced statesman who has earned the respect of Republicans and Democrats alike, Congressman Castle has a proven record of representing the people of Delaware in a bipartisan fashion, and we are thrilled that he has decided to take this next step toward extending his career of public service in the United States Senate. The NRSC will ensure that Mike Castle has all the necessary resources to win this seat next November.”


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  • Afghanistan,  Barack Obama,  John McCain

    Senator John McCain’s Advice to President Obama on Afghanistan War: SURGE

    Senator John McCain on The Today Show this morning

    Linkage of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and more troops are among the recommendations to the President.

    Sen. John McCain says Obama administration policy decisions in Afghanistan shouldn’t be based on viewing the insurgent Taliban and the al-Qaida terrorist network as separate and distinct issues.

    Interviewed Tuesday morning on NBC’s “Today” program, the Arizona Republican said, “You can’t separate the two. … If the Taliban returns, they will work with al-Qaida. It’s just a historical fact.”

    McCain is among a host of key congressional leaders slated to meet later Tuesday at the White House with President Barack Obama. The administration is debating what changes may be necessary in Afghan war-fighting policy amid increasing violence and a call by the U.S. commanding general for thousands of additional fighting forces.

    McCain’s recommendations will carry weight and an Obama divergence will heighten the partisan divide on war and peace.


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  • Day By Day,  Sarah Palin

    Day By Day by Chris Muir October 6, 2009 – Austin Powers Was Right



    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Chris, it looks like the trashing of Sarah Palin continues with a guilt by association once removed with her soon to be released book’s ghost writer, Lynn Vincent.

    But, what is with the name calling?

    In the video clip below (from Meet the Press) even Mike Murphy, certainly not a fan of Sarah Palin is exasperated with Rachel Maddow, who should not be throwing any stones.

    Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

    Go to around 7:50 of the above video for the discussion of Sarah Palin’s ghost writer and white supremacy associations

    Here is the transcript from Meet the Press:

    MR. MURPHY:  Yeah.  No, no, look, she has a constituency.  She’ll never be the nominee, I totally agree with David.  I agree with Steve Schmidt, it would be actually a disaster if she was the nominee.  I do wish my friend Steve felt that a year ago when a lot of people were asking John McCain to put her on the ticket.  But the truth is–and I’m going to agree with David here, too–the noisiest parts of kind of the conservative media machine have far less influence than the mainstream media machine that covers the Republican world thinks they do.  These radio guys can’t deliver a pizza, let alone a nomination.  And you can case study that out in the last election.  So I–the question is whether or not our party will learn, when we have a pretty good midterm victory due to Obama’s mistakes this time, that turning up the volume is not the reason that we’re going to do well, I believe, in the midterms. And the fact is to get all the way, there are a lot of things we have to do to modernize conservativism to be successful.

    MS. MADDOW:  I, I do think that there’s a little bit of reckoning that needs to happen on the right for Sarah Palin’s success.  I mean, she was the vice presidential nominee, she is going to sell a kazillion books and she is the biggest brand name in Republican politics still right now.  And she’s chose–the person who’s writing her book, her last–the last person who she co-authored a book with was called “Donkey Cons” and it was co-authored with a guy who’s widely believed to be and I believe him to be a white supremacist. So she’s chosen Lynn Vincent, who’s written a book with a white supremacist, to write her book, and she’s the biggest name in Republican politics.

    MR. MURPHY:  Oh, but, Rachel…

    MS. MADDOW:  And you can dismiss her and say she’s not going to be the nominee, but I do think the right needs to sort of answer for what’s happened to conservatism.

    MR. MURPHY:  But let me just say, I am a well-documented nonfan of Sarah Palin, at least as a national politician.  I don’t know her personally.  But that’s guilt by association stuff.  That’s the cable stuff.  That’s the problem.

    MS. MADDOW:  But why would you–you can pick anybody to be your ghostwriter.

    MR. MURPHY:  Sarah Palin’s a lot of things, but she’s not a white supremacist.  And…

    MS. MADDOW:  You could–no, I don’t think she is.  But when you can pick anybody, why would she pick somebody who’s associated with the League of the South, who said that Americans are revolted by the idea of having a black sister-in-law.  I mean, she–this is who she picked to write her book.

    MR. MURPHY:  Yeah, but there’s…

    MS. MADDOW:  Why do you do that?

    MR. MURPHY:  That’s sort of guilt by association stuff, which I don’t know and it can–I–check it out.

    MS. MADDOW:  It’s guilt by choice.  It’s guilt by choice.

    GREGORY:  OK.

    MR. MURPHY:  It is, is so, so not important to the central questions in the country right now.  But that’s what cable TV has become, so I…

    MS. MADDOW:  Sarah Palin’s popularity is a central question in the Republican Party right now.

    GREGORY:  Quickly, E.J.

    MS. MADDOW:  And you can make fun of her, but it doesn’t make it go away.

    MR. DIONNE:  Forget guilt by association.  Governor Rick Perry may win a Republican primary because he talked about secession.  You haven’t had somebody win an election on secession since 1858.

    MR. MURPHY:  Yeah.  E.J., I can tell you…

    MR. DIONNE:  There’s a radical strain in the Republican Party.  It’s not guilt by association, it’s right out there.

    MR. MURPHY:  Yeah, but look…

    GREGORY:  All right, final thought here, Mike.

    MR. MURPHY:  Professional political consultant, that one line which you’re deducing a complete definition of Perry from, who I oppose in that primary, is not the reason he’s going to win.

    GREGORY:  All right, we’re going to have to leave it there.

    This morning on the Early Today show there was another reference to Palin and ridiculed a celebrity auction of a Palin autographed Play Station.

    What is with NBC News perverted fascination with Sarah Palin?

     It is becoming pathological as is Charles Johnson’s with Robert Stacy McCain.

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