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    links for 2010-10-27

    • Expressing the strongest public reservations about the conservative star made by any senior Republican figure, Mr Rove said it was unlikely that voters would regard someone starring in a reality show as presidential material.

      In two weeks, the former governor of Alaska launches a cable television series exploring her home state’s wilderness.

      “With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office’,” Mr Rove told The Daily Telegraph in an interview.

      He added that the promotional clip for Sarah Palin’s Alaska could be especially detrimental to any political campaign. It features the mother of five in the great outdoors saying: “I would rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office.”

      Mr Rove, who remains a major force on the US political scene, also implied that Mrs Palin lacked the stomach for the rigours of a presidential primary

    • Critical parts of the coalition that delivered President Obama to the White House in 2008 and gave Democrats control of Congress in 2006 are switching their allegiance to the Republicans in the final phase of the midterm Congressional elections, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
      Republicans have wiped out the advantage held by Democrats in recent election cycles among women, Roman Catholics, less affluent Americans and independents. All of those groups broke for Mr. Obama in 2008 and for Congressional Democrats when they grabbed both chambers from the Republicans four years ago, according to exit polls.

      If women choose Republicans over Democrats in House races on Tuesday, it will be the first time they have done so since exit polls began tracking the breakdown in 1982.
      ++++++
      The GOP has only Obama, Pelosi and Reid to thank.

    • He had a rough go of it last time, but Rudy Giuliani just told me at City Hall at his portrait unveiling that "the door's not closed" on the possibility of him running for president again in 2012.

      He said he won't think about anything until after the November midterm elections, and that he gets encouraged by people as he travels.

      I asked, "So the door's not closed?" and he replied, "The door's not closed."

      I'd heard from some Republican donors and insiders that he's discussed the possibility with them in recent months as well.
      ++++++
      Rudy will have a hard time winning in Iowa or South Carolina. Romney has New Hampshire locked up. But, with a split conservative base of Palin, Huckabee and Gingrich he could possibly win in Florida and California.

      So, stay tuned……

    • An intense military campaign aimed at crippling the Taliban has so far failed to inflict more than fleeting setbacks on the insurgency or put meaningful pressure on its leaders to seek peace, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials citing the latest assessments of the war in Afghanistan.
      Escalated airstrikes and special operations raids have disrupted Taliban movements and damaged local cells. But officials said that insurgents have been adept at absorbing the blows and that they appear confident that they can outlast an American troop buildup set to subside beginning next July.
      ++++++
      Well, Obama will likely pull out in July and say that he is against endless war or some other Lefty BS.
    • A series of new polls show that Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway’s now-infamous “Aqua Buddha” ad may have dramatically backfired and turned scores of wavering voters towards tea party favorite Rand Paul.

      Conway’s disapproval ratings have jumped dramatically over the past week, a trend that makes it an even steeper challenge for the state attorney general to knock off Paul in the race to succeed GOP Sen. Jim Bunning. And the sharp turn-of-events has come in the immediate aftermath of Conway gaining serious traction in the race, when he appeared to have effectively moved it into a dead heat after waging a series of attacks against Paul’s views on Medicare.
      ++++++
      Hello Senator Rand Paul

      (tags: Rand__Paul)
    • Clark County is where three quarters of Nevada's residents and live and where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's son Rory is a county commissioner. Rory is also a Democratic candidate for governor.

      Since early voting started, there have been credible reports that voting machines in Clark County, Nevada are automatically checking Harry Reid's name on the ballot:

      Voter Joyce Ferrara said when they went to vote for Republican Sharron Angle, her Democratic opponent, Sen. Harry Reid's name was already checked.

      Ferrara said she wasn't alone in her voting experience. She said her husband and several others voting at the same time all had the same thing happen.

      "Something's not right," Ferrara said. "One person that's a fluke. Two, that's strange. But several within a five minute period of time — that's wrong."
      +++++
      Time for the FBI to investigate

    • Republicans are headed for a blowout election win that seems certain to seize more than enough seats to knock out the Democrats and take control of the House.

      The Hill 2010 Midterm Election poll, surveying nearly 17,000 likely voters in 42 toss-up districts over four weeks, points to a massive Republican wave that, barring an extraordinary turnaround, will deliver crushing nationwide defeats for President Obama’s party.
      +++++++
      Read it all

      (tags: GOP democrats)
  • Barbara Boxer

    CA-Sen: Barbara Boxer Solicits Los Angeles Teachers to Obtain Student Volunteers in Violation of California Law

    The letter from the Barbara Boxer for U.S. Senate campaign

    Yes, this is a pretty egregious violation of the California Education Code and Boxer should know better. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association letter is here. (Word Doc)

    Today the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association notified the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Board of Education today that, in abject ignorance of California state law, the political campaign of Senator Barbara Boxer has openly solicited teachers employed by LAUSD to urge their students to volunteer for her campaign.

    HJTA’s letter to the school district urges LAUSD to immediately inform all its personnel, credentialed or otherwise, that it would be a clear violation of law for teachers to recruit their students on school property during school hours to volunteer for a specific political campaign.

    Pursuant to both case law and a specific provision of the California Education Code, what Boxer wants would leave LAUSD subject to both civil and potentially criminal sanctions.  Common sense should also tell her that seeking public resources and classroom time from teachers to do her political bidding is just wrong.  Barbara Boxer should know better.

    But, you see, Boxer needs Los Angeles County Democrats to turn out for her on November the 2nd or she is toast. Desperation breeds contempt of the law.

  • Carly Fiorina

    CA-Sen: Carly Fiorina to Be Released from Hospital Today

    carlyspeaking CA Sen: Update on Carly Fiorinas Health

    California Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina

    As I surmised last night, Carly will be back on the campaign trail tomorrow.

    From the press release:

    U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina’s Chief of Staff Deborah Bowker today issued the following statement:

    “Since she was admitted to the hospital yesterday morning, Carly has been successfully treated for the infection she had as a result of reconstructive surgery following her victory over breast cancer. This morning, her doctors gave her the good news that she will be released from the hospital today and can resume her busy campaign schedule tomorrow. Carly is grateful for the outpouring of well wishes and prayers from so many Californians. She is excited to get back on the campaign trail and to move forward toward a triumph over Barbara Boxer next Tuesday.”

  • Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina

    CA-Sen: Is Barbara Boxer Surging in the Polls?

    Unlikely, when you look at the sampling methods of the recent polls in a very large state as is California.

    If you follow California Senate polling closely, you have to be feeling a little bit nauseated from the roller coaster ride you’ve been on.  Some polls are showing Senator Barbara Boxer with a comfortable 9-point lead and above 50 percent, while others are showing a much closer race.  One Republican pollster even shows Fiorina ahead.

    What is going on here?  The answer is something I’ve discussed before:  Pollsters are having a devil of a time agreeing on what the electorate is going to look like

    This chart above has changed a bit with the latest Survey USA poll having been released overnight. It is here. Their current breakdown is D:42%, R:34%, I:21%.

    As you can see, the ratio of Democrats to Republican in the sample goes hand-in-glove with the size of Boxer’s edge.  More Democrats equals more Boxer votes.  In fact, the adjusted r-square is pretty nice — about .74.  These polls’ internals actually don’t disagree that much — most of them have both candidates losing about 10 percent of their respective bases, while Fiorina has a double-digit edge among independents.

    So who is right?  Well, that’s the frustrating thing — we can’t definitively say.  But we can get some sense of history here.  The following table shows the exit poll results for 2008, 2006 and 2004, as well as the present early voting numbers:

    As you can see, the pollsters showing a comfortable Boxer lead are showing electorates that are similar to 2008.  On the other hand, the pollsters who are showing a tight race see an electorate more like 2004 or 2006.

    So, what does the race and polling come down to with less than a week to go?

    As, I have said before, it comes down to turn out – who actually shows up to vote on election day. If the Republicans are motivated and all come out to vote for Carly Fiorina, Fiorina wins the independent minded voter who shows up and/or the Democratic base of ethnic voters and Labor fail to show, even a little – Fiorina wins.

    If the Democrats all show up to vote, Boxer wins. After all, it is a numbers game and the Democrats far and away out number the Republicans.

    The GOTV (Get Out the Vote) ground operations of the California GOP may very well decide this race.

  • Carly Fiorina

    CA-Sen Video: Carly Fiorina Launches New Ad: “Truthiness”

    The latest web ad from the Carly Fiorina campaign for California U.S. Senate

    From the press release:

    The Carly for California campaign today launched a new Web video titled “Truthiness” highlighting the many outlandish and unfounded claims Barbara Boxer has peddled to voters on the campaign trail in an ongoing attempt to hide the truth about her nearly three decades of failure in Washington.

    “Barbara Boxer is so desperate to save the only job she cares about – her own – she has resorted to blatant fabrications and extreme distortions of the truth,” said Carly for California Press Secretary Andrea Saul. “At a time when 2.2 million Californians are unemployed, voters aren’t looking for typical political ‘truthiness’ or empty election-year rhetoric from a career politician. Carly Fiorina, a proven leader and political outsider, won’t shirk from being held accountable or delivering results; she will go to Washington to work not for an ideology, but rather to improve the lives of the people of this state.”

    Of course, what everyone is asking this morning, is when will Carly leave the hospital and resume campaigning.

    I’ll post or tweet the information as soon as I have it.

  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day

    Day By Day October 27, 2010 – Full Burn

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Chris, wouldn’t you think President “Hope and Change” would support an expanded mission for NASA and space exploration? But, oh no, he would rather live in the present and waste taxpayer money traveling to India with an entourage.

    What a shocker?

    Not really. America did not really know Mr. “Voting Present” Obama when the “smoke and mirrors” election of 2008 took place.

    I think the only race in 2012 will be for the GOP nomination, to find the “RIGHT” candidate to defeat him.

    And, defeat him, the GOP will.

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