links for 2009-11-24

Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, has blamed Barack Obama and the United States for the decline in British public support for the war in Afghanistan.
Mr Ainsworth took the unprecedented step of publicly criticising the US President and his delays in sending more troops to bolster the mission against the Taliban.

A “period of hiatus” in Washington – and a lack of clear direction – had made it harder for ministers to persuade the British public to go on backing the Afghan mission in the face of a rising death toll, he said.

My next question focused on judges, since, as a U.S. Senator, she would not only vote on U.S. Supreme Court nominees, but have a hand in selecting or blocking federal judicial candidates in California.

I asked her what she would look for in prospective California nominees for the district courts and appellate courts.

"We need judges who interpret the Constitution, not who legislate from the bench," Fiorina said. "I would favor judge in the mold of [U.S. Supreme Court Justices [John Roberts and Samuel Alito."

Fiorina as critical of Boxer for blocking the judicial nominations of former congressmen Chris Cox annd Jim Rogan, saying we "shouldn't impose litmus tests, but instead look at qualifications."

"My dad was appointed by Richard Nixon to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. I think that will give you some idea of how my views on the judiciary."
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Matt conducted a good interview with good answers by Carly Fiorina. She discussed the federal judiciary, abortion, trade and taxes.

Carly Fiorina’s conservatism notwithstanding, Chuck DeVore is bound and determined to make the contest for the opportunity to defeat perhaps the most partisan U.S. Senator one between a conservative and liberal Republican. To do that, his campaign has had to twist the former HP CEO’s positions so they match those of Dede Scozzafava.

Only problem is that the Carly has made clear she opposes many of the policies DeVore says she supports. In a press release yesterday, his campaign said, “Carly Fiorina supported the Obama stimulus.” In fact, she made her opposition to that budget-busting boondoggle crystal clear. He says she can’t decide whether or not “she opposes cap-and-tax.” The week she announced for U.S. Senate, she called the bill a “job killer for small businesses [and] farmers.” Last week, she repeated this description of the legislation on the Kudlow Report, saying she would not vote for the bill.

A new Zogby IVR poll finds Rudy Giuliani (R) just edging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in a potential 2010 match up, 45% to 43%.

In another potential match-up, Gillibrand holds a slight lead over former Gov. George Pataki (R), 43% to 38%.

If they were to face off in a Republican primary, likely voters would pick Giuliani over Pataki, 72% to 28%.

According to the government's broadest measure of unemployment, some 17.5 percent are either without a job entirely or underemployed. The so-called U-6 number is at the highest rate since becoming an official labor statistic in 1994.

The number dwarfs the statistic most people pay attention to—the U-3 rate—which most recently showed unemployment at 10.2 percent for October, the highest it has been since June 1983.

The difference is that what is traditionally referred to as the "unemployment rate" only measures those out of work who are still looking for jobs. Discouraged workers who have quit trying to find a job, as well as those working part-time but looking for full-time work or who are otherwise underemployed, count in the U-6 rate.

With such a large portion of Americans experiencing employment struggles, economists worry that an extended period of slow or flat growth lies ahead.

One of the things that emerged from that was this comment about your primary against Chuck DeVore. You made a remark that you are a better candidate in part because Sen. Boxer has beaten white men before. He’s responded to that, but I’m wondering if you could elaborate what you meant by that.

There are some things that are very similar between Chuck DeVore and I. We share many conservative values. I have a very different set of experiences than Chuck DeVore has. I’m not from the political world. I’m a business person. I’ve traveled around the world. So I just bring a different set of experiences to Washington than he would. And I talked about all of that, but I also made the comment that Barbara Boxer as a candidate has in many ways taken the women’s vote for granted in all of her bids for election or re-election. And as a woman candidate, she will not be able to do that running against me. I think that’s important to an ability to beat her.

Mike Murphy, the blunt-spoken, sharp-tongued, smart aleck Republican strategist who has advised such clients as John McCain, Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is joining Meg Whitman’s campaign for governor, two reliable sources told Calbuzz.

Whitman, who has already spent more than $20 milllion, decided to shake up her campaign on Friday, Nov. 13, one source told us, and add another layer to her consultant-rich organization.

Murphy is widely known in the business for his skill in dealing with the media, which could help eMeg’s dreadful relations with much of the California press; although she has enjoyed a host of often fawning profiles in national publications, she has strained relations with many of the state’s major media outlets. Most recently, the Wall Street Journal described her “thin skinned” attitude towards the press, a charge she answered by saying many of the newspapers seeking access to her would soon be out of business.

Comes the news that Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore of the 3rd district of Kansas is not running for reelection. Interesting. Congressman Moore was reelected by a 56%-40% margin in 2008, and Barack Obama carried his district 51%-48%, while losing the other three congressional districts in Kansas.

There could be many plausible reasons for Moore to retire from Congress. He turns 65 in 2010 and at the end of his term will have served 12 years in Congress. He served 12 years as Johnson County District Attorney in 1976-88, and so he’s devoted more than half his working lifetime to public service. Serving in Congress means having to go back and forth between your district and Washington all the time (and a quick look at a travel website shows only two flights per day between Reagan National and Kansas City International), constantly being reachable by your constituents, etc., etc.

All that said, this still seems an ominous sign for congressional Democrats.

President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he's called "a war of necessity" in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy.

Obama is expected to announce his long-awaited decision on Dec. 1, followed by meetings on Capitol Hill aimed at winning congressional support amid opposition by some Democrats who are worried about the strain on the U.S. Treasury and whether Afghanistan has become a quagmire, the officials said.