links for 2010-01-10

A candidate whose aides were prepared to block him from becoming president. A wife whose virtuous image was a mirage. A mistress with a video camera. In an excerpt from the new book Game Change—their sweeping account of the 2008 campaign—the authors reveal that, inside the Edwards triangle, nothing was too crazy to be true.
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@LizMair calls this piece the most unflattering profile of people in politics she has ever read.

Agreed

Campbell has had his problems in the past with GOP voters outside his Peninsula-Silicon Valley political homeland because his reputation as a pro-choice, gay rights moderate doesn’t square with the party’s conservative base.

In 1992, Campbell lost a primary campaign for the U.S. Senate nomination to Bruce Herschensohn, a conservative political commentator. He won the GOP nomination for the Senate in 2000, under a since-eliminated rule that allowed registered voters to cast ballots for anyone in the primary, even members of other parties.

The rule helped moderates like Campbell get through their primaries, but it didn’t do him any good in November 2000, when he lost in a landslide to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

(Emphasis mine)…

Clearly, Campbell seems woefully out of touch with primary voters. The notion that he could successfully switch and run for the U.S. Senate seems to be nothing more than a ridiculous long shot.
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Carly Fiorina will beat both DeVore and Campbell

In the days leading up to an interview with ABC News’ Charlie Gibson, aides were worried with Ms. Palin’s grasp of facts. She couldn’t explain why North and South Korea were separate nations and she did not know what the Federal Reserve did. She also said she believed Saddam Hussein attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
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I, somehow doubt this one. Please.

Sarah Palin is pushing back against the blistering account of her campaign in "Game Change," the hotly awaited campaign book by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.

Her spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, said in a statement: "The Governor's descriptions of these events are found in her book, 'Going Rogue.' Her descriptions are accurate. She was there. These reporters were not."

The statement was provided to CBS's "60 Minutes,” which includes material about the former Alaska governor in a segment about “Game Change.” Correspondent Anderson Cooper interviewed Steve Schmidt, top strategist on the McCain-Palin campaign, who said a campaign aide preparing her for the debate with Joe Biden “told us the debate was going to be a debacle of historic and epic proportions.”

“She was not focused … not engaged,” Schmidt told Cooper. “She was not really participating in the prep.” Schmidt confronted Palin and, he said, “She said, ‘You know, I think that's right.’”
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No love lost between these two

The chairman of the Republican National Committee called Sunday for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to step down as Majority Leader in the wake of revelations that he used the term "Negro" when discussing President Barack Obama's 2008 candidacy.

"I think he should, if the standard is the one set by [Trent Lott]," Steele said on "Fox News Sunday" when asked if Reid should resign his post.
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Harry Reid is sinking fast to win re-election in November.