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links for 2010-09-22
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Whitman, who opposes same-sex marriage but supports civil unions, has said she believes the governor is legally bound to defend the law passed by voters and would appeal Walker's ruling. Cooley has also said he would defend Proposition 8.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown both declined to join a challenge of the ruling.
The ads, which you can watch below, will run on cable news stations –CNN, FOX and MSNBC — in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Palm Springs markets, according to the group. They will begin airing next week.
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I don't think these ads will benefit Whitman's and Cooley's opponents as much as stir up enthusiasm for social conservative voters to go to the polls. -
Television advertising in California’s Senate race has been tame compared to the millions being spent in the governor’s race. But Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina is expected to air her first spots since the primary this week, according to several sources familiar with her latest ad purchase.
Fiorina’s Democratic opponent, Barbara Boxer, got a head start 10 days ago, first launching a positive spot and then, two days later, a scathing attack on Fiorina’s record as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard — a move that analysts saw as an indication of how close the race is.
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And, Carly will begin airing her ads this week with a $500-750K buy in the Los Angeles Market -
A new SurveyUSA poll in New York finds Andrew Cuomo (D) leads Carl Paladino in the race for governor by just nine points, 49% to 40%.
The results are similar to a Quinnipiac poll released earlier today which found Paladino just six points behind Cuomo.
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Oh My! -
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Cuomo, who had led the GOP field by thirty points for most of the year, is now leading Republican rival Carl Paladino by just six points among likely voters, an astonishing new Quinnipiac University poll shows.
Among the most surprising numbers in the survey is that 49 percent of independents prefer Paladino, compared to 43 percent for Cuomo, an inverse of the topline number.
It's the first head-to-head of the general election, and Q's first likely-voter survey.The margin of error is 3.6 percent, and Rick Lazio, who is currently the Conservative Party nominee but whose intentions are unclear, was not included in the survey.
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Voters are extremely unhappy with status quo candidates -
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hoped the defense policy bill would help make a final pre-election argument for Democrats while energizing the base on gay rights and immigration.
But what he got was a failed vote and a mix of frustration and disappointment from the people he was trying to help. The stalled defense authorization bill — one of the last major Senate votes before November’s elections — was emblematic of the Nevada senator’s struggles to cut deals with the GOP while still pleasing core Democratic constituencies.
Gay rights groups were upset that the process Reid employed may have undermined progress in repealing the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military.
Hispanic groups were disappointed that they couldn’t even get a vote on a narrow piece of comprehensive immigration reform — an amendment known as the DREAM Act that would have enabled citizenship for illegal immigrant students in exchange for military service.
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CA-Sen Video: Carly Fiorina on the Power of the Tea Party Movement in California
GOP U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina tells the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board writers and reporters what she thinks of the Tea Party MovementA number of Tea Party organizations will be coming to the aid of Carly Fiorina in the closing days of the campaign. Whether it be in direct contributions or third party independent expenditures remains to be seen.
Stay tuned…..
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GOP’s “Pledge to America” – The Governing Agenda
The national Republican Party will unveil a new “Contract with America” for 2010 named the “Pledge to America” tomorrow.
House Republican leaders will unveil a 21-page “Pledge to America” on Thursday that presents a “governing agenda” for what Republicans would do if they win control of Congress in November.
CNN obtained a copy of the document Wednesday.
The plan focuses primarily on jobs and the economy, with a short reference in the “preamble” to the party’s position on social issues.
Here is a draft copy.
Read it all.
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CA-Sen: Barbara Boxer – THE BOUNCER
Remember the House Banking Scandal in 1992?In 1992, angry about stalemated government, soaring deficits, and economic recession, the public focused its attention on check bouncing in the House of Representatives bank as a symbol of government perks, or special privileges. For 150 years the House sergeant at arms had operated a bank in the Capitol, where members could write checks based on their deposited salaries. A General Accounting Office (GAO) investigation revealed that many representatives had written checks with insufficient funds in their accounts to cover those checks, but the bank had taken no action to suspend or penalize those who bounced checks. Extensive media coverage caused the House to abolish the bank and reveal the names of more than 300 members who had bounced checks. An unusually large number of representatives chose not to run for reelection, and several other check bouncers were defeated. The bank scandal spurred the House to establish the position of director of nonlegislative services, who would serve as a general manager of financial and other administrative activities.
Well, shocker, Senator Barbara Boxer when she was in the House of Representatives was the 24th most egregious of the miscreants.
The PBS onlineNewshour summarizes the House Banking Scandal, also known as Rubbergate: “In 1992, many House members were suspected of bouncing checks from accounts they held at the so-called “House Bank” — a loose operation that allowed member of Congress to cash their checks but kept shoddy records and often were quite delayed in recording deposits or withdrawals. Although the lawmakers had broken no laws and many did not even know they were bouncing checks, several took advantage of the bank system and many voters viewed the scandal as a blatant abuse of power. Of the 296 sitting representatives and 59 former members who had overdrafted their personal accounts in the preceding 39 months, the House Ethics Committee released a list of the 24 worst abusers.”
Boxer was among the top 24 involved in the House bank scandal. On March 1, 1992 the Sacramento Bee quoted Boxer as admitting she didn’t pay enough attention to her House bank account. More specifically, that meant 143 bad checks totaling $41,417 over a three-year period that she had written on the House bank.
So, why would something dated back to the 1990’s be so important?
All of this occurred as she was preparing her first campaign for Senate; she decided to attempt to defuse the matter with humor, joking that if she did not win her party’s Senate nomination, she would form a new self-help group: ‘Born Again Bookkeepers.’
Yuk, yuk, yuk.
Clearly, she never became a born-again bookkeeper; when Barbara Boxer entered the U.S. Senate, the national debt was a little over $4 trillion. Today, it is $13.4 trillion.
Why bring up these old matters? To ensure Californians know what they may return to Washington for another six years. In her long political career, we’ve seen Boxer appear to buy endorsements, jet-set around the world to exotic resorts for “official business,” bounce checks, and there will be two more examples of embarrassing behavior to come later this week. She has yet to suffer a serious consequence for any of this.
What is different this election is the internet, the availability of communicating these abuses and a worthwhile opponent in Carly Fiorina. There will be consequences when California voters wise up and kick Senator Barbara, “The Bouncer” Boxer out of office.
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Christine O’Donnell Video: Chris Coons Has Made Some Very Anti-American Statements
Delaware GOP U.S. Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell appears on HannityYes, Democrat Chris Coons did.
Tea Party-backed Christine O’Donnell (R) took aim at New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) Tuesday night during an appearance on Fox News.
O’Donnell referenced an article Coons wrote in college in which he referred to himself as “a bearded Marxist.”
Prompted by host Sean Hannity about Coons’ years-old comment from Coons, she said, “if the media is going to attack me for statements I made in my 20s, that’s fair game. He made some very anti-American statements, apologizing for America and calling himself a bearded Marxist.”
Coons said earlier Tuesday on CNN that the reference was made in jest, calling it “a tongue-in-cheek reference to how Republicans on campus” viewed his transformation from a Young Republican to a Democrat.
Right, Chris.
Christine O’Donnell has a long way to go in this race. Can she overcome her youthful indiscretions/nuttiness with Bill Mahr?
The voters of Delaware will decide and Democrat Chris Coons is certainly not a compelling candidate. So, she has a shot.
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Day By Day September 22, 2010 – Call in the Markers
Day By Day by Chris MuirRINO (Republican in name only) markers are a good question. A few well placed questions when they first run for office should do the trick.Unfortunately in many Congressional Districts and/or for state office, big GOP machine politics prevails. Expedience of winning over the substance of the governing, you know.
New social media, Twitter, and the Tea Party Movement should keep these POLS more honest. At least voters will know their RINO proclivities BEFORE they go to the polls.
Re: the orange faux tan – notice how Rep. John Boehner, House GOP Minority Leader has suddenly gone pale.
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