Midterm Elections Of 2010

The Importance Of The Alaska Senate Race: A Chance To Repudiate Sarah Palin!

Ronald Leave a comment

Who would have thought that the Alaska Senate race would become such a center of attention?

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, best described as a moderate conservative, was too lax in campaigning in the primary against Tea Party favorite Joe Miller, and lost her party’s nomination by a very small margin of votes.

Joe Miller has turned out to be a true disaster, with his outrageous views on many issues; the controversy over private security roughing up a journalist and briefly handcuffing him at a Miller public event; and Miller admitting to illegal actions at his workplace, leading to his suspension and admission to having lied!

This man is one of the worst of all of the Tea Party activists running as Republicans in this fall’s election, and while he was first in polls for a long time, he has now dropped to third place behind Murkowski, who seems to be about to achieve victory as a write in candidate, and Democrat Scott McAdams, mayor of Sitka, Alaska!

If either McAdams, who has been gaining support–or Murkowski as a write in candidate–was to defeat Miller, it would be a major victory against the Tea Party movement!

But it would also be a major blow in prestige to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who is actively considering running for President in 2012, and has backed Miller!

Palin said yesterday that Murkowski was a “liberal”, which is totally ridiculous, but shows just how far right Palin is, and how it is essential to deflate her ego and image, as a way to weaken her Presidential bid!

So either a victory for Murkowski, or for McAdams, would be a major contribution to the dignity of the US Senate, and would send a message to Sarah Palin that she should realize that the American people, based on public opinion polls, do not see her as qualified for the Presidency, and that she would effectively destroy the Republican party if she were to run–whether she became the actual nominee of the party or failed to do so!

Again, it must be said that Senator John McCain did tremendous damage to this country by selecting Palin as his running mate in 2008! We are not ready to elect a candidate as dense and stupid and clueless as Sarah Palin is!

So as the author said in a posting awhile back, Sarah, face the facts, that you are NOT qualified to be President, and just milk the ignorant part of the population with your public appearances, your books, and your cable show, and make money, but DO NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT, and embarrass yourself and the American people and undermine the potential future of this country! 🙁

The Year Of The “Wingnuts”, The “Loonies”, The “Crazies”! :(

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This midterm election year has been the most amazing of times, with so many “wingnuts”, “loonies”, and “crazies” running for public office, or candidates for re-election, and the thought that any of them might be elected or re-elected is a sign of how desperate, confused, and frustrated the people of America are!

The term “wingnut” was coined by journalist John Avlon, who has written articles and a notable book on the subject. Avlon promotes a moderate, centrist view of politics, and he is excellent at portraying the horrible politicians, many without any real qualifications, who might become our leaders, or are already our leaders!

If they do win, the American people will soon realize the errors of their ways, but it will be too late, and particularly with the Senate, we will be stuck with these characters for at least six years! 🙁

So who are the “wingnuts”, the “loonies”, the “crazies”?

Senate races–Newcomers

Rand Paul, Kentucky
Sharron Angle, Nevada
Mike Lee, Utah
Ken Buck, Colorado
Joe Miller, Alaska
Christine O’Donnell, Delaware
Linda McMahon, Connecticut
Carly Fiorina, California
Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania
John Raese, West Virginia
Ron Johnson, Wisconsin
Alvin Greene, South Carolina

Senators In Office

Jim DeMint, South Carolina
David Vitter, Louisiana
Richard Shelby, Alabama
Tom Coburn, Oklahoma

House Races

Michele Bachmann, Minnesota–in office
Virginia Foxx, North Carolina–in office
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee–in office
Ben Quayle, Arizona–newcomer
Allen West, Florida–newcomer

Governor Races–Newcomers

Rick Scott, Florida
Carl Paladino, New York
Tom Tancredo, Colorado
Tom Emmer, Minnesota
Dan Maes, Colorado

This list is partially from Avlon’s articles and book, and partly based on other reports of what these candidates or office holders have advocated or promoted, ideas which would set back American progress, or else have encouraged character assassination of President Obama with “birther” statements or claims he is “Muslim”, a “terrorist”, a “Kenyan”, and other reckless rhetoric that promotes violence, confrontation, and threatening behavior! 🙁

The author will comment on the likelihood of how many of these will be elected before Election Day next Tuesday!

Tea Party Republican “Thugs”: Supporters Of Rand Paul And Joe Miller! :(

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A disturbing trend is developing around Tea Party candidates, who have supporters and employees who are roughing up people who show up in opposition to their candidates, or are news journalists who want to ask questions of the candidate! 🙁

This has happened in the past week in the Rand Paul and Joe Miller campaigns!

A Rand Paul aide attacked, roughed up, and stepped on a woman holding a sign critical of Paul at the site of the debate in Kentucky yesterday between Paul and his Democratic opponent, Jack Conway. Paul has refused so far to come out and apologize in person, although he has issued statements of regret. Instead, he should be firing the aide for what he did! 🙁

A news reporter in Alaska was mishandled and handcuffed by private security guards employed by Joe Miller, and no apology or explanation has been offered! 🙁

Both Rand Paul and Joe Miller have been intolerant toward anyone who opposes their candidacies, and that attitude has spread to their supporters and employees, leading to these examples of reprehensible behavior!

Additionally, other candidates, such as Sharron Angle, Ken Buck, and Christine O’Donnell have evaded reporters and refused to answer questions, and some have rejected debates because of anger at criticism in the press.

This kind of arrogance, resentment, and abusive actions cannot be tolerated, and it demonstrates that the Tea Party Movement has elements in its candidates that make them unacceptable to hold high office in the Senate, so hopefully these characters will be defeated next week.

The dignity of the Senate is at stake, and it is obvious these Tea Party activists will be, if elected, “loose cannons”, who Republican leaders will come to regret, as they will not be willing to conform to the rules of the Senate, and have the potential to be a nightmare to the GOP! 🙁

This Is NOT The Time For Gay Voters To Stay Home Because Of Anger At Obama!

Ronald 1 Comment

Apparently, many gay voters are considering staying home and not casting a ballot in the Midterm Elections of 2010.

This is a big mistake, as despite disappointment at Obama for the slow pace of change on the issue of gay rights, staying home will only help the Republican party to gain more power, and they are not the party that is interested in promoting change on the issue of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military or gay marriage and other issues of importance to the gay community.

The fact that Obama’s Justice Department has challenged the district court decision on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is simply a strategic issue, as Obama has made it clear he wants that policy changed.

The problem is that Congress passed that law during the Clinton Administration, and it must be repealed by Congress to accomplish the goal of no more discrimination in the military.

If the GOP gains control in either house, the whole issue could be dropped, while Obama hopes to solve the issue during the lame duck session of Congress in November and December.

The pace of change is slow, but voting Democratic is the best way to bring about change. Failure to vote could doom the whole issue for a long time!

Conventional Wisdom On Incumbents Being In Trouble May Be Wrong!

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It has been said that this is the year that incumbents will lose seats in Congress on a large scale, but at least in the primaries, it turns out that only SEVEN incumbents have lost, which means more than 98 percent of all incumbents have won renomination!

Of course, Election Day in November could see a massive wave of incumbents losing to their challengers, but at least so far, that is NOT the trend!

Three Senators–Robert Bennett of Utah, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska,–have lost renomination, but Murkowski is running a write in campaign and is seen as running evenly with the person who defeated her in the primary–Joe Miller–, and has a good chance of being only the second person to win a Senate seat by write in votes, after Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1954!

Four Congressmen have lost–Parker Griffith of Alabama, Bob Inglis of South Carolina, Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan! This is about average in any congressional election year, occurring every even year. And this round, the losers are three Democrats and four Republicans!

So standard thoughts may just be such, and not be the action of the electorate in November! Again, we shall see, very soon!

Newsweek Poll Shows Turnaround On Support Of Obama And Democrats!

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With nine days to go to the midterm elections of 2010, suddenly a Newsweek poll shows a revival of support for Barack Obama and newly emerging enthusiasm for the Democrats! 🙂

Obama’s public opinion ratings have surged to 54 percent from the low 40s, and the generic congressional ballot shows a lead of 48 to 42 for Democrats over Republicans!

Among those who have voted early, the Democrats lead the GOP 52-42, and is evidence that Democrats may have finally reacted to the message of President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and former President Bill Clinton–that this is not an election to sit out, and allow those who brought us the Great Recession to regain control of the national government!

There are increasing signs of women, Latinos, African Americans, and young people–all of whom made a difference in 2008–starting to commit themselves to vote this year, and those are good signs for the Democrats in a very difficult economic climate!

While anything is possible next week, it may be that Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame Yankee catcher, may be correct when he uttered: “It ain’t over till it’s over!”

Will Bill Clinton Be The Savior Of The Democratic Party?

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Former President Bill Clinton, riding on a popular public opinion wave of more than 60 percent, has become the number one weapon of the Democratic Party as it tries to hold on to its majority in both houses of Congress in next week’s midterm elections!

Clinton is doing more campaigning around the country than anyone, and showing up in places in the South and Midwest where Barack Obama would be unlikely to have much impact, were he to campaign there for members and candidates in both houses of Congress.

Clinton brings a sense of good will, and a message: 21 months is not enough time to resolve issues, so give us a full four years to deal with the economic crisis before judging us and deciding to put back in power the people who brought you into the Great Recession!

This is a message that may resonate with voters, and already, there are indications that the so called “enthusiasm gap” may be narrowing, and that Democrats and independents may very well do much better than was expected a few weeks ago!

So if it all works out, we will have to salute former President Bill Clinton as the “savior” of the Democratic Party! 🙂

More Republican Hypocrisy: Attack Stimulus But Work To Gain Stimulus Funds! :(

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Republicans voted against the Economic Stimulus legislation in February 2009, and are using it as an issue against the Democrats and President Obama in the midterm elections, but yet they have worked to gain stimulus funds for their districts and states! 🙁

What total hypocrisy this is!

Among those who have done so are:

Senator John McCain of Arizona
Congressman Ron Paul of Texas
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana

So, in other words, campaign against stimulus funds and “earmarks”, but put your hand out and ask for funds to do exactly what you are working against! 🙁

How can anyone believe anything the GOP campaigns about? Can anyone honestly expect that a Republican Congress will NOT promote “earmarks” and stimulus spending if they feel it is to their benefit?

So the Republicans are saying: “Listen to what I say, not what I do!” Hypocrisy to the extreme, which should NOT be rewarded at the polls nine days from now! 🙁

Americans And Economic Reality: Emotion And Lack Of Knowledge Wins Out Over Rationality! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

The American people are poorly informed about major policy issues, as shown in public opinion polls, and many of them tend to vote, therefore, on emotion and instinct, rather than knowledge and reality.

That is certainly true about the economy. Of course, economic conditions are terrible, with growing numbers of foreclosures, and slow job creation. So people listen to propaganda that if nothing had been done by government in the past 21 months, that somehow, magically, the economy would have recovered!

That is totally preposterous, of course! The belief of many is that the government bailing out the banks, insurance companies and the auto industry is a major ripoff, that will cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, which is totally wrong, as much of it has been repaid, and the government will actually make a profit on it, despite all the propaganda!

The belief that the economic stimulus package is a failure is also a myth, as it has clearly prevented a horrible economy from becoming an even worse situation, known as the Great Depression Number Two, with much higher unemployment than the nearly ten percent we have now!

The belief that taxes have gone up is another myth, as everyone received a tax cut on their withholding, instead of an actual check from the government, but it is still a tax cut!

The fact that unemployment compensation and food stamps exist to help those in trouble is blamed for higher deficits, but is the alternative to have people starving and homeless without any income or food at all? The use of such safety nets is expected when unemployment surges!

The economic reality is that you cannot reverse damage done by the Republicans overnight! It will take YEARS, no matter if the Republicans or the Democrats control the national government, but the threat is that it will become much worse if the stated intentions of the Tea Party Movement and the Republican Party are actually put into play!

It is a certainty that if they follow through and somehow are able to overcome President Obama’s veto, which fortunately seems unlikely, that the economy will be FAR WORSE than it is now, by the time of the 2012 Presidential Election!

If that is so, the GOP will be thrown out, and again we will be on the merry go round of blame–and Barack Obama will be able to make the GOP the enemy as Harry Truman did in 1948 and Bill Clinton did in 1996!

But meanwhile, because of the refusal of the American people to understand economic reality, and to allow emotion and lack of knowledge to overcome rationality, more and more people of all backgrounds will suffer under the collapsed economy that was on its way to recovery BEFORE the midterm elections of 2010! 🙁

Average Americans Are Being Exploited By The Tea Party, Which Is Funded By The Elite Wealthy! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

The Tea Party Movement is based on anger and frustration at the power of the elite on Wall Street, and yet who is behind the movement, funding it furiously in recent days through the Chamber of Commerce, which represents powerful corporations which want to end the new regulations imposed on them by the Obama Administration? The WEALTHY CORPORATIONS THEMSELVES! 🙁

And who is running for office as Tea Party favorites, out to stoke the fires of anger against Barack Obama? THE WEALTHY from the corporate world, including those mentioned in a previous blog entry this week: Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, Carl Paladino, Rick Scott, Linda McMahon, Ron Johnson, John Raese! 🙁

Do these people have any interest in helping resolve the issues facing common folk Americans who are losing jobs and homes? Do they give a damn about the struggles of the middle class or the poor? Do they wish to resolve the issues of regulation of banks and Wall Street to prevent a future economic collapse? Do they have any concern about the health care of millions of Americans? Do they care about the struggles of college students, minorities, women, low wage workers, ordinary Americans bilked by credit card companies, and other victimized groups and individuals? NO! 🙁

Do talk show hosts such as Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and others really care about the struggles of every day life when they are multimilliionaires from backing the corporate classes? NO! 🙁

Why are so many average Americans unable to see that the enemy is those who are bankrolling the commercials and raising money to defeat all attempts at reform by a President who is trying to help them, but cannot be expected with the opposition forces that stand in his way, to succeed in 21 months, after eight years of corruption and scandals and profiteering under George W. Bush?

It may be that the only thing that will convince them is to give the plutocrats power and see how conditions become even worse than they are now! Maybe people have to be burned and punished further to get the message across that to return to the past failures and give power back to the corporations that caused this economic mess and national debt is total suicide! 🙁