Mitch McConnell

The Growing Role Of Vice President Joe Biden

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Any thought that Vice President Joe Biden, who was a major factor in the successes of the first Obama term and in his reelection efforts, might start to “disappear” after the election is effectively dormant!

Biden has been asked by President Barack Obama to head a team to come up with some kind of plan for gun regulation, which does not take away the Second Amendment, but shows a level of responsibility to protect the American people from gun maniacs, who are now able to buy large magazines of bullets and assault rifles without any regulation. If anything, the killing of volunteer firefighters outside Rochester, New York, by a crazed murderer, only adds to the tragedy of what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, and earlier this year in Colorado and too many other places, the mass death or wounding of innocent people!

But also, Biden is working behind the scenes to try to come up with a deal to avoid the “Fiscal Cliff”, and he is highly respected by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, and more importantly, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.

There is no guarantee that Biden will have a magic potion on the issue of gun control or the “Fiscal Cliff”. But the point is that he is in the game, always willing and able to help the President and the nation, and this cannot but help his potential, and likely, candidacy for the Presidency in 2016.

Biden is a man of energy, who acts much younger than his age of 70, and should not be dismissed as the heir to Barack Obama in 2016!

Republican Senate Leadership: From Howard Baker And Bob Dole To Trent Lott And Mitch McConnell

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A clear sign of the decline of the Republican Party in the Senate is the clear cut difference between earlier Republican leaders twenty to thirty years ago–Howard Baker of Tennessee and Bob Dole of Kansas—and recent Republican leadership, including Trent Lott of Mississippi and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The first two were outstanding Senators, and in many ways, statesmen, while the latter two were and are party hacks, men with an image of prejudiced, narrow minded leadership, neither destined to be regarded in history as outstanding or as statesmen.

When one looks at the Republicans in the Senate today, one can only mourn the decline of a once great party, that had real outstanding leaders and other exceptional Senators, many of them now having passed on, but part of the historic Republican tradition of men of principle, who also knew how to work across the aisle!

The Tea Party Republican Influence In The US Senate Grows, Even With Jim DeMint Leaving For Heritage Foundation

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South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, the creator of the Tea Party Caucus in the US Senate, and one of the most right wing, reactionary members of the upper chamber, is resigning to head the ultra conservative Heritage Foundation for about ten times his Senate salary, and to continue to work to purge the Senate Republicans of anyone moderate, or willing to compromise with Democrats or President Barack Obama.

The members of the Senate Republican minority considered to be Tea Party oriented include:

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Senator Mike Lee of Utah
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania

Also, new Senators joining the group include:

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona
Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas

The Tea Party Senate Republicans failed to elect the following to the Senate:

2010
Christine ODonnell of Delaware
Sharron Angle of Nevada
Ken Buck Of Colorado
Joe Miller of Alaska

2012
Todd Akin of Missouri
Richard Mourdock of Indiana
Josh Mandel of Ohio

One could say, therefore, that there are now EIGHT Senators in the group, with SEVEN others being successfully defeated in the past two Senate election periods.

One more is likely to be added, when South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley appoints someone to replace DeMint, until the next Senate elections in 2014, with a tremendous edge for that individual to keep the seat.

Potential candidates for the replacement include:

Nikki Haley herself, who has national ambitions to run for President
Congressman Tim Scott, the only black Republican, and similar to Allen West in his views and attitudes
Congressman Joe Wilson, who infamously said Barack Obama was lying in his first State of the Union address

Many might say that the Tea Party is in decline, but in reality, it is far from dead, and there are still a large number of Tea Party Republicans in the House of Representatives, making life difficult for House Speaker John Boehner.

And one can be sure that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will be having more sleepless nights, more so with DeMint able to work to make the Republican Party ever more right wing in his position as the head of the Heritage Foundation!

Any thought that the Republican Party might move toward the center of the political spectrum seems highly unlikely after this event of DeMint’s move out of the Senate!

Great Idea: Susan Collins As Senate Minority Leader In Next Congress!

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It is time, as a result of the elections, to push Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky out of the leadership of the Republican minority in the US Senate!

The person to replace him, and to give the GOP hope for change in image and substance, is Senator Susan Collins of Maine.

A rare moderate, a woman who has never missed a vote, who is a truly principled, but also rational and reasonable Republican, and of course a woman, there is no better choice for the Republican future than Susan Collins as the spokeswoman for Republican Senators.

She would be able to work with the White House, and negotiate in a fair, balanced way, and she would engender great respect on both sides of the aisle.

The old, tired leadership of Mitch McConnell is ripe for retirement, from leadership now, and hopefully from the Senate when McConnell comes up for reelection in 2014. He represents the past, not the future!

Fox News Channel Poll Shows Obama Ahead Of Romney By Five Points!

Ronald 12 Comments

Imagine this: Fox News Channel, which has been attacking Barack Obama relentlessly for years, has come out with a poll showing Obama five points ahead of Mitt Romney, 48-43!

How is Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly going to explain this?

How is Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Michael Savage and Mark Levin and Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham and Michael Reagan and Lou Dobbs and Michelle Malkin going to explain this?

How is the Tea Party Movement and the evangelical Christian Right going to explain this?

How is John Boehner and Mitch McConnell and Eric Cantor going to explain this?

How is Human Events, the Weekly Standard, The National Review, the American Conservative and NewsMax going to explain this?

How is George Will, Bill Kristol, Tony Perkins and Grover Norquist going to explain this?

The answer is that they cannot answer this—and that when one realizes that this five point lead is BEFORE the gaffe of Mitt Romney about Libya is computed, it can only mean a wider lead for Obama in the next poll!

In other words, while no one wants to say it, face the facts!

THE ELECTION IS OVER, AND BARACK OBAMA IS THE WINNER OF A SECOND TERM!

But that does not mean one should not vote, as until the vote is counted, nothing is one hundred percent, BUT it is safe to say that the election is indeed over!

Republican Congressional Leaders Back Away From Mitt Romney

Ronald 3 Comments

The reaction of Republican Congressional leaders, including John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, and John McCain is far less incendiary than Mitt Romney’s rhetoric on the Libyan tragedy, the death of the American Ambassador to that nation, in the midst of a planned attack by a minority of violent instigators.

Even Paul Ryan, the Vice Presidential running mate, has been cooler in his reaction to the events in the Middle East.

One can tell by their body language and their actual utterances that they are uncomfortable with Romney’s perceived overreaction to the tragedy.

And Ryan is now spending money to insure that he wins his Congressional seat in the First District of Wisconsin, as an insurance policy that he can keep his job in the House of Representatives, if he and Romney fail to win the election.

All the signs are there that Mitt Romney, by every utterance he makes, or his refusal at other times to give details or information, and instead to remain purposely vague, is quickly lengthening the odds against him becoming President.

No one in their right mind should put betting money on him taking the oath of office as the 45th President on January 20, 2013. At best, he will probably be relaxing at one of his many homes on that day, while Barack Obama takes on the burden of a second term that day at 12 Noon!

Missouri, Bellwether State, MAY Decide Senate Balance And Presidential Race In 2012

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Missouri, the “Show Me” state, is also the ultimate bellwether of all states in the past century.

Since 1904, the state has ALWAYS gone to the winner of the Presidency EXCEPT twice. In 1956, it voted for Adlai Stevenson over Dwight D. Eisenhower by about 4,000 votes, and the same vote margin occurred in 2008, with John McCain winning over Barack Obama.

Beyond the history of Missouri, the blunder of Todd Akin, the Tea Party and Republican nominee for the Senate talking about “legitimate rape”, has outraged not only his opponent, Senator Claire McCaskill and women across America, but also the Republican Establishment, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senator John Cornyn, head of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, as well as Karl Rove, head of the American Crossroads SuperPAC that is raising hundred of billions of dollars for the Republican Congressional and Presidential campaign.

However, Mitt Romney has not shown the same willingness to demand that Akin withdraw from the Senate race, and that may be because his running mate, Paul Ryan, cosponsored legislation to deny abortion to rape victims, by supporting “personhood” language that would make fetuses defined as “persons’ before birth.

Additionally, social conservatives are backing Akin, demonstrating the split in the GOP between them and the Establishment Republicans who see electoral disaster ahead.

As a result, the Akin controversy could do the following in November:

Throw the state and its ten electoral votes to Barack Obama, possibly replacing Wisconsin’s ten electoral votes, with the assumption that Paul Ryan might be able to carry his home state for the Republican ticket. It would make the path to victory for Barack Obama a lot easier.

Help Claire McCaskill to retain her Senate seat, and in so doing, improve the chances of the Senate staying in control of the Democrats.

Have an effect nationally on the percentage of the women’s vote that would go Democratic in Congressional districts, possibly affecting the balance of seats in the House of Representatives, and assisting the opportunity of the Democrats to regain control of the chamber.

So this mess could be the decisive turning point of the 2012 election cycle, even If Akin ultimately gets out of the Missouri Senate race. The damage may have been done already, and no chance to reverse the damage!

Barack Obama Scores A Coup On Illegal Immigration, Leaves Mitt Romney Befuddled!

Ronald 3 Comments

President Barack Obama has really scored a coup with his announcement of giving young undocumented youths a reprieve, allowing them the ability to plan their futures in America for at least two years, while hopefully there will be resolution of the issue of illegal immigration in Congress by 2014.

Obama took the country by surprise, and has totally befuddled Mitt Romney and the Republican Party.

A Bloomberg poll shows 64 percent of those polled support what Obama is doing, and 65 percent of Independents!

And conservatives Bill O’Reilly, George Will, and Bill Kristol came out in support as well, imagine that!

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he would leave it to Romney, as the titular leader of the party until November, to take a firm stand on what his view on the issue is, but here it is four days and Romney has been floundering on the issue, being his usual vague self, as he was with Bob Schieffer on Face The Nation on CBS on Sunday!

What Obama has done is the right thing to do, and strengthens him with the Hispanic and Latino vote in many states, making his chances of re-election much more likely!

It is still a reality, that the Republican Party will never win national power long term if they refuse to accept Hispanics and Latinos as a major player in future American poltiics!

If Mitt Romney Wins Presidency, A Likely Challenge From Day One By Senator Rand Paul Of Kentucky!

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If Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney somehow wins the Presidency this November, he should be forewarned that he will not automatically be the GOP nominee for re-election in 2016.

There is great discontent within the Republican Party with Mitt Romney, and what is happening now is a “shotgun marriage”, as Republicans realize he is their only hope to dislodge Barack Obama from the White House.

But with Romney’s history of moderation until recently; with his alliance with neoconservatives on foreign policy; with the evangelical Christian right uncomfortable with a Mormon nominee, and distrustful of his social conservatism being real; with his close alliance with Wall Street big banks and corporations; and with his refutation of the libertarianistic views of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, it is certain that a President Romney would have rivals in 2016, most notably the highly ambitious Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ron Paul’s heir.

Paul running would set up a new civil war in the GOP, as the Wall Street Republicans would shun him; the foreign policy neoconservatives would look on him with trepidation; and the question would arise if the social conservatives would be able to accept some of his libertarian views.

Let’s just say that Rand Paul is a nightmare to many in the national political scene, including his fellow Kentucky Senator and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will not be able to count on Paul’s support to be Minority Leader or Majority Leader of the Senate in the 113th Congress.

Like it or not, the impact of Ron Paul, and his son Rand Paul, will haunt the Republican Party for a long time to come!

The Republican War On America Since Obama Became President

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In the three years since Barack Obama became President in January 2009, the Republican Party has done everything possible to make Barack Obama “a one term President”, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared in 2009.

They have been proud of their efforts, so it is time to show how they have worked against the interests of the American people as they have fought against Obama and his initiatives.

MoveOn.org has made up a list of the “wars” waged by the GOP, and they are worthy to note.

The Republicans have waged war against the reproductive rights of women.They have declared war on child labor laws, unions and collective bargaining rights; war against marriage equality for gay men and women; war on science, the environment, and public health; war on education; war on historical truth, promoting mythological revisionism; war on immigrants; war on the Islamic world; war on the right to vote; war on racial desegregation; war on National Public Radio and PBS; and finally, war on Barack Obama, claiming he is born in Kenya, is a Muslim, is a Socialist, is a Fascist, and other lies and deceptions to vilify a President worse than anyone since Abraham Lincoln, including even a much vilified President, Richard Nixon.

With this record, they want us to give them power to go backwards on so many social areas, economic policy, and foreign policy. Forward looking people cannot allow this to happen!