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Subscribe to RSSThe Washington Post: “House and Senate candidates have already shattered fundraising records for a midterm election and are on their way to surpassing $2 billion in spending for the first time, according to new campaign finance data. To put it another way: That's the equivalent of about $4 million for every congressional seat up for grabs this year.”
“There are always concerns about voter fraud on Election Day, but this year many new groups are popping up to keep an eye on the polls. That, in turn, has some people worried that legitimate voters will be intimidated and discouraged from voting,” NPR reports. More: “Chad Dunn, general counsel for the Texas Democratic Party, says the most aggressive poll watching in early voting has been at African-American and Latino precincts, which lean Democratic. ‘These poll watchers would follow a voter after they were checked in, hover behind them, try to look over their shoulder as they're voting,’ Dunn said. ‘Sometimes misinformation was being provided to voters in terms of how they could vote or where they could vote.’ The county attorney's office and the U.S. Justice Department are now investigating, though no charges have been filed. Still, tensions are high, and the county attorney is recommending that election officials put tape on the floor to separate poll watchers and voters.”
Stu Rothenberg looks at how big the House wave could be, but: “The magnitude of the GOP victory could be evident relatively early in the evening. If Republicans defeat Democratic incumbents Joe Donnelly (Ind.) and/or Ben Chandler (Ky.), or if North Carolina Reps. McIntyre, Shuler and Etheridge fall, massive Democratic losses are likely. On the other hand, if Reps. Baron Hill (Ind.) and Jim Marshall (Ga.) pull off upsets, or if either Virginia Democrats Nye or Perriello win, it could well be a sign that the GOP wave hasn’t materialized as expected.”
CALIFORNIA: "California Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) is up with a new TV ad that uses former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's (R) own words against her," the Washington Post writes. "The ad features footage of a TV interview in which Whitman says, 'You know, thirty years ago, anything was possible in this state,' followed by words on screen that ask: 'You know who was Governor 30 years ago? Jerry Brown.'"
“The campaign to pass Proposition 19, the measure to legalize marijuana in California, will hit television sets in the Los Angeles area Tuesday with a commercial that features retired San Jose Police Chief Joseph D. McNamara endorsing the initiative,” the L.A. Times writes. “The ad is the first that the Yes on 19 campaign has put on television. Dan Newman, a spokesman, said the campaign will spend $170,000 to run it on cable channels through election day.”
“Voters across California are divided on the issue of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, but the division is especially true for black voters throughout the state,” NPR reports. “The California NAACP is endorsing Proposition 19. But some black religious leaders fear that passing the ballot measure would only hurt already struggling communities.”
CONNECTICUT: A Quinnipiac poll shows Blumenthal up 54%-42%.
DELAWARE: Who’s God rooting for? “Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell suggested Monday that the power of prayer contributed to a bump for her in the polls,” The Hill reports. This was based on a robo-Rasmussen poll showing her down 11 points.
Here's a link to that interview with O'Donnell.
ILLINOIS: “Illinois Democratic Governor Pat Quinn stole a page from the ‘Glee’ songbook in a new political ad -- which will begin airing Tuesday -- that attacks his Republican challenger, Illinois state Senator Bill Brady,” the New York Post writes. The ad mimics the FOX high school musical show’s ‘Here’s what you missed’ recap that starts each episode. ‘Too busy watching ‘Glee’ to keep up with the Governor's race. Here’s what you missed,’ the fast-talking narrator says.”
IOWA: Roll Call goes to IA-2 and finds Rep. Dave Loebsack in a tough race in a rematch for reelection.
MISSISSIPPI: Democratic Rep. Gene Taylor (MS-4) says don’t blame him, he voted for McCain. “I did not vote for Obama,” Taylor said. “I voted for Sen. McCain. Better the devil you know.” Then, how does he explain voting for Pelosi for speaker?
NEVADA: "An aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid repeatedly lied to federal immigration and FBI agents and submitted false federal documents to the Department of Homeland Security to cover up her illegal seven-year marriage to a Lebanese national who was the subject of an Oklahoma City Joint Terror Task Force investigation, FoxNews.com has learned," Fox News reported last night. "Diana Tejada, Reid’s Hispanic Press Secretary, admitted to receiving payment for “some of her expenses” in exchange for fraudulently marrying Bassam Mahmoud Tarhini in 2003, strictly so he could obtain permanent U.S. residency, according to court documents."
NEW YORK: If I could term back time… Mike Bloomberg who became mayor of New York for an unprecedented third term, now supports restoring the limit on New York mayors to two terms.
The New York Daily News profiles George Pataki, the former moderate governor and his shift to the right. It also notes that his Tea Party-themed group Revere America has spent about $400,000 on TV ads against Rep. John Hall in NY-19. Pataki is from Poughkeepsie, which is in the district. Revere America has spent about $2 million on ads against Democrats overall, the Daily News reports.
OHIO: A Quinnipiac poll has John Kasich (R) up 49%-43% over incumbent Ted Strickland (D) in the governor’s race among likely voters. Strickland had trailed by 10 in the Quinnipiac poll a week ago. Rob Portman (R) leads Lee Fisher (D) in the Senate race 53%-36%.
RHODE ISLAND: White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton “chalked up Caprio's comments to election-time fervor. ‘We're entering the final week of the election season, and emotions are running pretty high,’ Burton said to reporters while aboard Air Force One. He added, ‘So I don't think anybody is surprised to see people feeling particularly strongly about these races,’” the Wall Street Journal reports.
RNC Chairman Michael Steele “confirmed that he'd met with Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio at RNC headquarters in February, but said he didn't talk to Caprio about running as a Republican,” the Providence Journal reports. “Caprio is a lifelong Democrat, but he was viewed as more conservative than the other Democrat running for governor at the time, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch (who dropped out in July).”
President Obama wasn’t the only national political figure in Rhode Island yesterday, the Boston Globe writes. Sen. Scott Brown stumped for Rep. John Loughlin who is running against Providence Mayor David Cicilline, for whom Obama campagined, to replace Democratic Sen. Patrick Kennedy in Congress.
TEXAS: "The Texas governor's race moved into its final full week on Monday with a new poll showing Republican incumbent Rick Perry with a 10-percentage point lead over Democratic challenger Bill White," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes. "The latest University of Texas/Texas Triune poll shows Perry leading White by a 50-40 percentage point margin."
WASHINGTON: “Pumping up a heavily female crowd on Monday, first lady Michelle Obama said Washington voters must send Democratic Sen. Patty Murray back to Washington, D.C., to help carry out President Barack Obama's agenda,” the AP writes. “‘This election isn't just about all that we've accomplished these past couple of years. This election is about all that we have left to do in the months and years ahead,’ Mrs. Obama said. ‘And Washington, let me just say this: My husband can't do this alone.’”
WEST VIRGINIA: “Arizona Senator and former Presidential Candidate John McCain will make a stop in West Virginia Tuesday to support Republican U.S. Senate Candidate John Raese,” West Virginia Metro News reports.
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Any 'bible believing' righites out there this morning that believe 'the love of money is the root of all evil' (or something very similar to those words)?
For sale: YOUR US Government. $2 BILLION (OBO)
Think of it this way...we'll have the best democracy that money can buy.
...brought to you by The Chamber of Commerce, Big Oil, Big Banks, Big Pharma, Big Insurance, The Koch Brothers, FreedomWorks and Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat!
Democrats grow the government and government unions, unions DEDUCT MANDATORY DUES from taxpayer funded government salaries, unions pay for democrat elections.
A massive DEMOCRAT PONZI SCHEME.
Will hard working citizens stop the FRAUD this November?
Too bad He doesn't get a vote on Election Day.
You, sir, don't know me and you certainly don't know my relationship with God. I appreciate you not making assumptions about my beliefs, thank you.
Da Noid
You, sir, don't know me and you certainly don't know my relationship with God.
I figure it's a lot like your relationship with Obama.
"Surpassing $2 billion in campaign spending"
________________________________________________________________
Even worse is taxpayers are footing most of the bill because MOST of the campaign spending is coming from GOVERNMENT UNIONS to REELECT DEMOCRATS so the DEMOCRATS can GROW GOVERNMENT and GOVERNMENT SALARIES.
Wasn't OVER a 20% Government Growth and Spending INCREASE over THE PAST TWO YEARS enough for the democrats?
Disgusting!...Thanks,Supreme Court and Carl Rove.
I believe in the Republican philosophies that say, “the least amount of government is the best government” and “government should only do for the people that which they can’t do for themselves”. However, it would actually be deceitful and irresponsible not to recognize that there are real responsibilities that go along with those principals: government must be at least as much government as is needed; government must do for the people that which they can’t do for themselves; and within those constraints, government must protect the majority from being exploited by the few. As we have vividly seen with Bush-Cheney and the whole Republican Party, then and now, they not only neglect those responsibilities but they actually condone and encourage pursuit of just the opposite. In reality they have become ‘puppets’ for Special Interests and the influential, powerful and extremely wealthy few who strongly support them and who ‘pull their strings’.
If we should desire to regain the prosperity of the late 90’s, then maybe we should accept having the government and the taxes of then too. Today there is a real aggressive con going on with the Republican Party, regular and Tea Party and their supporters who stand to again greatly gain, making every effort to deceive, excite, sway and manipulate public opinion. A whole lot of money, overt and covert efforts and a lot of excited antics are being expended to influence people’s thinking ... and to achieve a return to ‘more of the same’, which alone is totally scary and should be fair warning.
Take the Tea Party and their candidates, where we see the bazaar, extreme and excited presentations aimed to appeal to people’s fears and emotions, always by those with questionable histories and chosen for their ability to get attention and to be controlled ‘puppets’ rather than for having real qualifications. The scare of run-away socialism that they use is simply an exaggeration as after all of the neglect, irresponsibility and focus on benefit for Special Interests and the select few, the pendulum has actually swung far to the right. Then the reality is that Obama actually inherited the problems and while his efforts to resolve the problems definitely need to be fine-tuned and adjusted, they have none the less been focused on the problems as the Republicans have irresponsibly just criticized and obstructed everything and focused on their political ambitions above all else, without any regard for the cost to the people.
Common sense indicates that it would be ridiculous to expect that those who have fought all change, whose strong supporters want no change, that after they would gain control, repealed all changes and returned to ‘more of the same’, they would then really work on honestly making the required changes - instead of once again just depending on subterfuge to rationalize and manipulate. No, the deceptive efforts and the arrogant con are readily apparent to anyone who will calmly step back and view everything. If the voters don’t do that, if they are not insulted by being taken for granted and treated as ‘pawns’, then we may just be returned to ‘more of the same’ that brought this country to it’s knees.
So that I understand this correctly, the democrats are not responsible for any of this. Its the tea party, Republicans, Bush and Cheney how about the Chamber of Commerce and, last but not least Fox News and, everyone associated with them. A little pompous don't you think...
Change or returned to more of the same. Its been almost 2 years and the only change I see is this country is more divided. Obama's rhetoric while campaigning is irresponsible and will put a bigger wedge in our country.
Obama yesterday - He said Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch and then stood by and criticized while Democrats pulled it out. Now that progress has been made, he said, "we can't have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back."
So sad...
thetotas.
Absolutely correct. I have seen no improvement in the economy or job loss in the past two years,
but I've sure heard an awful lot of talk about why I'm a stupid, uninformed, ignorant, racist, bigoted, shltty person for being a Republican.
All this money for a job that pays about $125,000 a yr. Goes to show you a lot a special interests are in our election process and are in it to take away from the American people.
Crumbling roads, bridges, no jobs, blame it on the purchase of our government by the special interests. Thanks to the Supreme Court, our elections are now being boughtand our Congress people are employees of those who bought the election for them.
Over $2 Billion dollars in campaigning for a job that pays less than $200,000 a year ha,ha,ha. This is some funny Sugar, Honey, Iced, Tea. If we can raise this kind of money to put people into office, why can't we campaign to raise money to reduce our national debt. Next question is, What are they really going to do when they get in? Answer NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Position and prestige is what this is all about. This is the sole bases for all public figure and the offices they run for. Once they are in then they get mistresses and involved in scandles and misrepresent the offices they hold.
We no longer have a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. But a government of power hungry maggots that is feeding off the people that buy into the promised lies told in order to put them there.
I say that we the people should launch a campain to raise money to lower our national debt. If we can raise $2 billion in two weeks, think about what we can do in four years. Let's see how many of the corporations get behind this idea and support it. If I here another ad about Rep vs Dem I'm going to scream. This is not a country for Dem,Rep, or any other particular party.
We are a country of people that has sold ourselves to big business. Close our borders and pay off China and get the country back into the hands of the American people. Rebuild our factories and send back those Japanes made vehicles to the place they come from. When I can look under the hood of any automobile and see a tag that says the motor is made in Japan something is wrong.
Why are we continuing to fund other countries and thier armies and they turn around and use the same weapon and methods of training against us.
I guarantee you that 2012 is going to be a different Presidentail race. Tired of hearing about low polls for the current President. Sick of hearing about Sarah Palin. Tired of watching these liars campaigning for a stupid position.
Hell we are just plain tired of all this political crap. WASHINGTON WORK TOGETHER OR GET THE HELL OUT OF OFFICE I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I could not agree with you more. None of them are listening.
"The AFL-CIO is a voluntary federation of 57 national and international labor unions. The AFL-CIO was created in 1955 by the merger of the AFL and the CIO."
The words "57 national and international labor unions" is underlined as a link where you can view a list of the "voluntary federation". By my count 29 of the 57 unions are international.
One other thing. If you news organizations would stop putting down the President with the professional political dummies and your very incorrect polls then people wouldn't be so divided. You can't even watch the news without some dummy giving thier opinion about what they think is going on in Washington.
If they knew so much and have all the answers then run for office. Let the people see what's in your closet.
There is to much Obama Bashing and not enough support. We need ideas and inovation. We need people that are willing to put aside thier differences and work together with the current government to rid this country of the problems we are facing today.
I think people are spending to much time in front of the TV just to see what is the President is going to do next. I'm guilty as well. However I happen to like watching the news. When it get to the politics I change the channel and watch "meet the browns" or anything else that has nothing to do with bashing our President.
As for us bloggers watch watch you say, yeah we all have the right of freedom of speech, but when it offends other people then it's no longer freedom of speech but slander.