Political bits
The Hotline/National Journal has expanded their competitive House races list to 60. (Not one of the first 30 is a Dem seat, and only 7 of the 60 are.)
(NYTimes) "As to Mr. Sherwood, Mr. Snow said the president “believes that we are all sinners and we all seek forgiveness.”
(As you may recall, Sherwood's "sin" is beating his mistress to the point she called 9-11.)
(TPM) Bob Ney's stint in Rehab may shorten his jail time.
(Hotline) "President Bush has logged far fewer public campaign appearances with GOP candidates during this election season than he did during the previous midterm cycle in 2002."
(Weekly Standard) Fred Barnes jumps off the Republican Titanic.
Later: Jim Kolbe's spokeswoman, Korenna Cline, "abruptly resigned Friday "to pursue another job opportunity." (You'll remember that she and Kolbe directly contradicted each other on Kolbe's contacts with Mark Foley in 2000.)
(NYTimes) "As to Mr. Sherwood, Mr. Snow said the president “believes that we are all sinners and we all seek forgiveness.”
(As you may recall, Sherwood's "sin" is beating his mistress to the point she called 9-11.)
(TPM) Bob Ney's stint in Rehab may shorten his jail time.
(Hotline) "President Bush has logged far fewer public campaign appearances with GOP candidates during this election season than he did during the previous midterm cycle in 2002."
(Weekly Standard) Fred Barnes jumps off the Republican Titanic.
Later: Jim Kolbe's spokeswoman, Korenna Cline, "abruptly resigned Friday "to pursue another job opportunity." (You'll remember that she and Kolbe directly contradicted each other on Kolbe's contacts with Mark Foley in 2000.)
posted by mikevotes at
1:03 PM
6 Comments:
Have I been asleep the last month? Did I miss the elections and not get to vote? And more importantly, did the Tigers make it to the World Series?
By
Lew Scannon, at 2:51 PM
I think I have said this on your blog before. I'm tired of these crooks getting lighter sentences because they go to treatment.
It's an insult to people with a real alchol/drug problem; It ties up space in treatment centers for people with real addiction problems, and it's such a dishonest reason to lighten the sentence of a white collar crook. I think it must be proven that an addiction problem was the main cause for the crime, and even then one's sentence should not be cut by 80%.
By
Unknown, at 3:37 PM
No, Lew, we're still a little over three weeks away.
(And, I haven't turned it on yet today, but I'm betting that the Tigers are well on their way.)
Time,
I agree with you, but let me add one more. Politicians, and other celebrities, often go to their sham rehab because it removes them from having to answer questions.
When Foley got busted for instance, he was away in Rehab before anybody could say they'd never seen him drunk. (He only drank alone hs lawyer said.)
But the media de facto respects the isolation of rehab. If somebody were in the hospital, they would try to call and get a comment, but the media respects the sanctity of rehab.
It's the only real place to hide. And that's been exploited by a number of public figures. Where did Mel Gibson go?
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 4:30 PM
Charlie Cook wrote that Republicans are facing a category 5 storm and are more likely to lose 30 seats than 15 seats. With a little over three weeks to go, shouldn't Mehlman and Rove be pulling out the "Surprise" soon? With the Foley scandal still dominating headlines, the Abramoff scandal back thanks to Ney (can you imagine what the wingers would say if Jefferson pled guilty but refused to leave? And yet, here is Ney, still drawing a salary!!!) and the news out of Iraq getting worse by the day, I can't imagine a worse situation for Republicans and a WH desperate to retain power to keep the investigations and subpoena off their backs.
Let me ask you a serious question, mike. Can Rove be thinking massive fraud to save this thing? Because other than trying to steal the election in 30-40 districts around the country, I don't see how Republicans don't lose the House and maybe even the Senate (depending upon what Lieberwanker does) and get investigated up the ying-yang. I don't think even an attack on Iran won't change things at this point. Maybe pulling Osama out of the freezer would help, but you can easily remind people what happened in iraq after Zarqawi was killed and the violence got worse, not better.
I dunno, could it be we give Rove too much credit? Could it be that Rove was gambling that the 9/11 anniversary + the preznit's national security/anti-terrorism speeches would be enough to turn the conversation away from Iraq and scandal, a terrible hand to bet frankly given the situation in Iraq and the number of shoes ready to drop in any number of GOP scandals, and he lost?
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 4:34 PM
I've been wondering about the October Surprise, too.
But, if it isn't actually some orchestrated world event(which I would guess since he pre announced it,) but instead a policy issue, it might have gotten subsumed by events. Al Gonzales was pushing child porn enforcement really hard over the summer, but if that's it, it's shot because of Foley. Or another anti-gay issue? If it was a religious issue, it's been shot by Kuo. Or immigration? The October Surprise might just be unavailable because it would be drowned out in the flood.
As to fraud, I do accept that as a possibility, but I don't think they can do it on a massive scale without getting caught. I think they could tinker 5% in three or four districts, but I just don't think they could do it on a mass scale. So, if it really does look like 30 losses I don't think they'd even try, but if on election day it's around 15-17 I wouldn't rule it out.
And, to answer again, I don't know about the October Surprise. Even if they bombed Iran at this point I think it very well could turn against them with the Bush approval mid thrities and falling. If they'd gotten him up to 43 then maybe. But I think at this point, it would have to be something somewhat oblique. I think if Bin Laden showed up suddenly now, the late night comedians alone would torpedo any benefit.
In the past, almost all of Rove's surprises have been dirty tricks unattributable to his office. Swiftboaters, the bug that appeared in his office in the Texas governor's campaign on the eve of the debate(that he placed,) the "independent" push poll in SC that alleged McCain had an illegitimate black baby.
So, if there's a surprise, I have a hunch it's not coming directly with his fingerprints.
But, I really am starting to think that with the news cycle so full, the environment may not be right.
Or, the whole thing could have been a troop rallying myth. Don't know.
(all of this is just pulled out of my ass speculation. It could all be wrong.)
Mike
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mikevotes, at 4:50 PM
One more thought, maybe the Chris Wallace "Blame Clinton for 9-11" was the surprise?
Think about how that was timed, coming off Bush's 9-11 push and the coordinated push from many corners following it.
Also, I've always been a bit curious about the Clinton response to that. It was almost like he knew it was coming, like he was ready. The "outrage" to me always seemed a bit put on, you know?
Kinda like the whole thing was set up like a football play and he knew it was coming.
That may be totally separate, but from the first time I saw it, it struck me as odd.
Just a thought.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 9:23 PM
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