IMPALIN’ — Stop Sarah Palin for President in 2012

This September I entered my first year at the University of Montana, Missoula. Along with all the typical freshman year excitement of orientation and making new friends, I planned my schedule for the semester and went to buy my first college textbooks. I spent a whopping $650 on textbooks for just this semester–not unheard of for a science major. I thought I might have been an extreme case, so I was shocked to learn that in 2003-4 the average college student spent $900 on textbooks . It was then that I decided to take on the Student PIRGs’ textbooks campaign because I felt that if there was a possibility that I could make a difference for students here in Missoula, I should try. Textbooks are expensive, especially considering the amount of debt most students rack up by the time they graduate. I’ve already started looking into taking out student loans in order to pay for the rest of my college career, and I know I’m not the only one. Having worked with MontPIRG this summer, I was excited to become the campaign coordinator working to make textbooks more affordable at my university. Read More… More on Student Debt

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Sarah Sather: In The Public Interest : Open Textbooks and the Tech-Friendly Generation

Normally, your humble Wrap curator tries to go for the pithy opener here. But…Hell…with 40 polls on the agenda today, we simply don’t have that kind of time, now do we? Let’s dive in…hope you have a free hour! THE U.S. SENATE AK-Sen: Pair of polls say Murkowski could win, but ….. Two new polls out today in the highly intriguing three-way battle for Alaska’s seat in the U.S. Senate paint a picture of a potential write-in victory for Lisa Murkowski. A CNN poll puts the Republican nominee (Joe Miller) at 38%, with Murkowski on his heels at 36%. Democrat Scott McAdams, the least known of the three, lingers behind at 22%. Later in the day, a Cracium Research poll made an even stronger case that Murkowski is viable, claiming a double-digit lead for the incumbent who is being compelled to forge a write-in campaign. In that poll, Murkowski leads Miller 41-30, with McAdams back at 19%. There is a major caveat, however. Both polls mentioned Murkowski by name on the trial heat, in effect giving her an advantage (her name on the ballot next to Miller and McAdams) that she will not enjoy in November. These polls underscore how terribly difficult it is to poll a race where there is a prominent and potentially viable write-in option. CA-Sen: Boxer feeling California love, especially among RVs There is nothing but good news for the Blue team in the latest CNN poll out of the Golden State. Even with the more restrictive likely voter screen, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer enjoys a nine-point lead over Republican Carly Fiorina (52-43). With the universe opened up to all registered voters, it simply becomes a rout, with Boxer leading Fiorina by a 56-37 margin. CO-Sen: Bennet pulls into a narrow lead in new DSCC poll It is a Democratic poll (so use your salt accordingly), but new numbers for the DSCC by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner gives Democratic Senator Michael Bennet a statistically insignificant two-point lead over Republican Ken Buck. The margin is two points (48-46), according to the GQR poll. Furthermore, they did a “temperature reading” on voter sentiments towards the candidates, and found that Bennet is incrementally more liked (43 to 37) than Buck. FL-Sen: Rubio up double-digits according to new CNN poll Benefitting from the Crist-Meek split among all voters center and left, Marco Rubio continues to maintain a double-digit edge , according to the new polling from CNN. Rubio leads with 42%, followed by both Crist (31%) and Meek (23%). Even with the wider group of registered voters, Rubio maintains a lead in the mid-to-high single digits (38 to 31) over Crist, with Meek creeping northward to 25%. IL-Sen: Pair of polls confirm close race, threat of third party spoiler New numbers from both PPP and CNN make it very clear that the U.S. Senate race in Illinois is a true coin-flip, with the two polls offering a split decision on their projection. The PPP poll was the more pessimistic of the two, with Republican Mark Kirk staked to a four point lead over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias (40-36). Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones could prove to be a spoiler, given his 8% of the vote. Meanwhile, the CNN poll puts Giannoulias in the lead, but by the barest of margins. The poll puts the Democrat ahead of Mark Kirk by a single point (43-42), with Jones sitting on 8%. Under the hood of the poll, it seems clear that Jones support with liberals (double digits) means that he is keeping Kirk at parity with the Democrat. Among the larger universe of registered voters, one will note, Giannoulias’ lead expands to four points (42-38). NC-Sen: PPP latest to confirm Burr lead growing more solid Once a toss-up, it now seems evident that Republican Richard Burr has consolidated his position in his bid for re-election. The latest piece of evidence was the thirteen point lead (49-36) for Burr found in the latest PPP poll in the state. Libertarian Michael Beitler is well behind (4%). Burr has led Marshall by single digits throughout the summer, but other pollsters (SUSA, Rasmussen, Civitas) hinted that Burr’s lead has grown this month. PA-Sen: Two polls hint at Sestak rebound versus Toomey Democrats have to be heartened by a new poll out of the Keystone State, and can be heartened by at least a part of another one. It looks from the newest numbers as if Democrat Joe Sestak might be making his long-awaited move on Republican Patrick Toomey. The Franklin and Marshall poll provides good news for both parties, depending on which screen you are buying stock in. Giving us a ton of permutations, F&M finds that Toomey leads Sestak by just three points (32-29) among registered voters. However, as they go forth from there, the pollster gets more bullish on the GOP nominee. Among likely voters, the margin moves to nine (38-29). When leaners are included, the margin moves to twelve points (46-34). The news is considerably better, however, in Susquehanna Research’s new poll of likely voters in Pennsylvania. The sometime-GOP pollster (who does some independent work, as well) put Toomey at 45%, with Sestak at 42%. Among those locked into their candidates, the race is almost tied (31-30 Toomey). THE U.S. HOUSE AZ-05: New Dem poll gives Mitchell three-point edge Harry Mitchell’s campaign has received a lot of Democratic love as of late, with multiple polls by Democratic pollsters putting him up over Republican David Schweikert. The latest offering comes from Bennett Petts Normington, which gives Mitchell a three-point lead (44-41) over the Republican with likely voters. Interestingly, this poll is one of the first to indicate identical margins in the race whether the screen is for registered voters or likely voters: Mitchell leads 43-40 among RVs. AZ-07: It’s not a tie, but GOP pollster claims race is close You might recall a couple of weeks ago when a GOP lobbyist went on local TV in Arizona claiming the race between incumbent Democrat Raul Grijalva and Republican Ruth McClung was a dead heat. At the time, both parties denied any polling to that effect. Right on cue, here comes some polling on the race from the GOP candidate’s campaign. It’s not a dead heat, but if this poll is correct (which is a pretty sizeable if, given that the pollster is an unknown), it’s closer than normal. The poll has Grijalva leading the little-known Republican challenger by seven points (42-35). The poll was conducted by someone called American Political Consultants, who has not conducted a poll in the last two years (at least none that I could find). So, let’s just say there is some cause for skepticism. There is a big difference between a polling firm doing a poll for a campaign, and a PR/consulting firm doing a poll for a campaign. CO-02: Even right-wing pollster gives Polis a double-digit lead The new (and wildly prolific) GOP pollsters at Magellan Strategies are back at it again, and in a race that is on absolutely no one’s radar screen . They poll the heavily Democratic 2nd district, and claim that Republican Stephen Bailey is within a dozen points of freshman Democratic incumbent Jared Polis (48-36). FL-08: Conservative FL website claims Grayson down seven in new poll Florida’s Sunshine State News, from a cursory glance at their frontpage (which includes…wait for it…the slogan “Fair and Balanced”), looks to be a right-wing site. Thus, it might not be much of a surprise that they contracted with a subsidiary of sometimes-GOP pollsters Susquehanna Research to conduct a poll of the 8th district. It will probably be less of a surprise to discover the Republican in the lead. The poll claims that Republican Daniel Webster leads Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson by seven points (43-36), with third-party candidates nabbing 9%. ME-01/ME-02: Democrats have double-digit leads, in new poll New polling from local public pollsters Critical Insights shows that Democrats maintain a double-digit advantage over their GOP challengers in both of the state’s congressional districts . The closer race is in the 2nd district, where incumbent Michael Michaud’s lead over Republican Jason Levesque is narrowing rapidly. What was once a twenty-point lead is down to a dozen points (44-32), according to the poll. Meanwhile, 1st district Democratic incumbent Chellie Pingree is actually looking at a bigger lead than before, opening up a comfortable lead over Republican Dean Scontras (54-26). NJ-03: Adler leads in tight race, margin depends on the screen One thing we can say for sure: the new Rutgers poll has Democratic freshman John Adler with a lead over well-heeled GOP challenger Jon Runyan. What is less clear (PDF file) : whether that lead is small (and statistically insignificant) or more healthy. Among registered voters, the lead is nine points (40-31). With a tighter likely voter screen, the lead evaporates badly, down to just a pair of points (41-39). Tea Party candidate John DiStefano gets around 6% of the vote either way. NC-07: Civitas/SUSA poll says add another Dem to the target list The SUSA buzzkill tour, with an assist from the right-leaning Civitas Institute, heads to the Tar Heel State, where their new survey claims that longtime Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre actually trails Republican challenger Ilario Pantano. The poll gives Pantano a lead of a single point (46-45), which the pollster claims blows up to a double digit lead among those “most likely to vote.” VA-02: New GOP internal puts Dem incumbent down by seven On the heels of an NRCC internal which claimed that he was up by five points, the campaign of Republican Scott Rigell unleashed a confirming poll of their own. The poll, from Public Opinion Strategies, claims a lead of seven points for the GOP challenger over Democratic incumbent Glenn Nye (42-35). Conservative Indie candidate Kenny Golden polls at 5%. Along the same lines as the Civitas/SUSA NC-07 poll, this polling memo claims that among the most likely voters, the GOP lead stretches into the double digits (49-35). VA-05: SUSA still doubling down on the Hurt rout meme Give SurveyUSA credit for a ton of consistency. Even though Dem internals, and even a few GOP internals, show a considerably closer race, SUSA is still clinging to the notion that Republican Rob Hurt holds a twenty-three point lead (58-35) over Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello. Hard as it might be to believe, this is actually incrementally better than last month’s SUSA poll, which had Hurt out front by twenty-six points. Right-wing Indie Jeffrey Clark sits at 4% of the vote, according to SUSA’s latest poll. WI-07: Duffy responds to Lassa with internal showing big lead Give the campaign of GOP candidate Sean Duffy some credit–their rapid response is pretty sweet. On the heels of a poll from Democrat Julie Lassa showing a pure coin-flip, team Duffy responded with a poll of their own today, a Public Opinion Strategies poll showing the Republican leading Lassa by thirteen points (47-34). RACE FOR THE HOUSE: NRCC polling dump–day two The NRCC, the campaign wing for House Republicans, are now into their second day of dumping internal polling. Focusing on the Midwest, the numbers are relentlessly ugly for Democrats in five Dem-held seats: IL-17: Bobby Schilling (R) 44%, Rep. Phil Hare (D) 43% IN-08: Larry Bucshon (R) 41%, Trent von Haaften (D) 20% MI-01: Dan Benishek (R) 40%, Gary McDowell (D) 24% WI-07: Sean Duffy (R) 52%, Julie Lassa (D) 38% WI-08: Reid Ribble (R) 57%, Rep. Steve Kagen (D) 39% (click the link for the ID’s of each pollster. The NRCC used different pollsters for each survey) THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES AK-Gov: Parnell pulling away, according to CNN poll Incumbent Republican Sean Parnell is well in control in his re-election bid, according to a new CNN poll of the race. The poll shows Parnell leading Democrat Ethan Berkowitz by nineteen points (57-38) among likely voters, with scarcely any difference when the field is expanded to registered voters. Democrats originally hoped that the well-known Berkowitz (who gave longtime Congressman Don Young one hell of a scare in 2008) would provide a heated challenge to the new incumbent, who took over for Sarah Palin when she abruptly quit in 2009. CA-Gov: Even among LVs, Brown suddenly rolling on Meg Whitman In what is the best polling result for the Democratic nominee in months in the Golden State, a new CNN poll has Democrat Jerry Brown with a nine-point lead (52-43) over Republican Meg Whitman among likely voters. Among registered voters, Brown takes his first double digit lead in months (52-39). Other pollsters have confirmed movement to both California Democrats throughout the second half of this month. CT-Gov: Q poll (predictably) puts GOP within striking distance Given a very generous sample (better for the GOP than the 1994 exit polls in the state), it is no surprise that the new Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut puts Republican Tom Foley in the best position he has been in all year vis-a-vis Democratic frontrunner Dan Malloy. The new poll puts Malloy up on Foley by three points (45-42). You’ll recall that yesterday’s Senate poll showed a similar sharp movement. FL-Gov: CNN sees sharp reversal in state’s gubernatorial race If CNN is correct, there is an entirely new dynamic in the battle to replace Charlie Crist in the Florida statehouse. Their new poll moves Republican Rick Scott into a narrow lead (47-45) over Democrat Alex Sink among likely voters. Most recent polling has had Sink staked to a lead in the mid-single digits. Worth noting: among the wider universe of registered voters, Sink moves back into a lead of a single point. IL-Gov: Is Quinn back from the dead? CNN poll says “yes” The most interesting stat from CNN’s new wave of polling today may well have been the one least noticed by the media. While California and Alaska got a ton of attention, buried in the weeds was what appears to be a significant comeback for embattled Democratic Governor Pat Quinn. The new CNN poll puts Quinn down by just two points (40-38) against GOP challenger Bill Brady, who has led in the race since March. Interestingly, Quinn’s surge comes in spite of a double-digit vote total (14%) for former Democrat Scott Lee Cohen, who is running as an Indie candidate. Among the wider universe of registered voters, the CNN poll has Quinn and Brady tied at 37%. ME-Gov: Maine Poll shows huge reversal in crowded Gov’s race The Republican coronation of archconservative candidate Paul LePage may well have been a bit premature, according to a new Maine Poll conducted by local pollsters Critical Insights . The pollster, which gave LePage a double-digit lead less than a month ago, now has Democrat Libby Mitchell moving into a narrow one-point lead over the GOP standard bearer (30-29). Independent Eliot Cutler’s support also slid back into single digits (9%), meaning there are a load of undecided voters waiting to be persuaded in this final five weeks of the campaign. MN-Gov: UM poll shows major move to the Democrat in past month A month after dropping jaws with their assessment that Republican Tom Emmer had moved into a tie with Democrat Mark Dayton, a new poll by the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute shows that Dayton has moved into a double digit lead over Emmer. The new poll has Dayton at 38%, Emmer at 27%, and Independent Tom Horner doing very well at 16% of the vote. The pollster’s assessment of the surge brings hope to Democrats–they see a significant tightening of the enthusiasm gap in the state. OH-Gov: Dem poll puts Strickland in unfamiliar position–the lead If a new poll from Benenson Strategies (and sponsored by something called the Campaign for a Moderate Majority) is to be believed, the electoral resurrection of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland is complete . The poll claims a lead of a single point for Strickland over Republican John Kasich (41-40). While statistically insignificant, it has psychic significance, given that it is the first poll to have Kasich trailing in months. PA-Gov: F&M poll confirms movement to Onorato, race now toss-up Another race that is trending Democratic over the last two weeks is the open-seat gubernatorial race in Pennsylvania. The latest to confirm the trend is the Franklin and Marshall poll of the race, which puts Democrat Dan Onorato within a handful of points of GOP frontrunner Tom Corbett. Among registered voters, the lead for Corbett is down to just three points. Better news for Onorato: unlike the Senate race, screening for likely voters and pressing leaners does virtually nothing to pad Corbett’s lead. His lead is augmented by only an additional point, with Corbett staked to a 41-37 lead under those parameters. THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA Amazingly, with the flood of polling today, virtually none of it comes from the House of Ras. What does come, however, is pretty damned predictable. For example, if every other pollster sees a Strickland surge in Ohio, leave it to the Ras-sies to actually suggest that John Kasich has padded his lead from last month. CO-Sen: Ken Buck (R) 51%, Sen. Michael Bennet (D) 43% FL-Sen: Rubio (R) 41%, Crist (I) 30%, Meek (D) 21% NV-Sen: Sen. Harry Reid (D) 48%, Sharron Angle (R) 47% OH-Gov: John Kasich (R) 50%, Gov. Ted Strickland (D) 42%

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Polling and Political Wrap, 9/29/10

It seems there’s some concern circulating over Bristol Palin’s much-publicized visit to Rum Runners in Anchorage last week. Read More… More on Celebrity Kids

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AlaskaDispatch.com: Bristol’s Night Out in Anchorage Under Investigation

Here are some observations from the new NBC/WSJ poll : Tea Party = Republican Mr. McInturff said the tea-party movement had not necessarily drawn new people into the GOP. Rather, he said, “a substantial chunk of the Republican Party is rebranding themselves.” The public may think Sarah Palin is unqualified, but the tea party thinks different The movement’s greater strength within the party could be significant beyond 2010, as the party looks toward choosing a nominee in 2012 to challenge Mr. Obama. A leading beneficiary could be former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is viewed positively by about two-thirds of tea-party supporters–making her more popular in the movement than the other possible presidential candidates included in the new survey. The generic ballot is tightening, not widening (good news for Democrats) The survey also found growing energy among some core Democratic voting blocs, such as African-Americans and Hispanics—a tightening that is common as an election draws closer, according to pollsters. The GOP now holds a three-point edge, 46% to 43%, when likely voters are asked which party they would prefer to control Congress. That is down from a nine-point Republican lead a month ago. Who a ‘likely voter’ is still drives the narrative Still, Republicans retain major advantages, including a fired-up base. Two-thirds of GOP voters say they are intensely interested in the election, compared with about half of Democrats, suggesting that Republican voters are more likely to turn out at the polls. It’s still the economy, stupid The poll found that the country’s uncertain economy continues to be the overriding issue in the mid-term elections. Oh, and Bill Clinton looks good to the American public. And note that the Republican party is not a best-selling brand. The full poll results are here (.pdf). More commentary in JekyllnHyde ’s diary.

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Highlights of the NBC/WSJ poll

He really is a Sarah Palin protege. This anti-government lawyer who says unemployment and Social Security are unconstitutional not only took federal farm subsidies from the government that he says overspends on “entitlement” programs, but also ripped of the state of Alaska in a program it created for low-income residents. After he first came to Alaska, purchased a home in South Anchorage and started work as an attorney for a prominent local firm, Senate candidate Joe Miller and his wife obtained resident low-income hunting and fishing licenses that require a family annual income of less than $8,200…. The cost of the low-income license was $5. Nonresidents paid $300 and residents who didn’t meet the income guidelines paid $55. Miller came to Alaska in July 1994, while still in law school, and worked as a clerk and intern. He purchased the South Anchorage home that September (it currently has an assessed value of about $400,000)…. Miller graduated from Yale in May 1995 and then started work that June for Condon Partnow & Sharrock in Anchorage, according to an application Miller later filled out for a job as an assistant borough attorney in Fairbanks. Miller listed the estimated salary as $70,000 a year. On July 31 of that year, Miller obtained the low income hunting and fishing license that require a gross annual income family of less than $8,200 for the year preceding the application. Even if they qualified for the low income license in 1994, while Miller was still in law school, they sure as hell didn’t in 1995 when Miller had secured that $70,000 a year job and a house. That subsidy is intended for the truly indigent who are subsistence hunters–they need to hunt and fish to survive. You know, the low-income Americans Miller wants to end the welfare state for. Miller abused the system for a lousy $50, because he was a resident by then. And he abused a system that his philosophy would say shouldn’t exist. Lucky for Alaska, they’ve got a choice in Scott McAdams, a real Alaskan who once actually made his living, like a lot of Alaskans, as a fisherman. You can help Scott get his message out to Alaska.

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AK-SEN: Joe Miller, grifter

It was a cringe-worthy moment for viewers of “Australia’s Next Top Model” as host Sarah Murdoch accidentally named the wrong winner on live television. Murdoch initially declared 19-year-old Kelsey Martinovich as the audience-voted Top Model, but then paused and uttered, “Oh my God, I don’t know what to say right now. I’m feeling a bit sick about this. No. I’m so sorry about this. Oh my God. I don’t know what to say. This was a complete accident. It’s Amanda, I’m so sorry. It was fed to me wrong.” The real winner, Amanda Ware, 18, will be signed with modelling agency Priscilla’s, receive a $25,000 contract to appear in a Levi’s campaign, visit New York to meet with ELITE agency, get a Ford Fiesta Zetec, $20,000 cash and pose for an eight-page spread for Harper’s Bazaar Australia. But Sarah won’t go away empty-handed. Foxtel, the broadcasting company, released the following statement : Sarah handled what was a difficult situation with utmost professionalism and grace. Amanda and Kelsey were neck and neck in the voting all night. Read More… More on Models

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‘Australia’s Next Top Model’ Host Announces WRONG Winner On Live TV (VIDEO)

Sarah Palin was in the audience to support daughter Bristol Monday night, and just before host Tom Bergeron interviewed her, the audience was filled with boos. But watch the video below, were the boos in response to contestant Jennifer Grey’s scores or to Palin? You decide. The video is underneath the AP article on the evening, which does not mention any boos. LOS ANGELES — Sarah Palin may be outspoken, but she kept her opinions to herself on “Dancing With the Stars.” Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Sarah Palin Booed On ‘Dancing With The Stars?’ (VIDEO)

Maureen Dowd had a very good column on Sunday , but her congenital solipsism and narcissism likely prevent her from being able to recognize the degree to which she helped create that which she now condemns. Dowd is smart and savvy and an entertaining writer, but she’s also the paragon of everything that is wrong with what passes for political analysis in the traditional media. But she did write a good column, on Sunday, and given her elevated perch at the New York Times , that’s a good thing. Discussing the anti-intellectual movement that now defines the Republican Party, Dowd wrote: Bill Maher continued his video torment of (Christine) O’Donnell by releasing another old clip of her on his HBO show on Friday night, this time showing one in which she argued that “Evolution is a myth.” Maher shot back, “Have you ever looked at a monkey?” To which O’Donnell rebutted, “Why aren’t monkeys still evolving into humans?” And Dowd quoted from a recent conversation she had with Maher. “I find it so much more damaging than the witch stuff because she could be in a position to make decisions about scientific issues, like global warming and stem cells, and she thinks primate evolution can happen in a week and mice have human brains.” And Dowd referred to Sarah Palin’s climate denialism and Sharron Angle’s autism denialism and Joe Miller’s bizarre brand of Constitutional originalism, and correctly assessed the real goal of Palin, Newt Gingrich, John Boehner and Jim DeMint, which isn’t a return to an idealized 1950s but to the 1750s, before the advent of modern science and modern republics and modern democracy. Which, one might add, accords perfectly with the goals of those that seem to want to become the effective monarchy of the future. So, good for Dowd. Yes. The Republicans are not funny, they are unfettered from reality. And given that they are not the cartoon characters they seem, but a political party that could in the near future gain some semblance of governing power, that makes them dangerous. But Dowd’s long-apparent incapacity for self-reflection necessitates an explication of her own role in propagating a national political dialogue that too often lacks any dialogue about actual politics. The modern Republican Party would not be what it is if not for the enabling of people like Maureen Dowd. Climate change and right wing attempts to gut the social safety net are not new issues. The former was a constant subject of study and analysis in scientific journals by the 1990s. The latter has been a constant subject of Republican ideology since the social safety first was created. But how often has Dowd written about either? In the 1990s, Dowd wrote about O.J. Simpson more often than she did global warming or climate change. She wrote about President Clinton’s relationship with an intern several times more often than she wrote about Social Security. When the traditional media spent more than a year obsessing over Clinton’s private behavior, Dowd was its Pulitzer Prize-winning apotheosis , becoming the pop culture personification of what T.S. Eliot once described as “distracted from distraction by distraction.” To Dowd, issues rarely were worth analyzing and all politics could be distilled to pop culture pablum. And it only got worse. Few elections in U.S. history have been more consequential than was the 2000 presidential campaign. But perusing Dowd’s coverage, one would think it was but a “reality” television show, a beauty pageant for homecoming king. Al Gore was an intellect steeped in the intricacies of policy, Bush was but the nitwit heir to a political dynasty, and all Dowd seemed to care about was their clash of personalities. Her coverage was uniformly shallow and mocking , her derision of Gore’s depth revealing much about her and little about him. She graced us with gems such as this : Al Gore is so feminized and diversified and ecologically correct, he’s practically lactating. And : Al Gore was never a natural performer, like his father, so he concentrated harder on his homework. If he could not be charming, he would be dogged. So now, in debates, he is doomed to be Annoying Boy, apple-polishing and doing that smug-mugging. And then she had the temerity to write: What has this race come to in the final stretch? It isn’t turning only on issues. Vast chunks of voters are being swayed by a kiss, a sigh, a roll of the eyes, a smirk, a befuddled stare. Which she well knew, having written so much about the puerilities and practically nothing about the substance. Even the recount, the truncation of which stunned even many conservative Constitutional scholars, was to Dowd but a source of scorn : Our unelection is superior to our election in every way. The campaign was never about anything. Lockbox, prescription drugs, blah, blah. Sure. If one didn’t look beyond the most superficial surfaces, the campaign between a visionary intellectual and a callow anti-intellectual ideologue wasn’t about anything . Not the environment or international relations or the economy or corporatism or even the very nature of government. As usual, Dowd couldn’t manage to delve beyond sound bite simplicities. The results were no more important than that of a cheap parlor game : Sure, Al Gore, a k a Monsieur Tussaud, is an insufferable maniac for detail who hates delegating and is engineering every move in Florida. Like Ahab, he’s so consumed with absurd attempts to prove he actually won Florida by nine votes that one friend described him to The A.P.’s Sandra Sobieraj as a ”lost soul.” And her attempt at putting herself into Gore’s head, once again, revealed much about herself , and nothing at all about him. I feel stunning And entrancing, Feel like running and dancing for joy . . . O.K., enough gloating. Behave, Albert. Just look in the mirror now and put on your serious I only-care-about-the-issues face. She couldn’t fathom the possibility that to some people issues do matter. Her incapacity for self-reflection there revealed itself in her obliviousness to who, exactly, it was that was looking in a mirror. As Dan Kennedy wrote in The Boston Phoenix , in 1999: Dowd’s awfulness is more complex, and more frustrating, than mere hackery, for it is a natural outgrowth of her immense talents — her sharp eye, her sure command of the language, her knack for the illuminating pop-culture or literary reference. As a White House correspondent, she helped revolutionize political reporting with her nasty wit and novelistic detail. Her best-known lead, on a 1994 homecoming by one of Oxford University’s most famous alumni: “President Clinton returned today for a sentimental journey to a university where he didn’t inhale, didn’t get drafted, and didn’t get a degree.” Dowd’s edgy journalism has always been controversial, and many of her critics were relieved when she moved to the op-ed page, in 1995, where her opinions would be clearly labeled as such. (Dowd replaced Anna Quindlen, a feminist trailblazer who left the Times to write novels.) Trouble is, relieving Dowd of the burden of actually having to cover stories served only to reinforce her most solipsistic tendencies. On the surface, her columns appear to be about presidential sex, Hollywood, even the Irish peace process. In truth, her work is nearly always about herself. So, yes– Dowd’s Sunday op-ed made some great points. But the idiocy that now is such a basic part of our political dialogue would not be what it is if not for the likes of Dowd. The extremists she now fears are the inevitable consequence of her own lack of respect and responsibility. She helped dumb things down to the point that modern Republican idiocracy became possible. Rarely could one read Dowd and learn. She was and is but a gossip columnist masquerading as a political columnist. As she recoils aghast from the politics she helped nurture, someone should buy her a mirror.

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Maureen Dowd needs a mirror

The reversal of fortunes for Democrats in the Delaware Senate campaign two weeks ago, precipitated by Christine O’Donnell’s upset victory in the Republican primary, has reinvigorated an old watercooler discussion among Democratic pundits. Are Dems better off with less-polished, reactionary candidates winning Republican nominations? In the same vein, would Democrats be better off if Sarah Palin were to win the 2012 Republican nomination for President? From where I sit, the answer is a big “yes” to both questions. Not everyone agrees. For example, Peter Daou and Matthew Yglesias have articulated the two main arguments against Democrats benefiting from the rise of Republicans like O’Donnell. Daou has been warning Democrats not to cheer for tea party candidates, and other Palin-type reactionaries, because they actually can win general elections (for example, Ken Buck in Colorado and Sharron Angle in Nevada). Yglesias has argued that the rise of Palin and reactionary right-wing candidates in Republican primaries is a net negative, because it means that when Republicans eventually take back power, it will result in more damaging policy outcomes. I believe Yglesias and Daou are underestimating the impact of less popular Republican candidates on both electoral and legislative outcomes. For example, take Sarah Palin. Pollster.com shows Palin at 38.0% favorable, and 51.1% unfavorable , for a net unfavorable of 13.1%. By contrast, Romney is at a net 0.4% unfavorable , and Huckabee is at a net 5.7% favorable . As such, while it is likely that Palin is more reactionary than either Romney or Huckabee, if Palin were to win the Republican nomination in 2012, it would be a positive for Democrats. In fact, even if she were to go on to become President, I say better her than either Romney or Huckabee. Allow me to explain both points further: 1. Less electable : No matter how much grassroots energy a person can generate, Palin’s favorability rating (which, admittedly, can change) would make her a much less formidable opponent for President Obama in 2012 than any other top-tier Republican (with the possible exception of Newt Gingrich). She would still have a shot to win, as anyone who gets nominated by a major party can win the Presidency in the right combination of circumstances. However, she would be less likely to win. Additionally, she would likely have a less positive impact on Republicans downticket, putting Democrats in a better position in the 2012, 2014, and 2016 congressional elections. 2. Less dangerous if elected : Even if Palin were to win the White House, it is likely she would start her Presidency (shudder) with weaker poll numbers than any of the other potential Republican Presidents. This would make it relatively more difficult for her to pass damaging legislative initiatives than it would for any of the other potential Republican Presidents. The ability of a President to pass legislation through Congress is significantly dependent upon his or her popularity. This is even the case with George W. Bush, who is often thought of as a President who was able to pass a lot of legislation despite his low popularity. However, most of Bush Jr.’s major legislative initiatives passed Congress from 2001-2003, during the peak of his popularity. To a very significant degree, political power is derived from popularity. The same goes for competence–less competent Republican candidates and elected officials are better for Democratic and progressive causes. Again, George W. Bush is not an effective counterpoint to that statement. Ask yourself if a more competent version of Bush would have resulted in such strong elections for Democrats in 2006 or 2008. Ask yourself if a more competent version of Bush, with the same ideological views, would have been able to push the envelope of public policy even further to the right. A more competent version of Bush would have been more dangerous to progressives. Ultimately, a two-party system is a zero sum game. One side is better off when the other side is unpopular and incompetent. As such, no matter how disturbing the trend may appear on the surface, Democrats are better off as a result of the continuing rise of Palin and O’Donnell-type candidates within the Republican Party. Even if they are more reactionary, the less popular and less competent Republicans are, the better the situation is for us.

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Should Dems cheer for Palin to win 2012 GOP nod?

Bristol Palin’s ‘Dancing With the Stars’ partner, Mark Ballas, went to Alaska last week where he met her mom and saw the sights. Bristol and Mark were in her home state to film a segment for ‘Dancing,’ People reports. She has denied rumors that they are dating. Watch Mark and Bristol’s first ‘Dancing’ performance, a cha-cha that featured a striptease by Bristol, here . Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Mark Ballas Visits The Palins In Alaska (PHOTOS)

NEW YORK — Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans arrested last year while hiking near the Iran-Iraq border, met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday to plead for the release of her still-imprisoned fiance and their friend. “I’m just going to keep pushing every minute for their release on humanitarian grounds,” Shourd told ABC News outside a hotel after she and her mother, Nora Shourd, met with the president. Read More… More on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

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Sarah Shourd, Hiker Jailed For A Year In Iran, Meets With Ahmadinejad

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE… C&J’s Pledge to America: More Late Night Snark! “World leaders at the U.N. agreed on one thing: Superman has got to do more.” —David Letterman - “I do miss George Bush. Compared to these teabaggers and the people who are pandering to them, he looks like a professor.” —Bill Maher - “Poverty in America is at an all-time high. See? I knew we’d catch up with China!” —Stephen Colbert, that awful, awful man who broke Congress today and made the beltway media choke on their cocktail weenies. (The nerve!) - “Everybody’s talking about Bob Woodward’s new book, Obama’s Wars. In the book, he says Joe Biden called Middle East advisor Richard Holbrooke ‘the most egotistical bastard I’ve ever met.’ Then Rahm Emanuel was like, “What am I, invisible?” —Jimmy Fallon - “I don’t know a lot about Christine O’Donnell, but she has some interesting views. She’s come out against masturbation. And you thought the war on drugs was unwinnable.” —Jay Leno - “Sarah Palin tweeted a warning to Christine O’Donnell that the national media is seeking her destruction. That’s ridiculous. If the media wanted to destroy her, they would just douse her with water.” —Craig Ferguson And this… Clip of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) on the Senate floor: I think [repealing 'Don't Ask Don’t  Tell'] is the right thing to do. I think it’s only fair. … But I cannot vote to proceed to this bill under a situation that is going to shut down the debate and preclude Republican amendments. That, too, is not fair. Jon Stewart: So the Army’s multi-decade policy of discrimination against homosexuals, forcing them to live a life of secrecy and shame for the privilege of defending this country, is an injustice!  But not as unjust as the majority party attempting to limit amendments, say, in the exact same way that Majority Leader Bill Frist did when he broke a Democratic filibuster of a bill to shield gun manufacturers from lawsuits filed by victims of gun crimes with the help of—say it with me—Susan Collins of Maine. Ahhh, yes. Are we run by assholes?   Indeeeeeeed . Ever heard of a drink called an Autumn Thunder? Now ya have (and you may need a couple in ya to figure out who to vote for in our poll tonight). Bottom’s up! Your west coast-friendly edition of  Cheers and Jeers starts in There’s Moreville… [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

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Cheers and Jeers: Autumn Thunder FRIDAY!

WASHINGTON — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is urging her supporters to oust lawmakers who come from districts she and presidential running mate John McCain won in 2008 and who voted for the health care overhaul. Palin, the Republicans’ 2008 vice presidential nominee and a potential 2012 White House hopeful, launched a website Thursday to “Take Back the 20.” On a U.S. map, Palin places bull’s-eyes on the districts where, she says, “we’ve diagnosed the problem.” Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Sarah Palin Targets ‘Obamacare,’ Democrats Who Voted For Reform

NEW YORK — Her 410 days of solitary confinement in an Iranian prison were mostly cramped quarters and endless monotony, but Sarah Shourd chooses to savor the few moments of joy: a proposal from her boyfriend and a birthday celebration complete with a chocolate cake. Shourd, her boyfriend Shane Bauer and their friend Josh Fattal were captured in 2009 while hiking near the Iran-Iraq border. Shourd talked about her experiences Thursday with The Associated Press in one of her first interviews since her release on Sept. 14 after officials in Oman mediated bail. Read More… More on Iran

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Sarah Shourd Interview: Hiker Talks Of Year In Iran Prison

The American paradigm of Forever War no longer delivers, and its destructive results are even now rippling through the nation. The warrior, the Legion, the Predator and Reaper solution — is no solution. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Michael Vlahos: Mother Goddess, Ascending

Sharron Angle mocks coverage for autism, pregnancy in August 2009 Las Vegas Sun: In a video of Angle at a 2009 tea party rally released by the party’s tracker, Angle appears to mock a recently passed Nevada mandate for insurance carriers to cover treatment for autism. “Take off the mandates for coverage in the state of Nevada and all over the United States,” she shouts. “But here you know what I’m talking about. You’re paying for things you don’t even need. “They just passed the latest one, is everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under ‘autism’,” she said, using exaggerated air quotes to deliver the word ‘autism.’ In addition to mocking the idea that health insurance should cover treatment of conditions like autism, Angle also said she was against requiring that insurance cover pregnancy. Her argument: only women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should pay for such coverage. That raises a couple of questions. First, I wonder if Angle would also agree that women should pay an extra fee if they want ovarian cancer to be covered or that men should pay an extra fee if they want coverage for testicular or prostate cancer.) Second, I wonder what Sarah Palin thinks about all this, given that both she and her daughter recently had unexpected pregnancies and that her son Trig was born with Down syndrome, which, like autism, requires special medial treatment. You’d think that even Palin isn’t as extreme as Angle on issues like this. But I wouldn’t be shocked if she were.

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NV-Sen: Angle mocked requiring insurers to cover autism

Joe Miller, the GOP establishment and Sarah Palin-backed candidate for Senate in Alaska, appears on his way to locking up the support of an Alaskan militia coalition, a recent report by Salon ’s Justin Elliott finds. “It’s safe to say that Joe Miller is a friend of patriots,” Norm Olson, commander of the Alaska Citizens Militia , told Elliott. “His beliefs and platform favor Second Amendment rights as well as the power of nullification when the federal government intrudes into the private lives of Alaskans.” Elliott then highlights a brief rundown of the group’s website, which turns up a list of 17 “acts of war.” Included on the contents: “firearms restrictions or other disarmament,” “mandatory medical anything,” “federal patrols,” “taking control of children under duress or threat,” “federalization of law enforcement,” and “surrender powers to a corporation or foreign government.” Read More…

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Joe Miller Locking Up Alaska’s Militia Vote?

Anyone who has wondered about what Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens think of Sarah Palin need not wonder anymore. The two Bengals receivers discussed the one-time vice presidential candidate on their television show “The T.Ocho Show.” The pair was asked whether they would rather see Palin in the White House or in Playboy . Ochocinco said he would rather see Palin in the White House because “I really don’t want to see her in Playboy .” Owens seemed to agree. “She looks cute though,” Ochocinco added. Owens chimed in with some commentary of his own, saying that “she can get away with the little naughty look with the glasses.” But T.O.’s verdict was “nothing Playboy -ish.” Read More… More on NFL

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Terrell Owens & Chad Ochocinco Discuss Sarah Palin’s Body (VIDEO)

With the November elections just weeks away, a growing number of Americans are being tricked by a sinister con game that’s morphing into a bizarre new threat. The swindle known as “Gram Scam” is going political. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Jeffrey Shaffer: Crime and Politics: The Final Fusion

Yep, it’s still the same old GOP : An election year agenda being unveiled by House Republicans Thursday will include language affirming the party’s support of “traditional marriage” and its opposition to abortion rights, House GOP sources tell POLITICO. Conservatives have smartly tried to keep the elephant on the sidelines for as much of this electoral cycle as possible, but at the end of the day there’s nothing they can do to avoid the simple fact that teahadists are just embarrassed Republicans . The only difference: they’ve dropped any pretense of moderation. Case in point: most prominent teahadist Republican candidates want to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest .

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GOP’s "contract" to endorse conservative social agenda

I have figured it all out. Formerly even-tempered Americans who have lost hope that reason may return to this country, I have figured it out. We don’t have to worry for much longer. The teabaggers are the political equivalent of Justin Bieber. I’ll explain. Both of them rose to popularity as a result of “grassroots” efforts via the internet. Bieber was discovered on YouTube and then developed a huge following on Twitter. (Sarah Palin happens to speak the same language as Bieber’s tweenage followers.) Teabaggers, however, have taken it a step further and through viral campaigns, likely in the form of emails sent by family members that go unchecked by Snopes , have successful spread their message like herpes. Angry, raging, flaming herpes. And man, is this a baaaaaaad case of herpes. They’ve got postules and sores all the hell over the place . I can only imagine that if Justin Bieber got the herp like this, the internet would actually break. But since the teabaggers are a political movement, the final result will be the government breaking. Which is what they want. So as logic goes, teabaggers love herpes. Actually, I think I’ve got this all wrong. Justin Bieber is just a nice kid who likes singing for other nice kids. Totally harmless. ( Mostly. ) Read More… More on Tax Day Tea Parties

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Jamie Frevele: I Have Figured Out the Tea Party

The Coffee Party can be for the reasonable middle, as if a bloated and sluggish America hired a personal trainer to whip it into shape. “Hope and change” was a sleeping pill compared to this triple espresso Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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David Suissa: America Needs a Coffee Party

On August 24 Joe Miller, a no-one-had-ever-heard-of-him-before attorney from out the road in Fairbanks, beat Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s senior United States Senator, by 2006 votes in the Alaska primary election to win their party’s nomination as its candidate in November for election to the seat Lisa now occupies in the United States Senate. Lisa had way more money than Joe. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, she raised $3.5 million. Although Alaskans contributed to her campaign, Lisa shook down most of that money from political action committees that had been organized by corporations that do business with the major Senate committees on which Lisa sits, the Energy and National Resources Committee and the Appropriations Committee, as well as from employees who work for, and lobbyists and attorneys who represent, the same corporations. By contrast, Joe Miller raised only $283,000. Only $5,000 of that came from political action committees. And of the individual contributors, Miller contributed $103,000 of his own money to his own campaign. Independent of Miller, the Tea Party Express spent another almost $600,000 to elect Miller. But that still gave Lisa a four-to-one money advantage. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Donald Craig Mitchell: A Thrilla in Wasilla? Daddy’s Girl Versus Sarah’s Boy

My neighbor two doors down flies a Confederate flag alongside his more conventional stars and stripes. He drives a pickup truck, sports a number of provocative tattoos, and is about as white as Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich. I don’t know if he would vote for either Sarah or Newt, but he’s a pretty conservative guy. Still, he gets along reasonably well with the interracial couple who lives between us. And his son-in-law, an immigrant from El Salvador, just spent the last two weekends replacing our damaged shed with one that looks a whole lot better than anything Home Depot offers. The media tends to portray the immigration issue as black and white (or brown and white). But the new America is a lot more mixed up and complicated than the neat categories imagined by pundits and rabblerousers. When I told my neighbor about our damaged shed, he didn’t tell me to hire a white guy or to avoid a construction crew of immigrant labor. His first suggestion was, of course, his son-in-law. In my neighborhood just outside of Washington, DC, it would be difficult in any case to find a contractor who doesn’t rely at least in part on immigrant labor. Spanish has become the operative language on construction sites, as even the Bureau of Labor Statistics acknowledges . Nearly one-quarter of the Latin American immigrants in the Washington area work in construction . If it weren’t for immigrants, nothing would get built or repaired in this area. As nannies, landscapers, and clerks at the supermarket — as well as lawyers and doctors and teachers — recent immigrants ensure that life in the nation’s capital hums along. Even Chinese restaurants in Chinatown have begun to rely on Latino waitstaff. Read More… More on Unemployment

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John Feffer: "They" Are Not Taking "Our" Jobs

Bristol Palin made her debut on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Monday night, doing a cha-cha with partner Mark Ballas. She began her performance in a sparkly skirt suit, which she quickly tore off to reveal a red fringed mini-dress underneath. Bristol previously said that her costume would be the “most conservative” on the show because “That’s how I am and that’s how I want to dress.” Sarah Palin, contrary to reports, was not in the audience to cheer her on. Read More… More on Video

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Bristol Palin’s Striptease ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Debut (VIDEO)

Is Sarah Palin the frontrunner for the 2012 GOP nomination? That’s the claim that’s been made by some prominent commentators ( here , here , and here ), but it’s wildly premature . There’s a reason that the Intrade futures market currently puts the odds of Palin winning the nomination at 18% (behind Mitt Romney and John Thune) — in particular, her terrible poll numbers . It’s worth underscoring just how bad Palin’s numbers are. The closest comparison to her is probably Hillary Clinton, another female politician with high unfavorables entering an anticipated presidential campaign. But even Clinton had much better numbers than Palin at this point in 2006: Read More…

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Brendan Nyhan: Is Sarah Palin like Hillary Clinton or Dan Quayle?

On September 23, 2010, key provisions of the Affordable Healthcare Act (aka, Healthcare Reform, or “HCR”) become active. As of that date, it shall be illegal for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you become ill. It shall also be illegal for insurance companies not to insure your children due to pre-existing illnesses. And, parents will have the right to insure their children up to age 26 under their policies. The day should not be allowed to pass, however, without calling the Republicans to task. With votes. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Paul Abrams: Senate/House Resolutions Celebrating End of Insurance Companies’ Dictatorial Power Over Patients: Calling Their Bluff on Healthcare Reform

“Johnson comes on like a flood, vivacious, mile-a-minute, with an uncontrollable eloquence.” ~New York Review of Books Image from Jill Johnston’s webpage Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Georgianne Nienaber: Literary World Loses Jill Johnston at 81

It’s time to rethink Sarah Palin. From the moment that Republican presidential candidate John McCain plopped her on his ticket, the supreme article of political faith from all pundits, much of the press, most Democrats, and the GOP establishment has been that Sarah Palin is a laughingstock, a sideshow diversion, an ignoramus on the issues, a gossip and celebrity starved media creation, and, of course, a closet race tinged crowd baiter. The Palin allure is built squarely on elements of these features. But what’s now painfully obvious, is the allure has turned Palin into a political force, threat, and danger. The millions of Palin loathers gag at the thought of this. But her string of victories by candidates she endorsed in the primaries, and a flip-flop in some polls that now show more people than not say that she should run, and a more than a few say that she should win, have radically changed the game. Read More… More on Tax Day Tea Parties

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Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Time to Rethink Palin

Making fun of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party wingnuts has been fun, granted. And it’s given Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert lots of great material. But maybe it’s time to re-assess all this. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Bill Mann: Laughing at Palin and Her Wingnut Pals Getting Harder to do These Days

In Today’s Washington Post, George Will reaches the conclusion that many of us have held as an abiding faith for some time - America’s Cuba policy doesn’t work and its counterproductive. His column (available in full here ) concludes as follows: Today, the U.S. policy of isolating Cuba by means of economic embargoes and travel restrictions serves two Castro goals: It provides an alibi for Cuba’s social conditions, and it insulates Cuba from some of the political and cultural forces that brought down communism in Eastern Europe. The 11th president, Barack Obama, who was born more than two years after Castro seized power, might want to rethink this policy, now that even Castro is having second thoughts about fundamentals. Read More… More on Cuba

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Sarah Stephens: Changes in Cuba Challenge Obama’s Will to Respond and Change Course

“The problem with the world,” according to philosopher Bertran Russell, “is that the stupid are cock-sure and the intelligent are full of doubt.” I thought of his comment this past week, in the wake of the depressing number of Tea Party candidates who won the GOP nominations for elective office in their respective states. Not that any reasonable person fails to understand the average citizen’s fear and frustration, the roiling emotions driving the success of the Tea Party candidates.With the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line now greater than at any time in recent years; with an ailing economy whose prognosis for recovery is, at best, sure to be long and sluggish; and with the growing divide between rich and poor, it’s no wonder the average voter is filled with (in the words of another philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre) “incomprehension and rage.” Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Dennis Palumbo: The Problem with the World…

WASHINGTON — A straw vote suggests that social conservatives favor Indiana Rep. Mike Pence to head a Republican presidential ticket with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2012. About 723 out of more than 2,000 registered attendees cast ballots Saturday at the annual Values Voter Summit. Pence was the top choice for president with 24 percent of the vote. Read More… More on Barack Obama

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Mike Pence Wins Iowa Straw Poll 2010: House Republican Tops GOP Field For 2012 Ticket

The release this week of Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans held for more than a year on spying charges, has been presented as an act of clemency by the Iranian regime. But by claiming the credit for freeing Shourd, the government reveals serious inconsistencies with its own account. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has portrayed himself as Shourd’s benefactor, but it was his intelligence service that held her for 14 months. He was thus directly responsible for her detention without trial. Shourd was freed on September 14, just a week before Ahmadinejad was due to travel to New York to attend the 56th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Read More… More on UN General Assembly

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Omid Memarian: Ahmadinejad Was Freed Hiker’s Captor, Not Saviour

In a speech at the Iowa Republican Party’s Reagan Dinner fundraiser on Friday, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin called on the GOP to come together and support the party’s nominees in November. Hinting at the fractious primary battles in states like Delaware and Alaska, Palin said, “If the goal is to take away the gavel from Pelosi and Harry Reid and to stop the Obama agenda and make government respect the will of the people, then it is time to unite.” Palin noted that she’s technically not part of the Republican Party “hierarchy” and therefore doesn’t get to decide how to allocate party resources, but she nevertheless opined on what should be done in the next 46 days. She said that not only should lawmakers like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) be out campaigning, so should President Bush and various conservative media personalities: Read More… More on 2010 Elections

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Sarah Palin Calls On Fox News To Help Republicans Campaign For November

Last week was a busy one, and also a pretty good one for Democrats, all around. But we’ll get to all of that in a moment. First, though, we simply must wish ourselves a happy third anniversary. Woo hoo! Three years of FTP columns! The first of these weekly columns (before we even began numbering the volumes) ran on September 14, 2007 , and was a bit crude in comparison to the finely-tuned punditry you read today (ahem). On our first anniversary , we handed out the MIDOTW award to Craig Ferguson, for delivering a rant on his late-night show that was so amazing I had to transcribe it as a public service to all . The second anniversary last year found us suggesting what President Obama should say after the “gaffe” of calling Kanye West exactly what he should have been called (Talking Point Number Five): Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points [139] — Three Years Of FTP

Europeans still support President Barack Obama, but are puzzled by his drop in domestic support. On a speaking tour this week of Germany and Netherlands, I found most people like Obama and think he represents a dramatic improvement over President George W. Bush. This impression is confirmed by a new Transatlantic Trends survey showing Obama with a 78 percent job approval among Europeans, down just five percentage points from last year. From a European standpoint, President Obama by and large has been a stunning success. They understand he inherited an economic mess, but feel he has made good faith efforts to deal with problems and move the U.S. forward. They like the fact that he was able to enact health care reform and crack down on financial institutions, and that he has ended the combat mission in Iraq. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Darrell West: Europeans Still Love Obama

Thursday night brings the veritable buffet of polling data, as no less than sixteen polls grace this edition of the Wrap. It is way too early to draw any conclusions about a trend or a shift in momentum, but it is hard not to notice that there is a considerably reduced amount of suck in the recent polling, on balance. Hell, even Blanche Lincoln has drawn within 25-30 points. Hope springs eternal! That poll, and over a dozen more, on the Thursday edition of the Wrap… THE U.S. SENATE AR-Sen: Good news for Lincoln–it’s closer. Bad news–Still down 17 Blanche Lincoln is still virtually certain of losing her Senate seat in Arkansas in six weeks. However, she has at least bounced off of the floor, as she rises from the almost comic weakness that marked her late summer numbers and moves within twenty points of Republican nominee John Boozman. The latest poll, from Mason Dixon, puts Boozman up by seventeen points on Lincoln (51-34). IL-Sen: Republican pollster sees Kirk lead cut in half The midwestern GOP polling firm We Ask America raised some eyebrows last month when they claimed that Republican Mark Kirk has moved out to a six-point edge over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias. This month, the right-wing firm cut Kirk’s lead in half , putting Kirk at 39% and Giannoulias at 36%. In a sign that they can play a spoiler role in November, the Green and Libertarian nominees combined for 6% of the vote. OR-Sen: SUSA finds one Democrat in a comfortable November position SurveyUSA has been pretty bearish on the Democrats this cycle, but they do have one Democrat in a position of considerable strength for November–incumbent Senator Ron Wyden. SUSA puts Wyden at 54% of the vote, with Republican Jim Huffman sitting on 38% of the vote. Even at that outsized margin, it would still be considerably smaller than Wyden’s margin of victory in both his 1998 and 2004 re-election campaigns. THE U.S. HOUSE DE-AL: Dems a double-digit favorite to pick up Castle’s House seat According to PPP, Democrats head into the general election cycle with an excellent chance to pick off the House seat vacated by moderate GOP Congressman (and forced retiree, courtesy of Tuesday’s primary) Mike Castle. The poll shows Democrat John Carney with a 11-point lead over Republican nominee Glen Urquhart. That margin could well widen, as Urquhart seems to be a little bit of an ass, if this film by a Democratic tracker is legit. IA-02: GOP pollster says Loebsack in real danger in November Add second-term Democrat David Loebsack to the stack of Democrats who may be endangered in November, if a new internal poll by Tarrance Group for her campaign is to be believed (and yes…the standard caveats apply). The survey puts Loebsack up by only single point over Republican Marianette Miller-Meeks (41-40). The pollster also has Libertarian Gary Sicard gaining 6% of the vote. Loebsack easily dispatched Miller-Meeks in 2008 (57-39). MD-01: Dem internal puts him up mid-single digits in tough district Another poll obtained by The Fix is much happier news for Democrats–a new Garin Hart Yang poll on behalf of freshman Democrat Frank Kratovil puts him in the lead by six points (45-39) over the man he narrowly beat in 2008–Republican CfG fave Andy Harris. Kratovil just launched an air war, and the polling memo claims that Kratovil is up double digits among those people who have seen the advertising. MI-09: Add Peters to the target list? Unknown pollster says “yes” I’d be mortified by this poll, except that it has a very high margin of error and it comes from a pollster that I have literally never heard of. The new poll, out today from The Rossman Group/Team Telcom, gives Republican challenger Rocky Raczkowski a narrow edge of four points (45-41) over incumbent Democrat Gary Peters. The poll only had 300 respondents, however, meaning the margin of error here is pretty high in this case. WA-03: Heck closes gap, but still trails Republican in Dem open seat SurveyUSA returns to southwestern Washington, and finds an incrementally closer contest than the one they found last month. Republican Jaime Herrera is still out in front of Democrat Denny Heck, but the margin is now in the single digits (52-43). That is a four-point shift from August, when SUSA had Herrera up 54-41 on Heck. The district is a swing district (carried by Obama by only a 52-46 margin), one held by Democrat Brian Baird since the 1990s. THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES GA-Gov: Deal discloses huge personal financial problem, clams up Nathan Deal’s finances have been the stuff of rumor, rumors that the candidate himself confirmed after an educational forum today. Deal disclosed that his auto salvage business, which he co-owns with a business partner and was the subject of a congressional ethics investigation, is in debt to a serious magnitude. Deal would not give a dollar figure, but an AP review noted that the figures was $2.85 million, spread out over two loans from two Georgia banks. Deal failed to disclose these loans in state campaign finance reports, something he deemed today as “an oversight.” He also said today that he would not address his finances further, saying that his release of tax returns earlier this month ought to suffice. MI-Gov: Two polls show little movement in gubernatorial race Democrat Virg Bernero has been unsuccessful so far in closing the gap with Republican Rick Snyder in the open seat battle to replace Jennifer Granholm as Governor of Michigan. That is the verdict from a pair of polls released over the past 24 hours in the state. Venerable local pollsters EPIC-MRA continue to give Snyder a wide lead , with Snyder at 53% of the vote and Bernero well behind at 29%. Meanwhile, the aforementioned (and unknown) Rossman/Team Telcom combo also polled the race statewide. Again, the poll is plagued by a high MoE (only 400 respondents), but the numbers fall well within the range seen in other polls of the race. They have Snyder at 51% of the vote, with Bernero at 32%. MN-Gov: SurveyUSA confirms tightening race in Minnesota The University of Minnesota broke the pattern several days ago, when they showed the gubernatorial race as an absolute coinflip (previous polls had given Democrat Mark Dayton a modest lead). Late last night, SurveyUSA released their own numbers , and confirmed the UM findings. They had Dayton in the lead over Republican Tom Emmer, but it is painfully close (38-36). The most notable thing is the apparent ascendancy of Indie candidate Tom Horner, who draws 18% of the vote. Horner does the worst among conservatives, which implies that the two trends of recent vintage (a closer race between Emmer and Dayton, as well as Horner’s surge) may very well be related. NH-Gov: Lynch not as dominant as usual, but still comfortably ahead PPP revealed their gubernatorial numbers out of the Granite State today, and they find that Democratic Governor John Lynch has a double-digit lead over Republican nominee John Stephen. However, it is a considerably tighter race than Lynch had grown accustomed to over the years. Lynch, re-elected with 70% of the vote or more in both 2006 and 2008, is leading with 51% of the vote. Stephen trails with 39% of the vote. OH-Gov: Q poll disastrous for Dems, but is there a slight caveat? Only rarely do I look at the demographic details of a poll to try to explain away a particularly ugly (or particularly good) data point, but this poll out today from Quinnipiac merits such treatment . The toplines have got a lot of attention today: the poll shows Republican John Kasich leading Democratic Governor Ted Strickland by a 54-37 margin. What caught my attention was the partisan breakdown. Strickland did marginally worse with Democrats than Kasich did with Republicans, but the differences were not massive. Kasich enjoyed a 23-point edge with Indies. So, how in the world did they get a seventeen-point lead overall? Clearly, there was an issue with either GOP oversampling, Democratic undersampling, or…well…both. Applying the 2006 exit poll demographics for Ohio, the margin was halved to eight points. Even using the best GOP parameters over the last several election cycles (2004: R 40 D 35 I 25, which was a better breakdown by party than was even seen in 1994), the margin is cut to less than fourteen percentage points. Not that it is anything to write home about, but clearly, Quinnipiac is seeing the most stratified electorate by party in recent history. OR-Gov: Dueling polls offer two different interpretations of race Either Republican Chris Dudley has emerged with a modest lead in the Oregon Governor’s race, or former Democratic Governor John Kitzhaber is clinging to a single-point edge that confirms the race as a coin flip. Those are the competing verdicts (though within the same margin of error, I suppose) of two new polls in Oregon today. The SurveyUSA poll of the state gives Dudley a 49-43 lead over Kitzhaber, propelled by a continuing deadlock between the two candidates in normally Dem-friendly Portland. Meanwhile, local pollsters Riley Research puts it at a virtual tie , with Kitzhaber at 40% of the vote and Dudley at 39%. UT-Gov: Local pollster puts Herbert up 21 in re-election bid A poll conducted mostly during last week, and released today, shows that Utah’s Republican Governor, Gary Herbert, enjoys a 21-point advantage over Democrat Peter Corroon (52-31). What makes this potentially interesting: the poll was conducted before the burgeoning scandal involving a highway contract that was awarded to a company that had funneled $87,000 to Herbert’s re-election campaign. The state had to offer an eight-figure settlement to the losing bidder on the contract after it was revealed that the state department of Transportation tweaked the scoring of the bids, which moved the contributing firm (Provo River Constructors) into the lead for the bid. THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA The House of Ras continues its recent surge of data, with a quintet of new results out today. Rasmussen follows other recent pollsters in moving Patty Murray out to a modest lead, and they also break normal Ras form in being the best pollster for Rory Reid in a long time (don’t get too excited–he is still down double digits). DE-Sen: Chris Coons (D) 52%, Christine O’Donnell (R) 41% NV-Gov: Brian Sandoval (R) 52%, Rory Reid (D) 39% NH-Sen: Kelly Ayotte (R) 51%, Paul Hodes (D) 44% PA-Gov: Tom Corbett (R) 49%, Dan Onorato (D) 39% WA-Sen: Sen. Patty Murray (D) 51%, Dino Rossi (R) 46%

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Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 9/16/10

Nearly a week ago — on September 10 — Robin Carnahan started airing an effective ad against Republican Rep. Roy Blunt. You could see that for yourself, except that the ad has been removed (from YouTube — it is still airing on television). Where it used to be on Carnahan’s website, this is now what you see: The ad was so effective that Fox News has sued to have it taken off the air. What don’t they want you to see? In the ad, Wallace addresses Blunt and says, “You just said a moment ago that you have to show that you’re the party of reform but some question whether you are the man to do that. In 2002, you tried to insert language into the Homeland Security Act to help Phillip Morris tobacco [company] while you were dating that company’s lobbyist. And your campaign committee’s paid $485,000 to a firm linked to lobbyist Jack Abramoff.” Wallace then asks Blunt, “Are you the one to clean up the house?” The suit alleges that the ad makes it appear that Fox and Wallace are endorsing Carnahan. It’s an absurd claim, since obviously nowhere in the 2006 interview are Carnahan or Blunt’s Senate run mentioned. But we know that isn’t the real issue; in fact, this isn’t the first time they’ve demanded Democrats pull ads for this reason — and naturally, they’ve been fine with Republicans using their footage. The hilarious thing here is that this was a week-old ad. Just about everyone who was going to see it, already has. And now it’s going to pick up some earned media as a result of the lawsuit.

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MO-Sen: Fox News sues Carnahan over ad

A recent poll conducted by Washington Post/ABC News showing just how polarizing Sarah Palin’s campaigning efforts are could sprinkle a little rain on the parade that she might be having after her candidates’ recent primary successes. The survey shows the true volatility of a Sarah Palin endorsement, with 36 percent of respondents, including many who categorized themselves as “somewhat conservative,” saying that they’d be more likely to oppose a candidate for Congress in their district if the former Alaska Governor were to campaign for them. The strong opposition marks a full nine points higher than President Obama, whose planned campaigning efforts for some Democrats has already been a point of contention within the party. On the flip side, however, 20 percent of those surveyed said they’d be more likely to support a Congressional candidate running with the campaign help of Palin, while only 17 percent said the same of President Obama. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Sarah Palin’s Campaigning Efforts More Polarizing Than Obama’s

PPP polled the likely match-ups in the New Hampshire Senate race before the primary. Public Policy Polling (PDF) 9/11-12 (7/23-25 results). MoE 2.2% Kelly Ayotte (R) 47% (45) Paul Hodes (D) 43% (42) Not much change in the head-to-head from July, but check out Ayotte’s favorables: But while Ayotte had cast herself as a nonpartisan moderate, looking toward the general election, Lamontagne’s strong challenge from the right forced her to tout Sarah Palin’s endorsement in the primary, and her favorability rating has precipitously declined from 34-24 in April to 36-39 in July to 35-47 now. Though Ayotte has slightly strengthened her standing in the horse race with her own party’s voters and with unaffiliateds, 47% of Granite State voters think the Republican Party is too conservative, and by a 52-18 margin, they say they are less likely, rather than more likely, to vote for a Palin endorsee. For most of the past year, commentators and many in the Democratic establishment have seemed to think Ayotte was invulnerable. But this is who she has always been — an inexperienced candidate with significant negatives to exploit, more attractive as a generic than a reality. Someone whose favorables would decline from plus 10 to minus twelve between April and September in the course of a normally competitive primary campaign. There’s no guarantee Paul Hodes will effectively exploit that, but the Kelly Ayotte of September should not be seen as a surprise or a necessarily passing phenomenon. This is a pick-up Democrats have a chance at. Update : In comments, Davidsfr points out this poll switches from a registered voter to likely voter model, which improves the picture further.

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NH-Sen: Slight lead for Ayotte

You can forgive the pragmatic, establishment Republicans who run the national party machinery for feeling a bit besieged this morning. Because the Tea Party keeps continuing to storm the GOP’s castle. The party regulars are manning the battlements, but to no avail. They see their stronghold being overrun by a mob over whom they have no control, and they are shaking in their boots at the prospect. You can picture these GOP faithful rushing about the castle’s keep, desperately trying to convince the rabble that eating all the seed stores will result in famine next year, but to no avail as the Tea Partiers pillage at will. The reason for this long-winded and increasingly-convoluted introductory metaphor is, of course, the defeat of one Castle in particular — Mike Castle, moderate Republican of Delaware — in last night’s Senate primary in the First State. The Republican Party establishment watched last night in absolute horror as Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell swamped Castle in the primary. The horror stems from the fact that this will likely mean Joe Biden’s old Senate seat will remain in Democratic hands this November. Republican voters chose purity over electability, plain and simple. They’ll now have a purest-of-the-pure Tea Party candidate, who will go on to lose what would otherwise have been a very easy pickup for the Republicans. This may also doom any Republican hopes of taking control of the whole Senate, as it is pretty hard to chart a path to a majority without picking up the Delaware seat. Democrats, of course, are pretty gleeful at the prospect, especially since this election season (so far) hasn’t had a whole lot of such moments of glee for the party. But now, longshot Democratic candidate Chris Coons has indeed given Democrats a bright spot to focus on. So let’s get on with the focusing, shall we? Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Chris Weigant: Storming The Castle

HuffPost editor Roy Sekoff appeared on Joy Behar’s HLN show and Ed Schultz’s MSNBC program Wednesday night to discuss tea party candidate Christine O’Donnell’s victory in Delaware’s Republican Senate primary. On Behar’s program, Sekoff compared the Delaware Senate candidate to Sarah Palin, who endorsed O’Donnell. “Christine is actually, when you look right down to it, even nuttier than Sarah,” Sekoff said. “This is a big win for Sarah, she gets to chalk up another win in her endorsement column. But I think the stuff that’s going to come out [about O'Donnell] — even the victory’s not going to make it go away.” WATCH: Read More… More on Video

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HuffPost TV: Roy Sekoff: Christine O’Donnell Makes Sarah Palin Look Deep

It’s not 2008. There’s no presidential race to unite the country’s focus and galvanize sweeping momentum. If you asked a young person how he or she feels heading into the midterm elections, you’d probably still hear the traces of optimism that characterized that historic election. This time, however, the response would also have a trace of cynicism. You’d hear frustration - if sometimes unreasonable -about the pace of change over the last two years. But you’d also hear conviction that 2010 is a new opportunity to prove that young people remain deeply invested and committed to shaping the future they’ll inherit. Today Rock the Vote released the results of a poll that details where this crucial bloc of voters ages 18 to 29 stands on many important factors, such as young voters attitudes towards Congress and national leaders like President Obama and Sarah Palin, and their interest in the upcoming election. It also looks at their political affiliations and positions on critical issues that will be debated during the 2010 midterm election cycle, such as the war in Afghanistan, marriage rights, energy policy, sexual health education and immigration. What we found is that young voters are tired of politics as usual, and this sentiment gives them all the more reason to vote on Nov. 2nd. About 77% say they plan to vote, and when they do show up at the polls, they say they want to vote for candidates who stick to substance rather than preaching partisanship. Our data shows that young people care much more about jobs and college affordability than a candidate’s party affiliation. They are waiting for candidates to address their issues, and are becoming increasingly frustrated with those who don’t. Read More… More on Barack Obama

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Heather Smith: NEW DATA: Young Voters Battle Cynicsm, But Still Plan to Participate in 2010

When angry mobs disrupted healthcare reform town halls last summer, the first warning shots were fired. Back then Republican Party leadership appeared amused by the ruckus being created, believing they would ride the crest of this discontent to victory. They may not have shared the “birther” angst or “death panel” rage, but they played with these notions-and with a wink and a nod sought to use them to their advantage. At that time I warned that the economic insecurity on which the GOP leadership was preying, and the anger with which they were toying, could ultimately turn on them and devour them first. And now after a half dozen or so highly charged Republican primary contests, it appears that this is exactly what has happened. With Palin and the Tea Party acting as the chief cheerleaders and Newt, Beck and Rush-the boys charged with pouring gasoline on the bonfire-the GOP no longer looks like the Party of Lincoln ( in fact it doesn’t even look like the party of Reagan anymore ). No tears should be shed for the grey men in expensive suits who fed the fire and stoked the flames. They got burned and that’s what happens. While some debate whether this is good for Democrats in November, my concern is less with what will happen in the election and more importantly what the success of this movement of malcontents will mean for civil discourse and our democracy. Read More…

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James Zogby: GOP Devoured by Their Own Creation

PPP . 9/11-12. Likely voters. MoE 3.2% (8/7-8 results) Chris Coons (D) 50 (44) Christine O’Donnell (R) 34 (37) PPP’s Tom Jensen : While O’Donnell may have ingratiated herself to Delaware’s small group of registered Republicans over the last month she’s turned off everyone else. An August Daily Kos/PPP poll in Delaware found her favorability rating at 23/33. It’s now 29/50. If Castle had won he would have received more Democratic support than any other Republican Senate candidate in the country. Now our polling suggests with O’Donnell’s victory that Coons will win more Republicans than any other Democratic Senate candidate in the country. That’s because of a general unwillingness to support O’Donnell from Castle’s moderate base- folks from the centrist wing of the GOP are planning to support Coons 54-31. Overall he takes a full 25% of the GOP vote while also largely consolidating the Democratic base for a 72-13 lead on that front. He also has a narrow 42-36 advantage with independents, a group Democrats are losing with most everywhere else. There’s a reason the NRSC and the rest of the GOP establishment want to keep their distance from O’Donnell. The message was sent before O’Donnell even gave her victory speech — you broke it, you bought it. It’s up to Sarah Palin and the rest of the teabaggers to drag their nominee across the finish line. Meanwhile, after originally saying it was cutting off O’Donnell, the NRSC has caved to pressure from their activists and decided to waste its money in the First State. I reached out to Christine this morning, and as I have conveyed to all of our nominees, I offered her my personal congratulations and let her know that she has our support. This support includes a check for $42,000 – the maximum allowable donation that we have provided to all of our nominees – which the NRSC will send to her campaign today. That’s $42,000 that they can’t spend in more hospitable territory. And note, in the statement, that there’s no promise of additional support. The NRSC is already too busy spending their cash to try and rescue their Senate seat in Kentucky, of all places.

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DE-Sen: Coons (D) up big over crazy Republican nominee

With the primaries now complete (and Republican voters in Delaware giving the Democrats a huge gift by nominating the East Coast version of Sharron Angle over the popular–and probably unbeatable–Mike Castle), the races are set for the midterm elections in November. With many forecasters predicting success for the GOP, it raises the question: When you cast a vote for a Republican candidate in November, what are you voting for? There was a time when a principled Republican could fairly and accurately reply that he or she was voting for smaller government and lower taxes as a way of improving the fortunes of the middle class. (I personally disagree with that policy position, but it is a fair argument to make.) But in the current Tea Party- and Beck-Palin-Limbaugh-dominated GOP, such an assertion is completely untenable. Recent news has shined a clear spotlight on exactly what the GOP is actually supporting. As I pointed out last month, odds are, the Republicans are not looking out for you . Read More… More on War Wire

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Mitchell Bard: What Does a Vote for a GOP Candidate in November Really Mean?

Fox gets official word from their bosses at the GOP: Republican aides told Fox News Tuesday that the National Republican Senatorial Committee will not be funding O’Donnell’s general election campaign, leaving it up to Palin and the Tea Party Express to do the heavy lifting. In other words, “You broke it, you bought it.”

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DE-Sen: NRSC surrenders Delaware

So Christine O’Donnell wins her nomination in Delaware. Fox News reports that the NRSC has taken Delaware off the map and will not help O’Donnell in November. A lot of grumbling about “Palin and the Tea Party can support her.” Getting the full reaction tomorrow is going to be F-U-N. Have you given your $10 to an O2B candidate ? Among the choices are Ann McLane Kuster who won her primary tonight in convincing fashion against a Lieberdem, and Alan Grayson. Update : Walker has pulled away in the GOP gubernatorial battle in Wisconsin, leading 56-41.2 with 34.6 percent reporting. Too bad. His opponent Neumann would’ve been an easier foe for the general. Update II : In NY-23, land of Dede Scozzofava, the teabagger who gifted that seat to the Democrats, Doug Hoffman, is trailing narrowly in the GOP primary with a third of the vote in. Don’t worry, though. Even if he loses, he’s promised to continue playing spoiler on the third party Constitution Party line. Update III : With 23 percent in , former GOP Rep. Charlie Bass has the slimmest of leads, just 200 votes. While the teabagger vote is split, it may not be enough to rescue Bass. Kuster may get a double-dose of great news tonight. Meanwhile, the margin is narrowing in the Senate GOP primary — with Lamontagne now at 42.1 to Ayotte’s 37.1 percent. In raw numbers, that’s a gap of roughly 2,200 votes. Update IV : Time to go put the kids down. I’ll check back in later. The NH vote count is going painfully slow anyway.

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Election Night Thread #8

WILMINGTON, Del. — Conservative activist and tea party favorite Christine O’Donnell upset veteran U.S. Rep. Michael Castle in the Delaware Republican Senate primary Tuesday, overcoming hostile opposition from her state party to earn the surprising victory. O’Donnell’s win gave new energy to the tea party movement, which targeted Castle after victories by Republican tea party candidates in the Alaska and Nevada Senate primaries. It was another primary victory for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who endorsed O’Donnell last week. Read More… More on Election Results

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Delaware Election Results: Christine O’Donnell Defeats Mike Castle In GOP Senate Primary

Wow. With 31 percent reporting , it’s looking really bad for Mike Castle. How bad? He’s down 54.2 to 45.8 against teabagger Christine O’Donnell. HOW bad? This bad: Update : And now AP takes the lead in poll counting. They’ve got 36.6% of precincts in, with O’Donnell leading by double digits, 55.4 to 44.6 . Frustratingly enough, their county map isn’t working, so I can’t tell where the votes are coming from. Update II : Let’s go back to New Hampshire . Umm. Let’s not. The vote is still stuck at 6.5%. Update III : Well, the Palin endorsement for Brian Murphy in the Maryland gubernatorial primary wasn’t worth squat. AP has called it for former Gov. BoB Ehrlich with just 1.1 percent reporting. Update IV : This tweet from a DE newspaper gives us a hint as to where the votes are coming from in that Senate primary: There are 62 of 212 Districts reporting in New Castle County. There are 20 of 63 Districts reporting in Sussex County. New Castle is where all the people live, and it also happens to be Castle’s base. There’s still no way to see what the vote breakdown in New Castle looks like, but it should still give Castle’s people hope. He’ll lose in the end, but no one can make that call yet. Gotta keep counting votes! (Crazy, I know.)

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Election Night Thread #3

Americans are facing a troubling reality. The economic recovery we were promised has not materialized. There’s growing talk about a “new normal”–a new way of life to take us through a long period of failed recoveries. There are, indeed, good reasons to believe we won’t go back to the old ways. But this new normal doesn’t have to be a time of chaos and decline. Instead, many Americans are building stronger families and communities , rejecting the waste and greed that made our economy implode, and turning instead to self-reliance and the sort of neighborliness that embraces diversities of all sorts . Why not go back to the consumer ideal that was the foundation of the American Dream? Many who live paycheck to paycheck have lost jobs, homes, hopes for an education, retirement security, and belief in a more prosperous future. CEO pay is on the uptick , as are corporate profits. But the anti-tax, anti-regulation fever that enriched some undermined the real wealth of our country–our education system , infrastructure, communities, and natural resources. And much of our economy has been outsourced, making it difficult for stimulus spending to get growth going again. Read More… More on Climate Change

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Sarah van Gelder: Pioneers of the New Normal

This is it, the last of the primaries, the last chance the teabaggers have to make our job a little easier this November. I’ll be taking care of results coverage tonight, in what is shaping up to be a blockbuster evening. What we’ll be looking at: Delaware : Nothing will be more meaningful than the results of tonight’s GOP primary in Delaware. If Rep. Mike Castle wins, the GOP will be favored to pick up Joe Biden’s old seat. If he gets teabagged by Christine O’Donnell, it’ll be a relatively easy Democratic hold. Given that political handicappers have already ceded to the GOP, an O’Donnell victory would essentially be the Democratic Party’s first Senate pickup of the year. I like going out on limbs, so I’ll say O’Donnell wins, and wins easily — by at least 7 points. On the House side, Democrats are favored no matter who the GOP nominates, but if Glenn Urquhart defeats wealthy self-funding establishment choice Michele Rollins, Dems will be in particularly solid footing. Enough so, that their cash can be better spent elsewhere. New Hampshire : PPP has hinted that in polling-to-be-released tomorrow, all GOP Senate candidates poll the same against Democrat Paul Hodes. So while the CW states that establishment-backed Attorney General Kelly Ayotte is the strongest candidate for the GOP in November, it may not matter much if arch conservative Ovide Lamontagne comes from behind to win the nomination. Former Rep. Paul Bass is attempting a comeback in NH-01, while O2B candidate Ann McLane Kuster will hopefully win the nomination over odious Lieberdem Katrina Swett. In NH-02, a gaggle of Republicans are vying to take on Carol Shea-Porter. Maryland Former Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich is attempting a rematch against the Democrat who booted him in 2006 — Martin O’Malley. But he has to get by his teabagger opponent Brian Murphy. While he’s “some random dude no one ever heard of”, he did get Palin’s endorsement. Massachusetts South Boston-area Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch decided to be an asshole and vote against the health care reform law, apparently to burnish his credentials for a gubernatorial or future Senate run. Bad move, as it spurred a spirited labor-backed primary challenge from Mac D’Alessandro — the former New England political director for SEIU. Here’s hoping Lynch gets the boot. Washington D.C. Will Mayor Adrian Fenty really get the boot tonight? New York Chuck Rangel should be getting the boot in a primary tonight, except that the opposition is fractured among several challengers. It’s too bad. The Democratic establishment has rallied around the corrupt Rangel, making the same mistake as Republicans who rallied around their own corrupt congresscritters.

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Last primaries of the year, tonight!

Defeated incumbent Lisa Murkowski, still apparenly in deciding mode about trying to keep her job, stayed in Alaska today , even though the Senate has returned to work. Her schedule for the remainder of the week hasn’t been released, since she must not have figured out what it is yet, but there’s one element of her decision that got easier. The Libertarian in the race, David Haase, has decided to stay in the race. This means the only option available to Murkowski is as a write-in candidate. National Republicans have warned her against that . Texas Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told POLITICO he didn’t believe Murkowski could continue serving as vice chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee if she decides to mount a third-party bid, challenging GOP nominee Joe Miller and Democratic nominee Scott McAdams in the November elections. “It’s hard to see how you stay as part of the Republican leadership if you are no longer running as a Republican,” Cornyn said in an interview. “I think that’s pretty much the end of that.” She also gets a threat from, who else, Sarah Palin, who says a write-in bid would be “futile.” Via DavidNYC at Swing State, here’s a more informed view on the issue from Smart Politics blogger Eric Ostermeier, which nonethless comes to the same basic conclusion. He writes “No Alaskan candidate for statewide office has won more than 27 percent in a write-in campaign; Senator Ernest Gruening’s model for potential Murkowski write-in candidacy netted just 17 percent in 1968.”

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AK-Sen: Murkowski watch, Libertarian not stepping aside

Comedian Sarah Silverman told a Brooklyn Book Fair audience yesterday that she probably won’t write another book. “For me, this was my first book and last,” she explained. Read More… More on Sarah Silverman

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Comedian And Author Sarah Silverman: ‘This Was My First Book And Last’

To all of you who mocked me when I first flagged Mike Castle as being in trouble two months ago, this is my ” I told you so ” moment: PPP (PDF). 9/11-12. Likely voters. MoE 3.8% (No trend lines) Delaware Senate Republican Primary Mike Castle (R) 44 Christine O’Donnell (R) 47 Castle, having been elected statewide since the Paleolithic Era, is the de facto incumbent in this race. If this poll’s results are accurate (and polling primaries is a real bitch, no matter how good PPP is), then Castle will lose his primary on Tuesday. Not only does O’Donnell have the mo and the big endorsements from the likes of Palin, DeMint, the NRA and the teabagger groups, but her voters will be the most motivated in a low-turnout closed (registered Republican-only) primary. Remember, if O’Donnell wins, we keep this seat. If Castle wins, the advantage shifts heavily to the GOP. That’s why the Republican establishment has gone all-out to try and hold this seat. As the Delaware GOP chief said : “She’s not a viable candidate for any office in the state of Delaware,” said the state party chairman, Tom Ross, who is backing Castle. “She could not be elected dog catcher.” Damn right. Back to the poll, PPP digs further into their numbers: It’s clear that Castle’s popularity has taken a sharp turn in the wrong direction over the last month. An August PPP poll found his favorability with Delaware Republicans at a 60/25 spread. Now his favorables within the party are negative at 43/47. That’s largely a product of 55% of voters in his party saying they think he’s too liberal compared to 37% who think he’s about right. GOP voters are pretty sharply divided about O’Donnell as well. 45% have a favorable opinion of her with 41% seeing her unfavorably. Only 50% of primary voters think she’s fit to hold public office but she does much better than Castle on the ideology front- 53% think she’s about right. If all goes well, the Democrats will win their first Senate seat of the year tomorrow night.

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DE-Sen: Teabagger O’Donnell (R) takes primary lead

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Originally billed as a chance to reflect on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a series of raucous tea party rallies around the country on Sunday ended up focusing almost entirely on an event still to come – the Nov. 2 election. “We are your everyday, average, churchgoing families, we represent the majority of people in this nation, and we’re ready to take back our government,” said Pam Pinkston of Fair Oaks, Calif., one of about 4,000 people to attend Sacramento’s “United to the Finish” gathering. Read More… More on Tax Day Tea Parties

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Tea Party Activists Protest Coast To Coast, Glenn Beck Apears With Sarah Palin In Alaska

Forty-two states have already done it, and by this time next week, the entirety of the nation will have completed the process of primary elections. And, in the grand tradition of saving the best for last, there is no shortage of high-octane contests with which we will close out the primary season this week. So, allow this to be your clip-and-save preview of the week’s festivities, which kick off Tuesday in seven different states, and then come to a conclusion out west on Saturday, when Hawaii closes the curtain on the primary election cycle. Both Republicans and Democrats have races this week to keep their eyes on, but as has happened throughout the 2010 cycle, the majority of the fireworks are on the Right. DELAWARE: DE-Sen, DE-AL Two months ago, only the most grossly addicted of the political junkie class could have told you the name Christine O’Donnell. Now, O’Donnell, the far-right Republican who was boatraced in 2008 by Joe Biden even as he was being elected Vice-President, has become the center of attention for the political community as we head into primary week. It was about two months ago that the teabaggers decided to make this race their cause celebre , putting longtime Congressman and runaway GOP primary favorite Mike Castle into their crosshairs. That, plus O’Donnell’s abnormally brutal (not to mention, at least to some extent, gay-baiting) campaign against Castle seems to have found some purchase in the soils of the Delaware GOP electorate. Just this morning, Tom Jensen of PPP teased that their final poll in the race (due tonight) has it as a single-digit race between Castle and O’Donnell. This has huge implications for the general election. Democratic County Executive Chris Coons is waiting patiently as the certain Dem nominee, and polls show that he has an infinitely better shot at keeping the seat Democratic against O’Donnell than he does against Castle, though he is surprisingly competitive against the longtime GOP Congressman. While the Senate primary is consuming most of the oxygen, it is worth remembering that there is also a primary on Tuesday for the lone House seat in the state (held since 1992 by Mike Castle). Democrat John Carney, the former state Lt. Governor, will learn the identity of his GOP opponent. Attorney and GOP activist Michelle Rollins is generally considered to be the favorite, but she has been challenged hard by wealthy real estate developer Glen Urquhart, who has dropped a half million of his own money into the race. Carney is sitting on more cash-on-hand than either Republican has raised to date, however, and he held a lead in the PPP poll conducted for DK last month. This is the seat that arguably is the most likely in the nation to flip from Republican to Democrat. HAWAII (To be held on Saturday 9/18): HI-Gov, HI-Sen, HI-01 The governorship most likely to change hands from Repubican to Democrat is way out West, where Hawaii’s ancestral roots (and the fact that they are the state that still retains the most affection for native son Barack Obama) means that Dems are in the driver’s seat for Governor, according to recent polling . First, though, the Democrats have to figure out who will lead their ticket. From the outset, this has been a two-man race between longtime Congressman Neal Abercrombie and former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann. A late primary poll by the Merriman River Group breaks what had been a coin flip throughout. The poll gave Abercrombie a seventeen-point edge over Hannemann (48-31). Republican state Lt. Governor Duke Aiona has nominal opposition next weekend, and is almost universally expected to be the nominee. Forgotten in the state (and nationally) is the fact that Hawaii will be electing a Senator in November. Daniel Inouye, in his late 80s, has been in DC for half a century, and he will seek another term this fall. Cam Cavasso, who lost to Inouye in 2004, and activist John Roco are the leading competitors to lose to Inouye in November. Abercrombie’s early 2010 exit from the House (and the unusual special election rules in Hawaii) handed his House seat to the GOP, in the form of Charles Djou. Djou looked like he might benefit from the Democratic schism that earned him a special election win with just 39% of the vote. Then, in late May, former Democratic Congressman Ed Case surprisingly reversed field and dropped his House bid. That left state Senator Colleen Hanabusa as the last prominent Dem standing. Both Djou and Hanabusa have nominal competition next week, and lots of eyes will be here in November, as this is one of the few legitimate Democratic pickup opportunities. MARYLAND: MD-Gov, MD-Sen, MD-01 Much (probably too much) has been made of Sarah Palin’s wave of endorsements this Fall. But easily her most perplexing interference in a primary came in Maryland, where she spurned the clear betting favorite, former Governor Bob Ehrlich, in favor of little-known investment executive Brian Murphy. While no polls were conducted in the final days of the race, a late August poll indicated that Murphy had a little hill to climb to catch Ehrlich: he was down by sixty-two points (75-13). Ehrlich will face incumbent Democrat Martin O’Malley, who took Ehrlich out back in 2006. Polls have shown the race close, with O’Malley staked to a narrow advantage. While a number of Democratic Senators are in electoral peril this Fall, one who appears to be doing just fine is fourth-term Senator Barbara Mikulski. She faces several primary opponents, but no one expects her to be in any primary peril. The frontrunner in a crowded (11 candidates!) GOP primary is County Commissioner Eric Wargotz, who has dumped $575,000 of his own money into his bid. Primaries can be found for 14 of the 16 major party nominations for the U.S. House, but the main one worth watching is in the swing district in eastern Maryland’s 1st district. Democrat Frank Kratovil is unopposed, and he seems likely to face a rematch with the man he barely defeated in 2008: Republican CfG fave Andy Harris. But Harris has an interesting primary challenge from IT consultant Rob Fisher, who has dumped almost half a million bucks into his longshot bid. Harris is still a strong favorite, and this is the one House race in Maryland that it at risk of changing hands in November. MASSACHUSETTS: MA-Gov, MA-04, MA-09, MA-10 Massachusetts’ gubernatorial race will get a lot of attention in November, with a legitimate three-way battle between incumbent Democrat Deval Patrick, Republican health care executive Charlie Baker, and Democrat-turned-Indie state Treasurer Tim Cahill. However, the convention process in the Bay State ended the primary process (ending the bid of GOP hopeful Christy Mihos), so primary day will be quiet for the three gubernatorial aspirants. Two House primaries, however, are worth keeping an eye on in nominally Democratic Massachusetts. For the first time in several cycles, there is a legitimate GOP target in Massachusetts: the Cape-based 10th district. It has historically been the most GOP-friendly district in the state, and was carried by Republican Senator Scott Brown in January. Both parties have competitive primaries in the wake of the retirement of longtime Democratic Rep. Bill Delahunt. On the Democratic side, state senator Robert O’Leary is going heads-up with Norfolk County DA Bill Keating. Keating has easily won the fundraising primary, but the lone internal poll released in this race (in late July ) gave O’Leary a six-point edge (44-38). On the Republican side, which has been percolating since before Delahunt hit the bricks, the two leading candidates are former state Treasurer Joe Malone and state legislator Jeff Perry. UPDATE: Two other intriguing primaries on the Democratic side that I meant to hit, and got lost in the shuffle. In the 4th district, longtime incumbent Democrat Barney Frank has arguably the most amusing primary of the night against Lyndon LaRouche activist Rachel Brown. For the uninitiated, the two first locked horns in 2009, when Frank referred to Brown at a townhall (where she had asked a question about HCR by referring to it as a Nazi policy) by saying that talking to her was like arguing with a “dining room table.” Speaking of HCR, it is front-and-center of a potentially hot primary in the 9th district, where Stephen Lynch’s somewhat inexplicable “no” vote on the bill in the Spring earned him a Democratic challenge from union political director Mac D’Alessandro . Lynch was obviously worried enough about the primary challenger to limit debating to a single 15-minute joint TV appearance. NEW HAMPSHIRE: NH-Gov, NH-Sen, NH-01, NH-02 New Hampshire’s marquee race on Tuesday is on the Senate side. Congressman Paul Hodes has the Democratic nomination locked down, but the Republican side is a multi-candidate scrum that has grown more intriguing as we have drawn closer to the primary. In a rare break from form, Sarah Palin went with the establishment choice in the Granite State, giving her nod to state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte. This was not only welcomed by Ayotte, but it was (in a pretty comical shot) welcomed by Hodes , as well. Curiously for Ayotte, the nexus of establishment support and the anointment by Mama Grizzly has not translated to electoral success. The influential Manchester Union-Leader decided to give their endorsement to Ayotte’s leading conservative challenger, 1996 gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne. Tom Jensen of PPP will be dropping their final poll on the race tonight, and they see a single-digit race there, as well. New Hampshire does have primaries for both gubernatorial nominations Tuesday night, but the winners there are essentially foregone conclusions. Incumbent Governor John Lynch is certain to earn re-nomination from the Democratic Party, while Jensen tweeted last night that his polling makes it extremely clear that, on the GOP side, former state HHS commissioner John Stephen will win the nomination. Both of New Hampshire’s House seats will be watched closely in November, and they both have races which will be watched closely on Tuesday, as well. In the 1st district, incumbent Democrat Carol Shea-Porter will learn the identity of her GOP challenger. For months, it seemed like the establishment Republicans were going to ride-or-die with former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta. However, the free spending of self-funding businessman Sean Mahoney has made the race extraordinarily competitive. In fact, a late poll has pushed Mahoney into a single-digit lead over Guinta. Meanwhile, in the open seat 2nd district, the action is on the Democratic side, and progressives have a clear rooting interest. Attorney Ann McLane Kuster is an Orange to Blue pick, and her dogged campaigning has moved her into the frontrunners’ position against Katrina Swett, the conservative Democrat whose ideological positions makes this race a clear choice for progressive voters. Former Congressman Charlie Bass (who Paul Hodes knocked from office in 2006) is seeking a comeback on the GOP side, and is the betting favorite over former state legislator Bob Giuda and 2008 GOP nominee Jennifer Horn. NY-15: NY-Gov, NY-Sen (both of them), NY-01, NY-13, NY-15, NY-23 The state with the greatest volume of races to watch on Tuesday is the Empire State, where there are no less than half a dozen races to keep an eye on come Tuesday night. At one point, the highest profile race in New York looked like it might be a primary between incumbent Democrat David Paterson and state AG Andrew Cuomo. Paterson’s resilience gave way to pragmatism in May, when he announced that he would not seek re-election. That means that the only action on Tuesday is on the Republican side, where quite an incredible trainwreck awaits us. Envy New York Republicans, whose get to choose between former Congressman Rick Lazio (whose obsession with the “ground zero mosque” has been a sight to behold ) and businessman Carl Paladino (who thinks that welfare recipients would love the chance to go to prison to learn hygiene skills). There are actually two Senate races in November, as Chuck Schumer’s six-year term coincides with an election to fill the rest of the term left unattended by now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The latter was the race expected to get the most attention (and Dick Morris, according to a Dave Weigel tweet, thinks this race is still winnable for the GOP), but big-name Republicans eschewed the race. Three Republicans are vying for the seat, with former Congressman Joe DioGuardi the narrow favorite. Gillibrand has maintained a steady double-digit lead throughout the year against all three potential comers. Meanwhile, Republicans will also decide the candidate that will lose in November to Chuck Schumer. Political strategist Jay Townsend and former CIA officer Gary Berntsen are vying for the honor. Meanwhile, there are no less than a quartet of House primaries worth watching. On Long Island’s 1st district, the electoral climate has encouraged several Republicans to seek this ancestrally Republican seat held since 2002 by Democrat Tim Bishop. The trio of Republican hopefuls (Nixon grandson Chris Cox, attorney George Demos, and businessman Randy Altschuler) have already spent over three million dollars on the primary, which has the novelty of watching GOP gasbags Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich cheering for different candidates. Meanwhile, on Staten Island (NY-13), there is a potentially explosive primary between former Bloomberg aide Michael Allegretti and former FBI agent Michael Grimm. This primary has exposed any number of fault lines in the local GOP, and that might work to the advantage of freshman Democrat Michael McMahon. In NYC, longtime incumbent Charlie Rangel has been under a huge ethical cloud, and some wonder if that will spell the end of his legislative career in Tuesday’s primary. The guess here is that the split opposition (there are a half-dozen Democrats in the field) will save Rangel from primary defeat. Finally, the highest entertainment value comes upstate, in the lone 2009 bright spot for Democrats–the 23rd district. Freshman Democrat Bill Owens looks ready to benefit again from Republican untogetherness. 2009 Indie candidate-turned-de facto GOP nominee, Doug Hoffman, is locked in a primary battle with state legislator Matt Doheny. Deliciously, Hoffman has already promised to fight until November, even if he loses Tuesday to Doheny. RHODE ISLAND: RI-Gov, RI-01, RI-02 Republicans are the only game in town on Tuesday at the gubernatorial level, as Victor Moffitt and John Robataille square off for the nomination. The GOP nominee will likely be the longest shot in November, despite the party being the current occupants in the Governors mansion in Little Rhody. Democrats have coalesced around state Treasurer Frank Caprio (who had a pretty bad week , with the revelation that he met with the RNC in February, presumably to discuss a party switch). Meanwhile, the x-factor is former GOP Senator Lincoln Chafee, who is running as an Independent and seems (from endorsements and campaign pronouncements) to be running to the left of both Caprio and the GOP. Both of the state’s House districts have interesting primary action. In the open-seat 1st district, Providence Mayor David Cicilline has enjoyed both the fundraising edge and the polling edge in the sole public poll (a late July Brown University poll) taken to date. He is being challenged by former state chairman Bill Lynch and state legislator David Segal. Republicans are more buoyant than usual about their chances in this district, and will be running state legislator John Loughlin in November. Meanwhile, in the 2nd district, incumbent Democrat Jim Langevin is likely to survive his primary challenge against former state legislator Betsy Dennigan. WISCONSIN: WI-Gov, WI-Sen, WI-07, WI-08 Wisconsin Democrats are already certain of their nominee, as Milwaukee Mayor and former Congressman Tom Barrett has only nominal opposition on Tuesday. Republicans are a bit less certain, as the longtime frontrunner (Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker) has not quite managed to put away his primary challenger, former U.S Congressman and 1998 Senate nominee Mark Neumann. Curiously, in a high-profile race, it has been nearly three months since we have seen primary polling here. Rasmussen’s general election polling showed a Neumann mini-surge in August, leading some to wonder if he is closer to Walker than he was in the Spring. On the Senate side, the nominees are nearly assured, as Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold is almost certain to square off in November with plastics company owner Ron Johnson. Johnson has been exposed as of late as a hypocrite on his anti-government rhetoric (despite a dogged attempt to cover his tracks ), but that isn’t likely to move businessman Dave Westlake into competitive position in the GOP primary. Wisconsin’s eight House races include two seats in the northern part of the state expected to be very competitive in the Fall. In the open seat race in the 7th district to replace veteran Democrat David Obey, the primaries are likely to be anticlimatic. Democrats are expected to nominate state legislator Julie Lassa, while Republicans are bullish on attorney and former “Real World” reality show star Sean Duffy. Meanwhile, in the Green Bay-based 8th district, a quartet of Republicans are fighting it out to challenge sophomore incumbent Democrat Steve Kagen. Contractor Reid Ribble has raised the most cash, but that is not always an indicator of primary election success, as we have learned this cycle.

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Primary Day Preview: DE, HI, MD, MA, NH, NY, RI, WI

Making a relatively rare television appearance on Sunday, Imam Feisal Rauf, the man behind the controversial Islamic cultural center in downtown Manhattan, said that if he were forced to move the project it could spur terrorist activity among radicals abroad. “My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be ‘Islam is under attack in America,’” said Rauf. “This will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment, this will put our people — our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens — under attack in the Muslim world and we [would] have expanded and fueled terrorism.” In the interview with ABC’s “This Week,” Rauf said he was not making threats to the American public in hopes that critics would change their tune on the construction of his project. He was merely offering insights into how the debate was playing out in the Muslim world. His interview touched on topics beyond the Cordoba House project, dealing additionally with the broader perception of Islam within American. Asked, for instance, about Sarah Palin’s infamous tweet that “peaceful” Muslims should “refudiate” the “Ground Zero Mosque,” Rauf noted the heavy political hand that had made its way into a basically settled constitutional debate. There was, he added, “growing Islamophobia in this country.” Read More… More on Islam

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Imam Feisal Rauf: Moving Islamic Cultural Center Would Have ‘Fueled Terrorism’

Republicans gathered around the country today to pay their respects to the people killed on 9/11 (despite some of them being Muslim ) by fomenting hate . Unlike President Obama , who was a nobody when the attacks occurred, they recognize the threat that Islam poses to America. And I’m not talking about some benign threat like diabetes… I’m talking full-blown threat like Russia .

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Sunday Talk - Elephants Never Forget

In Wasilla on Saturday, some 300 conservatives gathered to remember the 9/11 attacks. GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller was getting the attention. But then Sarah Palin showed up. The crowd met at the Menard Sports Center, a hockey and soccer facility championed by Palin when she was mayor of Wasilla. It was organized by the Wasilla-based Conservative Patriots Group to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11. At the start of the event, Miller, the Tea Party-backed Republican who recently bested U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the GOP primary thanks in part to Palin’s endorsement, worked the room, pressing the flesh and chatting up the crowd. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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AlaskaDispatch.com: A tale of two rallies: Sarah Palin drops in on Wasilla crowd and Anchorage honks in protest

While the Olsen twins were judging a karaoke party with the designers of Proenza Schouler, at Barneys in New York, and Victoria Beckham was spotted with Sarah Jessica Parker at Bergdorf’s, sadly Los Angeles celeb spotting was at a minimum. With all the celebrities in New York for fashion week, that left LA with Bobby Trendy (former stylist to Anna Nicole Smith), seen in attendance at the Phillip Lim event. However, Fashion’s Night Out, should be about just that: fashion. The event, which works so well in a more condensed city such as Manhattan, definitely had some tough obstacles to overcome in LA. Yet, troubles seem to be forgotten once inside a lovely fashion-centric party. On West Hollywood’s Third Street, boutiques such as Milk, Hillary Rush, and Petro Zillia were definitely crowded. Milk offered free manicures by Nail Couture LA, a raffle for a fully loaded accessories basket, and a chance for the evening’s most stylishly dressed to win a $250 gift card. Across the street at Hillary Rush, it was easy to fill up on cupcakes from Crumbs Bakery, and miss a sighting of Mayor Villaraigosa. Petro Zillia had a sample sale for the line Report Signature, hosted by Kyle Richards (Paris Hilton’s aunt), who will appear on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Read More…

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Fashion’s Night Out In Los Angeles

The man promoting tomorrow’s Glenn Beck / Sarah Palin event in Anchorage says it has nothing to do with sucking blood from the World Trade Center dead. (Christopher) Cox said the date of the event is a coincidence. Cox originally was eyeing Sept. 4, but did not want to compete with the Alaska State Fair, and moved the date to a week later, which worked out better for Beck as well. Read More…

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Chris Kelly: The Secret Relevance of Glenn Back’s 9/11 Show REVEALED

I guess it’s only natural that Sarah ” My critics are limp and impotent ” Palin would endorse a candidate who launches ad hominem personal attacks on her opponent, but in Delaware’s GOP Senate primary, Christine O’Donnell is really getting creepy. Here she is on Mark Levin’s radio show once again delivering a sexually-charged attack on her opponent, Rep. Mike Castle: O’DONNELL: He can’t defend his record, and that’s why, like you said, filing this complaint with the FEC because he can’t defend his record. But, you know, these are the kind of cheap, underhanded, un-manly tactics that we’ve come to expect from Obama’s favorite Republican, Mike Castle. You know, I released a statement today, saying Mike this is not a bake-off, get your man-pants on. LEVIN: Yes, and you know you’re going to be attacked for that, because you’re not allowed to question him. Uh, hate to break it to you Mark, but calling Mike Castle “un-manly” and accusing him of not having his “man-pants” on isn’t exactly a legitimate question. And it’s not like this was just a little slip of the tongue for O’Donnell. This is a conscious strategy on her part. Just a couple of weeks ago, O’Donnell’s campaign attacked Republicans for “pimping” Mike Castle, calling him a “70-year-old bad heart Republican.” It quickly got even nastier when her campaign accused Castle of being gay. That accusation happens to be false, but what was really offensive about it is that O’Donnellnthinks anti-gay bigotry is a good way to win an election. For better or for worse, we’ll know whether she’s right in just a few days: the primary is on Tuesday.

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DE-Sen: O’Donnell with another creepy attack on Castle

In the aftermath of the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Fox News commentator and 2012 GOP presidential wannabe Sarah Palin talked tough from the sanctity of her Facebook and Twitter accounts about playing “hardball” with BP executives. “[V]erify what BP reports,” she proffered in a Facebook posting riddled with distortions of her own record with Big Oil in Alaska. “Demand answers.” Palin rattles off a good game about Big Oil and lobbyists. Yet government documents provided by both the Senate Office of Public Records and the Federal Elections Commission reveal that Randy Scheunemann–Palin’s most ardent supporter in the McCain camp during her disastrous performance in the 2008 presidential campaign–not only remains on Palin’s payroll as a well-paid foreign policy advisor, but that he served as a lobbyist for BP Amoco from 1999-2000, receiving payments through his former lobbying firm the Mercury Group. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Geoffrey Dunn: Palin Advisor Is a Former BP Lobbyist & Foreign Agent

Who benefits when a pastor in a small town in Florida threatens to burn the Quran? Or when a proposal to build a Muslim cultural center in Manhattan erupts into a national controversy? And what can those of us who believe extremism is harmful do to stop it? Terry Jones, the Gainsville pastor who was catapulted onto the global stage by his plan to burn the Quran, said his action was about standing up to Islamic extremists. But General David Petraeus and others tell us that this action would play into the hands of extremists. Extremists need anger and hate to recruit and motivate followers; without images of outrage like this, people might revert to peace, respect, and tolerance, which, after all, come pretty naturally to a social species like ours. Read More… More on Fox News

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Sarah van Gelder: Eight Ways to Confront Extremism on 9/11

It all seemed a little strange on August 28th. Glenn Beck insisted his “Restoring Honor 8/28″ rally was a revival meeting, not a “political” event. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Joan E. Dowlin: Putting a Smiley Face on the Tea Party

We need a Democratic woman who somehow finds a way to resonate with people in the way that Palin does, and in the way that Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did for their respective fans. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Joanne Bamberger: Sarah Palin, My Sarah Palin?

Add Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell to Sarah Palin’s growing list of “mama grizzlies.” The former Alaska Governor called in to Sean Hannity’s radio program Thursday to officially give her endorsement to the candidacy of the Tea Party-backed O’Donnell, who is fighting a primary battle against Rep. Mike Castle. “Let me go ahead and endorse Christine O’Donnell because, Sean, she’s the conservative in the race,” Palin said. “She is against Obama’s cap-and-tax scheme, she is against Obamacare, she is for the free market principles that need to get plugged in to put our economy back on the right track.” Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Sarah Palin Endorses Christine O’Donnell For Delaware Senate

The GOP primary in Delaware is this coming Tuesday. Here’s the bottom line: if Rep. Mike Castle wins, he’s the favorite heading into November (though his numbers in general election matchups have dipped below 50 percent). If teabagger Christine O’Donnell wins, Democrat Chris Coons will be heavily favored. Smart Republicans are pushing hard for Castle. They want to win the seat. Just a few minutes ago:

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DE-Sen: Teabagger O’Donnell gets Palin endorsement

The GOP primary in Delaware is this coming Tuesday. Here’s the bottom line: if Rep. Mike Castle wins, he’s the favorite heading into November (though his numbers in general election matchups have dipped below 50 percent). If teabagger Christine O’Donnell wins, Democrat Chris Coons will be heavily favored. Smart Republicans are pushing hard for Castle. They want to win the seat. Just a few minutes ago:

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DE-Sen: Teabagger O’Donnell gets Palin endorsement

You can file this one under Sarah Palin wants to eliminate the Department of Education and doesn’t believe birth control/sex education should receive any public funding. Lawmakers From States With Deteriorating Infrastructure Oppose Obama’s Infrastructure Investment Several Republican lawmakers are trying to claim that Obama’s $50 billion plan to invest in infrastructure is too expensive, at the same time that they’re pushing for an $830 billion tax cut for the richest two percent of Americans. If these lawmakers succeed in blocking the investment, they’ll definitively prove their deficit peacockery, while also perpetuating an ongoing neglect of the country’s infrastructure, which is rapidly deteriorating. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, it would take a $2.2 trillion investment to get America’s infrastructure into good condition, including $930 billion for roads and bridges and another $160 billion for schools. Here is the situation in some of the states where lawmakers have been resistant to Obama’s plan: Think Progress details seven states in which GOP opposition to the infrastructure plan would rob their home state of much-needed improvements, proving yet again that Republicans really do like cutting off their nose to spite their face.

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Partying like it’s Waterloo all over again

You can file this one under Sarah Palin wants to eliminate the Department of Education and doesn’t believe birth control/sex education should receive any public funding. Lawmakers From States With Deteriorating Infrastructure Oppose Obama’s Infrastructure Investment Several Republican lawmakers are trying to claim that Obama’s $50 billion plan to invest in infrastructure is too expensive, at the same time that they’re pushing for an $830 billion tax cut for the richest two percent of Americans. If these lawmakers succeed in blocking the investment, they’ll definitively prove their deficit peacockery, while also perpetuating an ongoing neglect of the country’s infrastructure, which is rapidly deteriorating. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, it would take a $2.2 trillion investment to get America’s infrastructure into good condition, including $930 billion for roads and bridges and another $160 billion for schools. Here is the situation in some of the states where lawmakers have been resistant to Obama’s plan: Think Progress details seven states in which GOP opposition to the infrastructure plan would rob their home state of much-needed improvements, proving yet again that Republicans really do like cutting off their nose to spite their face.

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Partying like it’s Waterloo all over again

In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, President Obama expressed concern about Florida pastor Terry Jones’ plan to publicly burn Korans on 9/11, calling it a “destructive act” that would be “completely contrary to our values of Americans”: One of the notable things about President Obama’s remarks is that he didn’t merely speak out against the plan to burn Korans — he also reaffirmed his view that while Pastor Jones might be engaging in an “offensive” action, such actions represent exercises of free speech that are protected by the very same Constitution that protects religious liberty. You know, part of this country’s history is people doing destructive or offensive or harmful things. And yet, we still have to make sure that we’re following the laws. And that’s part of what I love about this country. So while President Obama might not like what Pastor Jones plans to do, he also defends Jones’ right to do it — in the process delivering a perfect example American ideals in action. By the way, on a hilarious side note , Pastor Jones says he wants a phone call from Pres. Obama to discuss his Koran burning plans. Somehow I doubt that will happen. Maybe instead Jones could read Sarah Palin’s Facebook page …where he’d learn that she believes he’s every bit as bad as those scary Muslims who plan to build a mosque at Ground Zero. (Of course. as Greg Sargent notes , there is no Ground Zero Mosque, but who needs facts when you’re Sarah Palin…) Full transcript below the fold. Join the discussion in BruinKid’s recommended diary, Jon Stewart takes on Koran-burning pastor .

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Pres. Obama on Pastor Jones: "I hope he listens to those better angels"

Yeah, I know…I made a big deal Monday night about how I’d be out until Thursday because of a little trip to the surgeon. But, heck, how was I to know that every campaign in America would get polled on Tuesday and Wednesday?! So, bandaged and bruised, I came back a day early. And, from the looks of the data, I came back in time to see Democrats getting off of the mat a little bit. A day of polls with more than a little silver lining amid the clouds of suck. That’s worth coming back a day early from medical leave… THE U.S. SENATE CA-Sen: CNN/Time poll puts Boxer up four in key Golden State battle CNN and Time Magazine, through their polling partners at Opinion Research, are back for the 2010 cycle, as it relates to individual contests. They open up their polling with three big states (California, Florida, and Kentucky). In the Golden State, incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer leads Carly Fiorina by four points (48-44). Recent polls had shown Fiorina inching into the lead. FL-Sen: CNN/Time says tossup; teabaggers hound 3rd party candidate The CNN/Time pollsters also hit the Sunshine State, and they see a pretty pure toss-up between Republican nominee Marco Rubio and GOPer-turned-Indie candidate Charlie Crist. Rubio has the narrow edge , with 36% of the vote. Charlie Crist is right on his heels (34%), while CNN/Time puts Democrat Kendrick Meek at one of his best points of the year, earning 24% of the vote. The closeness of the race might be the impetus for a new crusade by the local teabaggers. The baggers, who have long been in love with Rubio, are trying to push Libertarian candidate Alex Snitker out of the race. Snitker, for the moment, is holding his ground, saying that true constitutional conservatives would be supporting him, rather than Rubio. KY-Sen: Pair of new polls confirm closeness of Senate battle Rand Paul might not be running away with it, after all. A pair of new polls out today indicate that Democrat Jack Conway is within the margin of error against Paul. An Anzalone Liszt poll showed a three-point race, with Rand Paul up three points (48-45) over Conway. Some might easily dismiss it as a Democratic pollster, but then CNN/Time followed up today with a poll showing a dead-even race . The CNN/Time poll had Conway and Paul all knotted up at 46% of the vote. Rasmussen, as you’ll see below, begs to differ (no doubt shocking political observers everywhere in the process). WA-Sen: Democratic poll gives Murray a five-point edge In another of a wave of Democratic internal polls this week (which is quite a reversal from the cycle-to-date), a new poll from FM3 (Franklin Maslin Maul and Metz, but it’s easier to say FM3) shows incumbent Patty Murray up five points on Republican Dino Rossi in the closely watched Senate race in Washington. The poll had Murray up 50-45 over Rossi. The poll was conducted on behalf of the DSCC, the campaign wing of Senate Democrats. THE U.S. HOUSE FL-24: GOP pollster claims double digit deficit for Kosmas If a new Public Opinion Strategies poll out of central Florida is to be believed, freshman Democrat Suzanne Kosmas goes into the heat of the general election cycle down by a dozen points to Republican nominee Sandy Adams. The poll by POS puts Adams up 49-37 over Kosmas, who defeated Tom Feeney rather easily in 2008. The poll claims that both President Obama (38/58) and Speaker Pelosi (30/64) have horrid numbers in the district, which could explain Kosmas’ apparent dilemma. IL-10: New Anzalone Liszt poll gives Dems good shot at a pickup Illinois’ 10th district has, throughout this cycle, always felt like that one GOP-held seat that seemed destined to flip to the Democrats. A new Anzalone-Liszt poll on behalf of Democratic nominee Dan Seals seems to confirm that supposition. The poll has Seals leading Republican nominee Bob Dold by thirteen points (49-36). The poll is an internal poll, but even right-wing pollsters We Ask America have given Seals the lead in this swing district thus far. IL-17: GOP pollster says Hare trails in nominally Democratic district Speaking of the right-wing polling crew at We Ask America, they have elected to poll the usually Democratic 17th district. Their results are similar to other GOP internals in the district, which seem to insist that this district is, indeed, competitive in this cycle. W.A.A. gives Republican Bobby Schilling a narrow lead (41-38) over Democratic incumbent Phil Hare. Green Party candidate Roger Davis takes 4% of the vote. KS-04: Internal poll says Dem upset possible, with or without Hartman It is probably high time for everyone to put this race on the radar screens, despite being an open seat in a district with a considerable GOP tilt. An acrimonious GOP primary, plus a stronger-than-average Democratic nominee, seems to have put this Wichita-based district in play . A slightly dusty internal poll from Democrat Raj Goyle’s campaign (courtesy of Gerstein-Agne Strategic Communications) from mid-August gave Republican Mike Pompeo a mere three-point edge (50-47). What’s more, the withdrawal of Libertarian candidate David Moffett, for health reasons may well throw the race into total upheaval . One of the candidates that Pompeo defeated for the GOP nomination, wealthy businessman Wink Hartman, will announce in the next couple of days whether or not he will seek the nod of the Libertarian Party to run on their line. Hartman and the Libertarians met together yesterday to discuss such a bid. MS-01: Dem internal poll puts Childers ahead in tough district This internal poll might be one of the more pleasant surprises of the week, as it shows a Democratic lead in a district that a lot of pundits probably would have left for dead a month ago. The poll, from Anzalone Liszt, gives Democrat Travis Childers a narrow edge over Republican Alan Nunnelee (46-41). Childers won a special election in June of 2008 in a district that went heavily for both George W. Bush and John McCain. NY-25: Palin endorsement lauded…by the Democrat in the race We’ve already seen this during the cycle up in New Hampshire (where Democrat Paul Hodes had great fun with Kelly Ayotte), but another Democrat is hyping a Republican candidate’s endorsement by Sarah Palin. Freshman Democrat Dan Maffei has cut an ad where he points out that Republican Ann Marie Buerkle has been endorsed by Sarah Palin. In a district that was won by Gore, Kerry, and Obama, Buerkle’s connectivity with Palin is not likely to be much of an advantage in the general election. NC-08: Even Republicans concede Kissell up front in key race Kind of a curious release here–the campaign for Republican nominee Harold Johnson has released an internal poll by Public Opinion Strategies. The curious thing about this GOP internal poll is that it shows the Republican candidate trailing his Democratic rival. The POS poll puts Kissell at 39%, with Johnson trailing at 34%. One of the quintet of DCCC polls released yesterday showed Kissell up double digits on Johnson (48-36). PA-04: Dem internal claims massive lead for Altmire One district that apparently the Democrats don’t have to worry about defending is the swing 4th district in Western Pennsylvania. At least, that’s the case if a new internal poll on behalf of second-term Rep. Jason Altmire is to be believed . The Anzalone Liszt poll shows Altmire with a two-to-one edge over Republican Keith Rothfus (51-24). Rothfus scored what was generally considered to be an upset win over NRCC fave Mary Beth Buchanan in May’s GOP primary. WA-08: SUSA claims double-digit lead for Reichert SurveyUSA continues its brutal outlook for Dems, putting a potential pickup well into the GOP column in a new poll out of suburban Seattle. Perpetually vulnerable Republican Dave Reichert has a thirteen-point lead over Microsoft executive Suzan DelBene, according to SUSA (54-41). Reichert scored narrow wins over Darcy Burner in both 2006 and 2008, and has never won the district by more than six points. WV-01: Even GOP internal concedes Dem lead in key open seat Perhaps in response to an internal poll by Democrat Mike Oliverio (one which showed him up 16 points), the campaign for Republican David McKinley rushed out their own internal poll. While the poll shows Oliverio out in front , the margin is quite a bit smaller. The poll, by Public Opinion Strategies, puts Oliverio up five points (41-36) on McKinley. THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES CA-Gov: Whitman up by two, according to CNN/Time poll Despite outspending her rival by literally a hundred million dollars, Meg Whitman can still manage no better than a coin flip with Democratic nominee Jerry Brown. The CNN/Time poll shows Whitman sitting on 48% of the vote, with Brown just behind her at 46% of the vote. Whitman’s television presence has been constant in the state for seven months, while Brown just took to the air for the first time this week. CO-Gov: GOP suit tries to knock Tancredo off of the ballot A lawsuit, filed by two Republicans (not affiliated with the state party, however), is seeking to prevent Tom Tancredo from appearing on the ballot as a member of the American Constitution Party. Their case is built on the fact that Tancredo was a registered Republican until July, which they argue violates Colorado state law. Republicans have issues of their own, as their nominee, Dan Maes, was outraised 8-to-1 by Democrat John Hickenlooper in August, and is facing further fines for campaign finance reporting failures. Tancredo also outraised the GOP nominee. FL-Gov: Sink up seven over Scott, according to CNN/Time poll CNN/Time also took a look at the competitive gubernatorial race in Florida, and finds that Democrat Alex Sink is sitting on a seven-point advantage over Republican Rick Scott. Sink leads Scott 49-42, according to the poll, among the first polls conducted after the withdrawal of Independent candidate Bud Chiles from the race. ME-Gov: PPP poll confirms rising red tide in normally blue Maine This might be the suckiest poll of the day, and it comes as a bit of a surprise. For months, only Rasmussen has polled the Maine Governor’s race, and they (true to form) have been bullish on the Republican in the race, Paul LePage. Today, PPP heads down East, and they find numbers that are even worse for the Democrats than anything Rasmussen has ever offered. PPP gives LePage a double-digit lead (43-29) over Democrat Libby Mitchell. Independent Elliot Cutler, who seems to be drawing more from Mitchell than from LePage, was holding down 11% of the vote. MA-Gov: Patrick leading, but only modestly, over Baker A new KRC/Communications Research poll in Massachusetts, conducted for the Statehouse News Service, gives Deval Patrick a lead of six points over Republican Charlie Baker in his bid for re-election. Patrick is at 34% of the vote, with Baker at 28% and Democrat-turned-Independent Tim Cahill showing some renewed strength at 18% of the vote (his support had dropped steadily throughout the year). Patrick is still being saved, however, by split opposition, as his approval numbers are fairly woeful (only 33% of voters think he is doing an “excellent” or “above average” job). MI-Gov: Snyder dominant, according to Mitchell Communications poll With the caveat that this pollster has been abnormally bullish on Republican candidates quite often, the new numbers from Mitchell Communications in the state of Michigan are just flat out ugly . The new poll gives Republican Rick Snyder a two-to-one edge over Democrat Virg Bernero (53-26). The Republican leads women by eighteen points, and Independents by an almost unreal 41 points. TX-Gov: Third poll confirms toss-up in the Lone Star State In addition to the pair of polls cited by Markos earlier today, we have a third poll providing confirmation that Democrat Bill White is very much within striking distance of Republican incumbent Rick Perry. The poll, conducted by John Zogby for a private client, shows Perry up by just three points over White (44-41). The poll apparently was a traditional one, not one of the largely lampooned “Interactive” polls Zogby did in previous cycles. WI-Gov: Doyle clears warchest, with bulk of cash aiding Barrett Let this set the example for recalcitrant House Dems with locks on their warchests: Wisconsin’s Democratic Governor, Jim Doyle, is emptying out much of his remaining warchest to try to aid state Democrats this Fall. The retiring state executive is donating $1 million to the Greater Wisconsin Committee, a Democratic outfit primarily interested in the open-seat gubernatorial race between Democrat Tom Barrett and a Republican to be named later (Sept. 14). The committee has already run ads dinging both of the Republicans who could eventually challenge Barrett: Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former Congressman Mark Neumann. THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA While the polling picture for Democrats pepped up quite a bit elsewhere, the House of Ras held steady, and true to form. Kentucky will probably attract the most eyeballs (as they match SUSA with a fifteen-point spread), but the numbers from Arizona in the wake of Jan Brewer’s debate meltdown are perhaps even harder to believe. If she is really up 22 after that debacle, I have lost faith in an entire state, I’m sorry to say… AZ-Gov: Gov. Jan Brewer (R) 60%, Terry Goddard (D) 38% CA-Gov: Meg Whitman (R) 48%, Jerry Brown (D) 45% CA-Sen: Carly Fiorina (R) 48%, Barbara Boxer (D) 47% DE-Sen: Mike Castle (R) 48%, Chris Coons (D) 37% DE-Sen: Chris Coons (D) 47%, Christine O’Donnell (R) 36% KY-Sen: Rand Paul (R) 54%, Jack Conway (D) 39%

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Polling and Political Wrap, 9/8/10

Out of the Ten Commandments, most are not enforced, and several fly directly into the face of our national spirit, so be glad that we live in the country that we do, not the country that Palin imagines or wishes that we had. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Alex Wilhelm: Why the Ten Commandments Are Un-American

After Republican/Tea Party candidate Joe Miller’s stunning defeat of Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Senate primary, things have been all a-kilter. Everyone on the political spectrum from far left to moderate right has been in a panic. The far right turned out in force for the primary, in part because of a ballot initiative about parental notification for abortion, in part because of a half million dollar Miller media blitz, and in part because of the leftover Palin supporters who were still in the mood for a little roguishness. And now we have Joe Miller, who wants to phase out Medicare and Social Security, who thinks that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape and incest, who thinks that unemployment is unconstitutional, and who thinks that the federal government should quit giving Alaska all that damned money. Federal dollars, like oil, make up one third of Alaska’s economy, but Mr. Miller, with his eyes on the Tea Party prize, doesn’t seem particularly concerned. Read More…

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Jeanne Devon ("AKMuckraker"): Murkowski v. Miller v. McAdams?

If you hadn’t heard of Sarah Palin when John McCain picked her as his running mate in 2008, you were in good company. Meghan McCain, the outspoken daughter of the GOP presidential nominee, didn’t know who she was, either. “My initial reaction was, ‘Who the hell is Sarah Palin?’ Like everybody else,” the younger McCain revealed on Tuesday night. In an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, McCain said that she cried after finding out that her father would run with Palin — a woman calls a “time bomb” in her new book, “Dirty Sexy Politics.” Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Meghan McCain: Palin Nomination Made Me Cry, ‘Who The Hell Is Sarah Palin?’ (VIDEO)

The New York Times published a story this weekend on the opportunities teabagger extremism has provided Democrats. With the economy still working against Democrats, they say they are hoping to benefit from concerns about Tea Party extremism. Allen West, for example, the Republican nominee in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, has become a Tea Party sensation. He has raised more money than any other House challenger — and his opponent — collecting donations from people across the country who have followed him on YouTube as he thunders against the “tyranny” of the federal government. But to Democrats, he is an opposition researcher’s dream, captured on video rallying his audiences to “get your musket, fix your bayonet,” questioning whether Mr. Obama is a citizen and urging his supporters to make his opponent “scared to come out of his house.” Democrats said they were trying to make the same case against Tea Party candidates who are the Republican nominees in Senate races: Rand Paul in Kentucky, Sharron Angle in Nevada, Ken Buck in Colorado and Ron Johnson in Wisconsin. (The candidates the Tea Party helped nominate in Utah, Mike Lee, and Alaska, Joe Miller, are considered all but certain to win — even in a year when uncertainty is the rule.) The Democrats are playing up the candidates’ support for things that are standard Tea Party positions, but unpopular among most Americans: getting rid of the Departments of Energy, Commerce and Education; phasing out Social Security and Medicare; and instituting a 23 percent national sales tax to replace the income tax. What the Times missed, however, are all of the races in which the Tea Party has created real fissures in the Republican party. Think Progress had a good rundown of the disunity : AZ-SEN : Sen. John McCain soundly trumped former Rep. J.D. Hayworth in the August 24 primary. Afterward, McCain never received a congratulatory phone call and Hayworth, who has not endorsed McCain, never received an invitation to a GOP unity event. WA-SEN : Sarah Palin-endorsed Tea Partier Clint Didier was trounced by establishment candidate Dino Rossi on August 17. Didier has since withheld his endorsement until certain policy demands are met; Rossi isn’t budging . Didier’s spokeswoman responded , “So is Dino saying, ‘F*** you’ to those people [who supported Didier]? ‘F*** you,’ I don’t need your votes?” MO-SEN : On August 3, Rep. Roy Blunt secured the GOP nomination over Tea Party candidate Chuck Purgason. Four weeks later, Purgason still has not officially endorsed Blunt. FL-GOV : Rick Scott defeated Bill McCollum on August 24 in one of the most bitter primaries of the year. McCollum has since refused to endorse Scott, saying instead that “I still have serious questions…about issues with his character, his integrity, his honesty.” CA-GOV : The bad blood didn’t end after Meg Whitman trounced Steve Poizner on June 8. Whitman continued to attack Poizner on the radio, leading the latter to declare that Whitman “apparently hasn’t gotten the memo that the primary is over” because she is “still misrepresenting my track record.” NV-GOV : Brian Sandoval toppled Gov. Jim Gibbons on June 8. Sandoval spokesman Mary Sarah confirmed to ThinkProgress that Gibbons has not endorsed Sandoval following the primary. IA-GOV : Bob Vander Plaats lost a contentious campaign to former Gov. Terry Branstad on June 8. Then, after Vander Plaat’s supporters fell just short of usurping the lieutenant governor slot against Branstad’s wishes, Vander Plaat himself said that he will not endorse Branstad for governor. SC-GOV : After Nikki Haley secured the GOP nomination on June 22, one of her primary opponents, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, pointedly refused to show up for a unity rally. NY-23 : After Doug Hoffman drove RNC-endorsed Dede Scozzafava out of the 2009 special election because she wasn’t sufficiently conservative. Scozzafava proceeded not only to withhold an endorsement from Hoffman, but went even further and threw her support instead to Democrat Bill Owens. SC-04 : On June 22, Tea Party challenger Trey Gowdy defeated Rep. Bob Inglis 71 percent to 29 percent. Price Atkinson, a spokesman for Inglis, confirmed to ThinkProgress that Inglis has not endorsed Gowdy following the primary. WA-03 : Establishment candidate Jaime Herrera topped Tea Party candidate David Castillo on August 17. Afterward, Castillo would not endorse Herrera in the general election. PA-04 : On May 18, Tea Partier Keith Rothfus beat out GOP favorite Mary Beth Buchanan. ThinkProgress called Rothfus’s campaign, where a press contact who declined to give her name confirmed that Buchanan has not given an official endorsement. IN-04 : Todd Rokita defeated Brandt Hershman on May 4. Since then, Zach Zagar from the Rokita campaign confirmed to ThinkProgress that they “haven’t had any contact with Mr. Hershman’s campaign since the primary.” KS-04 : Mike Pompeo emerged out of a crowded field on August 3 but embittered himself with his primary rivals in the process. None of his three GOP opponents have endorsed his campaign. FL-08 : Daniel Webster emerged from a crowded GOP field on August 24. However, one of his top primary opponents, Kurt Kelly, was conspicuously absent at last night’s unity rally. In the Washington Senate race, defeated Tea Party candidate still won’t endorse Rossi , weeks after the primary, unless Rossi commits political suicide in this progressive state by declaring his allegiance to some very unpopular ideas in this state. In Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski still hasn’t endorsed the primary winner, Joe Miller. Then there’s the increasingly entertaining governor’s race in Colorado, in which both the regular Republicans AND the Tea Party have abandoned the teabagger candidate Dan Maes. None of which is to say that Dems aren’t facing an extremely tough election. They are. But the disarray in American politics is definitely shared, and the Republicans have the scarier share of it. And if you think the primaries have been ugly on their side, wait until they’re in power to see the real “brawls.”

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The "double-edged" Tea Party sword

ABC released the “Dancing With The Stars” season 11 promotional pictures and we were able to get a first look at the type of outfits contestant Bristol Palin will don to bust a move. In her promo pic with Mark Ballas, Bristol goes “flapper-meets-tango” in our best description of the black, lacy, perhaps-asymmetrical and fringed halter-top dress. Last week, Bristol talked about her ‘DWTS’ costumes with People Magazine. She remarked, “I think I will be the most dressed [contestant and have] the most modest outfits for sure because that’s who I am.” Take a look and tell us what you think. Read More…

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Bristol Palin Dons Lace & Fringe In ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Promotional PHOTO (POLL)

When Sarah Palin endorsed Kelly Ayotte, she said that, in a parental notification case, Ayotte had fought Planned Parenthood “all the way to the Supreme Court and won.” In fact, Ayotte had lost that case, as many in New Hampshire immediately noted . But what we didn’t know at the time was just how badly Ayotte lost, or how costly it was for New Hampshire. [A]s attorney general in April 2009, Ayotte approved spending $300,000 in taxpayer money to settle the case and pay the legal costs of the opposing party, after a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge decided Planned Parenthood of Northern New England was the winner. The state paid Planned Parenthood with two payments of $150,000 each in April and August 2009. These payments quietly passed through the state’s budget office and did not require the approval of the Legislature or Gov. John Lynch. Good for Planned Parenthood getting back money they spent thumping Ayotte in court. But with Ayotte being found partially responsible for failing to investigate a massive Ponzi scheme, primary opponent Ovide Lamontagne getting an important endorsement , and a Republican poll showing Lamontagne gaining quickly on Ayotte, do you think this was the news she was hoping would break?

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NH-Sen: Ayotte’s $300k Planned Parenthood settlement

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The candidate who defeated U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska’s Republican primary has been cited for his role in a recent three-car collision in Fairbanks. Joe Miller was involved in the crash in his hometown three days after the Aug. 24 election and before the conservative lawyer’s surprise victory in the tight race was confirmed last week in the counting of thousands of absentee votes and questioned ballots. Murkowski conceded Aug. 31 to Miller, whose campaign is backed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express. Read More… More on 2010 Elections

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Joe Miller Cited In 3-Car Crash

We know what Glen and Sarah hate. We know what all the Tea Party candidates hate. They hate taxes. They hate Big Government. They want to see our great nation once again standing on top of the world. You know, like it was in the 1950’s, when the magnificent United States of A Plus was the height of our economic power, when we ruled the world, before the Kennedys and the Johnsons, the Clintons and the Obamas came along and just screwed everything up. Back when Republicans had control of the House, the Senate and, best of all, the White House. Those were the golden years. It wasn’t just anyone in the White House then, it was Dwight D Eisenhower, the man who won the big one for us. The man who was elected and reelected in landslides, with Richard Nixon standing right by his side. Man, it was awesome to be an American back and it was exceptionally awesome to be a Republican. Except not by Tea Party standards. By Tea Party standards, Dwight D. was probably the most evil, awful, terrible creation Joe Stalin could have possibly hoped for, far worse than Osama Obama could ever be. By their measure, Dwight was a freaking twisted, bald demonic nightmare. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Toby Barlow: The Tea Party’s Worst Nightmare: Ike

Oprah wants Sarah Ferguson, the down-and-out Duchess of York, to make a TV series about how being abandoned by her mother at age 13 had a “devastating” effect on her life. Read More… More on Oprah

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Oprah Wants Sarah Ferguson Show On Abandoned Teens For OWN

On Tuesday night, President Obama addressed the American people from his newly-redecorated Oval Office to declare an end to combat operations in Iraq. And in true Orwellian fashion , Obama failed to credit his should-be BFF with having the guts to avenge 9/11 by launching a war against a country that wasn’t involved . But I guess that’s to be expected from a President who’s just not that into America.

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Sunday Talk - All Good Things Must Come to an End

Quite a bit of data for a three-day holiday weekend, and most of it isn’t pleasing to the eye of those rooting for the Democrats. SurveyUSA is extremely bearish on the Dems out West, and the numbers out of Illinois from the Chicago Tribune aren’t much better. We also have some primary numbers out of New Hampshire, which is less than two weeks from heading to the polls. All that (and more!) in the weekend edition of the Wrap… THE U.S. SENATE CA-Sen: SUSA shows Boxer trailing to Fiorina in Golden State Even traditionally blue California is thinking about seeing other people, according to a new poll out at the close of the week from SurveyUSA . The poll puts Republican Carly Fiorina at 48%, with Democrat Barbara Boxer at 46%. One of the things causing pain for Boxer–she is only getting 79% of Democrats, while Fiorina has much better cohesion (91% of GOP) on her side. DE-Sen: Tea Party Express gunning hard for Castle in primary On the Wrap a while back, I observed that the impact of the Tea Party Express in Delaware (where they are supporting longshot Christine O’Donnell over GOP frontrunner Mike Castle) might be muted by the short timespan running up the primary there on September 14th. Well, if nothing else, the teabagger contingent is going all-in in the brief time that they have. The Express is planning a total of five ads between now and the 14th. Castle, for his part, is also running almost $200K worth of ads in advance of the primary, trying to prevent being Vic Rawl’ed. IL-Sen: Tribune poll has key Senate campaign all knotted up It is dead even between Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk, according to a poll released at the end of the week by the Chicago Tribune . Both Giannoulias and Kirk are sitting on just 34% of the vote, with third-party candidates LeAlan Jones (6%) and Mike Labno (3%) well behind. In a sign of how fluid the electorate is in the Land of Lincoln, nearly a quarter of voters in this high-profile race are still undecided. NH-Sen: Ayotte leading primary, but not locking it down According to new polling numbers from GOP pollsters Magellan Research, GOP frontrunner Kelly Ayotte is not running away with the Republican Primary to replace Judd Gregg in the Granite State. The survey has Ayotte at 34%, with Ovide Lamontagne (21%), Bill Binnie (17%), and Jim Bender (13%) chasing her. Ayotte’s saving grace may well be that all three of her suitors have remained viable, meaning that any anti-frontrunner vote may be too divided to cost her the lead. THE U.S. HOUSE AK-AL: Young holds solid double-digit edge in PPP poll In addition to being among the first pollsters to hit the McAdams-Miller Senate race, the team at PPP also polled the lightly-surveyed House race between longtime veteran Republican Don Young and Democratic challenger Harry Crawford. PPP sees it as a double-digit lead for Young (55-36). Crawford, a state legislator, was considered a potentially strong recruit for the Democrats, but has struggled to raise cash. KY-03: Yarmuth up only within the margin, according to SUSA Only a month or so after a Braun Research poll implied that John Yarmuth was sitting on a very comfortable lead over Todd Lally in the blue-leaning Kentucky 3rd district, SurveyUSA begs to differ . SUSA stakes Yarmuth to just a two point lead (47-45) over Lally. NH-01: One time GOP frontrunner now trails free-spending challenger The Republican primary to take on Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter promises to be a hot one, and a new poll out at the close of the week by Cross Target implies that the one-time NRCC star recruit, former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, is now trailing a free-spending challenger in the race. The poll (sponsored by the GOP friendly Americans for Prosperity) has self-funder Sean Mahoney at 32% of the vote, with Guinta at 26% of the vote. Rich Ashooh runs third, but well behind the leaders at 10%. PA-07: GOP winning streak ends as teabagger allowed on ballot One of the more underreported stories of the 2010 cycle has been the ability of the Republicans to successfully challenge and exclude third-party conservative candidates from ballots all around the country. One place where their efforts proved unsuccessful is in the Pennsylvania 7th, where GOP nominee Pat Meehan will have to contend with teabagger Independent candidate Jim Schneller on the ballot. Meehan’s challenge to Schneller’s candidacy was denied late in the week by a Commonwealth Court judge. Meehan’s camp had argued that the petitions for the third-party candidate came with undue assistance from Democrats. VA-09: SUSA poll says Boucher still leads, but by a reduced margin SurveyUSA has some good news for a Democratic candidate. Well…kind of. The newest SUSA poll out of southwestern Virginia gives longtime Democratic Rep. Rick Boucher a double-digit lead over Republican contender Morgan Griffith. If there is any bad news there, it is that the SUSA lead is incrementally smaller than one earlier in the summer. The current lead for Boucher is ten points (50-40). WA-02: SUSA poll shows incumbent Dem trailing by four The reasonably close numbers in the Washington 2nd district during the open primary last month has raised GOP hopes of an upset. This new poll from SurveyUSA should bolster those hopes. SUSA has Republican contender John Koster up four on incumbent Democrat Rick Larsen (50-46). The combined Dem total outstripped the GOP total by 53-47 in the late August primary, though Koster narrowly outpolled Larsen individually. THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES AK-Gov: PPP gives Parnell a wide lead over Berkowitz Defying the traditional conventions of PPP as a “Democratic” pollster, they poll Alaska, and have incumbent Republican Governor Sean Parnell doing markedly better against Democratic Ethan Berkowitz than any other pollster (including the House of Ras). PPP has Parnell at 55%, with Berkowitz sitting at 37% of the vote. Unlike many incumbent Governors in both parties, Parnell actually has decent approval ratings (50/36), far better than a certain ex-Governor (Mrs. Palin is sitting at 37/55). CA-Gov: Whitman up seven, according to new SUSA poll The folks at SurveyUSA also polled the governor’s race, and they echo some other recent polling in showing Meg Whitman opening up a little daylight between her and Democrat Jerry Brown. SUSA puts Whitman at a seven-point edge (47-40) over Brown. While the partisan demographics look legit, there were a couple of eye-openers under the hood: for example, the Democrats are truly dead meat if Meg Whitman is really drawing 32% of the African American vote (pretty small subsample there, though). IL-Gov: Brady leads by five, according to a new Trib poll Incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn is not politically dead yet, but it is a sign of general campaign ugliness when one can say that it is progress that the incumbent is down by only five points . The new Chicago Tribune poll puts Republican Bill Brady at 37%, with Quinn at 32% of the vote. Three Independent candidates split 8% of the vote, with a quarter of the vote still waiting to be claimed. RI-Gov: Chafee grabs another union endorsement in Little Rhody This is becoming something of a trend, and one has to wonder if the Democratic standard-bearer, Frank Caprio, needs to be a bit concerned about it. Carpenters Local 94, repping over two thousand workers and retirees in-state, endorsed Democrats for November almost exclusively. One key exception: the Governor’s race . Former Republican Lincoln Chafee, now running as an Independent, got the nod from the local, less than two weeks after the National Education Association did the same. The other major teachers union in the state, the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, backed Chafee in July. THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA The House of Ras was more prolific to close the week than they have been in a while. Nevada is more than a little ugly, but if there is one Democrat team Ras-sie is feeling right now, it is rookie Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who is laying waste to the GOP triumvirate in New York. ID-Gov: Gov. Butch Otter (R) 52%, Keith Allred (R) 36% MA-Gov: Gov. Deval Patrick (D) 39%, Charlie Baker (R) 34%, Tim Cahill (I) 18% NV-Gov: Brian Sandoval (R) 58%, Rory Reid (D) 33% NV-Sen: Sen. Harry Reid (D) 45%, Sharron Angle (R) 45% NY-Sen: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) 51%, Bruce Blakeman (R) 32% NY-Sen: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) 51%, Joe DioGuardi (R) 31% NY-Sen: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) 53%, David Malpass (R) 27%

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Polling and Political Wrap, 9/4/10

The Obama Hates America theme is not hyperbole. It has been relentlessly played for all it’s worth from the second that then Democratic presidential candidate Obama announced in February 2007 that he would seek the White House. It almost certainly will be played hard again in the days leading up to the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. Obama’s one little step that could feed the wacky line is not telling yet where and how he’ll commemorate the day. This in itself supposedly is enough to show that the president disrespects, minimizes, or is cavalier about the hallowed day. It’s none of those things. But it’s just another in the pile of supposed anti-American sins that Obama is guilty of. The nutty knock of Obama as America hater is driven in part by ignorance, in part by politics, and in bigger part by race. The ignorance behind the attack line is easy to understand, and predictable. His name, the birth certificate flap, his frequent statement’s touting religious respect and tolerance for Muslims, and his refusal to flaunt and wave around his very private and personal expression of his Christian faith fuel the stupidity and suspicion about who and what he really is. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Earl Ofari Hutchinson: "Obama Hates America"

I assume you recall the summer of the “death panels.” That was last year when a few right-wing demagogues, led by Sara Palin, (who else?) warned that the health care reforms under debate would lead to deaths of patients whom doctors considered too old or ill to treat. Now we know they probably helped hasten the deaths of the desperately ill. Read More…

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Saul Friedman: Attn. Ms. Palin: Those "Death Panel" Lies May Have Cost The Lives Of Some Grannies

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Sarah Palin can take down the fence. Palin’s neighbor of three months on Wasilla’s Lake Lucille, author Joe McGinniss, is packing his bags and notebooks and leaving Sunday for his home in Massachusetts to write the book he has been researching on the former governor and GOP vice presidential candidate. His arrival in May made headlines and drew an indignant reaction from Palin and a visit from her husband, Todd. The Palins even tacked an extension onto an 8-foot board fence between the homes, leaving only a part of their second-story home visible from McGinniss’ driveway. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Joe McGinniss, Palin Neighbor & Author, Leaving Wasilla To Write Book

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE… They’re back! After three months on the lam, Margaret and Helen—two sassy, brassy 80-somethings (the former a Mainer, the latter a Texan)—are back in action on their blog. A snip of their must-read thoughts on the Beck “I Have A Scheme” event: I just can’t believe 87,000 people are dumb enough to buy that crap. If Beck and Palin want a government so focused on one God and one religion, they should visit the Middle East and see how that concept is working out.  It’s gotten to the point where you can’t distinguish Fox News from the Christian Broadcasting Network.   It’s nauseating. Palin and Beck don’t care about you, me or anyone except themselves.  They are getting filthy rich pandering to angry white mobs so transparent in their racist feelings toward the President that a sheet of Saran Wrap would cast a darker shadow. The greatest threat against America is not terrorism.  It’s not a mosque in Manhattan.  It’s not gay marriage.  It’s not healthcare reform.  And, believe it or not, it’s not even Beck or Palin.  The greatest threat against America are the tens of millions of Americans who won’t turn out to vote this November effectively giving power to 87,000 angry assholes. Glad they’re on our team. And here’s your understatement of the day: ” Pretty strong drink—it’ll getcha. ” With hurricane Earl twirling toward Maine as I write this, make it a double. Your west coast-friendly edition of  Cheers and Jeers starts in There’s Moreville… [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

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Cheers and Jeers: What else—Hurricane FRIDAY!

Wow, one little lie about being an undercover cop who got too close to official corruption and you’re booted, even from the Tea Party. Apparently making up stories about your personal history is worse than believing in the grand UN bicycle conspiracy. At any rate, Colorado gubenatorial candidate Dan Maes is nobody’s darling anymore . Despite mounting pressure from the GOP establishment and Tea Party groups to get out of the governor’s race, Republican Dan Maes continued to dig in his heels Thursday, saying he wasn’t going anywhere. “This is a culture war, a culture war between the people and the machine, and we’re going to find out who controls things,” Maes said. “I am not getting out of the race.” …. [A] Denver Post story this week reporting that Maes embellished details about his law enforcement background combined with today’s deadline for certification of the general election ballot prompted a string of defections. Soon after the story was published, Hank Brown, a former U.S. senator and former University of Colorado president, withdrew his endorsement, setting off a domino effect not only among prominent Republicans, but Maes’ core, grassroots base. Tea Party leaders across the state Thursday said in often harsh terms that they wanted Maes to drop out. Lesley Hollywood, director of the Northern Colorado Tea Party, posted on Facebook: “Alright Dan Maes — it’s time for you to go. Get out now, while the gettin’ is still good.” Mesa County commissioner and Tea Party organizer Janet Rowland called Maes a “fraud” in an e-mail sent to thousands of grassroots supporters and asked them not to support his candidacy. Hear Us Now!, which bills itself as the original tax-day Tea Party group, rescinded its endorsement. What’s a beleaguered Tea Party candidate to do? Why, just what Sarah Palin would! Take to Facebook, where Maes defiantly claims: “We are in the 4th quarter of the game and we must dig deeper than ever into our souls to find the strength to fight to . . . the end. Do not waiver. Do not quit. This is all part of the journey.” But state Republicans met with him today to try to force him out, and he lost the support of Senate candidate Ken Buck. If he leaves the race today, there’s time to get the secretary of state to halt printing ballots while the party decides on his replacement. After today, it’ll apparently be to late to stop the printing. Hang in there Maes! Don’t let Tancredo monopolize all the crazy fun.

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CO-Gov: Maes’s fairweather friends

BERLIN — A German court ruled Friday that Google Inc.’s subsidiary YouTube LLC must pay compensation after users uploaded several videos of performances by singer Sarah Brightman in violation of copyright laws. The Hamburg state court said the standardized question to users about whether they have the necessary rights to publish material is not enough to relieve YouTube of the legal responsibility for the content, especially because the platform can be used anonymously. Read More… More on YouTube

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German Court Rules Against YouTube Over Copyright

If you were one of those callous populists who failed to get all teary upon hearing of the financial plight of top CEOs during the economic downturn, you might want to have a good cry now.  Because the Institute for Policy Studies released its comprehensive 17th annual look at executive pay Wednesday, CEO Pay and the Great Recession . IPS identified the 50 firms that laid off the most workers between November 2008 and April 2010 and compared them against 2009 compensation totals. Altogether, these companies chopped 531,363 jobs. Their CEOs averaged $12 million in compensation - salary, stock options, bonuses. That clocked in at 42 percent more than the average compensation for all CEOs on the Standard & Poor’s 500. Ouch. As lead author Sarah Anderson said: “CEOs are squeezing workers to boost short-term profits and fatten their own paychecks.” But the practice has many defenders who argue that it’s tough to lay off thousands of workers, so CEOs deserve big compensation. All that stress, you know. While the headlines lament that CEOs are hurting from the economic situation, the report’s authors concluded otherwise : Corporate executives, in reality, are not suffering at all. Their pay, to be sure, dipped on average in 2009 from 2008 levels, just as their pay in 2008, the first Great Recession year, dipped somewhat from 2007. But executive pay overall remains far above inflationadjusted levels of years past. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, CEO pay in 2009 more than doubled the CEO pay average for the decade of the 1990s, more than quadrupled the CEO pay average for the 1980s, and ran approximately eight times the CEO average for all the decades of the mid-20th century. American workers, by contrast, are taking home less in real weekly wages than they took home in the 1970s. Back in those years, precious few top executives made over 30 times what their workers made. In 2009, we calculate in the 17th annual Executive Excess, CEOs of major U.S. corporations averaged 263 times the average compensation of American workers. CEOs are clearly not hurting. Top pay, the institute said, went to Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan. He got paid $49.7 million in 2009, including a $33 million golden parachute that came his way when Merck bought the company. The merger resulted in 16,000 layoffs. Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon collected $25.6 million, triple the average CEO compensation for big companies. That occurred at the same time the company was laying off 9,000 workers and embroiled in a scandalous drug recall. Among the report’s other findings: • Most of the companies announced their mass layoffs even though they were showing profits. • Only two of the 50 leading layoff companies reported paying corporate income tax in  2009 at the 35 percent statutory rate. • Five of the 50 received major taxpayer bailouts. • IPS included a “comprehensive analysis” of whether newly passed  laws, pending laws and proposed initiatives that haven’t gotten much attention yet would actually curb excessive executive compensation in the future. Total compensation for all 50 CEOs on the IPS list was $598 million. The institute said that would supply a year’s worth of unemployment benefits for 37,759 workers, or a month’s worth for the 531,363 workers these companies dumped. It made no calculation for how many pitchforks those millions would buy.

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Lay off more workers, rake in more bucks

HuffPost editor Roy Sekoff joined Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s “Countdown” Thursday night to assess the electoral prospects of the candidates who seem to be vying even now for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. That group includes former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and even Bush-era Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. “I actually thought it would be impossible to top the 2008 group in terms of freak-showishness, when we had Sam Brownback running against Darwin and Tom Tancredo running on the xenophobia ticket,” Sekoff said. “But this group, they have so many loose cannons, it almost is enough to make one pine for Duncan Hunter.” Read More… More on Video

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HuffPost TV: Roy Sekoff On Olbermann: 2012 GOP Hopefuls Are A ‘Freak Show’

“If we are to remain leaders in the green economy, then we have to be relentless in our pursuit of clean energy. We have to constantly evaluate all aspects of our energy footprint. Find opportunities to collaborate and partner with other companies and organizations. And as one of Nike’s long-held business maxims so aptly declares, never stop evolving, especially when it involves doing the right thing.”– Sarah Severn , director of stakeholder mobilization for Nike Inc., August 17, 2010 So much for evolution, NIKE. Still embroiled in infamous sweatshop practices , NIKE is now running an ad with a background of a massive strip-mine or mountaintop removal operation in one of the most bizarre panders to Big Coal–and one of the most disrespectful slights of coal miners. Read More… More on Football

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Jeff Biggers: Scandal of the Week: NIKE Runs Mountaintop Removal Football Ad, Disrespects Coal Miners

Rasmussen is moving Alaska from solid GOP to lean GOP following Joe Miller’s primary defeat of Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Their first poll in the Alaska Senate race (grain of salt as usual) has Miller with just a 6 point lead over Dem Scott McAdams, 50-44. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate and two percent (2%) are undecided. This survey was conducted Tuesday night just hours after incumbent GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded the Republican nomination during a recount of the August 24 primary. Miller, a lawyer and military veteran, benefited from support from the state’s former governor Sarah Palin and Tea Party activists. Ninety percent (90%) of Democrats back McAdams while 79% of Republicans throw their vote behind Miller. McAdams holds a 22-point lead among voters not affiliated with either major political party. That’s pretty low undecides for this early and two relative unknowns, though Alaska is small enough (population-wise, anyway) that any politician is going to have a fairly high degree of name recognition. The NRSC released a poll that has Miller leading 52-36. That one was conducted over last weekend. At the same time, PPP was in the field and found an 8 point difference , Miller over McAdams 47-39. Murkowski was included in both polls. Here’s where it gets interesting, taking Murkowski out of the mix and considering that she has as of yet declined to endorse Miller , leaving it at “no comment” for the moment. PPP did some exit polling in Alaska among Republicans, finding Only 18% of Alaska Republicans identify themselves as Tea Party members but Miller won them by an 80-20 margin, enough to make up for Murkowski’s 63-37 lead with ones who don’t actively identify with the movement…. Joe Miller’s victory was driven by conservatives who think their party and more specifically Lisa Murkowski have gotten too liberal. Tea Party identification in Alaska is actually not that high, but Miller’s advantage with that group was so overwhelming it gave him the win. Palin’s endorsement certainly helped Miller and it’s unlikely he could have won without it, but it doesn’t appear to have been the driving force in his upset. The very bad blood built up between Miller and Murkowski in the past week could come back to bite him with non-Tea Party Republicans and fence-sitters (few though they may be). From what we’ve seen of Miller so far –the attacks on Murkowski, on the NRSC–it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be making nice with the establishment Republicans. McAdams is going to have to hit this guy hard and drive his already high unfavorables (52 percent, according to PPP) up among disaffected Murkowski supporters.

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AK-Sen: New polls, Murkowski mum

Last night, Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski conceded something that had been obvious for a week: She won’t be her party’s nominee this fall. She lost her primary for being insufficiently anti-abortion. (Here’s what that means for a Republican in Alaska: She and her opponent both endorsed a parental notification ballot measure, but he endorsed it harder .) Because there’s no more important issue, and nothing worse, than teenagers having sex. Also this week, Alaska’s most famous birth control eschewer, Bristol Palin, told People magazine how excited she was to be joining Dancing with the Stars . “I see this as something that’s fun and that’s positive and I’m going to be able to show my work ethic to people out there.” Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Chris Kelly: Bristol Palin Dances, Pregnant, on Lisa Murkowski’s Grave

Though he served as Prime Minister of Japan for a mere two years in the early ’70’s before being driven from power in Nixonian fashion in a Watergate-like scandal, for the next decade and a half Kakuei Tanaka served as Japan’s shadow leader, known forever as The Kingmaker for his uncanny ability to govern Japan from the shadows, often hand-picking who would lead the country by controlling a powerful bloc of legislators. In modern American political history we haven’t had a Tanaka-like Kingmaker, until now, when Sarah Palin’s handpicked candidate Joe Miller came out of nowhere to defeat Lisa Murkowski. The Miller victory was but the latest in the successes Palin has had in races across the country, but it was clearly the most dramatic and portends what could be a political presence far more powerful than even a Palin presidential run and it raises a most interesting question: Why should Palin even try to run for President when she can essentially govern from her kitchen table in Alaska by endorsing candidates who share her political beliefs? Like Kakuei Tanaka who wielded power far more powerfully and effectively through others, Sarah Palin may find that she can pursue her agenda far more effectively through the likes of Nikki Haley and Joe Miller than she ever could by running for President herself. Read More… More on Sarah Palin

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Mark Joseph: Why Be President When You Can Be King(maker)?