A new Zogby poll finds that almost half of the county’s likely voters are dissatisfied with the current crop of Presidential candidates.
It also finds that more voters would be unlikely to vote for Democrats Senator Hillary Clinton than Senator Barack Obama. And presumptive GOP nominee Senator John McCain by a slim margin is the candidate they would least likely never support. Yet, McCain faces some of the worst news: Democrats are happier than Republicans about their choices.
Meanwhile, members of Congress shouldn’t be smiling at all: a new Gallup poll finds Congress’ approval ratings are at a historic low.
Zogby’s findings are indicative of the fact that both the Democratic and Republican parties have splits which presumably will heal by Labor Day:
Nearly half of likely voters - 48% - are not satisfied with the current candidates for president, with Republicans and conservative voters the most unhappy about their likely candidate choices in November, a new nationwide Zogby Interactive poll shows.
In what could spell bad news for the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, an overwhelming 86% of self-described “very conservative” voters said they are displeased with the current presidential candidates - and 65% of these voters said they are very unsatisfied. The vast majority of conservatives (76%) and Republicans (76%) also expressed significant dissatisfaction with the current candidates, as did more than half of political independents (55%).
Last time I reported on election results in the 1st Mississippi Congressional District, it was competing with the Pennsylvania Primary. The race went into a run-off, and today it competes for attention with the West Virginia Primary — which Clinton won handily to no effect whatsoever.
Just to review: the Mississippi 1st is one of the reddest districts in the country — even more than the Louisiana 6th where Democrats scored an upset victory to flip a seat a few weeks back. In the first election, Democratic candidate Travis Childers came within a few hundred votes of winning outright over Republican Jeff Davis. The run-off is today, results being posted here. The counties to watch are DeSoto (Davis’ base) and Prentiss (Childers’ base).
***
The race is over, Childers wins by 8 percentage points — a landslide for a Democrat in this district. Republicans better watch their backs. If they’re not safe here, they’re not safe anywhere.
Around 65% of precincts in, and Childers has the lead. Over two thirds of DeSoto has come in, Prentiss still hasn’t reported, and Childers is running ahead of his last outing. Good signs for the Democrats.
Arguments between national security advocates and personal privacy proponents have stalled the passage of a new FISA bill for months. One of the main sticking points has been proposed immunity for telecoms as endorsed by the Bush administration. Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey has the details of how Bush may have “blinked first” on the immunity question so a compromise may be in the offing.
Bush seems willintg to accept a bit of a bloody nose on this in order to reinstate the necessary FISA reforms. If Pelosi still doesn’t budge, then the White House needs to start taking this to the people, working around the Democrats in the same manner they did last year when they stalled FISA reform for most of the session.
Will the compromise be enough to convince Nancy Pelosi to bring the question to a vote on the House floor? Read the entire report here.
If you liked Reagan, the odds are you don’t think McCain is too old to be president. And if you liked Reagan, the reason he gave for opposing a bill that would ensure women equal pay for equal work might even make sense to you. Here’s McCain, ‘reasoning’:
“I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what’s being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. “This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system.” (AP)
You know what, I don’t even know where to start with this. For one thing, I can’t believe this is even an issue in the 21st Century. For another, it’s hard to type when your hands are shaking with fury.
That being said, it might not matter. Latest results (40% reporting):
TRAVIS W. CHILDERS (D) 15,321 (53%)
GREG DAVIS (R) 12,634 (43%)
This would be a huge Democratic pick-up, and yet more proof that 2008 might make 2006 look like 2002 (how’s that for political in-geek humor?).
UPDATE: Just as I write that, Davis surges (50% reporting)
TRAVIS W. CHILDERS (D) 16,369 (46%)
GREG DAVIS (R) 17,566 (50%)
UPDATE #2: Far more exciting than Pennsylvania! (92% reporting):
TRAVIS W. CHILDERS (D) 28,931 (47%)
GREG DAVIS (R) 29,390 (48%)
I consider a run-off a Democratic win, not just because it exceeds expectations, but because it forces the NRCC to spend more money.
UPDATE #3: There are still three precincts left to report, but it looks Childers is just going to fall short of winning this seat outright. If those last three precincts break the way their neighbors have gone, he’ll be 400 votes short of crossing 50% (99% reporting).
Travis Childers (D) 32,376 (49%)
Greg Davis (R) 30,923 (47%)
April 22nd, 2008 by DAVID SCHRAUB, Assistant Editor
The Pennsylvania primary may not actually be that important, but there actually is an intriguing race being decided today: the special election to fill Mississippi’s First Congressional District (vacated by Roger Wicker (R), who was appointed to a Senate seat). This is another one of those Democratic pick-up opportunities in a solid-red district that came together because of a) nationwide Democratic momentum and b) excellent candidate recruitment. For Democrats, the MS-01 is really a can’t lose proposition: they shouldn’t really be competitive here, so a loss is no biggie. For Republicans though, it’d represent an awful sign for things to come if they dropped an R+10 district. So they’ve been forced to spend money they don’t really have here (while Democrats, awash in cash, can easily match them dollar-for-dollar).
Results being posted here, Childers is the Democrat, Davis is the Republican. Here’s where we’re at with 12% reporting:
TRAVIS W. CHILDERS (D): 4,277 (56%)
GREG DAVIS (R): 3,023 (39%)
Has U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘defied law and discipline,’ and ‘challenged U.S. government’ protection’ of the Olympic torch relay? These are just some of the latest charges being leveled against Pelosi by the Beijing regime. In this article, published in the strictly-controlled state run People’s Daily, her recent efforts to have legislation passed denying U.S. officials the use of public funds to attend the Beijing Olympics, “have left people amazed and speechless.’ The author, a scholar at Shanghai’s Fudan University, concludes, “This American stateswoman repeatedly asks other nations to abide by the law, but she herself interferes when her government makes security commitments. … Ms. Pelosi will only discredit herself and her own image if she persists in embarrassing China.”
By Shen Dingli*
April 14, 2008
People’s Republic of China - People’s Daily - Original Article (English)
The ongoing Olympic torch relay has drawn tremendous attention and the enthusiastic welcome of countries and peoples around the world. But there has also been a number of discordant voices, among which is the noisome U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Read the rest of this entry »
At this point it’s almost a cliche to say that the candidacy of Barack Obama has sparked excitement around the world. But on the continent of Africa, that excitement and the hope that his campaign inspires is particularly poignant. Such is the case in the obscure African nation of Benin, which hit the headlines recently when it briefly hosted President Bush. Sulpice O. Gbaguidi of the newspaper Fraternite writes, ‘Hurricane Obama has already done damage to the very small circle of remaining American presidential candidates. The sublime Black Democratic candidate has effectively erased any trace of the usual symbolism used by Black candidates. … Barrack must quickly forget the failures of the Black community represented by Al Sharpton and Senator Carol Mosely Braun. And neither did Republican Alan Keyes nor Lenora Fulani , a perennial independent candidate, lift Black skin to a pedestal. … if the Kennedy family - which supported Bill Clinton in 1992 - happen to be Obama supporters, it is for the White House that Barrack’s destiny is being forged.’
By Sulpice O. Gbaguidi
Translated By Sandrine Ageorges
March 11, 2008
Benin - Fraternite - Original Article (French)
His candidacy has thrilled America even as his native country of Kenya is in turmoil [Actually, America is Obama’s native country]. His wife Michelle already dreams of becoming the first black “first lady” of the world superpower. In his latest book entitled The Audacity of Hope, Barrack Obama expresses his ambition, coupled with a determination and impressive daring: to succeed George W Bush at the White House. But blocking his path to the U.S. presidency is the obstacle of Hillary Clinton, a fearsome woman who has already tasted the flavor of American power as first Lady. Nothing, however, can dilute the passion of columnists for the Senator of Illinois, who defies the dinosaurs of American politics.
Like his two young daughters Malia Ann (9 years old) and Sasha (6 years old) - whose souls must have conversed with the heavens to create a seismic shift at the Democratic caucuses, which are nevertheless slow in delivering their verdict - I am allowing myself to indulge in the craziest optimism for the fate of Barrack’s presidential future. Although the chances of Republican veteran John McCain remain intact and one shouldn’t sell the bear’s fur too quickly, Hurricane Obama has already done damage to the very small circle of American presidential candidates. The sublime Black Democratic candidate has effectively erased any trace of the usual symbolism used by Black candidates.
Far from the exploits of Dick Gregory, a comedian and ardent defender of civil rights who entered the starting blocks of the marathon for the White House as a foil, Obama appears to be a serious contender for the Oval Office.
Better than Shirley Chisholm , the first Black [woman] elected to the House of Representatives who was swept away during the 1972 Democrat primaries, the Kenyan [Obama], smarter and better equipped, has offered a real challenge to the wife of the former U.S. President. In my opinion, Obama - the very model of Black ambition - is more explosive than legendary pastor Jesse Jackson, who was unable to obtain the Democratic nomination in 1988, and was defeated by …
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated foreign press coverage of the U.S. election.
February 19th, 2008 by SHAUN MULLEN, TMV Columnist
Five perilous days have now passed since those treasonous House Democrats decided to hold the U.S. hostage by refusing to cave in to President Bush by questioning the telecom immunity provision in the FISA renewal bill.
Unless there is yet another vast mainstream media cover-up, there have been no terrorist attacks on our fair homeland although the president, his minions and a host of fearmongers in the right-of-center blogosphere warned that the Duplicitous Dems were leaving Uncle Sam with his hands tied without the Protect America Act provision of the FISA bill being renewed.
This, of course, was complete rubbish since:
* The Republicans could have voted to extend the PAA provision instead of running off for a 12-day recess and whining to their constituents about Nancy Pelosi’s calumny.
* Existing warrantless domestic surveillance can continue for up to a year without extending the PAA provision.
* And if that isn’t good enough fer ya, domestic wiretapping rules would in any case revert to the original FISA, which requires the government to obtain a warrant from a special court.
As the Week of Living Dangerously is tick ticking on with nary a national hangnail, some pundits have begun changing their tune.
February 16th, 2008 by SHAUN MULLEN, TMV Columnist
For someone whose handlers said they didn’t expect to win any more February primaries, Hillary Clinton is campaigning in Wisconsin like her life depends on it. Which politically speaking, it does.
Despite numerous promises to take the high road after his mudslinging backfired in South Carolina, Bill Clinton is at it again, assailing Barack Obama because he wasn’t a part of “any of the good things” that happened in the 1990s. Being a civil rights attorney, community organizer and Illinois state senator apparently are bad things.
Having dissed him in the past for not being conservative enough, Senator James Inhofe, R-Stone Age, and former Representative Tom DeLay, R-Disgraced, are now endorsing John McCain’s candidacy and DeLay is even stumping for him.
Another Texas Republican, Representative Ted Poe, full of himself after House Democrats refused to pass the FISA bill before the Protect America Act expired, overlooked the fact that he and his fellow GOPers could have extended the PAA before rushing home for a 12-day recess in hyperbolically noting that “there is probably joy throughout the terrorist cells throughout the world that the United States Congress did not do its duty today.”
After backing Senator Larry “Toe Tap” Craig and then not backing him and then backing him, the Idaho Republican Party has been struck deaf and dumb in the wake of a Senate Ethics Committee rebuke of Craig for his behavior after he was caught in an airport bathroom sex sting.
Speaking of deaf and dumb, Representative John Lewis and his staff aren’t returning calls following a bombshell report that the civil rights pioneer planned to dump Mrs. Clinton and cast his precious superdelegate vote for Obama.
Senator Joseph Lieberman yet again revealed himself to be a closet fascist in explaining why his fellow Democrats are a bunch of mewling sheep and he is a self-righteous pimp for George Bush in voting against a measure to ban torture: “We have to allow the president to allow the toughest measures to be used when there is an imminent threat to our country. . . . It’s not like we’re burning people with hot coals.”
After trying to pin all kinds of dirt on Obama without much success, his detractors have finally hit paydirt: They claim that he was a lousy Harvard Law Review president because the volume he edited has been the least cited in 20 years. A few more skeletons like this one and the guy will be toast.
One of Hillary Clinton’s more reliable punch lines is that “Speeches don’t put food on the table.” True enough, unless you’re the Clintons and your husband’s speechifying has been one of the principal sources of income for your campaign.
February 15th, 2008 by SHAUN MULLEN, TMV Columnist
WHY ARE THESE MEN NOT SMILING?
President Bush claimed today that the failure of House Democrats to approve an extension of a controversial domestic surveillance wiretapping program means “our country is more in danger of an attack.” Vice President Cheney said he also is very concerned.
Since Bush’s unprecedented powers as president are not compromised, Cheney is above any law and Republicans could have voted an extension of the wiretap law beyond its already extended February 16 expiration date before they toodled off for a 12-day recess, how can the U.S. be more in danger? Please be specific.
But tempers really flared when a GOP representative called for a dilatory procedural vote in the middle of a memorial service for Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA). Apparently, House Democrats had called the chamber back into session but had promised no votes would be cast until the service was over. By calling for the vote, members of both parties had to abandon the service while dignitaries were still speaking. Republicans say that Democrats knew that they would continue obstructing the bill whenever the House was in session, and thus brought this on themselves. Democrats rejoined that with no votes scheduled, the GOP should have shown a little respect and simply waited 20 minutes before resuming their obstruction.
All the announcements and tributes mention Congressman Tom Lantos’ distinction as being the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress. I don’t know how many Holocaust survivors have ever run for congress, but regardless, the fact that he will no longer bring the ideas and experience of that distinction to the legislative branch of our American government is unfortunate.
As the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, Tom Lantos devoted his life to shining a bright light on dark corners of oppression. He used his chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee to empower the powerless and give voice to the voiceless throughout the world.
Though a party-line Democrat on most issues, Lantos was known for teaming up with conservatives on the panel like Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) to bring scrutiny to the suppression of free speech in China and other issues. He also teamed up with many Republicans to back the Iraq war and advocate staunch support for Israel.
“Chairman Lantos will be remembered as a man of uncommon integrity and sincere moral conviction — and a public servant who never wavered in his pursuit of a better, freer and more religiously tolerant world,” House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said in a statement.
Lantos was not afraid to take on his allies. On the foreign affairs committee, he blasted Silicon Valley giants like Google and Yahho for colluding with China’s government in censorship. He authored tough Iran sanctions legislation but broke with pro-Israel orthodoxy by offering to meet with the Islamic Republic’s leaders. Pro-Israel groups also opposed a non-binding resolution that recognized the Ottoman era massacres of Armenians as a genocide, worried that it would cause a rift between Israel and Turkey — Lantos pushed it through the committee, unwilling to countenance what he saw as genocide revisionism.
His appeal crossed political aisles: Both the National Jewish Democratic Council and the Republican Jewish Coalition issued statements mourning his passing. Top Republicans on his committee also chimed in: “An unfailingly gracious and courageous man, Tom was recognized by friends and colleagues alike as a leader who left an enviable legacy of service to his country,” said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the committee’s ranking member.
Our nation has lost a great public servant with the passing of Representative Tom Lantos. In serving his constituents and his country, Tom never forgot the Democratic Party’s ideals of freedom, fairness, and opportunity for all. As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he was an authority on foreign policy issues and a voice for the oppressed. The only Holocaust survivor in Congress, he was a forceful and passionate advocate for civil liberties and human rights. Today, I join with countless others across the country in offering my thoughts and prayers to Rep. Lantos’ family and friends as we honor his life and legacy.
Among his first major legislative accomplishments was legislation to give honorary citizenship to Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, a hero, who protected Lantos and many others from the Nazis. He went on to sponsor U.S. aid for Eastern European countries that had broken the shackles of communism, and became a strong voice of conscience against human rights abuses in China He was one of the leading voices in the House for sanctioning Myanmar’s regime due to human rights abuses. Among his other accomplishments, Rep. Lantos teamed with the late GOP Rep. Henry Hyde to secure $1.3 billion to fight AIDS around the world and to incentivize India to cooperate with international weapons inspectors.
In October, when Dutch parliament members came to Washington to complain to congress about Guantanamo Bay, Lantos reminded them that if not for the United States, they would be a province of Nazi Germany. He also added that “Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay.”
Lantos himself was an opponent of the Bush administration on the prosecution of the war, on Guantanamo, and on most other issues. But he never balked at an opportunity to defend the United States against those that would denigrate it. He recognized that politics stops at the waters edge. He was a great man, and he will be missed in Washington.
Vice President Richard Cheney, parting company with the official Bush Administration position on the test case before the Supreme Court on the Second Amendment, signed onto a brief Friday urging the Justices to strike down the District of Columbia handgun ban without ordering any further proceedings.
The brief — representing the views of a majority of the members of the Senate and of the House — explicitly endorsed the “categorical approach” that the D.C. Circuit Court used in declaring the pistol ban invalid under the Second Amendment. That decision, the brief argued, should simply be affirmed, thus nullifying outright the local law. The brief can be downloaded here.
In contrast, the Justice Department — speaking for the Administration — told the Court on Jan. 11 that the Circuit Court had used too strict a constitutional standard, and should be told to reconsider its decision. The government filing took no direct position on the validity of the D.C. law. The Circuit Court should reconsider that question, the Department contended, using a “more flexible standard of review.” The Department did urge the Court, though, to rule now that the Second Amendment does protect an individual right to have a gun for private use. The filing was not labeled as a supporting brief for either side in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), now scheduled for argument March 18.
This dual-role thing that Cheney gets to fulfill, even though prior Vice Presidents have done the same, has just always felt so…improper. Can anyone tell me why Read the rest of this entry »
February 5th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
Early returns suggest it’s going to be a long night and that when it’s over the Democratic race for the 2008 Presidential nomination will be far from over:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York took two of the big early prizes Super Tuesday in a coast-to-coast struggle for delegates in the grueling Democratic campaign, winning Massachusetts and her home state of New York, NBC News projected.
NBC News also projected Clinton to win in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Sen. Barack Obama got two big wins in his home state, Illinois and Georgia.
Georgia was Obama’s second straight Southern triumph, and, like an earlier victory in South Carolina, it was built on a wave of black votes. The 87 delegates at stake in Georgia’s primary were expected to be divided between Obama and Clinton in rough proportion to the votes.
African-Americans accounted for slightly more than half the ballots cast in Georgia, and he was gaining about 90 percent of them. Clinton won nearly 60 percent of the white votes, a reduced advantage compared to her showing in earlier states.
In Illinois, 153 delegates were at stake.
“It’s good to be home,” said Obama, who voted in Hyde Park, Ill. “It’s nice to know that I’ve got so much support back home.
NOTE: We’ll be posting returns as we see some races being called, but as a policy decision we’ll avoid doing a lot of posts calling states based simply on exit polls. There have been too many controversies swirling around the leaking of these partial results. Notably, that they have not often reflected the actual final results.
What does the emergence of a Hillary Clinton or a Barack Obama as serious candidates for the U.S. presidency say about progress toward equality in American society? While it is no doubt a positive sign, according to this analysis by Patrick Jarreau of France’s Le Monde, both the tactics of the Clinton campaign and the continued relative lack of women and minorities in positions of authority show that the United States still has a very long way to go.
“Confronted with the asset posed by Obama’s negritude, which is at once assumed and transcended, Ms. Clinton and her husband have tried, each in his or her own way, to send the young politician back to his ghetto … by dividing the electorate of their party, the two candidates could cause fractures that the one who is nominated cannot repair.”
By Patrick Jarreau
Translated By Kate Davis
February 3, 2008
France - Le Monde - Original Article (French)
In nine months, the Americans could elevate to the leadership of their country a White woman or a Black man, two “minorities” in the political lexicon on the other side of the Atlantic. The Democratic candidate for the White House at the end Read the rest of this entry »
Under an economic stimulus package with $150 billion in temporary tax breaks agreed to by the Bush administration and House leaders, almost every wage earner would get a check of at least $300. Families with children would receive an additional $300 per child, while those paying income taxes could receive higher rebates. The full rebate would be limited to people earning below a certain income cap, probably $75,000.
What do you plan to do with your rebate?
(A suggestion: If you stop by The Moderate Voice regularly for the smart commentary and other brain candy, why not donate a portion of your check to this most worthy blog, even a modest 10 percent. Here’s how you can do that.)
Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich is dropping out of the Democratic race for president.
Kucinich will make the announcement Friday at a news conference in Cleveland. In an exclusive interview with Plain Dealer editors and reporters, Kucinich said he will explain his “transitioning” tomorrow.
“I want to continue to serve in Congress,” he said.
Kucinich said he will not endorse another Democrat in the primary.
Kucinich is seeking a seventh term in Congress, but his long-shot bid for the White House has drawn four Democratic opponents.
Big news here in Northeast Ohio, if not for the rest of the country. People love him or hate him. I’ll withhold comment. I’m not in his district. But the pressure’s been amped up considerably over the last few days. This dropping out comes as no surprise. And for Kucinich constituents in Ohio, they should be breathing a sigh of relief. For his opponents, they will be holding their breath.
Oh - I forgot to write when I first composed this post: Obama, Clinton and Edwards can also breathe a sigh of relief.;)
Kucinich will be most remembered for his Department of Peace concept, his aggressive re-statement of his resistance to the war in Iraq and his lovely wife, Elizabeth (I know, that’s so catty of me - but it’s true, now, isn’t it?).
They still don’t know who destroyed the CIA interrogation tapes or ordered the firing of US attorneys, but Capitol Hill bloodhounds will stop at nothing to find out if Roger Clemens used steroids.
On January 15th, the House Oversight Committee starts two days of hearings to pursue this pressing national issue, a month after the well-publicized Mitchell Report was issued and ten days after Clemens appears on 60 Minutes.
“It could be a circus with players, true,” the Committee’s minority staff director, David Marin, admits. “But if you tailor it right and invite people who clearly have pertinent information about the substance of the report, then it’s anything but a circus. It’s substantive.”
The lawmakers will be following in the footsteps of Mike Wallace, whose grilling of Clemens to be shown tonight elicits testimony that he only took legal injections of Lidocaine and B-12, not steroids.
“Swear?” Wallace asks Clemens. “Swear,” Clemens answers. Would the Rocket lie to CBS’ 89-year-old icon? Congress will put him under oath to find out.
In 2005, the same panel questioned other baseball stars and got blanket denials, but this time with 400 pages of documents and rumors compiled by a former Senate Majority Leader and paid for by anxious team owners, the results may very well be different.
One of the eagerly anticipated witnesses will be former New York Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who intrigued observers of the national pastime some years back by suddenly losing the ability to make an accurate throw to first base without the aid of a Seeing Eye dog. Could steroids have had anything to do with that?
January 2nd, 2008 by DAVID SCHRAUB, Assistant Editor
California Democrat Tom Lantos, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has announced he is retiring after being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. Lantos has been a passionate defender of human rights while serving in the House, and the only Holocaust survivor serving anywhere in Congress. Unsurprisingly, he has been a particularly early and vocal Congressional leader on Darfur.
Via Kos, who had been supporting a primary challenge against Lantos due to his relatively-hawkish foreign policy views. I hope that, with his impending retirement, we can put aside differences over Iraq and respect his years of public service and his amazing life story (and of course, wish him a full recovery).
![[The Telegraph, U.K.]](http://worldmeets.us/images/obamarace_telegraph.gif)
![[The Times, U.K.]](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00277/TTM041711CC385_277385a.jpg)
