Archive for August, 2009
Corzine Pounces
Posted by: | CommentsJon Corzine’s campaign seems to smell blood in the water over his Republican challenger Chris Christie’s failure to disclose a $46,000 loan to Michelle Brown, a former subordinate in the US Attorney’s office.
The Democrat is on the air with a television ad calling out Christie for what they see as a clear double standard. They’re going for the soft center of Christie’s entire candidacy – his image as a clean government reformer.
Somehow, the Corzine campaign seems to have successfully turned the conversation in this race into one about Chris Christie’s image rather than a referendum on Corzine’s performance.
A Virginia Turning Point?
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s only anectdotal (and far too early to say if this is the start of a Deeds surge toward the November finish line), but Democratic pollster Public Policy tweeted about what they saw on Sunday, the last day of a three-day polling period in the Old Dominion:
Creigh polled much better today in the wake of the WaPo story than he had Friday and Saturday…
The revelations about Bob McDonnell’s political views outlined in his master’s thesis appeared in Sunday’s paper and his views on women in the workplace, contraception and covenant marriage could seriously undermine the Republican’s ability to win Northern Virginia votes.
Sanford’s Party of One
Posted by: | CommentsOver the weekend, South Carolina GOP legislators gathered in Myrtle Beach and discussed their options regarding what to do about their disgraced Governor Mark Sanford.
According to Politico, not a single official voiced support for the governor, but political observers view it as unlikely the growing pressure from within his own party will force the stubborn Sanford to step down voluntarily.
Late in the roughly 2½-hour meeting, GOP state Rep. Greg Delleney stood up to demand that Sanford resign because the governor has “disgraced and brought shame on the state.”
“Can anybody in here give me one good reason, one positive thing, that’s going to occur by him remaining in office?” asked Delleney, who is drafting impeachment articles against the governor.
None of the state’s House Republicans had an answer.
“It was gratifying,” Delleney told POLITICO afterward. “How can you defend the indefensible?”
Democrats in the Palmetto State have to be rejoicing over the GOP’s Sanford headache. With each day the governor remains in office, the more damage done to the GOP brand in the state. First it was the hypocrisy on the party’s claim to being the defender of “family values.” Then it became the bankruptcy of the GOP’s fiscal conservative credentials. Now, it’s become a black mark on the Republican “law and order” image.
The first two might have been brushed off as the failings of a single man.
The last cannot.
Could the WaPo Save Deeds Again?
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s Washington Post has a damaging frontpage article about Bob McDonnell’s Regent University master thesis.
Written at age 34 two years before the 2009 Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee first ran for public office, the document undermines McDonnell’s attempts to manufacture a moderate image palatable to Virginia’s electorate. Democratic nominee Creigh Deeds’ campaign has been trying to inform voters about the true nature of McDonnell’s conservative views, which they argue put him outside the mainstream views of most voters.
The WaPo provides a huge assist to their effort. Will the paper play a pivotal role in determining the general election outcome as it did in the Democratic primary when it endorsed Deeds over his two better-known rivals?
His targets include working women, feminists, “cohabitators, homosexuals and fornicators.” Revealing the extent of his extremist “family values” conservatism, he even denounced the 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unwed partners. He supported “covenant marriage,” redefining child abuse to exclude parental spanking and criticized federal tax credits for child care because the policy encouraged women to enter the workforce.
The 93-page document, which is publicly available at the Regent University library, culminates with a 15-point action plan that McDonnell said the Republican Party should follow to protect American families — a vision that he started to put into action soon after he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.
During his 14 years in the General Assembly, McDonnell pursued at least 10 of the policy goals he laid out in that research paper, including abortion restrictions, covenant marriage, school vouchers and tax policies to favor his view of the traditional family. In 2001, he voted against a resolution in support of ending wage discrimination between men and women.
It Goes Beyond “A Reasonable Request,” Gov Patrick
Posted by: | CommentsMassachusetts Governor Deval Patrick told Good Morning America’s Diane Sawyer yesterday that Sen. Kennedy’s hope the Commonwealth would change the senatorial succession law allowing the governor to appoint an interim senator until the January special election is held was a “reasonable request.”
I’d argue it’s far more than that. Patrick’s political future in the Bay State depends on him doing everything in his power to honor the senator’s last wish.
The Safest Democratic Governor in America?
Posted by: | CommentsArkansas’ Mike Beebe.
A survey (pdf) done by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showed the incumbent boasting a 63-17% job approval rating. While Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln faces a difficult 2010 re-election campaign against virtually any candidate with an “R” next to their name, numbers like these are likely to scare off any serious GOP challenger to Beebe.
These numbers reinforce another midsummer Arkansas poll (pdf) showing Beebe strutting a stratospheric 77-17 favorable-to-unfavorable rating in the state.
Sanford Digs In – Democrats See Opportunity
Posted by: | CommentsSouth Carolina Republicans must be cursing every time embattled SC Governor Mark Sanford gets in front of a mic and cameras. This morning he had yet another press conference in which his defense about his possibly illegal use of private planes amounted to “You don’t have your facts right” and “This is all about my opponents’ political ambitions” and “Everybody else does it, so why the fuss?”
And, observing how well it works for Sarah Palin, he blames the whole controversy on a lazy and culpable media.
He’s clearly digging in and forcing the state GOP to impeach him. To save their own political careers they’re going to have to purge the disgraced Sanford from their ranks. The longer the party is roiled by the Sanford saga the more Democrats become encouraged about their 2010 prospects.
the beleaguered Republican has accomplished one turn-around. For the first time in year’s, the state’s Democrats are looking forward to the next governor’s race. The Democratic nominee won’t have Sanford to run against next year. But with unemployment hovering around 12 percent and even Republican candidates like Attorney General Henry McMaster taking shots at Sanford, the Democrats sense an opportunity.
CNN video from yesterday’s presser (today’s will be posted once it’s available)
Each time Sanford gets in front of a camera, he not only digs a deeper hole for himself and his GOP brethren but raises the question, “How the hell was this guy ever considered a rising star in the Republican Party?”
Is he the best the elephants can muster?
Gavin’s Hometown Troubles
Posted by: | CommentsTwo little-known polls from the Left Coast show San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (the declared 2010 Democratic gov candidate) is falling further behind Attorney General Jerry Brown (who has not yet declared his candidacy) over the summer. Gavin has been traipsing around the state, introducing himself to voters who may only know him as the “gay marriage” mayor.
In June, Moore Research found Brown leading Newsom 46-26 among Democratic and “Decline-to-State” voters, a formidable but not surprising gap between a well-known established politico (Brown has been on California ballots for the past four decades) and the much younger Newsom. The firm’s August numbers, reveal Newsom is actually losing ground, despite being the only one in campaign mode. Brown now leads 49-20.
When asked whether or not they felt Newsom has the skills to be governor, the number responding affirmatively also dropped over the summer, from 41 to 39%. The percentage saying “no” shot up from 19 to 29%. Brown, on the other hand, has seen his numbers on the same question improve. In June, voters thought he was gubernatorial material by a 69-to-7% margin. In August, the margin was 78-to-10%
Perhaps more eye-catching are the numbers from his own backyard: Read More→
