Joe Sestak has had enough crap from Crazy Curt Weldon, whose level of desperation is matched only by the foul smell emanating from his campaign tactics. The above YouTube is Sestak's latest advertisement — that's what I like to call some serious ass pushback. Good for Sestak! (H/T to Bob Geiger, who also has some great Saturday cartoons for everyone.)
The DNC has a similar hit-back ad, this one premised on the Bush mantra of "I'm a man of my word." Ha — not so much in reality. It's pretty effective, I think, and worth a viewing.
At his blog, Spazeboy has some fantastic footage snagged from the rally with Howard Dean in Hartford yesterday — including tape of Ned Lamont and gubernatorial candidate John DeStefano and Congressional candidate Chris Murphy. (And speaking of Chris Murphy, Colin McEnroe reports that the Hartford Courant will be endorsing all five Democratic candidates for Congress tomorrow. HUGE news.)
The NYTimes dares to use the words "guarded optimism" and "Democrats" in the same article. Frankly, that just makes me nervous and makes me want to do more GOTV work. How about you?
There is a lot more news about a lot more candidates out there — who is your favorite candidate at the moment? Who is getting your efforts on their behalf? What is motivating you to help get out the vote? If you have a fiver to spare, we are still working on a donation drive for our Blue America candidates — it is crunch time, and every dollar counts for them. Please be a part of a Blue America victory in November — we need your help to get there!
In case you missed it, we had a great chat with Kirsten Gillibrand today. Please consider donating a little campaign cash to her — every $20 for her district gets 20 bumper stickers or 7 more yard signs. And it gets her that much closer to a victory in November — Kirsten could use your help!
Had enough? Vote for Democrats…because America needs accountability, and we need it now.
Related posts:
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
zero?
Yes! And the prize – I’ll give myself the fun of sending some more $ love to the Dems via Blue America.
Vote!!
Close. Oh, well. I guess I shouldn’t read the post first before I comment. ;-)
Great ad for Sestak, there.
Were she running I’ll tell you who would NOT get my goddamed vote – Barbara Fucking Boxer.
I’ve voted as a Democrat all my life but I’ll never vote for that bitch again, after the way she’s pissed on Ned Lamont.
In dozens of her emails since the CT primary I’ve received from her “PAC for a Change,” there has been nary a mention of Ned Lamont.
She’s mentioned just about every other Dem House and Senate candidate, but NOTHING about Ned.
IMO, this is an unforgivable betrayal. She has let personal feelings (and maybe a skeleton in the closet?) keep her in the Lieberman camp.
I’ve asked before and I ask again, please barrage Boxer with email, both to her PAC and her Senate mailbox. DEMANDING she get her ass out there and stump for Ned Lamont. God, I hope another Dem in California, with the means to do so, believes as I do, that Bitch Boxer has betrayed us.
I’d do volunteer work for that person’s campaign.
I’m in Ed Massa’s district (NY-29 vs. Rep. Randy Kuhl). Kuhl is a total Repug. hack.
Ed is another “Fighting Dem.” who has gone down to Sestak’s district to defend him against earlier “Swiftboating”.
Dang, I hope the NY Blue sweep carries Ed to victory, too.
FITZ!!!
Get Out The Vote!!!
For the flashmedia-challenged, here’s the link to Crooks and Liars’ videos of Joe Sestak’s commercial:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..ks-new-ad/
Normally I donate money to losing causes, because of that and unexpected health care costs, I have been a tad tight. I give a small amount to the DNC monthly but this year I decided to give a small amount to local candidates to buy bumper stickers. In some districts name recognition is key. Also I really like the VOTE VETS ads and I think that they target key races like Webbs. After listening to Danny Boy yesterday, I think that it’s even more important to help VETS get elected.
Now, this is a great commercial…
Democrats
Remember, it’s the most sincere form of flattery!
I loved that one! Good on Admiral Sestak.
Hey egregious – thanks to you and the fdl Alaska delegation for spreading the word on Benson.
Just got to give to her and Gillibrand (and re-give to Brown and McNerney).
No wonder people get hooked on internet shopping/gambling – who knew clicks could have such positive feedback?
I feel really really lucky to be able to give to Act Blue, just spread some donations around. I’ve also had a great day in that I have talked two registered R’s out of voting for the odious Dave Weldon here in Florida’s district 15. We have a great progressive Dem running, Dr. Bob Bowman.
Thanks kirk!
I’m very keen on the need to encourage people, being on the recipient end from time to time :)
Benson/Alaska donations:
http://www.actblue.com/page/egregious
Off now for forest sanity walk.
Just back in from Canvassing and phone banking for Ned.
I switched 4 people from undecided to Ned in about an hour of phone banking. Not bad! Poeple who came home where there vote and voice will be heard.
Ned’s office is now set up so that once you’re trained you can phone bank from home. 15 minutes at a time if you like. Now is really critical. DO IT!!
You can be trained over the phone as well, if you;d like more info write me at Montauk190 at aol dot com.
** I don’t work for the campaign, I’m a volunteer.
Secondly, canvassing today was nice. Lots of walking on a beautiful day here in Stamford. You can volunteer w/ the Stamford office for canvassing tomorrow or next Saturday or Sunday.
Every vote counts, this election is a lot closer than the recent (bummer) poll indicated. Seriously.
PS, did everyone hear Diane Farrell’s radio address today? She was great. The office I’m working out of is in her district. Damn proud to be asking people to vote for her over Joey Liar, and Chris (wacko) Shays.
CNN is re-running the Jack Cafferty show — it’s worth a watch at the moment. Just FYI.
And Urban Pirate — the Courant is going to endorse all five Dem Congressional candidates tomorrow. Woo hoo!!!!
This is somewhat OT but of concern. The Ohio secretary of state has been purging the voter rolls of democratic voters without their knowledge. Letters that looked like junk mail were sent to addresses of apartment dwellers in democratic neighborhoods. The voter was to respond to the letter or be dropped off of the rolls. Thousands of democratic voters have been purged. Repub neighborhoods got no such letter.
Bob Fitrakis, who has been fighting the election criminals in Ohio for years, has announced he will file a lawsuit no later than this coming Monday to reinstate the voters.
I believe we will see a lot of this kind of manipulation. What can we do about it now and after Nov.7th? We need to anticipate the most absurd cheating and lying from the republican dark side.
The DCCC blog has a round-up of the day in scumbaggery.
mary mccurnin @ 16
I thought that sort of thing was expressly forbidden by federal law.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 17
Those rethuglicans will say anything, won’t they? November 7, here we come!
It is every voter’s responsibility to make sure 5 other voters vote. The next level is to make sure your 5 voters do the same. Have you contacted your designated 5 voters and made sure?
If we turn out overwhelmingly it will be hard to contest the vote.
Found this on YouTube, compilation of candidates ads across the country. So many good ones, but love Jon Testers! But no, I am not getting that hair cut.
Democratic Ads Across the Country
It’s Chris Murphy in Connecticut.
Patrick Murphy is running in Pennsylvania.
(And while I’m busy making corrections, it’s DeStefano—”f” not “ph”.)
That the Courant will endorse all Dems for Congress is HUGE. The editorial board of the Courant has been quite conservative.
[Mod Note; thanks for the corrections. The front page has been updated accordingly]
Hello Christy! Not used to reading you in the pm. Enjoyed dinner with you and Mr. Smith, both food for the body and mnd. Great company. I came across something the other day that may have been addressed in the comments of your blog, but not in the post (Been too busy to read the comments–sorry firepups)
I wrote a piece over on my blog about this story in the rightard rag aka The Washington Times:
… but OFG, that is Democracy, Bush-brand. Just ask Sweeney and Bolton and all the other Florida Brooks Brothers rioters how it was done in oughty-ought.
Cujo359 @ 18
One would think so. But then the rule of law has little impact on the neocons.
TeddySanFran @ 23
All those Bruno Magli shoes were a “dead” give-away. Please don’t tell TRex I noticed the shoes, he’ll buy me a purse for christmas.
It sounds like you are having a team-changing moment, Mr. OFG…. noticing the shoes and all.
My kind of chicks!
Contributed by Steve Tuttle
At one point in the soon to be released Dixie Chicks documentary, “Shut Up and Sing,” lead singer Natalie Maines looks at the camera and says “What a dumbf—! You’re a dumbf—!” She’s talking about President George Bush.
http://www.talk.newsweek.com/politics/
“I live in Northern Virginia and I recently answered a telephone “survey”. All the questions were pretty “normal” EXCEPT for one question about how George Allen did not believe illegal immigrants should receive Social Security benefits and other benefits, while Webb “believed” your taxes should be raised so that illegal immigrants could receive these benefits.
Pretty funny, eh?”
snip…
“You don’t have to watch the GOP ads around the country too closely to see what their focus group research and polling is telling them is their only winning issue: Mexicans.”
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
OFG — was great to grab a bite with you as well. And happy to see you’ve made it to somewhere with internet. (Hope it’s home for a little while…)
TeddySanFran — great to see you. Seems like it’s been forever since you and I were on at the same time. :)
Cujo359 @ 18
Here is a good diary on KOS on this subject.
And a fine bottom line summary: …most of all, we need you to vote! Don’t let anything discourage you!
Cozumel @ 28
It is a continuation of the “War On Brown People”. These are a little closer to home, so we can literally kick some serious brown ass.
The Woman Who Would Be Speaker
Uncompromising Pelosi Set to Seize Opportunity
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01471.html
Goopers decided that going nuclear on immigration was gonna cost em big time in the long term- but was worth it for one more election victory.
Now it looks like the dumb fucks may lose in the short term and kissed away any future votes they may ever have with the most rapidly growing demographic in the country. Nice goin guys. (these people are supposed to be smart.)
Yeah CHS, home til Monday.
Oh hummm. It might be close, but Lamont will triumph. But. Work, work, work! Still, we have to do.
Jari Askins!!!
Guitar_Playing_Bastard @ 4
GPB,
I sent an email today to a campaign official with Menendez, to complaign about the games he played earlier this week [see this article for a description of his support for Holy Joe].
Here’s what I said:
How can I vote for Menendez when he won’t support the democratically-elected Democratic candidate for Senate, Ned Lamont? Joe Lieberman left the Democratic party, and is now a party of one. His support for the Bush administration knows almost no bounds. I certainly understand why Senator Menendez would want to express his firm support of Israel at Temple Beth Shalom, and appreciation for Joe Lieberman’s support of Israel. But if Joe Lieberman is elected, he will not caucus with the Democrats, despite the lies he has told his constituents and the media. He is beholden to Republican donors and Republican politicians. And his only concern is his own personal aggrandizement.
I expect the Democratic Senator of New Jersey to support Democratic candidates this year. Senator Menendez has lost my vote. I will not vote for Tom Kean, Jr., but I will not vote for someone who plays games with supporting Democrats. Stopping the Bush administration is too important.
If you have an email address, I’ll send something to Boxer. I’m furious at those Democrats who won’t give their whole-hearted support for Ned. Holy Joe has got to go!
Oilfieldguy @ 31
It’s a threefer all rolled up in to one.
1. Immigration
2. Raise YOUR taxes
3. Mess with YOUR Social Security.
Smells like Karl Rove. So this is the October Surprise?
“It is a continuation of the “War On Brown People”. These are a little closer to home, so we can literally kick some serious brown ass.”
Every summer, for relaxation, I go “south of the border…down Mexico way”. And I don’t mean some tourist spa, thank you very mucho.
Check out the Rethug FuckKnuckle in Minnesota that is Norm Coleman:
Coal-Man
This can be our first project after November 7th.
OK kiddo,
Jari is polling neck and neck with her rightard opponent. Democratic Governor Brad Henry will easily defeat Republican contender Istook, but we need to maintain a Dem in the number two spot.
For the rest of the firepups, Jari is the Dem candidate for Lt Governor in Oklanoma, who assumes the role of Governor the insant the real Governor leaves the state. Some serious shenanigans have occurred in past split ballot elections.
Istook is giving up his seat as OK-05 congresscritter, and it looks like it will stay Republican. I have a lot of work to do around here.
I mailed my ballot in yesterday. Yay!
I’ve been hemming and hawing, wondering where to drop some cash. Today I read the Act Blue thread with Kirstin Gillibrand and sent my love her way. I’m psyched to see my beloved home state of New York quite a bit bluer next month.
LOL Desperate times…
http://guerillawomentn.blogspo…..ad-at.html
Votings starting already in much- maybe most- of the country- so any October surprises that either party has planned are going to have progressively less effect as time goes on.
Here’s something important.
Rove was flappin his gums a week ago about the 100 million dollar gooper advantage goin into election day- turns out he was- well lying..
Latest campaign collection numbers came out friday in Washington Post- long story but the bottom line is:
Goopers have $77 million on hand after september- this counts the RNC- and the senate and house committees
Turns out the dems have $68 million on hand figured on the same basis- so the Rover 100 million dollar advantage has somehow shrunk to 9million.
Nice goin Karl- ya figure you can spin anything- so you’d spin up a nice funds advantage? Didn’t work did it?
Urban Pirate @ 14
Yay Urban Pirate! I get similar responses, even from some who say they’re for Lieberman initially. Except today a Lieberperson hung up on me when I asked her about issues and her response was: no issues. So I asked her: “So you think everything’s going great? Including the war?” She hung up.
Comme ci, comme ca.
rw at 44 — I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you, that Karl Rove would lie. *cough* (Saw that earlier this week. What a bozo.)
Hi Redd—yeah it’s hard ta believe- maybe he just added wrong? Hope you’re feelin better- Maybe you need the world famous 24 hour vacation. Let your family and us live without you for 24 hours while you check into a great hotel with a giant bath tub and room service!
Hi Redd- tried to respond to you but got stuck in moderation.. At any rate- hope you’re feelin better.
rw — have to go to a family funeral tomorrow. It’s going to be a rough one. My uncle was a one-in-a-million kind of guy, and it will be tough to say good-bye.
It’s interesting that rather than lowering expectations for the election- Rove is raising em. I guess he can’t predict that the goopers will lose either house- but his arrogance on the issue is a bit strange.
Bravo NJ Progressive, you did well!
Redd– I’m gettin down to the last few of the “older generation”- I have a favorite uncle too who’s now in his eighties and my mom is about the same age- it’s hard to say good bye to people who have been such important parts of your life.. Hope your family lifts you up.
rw at 50 — they think it helps to rev up their base. Everyone loves a winner, so he’s trying to project “winner.” Except this year, it is more like a projection of “State of Denial,” which makes things worse for Karl. Too bad he’s in a political quagmire of his own making. Remember the wolf commercial that the Bushies trotted out against Kerry in 2004? I keep thinking that perhaps we should dummy up a rebuttal commercial based on the Boy Who Cried Wolf — they keep screaming terrorism, and all they are getting back this year is a yawn — except that there is still an enormous threat, made worse by their piss poor decisions, and America is less safe as a result of their craptastic, self-serving scare-a-thon. Jeebus.
Seig Heil! Show me your papers now
Boobs. And I’m not talking anatomically here.
AP – A senior U.S. diplomat said the United States had shown “arrogance” and “stupidity” in Iraq but was now ready to talk with any group except Al-Qaida in Iraq to facilitate national reconciliation.
600,000 Iraqi’s, and almost 3,000 American soldiers later, they say this.
Redd- funny- I’ve been thinking about that asinine wolf commercial too lately.
For what it’s worth- Rove is pretty good- but he’s been WAY over rated lately. He snuck into the White House through the back door- by virtue of having a psychotic gooper in the secretary of state’s office in Florida. Everything since then has been 9/11 aided. All of his records should have an asterisk and the explanation “record set with gale force winds at Karl’s back”
Dems have gotten a bit of a bad rap too- we all figure they’re losers cause they lost seats during a period where 90% of the american people were scared shitless that someone was goin ta land a 747 on their heads.
This is the first election where Karl is goin ta have to work for a victory- we’ll see just how good he really is. My guess- about average.
Check out this amazingly bad attack ad the RNC is running in TN against Ford. This is how desperate the Republicans are. We’ll see echos of this in other states very soon.
http://guerillawomentn.blogspo…..ad-at.html
This is so bad it may actually help Ford.
Sleeze ad against Harold Ford:
http://guerillawomentn.blogspo…..ad-at.html
mui @ 45
Be careful with that. Standard procedure with phone banking at this point before an election is usually to get off the phone with opponent’s supporters as quickly as possible, because (unlike undecideds) you’re unlikely to convince them to switch, and you don’t want to make them focus more on the election and make them more motivated to come out and vote against you.
Just a suggestion.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 52
Yeah. And not just that commercial. We need a national statement from a respected spokesperson for the whole party — lay out the whole case for turning the Republicans out — all of them — and to vote Democratic.
I’d also like to see a warning issued by the party that we expect fraud on election day and we won’t take it. If there’s just one hint, we’ll take to the streets, cause we’ve had enough.
Goopers have BIG trouble in Tennessee- the casual observor will see that Ford is the “conservative”. His use of the bible as a campaign device is astounding- GW Clusterfuck was a piker compared to Ford’s use of pithy bible quotations- must have the goopers talkin to themselves- their worst nightmare- black dem baptist strikes back!
Arthur at 57 — is that the idiotic dog whistle racist ad? Ford’s challenger had to publicly denounce it because it was so bad, if so. How moronic and desperate can you be to make that kind of idiotic mistake this close to the election…oh, wait, the RSCC is run by Liddy Dole this year. Never mind.
Scarecrow–Yeah- I think you’re on the right track there- but you’ve got to make sure that you can deliver on that promise. Nothin worse than an empty threat followed by nothing- that’s why GW Clusterfuck’s in political trouble with Korea. Too much “cryin wolf” as Redd points out.
Christy, Thanks for mentioning GOTV. All this chicken counting is making me very nervous.
btw, can I just say how much fun I am having adding songs to my birthday present iPod that Mr. ReddHedd bought for me? Too fun!
Redd- Yes you may!
Jay at 64 — you won’t see chicken counting on this blog, let me tell you. We’ve been preaching GOTV from sun up to sundown. I think I’m probably nagging everyone to death on the subject — but it is the sole way we are going to win anything. We cannot depend on anyone to do it for us, either — I know from personal experience that is true based on my own local Dem organizations and how much work it takes to get anyone up off their butts here and doing work. And I can only assume it’s that way pretty much everywhere.
CHS @ 62:
Do you really think Corker wanted that ad not to run? Or, it runs a couple of days, does whatever damage it can inflict, then the RNC makes Corker look detached from it and such a good guy by calling for it to be pulled,and they pull it?
I know they cannot coordinate campaigns, but who believes Ford is displeased by this?
New national poll out from Newsweek. Bout the same as all the other national polls- GW Clusterfuck at 35% if I remember right.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 64
Well, that’s the last time we see Christy. Stand-up comic, Mark Maron, tells the story of getting the 60MB version. “How many songs does this hold,” he asked the salesperson. “All of them,” she said. “You mean all my favorites?”
“No, all the songs ever written.”
So he thinks that’s pretty cool and gets that model, and then spends the next five years downloading all the albums/CDs he’s never listened to.
You an October child Redd?
Yesterday I talked w a neighbor who was reluctant to vote for Webb, said there were policy differences. I said yes, maybe you don’t agree with him on everything, but the alternative is that Allen stays in office ANOTHER SIX YEARS. She admitted that was a good reason to vote for Webb. One down, several hundred thousand to go…
Arthur at 68 — you know, that ad can cut both ways for Corker — and, in this environment of mistrust of the GOP and disgust for their lack of ethics in a lot of quarters — I tend to think it cuts badly. And, I think, so did Corker once they saw it. Here’s hoping, anyway. Not every Republican is a racist, you know, and I know a large number of them who are disgusted by the dog whistle tactics that are employed with a wink and a nod far too often by opportunistic assholes in the party.
As an example, after my C-Span appearance last Thursday, I got a large — and I mean LARGE — number of e-mails from folks who self-identified as Republicans whose party had left them behind (for fiscal reasons, for libertarian and legal and Constitutional reasons, you name it). I think there is a much larger group of disaffected GOP folks out there than we realize, because what we see on blogs or from pundits or party officials does not reflect the whole of the party voters. And those are the folks likely to stay home — or vote for Democrats out of anger, spite, or disgust. (Let’s hope so, shall we?)
rwcole @ 62
I think the smartest thing the Dems could be doing is to tap into the incredible anger and disgust that’s out there, and tell them to get ready for mass action, cause the Repubs aren’t going to go down without pulling every trick they can. Cafferty on CNN and others are already setting the stage. The warning will put the country and media on notice, and would probably motivate people to show up and pay attention. Then if anything does happen, we’re ready and the media are prepped. I’m serious. What this country needs is a General Strike.
scarecrow at 70 — that’s the version that Mr. ReddHedd got me — with the video. He thought it would come in handy if I was canvassing to have a video download to show people on occasion. How cool is that? :)
Wo, folks, our own BlueAmerica PAC is within $394 of being able to fund another “Had Enough” campaign. Let’s cough it up and then think about who should get this great ad next!
rw at 71 — I am. My b-day was this past Thursday — and to celebrate, I got up at 5 am without having nearly enough coffee to drive to a cold teevee studio to be on C-Span for an hour. *G* But it was worth it, if the Republican call-ins and e-mails that I have gotten afterward are any indication.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 74
Way cool. Good guy, that Mr. Redd. But I warned him.
Redd– good for you. October children are great- big hearted with love of justice.
egregious @ 75
We’re on it.
Ahhhh…the mellow voice of Kathy Mattea. Nothing better than a WV girl who can sing like an angel, I always say. *G* (damn, this is a fun birthday gift!)
scarecrow, how’s your kos diary doing? Need any more recommends?
CHS @ 73:
I am three miles from Kansas where this week two former Republican state Attorneys General endorsed the Democrat, Paul Morrison, running for AG for just that reason, because their party no longer exists.
I have no doubt that the Republican extremists in the RNC and running the TN party actually believe that this ad will help Corker, but it won’t. It merely highlights their desperation. I hope all the good government editorial writers in Tennessee who piously call for a return to civility really let the Republicans have it for this ad.
For those who have not seen it, here is the link again:
http://guerillawomentn.blogspo…..ad-at.html
Kansas- interesting place- once the progressive heartland of the nation- then put into a semi permanent body press by the religious right- may be startin to come out the other side.
PHOENIX — The brother of an NFL player who was killed in Afghanistan after quitting the team to join the U.S. Army Rangers has broken his silence.
Kevin Tillman, a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with his older brother, Pat Tillman, has remained silent since his brother’s death in 2004. But this week, he wrote a scathing indictment of the war in Iraq, the Bush administration and American apathy.
“Somehow, the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes,” Kevin wrote on Truthdig.com, which purchased his work.
The brothers, both Arizona State University graduates, joined the Army in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. They served together as Rangers with the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Pat Tillman, who played defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals, was killed by friendly fire near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in April 2004. The Defense Department is investigating allegations of a cover-up, including failure by the U.S. Army to tell Tillman’s family for several weeks that he had been killed by gunfire from his fellow Army Rangers, not by enemy fire as they initially were told.
Kevin Tillman has not spoken publicly about the war or his brother’s death since his discharge from the Army. But in Truthdig.com, Kevin wrote openly about the war and America’s response to it.
“Somehow, the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country. Somehow, this is tolerated. Somehow, nobody is accountable for this.”
–Kevin Tillman, brother of Pat Tillman
“Somehow, the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country. Somehow, this is tolerated. Somehow, nobody is accountable for this.”
After playing for the ASU Sun Devils, Pat Tillman was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in 1998. He played with the team for four years.
On Sept. 12, 2001, he gave an interview in which he talked about how “stupid” football seemed relative to world events.
“At times like this, you stop and think about not only how good we have it but what kind of system we live under,” he said. “My great-grandfather was at Pearl Harbor. And a lot of my family has gone and fought in wars. And I really haven’t done a … thing as far as laying myself on the line like that.”
Pat was on the verge of signing another contract with the Cardinals in the spring of 2002 when he decided to join the Army instead.
The Tillmans were initially sent to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2003, the brothers returned to the States for training to become Army Rangers. After that, they were sent to Afghanistan.
Raven — that’s a great letter. I linked it up yesterday, but in case you missed the whole thing, here’s a link.
It will be interesting to watch some of the southwest states over the next ten years- Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona. All are drifting toward blue- Colorado and New Mexico are almost there. All are gaining population (and electoral votes) as well.
egregious @ 81
Egregious, thanks for your visit. I was hoping that the campaign would see it, and I assume they have. Of course, if they need my ideas, they’re in trouble.
Some are starting to notice that the south in not monolithic and that some of it is not as red as was suspected- Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and Missouri (OK- it’s a BORDER state) are all up for grabs.
In the west, Montana is a lot saner than many thought too.
scarecrow @ 88
Scarecrow. We ALL need your ideas.
Hm. Trouble loading comment.
Anywhoo, I missed the Cafferty program. Any kind volunteers who would like to provide the cheap seats version? Thx.
We can probably write off the “deep south” for a while. Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama will probably stay gooper for the rest of our lifetimes- but the rest will listen.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 77
Ah, I was in Las Vegas then. I missed it. Oh, lookie here, I found it ; )
Redd–You seem to have a fervor for coffee that many reserve for their children and favorite dogs. Did you ever think of givin it up? (Just kidding).
Thanks Christy
Christy Hardin Smith @ 86
rw at 94 — you know, it’s funny, because I really only drink two or three cups a day — and I always make it half decaf, half caf anyway — but it’s the morning ritual of the warmth in the cup that I love, I think. Lately, I’ve been more on a tea kick. But at 5 am — it’s gotta be coffee. LOL
Oops! I forgot the CSPAN link….
http://www.cspan.org/videoarch…..veDays=100
Just finished another Zogy online poll.
FWIW.
Lots of focus on Iraq/foreign policy.
I made all the points we talk about here (ie – the world is less safe; we need to be more engaged in diplomacy, not war; Iraq has made U.S. and the whole world less secure; adding another war would be disastrous militarily, etc;
Then they wanted to know all about video games, like purchasing considerations on Sony PS3 vs. Nintendo Wii for holiday season, but also about violence/censorship. Weird. I’m not a ‘playa’…
——
…glad Mr. Redd saw the value in that lil piece of silicon magic (aka iPod.) oooohhh..audio AND video.
Enjoy Redd!
Costco coffe is the best! 8 bucks for 2 pounds of beans, all different strengths. Yummee!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 77
did you expand on the republican response anywhere? I’d love to know what it was….
Barron’s magazine predicting that goopers will hold onto both houses of congress- albeit by the slimmest of margins.
Crazy Curt jumps over the side (thx Atrios).
Anchors Aweigh!
Ahhhhh…Peter Frampton. Man, I am LOVING this iPod. *g*
rwcole @
101
Sheesh. They ARE a contrarian lot though, aren’t they? Any real analysis or just off-the-cuff armchair electioneering? Any specificity on numbers?
Twisted — was it you who suggested the horse movie “Spirit” to me? If so, thanks heaps. The Peanut adores it — we’ve watched it nonstop this week.
Maybe we need an informal pool on the midterms- how many seats will dems win/lose in the house- and again for the senate….Let’s see who can get closest!
Christy-I think so, it was one of my daughter’s favorites! The soundtrack is worth buying as well, especially if you like Bryan Adams.
I grabbed Frampton Comes Alive last year, and it still kicks ass almost 30 years later.
we have to vote these lying, thieving, swiftboating hypocrits out of office. Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator said it best: HERE
Blank- apparently there is some analysis in the story- but Drudge just has a short snippet and the whole story requires a subscription.
Scary Grandma Pelosi and her black, Jew, gay Committee Chairmen!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..v=hcmodule
Cook has been talking about the micro and the macro view of these elections for months.
If you take the macro view and see all the numbers in national polling about how much voters are gagged by goopers and how much they hate Clusterfuck- etc. you come away with the feeling that dems are gonna stomp em.
On the other hand- if you take a micro look at individual races- you see that the close seats are mostly inside the margin of error- and you can’t find the exact seats in either the house or the senate that will put dems over the top- so we may just have to wait for election night.
new thread gang.
RWCole @ 106
Head over to the Iowa Electronic Markets run by the university’s biz school and buy somne contracts:
http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/iem/
I have 181 contracts that pay $1.00 each if the Republicans lose the House, bought for prices rangings from 27 cents to 59 cents. Last time I looked they were selling for 67 cents.
I have 35 Senate contracts, average purchase price of about 23 cents, that are now selling for 34 cents. There was a big scene on MyDD a week ago about whether these markets are reactive or predictive. It works like a giant pool, and you can sell or buy your contract at any time. So, instead of a pool with all the administrative burdens one would entail, the IEMs act like a big ever changing pool.
Christy: “As an example, after my C-Span appearance last Thursday, I got a large — and I mean LARGE — number of e-mails from folks who self-identified as Republicans whose party had left them behind (for fiscal reasons, for libertarian and legal and Constitutional reasons, you name it). I think there is a much larger group of disaffected GOP folks out there than we realize, because what we see on blogs or from pundits or party officials does not reflect the whole of the party voters. And those are the folks likely to stay home — or vote for Democrats out of anger, spite, or disgust. (Let’s hope so, shall we?)”
Strange times. Been working my email list of friends across the country for months. One of my best friends feels completely isolated in the “Red” part of MI. Told him him if everyone who felt like he did, didn’t write then noone would even know there’s another point of view. Finally convinced him it wasn’t dangerous to write an LTE and he wrote a nice one about the Military Comm. Act. Got printed in the paper this week and he STARTED GETTING CALLS AT HIS HOME from people he doesn’t know who agreed with him and thanked him for writing the piece!
I’ve writeen LTE’s for over a decade and never gotten a phone call (and I do believe it would freak me out!). Anyways, I think it shows the undercurrent out there. I believe a lot of church-going folks will silently vote D this year and just not talk about it.
Redshift @ 59
Redshift@59. I hear you, but the dynamics in CT are strange at this point. People are still coughing up Lieberman’s name with a question mark at the end and often are doing a name recognition thing. Trust me, you get to know through the tone in someone’s voice, who’s a staunch supporter and who’s not, and three to one most people aren’t hardcore Lieberman fans. Standard procedure is almost worthless in a crazy election.
Ok—I’m goin out on a limb here- I predict that dems will take 20 house seats and five senate seats (I’ll count Connecticut for the dems no matter who wins). Anyone else want to take a shot?
rw at 111 — Cook is right. It’s one thing to be disgusted on a national level with a faceless “GOP” sort of thing. It’s another thing entirely to be so disgusted that you vote against your known commodity Congressperson. That’s a whole different calculation. Which is why getting out the vote on our side is critical.
Redd– couldn’t agree more. I may even swallow my anger and volunteer to help out Busby- although she’s got “loser” written all over her body.
rwcole @ 116
Dems take 5 in the Senate (not counting Lieberman)
Dems take 23 in the House ; )
rw at 118 — think of it this way, turning out a vote for Busby turns out the Dem vote across the ticket. Think of the dividends that could pay…
Coz–OK- we’ve got a contest–anyone else?
Redd– Well I’m afraid it won’t really make any difference in this district this year. Arnie’s gonna win in a walk over as is DiFi. We’ve got boring races in Southern California again.
rwcole @ 116
28 and 6
Egregious- like the cut of yer jib- dems take both houses- OK! Next?
rwcole @
124
Not if Barbara Boxer gets her way. She supports fuckin unholy Joe. I hate her as much as I hate him.
Get this FDLers, Barbara Boxer is NOT an anti-war senator. Anyone who supports Lieberman, supports the war. You can’t have one without the other.
Shopping with Blue America is like internet weight watchers! [he says while enjoying a hot chocolate chip cookie]*s*
scarecrow @
74
Hey, way back on 74, I was pondering the general strike notion just today. Knowing the GOP neocons won’t go down without a fight post Nov.7 I wonder how far they will go and how far we will have to push back.