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28 Feb 2012 10:42

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Politics: Gabrielle Giffords weighs strong on special election for her former seat

  • 671 signatures needed for the special election for Giffords’ old seat
  • 7,110 signatures received by Giffords’ former aide, Ron Barber source
  • » His closest GOP competitor got a fraction of that: Barber, who was encouraged by Giffords to run for the seat, has a major leg up in the April 17 primary for Arizona’s eighth Congressional district. The special election takes place in June. However, while Barber will run uncontested for the primary this time around, Democrats may take him on in the general election in November. A variety of Republicans are running for the seat, which is in a swing district.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Feb 2012 16:03

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Politics: Ron Paul hasn’t attacked Romney once during the debates

  • Ron and Mitt, bosom buddies: A lot has been made of the mysterious affinity between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. In addition Romney offering his private jet for Paul’s use, many note that, despite sharing almost none of the same policy positions, the two rarely go after each other during debates. ThinkProgress analyzed the forums, and its findings seem to confirm this: During the 20 Republican forums, Paul hasn’t attacked Romney once. We’d like to learn more about their methodology before drawing any hard conclusions from this (what counts as an “attack?”); we’re also curious as to why candidates like Jon Huntsman and Herman Cain weren’t included in the analysis [Edit: Herman Cain is actually represented on the chart; thanks to robajob for pointing that out]. Nevertheless, it is a rather odd phenomena, with explanations ranging from “they’re just friends” to “Romney promised Ron Paul’s son the VP slot” (which seems rather far-fetched, but not altogether impossible). It’s nice to have some numbers to back up the observation, and it’ll be interesting to see how the two handle Virginia’s primary, where they’re the only two candidates on the ballot. [many thanks to ThinkProgress, both for the analysis and the image] source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Feb 2012 15:20

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Politics: Reports: In boon to Democrats, Bob Kerrey will seek old Senate seat after all

  • Bob’s Back: After previously saying he’d sit 2012 out, it looks like former Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey will run for his old Nebraska Senate seat after all (it’s currently held by Democrat Ben Nelson, who’s retiring). Kerrey’s decision to run is significant, as Republicans would almost certainly take the seat if he opted out, due to a rather weak Democratic bench in the Cornhusker State. However, Kerrey is generally regarded as a strong candidate, and his candidacy is perhaps Democrats’ best shot at retaining control of the seat . In an election year when Democrats have to defend 23 Senate seats, versus only 10 for Republicans, every little bit counts. [Author’s note: Apologies for using the word “seat” so many times in this article]. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Feb 2012 11:25

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Politics: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer endorses Mitt Romney for president

Brewer, whose profile grew significantly as a result of her stances on immigration, says that she likes Mitt’s business background and says that the race will effectively be over after Super Tuesday. Arizona’s primary is Tuesday. (photo by Gage Skidmore) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Feb 2012 17:44

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Politics: Juan Williams and Pat Buchanan bond over high-profile firings

  • I feel like we are brothers in understanding what these groups, on the left primarily, decided that you’re not to be allowed to speak. They will banish you and make you an outcast and Pat, I’m sorry that’s happened to you.
  • Fox News Contributor Juan Williams • Wrapping up an interview with former MSNBC analyst Pat Buchanan, during which the two discussed the repeated charges of racism that Buchanan has faced. In his first interview since being fired by MSNBC, Buchanan staunchly denied all charges of racism. When asked, point-blank, by Williams if he was a racist, Buchanan replied, “Do I hate black folks? That’s what racism mean — that I hate black folks, I want them discriminted against… No!” Watch the unedited interview here. source
Posted by Scott Craft • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2012 14:48

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Politics: Comedian Bill Maher: Now a major pro-Obama Super PAC donor

  • $1 million donated to the poorly-named Priorities USA Action source
  • » But wait … isn’t that a conflict of interest? Granted, Maher, who leans on the liberal side but has called himself libertarian in the past, doesn’t exactly hide his political views, but considering he’s a commentator who regularly questions both sides of the aisle, you wonder if that crosses an ethical line. Then again, will his audience care? On the other hand, as the Christian Science Monitor points out, Maher tends to do better, comedy-wise, when there’s a Republican in office, so this might hurt him a little. By the way, Maher’s announcement, which came during a Yahoo webcast, was a bit of a shock to those in the audience, though Maher had fun with the announcement, mocking the name of the Super PAC he’s donating to.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2012 11:06

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Politics: How Mitt Romney’s dad lost his presidential momentum: Brainwashing

  • About 45 years ago, George Romney was looking hot. A popular Michigan governor who did well in the 1964 Republican primary (but did not win), he was considered a frontrunner in the 1968 race. Until this interview above, that is, done in August 1967 by Detroit news personality Lou Gordon. When asked about the Vietnam war, he explained why his views changed so that he was suddenly against the war. His answer? “When I came back from Vietnam, I had just had the greatest brainwashing that anyone could get.” This one comment derailed his campaign, decades before Twitter would’ve made that comment blow up like a forgotten third thing in a debate. MLive has a really great history on this interview that’s worth a read. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Feb 2012 22:54

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Politics: Buddy Roemer: More entertaining than the last GOP debate

  • A long shot who’s quick with a tweet: Buddy Roemer is out of the running for the Republican presidential nomination, but even though he didn’t get a chance to take part in any of the debates, he’s used Twitter as a way to stay in the conversation. Roemer, now running as an independent, is still hoping to one-line your way to a vote in the 2012 election. A couple samples from last night:
  • one On Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a former GOP candidate: “Perry is in the audience. (The clown car needed a driver.)”
  • two On Rick Santorum, the current frontrunner in the race: “Don’t anger the sweater vest. It doesn’t like to be challenged.”
  • three Overall: “BREAKING: The CNN debate has been replaced with a 4-way earmark cage match.” Boom. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Feb 2012 15:48

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Politics: Meet the billionaires funding the 2012 Republican primary season

  • five donors find themselves in the spotlight: Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, casino moguls Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Paypal co-founder (and Facebook investor) Peter Thiel, and Houston home-builder Bob Perry
  • $30.4 million donated by the five people, the largest donations going to the Super PACs Winning Our Future and Endorse Liberty; however, American Crossroads leads the pack with $15 million collected source
  • » A massive financial mind share: That’s almost $1 out of every $4 collected by all super PACs this election cycle, and certainly seems to explain exactly how we ended up with the remaining crop of Republican candidates that we have. Bob Perry is a former Tim Pawlenty supporter who switched to Team Romney with a $1 million dollar donation, while the Adelsons — who are ready to boost their support for Winning The Future from $10 million to $20 million — have provided the lifeblood of the Gingrich campaign. Of the remaining four candidates, only Rick Santorum finds himself without support, via Super PAC donations, from one of these five wealthy conservatives.
Posted by Scott Craft • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Feb 2012 14:06

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Politics: Congressman wants to take away TSA’s spare change … literally

  • $409,085 in change left in 2010 source
  • » But where does it all go? Since 2005, Congress has allowed the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to use forgotten money left behind by passengers as part of their operating budget, although the agency says it works hard to return the money left by passengers. But a new proposal in the House of Representatives, introduced by Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), would change that. Miller’s proposal would send all forgotten monies, collected by the TSA, to the USO instead, and may expand the bill to include higher value items like sunglasses, cameras, and computers. He’s convinced that taxpayers and travelers alike would both prefer it this way. But we’re wondering, what do YOU think of this new plan?
Posted by Scott Craft • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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