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09 Oct 2010 14:05

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Politics: Wow: Jerry Brown somehow upstages Meg Whitman’s housekeeper

  • Dear Jerry Brown: Look, you had the perfect opening to totally win the California gubernatorial race. Meg Whitman was caught hiring an illegal immigrant and firing her under questionable pretenses – a political leveraging point that doesn’t come up every day. Too bad you had to call a police department last month, only to have one of your aides refer to Meg Whitman as a “whore.” Did you not think that was gonna get out and damage your campaign? The two really stupid decisions cancel one another out. That’s right, friends. California easily has the year’s dirtiest gubernatorial race. Sorry, New York. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2010 02:06

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Politics: Christine O’Donnell’s second campaign ad: Just like the first

  • Yeah yeah, she didn’t go to Yale, she isn’t perfect, but this seems a lot more calculated the second time around. If you’re going to take this approach, you should change it up slightly so that people don’t tire of the message. We liked the conceit of it better the first time. Now it feels like formula. By the way, she’s down in the polls by nearly 20 points. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Oct 2010 01:42

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Politics: White House, Hillary Clinton deny job-swapping rumors

  • denial Robert Gibbs had this to say about Bob Woodward’s vice president rumors: “It’s just not true, It is not anything that is being discussed here.” He added that Obama is very happy with Joe Biden as his vice president.
  • denial Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton added this rebuttal to the record (while noting they were all very busy people): “I have absolutely no interest and no reason for doing anything other than just dismissing these stories and moving on.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Oct 2010 14:17

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Politics: Conundrum: Howard Kurtz hates SEO, likes The Daily Beast

  • Howard Kurtz, about a month ago Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz puts up a rant complaining about how he has to do SEO to get people to read his articles: “Our mission – and we have no choice but to accept it – is to grab some of that traffic that could otherwise end up at hundreds of other places, even blogs riffing off the reporting that your own publication has done.”
  • Howard Kurtz, right about now His dislike of SEO isn’t enough to make him pass up The Daily Beast: “I’ve wanted to work with Tina Brown forever—well, for a long time—and I’m incredibly impressed by the energy and creativity of The Daily Beast staff. After a lifetime in newspapers, I’m ready for the challenge of fast-paced online journalism.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Oct 2010 10:49

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Politics: O RLY? Tea Party, Religious Right have a little overlap apparently

  • 11% of Americans (in this study) say they party like tea
  • 22% of those polled say that they’re part of the Religious Right – double the Tea Party
  • 55% of Tea Partiers say that the U.S. is a Christian nation – more than Christian conservatives
  • 56% of Tea Partiers prefer Fox News – versus 39 percent for Christian conservatives source
  • » Where should the government step in? While Tea Partiers are notably anti-government, the study shows that they are looking for some government intervention on social issues such as abortion. Overall, though, the two somewhat disparate groups can agree on a couple of things, despite their differences. “They know what they can agree on, which is what they’re against: Obama, Pelosi,” said George Mason University public policy professor Mark Rozell.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Oct 2010 21:37

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Politics: Americans for Prosperity creates anti-socialism scare video

  • As a follow-up to last night’s post, it’s probably good to point out that when you’re building propaganda pieces, the tone is everything. So, showing images of supporters of socialism at a Democratic Party rally doesn’t seem so bad on its own. But when you add the Russian National Anthem like our friends at the Koch-brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity, it takes a sinister tone. We’d say “disagree with socialism, don’t demonize it,” but we know that Americans for Prosperity receive so much money that they can pretty much do whatever they want. Oh wait, according to the rules on 501(c)(3) nonprofits, they shouldn’t be making videos like this at all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

03 Oct 2010 20:24

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Politics: Newsweek thinks that “angry voters” are pretty overhyped

  • 23% of all voters describe themselves as “angry”
  • 42% support the pretty darn angry Tea Party
  • 52% of angry voters identify as Republicans
  • 14% are Democrats; 29 percent are indies source
  • » Other things to note: Is this just a hype issue? That’s Newsweek’s conclusion. They say that the chances of angry voters voting in the 2010 elections is roughly the same as normal voters, and there’s a lot more of those. And they note that Obama’s approval rating, currently at 48 percent. is way above where both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were during their 2006 and 1994 midterms, respectively.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Oct 2010 10:58

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Politics: Alvin Greene basically eating Jim DeMint’s dust in South Carolina

  • 64% of voters in South Carolina plan to vote for incumbent Jim DeMint
  • 21% plan to give their vote to socially inept accused sex offender (and unlikely candidate) Alvin Greene
  • 15%could conceivably vote for Alvin Greene, but probably won’t source
  • » Why this is bad for Democrats: Beyond the obvious “we’re going to lose a seat we expected to lose anyway” angle, Greene’s candidacy in South Carolina means that the influential far-right-leaning DeMint can spend his $4 million in funds on other things, such as, you know, propping up candidates who may not have the good fortune that he does.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Sep 2010 10:32

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Politics: Obama’s approval rating hits a brand-new low

  • 56% think Obama isn’t a very good president and sucks and stuff
  • 42%think Obama is in fact still a good president – this specific number is at an all-time low
  • 2%don’t really think about the news that much, apparently source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Sep 2010 10:10

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Politics: Obama on GOP Pledge: Whatever, stupid jerks

  • That’s not a prescription for a better future. It’s an echo of a disastrous decade we can’t afford to relive.
  • President Barack Obama • Discussing the GOP’s new “Pledge to America,” which promises to repeal many of the things Obama has done. He’s ticked that the GOP, for example, wants to roll back health care. In regards to the recession in general, Obama had this to say: “We have to keep pushing to promote growth that will generate the jobs we need, and repair the terrible damage the recession has done.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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