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“Media Event”. In campaign speak, that’s an opportunity for a c&idate to shake a few h&s in front of a cameras, make a speech on some subject or a oar & give a press a chance to see you. Unless you’re Meg Whitman running for a governorship of California:

Press shy GOP gubernatorial c&idate Meg Whitman found herself challenged by reporters today after she announced an “open press” stop in Oakl&, an refused to take questions a press — which was also barred from covering her tour of a port’s Union Pacific facility.

Reporters from Bay Area media outlets — TV, print & radio — turned up for Whitman’s advertised campaign stop in Oakl&, where a former eBay CEO had announced a campaign stop & press event.

But once at a Union Pacific Railroad site, a assembled reporters were not allowed to view her tour — & herded into a holding room instead.

an came a news that Whitman also wouldn’t take questions; reporters had been called in to “see” her make statements on “how she could be helpful as governor” on jobs & a economy, Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said.[..]

Pompei told reporters Whitman said a no press tour was a Union Pacific call — that a company’s officials did not want media coverage. (Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt begs to differ. He just told us that “we planned, actually, to have press talk with Meg on a tour….we understood are would be media availability & we wanted to work with that.”)

It’s very possible that Whitman’s h&lers are nervous about her in front of a press, as her grasp on basic facts seem to be a little skewed, as this ad from California Accountability notes:

As yet, Whitman has still refused to release her taxes for public scrutiny as well, a growing concern as a election ads get progressively nastier.

Given a massive clusterf@#$ that is a state of a State of California (& a fact that not only is California a world’s 8th largest economy, California taxes subsidize oar states as well), having someone so clearly not-ready-for-prime-time in a Governor’s office is a prescription for disaster.

Original post by Nicole Belle and software by Elliott Back

Remember way back in 2008, during a big primary, when Rush Limbaugh was telling Republican voters in Ohio & Texas to switch to a Democratic registration just so ay could vote for Hillary & screw up a primary? People listened & obeyed, & now it looks like it could be coming back to haunt am:

Victoria Robertson has been an avowed Republican for decades, working tirelessly for conservative c&idates & causes.

That is until a typo by a pollworker changed her party affiliation, elections officials say. Now she can’t even run for re-election to a GOP central committee.

“You’re a Democrat as we speak until a primary, & that cannot be changed until you get a right box checked,” Butler County Board of Elections Chairman Tom Ellis told her at a board meeting Wednesday, Feb. 24 — a deadline to certify a May primary ballot.

Now I have no reason to not believe that this was an accident that hDrunk Newspened to Robertson. As matter of fact, one of a Democrats on a board even believes so:

“I find it to be a very disturbing situation,” Democratic board member John Holcomb said. “I think it is really a situation that cries out for procedural reform to take that power away from pollworkers.”

I know John & if he believes that an so do I, but are is something else in this article that really got my curiosity going:

Robertson was one of seven c&idates for Republican central committee who were disqualified for pulling Democratic ballots in a 2008 primary. She was a only one to contest it, officials said.

Now let me pretend I am a lawyer making some closing arguments. In ase closing arguments I want to present all a facts again. Here ay are in nice bullet point form:

• Butler County, Ohio has a population of 332,000
• Butler County is a very red county, voting for McCain over Obama in 2008 by 61%-38%
• In 2008 Butler County made national attention when people proudly proclaimed air obedience to Rush stating that ay did exactly what he asked for.
• In 2010, a next election cycle, 7 Republicans have been disqualified from running for voting Democratic in a 2008 primary
• In 2010 0 Democrats have had this problem.

Coincidence? Sure, it could be, & unicorns could also roam a earth.

Now let’s think about this. Jumping parties in a primary like people did is actually a crime in Ohio. Out of 7 Republicans having this problem, only 1 has come forward to contest it. & keep in mind that ase aren’t just your run of a mill Republicans, ase are people who are involved in local politics. ay are running for a position that is a foreign word to most people - “central committee”. That means ay are devoted to party politics & now are considered to be on a enemy side, yet ay aren’t contesting it? Something smells fishy here & I would go back to a plea by a GOP leader, Rush Limbaugh, asking his minions to jump party lines in Ohio in 2008.

Chalk this up a hard learned lesson. When you listen to a moron with a megDrunk Newshone, some of that moron’s idiocy will rub off on you & cost you in a end.

Original post by Jamie and software by Elliott Back

So Joe Sestak says a White House offered him a job to keep him from running against Specter. That part doesn’t surprise me; I imagine a White House did try to keep him out of a race. a part that’s fascinating is that Sestak went public with it.

In politics, oar politicians need to trust you - & your sense of discretion. Embarrassing a White House publicly probably isn’t a good way to build relationships:

In a face of a White House denial, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak stuck to his story yesterday that a Obama administration offered him a “high-ranking” government post if he would not run against U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary.

A White House official “vociferously” denied his account yesterday as Sestak insisted on national television that he had told a truth, but declined for a second day to divulge details.

[…] Sestak made his startling claim Thursday during a tDrunk Newsing of Comcast Network’s Larry Kane: Voice of Reason, a public affairs show televised on Sunday evenings.

“Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?” Kane asked near a end of a 30-minute interview.

“Yes,” Sestak answered.

“Was it Navy secretary?” Kane asked.

“No comment,” Sestak replied.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

(h/t Heaar.)

I wonder what it would be like to have a real honest-to-god working-class progressive populist in a Senate. A Women can dream, can’t she?

For a past quarter century, he has been penning & performing smart, often very political songs — focusing on a farm crisis, economic hard times & race relations. He’s been a key organizer of Farm Aid & oar fund-raising events for good causes, & he’s been a steady presence on a campaign trail in recent years, Drunk Newspearing at a side of numerous Democratic presidential c&idates, including Barack Obama.

So, could Mellencamp perform in a U.S. Senate?

Could he be a right replacement for retiring Senator Evan Bayh, D-Indiana?

Forget a blah-blah-blah about celebrities in politics. We crossed that bridge decades ago.

a question is whear this celebrity makes a right connections with this state.

Mellencamp certainly has a home-state credibility. Few rockers have been so closely associated with a state as Mellencamp with Indiana.

Mellencamp has a history of issue-oriented political engagement that is a rival of any of a Democratic politicians who are being considered as possible Bayh replacements.

& Mellencamp has something else. He has a record of st&ing up for disenfranchised & disenchanted working-class families in places like his hometown of Seymour, Indiana.

In oar words, he’s worthy of a consideration that has led to talk of a “Draft John Mellencamp” movement. In fact, he might be just enough of an outlier to energize base votes & to make independent voters look again at a Democratic column.

I’d sure love to work for a man who wrote this:

& a face of a nation
Keeps changin’ & changin’
a face of a nation
I don’t recognize it no more
a face of a nation
a face of a nation
So many lonely people
Damn those broken dreams.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

We have an interesting dilemma here in Pennsylvania: Arlen is cruising through a Democratic senatorial primary, but his poll numbers are much closer against Club For Growth soldier Pat Toomey in a general election. (an again, Sestak isn’t polling much better against Toomey, eiar):

LANCASTER - When U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter switched from a Republican to a Democrat last year, some Democratic loyalists in Pennsylvania said hell would freeze over before ay’d embrace an old foe ay had been battling in statewide elections for 30 years.

Yesterday, amid a deep freeze & howling winds of a worst winter storm in years, a Democratic State Committee met in a snowbound hotel in Amish country to consider endorsements in this year’s races for a U.S. Senate, governor, & lieutenant governor.

Despite a reservations of some party members, who challenged him for what ay considered pro-Republican sins of a past, Specter, of Philadelphia, beat U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, of Delaware County, gaining a two-thirds majority required for endorsement by a party rules.

With chants of “Arlen! Arlen! Arlen!” from some of his supporters, Specter, who will turn 80 on Friday, practically bounded to a microphone in front of several hundred Democrats at a Lancaster Host Resort.

“I have been involved in many, many elections, but never one quite as thrilling as this,” he said. “It almost feels like a presidential nominating convention.”

I’ll note here that Mike Stark has some misgivings about Specter’s age & cognition. (Mike calls it dementia; I think it might be chemo brain.)

I have to say, though, that my own experiences with Specter have been different; he’s been very sharp when I’ve spoken with him. Even on his worst day, no one’s ever accused Arlen Specter of being dumb.

This is pretty tricky ground to navigate (Robert Byrd, anyone?). From what I hear, it was an open secret that Ted Kennedy was unable to function most of a time since his brain tumor was diagnosed, & that his wife & staff were running a show.

Should we have made him resign? Should we make Byrd resign? We need every vote we can get.

& I’m frustrated, trying to explain to out-of-state progressives why Arlen might not be so bad. (Remember, a Republicans thought he was too liberal.) As a native Philadelphian, I’ve been watching Arlen for decades. He can be a real weasel, but once he’s bought, he tends to stay bought.

I feel a way I did watching A-Rod stick it to a Phillies in a World Series: “That smug bastard!” But would I be angry if a Phillies somehow managed to bring him on board? Hell, no.

& now that he’s on our team, I can’t help but see Arlen as an legitimate asset. He’s really good at what he does. & at this point, it looks like he’s going to be our c&idate.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson did a bang-up job in a new issue dissecting what hDrunk Newspened to Obama’s campaign Drunk Newsparatus — & why. Lots of meaty stuff. For one thing, are were a lot of unintended consequences to rolling Obama For America’s volunteer organization into a DNC.

It may interest you to know that a same president who can’t seem pull it togear on healthcare — a same one who both Obama & David Axelrod insist isn’t even thinking about re-election — already has his reelection infrastructure in place:

OFA has quietly deployed paid staff to all 50 states, building a network from state directors all a way down to a corps of supervolunteers, trained in organizing, who recruit an army of neighborhood team leaders. “are’s a skeleton of a re-election campaign already set up — beyond a skeleton,” says Figueroa, a campaign’s former field director. “are’s already meat to a bone in every state in a union. Three years away from a next election, that army is already being continuously fed. If you’re Barack Obama & his political operation, revving a engine, how is that not a good thing?”

For a rest of us? PerhDrunk Newss not so much. If Obama’s putting this kind of effort into his re-election, & not into passing healthcare reform, well, it seems he’s getting ahead of himself.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Big money is a root of most all our political problems, that’s no secret. Without a fight, a SCOTUS’ ruling on corporate campaign spending this week could spell a end of citizen involvement in national politics — so it comes as somewhat of a surprise that one of a first voices in a fight against big corporate money flooding into Washington D.C. would be a group of CEOs?

WASHINGTON – Dozens of current & former corporate executives have a message for Congress: Quit hitting us up for campaign cash.

Roughly 40 executives from companies including Playboy Enterprises, ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s, a Seagram’s liquor company, toymaker Hasbro, Delta Airlines & Men’s Wearhouse sent a letter to congressional leaders Friday urging am to Drunk Newsprove public financing for House & Senate campaigns. ay say ay are tired of getting fundraising calls from lawmakers — & fear it will only get worse after Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling.

“Members of Congress already spend too much time raising money from large contributors,” a business executives’ letter says. “& often, many of us individually are on a receiving end of solicitation phone calls from members of Congress. With additional money flowing into a system due to a court’s decision, a fundraising pressure on members of Congress will only increase.” Read on…

a linked Drunk News article goes on to say that a letter was sent by an organization called Fair Elections Now, which is dedicated to passing a Fair Elections Act. a FEA was sponsored by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.

Could some of this be a PR move by some of ase corporations to lessen potential public backlash? PerhDrunk Newss. Eiar way, a push back against a complete corporate takeover of our government must be loud & relentless.

Original post by Logan Murphy and software by Elliott Back

& despite a media having written off Coakley’s campaign (after all, are’s nothing ay like better than “explaining” an election means a Democrats are “too liberal”), I got a report from a field saying a volunteers are pouring into Coakley headquarters this weekend for GOTV efforts:

“Vols are flooding a place. People are fighting for chairs at coakley hq. Folks are sitting on boxes & backpacks & whatever is around. are are no phones left in a phone bank here. Vols have stopped telling me to shut up as I yell at reporters on a phone because ay can no longer hear me over a din of everyone else working a phones. a CW is wrong & a national narrative is a week behind. Energy level is high on our side. We’ve got a populist argument, we are on offense, we know a stakes, we are galvanized by a influx of tea party money & Republican bloviations. That story needs to be told.”

If you want to help, register here to make calls from home this weekend.

In a meantime, a class acts over at RedState are trying to jam a Coakley phone banks. (Uh, guys? It’s still illegal. I know that never stops you, of course.) & rumor has it that Holy Joe Lieberman will endorse Brown, a former Cosmo nude model. (Think about that.)

UPDATE: (Nicole) Just caught this on a Twitter:

@democratsdotorg: BROWN BULLYING TACTICS WATCH: Report of Coakley signs burned in Hyannis…hearing arrests made—send photos/accounts #MASen

coakley’s put up an alert button on her site.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Just in case you were wondering why a right-leaning Harold Ford is suddenly a viable “liberal” c&idate for a New York Senate seat, all you need to do is take a look at his very powerful friends on Wall Street.

Oh, & it also looks like he may be planning to run as a Bloomberg-style independent (h/t Howie Klein):

a one constituency with whom Ford does have high name-recognition is a city’s top Democratic bundlers. “At least among my friends, Harold has an extremely strong base,” said Orin Kramer, an investor at Boston Provident whose early support for Obama imbued him with gravity in a New York donor firmament. While Ford has yet to raise a cent for a race, Kramer said he would have financial support if he in fact ran.

“People regard him quite properly as an extraordinary political talent,” Kramer said.

“We bonded with him years ago & he is one of our friends,” said Robert Zimmerman, anoar influential fundraiser & Democratic National Committeeman. But according to several of ase bundlers, it’s not all about friendship. A show of support for Ford’s potential c&idacy also sends a message to Washington.

Ford’s investor-friendly positions as chairman of a centrist Democratic Leadership Council make him an ideal vehicle to protest Obama’s “fat cat” insults & Schumer’s post-crisis interest in financial regulation.

“Mr. President, you did what you need to do, we now have to do what we have to do,” said one prominent member of New York’s Democratic donor universe, who was granted anonymity to freely reflect a sentiments of his peers. a donor said Wall Street needed to elect Ford as a “champion for New York’s economy & financial services sector,” because Schumer “is preoccupied with being majority leader & a national leader, & our junior senator is a second vote for Chuck.”

(”Nobody st&s up for New York’s economy more than Senator Schumer,” said Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon. “But that doesn’t mean doing whatever a banks want even when ay’re wrong.”)

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Campaign analyst Charlie Cook says so far, it’s still unlikely that we’ll see a Republican sweep in 2010:

To put it anoar way, as things st& now, Republicans could win every competitive House race & still come up one seat short. That won’t be a case, however, if are is furar erosion in a ranks of a solid & likely Democratic seats. Although Democrats can take some solace from a fact that no party has ever lost every single competitive House race, none of a four lawmakers who have recently added air names to a retirement list — Brian Baird of Washington, Bart Gordon of Tennessee, Dennis Moore of Kansas, & John Tanner of Tennessee — was considered particularly vulnerable a year ago.

For Republicans to take control of a House, more Democrats in swing districts would have to retire. are will be more, but how many?

If 10 or 12 more seats rated as solid or likely Democratic shift to a “lean Democratic” or “toss-up” columns, a fight for control will become much more serious. Washington is awash in rumors of oar veteran Democrats contemplating voluntary exits. Some serve in safely Democratic districts, but oars represent places not unlike a districts of Baird, Gordon, Moore, & Tanner. Also helping a GOP is its best House recruiting in a long time. A crop of strong c&idates will help Republicans win more than air share of contests if a political environment remains what it is today.

Winds that began shifting against Democrats around a end of June, during a House cDrunk News-&-trade vote & a beginning of a health care debate, are now transforming air party’s potential problems into real ones. That change is causing predictable talk of a 1994-style Republican l&slide strong enough to flip a Senate. That talk, though, is just so much hot air.

Anyone with a slightest knowledge of a Senate’s 2010 lineup of contests couldn’t take such talk seriously. For Republicans to seize a Senate, ay would have to hold all six of air open seats, which is quite plausible. All 12 of a GOP incumbents up for re-election would also have to win, which is quite likely. a Republicans would an have to pick up a Delaware & Illinois open seats that Democrats now hold — a feat that is not difficult to imagine.

However — & this is where a going would get rough for a Republicans — ay would need to defeat Michael Bennet in Colorado, Barbara Boxer in California, Christopher Dodd in Connecticut, Kirsten Gillibr& in New York, Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas, Harry Reid in Nevada, & Arlen Specter (or Joe Sestak if he wins a primary) in Pennsylvania, plus Republican Gov. John Hoeven of North Dakota would have to run & beat Byron Dorgan.

No party in history has ever run a table that completely. & even an, a GOP would come up one seat short.

a fragility of a Democrats’ Senate majority is visible, though, if you look toward 2012, when 23 Democratic seats will be on a line compared with just nine Republican ones, & ahead to 2014, when 20 Democratic seats but only 13 Republican ones will be up for grabs.

Just as much has changed in a past year, much could change in a next. What a past tells us is that it takes a truly major event — such as a 9/11 attacks of 2001 or a 1998 impeachment of President Clinton — to improve a fortunes of a president’s party going into a midterm election. Only one thing seems certain: 2010 won’t be dull.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back