My what a difference a year makes. It wasn’t so long ago that the national GOP had targeted Sen. Maria Cantwell as the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in 2006, while WA state Republicans were drooling over what they saw as the inevitable backlash over the 2004 gubernatorial election contest. Now, less than a year before the election, things don’t look so hot for them.
Last week I reported that both Rasmussen and GOP pollster Strategic Vision show Cantwell at the magic 50% or better against anointed challenger Mike McGavick… and now the new SurveyUSA poll is the latest to show Cantwell’s approval ratings tracking up, 55% to 34%, her net approval rising 9 points since last month’s survey. Far from being vulnerable, Cantwell now ranks right in the middle of the 100 senator pack, and most impressively, she now enjoys positive net approval across nearly every demographic group in the state.
What explains her sudden popularity? Well, she’s finally getting a little press around here, but my guess is that voters are beginning to pay a little more attention now that the 2005 election is over and McGavick is making a little more news. Absent an opponent, approval ratings can be a little nebulous, but voters, particularly Democrats and independents, are beginning to view Cantwell in the context of a head-to-head with McGavick. Indeed, Cantwell’s biggest jump was with voters who identify themselves as liberals. There may still be some resentment in this group over a handful of Cantwell’s votes, but they’re realists; no self-respecting liberal is going to hand this seat over to an insurance industry lackey like McGavick.
There was a time when state R’s expected the national party to pour lavish sums into this race, but it’s beginning to look like that money would be better spent defending Representatives Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris. (And who knows… maybe even “Doc” Hastings.)
She should send Ted Stevens a gift basket. Being put in the position to defend Puget Sound against Oil spills certainly didn’t hurt her approval ratings.
Carl
I’m sure their logic for supporting Hastings will be “tortured”.
ONE – Washington voters like to vote for women, of course this trend is best in the moe liberal, hevily populated I-5 alley.
TWO – Maria has ben great recently on many issues. Great visibility.
THREE – Mc Gaick is a political unknown. No matter what his business resume is, blank sheet.
FOUR- Maria has the equal in the old “business experience thing” – in fact a more brillant business career, much sexier than old guard Safeco.
FIVE- Close election memory still fresh – Bush, Bush, Gregoire – all polical voters left of the center will work this election. Keeping stong prgressive voices in the U S Senae is a one of the few political hopes in the national strangle of the right wing.
SIX – anti Bush works in the I-5 mega alley.
SEVEN – This is a guess, Mc Gavick is not a Dan Evans R – and once issues sprout in his effort, he will be the typical right winger hat the state party has produced for years – draconian on some issues.
Cantwell will crush the insurance companies in their bid to steal her seat. Like most Dems, she will have a great advantage in the next election. The entire country seems to have woken up and stopped drinking the hate-radio based kool aid. The tired, old, cowardly attack politics of the right wing are no longer working and just about anything republican looks corrupt these days. The mid-terms are going to be great for us and the right, well they’ll be crying croc tears. PS. This will no doubt infuriate David Irons to the point that he again beats his mother senseless!
And you are optimistic?
Sen. Cantwell is ranked 60th out of the 100 Senators (ranked by popularity) in a blue state.
I’m not sure that I would be that optimistic.
http://www.surveyusa.com/50Sta.....proval.htm
In race with an incumbent, the challenger has to make a case for change… and honestly, it’s hard to see what McGavick’s case is going to be. “Washington needs a solid Bush crony” isn’t going to fly here. And Maria’s business background and votes on certain issues innoculate her from most others potentially damaging attacks.
I really only see two avenues for victory:
1. Flank Maria to the left on certain hot button issues. Run as a pro-choice, anti-Iraq war, fiscally responsible old school Republican. Might cause the Dem base to stay home and peel off enough moderates for a victory.
2. Go negative early. Go negative often. And go negative on a very very personal level to win.
SIX – anti Bush works in the I-5 mega alley
Anti-Bush works almost everywhere right now. He has a net positive in only four states, as of last month.
http://www.surveyusa.com/50Sta.....proval.htm
Sen. Cantwell is ranked 60th out of the 100 Senators (ranked by popularity) in a blue state.
I’m not sure that I would be that optimistic.
At 55%, she has the same approval rating as Patty Murray. I wouldn’t call a 21-point net approval spread “vulnerable”.
Maria has never had significantly high disapproval. All the flux has been people moving between approve and undecided. Which probably means “unhappy base”. And she’s been steadily knocking them back into the approve column lately.
Only the Republicans are so divorced from reality that they could even imagine voters welcoming an INSURANCE LACKEY as a candidate. Voters correctly identify insurance companies as the ripoff artists that they are. McGiver won’t represent people. He wants to get in there to protect his own little racket.
WA is good at electing women — especially incumbent women. Even with a sex change, McGavick would be a dog.
A little off-topic, we’re also good at electing Johnson’s to the courts. We’ve got two on our Supreme Court already. The BIAW’s and CofC’s have latched onto this fast track — they’re going for three!
Cantwell is in Iraq, she has stopped the hot rhetoric, she is focusing at the incredibly successful election. While the CLOWNS continue to languish at the success of this election and hoped it would crumble because they could give a damn about Iraqi’s….they just hate Bush so much they will sink to any scumbag low-level. Cantwell knows she has the Hate Bush crowd in her hip pocket. In order to keep her popularity after the success of this election, Cantwell must become a “CHEERLEADER” for the Iraqi citizens and our troops success.
That is EXACTLY what she is doing. Unfortunately for you CLOWNS, you have no alternative but to grin and absorb it up your a$$es!!
Cyn@11: Your characterization is not accurate. Those you deride are just as interested in successful elections as you are; and, given that many of us have troops there, we’re interested in their success and their safety. And…now that the election is a success, when, and how long, do you think it will be before they are allowed to come home – how long are the Bush adulators going to use our troops as sacrificial lambs to prop up a failed leader and a policy of torture and war-mongering? Oh yeah, all the talk about “seeing it through”.
question: “Seeing it through” to what? more oil?
Maria benefits by being not as dumb as patty.
For those feeling guilty about male success pattern, she gives easy out…
Jaybo @ 5: In another post, I questioned your literacy. Today it’s our math skills and logical reasoning. Namely, the fact that Cantwell is 60th out of 100 senators in popularity (of, I assume, registered or likely voters in her state) has no bearing whatsoever on her chances in the upcoming senate race. What people in other states think of her isn’t germane to the statistical analyisis of her chances! What is germane is that an approval rating of above 50% is historically very good for someone running for office.
Parting shot on leterary skills: Your addition of “in a blue state” a) adds nothing to whatever argument you were trying to make and b) is confusing. What was the point of adding it?
Anything else ou have to say, I’d keep to myself. You are not doing your side any favors.
@7 He has a net positive in only four states, as of last month.
How many states does Gregoire have a net positive in?
Cynical @ 11: What are we “taking” up our assess, exactly? The fact that she’s an elected official and is now hedging her bets, possibly getting a few more “troop support” families to vote for her? Great, less votes for the R candidate. The important thing is, she’s a left of center Senator and she’s going to win. Your spouting is just sour grapes.
Larry @ 14,
Did you take the time to note that @ the far right side of the table is listed the polls that comprise the averages for each senator?
Maybe we need to question your comprehension skills?
How many states does Gregoire have a net positive in?
Thank you for the comparison. It highlights the fact that Gregoire is more popular than Bush.
Cynical – I realize I am making a mistake in thinking that you actually care about rational debate… but here goes one more time. (I never learn…)
The critics on the left do not think the election will fail, they just think it is irrelevant to actual conditions on the ground.
Do you think that those opposing the US’s occupation of their country will suddenly decide that it is ok because they voted for a government under our control?
Do you think that whatever terrorists are there (less than 5-10% of the total) will care about politicians?
Oh hell, I was going to go plant a bomb to kill Americans, but heck, there was this election so I guess I won’t?
Do you think merely having the election will mean the government there will work? Right now the central government has no control and its orders can be followed or ignored by the tribal leaders as they please. Do you think merely voting is going to change that?
On another level you are right… this helps Bush politically as he can declare victory and go home.
Perhaps the best result for Bush is that the Shiite religious factions win, ask us to leave and gives him an excuse to do so.
That is a win for Bush, but a loss for the country. We will have spent our lives, bankrupted the country, and lost our international credibility for what exactly?
To remove some dictator and replace them with a Shitte religious state friendly with Iran? Nice one George…
jaybo @ 16 — It seems you have misread the chart again. The far righthand column lists news organizations which sponsor the SUSA poll, not component polls of the SUSA results.
Ronk,
The “Sponsors” lame-brain, conducted the polling for SUSA.
Please tell me you aren’t a UW student!
I say again, you moonbats always have a problem when the topic shifts away from you feelings and emotions.
Wow…………
Jay@20 – I must confess that I don’t really know how SurveyUSA runs things, but unless you have some inside information on this that is one hell of a tortured reading for the word ‘sponsor.’
Do the local news organizations even have their own calling centers and polling experts to be able to pull this off or is it a more centrally run operation from SurveyUSA?
Ah, to answer my own question – Jaybo is apparently wrong and went off insulting others without cause.
Notice how it does not say that the ‘sponsors’ conduct the polls but rather that they rely on SurveyUSA…
Are you mature enough to apologize Jaybo?
“50 TV News Organizations Count on Survey USA to conduct opinion polls and Market Research”
“SurveyUSA purchases random telephone “sample” from the largest and most-respected suppliers of random phone numbers to opinion research companies. Samples generated are as close to truly random as possible, to ensure that both listed and unlisted residences have an equal chance of being included in survey results. Known business telephone numbers and institutional telephone numbers are eliminated from the pool of possible numbers dialed.”
Ooops… left off the url for the above.
http://www.surveyusa.com/home.html
http://www.surveyusa.com/methodology.html
Cynical @ 11
Successful election…hmmm…
Well, first, Maria’s over there because she’s an international observer, not as a ‘cheerleader.”
Second, what’s your definition of “successful?” Because if it is that this election be internationally certified, it might NOT be, because international certification requires that security permits people throughout the country to vote if they want to, and polling stations could not open in Anbar Province. This IS a severe problem for the legitimacy of the voting outcome.
CLOWNS….could give a damn about Iraqi’s (sic)
Yeah, not like our president who personally ordered the military action that has killed somehwhere between 30,000 (the President’s words–almost certainly a lowball) and upwards of 100,000 (Lancet upper estimate LAST YEAR) Iraqi, the same action in which we are training and equipping death squads and telling American troops to torture Iraqi prisoners when we’re not shipping them off to other countries to be tortured. Those liberals sure are cold-blooded, all right.
Jaybo @ 16: How is your response in any way related to m criticism of our post? Really, I want to know. Even if, as it appears, you misinterpereted what a “sponsor” is. Were u assuming or implying some kind of bias? Then you should learn to write more clearly, because I really didn’t know that from your post.
SUSA is highly respected and, by recent reports, was one of the best at predicting outcomes based on polls in recent contests. So, whatever your point about sponsors or who conducted the poll, let’s assume it is moot and just deal with the numbers. So, any thing more to say?
Nindid
I’ve found that intelligent exposition on survey methodology rarely keep the nuts from saying the same old things over and over.
Nindid,
The quote you reference reinforces my post. How do you think Gallup conducts its polls when it combines with the WSJ or the NYT newspapers?
The opinion polls are conduted with the assistance of the “sponsors” and are applied to the states in which they reside.
The same numbers that are used to create the avg. number posted has already been reported by both news organizations that are listed as sponsors.. They were not national polls.
From Juan Cole:
“The LA Times probably reflects the thinking of a lot of Americans in hoping that these elections are a milestone on the way to withdrawing US troops from Iraq. I cannot imagine why anyone thinks that. The Iraqi “government” is a failed state. Virtually no order it gives has any likelihood of being implemented. It has no army to speak of and cannot control the country. Its parliamentarians are attacked and sometimes killed with impunity. Its oil pipelines are routinely bombed, depriving it of desperately needed income. It faces a powerful guerrilla movement that is wholly uninterested in the results of elections and just wants to overthrow the new order. Elections are unlikely to change any of this.“
Jaybo @ 20: I am trying to stay on target, but the asides about emotions, the insults etc, are distracting and, sadly to say, pretty much par for the course coming from a conservative. However, coming from you, it’s particularly ironic.
jaybo @ 27
“The opinion polls are conduted with the assistance of the “sponsors” and are applied to the states in which they reside.”
The sponsors “assist” by giving the pollster money to conduct the polls (i.e. they purchase the product). The acutal polling is done by Survey USA.
Man…you are a dense as depleted uranium…
Jaybo – You are a great example for how someone can look at any evidence at see precisely what they want to see.
These polls are conducted from SurveyUSA using their resources, their statisticians. They are paid for (sposored) by the local news organizations who want something to report on in these races. The fact that it is a poll done for a city/county/state does not make one bit of difference.
The KING-5 anchor man is NOT sitting there making random phone calls on the race. It is not really that hard to understand and you really should be man/woman enough to apologize when you are wrong.
jaybo
Doy!
Nindud and Daddy Love,
The origin of my post pointing out the nature of the polls is a response to the following;
“Jaybo @ 5: In another post, I questioned your literacy. Today it’s our math skills and logical reasoning. Namely, the fact that Cantwell is 60th out of 100 senators in popularity (of, I assume, registered or likely voters in her state) has no bearing whatsoever on her chances in the upcoming senate race. What people in other states think of her isn’t germane to the statistical analyisis of her chances! What is germane is that an approval rating of above 50% is historically very good for someone running for office.
Parting shot on leterary skills: Your addition of “in a blue state” a) adds nothing to whatever argument you were trying to make and b) is confusing. What was the point of adding it?
Anything else ou have to say, I’d keep to myself. You are not doing your side any favors.
Comment by Larry the Urbanite— 12/15/05 @ 12:05 pm
I point specifically to the following sentence; “What people in other states think of her isn’t germane to the statistical analyisis of her chances!”
All I am pointing out to this person is the fact that her polling data was exclusively from Washington State.
Standard right wing tactic #839784
When presented with overwhelming polling evidence that you are on the wrong side of an issue or candidate…
1) Attack the credibility of the poll
2) Attack the credibility of the polling organization(s)
3) Beat the shit out of the people voting in the poll until they agree with Fox News
4) Stick your head in the sand and ignore the truth
Nindid, jaybo will never apologize. It is a perc of being a Neo-Con Zombie. Never apologize, just keep lying at the top of your lungs.
Just as PuddyBud will never apologize for lying when he said there were leftist HA posters “supporting the idiot Iranian President regarding the destuction of Israel”, as he did on the thread The War on
Jews.
oops wrong HTML tag
should read: The War on
ChristmasJewsFor everybody’s info (except the info-proof jaybo), SUSA is a 100% robocalled poll. None of your favorite TV personalities are sitting in boiler rooms dialing your neighbors.
And jaybo is confused about the Gallup poll (which co-ops with CNN and USAToday (not WSJ (which co-ops with NBC) or NYT (which co-ops with CBS))).
And cooperation/sponsorship gives media organizations the publication rights to the data set captured by the polling organization … and sometimes the option to weight these results according to their own demographic assumptions and likely voter modles … and often to add questions (local races, for instance) of their choosing to the standard poll script.
@34 Bush’s approval rating is 50% according to the Diageo Hotline Poll ( http://diageohotlinepoll.com/ ). Let the attack[ing of] the credibility of the poll begin.
Left Turn,
I’m not attacking the polls credibility, I’m simply stating that there is a lot of time between today and election day. Coming from a state that is clearly democrat leaning, her numbers aren’t exactly great.
I believe that her chances do not lie with her as much as they lie with the challenger. Sen. Cantwell does not have much to show for her time as a senator.
Looks like an outlier. Every other poll taken over the last month has Bush between 37 and 43 approval. Outliers happen even when you’re doing everything right. That’s the nature of the (probability) beast.
http://pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm
Only Hillary and “Tookie” can save the Democrats!! And if dead Democrats can vote, why can’t dead Democrat “Tookie” run as VP with Hillary? Think of the black turnout!! It probably would be over 115% of registration!!!
Jaybo @ 33: So, what? My point was that what people in Oregon think about an Oregon Senator’s popularity has nothing to do with what WA voter’s think about a WA Senator’s popularity. Your initial post stating that ” Sen. Cantwell is ranked 60th out of the 100 Senators (ranked by popularity) in a blue state.” implies that you think her RELATIVE ranking (i.e. relative to other senator’s popularity in thier states) is important. My point is that it ain’t.
Seriously, try to keep up.
11
Better crank up your washing machine, Cynical, because McGavick’s gonna need all the help he can get. Oops! I forgot — Safeco gave him a $4 million campaign contribution on his way out.
@ 41: Oh, har har har, I just got it. No one could really be that stupid. He’s just having us on, as the brits say.
@ 42 Oh, wait, he is joking isn’t he?
The insurance industry would be far smaller than it is, if people understood how big the profit margins are, and how lousy a deal it is for consumers.
The insurance middlemen are a principal culprit in the high cost of U.S. medical care. In the Medicare program, administrative and overhead expenses are less than 1/2%; in the private sector, where nearly all medical expenses are channeled through the insurance industry, A & O siphons over 15% of total health care dollars.
Insurance men are nothing but blood suckers. Like commodity traders (think MTR), they don’t produce anything or add a penny to GDP; they just move money from one pocket to another, mainly from yours to theirs.
Michael @ 38
What’s to attack? It’s just apples and oranges. You cannot compare that poll to a poll that simply asks if you approve or disapprove of the job he’s doing. How would someone who in the former poll indicates that they “somewhat approve” of his performance answer in the latter poll? Who knows. You sure don’t.
jaybo
As opposed, you mean, to what McGavick did for Safeco?
Another TJ @ 41
You can’t even compare them. See me @ 49
Hey, I have an idea, the Repubs can run Low Tax Looper against Cantwell. (If you insist on running a loser candidate, why not go for the world record?)
Sen. Cantwell does not have much to show for her time as a senator.
Just what magnificent legislative feats would satisfy you, jayboob? You seem to feel comfortable ignoring the fact that the US Senate is controlled by the GOP. But I’ll give you a chance for redemption: Name one great legislative feat by ANY US Senator in the last four years. At least then we shall have an idea of your standards. Otherwise, you are just whining.
53,
McCain and his ammendment to ban torture good enough for you?
Sven,
IF it is passed and IF it is in a form that really does restict the torture we have been and are pursuing then I might start to believe that this is not just electioneering theater put on by McCain.
Sven,
I would agree McCain’s amendment is all to the good. As Daddy Love pointed out in 55 above, the charge was that she was “not effective”, and the “effectiveness” of the McCain amendment has yet to be demonstrated.
To be fair, let us conceed the point. Now name another. After all, there are 100 of these folks to choose from. Tell me, is it fair to imply Cantwell is “ineffective” without putting forth a reasonable standard of judgement here? Otherwise, it is just more partisan hackery. The hackery, I take pains to remind you, you find so abhorrent, as you so often remind us.
Fair enough?
Ah, yes…polls.
The latest NBC-Wall ST Journal poll seems to indicate that a straight up-or-down vote on Bush job approval goes like: 39 percent approve of Bush’s handling of his job while 55 percent disapprove. but it’s a BIG bounce up from last January’s 38 percent. Yep, the man is defnitely coming back.
I just siezed an quick recent example.
I think that effective is a hard standard to apply, and as you showed the standard quickly becomes subjective.
Her measure will be next fall. Then we will see.
Maria Cantwell’s record?
Senator Cantwell worked with a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives to restore the [state and local tax deduction] tax cut for the next two years as part of the American Jobs Creation Act, and is leading the effort to make this tax cut permanent.
Cantwell’s legislation to fight identity theft, “The Fair and Accurate Transactions Act,” was signed into law in 2003.
Cantwell succeeded in passing a requirement that the Pentagon tell activated Guardsmen and Reservists the expected length of their deployments, calculated from the time they are activated. The Cantwell provision will help prevent sudden, mid-stream policy changes, giving members of the Guard and Reserves the kind of transparency and predictability they deserve.
Cantwell passed legislation as part of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill creating a Center of Excellence for applied research and training in the use of advanced materials in commercial airplanes.
Cantwell authored legislation to push foreign countries to use biometric standards, such as the inclusion of fingerprints and facial recognition on visas, to stop terrorists before they get to the U.S. Her proposal was signed into law as part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Cantwell’s provision requires the Secretary of State to report to Congress on the progress Visa Waiver Program countries are making towards implementing a biometric visa system to identify potential terrorists.
Maria successfully secured funding to double the number of INS inspectors and Border Patrol and Customs agents stationed on the northern border. Maria also worked with the INS Commissioner to get the NEXUS secure frequent commuter system up and running. The program, a joint operation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, is designed to simplify border crossings for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.
Senator Cantwell introduced the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Act, which was signed into law in 2004. The NHSC is a federal program that places doctors in rural and underserved communities by offering grant and loan repayment assistance. By making the program’s payments to medical professionals tax-free, Cantwell’s legislation expanded the NHSC’s capacity by nearly 70 percent, allowing the program to bring more doctors to rural and underserved communities.
Those are a few.
Her measure will be next fall.
If that is the standard, then by all means, I am confident of her “effectiveness”. By other measures, Ted Stevens of Alaska, is very “effective” at bringing home the pork. All too often, that is the standard folks are really refering to. That is not a realistic standard for a member of the minority party, and is really not a good standard at all for the most part. I hope it is not yours as well.
As an aside, I note your spelling has also become much more “effective”.
ProudAss, jaybo, Sven,
Sen. Cantwell does not have much to show for her time as a senator.
This was a point I would have gone with had some things not happened in the intervening timeframe:
1) McGavick challenges Cantwell. Talk about the biggest miscalculation the GOP could make. Why him? Safeco? It is enough to drive a person nuts…
2) Cantwell takes a trip. I would have lampooned this as “See Maria run. Run, Maria, run…” but it turns out she has made a brilliant move for her moderate constituents, given 1) above.
3) Any challenger has the onus upon himself (or herself) to come up with a better message than the incumbent. Saying Cantwell has done nothing (however perfectly true and obvious that statement is) does not negate, but rather reinforces the need for a strong message. We are 11 months from the election, and perhaps McGavick can pull it off, but I would not waste bluster on it at this early stage until I know what his message actually is. I doubt it will be effective based on historically Democratic Washington voters.
I would place my bet for Cantwell to win (it is all about odds, and she is the favorite). McGavick seems much too similar to the usual sacrificial lambs offered up by Washington’s minority party.
That is, of course, just my opinion…
I have a filtered post on Cantwell’s achievements coming though in time…
I saw her live at a Gore rally…she’s just a bit haggard but cute.
Daddy Love @60-ish (your post will bump when your hold is lifted)
A Gore rally? “Haggard but cute?” Man, maybe I need to revise my estimation on McGavicks’ chances…
Daddy Love–
The term for Maria is “Ridden-hard and put away wet”!
People who lie about how their campaign is going to be financed and change their mind AFTER the election about who is going to pay for it tend to age quickly. Lying does that.
Cantwell will have a very hard time getting people to accept her lie because her dot.com company went tits up!!!
You will certainly see a huge amount of press about what Maria SAID about last campaign’s financing….versus what she actually did. There are A LOT of interviews ON TAPE where you hear the words coming out of her mouth!!
You LEFTIST PINHEADED CLOWNS will dream up some Vast Right-wing conspiracy theory that the R’s altered those tapes!!!
Kind of like you CLOWNS wrongly defended that numbskull Berendt for his Hypocritical Fish/Dems are Christian-Haters ordeal. Some of you CLOWNS said the R’s altered the website!!! BOOBS!
Proud,
I didn’t necessarily say its my standard, but it is a kind of realistic standard. In other words, her real effectiveness will be if she can convionce the voters to continue her in the office. Her accomplishments you might say? those will be a factor for sure.
If McGavick manages to open her record and find enough things to make voters question her, then it would be clear she wasn’t effective either in defending her record, or in the record itself. Likewise, if he cannot convince people to toss her out in favor of him, then so be it. As Marks said in section 3, the burden is on him, not on her (assuming he is the final candidate).
Between now and then I will look at her record and see if I approve, as well as evaluating her opponant. Murrey is easier to call, she has been too outspoken on things I personally object to.
As for her (Maria’s) recent trip, I wasn’t impressed with her tone about it when she left, but her comments from the theater have been fair and I respect her for that.
Heck even Shark gave her Kudos for that.
:)
Any state that would elect, re-elect and re-elect again one of the dumbest Senators this country has ever seen will also re-elect Senator Windfall. Even though Senator Windfall has shown that she has zero knowledge of economics and free markets, she will be re-elected by the illiterate (in every sense of the word) moonbats of Seattle. I’ll vote for McGavick, but he’ll get buried.
Well, Mr Cynical,
As I recall every leftish poster immediately disavowed any knowledge of it, and sought to make you out as some cut-and-paste weasel. Turned out you were absolutely right on the substance of the situation. I haven’t seen “bill” since then…
MTR,
Remember that California holds the record for dumbest Senator ever in Barbara Boxer. There is still hope for Washington, though I would not hold my breath…
Having lived in California, I have to disagree.
Boxer has her annoying moments, but Fienstien is really bad.
;)
Insurance men are nothing but blood suckers. Like commodity traders (think MTR), they don’t produce anything or add a penny to GDP; they just move money from one pocket to another, mainly from yours to theirs.
Comment by Roger Rabbit — 12/15/05 @ 3:43 pm [Here’s a “guvment” puke calling someone who pays taxes and makes his living in the private sector a “Bllod sucker”. Orwell, anyone??]
Marks – Wait a minute… are you suggesting Barara Boxer is DUMBER than Senator Dimbulb? WHere’s your evidence????
Senator Dimbulb has won the “No Rocket Scientist” award for many years running. Has Barbara Boxer?
Also, has BB ever praised terrorists?
Has BB ever said she’s going to speak for the fish because they can’t speak for themselves?
Has BB ever tried to hire 100,000 teachers at $10,000 per year per teacher?
C’mon, BB is a kook moonbat evil bitch. But I don’t think she’s anywhere near as stoooooopid as Senator Dimbulb from the great state of FUWA.
Maybe I’m wrong… if I am…please correct me. You moonbats can pile on too if I’m wrong.
Hmmm…I have no real empirical evidence that Barbara Boxer is dumber than the senior Senator from Washington. I’m sure she can make a great case though…
And Sven,
“Fienstien is really bad.” While I spent a lot of time out there in the trenches, I figure California did better getting Fienstien as opposed to Huffington. Arianna, that is…
What in place of the Governator?
Have ya ever noticed the correlation between presence of a vagina and stoopidty?
@72
No. Texas has as their senior Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Have ya ever noticed the correlation between presence of a vagina and stoopidty?
Comment by Mark The Redneck— 12/15/05 @ 6:27 pm
Why, no, M-T-R. Please fill us in with your homespun wisdom.
Cynical @ 62
Some of you CLOWNS said the R’s altered the website!!! BOOBS!
I agree completely. They definitely should have put more boobs on the website. I, however, mefrely suggested that the ready availability of image-editing software made “proof” in the form of a pasted or linked image suspect. You agree, don’t you? If, for example, the hoe were on the other foot?
And Cynical, McGavick is toast. I know you guys love to pretend that your ideology is universally triumphant, but get freakin’ real.
Mark the Redneck:
I love your theory that any Washingtonians who vote otherwise than you desire are illiterate. That’s a good one. You KNOW that Seattle was just revealed to be, what was it, the most litereate city in America? Impress us with YOUR literacy, why don’t you? What are YOU reading right now?
Mark The Redneck
I’ll bet YOU get pretty stoopid in the presence of a vagina.
Daddy – I’m working on my 4th university degree. That’s what I read. Engineering, business, international busines, e-commerce/info sys.
Care to debate me on any of those topics? Bring it on…
Care to debate me on any of those topics? Bring it on…
Not being an engineer, I am not aware of any big controversies in the field(s). Why not pick one?
It’s pretty clear you know nothing about vaginas. Maybe you should read up on that subject.
77
So Mark, how long have you been a professional student living off your parents?
sgmmac, or XmasG do you care to comment on your friend Mark the Redneck’s comment
This is what you are defending.
Engineering, business, international busines, e-commerce/info sys
gee, Mark, that’s wonderfully vague.
BTW, PuddyBud, can you provide ONE qoute from a leftist HA poster “supporting the idiot Iranian President regarding the destuction of Israel”, as you stated on the thread The War on
Jews?
Hmmm…
PuddyBud, can you provide ONE qoute from a leftist HA poster “supporting the idiot Iranian President regarding the destuction of Israel”, as you stated on the thread The War on
ChristmasJews?Mark The Redneck Villiage Idiot has an AS degree in Trolloligy.
He passed with a 2.02 GPA
“Have ya ever noticed the correlation between presence of a vagina and stoopidty?
Comment by Mark The Redneck — 12/15/05 @ 6:27 pm
If we were to follow the Republican model, this is where we would start pushing stories about how misogynistic all Republicans are and try to get the media to run stories asking every local Republican if they agree that all women are stupid as a prominent local conservative blogger argues.
As it is MTR, you may be a fine engineer, but you are still just an idiot who is not worth the time.
And anyway, if Murray is so stupid – how does it feel to get your ass handed to you by someone like that? The Great Conservative Hope (i.e. no-honor-weasel Nethercut) got killed by her, so what does that make him?
Samsorry Reed, Maria Cantdowell, so that is the best litter..ery we can do on this historice day in Iraq. You all should be proud of your page today! Even the Seattle Times got it right on this one!
Huge turnout as Iraqis choose parliament in mostly peaceful vote
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....raq15.html
My hat is off to all the troops and Free Iraq people today! A great Job, no matter what this page has to continually offend you with!
I’ll try again, My hats off to the I’s and our fighting T’s on a great V in I.
Maybe that will make it through the screening!
RR – My employer pays for my education 100%. I can go for as long as I want for free. No limits. They’ll pay for anything. Doesn’t even have to be related to my job.
What amazes me is how many people don’t take advantage of it…
Daddy – It’s only vague if you don’t understand it. Obviously you don’t. Would you like to discuss thermodynamics, heat transfer, strength of materials, turbomachines, stress analysis or machine design? Pick one. No? How about marketing, finance accounting, or organizational behavior? Still no? How about international law or international finance? Or maybe object oriented programming, requirements management or software design. Pick one. Show me how smart you are.
Or did I just confuse you more? thought so…
NIndid – Doncha think FUWA deserves better? I mean… really, aren’t you just a little embarassed to have a senator that year in year out wins the “No Rocket Scientist” award. And another one that proudly displays her ignorance of free markets and economics?
Don’t you long for the days of Scoop and Maggie? I mean… I could respect guys like that. They were D’s but they weren’t stoopid. These two we have now aren’t in their league. Not even close?
C’mon, even the most delerious moonbat can’t make the case that Dimbulb and Windfall are in the same league as Scoop and Maggie. If ya think I’m wrong, make the case…
Hey, Mark. Let’s discuss the thermodynamics of vaginas. You know what those are, don’t you?
Mark the Redneck @ 87
…yet, you don’t have the simple integrity to make good on your bets. How very sad.
89 – All the ones I’ve seen are highly exothermic.
Nindid @85
pushing stories about how misogynistic all Republicans are and try to get the media to run stories asking every local Republican if they agree that all women are stupid as a prominent local conservative blogger argues.
I’d prefer the stupidity to stand as an affront to anyone who claims some sort of moral high ground based on either gender or race. No party has the moral high ground on either matter. Yes, that includes both you and I.
MTR,
I will not bandwagon, but understand that words have meaning…Oh, okay, I have to say it: Vagina…
mark the Rednaeck
Nice list. I thought I asked you. Impressed? Not me. yet. Nice list, though.
Really Mark, do you think we’re in a “free market?” Really? And you’re complaining about someone else not understanding economics?
Mark. Vaginas are chemical reactions? Please explain. At length, if possible. The world wants to know.
sgmmac, or XmasG do you care to comment on your friend Mark the Redneck’s comment
This is the mindset of the party you are defending.
A few thoughts on this comical blog page from an moderate eastern Washington R:
One-I think McGavick, as a moderate R, is a good choice for this race, especially after the far right R’s of the past. He has a good business background, he knows the entire state after serving with Gorton, and I think he will give a good enough race to make it a close.
Two-As a moderate R, I know Cantwell is much smarter than Murray (I’ve met and worked with them both). Cantwell is better prepared, reaches out more to other groups, and has much better staffs, in my opinion. Murray, frankly proves that America is great because anybody, no matter how unqualified, has a chance to be elected (insert usual liberal Bush bashing joke here). Not bashing Patty personally, just telling it as it is. Is Cantwell a better senator than Murray, YES; is Cantwell as productive as Gorton, NO!
Three-Nethercutt would have been a better senator than Murray, hands down. However, he ran a piss poor campaign, and I don’t look for McGavick to make the mistakes that Nethercutt did.
Four-Sorry, Mr. Goldy, but your dreams of taking down Hastings and McMorris with the some of the stands and positions proposed in your past blogs are totally nuts. Granted, Doc has disappointed me in his lack of effort on the house ethics committee, but he is known for getting results for the majority of his constituents. Is he a good congressman, compared to Jay Inslee (his predecessor), yes; compared to Nethercutt and what his did for his district…I’d take Nethercutt. I think McMorris will turn out to be a strong congresswoman, and will be there for a long time.
Five-Lack of a moderate D farm team in eastern Washington. Most D’s smart enough (there are very few) to make a run for local office here run away from the state democratic party as fast as possible. Lets face it, the state democratic party positions and its elected individuals, control of the gov and leg branches, has got them….A STRONGER R presence in alot of the rest of the state. This has happened due to legislation put forth by a state D majority, and/or inititives put forth by D leaning groups. Until the state Democratic party pushes a Joe Lieberman/Tim Sheldon type person/agenda in our area, any advances they make will be 1 TERM and out (re: Jay Inslee). The majority of people that are willing to make public service time in their careers know that it is easier to make it as a moderate R (and swing the party to center) than risk running as a D and having to deal with, people like are the majority on this blog. As an example, in a non-partisan race here locally, the local D district chairperson lost by 35+%! The guy had exposure and everything, but a liberal leaning message. MESSAGE: Not in tune with local economic and values based reality (current D state party)=no up and coming farm team. Frankly, printing some of this blog (and 60% of Joel Connelly’s PI columns) has to be worth at least +3-5% to a republican running in eastern washington.
In closing, my unbiased and rational thoughts are: McGavick will make it close, but I think Cantwill will edge him out. Hasting and McMorris are safe. I won’t comment on westside races, as it is none of my business whatever person you westies put in office (ie, judging us, when you have McDermott, LMFAO) D’s will gain ground nationally 06. D’s stay ahead here statewide in 06, D’s lose statewide in 08.
Nermal do you care to comment on your friend Mark the Redneck’s comment
Have ya ever noticed the correlation between presence of a vagina and stoopidty?
This is the mindset of the party you are defending.
I won’t comment on anyones idiotic comments meant to inflame the other person. Just as some of the mean and inflammatory comments towards R’s on here are not the mindset of the D party.
@96
He’s not in my party! I commented in the thread above, but Goldy would ban if I said what I’m really thinking.
So, nermal, and sgmmac, can I conclude you feel Mark The Redneck is a misogynist, mouthbreathing, nuckle-dragging asshole?
Donnageddon
P.S. sgmmac, Goldy has never banned anyone, even a misogynist, nuckle dragging, mouthbreather asshole like Mark The Redneck.
An BTW Mark The Redneck REALLY DOES represent the Republican Party, even if you do not want to believe it.
An BTW Mark The Redneck REALLY DOES represent the Republican Party, even if you do not want to believe it.
Comment by Donnageddon— 12/15/05 @ 9:19 pm
I love the diversity of the democratic party. There is many different types of commies under their tent.
Ah Rufus, do you wish to comment on Mark The Redneck’s statement of
Agree or disagree, RUFUS?
RUFUS, what do you think of PuddyBuds comment that he has evidence of Leftist HA posters “supporting the idiot Iranian President regarding the destuction of Israel”, as he stated on the thread The War on
Christmas Jews?sgmmac, nermal, what do you think of PuddyBud’s statement?
RUFUS, what do you think of PuddyBuds comment that he has evidence of Leftist HA posters “supporting the idiot Iranian President regarding the destuction of Israel”, as he stated on the thread The War on
ChristmasJews?sgmmac, nermal, what do you think of PuddyBud’s statement?
Have ya ever noticed the correlation between presence of a vagina and stoopidty?
Agree or disagree, RUFUS?
Comment by Donnageddon— 12/15/05 @ 9:46 pm
There are women who I would vote for over most males. I would vote for Jennifer Dunn in a heartbeat over most conservative in this state. I would vote for Condi Rice over a lot of prominant Repubs. It depends on how they view things. They don’t have the right view…. they dont get my vote.
Any big donor with a brain should know by now that Cantwell will win again in Washington in 2006. All of Mike M’s CEO buddies had better pay attention.
Washington is a Blue state that will send George Bush a message in 2006 – we don’t like his hand selected Senate candidates. What are Bush’s favorable in this state? 30% maybe?
The GOP thinks they have a charmer. But the guy isn’t catching on. And won’t. He looks like an overfed frat boy.
NO NO NO Rufus, what I am asking is what you think of Mark The Redneck’s comment
Please leave your response to Mark TRVI’s commnent!
And yes, please respond to the lie of PuddyBud about :eftist posters on HA supporting the President of Iran.
I don’t care about all that other bullshit, just respond to your friend’s comments.
Agree or disagree, RUFUS?
I will answer. it was a ridiculous bit of tripe.
Any one who would make such a baseless and sexist obvously faulty over-generalization, is either trying to be deliberately imflamatory in order to incite a reaction, in which case it worked, or is trying to be funny in some wierd way, in which case it didnt. I dont buy him as being a howling chauvinist, i see him as trying to be insulting.
The problem is that too many people here are dragging all this vitriol and bullshit into the discussions, and they use baseless stereotypes, or groundless accusations. And that’s on both sides of the liberal conservative divide.
its occasionally humorous, mostly harmless, but overall its just silly.
but its an open forum so have fun with it. I wouldn’t,however, advise taking about 3/4 of what is said here seriously.
Karl said regarding Mark The Redneck Villiage Idiot’s statement “Have ya ever noticed the correlation between presence of a vagina and stoopidty?”
No, Karl, that doesn’t work. It was not only not funny, it was abviously not satirical. It was just a very plain statemnet of the Republican Party’s sentiment. They hate women who do not understand their role as cook and baby maker, and they hate everyone else who is not a white male, unless they are picking their fruit or trimming their hedges.
Mark The Redneck Idiot is a clear representative of the Modern Republican Party.
And Karl what do you think of PuddyBud’s statement that Leftist HA posters “supporting the idiot Iranian President regarding the destuction of Israel”, as you stated on the thread The War on
ChristmasJewsCan you try to defend the pariah PuddyBud now?
I am not going to defend him, why would I? He has made soem idiotic statements, and its up to him to do so, not me.
I am responsible to myself only. I made it clear what I thought, which apparently was not enough. The irony is that you in your first reply proved my point.
you said No, Karl, that doesn’t work. It was not only not funny, it was abviously not satirical. It was just a very plain statemnet of the Republican Party’s sentiment.
really? or is that a convenient label to accuse them with. That comment while not as grossly stupid as his, is just as silly, because its a baseless overgeneralization. So that is how you see Elizabeth Dole? Condi Rice? Women who think anyone with a vagina is stupid?
God all the ridiculous stereotypes about the parties, and honestly I cannot tell who buys that ignorant swill, and who just wants to tweak their opponants tail with a saucy remark.
Thats exactly the baseless bullshit that really distracts from any sensible discussion.
And if you want to retreat behind ad hominem attacks and overgeneralizatinos, then you are hypocritical when you attack those who do likewise at your expense.
besides, its the sign of a pure lack of substantive argument and logic to attack the person and not the idea, just as it is fallacious to assume the attributes you dislike in a person are represented in a class.
the pot loves to call the kettle black here.
I was hoping for more on
Maria getting millions from top Dems….free stock to finance her
(talking about Rob Glaser, hiring her above lots of qualifed people, giving her about 12 million…)
and that’s before it tanked, and then Dems gave her more money to pay her back
YIPES
righton
You’re concerned because Democrats donated money to her campaign? Wow. I mean, dude that’s how it WORKS. Are you also concerned that Republicans are donating money to McGavick’s?
Larry,
You really don’t get the analysis that I am putting forth (“Jaybo @ 33: So, what? My point was that what people in Oregon think about an Oregon Senator’s popularity has nothing to do with what WA voter’s think about a WA Senator’s popularity.”)
I don’t care if you are looking at republican or democratic senators, the accepted standard to gauge the strength of the politician is by looking at polling data.
I again can see that Sen. Cantwell is certainly not as popular as dems would like. Your lack of honesty in admitting this is telling. It probably indicates a lack of confidence with dems. If Washington is a “blue state”, why aren’t her numbers higher?
Righton’s accusations runs deeper then that.
If I read it right, he is accusing her of being hired by Real networks over qualified candidates as a favor for democrats, given a large salary she didnt deserve, and when the company tanked, she was given money to buy out of it or something.
The facts are not quite that simple. From wikipedia
In 1992, she became the first Democrat elected to the United States House of Representatives from Washington’s first congressional district. She lost the office in 1994 when the repbulican landslide hit.
After her defeat, Cantwell vowed to leave politics. Political ally Rob Glaser offered her a job as vice president of RealNetworks for marketing.
Ok, so she got a job from a friend. That almost never happens in real life….
In August of 2000, Cantwell sold 110,000 shares of RealNetworks stock at about $44/share. By the end of the year the stock was selling for less than $9/share
Ok, but are those two facts connected, or coincidental?
ah….here is the substance of righton’s accusation:
Cantwell spent over $10 million of her own money on her campaign, choosing not to accept money from PACs. However, when RealNetworks stock declined at the end of 2000, Cantwell appealled to many PACs and corporations to pay off her campaign debts.
Is that a way to do an end run around campaign finance laws? I doubt it. I am no expert on campaign finance laws, but I doubt the state republicans would have let it go if what she did was illegal.
running up a campaign debt and getting other politicians and contributers to help pay it off is politics as usual, isnt it?
I can only fault her for running a campaign on a loan against her stock options, which tanked when the dot com bubble burst. Poor judgement perhaps, though it was fairly common practice at the time.
But it’s also old news….its now 2005, what has she done lately?
Daddylove
I just don’t understand how a 1 term congressperson, who knew sqwat about computers, got hired as sr exec of hot new startup, given gobs of options, stayed their a couple of years, then goes off to run as the “rich, smart business woman, who is independent”
then her stock plunges, and, of course since its all OPM (other peoples money), she goes and gets interest group money to backfill her loss
And of course she’ll now get great pension for life, and all the book perqs after someday she retires…
Jaybo el stupido @ 120
You really are hilarious. Your rants about Cantwell’s popularity reminds me of the boneheaded post-analysis of Sims’ win by Sharkansky and Co.
Some Dems have a problem with Cantwell’s style and some of her votes. When the alternative is a multi-millionaire insurance exec who shipped jobs to India – they’re going to take Cantwell.
McGavick is on an ego trip and he’s going to lose – loser.
The only Maria Cuntsmell can climb is the big tall tree of incompetence and over-liberalism. God help us all.
Mark1, prr, yo, MTR: the vile
Puddybud, jaybo, Janet S., WrongOne, YeaWrong: the hopelessly deluded
DOOFUS, Cynical Irreleevant: Bozos