President Bush’s approval ratings are plummeting across the board, with the latest Newsweek poll dropping 3 points to a pathetic 33 percent. Meanwhile, the Democrat’s generic advantage in the race for control of Congress has climbed to a three-month high, with Dems now preferred on every major issue, including the war on terror. And of course the House Page scandal continues to spin out of control, with new revelations about Foley’s follies and the multi-year coverup coming out daily.
If you don’t think national events are having an impact on local races, then you’re spending too much time talking to Diane Tebelius. The last three public polls in WA’s 8th Congressional District (all conducted before the Foley scandal broke) have shown a dead heat between incumbent Republican Dave Reichert and Democratic challenger Darcy Burner, while the Reichert campaign remains suspiciously silent about its own internal polling. In light of this and the larger political climate, the respected Cook Political Report has just upgraded the race from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up.”
Meanwhile, the WA-05 race between incumbent Republican Cathy McMorris and Democratic challenger Peter Goldmark is starting to turn some heads. On Friday the campaign released its own poll showing the race within the margin of error, while again, the McMorris campaign remained quiet about its own internal numbers. I’ve talked to a number of Democratic and Republican politicos over the past few days, and the unanimous consensus is that Goldmark is closing… and fast. The combination of a dynamic candidate, an effective advertising campaign, a solid ground game — and of course, a favorable political climate — is setting the stage for what could be one of the biggest upsets of the season.
What we’re seeing is a Republican Party in the midst of meltdown, and the impact is being felt in local districts nationwide. Yesterday, the Spokesman-Review endorsed Democrat Larry Grant in Idaho’s 1st CD, and while their stated reasons were varied, the final sentence stands out as a warning beacon of a potential political sea change:
Not only will Grant be in a good position to help Idaho if the Democrats regain the House, but he would work better with Republicans than Sali would if they don’t.
This is a rationale that will pop up in editorials nationwide. Absentee ballots start dropping a week from Tuesday, and barring some kind of October Surprise (or massive election fraud) a Democratic takeover of at least one house seems almost certain. While I don’t expect the S-R editorial board to apply the same logic to their home district, some voters will, recognizing that a populist pragmatist like Goldmark can better represent their interests in a Democratic majority than a socially conservative McMorris can in a Republican minority. We’ve reached a tipping point.
That said, Goldmark is still the underdog; he can’t win unless he can afford to get his message out… and he can’t afford to get his message out without your help. Friday I challenged my readers to take my Act Blue page past the $7,000 mark for Goldmark by the end of the weekend, and right now we’re still about $700 short. We’ve got a unique opportunity to put a Democrat in the 5th CD seat — the kind of Democrat that can hold the seat for years to come. So if you haven’t already given, please give now.
Olbermann news commentaries target Bush
By DAVID BAUDER
AP TELEVISION WRITER
NEW YORK — Keith Olbermann’s tipping point came on a tarmac in Los Angeles six weeks ago. While waiting for his plane to take off he read an account of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s speech before the American Legion equating Iraq War opponents to pre-World War II appeasers.
The next night, on Aug. 30, Olbermann ended his MSNBC “Countdown” show with a blistering retort, questioning both the interpretation of history and Rumsfeld’s very understanding of what it means to be an American.
It was the first of now five extraordinarily harsh anti-Bush commentaries that have made Olbermann the latest media point-person in the nation’s political divide.
. . .
Since that first commentary, Olbermann’s nightly audience has increased 69 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research. This past Monday 834,000 people tuned in, virtually double his season average and more than CNN competitors Paula Zahn and Nancy Grace
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....rmann.html
http://www.surveyusa.com/50Sta.....1State.htm Looks like Crissy isnt doing that well either…and she doesnt have a bunch of idiots second guessing her, the media gives her evey break possible and her rating are still in the tank!
2 – Cheesie Chuck – Gregoire is doing a lot better than Commander Codpiece at 33%!
The Republican meltdown will be total and they have nobody but themselves to blame after serving up the likes of Craswell, Carlson, Rossi, Groen and McGavick.
Gregoire will be relected easily!
With apologies to David Letterman:
The Top Ten Excuses of Republicans:
9) That is what the Terrorist want
8) Clinton did it too!
7) MoveOn/Air America/George Soros/Michael Moore are behind this!
6) 30 years ago a Democrats did it.
5) Hillary!
4) I was molested by the clergy
3) Do you want the Terrorist to Win!
2) It’s the Democrats Fault
1) It’s Clinton’s Fault
Chuck:
Governor Gregoire, according to poll, is doing better than George Pataki in New York, and Arnold down in California.
Considering all the lies told about here by the right and that she started off in office at 34% approval, to be up 48% to 46%, and to have more approval than disaproval for three straight polls, and four of the last five, isn’t that bad, if you actually think about it.
Correction:
according to the same poll not according to poll.
And on looking closer at the Survey USA page you directe me to Chuck, Governor Gregoire has been up in the poll six of the last seven, and up or even in 8 of the last nine polls.
Given the smear job from the right, I can see why you are scared of how good she is doing.
3 – Almost forgot George “Term Limits” Nethercutt!
Losers! Liars! Greedheads!
I’ve been wracking my brains about what we Republicans can do to salvage this Hastert situation and I think I’ve come up with some answers.
We, as Republicans , need to STAY THE COURSE, NOT SET ARTIFICIAL TIMETABLES and ADAPT TO WIN. So,let’s, as patriotic Americans, put on our thinking caps and find a way to stand behind our speaker and not CUT AND RUN.
After all, congressman Foley – possibly in an overly friendly way– (much like a Labrador) merely inquired about thesize of the pages penis and his masturbation techniques. Technically speaking, there’s nothing illegal there.
They couldn’t buy the bloggers.
That’s what brought ’em down.
They couldn’t buy us and we told the truth about them.
how do you spell Macockawitz.
Our Governor’s polling data might be of interest IF she were running for re-election. If I were a half-wit, inbred republican, I’d probably start looking to 08 too. Since the chances for anything other than utter devistation in Nov look to be zero.
Another 5 american were killed in iraq today thanks to the republican crimanels in office
If ooooonly the librals and Amish and dEmOcratS would just shut up and leave the loyal hard-working moral high ground Preznit Bushe and Cheney and Rummy and Condosleezza and DeLay and Foley and Wolfie and “Uncle Billy” Hastert and the rest of the Godly and Saintly and Moral and Clean Republicans do their job protectin’ the country and keep killin’ and molestin’ and bombin’ and lyin’ and buggin’ and wiretappin’ and detainin’ and torturin’ and surveillin’ and fightin’ terrr and nucular nucular nucular 911 911 911 911 911 911 nucular nucular nucular nucular keepin’ us safe and runnin’ the deficit down from its previous world record and in general being good Christians.
re 13: Amen to that, brother!
re 13: This is how I feel about the whole Republican Party. How about you, Jim?
(I can’t stop loving you)
I’ve made up my mind
To live in memory of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday
(Dreams of yesterday)
Those happy hours that we once knew
Tho’ long ago, they still make me blue
They say that time heals a broken heart
But time has stood still since we’ve been apart
(I can’t stop loving you)
I’ve made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday
(Those happy hours)
Those happy hours
(That we once knew)
That we once knew
(Tho’ long ago)
Tho’ long ago
(Still make me blue)
Still ma-a-a-ake me blue
(They say that time)
They say that time
(Heals a broken heart)
Heals a broken heart
(But time has stood still)
Time has stood still
(Since we’ve been apart)
Since we’ve been apart
(I can’t stop loving you)
I said I made up my mind
To live in memory of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life of dreams of yesterday
(Of yesterday)
By Ray Charles
It’s so sad…. Isn’t it? All he wanted to know was the size of the boy’s penis
13 rofl
Uncly Billy Haster hahahaa thats funny
goldy, from the pro dem pieces every day in the local rags, looks like goldmark, cantwell etc will have to declare these print pieces as campaign contributions..
what’s good for the goose….remember kvi…
Yet another lesson here we don’t seem to learn as a nation. Moderation in all things is probably the best path. But, holier than though Republicans occasionally get a hold of the reigns and when it’s discovered that they’re no more pious than the average guy–well a meltdown.
It’s both R and D fault to let things devolve into a polarized red-state, blue-state thing. Life isn’t binary and as much as the right-wing Republicans would like to frame things in a good and evil debate…they’ve long been out of touch with me.
Powell for President and Bill Clinton for Secretary of State in 2008.
Matty – One of the middle-R’s
The Top Ten Excuses of Democrats:
10)I was really drunk at the time.
9) That is what the Terrorist want
8) Clinton did it too!
7) MoveOn/Air America/George Soros/Michael Moore are behind this!
6) 30 years ago a Democrats did it.
5) Hillary!
4) I was molested by the clergy
3) Do you want the Republicans to Win!
2) It’s the Republicans Fault
1) It’s Bush’s Fault
from the pro dem pieces every day in the local rags
What the matter Wrongone? You have an objection to the papers reporting a horse race?
I’m betting on the Dems by a nose myself.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered the debate’s biggest laugh lines in his campaign against Far-Left Lunatic Angeledis:
“I feel a little like I am having dinner with Uncle Teddy at Thanksgiving,” Schwarzenegger said, referring to his wife’s uncle Sen. Ted Kennedy, a leading liberal Democrat.
Schwarzenegger has a HUGE lead in all polls.
If politics were only about I HATE BUSH, Arnold would be heavily trailing as California is a Big-Time Democratic State.
The ballots in Washington State will be mailed out in l1 days.
Interesting how momentum has such ebbs & flows, isn’t it.
I would venture to guess that EVERYONE who posts here on Horses Ass already knows who they are voting for. Anyone who wants to claim they are still undecided???
I didn’t think so.
In the end, a lot of these Congressional Races will be decided by voters who are currently undecided….or decidedly soft.
Trust me…they don’t follow Horses Ass.org
The key issue will end up being their own security.
A key point will be no attacks on US soil since 9-11.
Also, plummetting Gas Prices will also carry more weight at voter decision time than today.
Taxes too!
In the end, folks tend to follow there security and pocketbook.
Schwarzenegger has a HUGE lead in all polls.
Why shouldn’t he? He’s gone way to the left since his referenda debacle.
He says one thing to soothe the base and does completely another thing.
As a result, his approval is at 44 percent.
We like Ahhhhhnold. If you righties voted in more people who approve of abortion, protect the environment, supported public schools, etc., then we’d be okay with your guys running the country. That’s the difference between us. When your mom and dad (brother and sister) fucked and had you, you were inbred with the gene that says anything republican is good. You’re too fucking stooopid to realize you’re praising a guy who, if he ran as a Dem – you’d crucify. Thanks for making us aware that you’re a hypocrite.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it.
All the looney-tunes have a secret plan to keep Arnold in office?!!!
I get it.
Only one problem Clueless…if that were the case, why would Arnold’s opponent get any votes?
In typical lying wingnut fashion, FascistFuck asserts the Democrats rewarded Gerry Studds with a chairmanship for his affair with a 17-year-old page.
Let’s do a fact-check.
The House voted 420-3 to censure Studds; unless I’m mistaken, there were more than 3 Democrats in the House in 1983. “In addition to the censure, the Democratic leadership stripped Studds of his chairmanship of the House Merchant Marine subcommittee.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Studds
Yep, just as I figured – FascistFuck is a LIAR!!! Oh, one more thing – also censured at the same time for the same offense was REPUBLICAN Rep. Dan Crane. Any reason why you didn’t mention Crane too, FF? In addition to being a liar, you’re being selective in your partisan criticisms, it seems to me.
Commentby Roger Rabbit— 10/5/06@ 9:52 pm
==================================================
Rodent, Next time you do a “fact check” pull your head out of your ass first and check the record. Dems appointed Studds Chairman in 1993, after he screwed the page, and never “stripped him” of anything you dumbshit.
The record:
6/17/1993 5:36pm:
The Speaker designated the Honorable Gerry E. Studds to act as Chairman of the Committee.
Source:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/.....02403:@@@X
Commentby americafirst— 10/5/06@ 10:19 pm
============================================
Rodent “Fact Checker” Moonbat-
It took me only a few clicks to find yet another appointment by the Dems of Studds(D-Child Molester) as Chairman of a committee after he was censured for screwing the page. There are probably more:
================
7/13/1990 10:55am:
Mr. Roybal moved to resolve into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
7/13/1990 10:56am:
On motion to resolve into Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union Agreed to by voice vote.
7/13/1990 10:56am:
The Speaker designated the Honorable Gerry E. Studds to act as Chairman of the Committee. Source:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/.....05241:@@@X
Commentby americafirst— 10/5/06@ 10:34 pm
=====================================
How’s the fact check going, Rodent?
What do Dems do to child-molesting Reps like Studds(D-Child Molester) who sodomize young boy pages? Dems reward them with Chairmanships:
=====================================
And the same can be asked of the Democratic Party. Who exactly buried these e-mails for a year and decided to drop them 34 days before congressional elections? And how did Democrats who served with a congressman named Gerry Studds now step forward and express shock over Mr. Foley‘s disgusting behavior? After all, their colleague, Chairman Studds, sodomized a 17-year-old boy in his Georgetown apartment, and then he took the congressional page to Portugal to carry on his illicit affair in Europe.
Should future Speaker Nancy Pelosi really be passing judgment on GOP leaders when her Democratic Party rewarded Congressman Studds with a congressional chairmanship years after he had sex with that young male page? I ask Ms. Pelosi because she was one of five Democrats who asked to sit on that committee under the guidance of Chairman Gerry Studds.
Source:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15117630
==============================================
Democrats; the party of family values.
Weren’t committee chairmanships granted strictly by seniority at that time? If so, the worst you could say was that the Democrats decided not to further penalize Studds by changing the rules and depriving him of the chairmanships to which he was entitled by right of seniority. I suppose it is legitimate to say that the democratic leadership should have treated Studds differently due to his disgusting behavior. However, they had already censured him. The manner in which the wingnuts like americafirst are describing this makes it sound like the democrats went out of their way to reward Studds, which is of course not true.
A Universal Truth from wayne
“The manner in which the wingnuts like americafirst are describing (insert anything here) makes it sound like the democrats (insert any lie here), which is of course not true.”
That is the way Republican wingnuts do everything. Take a fact, distort it, and claim the lie as the truth, and then spread it on the corporate owned (Republican lapdog) media.
Leftout at 22: “In the end, folks tend to follow there (sic) security and pocketbook.”
Pay attention. This principle applies regardless of whether it is the Republicans or Democrats involved.
When politicians lie, they turn to their base for support. Their base WANTS to believe them, so they accept their version of events despite evidence otherwise.
But if the scandal has legs, and the politician’s story continues to fall apart, then the base has to make more effort to protect the politician, to show their support, to argue that the critics are biased, etc. In short, they have to LEND THEIR OWN CREDIBILITY to the politician. Instead of the politician protecting their interests, they find themselves going to greater and greater lengths protecting the politician.
But when it is finally proven that the politician has been lying all along, or when the politician is forced to confess to the lie, then it just makes their supporters look like boobs, idits, schmucks. Those supporters have exended their own credibility – an asset of limited renewability – for a bad investment.
So when a politician looks you square in the eye and tells you one story, and claims that those with another story are evil opponants and asked you to help defend him, and the voter does so to the best of his ability (defending him at his dining room table, work break room, over the back fence talking with neighbors, talking with people at church, etc.), the voter tends not to be very forgiving when he finds that he was being lied to the whole time. They will want to teach “someone” a lesson for abusing them in that fashion, and they may do so by simply staying home on election day.
Richard Nixon’s Watergate and Bill Cinton’s “Monicagate” are both more recent examples of this.
But now Pres. George Bush finds himself in the same boat. More and more revelations are coming out showing that the version of events he has been selling for the past six years about 9/11, the War in Iraq, etc. have been manufactured out of whole cloth. Intelligence agents tried to get him and his officials to listen to warnings, but they were ignored. There never was any nuclear or other WMD threat from Iraq, and the Bush administration knew it. The lack of a post-war plan for Iraq, and the lack of sufficient “boots on the ground” were protested by nearly every professional military person in a position to say something, yet they were pushed aside by Rumsfield and other officials, only to then argue that the subsequent looting, insurgency movement, and other civil war were events which could not have been anticipated.
Even Republican voters aren’t going to forgive them for the lies. Bush & Co. are just making their supporters look foolish.
Ever embarrassed your wife in public, even unintentionally? You will pay hell for it for a long, long time. The same principle applies to politics. Republicans, get ready to spend a long, long, time sleeping out in the garage.
goldy, from the pro dem pieces every day in the local rags, looks like goldmark, cantwell etc will have to declare these print pieces as campaign contributions..
what’s good for the goose….remember kvi…
Commentby righton— 10/8/06@ 1:26 pm
————
And I turn onto 770 KTTH and hear the fools calling Maria Cantvtewell. Better bill them too….
I have an idea. Why don’t you righties just give up, and come into the light on the left. All facts support our positions, and the God that loves everyone is on our side.
Don’t you get tired of lying, saying things that you know aren’t true to try to keep up?
Just read Fiasco. State of Denial. Maybe the last NIE that was declassified. Some of the other books coming out.
If you do some studying of what is really going on in this world, you would see the light.
Just remember nobody got in front of the UN and said Clinton smelled of sulphur, and got a standing ovation….
Did you see ol Jebbie had to hide in a closet because the huge crowd of protesters in Pennsylvania almost got to him.
Soon there will be nowhere for a Bush (or supporter) to hide….
In the end, a lot of these Congressional Races will be decided by voters who are currently undecided….or decidedly soft.
Trust me…they don’t follow Horses Ass.org
The key issue will end up being their own security.
A key point will be no attacks on US soil since 9-11.
Also, plummetting Gas Prices will also carry more weight at voter decision time than today.
Taxes too!
In the end, folks tend to follow there security and pocketbook.
Commentby Leftout(of their minds!)— 10/8/06@ 1:52 pm
—–
So I guess all the corruption, lies, arrests, Foleygate, more lies, even more lies, failed foreign policies, traitors working at the white house, and increased numbers of terrorists won’t matter eh? Oh I forgot. More, and more, and more lies.
Do you think the fact that we are losing 3 wars at the same time now may matter?
Six months ago I wrote that although Republican voters were upset by the apparant lack of competence in the Bush administration, I was unsure if this would translate into Democratic votes. After all, some of the Republican concerns were that Bush wasn’t being a more competent ultra-conservative on fiscal issues. I wasn’t sure that, regardlss of how upset they are at any particular administration, that they would turn around and vote for Democrats instead.
But today it looks like there has been several major fractures in the Republican party. The “Reagan Republican” voters, who thought their party stood for hard work, fiscal integrity, a strong defense, and moral values, are seeing that their party’s leadership is only interested in retaining power.
It appears that about 1/3 of the electorate will support the Republican leadership regardless of what happens. The other 17% of voters who have supported Republicans over the past quarter-century definately have a limit beyond which they will not cross. The Bush administration seems to have found that limit.
Perhaps we need some new labels to describe these people. Simply calling them all “Republicans” or “Conservatives” no longer makes sense.
Oh I forgot. The trashing of our constitution, our standing in the world, our military, and our good name by allowing, and sanctioning, and ignoring torture.
Warrantless wiretaps?
How about ignoring the science on global warming?
The TRILLIONS added to the national debt?
Do you think any of these thing will matter?
I think these things will matter a lot.
Having a full tank of gas won’t do you much good if the whole world boycots us…..
Perhaps we need some new labels to describe these people. Simply calling them all “Republicans” or “Conservatives” no longer makes sense.
Why don’t we call them either blind, morons, or traitors.
The pendulum is swing back to the left, and Foley / Hastert just gave it a hell of a push.
They will be lucky if the Republican Party survives at all once the investigations into the rest of the scandals are over. The Abramoff scandal, the Foley scandal, and all the other crimes they have committed to stay in power, and steal votes for honest hard working Americans.
It will be ugly for them. Kinda like Bastille Day, without the head lopping thing.
How many times did Abramoff’s associates visit the White House?
Something like 500 times…….
If you don’t think Bush was selling us down the river, then I have a bridge to sell you, along with some swamp land.
Oh by the way. Cheney, who attended your back door meetings to write the energy bill?
Oh I forgot. State secret. Executive priveledge for national security. Year sure….. I think it is your security, not our natons.
Maybe someone should ask John Ashcroft why he put a gag order on Sibol Edmunds when she, and her 20 other FBI agents started testifying to the corruption they had uncovered……
State secrets…. Wouldn’t want the public to know about corruption by government officials and sturff….
hile I don’t expect the S-R editorial board to apply the same logic to their home district, some voters will, recognizing that a populist pragmatist like Goldmark can better represent their interests in a Democratic majority than a socially conservative McMorris can in a Republican minority. We’ve reached a tipping point.
Um, the S-R endorsed Barbieri in 2004, who went on to get pasted 60-40 by McMorris in the general.
I think Goldmark’s got a shot at the endorsement.
Coward @37,
Unlike some bloggers, I love it when the traditional press proves me wrong.
19
Or, if you’re a Republican, “Molestation in all things is probably the best path.”
22 Lefout
Gas and oil are rising again.
26 americafirst
“Dems appointed Studds Chairman in 1993, after he screwed the page, and never “stripped him” of anything you dumbshit.”
That would be “Dems appointed Studds Chairman in 1993, twenty years after he screwed the page…”
And ten years after his censure. But back then he Congress had a more restrictive tradition of seniority, which teh 194 Republicans blew up to replace with one based on party loyalty. If you were wondering where the “partisanship” in Congress came from.
1994 Republicans
More Bush incompetence led to NK’s nuclear test. Clinton brilliantly rattled the American military sabre to craft the 1994 Agreed Framework, under which NK halted its nuclear reprocessing program and put its spent nuclear fuel rods under international inspection adn control.
Bush, of course was (and still is) certain that negitiating duccessful outcomes was mere “appeasement,” which is why this administration has STILL not negotiated a single sucessful outcome yet. Bus used his reliabnce on force alone as the only means of international engagement, and some uncertain intel regarding uranium enrichment (a slow, expensive, and technically difficult path to weapons-grade nuclear fuel) to blow up the 194 agreed frmaeowrk.
All diplomatic niceties aside, basially president Bush’s idea was that the North Koreans would respond better to threats than Clinton’s mix of carrots and sticks. Then in the winter of 2002-2003, as the US was preparing to invade Iraq, the North called Bush’s bluff, withdrawing from the NPT and grabbing their fuel rods to start that quick and relatively easy task fo “reprocessing” them into plutonium for weapons. And the president folded. Abjectly, utterly, even hilariously.
Threats are a potent force ONLY if you’re willing to follow through on them. But he wasn’t. The plutonium production plant, which had been shuttered since 1994, got unshuttered. And the bomb that exploded this weeken was almost certainly the product of that plutonium unlocked almost four years ago. So the President talked a good game, the North Koreans called his bluff and he folded. Boy, isn’t that the pattern? chest-thumping followed by failure followed by cover-up and denial. The same story as Iraq. Even the same story as Foley.
And since then, for all intents and purposes, and all the administration hot air to the contrary, he and his administration have done essentially nothing.
Fareed Zakaria finally admits what we wll already know:
A plan for sucess? There is no success. Sucess is not possible there. Successs is cutting our losses and ceasing to be, as the occupier, a reason for their violence.
Winter car care: Winter car care