DSCC

Mark Kirk, Now In Palinite Form

Arjun Jaikumar

Apparently, having witnessed the wild success Sarah Palin enjoyed in steering right-wing tea partier Doug Hoffman to failure on November 3, Illinois’s favorite Republican chameleon Mark Kirk is now begging the conservative icon to back him.

It figures that Mark Kirk would see Palin as a savior, since apparently every Republican candidate for office these days is pandering to the far right. And as we know, pandering is nothing new for Kirk.

With respect to Palin, Kirk himself once called her the “Patrick Fitzgerald of Alaska”, which is hilarious enough by itself, before (as her poll numbers tanked) shrugging off questions about her qualifications for the office and saying he would have picked someone else for the vice-presidential nomination.

Now that it’s politically desirable, Kirk loves her again and wants her on his side. We’re sure that will go over very well in a state where the McCain/Palin ticket lost by 25 points last year.

In fact, the Chicago Sun-Times is already predicting that Kirk's conversion to Palinism may doom his candidacy.

Sorry, Charlie!

Arjun Jaikumar

Hilarious! Further evidence that the Republican Party has been taken over by extremists: erstwhile stimulus supporter Charlie Crist is now denying he ever backed the President’s economic recovery plan (which did not sit well with the tea party set, or Crist's primary opponent Marco Rubio).

Remember, Crist was one of the Recovery Act’s most prominent Republican supporters last winter, announcing his support for it and actively working to ensure its passage:

Crist appeared with President Barack Obama in February to support the bill, asked Florida members of Congress to vote for it and previously told The Associated Press that he would have voted for it if he had been in the Senate.

But now that Rubioooooo! and his right-wing pals have taken over the Republican Party and are rapidly gaining in polling on the hapless Crist, there’s nothing left for the nation’s second-most overrated governor to do but pander to his right flank.

But when the Republican governor talked about the bill Wednesday on CNN, he said he didn't endorse it. Crist told CNN he understood that the bill was going to pass and wanted to use it for the benefit of Florida.

Brilliant! He never endorsed the stimulus…except, you know, when he said he’d vote for it, asked others to vote for it, and appeared with the President as he was garnering support for it.

This kind of revisionist history is, we are afraid, vintage Charlie Crist: he is a man with few discernible goals or principles in public affairs aside from positioning himself for the highest office attainable.

Unfortunately for him, Crist's long history of zig-zag politics appears to have finally caught up with him. When you're Governor, people actually pay attention to your words and actions...and that's no good for Charlie.

NY-23: Democrats Expand Congressional Majority

Arjun Jaikumar

Democrats increased their already robust Congressional majority last night as Democratic attorney and Air Force veteran Bill Owens defeated tea party activist and Glenn Beck acolyte Doug Hoffman in a Northern New York special election.

The inmates have taken over the Republican asylum, and it has led to increased Democratic majorities in Washington. If they keep down this path – and they show no signs of moderating – it will be deadly for Republicans in 2010.

The Paulists Are Coming! The Paulists Are Coming!

Arjun Jaikumar

Holy smokes – this has been a terrible couple of weeks for establishment Republicans. Their party is now being torn asunder not only by the tea party set, but by the anti-government Ron Paul wing as well.

For Kentucky physician Rand “Son of Ron” Paul now leads GOP establishment golden boy Trey Grayson in the Senate primary, 35% to 32%.

Compounding Grayson’s problem is that he also trails badly in the money race – Paul outraised Grayson by over $350,000 last quarter.

Stay tuned, and enjoy the fireworks!

Senator Menendez Appears On The Daily Show

Arjun Jaikumar

DSCC Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez appeared on the Daily Show yesterday to discuss various and sundry topics with host Jon Stewart.

The two touched on New Jersey politics and the current race for Governor, the World Series, and naturally David Vitter’s tough reelection battle in Louisiana.

Video here:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Bob Menendez

www.thedailyshow.com

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Health Care Crisis

Sour Grapes In Carlyfornia

Arjun Jaikumar

Senator Barbara Boxer’s years of dedicated service to California have not gone unnoticed by the Silicon Valley tech community, and the Senator has recently unveiled a slew of endorsements from high-tech CEOs.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer on Wednesday announced endorsements from more than two dozen high-tech executives for her 2010 re-election campaign, including Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt, Symantec Chairman John Thompson and Adobe co-founder and Chairman Charles Geschke.

Boxer challenger Carly Fiorina, a former tech CEO herself, seems nonplussed by all her old friends rushing to support her opponent, reacting bitterly:

Beth Miller, a spokeswoman for Fiorina, said in a statement that it "comes as no surprise that a career politician like Barbara Boxer can line up some endorsements."

It should also come as no surprise that the woman who nearly destroyed HP finds herself persona non grata in the tech community.

More Roy Blunt Hypocrisy (Is That Redundant?)

Arjun Jaikumar

Career Washington insider Roy Blunt continues his tried-and-true tactic of talking out of both sides of his mouth this week.

Blunt is apparently just shocked, shocked at the Obama administration’s managing of the H1N1 pandemic:

“The American people expect the federal government to protect them in the face of a pandemic,” Blunt continued. “If the current administration cannot manage what is a basic responsibility of the federal government, how can they be expected to micro-manage doctor-patient relationships? Is this what we can expect from government-run health care?”

So shocked is he, in fact, that he has conveniently forgotten that he, Roy Blunt, voted against $7 billion in funding for pandemic flu prevention this summer.

Apparently pandemic flu has become a serious issue in the last, oh, three days or so.

Vote Charlie Crist for Most Overrated Governor In America

Arjun Jaikumar

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza has a brand new poll on his site offering six choices for the most overrated Governor in the land, and naturally two Republicans are winning.

We can’t really understand, however, how it’s possible that anyone could beat Charlie Crist in a contest for “most overrated”, so we encourage you to slide over to the Fix and cast your ballot for the Sunshine State Show Horse!

For with the failed “Cover Florida” health care plan, skyrocketing unemployment and foreclosure rates and a widely panned U.S. Senate appointment on the record of a Governor who takes 10 weeks off of work a year, the battle for “Most Overrated” is one election Charlie Crist was born to win.

Charlie Crist: "Loser Of The Week"?

Arjun Jaikumar

Charlie Crist – Loser of the Week?

Don’t take our word for it:

Loser of the week: Charlie Crist. So much for Gov. Crist’s easy waltz into the U.S. Senate. Polls show Marco Rubio is closing the gap, even former conservative fans like the Cato Institute are turning on Crist and now come revelations about how little actual governing time Crist schedules. Helping fuel the rap that Crist consistently puts his own self-interest above all else, the governor is dispatching his chief of staff to help stem Rubio’s momentum at a time when he could use all the horsepower available actually governing Florida.

Meh. Why would he worry about “actually governing?” It’s not what he’s good at, anyway.

The New GOP Plan: (Fill In The Blank)

Arjun Jaikumar

So just what is the GOP plan?

If you visit http://dscc.org/gopplan, the DSCC will send you a car magnet and a marker, which will allow you to “fill in the blank” and give the GOP a strategy for getting America back on track, since they have failed to do so.

With the current Republican strategy summed up in phrases such as “ask Rush and Beck,” “block health care reform,” and “buy teabags in bulk,” they sure could use the help.