They really can't report about anything important, can they?
"GOP may miss chances in N.E.; Only handful of seats are hotly contested" by Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff | July 24, 2010
WASHINGTON — New England Republicans this fall risk squandering their best opportunity in years to break the Democratic Party’s throttlehold on the region’s US House seats, a situation political specialists attribute to a shortage of GOP candidates with enough experience and credibility to mount serious challenges.
Remember, this is the same newspaper that predicted a double-digit win for Martha Coakley over Scott Brown (not that it ended up mattering).
National polls are showing a rising tide of voter anger, and a fertile political environment for Republicans, who hope to win back a majority in the House this November.
Yeah, we are going to take our anger at Obama out on Democrats.
But fewer than four months before the election, political analysts say the GOP is seriously challenging just three of 22 House districts in New England — New Hampshire’s two seats, and the open seat on Cape Cod being vacated by retiring US Representative William Delahunt.
The dearth of competitive House races in New England where Democrats currently hold every seat is partly a function of the region’s political leanings, but also a consequence of the Republican Party’s inability to consistently build a farm team of office holders at the city and state level, where tomorrow’s congressional candidates are groomed.
Like it's a GAME!
Sad thing is, both serve the same interests.
“The Republican bench is not deep in most of New England,’’ said political analyst Stu Rothenberg, publisher of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. “It’s just not there.’’
Nationally, Republicans are well positioned for gains in the House, and believe that they can net at least 39 more seats to regain the majority.
Oh yeah, they are going to get that easy.
They only need 39?
Of the 88 seats Rothenberg has identified as in play this November, 76 are held by Democrats.
76-12 = 64, and given some funny business with the machines there should be a 1994-like 50-seat shift. Public is even angrier now.
But in New England the Republican outlook is weak.
So the pro-Democrat Globe is praying.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the two New Hampshire races a tossups, and says the Cape Cod contest leans toward the Democratic Party. Democrats are expected to hold every other House seat in the region....
However, Republicans who are battling to take back the House majority are not ready write off an entire region of the country....
NO WAY! Not with the MOOD of the PEOPLE!
In the northeastern Massachusetts Fifth Congressional District, for example, US Representative Niki Tsongas, the Lowell Democrat, became a top GOP target after Brown won widely in communities throughout her district. Tsongas, unopposed in 2008, had squeaked into office with 51 percent of the vote in a 2007 special election.
Oh, SHE'S OUT!!!
But the four-way Republican primary to pick a Tsongas challenger this fall includes no practiced political hands, and Cook Political Report rates Tsongas as a solid bet to be reelected.
And no way Massachusetts gives Ted Kennedy's seat to a Repug.
Tsongas has raised $1.2 million this election cycle, five times more than the combined total raised by her Republican challengers, according to campaign finance reports....
Oh, then she is a shoo-in.
Related: Tsongas Saves IRS Jobs
Legislative Looters in Your Ear
Kickbacks are great, aren't they?
A Globe poll in June suggested that voters in the Southeastern and Cape and Islands communities that make up the district are evenly divided on whether they will vote for a Republican or Democrat....
And the incumbent is?
OUT!!!!
The holdout is New Hampshire, a state growing more favorable for Democrats but where the Republican Party has maintained a vibrant political machine, in part because every four years an army of political consultants descends on New Hampshire for its first-in-the-nation presidential primaries....
That was pre-2008!
In the two New Hampshire congressional districts — one an open seat and the other held by incumbent Democrat Carol Shea-Porter — the GOP primaries are crowded with well-recognized, credible candidates, including former New Hampshire Congressman Charles Bass, trying to make a comeback after losing in 2006, and the former mayor of Manchester, Frank Guinta. A University of New Hampshire poll in April suggested Shea-Porter would face tight races in hypothetical matchups against her possible Republican opponents, and that Bass enjoys double-digit leads against the leading Democrats.
Related: Pelosi Protested at Shea-Porter Promo
Yes, what a TREMENDOUS DISAPPOINTMENT Shea-Porter has become!!
“Right now New Hampshire is slightly more Democratic, but Republicans still have enough voters in the state where they can win seats in a strong Republican year,’’ said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducts polls for The Boston Globe.
Flip two there.
Yet US Representative Steve Israel, a Democrat from New York and the national recruiting chairman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Democrats are well positioned to fight for the New Hampshire seats....
Ever notice names say so much about a person?
DICK Cheney?
COLIN Powell?
Frankly, names really say a lot about a person.
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More from New Hampshire:
"Calculus for primary is all new in N.H." by Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | July 20, 2010
CONCORD, N.H. — Kelly Ayotte’s pitch to New Hampshire conservatives is right out of the Republican playbook and exactly what many small-government Granite Staters want to hear: Deport illegal immigrants, repeal the new health care law, cut taxes.
But in a year when Tea Party movement devotees and political newcomers are threatening the electoral hopes of established candidates across the country, Ayotte — a former state attorney general who is a favorite of some party leaders — is scrambling in the GOP primary to replace retiring Senator Judd Gregg, a Republican.
On paper, Ayotte would seem to be an ideal Republican candidate for a statewide race in New Hampshire: a woman in her early 40s with law enforcement credentials, appointed to her former post by a Republican governor and reappointed by a Democrat, and the wife of an Iraqi war veteran. She’s been endorsed by such political heavyweights as Gregg and Warren Rudman, former New Hampshire senator and a prominent budget hawk.
Yet Ayotte’s strength may be her downfall, if New Hampshire voters follow national trends of punishing incumbents and candidates who have the backing of party bigwigs, political specialist said.
Related: Tea Party Will Lose For Winning
Globe pushing an agenda for an outcome, aren't they?
Already, the antiestablishment mood has helped defeat GOP candidates Sue Lowden in Nevada, Senator Bob Bennett in Utah, Trey Grayson in Kentucky, and Rob Simmons, former representative in Connecticut. Another high-profile Republican, Governor Charlie Crist of Florida, decided to run for US Senate as an independent after a more conservative candidate, Marco Rubio, threatened to swamp him in the GOP primary.
“If you look at a lot of the primaries we’ve had around the country so far, you’ve had that dynamic,’’ said Dean Spiliotes, an independent political analyst in New Hampshire. “In this environment, looking like you’re endorsed by the NRSC [the National Republican Senatorial Committee] is not the best thing when you have this anti-incumbent, anti-insider feeling out there,’’ he said.
That captures the spirit.
Ayotte is attempting to fend off an apparent surge by Bill Binnie, a wealthy businessman and amateur race car driver who has poured $3.5 million into his campaign. Binnie, whose campaign biography lists no previous elective experience, moved to within just nine percentage points of Ayotte, according to a Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies poll in May.
Ovide Lamontagne, a lawyer, is lower in the polls but attracting critical Tea Party movement activists with his anti-Washington message. And businessman Jim Bender, a political neophyte with low name recognition in the state, is appealing to a voter segment impressed with his ability to turn around the finances of several companies.
“It’s a real horse race. it’s wide open,’’ said David Carney, a New Hampshire-based GOP consultant who is not working for any of the candidates. While Ayotte was viewed early on as the almost-certain nominee, now “you could put together a scenario under which any of the four candidates wins,’’ said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
Awaiting the outcome of the GOP fight is Representative Paul Hodes, a Democrat, who is unopposed in his quest for his party’s nomination for Senate. Hodes faces a difficult political environment, with an abysmal 30 percent approval rating that makes it even harder for the two-term congressman to score one of the few pickup chances the Democrats have in Senate contests this year.
Oh, HE IS NOT WINNING that seat!
But Hodes, while still considered an underdog in the general election regardless of whom the GOP nominates, fares better against the other three Republican contenders than against Ayotte, according to polling by the survey center.
Ayotte insists she is a prosecutor, not a politician, and will bring an outsider’s perspective to the job. On the stump, Ayotte underscores the fact that she is from a “military family’’ and a “small business family.’’
At a recent ice cream social where she spoke to voters, Ayotte kept her message extremely simple, calling for lower taxes, a crackdown on illegal immigrants (remarking, incorrectly, that Arizona has the second-highest rate of kidnapping in the world), and a repeal of the health care overhaul law that requires nearly all Americans to have insurance by 2014.
The Globe obviously doesn't like her.
She says she won’t live in Washington, D.C., if elected, and will keep in touch with constituents by hearing their concerns when she runs into them at the grocery store....
Lamontagne, calling himself the independent, conservative Republican in the race, keeps a copy of the US Constitution in his pocket and rails against such federal programs as the No Child Left Behind law as unconstitutional. He is antiabortion and in favor of such conservative ideas as term limits and the line-item veto. Lamontagne is appealing to the Tea Party movement activist element of the party....
Where is he on the wars?
While the Republicans battle it out for the nomination, Hodes has been conducting shoe-leather campaigning, traveling to fish restaurants, festivals, and farmer’s markets to meet voters one on one.
Somehow that is going to work for him but not Ron Paul?
The Democrat is also trying to run as an outsider, touting his antiearmarks proposals, his vote against the 2008 bank bailout, and his call, the first among Democrats, for embattled Representative Charlie Rangel, Democrat of New York, to step down as Ways and Means Committee chairman pending an ethics inquiry.
Related: Democrats Sacrifice Rangel For November Races
Think New Hampshire cares?
They will just see Democrat.
“It’s a challenging environment,’’ Hodes said of his uphill campaign. “And it’s going to be a late-breaking race.’’
**********
Ayotte yesterday got a Tea Party movement boost from Sarah Palin, who endorsed Ayotte in the race and dubbed her a “mama grizzly’’ who has broken barriers and locked up criminals....
Oh, NO!!!!
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Related: One For the Ladies
The Power of Palin
Let's go there then:
"Alaska race shows Tea Party movement’s next wave" by Associated Press | July 5, 2010
Joe Miller, the man who is challenging a fellow Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, is a graduate of Yale Law School and West Point, a decorated combat veteran, and a former judge.
Bye, Murk.
Many members of the Tea Party movement share his disdain for Washington, its political gridlock, and its mounting debt, but not his credentials.
The message he conveys, though, is straight from the Tea Party movement script: He fears the nation is veering toward socialism and insolvency. He says Murkowski is too liberal.
To Miller, Alaska’s senior senator is complicit in the ballooning US debt and spending and has a voting record that would make a Democrat proud. His agenda includes cutting off federal dollars for the United Nations, gradually privatizing Medicare and Social Security, and disbanding federal departments that aren’t spelled out in the Constitution, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Education Department.
In an election year marked by Tea Party movement activism, Miller is part of the next wave of Republican primary candidates counting on a public weary of Washington and the stale economy and eager for fresh faces.
In more than a dozen primaries in the months ahead — among them Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee, Colorado, Arizona, Washington state, and Florida — Tea Party movement candidates are striving to upend the status quo.
You liking the s*** fooleys?
Murkowski, a moderate and the first woman elected to Congress from Alaska, “is pretty safe, but you never know,’’ said Judy Eledge, president of the Anchorage chapter of the Alaska Federation of Republican Women....
Miller has gotten a boost from endorsements from Sarah Palin, the Tea Party Express, and local Tea Party movement groups. But Murkowski has $2 million in the bank and a familiar name in Alaska politics. Her father, Frank Murkowski, was a governor and a senator.
Andrew Halcro, a former Alaska lawmaker and a supporter of Lisa Murkowski, said her moderate brand of politics fits well in a state where most voters don’t belong to any party.
But the prevailing sour mood poses a threat, he said. “If I’m Lisa, I am worried because these guys have an appealing message.’’
Yeah, FREEDOM is ALWAYS an EASY SELL!
Another Palin protege:
"Angle says campaign to defeat Reid God's 'calling'" by Michael R. Blood, AP Political Writer | July 14, 2010
LOS ANGELES --Republican Sharron Angle says her campaign to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada is "a calling" from God and that her faith is helping her endure a fiercely competitive race in which Democrats have depicted her as a conservative extremist.
Of course, there are other issues such as state's rights and the Oath Keepers, but the MSM doesn't want to go there.
And if they demonize you there must be something good about the person.
"When you have God in your life ... he directs your path," Angle told the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview posted on its website Wednesday.
Asked why she entered the race, Angle said "the reason is a calling."
"When God calls you he also equips you and He doesn't just say, 'Well today you're going to run against Harry Reid,'" the tea party favorite said.
In the Bible "Moses has his preparatory time. Paul had his preparatory time. Even Jesus had his preparatory time," the former legislator said, citing her years in public office as her preparation for the race.
"God knew all of this in advance," Angle added. "I don't know what's coming up tomorrow but I do know that He is there. He saw it and that He has provided a way of escape and a way for me to endure."
And He told Bush to invade Iraq?
In a wide-ranging interview, Angle said her media appearances are guided by the need to raise money for her campaign and she defended an overhaul of her campaign website in which many of her earlier positions on Social Security and other issues were rewritten, condensed or deleted.
Angle, a Southern Baptist, has called herself a faith-based politician who prays daily. Among her positions, she opposes abortion in all circumstances, including rape and incest....
At least she is not a.... and look at how quickly the agenda-pushing press equates womanhood with abortion.
Meanwhile, Angle is airing her first TV ad of the fall campaign -- a scathing attack on Reid's record on jobs in a state with a U.S.-leading 14 percent unemployment rate.
Ominous, dirge-like music plays in the 30-second as a black-and-white photograph of a grim-faced Reid and images of shuttered factories and shuffling workers appear. Text in the ad points out that unemployment in the state has risen nearly 10 percentage points since Reid became majority leader....
Bye, Harry.
How much is all this crap going to cost?
"Political ad junkies, this fall’s for you; Boston-area TV blitz predicted to top $25m" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | July 24, 2010
Dan Payne, Democratic campaign consultant working for US Representative Barney Frank, who is also planning a media buy. “It’s the full employment act for TV stations. They’re going to make a lot of money.’’
Not that it could be put to better use.
The figures do not include cable television, radio, print, or Internet advertising. Another industry insider estimated that overall advertising, including cable television and other media, would top $40 million in the Boston area. Consultants also stand to benefit from the heavy campaign spending.
If the spending estimates hold true, it could mean wall-to-wall advertisements for much of the fall for a variety of political issues and candidates....
(Click)
The political ad season traditionally starts after Labor Day, when voters return from summer vacations and begin paying attention to politics....
What do you think I am doing now?
Every statewide office except attorney general — where Coakley, a Democrat, is unopposed — has at least one candidate from each major party.
Incumbents out!
Every congressional seat is contested except the one held by Michael E. Capuano, a Somerville Democrat.
Incumbents out!
The congressional seats held by Democrats William D. Delahunt, who is retiring, and Niki Tsongas, who is believed vulnerable by the Republican Party, are both expected to draw national interest that could allow for large advertising budgets....
There is no US Senate race in Massachusetts, but the New Hampshire seat now held by retiring Republican Judd Gregg spills into the Boston broadcast market, as will the Granite State’s contested congressional seats....
I never watch their channels anyway.
And then there are ballot questions....
Globe hates those.
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So WHO is going to be SPENDING the DOUGH?
"Mass. delegation beating opponents in funding race
Massachusetts congressional incumbents running for reelection in the fall — all Democrats — have significantly more campaign funds than those of their opponents, Federal Election Commission figures show....
Even in the race with the smallest gap, Representative Niki Tsongas has five times the cash on hand ($567,997) than her nearest opponent, Jonathan Golnik, a GOP businessman, with $112,814....
Some incumbents have prodigious amounts of money, including Edward Markey, a 17-term representative from Malden, with $3,341,366, and Richard Neal, an 11-term representative from Springfield, with $2,974,164. Neal has been using that money to parcel out contributions to embattled Democrats across the nation in his effort to build support for a possible candidacy for chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
In some places that is known as BRIBERY!!
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