Little change in style, too.
See: Meet New Hampshire's Next Senator
"Likely Brown run in N.H. lifts GOP hopes for Senate" by Noah Bierman and Matt Viser | Globe Staff March 18, 2014
WASHINGTON — Scott Brown’s expected run for US Senate from New Hampshire has helped boost both Republicans’ confidence and their chances, analysts say, of recapturing the chamber.
Prognosticators are now putting GOP odds of winning control of the Senate at 50-50 or better, a marked improvement from just a few weeks ago. With continued Republican control of the House expected, the loss of the Senate for Democrats — after holding the majority for eight years — would make President Obama’s political hand even weaker during his final two years in office.
Brown’s announcement that he would begin touring the state and raising money for a likely run against Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen adds New Hampshire to a growing roster of up to 11 states where Republicans are increasingly on the offensive, forcing Democrats to spread their resources to defend their turf....
Brown begins his campaign activities with recent polls showing Shaheen leading by 9 percent to 13 percent. But negative ads run by outside groups against Shaheen, hammering her support for Obama’s health care law, are taking a toll. Her unfavorable rating climbed to 34 percent in January, up from 22 percent three months earlier, according to the Granite State Poll, which is sponsored by WMUR-TV and conducted by the University of New Hampshire.
Some outside political groups began buying ads after Brown’s Friday announcement that he was taking a key step toward entering the race.
Democrats and Republicans are both predicting that candidates and outside groups could spend more than $20 million on the New Hampshire race, which would make it the state’s most expensive ever. Many of those campaign ads will run on Boston television stations, which broadcast to Southern New Hampshire....
TV stations will get rich!
Still, the sentiment among national Republicans is not unfettered excitement over Brown’s candidacy, at least not of the sort that swept the GOP in 2010 when the relatively unknown state senator captured the late Edward M. Kennedy’s Senate seat in a special election. Brown lost the seat to Elizabeth Warren in 2012.
This time around, as he prepares to run over the Bay State’s northern border, the Republicans know he is an underdog but see his candidacy as providing at minimum an additional tactical advantage. They hope his bid will help suck money away from the Democratic efforts elsewhere.
“It takes another race that will at the very least be competitive — with a chance to win — and all of a sudden you have Democrats having to move resources,’’ said John Brabender, a national Republican consultant. “It complicates things for the Democrats.”
Republicans need to gain six seats to reclaim the majority in the upper chamber. At least two seats currently held by Democrats — in South Dakota and West Virginia — are already considered likely to flip to Republican hands.
Previously, the GOP had been most closely focused on Democratic-held seats in North Carolina, Montana, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Alaska, states that Obama lost in 2012. That roster of potential pickoffs left the Republicans little margin for error.
But Republicans in recent weeks have expanded their prospects. In addition to Brown’s candidacy, US Representative Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican, said three weeks ago that he would challenge incumbent Senator Mark Udall, a Democrat who previously had an easy path to reelection. Races for Democratic-held seats in Michigan and Iowa also have grown more competitive for Republicans as polling has shifted.
“The environment overall is just very good for them right now,” said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which rates congressional races across the country.
Four or five months ago, “Colorado wasn’t there, New Hampshire wasn’t there, Michigan wasn’t there” as potential Republican wins, she added.
While Republicans are seeing numerous opportunities, there are almost no chances for Democrats to pick up a seat held by a Republican. Analysts mention Kentucky and Georgia, but these are Southern states where President Obama is deeply unpopular.
A president’s party almost always loses Senate seats in midterm elections. Republicans lost six seats in 2006 under George W. Bush and eight seats in 1986 under Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton was the only recent anomaly, with Democrats not losing any seats in 1998.
But recent polls have given Obama the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, and there has been little indication that Americans are warming to his signature health care plan.
In a state where some rural residents — because of new, limited insurance networks — have had to drive longer distances to receive certain types of care, Shaheen is particularly vulnerable on health care. The state is among those that has refused to offer expanded Medicaid coverage under the new law, although the state Legislature is considering whether to offer such an expansion....
Hassan will veto, was good deal?
Stu Rothenberg, a nonpartisan handicapper, said there is an “ominous outlook for Democrats right now.”
***********
Rothenberg also pointed to Republican excitement over last week’s special election in a House race in Florida, where the GOP candidate defeated a well-funded Democrat in a toss-up district by emphasizing Obama’s health law.
Democrats showed their anxiety over the weekend with a flood of e-mails to supporters trying to denigrate Brown and raise money for Shaheen. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a powerful fund-raiser who has raised more for Shaheen than any other candidate, sent an e-mail to her supporters hours after Brown opened his exploratory committee on Friday.
She's a "player."
Related: Liz Warren's Hot Air
Hot wind blowing into New Hampshire.
Democrats also tried to pressure Brown to sign a pledge with Shaheen limiting the ability of outside groups to spend money in the race, similar to one he signed with Warren in the 2012 election. That pledge was widely seen as benefiting Warren, in part because it did not limit the ability of unions to organize effective get-out-the-vote operations that traditionally benefit Democrats.
One indication that Democrats are already thinking about their resources: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is not planning to upgrade New Hampshire to one of its seven premier races where it intends to spend the most money, according to a top Democratic official. That could change if the race tightens.
In heavily Democratic Massachusetts in 2012, Democrats emphasized that a Brown victory over Warren could put the Senate in Republican hands. But in New Hampshire, a toss-up state where Obama is not popular, the party will try to instead focus on the candidates.
Even before Brown made his announcement Friday, Democrats have been reminding voters that he ran less than two years ago as a sitting senator from Massachusetts, with an emphasis on his local ties.
Outside groups have not wasted any time. The League of Conservation Voters spent $200,000 on anti-Brown ads in February, criticizing his votes in favor of retaining oil subsidies.
American Crossroads, a Republican super PAC, is already launching a $600,000 ad campaign against Shaheen this week. That comes on top of about $2.4 million that Americans for Prosperity, a conservative nonprofit, has spent over the past year.
Karl Rove and Kochs.
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Related: Shaheen, Brown go on offense in N.H. Senate race
You chose the wrong fight, Scottie:
"Markey challenger files ethics complaint over Herbalife probe | Globe Staff March 17, 2014
WASHINGTON — A Republican who plans to challenge incumbent Democrat Edward J. Markey in this year’s US Senate election said Monday he filed an ethics complaint alleging that Markey used his political office to manipulate stock.
Markey has been under fire for writing letters to federal regulators urging an investigation of Herbalife after his staff met with William Ackman, a hedge fund investor who has made a $1 billion investment in a short position on Herbalife stock that will pay off if the company’s stock price falls.
Herbalife, which sells nutritional supplements, saw its stock fall more than 14 percent in January after Markey’s initial letters and then 7 percent last week after the company revealed it was being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission.
Markey has said his staff did not tell him Ackman stood to gain financially from his actions. But he said he still would have written the letters because of allegations that Herbalife’s business practices were hurting consumers.
Brian J. Herr, a Hopkinton selectman who has announced he will run against Markey, said in a press release he is filing the complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee.
“All you have to do is connect the dots to easily see that Senator Markey used his public office to manipulate the stock of a publicly traded company in order to financially benefit a campaign donor,” Herr said in a statement.
Ackman donated $32,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in April but not directly to Markey.
In a statement, Markey did not directly address Herr’s allegations but said he has fought for consumers his entire career.
And that should place him beyond question?
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Related: Markey's Herbalife Mi$chief
"In Texas, a frantic health care push | Associated Press March 18, 2014
HOUSTON — They count the small victories: If only five people come to a three-hour enrollment event but all sign up, that gets a thumbs’ up as they make a final push to get people to buy policies....
Tax money for that?
The final weeks of enrollment are sure to be filled with frenetic activity. Massive enrollment drives are planned almost daily. Weekend and evening events are jam-packed....
Related:
"Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United Nations said Monday he is ‘‘certain’’ the government will soon sign an agreement with the United States that would allow some US troops to remain behind after the final withdrawal of American soldiers."
Well then it isn't really a withdrawal, never mind a "final" one.
"O’Doul’s is advertised as nonalcoholic beer, but it contains a small amount of alcohol."
Any wonder why I am so sick of this shit?
Texas’s large uninsured population makes it crucial to the success of the national program. But the impediments are many.
The state’s large Hispanic population — some of whom are in the country illegally — are either not eligible or wary of enrolling because of fears that doing so might reveal the existence of family members at risk of being deported.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has erected his own obstacles in the form of additional rules and training requirements imposed on health care ‘‘navigators.’’
Other Texas Republicans have also slammed the health care program.
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Also see: A Politically Poisonous President
This is going to be his legacy:
"White House now touting Obamacare with twerking, cat gifs
03/17/2014
The newest Obamacare promotion has the official White House website
imitating a March Madness-style bracket featuring gifs of twerking
girls, cats and “YOLO” to convince coveted young millennials to sign up.
While President Obama’s campaigns were noted for their successful
youth outreach, he has been unable to attract young people to sign up
for insurance under Obamacare so far. Last week, Obama tried to up youth
exchange enrollment with an appearance on “Between Two Ferns” with the
often foul-mouthed star Zack Galifianakis.
Now the White House has moved onto gifs with “The 16 Sweetest Reasons to Get Covered.”
White House advertising experts spent taxpayer dollars putting together a bracket of new Obamacare benefits, intended to attract young viewers. People are encouraged to vote for their favorite benefit, with an accompanying gif that paints a picture of what Obamacare supposedly does for you.
One features young girl attempting to twerk on a countertop in a public bathroom and failing catastrophically — “because accidents happen.”
Twerk girl’s moves are set against Michelle Obama dunking a mini-basketball — because “women can’t be charged more than men,” despite women’s higher usage of health care services.
White House Deputy Director of Online Engagement Erin Lindsay already weighed in on the most pressing question facing the Obama administration — whether the girl in the gif is successfully tweaking....
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Related:
"Ad campaigns in many states are courting undecided young adults. In Colorado, a nonprofit group created a series of provocative ‘‘got insurance?’’ ads. One features a blonde standing next to a life-size cut-out of celebrity heartthrob
Ryan Gosling with the caption: ‘‘Hey girl, you’re excited about easy
access to birth control and I’m excited about getting to know you. She
got insurance.’’
????? If you get Obummercare you might get laid? WTF is wrong with people in advertising?
Another touting ‘‘Brosurance’’ encourages men doing a keg stand not to tap into their beer money to cover medical bills.
Gonna need it to cover the STD treatments.
When the exchange launched, models wearing nothing but underwear and ‘‘Get Covered’’ signs passed out fliers in downtown Denver."
I'll bet they made their points out in that cold!
So SEX and BOOZE are a GOOD SELLING POINT to get health care?
I suppose it is not as bad as what happened in Boston's high schools:
"At Boston public schools, condom wrappers raise ruckus" by James Vaznis | Globe Staff March 06, 2014
The Boston public school system, as it prepared to make condoms available to students at all its high schools last fall, received what seemed like the perfect donation from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health: 40,000 free condoms.
But now the system is pulling the donated contraceptives from its schools after some parents raised questions about whether the messages and images on the wrappers are appropriate for teenagers, even as they voiced support for the condom-distribution policy. The wrappers featured such messages as “One lucky lady,” “hump one,” and “tasty one,” which was accompanied by a picture of a shark preying on a small fish.
What SICK and PERVERTED BU$INE$$ $HIT came up with the catchy condom ad campaign, 'eh?
One outraged mother took to Twitter Tuesday night, posting a picture of some of the condoms along with this request: “looking for BPS administrators to explain why this packaging is OK.” She also e-mailed the governor and the mayor.
“Right idea, wrong execution,” the mother, Stephanie Bode Ward, said in an interview Wednesday, blaming the state....
Lee McGuire, a school system spokesman, said school officials do not know how many of the condoms were distributed, but stressed the remainder are being replaced.
“We understand why some people may have concerns about the design,” McGuire said in an e-mail. “This is why we have already taken steps to replace this supply with a donation from the Boston Public Health Commission. We have already begun to distribute these different condoms to schools so there is no interruption in our overall comprehensive sexual health education effort.”
****************
The School Committee adopted the condom-distribution policy in June as part of a sweeping overhaul of its health and wellness programs. Under the policy, students at any high school can receive condoms from a designated adult after receiving counseling on safe-sex practices. Parents retain the right to exempt their children.
The policy replaced one from the early 1990s that only allowed students at a limited number of high schools with health centers to receive condoms, and the change generated little, if any, opposition.
McGuire said the school system was grateful for the free condoms from the state “because reducing teen pregnancy and stopping the spread of sexually transmitted diseases are of paramount importance.”
Concern over the condom wrappers started brewing a few weeks ago.
Helen Dajer, a nurse midwife and a former School Committee member, was chatting with the nurse at her son’s high school last month about a different issue and then decided to ask, because of her work in the health field, how the new condom policy was going.
The nurse, concerned about the wrappers, showed her the condoms, Dajer said. “I was horrified,” said Dajer, who supports distributing condoms but thought they would be in plain wrappers. “As a mother of three teenagers, there was no way I wanted my kids to be given condoms with those wrappers.”
Davin Wedel, president Global Protection Corp., the Boston-based company that made the condoms, said his company learned of the problem Wednesday and said that a third-party distributor working for the state provided the condoms. He said the company makes other designs that would be more appropriate for high school students.
Need I even note it?
“It’s a quick thing to fix, and we would love to be part of that by donating replacements,” Wedel added.
Funny double entendre!
Parents said they are pleased school officials are replacing the offending condoms and that the program will continue.
“This is one small but significant snafu that I’m delighted they fixed,” Dajer said.
And nine months later.... ????
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Or will it meet the same fate as this post as I abort?
