How craven and unpatriotic are Senate Republicans?
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), who broke with his party to support President Obama's stimulus package last week, said before the final vote Friday that more of his colleagues would have joined were they not afraid of the political consequences.
"When I came back to the cloak room after coming to the agreement a week ago today," said Specter, "one of my colleagues said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' My Republican colleague said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' I said, 'Are you going to vote with me?' And he said, 'No, I might have a primary.' And I said, 'Well, you know very well I'm going to have a primary.'"
Senate Republicans voted against legislation that would help America's families because they feared the political consequences. It turns out that "Country first" is perhaps the emptiest Republican slogan in history. At least Democrats get to spend the next two years pointing out that Republicans opposed the biggest middle class tax cut in history.
Illinois: Does this end the possibility of Roland Burris running in 2010? (emphasis added by me)
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother solicited U.S. Sen. Roland Burris for up to $10,000 in campaign cash before Blagojevich named Burris to the coveted post -- something Burris initially failed to disclose under oath before an Illinois House impeachment panel, records and interviews show.
Burris (D-Ill.) acknowledges being hit up for the money in a new affidavit he has sent to the head of the House committee that recommended Blagojevich be removed from office. ...
Burris acknowledged having three conversations with Robert Blagojevich, who headed the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund -- and one of those was likely recorded by the FBI.
Burris' statement offers the third version of events he has given about his discussions concerning the Senate seat, to which Blagojevich appointed him in late December, after Blagojevich was hit with federal corruption charges that included an allegation he tried to sell the Senate appointment.
Whoa. Yes, Burris points out that he did not give any money to Blagojevich's campaign fund in response to the solicitations; but, damn. Failing to disclose key details under oath. Offering multiple versions of the events surrounding discussions about his appointment. Whether Burris is having memory issues or whether he was trying to cover for the person who appointed him, the optics look pretty bad, regardless of the fact that Burris never actually coughed up any payola, as far as we know. Surely, at this point, Burris (who will be 73 on Election Day 2010) can't seriously be considering a run for a full Senate term in 2010, can he?
Minnesota: Yes, it looks like the three-judge panel has rejected 12 (or 13) of 19 categories of ballots from consideration for further review in Republican Norm Coleman's frivolous election lawsuit. However, because different categories included different numbers of ballots, the remaining categories still total an estimated 3,500 ballots or so out of the 4,800 properly rejected absentee ballots Coleman wanted re-reviewed. Granted, the standard of evidence that Coleman will have to meet to get ballots counted is a very strict one (he will have to show that every individual ballot was "cast legally," not just "improperly rejected" - and I'm not election law-savvy enough to explain the difference), but the relatively high number of ballots that seem to be remaining could keep the trial going for a long while yet, especially if the Coleman camp begins arguing ballots' merits individually. We should know more after Monday's legal proceedings. Stay tuned.
New Hampshire: Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter reiterated that she has not ruled out a 2010 Senate bid. A Shea-Porter candidacy would set up a big-time Democratic primary between her and New Hampshire's other member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Paul Hodes, who is already in the race.
Missouri: The Kansas City Star's Prime Buzz political blog highlights that the MO-GOP likely will not be fielding their strong possible candidate in the 2010 Senate race, as the Republican Party establishment is getting behind Washington D.C. mega-insider Roy Blunt over the more intelligent and more broadly respected Jim Talent.
New Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele offers his take on the status of the GOP today:
You have absolutely no reason, none, to trust our word or our actions at this point.
And now the words I never thought I would type: I agree 100% with Michael Steele. |
