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Passing this along from the Senate race in NC - Go Hagen Team!
Well, I may have had the oddest GOTV job of the election season. Dressed as Dorothy, along with my friend Tin Man, we followed Senator Elizabeth Dole around for a week on her 'Elizabus' tour across North Carolina. We were there to remind folks that Dole was registered to vote in Kansas for 25 years before switching her registration to run in NC, and TinMan reminded folks that she has accepted more than $300K in contributions from Big Oil. We got a little bit of press and were a constant annoyance, and then the unthinkable happened. Please see attached picture
We have entered into high level negotiations to bring Elizabeth Dole back to Kansas. We are close to realizing our dream. Photo from Union County Summit attached. Negotions could be described as 'business like'. Tin ManSent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
The Sunlight Foundation launched a new web site, Pass223.com, to harness the distributed power of the Internet to pressure the Senate into increasing disclosure of campaign contributions by passing a bill - S. 223, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act - requiring senators to file their contribution reports electronically.
We need your help to pass this bill. Please follow the link to Pass223.com and call your senators to find out where they stand on S. 223. The site has full instructions on who your senators are, how to call, what to say, and how to report back to us. For more detail on the bill, keep reading.
"We'll be requiring key procedural votes, and also taking some time on the floor this week, to indicate the problems of this legislation," Russ Feingold , D-Wis., said Monday of himself and Christopher J. Dodd , D-Conn., speaking at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank. "We're not just going to let it quickly pass."
Barack Obama:
"I think what is clear is that the way the program operated broke the law that was existing at the time," Obama said Monday at a news conference in Jacksonville, Fla. "On the other hand, what I've also seen and learned is the degree to which the underlying program itself is, in fact, necessary to help prevent terrorist attacks."
..............
UPDATE 1
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced today that he would oppose new legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) due to his continued opposition to a provision that would grant blanket retroactive immunity to any telecommunications company that participated in the President's warrantless wiretapping program.
Schaffer also took on his own party, saying it needed to change some of its ways to win over independents and moderate Democrats. Excessive spending and use of earmarks must go, and integrity must be central to all that he and other Republicans do, he said.
OK, he's against earmarks now and trying to be another "maverick". But who submitted the earmark for NAFF that was recently in the news? Was it Bob Schaffer?
We all know the ideological leanings of the Colorado Springs Gazette: it's firmly on the right wing of politics and pro-Republican. They long ago failed on their claim to being Libertarian, otherwise we would have seen op-ed after op-ed going after Bush's treatment of our Constitution. It seems many 'round here who call themselves Libertarian just can't face being called the Republicans they really are.
But still, news is news and a race for an open senate seat should be big news all over the state. It isn't at the Colorado Springs Gazette.
This Sweatshop Schaffer roundup has about 15 stories detailing Bob's hijinks. A search of the Gazette's site turns up nothing on any of these.
Even Bob's Lambornesque statement that "In five days, I did not observe a forced abortion or meet anybody who had any knowledge of them" didn't make the pages of our fine newspaper. Wow.
One analysis of Schaffer's three-term congressional record places him as the 14th most conservative out of more than 3,400 lawmakers to go to Washington since 1937. Udall, though less extreme, falls squarely within his party's liberal wing — and based on his votes is more liberal than Clinton and Obama.
You read that right: Bob Schaffer is one of the most extreme right-wingers since 1937. That should have been the headline of this article. But you know, maybe Bob Schaffer is anti-union enough that Dean Singleton feels the need to overlook that little fact. Therefore they call Udall "less extreme" to make things seem fair and balanced (ahem). And Bingo - 14th and 509th are similar!
The Post continues to compare Apple Pie to Oranges:
Those voting records present significant problems for the early strategies of both campaigns, which depend on repositioning their candidates to appeal to the moderate and independent voters who most experts say will decide the race.
That would be ok if it was true. Unfortunately, for all of us Denver Post readers, and the candidates and the voters, it's not. Here are some stats on how voters now trust Democrats overwhelmingly on the issues:
On Saturday, we will be hosting an IdeaRaiser Assembly at North High School in Denver to let you know some of the things Mark Udall is working on in response to your stories and ideas. As you know, we started this unprecedented grassroots effort with the philosophy that policy works best when it is created in a conversation between elected officials and constituents. We are committed to hearing from you. Please join us for this special event.
RSVP and get directions here. When: Saturday Feb. 9th, 2008 1:00PM
Where: North High School 2690 N. Speer Blvd. Denver, CO 80211
The top down Republicans almost never do stuff like this. Look what their activists are doing to their presidential candidate.
It’s not always about the money! How many Hispanics have been invited to this event, how many of us can pay the entrance fee, what is it, $5K per couple?
We wonder why we can’t recruit more Hispanics into the GOP, could this be one of the issues? This is a lost golden opportunity because GOP candidates are interested in raising the big bucks, what about the few dollars some of us have to donate. Doesn’t buy our way in to meeting and rubbing elbows with President Bush.
I hope someone listens to this plea, get the Hispanic community involved. How, give us an opportunity to meet and have a photo op with the President and meets some of the Big Bucks supporters of the GOP to let them know what issues are important to our community, if you care to listen!
Gilberto (Gil) Cisneros
State Chairman
Colorado Republican National Hispanic Assembly
Gil, Gil, Gil - $5,000 is chump change for the likes of Bob Schaffer and George Bush. Their business model calls for billions in tax breaks and billions in profits.
Great vid from the DSCC. Bob's going to play it safe and try not commit to any of the big issues facing us. And he's going to let the NRSC do his dirty work for him.
A Colorado Springs based Republican black-ops team has joined those trying to bloody Mark Udall-(D) for his issueless senate challenger Bob Schaffer-(R). The NRSC started the game with a dud of an ad that lied about current FISA legislation. Now "Common Sense Issues" is trying to tie Udall to some obscure Cuban oil bill that "only he" suported. Except it wasn't only Udall. For the record:
The "Udall" bill allowing American companies to compete with others in rilling in Cuban waters is taken verbatim from a broader Senate bill (S.2787) in the last Congress that had 12 REPUBLICAN co-sponsors, including obvious Castro-lovers like Ted Stevens, John Thune (Dick Wadhams' old boss), John Warner, Craig Thomas, Conrad Burns (Dick Wadhams' other old boss), Pete Domenici and Pat Roberts.
A similar bill was introduced in the House (H.R. 5353) and guess who co-sponsored that one? Marilyn Musgrave
Leave it to a dumass Republican in Colorado Springs to try to fear-monger voters with a ¾-dead Fidel Castro. Once Fidel dies and Raúl is put in a similarly uncomfortable position, we'll finally have the free flow of hand-rolled cigars and Timba/Salsa music that should have been happening the last 50 years. That will make the world a better place.
There are very few tools left in the Republican tool shedbox pouch with which they can win the few seats they even have a shot at. Obviously, immigration will be a big issue; but our side can easily be on the winning side by doing the right thing both politically and morally. Social conservatives are also going to try another round of ballot measures in various states giving "personhood" to Blastocyst-Americans. Those extreme measures are most likely headed for failure as well:
"This one is a frontal assault on the right to choose," Eric Sonderman said. "Every poll and analysis I've seen shows this is a pro-choice state. If you go at the very core of the right to choose without any exception, it's going to be a very tough political row to hoe."
Then there's the smear and fear tactic that worked so well in 2002 and 2004. It failed in 2006, but the old saw about only having a hammer now comes into play as we see the issueless Bob Schaffer, the NRSC and Republican staffers try to use FISA law complications against Democrats in general and Mark Udall in particular.
Here's the lie: Democrats have voted to give terrorists the same rights as Americans. (No links for right-wing garbage mongering; they're easy enough to find if you want.)
Here's the truth as found in the text of the bill:
Welcome to my new Web site - Bob Schaffer on the Issues. You have to hand it to the Democrats. . . they noticed that not only was I not talking about the issues in my race for the Senate, but that I also don’t even have an Issues section on my Web site, and they got right to work. They created this new Web site to show Coloradoans where I stand on the issues.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'm doing so well when it comes to the big issues of the day. For starters, I'm way too extreme for the vast majority of Colorado voters. Congressional Quarterly once wrote that, "On the rare occasions when Schaffer departs from the GOP leadership line, it is to stake out an even more conservative position." That should give you a good idea of just how far out of touch I'd be if I ever made it to the US Senate.
As if that weren't enough, I've been a huge backer of President George W. Bush. I backed his risky plan to privatize Social Security in 2001 and 2004. And when it comes to the war in Iraq, I've been a cheerleader for Bush's failed policies from day one. I support the war in Iraq so unequivocally that I've actually said that "My one and only regret is that so much emphasis was placed on the weapons of mass destruction." Aside from that, I can't think of anything else Bush has done wrong!
The United States Senate today rejected an effort to restore the writ of habeas corpus, a bedrock American foundational priniciple. Already rejected by the White House and overturned by the House, the last ditch effort to prevent dictatorial, tyrannical government now lay with the Supreme Court.
As has been the case since the passage of the Constitution-crushing "Patriot" Act, Osama bin Laden must be dancing with glee today upon the corpses of those Americans murdered on 9/11.
MyDD caught this GJ Sentinel item about Delta County Commissioner Wayne Wolf announcing that he will enter the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate nomination against Bob Schaffer. Now, I know nothing about Wayne Wolf other than what the Sentinel noted in their article -- that he's a 5th generation rancher from the Western Slope -- but why wouldn't that make him at least as strong a candidate for the Republicans as Backwards Bob?
Anyway, what I found most interesting in the article is Wolf telling the Sentinel that state GOP chair Dick Wadhams called him up to essentially warn him away from the race. So, in four short years we've gone from Republican leaders working against Bob Schaffer's Senate bid -- because they know Schaffer is a radical conservative who is out of touch with the mainstream of Colorado -- to having the state GOP chair work to clear the primary for him? Just more brilliant strategery from the man who helped turn George Allen from a presidential hopeful into an ex-Senator from Virginia.
It's a tossup as to whether Piñon Canyon or the Roan Plateau is the biggest local environmental issue in Colorado, but there is no question that of the two, it is the Roan Plateau that is in the most immediate danger. Ignoring the pleas of Governor Ritter and local governments in the Roan area (so much for "local control" of resources on federal lands), the Bush Administration has approved the oil & gas industry's favored plan for drilling on the Roan, in other words, the plan with the least protection for land and water quality.
Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar, whose districts would be directly affected by the Roan drilling plan, are co-sponsoring a bill to protect the Roan Plateau from the Bush drilling plan. Now, as part of his campaign for Senate, Mark Udall is circulating a petition in support of saving the Roan. I've signed it and I urge you to do the same. There is still time to save the Roan, and this issue deserves to be front and center in the Senate campaign in 2008.
article here but this means Larry Craig will not be running for re-election in '08 and may find he needs to resign now to "spend more time with his family."
He's toast. Now it is Idaho so it will be difficult for a Dem to win. But this does move it into the possible column. Especially since whatever Repub runs will have the shadow of Larry Craig over his campaign.
So George W. Bush has decided, all of a sudden, that Congress must immediately amend the FISA law to expand his powers to spy on Americans. At a time when we are finally exposing the dangers of the "unitary executive;" when we are seeing that this Administration was so desperate to abrogate the United States Constitution that it sent Abu Gonzales to bully doped-up John Ashcroft in his hospital bed into overruling the acting Attorney General's blocking of Administration programs which illegally spied on American citizens; George the Second wants Congress to EXPAND the powers of his Presidency!
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