Sharron Angle hiding out

At least, that's how it seems to anyone who tries to question her about anything. But now, as it turns out, she's even going so far as to avoid her own supporters. And it's not the first time. As a matter of fact, ever since her debate with Harry Reid, in which he failed to go for the throat, no one has seen hide nor hair of her. Of course, you have people in her campaign who says she goes door to door, and she does private fundraisers. Of course, who could blame her, after she put her foot in her mouth AGAIN by saying that the group of Hispanics she was talking to looked " a little more like Asians." So far, her non-appearances have been blamed on schedule conflicts. But what do you expect from a woman who avoids press like the plague as well as public events. you know what, this lady, god love her, is like a crazy, right-wing version of Joe Biden. Except Joe can be found. Here's my message for her: Sharron, if you are going to run for a high office, or any office for that matter, at least have the balls to make an appearance and talk to people. It might help turn things around.

Clarence Thomas

He's baaaaaaaaaack! No, seriously. News was recently released that, after nineteen years, Clarence Thomas's wife placed a call to Anita Hill in order to get an apology for what she said in the confirmation hearings of 1991. What she should have realized it would stir up everything, again. For those of you who have no memory of what happened, or just weren't around to see it, back in 1991, Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States. A woman named Anita Hill charged him with harassing her, among other things. He was confirmed, 52 to 48. Lillian McEwan has, for the first time, given an interview, none other to the Washington Post. And in this interview, she appeared to confirm what Ms. Hill said all those years ago. And just what was said? That Mr. Thomas was obsessed with pornography and that he made suggestive comments to his female colleagues, both of which he has denied. McEwan then went a step further, saying Mrs. Thomas may not have known the full facts when she demanded an apology from Ms. Hill. So why didn't she say something back then? Well, according to Ms. McEwan, there are a couple reasons. First, even after they broke up, she was friends with Mr. Thomas. Secondly, she said, she suspected that neither Thomas nor Hill was being completely honest in their testimonies. People who believed Ms. Hill said that this is her vindication. Some have even gone so far as to say if Joe Biden hadn't restricted the testimony to just those who worked with him, but had instead expanded it to people who were social with him, Thomas would never have been confirmed. Look, it's too late to get rid of him, it's old history. Let's just let things be. He'll be there until he dies or retires, and to me, death is more likely.

GOP hope in PA.

Joe Sestak may be catching up in the overall polls, but the GOP thinks they may still pull the win. Why? Because in absentee ballots, Pat Toomey holds an edge. the gap starts with those requesting ballots: 8 percent favor the GOP here. Among those returned, they hold a nineteen point advantage. Now, that seems a bit odd to me. Maybe we should investigate those, ya? However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the absentee ballots are only four percent of voters. Sestak, I think, still has a chance, with a massive get out the vote operation being performed in his favor.

FEC called against....

...two people, actually. The first is a bit of a surprise. It's none other than John McCain. Yes, THAT McCain. Feingold-McCain, which was recently shredded. Failed presidential candidate. Anyway, national Dems are saying that he may have violated laws when he paid to run ads for two House candidates, as well as the group, Friends Of John McCain. Democrats have also asked for an investigation into the candidates, Jesse Kelly and Ruth McClung. the commercials say who's paying, and feature John McCain saying he approves the message. But, Democrats say, Johnny Mack may still be breaking the law if he is spending $4,800. The big question, to me, is if he did, was it known by these two campaigns, and even planned that way? If not, they count as independent expenditures, which means that he may spend as much as he wants. The other is Linda McMahon. She is accused of using her company, WWE, to answer questions, first of all. How would that work, exactly? Secondly, by scheduling events close to the election, she is "coordinating with and using the corporate resources of her family's company. Democrats are accusing Mrs. McMahon's "fan appreciation day," which is scheduled three days before the election, and taping an episode in a heavily Democratic area on election day as being designed to affect turnout. WWE says the fan appreciation is to thank them for sticking with WWE and her, despite the things that were said about both. Democrats say that is proof of coordination. And the filming? According to Dems, because of her and her husband's financial stakes, it is an illegal campaign expenditure, plus an attempt to keep those not supporting Mrs. McMahon from voting. She is not expected to be at either event. All right, how much has she spent, $40 million? And she's still down, according to a new poll, by as much as nine points. I don't think either one will have a significant effect on the race. As for McCain, an investigation is warranted, but I don't think he has done anything wrong.

John McCain

He's like a punch-me clown: you just can't keep them down. After what many thought would be a tough primary fight, he's sticking up his head again. But this time, it is to declare intent to filibuster any attempts to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Never mind the fact that it has been ruled unconstitutional, and would have ended if the Department of Justice hadn't stuck it's long nose into things. Of course, he did explain that he would during a lame duck session and until there had been a complete review on effect in morale and battle effectiveness. OK, let's think about this: if they are not allowed to say they are gay, and they are trained, then they are effective, and they will not become less so just because they admit to being gay. Unfortunately, there is currently a split between the members of the military. I do think it should be repealed, and no, I do not think there will be disastrous consequences.

Unexpected Chance

Ben Quayle, the man once thought to be the prohibitive favorite in the race for Arizona's 3rd district, looks like he may be starting to lag. Now, I'll be the first to admit that this poll was done by a liberal group, the Daily Kos. But with 10 percent undecided, and Mr. Quayle down, 44 points compared to Jon Hulburd's 46, in a heavy Republican area, it is still interesting. It's even more interesting considering that, while only 7 percent of Dems will support Mr. Quayle, 19 percent of Republicans will support Mr. Hulburd. Independents back Hulburd 50 to 36. And it may all be because Mr. Quayle has been accused of writing for an adult site, called Dirty Scottsdale, under the name Brock Landers. So far, 52 percent have an unfavorable view of Mr. Quayle.

Reporter arrested

But it would appear that it is not because he broke the law. No, this reporter was detained after he tried to ask the nominnee a question. Because that is so dangerous, you can't have reporter's doing their jobs. the man's name was Tony hopfinger, who has been accused of trespassing and assult. So far, Hopfinger has not been charged, but Mr. Miller had this to say has accused Mr. Hopfinger of using the Town Hall to stage a publicity event. Ok, town Halls are open to the public, last I knew. Or did we just lose our civil rights and I missed it? Lisa Murkowski and Scott McAdams have both leveled charges of hypocrisy at Miller, with Mr. McAdams going so far as to tweet (my favorite line): "In case you didn't know it, the Constitution also applies to reporters." I would also like to add that Mr. Hopfinger was trying to ask a question that Miller has said he will no longer discuss: his past employment history. Miller is being viewed very unfavorably. Maybe he'll lose.

Environment won't hurt Dems

Which goes against what you would expect for a GOP tidal wave. 23 districts were polled where the Dems were in a tough fight, and the 21 who won't be hurt too badly for their vote are:

Jerry McNerney (Calif.); Betsy Markey (Colo.); Alan Boyd (Fla.); Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.); Alan Grayson (Fla.); Leonard Boswell (Iowa); Debbie Halvorsen (Ill.); Phil Hare (Ill.); Frank Kratovil (Md.); Mark Schauer (Mich.); Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.); Dina Titus (Nev.); John Hall (N.Y.); Steve Driehaus (Ohio); Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio); John Boccieri (Ohio); Paul Kanjorski (Pa.); Patrick Murphy (Pa.); John Spratt (S.C.); Tom Perriello (Va.) and Steve Kagan (Wis.). The ones in a dead heat for their votes are Zach Space in Ohio and Harry teague of New Mexico.This is just another sign that Democrats should not be running from their accomplishments. We need to talk about health care, and energy, and the other good things we've done. Of course, Republicans say that this would kill jobs and the economy, but they've been wrong about things before. Although, if anyone knows how to kill the economy, it's a Republican. And now I ask that if there is someone in one of these 23 districts who reads this, please go make calls on behalf of the Democrat.

The End ....

...of the drilling moratorium, which is simply not a good idea. but have the effects been overstated? There are 9,600 jobs in the industry, and only 2,000 were expected to be laid off or quit due to this. Now, someone may say, "ONLY 2,000 jobs?! How dare you?!" Well, I dare in the fact that compared to the number of jobs we've already lost, 2,000 is just a drop in the bucket. As it so happens, according to industry officials, only a small number were laid off. The good news, however, is that we did get tighter regulations. Maybe the people laid off could be transferred to researching alternative energy.

Democrat hope?

Is there hope for the party after all? According to a recent survey, around eighty percent of African American Democrats said that they were just as interested in the midterms, if not more so, as they were about the 2008 presidential election. According to David Bositis, a senior political analyst, said that if the African American vote comes out in the same high numbers, there would not be as much damage done as is currently being forecasted by the pundits. There are twenty districts where they make a significant portion of the voters. He went on to say that even though the Republicans are fielding African American candidates, it wouldn't work because they vote along party, not racial, lines. My thought: the twenty districts that are labeled competitive, where a majority are African Americans? They are not as competitive. That narrows it down to, sixty, eighty seats, somewhere in there. I think Democrats will still lose the house, by twenty seats or less.

Is Dino Rossi "The One?"

Republicans are starting to pin their hopes on Dino Rossi. The NRSC has pledged $4 million for his campaign, while outside groups, such as the NRA and Karl Rove's American Crossroads have cut ads either trashing Patty Murray and/or supporting Rossi. So far, it would seem that the odds are against them: the state hasn't had a Republican governor or voted a Republican president in twenty-five years; there is also strong support for the president and Ms. Murray. According to the math, this seat is absolutely necessary for them to take over again. Several polls are placing Murray in the lead, but things may change within the next twenty days or so. Do I think they will succeed? At this point, no. My vote is for Patty Murray.

Sam Brownback's hold

It is time to tell Senator Brownback to end the hold on confirming Francis Ricciardone, Jr. as an envoy to Turkey. Why does it even matter? Because back in 2002, he wrote a letter to Ricciardone. Big deal, right? Well, as it turns out, this letter thanked him for his dedication and service as an envoy to the Philippines, for trying to  obtain the release of a missionary and his wife. He went on to say that he knew Ricciardone would "do a good job representing America's interests." The missionary was killed, his wife was freed. And why was the hold placed? Former Bush advisor Elliot Abrams said that he did not push hard enough to obtain democracy while serving as an ambassador to Egypt from 2005 to 2008. To be fair though, neither did the Bush administration. It is currently unknown if the hold will be lifted after the election or not.

Arizona Dems take on the RGA

Tomorrow, early voting ballots are being mailed out to Arizona voters. And the Arizona Democratic Party is claiming that the Republican Governor's Association violated state election laws trying to keep Jan Brewer in. Republicans obviously are calling it politics, noting that Terry Goddard, her opponent, is losing. Badly. Democrats are claiming that the RGA failed to register as a personal action committee, which is a committee that is designed to spend money to elect or defeat a canadite. They are also accused of soliciting money for Ms. Brewer on their website and improperly gave corparate money to a state committee. I'm not sure how that last one would work. a complaint was filed with the Secretary of State, also a Republican, so you know it's not going to go anywhere. And frankly, with the timing, I'm not so sure anything should happen.

Chris Coons leads

For once, the GOP establishment might be right. Remember, before the Deleware primary, they were saying she had no chance at being elected? Well, a poll has come out showing that Chris Coons holds a double digit lead over O'Donnell, a 19 point lead. What could possibly explain such a substantial lead? How about the 85 percent of Democrats who are going to vote for Mr. Coons, as compared to only 68 percent of Republicans who will vote for Ms. O'Donnell? She just comes off, in my mind, as too extreme and too odd. She's claimed trying witchcraft, asked why monkeys aren't still evolving, and claims that homosexuals suffer from an identity crisis, among other things. Just think, if Mike Castle had won, I wouldn't be writing this right now. There'd be no point, because he'd probably win, by at least 11 points. Oh well. Elect Chris Coons in 2010!

Democrats and California

New polls show that the Democrats have a small lead in California. Meg Whitman, has has spent  $119 million dollers against Jerry Brown, is down by seven points, 50 to 43.  But in my mind, we may attribute this to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's leadership. It would take a major mistake by former Governor Brown for her to be able to come back. Meantime, Barbara Boxer leads Carly Fiorina, 49 to 45. And the leads may widen, with more Democrats saying that they are energized, that they are more likely to vote. It went from 75 percent, up from 60. Also, frankly, there are more democrats in California. Now, if we could spend that energy all over the country...

GOP goes against food stamps

Yes, you read that right folks. Uncle Newt, the man who brought the republicans back from the desert in 1994, has been advising Republicans to hit Democrats for letting the food stamps assitance program grow. You have to admit, this is kind of a strange play. A lot of the focus on this election has been over tax cuts for the rich, not food stamps for poor people. But it is a very shrewd calculation. It makes the Dems look like socialists, and the Repubs like good little capitalists. However, this move is also a bit, um, cruel and assish. Given that we are suffering a recession that started because the Republicans had to deregulate EVERYTHING, it is no freaking wonder that food stamp use went up. People are poorer now, hello? 1 in 8 adults are on it, as well as 1 in 4 children. This is just a way to highten the class division. And frankly, doing this to avoid looking like the party of rich, white people is kind of like having Virg Bernero drop the nomination and supporting Rick Synder. It doesn't work. We need Democrats to keep everything working right.

Hillary VP?

That's the story that has been going around lately. However, the White House has been saying that such rumors are "absouletly untrue." Meanwhile, Secretary Clinton has claimed "no interest" in switching with Vice President Biden. The rumor was started when Bob Woodward said that "possible" that Mrs. Clinton would see the deal as a "precursor," a kickoff, if you will, to the election of 2016. Mrs. Clinton still claims to have no intention of running again after her 2008 loss. She has also said that if Obama wins again, she will not serve another term as secretary of state, preferring to have a private life. Things change, however, and six years is a long time. I have a feeling she may reconsider.