Just waiting for my ride and all systems are go for Blogcon. Can’t think of anything I’ve forgotten so far, but I’m sure it will come to me on the plane.
Archive for September, 2010
Packed up and ready to go…
Posted: September 8, 2010 by datechguy in personalTags: blogcon, fyi, have fedora will travel, washington
Yes Plouffe is trying to spin at 70, but they were spinning at 50 too
Posted: September 8, 2010 by datechguy in elections, opinion/news, politics, tea partiesTags: 2010 elections, bill gunn, congress, david plouffe, election 2010, just deserts, ma-1, spin
Today on the Hill Obama partisan Plouffe is trying to set unrealistic expectations to give the left the chance to say: Republicans fell short.
White House senior adviser David Plouffe — Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign manager — said that a bevy of races were in play, from the national to local level.
“There are a lot of competitive races out there. There’s going to be at least 70 House races in play, about 15 competitive Senate races, a couple dozen tough gubernatorial races,” he said in a video to supporters of Organizing for America, the president’s political arm.
Plouffe painted a picture of a dire electoral landscape in which, if Democrats were to lose the majority of those races, their losses would be massive.
Plouffe is trying to scare the troops into action and paints the most dire picture you have ever seen. Glenn Reynolds (by who I first saw the story) asks if he is inflating. The answer is he THINKS he is. Certainly on the senate side 15 is unrealistic, but the dynamics are very different.
For example Ma-1 is not on a lot of people’s radar, but Sitting congressman John Olver has challenged Bill Gunn to 3 debates. Think about that a second. A sitting congressman with nearly two decades in the house has been reduced to challenging a political newcomer to debate him on the issues in MASSACHUSETTS. And the 1st district includes the Berkshires, I guess the ‘Bama redneck area is now extending to the mountains.
This is likely being repeated all over the country. Plouffe is trying to spin but once people believe they can win they work harder. Once people are convinced they can make a difference it gets them off their rears and into the fight.
Plouffe is trying to reset what a “win” is just as the media and democrats. He is instead creating a self fulfilling prophecy it’s isn’t just money candidates need but willing workers. This speech is going to provide workers for republican candidates all over.
Remember congressional democrats, you did this to yourself.
memeorandum thread here
One busy night from Gunn to Reading
Posted: September 8, 2010 by datechguy in congress, elections, politics, tea partiesTags: 2010 elections, 9th essex, axis of fedora, bill gunn, bill hudak, election 2010, gerry dembrowski, john olver, keith lepor, ma-07, ma-6, ma-9, ma01, ray igou, republican primaries, rob mccarthy, tea parties
Started the evening in Townsend Mass. Where Bill Gunn was holding a town hall after his return from Washington
Standing out for Bill Gunn (r) Ma-01 in Townsend
His fans were already out in force holding signs large and small:
The big sign at the Corner
Some of the younger guys not only took signs but as the event started went back to parade them for motorists returning home via Route 119
All the cool kids are supporting the guy who rides a motercycle
And Bill took the time to meet with some of the voters before things got started:
I once cast a ballot this big
Bill gave me a few minutes telling me a bit about the Beck Rally (he attended), approving of any pro-business moves the administration makes (while stating bluntly they are trying to buy votes at the last minute), He told me his plans for September 11th (Event at Fitchburg State University) and broke some news telling me that John Olver has challenged him to three debates and he has accepted. (I was under the impression that 20 year incumbents generally don’t see the need to have multiple debates with new challengers. Better get Olver off the triage list STAT!)
From there my next stop was the Reading Tea Party where 4 other candidates for Congress spoke:
Keith Lepor ma-09
Keith Lepor never told me he was a combat reporter in Afghanistan who is only alive to challenge Stephen Lynch because his body armor stopped a short that hit him square in the heart:
The difference between a dead combat reporter and a live republican candidate
When I asked him why he never mentioned it during my interview with him last week he answered “You never asked.”
I met two candidates for the republican nomination to face John Tierney in the Mass 6th District first Rob McCarthy
Rob McCarthy (r) 6th district
And secondly Bill Hudak who I first met and Scott Brown’s victory party and who gets a lot of credit for announcing early way before the republican tide started to sweep the land:
Bill Hudak republican candidate ma-06
Either would be a better alternative that Tierney we also met Gerry Dembrowski one of two republicans seeking to retire Ed Markey in the 7th district:
Gerry Dembrowski (r) for ma-7
He emphasized that the current economic woes can be traced to longtime congressmen like Markey who let things get this far. We also had state rep candidate for the 9th Essex district airline pilot Ray Igou:
Ray Igou (r) 9th Essex District
I found him very impressive, we need more like him on the state level.
The Axis of Fedora strikes again!
Of course the big news of the night was the expansion of the axis of fedora.
I’ll get the video up later, big day ahead tomorrow.
Fidel Castro and Pappy McDaniel
Posted: September 7, 2010 by datechguy in media, opinion/newsTags: Ahmadinejad, antisemitism, books, cuba, elections, evil, fidel castro, history, iran, jeffrey goldberg, lyndon johnson, texas, the atlantic
In 1941 Governor Lee “Pappy” McDaniel ran in a special election for an open Senate seat created by the death of Senator John Sheppard (an interesting fact is that a son of Sam Houston the 1st president of Texas born in 1793 was appointed as a “placeholder” senator during the time between the death and the election). His primary opponent was Lyndon Johnson then a congressman from the 10th district. The two primary candidates fought it out and both were involved in some underhanded tactics however at the end of the day it looked like Johnson had the game won until (According to Robert Caro in his book The Years of Lyndon Johnson the Path to Power) O’Daniel’s enemies contrived to steal the election FOR him to get him out of the governors office.
It turned out that Pappy although corrupt had one “virtue” and that was dislike for alcohol. Convinced it was the devil’s brew he was prepared to keep “dry” zones around military bases and his foes in the liquor industry wanted him out.
I thought of Pappy O’Daniel when I read this surprising quote from Jeffrey Goldberg’s interview with Fidel Castro:
Over the course of this first, five-hour discussion, Castro repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism. He criticized Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and explained why the Iranian government would better serve the cause of peace by acknowledging the “unique” history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence.
It was quite a shock to hear one of the monsters of the 20th century excoriating a modern monster for antisemitism and going on about the long history of Jewish suffering, that’s when I remembered Pappy.
Pappy was an opponent of the dangers of drinking, but it didn’t make him any less a corrupt pol.
Castro if this interview is to be believed believes that antisemitism is a centuries long disgrace and that Israel has a right to exist, that doesn’t make him any less of a murderous thug. I’m not going to fall for his pap any more that the Babliu blog guys will.
As the Doctor once told Margaret the Slitheen it doesn’t matter, you can oppress millions because every now and again you can speak up against an injustice that has nothing to do with you.
memeorandum thread here
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