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Sunday, September 10, 2006
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Social Security
TPM Cafe: "In an interview published today in The Wall Street Journal (sub.req.), President Bush told editorial page editor Paul Gigot that next year he plans on partially phasing out Social Security and replacing it with private accounts, and that he thinks he can do it as long as the Republicans retain control of Congress, which he thinks they will."
"2008 pres"
7:08:10 AM 
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Gordon for Secretary of State?
ToTheRight.org: "The Green Party of Colorado blasted Ken Gordon for alleged backroom deals. Green Party candidate for Secretary of State Rick VanWie withdrew from the race yesterday. The Green Party is alleging that Ken Gordon coerced VanWie into withdrawing by 'guilt-tripping' the candidate with imaginary polls."
"denver 2006"
7:06:36 AM
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GOP to go negative in a big way?
Coyote Gulch loves negative campaigns. It looks like we're going to have a great time this fall. The "Swift Boats" are about to sail, according to the Washington Post. From the article, "Republicans are planning to spend the vast majority of their sizable financial war chest over the final 60 days of the campaign attacking Democratic House and Senate candidates over personal issues and local controversies, GOP officials said. The National Republican Congressional Committee, which this year dispatched a half-dozen operatives to comb through tax, court and other records looking for damaging information on Democratic candidates, plans to spend more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising budget on what officials described as negative ads. The hope is that a vigorous effort to 'define' opponents, in the parlance of GOP operatives, can help Republicans shift the midterm debate away from Iraq and limit losses this fall. The first round of attacks includes an ad that labeled a Democratic candidate in Wisconsin 'Dr. Millionaire' and noted that he has sued 80 patients...
"The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, has enlisted veteran party strategist Terry Nelson to run a campaign that will coordinate with Senate Republicans on ads that similarly will rely on the best of the worst that researchers have dug up on Democrats. The first ad run by the new RNC effort criticizes Ohio Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) for voting against proposals designed to toughen border protection and deport illegal immigrants. Because challengers tend to be little-known compared with incumbents, they are more vulnerable to having their public image framed by the opposition through attacks and unflattering personal revelations. And with polls showing the Republicans' House and Senate majorities in jeopardy, party strategists said they have concluded that their best chance to prevent big Democratic gains is a television and direct-mail blitz over the next eight weeks aimed at raising enough questions about Democratic candidates that voters decide they are unacceptable choices...
"In a memo released last week, [Rep. Tom] Cole, who is running to succeed Reynolds at the NRCC, expanded on that strategy. The memo recommended that vulnerable incumbents spend $20,000 on a research 'package' to find damaging material about challengers and urged that they 'define your opponent immediately and unrelentingly.' GOP officials said internal polling shows Republicans could limit losses to six to 10 House seats and two or three Senate seats if the strategy -- combined with the party's significant financial advantage and battled-tested turnout operation -- proves successful. Democrats need to pick up 15 seats to win control of the House and six to regain power in the Senate. Against some less experienced and little-known opponents, said Matt Keelen, a Republican lobbyist heavily involved in House campaigns, 'It will take one or two punches to fold them up like a cheap suit.' Republicans plan to attack Democratic candidates over their voting records, business dealings, and legal tussles, the GOP officials said...
"As Republicans try to localize races, Democrats' hopes for the most part hinge on being able to nationalize the election and turn it into a referendum on the Iraq war, President Bush, and the performance of the Republican Congress -- all faring poorly in polls this year. Bush will try to make terrorism the issue nationally, casting the election as a choice between two distinct approaches for protecting the nation from attack. Beyond that, however, most Republicans want to distance their elections from the national context. That strategy is born of necessity. Republicans are alarmed by the large number of House and Senate incumbents who are trailing or tied in their internal polling. Many are attracting the support of less than 45 percent of likely voters -- a danger zone for any incumbent 60 days before an election. The political rule of thumb is that incumbents rarely draw a majority of voters who make up their minds in the days shortly before Election Day. History shows how the combination of opposition research and negative advertising can work. In 2000, Republicans unleashed a furious attack on the spending practices of Democratic House candidate Linda Chapin, including her purchase of an $18,500 bronze frog as a legislator in Florida. Chapin, then the favorite to win an open Florida House seat, lost to Republican Ric Keller. That same election cycle, Republicans dug up a tape of state Rep. Eleanor Jordan (D-Ky.) asking to speed up a vote so she could attend a fundraiser, an image that destroyed her chances of knocking off Rep. Anne M. Northup (R)...
"One Democratic research success this year came when Emanuel's staff combed though the archives of several universities to find a copy of an article Colorado Republican candidate Rick O'Donnell wrote for an obscure publication in the mid-1990s. A researcher eventually found the article at George Washington University. In it, O'Donnell argued that Social Security should be abolished -- a revelation that was highlighted in three sharply worded DSCC mailings in the district. Direct-mail appeals often carry the most negative and potentially damaging messages. Dan Hazelwood, a leading GOP direct mail consultant, said that if a hypothetical Democratic candidate favors the establishment of a garbage dump in a section of the district, for instance, it makes more sense to "narrow-cast" this message by mail to the people most affected rather than buying an expensive, districtwide television ad."
Thanks to Josh Marshall for the link.
"denver 2006"
7:04:24 AM
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Ritter or Beauprez for governor?
ToTheRight.org: "Bob Beauprez's campaign brought in a measley $216,520 in August. Democrat Bill Ritter outraised Beauprez nearly 3-1, bringing in $606,000 in the same time period. Maybe Bob Martinez sent the rest of the money to Arizona. In any event, please donate to Bob Beauprez's campaign; a new campaign staff is going to be expensive."
"denver 2006"
6:47:36 AM
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Gore for president?
Rocky Mountain News: "Former Vice President Al Gore said Sunday he hadn't rule out making a second bid for the White House, though he said it was unlikely. Gore spoke to reporters in Sydney [Australia], where he was promoting the local premiere of his documentary on global warming."
"2008 pres"
6:41:32 AM
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The fight for the state legislature
Here's a report from the Denver Post about this year's election and control of the state legislature. They write, "With control of the statehouse at stake in November, candidates are gearing up for one of the nastiest and costliest campaign seasons ever. 'We're going to set new records in terms of negative advertising and new records in terms of shaving the truth in advertising,' said John Straayer, a Colorado State University political science professor. Indeed, candidates are complaining about dishonest attack ads and big-money special-interest groups that could pour $1 million into some of the most competitive statehouse races. Democratic House Majority Leader Alice Madden estimated more than $6 million could be spent on the struggle for control of the House of Representatives alone...
"Statewide, the Republicans need to hold all their statehouse seats plus pick up one Senate and three House seats in order to take back the legislature. Democrats surprised Republicans when they took control of both houses in 2004 for the first time in more than 40 years. The victories were attributed in part to four wealthy Democrats - Tim Gill, Jared Polis, Rutt Bridges and Pat Stryker - who funneled money into independent groups that targeted battleground legislative races. Republicans this campaign have taken a page from the Democratic playbook, gathering their own power brokers to set up their own independent political group, Trailhead. Wealthy Democratic supporters are also back, funding several groups, including one called Clear Peak Colorado."
"denver 2006"
6:36:44 AM
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Same-sex marriage
Here's a look at the issue same-sex marriage across the U.S. from the Denver Post. From the article, "Colorado's midterm ballot, whittled from a confusing slate of four possible same-sex issues, now stands as the first in the country to offer two distinct options: Amendment 43, which would prohibit gay marriage, and Referendum I, which would grant domestic partners certain rights and responsibilities. To Mike Paradis, a gay man celebrating 18 years with his partner, a referendum on domestic partnerships lets voters look beyond the battle over gay marriage on the November ballot...
"To Aimee Fuhrman, who weeks ago added her signature to the petition drive for a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit gay marriage, the approaching Election Day choices offer a chance to clearly voice her values...
"By separating what they regard as issues of fairness from the politically combustible 'm- word,' gay-rights advocates hope to make headway in a landscape where 'defense-of-marriage amendments,' known as DOMAs, have passed easily wherever they've appeared on the ballot. The measures already have been adopted in 20 states by favorable votes ranging from 57 percent in Oregon to 86 percent in Mississippi. Eight states will offer some version of a DOMA in this midterm election: Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. Six of the eight measures include language that also effectively denies legal recognition to same-sex couples. Coloradans could pass either, neither or even both measures, thereby banning same-sex marriage but allowing couples certain legal rights."
"denver 2006"
6:32:15 AM
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Beauprez: Lawyerful employment act
Bill Ritter and Bob Beauprez were howling with Club 20 yesterday, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article, "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter accused his Republican opponent, Bob Beauprez, Saturday night of trying to 'train elk' as part of a wildlife plan he unveiled several weeks ago in Grand Junction. Ritter's comments, poking at Beauprez[base ']s proposal to decrease the wildlife disruption caused by oil and gas drilling, came during what had been a staid confrontation between the major-party gubernatorial candidates as part of Club 20's closing debate...
"The Congressman's proposed plan would divert severance tax funds from the Department of Natural Resource[base ']s discretionary funds and use them to create secondary habitats for wildlife. During the discussion, Beauprez seized the reins from the former Denver District Attorney's cross-examination time and accused him of sitting on his hands and not confronting the issue as explicitly as he had...
"Beauprez and Ritter also clashed during a discussion of what principles should guide watershed drilling, an issue the Grand Junction City Council confronted earlier in the week. Repeating comments he made at a Colorado Water Congress event last month, Beauprez told the crowd that science should guide how and when watershed drilling should occur. He added that in advance of any watershed drilling activity, local communities should have a forum to voice their concerns...
"Ritter, however, told the crowd to rolling applause that science should come second to local residents' concerns. He said as governor he would seek to involve local residents in drilling debates. Ritter's comments followed several days on the heels of the Grand Junction City Council's approval of measures to increase energy industry accountability for watershed drilling...
"After Beauprez called Amendment 38, which would expand Coloradan's ability to introduce ballot initiatives at all levels of government, a 'lawyerful employment act,' Ritter said he was proud to be among the first in his family to attend college and law school. Ritter subsequently accused Beauprez of having it both ways on Amendment 38, citing his support and then dismissal of the ballot initiative amendment. Beauprez, however, said he thought it was odd that politics was the only profession where changing your mind after careful consideration was a bad thing. Ritter said that it was the first time Beauprez changed his mind not based on lawyers."
"denver 2006"
6:17:37 AM
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Lake Powell at 49% of capacity
Lake Powell did not get a chance to re-charge this year with enough water to meet downstream commitments to the lower basin states, according to the Mohave Daily News. From the article, "Federal officials say snowmelt into the Colorado River has fallen below average again this year. From April to July, when the river receives most of its snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains, the flow of water into Lake Powell was only 67 percent of average, according to the National Weather Service's Colorado Basin River Forecast Center in Salt Lake City. The center found about 5.3 million acre-feet of water flowed into Lake Powell during the traditional snowmelt season this year. That's roughly 3 million acre-feet less than the reservoir on the Utah-Arizona border is scheduled to release in the coming year to meet water orders downstream...
"The below-average inflow only will worsen the situation at Lake Powell, which has shrunk to 49 percent of capacity amid seven years of drought."
"colorado water"
6:05:35 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 8:32:53 PM.
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