Couple of races in Pennsylvania worth watching .

The race for the Arlen Specter seat is heating up;and things aren't looking up for Benedict Arlen . Polling this week shows his primary challenger ,the very compelling Admiral Joe Sestak,has taken the lead in the Democrat primary race. The Primary will be May 18.

The winner will face off against former President of the 'Club for Growth' and former Representative Pat Toomey .


There is a toss up race ,too close to call in the special election for the congressional seat formerly held by the king of pork Jack Murtha (Pa 12th CD )between Murtha aide Mark Critz,and Republican businessman Tim Burns .
This special election will also be held May 18 . One will win and serve out the remaining time for this Congressional term ;but they will also have a rematch in November . Both parties have taken a special interest in this race and have pumped a lot of campaign money into this district that used to be a firm Democrat district while Murtha gathered the pork. Without Murtha ;well... these are the people that the President once described as "bitter clingers".

I am voting for Sestak sure everyone says Toomey will beat Sestak but Toomey will have a harder time with Arlen. But I never liked Arlen to begin with. And I don't care that Ed "cheesesteak belly" Rendell ad Obama back him. He is a snake that is out for himself. And I am not in the 12th district so I have no say on what goes on in Pennsyltucky.

I happen to think Specter is washed up and Toomey would wipe the floor with him.(he almost beat him last time in the Republican primaries ) But Sestak will pose a greater challenge to Toomey.

I think Sestak is going to beat ex-Specter easily if I am watching the polling trends accurately ,and even though I would vote for Toomey in the general election ; I think the state could do a lot worse than sending Sestak to Washington . But that's just me... always have had a soft spot for the Navy.

Sestak being in the Navy for 31 years (I think) really appeals to me. Plus I think Arlen is washed up also. Sestak is really starting to gain momentum in the primary. Philly will have a very very big say in what happens. And I swear if I get another Robo Call from SS Jimmy Rollins to vote for Arlen I am going to become a Yankees fan ;)

That's right... Philly is Specter's base ! His last hurrah is just like his beginning . He always was, and always will be a weasel( since the magic bullet days).

”Well, I probably shouldn’t say this,” he said over lunch last month. ”But I have thought from time to time that I might have helped the country more if I’d stayed a Republican.”

Funny how the switch in momentum for Sestak occurred about that time.

Here's an interesting thought. What happens if he loses the primary and does a Charlie Crist?

What would be the results in a 3 way race ?

Funny you bring that up Tom cause I was thinking the same thing. I would think it would be a win for Toomey. These Democrats are a strange bunch. And to be honest I am growing tired of them. I think it is about time I switch back to Independent.

On a slightly different note do you think any NFL team is going to pick up former number one pick JaMarcus Russell? HE is on waivers for 9.45 Million!!

ROFL . I went to the "game " the Giants played against the Raiders last year . Russell was horrendous ! In a game where they were down early Russell had 100 yards passing ;mostly dump off passes ;and ,he fumbled 3 times.

He is or should I say was horrendous. I hate that they give these unproven rookies all this money. He has no desire to play in the NFL he got his 39 million and checked out.

But back to Arlen and Joe Polls say it is to close to call.
Polls: Specter-Sestak race too close to call | Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/12/2010

Yes , but it's the trends that interested me. A month ago Specter held a huge advantage.

Yesterday the Dems in W Va ousted a long time Congressman for a conservative-Democrat upstart in the primaries .
In Utah they ousted a longtime Republican Senator . Not a good year to be an incumbent.

Yes, all incumbents have a bulls eye on their back. I was just reading that Arlen was at a rally and thanked the Allegheny County Republicans for their support. I guess old habits die hard.

Results are in...

Benedict Arnold is making vacation plans. He couldn't dodge the magic bullet this time .
Sestak now faces Toomey in November .

Mark Critz eeked out a win by running against his former boss's record and by playing the trojan horse blue dog gambit (word of warning to Republicans ,the 2006 election ploy is still in the Dems playbook).

They will face off again in November .

Burns also blundered in the last days of the race by saying he supported VAT while failing to add the disclaimer that he wanted income taxes reduced. Critz hammered him as a tax increaser.

In other races Rand Paul (who is NOT a mirror image of his old man ) rode the tea party express to victory.

In Arkansas uber-liberal Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D) forced liberal Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) into a June 8 runoff after both failed to win a majority of the vote in Tuesday's Senate primary. A case of the dems consuming the dems.

Tom was there a third Dem in the Arkansas race that resulted in no one winning a majority?

Yes but the run off is between Halter and Lincoln . This should've been a safe seat for Lincoln ,but she was primaried because she did not toe the progressive line.

But even more important ;the President stuck his neck out for both Lincoln and Specter and neither fared well. In fact ,in Pa ;the White House did all but break the law when they allegedly offered a job to Sestak if he wouldn't run .

Best moment of the campaign was Fast Eddie holding a rally for Specter in Philly ,and no one showing up.

The tea party is beginning to leave disposed carcasses on the political landscape . Specter openly campaigned against them. Good riddence to bad rubbish .He became the fourth Democrat in seven months to lose a high profile race despite the president's active involvement. They have also been the determining factor in 2 Republican primaries. (Long time Utah Republican moderate Senator Robert Bennett was defeated in his primary bid to be renominated as the Republican candidate for Senate by more conservative candidates backed by the Utah Tea Party)

The most interesting question is how old Washington will react to these events . If we extrapolate from the President's responses to date we can expect them to attempt to double down and up the ante . If that is so ,it could be a busy time as official Washington passes more economically damaging legislation.

Meanwhile if only they would just listen to the concerns of the tea partiers they would find that their message isn't really all that complicated . They want to work their job and keep just a little more of their paycheck ,give their children a decent chance for a secure future ,and to reign in the excess growth of the national government .

If you want to understand their message all you have to do is examine the results in the Critz Democrat win . He ran as a trojan horse blue dog conservative democrat . He ran against everything his boss Jack Murtha was for .He strongly opposed ObamaCare and the Crap & Tax energy bill..

God help him if he votes in unison with the Obots . The people in his district are fully capable of tar and feather and ride him out on a rail .

What is clear is the that the goals of the tea partiers are winning the debate in the public forum. They may not hold power yet;but they have come to realize that winning the debate is not enough in an era of leaders who will act against the will of we the people .

I like some of the tea party message but all the Obama as Hitler stuff turns me off. And to be fair it turned me off when the crazy lefties would make signs with Bush as Hitler also. As much as I didn't agree with Bush he was my president and I would never compare him to Hitler or whatever they compared him to.

The writing is definitley on the wall and if Critz votes the wrong way he will definitely not win in November. But will he even have time to vote? He is probably campaigning already.

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Originally Posted by spitvenom

I like some of the tea party message but all the Obama as Hitler stuff turns me off. And to be fair it turned me off when the crazy lefties would make signs with Bush as Hitler also. As much as I didn't agree with Bush he was my president and I would never compare him to Hitler or whatever they compared him to.

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You might try attending one of the rallies just to see how much of the lunatic fringe is present. Most rallies, left or right, draw them out in hopes of getting on camera. Most of the TEA party events I've attended had one or two nuts per hundred attendees.

Yeah but 1 or 2 nuts is 1 or 2 nuts to many for me. Here is the Ad that really lost the race for Arlen. It is not even the Bush part of the video it is the way he says reelected. He sounds like a villain from the 1930's

'The Switch' ad that did Specter in | Philly | 05/20/2010

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Originally Posted by tomder55

What is clear is the that the goals of the tea partiers are winning the debate in the public forum.

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Hello tom:

I disagree for a couple of reasons.

The tea party is nothing more than the right wing of the right wing. We've seen them before when they called themselves evangelical's.

IF their agenda is Rand Paul's agenda, I can tell you right now that the dismantlement of the New Deal, and the repeal of Civil Rights ain't going to happen. Period! So, the question is, does Rand Paul really and truly represent the tea party? That's something they'll have to figure out- but I don't see a nice happy family over there.

For some reason, though, you don't see the same thing happening on the progressive side, even though you mention Blanche Lincoln being primaried. The same thing would have happened to Ben Nelson had he been up for re-election. Just as the right is discarding their middle, the left is doing the same thing.

Given the results of our last national election, the goals of left wing already WON the debate, and can win it again.

excon

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The tea party is nothing more than the right wing of the right wing. We've seen them before when they called themselves evangelical's.

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We certainly do disagree on this point. They are mainstream ;what others have called silent majority in the past. They are who the founders were referring to when they said in the Declaration of Independence .Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

You wrongly smear them with the charge that they would like civil rights dismantled ;but you are closer to the truth in pointing out the New Deal as the point when government started sticking it's hands deeply in their pockets .

A false smear repeated often enough resonates and that explains why spit and you would believe that these good plain folks are a bunch of extremists .

But the facts don't lie .

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The national breakdown of the Tea Party composition is 57 percent Republican, 28 percent Independent and 13 percent Democratic, according to three national polls

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Survey: Four in 10 Tea Party members are Democrats or independents - The Hill's Ballot Box

Fiscal issues unite the tea party folks in common cause.

When did I say they were ALL racists. Please don't put words in my mouth!

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Originally Posted by tomder55

You wrongly smear them with the charge that they would like civil rights dismantled ;

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Hello again, tom:

Nahhhh. I'm haven't smeared 'em yet. I'm waiting to find out if they ARE Rand Paul, or is Rand Paul THEM. Nobody has answered me about that stuff yet. You DO agree, there's a WIDE disparity between them...

When and if, I find out that they ARE like the candidate they just elected (and I don't see why they wouldn't be), THAT'S when I'll smear them. Certainly, a person who believes that people shouldn't discriminate, but when they DO, government should look the other way, OUGHT TO BE SMEARED. And, I promise to do my share.

excon

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When did I say they were ALL racists. Please don't put words in my mouth!

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I apologize for that and will modify it to the word extremists .

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Originally Posted by tomder55

I apologize for that and will modify if to the word extremists .

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Hello again, tom:

If the tea partiers, to a man, support Rand Pauls position on the Civil Rights law, they ARE racists. And, I certainly don't mind you saying I said so.

excon

I know what you are talking about... his appearance on Rachel Madcow.

Man you jumped off his bandwagon in a hurry . I thought you liked libertarian purity.

By the way ;I never heard you complain about the many questionable organizations that support his old man

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Originally Posted by tomder55

I know what you are talking about ....his appearance on Rachel Madcow. Man you jumped off his bandwagon in a hurry . I thought you liked libertarian purity.

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Hello again, tom:

I'm not a PURE anything. I deviate. I think. It wasn't his appearance. It's his views. His appearance just made 'em crystal clear.

Libertarianism, contrary to how its purported, isn't simply uber right. It's uber left too. That's the path I took to get there. Ron and Rand took another path. Where those two paths converge, we agree. Where they don't, we don't.

As we've discussed, the Pauls and I don't approach the drug war from the same place, either. But, if it's ended because of states rights, or ended because of the commerce clause, or the equal protection clause, makes no difference to me. The result WOULD be the same.

excon

Paul has responded so take it for it's worth.

Ok Maybe the tea party people are racist or at least Mark Williams is. Monkey God really!!

Tea Party Express organizer Mark Williams blogged on his Web site last week that the mosque - to be constructed near the former site of the World Trade Center - would be a "monument ... for the worship of the terrorists' monkey-god and a 'cultural center' to propagandize for the extermination of all things not approved by their cult."

Well Rand made it a point during the campaign to distance himself from his old man. Perhaps this is one of those issues.

Unless he also retracts then daddy Paul clearly was against the Civil Rights Act.
He was in fact the only member of Congress who voted against recognizing the Act on it's 40th anniversary.

YouTube - The Trouble With Forced Integration

Rand is wise to distance himself from some of his father's off the wall positions.

Hello again, Steve:

His appearance needed no response. It was not gotcha TV. He has plenty of time to clarify his views and did so quite well. Besides, his "response" didn't back away from his central claim, anyway, because his central claim is bedrock libertarianism. Private business, he believes, should be PRIVATE. It's that simple.

I don't disagree. But, what I think business should be able to do in the name of privacy, and what he thinks, isn't the same. Libertarianism isn't a euphemism for anarchy.

excon

Ex, I don't know a darn thing about Rand Paul other than he's the son of your hero, Ron. I was just throwing the info out there as a public service because I'm a nice guy.

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. He has plenty of time to clarify his views and did so quite well. Besides, his "response" didn't back away from his central claim, anyway, because his central claim is bedrock libertarianism. Private business, he believes, should be PRIVATE. It's that simple.

I don't disagree.

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Well he'd better think his position through and do a better job explaining himself during the campaign or the seat will go Democrat.

I wonder if he's even thought through his ideological purity . I'd like to see how far he thinks a private business can discriminate.

I know you really don't think that because you won't even give leeway to pharmacy clerks who don't want to dispense abortion drugs.

The lunch counter example is simple and cliche-ish and so is the all-white country club. I'm sure that is as far as Rachel Madcow thought it through also.But I just watched the video of the exchange and to her credit she gave him every opportunity to step out of the mine field he walked into . To me his response was full mode political tap dance. Certainly not a breath of fresh air.

But lets take his position beyond the lunch counter .How about a private banker who exercises his libertarian right to refuse a loan to a minority owned business ? How about in real estate ? Should a landlord be allowed to discriminate based on race ?

His uber-libertarian position on private business would seem to lead to these conclusions. As a representative of all the people his views are completely unacceptable.

I have not to date studied Rand Paul that closely . But
I have my eyes on him now .

The tea party rallied behind him because of fiscal issues. It remains to be seen if he continues to get their support.

Hello tom:

I love Rachel Madcow. I have a thing for lesbo chicks.

excon

I thought republicans were for keeping government out of peoples business. Tom Corbett the Republican running for Gov. of PA subpoenaed Twitter for account information of bloggers who have criticizes his campaign tactics. This guy just lost every single nerd like me with this stupid move!!

Attorney General Tom Corbett subpoenaes Twitter account information of blogger who criticizes his campaign tactics | - PennLive.com

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Originally Posted by spitvenom

I thought republicans were for keeping government out of peoples business. Tom Corbett the Republican running for Gov. of PA subpoenaed Twitter for account information of bloggers who have criticizes his campaign tactics. This guy just lost every single nerd like me with this stupid move!!!!

Attorney General Tom Corbett subpoenaes Twitter account information of blogger who criticizes his campaign tactics | - PennLive.com

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If there one thing I've noticed about republicans it's the inherent hypocrisy in their politics.

More results due in this weekend

The Hawaii congressional race should be decided (I think ) . But since there is a large proportion of ballots being mailed in ,it could take some time to finish the count.

There are 2 major Democrat candidates among the 14 people on the ballot . If they split the Dem vote ,there is a possibility that Obama's Blue Hawaii could go red.

Over in the nutmeg state ;the Dems thought the heir apparent to Sen Dodd would have a cakewalk to his corronation.

That was before we learned from the NY Slimes that Richard Blumenthal,the arrogant, pompus state Attorney General had a little problem in that he is a liar.
No ;not your typical lying politician .He has for years made the claim that he served in Vietnam when the truth is that he did everything in his power to avoid going to the war.

This revelation and his tap dance denial of something that is embedded in the public record has possibly put Connecticut into play. The Dems have to make a decision about running with Blumenthal or finding a suitable replacement (My own belief is that the Slimes published this stuff before the Dems Convention tonight to give the Dems a chance to find an alternative . Had it been a Republican they most likely would've held onto the story until after the party selected the candidate ) .

This is the last thing the Dems of Conn.need ;still reeling from the Dodd fall from grace and his decision to 'get out of Dodge' before the frog marching begins.
But my guess is that they run with Blumenthal anyway.

The Republicans also chose a candidate tonight. Th race is between former Congressman Rob Simmons and former World Wrestling Federation CEO Linda McMahon. McMahon is self financed and that may be the edge as Republicans are cash strapped because of the pitifully embarrassing job that RNC Michael Steele has done.

Re Corbett
Spit .I'll reserve judgement . The news makes it sound like he is going after bloggers critical of him .But there must be more to it than that . He must have hundreds of critics anonomously blogging against him. He has made many enemies in your state going after the good ole boy network in Harrisburg.

I'm not saying you are wrong . But this sounds like we don't have the whole story yet.

Here is a little more info. Corbett subpoenas Twitter for critics' names | Philly | 05/20/2010

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Originally Posted by spitvenom

Here is a little more info. Corbett subpoenas Twitter for critics' names | Philly | 05/20/2010

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He's an idiot. He's about to learn all about the Streisand effect.