Who's the only Republican worth cheating with?

Bits of Tid: July 12, 2007

• NYC firefighters don’t like Rudy Giuliani.
  
• I wish I could get paid $440.50 per day to do nothing.
• The Bay City Times:

Senate Majority Leader Michael Bishop, R-Rochester, denied that there was a deal to balance the state budget. In exchange for raising taxes, he demands a remake of a wide swath of state government.
Give it a rest, senator.
Republicans couldn't get these changes done when they ran Lansing. They sure aren't going to eliminate public school pensions and retiree health plans, among other reforms, this year.

• Two new federal judges were confirmed for West Michigan on Monday. One - Janet Neff - was approved after Sam Brownback held up her nomination because she - gasp - attended a commitment ceremony. At any rate, Neff will vacate a state Court of Appeals seat which Governor Granholm will fill. Might I suggest Jane Beckering, the 2006 nominee for Michigan Supreme Court who got rave reviews? Appointing Beckering will help grow the Democratic bench for the state Supreme Court.
  
• Can’t wait to prove Dave Camp wrong.
  
• Tuesday was LiberalLucy’s birthday. Check out my greeting on MichLib.
  
• “Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars.”
  
• Yours truly has submitted another word for banishment to LSSU. Or is it a word?
  

  w00t - Color me surprised that this lousy excuse for a 'word' hasn't been banished yet.

  
  
• Detroit Tigers’ magic number: 75.

Bits of Tid: May 12, 2007

In 13,000 hours we should have a president-elect.

• It's time to de-authorize the war, say Biden, Richardson, and Clinton.
• Some big names are backing Chris Dodd's energy plan.
• The governors of Maryland and New Jersey are endorsing Hillary.
• Edwards is proposing an $8 billion program to make college more affordable. A drop in the bucket compared to the $425.1 billion price tag for the war.
• On the other side, Rudy Giuliani and Ann Romney (Mitt's wife) have both donated to Planned Parenthood. And you thought Rudy was the only pro-choice Republican out there?
• State Senators Alan Cropsey (who 'represents' Mount Pleasant) and Bill Hardiman (ex-mayor of my hometown of Kentwood) have each been featured recently in Michigan Liberal's Better Know an Obstriutionist series. (Don't forget to let your state legislators know your thoughts onm the state budget!)
• I don't care about the whole Paris Hilton thing, so shut up, media.

Keith Olbermann at it again - this time he slams Giuliani

First there was this, and now there's this:



The whole thing is great, but the last minute is particularly dead-on. 'Wow' doesn't begin to describe it.

Double dose of bad news for McCain

First there's this:

For the first time, favorite son Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) "no longer has a double digit lead as the top choice for President among Arizona Republicans," according to a new Rocky Mountain Poll.

Rudy Guiliani is now within nine points of Senator McCain and has "made major gains in just the past two months. As of this week, McCain leads Guiliani by only 34 to 25 percent, but more important is the dynamic surge in Guiliani’s appeal rising to 25 percent from only 13 percent in January while McCain sank from 40 percent to only 34 percent."

"The surge in support for Guiliani seems to be fueled by retired Republicans and Republicans most likely to vote in a primary election. Among retirees, Guiliani leads McCain by 36 to 21 percent and among likely voters who call themselves Republicans, Guiliani leads McCain by a 32 to 21 percent margin."

It's bad enough when (1) only 1/3 of the Republicans who know you best - those in your own home state which you've represented in the Senate for two decades - support your campaign and (2) you're losing ground to the 'pro-abortion' Rudy. But then comes this:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) "said his presidential campaign would not meet its fundraising goals this quarter, and his campaign advisers acknowledged that" former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) "may wind up raising more," according to The Hotline.

"Some Republicans estimate that Romney, whose network of friends, business contacts and party donors is expansive, could accumulate more than $30 or even $35 million this quarter. McCain is not likely to raise in excess of $30M, according to Republicans outside his campaign who have been given the unofficial estimate." The deadline for campaigns to report their earnings to the FEC is March 31.

Wow Mr. McCain, your fellow Republicans are starting to like a 'baby-killer' and your fellow flip-flopper (who used to be a 'baby-killer' when it was convenient) more than they like you. I guess that's not surprising given that you were actually in Vietnam, and your party's attacks on 'Nam vets Kerry and Cleland show that that's a big no-no in their book.

Presidential Bits of Tid: March 9, 2007

Sorry it's been a few days.

• Newt Gingrich admits he had an affair while he was pushing the impeachment of Bill Clinton.
  
• New York’s firefighters union stings “9/11 candidate” Rudy Giuliani.
  
• It’s early, but here are some poll numbers from the American Research Group. Both nationally and in Michigan, Hillary has a slight lead over Obama, with Edwards in third. Giuliani leads McCain among Republicans by a small margin, with Romney taking just 7% nationally and, perhaps more telling, only 10% in his father’s home state.
  
• All eyes will be on Chuck Hagel Monday. Prediction: He won’t run for president, but is instead going to announce his retirement from the Senate. His term ends in 2008.

Newsweek poll: 2008 race is a toss-up; Americans trust Democrats and want change in Iraq

Newsweek's numbers don't lie.

When Americans were asked if they would rather see a Democrat or a Republican in the White House two years from now, Democrats lead by 21%. However, when you add names to the mix, it's very close: Hillary leads John 'Surge' McCain - I mean, John Sidney McCain - by one point, while Obama leads McCain by two points and Edwards by five. Giuliani beats Hillary by a point and Obama by two, while Edwards outpolls Rudy by three.

No surprise, Bush's approval rating is 31%. (Then how the heck do 41% believe he's a strong and ethical leader???) On another note, while only 36% approve of how the new Democratic-controlled Congress is doing, just 23% disapprove.

Regarding Iraq: By a nearly 2:1 ratio, voters trust Democrats to make better decisions on Iraq than Bush. They also believe, by a nearly 3:1 ratio, that the US is losing ground in Iraq, and by a more than 2:1 ratio they say the Iraq War has not made America safer from terrorism. And of course, America continues to say no to the surge.

Got that, Washington?

A first look at Election 2008

For the first time since 1952, neither the incumbent President nor the incumbent VP will be a nominee for the White House. After Dick Cheney announced early in his Vice Presidency that he wouldn't run for President, many analysts have predicted that the 2008 White House race was as open as it has been in a while. In other words, it is hard to tell who could be the 44th President (as opposed to 2000, when Gore and Bush were the favorited to become their parties' nominees).

So who's running? Who's not? Who's on the fence? (Asterisk denotes those who have run for president in the past; two asterisks mean they have run for President twice)

Who's in?

The following candidates have announced their candidacies for President or have filed to form what is called an exploratory committee: (Asterisk denotes those who have run for president in the past)

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)*
Fmr. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC)*
Fmr. Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)*
Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM)
Outgoing Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA)
Fmr. Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-VA)
Fmr. Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY)
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)*
Outgoing Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)
Fmr. HHS Sec. Tommy Thompson (R-WI)

Who's Out?

The following people have said they will not run for President in 2008.

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Fmr. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD)
Fmr. Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT)*
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Fmr. VP. Al Gore (D-TN)**
Fmr. Gov. Mark Warner (D-VA)
Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)
Outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL)
Outgoing Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice (R-CA)
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)
Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)

Who's on the fence? (And I don't mean the miles-long fence along the Mexican Border)

The following people may or may not run in 2008.

Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.), US Army (D-AR)* - Prediction: Will run.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) - Prediction: Will not run. (You heard it here first.)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)* - Prediction: Will run.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) - Prediction: Will not run.
Fmr. Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) - Prediction: Will run.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) - Prediction: Will run.