Category Archives: Education

Is Kristi Noem South Dakota’s Sarah Palin?

Posted on November 12, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Watertown, South Dakota (CNN) — South Dakota’s congresswoman-elect Kristi Noem is not exactly a household name, but that could soon change.

Politicos have called her another Sarah Palin — she’s a conservative Tea Party candidate who supports small government, lower taxes, and Second Amendment rights.

However, that’s not why her star power may be on the rise.

House GOP leadership sources also have told CNN that they are planning to add a new leadership spot for a freshman member. Noem confirmed she is indeed interested and she appears to have the backing of key Republicans, according to two GOP leadership sources.

Having her in this position could help the new House Republican majority with two issues: bringing someone associated with the Tea Party movement into the leadership fold and adding another woman.

However, during her campaign for the state’s sole at-large U.S. House seat, Noem maintained a certain amount of distance from the Tea Party, and avoided inflammatory statements, according to some political experts in the state.

Though she welcomed Tea Party support, “She resisted attempts — and certainly the other side attempted — to put her in that radical camp, the Sarah Palin/Tea Party camp,” said Sioux Falls Argus Leader political reporter Jonathan Ellis.

Tea Party issues aside, Noem has been criticized often over the past year for her lack of a four-year college degree and her less-than-stellar driving record which has been widely reported to include 20 speeding tickets, six court notices for failure to appear and two arrest warrants.

Republican head of the class

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On the topic of her secondary education, South Dakota State University political science professor Gary Aguiar said that she took classes at several schools in the state, but quit years ago to help out on the family farm after her father’s death. She eventually returned and was most recently studying political science at SDSU.

Her education was put on hold, however, before she ran for Congress.

“In some situations [politicians new to Washington] who didn’t have college experience sort of felt out of their element and weren’t able to grasp all of the complexities of policy,” said Aguiar, who also served as Noem’s academic adviser.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Federal guidelines prohibit him from discussing a student’s performance in class, but he describes the Congresswoman-elect as “genuine,” “down-to-earth,” “hard-working” and “intelligent.”

“She’s able to grasp difficult ideas very easily,” he said. “She asks questions. She challenges people — pretty much what you’d want in a member of Congress.”

Noem was elected to South Dakota’s state House of Representatives in 2006, and has been the assistant majority leader the past two years. Her time serving as a state lawmaker even earned her internship credit at SDSU.

“I said [to her], ‘You’re already serving. Why don’t you get credit for it and just write a little paper at the end?’ ” Aguiar said.

AnnRae Herr runs a local coffee and sandwich shop in Watertown, South Dakota, a shop she purchased from Noem’s mother.

“Kristi would come back like every other weekend and help out with payroll,” Herr said of Noem’s work at the shop. Noem was always “level-headed and calm,” she said.

Herr express confidence in Noem as a representative of her state.

Noem is “a good listener [and] she asks good questions,” so if she were thrown in the deep end she’d “learn to swim real fast,” said Herr.

“I think she’d really, really spend the hours to learn what needed to be done. … I’ve always gotten the impression that ‘good enough’ isn’t part of her vocabulary, no matter what she’s doing.”

Noem’s driving record is not a factor for Herr, and she laughed at the notion that Noem has been compared to Sarah Palin.

“Hmm, OK well, yea they are both female, and yes they are both cute and are go-getters for their state,” but other than that, Herr said, she’s not sure about the comparison.

Staunch Democrat and fellow South Dakotan Timothy Wilka also makes a distinction between Noem and Palin.

“I think [Kristi Noem] is more articulate than Sarah Palin, which isn’t saying much unfortunately,” Wilka said. “[But] she is a pretty good public speaker.”

But Wilka said Noem is still “not analytical enough or educated enough to really understand the legislative process.”

“The speeding tickets never bothered me because everybody does that,” Wilka said.

“What bothered me was the failures to appear in court and warrants for her arrest. I just think that’s very irresponsible.”

Still, she won the election, and Wilka said he “wishes her well.”

But not only did she win, she beat out incumbent Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a woman who, in 2008, won almost 70 percent of the vote and was re-elected by one of the largest margins in the state’s history. Some pundits chalk Noem’s win up to the fact that it was simply an anti-incumbent year.

One issue for Noem that never played out much in the campaign, but could come back to haunt her involves reports that Noem’s ranch has received millions of dollars in federal subsidy money. Noem and her husband Bryon also own and operate an insurance company, which offers, among other things, crop insurance. That and federal subsidies have been labeled wasteful by the establishment GOP, who’ve said in the past that taxpayers should not be footing the bill for farmers.

Her husband Bryon defended the insurance subsidies to CNN saying they’re “providing legitimate services” to farmers of the state.

“We’re just trying to make a living in South Dakota,” he said.

Kristi Noem declined an interview for this profile.

CNN’s Kevin Conlon and Dana Bash contributed to this report.

Is Kristi Noem South Dakota’s Sarah Palin?

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Elections outside your state can affect you

Posted on October 25, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — When Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio hits the campaign trail before Election Day, you might want to listen, because the outcome his re-election bid could have a direct impact on you — even if you don’t live in his state.

The number crunchers at Election Data Services estimate that next year, Ohio is going to lose two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. It’s up to the Ohio state government — including the governor — to decide which House members will go: Democrats or Republicans.

Imagine if, 10 days from now, the Republicans win control of the House, but by only a one-seat majority. Republican John Boehner becomes speaker.

But if a Democrat holds the governor’s mansion in Ohio, he could insist that when his state loses two seats, both must be in districts held by Republicans. That means just through redistricting in Ohio alone, the Democrats could take back control of the House.

That would affect your life, because everything from education policy to health care and taxes goes through the House, and which party is in control makes a big difference. The balance of power could hinge on who gets elected governor in states far from yours.

The scenario painted above is highly unlikely — in part because Republicans will probably retain control of the Ohio state Senate, and they would force a compromise with their governor.

Expected changes

States gaining seats
Texas +4
Florida +2
Arizona +1
Georgia +1
Nevada +1
South Carolina +1
Utah +1
Washington state +1

States losing seats
Ohio -2
New York -2
Illinois -1
Iowa -1
Louisiana -1
Massachusetts -1
Michigan -1
Missouri -1
New Jersey -1
Pennsylvania -1

Source: Election Data Services

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But there’s more to this chess game. Ohio isn’t the only state that stands to lose seats, and other states will win seats. Texas, for example, is poised to gain four seats. Republicans control the legislature in Austin, and there’s a tight race for the governor’s office.

Florida stands to gain two seats through redistricting. Republicans control the legislature in Tallahassee, and there’s a close contest in the gubernatorial race.

New York is likely to lose one seat. Democrats control both state houses, and a Democrat is poised to win the governor’s mansion.

In all, 18 states will gain or lose representation in the House of Representatives, totaling a change of 24 seats.

In most states, it’s all up to the legislature, and the governor vetoes or approves the map. Some states have a different process to try to minimize political games, but that’s hard.

“If one party has complete control of the process, they will tilt the table to their favor, so their state will be more likely to elect Democrats or Republicans for entire decade,” until redistricting begins again, explains George Mason University professor Michael McDonald, an expert on the process.

Imagine another scenario: On Election Day, Democrats eke out a win and retain control of the House by five seats. But Democrats lose governors and state legislative races across the country. Once redistricting happens next year, those elected state officials could wipe out the Democrats’ majority by adding seats Republicans will control and eliminating seats Democrats are certain to control. Democrats in Congress would lose their majority because of politicians elected in a state you’ve never even visited.

Sound unfair? The redistricting process is required by the U.S. Constitution to ensure that every member of the House has an equal population district. It’s the main reason we conduct a Census every 10 years, so we can rebalance districts based on where people are living. These new district lines last for 10 years, until the next census.

When a state has to change even one seat, all the districts in the entire state stand to be redrawn. Remember, every district has to have population of equal size. That means the whole deck is reshuffled.

There are clever ways to draw districts to ensure that one party or another is all but certain to win there.

“A long time ago, people figured out you could do more than rebalance populations so politicians can manipulate the boundaries to their favor,” McDonald said, adding that manipulation for political gain is ingrained into our politics. “This is what’s called gerrymandering. So the party that controls a state can tilt the balance of power in Washington, D.C.”

The origin of “gerrymandering”

The list of states that will gain or lose seats is released in December. But Election Data Services crunched the preliminary census numbers and estimates that the following states will see changes.

Texas will gain four seats, Florida will gain two, and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington will each gain one.

Ohio and New York will lose two seats, and Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania will each lose one.

Elections outside your state can affect you

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Can Dems and GOP work together after the election?

Posted on October 18, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — Bipartisanship is in the eye of the beholder, it seems, as Democrats and Republicans ponder how cooperation between them can improve after the upcoming congressional elections.

The voting on November 2 is expected to diminish Democratic majorities in both chambers and perhaps cost them control of the House. Whatever the final tally, widespread voter dissatisfaction with the hostile political climate in Washington is evident.

Democrats blame Republican intransigence, calling the GOP a “party of no” that has opposed almost every initiative to undermine President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to change Washington politics.

Republican leaders say their opposition is a response to a left-leaning agenda pushed by Obama and Democratic leaders that far exceeds what the public wants.

In a new development this election cycle, the conservative Tea Party movement wants to throw out both parties, but its agenda aligns it with Republicans in the heated campaigning.

Video: David Axelrod talks elections, tax cuts

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While Obama and some Democrats and Republicans say they hope for better relations after the election, they express different views of what that would mean.

“We’re going to continue to reach out, and we’re going to look for common ground and a way forward to solve the problems facing this country,” White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” program Sunday.

Axelrod predicted Democrats will keep their majorities in both chambers, but conceded that “Republicans will have more seats in Congress.”

“We’re hoping with that comes a greater sense of responsibility,” he said.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas had a different take, telling “Fox News Sunday” that it is up to Obama to change, not Republicans.

“If the president’s going to maintain his ideological stance and try to jam things through to support the left in America, when we’re still a center-right country, then we’re going to say ‘no,’ ” Cornyn said, adding that Republicans will work with Obama on issues such as job creation, spending cuts and reducing the national debt.

“There is , I think, a fatigue on the part of the American people with the aggressive agenda that, frankly, they don’t agree with, but they haven’t been listened to,” Cornyn said. “They’ve been lectured to, and they’re tired of it. They’re going to speak up on November 2nd.”

Cornyn’s Republican colleague, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, agreed on the CBS program “Face the Nation” that Obama and Democratic leaders “over-reached” in the first two years, which he said rattled the American people.

“I don’t think it’s about everybody becoming a Republican in the last two years,” Graham said of expected GOP election victories next month. “I do believe it’s a rejection of an agenda that scares people. The health care bill, the stimulus package, the financial regulation, all the spending was not what people expected from this president.”

At the same time, some bipartisanship will occur, Graham predicted.

“There will be a bipartisan effort to extend the Bush tax cuts and not let them expire” at the end of the year, Graham said. As Democratic candidates in swing states realize voters want middle-ground policies instead of a liberal agenda, more compromise will come, he said.

“I think we’re going to have some bipartisanship when it comes to replacing the health care bill with a more moderate approach,” Graham said. “You’ll see some Democrats and Republicans working early on to try to moderate things.”

According to Graham, the Tea Party movement has helped refocus the national political debate on a center-right agenda, but added that conservatives shouldn’t get carried away.

“Our Tea Party friends have done us a favor, “Graham said. “But if we talk about doing away with Social Security as part of our agenda, then we’re going to lose the public. … If you get too far right or too far left, you’re going to lose the American people.”

Axelrod and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs outlined an agenda for the second half of Obama’s presidential term that focuses on the nation’s immediate and long-term economic welfare.

Gibbs told the NBC program “Meet the Press” that the president will work on strengthening the economy and trying to ensure its future stability, while continuing to push education reform and making sure that health care and Wall Street reforms are properly implemented.

Obama needs Democrats and Republicans to work together to deal with the federal debt, Gibbs said. A bipartisan debt commission is scheduled to report a set of proposals in December.

He made no mention of major issues such as immigration reform and energy reform, which Obama pushed strongly in his first two years. Axelrod, speaking on CNN, said both issues were part of the necessary foundation of reforms for sustainable economic growth in the future.

“I think that regardless of the outcome of election night that voters are going to want two political parties who may have different ideas but understand they have to come together and work together to solve our problems,” Gibbs later told reporters.

However, other Democrats don’t expect a new spirit of partisanship to emerge.

“It doesn’t appear right now that the Republican Party is welcoming moderates any more,” Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill said of the effect of the Tea Party movement on GOP candidates.

“I think that independent voters need to take a hard look in these elections and realize that what we may be getting to is the kind of gridlock that, frankly, is not something that’s desirable in terms of good policy in this country,” McCaskill said on “Fox News Sunday.

Republicans “won’t even pledge that they’ll quit earmarking,” she said, later adding: “If they won’t even say they’ll stop earmarking in this kind of spending problem that we’re facing, I just think there’s a lot of politics being played.”

Can Dems and GOP work together after the election?

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Obama, top Dems to huddle on way out

Posted on September 30, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — Top congressional Democrats will huddle with President Obama Thursday for one last strategy session before lawmakers leave Washington to campaign for their jobs.

As November election season nears, Democrats are dealing with voter anger about lingering high unemployment, two wars and a growing federal deficit.

Earlier this week, Obama had already appeared to be in campaign mode as he addressed a group at a town hall-style meeting in the yard of a home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

At the meeting Tuesday, Obama faced a range of questions but no matter the topic — education, small businesses, military veterans, clean energy — he repeatedly reminded listeners that the upcoming congressional elections would be their time to decide.

“I hope everybody is going to pay attention and do their homework and find out about candidates,” Obama said at the end of the hour-long event. “And I think what you’ll find is, is that when you’re making choices for governor and you’re making choices for Senate and Congress, that these choices are going to mean something.”

He encouraged people to ask themselves, “What direction do I want this country to go in?”

“Do I want to invest in our people, in our middle class and making it stronger, and our infrastructure and our education system and clean energy — is that one vision,” Obama said, “or are we just going to keep on doing the same things that got us into this mess in the first place?”

His stark portrayal of the stakes in November and his Thursday White House meeting with party leaders comes as polls show likely losses for Democrats, with a possibility they could lose their majority in the House.

Obama, top Dems to huddle on way out

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Colbert serious, sarcastic in hearing

Posted on September 24, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — There’s nothing funny about the issue of migrant farm labor — unless Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert is discussing it.

Colbert, accompanied by a media swarm, sarcastically testified on Capitol Hill Friday about the conditions facing America’s undocumented farm workers. The popular host of “The Colbert Report” told members of a House Judiciary subcommittee that he hoped to bring attention to the workers’ hardships.

“I certainly hope that my star power can bump this hearing all the way up to C-SPAN 1,” he joked.

“America’s farms are presently far too dependent on immigrant labor to pick our fruits and vegetables,” he told the subcommittee, keeping in character with the arch-conservative he plays on television.

“Now, the obvious answer is for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables. And if you look at the recent obesity statistics, many Americans have already started.”

Video: Colbert shows serious side

Video: Mr. Colbert goes to Capitol Hill

Colbert told the panel that “we all know there is a long tradition of great nations importing foreign workers to do their farm work.”

“After all,” he said, “it was the ancient Israelites who built the first food pyramids. But this is America. I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan, and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.”

“My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants,” he declared. “He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That’s the rumor.”

Colbert appeared before Congress the day after “The Colbert Report” showed video of him packing corn and picking beans on a farm as part of a challenge from a pro-immigrant-labor group.

“I’ll admit I started my work day with preconceived notions of migrant labor,” Colbert said. “But after working with these men and women … side by side in the unforgiving sun I have to say — and I do mean this sincerely — please don’t make me do this again. It is really, really hard.”

The brief experience, he said, “gave me some small understanding why so few Americans are clamoring to begin an exciting career as seasonal migrant field workers.”

Colbert appeared alongside, among others, United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez, whose group over the summer launched “Take Our Jobs,” a campaign that challenged U.S. citizens to replace immigrants in farm work.

The group, which says only seven citizens or legal residents have taken it up on the offer, argues that immigrant workers aren’t taking citizens’ jobs, and is pushing for a bill that would give undocumented farm workers currently in the United States the right to earn legal status.

On his show Thursday night, Colbert mocked those deriding his appearance before the committee, saying he agreed that showing up in character would “sully the good name of experts that Republican-controlled Congresses have actually called to testify in the past,” like Elmo, the Sesame Street character who promoted music education before a House subcommittee in 2002.

Republicans on the subcommittee were not impressed or swayed by Colbert’s appearance.

“Maybe we should be spending less time watching Comedy Central and more time considering all the real jobs that are out there — ones that require real hard labor and ones that don’t involve sitting behind a desk,” said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

“If we did we’d realize that every day … Americans perform the dirtiest, most difficult, most dangerous (jobs) that can be thrown at them.”

Many of these workers, King said, “would prefer the aroma of fresh dirt to that of the sewage of American elitists who disparage them even as they flush.”

“It’s an insult to me to hear that Americans won’t do this work,” he added, arguing that the hiring of undocumented workers is driving down wages and taking jobs away from those in the country legally.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, used the occasion to rip the Obama administration’s immigration policy. The notion that there’s little competition for jobs between citizens and undocumented workers is a “myth,” he claimed.

“We could make millions of jobs available to American citizens … if the federal government simply enforced our immigration laws,” Smith asserted. “Unfortunately this administration is turning its back on American workers.”

Democrats were quick to challenge the Republicans’ claims.

While Americans will take tough jobs, “study after study” shows that “people would rather have no income and no welfare than take the back-breaking jobs that the migrant farm worker has to do every single day,” said Rep. Howard Berman, D-California.

“Were it not for immigrant farm workers in this country, there would be no seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables,” he said.

Most of the media attention, however, remained focused on Colbert. The chairwoman of the subcommittee, Rep. Zoe Lofrgen, D-California, told CNN’s Dana Bash before the hearing that she didn’t think Colbert’s appearance was a stunt.

“Celebrities add pizzazz to an issue,” she said. “I hope his celebrity will bring attention” to this one.

But another Democrat, Michigan Rep. John Conyers, initially seemed unimpressed with Colbert, asking him to leave the committee room and merely submit his written statement instead.

Colbert noted that he was testifying at Lofgren’s invitation, and said that he would remove himself at her request.

Conyers later told CNN he feared Colbert would create a “circus” atmosphere. But Colbert, who engaged in a question-and-answer session with the subcommittee, actually turned out to be “profound,” he said.

CNN’s Jason Hanna, Deirdre Walsh, Alison Harding and Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report

Colbert serious, sarcastic in hearing

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Tea Party again demonstrates clout

Posted on September 15, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — The Tea Party movement basked in the glow of victory Wednesday after its favorites won primary elections in Delaware and New York the night before over more mainstream Republicans, demonstrating again the clout of the political right.

Now the question is whether the right-wing candidates can also defeat Democratic rivals in November’s congressional elections, when the stakes are higher and the full electorate is deciding.

Candidates backed by the Tea Party have won at least eight major GOP nomination fights across the country this year, in Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Utah. Tea Party candidates have also shown significant strength in numerous other state and local contests.

The results in Delaware and New York highlighted the last major day of primary voting before the upcoming election in just under seven weeks.

Voting in seven states and the District of Columbia included embattled veteran U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel’s victory in his New York Democratic primary despite allegations of ethics violations, and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty’s bid to hold off a major primary challenger.

In addition, former Gov. Robert Ehrlich won the Republican gubernatorial primary in Maryland to set up a rematch against Martin O’Malley, the Democrat who ousted him in 2006.

In Delaware, conservative political commentator Christine O’Donnell easily defeated nine-time U.S. Rep. Mike Castle in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, giving the Tea Party movement another major victory over a candidate backed by the national GOP.

“We the people will have our voice heard in Washington, D.C., once again,” a beaming O’Donnell told exuberant supporters at her victory party in Dover.

O’Donnell won more than 53 percent of the vote in the bitter campaign that displayed internal Republican warfare between conservative Tea Party supporters and the more moderate party structures.

Castle was backed by the national Republican Party, while O’Donnell received the endorsement of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as well as $150,000 in late funding from the Tea Party Express.

O’Donnell, running as a Washington outsider, insisted the Republican establishment was trying to drive her out of the race and hand victory to Castle, whom she refers to as “the anointed one.”

Video: O’Donnell thanks Palin in victory

Video: Rangel wins despite ethics charges

Video: Paladino accepts nod

Video: Lazio concedes to Paladino

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In response, conservative stalwart Bill Kristol, who fears O’Donnell is incapable of winning the Senate seat in November, said: “I know Sarah Palin. I respect Sarah Palin. And with all due respect — Christine O’Donnell is no Sarah Palin.”

In her victory speech, O’Donnell made a plea for unity, saying: “If those same people who fought against me work just as hard for me, we will win.”

Later, she told CNN that she can win without the support of the national Republican Party.

“They don’t have a winning track record,” O’Donnell said of the national party. “If they’re too lazy to put in the effort that we need to win, then, so be it.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee offered its congratulations to O’Donnell immediately after the result was determined.

“We congratulate Christine O’Donnell for her nomination this evening after a hard-fought primary campaign in Delaware,” said a statement by Rob Jesmer, the NRSC executive director.

However, a top Republican official told CNN Tuesday night that O’Donnell will have to show she can generate viable support before the national party will give her money.

“It is now incumbent on Sarah Palin, (U.S. Sen.) Jim DeMint and the Tea Party Express to help support her,” the official said on condition of not being identified by name. “They got her here. Now make it happen.”

O’Donnell told CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday that she has not yet heard from top leaders in the Republican Party hierarchy.

“There are a lot of people rallying behind me who are frustrated that the Republican Party has lost its way. What you see in this race and then especially the attitude after our win is that, you know, the so-called leaders have been proven wrong. They got behind a candidate who didn’t even support our party principles, supported the liberals nearly 70 percent of the time some years. And they chose to get behind him because they were taking the easy way out.”

O’Donnell will face Democrat Christopher Coons, the New Castle County executive, in November for the seat formerly held by Vice President Joe Biden. This is O’Donnell’s third run for the U.S. Senate.

Coons took aim at O’Donnell on his website after her victory, saying “we face an ideology rather than a record.”

“O’Donnell will fight to roll back a woman’s right to choose and lead the charge against stem-cell research, falsely claiming that this ground breaking research exploits women. She has a record of supporting discrimination against gays and lesbians, and pressing for public schools to teach creationism,” he said.

O’Donnell, who told “American Morning” that the “biggest concern on everyone’s mind is how we’re going to get jobs to Delaware.”

But Coons says O’Donnell “has no plan for putting Delawareans back to work and wants to open our coastlines to more dangerous off-shore drilling risks.”

Commenting on the fact that Coons had a picture of O’Donnell on his website’s main page, she said, “I thank him for introducing me to the Democratic voters I have not met.”

In New York, conservative Carl Paladino defeated Rick Lazio in the Republican gubernatorial primary to set up a November showdown with Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo. Paladino received Tea Party support in defeating Lazio, who also was supported by some conservative groups.

The New York governor’s post has proven hazardous in recent years. Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal, and his successor, David Paterson, decided against running for another term due to allegations of wrongdoing involving World Series tickets and a domestic abuse case involving an aide.

In New Hampshire, conservative candidate Ovide Lamontagne saw an early lead vanish in his bid to upset former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, the candidate favored by establishment Republicans. The winner will run in November to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Judd Gregg.

Ayotte gave up her state post to run for the Senate nomination with encouragement from national Republicans. Considered the favorite in the seven-candidate contest for months, Ayotte instead found herself with a razor-thin lead over Lamontagne, a Manchester attorney and the 1996 Republican nominee for governor, with 85 percent of the returns counted.

Local Tea Party groups, the conservative New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper and DeMint, the influential conservative senator from South Carolina, all backed Lamontagne.

Unlike O’Donnell in Delaware, though, Lamontagne didn’t get Palin’s endorsement. Instead, Palin backed Ayotte, calling her a “Granite Grizzly” and “the true conservative running for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire.”

However, Palin’s endorsement and Ayotte’s support from many national Republicans may have backfired in fiercely independent New Hampshire.

Victories by O’Donnell and Paladino, and the possibility of a triumph by Lamontagne in New Hampshire, showed the strength of the Tea Party within the political right, after similar results ousted GOP incumbents or insiders in Idaho and Alaska.

However, the Republican infighting also raised questions about GOP unity heading into November.

Rangel, meanwhile, received help from former President Bill Clinton in defeating five challengers in the Democratic primary for the House seat he has held for 40 years.

Despite allegations by the House ethics committee that Rangel committed financial wrongdoing and harmed the credibility of Congress, he raised more money than his opponents and easily won the vote in his Harlem district.

The situation was reversed in Washington, where Fenty swept into office in 2006 promising to fix the District of Columbia’s struggling schools. But it appeared Wednesday that he won’t have the chance to continue that work. CNN affiliate WUSA reported on its website that the mayor’s spokesman said he planned to call City Council Chairman Vincent Gray to concede the race. WUSA reported that with 90 percent of the votes counted, Fenty trailed Gray by more than 8,400 votes.

The mayor acknowledged the union opposition to his education reform efforts before the vote.

“We’ve got an uphill battle because we made tough decisions,” Fenty said. “We’ll continue to make those tough decisions because they’re right for the people. But we’re not naive. We know this has cost us a little political popularity that we came into the polls with.”

The race is being closely watched far beyond the District of Columbia because the outcome could carry significant implications for the national debate over education reform.

Fenty brought in Michelle Rhee as chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, and she has since become famous for changes that that have become a model of education reform advocated by the Obama administration.

Rhee shut down two dozen schools, fired hundred of educators — including more than 100 teachers this summer — for poor performance, and overhauled the teacher evaluation system to include, for the first time, student performance as a measure of success. Local and national teachers unions have fought her efforts.

CNN’s Jessica Yellin, Paul Steinhauser, Mark Preston, Kate Bolduan, Kevin Bohn, Mary Snow and Tom Cohen contributed to this report.

Tea Party again demonstrates clout

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Obama pushes kids to work hard in ‘back-to-school’ speech

Posted on September 14, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — President Barack Obama Tuesday delivered his second back-to-school message to the nation’s students — an event marked by far less controversy than the first time around.

The speech — delivered to a thunderous round of applause from students at Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — encouraged students to make the most of their educational opportunities.

“Nobody gets to write your destiny but you,” Obama said.

“Your future is in your hands. Your life is what you make of it. And nothing — absolutely nothing — is beyond your reach, so long as you’re willing to dream big, so long as you’re willing to work hard, so long as you’re willing to stay focused on your education — there is not a single thing that any of you cannot accomplish.”

The president said education “never has been more important.”

“I’m sure there are going to be times in the months ahead when you’re staying up late doing your homework or cramming for a test, or you’re dragging yourself out of bed on a rainy morning and you’re thinking, oh boy, I wish maybe it was a snow day,” he said. “Let me tell you, what you’re doing is worth it. … Nothing is going to have as great an impact on your success in life as your education.”

Last year, his first as president, Obama’s plan to deliver a similar message prompted an unexpected backlash from conservatives who worried he would push students to support his political agenda. However, the speech Obama delivered at a Virginia school included no political references and was welcomed by conservatives.

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This year’s speech also focused on urging students to work hard in order to achieve their goals.

“More and more, the kinds of opportunities that are open to you are going to be determined by how far you go in school,” Obama said. “The farther you go in school, the farther you’re going to go in life. And at a time when other countries are competing with us like never before … your success in school is going to determine America’s success in the 21st century.”

He called on students to meet their responsibilities for school by showing up on time, paying attention in class, doing their homework, studying for exams and staying out of trouble.

“I wasn’t always the best student when I was younger. I made my share of mistakes,” Obama said, going on to describe a scolding from his mother about the need for more effort.

“It was pretty jolting, hearing my mother say that,” the president said. “But eventually, her words had their intended effect, because I got serious about my studies. I started to make an effort in everything I did. And I began to see my grades — and my prospects — improve. And I know that if hard work could make the difference for me, then it can make a difference for all of you.”

He also urged students to take on new challenges, with specific encouragement to rebound from disappointment and failure to try again.

“So, what I want to say to every kid … [is] that life is precious, and part of what makes it so wonderful is its diversity,” the president said.

“We shouldn’t be embarrassed by the things that make us different. We should be proud of them. Because it’s the things that make us different that make us who we are.”

Obama also announced a second “commencement challenge,” where a high school making positive changes and advancements is selected by the White House to have the president deliver its graduation speech. Obama addressed graduates from a high school in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2009.

Some of the controversy surrounding the president’s education address last year involved a proposed lesson plan created by the Education Department to accompany the speech. An initial version of the plan recommended that students draft letters to themselves discussing “what they can do to help the president.”

The letters “would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals,” the plan stated.

After the criticism from conservatives, the White House distributed a revised version encouraging students to write letters about how they can “achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.”

Obama pushes kids to work hard in ‘back-to-school’ speech

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5 things to watch in today’s primaries

Posted on September 14, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — Tuesday’s round of primaries in seven states and Washington, D.C., is the last big event in the run-up to November’s midterm elections. Hawaii holds the last nominating contest of this election cycle on Saturday.

Here are five things to watch for in Tuesday’s races:

Ugliness in Delaware: The Tea Party Express poured money into the insurgent campaign of Christine O’Donnell. She is challenging longtime congressman and former Gov. Mike Castle, who is backed by the party establishment, in Delaware’s Republican Senate primary. In some of the most vicious campaigning seen so far this year, Castle supporters have attacked O’Donnell, accusing her of defaulting on personal bills and not paying income taxes — which she denies — and calling her “delusional.”

Establishment Republicans think they have a shot at picking up Vice President Biden’s old Senate seat if Castle, a former governor, is their candidate, but don’t stand a chance if O’Donnell wins the primary. But O’Donnell, who’s been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, says the attacks have backfired and only intensified support around her.

The state GOP chairman said he had received death threats because of his support of Castle and had moved his family out of their home. O’Donnell condemned the threats.

CNN’s Jessica Yellin reports on the Delaware GOP Senate race

Not as ugly to the north: Palin also endorsed a candidate in New Hampshire’s GOP Senate primary but finds herself opposite other leading conservatives.

Palin is backing former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, whom she calls a “granite grizzly” in a robo-call that she recorded for the candidate. But other conservatives — including local Tea Party groups, influential Sen. Jim DeMint and the state’s largest newspaper, the Manchester Union Leader — are backing Ayotte’s opponent, Manchester attorney Ovide Lamontagne, who was the party’s nominee for governor in 1996.

Ayotte was encouraged to get into the race by national Republicans and has been the frontrunner in the seven-candidate field. But recent polls show Lamontagne closing the gap.

On Monday, Joseph McQuaid, the conservative publisher of the Union Leader, blasted outsider influence on the race. In a front-page editorial, McQuaid wrote that Lamontagne “has rallied New Hampshire grassroots conservatives while Ayotte has attracted the big-name, let’s-be-moderate types who want a candidate who will move to the squishy middle in November.”

CNN’s Paul Steinhauser previews the New Hampshire GOP Senate primary

Rangel’s toughest fight: Rep. Charlie Rangel has represented New York’s 15th Congressional District for 40 years, but with a trial on ethics violations pending in the House, the 80-year-old congressman has attracted five challengers hoping to unseat him.

Rangel is expected to stand trial later this month on allegations of income tax and financial disclosure violations and that he used his influence to solicit donations for a college policy center which bears his name. The accusations forced him to step down from his post as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

Among those challenging Rangel are state Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, son of the scandal-plagued former congressman whom Rangel unseated in 1970.

CNN’s Mary Snow reports on Rangel’s biggest challenge

Mayor’s race has national implications: First-term Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty’s tough re-election fight could carry implications for the national debate over education reform.

Fenty was elected in 2006 partly because of his promises to fix the district’s ailing schools. He brought in an aggressive reformer as his schools chancellor, who closed schools and fired hundreds of teachers.

While the schools still lag behind national averages, test scores have improved. But Chancellor Michelle Rhee has drawn the enmity of local and national teachers’ unions — and that, in part, has the incumbent trailing D.C. City Council Chairman Vincent Gray in polls just before the vote.

Education reform advocates fear that a Fenty loss will dissuade politicians across the country from pursuing similar aggressive efforts.

CNN’s Kate Bolduan looks at the D.C. mayor’s race

Other races

• In New York, Tea Party-backed Carl Paladino is challenging party favorite Rick Lazio in the GOP governor’s race. The winner will face Democrat Andrew Cuomo.

• In Wisconsin, there are competitive races in the Republican gubernatorial and Senate primaries.

• The Republican gubernatorial primary is the top race in Maryland.

• The Democratic primary in Massachusetts’ 10th Congressional District got national attention over the weekend when Norfolk District Attorney Bill Keating, who is facing state Sen. Rob O’Leary, chased down a purse snatcher from a restaurant.

For the latest primary news, go to CNN’s Political Ticker

5 things to watch in today’s primaries

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Biden marks transfer of U.S. command in Iraq

Posted on September 1, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates helped usher in the next chapter for the United States in Iraq on Wednesday, presiding over a ceremony launching a new military operation designed to train, assist and advise the Iraqis.

The ceremony, held at Al Faw Palace in Baghdad, marked the conclusion of the U.S. combat mission dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom and the transfer to the assistance mission, named Operation New Dawn.

Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III replaced Gen. Raymond T. Odierno as commander of U.S. Forces-Iraq in the changeover, held at one of the many palaces of late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein — whose regime was ousted from power in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Biden said Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, but promised that “American engagement with Iraq will continue” with the new stability mission.

“This change of mission, to state the obvious, would never have been possible without the resolve and tremendous sacrifice and competence of our military — the finest, if our Iraqi friends will forgive us, the finest fighting force in the world, and I would argue the finest fighting force that ever has existed,” Biden said.

He acknowledged the pain Iraqis endured during the long war, saying tens of thousands of troops and civilians died, and many more were wounded and displaced.

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However, he said, “I believe that their darkest days are now behind them.”

Noting the divided opinion toward the war in the United States, he said people from both parties had always backed the troops for their “extraordinary service” after “a high-speed invasion that toppled a tyrant became a grinding struggle against violent extremists.”

“Our fighting men and women were given a mission in Iraq that was as complicated as any in our history, an assignment that taught us that war is the realm of uncertainty,” he said. “Troops steeped in military doctrine were asked to deal with challenges ranging from electricity to unemployment, currency exchange to trash collection.”

The vice president also praised the new electoral system in Iraq, urging political parties there to settle their differences and form a government soon.

“Iraqis have cast their lot as well as their ballots for a better future,” he said.

Biden highlighted Gates’ contributions, saying the defense secretary’s decision to serve under both Republican and Democratic administrations during the war is a testament to his patriotism.

Odierno, who said Iraqi security forces are ready to take the lead there, recalled the wartime period as one of Iraqi heroism.

“This period in Iraq’s history will probably be remembered for sacrifice, resiliency and change. However, I remember it as a time in which the Iraqi people stood up against tyranny, terrorism and extremism, and decided to determine their own destiny, as a people and as a democratic state,” he said.

As Biden did, Odierno urged Iraqi political blocs to form a government, which has yet to be established since elections six months ago.

“It is time for Iraq to move forward,” Odierno said.

Odierno said a democratic Iraq “can become an engine for peace and stability” in the Middle East.

“We can no longer dwell on our past accomplishments, but must remain focused on the tremendous opportunity at hand. Iraq has always played a vital role in this uncertain part of the globe,” he said.

Austin said Iraq still faces hostile threats from insurgents working to undermine the country. But he said that “the past few years in Iraq have been marked by steady progress” and he envisions a “stable, secure and unified Iraq.”

“Operation New Dawn marks the next phase of an enduring relationship” between the United States and Iraq, he said.

While the U.S. combat mission is ending, roughly 50,000 American troops will remain in the country until the end of 2011 for the assistance mission.

When asked Wednesday if the United States is still at war in Iraq, Gates responded, “No, we’re not.” Gates added it is up to historians to determine whether the war was worth it.

Along with U.S. political and military dignitaries, Iraqi officials — including Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, Defense Minister Mohammed Abdul Qader al-Obeidi and the Kurdish region’s Prime Minister Barham Saleh — attended the ceremony.

The U.S. combat mission in Iraq officially ended at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday. The drawdown and end to the U.S. combat phase marks a new page in what has been a controversial seven-year conflict. Weapons of mass destruction, a major justification by the Bush administration for going to war, were never found. Saddam Hussein was toppled, along with his massive Baghdad statue, but sectarian violence soon erupted.

On Tuesday night, U.S. President Barack Obama addressed Americans about the transition in a televised speech.

“The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people,” Obama said from the Oval Office. “We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home. We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people — a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization.”

The war in Iraq has claimed the lives of more than 4,400 U.S. troops.

Obama said he was “awed” by the sacrifices of service members and their families and that the U.S. has met its responsibility.

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country,” Obama said. “We have removed nearly 100,000 U.S. troops from Iraq. We have closed or transferred hundreds of bases to the Iraqis. And we have moved millions of pieces of equipment out of Iraq.”

Before Obama’s speech, some Republicans had urged him to acknowledge that the 2007 U.S. troop surge in Iraq ordered by then-President George W. Bush had worked. Obama, as a U.S. senator and candidate for the presidency, had opposed it.

Obama, who spoke with Bush in a phone call earlier in the day, did not mention the former president’s role in the surge.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, delivered a speech Tuesday suggesting Bush deserves more credit for reaching this milestone.

“You might recall that the surge wasn’t very popular when it was announced,” McConnell said. “You might also recall that one of its biggest critics was the current president. So it makes it easier to talk about fulfilling a campaign promise to wind down our operations in Iraq when the previous administration signs the security agreement with Iraq to end our overall presence there.”

Obama said the most urgent matter now is restoring the economy and “putting millions of Americans who have who have lost their jobs back to work.”

To strengthen the middle class, he said, “we must give all our children the education they deserve, and all our workers the skills that they need to compete in a global economy.”

Obama’s emphasis on the economy appears to dovetail with the mood of the American public.

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll earlier this month, 56 percent of respondents said the economy would be extremely important to their vote for Congress this year. Fewer than four in 10 said that the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan were extremely important to them.

CNN’s Ed Henry, Dan Lothian, Dana Bash, Jason Hanna and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.

Biden marks transfer of U.S. command in Iraq

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