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Tea Party: Return to basics or divisive force?

Posted on September 27, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — Depending on who is talking, the Tea Party movement is either an extremist force dividing Republicans or a group of disgruntled taxpayers setting the government on a proper course.

The conservative political force has shaken up this year’s congressional elections, backing candidates who defeated Republican incumbents and other mainstream GOP candidates in primaries across the country.

Sal Russo, chief strategist for the Tea Party Express — the most organized and visible of the movement’s factions — told the CBS program “Face the Nation” that his group is a political action committee comprising members limited to donations of up to $5,000 with no corporate contributions allowed.

“We’re the purest form of democracy, I think, in the Tea Party movement, in the sense that when we want to do something, we don’t have any money to start with, we have to send an e-mail out to our people and say, ‘Hey, we think Sharron Angle is going to be a great candidate in Nevada, and do you want to get behind her?’ ” Russo said Sunday.

The end result, he said, would be the election of candidates “willing to stand up for more responsible fiscal policy in Washington.”

“We’ve turned the political system on its head,” Russo said. “And what’s done that is that millions of Americans, who, many of them, had been sitting out the political process, have gotten involved in the campaigns.”

However, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the chamber, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that candidates such as Angle showed the negative impact of the Tea Party movement on the political right.

Republican primary victories by Tea Party-backed nominees over mainstream contenders such as Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and nine-term Delaware Rep. Mike Castle end up giving Democratic contenders a chance to win previously out-of-reach races in November, he said.

Video: Tea Party activists: Here to stay

Video: Florida’s Tea Party surprise

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“When the Tea Party becomes the gatekeeper of a Republican primary, we end up with contests we never dreamed of,” Durbin said. “Who would have guessed that today we would be taking an honest look at Alaska, Delaware, and Kentucky, where we clearly have races where the Democrats can win?”

Durbin also cited Florida, where Republican Marco Rubio’s Senate candidacy with Tea Party support caused Gov. Charlie Crist to wage an independent campaign, throwing the race into what Durbin called “turmoil.”

“I think that shows the Tea Party position is too extreme for most voters, and I think we’re going to do well in those states,” Durbin said. “People have to ask themselves, is this what we really want in the United States Senate?”

Rubio, interviewed on the CBS program, said he and the Tea Party movement reflected the “sentiment in mainstream America that Washington is broken.”

“We don’t want to change America,” he said in reference to President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign theme and agenda. “We want to fix things that are wrong in America.”

He advocated bedrock conservative positions, including a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, banning congressional earmarks and imposing term limits on Congress members.

However, his stance was more moderate on an issue important to the crucial senior citizen population in Florida — reforming Social Security to ensure its future solvency.

Rubio said benefits for current retirees or those close to retirement should remain fixed, and the system must survive for the younger and future generations without bankrupting the country.

“We’re going to have to accept there are going to be some changes,” he said, mentioning a possible future increase in the retirement age for eligibility.

Also on the program, another Tea Party-backed nominee — Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck — expressed similar conservative credentials.

“I see myself as part of a group of candidates who have been elected in this country because of frustration with what’s happening in Washington, D.C.,” Buck said.

“We’re going there not to be part of the establishment, not to be part of what we consider the problem in Washington, D.C., but to get there and to reduce spending, to promote ideas like a balanced-budget amendment and term limits and ideas that have been talked about for a while,” he said.

The Tea Party-backed candidates interviewed Sunday made no mention of the “Pledge to America” document released last week by House Republicans as a proposal for how they would govern if in power.

Democrats criticized the economic-focused program that includes reduced spending, lower taxes and other bedrock GOP positions as a rehash of failed past policies.

In an editorial Saturday, the New York Times called the document “a bid to co-opt the Tea Party by a Republican leadership that wants to sound insurrectionist but is the same old Washington elite.”

“Not only are the players the same, the policies are the same,” the editorial said. “Just more tax cuts for the rich and more deficit spending. We find it hard to believe that even the most disaffected voters will be taken in.”

Conservative Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana told the NBC program “Meet the Press” that the “Pledge to America” represented a return to Republican roots.

“Republicans didn’t just lose our majority in 2006, we lost our way,” Pence said. “We walked away from the principles of fiscal discipline and reform that minted our governing majority back in 1980 and again in 1994. And the American people walked away from us.”

Conceding that the proposals in the document are “not necessarily new,” Pence said it represented a commitment to “important first steps in this Congress to steer our national government back to” basic principles and practices.

Tea Party: Return to basics or divisive force?

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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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Gingrich blasts Democratic establishment

Posted on September 18, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich repeatedly brought social conservatives to their feet Saturday with an impassioned address in which he warned that America faces a dual threat from the Democratic establishment on the one hand and Islamic terrorists on the other.

“We are at a point where our establishment is sliding into policies of such disastrous impact that they will in fact fundamentally challenge the survival of America as we know it,” Gingrich said during his speech to the fifth annual Values Voter Summit in Washington.

“On the one front we have a secular socialist machine led by (President) Obama, (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi, and (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid, and on the other front we have radical Islamists who would fundamentally change this country into a system none of us in this room would recognize,” he continued to thunderous applause.

Gingrich, who has repeatedly acknowledged he is testing the waters in advance of a potential bid for president, largely stuck to red meat issues during his 30-minute speech before a gathering of activists who could play a crucial role in selecting the next Republican presidential candidate.

Gingrich also took aim at Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who recently sent a letter to insurance industry leaders warning them not to “falsely blame premium increases” on the recently passed health care legislation.

“If she’s going to represent left-wing thought police about Obamacare, she should be forced to resign by the new Congress,” he said.

Perhaps the former House Speaker’s loudest applause came when he weighed in on the controversial Islamic center and mosque proposed to be built near ground zero, declaring, “We as Americans don’t have to tolerate people who are supportive of violence against us, building something at the sight of the violence.”

“This is not about religious liberty, they want to build that mosque in the South Bronx, frankly they need the jobs,” he said. “But I am totally opposed to any effort to impose Sharia on the United States, and we should have a federal law that says under no circumstance, in any jurisdiction in the United States, will Sharia be used in any court to apply to any judgment made about American law.”

Sharia is considered the sacred law of Islam as set forth by the Quran and the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

Gingrich also laid heavy praise on the “energy” of the Tea Party movement and its newest victor, Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, who defeated longtime Congressman Mike Castle, considered a shoo-in before the election.

“I would beg Mike Castle to endorse Christine O’Donnell because she won fair and square in a process of representation. But let me go a step further, I am going to predict right now, Christine O’Donnell is going to win in Delaware.”

And he sharply derided Republican Lisa Murkowsi, the Alaska senator who announced Friday that she would mount an independent bid after losing to a Tea Party-backed candidate last month.

“Senator Murkowsi is fundamentally cheating,” he said. “If she wanted to run as an independent she should have.”

Gingrich’s speech comes on the second and final day of the gathering and hours before attendees will vote in a 2012 presidential straw poll — the results of which will be one indication of which potential White House hopeful can count on support from the social conservative faction of the party that is so vital in the primary process.

Gingrich followed a string of speakers Friday who constitute a veritable “who’s who” of rising Republican stars and potential 2012 presidential contenders, including Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, as well as O’Donnell from Delaware.

Gingrich blasts Democratic establishment

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Some Dems break with party leaders

Posted on September 16, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted Thursday that tax cuts for middle class Americans would be extended by Congress.

Pelosi told her weekly news conference that she supports President Obama’s proposal to maintain the reduced tax rates for people earning $250,000 a year or less, while allowing the Bush-era tax cuts to expire for those who make more.

Thirty-one House Democrats, most of whom face tough re-election bids this fall, have signed a letter to Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer urging them to extend expiring tax breaks for all income levels, including the wealthy.

However, Pelosi said the Obama plan makes the most sense.

“The only thing I can tell you is that the tax cuts for the middle class will be extended in this Congress,” Pelosi said.

Republicans also say the tax cuts, introduced by President George W. Bush in 2001, should be kept in place for everyone.

With the midterm elections less than two months away, Democratic leaders have not yet decided whether they will schedule a vote on the legislation before voters go to the polls.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday that he has urged Pelosi to allow an “honest up-or-down vote” on extending all the Bush tax cuts. Anything less, he said, is “unacceptable.”

Boehner said earlier this week that while he wants to extend tax cuts for all Americans, he would back Obama’s plan if it is the only option available.

Boehner pushes extension of all Bush tax cuts

Video: Some Democrats, Obama divided

Video: Rep. Boehner calls for up or down vote

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Americans appear divided on the issue. Most — but not all — polls conducted over the last month indicate that a slight majority don’t want tax breaks for the wealthiest income earners to be extended.

According to a new New York Times/CBS News survey, 53 percent say the Obama administration’s proposal to let tax cuts for households earning $250,000 or more per year expire is a good idea, with 38 percent saying it’s a bad idea.

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. national poll conducted in early August, three in 10 said that the Bush-era tax cuts should be continued for all Americans, with a little more than 50 percent saying those tax cuts should be continued only for families who make less than $250,000 a year, and nearly one in five believing the tax cuts should expire for all Americans.

However, in an Ipsos/Reuters poll also conducted last month, 49 percent said tax cuts for all should be extended, while 31 percent said they should expire for the wealthiest Americans and 15 percent called for an end to the tax cuts for everyone.

See results from more polling on tax breaks

The letter from House Democrats to Pelosi and Hoyer — written by Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah, Melissa Bean of Illinois, Glenn Nye of Virginia and Gary Peters of Michigan — says that after listening to economists, small businesses and families over recent weeks these lawmakers are concerned that “raising any taxes right now could negatively impact economic growth.”

“We believe in times of economic recovery it makes good sense to maintain things as they are in the short term, to provide families and businesses the certainty required to plan and make sound budget decisions. Providing this certainty will give small businesses, the backbone of our economic recovery, confidence and stability,” the lawmakers wrote.

CNN reported that the four authors were circulating a draft of the letter earlier this week. But with more than 30 Democrats now signed on to the final letter, Democratic leaders will face increasing pressure to address the concerns of these members.

Republican congressional leaders have been making similar arguments, pushing for a two-year freeze on all current tax rates.

On Wednesday, Hoyer told reporters he could consider proposals to extend tax cuts for higher wage earners, but he also stressed his strong support for just renewing the middle-income tax breaks.

Later Wednesday, Hoyer released a statement noting he was simply saying he was willing to talk to others about their positions.

“Unfortunately, the reports of my answer implied a willingness to support an extension of Bush policies,” he wrote. “That is incorrect.”

CNN’s Dana Bash and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Some Dems break with party leaders

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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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Final act begins in 2010 election

Posted on September 15, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — The curtain slammed down on the 2010 primaries Tuesday night crushing centrist Republican Rep. Mike Castle and handing the Tea Party movement a final victory in its battle with the GOP establishment.

Castle’s upset loss to Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell was the exclamation point on a bitter and bruising primary season that saw seven incumbents lose re-election and angry political bases turn deaf ears to national leaders.

Republican Sens. Robert Bennett of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska fell to Tea Party candidates as did South Carolina GOP Rep. Bob Inglis. West Virginia Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan could not convince voters to re-nominate him for a 15th term, while Michigan Democratic Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick failed in her bid for an eighth term.

Party-switching Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith was unable to convince GOP voters he was a solid Republican, and Pennsylvania’s new Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter was unable to shed his longtime Republican political identity. And let’s not forget the Tea Party’s wins in primaries for open Senate seats in Colorado, Florida, and Kentucky.

Video: O’Donnell thanks Palin in victory

Video: Paladino accepts nod

Video: Rangel wins despite ethics charges

Video: Can Democrats sell success?

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And then there was Castle, a soft-spoken former Republican governor turned nine-term congressman, who left the safety of his House seat to run for the Senate seat once held by Vice President Joe Biden. Castle was favored to win the general election, which would have handed the GOP a huge symbolic win. Instead, Castle lost, which now casts doubt over whether Republicans can win this contest.

Once O’Donnell was declared the winner, my friend Stuart Rothenberg, the respected non-partisan political analyst, immediately described Democratic Senate nominee Chris Coons as the favorite to win the race.

“Castle had broad appeal, including to independents and even Democratic voters, while O’Donnell’s appeal is limited to tea party conservatives,” Rothenberg wrote.

And Rothenberg is not the only one who thinks that the Tea Party’s efforts to defeat Castle — who they charge is a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only) — will likely hand Democrats a win in November. A top Republican official told me not to expect to see national Republicans rally around O’Donnell’s candidacy.

“Until she demonstrates some viability in the polls, we are not going to have any money for her,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It is now incumbent on Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint and the Tea Party Express to help support her. They got her here. Now make it happen.”

Castle is not technically considered an incumbent, but he fit the description of a Washington insider, had the backing of the national GOP and will go down in the history books as the Tea Party’s final GOP scalp of the 2010 primary season.

Now all eyes are focused on November 2, as Republican leaders try to harness the anger and energy of the Tea Party movement and translate it into electoral wins, while Democrats work to build a beachhead in an effort to minimize losses and maintain control of the House.

There is no question that Democrats will lose seats in the House and Senate this year, what remains unanswered is how many?

Republicans need a net pickup of 39 seats in the House to take back the majority, an achievable number if momentum continues to move in the GOP’s direction. It will be harder if not impossible to win the 10 seats needed to wrest control of the Senate from Democratic hands.

Democratic leaders and top party officials have been very clear about their strategy over the next seven weeks: Turn out voters who supported President Obama in 2008 and define each race on its own merits.

“Democrats will individualize each of these House races, make it about candidate A versus candidate B and when voters are left with that choice, Democrats will retain the House,” said Jennifer Crider, deputy executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But Democrats will need help from the liberal Democratic base, which at times has been estranged from the national leadership, to help hold back the GOP wave that analysts predict will sweep across the nation.

The influential liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas Z

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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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Tea Party activists gather in Washington

Posted on September 12, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — A damp and enthusiastic crowd of self-proclaimed “Tea Party patriots” gathered at the U.S. Capitol building Sunday for a second straight September 12 march on Washington.

The collection of disparate groups and individuals, all supportive of the Tea Party movement, came together to protest what they consider to be out-of-control spending, excessive taxes and a government run amok.

Under the theme of “Remember in November” — a reference to the upcoming mid-term congressional elections — they warned both Democrats and Republicans that it was time for the American people to take back Congress.

“There’s only one power on Earth that is big enough to wreck this country, and that’s big government,” said former House leader Dick Armey, chairman of the FreedomWorks group that organized the rally.

Quoting the film character Dirty Harry Callahan, Armey said “a man’s got to know his limitations,” and added that it was time for the government to know its limitations.

“I believe we’ve gotten the Republican Party’s attention,” Armey said in reference to primary election victories by Tea Party backed candidates over mainstream GOP foes in Kentucky, Alaska and other states.

Tea Party activists hope for similar success in Delaware on Tuesday, throwing their support behind candidate Christine O’Donnell in a GOP Senate primary against Rep. Mike Castle.

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Before Sunday’s rally, activists marched along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Washington Monument to the steps of the capitol building despite gray skies and persistent rain. Signs reflected their socially conservative views, with some marchers carrying the Revolutionary War-era banner of a coiled snake and the slogan “Don’t Tread on Me,” while other placards read “Less Marx, More Jefferson” and “Big Government is Organized Crime.”

“Here we are in a battle for our lives and a battle for the future of this republic,” FreedomWorks Director of State and Federal Campaigns Brendan Steinhauser told the crowd assembled before the march.

Sunday’s protest was the second September 12 rally in Washington, following a similar event last year.

“Only a few weeks before this important November election, send one more final message to the folks down the street in that dome behind us,” Steinhauser encouraged the marchers. “…We’re tired of the way they’ve been acting in Congress. We’re tired what the president has been doing and we’ve been telling them this for over two years.”

As the march proceeded, a few hecklers along Pennsylvania Avenue taunted activists, yelling that they were missing in action when the Bush administration added to the nation’s debt. Other hecklers urged Tea Party activists to go home.

At the rally, the mention of top Democrats including President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prompted loud booing from the mostly white, middle-aged crowd.

Tea Party activists gather in Washington

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Obama’s economic push: Too little, too late?

Posted on September 6, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

(CNN) — President Barack Obama is rushing to roll out a new economic plan this week, but his fellow Democrats are confronting a difficult question: Is it too little, too late?

On one hand, Obama used a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to suggest he wasn’t rattled about the economic crisis that might wipe out Democratic majorities in the House and Senate in less than two months.

“Now, the plain truth is, there’s no silver bullet or quick fix to the problem,” he said.

But on the other hand, Obama certainly sounded like a president trying to use the roll-out of his new plan to convince voters he’s all over the problem.

“I’m going to keep fighting, every single day, to turn this economy around; to put our people back to work; to renew the American dream for your families and for future generations,” Obama said.

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There’s certainly urgency to the situation because panic is starting to set in privately among some Democratic strategists if the American people don’t see economic improvement by November.

So in Milwaukee, Obama unveiled a $50 billion infrastructure plan to try and create jobs over the long-term by rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads, 4,000 miles of rail, and 150 miles of airport runways.

Then on Wednesday in Cleveland, according to an administration official, the president will announce a $100 billion plan to permanently extend the tax credit for research and development, hoping to spur companies to invest in their businesses by buying more equipment and hiring more workers.

But the fact is it’s unlikely that Congress will pass either proposal in the narrow window of a few weeks that lawmakers will be working this fall. And even if Congress miraculously came together to pass these initiatives, they would not have much of any impact this year anyway.

On a conference call with reporters on Monday, a senior administration official acknowledged that the infrastructure package will not add any new jobs until at least 2011.

“This is not a stimulus, immediate-jobs plan,” one senior official said. “This is a six-year reauthorization (of transportation projects) that is front-loaded” with money to try and spark the economy once Congress passes it.

But the president seemed to be promising the opposite in Milwaukee in terms of impact, perhaps raising expectations too high.

“All of this will not only create jobs now, but will make our economy run better over the long haul,” Obama said, according to his prepared remarks. “It’s a plan that history tells us can and should attract bipartisan support. It’s a plan that says even in the still-smoldering aftermath of the worst recession in our lifetimes, America can act to shape our own destiny, to move this country forward, to leave our children something better — something lasting.”

The sudden flurry of activity has led Republicans like Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, to charge the president is “just flailing around” and trying to show a lot of activity on the eve of the midterm elections to try and bail out Democrats.

“We always like to see deathbed conversions,” McCain said on “Fox News Sunday” about Obama’s latest economic plan. “The fact is, if we’d have done this kind of thing nearly a couple of years ago, we’d be in better shape.”

White House officials completely reject the notion that they’ve had any sort of conversion or are “flailing around” for answers, pointing out there has been a heavy focus on turning around the economy with passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan within the first 100 days of the new administration.

“I would say within a month of President Obama coming into office, he signed the largest increase in infrastructure since President Eisenhower established the interstate highway system,” said a senior administration official. “The Secretary of Transportation and the Vice President have all been working tirelessly to make sure we are investing that money quickly and wisely.”

And in fairness to the White House, there have been reports conducted by nonpartisan officials like the Congressional Budget Office, as well as private economists outside the administration, suggesting the Recovery Act has saved or created 3.3 million jobs over the last year and a half.

The problem for the president is due in part to the high expectations set by the White House itself, which originally billed the stimulus as something that would jolt the economy, which didn’t quite pan out. Then they talked about giving the stimulus more time because it was always intended to be paid out over two years, and they decided to bill July and August as “Recovery Summer” to suggest the impact was finally starting to reach real people.

But the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll suggests the American people are still just not feeling any sort of recovery. When asked about economic conditions today, 81 percent said the conditions are “poor” while only 18 percent said they’re “good” at this point.

Just as problematic is the fact that when asked how the current economic conditions compare to two years ago — before the stimulus package was passed — 49 percent said it’s “as bad or worse,” while 18 percent said it’s “better now but will get worse” in the future. Only 32 percent of respondents said that when compared to two years ago, the economy is “better now and will stay that way.”

That’s why when the president talks this week about the targeted tax cut as well as infrastructure spending — two key ingredients of the recovery plan last year — some Americans may feel like they’ve heard the same sales pitch before and the original didn’t quite work out as advertised.

The other challenge for the president is the fact that Americans have also heard him say many times before that he’s “focusing on the economy” — only to see him spend months and months on health care reform earlier in his presidency. And then after health care passed, the promises of a “hard pivot” back to jobs have only been eclipsed time and again by big issues like last week’s big Iraq speech from the Oval Office and the push for Mideast peace.

To be sure, some of the criticism of the president’s focus on foreign policy has been ridiculous. After all, he’s the commander-in-chief, not the economist-in-chief, so it’s sort of absurd to suggest that he should not have spent time thanking U.S. troops last week and talking directly to the American people about an important turning point to the mission in Iraq.

Likewise, Obama would have been derelict in his duty if he had ignored an historic opportunity to try and forge Mideast peace by saying he wanted to spend more time on the domestic economy. For the first time in nearly two years, Israeli and Palestinian leaders were willing to sit down for direct talks, so this was a rare opportunity for the American president to try and push it along. The peace initiative may ultimately fail, but he at least has to try.

But there have also been times when the president has waded into controversies, like the mosque issue in New York City, that have only pulled him off his message on jobs. And despite the bad news for Obama in CNN’s latest poll, there’s also a surprising revelation that suggests there’s still a chance the President could turn this election year narrative around.

The poll shows that more Americans hold the Republicans responsible for the economic mess than the Democrats, with 44 percent blaming the GOP and 35 percent picking the Democrats. And when the name of former President George W. Bush is added to the conversation, the number who blame the Republicans rises to 53 percent, with just a third of respondents saying Obama and his party are at fault.

Those numbers explain why Democrats will be mentioning the “Bush” name every chance they can get in the final two months leading up to the election. But the numbers also raise a question: Why haven’t the Democrats been able to do a better job of making the case for their own policies to save the economy?

On the morning after the election, Democratic insiders at the White House and on Capitol Hill may be wondering to themselves about an historic missed opportunity.

Obama’s economic push: Too little, too late?

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Obama promises new jobs initiatives

Posted on September 3, 2010 by admin| Comments Off

Washington (CNN) — President Obama went on the offensive Friday on the politically critical issue of job creation, promising to lay out a broad package of ideas next week and slamming Senate Republicans for blocking passage of his administration’s small business aid legislation.

Obama renewed his call for the languishing bill in the wake of Friday’s release of new unemployment figures. The jobless rate, according to the Labor Department, rose from 9.5 percent to 9.6 percent in August.

The economy lost a total of 54,000 jobs last month. Most of the losses, however, came from the public sector as the government cut 114,000 temporary census workers. Private businesses added 67,000 jobs to their payrolls.

August was the eighth straight month that businesses added jobs, following nearly two straight years of job losses. So far this year businesses have added 763,000 workers to payrolls.

“That’s positive news,” Obama said at the White House, flanked by his top economic advisers. It “reflects steps we’ve already taken to break the back of this recession.”

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But he warned, “There’s no quick fix to the worst recession we’ve experienced since the Great Depression.”

Senate Republicans, he said, were responsible for a “needless delay” in the passage of legislation designed to increase bank loans to small businesses. Specifically, the measure would set up a $30 billion lending fund to help community banks offer small businesses credit. It also would provide tax breaks to small businesses that invest in new equipment and hire unemployed workers.

The House of Representatives passed a similar bill in June. Republican opposition has focused, among other things, on the cost of the measure.

Republicans lashed back at the president, blaming him for what most observers still characterize as a weak recovery.

“Today’s jobs report is a clear demonstration that the American economy still has a long way to go,” said Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House minority whip.

“The policies being pursued by the White House and Democrat leaders in Washington continue to create uncertainty and fear that is inhibiting productivity, innovation and job creation.”

In a statement, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said, “With 54,000 more Americans finding themselves out of work this month and unemployment rising to 9.6 percent, President Obama’s ‘Recovery Summer’ has ended right where it began, with Americans continuing to lose their jobs and unable to find new ones.”

Obama defended his decision to push the “Recovery Summer” theme.

“I don’t regret the notion that we are moving forward … because of the steps that we’ve taken,” he told reporters. “The key point I’m making right now is that the economy is moving in a positive direction. … We just have to speed it up.”

Christina Romer, head of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the “Recovery Summer” theme was chosen to reflect that a large number of projects funded by the $862 billion stimulus act came to fruition — a fact reflected in an uptick in the number of construction jobs.

Republicans have criticized the stimulus package for adding to the national debt while failing to boost economic growth sufficiently.

CNN’s Paul Steinhauser and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.

Obama promises new jobs initiatives

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