Clipmarks | BobbyRutan's clips

Bush's signature dooms Colorado republican running for Senate

Wed, 14 May 2008 04:58:44 GMT

clipped by: BobbyRutan
clipper's remarks: Bush, even when doing something right, is the republicans biggest liability.

Mark Udall currently leads republican Schaffer in the Senate election to replace retiring republican Seantor Wayne Allred.

Clip Source: www.politicswest.com

Democrats Monday used President Bush's recent signing of a bill that supporters say will eliminate sweatshops on the Northern Mariana Islands to settle a few political scores, including one in Colorado

Democrats have been trying since the mid-1990s to revoke the protectorate's exemptions from U.S. labor and immigration laws but had long been outflanked by powerful Republicans in the House and the islands' now-jailed lobbyist, Jack Abramoff.

Former Congressman Bob Schaffer's role in those efforts has been a campaign issue

"I know that from what I read and the people I listened to, it was clear that there were abuses there. . .. I don't understand how you could leave the Marianas thinking everything was perfect," said Rep. Mark Udall, referring to a fact-finding trip Schaffer took in 1999 that was partly arranged by Abramoff's lobbying firm. Schaffer said he found problems in only one out of 20 factories he visited.

Udall, D

and Republican Schaffer are vying for the U.S. Senate

Clip Source: www.ephblog.com

Mark Udall

Tags: republican battle cry "it's w, run away !"

Democrat tied to Obama wins special election in Mississippi

Wed, 14 May 2008 04:26:37 GMT

clipped by: BobbyRutan
clipper's remarks: More: The special election was held to fill the seat of former Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who was appointed to serve out the remainder of Sen. Trent Lott’s term last December. Wicker had never faced a competitive race since first elected in 1994, and the district gave President Bush 62 percent of the vote in 2004.

The results amount to a rebuke of the Republican strategy of trying nationalize the race by tying Childers to Sen. Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Obama held low approval ratings in the district, but the nearly $2 million that GOP groups poured into northern Mississippi failed to make the race a referendum on the national political landscape.

A GOP House leadership aide told Politico last week that “if we don’t win in Mississippi, I think you are going to see a lot of people running around here looking for windows to jump out of.”

Clip Source: www.politico.com

Democrats picked up a northern Mississippi House seat in one of the most conservative-minded districts in the country Tuesday night -- an upset that will reverberate darkly through a House Republican caucus already reeling from losses in special elections in Illinois and Louisiana.

With all precincts reporting, the Democratic nominee, Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers, defeated Republican Greg Davis, 54 to 46 percent. Childers was able to expand his three-point margin of victory from the race's first round of balloting last month -- even as he faced an onslaught of Republican attacks.

Republicans dispatched a lineup of heavy hitters in the campaign’s final week, including a pre-election stop Monday by Vice President Dick Cheney. President Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and First Lady Laura Bush recorded automated calls urging voters to support Davis.

"His victory has sent a political thunderbolt across America tonight," DCCC chairman Chris Van Hollen said

Clip Source: www.sourcewatch.org

Clip Source: files.meetup.com

Tags: look out above, republicans jumping out of windows

GOP Leaders Warn of Election Disaster

Wed, 14 May 2008 04:18:14 GMT

clipped by: BobbyRutan
clipper's remarks: More: And in a closed-door session at the Capitol, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told members that the NRCC doesn’t have enough cash to “save them” in November if they don’t raise enough money or run strong campaigns themselves.
Although a top House Republican brushed aside Gingrich’s broadside as “hype from a has-been who desperately wants to be a player but can’t anymore,” the harsh words from Cole were harder to ignore.

National republican Campaign Committee run by an Oklahoman? No wonder they are getting they are getting their b***s kicked. I can think of only one or two states more out of touch with the rest of the country.

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

In a piece published in Human Events, the Republicans’ onetime captain, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, warned his old colleagues that they face “real disaster” on Election Day

Shellshocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s money.

The double shot of bad news had one veteran Republican House member worrying aloud that the party’s electoral woes - brought into sharp focus by Woody Jenkins’ loss to Don Cazayoux in Louisiana on Saturday - have the House Republican Conference splitting apart in “everybody for himself” mode.

“There is an attitude that, ‘I better watch out for myself, because nobody else is going to do it,’” the member said. “There are all these different factions out there, everyone is sniping at each other, and we have no real plan. We have a lot of people fighting to be the captain of the lifeboat instead of everybody pulling together.”

Tags: oklahoman leading party to historical failure