Democrat Steve Beshear Seems Ready to Trounce Republican Incumbent

My Direct Democracy, Jonathon Singer, Oct 31st

If you’re an incumbent Governor trailing your challenger by a double-digit margin less than a week out from election day, you probably would rather not see your numbers drop from the upper-30s to 40 percent to the mid-30s. But such is the case for Kentucky’s Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher, who is polling way down in the mid-30s in two new polls matching him up against Democrat Steve Beshear.

The newest poll shows Democrat Beshear ahead with 60% versus 35% for Ernie Fletcher.

It really just isn’t so good for an incumbent to average nearly 20 points down against his challenger. Something could happen between now and Tuesday, when Kentuckians go to the polls — but it’s not terribly likely at this point. What does remain to be seen, it seems, it whether the Democrats will get enough momentum out of this gubernatorial contest to make good on their very real potential to go after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell next fall.  Click here to read this story at MyDD (MyDirectDemocracy)

Number of Arizona Democrats on the Rise

Pheonix AZ, Associated Press From the Arizona Daily Sun

The GOP has lost ground to Democrats in both voter registration and fundraising in Arizona, the home state of conservative leader Barry Goldwater.

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office says that new voters who registered as Democrats outnumbered Republicans by nearly a 4-1 margin statewide during the third quarter of 2007.

In Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county, Democrats picked up more than 6,000 new voters from July through September. In contrast, Republicans lost nearly 300 voters during the same period.

The state Democratic Party also outpaced the Republican Party nearly 3-to-1 in raising money in the quarter. Democrats, who benefited from a fundraiser headlined by former President Bill Clinton, raised $79,800, according to the Federal Election Commission. The Republicans raised $27,100.

For the year, Democrats have outpaced Republicans nearly 2-to-1 in 2007 fundraising. Democrats have collected $712,600 since January, while Republicans have bagged just $365,600.

Numbers like these have left Republicans searching for answers.

GOP political consultant Bert Coleman said party leaders are driving away voters and financial supporters.

“The Republican Party has spent the majority of the past year in a divisive state over issues such as immigration,” said Coleman, president of Coleman Dahm & Associates, a Phoenix-based political consulting firm.

Coleman was critical of state Republican Party chairman Randy Pullen, who led a multimedia campaign against the U.S. Senate’s compromise immigration bill that Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl helped draft.

Click Here to read more in the Arizona Daily Sun 

Values Voters are apparently having trouble counting votes.  Yesterday, Mitt Romney ran away with the field at the Values Voters straw poll, or did he?  Seems that better than 50% of the 1500 delegates attending the conference voted for Mike Huckabee.  So he’s the winner…right?  No it seems the Mitt Romney packed the internet vote which was included.  For a $1 fee, a Romney supporter could “join” the Value Voters Family Council and be entitled to vote over the internet.  And VOTE they did.

Our regular October meeting will be held Saturday, October 13th 2007. Speakers to be arranged. The meeting starts at 3:30 pm following a half hour of social interaction. As normal, the meeting will be held at the Activities Center (HOA #1) at 64518 E Galveston Lane. Following the meeting we will have a pot luck buffet at the home of one of our members. See you there!

Giuliani and Romney Fight About Who Can Cut Social Spending and Taxes Faster. All Three Agree That We Must Continue To Pour Money Into Iraq.

Giuliani, Romney scrap in GOP debate

Thompson joins fray, eyes a trim in future Social Security benefits
By Liz Sidoti, The Associated Press, Arizona Star, October 10th

DEARBORN, Mich. — Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani quarreled over tax and spending cuts Tuesday, each claiming greater commitment than the other in a debate in the nation’s struggling manufacturing heartland.

The government “is spending money of future generations and those yet to be born,” added Fred Thompson, making his debut on a debate stage after a late entry into the race. He said future retirees should receive smaller Social Security benefits than they have been promised.

After months of polite debate sparring, Giuliani and Romney squared off without hesitation, a reflection of their struggle for primacy in the race for their party’s presidential nomination.

“I cut taxes 23 times. I believe in tax cuts,” said Giuliani, former mayor of New York and leader in national Republican polls.

Romney initially conceded that but quickly criticized his rival for once filing a court challenge to a law that gave President Clinton the right to veto spending items line by line. “I’m in favor of the line-item veto,” he said, adding he exercised it 844 times while governor of Massachusetts.

Romney also said that while mayor, Giuliani “fought to keep the commuter tax, which is a very substantial tax … on consumers coming into New York.”

The former governor leads his rivals in the polls in Iowa, where caucuses will be the first contest of the campaign, and he and Giuliani are in a close race in surveys in New Hampshire, the leadoff primary state.

Giuliani responded that spending fell in New York while he was mayor, and rose in Massachusetts while Romney was governor.

“The point is that you’ve got to control taxes. I did it, he didn’t. … I led, he lagged.”

“It’s baloney,” retorted Romney. “I did not increase taxes in Massachusetts. I lowered taxes.”

The exchange was among the most heated of the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, reflecting a quickening pace as the 2008 caucuses and primaries draw close.

It also left Thompson, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and the other contenders as something of bystanders for the several moments that Romney and Giuliani went at one another.

“If you want to control federal spending you must look at Social Security and Medicare,” said Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado. He said he favors private Social Security accounts.

Thompson said that without changes, Social Security would not survive. He said there should be no change for current retirees and those expected to begin drawing benefits soon. But for those retiring further in the future, benefits should not be allowed to rise as quickly as now expected. Click here to read more about how Republicans want to cut spending and continue the war in Iraq.

Even After Bush pledged not to use torture; He commissioned “secret legal opinions” from the Justice Department to cover treatment that explicitly authorized the use of painful and psychological tactics on suspects.

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer, Oct 4th

WASHINGTON - Senate and House Democrats demanded Thursday to see two secret memos that reportedly authorize painful interrogation tactics against terror suspects — despite the Bush administration’s insistence that it has not violated U.S. anti-torture laws.

White House and Justice Department press officers said legal opinions written in 2005 did not reverse an administration policy issued in 2004 that publicly renounced torture as “abhorrent.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller sent a letter to the acting attorney general saying the administration’s credibility is at risk if the documents are not turned over to Congress.

The memos are “critical to an appropriate assessment” of interrogation tactics approved by the White House and the Justice Department, Rockefeller wrote to Acting Attorney General Peter D. Keisler. “Why should the public have confidence that the program is either legal or in the best interests of the United States?” the West Virginia Democrat asked.

House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., promised a congressional inquiry into the two Justice Department legal opinions that reportedly explicitly authorized the use of painful and psychological tactics on terrorism suspects.  Click here to read more about White House desire to torture suspects at Yahoo News.

Sen. John Ensign Republican of Nevada Threatens Senate Ethics Hearings

Carl Hulse, New York Times, Oct 4th

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 — Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho, defying the wishes of many in his own Republican party, said today that he would remain in the Senate through next year despite a court ruling against him in Minnesota, where he sought to rescind his guilty plea stemming from an undercover sex sting.

Shortly after a state judge denied his request to withdraw the August plea admitting to disorderly conduct, Mr. Craig said he had reversed his previously announced decision to leave the Senate if he could not get the plea thrown out and would instead serve out his third term, which expires at the end of 2008. He said he would not run for a fourth.

His decision was a major disappointment to Republican leaders, who had hoped Mr. Craig would make good on his initial pledge and spare them from the potential political liability of having a senior lawmaker who has become a national punch line.

His decision came as Senator Pete V. Domenici, the longtime New Mexico Republican, announced he would retire at the end of his term in January 2009, creating yet another opportunity for Democrats who already have their eyes on three other Senate vacancies that are opening up. Republicans are unlikely to lose Idaho’s Senate seat but are worried Mr. Craig could tarnish the party’s overall reputation.

Click here to read more in the New York Times.

After nearly a trillion dollars in spending for war and distruction in the Middle East, Republicans now say that fiscal conservatism requires that American children go without access to affordable health care.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 — President Bush vetoed the children’s health insurance bill today, as he had promised to do, setting the stage for more negotiations between the White House and Congress and sparking unusual dismay from some prominent Republicans.

Mr. Bush wielded his pen with no fanfare just before leaving for a visit to Lancaster, Pa. The veto was only the fourth of Mr. Bush’s presidency, and it may have spawned the most anger, not just from Democrats but also from some members of Mr. Bush’s own party.

The bill was approved by Congress with unusual bipartisan support, as many Republicans who side with the president on almost everything else voted to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or Schip, from its current enrollment of about 6.6 million children to more than 10 million.

The measure would provide $60 billion over the next five years, $35 billion more than current spending and $30 billion more than the president proposed. Mr. Bush and his backers argue that the bill would be a step toward federalization of health care, and that it would steer the program away from its core purpose of providing insurance for poor children and toward covering children from middle-class families. The program was to expire on Sept. 30 but financing for it has been continued through a stopgap spending bill that will be in effect through mid-November.  Click here to read more about Passionate Conservativism.

Associate Press, Oct 3rd

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, an influential Republican voice on budget issues for a generation, intends to retire at the end of his term next year, party officials said Wednesday.

These officials said the 75-year-old, six-term lawmaker intends to make a formal announcement on Thursday in his home state. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the decision.

Domenici would be the fifth Republican senator to decline to seek a new term, giving Democrats an opportunity to expand their majority in the 2008 elections. GOP Sens. John Warner of Virginia, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Larry Craig of Idaho and Wayne Allard of Colorado have previously announced plans not to run again.

A spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee did not immediately return a request for comment.

The New Mexico Republican had earlier signaled a desire to run for re-election, despite coming under criticism this year over possible role in the firing U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Click here to read more in the New York Times.

The Pinal County Democrats hold their meetings at 7pm on the third Wednesday of each month in Florence. We generally gather for a dutch treat supper at about 5:30 pm at the A&M Pizza on Highway 287 west of Florence. This is great opportunity to meet and greet fellow Democrats in an informal setting. The meeting is held at the offices of the Pinal County Attorney at 31 N Pinal St. Carpooling is generally available from SaddleBrooke.