42% of Americans describe themselves as Democrats to 32% that call themselves Republicans

Sunday, March 02, 2008 Rasmussen Reports

As the public image of the Democratic Party shifted from Congress to the Presidential campaign trail, the number of Democrats in the United States has soared. In fact, during the month of February, the Democrat’s numerical advantage over the Republican Party grew to the highest level ever measured by Rasmussen Reports.

In February, the number of Americans who consider themselves to be Democrats jumped to 41.5%, the highest total on record. Just 31.8% consider themselves to be Republicans. The partisan gap—a 9.7 percentage point advantage for the Democrats—is by far the largest it has ever been. The previous high was a 6.9 point edge for the Democrats in December 2006. Rasmussen Reports tracks this information based upon telephone interviews with approximately 15,000 adults per month and has been doing so since November 2002.

The 9.7 percentage point advantage for Democrats is up from a 5.6 point advantage a month ago and a 2.1 point advantage two months ago. The surge for the Democrats is especially notable because it reversed a modest trend in the GOP direction that unfolded over much of calendar year 2007 (see history from January 2004 to present).

Click here to read more at the Rasmussen Reports website.

Two events this past weekend: Florida’s Republican Governor offers to pay for a second Democratic Primary. Then Karl Rove says on Fox News that it’s “unseemly for the Democrats to cut short the primary race.”

Crist Says He’d Support a Repeat of Florida Democratic Primary

March 2 (Bloomberg News) — Florida Governor Charlie Crist said he’d support a repeat of the Democratic presidential primary so the state’s delegates can be counted at the party’s national convention.

The Democratic Party stripped Florida of their delegates to the convention as punishment for holding votes before the sanctioned date of Feb. 5. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, head of the Democratic National Convention, said last month that delegates from those states shouldn’t decide the nomination.

Now here comes Charlie Crist saying that “You can have your primary!” Presumably however it would take a couple of months to get things organized. In the meantime, McCain would have clear sailing while the Democrats continue to contest the nomination. And there is the possibility that Hillary could gain some traction in the process.

Then the second shoe dropped as Karl Rove appearing on Fox News (his personal network) discussed the Democratic nomination process and said that “for Democrats to rush to pick a nominee would be unseemly.” As the interview wound on, Karl and Chris Wallace spent most of their time bashing Obama.

WALLACE: We’re running out of time. I want to hit a couple of last final points quickly.

A speaker at a McCain rally this week talked about, repeatedly, Barack Hussein Obama. The Tennessee Republican Party talks about support for Obama from anti-Semites and anti-Israel people. ……

It is beginning to be clear that the Republicans want to see the Democratic nomination process drag out for a long time. They would prefer to see Hillary as the nominee because they see her as an easier target for the Republican slime machine. As we said above, I think I Smell a Rat!

Sending a Message to the Grand Oil Party

From the Associated Press, Chicago, March 9th

CHICAGO — A day after snagging former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s congressional seat in a special election, Democrat Bill Foster knew Sunday he didn’t have much time to savor the victory.

Foster’s weekend win to fill the remainder of Hastert’s term until January will be a fleeting one for Democrats unless he can hold on to the seat in the fall election for a new, full term.

“The best way to establish a long-term career in Congress is to do a good job from Day One,” Foster told The Associated Press in a telephone interview while en route to a restaurant to thank voters.

A millionaire physicist and businessman, Foster defeated wealthy Republican Jim Oberweis after a contentious campaign with 53 percent of the nearly 100,000 votes cast in the special election Saturday.

The longest-serving Republican speaker in history, Hastert resigned the seat late last year after losing his powerful speaker post when Democrats took control of Congress in the 2006 election. He spent two decades in Washington.

Foster chalked up his win to voters dissatisfied with Republicans and to demographic changes caused by ever-spreading suburban sprawl. The district stretches from Chicago’s far western suburbs to almost the Mississippi River.

Foster credited high-profile support from some well-known Illinois Democrats. Presidential candidate Barack Obama endorsed him in a TV ad.  Click here to read more from Associated Press.

This will pretty much assure that Al Franken will be the Democratic Farm Labor candidate to take on Norm Coleman! Latest polls show Franken as the November favorite.

CBS News, March 10th, 2008

Democrat Mike Ciresi is dropping out of the race for U.S. Senate, saying he doesn’t think he can win the party’s endorsement.

Ciresi has been trailing former comedian Al Franken, who has lined up the support of major unions and has raised millions more dollars. Ciresi recently announced he would loan $2 million of his own money to his campaign.

Click here for more on this breaking story.

Here is a follow-on story from the Associated Press in Minnesota

Analysis: With Ciresi Out, Franken Can Woo More

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― A year ago, no one thought it would be quite this easy for Al Franken.

Mike Ciresi’s withdrawal this week from the Democratic U.S. Senate race put Franken in the driver’s seat for the endorsement of DFL activists at their state convention in June. He still faces a significant challenge from Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, but even Franken’s detractors consider the underfunded college professor and peace activist to be a long shot.

“It looks pretty good for Al Franken,” said Roger Moe, the former Senate majority leader and DFL candidate for governor, who supported Ciresi.

And what’s good for Franken is bad for Sen. Norm Coleman, the Republican incumbent. For the last year, Coleman has mostly stayed above the fray — generating headlines for his work in the Senate as he banked campaign funds, and taking an occasional potshot at Franken. Click here to read more from the Associated Press.

Fallon Resigns as Mideast Military Chief, Gates Says

Many now fear that Bush will now proceed with plans to bomb Iran and start yet another war.

By William Branigin

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008; 5:41 PM

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced today that the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Adm. William J. “Fox” Fallon, is retiring at the end of the month because of perceptions that he is at odds with Bush administration policy on Iran.

Gates told a hastily arranged news conference at the Pentagon that these perceptions were false. But he said Fallon has “made the right decision.”

Gates quoted Fallon as having told him early this morning that “the current embarrassing situation, public perception of differences between my views and administration policy, and the distraction this causes from the mission make this the right thing to do.” Gates said he approved Fallon’s request to retire “with reluctance and regret.”

Contrary to a recent Esquire magazine article that described differences between Fallon and the White House, Gates said, the admiral’s departure does not mean that the United States is heading toward war with Iran.

“That’s just ridiculous,” Gates said.

However, congressional Democrats raised concerns that the retirement means a dissenting voice is being silenced. Click here to read more in the Washington Post.  And here is a link to the Esquire article.

Wow, Is It Possible to be more Hawkish Than George, What’s Next: “Salvation Through Thermo-nuclear Warfare?”

Yahoo News, Hans Nicols, March 12th

John McCain is at least as determined as George W. Bush to stay the course in Iraq and more confrontational than the president on foreign policy issues ranging from Russia and China to North Korea.

The perception that McCain is less bellicose than the administration is belied by his own positions. He’s skeptical about Bush’s plan to provide nuclear fuel to North Korea. He has signaled he would be tougher on China. And he called Russia’s elections “rigged” even as Bush said he wanted a “close” relationship with the president-elect.

“On Russia and China, he is clearly more hawkish than Bush,” said Ken Weinstein, chief executive officer of the Hudson Institute, a research group in Washington.

McCain, 71, an Arizona senator, departs for Europe and the Middle East this week, having weathered the contest for the Republican presidential nomination with his image as an internationalist on foreign policy largely intact.

Democrats are eager to challenge the notion of the former prisoner of war as a leader who understands the costs and consequences of armed conflict.

“This is a man who hasn’t seen a country he doesn’t want to bomb or invade,” said Ivo Daalder, a former National Security Council aide in the Clinton administration who has advised Democrat Barack Obama in his run for the White House.

By emphasizing his “more moderate approach on detainee policy and climate change,” the former naval aviator has been able to cloak his “more hawkish position on non-proliferation, China and Russia,” said Daalder.

Click here to read more about this “middle of the road” Republican at Yahoo News.

Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush’s Behest

EPA Scrambles To Justify Action

By Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post Staff Writer

The Environmental Protection Agency weakened one part of its new limits on smog-forming ozone after an unusual last-minute intervention by President Bush, according to documents released by the EPA.

EPA officials initially tried to set a lower seasonal limit on ozone to protect wildlife, parks and farmland, as required under the law. While their proposal was less restrictive than what the EPA’s scientific advisers had proposed, Bush overruled EPA officials and on Tuesday ordered the agency to increase the limit, according to the documents.

“It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference for the president personally to override a decision that the Clean Air Act leaves exclusively to EPA’s expert scientific judgment,” said John Walke, clean-air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The president’s order prompted a scramble by administration officials to rewrite the regulations to avoid a conflict with past EPA statements on the harm caused by ozone.

Solicitor General Paul D. Clement warned administration officials late Tuesday night that the rules contradicted the EPA’s past submissions to the Supreme Court, according to sources familiar with the conversation. As a consequence, administration lawyers hustled to craft new legal justifications for the weakened standard. Click here for more on this story in the Washington Post.

Letter to the Editor
Arizona Star, Friday March 14th

In the March 13 issue there is an important item buried on page two in the article entitled “3 American Soldiers Killed In South Iraq.”  It concerns a Pentagon study that confirms there was no pre-Iraq war link between the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaida terrorist network.

Being buried in a longer article is significant but what is more important is the fact it appears the White House is opposed to publicizing the study.  Originally the Pentagon had plans to post the report online and making officials available to discuss it.  Now they will only mail copies to reporters — if they ask for it.  The report will not be posted on the Internet.

The Hussein-al Qaida link was one of the main reasons Bush rushed to war.  The others, weapons of mass destruction and the nuclear threat, have long since been proven untrue.  The only other one, regime change, was completed when Hussein was deposed and the blundering American Bremer was in control.

Our troops can come home now, with their heads held high, having accomplished the mission their Commander in Chief sent them to do, not in retreat as the Bush Administration says.  So why are they still in Iraq being killed?

Jerry Lujan
Retired Foreign Service Officer

Michigan Democrats Think We can fix things with a June 3rd re-do of the Michigan Primary.

By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Michigan Democrats agreed Friday to push a do-over primary in early June to give them a say in the close presidential race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Amid talks with the two campaigns, the four Michigan Democrats said in a statement they were “focusing on the possibility of a state-run primary in early June which would not use any state funding.” Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, one of the Democratic participants, said a likely date is June 3.

“This option would require the passage of legislation by the state legislature, and we look forward to working with the members of the legislature in the coming days to see if this option can be made a reality,” the Democrats said.  Click here to read more of this disheartening story.

Our problem is that after some 40 state primaries we have not selected a candidate.  If we just go along as we are doing, we won’t select one till August.  At that point, both sides will have reached anger points that will prevent the party from coming together.  We will all be so mad at one another, that the Republicans will win.  

If Michigan postpones this process to June we are sunk.  It is VERY likely that even if we re-do Florida and Michigan, then neither candidate will be able to come up with the needed votes until August.  We need solutions now!  Not months in the future.  

Any solution that does not give us a candidate quickly is an non-starter.  Ok, Howard Dean it is time for you to get busy.  Save our Party!  — Editor

This story is courtesy David Safier at Blog For Arizona.  Thanks David

It takes guts to be a whistleblower. The more stories you read about retaliation by their superiors and the disruptions in their lives, the more you have to admire these people’s courage at the same time you question their sanity.

In this case, the former ELL coordinator in Florence (about 50 miles north of Tucson, if you’re geographically challenged like I am) was fired because she participated in a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights “alleging that students and parents with limited English skills were not being accommodated as required by federal law in the Florence school district. That complaint resulted in an agreement for corrective action between the OCR and the district a year ago.”

Federal investigators decided her firing was retaliation for her whistleblowing and awarded her $57,519 in back pay and benefits. The District had even stopped her health insurance prematurely without her knowledge, revealing how vile they were.

It’s a long, involved tale well worth a read. Apparently the Superintendent was against the firing and went on leave as a result. The minutes of the closed-door session when the dust-up occurred are missing, for some reason, and the Board members dispute the Superintendent’s account, though the OCR accepted it as credible.

Check out this typical, “Shut up if you know what’s good for you” behavior:

On June 15, 2006, the whistleblower was given a “letter of direction” telling her to make no written statements concluding that the district was in violation of the law. She was directed to bring her concerns to the attention of administrators through the proper channels. She was prohibited from addressing the School Board directly.

It’s a classic case of whistleblower retaliation, and in this case, it sounds like the good guys were vindicated. The whistleblower, whose name is not mentioned in the article, is beginning a new job in another Arizona District. Let’s hope she keeps fighting the good fight, in a district willing to listen. Click here to read more in the Casa Grande Dispatch.  We will be reporting more on this story.