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There are strikingly disimilar approaches toward their party conventions on the part of US Senate candidates Jeanne Shaheen and John Sununu.
Jeanne Shaheen not only is attending the convention in Denver, she is being showcased as a speaker. From the Globe:
Democratic challengers for US Senate seats in Maine and New Hampshire will speak next Wednesday on the third night of the national convention, organizers announced tonight.
Jeanne Shaheen, the former Granite State governor who is trying to oust Republican John Sununu, is on the speaker list, as is Tom Allen, who is trying to unseat Susan Collins. They will precede the vice presidential nominee.
About two weeks ago, while Dean Barker was luring Republican official and NHAC executive director Tammy Simmons into making comments about how she doesn't like Bush or McCain, she posted one comment under her nom d'blog,"Rockinnh", she asked the question,
"What does Simmons's running for state rep have to do with her being executive director?"
A lot, actually.
Both Simmons and NHAC chairman Mike Biundo are candidates for state legislature, and are promoting their message through NHAC. I don't think they can do that. Why? Because NHAC is corporation with 501 [c] 4 non-profit status, a status that prohibits the organization from engaging in political speech which promotes a candidate.
(But God forbid NH get its highway money, right? Thanks for a great post, Kathy. - promoted by Mike Caulfield)
Senator* John E. Sununu, protege of Ted Stevens, has been selling himself as a fiscal conservative throughout his political career. But, while Sununu was sitting at the same committee table with his mentor, Sununu didn't say "boo" or even "gulp" or even "hey" while Ted Stevens was shipping billions of dollars in our tax dollars to Alaska:
Taxpayers for Common Sense has released the last four years of earmark data for Alaska to help create an understanding of how powerful Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) has remained as an appropriator. The new research has found that Senator Stevens has secured or played a significant role in securing more than 891 earmarks worth $3.2 billion, which comes to $4,872 per capita over the last four years. This is more than 18 times the national average of $263 per capita for the same four years.
This number is higher than the numbers reported by others because TCS researchers have obtained the locations of many of the defense earmarks which typically are not disclosed.
Stevens Vows To Block Ethics Bill
By Laura McGann - July 31, 2007, 6:47PM
Just when we thought there was no more Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) news for the day, John Bresnahan hears that he's promising to block ethics legislation.
You couldn't make this up:
Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, whose home back in Alaska was raided by federal investigators Monday in a wide-ranging corruption investigation, has threatened to place a hold on the Democratic-drafted ethics legislation just passed by the House and expected on the Senate floor by week's end.
The senator told a closed session of fellow Republicans today, including Vice President Dick Cheney, that he was upset that the measure would interfere with his travel to and from Alaska - and vowed to block it.
I am guessing that Ted got some free flights to Alaska in the past - just a hunch, a case of wild speculation on my part.
I had heard this over the weekend, and then saw it in a McLatchy Press article - Republican senators who are or who may be skipping the Republican National Convention - including the Sprinter, John E. Sununu:
The National Journal also reported that three senators haven't decided yet if they'll attend: Roger Wicker of Mississippi, John Sununu of New Hampshire, and Gordon Smith of Oregon.
It sounds like senators who are in tight re-election campaigns have decided they should avoid any close contact with George W. Bush or the Republican Party or even their nominee, John McCain.
However, as the saying goes, if it walks like a duck, acts like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck, even if said duck decides to duck the duck convention.
I knew this was coming, but it is still a punch to the stomach:
ST. LOUIS - Anheuser-Busch Cos., the nation's biggest brewery, received a $46 billion buyout offer Wednesday from a Belgian brewer that might be too good to refuse.
The maker of Budweiser beer disclosed late Wednesday that InBev SA, whose brands include Beck's and Stella Artois, delivered an unsolicited all-cash bid of $65 a share. It's unclear whether senior Anheuser-Busch executives think the deal makes sense, but shareholders may be drawn to the offer that represents a sizable premium over the company's closing price of $58.35 Wednesday.
"Anheuser-Busch said that its board of directors will evaluate the proposal carefully and in the context of all relevant factors, including Anheuser-Busch's long-term strategic plan," the company said in a statement. "The board will pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch's stockholders."
The thought of Anheuser-Busch being bought by a non-American company bothers me greatly. What makes it worse is that InBev is known for drastically slashing costs, so we can probably expect significant job loss if this takeover goes through.
(I started a "Joe must Go" diary the other day. Kathy says it clearly here. I hope anyone with any pull with Joe will express their disappointment with his choices. - promoted by Mike Hoefer)
Here is a part of a letter sent around by Joe Lieberman today"
To: Fellow McCain Supporters
From: Senator Joe Lieberman
Date: June 5th, 2008
Today, I asked Senator McCain if I could create and chair a new grassroots organization, "Citizens for McCain."
Citizens for McCain is an organization within the McCain campaign for people who put country before political party and support the candidate for President who has a proven record of bipartisanship.
As you know, I caucus with the Democrats as a United States Senator and was the Democrat Party's nominee for Vice-President of the United States against President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
Note the use of the term, "Democrat Party". Joe Lieberman is a bitter, self absorbed ass, and it is way beyond time for Harry Reid to say don't let the door hit you on the way out of the caucus. And, if Reid doesn't do that this week, then he should resign and let someone else take over. If that means losing the senate majority, well, lets work that much harder and get it back in the fall by electing Jeanne Shaheen.
N.H., nine other states urge Calif. court to delay marriage ruling
Email|Print|Single Page| Text size - + By Associated Press
May 30, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The attorneys general of 10 states have joined conservative legal groups in urging the California Supreme Court to delay finalizing its ruling to legalize same-sex marriage.
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed late Thursday, they said they have an interest in the case because they would have to determine if their states would recognize the marriages of gay residents who wed in California.
The states involved are Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. Except for Florida and New Hampshire, all of them have constitutional provisions banning gay marriage.
Why is our state involved in this brief?
Update (Dean): Here's a link to the AP story in the Monitor.
This is the best I could find on short notice for AG contact info; it's the DOJ contact page:
Sometimes I have to shake my head, and this item from politickernh has me shaking my head:
Edge has confirmed Democratic state Rep. Betty Hall, of Brookline, is giving serious thought to running for either state Senate or Congress on nomination papers as an independent candidate.
The rationale behind this idea is, according to the story,
It's no secret Hall is on the outs with the Democratic leadership who is reluctant to support Hall's continued efforts for impeachment. (In case you forgot, she did challenge Ray Buckley for party chair.) That reluctance is making Hall give consideration to bypassing the primary.
(Thanks for explaining this, Kathy. Link added by me. - promoted by Dean Barker)
The legislature failed to agree on legislation today to insure ballot fairness. For years Republicans kept their majority by manipulating the ballot laws to give the majority party an advantage, such as straight ticket voting, having the majority party always go first, and always listing candidates alphabetically. Then, in 2006, Paul Twomey and Cliff Below successfully spearheaded litigation to give every candidate an equal chance to be first on the ballot to reduce the "primacy" effect. Studies have shown that candidates who appear first automatically have an advantage of several percentage points.
BOSTON (AP)-Jon Lester can now add pitching a no-hitter to his already amazing list of accomplishments.
The 24-year-old lefty, who survived cancer to pitch the clincher of Boston's 2007 World Series victory, shut down Kansas City 7-0 Monday night for the first no-hitter in the majors this season.
"Really, words can't describe it right now," Lester said.
Jason Varitek becomes the first catcher in history to catch four no hitters.
Today's Capital Beat column in the Monitor had an interesting clip in which John McCain's NH honcho, Mike Dennehy, stood on his head in an effort to tie McCain to Bush while distancing him from Bush, said it was negative campaigning to tie McCain to Bush, and also took a slap at Fergie:
On Wednesday, we reported on a not-so-unified unity press conference held by Democrats and responded to by Cullen, who emphasized the rift between McCain and George Bush and said they'd never recovered from their 2000 battle royale.
That morning, we heard from Mike Dennehy, who said he wanted to set the record straight.
"Fergus, I think, has a misunderstanding about the relationship between John McCain and the president," Dennehy said. "They have a very good working relationship. He has the utmost respect for President Bush as commander in chief.
According to WMUR, the Republican Party, foiled in its effort to entice Mayor Guinta into running for governor, has now turned its lonely eyes to: former Governor Steve Merrill!
I always think of former Governor Merrill as Smiley Stevie, because my late father always called him that; I remember with great fondness my father watching Merrill on the news, saying, "Smiley Stevie, he is so full of BS". Back in the day, when Merrill first ran for governor, I interviewed him for Manchester Cable Television. After the show, an intern said to him, "I don't like your position on choice." Merrill said, "Listen carefully to my words - I oppose abortion unless it is for the HEALTH or safety of the mother." He was giving a wink and a nod to the intern that the health exception would be large enough to drive a truck through. And I said to myself, self, Dad is right. Merrill is full of it.
John Sununu's FEC report discloses that on Nov. 15, 2007, a group called DCI PAC gave John Sununu's campaign $2,000. What is DCI? DCI Group, LLC is a political marketing/lobbying outfit, which had one James Tobin on the payroll after he participated in the 2002 phone jamming conspiracy, which was carried out to benefit - John Sununu. Tobin was still a DCI guy when his role in the conspiracy became known.
Now, one might say that one should not read too much into the fact that a former DCI employee did something bad before he went to work for the company, and that after he left the employer's makes a donation to the same guy whose election was so important that there were those willing to break the law to make it happen.
Nader Says He's Considering a New White House Run (Update1)
By Kristin Jensen
Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate who ran for president in 2000 and 2004, said he is considering another bid for the White House because he believes the current contenders aren't standing up enough to corporate interests.
``Look at the major areas of injustice, deprivation and solutions that are not being addressed by the major candidates,'' Nader, 73, said in a telephone interview today. Among other issues, he cited the need for a ``practical timed withdrawal'' from Iraq, programs to crack down on corporate fraud and a rearrangement of the U.S. tax system.
While John McCain is winning on the Republican since, it is pretty close, could still swing to Romney.
But, Hillary Clinton is beating John McCain by about 50,000 votes; I'm not sure of the vote totals of the two primaries, but that is pretty big - without campaigning, with the DNC saying it won't seat their delegates, a lot of people have come out to vote for Hillary Clinton. The lead over the Republicans may close when the panhandle vote comes in, but pretty impressive.
And then, there is Rudy Giuliani - proving once again that ignoring New Hampshire and Iowa is not a winning strategy.
It was bad enough that he took the money and went to New York to play for the Yankees.
Now, another example of his lack of judgment. From the Hotline on Call:
ORLANDO - With polls showing Rudy Giuliani down his home state, the former New York City found a local slugger to go to bat for him.
New York Yankees centerfielder Johnny Damon stumped for Giuliani today at the Presidential Ballroom at Church Street.
"Rudy comes and visits me at the ballpark quite a bit, so I figure I could drive down the street and visit him here," he said. "Rudy has done such a great job for New York. After the terrorism, he stepped up and he made New York closer, he made America closer and he's gonna make this country a better place."
What a night! New Hampshire once again showed the nation that we are independent voters who do not listen to polls or pundits. In the past, that has been the source of disappointment - for example, when Tom McIntyre was leading in the polls but lost to Gordon Humphrey, and when Dick Swett lost to Bob Smith. But last night, it was a source of great exctiement!
I want to thank eveyone at Blue Hampshire who supported Hillary for all your help. I also want to thank all of you who may not have supported Hillary, but who pushed me and the other Clinton supporters to answer questions, talk about the issues and stay focused on why we thought Hillary would be not only the best candidate, but also the best president.
I got back a little while ago from the election eve event for Hillary in Manchester. I had a feeling the crowd was going to be huge when I hit the backed up traffic on Brown Avenue, but it was awesome; I am not great at crowd estimates, but there had to be at least 4,000 people there (based on at least 100 people per row, going back about 40 rows). Before she arrived, the house was rocking, with "Hillary!" chants and a live band.
When Hillary arrived, the crowd chanted and cheered, cheered and chanted, before she was finally able to start her remarks. Chelsea arrived, and we all started chanting "Chelsea!" Bill Clinton arrived just as she was about to speak.
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