Friday’s political round-up

October 5, 2007

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* According to Rasmussen, 27% of Republican voters say they’d vote for a conservative third-party candidate over pro-choice Rudy Giuliani. If GOP primary voters hear about this and believe it, Giuliani’s electability argument is no longer viable.

* Hillary Clinton has a powerful new TV ad, which utilizes images from Ground Zero. It’s a clear reminder that Giuliani may claim 9/11 as his own, but the junior senator from New York isn’t going to let him.

* Speaking of Hillary, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman had a piece yesterday speculating on Clinton’s running mates — more than three months before a single vote has been cast.

* Barack Obama has a solid new ad of his own, featuring retired Air Force General Merrill McPeak, who served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the first Gulf War.

* Mitt Romney hit Giuliani pretty hard yesterday on taxes, telling a New Hampshire audience that the former NYC mayor was wrong to oppose a presidential line-item veto, wrong to oppose a no-new-taxes pledge, and wrong to support a commuter tax on those who worked in NYC but lived elsewhere.

* In New Mexico’s open Senate race, Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) is not running and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) is.

* In Minnesota, Al Franken (D) raised more money than incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) in the third quarter.

* In New Hampshire, a new poll shows former Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) leading incumbent Sen. John Sununu (R), 54% to 38%.

* And Rudy Giuliani, who brags about having considered the priesthood, should be denied communion, according to Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke, who cited the former mayor’s support for abortion rights. Asked if the same would apply to politicians who support the death penalty or pre-emptive war, he said, “It’s a little more complicated in that case.”

In New Hampshire, a new poll shows former Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) leading incumbent Sen. John Sununu (R), 54% to 38%.

Ouch. No wonder the 2008 GOP logo is a dead elephant with tire tracks on it.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/4/145252/385

  • Romney is really a douchebag. Supporting the commuter tax was very close to the only good thing Rudy did in his eight years of municipal authoritarianism.

    The justification, which he once articulated well before the dementia of Potomac Fever overcame his brain, is this: our infrastructure is already pretty strained in this city. Commuters come in, they use the streets, the power grid, the water supply, they’re protected by the Finest (cops) and Bravest (firefighters), and so forth. I forget how many people commute into NYC every day, but it’s probably safe to assume that the 9-to-5 weekday population of the Five Boroughs is considerably bigger than the 8 million full-time residents.

    He’s a typical Republican, considering every tax wrong on its face without any thought to its merits or justification. Without the commuter tax, which was repealed a few years back by Democrats in the legislature in a (failed and) supremely misguided attempt to win one seat in Albany, we’ve had to raise taxes on our residents–a considerably poorer population–to make up the lost revenue.

  • Can Burke explain why the death penalty or pre-emptive war are more complicated issues than abortion for Catholics? I’d love to hear it.

  • Hillary Clinton has a powerful new TV ad, which utilizes images from Ground Zero. It’s a clear reminder that Giuliani may claim 9/11 as his own, but the junior senator from New York isn’t going to let him.

    Oh please. What’s worse, pretending to be “the Mayor of 9/11”, or pretending to be a “Tough Democrat” who’s “smart”?

    Hillary needs to apologize for her retarded AUMF vote. But of course that’s not going to happen because the bobbleheads say she’s the nominee.

  • In regards to the NM Senate race. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I do not believe Heather Wilson can win a statewide race here. District 1 (her district) is narrowly divided, but she will find support in the southeastern part of the state. However, the population centers in the south (Las Cruces) and north (Santa Fe) will likely hinder her prospects. I also heard this morning that Diane Denish may choose to run if Richardson doesn’t. She’s the current Lt. Gov, and is actually more popular than Bill in some key democratic circles. Furthermore, I heard Udall’s statement about not running, and I think he is slightly delusional regarding his chances in a statewide race. I just don’t think Congresspeople have a shot in this state. It is a deeply divided state in terms of region and regional pride. Southern New Mexicans don’t much like Northern New Mexicans, and many northerners don’t believe that there’s anything worth thinking about south of I-40. I speak here as a northern New Mexican currently married to a southerner and living in the south.

  • Shouldn’t Rudy be denied communion for having 3 wives?? Or did he pay off the church to have he first two annulled?

  • Dudley:

    No, the bishop can’t explain why the death penalty and preemptive war are more complicated issues than abortion. That’s why he didn’t explain it. Though they all claim to be “pro-life,” it’s a horribly inconsistent and self-contradictory position. Not that this is anything new for the socially conservative.

    You will often hear Catholic bishops and other anti-abortion activists using the phrase “innocent life” in order to attempt to weasel their way out of this inconsistency. Whenever you hear the phrase “innocent life,” make a mental picture of a weasel.

  • Okie @7

    I don’t agree that it’s inconsistent.
    Pre-emptive war presumes that the persons you go to war with and all who defend them are not innocent. Convicted criminals are assumed to not be innocent.

    Blameless “collateral damage” and erroneously convicted men (I’m being redundant here), are mere accidents that are seen as unintentional, unfortunate necessities of following through with Old Testament scripture of “eye for an eye”.

    I can go into a hundred reasons why this thinking is f’d up, but inconsistency isn’t one of them.
    Bible thumping conservatives are consistently insane. It’s what makes it so easy for them to keep their faith and shrug off any doubt.

  • From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

    2354. What are the four strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force? (CCC 2309)

    The four strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force are at one and the same time:

    1. The damage inflicted by the aggressor must be lasting, grave and certain
    2. All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective
    3. There must be serious prospects of success
    4. The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.

    These are the elements that form the “just war” doctrine.

    What is hard or complicated about that?

  • Being an informed citizen, including following this site, is often a depressing exercise. But on a Friday afternoon, its nice to be able to look on the birhgt side.

    I look at those two ads (HRC and Obama) and think about the two that Over Mitt is running in Iowa (the one where he is jogging and the one where he can’t contain his smirk as he says Rethugs have to stop acting like Democrats) and I am sooooo glad that we have the choices we do instead of the choices the other side of the aisle has to content with. Many of our candidates are really hitting their stride on the trail (Dodd is saying good things, Biden gave a strong education reform speech here this week), while Dead Head Fred can’t remember the basic facts and has to beg for applause.

  • It’s a clear reminder that Giuliani may claim 9/11 as his own, but the junior senator from New York isn’t going to let him.

    Whew, I was hoping the Republicans wouldn’t be the only one’s co-opting our nation’s greatest recent tragedy for political gain.

    Hillary is just as phony as Giuliani when she claims to be a hero of 9/11.

  • The tax on commuters working in NYC and living elsewhere was one of the only good things Rudy did.

    I am biased, I live in NYC.

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