Friday’s political round-up

April 7, 2006

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:

* Tom DeLay supporters disrupted a campaign event for Democratic candidate [tag]Nick Lampson[/tag] (D) yesterday, eventually pushing and shoving Lampson’s backers. “I got pushed. I got hit. I got a sign wadded up in my face and my hat pulled down over my eyes,” said Marsha Rovai, 69. “They just did it to be nasty.” DeLay campaign manager Chris Homan told the AP he organized the protest. “Mr. Lampson is going to have to get used to being confronted about his voting record the next seven months,” Homan said.

* Speaking of DeLay, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said yesterday that, unless DeLay formally resigns from Congress today, there will be no special election to replace him before November. The governor “probably would not call [for the election] before November because we don’t have DeLay’s letter, and that triggers everything,” Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said. Lampson criticized the decision, saying, “We should hold the election on May 13” to avoid a gap of several months in representation for the suburban Houston district.

* Democratic House candidate Gary Dodds went missing in New Hampshire Wednesday night, but was found by a volunteer searcher and her dog last night. Dodds had been in a car accident and was “pretty out of it.”

* Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial primary is getting more competitive, according to a new University of Akron Buckeye Poll. Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell still leads state Attorney General Jim Petro among primary voters, but the lead is now just seven points, 39% to 32%. About 29% of likely GOP primary voters were undecided. The primary is May 2.

* In New York’s GOP gubernatorial primary, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (R) is considering an unprecedented step: seeking the official backing of the state’s Libertarian Party. Weld confirmed to the New York Daily News last night that he would “definitely be interested” in winning the Libertarian ballot slot. “‘Libertarian’ is not a bad word in my lexicon,” he said, noting one of his favorite expressions is: “I want the government out of your pocketbook and out of your bedroom.” Weld’s more conservative primary opponent, John Faso, is widely expected to win the nod of the New York Conservative Party.

* Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) still enjoys a double-digit lead over her GOP rivals in Michigan’s Senate race this year, but the margin has slipped a little according to the latest Rasmussen poll. Stabenow now leads Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard (R), generally considered the likely Republican nominee, 51% to 37%.

* And in Massachusetts, businessman Chris Gabrieli officially announced yesterday that he’s running for governor in the Democratic primary. State Attorney General Thomas Reilly strongly considered Gabrieli for his running mate before going in a different direction. Gabrieli’s previous campaign was an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor in 2002. Gabrieli’s announcement sets up a three-way race between himself, Reilly, and Deval Patrick.

When I saw pictures of the Lampson news conference yesterday, it reminded me of the Dockers and Polo clad Republican protesters during the Florida recount in 2000. My recollection is that many of them turned out to be congressional staffers.

  • Go to this blog – http://www.brazosriver.com/

    And get the full scoop on DeLay’s stormtroopers, including pictures and a first person account by the little old lady who got assaulted.

    Juanita is proof that “good folks” in Texas are really good folks – they have to be to overcome the morons.

  • In today’s political news is also the Times editorial which came down hard, and rightly so, on Pat Roberts. Is it about time for his office and fellow committee members to received a deluge a letters demanding and real investigation?

  • Let me get this straight: Tom DeLay will resign from Congress and not seek re-election. Therefore he is not a candidate. So his campaign manager sends thugs to physically assault and shout down the only current candidate in the race even though his own guy is no longer even running.

    I’ve heard of some crazy things before but this goes beyond insane. Who did they think they’d be helping by doing this? Not DeLay, that’s for sure. It just helps prove the point that the Republican Party is dominated by brain-dead zombies who don’t even realize what they’re doing anymore.

    Not to mention they just delivered Lampson a heck of an advertising bonanza on a silver platter. Most folks really don’t like goons who beat up little old ladies at public events.

  • It’s scary, Curmudgeon. Imagine what they will continue to do as (perhaps) Democrats take control of the House and (maybe) regain the White House in 2009. Imagine the anger and possible violence.

    I’m listening right now to Amartya Sen talking about his latest book on the dangers of reducing people’s self-identification to a party, religion, national identity. That’s what’s been happening, a very Rovian, rightwing strategy to divide people against themselves. Whether or not we eventually “win,” the battle will continue because the divisions are now so deeply felt.

  • Agreed, PW. Definitely something to be vigilant about. Very scary.

    On a lighter note, having just watched Markos of dailykos.com on the Colbert Report, can we loyal Carpeteers not start a grassroots campaign to get CB on the show, too? CBR is, after all, one of the top four blogs in the nation and I personally think he’s just as qualified as Markos to go toe-to-toe with Colbert.

    Say the word, CB, and the campaign shall begin!! 🙂

  • “Mr. Lampson is going to have to get used to being confronted about his voting record the next seven months,”

    And apparently elderly women’s faces will have to get used to being confronted with their signs.

    Keep it up you jackasses, that’ll get the swing voters.

  • I want to keep CB all to myself. Let the rest of humanity have Kos. I’m a CB fan. (Colbert Report is the only reason I’m sorry I don’t have TV.)

  • On Monday of this week, Frederic U. Dicker, a NY Post columnist, wrote about Hillary Clinton and Alphonse D’Amato having several private luncheons together. He quoted a source close to Clinton who said “She likes him. They enjoy a personal and professional relationship and it’s been growing.”

    Does anyone besides me remember Senator Al investigating the Clintons for six years? And now she’s close to one of the most crooked senators in US history? On the same page as Dicker’s column, the Post carried an excellent story by Geoff Earle about Senator Al’s defense contractor lobbying clients.

    Last month, I spent the weeekend with some retirees who are related to a member of the mafia, “Johnny Boy” Ambrosio. I was told by one of the retirees that a senator was a silent partner of Carl Lizza, a big NY contractor whose ties to organized crime date back to the ’70s. I assume the senator was Al D’Amato.

    I was shocked when, a few years ago, Clinton had kind words for D’Amato at the opening of the Alphonse D’Amato courthouse in Suffolk County on Long Island. Most people in Suffolk County thought D’Amato belonged in the dock, not on the front steps, of the courthouse.

    Hillary Clinton is morally bankrupt. If she is elected president, this country will be in worse trouble than it is now and I am sick at the thought of it.

  • McCain/Falwell. Clinton/D’Amato. When the devil goes lookin’ for souls, Washington D.C. is fer sure a good place to score.

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