On April 1, I posted about how teachers had taken over Charlie Crist's Facebook page to protest his support of a bill to end tenure and impose merit pay on Florida teachers. Today, he vetoed the bill.
Gov. Charlie Crist got some new supporters this week in his campaign for the U.S. Senate.
The question is whether he can keep them.
On Wednesday, teachers from Hillsborough County began canvassing neighborhoods on behalf of the Republican governor, urging voters to support him as long as he vetoes the bill that would overhaul teacher tenure in Florida.
"I think the public wants to see teachers bonused for doing well, not penalized," said organizer Aron Zions, a U.S. history teacher at Pierce Middle School in Tampa. "Provide the carrot."
Many residents weren't home when he and a colleague knocked on doors in Carrollwood, and several were noncommittal.
"I can't promise anything," said Kenneth Latham, a registered Republican.
But down the street, Republican Alfred Wang said he was appalled by what he described as an assault on teachers.
"If Crist is a man, he should veto this," said Wang, an engineer trained at Rutgers University. "Education is nothing like this."
Crist is getting lobbied hard from all quarters over Senate Bill 6, which would tie pay to student performance and end multiple-year contracts for teachers. If he decides on a veto, he must do so by midnight Friday.
Jack A. Neal posted this photo and comment on Bobby Jindalfs Facebook page tonight: Hi folks. I was in New Orleans this past Friday night. I was dining within a half block of where the incident involving Allee Butsch happened. I joined this group so that I might share the info, as well as a photo I took.
Allee Butsch suffered a broken leg from the beatdown outside to the SRLC dinner at Brennanfs Restaurant in New Orleans. She had her leg operated on over the weekend and it will take her months to recover. Her boyfriend Joe Brown suffered a broken nose, a broken jaw, and a concussion. They were attacked after leaving the Southern Republican Leadership Conference dinner at Brennanfs Restaurant.
Police are looking for a Caucasian male who appeared to be dirty, in his 20fs, 61 tall, thin build with a thin face. He had a beard and auburn color hair in a pony tail. He was wearing a light color T shirt and dark color pants. Up to 5 men beat the couple after they left the GOP event on Friday night.
John McCain -- who built his political persona and his 2008 presidential campaign around the claim that he's a "maverick" -- told Newsweek recently: "I never considered myself a maverick."
When POLITICO asked McCain about the contradiction at the Capitol this week, the Arizona Republican grew visibly irritated and snapped: "I've been called a thousand things. It's absolutely ridiculous."
He said 48 percent of the homeowners in his state are underwater on their mortgages. He said he's always "done what's best for my state and the nation." Then he said it again, adding, "People can consider me whatever they want."
And then he darted into the Senate chamber without explaining himself further.
But if McCain won't say why he's abandoning the "maverick" title now, some of his closest associates will: It's politics.
"When you're running for president, you show the public at large that I'll put the country ahead of the party," said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, McCain's closest friend in the Senate and the Republican who has played the deal-maker role ceded by the Arizonan. "When you're in a primary, you've got to prove to people you're a good conservative. That's the difference in the forms. John has a record of conservatism that's being highlighted now because he's in a Republican primary. When you're running for president, you highlight that part of your record, and it shows you're willing to govern the country as a whole."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
McCain, you lost the election - you ran a very weak campaign. You are running a nasty campaign in Nevada. You half ass everything. Time for you to retire and enjoy the fruits of YOUR labor.
#3
"My name is John McCain. Now you can call me John, or you can call me J, or you can call me Johnny, or you can call me Senator, or you can call me Renegade Johnny, or you can call me RJ, or you can call me Senator Renegade . . . but you doesn't hasta call me Maverick!"
#10
It is said you do not want to get between him and a news camera, you'll get trampled.
Nice thing is McCain's BFF Graham is gone next time he is up. The People of SC have had enough of that pusillanimous pandering panytwaist and his GWOT, enviro, judicial and immigration liberalism, and his continued collaboration with Harry Reid et al.
#11
Maverick: This could be complicated. You know on the first one I crashed and burned.
Charlie: And the second?
Maverick: I don't know, but uh, it's NOT looking good so far.
#13
Overall, I like Palin, but can anyone explain to me why she was at a McCain rally a couple weeks back? Seems to me she ought to be endorsing J.D. Hayworth (who seems at face value much more conservative then McLame).
#14
@BH6 - Easy: simply party loyalty, mixed with a little personal gratitude for the VEEP nod in '08.
By party loyalty, I mean: she still thinks of herself as a Republican and John is the incumbent Republican. Once this election is over, I would imagine that the debt of gratitude would probably be considered paid.
As for ideological compatibility between she and Hayworth, that's probably true (I remember JD as more of a radio host... even when he was in Congress, for that matter, he would sit in for some national hosts).
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
04/15/2010 10:49 Comments ||
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#15
Broadhead6: McCain's wife has a ton of money, which buys him the seat. He might also win, just by this alone. And he has a terrible temper. Few people like him, but a lot of them fear him. This is why endorsements for J.D. are scattered. If McCain wins, he will make it his purpose to ruin their lives and careers.
#16
--Broadhead6, perhaps Palin is 'reciprocating' and showing her indebtedness to McCain. It was he who put her on the map leading to her 'fame and fortune'. You are correct in saying that JD is more 'right' that McCain. Either Rep Arizona Senatorial candidate will win the Nov election over the weak slate of candidates on the Dem side. As an aside, McCain turns 75 in Aug, while JD is in his early 50's. I wish John would go 'out to pasture'. We shall see come 08/24 in the Ariz primaries.
Roger all; what you say makes sense - I appreciate your insights.
I might be a bit pollyannish but I've lost some respect for Palin on this - I would've rather seen Palin give mccain the heisman - I wish she would've told that egomaniachal old fart her schedule was too full. I've listened to Hayworth on a few real conservative radio shows - I like what I've heard. I'm not sure how the RNC works but I wish someone would've gave McCain a phone call and told him it's time to pass the torch...or, maybe someone from the RNC did...I wouldn't be surprised if he dies and his wife or *puke* moronic daughter runs for his seat. The kennedys of the southwest.
#19
--In the latest polling data, and I only like/trust Rasmussen, McCain held a 7 point advantage, 48-41 (3/16). In a prior poll, McCain held a 22 point advantage, 53-31 (1/20).
Four months still remain until the primaries.
Though Election Day is still months away, pundits have already begun to speculate on possible outcomes for this year's midterms. There's a general consensus that Democrats will lose seats in November, but beyond that opinions vary widely on how big those losses might be. Some argue that because of the advance notice, passage of health care, and an improving economy (or some combination of all three), Democrats will be able to limit their losses significantly. Others are predicting a repeat of 1994, when Democrats lost 50+ seats and control of the House.
So how bad could 2010 get for the Democrats? Let me say upfront that I tend to agree with analysts who argue that if we move into a "V"-shaped recovery and President Obama's job approval improves, Democratic losses could be limited to twenty or twenty-five seats.
That said, I think those who suggest that the House is barely in play, or that we are a long way from a 1994-style scenario are missing the mark. A 1994-style scenario is probably the most likely outcome at this point. Moreover, it is well within the realm of possibility - not merely a far-fetched scenario - that Democratic losses could climb into the 80 or 90-seat range. The Democrats are sailing into a perfect storm of factors influencing a midterm election, and if the situation declines for them in the ensuing months, I wouldn't be shocked to see Democratic losses eclipse 100 seats.
Consider that Democrats typically lead in the generic ballot, even if they do not gain control of Congress. In 2004, for example, Democrats led Republicans in 63 out of 72 generic ballot tests taken that year. Yet Republicans picked up a handful of seats in 2004 and won the popular vote by three points.
This year, five different polling companies have put Republicans in the lead for the generic ballot in the last two weeks alone - one reason why Michael Barone calls this the worst polling environment for Democrats "during my 50 years of following politics closely." The RCP Average has Republicans leading Democrats by 2.8 points on the generic ballot test. That should equate roughly to a 225-seat Republican majority (Republicans won the national vote by 5 points in 1994), which would almost represent a 50-seat pickup.
But many of these polls survey registered voters. Polling among likely voters, such as Rasmussen Reports, shows Republicans up by about 8-10 points, which would probably represent a seventy-seat pickup.
And the polls of the most highly energized voters are even worse for Democrats. Recent NBC/WSJ polling found that Democrats led by three points among registered voters. But among those most interested in the November elections, Republicans led by 13 points.
This reminds me of the polling that showed Martha Coakley up 15 points in early January, but which also showed her and Scott Brown tied among those most interested in the race.
The exit poll model I used in late 2009 to suggest that the Massachusetts Senate race would be a close one leads to a similar conclusion. You can read the article here for a more thorough explanation, but applying the model to a national ballot test suggests that the Democrats should lose the popular vote 57%-43%.
It isn't just the generic balloting that has been horrendous. Every Democratic Senate candidate except five from very blue states (Pat Leahy (VT), Chuck Schumer (NY), Barbara Mikulski (MD), Dan Inouye (HI) and Richard Blumenthal (CT)) has had at least one poll test placing him or her below 50% this cycle. Similarly, the individual House polling has been uniformly dismal for Democrats. Democrats in light blue districts , like Ben Ray Lujan and Jerry Costello, have been significantly below 50% in polls. Democrats in red districts who normally receive around 60% of the vote are below 50% as well. If these Democrats are truly below 50% in their polling, a ninety-seat pickup is not out of the question.
And this is the present situation. If unemployment doesn't abate and incomes don't rise much, President Obama could easily be hovering around 40% approval in November. What does the generic ballot, which is partially keyed off of the President's approval rating, look like then?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
IMO 2010 US Elex will PALE in comparison to 2012-2020 iff IRAN, RADIC ISLAM + MILTERRS declare they not only possess Nukes-WMDS, BUT MORE IMPOR THREATEN TO USE SAME AGZ US-WEST + ALLIED.
To wit,
E.g. WMF > PUTIN: RUSSIA IN 2009 CONFISCATED 50,000 TONS OF TERROR-USABLE EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS AND FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS FROM RUSSIA'S AIRPORTS. INTERNATIONAL SMUGGLING IN SUPPORT OF TERRORISM IS A SERIOUS, WORSENING THREAT TO RUSSIA.
and
SAME > CHINA > CHINESE THINK-TANK: INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR, ARMS SMUGGLING IS RUNNING RAMPANT AND MOSTLY UN-CONTROLLED. THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM, RADICLAISM IS VERY REAL.
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > [Inter-Service-Agency = USDOD] US ANALYST: "JOINTNESS" A THREAT IN BEATING CHINA.
WMF > RUSSIAN COMMENTATOR: RISE OF CHINA WILL INEVITABLE LEAD TO HOSTILE COMPETITION AGZ RUSSIA RESULTING IN SINO-RUSSIAN GEOPOL, MILITARY CONFRONTATION, POTENTIAL MIL INVASION OF RUSSIA BY CHINA. PLA COULD INAVDE RUSSIA, KAZAKHISTAN [read, Central Asia former SSRS, + MONGOLIA.
#3
Proof that this is true can be found in this week's Newsweek magazine cover, which has declared that the recession is over and the economy is roaring, when it's obvious that that isn't the case.
Look at the rumpswabbery of now Bloomberg-owned Businees Week magazine which is in full tongue bath mode when it comes to Obama and the Dems.
There'a a reason for these early forays into declaring that everything is wonderful - that reason is to propagandize as many people as possible to the notion that all is well, the wellness is the result of Obama and congressional Democrats, and that Dem is the way to vote in November.
I didn't think that the MSM would go into this full lie mode this early - I figured it would start late July or so. The fact that they feel the need to do so so early tells me that things are way, way worse for the Dems than it even looks from the outside.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/15/2010 6:57 Comments ||
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I didn't think that the MSM would go into this full lie mode this early
MSM has been in full lie mode for a long time. Had they done their job of just reporting rather than propaganda, BO never would have been elected. MSM is going into "double-down" full lie mode now. The American people don't believe their blather and lies anymore. As is said People don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.
#5
Democrats will cut their losses as much as possible in 2010 by relying on the spectacle of the leftist media. The real focus of the left is to regain control for 2012 and beyond. They will continue to demonize the right while playing the "victim" in an attempt to win over Independents; their hope being to keep the White House and regain position in Congress. They will continue to blame Bush and the Republicans for our problems; especially if we get control of either house of Congress. The job of the current administration will be to hold off any attempts to reverse sweeping changes that have angered and energized voters long enough for the left to change the narrative (or for the people to lose interest). I fear that, barring any major international incident, this may work; it has in the past. The far left plays chess very well; they look ahead several election cycles. We would be wise to do the same; 2010 has to be our opening move, not a play for the King.
#6
A v-shaped recovery may not happen, but just in case it points out the need for conservatives to focus on government spending, the deficit, and the scandals in Washington, and not just the economy. Bambi's cheerleaders in the MSM will be relentless in trumpeting any slight improvement in the economy as the most wondrous thing ever, so the Pubs had better have the right focus.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2010 9:42 Comments ||
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#7
News has 484,000 new claims for unemployment last week.
After a year and a half, where are Obama's 3-4 million new jobs?
#8
Yup, so much for the rosy recovery predicted by Newsweak. The communists need to be thrown out of government. There is a big, big, big repair job needed in order to re-set the system to the Constitution.
#9
There is a big, big, big repair job needed in order to re-set the system to the Constitution.
Don't leave it to the Rethuglicons to do it alone. We, the people, need to stay on their a$$es 24/7 to do exactly that - restore the government to the limited role it is given in the Constitution. That won't be easy, and will take a tremendous amount of pressure from the people. Anything less, however, will be an open door for more gimmicks that allow congresscritters to buy votes with our money.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/15/2010 13:37 Comments ||
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#10
Besoeker I beieve the AJC said that the unemployment rate has actually went up in GA. Wendys is not even hiring in Franklin county
Posted by: chris ||
04/15/2010 19:01 Comments ||
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#11
Makes no difference if the Republicans we elect are sashays like McCain.
Allee Bautsch, chief campaign fundraiser for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and her boyfriend Joe Brown, were savagely beaten Friday night in New Orleans after leaving a Republican party fundraising dinner by a group of thugs who reportedly targeted the couple because they were wearing Sarah Palin pins.
Bautch's leg was broken and Brown incurred a broken jaw and nose as well as a concussion.
The Hayride reports that a source who visited Bautsch at the hospital the day after the attack says they were told the couple was attacked for wearing Palin buttons:
Two people at the Brennan's event have now confirmed that the protest had largely broken up by the time it ended, but we also understand from someone who visited Allee Bautsch in the hospital Saturday morning that she and Brown were followed and attacked expressly because they had Palin pins on (she heard one of the attackers say "Let's get them, they have Palin pins on" -- so the attack WAS politically motivated as its victims understood it. It was not a mugging, it was not an argument gone wrong and it was not a bar fight.
The story of a Republican and her boyfriend being viciously attacked for wearing Palin buttons has yet to make national headlines, unlike say, unfounded rumors of nasty words being said by Tea Party protesters.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
So, we are in 1919 again? Sounds mysteriously like SEIU.
No matter. Democrats are all dead in mine eyes. They are zombies.
The DA better find these attackers and prosecute them fully. It is in follow-up for now, but it shall be perused.
Pray for this couple. There is no reason for this.
#2
Michelle Malkin says there were no Sarah Palin pins, according to Governor Jindal's office.
The Hayride blog has a serious round-up on the story with photos and videos (the videos have since been pulled by the anarchist who posted them on his YouTube page), with a number of updates. He agrees that there was no pin, but that Bautsch and Brown were targetted because they came from Brennan's.
#5
Brown shirts (or SEIU purple shirts) on the march? The Hayride story is posted on Gov. Bobby Jindal's facebook site. Can't imagine why anyone would want the taint of calling themselves a democrat. Thuggery!
#7
The most curious thing to me is how little Jindal or the Republicans have been willing to say - almost like they are trying to hide something, though I can't conceive what that might be.
#11
The political intimidation motive of the savages that viciously beat Allee Bautsch, Governor Jindal's Financial Director, and her friend Joe Brown has been confirmed in an interview of an NOPD information officer relaying information from one of the case's detectives:
Breaking: Exclusive New Orleans Beat-Down Update Via My Interview With The NOPD - It Was Of A Political Nature http://bit.ly/d4pm5J
Obviously those with a political motive to commit this heinous assault on this nice young couple that was just working hard for their Republican Governor and the ideas that they believe in at SRLC could only be Democrats and other Leftists.
Posted by: Roland ||
04/15/2010 21:37 Comments ||
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#12
This is a truly heinous crime of political intimidation by Democrats and other Leftists. This nice young couple was just working hard for a Governor and the ideas that they believe in, and the Democrats and other Leftists beat them so severely that their surgeons estimate a three month recovery.
Take a good look at those pictures and ask yourself: Can you ever again see any Democrat or other Leftist public figure that has not owned that their own broke Allee and Joes bones, condemned the attackers and their cohorts, and apologized without also seeing these pictures in your mind and thinking that they are just a little complicit?
I never will!
Posted by: Roland ||
04/15/2010 22:27 Comments ||
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#13
My daughter (the two-hitch Marine) explained to me this evening how someone could get a leg broken in a beat-up. It involves the assailant stomping heavily on the leg of a victim already down. This presents to the imagination a very, very ugly picture.
It must be nice to be a Kennedy. To paraphrase American Express, privilege has its privileges. According to theBoston Globe, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's family is to be given "a rare opportunity to raise objections" to anything in the late senator's 3,000-page FBI file before it is released to the public. This extraordinary concession is being granted because, "the family of a deceased person may have a privacy interest," according to Dennis Argall, an FBI spokesman. Argall further assures us that the family can't object to removing portions of the document simply because it is "embarrassing." What he doesn't say is this: It will be impossible for the public to know exactly what information was withheld at the family's request and why.
There would be a multitude of possible explanations, however, because the Kennedy family has produced a president, multiple senators, congressmen, and ambassadors during the past five decades. JFK Jr. even founded a magazine that traded in political and celebrity gossip. Privacy seems like a poor excuse for a family that has so consistently sought and cultivated the limelight -- and whose members continue to seek it, as seen by Caroline Kennedy's cartoonish run at a U.S. Senate seat from New York last year.
Any Kennedy hoping to get elected in the future should understand that there is a very fine line between respecting a family's privacy and sparing it further embarrassment, particularly since Ted Kennedy's life left more than a few prominent blots on the family escutcheon. The most prominent were Chappaquiddick, the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, and the scurrilous 1983 entreaty to the Soviets to help undermine President Reagan in exchange for assistance in electing Democrats.
In any case, Kennedy's life, warts and all, is now part of American history and thus deserves to be analyzed as dispassionately as possible, which requires having access to all of the facts, including those that might embarrass the Kennedy clan. It's not for either the Kennedy family or the FBI to decide what details of his public life are inconvenient. The very fact that the Kennedys appear so eager to censor what the public is ultimately able to learn about the family suggests the importance of protecting access to all of the documents in that file for the public today and for historians tomorrow.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Yet another example of the elitist mentality our career politicians and their families share. They have been above the law practically their entire adult lives; now they are above scrutiny indefinitely. More proof, in my eyes, that our government (congress in particular) has considered itself to be above, beyond, and over the people for generations. The words of, by and for only apply to their legacies; which are edited at the leisure of their families and colleagues to allow only for irreprehensible actions to be noted in the pages of history. Isn't it tragic that history, the one tool humanity has to build true wisdom, is so hastily edited by those who wish to fundamentally change the dynamics of our nation? More tragic still is that the free people of our nation are so willing to submit to historical editing; something I would expect of a people living under the thumb of a third world dictator. At least they dont have a choice.
#2
According to theBoston Globe, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's family is to be given "a rare opportunity to raise objections" to anything in the late senator's 3,000-page FBI file before it is released to the public.
Well, that should cut it down to a handy one and a half page phamphlet...
#3
I can boil the highlights of his career down to a few bullet points.
1) Demanding the US leave Vietnam and invade northern Ireland to fight the British.
2) Chappaquiddick.
3) Secretly conspiring with the Soviet Union to undermine both Jimmy Carter's and Ronald Reagan's nuclear deterrent in Europe.
4) His culinary contribution, with the help of Christopher Dodd, the "waitress sandwich", which elsewhere is called "gang rape".
5) Being the clan drug dealer to Kennedy children, so that wouldn't risk embarrassment to the clan by buying their drugs from outsiders.
6) Defending rapist William Kennedy Smith, and golf club murderer Michael C. Skakel, who just lost another appeal, and has two more pending.
Posted by: Jefferson ||
04/15/2010 11:34 Comments ||
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Anonymoose, I went to Duke with Willy Smith and was a good friend of his. He is a doctor, one of the only people in the whole clan that does not live off the government dole or his family name. He never, ever, gave a vibe that he would force himself on a woman and believe me, I saw him around women in an advanced stage of inebriation several times. I think he got played and was rightfully acquitted. But it was Teddy that woke him up and got him to go to Au Bar that night.
#3
Oh, c'mon guys! If you worked for her, you'd drink heavily, too.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/15/2010 13:58 Comments ||
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#4
You better enjoy yourselves now socialists because when the country crashes, trying to find a rock to crawl under and hide from the angry mobs will be a very hard life for you.
#6
I live in the same country they run, and I want to drink more heavily, too! Perhaps we should triple the current drinking budget and see if we get a better State Department.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
