Quitters
In the space of less than 24 hours, three major races have been impacted by candidates deciding to quit. In Afghanistan, challenger Abdullah Abdullah has reportedly decided not to participate in the run-off election with Hamid Karzai for president. This makes the U.S. attempt to pretend Karzai is a legitimate, democratic leader somewhat more difficult. In the California governor's race, San Francisco ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 31, 2009 11:42
Biden: Republican House Takeback ‘End of the Road’
Vice President Joe Biden told a partisan crowd that, if the Republicans win the House back in 2010, it would be "the end of the road for what Barack and I are trying to do." Karen Travers for ABC: Biden said Republicans are pinning their political strategy on flipping these seats. “If they take them back, this the end of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 22, 2009 07:57
Obama to Paterson: Quit
President Obama has reportedly asked New York Governor David Paterson to drop his bid to win election in his own right, fearing that he would hurt Democrats down ballot. [caption id="attachment_42135" align="alignright" width="400" caption="President Obama shook Gov. David A. Paterson's hand in December 2008 at an event with the National Governors Association in Philadelphia. Jim Wilson/The New York Times "][/caption] The decision ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 20, 2009 07:46
1994 All Over Again?
Steven Taylor considers whether 2010 will be a repeat of 1994, where Republicans took control of Congress. He finds it unlikely.On balance I think that trying to make 2010 into a repeat of 1994 is largely Republicans engaging in wishful thinking. Yes, there are several variable that are similar (Democratic President, Democratic Congress, major health care proposal), but there ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 14, 2009 11:11
Romney For Senate
US News blogger Peter Roff speculates that Mitt Romney will run for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. Such an announcement would likely be embraced immediately by the Republicans, who would like almost nothing more than to deny Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada his new, hard-won, 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority. As a self-funding candidate who has already been elected once ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 27, 2009 09:29
Obama Support Drops with Democrats, Independents
President Obama's approval ratings are continuing to fall, especially among young Democrats and working class whites. Ron Brownstein highlights a new Pew poll showing the trends since the election: Pew found Obama's numbers are weakest among groups that were skeptical of him last year, but appeared to be kicking the tires on him during the honeymoon stage of his presidency. Now those ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 22, 2009 08:37
Toomey Leads Specter 48-36 (Rasmussen)
Arlen Specter switched parties to avoid being beaten by Pat Toomey in the Republican primary. A new Rasmussen poll finds Toomey would crush Specter 48 to 36 if the general election were held today. (Which, I always add, it won't be.) The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Pennsylvania voters shows 48% would vote for Toomey if the election were ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 13, 2009 11:02
Palin Resigning as Governor
Sarah Palin has announced that, not only will she not seek re-election as governor of Alaska in 2010 but that she is resigning her office later this month. Andrew Hinkelman and Lori Tipton for KTUU: Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning. Lt. Gov. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 3, 2009 15:48
Joe Sestak to Challenge Specter in Democratic Primary
Talking Points Memo is reporting that Rep. Joe Sestak from Pennsylvania will be challenging Arlen Specter in the Democratic Primary. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) is privately telling supporters that he intends to run for Senate, TPMDC has confirmed. "He intends to get in the race," says Meg Infantino, the Congressman's sister, who works at Sestak for Congress. "In the not too distant ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 28, 2009 00:12
Tom Ridge Maryland Resident, Pennsylvanian?
Taegan Goddard passes on word that Tom Ridge, once Pennsylvania's governor and putatively contemplating running for Arlen Specter's seat representing that state in the Senate, is a resident of Maryland for the purposes of federal tax and lobbying filings. Do these sort of things matter in statewide elections? Is anyone otherwise disposed to vote for Ridge going to be dissuaded by ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 5, 2009 14:51
Tom Ridge Senate Bid?
Former Pennsylvania governor and Department of Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge is considering running for Arlen Specter's seat in the Senate, Roll Call reports (via Taegan Goddard). Very interesting. With Specter in the race for the Republican nomination, it was expected to be a two-way rematch with Pat Toomey. Now, there's speculation that former senator Rick Santorum may run and there ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 3, 2009 08:14
Chris Matthews for Senate?
At least two statewide Pennsylvania polls have shown that "Hardball" host Chris Matthews would be a serious contender if he chose to challenge Arlen Specter for the Senate in 2010 and Matthews has indicated that he has at least some interest in running, WaPo's Chris Cillizza reports. Matthews would be an interesting candidate. His "Hardball" personality is annoying and frenetic for ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 12, 2008 15:12
McCain – Obama Debate 1: Foreign Policy
Forty minutes into the first presidential debate of the 2008 general election season, which was supposed to be about foreign policy, we have had precisely no discussion of foreign policy thanks to moderator Jim Lehrer's asking the same three domestic policy questions repeatedly. Granting that there's an emergency in the financial sector, most of the questions are only tangentially related ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 26, 2008 21:43
Some Bad Fiscal News
Mark Thoma and Menzie Chinn post excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article on Bush's budget. What caught my eye was the last part about the fiscal problm facing the next administration, OK. Take a breath. The U.S. economy is not Iraq, and today's headlines are upbeat... But look ahead, and there is an unwelcome parallel between Iraq and the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 10, 2007 11:56
Chris Dodd ‘Drops’ Re-Election Bid
Chris Dodd has filed papers dropping out of the 2010 Senate race. AsPosted in Outside The Beltway on January 21, 2007 09:53
