Bleg: Two Termers

Handicapping the Republican National Committee chair race: The Final Edition
Less than two days before the vote to select a new chairman of the Republican National Committee takes place, uncertainty still reigns in a race more defined by who won't win than who will. What's become clear as the race has matured in the new year is that current RNC Chairman Michael Steele has no path to victory. And yet, Steele remains the central mover in the race, not only because the campaigns of the other four Candidates -- Wisconsin Republican party chairman Reince Priebus , former amb...

The Fix: Handicapping the RNC chair race
Less than two days before the vote to select a new chairman of the Republican National Committee takes place, uncertainty still reigns in a race more defined by who won't win than who will. What's become clear as the race has matured in the new year is that current RNC Chairman Michael Steele has no path to victory. And yet, Steele remains the central mover in the race, not only because the campaigns of the other four Candidates -- Wisconsin Republican party chairman Reince Priebus, former a...

POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Thursday, January 13, 2011
In between consoling those touched by Saturday's Arizona shooting and warning the nation against politicizing the tragedy, President Barack Obama delivered some good news in his address at a Tucson memorial event on Wednesday. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona has opened her eyes for the first time since being shot four days ago. "There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts," Obama said. "But know this: The hopes of a nation are here tonight." Congress has resp...

Joy as south Sudan vote confirmed valid
Organisers of a landmark south Sudan independence vote confirmed Thursday the turnout threshold needed for it to be valid has been reached as ex-US president Jimmy Carter said the region looked set for nationhood. Drivers honked their horns in the regional capital Juba as southerners hailed the turnout achievement in just four days of the week-long period saying it showed the importance of freedom to them after five decades of conflict with the north. "It has reached 60 percent and even more," r...

South Sudan moves closer to independence
South Sudan moved a step closer to independence yesterday after organisers of its Secession Referendum said the vote's turnout would pass the 60 per cent threshold needed for it to be binding. Voters are expected to choose independence in the week-long poll which began on Sunday. Secession would split Africa's largest country in two. The Referendum was promised in a 2005 accord that ended decades of Civil War between the mostly Muslim North and the mainly Christian and animist South....

South Sudan vote turnout 'reaches 60% threshold'
South Sudan's ruling party said Wednesday that the 60-percent turnout threshold required for a landmark independence vote to be valid has been reached after just three days of polling. The former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement cited its own estimates for the achievement which has to be officially confirmed by the South Sudan Referendum Commission that is organising the week-long vote. But there were long queues at Polling Stations again on Wednesday as voters responded to calls from th...

What if Texas or California Decides to Secede from the United States of America?
It's possible that southern Sudan may secede, but the oil rights should belong to all of Sudan -- not just to the south. If this does not get worked out, then there may be a bloody Civil War, perhaps like the American Civil War, but on a bloodier scale because the West will certainly come in, as will the Israelis, who also want their hands on the oil and who have it in for Arabs and Muslims, in order to help the anti-Khartoum forces. No doubt there are Human Rights abuses in Sudan, as there ar...

Carter: South Sudan vote will meet global standards
"I believe it will meet international standards on the conduct of the process and also the freedom with which people have cast their votes ... We have two more days to go, obviously, but I don't think there is any doubt the results will be accepted without serious challenge," Carter told Journalists in the southern capital, Juba. Southerners are widely expected to vote to declare independence from the north in the week-long vote -- a plebiscite promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades o...

Joy as south Sudan vote confirmed valid
A woman smiles as she leaves a Polling Station in Juba. Organisers of a lan... Organisers of a landmark south Sudan independence vote confirmed Thursday the turnout threshold needed for it to be valid has been reached as ex-US president Jimmy Carter said the region looked set for nationhood. Drivers honked their horns in the regional capital Juba as southerners hailed the turnout achievement in just four days of the week-long period saying it showed the importance of freedom to them after five ...

Carter: South Sudan vote will meet global standards
JUBA, Sudan | Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:38am EST JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - South Sudan's independence Referendum will meet international standards, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who is observing the plebiscite, said on Thursday. "I believe it will meet international standards on the conduct of the process and also the freedom with which people have cast their votes ... We have two more days to go, obviously, but I don't think there is any doubt the results will be accepted without serious challe...

Memo To CNN: Keep Parker, Drop Spitzer
Amidst reports that CNN is eager to shake-up the relatively new, but Ratings-starved, Parker Spitzer, by dumping Kathleen Parker and giving Eliot Spitzer a new co-host, I politely suggest the exact opposite strategy would better ensure the show’s longevity. With the ratings for Parker Spitzer consistently placing it in last place among Cable News networks at its time slot, and often last among CNN’s own Primetime lineup, the evidence is clear that the show’s current format is n...

Foxs Bill OReilly Wins Big: 1 Million Viewers On 1/11/11
Cable news Ratings, January 11, 2011: •There’s no disputing the numbers: Bill O’Reilly was the king of Cable News on January 11, with 1,000,000 viewers 25-54, destroying the competition in the 8 o’clock timeslot (Keith Olbermann was second with 376,000 viewers) and posting his best performance in this key demographic since 11/3/10-one day after the mid-term Elections. •The new live-format Parker Spitzer on CNN is showing signs of life, with 176,000 viewers 25-54-...

Michael Russnow: Media Pundit Sarah Palin Says She's Not Responsible: Oh, Yeah? I Don't Think So
The subject of the tragedy in Tucson has perhaps been talked to death on the major networks, but having watched the give and take on both sides of the political spectrum, as well as those who preach moderation, it's my view regarding Sarah Palin and her ilk, that they doth Protest too much. I'll let slide Sarah Palin's use of anti-Semitic terms such as "blood Libel" in her desperate attempt to cast aside aspersions to her integrity, because I honestly don't believe she has the intellectual dep...

Clark calls for a B.C. Family Day
Last updated Monday, Jan. 10, 2011 6:54PM EST Christy Clark is faulting the BC Liberal government for not coming up with a Family Day holiday for the province when The Economy was in better shape. The former deputy premier, seeking the leadership of the BC Liberals, said the Second Term of Liberal government “after we cleaned up the mess from the NDP” was the time to enact such a holiday as well as hike the Minimum Wage – something the Candidates for the Liberal leadership have...

Biden in Baghdad to meet Maliki
US Vice President Joe Biden was in Baghdad on Thursday for a first meeting with Nuri al-Maliki since the Iraqi Prime Minister began a Second Term and talks with other Top Officials, US officials said. Biden's unannounced tour of world hotspots had previously taken him to Kabul, where he met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and to Islamabad, where he met with top Pakistani officials. Asked why he's in Iraq, Biden said: "I'm here to help the Iraqis celebrate the progress they made. They formed a g...

68th General Assembly set to open today
Colorado's State Legislature will convene for its sixty-eighth biannual session today. The gathering of 65 representatives and 35 senators comes one day after the inauguration of a new Governor, new state treasurer, and new Secretary of State. Republicans took control of the House of Representatives by one seat in the November election. Democrats, as they have since Jan. 2005, continue to hold the majority in the Senate. Both the House and the Senate will convene today at 10 am. Bills may be in...

Biden arrives in Baghdad 'to celebrate'...
US Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday he had come to Baghdad "to help Iraqis celebrate," as he met with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hours after arriving in the Iraqi capital. Biden's unannounced tour of world hotspots had previously taken him to Kabul, where he met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and to Islamabad, where he met with top Pakistani officials. He landed at Baghdad airport late Wednesday and, according to reporters travelling with him, his first meeting Thursday morning was...

Boehner officially endorses Cino
FrumForum's Tim Mak gets hold of Speaker John Boehner's Endorsement letter of Mary Cino for RNC chair: I respect that the choice of RNC Chairman is yours alone to make. But having spent the last two years traveling the country to meet with Activists, Candidates, Donors and voters to help elect Republicans, I hope you will permit me to make some observations about that choice… I have worked closely with Maria for almost twenty years, during which time she turned around the NRCC to usher ...

Puerto Rico backs Priebus
Reid Wilson reports that Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno is backing Reince Priebus for RNC chair, despite the lavish attention that Incumbent chair Michael Steele's spent on several of the island territories. "Reince's track record as chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin is exemplary," wrote Fortuno in his letter, "and an example of what the RNC chairman's office should strive to attain," In 2009, Fortuno was part of the island block that helped Steele secure his vic...

Boehner Backing Maria Cino In Race For RNC Chair
Speaker of the House John Boehner is reportedly backing Maria Cino for RNC Chair, and has already made several calls on her behalf. Boehner sent out the following letter, obtained by FrumForum, on his decision: I respect that the choice of RNC Chairman is yours alone to make. But having spent the last two years traveling the country to meet with Activists, Candidates, Donors and voters to help elect Republicans, I hope you will permit me to make some observations about that choice... I have ...

Heal This
Speaker John Boehner will host a cocktail party for the Republican National Committee at the same time that President Barack Obama will be addressing the nation at the memorial service for Victims of the Tucson shooting. - Roll Call I honestly don’t know what to say, when in a moment of national mourning the Speaker of the House chooses a Washington, D.C. Fundraiser instead of attending the memorial in Tuscon, Arizona. After a pitch perfect address to the House, the quieting of the c...

Boehner Hosting RNC Cocktail Party During Tucson Shooting Memorial Service
Tonight, President Obama will deliver a “healing message,” in Tucson, AZ at a memorial service for those who died in the tragic shooting there this weekend. The somber service, which is expected to attract up to 14,000 people, will feature prayers, the playing of the National Anthem, as well as reverent remarks from various officials from both sides of the aisle. At around the same time, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OK) will be slinging back cocktails with members of the Republic...

RNC Shocker: Boehner Backs Cino
FrumForum has learned that in an unprecedented move, House Speaker John Boehner has officially endorsed RNC chair Candidate Maria Cino , just as RNC members gather in Maryland for the first day of their annual winter meeting. We can also report that Boehner has made calls to at least about half a dozen RNC members in the last week. With these very public efforts, it becomes clear that Speaker Boehner has made this internal Republican Party race a priority at the beginning of his tenure. In a l...

Race for RNC Chairman Enters Home Stretch
With just days to go until members of the Republican National Committee elect a chairman to lead them into the 2012 Presidential Election cycle, Wisconsin's Reince Priebus appears to have the edge while Incumbent Michael Steele seems to have the longest odds for keep the job. More Video ...

RNC reception coincides with memorial
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- House Speaker John Boehner attended a reception Wednesday for the Republican National Committee while a memorial service was being held in Tucson, an aide said. The aide told Roll Call the Ohio Republican planned to leave the 7 p.m. EST event before President Barack Obama's Speech at the memorial service for six people killed at a political event in Tucson Saturday. Another aide said the reception, hosted by Boehner's political action committee and coinciding with an...