Party Time!

Toomey: Palin could carry PA
Pennsylvania's Sen.-elect Pat Toomey thinks Sarah Palin has a shot at carrying his home state. Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if the former Alaska Governor -- assuming she becomes the 2012 Republican nominee for president -- could win over Pennsylvania, Toomey answered, "it is possible." "We went into this election cycle with a 1.2 million Voter Registration Deficit and with a Republican brand that was in a really bad way, and I still won this election," he said....

Is The RNC On The Priebupice Of Disaster?
Is it a Reince Priebus for RNC Chair, or the precipice of disaster? An interesting post up on the RNC Chair race over at Redstate. It follows up on a Politico item. It has recently come to my attention that the things I have seen about Reince have been observed by others in the RNC. Politico is reporting a RNC Chairman out of CT has the same concerns I Do Not Believe This Is The Man For Our Party. Meanwhile, via Instapundit, there's also a newer item up at NRO. Times have changed thanks to...

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' to be on DVD
Published: Jan. 2, 2011 at 4:32 PM Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin speaks during a Republican National Committee (RNC) get-out-the vote rally in Anaheim, California on October 16, 2010. Palin and RNC Chairman Michael Steele held the rally to raise money for the RNC. Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman and Senate Candidate.Carly Fiorina were not among Palin's so-called Mama Grizzlies on hand for the rally. UPI/Jim Ruymen HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The Discovery Network says ...

There is no future without DREAM
On June 28, 2007, the U.S. Senate voted to end debate on a comprehensive Immigration Bill. The bill was defeated 46 to 53; 34 Democrats and 12 Republicans supported the Cloture vote. One provision of the comprehensive Reform Bill was the DREAM Act. On December 18, 2010, the Senate voted on Cloture on the DREAM Act and was defeated by a vote of 55 to 41, with 52 Democrats and three Republicans supporting it. It needed 60 votes to force another vote. Closer, but no cigar. So what happened during...

No More Mister Nice Blog
Haley Barbour FOR TEETOTALERS Newsweek devotes four freaking pages to the notion that Jon Huntsman might be the real Dark Horse in the race for the 2012 GOP nomination. It does appear that the former Governor of Utah may be running -- he just bought a fancy-schmancy house in D.C., even though he works, um, elsewhere. And he seems to think he has a chance: "You know, I'm really focused on what we're doing in our current p...

Priebus Faces Attacks As Front-Runner
Wisconsin Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus has taken a clear lead in his bid to lead the Republican National Committee, as rivals react by questioning his record and his judgment. Priebus has scored 27 public Endorsements so far, nearly a third of the 85 votes he would need to win the chairmanship outright. That easily outpaces his three nearest rivals, Incumbent chairman Michael Steele (15), former Michigan Party chairman Saul Anuzis (11) and former Ambassador Ann Wagner (11). Now, RNC ...

Those Tea Party Nut-Jobs Won't Shut Up!
By RightKlik When I was thinking last night about what I might post today, I decided to make a prediction for the new year. I wanted to talk about the inevitable waves of Tea Party antipathy that would hit when it finally becomes obvious that the Tea Partiers are serious about holding the newly elected Republicans accountable. Okay, I know, easy prediction... But I thought the emm-ess-emm would at least wait until after the new Congress was sworn in to begin forcefully pushing the "Please igno...

After managing expectations, Malloy now turns to managing the deficit
Gov.-elect Dan Malloy has spent the better part of the last year trying to navigate between a political rock and a fiscal hard place. On one side there's a general public wary of the next major state tax hike, State Employee Unions still smarting from 2009 concessions, and a host of other Special Interests fearful of more Spending Cuts. And on the other is what effectively amounts to the largest Budget Deficit in state history. As a Candidate, Malloy tried to preserve his options to make painf...

Kaine: No serious primary challenger for Obama in 2012
Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Sunday he doesn't expect President Obama will face a serious primary challenger in 2012. "It's very unlikely," he said on CNN's "State of the Union. "You'll always get a fringe Candidate, but the likelihood of a serious candidate is virtually nil." Mr. Kaine said the president and fellow Democrats must continue to do the job Americans elected them to do to win next year. "We feel very good going into the 2012 cycle," he said. Mr. Kai...

In case you missed this the first time
Continuing on a theme of enfranchisement and voting, I’m going to excerpt large swathes of this report from the delegates themselves who were pressured and intimidated in Denver in 2008 to change their votes from Hillary to Obama. These are their own words.  Read it and weep.  It really was a Fraud.: Arkansas: “I was so angry at the sham of a roll call that I just wanted it to be over… ” “the last time I felt such unbearable group pressure was on a jury&

Arlen Specter: Senate Tenure Not Defined By Party Label
WASHINGTON — As Arlen Specter leaves the Senate after 30 years, the one-time Corruption-busting Philadelphia prosecutor and architect of the "single-bullet theory" of the John F. Kennedy Assassination says he wouldn't change a thing about his zig-zag-zig political path. Specter began and ended – for now – his political life as a Democrat and spent the intervening four decades as a Republican. But he sees himself as an independent who often bucked party leadership – ulti...

What to Do in 2011? Start by Honoring a Remarkable Legacy of Joining, Marching, Organizing and Writing for Peace
Lee Brown’s last published letter to the editor, written just days before she suffered the stroke that would eventually take the life of an ardent and effective Activists, was an urgent appeal for Senate ratification of the new START Treaty. It was classic “Lee Brown”: sincere, smart, fact-driven and immediate. “This treaty is crucial to creating a Nuclear Weapons Free World -- a goal favored by the vast majority of the world’s people,” argued the impassioned ...

GOP leader says Cuomo must work for the people not government; cautions new gov
ALBANY - New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox put aside partisan differences and pledged that the new State Senate Republican majority will work with Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to help improve The Economy and create new jobs, while by no means giving the new Democratic governor a blank check. Later this week, as lawmakers return to Albany, control of the State Senate will flip - from a 32 - 30 Democratic majority to a 32 - 30 Republican majority, s...

Issa Fine Tunes His Investigation Target Net
It sounds as if incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Rep. Darrell Issa is fine tuning his investigations targets net — and some of his inquires could could touch on GOpers as well. The Hill reports: The incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Sunday that he won’t investigate the Obama Administration for offering a job to a Democratic House member to keep him out of a Senate race. Instead, Rep. Darrell Issa sa...

Issa says he won't investigate White House job offer to Sestak
The incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Sunday that he won't investigate the Obama Administration for offering a job to a Democratic House member to keep him out of a Senate race. Instead, Rep. Darrell Issa said that problem transcends any one administration. The California Republican indicated he wants to look at the issue more broadly, even hinting that his investigation could lead back into a closer look at the Bush Administration. "We've discovere...

Kaine to stay on as Democratic National Committee Chairman
UPDATED: Del. Gear resigns from House of Delegates on eve of 2011 session EPA accepts Va. Chesapeake Bay plan as agency lays out clean-up roadmap James P. Moran Jr. What Is Right for Virginia? Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said Sunday that he plans to stay at the helm of the national party another two years because that's where President Obama wants him to serve. "My agreement with the president is I was going to do what he wants me to do," Kaine said on CNN's "State of the Un...

RNC faces $20 million debt in 2011
The next chairman of the Republican National Committee will face a money-raising challenge of historic proportions. The unreleased official Budget of the RNC reveals that the Republican party's national governing body and premier fund-raising apparatus begins the 2011-2012 Presidential Election cycle more than $20 million in the hole. "A record for any year in the past 30 years," RNC chairman Candidate and former Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Maria Cino told The Washington Times The budge...

Updating The RNC Chairman's Race Whip Count
Nearly half the voting members of Republican National Committee have declared their support for one of the six contenders seeking the chairmanship, and with just over two weeks to go the race has a clear front-runner, Wisconsin Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus. Still, Priebus has about a third of the 85 votes he would need to win, meaning any of the contenders have a path to victory. Expect several more members to make public their commitments after a public forum featuring all six candi...

Playing a China Card: Hidden Genius in the (Bogus) Huntsman Story?
I mentioned yesterday how preposterous I thought it was for Newsweek to tout the idea that Jon Huntsman Jr, the Republican ex-governor of Utah now serving as US Ambassador to China, was about to enter the 2012 presidential race to unseat Barack Obama, rather than aiming at 2016 or whenever. Summary version of the "are you kidding?" case: 1) In the primaries, why would Republican voters choose an Obama Administration team member as the leader of the anti-Obama crusade? 2) In the general electio...

Kaine: No serious 2012 primary challenge to Obama
WASHINGTON—The national Democratic Party chairman says he thinks the chances that President Barack Obama will face a serious primary challenger in 2012 are "virtually nil." Tim Kaine says there's always the possibility that a fringe Candidate could try to mount a challenge. But Kaine says Democrats feel very good about Obama's re-election prospects if, as Kaine puts it, the president keeps doing the job that people elected him to do. Kaine also told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday th...

Kaine: No serious 2012 primary challenge to Obama
Source: AP WASHINGTON – The national Democratic Party chairman says he thinks the chances that President Barack Obama will face a serious primary challenger in 2012 are "virtually nil." Tim Kaine says there's always the possibility that a fringe Candidate could try to mount a challenge. But Kaine says Democrats feel very good about Obama's re-election prospects if, as Kaine puts it, the president keeps doing the job that people elected him to do. Kaine also told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sun...

Kaine: No serious 2012 primary challenge to Obama
WASHINGTON — The national Democratic Party chairman says he thinks the chances that President Barack Obama will face a serious primary challenger in 2012 are "virtually nil." Tim Kaine says there's always the possibility that a fringe Candidate could try to mount a challenge. But Kaine says Democrats feel very good about Obama's re-election prospects if, as Kaine puts it, the president keeps doing the job that people elected him to do. Kaine also told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday...

No More Mister Nice Blog
HUNTSMANIA: THE BECK CONNECTION Yesterday I wrote a very skeptical post about Newsweek's lengthy article speculating on a possible 2012 presidential run by Jon Huntsman Jr., the former GOP Governor of Utah who's the Obama administration's ambassador to China. I said that the notion of a conciliatory Republican winning the GOP nomination in this climate struck me as absurd, the kind of thing only blinkered Beltway insiders could believe was possible; I gathered, from reading around the blogs, th...

Haley Barbour's not-so-lame final year as governor
The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi's largest newspaper, takes a look at Haley Barbour's seven years as Governor and his Lame Duck finale in the Magnolia State. Term limits prevent Barbour from running for a third term. Yes, there are criticisms, but the portrait of Barbour, a possible 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate, is largely favorable. And the paper doesn't expect a lame year from Barbour. Said Rep. John Mayo, "The man has a Rolodex that's larger than the New York phone book. I give him ...

Other Blacks Drop Out and Throw Support to Mosley Braun in Chicago Mayoral Race
Chicago — Danny K. Davis, a longtime United States representative, has dropped out of the race to become Chicago’s mayor, creating the scenario that African-American leaders here had for months been clamoring for: a campaign that includes only one major African-American Candidate. Carol Moseley Braun, a former United States senator, became that candidate this weekend, as Mr. Davis announced his plans to step aside (and support Ms. Braun), just as the Rev. James T. Meeks, the pastor of a...