Republican campaign committee names top 2012 Senate targets

GOP Names 2012 Senate Targets
The Hill reports: The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has its eye on five key races it hopes will pave the way for the GOP to take the majority in the upper chamber in 2012. NRSC Executive Director Ron Jesmer said in an interview with CNN.com published Wednesday that the committee believes there is “fertile ground” for Republican gains in Montana, Virginia, Nebraska, Florida and North Dakota. Jesmer said that Centrist Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D) is in “seriou...

Manchin safe?
From the Hill: “The National Republican Senatorial Committee has its eye on five key races it hopes will pave the way for the GOP to take the majority in the upper chamber in 2012.” The five are Florida, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Virginia. That is interesting considering West Virginia Senator No Show Joe Manchin is up for re-election. Never discount the possibility that Republicans simply overlooked the race — or they think Robert C. Byrd still holds the seat. ...

GOP presidential hopefuls paying attention to Nevada
Nevada was a political afterthought for Republicans in the 2008 Presidential Election. Caucus votes were nonbinding, meaning delegates could change their minds about whom to support, so Candidates focused on other more influential states rather than risk wasting time and money in Nevada. But that strategy seems to be changing, with the state GOP deciding to make caucus votes binding. Now that Nevada can boast real political juice, Republicans toying with the idea of presidential bids are scoping...

Top Ten Virginia political stories of 2010
Lest we forget all that was 2010, the Bearing Drift team identified the following stories in 2010 as being critical to Virginia politics. If you were abducted by space aliens last Dec. 31, read this “Cliff’s Notes” version and you’ll be right back up to speed. 1. GOP landslide Republicans regained in Virginia everything that they lost in 2008. Well, at least numerically. The Virginia GOP delegation held a majority in the 110th Congress with 8 Republicans to 3 Democrats o...

Christine O'Donnell Denies Misusing Campaign Funds
Former Delaware Senate Candidate and Tea Party affiliate Christine O'Donnell denied allegations Thursday that she misused campaign funds. "There's been no impermissible use of campaign funds whatsoever," O'Donnell told "Good Morning America" Thursday. "You have to look at this whole thug politic tactic for what it is. ... I'm confident that we will be cleared of any charges. Reports indicate federal authorities have launched a Criminal Investigation to look into whether O'Donnell illegally use...

On the Radar: Murkowski, Times Square, winter weather
Alaska election certification: Alaska state officials will certify Sen. Lisa Murkowski's write-in election victory Thursday. The certification will then be flown to Washington to be delivered to the secretary of the Senate, clearing the way for Murkowski to be sworn in next week. A Federal Judge on Tuesday dismissed a Lawsuit challenging Murkowski's victory. Murkowski was defeated in the Republican primary in August by Joe Miller, a Tea Party-backed Candidate. Murkowski then waged the ...

Getting Below the Surface
We of course know that the November 2, 2010, Elections were historical on many different levels. The Republican gains of 63 seats in the House and 6 in the Senate dwarf the Republican Revolution of 1994 and double the historical average gains in the Senate for a party out of power. These gains were made despite a cash-strapped Republican National Committee (RNC), strategic decisions by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to spend $8 million in the long-shot California Senate race...

O'Donnell scoffs at reports of investigation
Washington (CNN) - Republican Christine O'Donnell, who lost her Delaware Senate bid, is scoffing at reports the Justice Department and FBI have launched a Criminal Investigation into possible misuse of campaign funds, telling CNN Thursday she only learned of the apparent Probe from media inquiries. "I find it awfully suspicious, that if there is an investigation that the [Associated Press] was tipped off before we were tipped off or our lawyer or any other officials," O'Donnell said during an in...

Christine O'Donnell: 'Thug' Tactics Responsible For Campaign Finance Accusations
Baltimore — Failed U.S. Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell said Thursday that accusations she misspent campaign funds are politically motivated and stoked by disgruntled former campaign workers. The Delaware Republican appeared on several network morning shows to defend herself a day after The Associated Press reported federal authorities have launched a Criminal Probe to determine whether she broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses. "There's been no impermissibl...

ODonnell: Spending accusations are thug tactics
WASHINGTON (AP) — Failed U.S. Senate Candidate Christine O’Donnell said Thursday that accusations she misspent campaign funds are politically motivated and stoked by disgruntled former campaign workers. The Delaware Republican appeared on several network morning shows to defend herself a day after The Associated Press reported federal authorities have launched a Criminal Probe to determine whether she broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses. O’Donnell, th...

Why Liberals Compromise
Thu Dec. 30, 2010 8:12 AM PST There seems to be a certain temperamental difference between Conservatives and Republicans on the one hand and liberals and the Democrats on the other. In broad strokes, Republicans, especially of the tea-party stripe, are typically proud, at least unapologetic, and sometimes belligerent about their beliefs. Democrats, in contrast, seem to adopt the defensive position by default. ....Why are Democrats more anemic? One thought comes from the liberal Journalist Thoma...

Primaries For Palin
A website has sprung up with instructions for Democrats on how to vote for Sarah Palin in states that will hold open primaries in 2012. From the site's FAQ page: Our purpose is to have Democrats and Independents help to nominate Sarah Palin as the Republican Candidate for president in state primaries. In numerous head-to-head polls, Palin is the only likely Republican Candidate who would soundly lose to Obama in the General Election. All other likely Republican Candidates either beat Obama or ...

The Epic Year In Politics Win
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) -- who came back from Tea Party primary hell served up by Joe Miller and Sarah Palin to win as a write-in. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) -- who SMASHED a path through Health Care reform with her gavel, got smashed in return by voters, and still remained Minority Leader going into 2011. Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) -- who succeeded Ted Kennedy and turned out to be a better Democrat than some Democrats in the Senate, going from GOP hero to goat in less than a year (and Donk goat t...

Rubio's a little overrated
Marco Rubio is probably the most hyped of the 2011 freshman Senate class, to the extent that there's already discussion about him as a possible 2012 Presidential Candidate. Our latest Florida poll though suggests that it might be time for everyone to slow down a little bit on that front. Rubio is the most hyped new Senator...and he might be the most overrated too. Here's what we found: -Rubio is not unusually popular with Florida voters- they're pretty evenly divided in their feelings about him...

I apologize for America part 1
I apologize to the world for the lies of Obama and the Democrat Party and a vast majority of the members of the Republican Party. I am sorry that Obama promised to repair our nation's reputation and improve our standing in the world's eyes and yet have him turn around and offend France and profane the names of the fallen at Normandy and thereby embarrassing Germany. I am sorry that the nearly five decades of failed Democrat Party economic policies led to the abuse of non monitored federal statut...

The Bureaucratization of Elected Representatives
Q: How many psychotherapists does it take to change a lightbulb? A: Just one but the lightbulb must want to change. What will it take to bring some sense of fiscal sanity to the federal Budget? Bob Bixby, Executive Director of the Concord Coalition, has an idea: The answer may rest with three key players—President Obama, Rep. Paul Ryan [ed. incoming chairman of the House Budget Committee], and Sen. Kent Conrad [chairman of the Senate Budget Committee]. Each has the responsibility of presenti...

Kent Conrad Will Have A Tougher Time Defending His Votes To North Dakotans Going Forward
Grover Norquist has an interesting analysis of the 2012 election scene in general up at The American Spectator, and suggests that Senator Kent Conrad will either retire or lose re-election in 2012. His reasoning? Conrad is going to have a harder time justifying his liberal votes in Washington DC while being the state’s only Democrat member of the federal delegation. One factor that has allowed a state like North Dakota, which voted 63 percent for Bush in 2004, to repeatedly elect two hard-...

Remarkable Run Ends for Team North Dakota
Senator Byron L. Dorgan, at left, and Senator Kent Conrad, right, helped campaign for Representative Earl Pomery in October. By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN NYT WASHINGTON — By now, Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Senator Kent Conrad and Representative Earl Pomeroy — best friends and Democrats who spent the last 18 years serving as North Dakota’s entire Congressional delegation — are the stuff of so much political lore in their home state, it can be hard to separate the tall tales from reality.

A Final Word on the Speaker's Race ... and Beyond
I really had intended for my last post about Baseball to be my last post of 2010. However, when I saw Dave's post alerting us that the date has now been set for the Republican Caucus vote for Speaker of the Texas Legislature, my mind started racing and I thought I would share these thoughts to summarize much of what I've been trying to say on this website since May, 2010, and to create a bridge to the battles to come. As I've said before, I don't support any of the three announced Candidates for...

Snow systems storm across U.S.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A cold front brought rain, snow and frigid temperatures to Arizona, prompting freeze warnings for Thursday and possibly Friday, forecasters said. Further north, a pair of snowstorms was forecast to deliver a wallop to the northern Plains, with the second system expected to be an all-out blizzard, AccuWeather.com reported. Northeastern South Dakota to northwestern Minnesota would bear the brunt of the snowstorms, which forecasters said would combine to dump more...

O'Donnell: Spending accusations are 'thug' tactics
(12-30) 07:46 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- Failed U.S. Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell said Thursday that accusations she misspent campaign funds are politically motivated and stoked by disgruntled former campaign workers. The Delaware Republican appeared on several network morning shows to defend herself a day after The Associated Press reported federal authorities have launched a Criminal Probe to determine whether she broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses. "There's b...

O'Donnell: Spending accusations are 'thug' tactics
Failed U.S. Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell said Thursday that accusations she misspent campaign funds are politically motivated and stoked by disgruntled former campaign workers. The Delaware Republican appeared on several network morning shows to defend herself a day after The Associated Press reported federal authorities have launched a Criminal Probe to determine whether she broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses. O'Donnell, the Tea Party favorite who scored a su...

States Jockey Again to Vote First in 2012
Charles Dharapak/Associated Press Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his wife Cindy arrive for his post Primary Election victory party in Nashua, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Until recently, there had been hope among the potential Presidential Candidates — and the reporters who cover them — for a more leisurely start to the 2012 election-year madness. That hope seems to be fading. Officials in both Iowa and New Hampshire are talking once again about moving their ...

FABULOUS: Ben Nelson, the whore of the Senate, trails badly in 2012 matchup
The people of Nebraska remain disgusted by Ben Nelson, the whore of the Senate, and what he did on Christmas Eve 2009 when he sold his vote for ObamaCare to the White House for a massive infusion of pork…turning the people of Nebraska into welfare queens.  Since then, whenever Nelson and his family have gone out to eat in restaurants, Nebraskans have shouted “whore”, “slut”, and other pejoratives at him…and his face has been plastered all over the state d...

The Most Interesting Senate Race of 2012? It Might Be Virginia
Chris Greenberg/Bloomberg News; Win McNamee, via Getty Images Former Republican Senator George Allen of Virginia and Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, could face off in a 2012 rematch. Will Virginia be home to the most competitive and politically interesting Senate race in 2012? Already, there are the makings of a blockbuster rematch between Democratic Senator Jim Webb and the man he beat in 2006, Republican George Allen, by only about 9,000 votes out of more than 2.3 million cast. For Mr...