Who Will Replace John Murtha?
Yes, discussing that today is ghoulish. But we must!
“Immediately following the news of his death, election analysts rated the race as competitive for the GOP.
While Murtha has held the seat since 1974 with few re-election scares, the Johnstown-area district outside of Pittsburgh has right-leaning roots, and a special election contest will be targeted by House Republicans. With Murtha’s death, Democrats now control the House by a 256-178 margin.
In the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) won the district by a narrow 1,000 vote margin against President Barack Obama. It was the only district in the nation, however, that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential race that was carried by McCain four years later.
Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell must set a date for a special election within the next ten days, according to state law. A likely date is May 18, when the state’s primary elections will take place.
The House Democratic campaign operation is in better shape financially to wage a costly special election battle against their Republican counterparts, with a five-to-one cash on hand advantage.
But first they will have to find the kind of centrist Democrat who can compete in a district with conservative leanings. While Murtha was closely allied with liberal lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he did not share their progressive leanings. He was known for championing defense spending and was socially conservative on matters including abortion.
There were already two Republicans in the race: businessman Tim Burns and unsuccessful 2008 Republican nominee William Russell, who Murtha defeated 58%-42%. Murtha had also drawn a primary challenge from veteran Ryan Bucchianeri, although there will likely be no shortage of local elected officials and other Democrats interested in making a bid.”
The Hits Keep on Coming
But it’s peer-reviewed science! No, it’s not.
Quote of the Day
The Great Teleprompter:
“Just in case there’s any confusion out there, I am not going to walk away from health care reform. I’m not going to walk away on this challenge. I’m not going to walk away on any challenge. We’re moving forward.”
Apparently, he wants the Republicans to have a filibuster-proof majority in 2011…
Next Target
Who will be hypovehiculated next?
1. Attorney General Eric Holder or
2. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel?
The Right hates Holder. The Left hates Emanuel. Who’ll be the first to go? Click Comments and discuss.
Operation Tax the Poor
State and local governments have figured out that the rich are geographically mobile and financially able to decrease their taxable activities, so raising taxes on the rich will not generate more revenue (see Kah-lee-fornia). Obama hasn’t figured this out yet, but the 2011-2012 revenue figures will give him a clue.
The poor, on the other hand, are screwed. You can tax the crap out of them and it only makes them poorer and less able to get away from the taxes. Phoenix is going to implement a food tax. San Francisco’s Muni is raising fares three times in a row. How many poor people in Phoenix can escape to a better place? How many Muni riders can really telecommute or buy, maintain, fuel, and park a car instead?
Europe had this figured out a long time ago. Instead getting so much of their revenue from high marginal personal and corporate income taxes, they have VAT (sales) taxes that keep the poor poor and keep revenue rolling in to feed the government beast.
Jump ball
Colorado, the swingiest of swing states, is going heavily Republican as a repudiation of Obamunism.
This just a couple years after going heavily Democratic as a repudiation of Bushism.
If the two major parties are paying attention, they should be aware that the huge, moderate/independent swing vote hates two things: 1) religious/social conservatives imposing their morals on others; and 2) tax, spend, and borrow leftists mortgaging our country’s future.
It’s a jump ball for the fiscal conservative, socially tolerant middle. So far, the Republicans are reaching for it. They are burying social issues and focusing 100% on the fiscal disaster. I recently attended a fundraiser that featured both a moderate Republican Congressman and a social con Republican Congressman. Both swore to a skeptical Republican audience that the social stuff was so far on the back burner that it wasn’t even an issue. Democrats, not so much. They are doubling down on burying our children in debt.
Formidable Opponent
Ultra-liberal Stephen Colbert argues that trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in civilian court is a bad idea.
Explaining Liberal Condescension
“Obama gave a stay-the-course State of the Union address (a) pledging not to walk away from health-care reform, (b) seeking to turn college education increasingly into a federal entitlement, and (c) asking again for cap-and-trade energy legislation. Plus, of course, another stimulus package, this time renamed a “jobs bill.”
This being a democracy, don’t the Democrats see that clinging to this agenda will march them over a cliff? Don’t they understand Massachusetts?
Well, they understand it through a prism of two cherished axioms: (1) The people are stupid, and (2) Republicans are bad. Result? The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly.
Liberal expressions of disdain for the intelligence and emotional maturity of the electorate have been, post-Massachusetts, remarkably unguarded. New York Times columnist Charles Blow chided Obama for not understanding the necessity of speaking “in the plain words of plain folks,” because the people are “suspicious of complexity.” Counseled Blow: “The next time he gives a speech, someone should tap him on the ankle and say, ‘Mr. President, we’re down here.’”
A Time magazine blogger was even more blunt about the ankle-dwelling mob, explaining that we are “a nation of dodos” that is “too dumb to thrive.”
Obama joined the parade in the State of the Union address when, with supercilious modesty, he chided himself “for not explaining it [health care] more clearly to the American people.” The subject, he noted, was “complex.” The subject, it might also be noted, was one to which the master of complexity had devoted 29 speeches. Perhaps he did not speak slowly enough.
…
For liberals, the observation that “the peasants are revolting” is a pun. For conservatives, it is cause for uncharacteristic optimism.”
Poll
Confirms that Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) is toast.