Politics Daily

Working-Class Whites Turn to Republicans in Larger Numbers

Bruce Drake — 2010-10-06T15:26:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Barack Obama, Dennis Kucinich, Polls, Poll Watch, 2010 Elections, Congress

Working class white voters favor Republicans over Democrats in this year's congressional races by 58 percent to 36 percent, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted Sept. 8-13. The AP says this group accounts for about 4 in 10 voters nationally.

The poll put white voters without four-year college degrees into this category and said a contributing factor is their reaction to President Obama. AP said these voters "are uneasy with the young president's activist governing." By contrast, whites with college degrees were split more evenly between the two parties.

Obama and Democrats have lagged with working class voters in previous election years, but not by this big a margin. White working class voters favored Republican congressional candidates by 11 points in 2008 when Obama won the presidency, and by 9 points in 2006, even though that was a year when a Democratic surge put the party back in control of the House and Senate, according to exit polls cited by the AP.
Over half of the voters described by the poll as working class whites said Obama did not understand the problems of ordinary Americans and more than two-thirds disapprove of his handling of the economy.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted Aug. 25-Sept. 6 also took note of this trend. Pew said that 16 percent of independent voters fell into a group it called the "Disaffected" who had been hard hit by the recession and highly stressed financially.

"These quick to anger blue-collar voters ... divided their votes between Obama and McCain in 2008," Pew said. "Today, 50 percent of Disaffecteds say Obama's policies have made the economy worse and 60 percent disapprove of the health care bill enacted earlier this year."

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Embryonic Stem Cell Ban: Does It Matter?

David Gibson — 2010-08-24T10:17:00+00:00

Filed under: George W. Bush, Republicans, Barack Obama, Religion, Dennis Kucinich, Abortion, Health Care, Ballot Measures, Obama Administration, Disputations, Conservatives, Liberals, Ethics, Pope Benedict XVI, Medicine, Analysis

Monday's injunction by a federal appeals court judge against taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research prompted reactions of glee and alarm of the kind always associated with this divisive topic -- though with those emotions amplified by the intensity of this election season.

Pro-life groups saw the preliminary stay against federal funding, issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, as a rare and welcome victory, and many conservatives hailed the ruling as a defeat for President Obama -- even though Lamberth's decision against Obama's 2009 guidelines allowing limited research on human embryos could invalidate even the policies George W. Bush implemented in 2001.

And for those who have invested so much hope in embryonic stem cells as bearing the promise of miraculous cures for terrible diseases and paralyzing injuries, the judge's ruling was an especially cruel turn of events.

"This is devastating, absolutely devastating," Amy Comstock Rick, immediate past president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, a group of patient organizations that has been lobbying for more federal funding, told The Washington Post.

"We were really looking forward to the next chapter when human embryonic stem cells could really be explored for their full potential. This really sets us back," Rick said. "Every day we lose is another day lost for patients waiting for cures."

While the legal wrangling will surely continue, with both sides unlikely to be completely satisfied with the final outcome, the bigger question is whether the battle is worth the cost.

New research has shown that using adult stem cells -- which are usually taken from bone marrow and blood rather than embryos -- are showing far more promise in treating diseases than embryonic stem cell research (known as ESCR).

"Adult stem cells are being studied in people who suffer from multiple sclerosis, heart attacks and diabetes," AP science writer Malcolm Ritter wrote in a deeply reported -- and little-noticed -- story earlier this month. "Some early results suggest stem cells can help some patients avoid leg amputation. Recently, researchers reported that they restored vision to patients whose eyes were damaged by chemicals."

Moreover, Ritter wrote, "transplants of adult stem cells have become a standard lifesaving therapy for perhaps hundreds of thousands of people with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases" -- in other words, all the things embryonic cells were supposed to do, and which sparked such heated controversy a decade ago.

Actor Christopher Reeve, who died in 2004 as a result of paralysis after a horse-jumping accident a decade earlier, became the marquee face of the drive to use embryonic stem cells -- which requires destroying an embryo to extract the cells that could hypothetically be used to rebuild spinal cords and body organs from scratch. Actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, which many believe can be mitigated by stem cell therapy, picked up that banner. And even conservative leaders like Nancy Reagan, whose husband died after suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, have backed ESCR.

In 2004, California voters passed Proposition 71, which authorized $3 billion in state funding (which is not subject to the federal restrictions at stake in this week's ruling) for embryonic stem cell research. It is likely one of a number of taxpayer investments California voters may regret, but other states followed suit in efforts to get in early on what was expected to be a bonanza of ESCR-induced profits.

Yet it turns out that adult stem cell research, rather than ESCR, is "really one of the great success stories of stem cell biology that gives us all hope," Dr. David Scadden of Harvard told the AP. "If we can re-create that success in other tissues, what can we possibly imagine for other people?"

In April, the Vatican announced that it would donate $2.7 million to help fund research on adult stem cell therapies.

Not only could such research make good on some of the promise once reserved for stem cell therapies, but it could also circumvent the bitter and costly fight over the morality of using embryos, and which is the greater good -- protecting nascent life or extending the life of afflicted adults and children.

Another promsing process, the development of "induced pluripotent stem cells," are different from adult stem cells but also hold great hope for advancing treatments and assuaging moral concerns.

"As a substitute for embryonic stem cells, [induced pluripotent stem cells] neatly sidestep ethical dilemmas that have threatened to hold back this important area of research," W. Malcolm Byrnes, an associate professor at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, wrote in the Aug. 16 edition of America, a Jesuit weekly.

"Because of these ethical advantages, not only scientists but also leaders of the Catholic Church have embraced the possibilities they offer. Thus, both sides of a historically contentious stem cell debate appear to be on board with the new pluripotent stem cell technology."

One hurdle is that, as Byrnes writes, "Induced pluripotent stem cells still have to be tested and validated using embryonic stem cells, at least in these early stages of their experimental development. During this critical juncture, constructive dialogue between the two sides of the debate is vital to ensure a quick and ethical transition to a new era in which embryonic stem cells are no longer needed for research."

Still, so much time, money and ego has been invested in ESCR and the political battles over embryo research that it seems unlikely the hot-button issue will cool down anytime soon.

But it seems like a fight an already embattled White House doesn't need to pick.

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Obama Has Not Been Tough Enough on BP, 7 of 10 Americans Say

Bruce Drake — 2010-06-15T09:28:00+00:00

Filed under: Barack Obama, Environment, Dennis Kucinich, Polls, Energy, Obama Administration, Poll Watch, Oil Spill

As President Obama prepares to make a nationwide address Tuesday night on the Gulf oil spill, 71 percent of Americans say he has not been tough enough on BP and a majority rate the job he is done in response to the spill as poor or very poor, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted June 11-13.

The poll result comes despite vigorous efforts of the Obama administration to counter perceptions it has not been responded adequately, whether it is has been Obama's four trips to the Gulf since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig or something as small as Obama saying in a TV interview that he made the trips to gather information so "I know whose ass to kick."

But the administration has faced contest questions about how well it has coordinated the many agencies and efforts aimed at controlling the spill, with the latest being raised by a New York Times article Tuesday morning headlined, "Efforts to Repel Gulf Oil Spill Are Described as Chaotic."

Only 20 percent of those surveyed said Obama's stance towards BP had been "about right."

The feeling that Obama has not been tough enough cut across party lines, with 68 percent of independents holding that view and 73 percent each for Republicans and Democrats.

Fifty-three percent graded Obama's response to the spill as poor or very poor while 44 percent said they were good or very good. That's about the same results as Gallup got in late May.

See Walter Shapiro's preview of Tuesday night's speech by President Obama.

Eight-one percent said BP's response was poor or very poor.

Fifty-nine percent say BP should pay for all financial losses stemming from the spill even if it goes out of business, including the wages of oil workers and others that have been lost due to the disaster. Thirty-eight percent said it should pay as much as it can afford while staying in business.

Meanwhile, a Pew Research/National Journal poll conducted June 10-13 says that 35 percent of Americans believe the government should continue to allow offshore oil drilling that is already going on now and another 31 percent still say it should be expanded. Twenty-two percent would ban all offshore drilling. Twelve percent are undecided.

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New Study Tracks Mavericks in Congress (and John McCain Isn't One)

Christopher Weber — 2010-05-09T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, House, Democrats, Republicans, John McCain, Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Independents, Congress, Conservatives

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made headlines last month when he inexplicably flip-flopped on his status as a "maverick," even though the outsider label was a key element of his 2008 presidential campaign.

"I never considered myself a maverick," McCain told Newsweek magazine.

A newly published academic paper determines that, whether he considered himself one or not, McCain was indeed a maverick during much of his Senate career -- but he hasn't been one lately (see graph).

Ben Lauderdale, a Ph.D. student in Princeton's Department of Politics, told The Washington Independent he defines mavericks on Capitol Hill as members who vote "less on the basis of the political dimension that predicts all legislators' behavior and more on particularistic factors unique to themselves."

In non-academic terms, a maverick is ready to break ranks at any time and for a variety of reasons, and his or her voting behavior is much less likely to follow party lines.

Using that definition, Lauderdale employed a statistical analysis to plot the overall "maverick score" of various members of Congress.

For the current Senate, McCain isn't even in the top ten:

Russ Feingold (D-Wis.)
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Evan Bayh (D-Ind.)
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Ben Nelson (D-Neb.)
Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)
Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
George Voinovich (R-Ohio)
Kit Bond (R-Mo.)
Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)

The top ten mavericks in the House, according to Lauderdale:

Ron Paul (R-Tex.)
Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio)
Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.)
Bobby Bright (D-Ala.)
Ron Kind (D-Wis.)
Tim Johnson (R-Ill.)
Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)
Walt Minnick (D-Idaho)
Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.)
Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)

Read the full Lauderdale paper here.

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Michelle Obama's Mothers Day Tea with Rosalynn Carter, Sex and the City Cynthia Nixon

Lynn Sweet — 2010-05-08T23:29:00+00:00

Filed under: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, Humor, Obama Administration, The Daily FLOTUS with Lynn Sweet, Culture, Michelle Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama lavished emotional praise on her mother, Marian Robinson, at a White House Mother's Day Tea Friday, where the invitees included First Lady Rosalynn Carter and her granddaughter; also President Nixon's daughter, Tricia Nixon Cox, and Anne and Susan Eisenhower, President Eisenhower's granddaughters.

Also at the tea (where three selections were served, Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Bolivian) were "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, her partner, Christine Marinoni, some of the young women Mrs. Obama has been mentoring, also military spouses, and a diverse group of women who head non-profit social service and religious groups.

Also present, an interesting assortment of female Obama administration officials, but not former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is President Obama's Secretary of State. That group included Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Biden; EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson; Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice.

A little news came out of the event. Ms. Obama revealed that she and Mrs. Carter try to have lunch together when Carter is in town. And at some point, they are going to work together on post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health. Mrs. Carter's latest book is titled, "Within Our Reach: Ending the Mental Health Crisis."

For Tricia Nixon Cox, who was married in a 1971 Rose Garden ceremony, it was also a homecoming. Mrs. Obama said a photo of Tricia's wedding in the White House colonnade is a favorite of hers' and daughters Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8. Warned Mrs. Obama, "They're not thinking about marriage by the way. Don't write that down on a blog. They just like the picture."

Mrs. Obama introduced her mother -- who lives with the Obama family at the White House -- with zeal. "There's no way to quantify just how important these mothers, these women are in our lives. And there's no way that I could ever fully measure all that my own mommy has done for me. This is my mommy.

"This woman who tries to take absolutely no credit for who I am for some reason, she is my rock. She has pulled me up when I've stumbled. She's pulled me back when I've run out of line, talking a little too much. She'll snap me up. She really does push me to be the best woman that I can be, truly, as a professional, and as a mother, and as a friend. And she has always, always, always been there for me. And as our family has grown, she's managed to expand her love for all of us," said the First Lady. "And raising our girls in the White House with my mom -- oh, not going to do this --- is a beautiful experience. And the opportunity to have three generations living in the White House, it's beautiful. And I'm pretty sure the president is happy about it, too."

FOOTNOTE: When Susan Eisenhower endorsed then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in February 2008, her support -- backing from a well-known Republican name -- gave his campaign a boost. Her presence on the campaign trail helped Obama make the case to GOP and independent voters.

TEA MENU:

Cucumber - watercress sandwiches

Smoked salmon blinis with chive creme fraiche

Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus spears

Chilled gulf shrimp with chive ailoi

Blueberry scones with White House jams

Fruit tartlettes

Lemon pound cake

White House Honey

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Obama Tells Congress to Have 'Courage,' Leans on Kucinich to Vote Yes

Patricia Murphy — 2010-03-15T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Dennis Kucinich, Health Care, Obama Administration, The Capitolist, Congress

At a campaign-style event in Strongsville, Ohio, on Monday to press the need to overhaul the health care system, President Obama implored members of Congress to think less about the legislative process and polls surrounding the contentious debate and more about the individual American lives he said would be saved by passing the legislation.

"We hear a lot of people in Washington talking about politics, talking about what this means in November, talking about the poll numbers for Democrats," Obama told the enthusiastic crowd at the town-hall-style meeting. "We need courage, that's what we need. That's why I came here today. We need courage."

As the event began, Obama also used a remark shouted by an audience member to press Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio Democrat, to change his vote on health care reform from a no to a yes. Kucinich voted against the House bill last November because he said at the time it was not progressive enough.

As the president introduced the congressman to the audience, a voice in the crowd yelled, "Vote yes!"

"Did you hear that, Dennis? Go ahead, say that again," Obama said over the loudspeaker.

"Vote yes!" the voice yelled again.

Later in his speech, Obama singled Kucinich out again. "I was talking to Dennis Kucinich on the way over here about this. I said, you know what? It's been such a long time since we made government on the side of ordinary working folks."

Asked after the event if he will support the health care bill this week, the congressman would not comment specifically on his position, but said of the president, "I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say."

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Kucinich to Get House Vote on Afghanistan Pullout

Tom Diemer — 2010-03-09T09:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Barack Obama, Iraq, Dennis Kucinich, Obama Administration, International, Afghanistan, Congress

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an outspoken Ohio lawmaker who twice ran for president as an antiwar candidate, plans to bring his case for a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan to the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Kucinich, a Democrat, is a leader of the House Progressive Caucus and among those disappointed that President Obama, himself an antiwar candidate, has not moved faster to get U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kucinich's resolution, with 16 co-sponsors, will get three hours of debate on the question of withdrawing within 30 days, or by the end of the year, if an immediate pullout would be too dangerous. Obama is moving toward an end of combat operations in Iraq but has increased troop strength in Afghanistan.

Kucinich is invoking the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires congressional approval for a president to keep troops in a conflict for more than 90 days, the Washington Post reported. The law, passed during the Vietnam War, has many provisos and is difficult to enforce. Congress has never declared war against Afghanistan, but approved a use-of-force resolution following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"We haven't had a real debate -- we want to light the fire of the American peace movement," said Kucinich, onetime mayor of Cleveland and a presidential hopeful in 2004 and 2008.

His resolution, though largely symbolic, gives voice to lawmakers unhappy that Obama ordered 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan before Congress approved funding for the surge.

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Rep. John Murtha, Advocate for Pa. District, Pentagon, Dies at 77

Patricia Murphy — 2010-02-08T17:02:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Iraq, Nancy Pelosi, Dennis Kucinich, Scandal, Investigations, Budget, Crime, Foreign Policy, National Security, The Capitolist, Culture, Congress, Ethics, Jobs, Campaign Finance, Lobbying

U.S. Rep. John Murtha died Monday after a lengthy and sometimes tumultuous career in Congress.

The Pennsylvania Democrat was first elected to represent his Johnstown Congressional district in 1974 after returning home from fighting as a Marine in Vietnam. Once elected, he rose through the ranks of Congress from back-bencher to a trusted confidante of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, eventually becoming the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations subcommittee for defense spending.

From his post atop the Appropriations subcommittee, Murtha enthusiastically directed billions of dollars in federal spending to his financially strapped district in western Pennsylvania. He was also a strong advocate for generous military budgets.

In recent years, he came under fire from government watchdog groups-- and under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics-- for directing hundreds of millions dollars in federal contracts to PMA Group, a lobbying firm with direct ties to Murtha. The FBI raided the offices of several groups associated with PMA in 2009, but the Office of Congressional Ethics announced late last year that it had dismissed its inquiry and recommended against further investigation into Murtha's connections to the firm.

Murtha was also ensnared in the Abscam votes-for-cash corruption scandal in the 1980s, but was never prosecuted for any criminal wrong-doing in the sting.

During his tenure in the House, Murtha was considered a bottom-line deal maker who could deliver the votes of both Democrats and Republicans. At times gruff and irascible, the towering lawmaker could often be found during votes on the House floor holding court at the back corner of the chamber, striking agreements to push a vote through to final passage.

In 2003, he made headlines with his outspoken criticism of President George W. Bush and his conduct of the Iraq War, which Murtha had originally supported. Long considered one of the most hawkish members of the House's Democratic Caucus, Murtha said, "The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion."

Although he tried to become House Majority Leader in 2006 with Nancy Pelosi's support, he lost the post to Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who was seen by many as a more polished spokesman for the Democratic party.

Before his time in Congress, Murtha ran his family's car wash business in Johnstown, and also served in the Marines and Marine Reserves. He volunteered for the Marines during the Korean War, and served again in combat in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts

Last week, Murtha was admitted to the intensive care unit of Virginia Hospital Center last after complications following surgery to remove his gallbladder. John Murtha was 77.

As news of his death spread across Capitol Hill, House leaders remembered him as a man who fought for his district and his country. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said, "Our nation has lost a decorated veteran and the House of Representatives has lost one of its own," while Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said simply, "John Murtha was a Congressional giant."

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The Barack Obama Inaugural UFO: Top 5 Things It Might Be

Tommy Christopher and Caleb Howe — 2009-01-24T14:05:00+00:00

Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats, Barack Obama, Featured Stories, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Humor, Inauguration

I was at the inauguration on Tuesday, and I can tell you that it was a lot like "The Day the Earth Stood Still." In this case, "Gort" was being played by our outgoing prez, and while Chief Justice John Roberts didn't utter the phrase "Klaato Barada Nikto," he might as well have.

So it comes as no surprise to me that a UFO managed to make it onto the scene. Here's the video: (h/t Hot Air)

You laugh, but this story is being carried by Fox News. OK, you can keep laughing. Still, according to this UFO website, UFOs at Obama events are nothing new.

I'm usually skeptical about this kind of thing, but the evidence here is so compelling, I feel the need to provide analysis of the phenomenon. Hence, based on complex computer stimulations and algoreismic supermodels, here are the five likeliest identities of said object: (h/t Diana #5 and #1, h/t Caleb for pix)

#5 - Ultra-Fast Ron Paul Blimp - Those guys just don't give up.

#4 - Dennis Kucinich - I know, this seems obvious, but remember Occam's Razor. When you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras.

Update: Breaking News! Using ultra-hi-resolution imaginery, we have confirmed the identity of the flying object. Click through to see the rest.

#3 - One of These - The commemorative plate is another obvious guess, but remember, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

#2 - Port-O-Potty Creature - With all of those cans, and all of that co-mingling bio-waste, it's a good bet that something evolved out of there. If so, it was probably making a beeline to get CPAC tickets.

#1 - Hillary Was Right - A spacebus full of celestial choirs!

Breaking News! Using ultra-hi-resolution imaginery, we have confirmed the identity of the flying object. Unable, now, to get tickets from either Obama or the Clintons, this was his only choice:

Tommy on: BlogTalkRadio I Digg! I Facebook I Twitter

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Kucinich Comes Alive

Christopher Weber — 2008-08-27T12:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Barack Obama, Dennis Kucinich, 2008 President, Democratic Convention

The best speech you probably didn't see yesterday was delivered in the mid-afternoon with the convention floor barely half full. Only C-Span's camera's captured it at the time but it's been making the YouTube rounds this morning. The address, called "Wake Up America!", was delivered by Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich.

Whatever your opinion of Kucinich -- the party outsider who's been charitably called an oddball, and much worse -- you have to admit this is the kind of speech Democrats in Denver are salivating for. He goes after Bush, McCain, oil companies, war contractors and health insurance firms... clearly laying out what he thinks are the stakes in this election. He does it succinctly and with passion. The delegates on the floor don't know what to make of Kucinich at first but by the end of the mercifully short address they're hooting and hollering. It's the kind of red meat the party faithful are clamoring for and it's a shame it wasn't delivered by a party headliner and seen in primetime.

Check it out for yourself and then let us know what you think.

View Poll

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Barack, Hillary & John Vs. the Flying Saucers

Ken Layne — 2008-04-27T18:33:00+00:00

Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, Featured Stories, Dennis Kucinich, Ken Layne's Outrage

The desert metropolis of Phoenix was terrorized last week by sinister lights in the sky that hovered overhead while changing from a diamond shape to an "S" to a creepy cross. They were seen by air traffic controllers. The military denied involvement. Matt Drudge had the story at the top of his website. America panicked.

As the panic increased, a nameless "hoaxer" conveniently claimed responsibility -- balloons and burning flares were the cause of the unusual light show, he said. If so, the parched desert surrounding North Phoenix evaded a devastating wildfire, and with that the scare seemingly ended.

But what if the invasion had truly begun? Not the illegal-immigrant invasion from Mexico that the maverick John McCain supports, but an invasion by angry space monsters? Which of the three presidential front-runners is best prepared to lead our planet into a doomed war with the UFOs?

Let's be very clear: When the aliens do arrive, they are going to kill us all, and eat us. The end. So it's not really a matter of "Who can effectively lead our military forces against the Invaders," because nobody can. We are going to lose, and be eaten.

What's important is which candidate will make us feel better before we are killed and eaten. As we learned from the movie Starship Troopers, getting everyone into a patriotic pro-Earth frenzy is great for morale. And morale is, obviously, a key component of Consumer Confidence. And consumer spending makes up 70% of the United States' teetering economy. It could be decades before the Space Monsters kill the last human -- does American business intend to just give up, or will America proudly continue with its one mission of Making Money no matter how awful the eventual outcome?

Ronald Reagan knew about all this. Reagan personally saw several Alien Spaceships. He saw them from the ground and from the air. And our greatest president knew that when the Extraterrestrials were ready, all of our petty little Earth problems would be so quickly forgotten.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on September 21, 1987, Reagan brought this horrifying message to his international peers:

"In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world."

Yes He Did. In fact, Reagan made similar comments about the coming Alien Apocalypse to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and even to a group of American high-school kids. He was dead serious: We are going to die at the hands (or tentacles) of the Space Beasts. But Reagan kept smiling, and some Americans believed things were a little better, simply because he was a happy old man who generally had no idea what was going on.

We know where Dennis Kucinich stands when it comes to the Earth Invaders: He stood on the patio with Shirley MacLaine and saw the massive triangular demon ship and said, "Go ahead, invade our land, kill us all. We believe you are peaceful."

We know where Mike Gravel stands when it comes to the Space Monsters: He is one of them. Fortunately, he is one that was kicked off the mothership for being a nutter, so he's mostly harmless -- although he does eat other old people.

We know where Mike Huckabee stands when it comes to the Alien Terror: He says Jesus will save your soul. Fat lot of good that will do when the Alien Monsters are eating your head.

Of the remaining candidates, only Barack Obama has been directly confronted about the Moon Monsters in this campaign. At a debate last year, Tim Russert asked the Illinois senator if he shared Kucinich's belief in the Aliens.

"I don't presume to know," Obama said. "What I know is there is life here on Earth, and -- and that we're not attending to life here on Earth." That's Obama for you, always "changing" the subject.

Even though Hillary is currently avoiding the subject, she has a strong interest in the coming invasion, and both Clintons constantly talked about the Aliens and the UFO attacks during their time in the White House. They were particularly obsessed with the movie Independence Day, which accurately shows how much of the invasion will happen, although there's a typically Hollywood "happy ending" that is nothing like the pain and horror we will all feel, soon.

What about John McCain? He certainly knows what it's like to be on the losing side in a war, and he survived gruesome treatment at the hands of his captors in Hanoi. Is John McCain man enough to be our planet's last American president? Let's hear it from the candidate himself:

Ken Layne is the editor of Wonkette.

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We Still Have Dennis to Kick Around

Dave — 2008-03-05T09:18:00+00:00

Filed under: Dennis Kucinich, Primaries, 2008 House

Dennis Kucinich saves his House seat.

Of all of the vulnerable incumbents in primaries tonight, Kucinich appeared the most in danger. Cimperman was well-funded and ran a very good campaign. Kucinich was frightened sufficiently enough to dump his WH campaign, and returned home to campaign full-time for his re-election bid.

But Kucinich rebounded sufficiently by raising $689K in the last few weeks of the campaign. He used those funds to run several "person-on-the-street" TV ads that touted his hometown appeal.

After the Cleveland Plain Dealer endorsement of Cimperman, and listening to the Ohio lefty blogosphere kvetch about Kucinich's Don Quixote presidential crusade, I did think for a second there that he might be in real trouble. But that district of his might as well be renamed "Fort Kucinich." He owns it as thoroughly as the title to his house. He raised almost a million in a few weeks for a congressional run?

He's not going anywhere.

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Kucinich 'Transitions' Out of Race

Jay Allbritton — 2008-01-25T16:47:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Dennis Kucinich, 2008 President

Yesterday Dennis Kucinich euphemistically declared to the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he would be "transitioning out of the presidential campaign." Today at a union hall in Cleveland, Kucinich followed through and officially announced that he is out of the presidential race. He told cheering supporters, "I won't be president, but I can continue to fight for these important issues as the United States congressman representing the community that is first in my heart, Cleveland, Ohio."

Kucinich faces a primary challenge from four Democrats. His most formidable opponent appears to be Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, who accuses Kucinich of being a "part-time congressman". Cimperman holds a lead in fund raising, though Kucinich can transfer the $327,000 remaining from his presidential campaign to his House reelection campaign which would put him ahead of Cimperman.

Cimperman and Kucinich clashed earlier this month after a publicity stunt by Cimperman failed to amuse the congressman. Kucinich didn't take kindly when he found out that the councilman personally dropped off a mocked up missing person sign featuring Kucinich at Kucinich's office. In fact, Kucinich called the feds.

After the Jump--Kucinich to push impeachment next week.Earlier this week Kucinich announced that he intends to introduce articles of impeachment against President Bush.

From The Caucus:

[On Wednesday] Mr. Kucinich took to the floor to fire off his latest salvo at the Bush administration: his plans to introduce Articles of Impeachment against President Bush on Jan. 28 - the day of Mr. Bush's State of the Union speech. Accusing the administration of lying about the need for the war in Iraq, Mr. Kucinich said he did not need to hear the president's assessment. "We know the State of the Union," he declared. "It's a lie."

(more)

Kucinich directly challenged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who took impeachment "off the Table" while campaigning in 2006. He said, "If impeachment is off the table truth is off the table. If truth is off the table then this body is living a lie." Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney in April of last year.

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Judge Hands Kucinich a Right to Debate

Eric Schulzke — 2008-01-14T18:29:00+00:00

Filed under: Breaking News, Dennis Kucinich, 2008 President

What's law got to do with it?

A Las Vegas judge has ordered MSNBC to allow Dennis Kucinich to join the Democratic debate in Nevada Tuesday night, and threatened an injunction stopping the debate if he isn't included. Where he found this "right to be part of a televised debate" is anyone's guess. It's probably buried somewhere in the penumbras of the 1st, 4th, 9th and 14th Amendments -- kind of an inverse corollary to that elusive "right of privacy."

But the beauty of our legal system is that the judge never has to explain where he got the law. He only, apparently, has to explain that (a) he thinks it is unfair that he was uninvited after being invited, and (b) it is in the public's best interest to hear Kucinich.

The best interest of the public apparently does not include hearing relevant candidates go head to head. Instead, the public has to be endlessly exposed to the impotent meanderings of sundry candidates whose best shot at seeing the inside of the White House involves a long line near the gate.

A somewhat befuddled NBC noted that they did not believe the judge had any jurisdiction in the matter. Jurisdiction nothing. How about any color of law?

And, as usual, the mainstream media reports on the story utterly miss the question of whether the judge had any authority here. It's as if -- and I think this may very well really be the case -- as if it was simply years ago conceded that judges are empowered to do anything they feel is in the public interest.

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Kucinich Demands New Hampshire Recount

Tommy Christopher — 2008-01-11T15:23:00+00:00

Filed under: Dennis Kucinich, 2008 President

Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has demanded a recount of ballots in last week's New Hampshire Democratic Primary.In similar news, the New York Jets have appealed the results of all four of this past weekend's playoff games.

In fairness to Kucinich, he says he doesn't expect his own vote total to change much, but wants to be sure everyone's votes get counted. He cited "credible reports, allegations, and rumors" about the integrity of the results.

There have been reports of significant disparity between the hand-counted and machine-counted results. Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlon said he has "every confidence" his reults will hold up.

We'll keep an eye on this story. Expect even a small divergence in the recount to be pounced on by Hillary Clinton's detractors, and anything significant could spell big trouble for the Comeback Kid.

I applaud Kucinich's move here. If the statistical anomalies are indeed significant, it could belie a problem with the process rather than fraud, but either way, it needs to be investigated. People deserve to have their votes counted.

Possibly corroborating the anomalies is a Michigan man who paid the $1000.00 fee to be on the ballot, and saw his vote total drop from 187 to 44. Carrying a disparity like that into larger numbers would, indeed, spell trouble for whomever was the beneficiary of those missing votes.

Kucinich has sent $2000.00 as a recount fee to get it started, but the state's rules say that if a candidate lost by more than 3 percentage points, he must pay the full cost of the recount. Kucinich's campaign has not returned calls for comment yet.

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Dennis Kucinich Answers 10 Questions

Tommy Christopher — 2007-12-26T23:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Dennis Kucinich, Debates

Dennis Kucinich has posted his video responses on 10Questions.com. For those of you unfamiliar with this debate format, you can see my previous coverage here, with a rundown of the questions, my answers, and the candidates' answers to date. The 10 Questions format was included on Political Machine's Best Youtube Moments of 2007.

Here are Dennis' answers. After the jump, I'll run through his answers, and let you know how I think he did. In the meantime, I encourage you to go to 10 Questions and rate the answers, not on how much you liked them, but on whether or not the candidate actually answered the question. The site also allows you to mass email all of the candidates to demand their participation, another good idea. Although the deadline for candidates to respond has passed, it will send a message to them to think about being more responsive next time.

Even though Barack Obama posted his answers first, I'm giving him a 15 yard penalty for "unsportsmanlike conduct." While the other candidates parked it in front of a video camera for the 10 whole minutes it took to address the questioners directly, Barack cobbles together bits from stump speeches to answer the questions. To me, it's like a girl giving you her phone number on a napkin she wrote for some other guy. It might be her real number, but still, ew!

So let's get to Dennis' answers. I'm anxious to see what kooky craziness comes out of his mouth, since he's been painted as the looniest candidate this side of Ross Perot crossed with Daffy Duck. Let's have it, Dennis.

1. Net Neutrality - Good answer to the easiest question here. What candidate is going to say, "Y'know, I think only people who pay more should have fast internet."? Still, I believe Dennis when he says he wnats to protect the internet.

2. Is America an Unofficial Theocracy? - None of the candidates actually answered this poorly-phrased question, because the answers would have all been 2 seconds long. 10 Questions nixed a similar, better question, (What about non-religious voters) but we're stuck with this one. Dennis gives the best answer I've heard yet. His statement that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are spiritual documents has a truth to it that cuts through religious hysteria about "secularism." I had to smile a little when he whipped out the pocket Constitution.

3. Medical Marijuana - Blaze up, Homes! Dennis gives what seems to be the "safe" answer for Dems on this, which is, "Science Rules, D.E.A. Drools!" So far, he and John Edwards have focused on DEA raids in defiance of state law and doctor's orders, falling short of the Tosh-ian cry to "Legalize It!" that many would love to hear. Then, he completely goes off the deep end, talking about providing healthcare to all Americans! What a nut!

4. Warrantless Wiretapping - There's that pocket Constitution again! How can we get a box of those to the current White House? No surprise that Dennis will have none of these unreasonable search shenanigans.

5. Fair Elections - Oh, snap! Dennis calls for a Constitutional Amendment for public funding of elections. He also "links" to opensecrets.org to support his position. Excellent specificity here. No chance it will ever happen. Crap.

6. Why Won't You Abolish Corporate Personhood? - The "When did you stop beating your wife?" of 10 Questions. Sounds to me like Dennis will abolish corporate personhood. Now what, punk?

7. Transparency - Sunshine is the best disinfectant? Sorry, Lysol! He gets the spirit of the answer, and I like his moxie in suggesting webcams in cabinet offices, but I think his answer is a little half-baked. Wouldn't the webcams pose something of a security risk?

8. Is Our Voting System Broken? - I like his idea of voting on the weekend. I'm not sold on paper ballots as the cure-all for voter disenfranchisement, however. Elections were being stolen long before the WOPR said, "Shall We Play a Game?"

9. Shrink Government - I'm literally LOL! Dennis crystallizes the hypocrisy of all of these "smaller government" types in the opening sentence by offering to cut the Pentagon budget by 15%. Oh, you didn't mean that kind of government? Then, Pow! Healthcare, Bing! Education, Thwack! Fixing our roads.. Oh yeah, the government does have more to do than develop nuclear hand grenades and listen as you talk dirty to your girlfriend.

10. Two Party System - I love the swagger in his answer. "I'm doing missionary work." He hits the nail on the head when he says we have more of a one-party system than a two. He's also the first candidate I've heard to advocate third parties in conjunction with instant runoff elections.

So, where's the kooky part where he says we should all pick daisies and skip around the meadow whistling "Mares Eat Oats" in cargo pants and halter tops? All he did, pretty much, was quote his port-o-foundations-of-our-Democracy. What a radical.

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New GOP Ads - Paul, Huckabee, McCain, & Romney

Greg McNeilly — 2007-12-10T14:52:00+00:00

Filed under: Ads, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, 2008 President

Lots of new TV spots being launched, here's a round-up.

The first ad is from Ron Paul (which barely features himself), it's a :30 second spot titled "Healthcare" airing in both Iowa and New Hampshire:

The campaign of Mike Huckabee launches two new ads in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carlina, the first is titled "A Better America," it can be viewed here:

The second, is titled "Securing our Borders," it can be viewed here:

John McCain's camp releases a new :30 second ad in New Hampshire titled, "Backbone of Steel" featuring Curt Schilling (Red Sox pitcher), it can be viewed here:

The campaign of Mitt Romney launches a new :30 second spot in Iowa titled, "Not Politicaly Correct," it can be viewed here:

Which is your favorite?

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Sean Penn Endorses Dennis Kucinich

Dave — 2007-12-08T08:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Endorsements, Dennis Kucinich, 2008 President

Let's play a game. Usually in endorsements, the question is whether the endorsee helps the endorser, by how much, and what, if anything, the endorser gets out of the deal. In this case we have Sean Penn endorsing Dennis Kucinich, and the game is very different. Who comes out worse in this deal?

On one side we have Sean Penn, who was seen struggling to bail out his own rowboat as he was trying to rescue Katrina victims but with photographer and publicist in tow. He's also well known for hobnobbing with South American dictators. Friend of liberal causes everywhere, Sean Penn has now tied himself to a sure-fire likeable loser Dennis Kucinich.

On the other side we have Dennis Kucinich, an ex-mayor known for running the city of Cleveland into the ground and champion of many lost causes. He's running for president again on spare change and using that platform to weasel himself into the national stage and take up space and time at debates. It's pretty much all about the ego.

I think I have to give the award to Dennis Kucinich by the nose. Not only is he stuck having to kowtow to a dictator loving Hollywood celebrity, he also has to pick up the tab for the event, and to add insult to injury, it turns out Penn had even given more money to John Edwards!

The event was paid for by Kucinich for President 2008.

Penn has donated $4,600 to John Edwards' campaign and $2,300 to Kucinich during this cycle, per FEC campaign finance data, NBC's Domenico Montanaro said.

Ouch!

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A Political Thanksgiving

Ken Layne — 2007-11-21T20:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats, Republicans, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Featured Stories, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, 2008 President, Humor, Ken Layne's Outrage

As we celebrate this long weekend of forced national gratitude, let us count the many terrible blessings of our political system. Every four years, those few of us who bother voting in the primaries get to pretend we have some important role as we cast our ballot for whatever candidate has raised enough corporate money to run television commercials for an entire year.

Let's gather together and say a prayer of gratitude for this long campaign's exciting collection of Leading Patriots running for our nation's highest office.

Fred Thompson, you have been on television, your latest wife is young and pretty, you helped Nixon during Watergate, and you also bravely provided legal and lobbying services to needy terrorists and abortionists. Thank you, Mr. Grumbles, for launching a loser campaign that ensures you'll never be president of anything, even though you pretended to be Ulysses S. Grant in a cable movie.

Barack Obama, you have done ... well, nothing that we've heard about, beyond running for president and writing a book about getting high. Thank you for proving, finally, that all it takes is good looks, an Ivy League diploma and a lot of corporate money to get somewhere in this country. Is it really so audacious to hope we might all become rich and famous? Yes, yes it is.

Rudy Giuliani, you briefly brought us together as a nation on your favorite day, 9/11, when we couldn't find the real president. America thanks you for so dramatically lowering the bar of what we'll tolerate in a GOP candidate for president. Abortionists, cousin-marriers, cross-dressers, opera fans, adulterers, the Mafia, terrible parents, gay rights activists, anti-gun forces and authoritarian First Amendment-hating warmongers have all joyfully gathered beneath your Big Weird Tent shaped like the Twin Towers.

Hillary Clinton, thanks for staying married to Bill and making the whole nation feel pretty uncomfortable, about everything. Thanks for giving America's right-wing misogynists a harmless target for their rage. Thanks for being the anti-war Democratic frontrunner even though you're a bloodthirsty nut who will probably start World Wars III, IV and V. Mostly, thanks for the not-so-convincing delusion that somehow you won't be quite as bad as Bush/Cheney.

John McCain, we are grateful for your service to the nation and sad about how you got locked up in that Viet Cong prison camp, which clearly made you crazy. Thanks for providing a moment of false hope, eight years ago, that George W. Bush wouldn't win the nomination that had already been given to him long before the first primary of 2000. And thanks for your magical Straight Talk, which simultaneously covers every possible position on every issue.

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John Edwards, thanks for losing to Bush/Cheney in 2004. We are all inspired by how much you talk about being poor before you became the richest lawyer in the universe. Slick, good-looking attorneys everywhere look at you and think, "Maybe someday I can have a thousand-room mansion with its own regulation indoor basketball court, too." Truly, we have "Too Americas."

Mitt Romney, thanks for proving that even a liberal Taxachusetts Mormon guy who tortures dogs has a shot at the presidency, as long as he has $300 million dollars and is the son of a famous auto executive and governor.

Did we forget anyone? Yes. Thanks and sorry to Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Huckabee and whoever else might be running. You all seem like fairly decent people, which means you can't be president. Sorry. Also, Dr. Congressman Ron Paul is truly our nation's President of the Internet, so GO RON PAUL!!!

And above all, let us be thankful that the dull misery of the 2008 campaign will finally be over when we next gather for the Thanksgiving feast a year from now ... unless it's like 2000 and we all gather to watch the recount on TV.

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Dennis Kucinich Thumps Tucker Carlson

David Knowles — 2007-11-09T09:28:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Dick Cheney, Dennis Kucinich, 2008 President

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has been seen as something of a running joke of late. An also-ran presidential candidate in '04, he's back again to claim his lowly single-digit slice of polling percentages, and share the stage at debates with Democratic heavyweights. And at the most recent debate, Mr. Kucinich garnered nearly as many headlines as his opponents, but, yet again, for all the wrong reasons. The jokes about Kucinich's UFO sighting flew fast and furious. Days later, Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Cheney, and to many it seemed that Mr. K had come completely unhinged.

One of the skeptics was "Dancing with the Stars" also-ran Tucker Carlson, the ever pompous quasi-conservative commentator for MSNBC. Carlson invited Kucinich on his show to discuss the issue of impeachment, no doubt thinking that he could skewer the Congressman, poking fun at him all the while. Well, it didn't turn out that way. Though I do not consider myself a Kucinich supporter, I admire the systematic, even-handed way that he dismantled Carlson's bogus line of attack.

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