Sink, Bircher, Jolly, Peters, some other guyOnce Bill Young announced his retirement October 9 and then quickly died on October 18, we've written about the campaign to replace him in FL-13 a few times (here and
Gallup was out with some interesting findings this morning: Record-High 42% of Americans Identify as Independents. Look at that chart! It should be sending waves of fear through the hearts of the worthless careerists who run the Beltway establishments of the two corrupt political parties.
Crazy BratSteve Israel, whose Long Island district has a rare 0 PVI (equally split between Democrats and Republicans) doesn't challenge any Republican leaders. All the House GOP leaders-- every single one of them-- has immunity and in return, Israel, the worst choice as a DCCC chair in history, is the only incumbent in a 0 PVI district that isn't a battleground.
Yesterday the Senate postponed voting on extending unemployment insurance for the 1.3 million Americans whose benefits expired last week and for even more people whose benefits will expire between now and July. Reid sensed he could get 5 Republicans to cross the aisle and back the American people, instead of their own party's determination to make Obama fail by making America fail. It worked.
In December, congressional job approval surged from 9% to a whopping 12%. That was mostly because undecided voters felt good about the Holiday season. The disapproval rate for the job Congress is doing started about even. It was 85% in October, 86% in November and 85% in December. Michele Bachmann, a delusional Minnesota reactionary with crazy eyes, doesn't agree.
Do these protesters need to show up at Steve Israel's house?The suburbs north of Philadelphia look promising for Democrats this year. First and foremost, Wall Street-owned New Dem Allyson Schwartz (PA-13) is leaving Congress and is likely to be replaced by the state legislature's liberal lion, Montgomery County Senator Daylin Leach.
Who's worse to be hanging with, Pete Peterson or Rahm?In 2010, the Democratic-controlled Illinois legislature gerrymandered the state-- in the same anti-democratic way that Republican-controlled legislatures did in states like North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan-- to create more congressional seats for its own party. One of those seats, IL-17, was expressly designed to defeat freshman Republican Bobby Schilling.
The Republican civil war is pretty front and center and getting quite a lot of media attention. There is also something of a Democratic civil war brewing, a more ideological/less careerist based one. You may have seen sparks of it last week when the Wall Street owned ConservaDem group, Third Way, went on the attack against Elizabeth Warren and the progressive populism she espouses. Third Way, the Blue Dogs and the New Dems are the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.
Israel and Ryan, bad for veterans, bad for AmericaAlthough the NRCC has a deal with Steve Israel not to back Republicans who oppose his reelection efforts, Stephen Labate, a straight-shooting 25-year Army officer now in the Army Reserve, is taking him on again.
Teabagger Robert Lowry poses with realistic Ted Cruz blow-up dollEveryone is probably relieved there won't be a Patrick Murphy-Alan West rematch, but next year a handful of New Dems almost as bad as Murphy are going to have to face the Republican ex-congressmember they beat in 2012.Actually, Sean Patrick Maloney has an even worse voting record than Murphy.
