Cincinnati/Kentucky Enquirer still finds way to endorse Rand Paul

If you are like me, you already that the Cincinnati/Kentucky Enquirer went down the drain once Pat Crowley left for the private sector. I met Pat a number of times when I was attending Northern Kentucky University for college. I read his blog all the time along with his articles.

Anyway, here's the excerpts from their endorsement of Rand Paul:

The world would be a poorer place if we did not make room for people with the courage to question conventional wisdom and the smarts to make a cogent case for their own vision. The race for Kentucky's U.S. Senate seat this fall has such a candidate - Republican standard-bearer Rand Paul.[...]

Unlike Conway, Paul doesn't fit the mold of a typical politician, and his provocative candor in advancing conservative viewpoints sometimes gets him in trouble.

To succeed, Paul has work to do. He needs to choose his words more carefully, avoid actions that make him simply an obstructionist, and - most important - commit himself to understanding and serving the specific needs of Kentucky.[...]

Conway, by contrast, seems a natural for this office. He's had the expected experience. He says the expected things in the expected way. He looks and acts the way you'd expect. If elected, he would be a perfectly capable and utterly conventional senator.

It's no surprise, really, that they endorsed Congressman Geoff Davis for another term. The district has grown conservative. At a rally on Saturday, Davis had an interesting choice of words for those in attendance.

“If we just exhale and vent our feelings and go back to our usual ways, nothing will happen,” said Davis, who is seeking a fourth term. “But if people engage, they organize, they do the hard and often thankless work of campaigns and of advocacy, you can make a difference – we can make a difference – and we will take our country back on November 2nd.”

My fear is that the people that were active as result of President Obama's candidacy were not as active this year as they were in 2008. I don't see the excitement as high as it was back then.

Obama blasts Republicans on economy

President Barack Obama blasted the Republicans on their economic policies.

With the midterm elections just 10 days away, President Barack Obama is blasting Republicans' economic policies at rallies in support of Democratic candidates and over the airwaves.

"This is a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and the policies that are going to lead us out of this mess," Obama told a crowd of about 37,000 on Friday at a rally in Los Angeles for California Sen. Barbara Boxer. "They are clinging to the same worn-out, tired, snake-oil ideas that they were peddling before."

At a rally in Las Vegas, Obama told supporters of Nevada Sen. Harry Reid: "They're banking on the fact that you might forget who got us in this mess in the first place."[...]

The president continued his attack on the GOP in his weekly address on Saturday, warning voters that Republicans seeking control of Congress would roll back his hard-won Wall Street overhaul bill.

"I think that would be a terrible mistake," he said. "Our economy depends on a financial system in which everyone competes on a level playing field, and everyone is held to the same rules -- whether you're a big bank, a small business owner, or a family looking to buy a house or open a credit card. And as we saw, without sound oversight and common-sense protections for consumers, the whole economy is put in jeopardy. That doesn't serve Main Street. That doesn't serve Wall Street. That doesn't serve anyone. And that's why I think it's so important that we not take this country backward -- that we don't go back to the broken system we had before. We've got to keep moving forward.

"This was a bill designed to rein in the secret deals and reckless gambling that nearly brought down the financial system," Obama said. "And reform included the strongest consumer protections in history -- to put an end to a lot of the hidden fees, deceptive mortgages and other abusive practices."

The measure promises limits on bank overdraft fees and an end to abuses such as retroactive interest rate increases on credit card balances. It came in the wake of a $700 billion bank rescue passed in the final months of George W. Bush's presidency. While the bailout is credited with providing stability, it's deeply unpopular with voters angry of taxpayer money being used to help prop up huge banks.

Obama promised that the measure ensures that taxpayers will "never again be on the hook for a bailout."

Rand Paul finds balls, will debate Conway

Rand Paul has decided to find his balls, which were missing in action over the past week, and has decided he will debate Jack Conway.

Saying he respects the voters of Kentucky but not the “inappropriate attacks” of his Democratic rival, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul confirmed Friday that he will participate in a televised debate Monday night with Democratic candidate Jack Conway.[...]

Paul did not release any further information about his statement and did not take questions from reporters. He did say he wanted to raise the debate “to a higher plane.”

Conway campaign spokesman John Collins said in an e-mail that “Jack will debate on Monday without any preconditions…”

“Rand has spent the last week hemming and hawing, demanding restrictions on what he’ll answer,” Collins said. “Instead of having another tirade, Rand should show up and face the voters.”

I'm glad to know that Rand Paul has manned up after attacking Jack Conway for "not manning up," something along those lines.

Rand Paul didn't report accurate finances!

Jack Conway's campaign says that Rand Paul failed to report how much he recieved from Medicaid.

U.S. Senate Republican nominee Rand Paul failed to disclose on his financial disclosure form with the U.S. Senate more than $20,000 he received from Medicaid through his medical practice at a Bowling Green clinic, the campaign of Democrat Jack Conway said Friday.

In a telephone news conference, Conway campaign spokesman John Collins said Paul, an eye surgeon, did not list on his 2009 form his 2007 position with the Graves-Gilbert Clinic in Bowling Green.

Collins said Paul was required to list all employment positions he held in the previous two years.

“Rand Paul talks a lot about holding government in Washington accountable,” said Collins, noting that Paul has said he would file legislation to require members of Congress to read bills before they vote on them.

“It seems Rand Paul can’t read instructions,” Collins said.

Collins said the Conway campaign learned through an Open Records request that Paul billed Medicaid in 2007 “over $70,000 and received more than $20,000 in payments.”

This is important, Collins said, because Paul has criticized Medicaid, saying the federal-state health insurance program fosters “inter-generational welfare” and claiming its coverage has spread beyond those truly in need.

“Why is he hiding the billing of more than $70,000 in Medicaid funds?” Collins asked.

A few things from the Forward

Read them in full but I'm printing a few excerpts here.

The Tea Party Test:

What are Jews to make of the Tea Party in this maddening election cycle? The raw anger directed at Democratic incumbency is understandable but highly disconcerting, since that anger promises to be far more destructive than constructive. The longing for a return to a constitutional nirvana is also understandable, but too often displays an appalling ignorance of what actually happened in American history.

And every day, it seems, there is fresh evidence of a candidate saying things that would have gotten him or her thrown out of high school civics.

“That’s in the First Amendment?” GOP Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell asked, twice, in a debate with her opponent in Delaware, appearing to either disagree with the constitutional prohibition against the establishment of religion, or to be unaware of it. That was October 19. The week before, O’Donnell could not name a single Supreme Court case with which she disagreed.

It may be too easy to pick on a relative neophyte like O’Donnell, considered among the weakest of the Tea Party insurgents. We’re in a deeply anti-intellectual moment, when candidates for high office feel no shame about what they don’t know. Sarah Palin couldn’t answer the Supreme Court question, either.

Yet it’s a mistake for liberals to arrogantly dismiss this powerful insurgency, and not just because it may earn the winner’s crown on November 2. The Tea Party-affiliated GOP candidate for New York governor, Carl Paladino, is also another clearly unqualified candidate in background and temperament, but his ascension is a reaction to the inexcusable incompetence of the powers that be in Albany. Reason lies behind this madness.

Progressives can’t ignore the legitimate causes of this anger, but neither can they fail to speak out against its excesses and dangers. Concern about the ballooning federal deficit, disagreement on tax policy — all fair game in a robust discussion about the limits and effectiveness of federal power.

Talk about negative, let's take a look at the California senate race.

But for California’s Jews, perhaps the oddest part of the race has been the waves of ads directed at them that allege Boxer is weak on Israel. “Barbara Boxer remained silent as the Obama administration pressured Israel and supported Israel’s enemies,” say the ads, printed in local Jewish papers by the Republican Jewish Coalition.

So far, there is scant evidence that the ads are influencing their intended audience. “It’s like attacking Henry Waxman on that issue,” said Raphael Sonenshein, chairman of the political science department at California State University, Fullerton. His reference was to the electorally unbeatable liberal House committee chairman from Los Angeles strongly favored by Jews. Though not a leader on Israel legislation, Waxman votes regularly with the pro-Israel congressional consensus. “Nobody really questions her [Boxer] as a supporter of Israel,” Sonenshein said.

Sonenshein termed the RJC campaign “puzzling.” But it’s possible the group had other goals in mind. “Because we are highlighting these issues, membership in the Republican Jewish Coalition is growing,” the ad notes in small print near the bottom, urging those reading it to join and contribute to the organization.

In California, a lot more hangs in the balance of this race than the fortunes of the RJC. Seeking a fourth senatorial term after 28 years in Congress, Boxer, at 69, holds a key Democratic seat. Nineteen Senate seats are in play. Seven of those seats are tipped toward the red, 10 are tossups and two — including Boxer’s — are polling bluish. But Boxer faces a backlash against Washington, against Obama and the sluggish economy he can’t seem to kick-start, and the general anger that is many a testy voter’s cup of tea these days. Not to mention California’s 12.4% unemployment rate and devastated state coffers. It is only recently that she has managed to pull ahead in the polls.

That wave of dissatisfaction still could sweep Fiorina, the 56-year-old former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, to Capitol Hill on a rising tide of conservative Republicans, many of them political newcomers like herself. She’s got Sarah Palin’s endorsement. But in an environment in which the economy and fear of unemployment trump all, she’s got other problems.

One is how to explain the more than 30,000 layoffs that took place at HP under Fiorina’s command, followed by her own golden parachute of more than $40 million in severance pay and stock buybacks when she was famously fired by HP’s board in 2005.

Russ Feingold is in the race for his life.

For the past 18 years, Wisconsin, where Jews constitute 0.5% of the population, has sent two Jews to fill its Senate seats. But as Election Day nears, one of those two is now fighting for his political life.

Over the course of three terms, Democrat Russ Feingold has earned a reputation as one of the Senate’s most independent members — a kind of Democratic counterpart to Arizona Republican John McCain, with whom he has partnered at times. He’s known as a liberal who refuses to toe his party’s line. Now, he is facing an uphill battle against Republican challenger Ron Johnson.

Despite polls showing him consistently behind, Feingold remains convinced that he will win. But if he does not, it will not just mark the end of Feingold’s political career. It will mark the disappearance in Congress of a recognizable political type: the independent Jewish liberal. It’s a profile that Feingold shared with Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash in 2002.[...]


Feingold’s selling point to Wisconsin voters is his independence. Even after 18 years in Washington, Feingold is difficult to pigeonhole. On the one hand, he has proved his progressive credentials not only by supporting health care reform, but also by being the sole vote in the Senate against the post-9/11 Patriot Act and by leading the battle against capital punishment. On the other hand, he voted against President Obama’s Wall Street reform bill, claiming that it was not sufficiently sweeping, and in 1999 he was the only Democrat to oppose dropping the impeachment process against President Clinton. Feingold is also a strong supporter of gun rights, a stance that has put him at odds with most of his liberal colleagues.

To most, the Wisconsin senator is known for his landmark legislation, which bears his own name and that of Republican John McCain. The McCain-Feingold bill sought to regulate campaign finance, an act described as declaring war against Washington lobbyists.

“I am the most independent member of the Senate, based on every analysis,” Feingold said in an October 18 interview with the Forward. “I simply call it as I see it, which is what Wisconsin people certainly in the past have liked and I think they still do now.”

Republican candidate threatens violent govenment overthrow

I kid you not. A Republican candidate for Congress says a few things that would scare the crap out of anyone.

The Dallas Morning News:

Republican congressional candidate Stephen Broden stunned his party Thursday, saying he would not rule out violent overthrow of the government if elections did not produce a change in leadership.

In a rambling exchange during a TV interview, Broden, a South Dallas pastor, said a violent uprising "is not the first option," but it is "on the table." That drew a quick denunciation from the head of the Dallas County GOP, who called the remarks "inappropriate."[...]

In the interview, Brad Watson, political reporter for WFAA-TV (Channel 8), asked Broden about a tea party event last year in Fort Worth in which he described the nation's government as tyrannical.

"We have a constitutional remedy," Broden said then. "And the Framers say if that don't work, revolution."

Watson asked if his definition of revolution included violent overthrow of the government. In a prolonged back-and-forth, Broden at first declined to explicitly address insurrection, saying the first way to deal with a repressive government is to "alter it or abolish it."

"If the government is not producing the results or has become destructive to the ends of our liberties, we have a right to get rid of that government and to get rid of it by any means necessary," Broden said, adding the nation was founded on a violent revolt against Britain's King George III.

Watson asked if violence would be in option in 2010, under the current government.

"The option is on the table. I don't think that we should remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms," Broden said, without elaborating. "However, it is not the first option."

This is the kind of rhetoric that we are dealing with people. They are running on a theme of anger at Washington but this takes it way too far.

Common sense prevails...No Hangover for Gibson

Thank G-d.

Deadline reports:

Mel Gibson won't be appearing in The Hangover Part II, despite web rumors he'd play a tattoo artist in the Todd Phillips-directed pic. Warner Bros and its financing partner Legendary Pictures released a statement from Phillips.

"I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew," Phillips said.

As a member of the tribe, I am glad that they dropped the anti-Semitic actor from the cast. It's for the best.

Too funny....

Conan guests revealed

The guests during the first week have been revealed:
Monday, Nov. 8 – Seth Rogen and musical guest Jack White

Tuesday, Nov. 9 – Tom Hanks, Jack McBrayer and musical guest Soundgarden

Wednesday, Nov. 10 – Jon Hamm, Charlyne Yi and musical guest Fistful of Mercy

Thursday, Nov. 11 – Michael Cera, Julie Bowen and comedian Jon Dore

Not too shabby...

President Bill Clinton to campaign for Conwaya again

On the day before the election, President Bill Clinton will campaign again for Jack Conway.

Former President Bill Clinton will return to Kentucky a day before the Nov. 2 election to campaign for Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway.

Conway campaign spokeswoman Allison Haley confirmed Thursday that Clinton will visit the state Nov. 1 for Conway. She said the locations of Clinton’s appearances have not been finalized.

Lexington businessman Jerry Lundergan, who is a close friend of the president, said he has talked to Clinton “and he has assured me that he will come back to Kentucky to campaign for Jack.”

Clinton, who recently was named in a national poll the most popular politician in America, attracted an estimated crowd of about 5,000 for Conway at an Oct. 11 rally in Lexington.

Clinton’s return appearance for Conway is “another indication that Jack is well-positioned to win this race,” Haley said.

This is extremely good news for the Conway campaign. Clinton draws the voters.

Folks, we can do this all day...

The DSCC hit Rand Paul hard on the Fair Tax proposal, which Rand Paul distanced himself from just like all of his other statements.



Lest we forget:

Bonus Quote of the Day

"As a reporter, you have no right to question my faith, neither does another candidate."
--Rand Paul

Umm, Rand, there is a thing called the freedom of speech along with the freedom of the press.

Rand Paul is a hypocrite

Rand Paul continues to show that he's a hypocrite. Appearing on FOX News, he says he would nnever associate himself with someone that attacked another person's religion. Hello, FOX News, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, etc. have attacked President Obama on his religion. This video below is proof alone that Rand Paul is a hypocrite. He says he wouldn't associate himself wth the kinds of people that attack other's religion but he appears on FOX News anyway.

Clintonian populism

Bill Schneider writes in Politico that the answer to the tea party is Clinton-style populism. President Bill Clinton was always won to get the voters out and draws large crowds at political rallies.

What’s missing is populism — the ability to connect with people. The tea party is rushing in to fill that void, even to the point of overthrowing the GOP establishment. It’s built on resentment of elites, like all populist movements. The tea party movement is so determinedly anti-elitist, it doesn’t even have a recognized national leader.

The tea party is right-wing populism. But populism is not the exclusive property of the right. The Democratic Party has a long tradition of left-wing populism aimed at country club conservatives. Franklin D. Roosevelt thundered, “They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred!”

William Jennings Bryan — nominated by the Democratic Party for president three times — was both a left-wing populist and a right-wing populist.

Left wing on economics: Bryan electrified the party when he denounced banking interests: “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!” Right wing on culture: he ended his career defending the Bible at the Scopes trial. “All the ills from which America suffers,” Bryan proclaimed, “can be traced to the teaching of evolution.”[...]

What happened to the Democrats’ populist tradition? It’s still there, but it’s not associated with Obama. It’s associated with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Which is why a wave of Clinton nostalgia is washing over the country.

How can Democrats contend with tea party populism? By reviving Clintonism.

Bill Clinton’s calling card is empathy. That’s how he won the 1992 election. He felt the voters’ pain while George H.W. Bush was looking at his watch. Americans admire Obama. They empathize with Clinton, a man of undeniable popular faults and foibles.

Obama is an NPR Democrat; Clinton is sports talk. Clinton’s campaign speeches supporting Democratic congressional candidates this year are full of football analogies. “When something is really important to us — like football — we care about the facts,” he told voters in Arkansas. In Mississippi, he said, “Let’s play like we’re in a football game with the rest of the world, because we are.”

Clinton is barnstorming this month for Democratic Senate candidates in Kentucky and West Virginia — states where an appearance by Obama would be political poison. Kentucky and West Virginia have something else in common: They are states where, in 2008, Hillary Clinton defeated Obama in the Democratic primaries by better than 2-to-1.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton was the populist. She was the tough, resilient fighter for the people. She never gave up. “If you know one thing,” she said in Ohio, “when I say I will fight for you, I will. It’s what I’ve always done.”[...]

Author Bob Woodward speculated in a TV interview that the prospect of Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden trading places in 2012 was “on the table.” The White House immediately shot down the notion. And Biden said recently that the president has asked him to “run again.”

But this touched a chord with those Democrats who long for a dose of Clinton populism on the ticket.

Biden has some of it — Roman Catholic, modest origins, a little rough around the edges. That’s why he is in big demand by Democrats on the campaign trail, while Obama is not.

Biden himself drew the contrast. “They think of [Obama], they think of brilliant and masterful in presentation,” Biden told The New York Times. “People ... think I’m passionate about the things that have to do with the middle class.”

Democrats are longing for a leader who gets their populist juices flowing — someone who can say that the Republican Party represents “nothing but an organized appetite.”

Which is what William Jennings Bryan once said.

Quote of the Day

"Nancy Pelosi seems to be running in every Congressional District (in the country), and she’s running here as well. I don’t know why Todd doesn’t move to San Francisco and run against her."
--Congressman John Yarmuth debating Todd Lally, Louisvile Forum Debate, October 20, 2010

Rand Paul to decide being a chicken or a man on Friday

Rand Paul will decide whether he will be a cowardly chicken or grow a pair of balls by Friday.

Republican Rand Paul said Wednesday that he will decide by the end of the week whether to participate in Monday's scheduled debate on Kentucky Educational Television with Democrat Jack Conway.

"We're going to have an announcement by Friday, we're still discussing it. ... On the one hand, I think it's demeaning to me to appear with this guy," Paul said on Laura Ingraham's nationally syndicated radio show. "On the other hand, I have appeared on the person's program, the announcer, and I know him to be a fair individual and I think the voters deserve to hear about the issues."[...]

On the radio program, Paul talked in more detail about his actions as a college student than he has at any point since the "Aqua Buddha" story first appeared on GQ magazine's Website in August.

Paul said he doesn't know where the idea for "Aqua Buddha" comes from because he doesn't remember the event described by a woman, who has not been identified, to both GQ and The Washington Post.

"I don't know who the woman is, I don't remember and I don't agree with her characterization," he said. "The only thing I remember from college of these little pranks is that we were kind of nerds, we used to sometimes take people and we would read (19th century philosopher Friedrich) Nietzsche to them because we thought we were really clever.

"Most people thought we were a bunch of nerds but nobody ever thought we were kidnapping them or making them pray to some idol because the thing is, it's just so ridiculous," he said.

The woman has said that it wasn't an actual kidnapping and that she went along with the prank in which she was tied up and made to pray to "Aqua Buddha."

Rand Paul goes crying to the media instead of answering to the voters. Rand Paul should know that voters aren't going to watch FOX News. Of course, this week, both The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are in reruns so anything that would be called out by them will have to wait until next week. Young voters should be informed though but it does help with the "fake news shows" that do show news to an extent and call out the bullshit when appropriate.

Is Rand Paul Lying or Telling the Truth

Just the other day, Rand Paul said that these attacks against him were lies. Now he cracks and just about comes clean on The Laura Ingram Show. Almost.

These guys have done their homework:

Lampooning Rand Paul

Jack Conway TAKES LEAD against Rand Paul

WaPo (er, Chris Cillizza's The Fix):

A new Democratic poll shows Democrat Jack Conway surging in the Kentucky Senate race. The Bennet, Petts and Normington poll, conducted for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and shared with The Fix, shows Conway at 49 percent and Republican Rand Paul at 47 percent - Conway's best showing in a poll since late June. The poll was conducted Sunday and Monday, a day after Conway's campaign launched a controversial new ad which became the topic du jour in a debate on Sunday night.

This is good news for Kentucky and even better news for Jack Conway's campaign, which has drawn a lot of heat following the ad's airing.

Was the Conway senate site hacked?

I just checked the Jack Conway for Senate website and it goes to a parked GoDaddy page.

What's up with that? It could just be a server crash. I don't know.