Republicans have been worried for months about holding on to their 1st Congressional District seat in Idaho. But I always figured that just meant they had to actually work hard to keep the seat.
However, Democrat Walt Minnick is now leading GOP Rep. Bill Sali, 51 percent to 45 percent, according to a new SurveyUSA/Roll Call poll. It's tempting, of course, to attribute this to the national climate that is so favorable to Democrats.
If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John's debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). "You idiots - he's related to Charles Keating... of the Keating Five scandal!"
While Palin explains the deep foreign policy gained because she can see Russia and has now gazed into the stare of Karzai ....back home in Alaska:
Parnell, meanwhile, said he has taken over giving many of Palin's speeches and has taken a more active interest in Alaska's budget and the governor's legislative agenda.
"I'm speaking several more times a week _ like, for instance, I'm about to go meet the president of Iceland," Parnell said.
"We can't have taxpayers footing the bill for bloated golden parachutes like we see in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy... My friends, the top executives are asking for $2-and-a-half billion in bonuses after they ran the company into the ground."Isn't that special! On the same day Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, Merrill Lynch was sold for pennies on the dollar to Bank of America. Which makes us wonder about top McCain adviser John Thain.
John Thain became CEO of Merrill Lynch in December. Thain's $81 million pay package made him the second highest-earning CEO in the nation this year. Bloomberg News reported that Thain could make another $11 million.
Holtz-Eakin says he sees no conflict about consulting Thain, who joined the McCain team before taking over Merrill Lynch. He says Thain did a great job taking the company from a "troubled place" to a "successful purchase."
....the freshman Republican is urging all of his supporters to host yard sales, with the profits from all those old clothes, dishes and furniture going to his Congressional campaign. Yard sale hosts also receive campaign literature to hand out to their bargain-seeking clients,....
But Mr. Holtz-Eakin did not provide specifics. “I think that the moment when we write down a specific plan is the moment we send legislation out from a McCain administration to Congress,’’ he said. “That’s the moment that happens.’’So essentially, they are saying the only way to find out how they would solve the crisis is to put them in charge and see what the hell they do! And they figure to start working on it sometime around Jan 15th, 2009?
Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.That line led from McCain's budget to a great riff about McCain standing with special interests and wealth. If Biden writes his own speeches, he's pretty damn good.