Rachel Maddow-- Essential Television

Hopefully you've been watching Rachel Maddow's dramatic and exhaustive reports on the John Ensign-Tom Coburn sex-and-ethics scandal. Her reports on Thursday and Friday were absolutely riveting and far better journalism than what Americans normally expect from television... or most other media for that matter. Andrea Mitchell recognized the awesomeness of what Maddow has been doing and invited her onto her show to explain it to her own daytime viewers. If John Ensign winds up in prison, where he clearly belongs, it will be because the ruling elite wasn't allowed to cover up another scandal within its own ranks. This is what journalists should be doing. And this is why-- other than Cupcake Wars, Maddow's MSNBC program is the only thing I regularly tune in to.

It's hard to imagine G.E., one of those evil mega-corporations that pays no taxes and seeks cartel-like dominance in its fields, would give her a platform. It's another example of Lenin's apocryphal quote, "the Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them." Of course, Lenin was wrong-- correct about the blind greed, incorrect about the degree of blindness and the ability, in the end, to pull it together and fight tenaciously for their own selfish, existential interests. The capitalists won and Lenin was tossed onto the trash heap of history. Let's enjoy Rachel before G.E. stops playing the game.

Why Did Ensign Really Resign?

No doubt you've heard by now that Nevada Republican John Ensign, formerly the 3rd highest ranking Republican in their caucus leadership has decided to stop clinging to his political career. After vowing he would stand for reelection next November, Ensign announced this week that he's not just not running but that he's actually resigning from his seat (effective May 3). The ranking Republican on the Senate Ethics Committee, Johnny Isakson (GA), who has been part of the devastating investigation into Ensign's serial corruption, said Ensign "made the appropriate decision."

It's ironic that earlier this year Ensign introduced a bill that would require all white collar criminals-- so presumably this will cover him-- to work 50 hours a week. Creating a national prison labor force has been a goal since he went to Congress in 1995, but it makes even more sense in this economy, he said. “Think about how much it costs to incarcerate someone,” Mr. Ensign said. “Do we want them just sitting in prison, lifting weights, becoming violent and thinking about the next crime? Or do we want them having a little purpose in life and learning a skill?”

The Nevada Republican Party is certainly trying to use all the skills they've learned to take advantage of this development. Even though it might not be such a smart move in Senate seat retention, Gov. Sandoval is reportedly about to replace Ensign with his protégé, Rep. Dean Heller, who had already announced he would run for the seat.

[S]enators appointed to fill midterm vacancies have fared rather poorly when it came time for the voters to give them a verdict. Over the past 25 Congresses, there have been, by my count, 49 senators who selected by gubernatorial appointment in midterm (this excludes cases where a senator-elect acceded to office a few days early to gain seniority on his colleagues, a once-common courtesy that is becoming less so.) Of those 49 senators, only 19-- fewer than 40 percent-- won their subsequent special election.

Perhaps a bigger fear for the Nevada GOP was that deranged Teabag Queen Sharron Angle could easily win a primary to replace Heller in the House-- and then lose a general election to almost any Democrat. Aside from having Sandoval appoint Heller to the Senate, the party also gets to select a primary-free nominee for the special election to replace Heller. That way they get the teabaggers out of their hair... they hope. Angle, retired Navy Commander Kirk Lippold have already declared for the seat and both Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki and state GOP Mark Amodei have been reported to be on the verge on jumping in. Republican Party thought in Nevada is that any of the males would be preferable to Angle, even though she actually won Ensign's district in her Senate race.

Angle lost the Senate race because she got slaughter in Clark County, 253,617 to 192,516. Clark County, essentially Las Vegas, is barely part of Heller's district and, although she under-performed Heller, she still beat Reid in most of the counties that make up the vast, sprawling 2nd CD. In fact, other than Washoe County (Reno) and tiny Mineral County (which saw a 855 to 822 split favoring Reid), she beat Reid in every other county in the state. It's worth mentioning that Heller won both Mineral and, more important Washoe, by big margins. Here are the county totals (not counting the parts of Clark in the 2nd CD) comparing Heller and Angle:

Carson City- Angle- 9,362; Heller- 12,470
Churchill- Angle- 5,639; Heller- 6,592
Douglas- Angle- 12,858; Heller- 14,872
Elko- Angle- 8,173; Heller- 9,443
Esmeralda- Angle- 268; Heller- 285
Eureka- Angle- 524; Heller- 599
Humboldt- Angle- 2,836; Heller- 3,627
Lander- Angle- 1,201; Heller- 1,429
Lincoln- Angle- 1,311; Heller- 1,396
Lyon- Angle- 10,473; Heller- 12,046
Mineral- Angle- 822; Heller- 1,190
Nye- Angle- 7,822; Heller- 8,817
Pershing- Angle- 915; Heller- 1,216
Storey- Angle- 1,124; Heller- 1,383
Washoe- Angle- 63,316; Heller- 80,216
White Pine- Angle- 2,201; Heller- 2,290

Thousands and thousands of voters who pulled the lever for Heller either then voted for Reid or another candidate or just didn't vote in the Senate race rather than pull the lever for Angle. And that was true in every single county, from giant Washoe, where the disparity between Heller and Angle was a whopping 17,000 votes to tiny Esmeraldo, where 17 of Heller's 285 voters just could not force themselves to vote for Angle. That's what the Nevada state party was seeking to avoid by nudging Ensign into resigning now.

Yesterday's Senate Heathcare Debate In A Nutshell

I love getting mail from Republicans

Today the Senate will be debating Ben Nelson's anti-choice amendment-- as he and the Republicans use their quest to roll back the clock on this explosive, emotionally charged issue as a way of derailing healthcare reform on behalf of their corporate paymasters. A twofer! It should probably be voted on tomorrow and it is expected to lose. Nelson says he will filibuster the overall health reform bill if he isn't allowed to harm women's access to safe abortions. What a public servant! What a guy! What a... Democrat! I hope everyone in Nebraska who, for whatever reason, has ever voted for this corrupt vermin is proud of themselves.

There were two amendments voted on yesterday that I twittered about in real time. First up was one that, on its face, was remarkable because Arkansas corporate shill Blanche Lincoln voted for it-- let along sponsored it! S. Amdt 2786 was meant to-- or at least seem like it was meant to-- "modify the limit on excessive remuneration paid by certain health insurance providers to set the limit at the same levels as the salary of the President of the United States." It would have prevented Insurance companies doing more than a quarter of their business with the government from claiming excessive executive salaries as tax deductions. Presumably this is supposed to persuade Lincoln's crumbling Democratic base back home that she's isn't really one of the Senate's worst corporate whores.

Needing 60 votes to pass, it failed 56-42. Although Olympia Snowe joined the Democrats on this and-- concerned about his own horrifying image as a lackey-- even Ben Nelson voted for it. Joining the GOP and killing the amendment were Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tom Carper (D-DE), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and, of course, Lieberman (I-CT).

Next up was an amendment offered by far right religious cult member and sexual predator John Ensign (R-NV)-- still refusing to resign-- that was meant to further debilitate consumers seeks legal redress from faulty medical care. Republicans call it tort reform and I was shocked that so many Republicans-- a dozen-- voted against it. It failed 32-66 only ConservaDems Kay Hagan (NC), Herb Kohl (WI), Lincoln (AR) and Warner (VA)-- + Lieberman, of course, joining the bulk of Republicans.

The big news, though, was Obama's trip to the Senate to meet with Democrats about the healthcare debate. He asked them "to put aside their fierce policy differences and to make history by passing landmark health care legislation."

Mr. Obama urged the Democrats in a private meeting “to finish the job” and warned that the “most costly outcome for all is a failure to finish,” according to officials in the room.

“His message was very simple,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the assistant majority leader. “He reminded us why we are here. He reminded us why we run for office. And he reminded us how many people are counting on us to come through.”

Mr. Durbin added: “He urged us to get the job done and said he is ready to help us.”

To close debate on the bill and move to a final vote, the Democrats need the backing of all 60 members of their caucus-- 58 Democrats and two independents. So far no Republican senator has expressed support for the measure, and at least four Democrats are warning that they might vote against it.

While the floor fight has pitted Democrats against Republicans on a wide array of elements in the legislation, the real battle is taking place internally among Democrats, who remain divided over crucial issues, including a proposal to create a government-run health insurance plan, and provisions relating to insurance coverage for abortions.

Obama steered clear of the issues he sees as divisive and threatening to keep a bill from passing, something he knows-- and the GOP knows-- would be absolutely devastating politically. Afterwards 5 reactionaries and 5 progressives met to see if something could be worked out regarding the tattered remains of what was once the public option, which the nefarious, gloating Lieberman says he will oppose no matter what. (Lucky he's with us on everything but the war.)

John Ensign Clings To His Senate Seat

Following in the footsteps of other Republican hypocrites who swore on stacks of Bibles they were innocent and as pure as the driven snow, Nevada philanderer John Ensign, his political career a smoldering wreck, addressed his GOP colleagues at their weekly lunch today. While President Obama talked with normal Americans about a wide variety of issues Republican senators aren't interested in-- financial regulations, peace in the Middle East, health care reform, etc-- the Republicans were forced to relive their collective embarrassment for harboring so many sex-obsessed hypocrites, from David Diapers Vitter (R-LA) and Larry Craig (R-ID) to John Ensign (R-NV).

A Republican Senate aide told Roll Call that Ensign isn't toxic yet, although as more information comes seeping out it looks like there were illegal payoffs being made and taxes not paid and purposeful misuse of campaign donations. Speaking about the Republican Conference-- the chairmanship of which Ensign has resigned-- he said, “they all feel a certain degree of sympathy for his situation... It’s not like the Conference is at a stage where they just don’t want the guy there-- yet." None of the senators, except Senator Hannity, have called on Ensign to resign-- the way Ensign did when Larry Craig was arrested in a public toilet trying to have sex with a handsome young policeman-- and his Lordship Bob Corker (R-TN), who refused to meet with Judge Sonia Sotomayor because her broken leg caused her to be 10 minutes late-- said Republicans have had no discussions about trying to get him to resign. “I have heard no discussions... Nothing but support,” Corker said. (Still, in the crucial vote that the Nevada tourism industry was pushing-- and that Ensign co-sponsored-- only one other Republican voted with Ensign and the Democrats, Mel Martinez. The rest abandoned Ensign to the anger of his home state's most important industry. It is a tragic consequence of Ensign's misbehavior.)

Other Republicans privately said Ensign could have handled the situation better, saying they would have preferred he not announce the affair at a press conference 30 minutes before local news outlets went on the air, engage in a war of words with the Hamptons and return to Washington less than a week after the scandal broke. “You could definitely say” the handling of the scandal has been more frustrating for GOP Senators than the affair itself, a second Republican aide said.

...At one point, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Ensign’s housemate in Washington, D.C., motioned for Ensign to follow him, and the two sat at couple of desks on the floor and appeared to engage in a private conversation. The discussion appeared friendly, although it lasted for about five minutes and involved more than Coburn welcoming Ensign back after a week away from the Senate.

It is widely believed that Coburn was trying to get his story straight so that he and Ensign wouldn't contradict each other about the nights Ensign hung the red tie on the doorknob. For his luncheon apology, Ensign made brief remarks, took no questions and was greeted by a round of applause. Mel Martinez said he sounded "sincere." Meanwhile, according to Time Magazine's most connected reporter, Karen Tumulty, one of the slimiest GOP consultants, Alex Castellanos, remarked that if South Carolina missing Governor Mark Sanford really "was camping, he's going to have to explain where he was setting his tent pole." Others claim that "hiking the Appalachian trail" is a Republican euphemism for "I have a wide stance."

Will John Ensign Resign His Senate Seat? The Dripping Is Turning Into A Faint Sound Of A Drumbeat

Ace GOP strategist, Mark McKinnon-- for both George Bush and John McCain-- thinks Ensign should resign immediately. And he told him so. "I think the silence [from other GOP leaders] is inexcusable. We've got to be able to call out our own bad apples when they turn out to be rotten and this is a rotten apple. We shouldn't have to remind our elected officials-- who should be held to a higher standard-- of their firmly held convictions. This is a guy who campaigned on 'higher standards' and accused others of hypocrisy and now he's guilty of it himself... You can't be the 'party of family values' and not value your family-- which is precisely what is happening with John Ensign."



UPDATE: Ensign's Lucky-- As Polling Numbers Tumble, He Won't Have To Face The Voters Until 2012

Polls show his popularity rapidly diminishing. And Ensign has changed his story again and now claims that Doug Hampton was trying to extort him "for cash and other financial benefits." Every photographer in DC wants to snap a picture of Ensign and Vitter together. Meanwhile, let's hope videographer Max Blumenthal decides to turn this into a docudrama.

John Ensign: Drip, Drip, Drip

Rachel Maddow never uses the word prostitute (in relation to Ensign)-- although she does bring up Vitter-- but she sure makes it clear that John Ensign, who resigned from the GOP leadership Wednesday was using taxpayer money to pay a married staffer to have sex with him over a long period of time. After Rachel's broadcast, Ensign defended his payments to the woman and her family. This scandal is getting worse by the day:



UPDATE: An Older-- And Much Worse-- Drip

Marcy reminds everyone that in February 2008, Republicans confronted Ensign in his home-- including GOP Senate moralist Tom Coburn (R-OK)-- to discuss his "unethical behavior." The cuckold, and former Ensign chief-of-staff and golfing buddy, is scared because of Ensign's well-known Mafia connections:

"The actions of Senator Ensign have ruined our lives and careers and left my family in shambles. We have lost significant income, suffered indescribable pain and emotional suffering. We find ourselves today with an overwhelming loss of relationships, career opportunities and hope for recovery. Our pursuit of justice continues to place me and my family in harm’s way as we fear for our well being... Ensign’s conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April of 2008. I would like to say he stopped his heinous conduct and pursuit upon our leaving, but that was not the case and his actions did not subside until August of 2008."

Ensign has always tried to derail the Senate Ethics Committee and prevent it from investigating criminals in its own midst-- as though a House of Lords is above such folderol-- but now people are demanding this whole sordid episode be thoroughly investigated unless Ensign resigns at once, which is as likely as it was that Ensign's pal David Diapers Vitter would. The Nevada Republican Party is crumbling and falling apart before our eyes.

Republican Senatorial Hypocrisy On Parade Again-- John Ensign

No one could believe that ambitious reactionary John Ensign-- who, until today, was harboring delusions of running for president in 2012-- missed the Senate's one roll call today, a vote to shut off a de facto filibuster by the Senate's 3 biggest pests (DeMint, Coburn and Bunning) on S. 1023 a tourism bill that he was cosponsoring. Every single senator-- even knee-jerk obstructionist kooks like Burr, Cornyn and Inhofe-- voted to shut off debate on a bill meant to "promote leisure, business, and scholarly travel to the United States." Needless to say, the bill is a huge priority for the collapsing Las Vegas tourist industry.

But Ensign was in Las Vegas instead of in DC. He decided it would be politically advantageous to make the big announcement of his extramarital affair-- with a staffer at his PAC, so paid for by Republican donors-- in his home town with his poor wife at his side. (He claims he was being blackmailed; so sordid.) The wife isn't angry because he paid the woman off last year and got her to go away, at least temporarily. Ensign was one of the Republicans who pushed Larry Craig into resigning when Craig was caught soliciting a policeman in a public toilet. (Earlier he had also demanded Bill Clinton resign.) When I called his office to ask if he would take his own advice and resign a staffer told me to go-- well what Dick Cheney said to Pat Leahy. Those Republicans are all so predictable-- and such huge supporters of the "sanctity of marriage." I bet Vitter is hoping this takes the heat off him.



UPDATE: John Ensign Resigns-- But Not From The Senate

After virtually begging Nevada voters not to force him out, this morning he resigned as the #4 Republican leader in the Senate GOP-- chair of their Policy Committee. Miss McConnell: “He’s accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his family and constituents. He offered, and I accepted, his resignation as chairman of the Policy Committee.” His presidential pretensions were pronounced dead:

The swift movement by Republicans-- with Ensign’s consent-- to clear him out of Senate leadership is a sign that the party wants nothing to do with another sex scandal as it tries to slow down the massive Obama agenda and focus on health care, energy and other pressing issues. Ensign has said he will remain focused on his Senate duties representing Nevada, but his days as a rising star in GOP politics are clearly done.

“One thing is for sure, he cannot go any further in Senate leadership, or higher in electoral politics now,” said one Republican Senate aide... Before this announcement, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he saw no reason to remove Ensign from his leadership spot, but when asked whether Ensign could still be an effective spokesman for the party at this point, Graham said, "No."

Oops... looks like there was some criminal behavior here too. Ensign was using PAC money-- which is federally regulated-- to pay his mistress' son while he was screwing her. The 19 year old son was doing “research policy consulting” for the NRSC in March 2008. No wonder he got fired from his Republican leadership position this morning. I wonder how long all the facts in this case are going to dribble out. Why don't these Republicans ever learn-- and just be honest and get it over with all at once?

Fake Republican Outrage Is Getting Kind Of Predictable... And Ignorable-- But Obama Is Still Likely To Shake Hands With Hacks Like John Ensign

Despite relentless right-wing propaganda, Venezuela is not our enemy

Republican Party hacks are all up in arms and puffed up with their fake sense of outrage over Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez. Obama doesn't laugh at his hopeless opponents; he's polite. Yesterday he politely told GOP sore losers and troublemakers to shove it. I think any Americans who don't get their world view from Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Coulter don't need to be told that extending diplomatic courtesy is a plus, not-- as in the dark old Bush days-- a sign of weakness. At a news conference at the end of the three-day summit Obama patiently explained to Republican dunces that "the U.S. must engage other countries through humanitarian gestures, not simply military intervention."

Obama said it would be a mistake to measure the Summit of the Americas by specific agreements reached. But by listening to his counterparts and eschewing heavy-handed diplomacy, he said, he was creating an atmosphere in which, "at the margins," foreign leaders are "more likely to want to cooperate than not cooperate."

A running theme of the summit was Obama's cordial dealings with Chavez, who once called former President George W. Bush the "devil" and who just last month dismissed Obama as an "ignoramus." The two were photographed smiling and clasping hands.

At one meeting attended by South American leaders, Chavez made a show of walking around the table as the cameras rolled and handing Obama a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America," a 1971 book by Eduardo Galeano chronicling U.S. and European imperialism in the region.

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) told CNN today that it was "irresponsible" for Obama to be seen "laughing and joking" with the Venezuelan president.

Obama dismissed such concerns. He said the 2008 presidential campaign proved that American voters want the president to engage his counterparts, whether or not they are avowed friends of the U.S.

Obama said it "was a nice gesture to give me a book. I'm a reader." He added that the election was a referendum of sorts on the argument that U.S. solicitude toward foreign leaders could be seen as "weakness."

"The American people didn't buy it," the president said. "And there's a good reason the American people didn't buy it, because it doesn't make sense."

The U.S. has nothing to fear from Venezuela, a large supplier of crude oil to the U.S., Obama said.

"Its defense budget is probably 1/600th of the U.S.," he said. "They own [the oil company] Citgo. It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States."

This morning when I woke up I heard a sterile talking head on CNN describe Hugo Chavez or Venezuela as "America's arch-nemesis." A much more accurate thing to say is that House obstructionist leader John Boehner or North Carolina racist Richard Burr or secessionist Rick Perry is America's arch-nemesis. Or how about Kenneth Lewis or the other corrupt banksters who have systematically looted the country and dragged us into a Depression? A rightist created myth has imbeciles who couldn't identify Venezuela on a map if their lives depended on it repeating a Limbaughist demonization formula about a country with which we have no legitimate gripes. That Chavez spoke out forcefully against George Bush-- who tried to topple his government and nearly succeeded in having him assassinated-- is something Americans should be appreciative of. Unfortunately, I doubt that's why Obama shook hands with him. Instead he's busy putting the U.S. back on an even foreign policy keel after 8 years of the worst and most dangerous foreign policy in the history of the country.

It's likely that the U.S. and Venezuela will resume full diplomatic relations which had badly soured under the Bush Regime. And although Obama has made it clear he's not going to go as fast as most people think he should towards fully normalizing relations with Cuba, the days when obscenely wealthy right-wing Cuban gangsters, their sons, and their corrupt bought-off shills in Congress could dictate U.S. policy is coming to an end.

And much to the dismay of many progressives it's likely that Obama will shake hands not just with Hugo Chavez but with real enemies of our country's basic values-- rightist kooks and corporate patsies like Ensign, McConnell, Kyl, Cornyn, even dangerous loons who I hope get frisked first like Coburn, Burr and Bachmann. While White House advisors were admonishing the obstructionists to come up with constructive proposals to the problems Bush left behind-- and constructive doesn't mean slogans like "4 more years" from partisan nitwits like Paul Ryan (R-WI), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Eric Cantor (R-VA)-- all we heard from them were nonsensical talking points and GOP Minority Leader John Boehner's bovine fart jokes. This is a no-brainer for Obama because, afterall, polling shows that Americans have a more favorable attitude towards Venezuela than towards the Republican Party. (42% of Americans look on Venzuela favorable but only 39% see the GOP in that light.) And now that Cheney came out of his crypt and went on Fox to smear the President over "the handshake," I expect the Republican approval rating to fall some more.

Employee Free Choice Act-- Will Obama Roll Over Or Stand And Fight?

The only hope

John Ensign (R-NV) may be a boob who is rarely right about anything, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. With the GOP and their union-busting allies at the Chamber of Commerce and WalMart ready to fight to the death to prevent the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, Ensign explained why its so crucial for the Republicans to defeat this pro-working family bill. He says the bill "could determine the character of the senate for decades."

"It would make Republicans the minority party for the next 40 to 50 years," said Ensign of the EFCA.

Ensign argued the legislation would bolster union ranks and union dues, which could then be funneled to Democratic campaigns.

"Democrats would have a huge fundraising advantage for elections from now on," said Ensign.

So not only will the bill help rebuild the middle class (and the economy), it will also help the Democrats politically. A week or two ago we looked at the past attempt to pass the bill (EFCA). It passed overwhelmingly in the House, where 13 Republicans joined all but two of the most reactionary Democrats (Dan Boren and Gene Taylor) in voting for it. And in the Senate the GOP filibustered it to death, 48 Republicans joining in that effort. The only Republican willing to stand up for working Americans to end the filibuster was Arlen Specter (R-PA). Tim Johnson (D-SD), a co-sponsor, was in the hospital and couldn't vote. Several of the anti-working families Republicans who joined the filibuster were defeated-- or have retired and been replaced-- by Democrats: Wayne Allard (CO), Elizabeth Dole (NC), Pete Domenici (NM), Gordon Smith (OR), Ted Stevens (AK), John Sununu (NH) and John Warner (VA). If the vote were to take place today there is every indication that it would be 59- 40. The decisive vote comes down to Minnesota and who wins the recount between anti-working family Norm Coleman and pro-working family Al Franken.

And that's a best case scenario. Club for Growth (of Fascism) is threatening to primary Specter unless he changes his vote when it comes up again and Specter is one of the Senate's most pathetic cowards who sways with the winds in the best of times. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), who many thought was the Democrats' best hope for finding a Republican to stand up for working families, stated today that she opposes the bill. If the Democrats have to count on Judd Gregg, George Voinovich or Lisa Murkowski, who are up for re-election in 2010, or Mel Martinez, who is retiring, it's not likely the bill will pass.

And not everything is hunky dory on the Democratic side of the aisle either. Now that he's just been re-elected and is safe for another 6 years, a reactionary Democrat who boasts you don't need to pass an IQ test to get elected to the Senate and who acknowledges that mankind may have started 5,000 years ago with a talking snake, says he wants to find a compromise and won't co-sponsor the bill again.

Now the question is how hard will Obama, who was a co-sponsor of the bill, fight for it. His unwillingness to join in the battle to defeat Saxby Chambliss, one of the half dozen most destructive extremists in the Senate, who campaigned on a platform of thwarting Obama's agenda, makes me fear Obama will not stand up and fight and that we have another Bill Clinton in the White House. For what it's worth an aide of Obama's reaffirmed his support for EFCA in a one word statement to the Huffington Post-- and everyone knows a one word statement is better than a nod or even a grunt.

Asked if Obama's support for the Employee Free Choice Act remained as strong as his public proclamations suggested on the campaign trail, transition spokesman Dan Pfeiffer responded, succinctly, "Yes."

When Will All You Libruls Stop Pickin' On Sarah?

Out of date-- Now 59% say she's not qualified

I was reading some right wing loon blabbling on and on today about what a shrewd move picking Sarah Palin was for McCain. That isn't what most observers (or, more important, pollsters say) but I guess we'll find out on Tuesday. Most conservative newspapers that have endorsed Obama and most Republicans who have endorsed Obama have pointed to Palin or-- worse-- McCain's judgment in picking Palin, as a primary component in their decision-making process for not picking McCain. But if you insist on insisting that only liberals don't recognize the real Sarah, please consider that even some of McCain's closest allies, from Lieberman to Kyl, have admitted that she is not prepared for prime time. And then yesterday... John Ensign (R-NV), head of the NRSC, made it perfectly clear that Palin was a terrible choice.

Granted, Ensign is desperately seeking a scapegoat for the meat-grinder the Republican Senate caucus is walking into Tuesday. But still... I mean he said "certainly Joe Biden is much more qualified than Sarah Palin is." AP:

Republican Sen. John Ensign says Sarah Palin is not experienced enough to be president and John McCain's presidential campaign "completely mishandled" her early days on the ticket.

For once, most everybody would agree with Ensign. But not actually everybody. Even as McCain drastically curtails his GOTV operation-- the key to winning elections for Republicans in the last few decades-- the argument over whether it was McCain or Palin who actually sunk the ticket has commenced. Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review Online speaks for more than a few conservative die-hards when she insists that "Palin’s off-message remarks are better than a lot of things I’ve heard coming out of a campaign that could have used some messaging help more than once, an operation that hasn’t always been worthy of the seasoned public servant at its helm, John McCain... Without her, all may have been lost for the Republicans weeks ago. She has, by McCain’s own admission, energized the campaign." And McCain's hometown newspaper, the far right Arizona Republic, opines that when all is said and done, Sarah Palin was the right VP pick and that, in fact, "Palin is exactly what America needs." On the other hand, if that last statement has sunk in a little, you might want to watch this entertaining little clip a few times:




MAYBE WE WON'T HAVE PRINCESS SARAH
TO KICK AROUND ALL THAT MUCH LONGER

by Ken

Yesterday we were talking about Eugene Robinson's upgraded estimation of Princess Sarah's political skills, which led him to predict ruefully that, provided she can manage to absorb enough campaign smarts and poise to harness her electoral va-va-voom (not his phrase), "We'll have Sarah Palin to kick around for a long, long time."

Last night Rachel Maddow put the question to MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell Jr., who took a strenuously opposite view. Assuming the McCranky-Princess ticket goes down the toilet Tuesday, he sees no national political future for our Sarah. The precedents are overwhelmingly against her, he argued. Losing VP candidates just don't go on to mount successful presidential candidacies -- ask Dan Quayle, John Edwards, and Joe Lieberman.

It's not even because the princess may be shouldering the blame for the party's 2008 defeat, McDonnell said -- though he did think those staggeringly high negatives Howie reports above add to her problem. Mostly, though, that problem is simply having lost this year. In support of this, he argued that Edwards and Holy Joe performed OK -- his word! -- in their VP-candidate role. (I'm not so sure about that. I don't think either did much of anything for his ticket. I'll concede, though, that neither could be blamed for his ticket's defeat.)

O'Donnell insisted, however, that losing is one sin our electoral system just doesn't forgive.

#

The Circular Firing Squad Begins Blasting Away... NRSC Blames McCain For Their Disaster

Will the GOP Senate leadership take responsibility-- or just blame McCain and Bush? One guess

Well, I guess John Ensign (R-NV) would be looking for a likely scapegoat to blame for what he knows is coming a week from today. After all, the arch-reactionary Nevada Republican is the chairman of the NRSC and it's his job to make sure all the Republican Senate incumbents get re-elected, make sure the retiring Republicans are replaced with new Republicans, and then see if he can pick up some Democratic seats. He's failing-- miserably-- on all three charges. Earlier today he was looking to shift some blame onto Ted Stevens' corruption-- calling the twilight of the Senate's longest serving Republican's career a "disgrace"-- but by late afternoon he went public with something he's been grousing about for months: the disaster of being saddled with McCain.

He said aloud what Republicans were loathe to even whisper 'til now, that the Democrats could win a filibuster-proof majority. Even if you count Lieberman as a Democrat [and on substantive matters in this session he's voted with the Democrats 69% of the time-- more than red state nominal Democrats from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party like Mark Pryor (AR), Evan Bayh (IN), Mary Landrieu (LA), Ben Nelson (NE) and Tim Johnson (SD)] the Democrats would need to hold all their own seats-- looks like that's no problem whatsoever-- and pick up 10 Republican seats; much harder.

There are two sure things: the open red seats in Virginia and New Mexico are going to conservative business-oriented Democrat Mark Warner and progressive, working family Democrat Tom Udall, respectively. Two moderate Democrats, Jeanne Shaheen (NH) and Mark Udall (CO) look like their races are pretty much wrapped up and are just waiting for the bows on Tuesday. Conservative Kay Hagan (NC) and refreshingly progressive Jeff Merkley (OR) also look like they're about to cross the home stretch with bug smiles on their faces. That's 6. Polls show Al Franken ahead of pathetic Bush rubber stamp Norm Coleman in Minnesota but it's a 3-way race so you never know what's going to happen and Mark Begich looks good to beat convicted GOP felon Ted Stevens up in Alaska. OK, that's 8. Democrats still need 2 (and then they'll still have a Lieberman problem, not to mention members like Johnson, Nelson, Bayh, et al. who are just as likely to vote with Republicans as they are to vote with Democrats. The most current polling predicts 3 shots-- without Divine intervention-- for Democrats: 2 very right-wing Democrats who are unlikely to be of any use whatsoever on progressive governance-- Ronnie Mussgrove of Mississippi and, worse, Bruce Lunsford of Kentucky-- plus a decent moderate in Georgia, Jim Martin. Beyond that there would have to be major turnarounds in Nebraska, Texas, Maine and Oklahoma, four really good candidates in four very red states. None are in the hopeless category, like Tennessee, the two Wyoming races or Alabama, but all are-- as we've been saying all year-- really tough.

OK, back to Ensign, who's about to preside over the loss of between 6 and 10 seats. "There's no question the top of the ticket is affecting our Senate races and it’s making it a lot more difficult,” Ensign said on MSNBC. “It’s a fairly toxic atmosphere out there with the financial crisis for Republicans.” He hopes the Lieberman will join the Republican caucus and calls him a "wild card."

Ensign is especially worried after looking at the record of McCain's coattails in special elections since he's become the nominee. In three consecutive races to replace retiring Republicans in red districts of Illinois, Louisiana and Mississippi, McCain failed dismally, losing all three seats. Several Republican Senators have denounced McCain's viciously negative campaign tactics and even called on him to try running a more decent and honest campaign. Likely Oregon loser Gordon Smith resigned as McCain's state campaign chair, started running TV ads that made it look like he was on the Obama team and has done everything to distance himself from McCain short of comparing him and Palin to Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun. Very few Senate incumbents have asked McCain to campaign with them and even a crackpot extremist like James Inhofe has tried to distance himself from the stink of political death that is the McCain campaign.

Meanwhile McCain staffers are blaming their candidate's likely loss of solidly red states like Virginia and North Carolina on weak Republican candidates, respectively ex-governor James Gilmore and incumbent Senator Liddy Dole, who was trashed by McCain staffers last week as "road kill" and "hopeless." If I wanted to direct last minute money to Democrats where it could do some good, I would stick with probable winners Jeff Merkley and Mark Begich and long-shot hopefuls Andrew Rice, Rick Noriega and Tom Allen-- all right here. Anyone who donates to all 5 today will get a Blue America gift in return as a thank you. Watch the kind of negative and vicious smear campaign that Inhofe is running against Andrew Rice in Oklahoma, distracting people there from the real issues:

ENSIGN FEELING OPTIMISTIC PREDICTS JUST A FEW REPUBLICAN SENATE LOSSES

Armed with a strategy premised on fooling all of the people-- or at least 51% of the voters-- all of the time-- or at least every November-- the congressional Republicans are on a mission. BoehnerBluntCole&Doody would like to hold their losses down to 12 to 20 seats in the House and yesterday, John Ensign (R-NV), the GOP version of Chuck Schumer, only not as cut throat, said he'd be celebrating on election night if only 3 of his colleagues are defeated by Democrats. It's very unlikely he'll be celebrating, but let me get to that below. First, though, let's look at his strategy. Ensign is trying to get reluctant Republican donors to contribute to his lost cause-- I mean who wants to bet on a three two legged horse?-- by telling them that with a likely win by Obama and a far stronger Democratic majority in the House, the Right must be able to keep up the Bush-McConnell-McCain strategy obstruction in the Senate. If they fall below 40 votes, they will be unable to filibuster popular measures the House passes. Ensign calls it his firewall strategy and if the Democrats wind up with 60 seats in the Senate, Obama in the White House and a strong majority in the House, Democrats will be able to bring the war in Iraq to an end, pass health care, end unfair tax policies that reward wealth instead of work, strengthen public education, bring ethics reform to government, clean up the environment, fix the broken regulatory system, institute a sensible energy policy and institute the policies and reforms the vast majority of Americans support.

During a meeting with journalists on Thursday, Senator Ensign gamed several of the most competitive races for Republicans this year, and talked about his desire to hold their losses to just three seats in the Senate. His pitch to donors and supporters is that Republicans in the Senate could be the “firewall” against a potential Obama presidency and a strengthened House leader in Nancy Pelosi.

In order for Republicans to be effective in the Senate, he said, to moderate Democratic policies, the G.O.P. can’t afford to lose four seats or more. To slip down four seats or more, below 45, would cripple the ability of Senate Republicans to threaten a filibuster.

Among the Senate races Mr. Ensign views as most competitive are Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.

Last night and today everyone in Washington is trying to guess which Republican senators Ensign would be most willing to see sink. Although he tried to make the case that McCain's coattails-- which were the death knell for Greg Davis (R-MS), Woody KKK-pecker (R-LA) and Jim Oberweis (R-IL)-- could save the doomed careers of John Sununu (NH), Steve Pearce (NM) and Bob Schaffer (CO), these races are not going to be won by the Republicans despite his spin. He admits that Obama-- who, unlike the lackluster and tired McCain, does have serious coattails-- will probably help several Democratic candidates, especially Jeff Merkley who is challenging Bush rubber stamp Gordon Smith in Oregon. He also admits he's worried about Obama's popularity in North Carolina where Elizabeth Dole is floundering and recognizes that Virginia is a lost cause for Team Red. Ensign seems to think that if they lose in Minnesota, it means the whole edifice is tumbling down. I wonder if he'll jump off a building if Andrew Rice beats the craziest of the Republican incumbents, James Inhofe.

Some Democrats speculate that if there is an Obama-led Democratic sweep, there could be a 10-seat turnover-- enough votes to tear down the Republican firewall, since any filibuster can be broken with 60 votes.

Overall, Ensign said the conventional wisdom is right-- this isn’t a good year for Republicans.

If the GOP ends Election Night with only a three-seat Senate turnover, that “would be a great night for us,” the chief fundraiser for Senate Republicans said.

Don't bother bringing too much champagne.

The only plausible incumbent Democratic target the GOP has is reactionary corporatist Mary Landrieu who deserves to lose-- since she votes with the Republicans more than any other Democrat other than Tom Johnson (D-SD) and Ben Nelson (D-NE)-- but she's so far ahead that the even more reactionary Democrat Rove recruited to switch parties and challenge her is unlikely to even come close. As for endangered Republican incumbents... well, Lizard Man (D-NY) has his hands full. To get to a filibuster-proof majority, like Roosevelt had after the 1936 election (when only 16 Republicans were left in the Senate) the Democrats need to win open seats in Virginia, New Mexico, and Colorado (all very likely-- with a possibility of another two in Nebraska and Idaho) and to take out a healthy dose of GOP incumbents Susan Collins (ME), Ted Stevens (AK), Norm Coleman (MN), John Sununu (NH), Gordon Smith (OR), James Inhofe (OK), John Cornyn (TX), Elizabeth Dole (NC), Roger Wicker (MS), Miss McConnell (KY), Pat Roberts (KS), Saxby Chambliss (GA), and Lamar Alexander (TN). To be able to dump gift Lieberman to a shrunken and shriveled GOP and to win cloture votes to shut down Republican filibusters, the Democrats need 11 seats-- or 10 if Olympia Snowe switches, which is likely if Collins is defeated. (Another prospect for a switch is Arlen Specter.)

If you'd like to help this worth cause, Blue America has endorsed Tom Allen (D-ME), Andrew Rice (D-OK), Rick Noriega (D-TX), and Mark Begich (D-AK), all fighting uphill races against well-financed Bush rubber stamps. If you'd like to help any of all of these worth candidates, please stop by our Blue America ActBlue page.

JOHN ENSIGN BLAMES LIKELY GOP LOSSES IN NOVEMBER ON REPUBLICAN SEX PERVERTS VITTER, CRAIG &... FOLEY

Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) is widely considered the worst chair in the entire history of the NRSC. Not only did she fail to gain any Republican senate seats, she wound up losing enough to switch majority control from the GOP to Democrats. She was unceremoniously sent packing back to North Carolina. Now her successor, Nevada rubber stamp John Ensign, is well on the way to accomplishing the impossible: doing even worse than Liddy.

Ensign has dropped the pretense of even talking about gaining back the majority, which could be accomplished with just one net gain and an easy flip from the junior senator from Connecticut. Instead, he's trying to frighten Republicans by pointing out that Democrats could win 10 seats and make the GOP minority superfluous. Today's CongressDaily says he's "using the specter of an almost filibuster-proof Democratic majority to motivate potential GOP supporters in November."

I just got back from Washington where the talk everywhere was about what it would take to make sure there is a filibuster-proof majority come January. I've long held that they key-- at least symbolically-- is replacing red state rubber stamp reactionaries Inhofe (OK), McConnell (KY), Dole (NC), and Cornyn (TX) with strong, principled progressive leaders Andrew Rice, Greg Fischer, Jim Neal and Rick Noriega. Those 4 are the key to a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate-- and a progressive legislative agenda. The biggest obstacle to achieving that isn't the pathetic ensign, but, ironically, his Democratic Party counterpart the craven and powermad Chuck Schumer.

According to the CongressDaily piece Ensign's picture has deteriorated rapidly. "Despite having 23 Republican seats to defend this fall against 12 for Democrats, Ensign held out hope this year that it was possible for Republicans to pull off a huge upset and regain a majority. That was before a handful of promising Republican challengers withdrew from races. Ensign conceded in an interview with CongressDaily that it is virtually assured Republicans will not be in the majority in January 'unless something miraculous happens.'"

Ensign seems to be in full delusion mode and concludes that what Americans want from the Senate is obstructionism on everything, from health care to ending the Iraq occupation. He's going to be in for quite the shock in November. "While Republicans may be striving to limit the damage, Ensign is confident their legislative record during the 110th Congress will attract support." McConnell, who himself is highly unpopular in Kentucky uses obstructionist tactics to block one popular initiative after another. The GOP seems to think this is the winning formula.
     
"In the Senate, a strong minority can be very effective," Ensign said. And he's correct. If Americans want endless war in Iraq, no real plan for national security or homeland protection, no health care for vets, no health care for children, no health care for anyone but millionaires, if they want warrantless wiretaps, torture, retroactive immunity, outsourcing of American jobs to third world countries, offshoring to avoid paying taxes, and if they think corporations shouldn't be regulated but should have a free hand to rob banks, cheat families out of their homes, pollute the air and water... well, then Ensign and McConnell have an excellent case. "It's really motivating businesses" to support Republican candidates, Ensign said, "because they understand the consequence of it... It's becoming more of a 'getting our team excited,' and so I see momentum definitely building."

Whatever steam the Republicans can produce heading into the fall, the NRSC will still be hampered by its fundraising woes-- since May 2006, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has raised more every month than the NRSC.

That cash disadvantage means Republicans will have to be careful where they direct their funds, lest they be wasted. Ensign pointed to Republican Sens. John Sununu in New Hampshire and Norm Coleman in Minnesota as races on which the NRSC will keep a close eye when making funding decisions.

Sununu faces a stiff challenge from former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who continues to lead the GOP incumbent in polls, while Coleman faces comedian and satirist Al Franken, whose national image has enabled him to raise money to make that race competitive.

...Money is not the only thing Republicans need to worry about.

Although they have put a few months between them and scandals involving Republican Sens. Larry Craig of Idaho, who was accused of soliciting sex in a men's bathroom in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, and David Vitter of Louisiana, who was accused of using a Washington, D.C.-based escort service, Ensign cautioned against underestimating the collateral damage from scandals.

"I dropped 12 points because of [former Rep.] Mark Foley," Ensign said, referring to his own polling in the wake of disclosures in September 2006 that the Florida Republican House member had been sending sexually suggestive text messages to congressional pages.

"What did I have to do with Mark Foley? Nothing," said Ensign, and yet his campaign felt the impact.

UPDATE: HOUSE REPUBLICANS HAVE NOTHING TO BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT EITHER

Everything points to another dozen or more losses for them in November and 23 Democratic challengers outraised Republican incumbents in the quarter that just ended! Included in that total are 7 Blue America candidates: Vic Wulsin (D-OH), Joe Garcia (D-FL), Mark Schauer (D-MI), Eric Massa (D-NY), Darcy Burner (D-WA), Tom Perriello (D-VA), Debbie Cook (D-CA) plus two more we are talking about endorsing (Judy Feder in Virginia and Joshua Segall in Alabama).