My 2010 election prediction: The GOP wins 8 or 9 more Senate seats outright, then takes majority control by flipping Lieberman and/or Nelson. They fall a few seats short in the House and Nancy Pelosi continues as Speaker of the House.

Most active political bloggers get between 20 – 30 emails a day from PR companies and other news sources trying to get you to write about their news. Lately I’ve been getting a lot of releases from National Journal about new journos they’re adding to their team. I noticed a few higher profile names, but [...]

In America, in matters of religious tolerance, there should be no close calls, no qualification of primary principles, and the first amendment should not be location dependent. I hold no quarter with the distinction of “rights” vs. right which strikes me as a Clintonian parsing for those looking to rationalize making the Cordoba Project move the mosque/cultural center.

Ready for an exercise in tortured logic? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Pay especially close attention to Roger Simon’s last paragraph: Honest to goodness, the man just does not get it. He might be forced to pull a Palin and resign before his first term is over. He could go off and write [...]

Democrats maneuver into position for 2010 midterm battle by cleverly adopting a circular firing squad formation. READY… AIM… FIRE.

Some Democrats have taken comfort in a recent tracking poll indicating that opposition to Obamacare has marginally decreased. This is legislation that only looks good if you blur your vision and avert your eyes. The closer you look, the uglier it gets. The promised deficit reduction has evaporated, the expected cost controls – don’t, and even before the most expensive benefits and costs kick-in, healthcare reform has already become an economic drag aggravating unemployment.

Really Arizona legislature? Really Governor Jan Brewer? This is the time when you decide to make this switch? And, from Politico, the text of the bill reads like some of the craziest satire… “Public school pupils should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate [...]

By now you know that he was nabbed last night at JFK International Airport, but do you know how it happened? From Politico: The number from a disposable cellphone led FBI agents to the suspect arrested Monday night for allegedly driving a car bomb into Times Square on Saturday evening, according to a senior official. [...]

Independents Fight for Political Reform! Who are the “real independents”? Randy Miller is one of them, and you can meet plenty more grassroots activists who are working overtime (for no pay) fighting for political reforms like open primaries and nonpartisan elections all over the country! Let’s hope that Charlie Crist seeks some of us out [...]

Do know that without the health care legislation…this wouldn’t have happened. From Politico: “While many health plans already abide by the standards outlined in the new law, our community is committed to implementing the new standards in May 2010 to ensure that individuals and families will have greater peace of mind when purchasing coverage on [...]

This one always seemed like a non-brainer to me, and thankfully Stupak’s anti-abortion bloc and the White House have reached an agreement. Now Dems will have no problem getting the health care bill passed. From Politico: A cadre of anti-abortion Democrats announced Sunday that they’ve reached an agreement with the White House to defuse the [...]

Just got the news from Politico: House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson says Democrats have clinched the 216 votes they need to pass President Barack Obama’s health-reform plan. “We have the votes now — as we speak,” Larson said Sunday morning. But do they? Looks like Bart Stupak and the White House are nearing a [...]

SEIU prez Andrew Stern is threatening to “go independent” on local races to oppose Dems who oppose Prez Obama’s healthcare reform bill. One enabling factor in New York is fusion voting, which has empowered third parties like the New York Independence Party, Conservative Party and Working Families Party. Meanwhile, former Dem La Plata County Colorado [...]

He’s saying it will pass in the next 60 days… “I’ve had many conversations this week with the president, his chief of staff, and Speaker Pelosi,” Reid said during an appearance Friday evening on “Face to Face with Jon Ralston” in Nevada. “And we’re really trying to move forward on this.” The majority leader said [...]

I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning… The Tea Party’s choice in the Florida Republican primary, Marco Rubio, began his address to a crowd of conservative conventioneers by taking a shot at President Obama for reading from a teleprompter. He did it while standing in front of two easily visible teleprompters. It was [...]

Yesterday, in a background briefing, the administration announced a three year spending freeze on portions of the budget. Since departments with the fastest growing government expenditures like Defense, VA, the State Department, and entitlements are excluded from the “freeze”, it will have a negligible effect on the ballooning deficit. One cannot help but wonder if the administration is trying to be all things to all people, and risks representing nothing to no one.

The Massachusetts special election to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat continues to reverberate (or is that ricochet?) in the media [for a quick round-up of latest Charlie Cook in National Journal, Robert Reich on Huffington Post, Dan Balz in Washington Post and Kristi Keck on CNN, see today's Hankster] and independent voters remain center stage (the [...]

The President is on the stump, giving speeches, sitting for interviews, and conducting town-halls in a media blitz supporting the financial system reform initiative. He campaigned on this reform and his administration has promoted several iterations of the bill since taking office. In the meantime, Democrats in the House and Senate are crafting reform bills that are inconsistent (if not incompatible) with each other and with the President’s promises.

It’s been a bad week for Democrats. Republican Scott Brown won the special election for the Senate seat formerly held by Sen. Ted Kennedy, leading to predictions that the House and Senate will not be able to cram through their strictly partisan health care reform bill. To add to the nervousness already felt by the [...]

Is there a better political story than the Brown/Coakley special election in Massachusetts? This is a much more exciting contest than either of the playoff games on Sunday. The last big effort to turn back the Scott Brown tide was in evidence all weekend. It had two tracks, a high road, and a low road.