Category: Senate

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Elections Politics Senate

New Poll – The Workaholic Republicans Have a 72% Chance of Winning The Senate

Republicans in the House of Representatives have done such a wonderful job pushing America forward (can you see my eyes roll), with all their zero job bills and their constant vacations – they’re on vacation now by the way – that grateful Americans just can’t wait to give them control of the Senate too.

Seriously!

According to new polling by The Washington Post, Republican’s chances of taking control of the Senate have risen to 72 percent, the highest level yet in the almost six months that The Upshot’s forecasting model has been tracking the race. The odds rose from 68 percent on Monday and from a low of 50 percent last month.

The main cause of the latest shift is new polling in Kansas, which suggests the race is now a true tossup rather than a race in which the Republican, Senator Pat Roberts, is a slight underdog. Our latest forecast gives Mr. Roberts a 52 percent chance to win in November, making the race between him and Greg Orman, an independent candidate, essentially a coin flip.

As outside money has poured into the state over the past month, Kansas is emerging as one of the most competitive Senate races of 2014. The Democratic candidate, Chad Taylor, quit the race in early September, and Mr. Orman’s chances then spiked. Mr. Orman has said he would caucus with the majority party if he won, converting a sure Republican seat into a possible pickup opportunity for Democrats.

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Mitch McConnell Politics Senate

New Poll – Alison Lundergan Grimes Overtakes Mitch McConnell in Kentucky

(AP Photo/Stephen Lance Dennee)

Maybe the voters in Kentucky are smarter than we thought. They kept voting for Mitch McConnell election after election, sending him back to Congress even when it was clear the Republican did nothing for the state. So maybe in this cycle these voters were just pulling our legs all along. According to a new poll, these voters now favor Alison Grimes.

We can all exhale, although, briefly!

After two polls in his favor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has slipped behind Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes in his re-election bid, according to the latest Bluegrass Poll.

Grimes, Kentucky’s secretary of state, now leads the five-term senator 46 percent to 44 percent among likely voters, the survey found. Libertarian candidate David Patterson had 3 percent support in the poll, while 7 percent of likely voters said they were undecided.

While Grimes’ advantage is within the poll’s margin of error, it represents a 6-point swing to the Democrat since the survey was last conducted in late August.

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Politics Senate

OMG – Eric Cantor Loses His House Seat To a Teaparty Brat

David Brat that is. He is the Teaparty bagger who just upset The House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor!

I was settling into my chair just a little after 8pm, trying to see what Chris Hayes had to talk about on his MSNBC show. I totally took for granted the elections going on in Virginia, as I was sure there would be no news made tonight. A Brat named David, a Teaparty member, was challenging one of the untouchables in Republican politics, Eric Cantor.

My attitude was, move on folks, there’s nothing to see here.

Chris Hayes began and within the first five minutes, another MSNBC host, Rachel Maddow broke in with the “Breaking News!”

I knew something big was happening, but to think that Cantor had lost never crossed my mind. Then Rachel made the announcement – Eric Cantor has lost his House seat, as per the Associated Press. The graphic was then shown and I immediately saw why the race was called for Brat. It wasn’t a loss by Cantor, Brat completely blew him out of the election waters!

With 83% of the precincts reporting, David Brat was already leading Cantor by double digits – 56% to 44%.

“Obviously we came up short,” Cantor said as he began his concession speech. “I know there’s a lot of long faces here tonight and it’s disappointing, sure, but I believe in this country, I believe there’s opportunity around the next corner for all of us. So I look forward to continuing to fight with all of you for the things that we believe in. For the Conservative cause because those solutions of ours are the answers to the problems that so many people face today. Thank you very much.”

Applause by his campaign audience!

I’m still in shock!

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Michelle Obama Politics Senate

Michelle Obama for Senate?

Keith Koffler writes:

Lady Michelle Obama is everywhere. She’s traveling to China. She’s raising money for Democrats. She’s issuing plaintive tweets seeking the rescue of the kidnapped Nigerian girls.

She’s wading uncharacteristically deep into the Washington political mud pit to defend her school lunch program against Republicans, assailing them last Tuesday for opting to “play politics with our kids’ health.” She struck a similar tone in a New York Times op-ed two days later, accusing Republicans of trying to “override science” and suggesting they join parents and “put our children’s interests first.”

So what’s with the bolder profile?

Sure,  Obama cares strongly about the things she is doing. That she does care in fact begs another question: Is caring all that’s going on here? Does she have political ambitions that would allow her to pursue an agenda while working to cement her husband’s legacy?

michelle — nutriation factsSpeculation about a possible political future for Michelle Obama has naturally centered on the White House. But that’s the wrong place — at least for now.

Illinois has a Republican senator, Mark Kirk, and he is up for reelection in 2016. He’ll be formidable, particularly given his brave recovery from a stroke. But Illinois is a heavily Democratic state, and the race could be close.

No Illinois Democratic candidate would bring the star power and nationwide fundraising capacity that Obama would.

She has proven herself a superb speaker on behalf of her pet projects and is now a veteran campaigner for her husband. She’s also remained highly popular — even as the president’s ratings have plummeted.

She could represent the Democrats’ best chance to pick up a desperately needed — and winnable — seat

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democrats Elections Politics Republican Senate

New Analysis – Democrats Will Maintain Senate After Midterms

According to Upshot via The New York Times, Democrats now have a 57% chance if keeping power in the Senate.

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Politics Sarah Palin Senate

Sarah Palin Endorses Alligator Fighter for Senate

In case you’re wondering, Sarah Palin claims that she wants the best for America. That’s apparently why she is making all these endorsements.

The latest person Palin wants
to see in a leadership role in America is a teabagger whose only claim to fame is wrestling an alligator. A man named Rob Maness.

In her endorsement, Palin said;

“In the Louisiana Senate race we have the opportunity to send a true conservative and a real warrior to join that fight. So, today I am lending my support to retired Col. Rob Maness for U.S. Senate.”

In Palin’s America, we’ll all he able to see Russia from her house and America would be run by quitters and alligator wrestlers. That’s why I vote Democratic.

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Politics Senate Wisconsin

Wisconsin Voter – Republicans Are “Sticking Their Nose In My Vagina!”

It was almost a war in Wisconsin on Wednesday, when Republicans, determined stick their nose in women’s vagina, did just that. But don’t take my word for it, Democratic Senator Kathleen Vinehout read a few letters from some of her constituents as she tried to hold a debate about the Republican’s proposed bill to force women to have an Ultrasound before an abortion.

In one of the letters Vinehout read, the constituent said this;

“The idea of — quote — small government is in direct conflict with big government Republicans sticking their nose in my vagina,” one voter named Suzanne wrote. “How can we get the conservatives — mostly men — to quit blaming women, many times girls, solely for unwanted pregnancies?”

But the sponsor of the bill, Republican Senator Mary Lazich, did not want to hear anymore letters from those pesky constituents. After all, they’re just the people who will be affected by the proposed forced ultrasound procedure. Mary, with much passion in her voice, made her point known.

“If you have a loved one that’s thinking about terminating their pregnancy, for crying out loud, you want them to have full information, you want them to have an ultrasound, you want them to know what’s going on in that womb and what they’re doing, and that they’re not going to be able to change that for the rest of their life!” They make that decision, it’s over! It’s over in a few minutes. And then later on they can live with the fact that they terminated their pregnancy and it was the best thing for them or they killed their child and they made a horrific decision and they regret it and they wish they never would have done it!”

Passion was high indeed. These so-called “small government” believers wanted…no… needed this bill to pass. So the Republican Senate President Mike Ellis, had enough from the Democrats. He demanded that the Democrats “shut up” and “sit down,” while the bill was forced down their throats.

The bill ended up passing the Republican controlled Senate and is expected to pass the House. And of course, the Republican governor will sign the bill into law.

Watch the craziness below.

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gun control Politics Senate

Gabby Giffirds Scolding Remarks To Failed Senate

The Senate’s refusal to do the right thing yesterday and approve extended background checks rubbed many Americans the wrong way. After all, 90% of the American people wanted this amendment passed. But republicans successfully killed the measure, choosing instead to cater to the demands of the NRA.

Expressing her disappointment is Gabby Giffords, herself a victim of gun violence when she was shot in the head by a crazed gunman. Giffords spoke out in an op-ed in today’s New York Times.

SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them.

On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms – a bill that could prevent future tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., Blacksburg, Va., and too many communities to count.

Some of the senators who voted against the background-check amendments have met with grieving parents whose children were murdered at Sandy Hook, in Newtown. Some of the senators who voted no have also looked into my eyes as I talked about my experience being shot in the head at point-blank range in suburban Tucson two years ago, and expressed sympathy for the 18 other people shot besides me, 6 of whom died. These senators have heard from their constituents – who polls show overwhelmingly favored expanding background checks. And still these senators decided to do nothing. Shame on them.

I watch TV and read the papers like everyone else. We know what we’re going to hear: vague platitudes like “tough vote” and “complicated issue.” I was elected six times to represent southern Arizona, in the State Legislature and then in Congress. I know what a complicated issue is; I know what it feels like to take a tough vote. This was neither. These senators made their decision based on political fear and on cold calculations about the money of special interests like the National Rifle Association, which in the last election cycle spent around $25 million on contributions, lobbying and outside spending.

Speaking is physically difficult for me. But my feelings are clear: I’m furious. I will not rest until we have righted the wrong these senators have done, and until we have changed our laws so we can look parents in the face and say: We are trying to keep your children safe. We cannot allow the status quo – desperately protected by the gun lobby so that they can make more money by spreading fear and misinformation – to go on.

I am asking every reasonable American to help me tell the truth about the cowardice these senators demonstrated. I am asking for mothers to stop these lawmakers at the grocery store and tell them: You’ve lost my vote. I am asking activists to unsubscribe from these senators’ e-mail lists and to stop giving them money. I’m asking citizens to go to their offices and say: You’ve disappointed me, and there will be consequences.

People have told me that I’m courageous, but I have seen greater courage. Gabe Zimmerman, my friend and staff member in whose honor we dedicated a room in the United States Capitol this week, saw me shot in the head and saw the shooter turn his gunfire on others. Gabe ran toward me as I lay bleeding. Toward gunfire. And then the gunman shot him, and then Gabe died. His body lay on the pavement in front of the Safeway for hours.

I have thought a lot about why Gabe ran toward me when he could have run away. Service was part of his life, but it was also his job. The senators who voted against background checks for online and gun-show sales, and those who voted against checks to screen out would-be gun buyers with mental illness, failed to do their job.

Read More.

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News Senate vote

While You Mourned Boston, Senate Republicans Killed Background Checks

Got’cha again!

While the nation was busy mourning the devastation that happened in Boston on Monday, Republicans in the Senate, supported by a few Democrats managed to slowly and willfully kill background checks. Apparently what happened in Newtown Connecticut was not enough for these heartless  Senators to support a bill that will guarantee making sure gun purchasers are sane enough to buy a gun.

The vote on the amendment was 54 to 46. Sixty votes were needed for the amendment to be adopted.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein pushes for an assault weapons ban in the U.S. while speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday.

The deal was the result of a deal struck between Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

As the bill was defeated, a voice in the Senate gallery could be heard yelling “Shame on you!”

The Manchin-Toomey amendment would have extended existing background check rules to gun sales made online and at gun shows. It was vehemently opposed by the National Rifle Association, who said it infringed on the rights of gun owners.

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gun control Politics Senate

Senate Approved Motion To Debate Gun Control By 68-31 Vote

The Senate voted to move forward on gun control Thursday, clearing the first of what is expected to be many 60-vote hurdles for the legislation.

In a 68-31 vote, the Senate approved a procedural motion that will allow debate on the Democratic measure to being. Sixteen Republicans voted in favor of the motion, while two Democrats — both from states President Obama lost in the 2012 election, voted against it.

The two Democrats were Sens. Mark Begich (Alaska) and Mark Pryor (Ark.). The vote comes nearly four months after 26 people including 20 first-graders were killed by a lone gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

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Mitch McConnell Politics Senate

Ashley Judd Suggests A Possible Senate Run

(AP) – Actress and Kentucky native Ashley Judd made a rare public reference to her possible run for the seat held by Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

WXIX-TV says Judd gave the keynote speech Friday at the American Counseling Association’s 2013 conference in Cincinnati.

In speaking about her personal experience with depression, she said when she started in counseling she didn’t like to be criticized. She added that was ironic since she was, in her words, “about to get $40 million worth of it.”

Judd also said her mother, Naomi Judd, can’t wait to turn her garage into a campaign headquarters.

Judd is a former Kentucky resident now living outside of Nashville, Tenn.

She has been largely mum about her intentions. Defeating McConnell would be the Democrats’ biggest prize of the 2014 election.

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Mitch McConnell Politics Senate

Ashley Judd Tells Advisers She’s Running For Congress

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, you better watch out! Your nine political lives are coming to an end! And I can make that assessment based on the news coming out from the Ashley Judd for Senate camp, that the popular, lovable entertainer will be running against McConnell for the 2014 midterms election.

Ashley Judd

According to reports from The Huffington Post, Judd, the 44-year-old actress and social activist, has told key advisers and political figures that she is planning to announce her candidacy for U.S. Senate here this spring.

Judd told one close ally that she plans to announce her run for the Democratic nomination for the 2014 race “around Derby” — meaning in early May when the Kentucky Derby brings national attention to Louisville and the Bluegrass State.

Reached for comment by email Saturday, Judd offered a not-quite-ironclad denial to The Huffington Post. “I am not sure who is saying this stuff, but it is not I! I’d prefer as a fan of your journalism that you stay accurate and credible. We told everyone who called us yesterday these stories are fabrications.”

But she declined to specify which “stories,” did not say what wasn’t “accurate,” and did not respond when asked directly whether she had, in fact, decided to run or chosen a time to declare her intentions.

“I know she knows she has to declare soon,” said one source, a highly placed elected official who declined to be identified because he was discussing private plans.

“She could always change her mind,” he added. “I changed my mind twice before I finally declared. But as of now it is a done deal.” She has discussed her plans, sources say, with former Gov. Wendell H. Ford, the 88-year-old dean of Kentucky Democrats, among others.

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