Wednesday Open Thread

7 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

1. So when are these Paccione poll #’s going public?

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2. Here’s the deal:  you don’t release an early poll unless it shows overwhelming support and even then people will think it’s biased. 

   Angie will announce for Congress if the #s are good . . . but don’t expect her to show you or me the details.

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3. You guys had nothing on Treasurer Mark Hillman’s wedding this past weekend!

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4. Fortunately, thanks to you, we just did.

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5. “Bush originally had planned to announce a replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on July 26 or 27 […] [T]hose plans changed because Rove has become a focus of Fitzgerald’s interest and of news accounts about the matter.” – Bloomberg News

   No rest for the beleaguered.  Yesterday’s “revelations”:
   *  That the supposed source of the Administration’s information on Plame – a State Dept. document – specifically stated that Plame’s information was “sensitive”, aka classified.
   *  A reporter for the American Prospect revealed that one focus of the investigation into Rove is that he did not disclose his contact with TIME reporter Matt Cooper over the Plame case, which would lead to a prima facia point for an Obstruction of Justice charge.
   * Rumors are starting to gather on the “damage assessment” that surely followed the leaking of Plame’s name and revelation of the CIA front company Brewster-Jennings; that assessment may have been part of the classified information considered by the judges in the reporters’ contempt cases, and may state that at least one CIA covert agent was executed by the country in which he was working when he was linked to Plame’s “company” front; it is known for a fact that a single covert CIA agent was KIA in 2003, but the CIA (for obvious reasons) does not list details.

   I am really beginning to think the Democrats will pull off a national upset along the scale of the 1994 Republican sweep.  Nationally, the Democrats are coming up with some strong challengers to vulnerable Republicans.  In the recent past, the GOP has made national gains through consolidation of their strongholds in the South (almost all of the ’04 Senate gains were of this nature); now, it appears Democrats are doing the same, placing well-known candidates in for races in PA, MD, and other moderate states.  Ohio’s scandals may create a complete revival of what was considered a moribund State Democratic party; the three GOP candidates for governor are all polling in the 20-35% range as the CoinGate and developing election equipment bribery scandals take over Ohio news; Congressional candidates may be dragged along.  An August 2nd election for an open seat in Ohio’s Congressional delegation may foreshadow the national ’06 election trend, and the Democrats are going all out to help their candidate.

   If Tom DeLay and the White House can’t put their respective scandals behind them soon (and it doesn’t appear that the prosecutors will let them), the mantra of scandal and corruption will stick to GOP candidates nationally, and it is likely that the distaste for the GOP leadership’s shenanigans will translate to a depressed Republican voter turnout.

   Here in Colorado, I fully expect a new push for anti-gay-rights amendments to draw out the GOP base and counter the problem.  We will probably see a number of other states’ GOP parties following the same strategy, but the visibility of these prominent GOP scandals will probably determine if the base can really save them this time.

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6. Are you and Alva going for long-term trade-offs in duties, James?  Haven’t seen you posting for a while, and now it seems you’re everywhere. 🙂

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