Campaign

Bill Raggio, the minority leader in the Nevada state Senate and a leading Silver State Republican, added a major new dimension to the U.S. Senate race there by blasting Sharron Angle for being radical and extreme, and endorsing Sen. Harry Reid (D) for reelection.

Raggio is no particular fan of Reid, though they share the kind of mutual professional respect that is often lacking between the political parties these days. Raggio has never before endorsed a Democratic candidate in a major race. His political viewpoint is Republican-conservative.

Republican Senate candidates may or may not agree on the science behind witchcraft, but they are united in disbelief in the overwhelming science that demonstrates manmade causes to global climate change. Increasingly, these candidates are doing their best to boil a witch’s stew of doubt by attacking the veracity of science and scientists.

Emerging from the campaign trail is the notion that vulnerable House Democrats are “losing” their races due mostly to their vote in favor of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Let’s ignore the fact that the election isn’t over yet and drill down on the false pretense that the ACES vote or support for addressing our energy security and climate change is unpopular with voters.

At the rate he's going, President Obama may have to ask former Vice President Dick Cheney for some advice locating an undisclosed location. It's hard to believe he is about to begin a reelection campaign when there are so few swing states or districts he can campaign in now.

The current vice president, Joe Biden, isn't hiding in a bunker, but is instead leading the campaign for vulnerable Democrats running for reelection in the November midterms. Biden is going everywhere Obama cannot and even places Obama can. He is the best face the administration has right now to answer the questions of voters angry about the economy and even healthcare reform, and candidates have welcomed him in South Carolina, North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington state, Ohio and beyond.

All patriotic Americans should demand that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and any other group making massive donations to political campaigns immediately disclose all sources of foreign money.

It is an outrage that any group can receive substantial money from foreign sources, which directly or indirectly subsidizes partisan political campaigns. It is equally outrageous that firms that outsource jobs to foreign nations can make secret donations to right-wing Republicans who support policies that export jobs abroad and increase joblessness at home.

It's more than a little disconcerting that some (not all) Republicans seem to be employing a strategy to try to run out the clock for the next month on the campaign trail. The final stretch needs to be a sprint — not a victory lap.

Yes, the polls have been looking excellent for the GOP. But every political consultant and analyst has known the gap (that much-ballyhooed "enthusiasm gap") would start closing as Election Day neared, and it appears to be the case this year in many races. Gallup shows Republicans have an edge in the generic ballot, 46 percent to 42, over Democrats. Since Democrats have figured out that they are well behind with likely voters, they know they need to get out there and create new likely voters from the voter pool from 2008. That is why the campaign ads and rhetoric are starting to become more divisive, partisan and negative.

The Dallas Morning News has just published the results of a sweeping investigation of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund that suggests that taxpayer-financed grants were awarded to a long list of firms that made very large campaign donations to Gov. Rick Perry (R).

These are not isolated cases. The Morning News investigation yields a significant number of major Perry campaign donors receiving a significant number of large grants. This is a direct contrast with the integrity and sound management shown by former Houston Mayor Bill White, Perry's opponent for governor, who has long been a favorite of business leaders, political independents and many moderate Republicans during his landslide victories in Houston. Read more...

The October Surprise fired at Meg Whitman this week has nothing to do with immigration policy; it has everything to do with feminism.

The accusation that the GOP gubernatorial candidate in California knowingly employed an illegal housekeeper even after receiving a “no-match” letter from the Social Security Administration falls flat. As of now, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence of illegal behavior — Whitman filed an I-9 form, fired her housekeeper promptly after she admitted to her boss she was here illegally, and there’s no proof she ever received a letter from the SSA.

The race for control of the House is far from over. Clearly, Republicans have the momentum, but this will still be decided on a district-by-district basis.

Right now Democrats have a 39-seat margin. Republicans probably need to pick up 43 seats to get to a majority since there are some Republican seats that could go Democratic. These include William Jefferson’s (D) old seat in New Orleans; a Hawaii seat taken by the GOP in a three-way special election when Neil Abercrombie (D) resigned to run for governor; the Delaware seat that Mike Castle (R) gave up when he ran for Senate; and the Illinois seat that Mark Kirk (R) gave up to run for Senate.

Picking up 43 seats is never easy.

Bill Murray’s character in the movie “Ghostbusters,” Dr. Peter Venkman, had the iconic line: “He slimed me.”

The Democratic Party has taken on the role of the ghosts in “Ghostbusters”: They are all about the slime.

I was on “The Ed Schultz Show” last night when Ed showed Louisiana Rep. Charlie Melancon’s (D-La.) new commercial against Sen. David Vitter (R), whom he is running against for the Senate.