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Home Front: Politix

DCCC pulls out of Hawaii special election

2010-05-11

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is pulling out of the Hawaii special election for Rep. Neil Abercrombie's (D) seat, effectively handing the seat to the Republicans. In Hawaii? "The DCCC will not be investing additional resources in the (Hawaii) special election," Jennifer Crider, a DCCC spokeswoman, said in a statement. "Local Democrats were unable to work out their differences. The DCCC will save the resources we would have invested in the Hawaii special election this month for the general election in November." The committee concluded there's no way state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa and former Rep. Ed Case (Hawaii) can split the Democratic vote and still defeat Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou (R). The committee spent more than $300,000 in the Hawaii race, according to a source. The National Republican Congressional Committee said the DCCC's involvement revealed a local party "in disarray." "The DCCC is giving up in a district as blue as this one due to their own blunders and a fed-up constituency that rejected their reckless agenda of higher taxes, negligent spending and government takeovers,"Joanna Burgos, an NRCC spokeswoman, said in a statement. President Barack Obama won the district with 70 percent in 2008. Hanabusa has been in third place in most polls of the three-way contest. National Democrats were sending the message to step aside through Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and his staff, according to the Honolulu Advertiser. But the Hanabusa camp seemed to hint she was staying in the race to help her chances in November. A local strategist close to Hanabusa told the paper the campaign has heard the message to step aside for the interest of the party. "It has not fallen on deaf ears," the strategist said. "But we understand our community better than anybody and, come November, there will be a Democrat there." The special election is Saturday, May 22nd, and is a winner-take-all-format. Abercrombie resigned his seat to run for governor. Democrats had been on a winning streak when it came to special elections. Now, the party can concentrate on next Tuesday's special election for former Rep. John Murtha's (D-Pa.). seat.

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N.Y. congressional race not yet certified

2009-11-15

Officials in New York have not yet certified Bill Owens (D) the winner of the Nov. 3 special congressional election, saying Thursday that a recounting of the vote shows him with a smaller lead than first reported. The New York Board of Elections plans to count more than 10,000 absentee ballots before certifying a winner. Owens's lead over Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman has tightened from about 5,300 votes on election night to about 3,000, but officials in both parties said Thursday that the Democrat is almost certain to remain the winner in the race. Owens was sworn into office last Friday and, a day later, cast a critical vote that helped the health-care bill pass the House. In seating Hoffman, congressional Democrats noted that, while no official certificate of election had been sent by New York officials, the race had not been contested. Republicans did not object then and have not since. "Doug Hoffman conceded, knowing that there was no way he could take the lead in the final tally, and that's exactly why the election results were not contested," said Jennifer Crider, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. An official for the Hoffman campaign would not publicly comment Thursday on whether the candidate would now contest the election result. Officials in New York cited tabulation errors for the inaccurate initial margin. A routine vote recanvass showed more votes for Hoffman among the more than 136,000 that were cast. A spokesman for the New York Board of Elections said certification of the election probably will not occur until next month.

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Dems Allegedly 'Conducting Guerrilla Warfare on Troops'

2005-06-23

Congressional Democrats are engaged in a "growing pattern" of demoralizing American troops, according to House Republican leaders who Wednesday showed no willingness to let the controversial comments of Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin die. "While our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line each day to defend our safety and to protect our freedoms, I am sure the least they expect is the backing and the support of their leaders at home," said Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Republican Conference. "To the contrary," Pryce added, "what we've seen from Democrat leaders is a growing pattern of jumping at any chance to point the finger at our own troops, bending over backwards to promote the interests of terror-camp detainees while dragging our military's honored reputation through the mud." Pryce was reacting to recent comments made by Durbin, the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, about the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. Durbin initially compared the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to the way Nazis, the Stalin-led Soviet Union and the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia handled prisoners. Following much criticism, including from members of his own party, Durbin apologized on the floor of the Senate Tuesday. Wednesday, Pryce slammed both Durbin and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for their handling of the Guantanamo Bay issue. "For Leader Pelosi and Senator Durbin, if prison-camp detainees are given anything other than pillow-top mattresses or lean-cut filet mignon, they're being treated inhumanely and our military is to blame," Pryce said. Jennifer Crider, press secretary to Pelosi, told Cybercast News Service that Pryce's remarks amounted to "a ridiculous statement, completely not based on fact." Pelosi on Tuesday had joined with one of her California Democrat colleagues, Rep. Henry Waxman, in introducing legislation aimed at establishing an independent commission to investigate the alleged abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who joined Pryce at the press conference, told Cybercast News Service that it "is just inconceivable and truly incorrigible that in the midst of the war, that the Democratic leaders would be conducting guerrilla warfare on American troops. He also labeled the Pelosi/Waxman proposal for an independent commission "simply another example of some Democrat leaders trusting the words of terrorists over the proven decency of U.S. troops. The American taxpayer is already providing accommodations for detainees, who are currently more comfortable than most of our men and women in uniform."

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Pelosi’s August recess memo takes the cake

2003-08-07

Nancy knows what’s important. Let ’em eat cake. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) made sure Democrats left for their home districts armed with a recess brief full of suggested talking points to bolster her party’s national prospects. So far, so normal. Ah, yes. The "talking points". But her recess packet also includes detailed instructions on how to throw a local party—a 38th birthday bash for Medicare. Yeah, don’t fix it. Throw a birthday party for it. Your boob constituents will eat it up, right Nancy? "Oh, boy! Cake! I’m voting Democrat!" The minute instructions have raised concerns among Democratic aides and lobbyists that Pelosi is developing a didactic style that can be too patronizing to be helpful. A patronizing Limosene Liberal. Can ya beat that? Leaders on both sides of the aisle commonly provide briefing books to be used during congressional breaks by lawmakers as a means of synchronizing their party messages. But they do not usually contain suggestions such as: “Order your cake! Order a sheet cake with ‘Happy Birthday Medicare’ written on it.” ...as opposed to "Happy Birthday Uday Hussein". She must think her membership are a bunch of total idiots too. The Democrats’ section on Medicare is unusual in providing a day-by-day plan for lawmakers to highlight their policy differences with a Republican plan they charge will privatize the program. The cake instruction was for the Monday of the week of July 28. The orders go on: “Buy additional party supplies. Be creative. Buy a ‘Happy Birthday’ tablecloth for the center table. Purchase disposable plates and utensils if the facility will not provide them. You may also wish to purchase additional party favors — horns and whistles can be very useful to ‘boo’ the Republican agenda,” suggests the document. My, how "adult". Maybe they can round up some old folks to make fools of themselves for the cause. Is that on the list? For Tuesday, lawmakers are reminded to “review supply check list. Confirm cake/food orders and make sure supply checklist is complete. Provide writing utensils and paper for seniors to complete letters to the editor.” Thanks, that answers my previous question. On the day of the meeting, lawmakers are told to “arrive early” and then: “Set up tables. Spread a ‘Happy Birthday’ tablecloth on the center table, where cake will be placed. All other tables should have pens/pencils, writing paper, and copies of the sample letter to the editor.” Yeah, I can see some congressman doing all this shit. In bold bullet-points the document commands lawmakers: “Know where the restrooms and telephones are located.” 2.Please remove head from ass... The Medicare issue is one of four that Pelosi’s leadership team is encouraging lawmakers to discuss over the long August recess. Others are the economy, education, and protecting national parks. How about national security? Naaaaaaaah... On the economy, the recess packet suggests an event at a highway construction site. The instructions read: “Host a press conference in front of a highway construction site — great visual!” They hate highway construction projects. It’s bad for trees and birds and flowers and stuff. Unless, of course, it’s in their district. Democratic aides said this year’s packet is unusual in its attention to minor details.“It’s a bit patronizing,” said a senior Democratic aide: “It’s counterproductive because it keeps people from reading the good stuff.” A Democratic lobbyist said: “I thought this was a joke. The Medicare stuff is so detailed, it’s laughable.” Glad to hear they’re not all sheep. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said most lawmakers read the recess materials on the plane, but then don’t pay much attention to them. As he put it: “They have some good points, but I don’t go with the scripted stuff. If I had gone with the scripted stuff in 1994, I would have been slaughtered like everyone else. You’ve got to know your district. Thanks, but no thanks, Nance. Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for Pelosi, dismissed the criticism: “This is just one page out of a 78-page packet, and it’s a suggestion of an event that has worked successfully in other districts.It’s an issue that is very important to seniors in the country and that Democrats have been focusing on. This is the type of information that members in our caucus have found helpful have requested more of,” she added. Cake! Old people love cake! Give them lots of it! Pelosi loyalists also said Republicans had scripted each week’s message over the recess with a level of detail and coordination quite beyond what came out of their own caucus. “We do have broad thematics, but our members don’t need detailed instructions because they understand the issues,” said John Feehery, spokesman for Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). “We always give suggestions to our members. The reason why she needs to script her caucus is because she’s marching them over the cliff,” Feehery said. Bam! Good one-two combination, Johnny boy.

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