Politics Blog

Back when I was growing up, they told us that the GOP was the “daddy” party and the Democrats were the “mommy” party.

After reading this report, however, I think they need to revise that one just a bit.

The Democrats are the “baby” party.

The two year-old baby in the midst of a tantrum, that is.

Geez.

Harry Truman is rolling over in his grave.

-- Jayson

Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) has been one of the most steadfast members of the Senate Republican leadership. But he’s facing a tough re-election battle in 2006 against State Treasurer Bob Casey, Jr., who’s polling ahead of Santorum right now. We must keep this seat. You can help by contributing to Santorum’s campaign online.

Today is Wictory Wednesday. Every Wednesday, hundreds of bloggers ask their readers to donate to an important Republican campaign.

If you’re a blogger, you can join Wictory Wednesdays by e-mailing me at wictory@blogsforbush.com. I’ll add you to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll. I’ll also send you a reminder e-mail every Wednesday, explaining which candidate to support that day.

Here’s the list of blogs currently participating in Wictory Wednesdays:

-- PoliPundit

Thomas Lipscomb, the reporter who unveiled so many of Kerry’s Vietnam lies during the campaign, sums up the current state of Christmas in Cambodia:

It has been a rough ten days for Senator John Kerry. First Democratic Party moneybags George Soros said Kerry’s name on the Presidential ballot was a dead loser. Then Teresa Heinz Kerry decided to borrow a dead winner’s rather than a live loser’s last name, reverting to “Teresa Heinz” for public appearances. But the worst day Kerry had was a Sunday answering Tim Russert’s questions on Meet the Press on — (what else?) —Vietnam.

Asked about his Christmas Eve in Cambodia “seared, seared” in Kerry’s memory, according to one of his Senate speech transcripts, Kerry tried a half-baked variation on the theme: “Was it on that night? No, it was not on that night. But we were right on the Cambodian border that night. We were ambushed there, as a matter of fact. And that is a matter of record, and we went into the rec– you know, it’s part of the Navy records.”

Alas “as a matter of fact,” at least according to Kerry’s own journal, supplied to his biographer Douglas Brinkley for inclusion in TOUR OF DUTY, “that night” Kerry was in Sa Dec in Viet Nam, south of Saigon and fifty miles from Cambodia, writing his parents about “visions of sugar plums.” And it isn’t “part of the Navy records” either. An “ambush” would require an official after action report like the ones Kerry exhibits on his “complete” website. So either Kerry doesn’t include one on this because there isn’t one, or Kerry’s website isn’t complete, or both.

…

But even assuming there is somewhere a top secret after action report that backs up Kerry and those nasty Swifties are taking advantage of the fact that we can’t see it because it is still classified, Kerry proudly told Russert and the world what his top secret mission was. “We delivered weapons to the Khmer Rouge on the coastline of Cambodia. We went out of Ha Tien, which is right in Vietnam. We went north up into the border. And I have some photographs of that, and that’s what we did.”

If that is true, the United States should have shaken up the CIA 35 years earlier. The “Khmer Rouge,” so named derisively by Cambodian leader Prince Sihanouk, were the Cambodian communists who were later to murder millions of their fellow citizens in the “killing fields” in 1974.

…

As a born again Christian, professing compassionate conservatism, the least President Bush can do is appoint Kerry U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia before this gets any worse. Perhaps then Kerry can find out what really did happen before even CBS finally figures out who ran for the Presidency based on dubious statements about his military record.

-- PoliPundit

Ankle Biting Pundits takes a look at what to expect from Dean as leader of the DNC.One thing to expect is a bigger role for “lefty bloggers:”

Howard Dean owes his ascension from a nobody Governor of a nothing state to a 3 month pretender for the Democratic nomination (before it came to a crashing halt) to the lunatic fringe world of left wing bloggers. Joe Trippi sought out and wooed these whack jobs in order to create a buzz and raise big dough. In that he succeeded. However what he forgot is that these bloggers and their readers … didn’t translate into the one thing they really needed - votes. But in his new job these people can become far more effective in that the medium is set up for accomplishing two of the DNC Chair’s big responsibilities - fund raising and message disbursement. The great part for us of course, is that the message these people like to hear is more likely to resonate with the terrorists (especially those in Iraq) and other America haters throughout the world than it will with the American people.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: More about the implications of the Dean charimanship at Lockjaw’s Lair.

-- Lorie Byrd

As Howard Dean prepares to ascend to the post of DNC Chair, many will give credit to ultra-liberal blogs like Daily Kos. However, I too must take some of the credit for Dean’s ascendancy. In fact, Howard Dean’s political trajectory is the one thing that I’ve been able to agree on with lefty bloggers.

As far back as November 7, 2002, when Dean was an obscure Vermont governor, I wrote:

Now largely devoid of moderate voices because of the 2003 purges, Democrats will revert to their Liberal roots and give their Presidential nomination to someone far to the left, like John Kerry of Massachusetts or Howard Dean of Vermont.

On February 22, 2003, when Dean was still polling in single digits, I noted that he could upset Kerry for the nomination:

John Kerry is clearly the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination; but, in my opinion, the person most likely to beat him isn’t Joe Lieberman (too hawkish, too soporific), John Edwards (too callow, too ambulance-chaser), Dick Gephardt (too blonde, too bland) or Bob Graham (too crazy, too grandfatherly.) The person most likely to beat Kerry for the nomination is Howard Dean.

I followed that up by becoming a booster of Dean. On June 16, 2003, I urged conservatives to donate to Dean:

Don’tyou think that a good use of your money is to help the Democrats select as their presidential candidate a combination of Mondale and McGovern? You can donate to Dean’s campaign by clicking this link.

I even celebrated Dean’s fundraising success. On June 30, as the Dean campaign prepared to post its stunning fundraising figures for that quarter, I wrote:

Woohoo! Over $7 million, including over $700,000 today alone. And there’s still some time left to donate today.

The Democratic presidential primary is now officially a Kerry-Dean race.

When Dean made the cover of Newsweek, the magazine wanted to quote me supporting Dean. I declined. Instead, they used a quote from RealClear Politics‘ Tom Bevan.

Later, when Dean came out against the $87 billion appropriation, Kerry and Edwards were forced to oppose it too. That day, I noted:

The big news isn’t that the Senate voted 87-12 to approve the president’s $87 billion appropriation request (which will be further tuned to the president’s liking in a House-Senate conference.) It’s that John Edwards and John Kerry were among only 12 ultra-liberal senators to vote against the package.

That vote haunted Kerry for the rest of the campaign, and provided the Quote of the Year:

“I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.”

And now the Democrats are preparing to nominate Howard Dean as their national chairman! I’m overjoyed! My two-year campaign to boost Dean is still paying off.

Let’s celebrate Dean’s ascension with James Lileks’ I-have-a-scream mix.

-- PoliPundit

Back on January 26, the readers here at Polipundit selected twenty questions they most wanted their Senators and Representatives to answer, and I began the task ofsending out communications to the 534 offices (special failing grade to Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, for failing to have a serviceable e-mail address or fax number) available. As I have noted, most simply acknowledged the receipt of my fax/email, while others had an Auto-reply programmed into their email system, some of which were condescending and elitist.

Last night, however, I received the first specific response to the letter, from Congressman Paul Ryan (R- Wisconsin, D01). Here is Mr. Ryan’s response:

“Dear DJ:

Thank you for emailing me to request information about my policy positions.
I appreciate your taking the time to contact me with your inquiry.

I understand that you are interested in my feedback for Polipundit.com.
However, it is my policy to not complete policy surveys or questionnaires from any organization. As an office holder since 1999, I have strived to establish a clear voting record that reflects my position on policy matters.

By clicking on the following link: http://www.house.gov/ryan/issuepapers, you will be taken directly to the section of my web site where you can view issue papers of interest to you. Feel free to visit my web site anytime; the home page is located at http://www.house.gov/ryan.

Thank you again for contacting me with your request.
Sincerely,

Paul Ryan”

So, what to make of that reply? On the one hand, as some of our readers have noted, many Congressmen feel an obligation only to their constituents, and there is no reason to think that a Congressman owes a detailed answer to a publication. Then again, we have readers from Wisconsin here, so Mr. Ryan ought to consider their interest, and also as we have discussed, the fact that Congressmen are federal employees, known for accepting donations and airtime from anyone, with no boundary lines concerned when they are getting what they want, the responsibility to answer questions in a format and timetable designed for their optimal convenience is not unreasonable. I would say my first inclination is to give Mr. Ryan credit for the courtesy of his response, while following up on his suggestion to check his issue papers to see if he has specific positions on the questions we have raised. Mr. Ryan’s website has thirteen sections for his positions, so there is a lot of talk there. Let’s see how his answers play out.

Here are my questions, and the answer (if present) from Ryan’s website:

Q1. Should photo ID cards be required in order to vote?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q2. What will you do to secureour borders from illegal immigrants and/or terrorists?
A – No substantive answer to Terrorism, no answer at all to Immigration or Border Security

Q3. Is there a better solution to Middle East turmoil, than the establishment or promotion of freely elected democratic republics? Why or why not?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q4. What are your intentions regarding Tort Reform?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q5. If you could write an Amendment to the Constitution and know it would pass and be ratified, what would that Amendment be?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q6. What specific measures would you recommend to protect Social Security for coming generations?
A – Introduced HR 4851 “Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act”, specifically cites giving workers option to how their money may be applied towards their retirement.

Q7. Where do you stand on eliminating the income tax and SSI tax and replacing them with a national consumption tax?
A – Issue not addressed regarding Income Tax, supports continuing SSI withholding, but allowing workers control over where it goes.

Q8. What will you do to ensure the integrity of the voting system?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q9. What are the limits to judicial authority?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q10. Given that many states give equal treatment U.S. citizens, legal aliens and illegal aliens, just what does it mean to be a U.S. citizen (besides not being hassled by Immigration?)
A – Issue not addressed.

Q11. Should undocumented aliens have the ability to get legal drivers licenses?
A – [ UPDATED - Hat Tip Norm ] Ryan is co-sponsor of HR 418, which would deny illegal aliens drivers license.

Q12. What is your first proposal to balance the Federal Budget?
A – Ryan wants to “fix the process”, by cutting money from appropriations bills through amendments to those bills. He also wants to deny emergency supplemental spending, because Ryan believes “it allows supplemental bills to be loaded up with non-emergency spending, such as increased support payments to mohair wool and peanut farmers.” Ryan says “they should be decided during the normal appropriations process and not passed under the guise of emergency spending.”

Q13. What is your proposal for lowering the National Debt?
A – Ryan says “I am a strong supporter of paying down our national debt, but I also believe that the federal government needs to balance this priority with winning the War on Terrorism and encouraging growth in our economy. Based on Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, including the unexpected costs of increasing national security and stabilizing our economy, the federal government is on track to reach government surpluses by 2012. I favor paying down as much debt as possible over the next ten years to prepare for the inevitable demographic change as the baby boom generation begins to retire.” Ryan believes that a strong economy is the cornerstone to this process, saying that “Government revenue is directly tied to the health of the U.S. economy”.

Q14. Confidence in the validity of elections has fallen sharply in some places. What would you recommend to repair and rebuild that confidence?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q15. What are the limits to the authority of the Federal Government?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q16. Do you believe the continued existence of a central bank (the Federal Reserve) that issues fiat money is in the best interests of the U.S.?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q17. What actions do you support for education reform?
A – Ryan wants more spending for Education, but not without care to insure that spending is used where results are the greatest. Generally, Ryan is an advocate of Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” initiative, but has not updated this section of his website in almost a year (the most recent reference date in this section is January 2004)

Q18. Should judicial nominees be guaranteed a “yes or no” vote in Committee? Why or why not?
A – Issue not addressed.

Q19. What should our short and long term strategies be in Iraq?
A – “Peace is the goal” . No substantive answer.

Q20. What should the United States’ relationship be with the United Nations?
A – Issue not addressed.

So, out of twenty questions, Ryan answered five, which gives him a score of 24% (5 for each answer, minus 1 point for the out-of-date reference on one screen of his site). For the purpose of this project, I am not scoring according to whether someone gives an answer I like, but whether a substantive answer is given. I will do the same for all the members of Congress. I would also be interested in your opinions of Congressman Ryan’s reply. For my personal opinion, I thank Congressman Ryan for responding, although I will wait to see how he responds to the inquiries from his constituents (assuming he gets contacted) before I give a final opinion on his attention to duty in this regard.

UPDATE: Norm pointed out Ryan’s co-sponsorship of a bill,which is added to his on-screen answers (though I wonder why Ryan doesn’t highlight the bills he sponsors on his site). Thanks Norm. - DJD

-- DJ Drummond

Our intellectual superiors over at the U.N.(ron) just named Cuba and Zimbabwe to a group that will set the agenda for the World Body’s Human Rights Commission.

Brilliant.

Hell, maybe they’ll start the Commission’s next meeting with a ceremony to honor Pol Pot, Papa and Baby Doc, Stalin, and Milosevic, eh?

-- Jayson

John Behan has an excellent write-up on how bloggers may affect this year’s Gubernatorial race in the Old Dominion.

-- Alexander K. McClure

A series of polls in the last few days from Siena, and Quinnipiac, indicate that the political career of Governor George E. Pataki is in its final days.

Meanwhile Senator Hillary Clinton continues to remain quite popular in New York. This is excellent news for Republicans. We could have no better Democratic opponent in 2008.

-- Alexander K. McClure

Mitt Romney continues to be a very popular Governor in the Bay State.

“The poll found 62 percent said they have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of the Republican governor, up from 54 percent in September. The poll also found the number of voters who think the state is going in the right direction is growing.”

Romney may face strong opposition in 2006 from Attorney General Reilly, but with a strong regional economy, the incumbent should prevail.

-- Alexander K. McClure