You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.
Malcolm S. Forbes
Election Watch
RCP Senate watch shows the California Senate race shifting from toss up to lean Dem for a 49-45 lead--which means that the GOP would need to run the table on the toss ups to gain control, which is unlikely. I still believe that both Brown and Boxer are beatable (I've only seen an oddball poll or two where Brown or Boxer has exceeded 50%), although I've only seen 1 poll over the past 2 to 3 weeks where one of the Republican candidates (Fiorina) had a lead. This could be one of those states where polls are misleading. I'm not sure I agree that the people in struggling California are willing to go with the same old same old, decades-old professional politicians; it's hard to know if, in this year, the people aren't going to send the failing Democratic Party in California a message, when they are going to do so. I think Fiorina has better chances of success than Whitman, but if I was running their campaigns, I would pull the negative ads and end on an optimistic, upbeat note and ask the people to join them in a new start with a pro-growth philosophy that reaffirms the primacy of the private sector, not government, in California's future.
The RCP House race shows the GOP with a widening lead of 225-178 of lean/likely/strong seats. The net number of toss ups shrinks by 2 with an additional offsetting exchange between lean Dem and toss up. One of the newly classified lean seats is NJ-3 where the GOP candidate, Jon Runyan, a former pro football player, facing freshman Democrat John Adler. Adler succeeded a long-tenure Republican, Jim Saxton.
The Adler campaign has engaged in sleazy tactics, fronting a faux Tea Party candidate, Peter DeStefano, in a blatant attempt to draw sympathetic conservative votes away from Runyan. According to the Star-Ledger:
Republicans have charged that Adler’s campaign, in a tight 3rd District race with GOP’s John Runyan, conjured up DeStefano’s candidacy — talking the no-name into running, captaining his petitions and feeding him talking points...Until now, the only accusation was dirty politics, and that’s not against the law...Democrats with knowledge of the Adler campaign have told the Courier-Post that Adler’s campaign manager Geoff Mackler and consultant Steve Ayscue helped launch DeStefano’s candidacy. The [FEC] complaint insists that Adler was essentially paying people to work on DeStefano’s campaign and has failed to report that contribution.Of 3 October polls, Runyan has led by small margins in two and in the other trailed by 1 point. A freshman incumbent (Adler) running in a lean-Republican district, whose high point in the polls to date is 46%? I like Runyan's chances.
The same sleazy tactics have been tried and/or implemented in several other races in Pennsylvania, Michigan and (surprise, surprise) my Jackass of the Year winner, Alan Grayson (D-FL).
Third parties, of course, have had notorious impacts on elections: for example, the Democrats still have not forgiven Ralph Nader, the notorious consumer activist, whom ran as the Green Party candidate for President, for allegedly siphoning off votes from Al Gore in Florida, and a Green Party candidate is drawing a small but important number of votes in the Illinois US Senate race, possibly benefiting Mark Kirk. However, I disagree with comparing legitimate third parties with contrived parties, intentionally created to confuse voters. For example, Ralph Nader had also run for President in 1996.
French Parliament Passes Pension Reform: Thumbs UP!
President Sarkozy is faced with a problem faced by many developed economies: an aging population and an underfunded pension system for the original criteria and actuarial realities of longer lives and expected benefits. With lifetimes now extending roughly to 78 for men and 85 for women, the French have decided to raise the earlier/lower pension age from 60 to 62 and full pension age from 65 to 67, but not without massive protests from socialists and unions. (I love the response of one Frenchman, whom when pressed to explain why French workers should retire earlier than other Europeans said, "Because we are French, and we are the best, you know?")
Political Humor
There are strikes all over France because the government wants to raise the retirement age. The strikes are threatening the French way of life. Yesterday, an American had to walk all the way across Paris without getting insulted. - Craig Ferguson
[French strikers are already complaining about their 30-hour weeks on the picket line, but they have another vacation coming up. Frenchmen are simply being more subtle about their anti-Americanism: Noting the Democratic opposition to social security reform in 2005, they have started referring to their President, whom has proposed increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62, as "Nicolas W. Sarkozy".]
Some originals:
- I'm not saying Barack Obama is nervous about next week's election, but Sasha and Malia have been told they can't invite friends over for a tea party.
- Sarah Palin insists she's focused on getting Republicans elected next week, but after recently seeing Barack Obama on TV, she tweeted, "I can see the White House from my house."
- They were all there--Michael Steele, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner; Scott Brown had brought them over in his truck... Michelle Obama shook a screaming Barack awake, saying, "Barack, what did I say about watching the news before going to bed?"
- Obama is definitely worried about the election. At the annual Halloween party, the women came wearing bear costumes, and the guys brought six-packs of beer.
The Ventures, Theme From 'Hawaii Five O'
