Polls; Court blocks Florida GOP; Planet Robinson; Ditch DOMA
October 18th, 2006
THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE.BY THE NUMBERS: US SENATE RACES.
ARIZONA: US Senator Jon Kyl (R) - 51%, former State Democratic Chair Jim Pederson (D) - 42%. (Rasmussen Reports).
MAINE: US Senator Olympia Snowe (R) - 70%, farmer Jean Hay Bright (D) - 24%. (Rasmussen Reports).
MARYLAND: Congressman Ben Cardin (D) - 46%, Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele (R) - 46%, progressive activist Kevin Zeese (Green) - 3%. (WMAR-TV/SurveyUSA).
MISSOURI: State Senate President Jon Tester (D) - 46%, US Senate Conrad Burns (R) - 35%. (Montana State University).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.19.06
BY THE NUMBERS: GOVERNOR RACES.
ALABAMA: Governor Bob Riley (R) - 57%, Lieutenant Governor Lucy Baxley (D) - 36%. (WKRG-TV/SurveyUSA).
ARIZONA: Governor Janet Napolitano (D) - 58%, Religious Right activist Len Munsil (R) - 25%, businessman Barry Hess (Libertarian) - 3%. (Northern Arizona University).
ARIZONA: Napolitano (D) - 58%, Munsil (R) - 37%. (Rasmussen Reports).
MAINE: Governor John Baldacci (R) - 46%, State Senator Chandler Woodcock (R) - 38%. (Rasmussen Reports).
MARYLAND: Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) - 49%, Governor Bob Ehrlich (R) - 43%, peace activist Ed Boyd (Green) - 3%, state party chair Chris Driscoll (Populist) - 1%. (WMAR-TV/SurveyUSA).
NEW YORK: Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) - 71%, former State Assembly Minority Leader John Faso (R) - 22%. (Quinnipiac University).
OHIO: Congressman Ted Strickland (D) - 59%, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R) - 32%. (Quinnipiac University).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.19.06
BY THE NUMBERS: US HOUSE RACES.
COLORADO - CD-4: Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R) - 48%, State Representative Angie Paccione (D) - 38%, former Reagan Administration EPA official Eric Eidsness (Reform) - 10%. (KUSA-TV/SurveyUSA).
WASHINGTON - CD-8: Congressman Dave Reichert (R) - 50%, former Microsoft executive Darcy Burner (D) - 47%. (KING-TV/SurveyUSA).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.19.06
FLORIDA: COURT BLOCKS GOP PLAN TO PROMOTE FOLEY REPLACEMENT.
Florida Democrats won a key battle in state court on Wednesday, blocking GOP plans to help promote the Congressional candidacy of State Representative Joe Negron (R) for disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley's open CD-16 seat. "Our legal team won a big victory in Court today, obtaining an injunction enforcing Florida law, and prohibiting the Supervisors of Elections who cover Congressional District 16 from posting notices in the precincts that effectively state 'a vote for Foley is a vote for Negron,'" explained attorney Chuck Lichtman. Unless Republicans are able to overturn the ruling on appeal -- and time is running out -- voters will see no information in the polling places telling them that Mark Foley is no longer the GOP nominee. The Democrats successfully argued the GOP's proposed signs were "unlawful electioneering" inside polling places and that Republicans must entirely bear the burden of promoting the "vote-for-Foley-to-vote-for-Negron" message independent of any governmental help.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.19.06
NORTH CAROLINA: THINGS ARE ALWAYS STRANGER ON PLANET ROBINSON.
Former Winston-Salem City Councilman Vernon Robinson (R-NC) likes to describe himself as "the black Jesse Helms." Over the years Robinson has lost two bids for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and a run for Congress two years ago in a different district. The one constant through all of Robinson's campaigns is his penchant for outrageous conduct. His current run against CD-13 Congressman Brad Miller (D) is no exception. The two men debated this week and Robinson was true to form. Spending much of the debate talking about sex, Robinson charged that Miller "wants to import homosexuals" into the state and supported studies "that would pay teenage girls" to watch porn. Miller refused to take Robinson seriously, spending much of the debate clearly enjoying the absurdity of Robinson's comments and chuckling aloud.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.19.06
EDITORIAL: REPEAL D.O.M.A.
In 1996, the Congress adopted the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and President Clinton signed the odious bill into law. With federal imprimatur gay couples were denied any recognition as couples by the federal government. Out gay Congressman Gerry Studds (D-MA) voted against DOMA in 1996, and in 2004 married his partner Dean Hara in Massachusetts. Because of DOMA, his surviving spouse will not be allowed to collect the congressional pension normally allocated to surviving spouses. Likewise, Dana and I were married in Canada earlier this year. Despite the marriage and our 19 years together, we cannot legally file our federal tax return as "Married, filing jointly" with the IRS, Dana cannot be the surviving spouse on my state pension if I die before him because of the state version of DOMA adopted here in Florida, etc. The cause of equal rights -- not "special rights" -- demands that gay couples be accorded the same respect, dignity and rights of other committed couples under the law. Churches don't have to recognize these same-sex relationships, but the governments supported by our gay tax dollars should be required to do so. Like it or not.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.19.06
FREE SPEECH ZONE.
"I'm confident we're going to keep the Senate; I'm confident we're going to keep the House," said Bush Administration political strategic Karl Rove to the Washington Times. Wanna place a bet with me on that one, Karl?
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.19.06
SEND A PIN = GET A FREE PLUG HERE.
Here's my open offer for every campaign (and campaign supporter): send me a button or pin from the Governor, US Senate, Congressional, Statewide Office, etc., campaign you are involved in -- feel free to add a sticker and brochure -- and I'll place a link to official campaign site here on our homepage in a daily "thank you" note. My address: Ron Gunzburger, 409 NE 17 Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. OUR THANKS TODAY GO TO: Governor Ed Rendell, Democrat for re-election in Pennsylvania.
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