Elections

Watch the video!

http://creativeyouth.net/goplosesit.html

Analysis and Commentary by the Creative Youth News Team October 27, 2006: Polls show that a super-majority of Americans want peace, want to end the war in Iraq, support civil liberties, support the Constitution and oppose the end of habeas corpus. Even an AOL Internet poll (commonly called a "Freeper poll" or "Republican poll" by Democrats) done this week showed public support for Bush's handling of the war in Iraq well below 30%. According to that AOL Internet poll, the vast majority of participants (economically, affluent enough to afford to sit back and vote in a Republican-owned Internet Provider poll), were planning to vote Democrat in November. Yet, the writers at the GOP site seem to believe that they can win Ohio's 10th distict congressional seat because of Congressman Kucinich's opposition to the war in Iraq and his support for the Constitution of the United States.

By David Swanson

What if there were Republicans in Congress who supported forced abortions and prostitution and slave labor? And what if there were progressive Democrats running against them. Meet Republican Congress Members John Doolittle and Richard Pombo and their challengers in California's 4th and 11th districts Charlie Brown http://www.charliebrownforcongress.org and Jerry McNerney http://www.jerrymcnerney.org .

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/43452

So-called "principled" conservatives -- the faux libertarian voices of the Big Business elite that's always been the real base of the Republican Party -- are in full flight from the flaming wreck the Bush administration has become.

Former Bush I and Reagan official Bruce Bartlett lambasted the administration earlier this year with his book "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy," which was soon followed by longtime conservative activist Richard Viguerie's "Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause." There are a dozen of them churning out columns and op-eds condemning Bush's profligate spending and pillorying his "compassionate," "Big Government" conservatism. Even former congressman Joe Scarborough -- MSNBC's cut-rate version of Bill O'Reilly -- got into the act, devoting a segment of his show to the fundamental question, "Is Bush an idiot?" and writing that he'd prefer "an assortment of Bourbon Street hookers running the Southern Baptist Convention to having this lot of Republicans controlling America's checkbook for the next two years."

By Cindy Sheehan

Having failed to stand up in opposition to the Iraq war in the first place, and failing to offer a strong peace platform now, the Democratic Party nevertheless is about to reap big gains from the blood of my son Casey and others like him.

We have an opportunity to make at least one pro-war Democrat pay the price for selling out on the war. We must send a message to pro-war politicians of both parties.

http://www.iraqvetsforprogress.org/

Read this report.

Dear Friend of Dennis,
https://www.kucinich.us/contribute

What do they have to hide? The National Republican Party has launched a desperate, last minute “swiftboat” type smear attack against Congressman Dennis Kucinich who is in line to chair an key investigate subcommittee of the House of Representatives..

The Republican Party’s official website, www.gop.com attacks Kucinich in machine gun style, about FIFTY TIMES, for his opposition to the Bush agenda including, the War in Iraq, the Patriot Act, and National Missile “Defense”. Everyone knows Kucinich was right, and Bush was wrong, on each and every contested issue relating to national security. (Yesterday they gave Nancy Pelosi similar treatment.)

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that Rep. Anne M. Northup, R-Ky., has called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and a change in strategy in Iraq. “Considering where we are today and the number of losses and casualties in the last month, I don’t want to depend on the same team, meaning Rumsfeld,” she said on Wednesday. Northup has been portrayed as a “rubber stamp” for President Bush by her Democratic opponent, John Yarmuth.

By David Swanson

White House political head honcho Karl Rove was interviewed by National Public Radio yesterday. He effectively announced plans to steal the coming elections. The polls point decisively to a Democratic majority in the House, and possibly in the Senate. Yet Rove told NPR he was certain of Republican majorities in both houses, and gave laughable reasons for his claim. Rove had no actual evidence to point to.

Disgusted with the leadership of the Iraq war, two retired generals say the GOP must go. Plus: More than 100 current military personnel join a campaign to get the U.S. out of Iraq -- now.
By Mark Benjamin, http://www.salon.com

Oct. 25, 2006 | Two retired senior Army generals, who served in Iraq and previously voted Republican, are now openly endorsing a Democratic takeover of Congress. The generals, and an active-duty senior military official, told Salon in separate interviews that they believe a Democratic victory will help reverse course from what they consider to be a disastrous Bush administration policy in Iraq. The two retired generals, Maj. Gen. John Batiste and Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, first openly criticized the handling of the war last spring, when they called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Rove 'dukes it out' with NPR host over polling data
http://www.rawstory.com

During a National Public Radio interview, White House Deputy Chief of Staff
Karl Rove "duked it out" with the host over polling data, RAW STORY has
learned.

The exchange took place yesterday during the White House's scheduled "Radio
Day."

After midterm election interviewer Robert Siegel stated that "many might

www.givepeaceavote.org

Nancy Mancias 415.342.6409

Peace groups will create a powerful visual representation of the deaths caused by the Iraq war and call for citizens to vote for peace in the upcoming election.

WHEN: Thursday, October 26, 12:30 PM Press Conference
11 AM – 1 PM Installation outside the Stockton Courthouse
4 – 6PM Installation at Hacienda Plaza

WHERE: Outside the Pombo and McNerney campaign headquarters:

“A senator can only do so much. This is ultimately policy set by the commander in chief and his military.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/nyregion/26conn.html

By Katrina vanden Heuvel, www.thenation.com

Music fans know John Hall as the lead guitarist for Orleans and songwriter of hit singles like Still the One, Dancin' in the Moonlight, and Dance With Me. Activists know him as the musician who organized No Nuke concerts and released the song Power, an ode to alternative energy, just three weeks before the Three Mile Island meltdown. His fellow-citizens in upstate New York know him as a member of the Ulster County Legislature, and president of the Saugerties Board of Education. And, now, it looks like Americans might soon know this great musician and good man as Congressman John Hall (D-NY).

By William Frey, M. D.
Let's face it .... When one out of three of your own party wants you to lose
control of Congress, it's time to take a long look - former U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough, (R-Florida, 1st District, 1995-2001

Why are Republican conservatives calling for an end to One Party GOP Rule
Why are many now discussing the virtues of divided government?
On what basis do they believe One Party Rule has dishonored conservative values?

The 7 prominent Republican conservatives who
contributed to the Washington Monthly
remarkable feature article, "Time for Us to Go: Conservatives on Why
the GOP Should Lose in 2006,"  did not dwell on contrived wedge
issues promoted  by Republican marketing consultants.

By Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services

"While Republicans fight the War on Terror, grow our robust economy, and crack down on illegal immigration, House Democrats plot to establish a Department of Peace, raise your taxes, and minimize penalties for crack dealers. The difference couldn't be starker."

As a contribution to the general noise and ignorance, House Whip Roy Blunt's Web-site politicking is nothing special. Boo! Scared yet? Fear-baiting at election time is standard GOP save-our-keister strategy, but the list of acceptable bogeymen that party leaders parade before the constituency, with inimitable cynicism, is always instructional.

BY ELI LAKE, New York Sun
http://www.nysun.com/article/42019

WASHINGTON — Voters in Pennsylvania's rural, conservative 10th Congressional District received an unlikely mailing earlier this month accusing a former Navy lieutenant of helping start the Iraq war.

Quoting a 2004 article, "Lie Factory," that appeared in Mother Jones magazine and relied on interviews with a former Pentagon analyst turned White House foe, Karen Kwiatkowski, the mailing highlights Christopher Carney's role in a small intelligence analysis shop inside the Pentagon before the Iraq war. The top of the mailing warns voters, "Chris Carney failed our nation once." "Don't give Chris Carney a chance to FAIL us again," the next page says.

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl
--AZ-01: Rick Renzi
--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth
--CA-04: John Doolittle
--CA-11: Richard Pombo
--CA-50: Brian Bilbray
--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave
--CO-05: Doug Lamborn
--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell
--CT-04: Christopher Shays
--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan
--FL-16: Joe Negron

Agence France Presse

The campaign ahead of critical November 7 US legislative elections sometimes seems to boil down to one question: Who's scarier, terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, or US President George W. Bush?

Bush and his Republicans, as they did in 2002 and 2004, are warning voters that the Democrats cannot be trusted to fight the global war on terrorism sparked by the September 11, 2001 attacks by bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

By James J. Zogby
t r u t h o u t | www.truthout.org

There are a number of important contests that will be decided on November 7th. Like many Americans, I'll be up late into the night awaiting final results.

Not the least of my concerns, of course, will be the macro-outcome, as in which party will control the House of Representatives and/or the Senate. Let me be clear from the outset - I am a Democrat, proud of the political philosophy of my party, though not always pleased with the positions taken by and performance of some of its leaders and standard bearers.

By Ellen Williams-Masson, The Capital Times
http://www.madison.com

Former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart has challenged the Democratic Party to redefine its soul, but said he has no plans to be the party's messiah in the 2008 elections.

The two-time presidential hopeful spoke to a capacity crowd on Sunday at the Overture Center's Promenade Hall, promoting a return to principles as outlined in his new book, "The Courage of our Convictions: A Manifesto for Democrats." The talk was part of the closing day of the Wisconsin Book Festival.

www.democracynow.org

Election Day is just two weeks away. It’s being described as the most pivotal battle for Congress in over a decade. Today, we spend the hour looking at some of the key contests and issues that are shaping this year’s mid-term elections. Democrats have significantly improved their chances of taking control of both the Senate and the House. [includes rush transcript]
Polls now indicate four Republican incumbents in the Senate -- Conrad Burns of Montana, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Mike DeWine of Ohio and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania – are likely to lose their seats. If the polls are accurate, the control of the Senate will be decided based on the outcome of tight races in Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia. The Democrats need to gain six seats to win control of the Senate.

By Dave Lindorff, http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/

I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that, barring some incredible act of criminal cynicism such as the bombardment of Iran by the president, the Democrats are going to take over the House of Representatives.

That being the case, I propose that it's time all those patriots and lovers of liberty, all those who oppose the administration's mad imperial military policies, all those who recognize the so-called War on Terror for what it is--a War on America, all those whose stomachs turned at the sight of the fatal drowning of New Orleans, all those who are outraged at a president who claims the right to violate laws at will, to ignore acts of Congress and to snub rulings of the Supreme Court, all those who are sick of seeing their government function like a whorehouse for corporate Johns, all those who are angry at having a government that tortures and kidnaps people, including children, in our name, all those who know that there are dark secrets about 9-11 being buried by traitors in the White House, all those who despair at seeing the Bill of Rights ripped out of the Constitution article by article, begin a mass campaign to make impeachment of President Bush item one on the agenda of the next Congress.

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press

Republicans worried about losing Congress are challenging President Bush on Iraq, eroding his base of support for the unpopular war just two weeks before midterm elections.

Increasing calls from restive Republicans for new ideas to extricate the U.S. come as the White House itself seems to struggle for a better course, or at least a better way to describe the current course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df1KuS_ziRg

BY ELI LAKE - New York Sun
http://www.nysun.com/article/42109

WASHINGTON — The Democratic leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is promising that her party has no plans to pursue impeachment of President Bush if it wins a majority in next month's elections. But she intends to allow the House Judiciary Committee to be headed by a lawmaker who has been preparing the grounds for impeachment for two years.

Iraq War Cited Most Often As Top Issue for Elections
By Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, Washington Post

Two weeks before the midterm elections, Republicans are losing the battle for independent voters, who now strongly favor Democrats on Iraq and other major issues facing the country and overwhelmingly prefer to see them take over the House in November, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

ImpeachPAC, a federal PAC funding pro-impeachment candidates for Congress, has announced additional endorsements, including: James Wright, Democratic nominee in the Eighth District of Texas; Stacey Tallitsch, Democratic nominee in Louisiana's First District; Danny Stover, Democratic nominee in Illinois' 19th; Bill Glass, Democratic and Green nominee in North Carolina's Ninth; Steve Young, Democratic nominee in the 48th District of California; John Laesch, Democratic nominee in Illinois' 14th District; Florice Hoffman, Democratic nominee in the 40th District of California; Dr. Bob Bowman, the Democratic nominee in Florida's 15th; and Sharon Beery, Democratic nominee in California's 22nd.