NE-Sen: Fake Dem Goes All In

post from Daily Kos on 05 May 2008 07:16:55 PM. © Daily Kos

Poor fundraising numbers won't deter a rich Republican like Tony Raimondo from trying to hoodwink Nebraska's Democrats in next week's primary. He's the former Republican and buddy of Bush (who nearly got the appointment of Manufacturing Czar in this adminstration) who decided it'd be easier to buy the Senate seat being vacated by Hagel as a Democrat than a Republican. So that's what he's doing.

U.S. Senate contender Tony Raimondo is well on his way to becoming the half-million-dollar man. The Columbus, Neb., chairman of Behlen Manufacturing Co. has pumped $450,000 of his own money into his campaign.

That means about 82 percent of Raimondo's total campaign funds have come from his wallet, based on disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission....

[Scott] Kleeb, a teacher at Hastings College, had raised about $364,000 from 1,500 donors through April 23, said Joe Zepecki, a campaign spokesman. Raimondo had raised about $552,000 as of that date. Of that amount, about $102,000 came from individual donors.

"I think this shows there is a very, very stark contrast between a guy who's giving $450,000 to himself and a guy who has 1,500 people willing to contribute," Zepecki said.

Raimondo is going to throw a big chunk of his own personal fortune--and now that he's invoked the Millionaire's amendment, a big chunk of the personal fortunes of a lot of his Republican buddies--into buying this seat.

There couldn't be a bigger contrast between Raimondo and Scott Kleeb, the real Democrat in the race. New Nebraska Network sums it up:

One campaign has the grassroots. One campaign has the organization. One campaign has the excitement level to take on Mike Johanns.

And one campaign has a checkbook.

We're betting that a big checkbook won't be enough to sway Nebraska's Democrats in next week's primary. You can help send a real Democrat to the Senate by contributing. We're going to try to raise $20,000 for Scott by the end of this Friday. We're going to pitch our hundreds of real Democrats against Raimondo's checkbook in this primary to Scott win a week from tomorrow.

He's not just the better Democrat in this primary, he's the only Democrat!

On the Web:
Kleeb for Senate
Daily Kos for Scott Kleeb ActBlue page

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/284227340/1492

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Cookie Monster in China

post from Connecting.the.Dots on 05 May 2008 07:09:00 PM. © Connecting.the.Dots

The latest triumph of American cultural imperialism is the rise of Oreos as the best-selling treats in China after a marketing blitz to teach kids there to love milk and cookies.

An "apprentice program" at 30 universities trained 300 students to ride around Beijing on bicycles outfitted with wheel covers shaped like Oreos and hand out hundreds of thousands of samples.

TV commercials promoted the idea of pairing cookies and milk, showing kids twisting apart Oreos, licking the cream center and dipping the cookie halves.

It worked, but local tastes forced the manufacturer to reinvent the almost 100-year-old American favorite as a less sweet, long, thin, four-layered cookie coated in chocolate. No plans as yet to insert slips of paper with predictions for the future, but multiculturalism is on the march.

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http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/2008/05/cookie-monster-in-china.html

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DCCC fires another $100,000 at MS-01

post from Cotton Mouth on 05 May 2008 07:03:00 PM. © Cotton Mouth

Today's FEC filings show a total expenditure of $97,250.29 by the DCCC.

The boys at Swing State Project sum it up as:

The expenditures include a $63,000 media buy against Greg Davis, $30,000 on direct mail, and $4000 on field organizing for Travis Childers.

So far, the DCCC has spent a whopping $1,389,318 in this district to the NRCC's $982,600.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/GsAJ/~3/284383176/dccc-fires-another-1000
00-at-ms-01.html

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Whats Wrong With This Picture

post from Crooks and Liars on 05 May 2008 07:00:18 PM. © Crooks and Liars

These are the top 10 Most Influential Political Pundits in America, according to the Telegraph UK. Sing along with me: “One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn’t belong. Can you guess which thing is not like the other…” The rest of the list is hardly comforting [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/05/whats-wrong-with-this-picture/

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Election 2008: Guess What Issues Are Coming To
Dinner

post from Firedoglake on 05 May 2008 07:00:13 PM. © Firedoglake

Driftglass made a poignant point the other day that is worth amplifying on the eve of the next wave of primaries and worth more discussion well before the general election...In that time, children have become fathers. Fathers have become grandpas. And[...]

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http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/05/election-2008-guess-what-issues-are-coming-to-d
inner/

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Elitistism: The Beer Drinkers Guide To The White
Hosue

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 05 May 2008 06:58:29 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

The Birth of ElitistismIt's taken over 200 years, but American politics is finally evolving into a mature process that reflects the inherent nature of her people. This experiment in Democracy has taken innumerable turns and tumbles over the years, most[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Docudharma/~3/284250330/showDiary.do

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Yes, The Medium Is The Movement

post from Open Left - Front Page on 05 May 2008 06:56:36 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

Earlier today, I argued that the actual contemporary progressive movement is the network-neutral[...]

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McCain can't quit Hagee

post from Daily Kos on 05 May 2008 06:45:13 PM. © Daily Kos

video details and more

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/284212071/92516

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Boot: Both Decrease And Increase In Troop Deaths
Prove The Surge Is Success

Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Max Boot is one of the most vocal supporters of a neocon foreign policy. He says those who favor withdrawal from Iraq engage in “wishful thinking” and claims “there is copious evidence” that Iran is training al Qaeda. He said former CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon’s hesitation to bomb Iran “embolden[ed] the mullahs,” and claimed that the recently-revealed Pentagon propaganda program is simply “part and parcel of the daily grind of Washington journalism.”

He has also been a vociferous defender of the Iraq troop surge. Today, in an online debate on the surge, Boot points to the overall decrease in troop deaths as evidence of its success:

I could cite statistics to show how the “surge”?not only an increase in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq but also a change in their strategy to emphasis classic counterinsurgency?has been paying off: Civilian deaths were down more than 80 percent and U.S. deaths down more than 60 percent between December 2006 and March 2008.

Just two days ago, however, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Boot argued that the recent increase in U.S. troop casualties showed the surge was working. Acknowledging that April was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq since August (Boot says 52 soldiers died; in fact 54 did), Boot says the U.S. is approaching “the enemy’s defeat“:

More important, casualties cannot be looked at in a vacuum. A spike in casualties could be a sign that the enemy is gaining strength. Or it could be a sign that tough combat is under way that will lead to the enemy’s defeat and the creation of a more peaceful environment in the future. The latter was certainly the case with the casualty spike during the summer of 2007. … Unfortunate as the latest deaths are, they are in all likelihood a sign of things getting worse before they get better.

The right wing won’t let anything — even dozens of troop deaths — stop them from cheerleading for the Iraq war. The New York Daily News’ Michael Yon picks up Boot’s talking points, answering the question whether the increase in deaths shows that the surge’s progress has been lost:

[H]ere’s my short answer: no. We are taking more casualties now, just as we did in the first part of 2007, because we have taken up the next crucial challenge of this war: confronting the Shia militias. … That means, for the next few months, expect more blood, casualties and grim images of war. This may lead to a shift in the political debate inside the United States and more calls for rapid withdrawal. But on the ground in Iraq, it’s a sign of progress.

In other words: Heads I win, tails you lose.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/05/boot-surge/

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Another Black Minister promoting the crazytalk

Yes, it’s the Reverend Al Green talking smack:..And here’s a shout out to fed up voters everywhere from another scary boogieman:..And let’s finish with a message that oughta scare white people everywhere:..

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http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2008/05/05/another-black-minister-promoti
ng-the-crazytalk/

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