Midterm Vote May Define Rove's Legacy - washingtonpost.com

Interesting to think that Bush's Brain is thinking about legacy and what happened with the New Deal in '38. The GOP "revolution/regression" will be as long lasting as the New Deal, but the the model is there. The legacy will be determined by this election. The framing for the Bush Presidential legacy is already being framed. The recent Rolling Stone piece about the worst president ever was only the start. Even though Reagan's revolution has a shine of those good ole days, there is at least a legacy that people admire, whether it be about the man or the policy. Bush does not engender any sort of positive energy. He's a hater and a divider and that's going to be how history looks at him. In the future when Iraq sinks this country it will be blamed, fairly or not on Bush and his Brain.

On Campaign Stop, Bush Rallies Loyalists - washingtonpost.com:

"... rallies are planned in the coming week in Georgia, Texas, Nevada and Montana ...."

Wow! Other than Nevada, those are seriously RED states (Nevada's only Red). If things are so bad that he's not going to NY or Pennsylvania and heading to his home state, that is bad news for the GOP. I'm in shock that he's written off large chunks of the Midwest and Northeast. Not to say that he wouldn't hurt GOP candidates with his rallies, but still, no fundraisers can't be good.

The Year Of Playing Dirtier - washingtonpost.com:

"Even RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman said he is powerless to stop it; it is an 'independent expenditure' of the RNC, out of the committee's control. "

This is laughable. Does Mehlman have that much disrespect for the citizens of Tennessee and the USA that he thinks the voters don't know what he's really doing.

The ads are terrible. check out YouTube for your favorite races. It's brutal the negativity that's going on in these ads. Unfortunately it looks like the Dems are again behind the curve on this one. I'm not sure that it's a bad thing. The worst are the racist garbage that NRSC put up in Tennessee. Funny, but playing on the fears of Klan members everywhere with an up front display of miscegination. It's a good sign that they are forced to do that, meaning that they are desperate. If Corker was ahead by twenty points they wouldn't even mention Ford's name

One more thing ... I saw a Google Bomb thing on GOP candidates with unflatering articles. I would highly recommend folks to look for it and pass it around.

--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

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

YouTube - Stood Up

This is the link to Michael Steele/NRSC's ad against Ben Cardin. Interesting if you look there's a subliminal message that "Cardin's taken more special interest money than any Maryland Senator" (emphasis added). Let me be the first to congradulate the newest U.S. Senator Ben Cardin. He's been prometed by the RSCC from Congressman to U.S. Senator. To be honest, I think some out of state cronies screwed this one up, the the subtext is strong. I don't think that the best people are working for the NRSC in Maryland.

North Korea is China's problem. By Anne Applebaum - Slate Magazine:

"For not only is China the country with the most influence over North Korea, China also is, along with South Korea and Japan, one of the countries most under threat from North Korean nukes. After all, it is China, not the United States, that will be at the center of the new Asian arms race if Japan and South Korea feel compelled to get the bomb. It is China, not the United States, that would feel the effects of fallout if North Korea actually used its weapons. "

The model to consider is the Soviet Union and the possible empty shell that is North Korea. She's right, if the U.S. were willing to pay for space in China to house 500,000 north Koreans right now, you'd probably end the crisis right now. The army is getting smaller, literally, and other than those conventional forces, North Korea could fall to pieces with a small incursion. I'm certainly not saying that we go rto war, but I do think the refugee bomb is an elegant solution. S. Korea and Japan would chip in some money. They do have the most to lose.

China though has some other issues that it must deal with. The refugee problem isonly the first one. The other thing is what to do with a collapsed North Korea? They would have to outlay the money and troops to keep order. If the Chinese played their cards right they could come out graduating from regional power to world leader status by defusing this crisis. This would put them ahead of New Delhi in Tokyo, Seoul and Washington. The Russians should start to worry. Those Siberian oil wells are much closer to Beijing than Moscow.

The Vegetable-Industrial Complex - New York Times

The luxury of being rich and smart. I don' t disagree with a single word he writes except we no longer live in his ideal world. The E. Coli he's talking about is out there now. We can't put the E. Coli back into the cow. If everyone had the green market we'd all be healthier. Not that rich smart people don't want to eat in those places, but we also want to make sure that food is affordable. That lettuce we buy at $1.69/lb at the supermarket is pretty inexpensive considering where it came from. At the same time if you want to eat food that's locally raised, what are you going to do in February? We're going to eat a lot of preserved meat, apples, pickled veggies, and cabbage. Not too much grows after November is large swaths of the country. I'd bet that there isn't too much green stuff in general in January in NYC. It would be great if we were Alice Waters and could live a few miles from the greatest farmland in the workd with perfect weather 300 days of the year. But we don't and I still would like to eat a green salad in the wintertime. I'm stuck eating my lettuce from many many miles away. If they have only a few sources that lower the costs then great. It's better that its cheaper because it's expensive to keep your home worm.

Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/16/2006 | Agents raid homes of Rep. Curt Weldon’s daughter, close friend

What is this about? More about the culture of corruption in Congress? Interesting to ponder the FBI entering into an investigation of a Congressman's daughter under suspicion for influence peddling? Let's hope its omething along those lines and not worse.

Hastert's Team Mentality to Be Tested as Foley Scandal Unfolds - washingtonpost.com

His brand of Republicanism might be seen as enabling the drunken spending the the GOP has partaken in these "conservative" years. I'm disappointed that no one has held the Speaker personally accountable for the mulit million dollar payoff he got by putting a highway by property he ans his political consigliere own. His complete indifference to the rest of the House. He is not GOP leader, he is Speaker of the House and therefore has some responsibilities to the institution. How does he protect the institution? He criticizes the FBI for going into Congressman Jefferson's office looking for evidence with a subpoena. Finally his dealings with Abramoff have also had no whispers of accountability. He is a man out there for personal greed. He's too nice to be in it for the power, but somehow made it to being 3rd in line for the Presidency. He blinded himself to what's best for the country. And when he was presented with an oppotunity to stand up for children he chose a Pederast. He should not be in power and probably should be in jail.

Democrats Have Intensity, but G.O.P. Has Machine - New York Times

The 72 hour project was a reaction to the traditionally better run Democratic GOTV efforts. The GOP has obviously done a good job and surpassed the Dem efforts, but I think that also has to do with the reduction in Union power and laziness. From this article it seems that antecdotally the Dem shave caught up. It would be better if there were real statistics, but those are secrets for good reason. The best thing about politics is that everythinf is determined on election day.

GOP Officials Brace for Loss Of Seven to 30 House Seats - washingtonpost.com

The Foley scandal is hurting the GOP? No! the thing is that the scandal will not have much of an effect on the local races, but overall it seems to be hurting the GOP. If for nothing else it has overwhelmed the message from the GOP leadership and the White House. What national security problem? We have a pederast in the comservative party of the country. We must defend our children! Isn't that national security? Our children's safety?

It has taken two precious weeks out of the message timeline. I'm sure the GOP has adjusted things, but the clock keeps ticking. Denny seems to have weathered the storm, but it he's going to be a has-been if he isn't already. He'll have a nice pension and all that, but he's done for now. The loss of the Hammer earlier this year is hurting him badly. The discipline and loyalty has left. All he has now is the office and that doesn't look too good for January at the latest.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State :: CTA chairwoman slams talk of upscale service to airports

My thing with CTA in general is the lack of emphasis on "blocking and tackling" the basics of transit. Make sure the trains show up on time and get passengers to their destinations safely and on-time. There has got to be a way to eliminate bunching buses and train traffic in the Loop. I'm sure that some smart kid could come up with a model on how to get out those two problems. Additionally they should keep the cars clean and have more officers out in the open. These pipe dreams oabout airport express service and the Circle line should come behind the basics. One more thing is that in order to encourage this, make sure you tell Congress that you want federal dollars to help operations costs not just capital costs.

Dana Milbank - A Few Conservative Voices Still Speak for the Speaker - washingtonpost.com

The front page of the Trib also has questions about the Speaker's ability to keep his job. The big thing is that the rest of the leadership are blaming coach. I'm not sure what he needs, maybe a vacation or a "Hammer" to keep things airtight. Right now no one is missing DeLay more than his protege. He has been the longest serving Speaker and a key member of the Republican Revolution. Politically for the GOP, there are no good options. If Hastert resigns then what? More questions about who assumes the Speakership and media montages about Denny's career (although I'm sure they'll skip the personal corruption stories about his massive profits in real estate and highways). That's not good.

Hastert's best bet is to go on Today show and apologize for screwing up and trying to protect his friend in need. Return the pederast's money and pray. He might still have to resign, but at least he can ginve the American people a choice. Otherwise he's done. This is going to be a bleeding wound till election day. For the Dems, they should keep at it. The money angle is especially good since it has a legs, traceable, and nothing better than calling your opponent a friend of child molesters.

Resign, Mr. Speaker�-�Editorials/Op-Ed�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

I'm no fan of the Washington Times, but this editorial shocks me with it's clear understanding of what needs to happen. It's a disgrace that either the Speaker didn't know what was going on or deliberately looked away. I vote for the later. Hastert and George Allen have this GOP glean of being in power too long. Any sort of challenges to their power is met with contempt and blatant lies. What's even better that their ability to lie well has failed them. The body language and their words reveal what they really think. I'm not saying that their job isn't stressful or difficult, but if you don't want to answer questions about your history, you should get out of politics.