Elections 2009-2012, Part 3
Moderator: Super Moderators
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/ ... _hole.html]
October 01, 2010
Blago's Deep Hole
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) may see a possible political comeback in his future but a new Public Policy Polling survey finds him the least popular politician they've every surveyed. Just 8% of Illinois voters have a favorable opinion of him while 83% view him negatively.
"There's not a lot of point in breaking down feelings toward Blagojevich along demographic lines because pretty much everyone in the state hates him about the same."
racehorse
I guess no one cares about the Meg Whitman story, but here's a good culmination....
Here's video of Allred getting totally owned by Greta van Susteren:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4357012/whit ... -politics/
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z11EnMVnENWhitman within law, immigration lawyers say
Whether or not Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman received a letter from the Social Security Administration saying her former housekeeper's false documents did not match its records, Whitman did not act unlawfully by keeping the housekeeper employed, immigration lawyers said Thursday.
In fact, had she gone ahead and fired Nicandra Diaz Santillan based on such a letter, she would have exposed herself to potential anti-discrimination violations, lawyers said.
Whitman says she wasn't aware of receiving a "no-match" letter.
Lawyers said an employer's obligation upon receiving a no-match letter from the Social Security Administration is to check their own records for typographical or other errors, inform the employee that the records do not match and tell the employee to correct them.
"There is no additional legal obligation for an employer to follow up or respond to SSA with new information," said Gening Liao, a labor and employment attorney at the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles, which defends immigrants.
Liao added that it is "very important that the employer does not take adverse action against the employee" merely based on a letter from Social Security.
Nor was Diaz under any obligation to pursue the matter, Liao said. Correcting a mismatch is "primarily for the benefit of the employee," she said, to make sure they can collect all the benefits due them for their work.
The attorney for Diaz Santillan has not said whether the Whitmans' former housekeeper received a mismatch notice. Social Security's notice to employees says the letter "does not, in and of itself, allow your employer to change your job, lay you off, fire you or take other action against you."
Had Whitman questioned Diaz's legal status after Diaz presented documents when she was hired, Whitman again would have exposed herself to discrimination violations.
"Not only is (accepting the documents) all the law required her to do, but there's a counterbalancing anti-discrimination law that keeps her from probing further or demanding different documents," said Crystal Williams, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington.
Social Security records are riddled with errors, especially on female Hispanic and Asian names that follow a different order from English names, or are changed after a marriage or divorce.
"There are a lot of reasons other than immigration status that a Social Security number could be wrong," Williams said.
Once Diaz announced that she was in the country illegally, it was Whitman's legal obligation to fire her, attorneys said.
Here's video of Allred getting totally owned by Greta van Susteren:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4357012/whit ... -politics/
The Meg Whitman slow-motion catastrophe continues...
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 2085.storyWhitman courts Latinos in bid to defuse controversy over maid
By Michael J. Mishak and Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times
October 2, 2010
Meg Whitman's campaign for governor has doubled its advertising on Spanish-language radio and increased the number of its Latino television spots by roughly 50% as the former EBay chief executive seeks to blunt the impact of news that she employed, then fired, an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper.
Publicly, Whitman's campaign aides say the controversy over her former housekeeper, Nicandra Diaz Santillan, will not harm Whitman's prospects among Latino voters, especially after the multimillion-dollar investment she has already made to reach them.
Blago lives in his own world Race, LOL he has no future in politics, none. But he can dream can't he ..LOLracehorse wrote: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/ ... _hole.html]
"The Donald"
SETIsLady wrote: Race, where are you looking for an update to the thread ???
Hi SETIsLady.
How about a GOP Presidential prospect for 2012 but not Thune, Gingrich, Giuliani, Romney, or Huckabee, any of whom I will support if nominated or even Palin who I will not but instead "The Donald" ? I am shocked he is even being "seriously" (:eek: :p ?) discussed.
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http://thepage.time.com/2010/10/04/trump-card
Mark Halperin
The Page
TRUMP CARD
Monday, October 4, 2010
PAGE EXCLUSIVE: New Hampshire voters polled by phone on their feelings about The Donald and 2012.
According to sources familiar with the calls, New Hampshire residents received a telephone poll in September testing multiple 2012 Republican candidates and match-ups that included some 30 questions on real estate magnate Donald Trump. Among other queries, the calls reportedly asked if voters had heard that Trump donated to Democrats in the past and if they thought his high-profile appearances on TV would help or hurt him in a political race. TIME was unable to reach Trump for comment. TIME has also so far been unable to determine who paid for the survey.
Halperin's Take
Trump created a flurry of speculation when he flirted with running for president in the past. The Republican nomination fight is so wide open -- with no clear front-runner and a lot of potentially strong candidates on the fence about making the race - that a Trump trip or two to the Granite State (along with some token TV and radio spots) could juice his poll numbers and make him an immediate player in the world of cable/blog/talk radio speculation. Trump's brashness, faux anti-establishment populism, willingness to take on Obama right here, right now as a take-charge-CEO-type, and bright-shiny-object status with the media would allow him to draw a lot of attention. He wouldn't have to declare he was running for sure, just say he was thinking about it.
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racehorse
I think he might actually be a contender if he were to jump into the race. Can you imagine the commercials with all of his dirty laundry 
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/ ... e_day.html
October 04, 2010
Quote of the Day
"My sense is we're on the cusp of seeing a political tsunami the likes of which I have never seen in my lifetime."
-- Mike Huckabee, in an interview with Mark Halperin.
racehorse
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articl ... polls.html
Dueling Generic Ballot Polls
By Sean Trende - October 4, 2010
Probably the biggest polling news of the day was the Gallup generic ballot poll ( http://www.gallup.com/poll/143363/GOP-P ... oters.aspx ) that showed Republicans leading Democrats 56 percent to 38 percent. That 18-point lead is predicated upon a "low turnout" scenario, and would represent historic highs for the Republican Party -- it would probably represent the most seats won by either party since the early 70s.
Gallup also produced a model anticipating slightly higher turnout. Under this model, the Republicans led by 13 points, which is still an historic result in the Gallup model. Among registered voters, Republicans led by 3 points.
Rasmussen Reports ( http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... nal_ballot ), by contrast, saw the race tightening significantly, with Republicans leading Democrats by only three points, 45 percent to 42 percent. This represented the closest ballot test in roughly a year. Of course, the big difference between the two polls is the number of undecideds; it may well be that Democrats are truly stuck at around 40 percent, and undecideds are leaning heavily GOP.
-
Sean Trende is Senior Elections Analyst for RealClearPolitics.
racehorse
HB3 wrote: It's gonna be Jerry Brown. He, at least, despite his public failings, represents the old California, ie, a California we can recognize. What does Whitman represent? Dot com bull**** -- ie, total spiritual emptiness.
HB3, I agree 100%. And you've laid out a "best case" of what Whitman represents. Brown is a failure, no doubt. But a failure who lives in a studio apartment, and drives a used AMC will resonate with old and young alike in California 2010.
In fact, it will resonate with me. Too bad I won't be voting for him.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.
SquidInk wrote: Brown is a failure, no doubt. But a failure who lives in a studio apartment, and drives a used AMC will resonate with old and young alike in California 2010.
In fact, it will resonate with me. Too bad I won't be voting for him.
Jerry Brown, a "failure, no doubt"?
I have considerable doubt and have seen absolutely no evidence of this either now or in the past. I won't be voting for Jerry Brown either but that is not because I am a partisan Republican but only because I don't live in California. Also, I don't care where he lives or what he drives. That is unimportant to me. In fact, he is the only Democratic candidate to seek his party's Presidential nomination (too bad he was unsuccessful) that I would have likely supported against the GOP nominee.
I have nothing at all against Meg Whitman and if she were facing a run of the mill Democratic candidate, I would support her. Jerry Brown is not such a person. I think he is one of the most truly intelligent, sincere, and well meaning figures to seek and hold elected office in my lifetime. He is an original thinker, a true Statesman, and has constant and real ideas.
There are only a few people on both the Left and Right who I believe have rightly earned the title of "visionary". Jerry Brown is one of those and although his ideology is usually to my left I openly support him (and I almost never openly support Democratic candidates). He is an extraordinary person and Californians should be honored to elect him as Governor once again. He will serve them well now, just as he always has!
racehorse
Wow, that's interesting that you'd say that. You know, I wasn't really conscious of much of anything the last time he was governor, but I read an interview with him recently in Los Angeles Magazine, and I thought he came off in a lot of the ways you're describing. Whether that will translate into doing anything to actually help California, well, I dunno....
racehorse wrote: Jerry Brown, a "failure, no doubt"?
I have considerable doubt and have seen absolutely no evidence of this either now or in the past. I won't be voting for Jerry Brown either but that is not because I am a partisan Republican but only because I don't live in California. Also, I don't care where he lives or what he drives. That is unimportant to me. In fact, he is the only Democratic candidate to seek his party's Presidential nomination (too bad he was unsuccessful) that I would have likely supported against the GOP nominee.
I have nothing at all against Meg Whitman and if she were facing a run of the mill Democratic candidate, I would support her. Jerry Brown is not such a person. I think he is one of the most truly intelligent, sincere, and well meaning figures to seek and hold elected office in my lifetime. He is an original thinker, a true Statesman, and has constant and real ideas.
There are only a few people on both the Left and Right who I believe have rightly earned the title of "visionary". Jerry Brown is one of those and although his ideology is usually to my left I openly support him (and I almost never openly support Democratic candidates). He is an extraordinary person and Californians should be honored to elect him as Governor once again. He will serve them well now, just as he always has!
Racehorse - I continue to be amazed we are in such agreement when it comes to these visionary issues.
I remember well his campaign for president, and was in fact a caucus delegate for him here locally. He announced his campaign in Philadelphia and ran on his 'Winter Soldiers' platform. He introduced the concept of grass roots civic support with his 1-800# - which he was ridiculed for. Had there been a full blown internet grassroots then - he might have done even better. He came very close to turning that corner... but was turned out by the Clintonistas - including Jimmy Carter whom I shall never forgive for excoriating him as essentially a 'snake oil' salesman for his idea of a flat tax, and etc...
Jerry Brown is both a visionary - and a very practical problem solver. Californians could do much worse.
Anyway - thanks, Racehorse!
