Akron Beacon Journal Calls Conservative Group Out Over Lying, Anti-Boccieri Ad

Freedom's Watch, a right-wing organization out of D.C., is pouring money into a radio ad accusing State Senator John Boccieri of doing nothing to lower gasoline prices. The ad accuses Boccieri of being "all talk and no action" regarding high gasoline prices. As an editorial in yesterday's Beacon Journal makes clear, however, this ad is a bunch of typical conservative lies.

Here is the editorial:

Freedom's Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative lobbying group, is blasting John Boccieri on gas prices. In radio ads across the 16th U.S. House District, the group accuses the Democratic congressional candidate and state senator from Alliance of being ''all talk and no action'' when it comes to alleviating pain at the pump.

The ad is outrageous, a stunning misrepresentation of political reality even by the increasingly loose standards of political advertising. Boccieri was elected to the Ohio House in 2000. Republicans were in the majority. They still are. Boccieri was elected to the Ohio Senate in 2006. Republicans were and remain the majority party, leaving legislative Democrats little opportunity to advance proposals.

Kirk Schuring, the Republican candidate in the race, has called for outside groups to stay out of the campaign. No wonder. Schuring, a state senator from Jackson Township, has been in the legislature the past 15 years. Since 1995, he has been in the majority, his party holding the governor's office for most his time at the Statehouse.

The ad also makes an issue of the state's gas tax, suggesting that ''lawmakers like John Boccieri could save our families 28 cents a gallon this summer by repealing the Ohio gas tax.'' Ludicrous, again. A 2003 gas tax increase (under the Republicans, with Schuring's vote) enjoyed widespread bipartisan support because it financed much-needed road construction and repair. Boccieri, unwisely, voted no.

So the charges levied by Freedom's Watch against Boccieri more aptly apply to Schuring, if they apply at all to state government. Kirk Schuring needs to say more loudly: Freedom's Watch, take a hike!

So here we have a group attacking a Democrat for not doing something, lowering the gasoline tax, when, in actuality he voted against the tax in the first place. Meanwhile, the group lays off Schuring, who, in reality, supported the gas tax that the group wants repealed. Yep, typical conservative lies.

Conservative Talk Show Host Repudiated by McCain Claims He was Asked by DeWine to "Throw Red Meat to the Crowd"

Bill Cunningham, the right-wing talk show host from Cincinnati, who introduced John McCain at a rally last week using Obama's middle name and referring to him as a "Daley style" politician from Chicago, says he was recruited to do the introduction by former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine. He claims that he was recruited at a lunch by DeWine and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters. Deters disputes that the recruiting took place at the lunch that he attended with DeWine and Cunningham. All of this is contained in an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Cunningham, who is now ticked off at McCain for apologizing to both Obama and Clinton for Cunningham's remarks, is telling his listeners that he cannot support the person he is calling "Juan Pablo McCain". (We are assuming that Cunningham is calling McCain Juan Pablo to point out McCain's support of immigration reform, but, since we are not a radical, right-winger, we can't be sure.)

One of the constant things we have been told by the media over the years is that Mike DeWine is some sort of "moderate" Republican. (Apparently if you don't foam at the mouth and howl at the moon, you are given "moderate" status by the corporate media.) Like all such "moderate Republicans", however, DeWine is not above using the radical, right-wingers when it serves his political purpose.

Why Immigration is Problem for Democrats

The Democratic Party is a coalition party, much more so than the Republican Party. The advantage of a coalition party is that it can add new members to the coalition. The disadvantage is that members of the coalition can be turned against each other. We have seen it happen with civil rights for Afro-Americans, women's rights, guns, gay rights, religion, the Vietnam War, and now immigration.

Each of those issues have caused, at various times, internal problems for the Democratic Party by turning members of the coalition against each other. In most cases it was white working class males, working class as being defined as people who do not have a four-year college degree, who were angered by postions taken by other members of the Democratic coalition.

It can be seen in the states of the Old Confederacy going from solidly Democratic to solidly Republican starting in 1964 with the passage of the Civil Rights Act. It can be seen in the voting pattern of so-called "Reagan Democrats" in both 1980 and 1984. Now it is being seen in immigration.

The Washington Post did a report dated October 23, 2007 on a special election held in Massachusetts that pitted the widow of the late Senator Paul Tsongas against a Republican. The Republican started hammering on the fact that Mrs. Tsongas came out in favor of giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. This is a quote from the article:

Then, just two days before Tuesday's balloting, Tsongas said illegal immigrants should each be allowed to get a driver's license. The final radio ad of the Ogonowski insurgency intoned, "And now for something truly incredible. You already know Niki Tsongas supports amnesty for illegal immigrants, but today we learned Niki Tsongas would go even further. Tsongas told the Boston Herald she wants to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants."

The result was that in a special election, in a district where Democrats were used to getting 57% of the vote, she only got 51% and won by about 5%. Now there is one big caveat in that result and that is the fact that it was a special election. The turn-out in special elections is usually much lower than in other elections, and often can be swayed by advocates of a certain position mounting a drive to get their supporters out to vote. Still the result indicates how much of a hot topic the idea of illegal immigrants getting goverment benefits and services may be in the 2008 election.

The issue of driver licenses for illegal immigrants came up in this week's debate for Democratic presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton seemed to waver on whether she supported a plan by Governor Spitzer of New York to allow illegal immigrants to get driver licenses. The idea behind the plan is to get illegal immigrants to get insurance by allowing them to get licenses. Clinton's position at the debate was described by her opponents as muddled, although, according to the Washington Post, she now supports Spitzer's plan. Keep an eye of the issue of illegal immigrants receiving government benefits in 2008 because it could be big.

Republicans Putting Anti-War Republicans in Their Crosshairs

The L.A. Times ran a story on October 21, 2007 on how Republican Representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives are being challenged by pro-war Republicans, some of whom are recruited to run by Republican leaders. According to the article such opposition is one reason why more Republicans aren't breaking with Bush on the Iraq War.

Their dilemma is seen in the following results from a CBS News poll. While all adults polled opposed the way Bush is handling the war by 67% to 27%, among Republicans the numbers are reversed with 58% approving his handling of the war and 35% disapproving. These figures make it difficult for Republicans who are opposed to the war in the House and Senate to actually vote against Bush's positions.

Of course, these numbers among Republicans stay up because Bush hasn't asked anyone other than those serving in the military and their families to sacrifice for his war. Republican supporters aren't asked to pay more in taxes, or to risk being drafted, or to go without things to support the war. All they are asked to do is put a bumper sticker on their cars and talk about how much they support the troops.

Meet the Women of Hillary Clinton's Campaign

New York magazine has an article posted online about the women who are helping Hillary Clinton campaign for the White House. It is a very good article. It points out how Hillary Clinton's team is obsessed with staying on message, avoiding leaks, avoiding "process" stories and making sure that the media doesn't do to her what it did to Al Gore and John Kerry. If you are supporting Senator Clinton, or even if you aren't, this is a great article.

Republicans Are Trying To Flee From Bush, We Shouldn't Let Them

This article from Huffington Post about the Republican Presidential debate in New Hampshire shows how Republicans running for president are trying to run from Bush. The reason why is pretty obvious given his low poll numbers, a war that seemingly has no end, and an immigration debate that is dividing the Republican Party's social conservative and business wings.

For Democrats this is fun to watch, but we shouldn't be blind to what they are trying to do. These same candidates were singing Bush's praises just a couple of years ago and bitterly attacking his Democratic opponents. Somewhere there must be a lot of clips of these candidates supporting Bush and his war. Democrats should make a concerted effort to locate these video clips and get them aired on sites like You Tube. Don't let them run away from Bush. Make sure they have to live with their former support.

Romney Distancing Himself from Bubble-Boy

First it was Sam Brownback, now it is Mitt Romney. With Bush's approval ratings in the low 30s or high 20s, the war in Iraq escalating, and the whole GOP in danger of getting slaughtered in '08, Mitt Romney is distancing himself from Bush. Both Romney and Brownback see an opportunity to become the "anti-Bush" in the race for the GOP nomination.

With his different views on abortion, Rudy Giuliani, the political transvestite, could also become the "anti-Bush" in '08 among Republicans, but he is wedding himself to the war. John McCain has already done so, although he keeps trying to have it both ways.

Romney and Brownback got the better idea. Start distancing youself from the Iraq War, hope that Hillary is the Dem nominee, and maybe you can avoid the fallout from BB's blunders. It is sure better for them than drinking more Bush Kool-Aid and getting killed.

A Question for our Readers: Should Al Gore Run in 2008

If you click on this entry's title you can read an article from a British newspaper about how supposedly a secret team of Al Gore advisers are assembling in private to put together a Gore campaign. The theme of the article is that Gore isn't backing this group but isn't telling them to stop either. This article, along with Bill Clinton's mention of Gore possibly running in 2008 on the Larry King show the other night, is bound to trigger some political speculation.

There are a lot of reasons why Gore would be a strong candidate:

1. Last time he won the popular vote and almost won the Electoral College vote;
2. He already has great name recognition;
3. He has already staked out a position on the environment that resonates with a lot of voters;
4. He was against the war from the start;
5. He can raise money; and
6. He is identified with the successes of the Clinton administration and has none of Bill Clinton's personal baggage.

There are also some reasons why he shouldn't:

1. The media doesn't like him and would be attacking him for his supposed flaws;
2. The conservative press would be all over him; and
3. His life is going pretty good so why put himself through all that crap?

Tell us what you think by posting your comments.

Giuliani's Private Life May Hurt His Chances

Just as the public is anointing Rudy, the Political Transvestite*, the front-runner, the media is starting to look at his messy personal life. His first marriage was a 14 year marriage that got annulled when he apparently realized he was married to his second cousin. At the time of that annulment he was already involved with the woman who became his second wife, by whom he had two children.

That marriage fell apart when he got involved with his third wife. It included such scenes as a judge issuing a temporary restraining order blocking the PT from having his mistress over at Gracie Mansion, the Mayor's residence, while his children and wife were there. When he left the marital residence, he resided with a gay couple and their dog.

Now, he is married for a third time and running for president. His son, Andrew, told the media this past week that he is too busy trying to become a professional golfer to campaign with his father and that he has some problems with his father's new wife. Apparently Andrew and his sis weren't too happy about how Dad trashed Mom during the whole divorce process. This revelation led to Rudy asking the media not to involve his family in this campaign. A wish, by the way that John McCain, who was involved with his heiress second wife during his first marriage, also voiced.

As the AP article linked to in this entry's title shows, that ain't going to happen. The media long ago gave up serious political journalism for political celebrity journalism. Political celebrity journalism means covering politicians like the entertainment media covers movie stars only with poll results. Political celebrity journalists are about to descend on the story of PT's marriages like seagulls on a dead fish at the beach. Which, by the time they get through with Rudy and his Three Wives, will be an apt analogy.
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*We call Giuliani the Political Transvestite because he is pretending to be something he isn't, a social conservative, to get the Republican nomination.