Southern Poverty Law Center

Family Research Council Rips SPLC Over 'Slanderous' Hate Group Designation

Ben Frumin | November 27, 2010, 9:05AM

Tony Perkins

The Family Research Council, one of the most prominent voices in conservative social politics and host of the annual Values Voter Summit, has responded to being called a "hate group" with a scathing statement of its own.

As we reported earlier this week, Southern Poverty Law Center added the Family Research Council to its list of hate groups due to anti-gay speech from its leaders.

In a statement, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins calls that designation a "slanderous attack and attempted character assassination."

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AK-SEN

Murkowski Files To Intervene In Joe Miller's AK-SEN Lawsuit

Jillian Rayfield | November 26, 2010, 10:10AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Joe Miller

Sen. Lisa Murkowski filed a motion on Wednesday to intervene in Joe Miller's lawsuit against the state of Alaska and the Alaska Division of Elections, arguing that she deserves to be a party to the suit "to keep those thousands of voters from being disenfranchised by Mr. Miller."

In the motion, Murkowski's attorney Scott M. Kendall wrote that "there are numerous critical issues facing our nation and Alaskans deserve to have full representation in the United States Senate."

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Republicans

Meet The Five Incoming Republicans Who Might Have GOP Leaders Sweating Bullets

Brian Beutler | November 26, 2010, 9:28AM

Austin Scott, Allen West, Renee Ellmers, David Rivera, and Blake Farenthold

A manual for incoming freshman Republicans, distributed by GOP leadership is meant to help them hit the ground running -- but also to stay out of trouble.

"It is important to keep in mind that even if you haven't violated any rules, the appearance of impropriety can be just as damaging. So always be certain that everything you do as a member is -- and appears to be -- above board," it reads.

With scores of new members, many untested in politics, coming to Washington, it's inevitable that at least a few will keep leadership awake at night, wondering if and how they might embarrass the party. Everyone's been put on notice, but here are five GOPers who, given their past scrapes, will likely be getting the gimlet eye from the top brass.

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2010 elections

Alabama Party Switchers Boost State GOP

Eric Kleefeld | November 26, 2010, 9:16AM

Alabama State Capitol

Just like the last big Republican mega-wave of 1994, the election of 2010 has been followed by a series of low-level party switches among remaining conservative Southern Democrats. And in Alabama, where the GOP gained majorities in both houses of the state legislature, the latest round of switching has had an extra special effect.

As the Montgomery Advertiser reports, the switches of four conservative Dem state representatives to the Republican Party this past Monday has given the GOP 66 seats out of 105 in the House. As it turns out, both houses of the Alabama legislature have rules that allow for the minority to force procedural delays similar to the filibuster in the U.S. Senate. And these Dems have gotten the GOP right there to the three-fifths majority necessary to force cloture, along with the cloture-ready majority they also achieved in the Senate.

The incoming Republican Speaker Mike Hubbard said that the party will maintain unity on those key procedural votes, thus using their supermajority to its fullest:

He said they will require Republicans to vote in a bloc to bring up legislation that is on the caucus's agenda, but "we never tell a member how to vote on final passage." He said it is important for the caucus to stand together on issues important to the members."

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Right Jabs Pilgrims For ... Communism? (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 25, 2010, 6:00AM

It's reasonable to assume that tea partiers, Fox News hosts and conservative bloggers look forward to today for the same reason most Americans do: the turkey (or tofurkey, depending on your preference) and the football (or cable TV marathons, depending on your preference.)

But those folks also look forward to Thanksgiving for another reason that it's equally reasonable to imagine most Americans don't: the celebration of capitalism's final victory over communist-leaning Pilgrims.

"Sadly, few Americans know the real story of the early colonists," FreedomWorks' Julie Borowski wrote yesterday. "For evidence of the failures of communism, we do not need to look to disastrous experiments in foreign lands. In fact, the Plymouth Plantation is one of the most apparent examples of the failures of collectivism."

FreedomWorks is, of course, a leading tea party organization headed by Dick Armey. But tea partiers aren't the only ones saying that by breaking bread together on that first Thanksgiving, the early American colonists were really breaking the back of socialism.

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2010 elections

Dem Rep. Berkley: If I Were Pelosi, I Wouldn't Have Run For Minority Leader (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | November 24, 2010, 5:16PM

Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV)

Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) is voicing a hint of dissent against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) continuing as Minority Leader -- saying that she did vote for Pelosi in the leadership contest, but wouldn't have actually run if she'd been in the same shoes:

"If I was the Speaker and I had lost 63 votes I would not have stood election. But the fact is she did, there was nobody to seriously challenge her," Berkley said in an interview with Jon Ralston.

"If I were Speaker, I wouldn't have," Berkley added. "But she did and she had no serious opposition as much as I like Heath Shuler..."

(Via Sam Stein)

Debt Commission

Alan Simpson: 'Greediest Generation' Won't Leave Me Alone Over Debt Commission Report

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 24, 2010, 5:14PM

Alan Simpson

Pity poor Alan Simpson. Three weeks after he and fellow presidential debt commission co-chair Erskine Bowles tried to put a positive spin on their incredibly controversial prescription to balance the federal budget, Simpson is still taking heat from critics on both sides of the aisle.

"I've never had any nastier mail or [been in a] more difficult position in my life," Simpson told the Casper Star-Tribune in his homestate of Wyoming.

"Just vicious," Simpson said. "People I've known, relatives [saying], "'You son of a bitch. How could you do this?'"

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Jon Kyl

Kyl Hounded For $200M 'Earmark' -- But Experts Say It Doesn't Break GOP Ban

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 24, 2010, 3:02PM

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

Democrats today are shopping around what they're saying is a really juicy (if totally predictable) tale of Republican hypocrisy: Just days after the Senate GOP caucus imposed a voluntary moratorium on earmarking, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) dumped $200 million in extra cash for his home state into a spending bill right before final passage.

But experts insisted to TPM today that what Kyl did isn't nearly as clear or egregious as the AP made it out to be.

Here's the AP story Democrats are so excited about:

Only three days after GOP senators and senators-elect renounced earmarks, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican, got himself a whopping $200 million to settle an Arizona Indian tribe's water rights claim against the government. Kyl slipped the measure into a larger bill sought by President Barack Obama and passed by the Senate on Friday to settle claims by black farmers and American Indians against the federal government.

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2010 elections

Two House Races Remain Undecided

Marc Kilstein | November 24, 2010, 2:44PM

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA)

And then there were two.

Three weeks after voters went to the polls, just two congressional races remain undecided. They are:

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AK-SEN

Norm Coleman To Joe Miller: It's 'Time To Move On' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 24, 2010, 2:23PM

Fmr. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)

Even Norm Coleman thinks it's time for Joe Miller to give up his Alaska Senate fight. "I think that race is over," Coleman said in an interview that will air this Sunday on C-SPAN's Newsmakers. "I think the counting's been done I'm not sure there's anything that would change that."

"It should be time to move on," he said. "There's not much that you can gain by extending the process."

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MN-SEN

Key Lawyer: False '08 MN-SEN Voter-Fraud Complaints Are Waste Of Time

Eric Kleefeld | November 24, 2010, 2:14PM

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)

You know those efforts by conservatives to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) election in that drawn-out recount, by searching high and low for alleged voter fraud? The head of Minnesota's County Attorneys Association, John Kingrey, says that they're taking up local prosecutors' time with false reports.

As we've previously noted, the conservative group Minnesota Majority submitted a (dubious) report alleging that hundreds of felons had illegally voted in the 2008 Senate race. After the counties investigated the report -- as they are required under state law to do, when it comes to allegations of election fraud -- it was found that the report contained errors such as identifying the wrong people, or naming felons who could legally vote after serving their full sentences.

At a press conference Monday with Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota, a group formed after the 2004 election to mobilize against reported problems with electronic voting machines and other potential problems of voter disenfranchisement, Kingrey called the reports of voter fraud "wildly overstated," and said he knew of only one prosecution of voter fraud.

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RNC

Norm Coleman: I Won't Run For RNC Chair If Steele Seeks New Term

Eric Kleefeld | November 24, 2010, 12:09PM

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)

Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), who had been rumored to be a possible candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, told the Daily Caller that he will not run if current (and embattled) Chairman Michael Steele seeks re-election: "If he's in, then I'm out."

"Michael Steele is a friend. He has been for many years. I'm not going to run against the chairman."

But he refused to rule out running in the case Steele doesn't.

"I'm not in a position to speculate what-if-he-doesn't," Coleman said. "At that point, it becomes speculation."

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Family Research Council

Family Research Council Labeled 'Hate Group' By SPLC Over Anti-Gay Rhetoric

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 24, 2010, 11:18AM

Tony Perkins

The Family Research Council is perhaps the most prominent voice in conservative social politics and the hosts of an annual rite of passage for many Republicans who hope to run for president. And now, FRC is on the same Southern Poverty Law Center list of hate groups as the Ku Klux Klan.

The SPLC gave the Family Research Council the designation due to anti-gay speech from its leaders, which the SPLC says includes calls for gay men and lesbians to be imprisoned.

Labeling the Family Research Council a hate group puts one of Washington's most powerful social issues advocates into the company of groups like the Nation of Islam and the now mostly defunct Aryan Nations in the eyes of the SPLC, which tracks 932 active hate groups in the U.S.

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Pres '12

Poll: 41% Of Dems Want Primary Opponent For Obama

Marc Kilstein | November 24, 2010, 10:39AM

President Barack Obama

While President Obama has fared well at the state level in early 2012 presidential election polls, a newly released national poll paints a more troublesome picture for the president's re-election bid.

The McClatchy-Marist survey finds 41% of Democrats are in favor of a challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination. When Democratic-leaning independents are included, 45% support a primary challenge, 46% don't, and 9% aren't sure.

A November 15 Quinnipiac poll showed much less support for a contested 2012 primary, with just 27% of Democrats and Democrat leaners saying they wanted a Dem besides Obama to run in 2012, while 64% didn't.

In the Marist poll, only 36% of respondents indicate that they would "definitely vote for him" in the general election, whereas 48% state they will "definitely vote against him."

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AK-SEN

Miller And Murkowski Squabble Over Court Location For AK-SEN Hearings

Jillian Rayfield | November 24, 2010, 10:31AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Joe Miller

In the latest dispute in the Alaska Senate race, Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski are debating where to hold the hearings over Miller's lawsuit in state court. Murkowski, who announced Monday that she would attempt to intervene as a party on the state's side of the case, argues that the case should be heard in Juneau, where the write-in vote count was held. Miller wants the suit heard in Fairbanks.

The tea party-backed Miller won a surprise victory over Murkowski in the Republican primary, only to fall short to her historic write-in bid in the general election. Murkowski has declared victory and the AP has called the race for her -- though the state hasn't certified the result yet.

The court has yet to decide whether to accept Murkowski's attempt to become a part of the suit, which she said was an attempt "to keep those thousands of voters from being disenfranchised by Mr. Miller."

Her campaign manager Kevin Sweeney says the campaign will file a motion over the location if the state won't, KTUU reports.

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2012 elections

Obama To Barbara Walters: 'I Don't Think Much About Sarah Palin'

Marc Kilstein | November 24, 2010, 10:25AM

President Obama

In a new sit-down interview with Barbara Walters, President Obama suggested that while he respects Sarah Palin's political skills, he's a bit too busy to pay her much attention.

Obama said he is not giving much thought to the 2012 election. When asked if he thinks he could beat Sarah Palin in 2012, he replied, "I don't think much about Sarah Palin."

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Bobby Rush

African American Advocacy Group Attacks Dem Over Net Neutrality

Jillian Rayfield | November 24, 2010, 8:41AM

Bobby Rush (D- IL)

Democratic Congressman Bobby Rush (IL) is looking to land the top Dem spot on the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. But he is facing opposition from an unexpected source on the left.

James Rucker is the executive director of Color of Change, a left-leaning group dedicated to "strengthening Black America's political voice," and told TPM yesterday that Congressman Rush is the "leading black voice that has argued against Net Neutrality provisions." If Rush were to become ranking member of the committee, Rucker said, he'd be "in a position where he could to do big harm" as someone who's "consistently been on the side of industry and not protecting the public interest."

Rush's biggest funders are from the telecommunications sector -- an interest group firmly opposed to Net Neutrality. As Wired.com reports:

During his congressional career, Rush has received $78,964 from AT&T -- his second largest career contributor. He's also gotten $43,499 from the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and $42,000 from Verizon, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

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Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

Midterms Leave Top Democratic Surrogate Debbie Wasserman Schultz In The Lurch

Brian Beutler | November 24, 2010, 8:37AM

The 2010 midterm elections were kind of a bummer, if you're a Democrat. Among Democrats who survived the bloodbath, it's a really big bummer for Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) -- an appropriator and prolific fundraiser whose role in the 2012 cycle is now unclear.

With over 60 seats lost and the party relegated to minority status, the party has fewer perks -- leadership positions, plum committee assignments, etc. -- to offer its most influential members. As you might expect, it's created visible tension within the party. It's also added some bumps to Wasserman Schultz's once-clear path to party leadership.

When the Republicans take over next year, the ratios on House committees will practically flip. For a lot of Democrats -- particularly senior members -- this won't matter much. There's frequently some correspondence between the number of spots the losing party loses on a committee, and the number of members of that committee who are defeated or retire.

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Tea Party

Poll: Americans Divided On Who Should Set Policy-- Obama Or The Tea Party

Marc Kilstein | November 24, 2010, 8:33AM

A Tea Party rally in Michigan.

Americans can't agree on who they want to "have the most influence on government policy next year," according to a newly released USA Today/Gallup poll. No surprise there. What may come as a surprise, however, is that at the top of the poll, the split is between respondents who want President Obama to set policy, and those who want Tea Partiers to take the lead in Washington.

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Pres '12

PPP Poll: Early Look At 2012 Finds Obama Faring Well In North Carolina

Marc Kilstein | November 24, 2010, 8:31AM

President Barack Obama

In 2008, President Obama became the first Democratic presidential nominee to win North Carolina since the mid-1970s. And according to a newly released PPP survey, he's well-positioned once again in this historically red state.

The early survey shows Obama faring well against Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, while hanging close with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. The survey finds:

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2010 elections

Dems Maffei And Ortiz Concede House Races

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2010, 5:16PM

Rep. Dan Maffei (D-NY) and Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)

Two Democratic Congressman -- one old, and one new -- have conceded defeat to their challengers in this year's Republican wave.

In Texas's 27th District, Rep. Solomon Ortiz conceded last night to Republican challenger Blake Farenthold. Ortiz had previously demanded a recount, but only picked up about 150 votes -- still losing to Farenthold by about 650 votes. Ortiz was first elected all the way back in 1982. The district was carried by Barack Obama in 2008, by a margin of 53%-46%, but previously voted for George W. Bush by 55%-45% in 2004.

In New York's 25th District, Democratic freshman Rep. Dan Maffei has conceded to Republican Ann Marie Buerkle, by a margin of less than 600 votes. Maffei was first elected in 2008, picking up an open Republican-held seat after he'd narrowly lost a bid in 2006. The district voted 56%-43% for Barack Obama in 2008, and 50%-48% for John Kerry in 2004.

This brings the latest tally of Republican gains in the election to 63 seats.

RNC

Steele's Former Political Director To Challenge Him For Chair

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 23, 2010, 4:00PM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

Gentry Collins, the former Republican National Committe political director who ripped RNC chair Michael Steele in his resignation letter Nov. 16, is jumping into the race to replace Steele.

ABC News reports that Collins "has taken the first step toward running for RNC Chairman, filing papers with the IRS to create a 527 fund-raising committee called 'Collins for Chairman.'"

Collins' entry to the race brings the grand total of potential RNC chair candidates to, well, a whole heck of a lot. Just yesterday, two prominent insider GOP women got in the race and former Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis is already out there running hard. Add to that list the half a dozen or so other names being floated as possible RNC candidates and you've got a race that could be extremely unpredictable.

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Lame duck sesion

Poll: Americans See Tax Issues As Top Priority For Lame-Duck Congress

Marc Kilstein | November 23, 2010, 3:37PM

Above all else, Americans are hoping for the lame-duck Congress to sort out some tax issues, according to a newly released USA Today/Gallup poll.

The latest survey asked respondents to rate the importance of six different issues that are being considered by Congress during its lame-duck session. The issues were:

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MN-GOV

Minnesota Recount Part II Set To Begin -- As Board Figures Out The How

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2010, 3:25PM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

The Minnesota State Canvassing Board held a busy meeting this morning, as they begin to make some crucial decisions on how the recount will proceed in the gubernatorial race between Democrat Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer.

With the counties finished proofreading their spreadsheets, as well as routine hand recounts in randomly selected precincts to double-check the accuracy rate of the optical-scan machines, Dayton leads by 8,770 votes, or 0.42%. While this is within the 0.5% needed to trigger a statewide recount, many observers have doubted that Emmer could pull ahead, as Dayton's lead is probably too wide to be reversed barring any surprising discoveries in the hand count. However, a possible drawn-out legal contest could potentially result in Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty staying in office in the interim, with the opportunity to work with a newly elected Republican legislature.

With the State Canvassing Board formally declaring there would be a recount, today's meeting has been dominated by questions of how to conduct it, in light of the lessons learned from the thorough recount from the 2008 Senate race -- and the very thorough six months of extra litigation that followed it, with the result being within just a few hundred votes at the time. And a cast of familiar faces from last time, some of them in different roles this time around, grappled with these new issues.

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Health Care

Poll: Republicans Want Anti-HCR GOPers To Just Say No To Gov't Health Care

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 23, 2010, 2:12PM

Rep.-elect Andy Harris (R-MD)

Republicans and independents have decided that incoming members of Congress who ran against health care reform and still take their government-funded benefits are hypocrites. Democrats, not so much.

That's one conclusion from a new national poll from Democratic firm PPP, which shows big majorities of GOP and independent voters saying the politicians who ran against the health care reform law should forgo the health care benefits they're entitled to as employees of the federal government.

Just 28% of Republican respondents said that new anti-reform members should take their federal benefits, while a whopping 58% said they shouldn't. Among independents -- who voted for the GOP in big numbers on Nov. 2 -- 56% say politicians who made health care repeal a cornerstone of their campaigns should deny themselves their government benefits. Only 27% said they should take them.

The split is much narrower among Democrats, who presumably support the health care law and the idea of government-assisted health care in larger numbers. Forty percent of Democrats said that politicians who ran against the health care law should take their government care anyway, while 46% said they should decline it.

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Tea Party

Tea Party Group To Corporations: Support Obama And We'll Take You Down

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 23, 2010, 11:45AM

A tea partier holds a sign at a March 2010 health care protest.

The tea party movement has a new target: Corporate America. Leaders of FreedomWorks, Dick Armey's branch of the conservative revolution, tell US News' Paul Bedard that the tea party movement is now ready to go to war with companies that the group says endorse "President Obama's progressive agenda."

On the short list are General Electric and Johnson & Johnson. Their crimes: "Their initial focus" of FreedomWorks' anti-corporate war "will be on consumer firms that lobbied for passage of Obama's agenda items that helped their firms." Those items include: "healthcare reform, bailouts, cap-and-trade energy policies or other issues pushed by the administration."

How will FreedomWorks take out these corporate giants? Through what it says will be a series of massive consumer boycotts Bedard likens to past anti-corporate protests mounted by Jesse Jackson.

"[A] Tea Party boycott could be bigger and impact the political world in Washington where corporations are generally viewed as supporting Republicans," Bedard writes.

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14th Amendment

Steve King Lays Out Plan To Abolish Birthright Citizenship

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2010, 11:01AM

Rep. Steve King (R-IA)

Rep. Steve King (R-IA), the staunch opponent of illegal immigration who is set to become the chairman of a key subcommittee on immigration, is setting his sights on the right-wing cause of ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants -- which many experts say would be unconstitutional.

And, as King told the local paper Cityview, his plan is to pass a statute anyway, and if it gets overruled in the courts, to then step up the effort to a constitutional amendment:

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Rand Paul

'The Tea Party Goes To Washington': Rand Paul Inks Book Deal

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 23, 2010, 10:50AM

KY-SEN candidate Rand Paul (R)

The Senator from the tea party is going to become the author from the tea party starting in February 2011. Yesterday, Center Street Publishing -- a division of Hachette that produces "wholesome entertainment, helpful encouragement, and books of traditional values" -- announced it had inked a deal with Rand Paul, the Republican Sen.-elect from Kentucky, to write a book called "The Tea Party Goes to Washington."

From Center Street's release announcing what will surely be next year's must-have Valentine's Day gift:

In THE TEA PARTY GOES TO WASHINGTON, Rand Paul presents his plan--and the Tea Party's platform--to bring the U.S. government more in line with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, to stop spending money the country doesn't have, to stop borrowing, to balance the budget and reduce the size of the government.

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AK-SEN

Joe Miller's New AK-SEN Claim: Multiple Ballots Had The Same Handwriting

Jillian Rayfield | November 23, 2010, 10:46AM

Republican Joe Miller filed his lawsuit in state court yesterday, after a federal judge ruled that his complaints over the Alaska Senate race were under the state court's jurisdiction.

In the latest filing, Miller makes two new arguments, including the claim that in several precincts, "the handwriting on many or all of the write-in ballots appears to be from the same person, or the same small group of 2 to 4 people," therefore signifying that the write-in vote was not written by the voter him or herself.

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MN-GOV

Dayton Legal Team Proposes Change To Ballot-Challenge Process In MN-GOV Recount

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2010, 10:09AM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

The Minnesota State Canvassing Board is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. ET today, to formally declare a recount in the gubernatorial race where Democrat Mark Dayton leads Republican Tom Emmer by less than 9,000 votes. And headed into the meeting, the Dayton campaign sent a letter to the board yesterday evening with an interesting request: Make a slight but significant change to the ballot-challenging process.

It's impossible to know at this juncture whether the board will grant this request -- and perhaps the last-minute nature of the request would lean against such a change. But it does show a clear strategy on the part of Team Dayton: With their candidate's lead being much wider than anything Norm Coleman or Al Franken ever enjoyed in the 2008 Senate recount, they're moving early to try to cut off any possible avenues for Emmer to slow down the process or cast doubt on the margin.

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Steve Israel

Blue Dogged: Meet Steve Israel, The Incoming Chair Of The DCCC

Brian Beutler | November 23, 2010, 9:23AM

Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)

Long Island Democrat Steve Israel, the incoming DCCC chairman isn't a typical Nancy Pelosi ally. Among other things, he's a former Blue Dog who voted for the Iraq war and the 2001 Bush tax cuts. But last week, after urging his fellow Democrats to support Pelosi's continued leadership of their party, Pelosi nominated him to head the election committee over the perceived favorite, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

Wasserman-Schultz and Pelosi have clashed in the past, but the former's fundraising acumen is unquestioned and, in a challenging environment for Democrats, she was seen as a natural choice.

But Israel didn't come out of nowhere.

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AK-SEN

Which GOPers Have Abandoned Joe Miller's Alaska Senate Fight?

Jillian Rayfield | November 23, 2010, 8:32AM

Mike Huckabee, Joe Miller, and Jim DeMint

Republican Joe Miller is not showing any signs of giving up his fight against Sen. Lisa Murkowski's win in the Alaska Senate race. But the sounds of silence from his Republican (former?) friends is starting to speak volumes...

Read more »

RNC

22-Year-Old BYU Student Sets Off On Quest To Take Down Michael Steele

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 23, 2010, 8:29AM

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele

Thomas Schultz says it's time for a change at the Republican National Committee. A 22-year-old student at Brigham Young University in Utah and the brother of Iowa's Secretary of State-elect, Schultz plans to use the power of the grassroots to topple RNC chair Michael Steele, who has touted a connection to grassroots as a cornerstone of his tenure at the top of the committee.

On Monday, Schultz launched ReplaceMichaelSteele.com, an online petition he hopes will centralize what he sees as general opposition to Steele among rank-and-file Republicans across the country. He, like a lot of establishment Republicans here in Washington, said Steele's tenure has done more harm than good to the GOP as it gears up for the presidential election in 2012.

In an interview Monday, Schultz told TPM that former RNC political director Gentry Collins' scathing resignation letter of Nov. 16 finally pushed his concerns about Steele into action.

"After that letter came out, and then after some other articles came out talking about how Steele has a fair number of votes for the January election, I was concerned," he told me. Over the weekend, he set up the page and got to work spreading the message that it's time for Steele to go.

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Polling bias

Pew Study Finds Republican Bias In Landline-Only Polls

Marc Kilstein | November 23, 2010, 8:18AM

For years, people have contended that a right-leaning bias exists in public opinion polls that fail to consider cell phone users. This argument has some new backing-- a Pew Research Center report released Monday suggests that polls based on landline-only samples do, in fact, suffer from a Republican bias.

The report, which confirms findings from a mid-October study, suggests that support for Republican candidates is significantly higher when a survey's sample is composed only of landline telephone respondents, rather than both landline and cell phone users ("dual frame samples"). Pew calculates a bias among likely voters in 2010 that is about twice as large as the statistical skew evident in 2008 landline-only election surveys.

In the October study, Pew looked at four 2010 election polls and found that in three of them, "estimates from the landline samples alone produced slightly more support for Republican candidates and less support for Democratic candidates, resulting in differences of four to six points in the margin." In the latest study, it was determined that Republicans were favored in landline-only likely voter surveys by an average of 5.1 percentage points more than they were in polls with dual frame samples. In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama's lead over John McCain was on average 2.4 percentage points smaller in landline samples.

For a single-poll example of this trend, Pew's final pre-election poll found Republicans leading the congressional generic ballot question 51%-39% for the landline-only sample, whereas the lead narrowed to 48%-42% when cell phone interviews were also considered. Currently, the analysis notes, House Republicans lead by a seven-point margin.

While Americans are undeniably growing more reliant on cell phones, there are still those who have access to both a landline and cell phone ("dual users"). The report suggests that dual users who are reached by cell phone differ demographically and attitudinally from dual users reached on their landlines. As such, another bias emerges-- those reached by cell phone, who "are younger, more likely to be black or Hispanic, less likely to be college graduates, less conservative and more Democratic," gave the GOP a five-point advantage in the congressional generic ballot question, whereas Republicans led by 12-points among dual users reached by landline. Pollsters are thus faced with yet another bias to counter, as polling for the 2012 elections is already well underway.

For Pew's complete report, click here.

MN-GOV

Minnesota Supremes Rule Against Tom Emmer -- In Record Time

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 6:39PM

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer (R)

The Minnesota Supreme Court has now ruled against Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer's effort to force counties to sort through precinct rolls and potentially eliminate votes deemed to be excessively cast -- a move that could have delayed the upcoming recount of the election in which Democrat Mark Dayton is ahead. And in a truly remarkable move, the court issued its ruling only about two hours after today's oral arguments.

As The UpTake reported, the ruling was unusually fast. Key quote:

Based on all the files, records, and proceedings, herein,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the petition be, and the same is, denied. So as not to impede the orderly election process, this order is issued with opinion to follow.

Petition denied.

Read more »

MN-GOV

Dayton And Emmer Lawyers Clash At State Supreme Court

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 5:20PM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

The Minnesota gubernatorial race has now seen its first piece of key litigation before the state Supreme Court, with the panel having just heard arguments this afternoon on Republican nominee Tom Emmer's efforts to force counties to potentially remove ballots from the total vote count.

The subject may seem dry, but it could have a real consequence: If the court sides with Emmer, it could potentially delay the recount, which is otherwise supposed to begin on November 29. And what's more, a delay in the recount procedures could have the effect of delaying the seating of a new governor, likely keeping Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty in office in the interim. The State Canvassing Board is scheduled hold a key meeting tomorrow, at which it would order the recount to proceed.

Here is the quick overview: Minnesota law provides for, if a precinct is found to have an excessive number of votes beyond the number of people who are recorded as having voted there, to randomly remove votes from the tallies. The big questions, then, are how to properly determine what the right number is, and whether any true over-voting occurred.

Team Emmer argues that the law can only allow for the people who signed the register to be the proper measurement, while the Secretary of State's rules (which go back to the 1980s) have directed precinct workers to count up the number of separate voter receipts.

No ruling was immediately made. If experience from the last statewide recount is a guide (which is not a guarantee), then a ruling for a pressing recount matter such as this one could potentially occur within the next few days.

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Scott Brown

Silver Bullet: Can Scott Brown And Ron Wyden Save Health Care Reform?

Brian Beutler | November 22, 2010, 4:17PM

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)

A new bipartisan proposal that would allow innovative states to basically drop out of the health care law could help ease conservative opposition to the plan, even as the number of Republicans who have joined various lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate has swelled in recent months.

New legislation, introduced last week by Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) would make a simple tweak to the law: It would allow the states to implement their own health care systems, and thus be exempt from most of the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The catch: Those programs would have to cover, with decent insurance, at least as many people as the health care law does, but without adding to the deficit.

The law technically already provides this exception -- but as currently written, states can only begin opting out in 2017. This new Wyden/Brown proposal would kick that date forward to 2014.

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2012 elections

Rick Perry: Soon, Gov Of TX Will Be More Powerful Than POTUS (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 22, 2010, 2:26PM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

Who wants to be President of the United States when you can be Governor of Texas? According to Rick Perry, trading the latter job for the former would be crazy -- and that's why he swears he's not running for president.

Perry, fresh off the national book tour where he called for states to secede from Social Security, stopped by Fox News Sunday yesterday for a quick victory lap after his fellow Republican governors chose him to head the Republican Governors Association last week.

Now that he's in charge of helping more Republican governors get elected, it perhaps makes sense that he'd be so darn into the job. But Perry also sought to tamp down rumors that a presidential run is in his future by making it clear he has the job he wants -- and also suggesting that the job everyone thinks he wants won't amount to much pretty soon.

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2012 elections

Huckabee: Republican Midterm Wins Help Obama In 2012 (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 1:49PM

Fmr. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R)

Mike Huckabee has an interesting take on how the recent Republican victories could affect the 2012 presidential race: He says it could help President Obama win re-election, by allowing him to position himself against Congress.

Huckabee said on The View: "I think it's gonna be harder to beat Barack Obama than a lot of Republicans are thinking, because he is the president, he's gonna have a billion dollars starting out in his war chest. There is an extraordinary advantage of an incumbent.

"And I'll tell you something else people don't think about: a divided government is good for the executive branch. The gift that the Republicans gave to him was that they're gonna control at least the House of Representatives, and they don't have -- and he doesn't have a filibuster-proof Senate. What that means is that when the executive and the legislative branches fight, the executive always wins. I was a governor ten and a half years with a very, overwhelming Democrat legislature. If you get something done, it's because you're a great consensus-builder."

Who knew this was possible: A politician making a very interesting and profound statement on The View?

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Andy Harris

Progressives Target 'Dude, Where's My Health Care' GOPer (AUDIO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 22, 2010, 12:38PM

A progressive group is launching a multi-pronged attack on Rep.-elect Andy Harris, the freshly-elected Republican physician from Maryland who made headlines last week when he, essentially, asked Congressional staffers why he has to wait 28 days for his government health care.

Harris, who like many Republicans this year ran on repealing the landmark health care law signed by President Obama, is the subject of ridicule in a new radio ad being broadcast across his Maryland district by the progressive group Americans United for Change.

"What was the first thing Andy Harris did when he got to Washington?," the ad's narrator says. "Harris complained that he wasn't getting HIS new government-provided health care fast enough."

"Say what?" the narrator adds.

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MN-GOV

Mark Dayton Hires Former Franken Lead Attorney In MN-GOV Recount

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 12:25PM

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton (D)

The old band is back together in Minnesota. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mark Dayton last Friday signed up Marc Elias, a top Democratic election attorney who headed up Al Franken's legal team in the 2008 Senate recount and subsequent litigation, to work on the Minnesota Recount Part II fight.

Elias will join Charlie Nauen as co-lead counsel, Dayton spokesperson Denise Cardinal tells us. (Nauen also worked in the Senate recount, on an independent suit by a group of Franken voters whose absentee ballots had been rejected.) Dayton has also brought 2008 veteran attorney Kevin Hamilton on board, who will be rejoining his former legal teammate David Lillehaug in assisting Nauen and Elias.

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Bush Tax Cuts

House And Senate Dems Out Of Sync On Tax Cut Strategy

Brian Beutler | November 22, 2010, 11:29AM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

After a flurry of meetings, phone calls, member-to-member discussions and public jousting with Republican leaders, Democrats left Washington on Friday aware of two key facts: Both the House and Senate will eventually vote to allow the Bush tax cuts on upper-income earners to expire; but party leaders in neither chamber have a clear path to winning that vote. And more importantly, with the White House still pressing for a bipartisan solution that can pass before the end of the year, the only thing that's certain is that nobody has any clue what the final tax cut compromise will look like.

Despite months of intra-party wrangling over how to proceed on tax cuts, House and Senate aides, speaking under the condition of anonymity, paint a picture of two chambers dramatically out of sync with one another. Senate Democrats and House Democrats alike continue to negotiate among themselves, with little understanding of what their counterparts are planning or can accomplish.

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AK-SEN

Joe Miller Will Likely File Suit In State Court Today Over Alaska Senate Race

Jillian Rayfield | November 22, 2010, 10:44AM

Candidate for U.S. Senate Joe Miller (R-AK)

Today is Joe Miller's deadline for filing suit in state court over the Alaska Senate race, following a federal judge's order that the election certification be delayed pending a review by the state court.

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2012 elections

Huckabee: Palin 'May Run Away With' 2012 GOP Race

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 10:33AM

Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) is predicting that Sarah Palin would be a very strong candidate for the Republican nomination if she runs. Though, perhaps unsurprisingly, he would much prefer her to just skip it and back him instead.

The Des Moines Register reports:

"No question, she will be a very, very strong presence and force, if she gets in," Huckabee told reporters in Des Moines Sunday. "You know, she may run away with it. And that's one of those things everyone needs to be prepared for."

"If I get in, I prefer she not and that she endorse me," Huckabee then joked.

A Quinnipiac poll of the national Republican field released this morning gave Palin a narrow plurality of 19%, with Mitt Romney at 18%, Huckabee at 17%, and Newt Gingrich 15%. The same poll also showed Palin to be the weakest potential Republican nominee in the general election against President Obama.

RNC

Two More Candidates Enter RNC Chairmanship Fray

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 22, 2010, 10:20AM

Maria Cino and Ann Wagner

The field of official candidates aiming to replace Michael Steele at the top of the RNC expanded by two over the weekend, with former George W. Bush Transportation Department official Maria Cino and former Bush administration Ambassador to Luxembourg Ann Wagner announcing fundraising campaigns.

Both women have been mentioned as potential candidates to replace Steele for several weeks, part of a growing cadre of Republicans hoping to ride dissatisfaction with Steele's first term as RNC chair to the top of the GOP central committee. Each has now set up a framework to raise the money required to mount a national campaign for the chair, which will be selected by the RNC's 168 voting members in mid-January.

As Politico reported this morning, Cino has launched a 527 under the name "Maria For Chairman." The Missourian newspaper reported on Friday that Wagner has also "set up a fundraising committee."

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2012 elections

Quinnipiac Poll: Palin Narrowly Leads 2012 GOP Field -- And Badly Trails Obama

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 9:49AM

President Barack Obama and Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

The new Quinnipiac poll shows Sarah Palin holding a narrow plurality among Republicans across the country for the party's presidential nomination in 2012. And at the same time, the poll makes clear that while President Obama is vulnerable in a closely-divided country, Palin would be the GOP's worst possible nominee for the general election race.

Among Republicans and GOP-leaners: Palin 19%, Romney 18%, Huckabee 17%, Gingrich 15%. Bringing up the rear are Tim Pawlenty at 6%, Haley Barbour 2%, Mitch Daniels 2%, and John Thune 2%. The Republican primary poll has a ±3.1% margin of error.

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Joe Lieberman

Lieberman Embraces GOP Position On Tax Cuts

Brian Beutler | November 22, 2010, 9:17AM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is backing the GOP position on the Bush tax cuts.

After a press conference last week where he pressed his colleagues to back the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Lieberman called the GOP's position -- a temporary extension of all the cuts -- the best plan he's heard yet.

"I continue to believe that this is a bad time to raise anybody's taxes and therefore the best suggestion I've heard, which I think could get bipartisan support, is to extend all the tax cuts for one or two years," Lieberman said.

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Michael Steele

RNC Member Claims New RNC Hire Wasn't Hired By RNC

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 22, 2010, 8:38AM

Shawn Steel

Here comes another weird story surrounding Michael Steele's Republican National Committee. Three days after the RNC announced it had brought on board two new political advisers to replace outgoing political director Gentry Collins, a Steele-backing RNC voter and former head of the California GOP is claiming one of the new advisers not only isn't working for the RNC, but isn't even allowed to set foot in the GOP's Washington HQ.

After we published this story about experienced Republican consultants Jon Seaton and John Peschong coming aboard as senior political advisers after Collins left, we got a strange email from Shawn Steel, a voting member of the RNC and former chief of the Republican Party in the most populous state in the union.

"Please be advised that John Peschong is not retained or involved in any manner with the contract between the RNC and Jon Seaton," Steel wrote Friday. "Mr. Peschong had a controversial stay with RNC and as such is not welcomed to work with, contact or enter the premises of the RNC."

A person with direct knowledge of the situation and another one at the RNC offered basically the same response when we asked about the email: uh, what?

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House Republicans

Study: Republicans More Influential On Twitter Than Dems

David Taintor | November 22, 2010, 8:37AM

Republicans didn't just win the House in the midterm elections earlier this month, their use of Twitter is also more influential than Democrats', according to a new study.

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Allen West

Allen West: Gov't Should Have 'Put Out... Feelers' On TSA Pat Downs

Ryan J. Reilly | November 21, 2010, 1:42PM

Congressman-elect Allen West thinks the Transportation Security Administration did a poor job marketing their security procedures, and "should have put out some type of feelers" and explained the process to in a more comprehensive say.

"It comes back marketing. We should have put out some type of feelers and talked to the American people about this before we implimented this type of plan," West said on Meet the Press.

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Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett: 'Trickle Down' Theory Hasn't Worked (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | November 21, 2010, 10:00AM

Warren Buffett

Billionaire Warren Buffett said that the Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire for the richest Americans and that the "trickle down" economic theory hasn't worked.

"If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper middle class should even probably be cut further," Buffett told ABC News in an interview set to air later this week. "But I think that people at the high end -- people like myself -- should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it."

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