Political movies

TPM Fact Check: New Conservative Anti-Spending Flick Plays Real Loose With Facts

Christina Bellantoni | October 15, 2010, 8:03AM

A new film, "I Want Your Money."

When "I Want Your Money" hits theaters today, it will likely be hailed by Republicans eyeing Congressional control as exposing the Obama administration for being fiscally reckless. Already, the creator Ray Griggs has made the rounds on Fox News, which heaped praise on the filmmaker for including Fox contributors in the documentary.

But there's one big problem -- a bunch of the facts don't add up. The most egregious omission is failing to mention that Ronald Reagan, who is depicted as a fiscal hero in the film, raised taxes.

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2010 elections

Kaine Says Dems Can't Take Delaware For Granted

Christina Bellantoni | October 14, 2010, 12:44PM

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine said this morning he won't help Democratic candidates with no chance at winning or those who will knock it out of the park with ease, but even though Delaware's Democratic Senate nominee Chris Coons is ahead by nearly 20 points in the TPM Poll Average, President Obama and Vice President Biden will hold a major rally in the state tomorrow.

Kaine told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor that his philosophy is, "I'm not going to give a courtesy gift to a person who is going to win and I'm not going to give s sympathy gift to a person who is going to lose."

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WV-SEN

Kaine On Manchin's Rifle Ad: 'I'm Not Wild About It'

Christina Bellantoni | October 14, 2010, 11:37AM

Joe Manchin and Tim Kaine

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine said this morning he doesn't love West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin's much ballyhooed Senate ad featuring the Democrat firing his rifle at the "cap-and-trade" climate bill, but the gun isn't the problem.

"I'm not wild about it," Kaine told reporters at the Christian Science Monitor breakfast this morning.

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2010 elections

New Obama TV Ad Aims At '08 Voters: 'We Cannot Sit This One Out' (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 14, 2010, 5:30AM

President Barack Obama

President Obama stars in a new national television ad to boost get-out-the-vote efforts, a 30-second commercial that the Democratic National Committee hopes lays out the stakes for the midterm elections next month.

"If the other side does win, they will spend the next two years fighting for the very same policies that led to this recession in the first place," Obama says in the ad.

TPM obtained a copy of the ad which you can watch below. It's aimed to run along with Obama's planned town hall forum on BET, MTV and CMT tonight.

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DE-SEN

Christine O'Donnell's Confused Debate Night: Candidate Asks For Hint On Recent SCOTUS Cases

Christina Bellantoni | October 13, 2010, 9:46PM

DE-SEN candidate Christine O'Donnell (R) in a debate with Chris Coons (D)

Delaware Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell may have mastered her debate talking points and had a "Saturday Night Live" laughline, but had a tough time this evening with some basic questions about issues she'd face if she is elected to the Senate.

The most striking example of that in her CNN-televised debate against Democratic nominee Chris Coons came at the end of the 90-minute forum when O'Donnell could not name a recent Supreme Court case.

The debate moderator Nancy Karibjanian of Delaware First Media asked O'Donnell to talk about a recent high court opinion she disagreed with. The Republican, who defeated Rep. Mike Castle in a primary last month, paused.

"Oh gosh. Give me a specific one," O'Donnell said after a deer-in-the-headlights moment which you can watch below. Karibjanian said, no, because that was the point: she needed O'Donnell to name one.

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DE-SEN

Christine O'Donnell Says U.S. Hasn't Finished Job Of Fighting 'Soviets' In Afghanistan (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 13, 2010, 8:58PM

Christine O'Donnell (R), and Chris Coons (D), candidates for Senate in Delaware.

Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell tonight totally confused the United States' history with Afghanistan when talking about the Obama administration's plan to withdraw troops from the country.

She complained that Obama and Democratic nominee Chis Coons are advocating something dangerous by proposing a drawdown of troops begin next summer.

"A random withdrawal, that he has said he supports, will simply embolden the terrorists to come after us even more, saying, 'I've chased away the superpower,'" O'Donnell said during a nationally televised debate hosted by CNN at the University of Delaware.

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CA-GOV

'Whore' Remark Takes Center Stage At Jerry Brown-Meg Whitman Debate (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 13, 2010, 10:35AM

It might just be the first time candidates for governor used the word "whore" on stage in a debate, but it was the nastiest moment between former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and Attorney General Jerry Brown last night as they tried to convince California voters to pick them next month.

It all started late last week when a recording surfaced of a Brown aide suggesting that the Democrat call Whitman a "whore" for cutting a deal with state employee unions.

Last night during their third debate, Brown told voters that his campaign had "apologized promptly," and he told Whitman he was sorry. "It's unfortunate and I'm sorry it happened and I apologize," Brown said.

But Whitman said the state's voters "deserve better than slurs and personal attacks."

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CT-SEN

FLASHBACK: McMahons Sued Geraldo For Airing Rape Claims By Former WWE Referee

Christina Bellantoni | October 12, 2010, 8:35PM

Seventeen years ago, after a former World Wrestling Entertainment referee claimed on Geraldo Rivera's syndicated TV show that Vincent McMahon had sexually assaulted her, the WWE founder and his wife Linda McMahon filed a lawsuit against the woman and media outlets who had made her claims public, asking for $1 million in damages due to "severe emotional distress."

Linda McMahon, who served as WWE's CEO and is now the Republican Senate nominee in Connecticut, has been deflecting past stories about the wrestling company for months as she battles Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal for the state's open Senate seat now held by a Democrat. Before McMahon even captured the GOP nomination, Democrats were pushing videos of old WWE sketches that depicted mock necrophilia and simulated rape scenes. The prevalence of steroids in the "sport" and the deaths of wrestlers associated with WWE have been major political problems for the McMahon campaign.

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AK-SEN

Lisa Murkowski Asked: Do You Like GOPer Joe Miller? (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 12, 2010, 1:45PM

This video clip says it all as Sen. Lisa Murkowski battles Republican nominee Joe Miller and Democratic nominee Scott McAdams. Murkowski (R) has mounted a write-in campaign to fight to keep her seat even though Miller defeated her in a GOP primary this summer.

Fox's Greta Van Susteren interviewed all three candidates yesterday. Each gave their standard political talking points with three weeks to go before the election. The kicker was her close with the senator.

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NV-SEN

Sharron Angle Raised Massive $14M Haul In Third Quarter

Christina Bellantoni | October 12, 2010, 12:26PM

US Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R-NV)

Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle raised $14 million in July, August and September in her bid to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a staggering sum that could dramatically affect a competitive battle.

Angle spokesman Jarrod Agen told TPM that Angle raised $14 million. The sum surpasses by a staggering amount the $2.29 million Angle raised in the second quarter, most of which was before she captured the GOP nomination.

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WV-SEN

Joe Manchin Promises To 'Take On' Obama, Shoots Climate Bill (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 11, 2010, 1:39PM

Campaign ad from West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D), "Dead Aim"

Gov. Joe Manchin literally takes aim and fires upon Democrats' climate legislation in a new television ad, promising voters if they elect him to the U.S. Senate next month he'll "take dead aim at the cap-and-trade bill, because it's bad for West Virginia."

In a remarkable ad for a Democrat, Manchin is seen wearing sportsman-style clothes and touting his NRA endorsement as he loads a rifle.

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CA-SEN

Carly Fiorina: 'Every Speech Should Begin With A Shot Of Tequila' (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 11, 2010, 12:02PM

Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina

Viva California!

Republican Senate nominee Carly Fiorina sure can trill, and both she and gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman seem to be able to hold their liquor.

Friday night at the Hispanic 100 Lifetime Achievement award dinner, the women -- both former CEOs of Silicon Valley businesses -- were captured on video doing tequila shots and getting into the spirit as a mariachi band played.

The video, shot and edited by NBC's John Boxley and NBC's Domenico Montanaro, also portrays Fiorina saying the night had "spoiled" her forever.

"I think every speech should begin with a shot of tequila," Fiorina said, letting out a loud trill.

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DE-SEN

Christine O'Donnell's "I'm Not A Witch" Ad Mocked Far And Wide (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 11, 2010, 10:20AM

When a Senate candidate makes a political ad featuring words never uttered before in a television commercial, there's the clear upside that it will be shown for free on an endless loop on cable news, maximizing fundraising and exposure. Then there's the downside (which Christine O'Donnell has experienced since telling Delaware voters in her first ad, "I'm not a witch"): sharp mockery.

In the latest parody over the weekend, Saturday Night Live spoofed the O'Donnell ad, with the show's Kristen Wiig speaking just like the Republican Senate candidate directly to the camera about being elected to the "human Senate."

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2010 elections

New DNC Ad Targets Karl Rove's Election Spending (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 10, 2010, 9:24AM

The Democratic National Committee will go up on television with a new ad targeting Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie for their political activity during the midterm elections through groups which don't need to disclose their donors.

TPM obtained a copy of the ad, which hits the GOP on a point the Democrats have been hammering of late -- corporations getting involved in elections thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.

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