Sarah Palin

Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold, Virginia Palin Fans Say

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 5, 2009, 1:48PM

Neither rain, nor sleet nor snow could keep a crowd of about 500 from Sarah Palin in Northern Virgina this afternoon. Perhaps due to the horrible weather conditions (bitterly cold with the first snowfall of the season) or perhaps due to the fact that this was the part of Virginia famously dubbed "fake" by Nancy Pfotenhauer last year, the crowd for Palin's booksigning at a BJ's Wholesale in Fairfax didn't resemble that of earlier stops on Palin's book tour in either size or sheer enthusiasm.

Which is not to say Palin didn't get a warm welcome. Conservative Virginians in the crowd were excited to see the Republican rockstar a month after they turned the state red again in statewide elections.

"The tables have turned," one said when asked if he thought Palin would win a 2012 rematch with President Obama in Virginia. "If she chooses to run, this is Sarah country now."

Read more »

NV-SEN

Harry Reid In Serious Trouble Back Home, Poll Finds

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 4, 2009, 9:20AM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader is already facing an uphill climb as he attempts force health care reform through an irascible Senate in Washington. But a new poll shows that fight could be nothing compared to what he faces back home in Nevada. In a new Mason-Dixon poll of Nevada voters out today, Reid has just a 38% approval rating -- and is losing in a hypothetical matchup with both of the leading contenders for the Republican nomination.

It's not news that Reid is facing a tough reelection battle. But the new poll today shows he's made very little progress in regaining the trust of his constituents after weeks of trying.

Read more »

Tea Party

Conservatives Debate: Is 'Teabagger' Their 'N-Word'?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 3, 2009, 6:11PM

Protesters at the 9/12 Tea Party March on Washington

In the latest issue of National Review, Jay Nordlinger details the history of 'teabagging' and reports on the conservative debate about what to do about it. But it's not what you think -- no, really, it's not what you think.

Nordlinger's article isn't about tea bagging in the fun sense, nor is it about the long-term effects on the GOP from teabagging in the tri-corn hat-and-time-on-your-hands sense. Rather, it's the story of how conservatives are trying to fix the mess they made when they first decided to call for the "teabagging" of Nancy Pelosi with a straight face.

Read more »

CAIR

Discrimination Up, Hate Crimes Down: Picture Mixed For American Muslims, CAIR Report Shows

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 3, 2009, 4:56PM

The state of Muslim America in 2008, according to a new report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations out today: Civil rights for Muslims are in peril, even as America becomes a less dangerous place to practice Islam.

The data comes from CAIR's annual "Seeking Full Inclusion" report, which aggregates and analyzes the civil rights violations reported to the group throughout the year. The report on 2008 was released today, and shows a rise in discrimination against school-age Muslims and Muslim institutions, but a sharp decline in hate crime violence. Despite the increases, though, there are signs that the country is becoming more tolerant toward Muslims.

Eight years after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., CAIR legislative director Cory Saylor told TPMDC the report suggests the darkest days American Muslims faced after 9/11 have past.

"Our thinking is that the spike after 9/11 has dissipated," he said. "I hate to say it like this, but it's looking like violence against Muslims in America has returned to normal level."

Read more »

Afghanistan

Pelosi Asks For More Information On Afghanistan Strategy From Obama War Council

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 3, 2009, 12:02PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters this morning she wants more information on President Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan. Though she said "the president has spoken," when asked if Democrats in the House would attempt to stand in the way of Obama's new plan, she said there are still questions about the strategy Congress needs answers to "so we can make some judgment about the nature of the threat" in Afghanistan.

Pelosi called on Obama's war council to come to Congress and brief all members on the details of the strategy. The Secretaries of State and Defense as well as other Pentagon leaders have come to the Hill this week to take questions on the strategy, but Pelosi said those committee appearances were not enough.

Read more »

State Dinner Crashers

Salahis Decline Invitation To Visit Congress

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 2, 2009, 10:25PM

President Obama greeting Michaele Salahi

Congress just found the one spotlight the Salahis would rather stay out of. The AP is reporting that the couple known for crashing the White House state dinner Nov. 24 has decided against accepting the House Homeland Security Committee's invitation to the hearings being held on the state dinner incident tomorrow.

They may not have a choice, however. FishbowlDC reported that Homeland Security Committee chair Rep. Bernie Thompson (D-MS) said he'd subpoena the Salahis should they decline his invitation to appear.

Read more »

State Dinner Crashers

House Panel Hears Lone Doorman Theory On Salahis

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 2, 2009, 6:11PM

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform emerged from a closed-door briefing on the White House party crashers this afternoon placing blame for the security breach squarely on the shoulders of a single, unnamed Secret Service officer.

"It's very clear that there was one person who allowed these two individuals to go from Station 1 to Station 2," Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking member on the committee, told reporters. "One person's error appears to have led to a person having literally hand-to-hand contact with the Vice President."

Committee chair Edolphus Towns (D-NY) didn't confirm Issa's take on the closed-door briefing with Secret Service officials, but expressed his confidence that an internal investigation into the party crashing by the Secret Service will find a solution to the problem.

Read more »

Gate Crashers

Darrell Issa: People Have Crashed White House Parties Before. For Example, Me

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 2, 2009, 5:13PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

At a press gaggle just now, Rep. Darrell Issa told reporters that the Salahis didn't invent White House party crashing.

"This is not the first time -- this has happened before," he said. "I got into the White House when my name wasn't on a slip during the Clinton administration."

As Issa told it, his party crash came in 1995 -- before he was a Representative -- at a NAFTA event held on the White House South Lawn. Issa said he was supposed to be on the list of attendees, but wasn't on the list the gate keepers had. So was turned away at the door. That's when he decided to pull a Salahi and waltz in anyway.

"My name wasn't on, I was rejected, I then walked through with what I recall was the Xerox group," he said. "We just came in en masse."

An Issa aide told TPMDC after the gaggle that Issa's breach did not result in a Secret Service investigation. Or, it seems, a shot at reality TV fame.

Afghanistan

Anti-War Activists Plan 'Emergency' Rally In D.C. To Protest Afghanistan Escalation

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 2, 2009, 11:15AM

Former Rep. and 2008 Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, and former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK)

A new coalition led by more than 100 anti-war activists has announced an "Emergency Anti-Escalation Rally" to protest President Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan. The rally, scheduled for Dec. 12 in front of the White House, will include speeches by former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel and 2008 Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney.

The new coalition, called EndUSWars.org, has posted an "open letter" to Obama on its website, where it calls for an end to all U.S. military action in the Afghanistan region, including Predator drone airstrikes and covert intelligence operations.

Read more »

Tea Party

Tea Partiers' New Gift To Congress: Rubber Chickens

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 2, 2009, 9:55AM

The health care debate has been something of a prize bonanza for members of Congress facing the ire of the Tea Party Patriots. First, tea partiers sent members thousands of tea bags. Since then, there's been salt and pink slips. And today comes the rubber chickens.

According to a Tea Party Patriot email sent early this morning, tea partiers will gather on Capitol Hill at 11:30 this morning to deliver rubber chickens to each Senator that voted to allow debate on the health care bill on Nov. 21.

Read more »

Afghanistan

Increasing Troop Levels In Afghanistan: Yet Another Sign Obama Is Not A Socialist

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 9:48PM

President Barack Obama

If you needed any more evidence, tonight's decision on Afghanistan may prove once and for all that President Obama is no Socialist. Following Obama's war speech this evening, a quick perusal of American Socialist sites proved that the political movement Obama is so often falsely associated with wants nothing to do with his plans for Afghanistan.

Read more »

Afghanistan

Progressive War Vets 'Not Ready' To Back New Afghanistan Plan

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 9:12PM

VoteVets.org, which represents progressive American veterans reports its members are still ambivalent about President Obama's plan to add troops to the Afghanistan war -- and end the conflict by 2012.

From a statement by Jon Soltz, the chairman of VoteVets, released after Obama's West Point speech this evening:

"We have been supportive of every move the President has made since he was elected, and have supported an increased focus on Afghanistan since our inception, but given the serious questions that are unresolved, we aren't ready to support what he's laid out."

Read more »

Afghanistan

Obama Takes On 'Dithering' In Afghanistan Speech

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 8:46PM

For the past 90 days, President Obama has been hammered by opponents on the right who claim he's taken too long to announce his plan for the war in Afghanistan. In his speech at West Point this evening, Obama said the entire debate was unfounded. Obama's plan dispatches 30,000 additional troops to the conflict starting in January -- the earliest deployment date called for by his generals, he said.

From the speech:

Let me be clear: there has never been an option before me that called for troop deployments before 2010, so there has been no delay or denial of resources necessary for the conduct of the war. Instead, the review has allowed me ask the hard questions, and to explore all of the different options along with my national security team, our military and civilian leadership in Afghanistan, and with our key partners. Given the stakes involved, I owed the American people - and our troops - no less.

Read more »

Afghanistan

Obama: Afghanistan Is Not Vietnam

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 8:22PM

As President Obama met with his war council to consider the next move on Afghanistan over the past three months, a growing chorus of dissenters worried that the eight year conflict is in danger of becoming a quagmire like the one that cost the lives of 50,000 U.S. soldiers more than 30 years ago. In his speech outlining his new plans for the Afghan conflict this evening, Obama confronted those critics head on.

The "argument" that Afghanistan is becoming another Vietnam "depends upon a false reading of history," Obama said.

Read more »

Afghanistan

Obama Presents Afghanistan Exit Strategy

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 7:25PM

In his speech before the cadets at West Point this evening, President Obama outlined plans to begin withdrawing U.S. troops starting in July, 2011. Obama gave Afghan forces 18 months of an increased U.S. military presence in their country -- after that, he said American troops will begin to leave the theater they first entered in 2001.

From the speech:

And as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. These are the resources that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan.

Read more »

Health Care

HCAN Slams Coburn Over 'Die Sooner' Remark

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 6:54PM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Health Care For America Now ripped into Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) for his claim that the Democratic health care bill before the Senate will cause seniors to "die sooner." HCAN executive director Richard Kirsch called the statement "a measure of the Republican party's fear mongering" before taking aim at Coburn, who is an M.D.

"The truth is that the Senate health care bill will lower Medicare drug prices for seniors, enhance prevention, stop insurance company overcharges, and strengthen the Medicare trust fund," Kirsch said, "As a medical professional, Senator Coburn should know better than to lie to people who've instilled their trust in him and his alleged expertise."

Afghanistan

Reid Praises Obama Strategy In Lead Up To Speech

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 6:24PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said tonight he expects President Obama's new Afghanistan strategy will have what it takes to meet the administration's goals in the country.

Reid met with Obama about the strategy this afternoon, and released a statement afterward praising the process that led to the new war plan.

"It is clear that the President's deliberative approach to his decision, which allowed him to hear from a wide range of military, civilian and Congressional voices, will strengthen the clarity and focus of our mission," Reid said in a statement. "Tonight, I expect the President to present a comprehensive strategy that will keep Americans safe at home, deny al Qaeda a safe haven in Afghanistan and honor our troops and their daily sacrifices."

Chuck Grassley

Chuck Grassley: 'I've Lived Off The Public Tit All These Years'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 5:35PM

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

The news: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said "tit" on national television earlier today.

(Also, he admitted to enjoying government subsidies as a farmer for decades while calling government subsidies for health care "socialism." But, c'mon: "tit"!!)

The transcript of Grassley talking farm subsidies with a caller on C-SPAN's Washington Journal today (h/t ThinkProgress):

GRASSLEY: For the first 16 years I made $3,000 every other year as a state legislator. Now do you expect me to live on $3,000 every other year? No I was a factory worker for 10 years and I was a farmer for that period of time and I farm with my son now. So if you're trying to make a case that I've lived off the public tit all these years, I think you're saying correctly in the years I've been in the Congress but not the years before I came to Congress.

Read more »

Afghanistan

Deja Vu All Over Again: Former Bush War Spox Defends Obama's Surge

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 4:34PM

Dan Senor, former chief spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority

Dan Senor spent years defending President George W. Bush's war strategy as spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. Today, the Republican National Committee made him available to reporters so he could put on his war strategy defender hat again for President Obama.

Senor criticized the length of time it's taken Obama to make a decision about a strategy for Afghanistan, but he said that now that the details are out, Obama's plan to add troops to the conflict "is a really good decision." Much as he did during the years of the Iraq occupation under Bush, Senor then called on reporters to take the long view.

"It's going to take a couple of years to see real, coherent progress," Senor said. "We need to give the president time."

Read more »

Barack Obama

Is Obama Failing On AIDS?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 2:26PM

World AIDS Day 2009 is a date that many U.S. activists in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS thought would be a high water mark in their decades-long struggle against the deadly disease. President George W. Bush had dramatically increased U.S. AIDS funding during his term in office -- albeit with caveats activists say hurt some of their efforts -- and President Obama had promised to do even more on the campaign trail.

But as activists nationwide take time today a day to focus on a disease that's killed more than half a million Americans, some of them say the promises of a renewed focus on AIDS that came with Obama haven't been realized.

"It's heartbreaking," Matthew Kavanagh, director of U.S. advocacy for Health GAP told TPMDC. His group was among four U.S. AIDS groups that gave Obama a "D+" on AIDS policy yesterday. Kavanagh said that to his shock, he felt Bush had a better record on AIDS research than Obama. "I could not imagine I would be saying that now [last year]. Many folks in the global AIDS movement were so looking forward to stepping up the fight with Obama."

Read more »

Gay Marriage

Gay Marriage Passes D.C. City Council

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 1, 2009, 1:30PM

The Pentagon in the Washington, D.C. skyline.

By a vote of 11-2, the D.C. City Council voted to legalize same sex marriage in the nation's Capitol today. DCist has the story:

The historic legislation still needs to pass a second vote in the Council in the next month, at which point it will be sent to D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty for his signature. Fenty has promised he will sign the bill.

The second vote (which will make the bill official) is seen as a formality by marriage equality proponents in the city. Former D.C. Mayor/now Ward 8 councilmember Marion Barry (D) and Ward 7 councilmember Yvette Alexander (D) were the lone "no" votes on the bill. Congress, which has the power to overrule any D.C. legislation is not expected to take any action on the bill, meaning the first same sex weddings could take place in D.C. starting in the spring.

Barack Obama

New Poll Shows Strong Support For Obama, Congress Among Latinos

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 6:45PM

President Barack Obama

Support for President Obama and the Democratic Congress has dipped a bit this year, according to a new poll commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation out this week. But it's unlikely the declining support will cause Obama or the Democrats to lose any sleep -- 74% of respondents said they approve of the job Obama is doing (down from 81% in April) and just 23% said they disapprove of the way Obama is doing his job.

For Congress, the drop was more worrisome. In April, 67% of respondents to the poll approved of the job Congress was doing. Now that number has dropped to 52%.

Read more »

Tea Party

Mark Your Calendars: Thursday Is Tea Party Recruitment Day

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 2:55PM

Don't be surprised if someone asks you if you love freedom this Thursday. The national organizers of Tea Party Patriots have singled out Dec. 3 for a national recruitment drive, calling on all good tea partiers "to reach out to 1 new person who is not a member of Tea Party Patriots" and ask them to join up.

From the TPP email sent to tea partiers today and obtained by TPM:

Tell them why you are a member of the tea party movement and ask them if they agree with our core principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets ... If you send emails, follow up with phone calls to the people to add a personal touch.

Read more »

Gay Marriage

Report: Support For Gay Marriage Collapses In New Jersey Legislature

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 1:11PM

New Jersey Gov.-elect Chris Christie (R)

Same sex marriage advocates are seeing the end of the line for their cause in an unlikely place: New Jersey. Marriage equality was once expected to be all but inevitable in the Garden state, but as Newark Star-Ledger political columnist Tim Moran reports today, all that changed with the election of Gov.-elect Chris Christie (R).

Christie promised on the campaign trail to veto the same-sex marriage law that Moran reports many expected the state legislature to pass this year. Christie's defeat of Gov. Jon Corzine (D), coupled with a stepped up opposition campaign by the Catholic Church, has led one-time supporters of marriage equality in New Jersey to change their tune.

Read more »

CT-SEN

After Green Party Rallies, Nader Still Undecided On CT-Sen

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 10:16AM

"More than 100 people" turned out at Ralph Nader's book signing in West Hartford and, as expected, the AP reports that "some of them" were holding signs calling on Nader to run for Senate. (Click here for our story last week on the grassroots effort to recruit Nader by the Connecticut Green Party.)

Nader remained undecided on a run, he told reporters after the signing. But he suggested the final decision rested in the hands of his supporters. From the AP:

"It really depends on what kind of momentum there is and how many people are willing to roll up their sleeves because I'm very accustomed to people saying 'run Ralph run' and then they drift away, predisposed and preoccupied with their daily life," he told reporters. "It has to be bottom up."

Health Care

Biden Goes On The Attack As Senate Begins Health Care Debate

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 9:56AM

Vice President Joe Biden

Senators will gather this afternoon to start banging out a final health care reform bill. Vice President Biden is doing a little hammering of his own in advance of the debate, taking on reform opponents in a new video posted to the White House website. Biden enlists a slew of health care providers advocating reform to take on those who have criticized the Obama administration's efforts to drive health care reform.

"When it comes to explaining what health care reform means to you, who do you trust?" Biden asks in the video. "Do you trust the people who defend the status quo, who say you'd be better off leaving things just the way they are? Or, would you rather hear from the people who actually know something about what's going on in our health care system?"

Read more »