2010 US Presidential Election

[Marky Bunny]

Seattle.Times.com

Saturday June 9th 2012

Boone regarded as the winner in bed tempered debate with Haffley

In what many expected to be an ill-tempered debate between Governor Sean Boone and former House Speaker Jeff Haffley turned out that way, with most observers giving Governor Boone the clear win.

The tone of the evening was set as the two candidates came onto the stage, Haffley offered his hand in greeting, which Boone refused. The first question asked was why Boone had refused to shake his opponents hand, he explained that Haffley's attacks on him and his family were an "affront" and that he didn't need "to show a fake warmth for the TV". He said "I was brought up to believe that a hand-shake is a symbol of friendship and mutual respect, not a meaningless hypocricitical gesture" Haffley respended by saying "if you think that way Governor then so be it, but holding Government office is about being a grown-up" to which Boone replied "being grown-up does not include smearing me, my wife, my brother-in-law, and my record as Governor".

The opening exchange put Haffley on the back-foot from the start and once again Haffley refused to disown the attacks which had been made on Boone and his family over the last couple of months "As I have said before, this is a race for grown-ups". That set the level of the debate and the prep undertaken by Boone in the past few days seemed to have been very effective.

In a question on experience, Haffley attempted to use his years in Congress and his three years as Speaker of the House to his advanatage, with Boone hitting back " the only experience you have is bringing the Federal Government to a complete standstill, being outwitted on the sterm-cell bill, and losing control of the House, I think the people of Washington can do without that sort experience".

Haffley claimed that Boone was not a "true conservative" to which Boone hit back "you keep saying about Conservative this and Conservative that, I thought we where members of the Republican party not the Conservative party".

The pair also clashed on the claims that Boone has taken drugs whilst at college and on gay rights.

In his closing statement Haffley said that the debate had "proved that my opponent does not have the right temperment or judgement to be Governor for a full term, I will not betray my party for liberal policies, I will be a true Conservative Governor".

Boone in his reply said "I have passed a budget which included working with the Democrats in the state Senate, we cut taxes and spending moving towards a balanced budget in two years, thats real leadership but not just about pure party idealogy" he also said that on "all the big events in world affiars in the past 30 years" Haffley had been wrong "on the Cold War, the Gulf War, the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement, Equatorial Kundu, and the Camp David Peace accords" why should he suddenly be the "right choice for Washington in 2012".

On-line polls gave Boone a clear win, and although the race may not have been ended tonight, it has swung the race back towards Governor Boone in the final two months of the primary campaign.

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nbs.com/politics, Saturday June 9th

Griffith and Rimmer Tied As Last Weekend Battle Gets Nasty

The two candidates for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Arkansas continued to batter each other today as new polling revealed a statistically tied race that could still go either way.

Former Governor Jack Griffith who left office in the 1990s after a scandal, accused his opponent State Senator Chris Rimmer of “pandering to anybody who’d offer him money” he then took a shot at Rimmer’s father – current Governor Bobby Rimmer – saying “The Governor wants to keep control of the office indefinitely, he said he was neutral but that was clearly a cover for his manipulation of his empty suit of a son.”

The negative nature of the campaign has seen the negative ratings of the campaigns sore with Rimmer remaining more “popular” with an approval rating of 15%.

With the Primary looming on Tuesday both sides will be campaigning through the weekend with all expectations being that things will remain extremely negative.

[disputed]

thehill.com, Saturday June 9th

Wyatt Attempts To Change The Subject As McClelland Pulls Away

Maryland Democrats go to the polls on June 26th to select their candidate to replace outgoing Senator Barry Goodwin, and latest polling strongly suggests that State Senator Cain McLelland has extended his lead over Congresswoman Andi Wyatt.

The Wyatt campaign reacted angrily last week to an ad run by a group closely linked to McLelland and leading Democratic activist Bob Hagen. The ad focused heavily on Wyatt’s ex-husband Toby Ziegler and to Wyatt’s infamous Meet the Press debate with Senator Dan Kalmbach.

Wyatt campaign manager Louise Blacksheep told reporters that “this was a blatantly cheap attack, and is clearly reminiscent of the tactics employed by (Senator) Kalmbach in 2010 – frankly we expected better of Mr. McLelland.

State Senator McLelland has seen his poll numbers improve dramatically since he received the public endorsement of former New Jersey Governor Kate Crossley.

Congresswoman Wyatt appeared to change her tact over the past couple of days ramping up the focus on her legislative achievements and questioning McLelland's experience.

[disputed]

foxnews.com, Saturday June 9th

Dramatic Scenes Mark Arrest of Senator’s Father

In the latest in a serious of dramatic developments in the investigation into Thorn Corporation and alleged insider trading, CEO and President Lucas Thorn was arrested this afternoon prompting further questions about the position of his son Senator Andrew Thorn.

The arrest reportedly took place this morning after Mr Thorn Sr. refused to be questioned any further by investigators after a eleven hour marathon session yesterday. With unsubstantiated reports that Thorn was planning on leaving the country for a business conferences investigators made their move.

Senator Thorn’s office were lightening quick in releasing a statement “We are not aware of the full circumstances of the arrest of the Senator’s father, but can confirm that this investigation in no way involves the Senator.”

[disputed]

nbs.com, Saturday June 9th

Thorn Under Pressure To Drop Out of Re-Election Bid

Senior Democrats were this evening rallying around New York Senator Andrew Thorn after suggestions by some in the party that Thorn should consider standing aside to avoid a potentially humiliating loss in his attempt for re-election.

Thorn, who is also currently the Chairman of the DSCC, is in the midst of a surprisingly close battle with little known State Senator Rob Cole – with the ongoing investigation into his father’s company doing significant damage to the Senator’s approval ratings.

Senator Thorn found support from significant players as senior Democrats raced to micro-phone to voice their support. Minority Leader Arthur Breech told MSNBC that “The Party has absolute faith in Senator Thorn – he has being totally transparent in his dealing with investigators and it is clear that any wrong doing at Thorn Corp. has no connections to him, we fully expect him to win re-election in November.”

Breech was joined by a variety of leading Democrats with Illinois Senator Mitch Bryce being perhaps the most confrontational accusing the media of “joining Republicans in a witch hunt”.

[Marky Bunny]

Governor Boone coming onto the stage before Saturdays Washington GOP Governor debate, seconds later he refused to shake the hand of his opponent Jeff Haffley.

[disputed]

washingtonpost.com, Monday June 11th

Thorn Surrogate: FEC Investigation Exonerated Senator

Former New York Senator Michael Daschowitz, used an appearance on Taylor Reid Sunday to claim that the SEC investigation had exonerated Senator Andrew Thorn only a matter of hours after investigators had arrested Thorn’s father Lucas as part of their ongoing investigation.

Daschowitz jumped to Thorn’s defence the eponymous host said he should be seriously considering resigning rather than seeking re-election.

“It’s disgraceful that people want to try Senator Thorn despite the complete lack of evidence against him, in fact it’s worse than that because people simply want to try him by association.”

Former Senator Daschowitz, who lost his seat in a surprise election upset in 2010, stressed that he didn’t feel Thorn would follow the same path. “The preliminary reports that have been circulate exonerate Senator Thorn – in fact they say clearly he has nothing to answer for – when that becomes clear I expect the people of New York to realise that in Andrew Thorn they have an outstanding and committed public servant who always puts New Yorkers first.”

Senator Thorn was one of the major topics of discussion on all the Sunday shows, with Democrats rallying around their colleague.

[disputed]

nbs.com, Monday June 11th

LUCAS THORN RELEASED FROM POLICE CUSTODY

The CEO and President of the Thorn Group, Lucas Thorn was released by FBI officials today following his dramatic arrest on Saturday.

Thorn, looking shaken and dishevelled was smuggled out of the back door of an FBI office in New York but was unable to avoid a vast press contingent outside the building.

Thorn’s release marked the latest in a series of dramatic events surrounding his company and reports that they engaged in insider trading through a subsidiary business, Emerald. A spokesman for the Thorn Group said that “Mr Thorn continues to assist investigators with their investigation – as had been made clear by the preliminary reports thus far no wrong doing has been discovered by anyone at the Thorn Group.”

[disputed]

politico.com, Monday June 11th

With 24 hours Left Griffith And Rimmer Clash Over Callihane Release

With an increasingly bitter Democratic primary due to end tomorrow with the Arkansas primary – two leading Democrats clashed yesterday over the release of David Callihane.

Callihane was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of student Melanie Jones in 1991, but with the discovery of new evidence found his conviction overturned on Friday.

The release immediately became a political hot potato with former Governor Jack Griffith coming under attack for his refusal to review the case during his first term as Governor in the early nineties – and the Griffith camp firing back at current Governor Bobby Rimmer who they said has been complicate in the release of a number of high profile murderers.

Polls suggest there is nothing between Griffith, who didn’t run for a second term in the nineties due to revelations about and affair with a journalist, and Governor Rimmer’s son Chris.

Republican Carol-Anne Slater who is the odds on favourite for the GOP nomination took the opportunity to blast both of her potential opponents. “It speaks to a dismal failure by everyone involved – we should be focusing on the tragedy of imprisoning an innocent man for twenty years rather than massaging the egos of Governor Griffith or State Senator Rimmer.”

[Marky Bunny]

Seattle.Times.com

Monday June 11th 2012

Boone campaign "very happy" with debate performance, whilst Haffley says Boone "has lost control"

The fall out from the GOP Washington Governors debate rumbled on today 48 hours since the debate on Saturday.

With the vast majority of commentators and on-line polls giving a clear win to incumbent Sean Boone, his campaign claimed that they "where very happy" with the Governors performance and they defended his decision to refuse to shake Speaker Haffley's hand on the stage before the debate. "The Governor had been deeply hurt by many things said by Speaker Haffley and the attacks on his wife and his family, he didn't see the need to shake his hand". Many high profile Republicans where impressed with Boone's performance, the 2006 VP nominee Governor Ray Sullivan who worked as a pundit for NBS covering the debate said "Governor Boone needed a big performance, and he gave one, he showed some controlled anger, and had some well prepared one-liners". Of Haffley he said "Jeff's record on Foreign policy is a weak spot for him, and Governor Boone used that to his advantage very well". Senator Cody Riley of Alabama tweeted "Well done, Sean, that was great".

Speaker Haffley who many believe was over confident, was back on the campaign trail today and he hit back at Governor Boone "I still can't believe he refused to shake my hand, I think he is losing his control, a Governor needs to be steady, and not lose it like that".

[Marky Bunny]

NBS.COM

Monday June 11th 2012

Breaking News Breaking News

FBI raid Senator Thorn's office and two other properties this afternoon

The FBI have this afternoon raided the office of Senator Andrew Thorn in New York City as well as two other properties owned by the Senator in the state. They are believed to have taken away several desktop computers, laptops and documents.

Senator Thorn himself was in Washington at his Senate Office, and himself has not been arrested. This lastest development is bound to heap the pressure on him after his father Lucas Thorn was arrested on Saturday although he has since been released pending an on-going investigation into Thorn PLC and Emerald Holdings over insider trader claims. Many within the Democratic party are starting to question if Thorn can win re-election against State Senator Rob Cole, who acording to the lastest poll is only trailing Thorn by 2%.

[disputed]

nbs.com, Tuesday June 12th

Thorn May Sue Over Latest Raids

Sources close to Senator Andrew Thorn have suggested that he is considering legal action against the FBI and the SEC following the latest series of raids on his office. The news follows reports overnight that the FBI hadn’t filed the correct paper work in advance of the raids and suggestions by legal experts that the move may have violated the constitutions protections against intimidation of public officials.

Democratic analyst Brad Dearsden suggested that patience in the Thorn camp is running extremely thin. “The feeling up until now has been that they need to be seen to be as helpful as possible but that mood is drifting towards a more confrontational one.”

After the preliminary report suggested no wrong doing by anyone at the Thorn Group and suggested that Senator Thorn had no involvement whatsoever the investigation was expected to quieten down but yesterdays raids seem to have heightened the tension around the investigation.

Eric Tobin, a former Thorn aide told Capitol Beat yesterday that “They (the Thorns) are starting to see this as a witch hunt – after months of investigation, and ham-fisted activities they believe that the investigation is becoming increasingly personal. If as is being suggested that they over reached their authority then I’d expect a significant change in tone.”

[disputed]

politico.com, Tuesday June 12th

Democrats Battle For Advantage In Maryland Races

The gubernatorial and Senatorial races in Maryland may well be decided in the Democratic primaries on June 26th, and with so much at stake the candidates are ramping up their rhetoric in a bid to see off their opponents.

In the race to replace Senator Sam Whiteside, State Senator Cain McLelland has a clear advantage over Congresswoman Andi Wyatt who may have to accept that her marriage to disgraced former White House staffer Toby Ziegler may disqualify her from higher office. A poll released over the weekend suggested McLelland is heavy favourite against likely Republican nominee Sam O’Hare, where as Wyatt is tied.

Wyatt, continued to focus on her experience yesterday campaigning with outgoing Senator Barry Goodwin, and Gubernatorial candidate Daniel Ross.

Ross, faces a battle of his own, despite being endorsed by the majority of the Democratic establishment in Maryland. His opponent, Congressman Andrew Fitzpatrick received a boost over the weekend when Sean Henley dropped out of the race and back Fitzpatrick - a move that the Representative believes could push him over the edge.

A new round of polling is expected this week, and some high profile Democrats are expected to come off the fence in an attempt to swing a race, which many are pegging as a referendum on the direction of the Democratic Party, in their favour.

[disputed]

thehill.com, Tuesday June 12th

Incumbent Dempsey Facing Defeat In Maine Primary

The anti-incumbent feeling in the country looks set to claim another high profile victim today as polls suggest that Maine Senator Caroline Dempsey is facing defeat by businessman Sam Colton in the Republican Primary.

Dempsey has long been pegged as the most liberal Senator in the Republican caucus and has, over the years, faced heavy criticism from the far right amid her ability to work with Democrats on legislation. That frustration reached tipping point this year and businessman Sam Colton’s primary challenge has brutally targeted Dempsey’s desire to collaborate across the aisle.

Colton has outspent Dempsey 3:1, dipping into his own fortune to fund much of the campaign and his strategy looks set to pay dividends. The question remains whether Colton, who made much of his money in investment banking can be competitive against the Democratic nominee, most likely William Katt.

[Marky Bunny]

NBS.COM

Tuesday June 12th 2012

Democrats turn fire on FBI Chief Blakemore over Thorn Investigation

Democrats have turned their fire on FBI Chief Marcus Blakemore tonight over the FBI investigation to Thorn PLC and Emerald Holdings and New York Senator Andrew Thorn.

The attacks on Blakemore came as the FBI raided the New York office of Senator Thorn plus two other address, but Thorn PLC have responded saying that that "proper paperwork" had not been filed.

Illionois Senator Mitch Bryce a close friend of Senator Thorn turned his attack on Blakemore today "One has only to look to who is leading the FBI, a former Republican Presidential candidate, this is looking more and more like a poltically motivated investigation to bring down or smear a leading Democrat, hinding behind the smokescreen of a FBI investigation".

DNC Chairman Josh Lyman also attacked the FBI handling of the case "The FBI have handled this case poorly, and one can only guess at the motives at the top"

[disputed]

nbs.com/politics, Wednesday June 13th

Dempsey Clings On In Dramatic Maine Raise

In a major surprise it now appears that incumbent Senator Caroline Dempsey has survived the challenge of businessman Sam Colton and will win the Republican nomination for the Senate by the narrowest of margins.

Early indications, and exit polling had suggested that Colton was likely to secure a victory all be it by a smaller than anticipated margin, however, as the evening progressed returns increasingly suggested that Dempsey had performed better than expectations making the race “too close to call”.

In the last few minutes local TV stations have called the race for Dempsey with a victory margin believed to be less than 1%, although a number of recounts are underway.

A Dempsey victory will be a huge relief to the Republican establishment who will now see this race move from leaning to Democratic challenger William Katt to a true toss up.

[disputed]

politico.com, Wednesday June 13th

Griffith to Face Slater in Arkansas Governors Race

Former Governor Jack Griffith will be the Democratic nominee for Governor in Arkansas after a solid victory over State Senator Chris Rimmer following a bad tempered primary race.

Griffith secured 54% of the vote, giving him a comfortable margin of victory surprising many observers who were expecting an extremely close race. Early suggestions are that Griffith was boosted by a ground game that has remained strong despite his previous scandal hit spell in the Governors mansion.

Governor Griffith will now face former Attorney General Carol-Anne Slater, a contest that will likely be one of the keenest contested on the map this November. Griffith brings a lot of baggage but as the Primary race contests he remains a ferocious campaigner. Slater, on the other hand remains one of the best regarded politicians in the state and retains a high approval rating from her time as AG.

[Marky Bunny]

BBC.CO.UK/News

Wednesday June 13th 2012

Carter & Miller clash at PMQ'S over EU Referendum

Prime-Minister Andrew Carter and Labour leader Ed Miller clashed over the decision to hold a referendum on the nations future in the EU.

Since Ed Miller became Labour leader in January, the PMQ'S clashes between had been quite lackback and reserved until today. Ed Miller said that the PM was "very weak and the vote was pandering to the hard right of the Conservative party" Carter said "he would take no lectures from a man whose party was more devided" he said "At the weekend the former Chanceller, the hourable member for Wigan praised the decision, we have had several Labour back-benchers calling Downing Street praisng the decision, we are not divided they are".

[Marky Bunny]

2004 UK GENERAL ELECTION SPREADSHEET WILL BE UPLOADED IN THE NEXT DAY OR SO!

[Prometheus_2300]

Originally Posted by Marky Bunny

2004 UK GENERAL ELECTION SPREADSHEET WILL BE UPLOADED IN THE NEXT DAY OR SO!

OOC: Yay!!

Phoenix Tribune

June 18, 2012

MacDonald Campaign Troubles; New Campaign Manager

Following a bumpy primary process where Representative Louise MacDonald faced an invisible primary battle, and faced questions as to whether or not she or Alexis Howard would run to challenge Marienhoff for the Senate. After winning the primary with almost 78% of the Republican votes (rumors abound that Howard and MacDonald reached an understanding) her campaign has been off to a rocky start, as Marienhoff has hired Frank Donahugh, of the New York PR firm Sterling, Campbell, Wade, and Pryce and pulling every trick in the book.

MacDonald has come back and with a new campaign manager, Lisa Schiff who worked on Weston's campaign strategy. Several meet and greets have been scheduled for the Congresswoman, and fundraisers held.

Matt Hunt is expected to endorse MacDonald in the coming weeks, and with the backing of the popular governor, it will be an interesting race.

Gallup polls show that Marienhoff garners 43% of the voters, and MacDonald 48%, with 5% undecided.


Congresswoman Louise MacDonald at a charity event. Photo by Lea Thompson