2010 US Presidential Election

[disputed]

politico.com, Monday July 30th

First Lady Sparks White House Row With Supreme Court Declaration

The White House was furiously trying to walk back comments made by the first lady over the weekend as speculation into who President Walken would nominate to the Supreme Court intensified.

Mary Walken gave her first solo Sunday show interview since her husband won election to Meet The Press on Sunday and sent the press into overdrive by saying that she was “almost certain” that her husband would nominate a woman to the Supreme Court.

Mrs. Walken refused to be drawn further but the belief is that while the President seriously considered the case for his White House counsel Ainsley Hayes, that he may well have settled on Cassie Rushton, the Chief Judge of the New York appeals court.

The White House quickly moved to try to squash the statement saying that Mrs. Walken was “merely speculating on the process”, but the first lady has remained conspicuous by her silence, this far refusing to retract her statement.

[disputed]

thehill.com, Tuesday July 31st

Next Weeks Primary Battles Set Tone for November

As we enter August, a series of hotly contested primary battles are expected to establish the land for some key electoral battles as part of the mid term elections in November.

On August 7th, Washington, Michigan, Missouri and Kansas go to the polls. The highest profile battle of the four is the Republican contest between Washington Governor Sean Boone and former House Speaker Jeff Haffley. Polls suggest that neither party has moved the polls despite a brutal exchange of negative ads over the past few months. The last polls had Haffley narrowly ahead but well within the margin of error.

Whoever prevails looks to be a heavy outsider against State Treasurer William Wiley, the son of current Senator Wiley. All expectations suggest the last week of the campaign will be spent with Haffley and Boone hammering each other in a desperate bid for any slight advantage.

In Michigan, Congresswoman Becky Reeseman has seen a polling surge over the past few weeks and looks likely to defeat Congressman William Roem. Current acting Senator Lance Honeyman declined to seek a full term. On the Republican side Kurt Haden is all but certain to be the nominee, setting up a close battle with Reeseman in November.

Missouri is playing host to fierce contests in both their gubernatorial and senatorial races. Attorney General Josh Copenhaver will be the Democratic nominee for the Senate but nothing else looks certain. Appointed Senator Lewis Henderson has had a late flurry of support but still looks set to lose out to State Senator Rebecca Coplin. A third candidate Stapleton Ash threw his support behind Coplin over the weekend.

The gubernatorial battle is shaping up to be a marquee race. The front runner for the Democrats is State House speaker Jonathan Turnbull who looks like a potential top tier candidate. A battle between former Senator Lucas Foley and Lt. Governor Dominic Riordan looks to be edging towards the latter but polls remain close.

The only battle that matters in Kansas is the Republican primary with whoever wins there being almost certain to win the General Election in November. With incumbent Mitch McCall retiring, the battle comes down to Secretary of State Max Tillings and Congressman Peter Gault. All indications are that Gault has the edge.

[disputed]

nbcnews.com, Wednesday August 1st

Fisk Calls For Congress To Investigate East Montrassa Affair

Former Attorney General Alan Fisk has called for a congressional investigation into the possible involvement of the United States in election rigging in the African state of East Montrassa.

Fisk, appearing this morning on NBC said “I know the story has gone quiet over the past week or so but I think it’s vitally important to uncover whether or not this administration actively supported the re-election of a man who may have been involved in genocide. I think that’s an important question.”

The former Attorney General has been gradually increasing his profile amid speculation that he is considering a run for President in 2014.

During his appearance this morning he also took the opportunity to take a shot at the White House over last weeks disappointing GDP figures. “2% growth isn’t enough to sustain a recovery – for the President to say that ‘at least we are growing’ simply isn’t good enough – we need a strong plan for growth. All I hear and see from this President is an agenda to cut and shrink, instead of invest and grow.”

Mississippi native Fisk would not be drawn on whether he was considering a presidential run.

[disputed]

startribune.com, Wednesday August 1st

Daniels Surging In Minnesota Race

The Democratic nomination for Governor in Minnesota has looked like it would remain and exceptionally close race right up until the August 14th election day, but a series of polls over the weekend suggest that Congressman Jarod Daniels has pulled away from his fellow Representative Ed McBain.

The polls all give Daniels a lead ranging from an 9 point lead in the Star Tribune to a 4 point lead in a PPP poll. This is the first time since the race began that either candidate has been able to put any daylight between them.

With less than two weeks left Daniels continues to maintain a breakneck schedule and McBain remains seemingly wedded to trying to leverage his personal fortune to find an advantage – reports that he had lent his campaing a further $1.5m were confirmed yesterday by a spokesman.

[Marky Bunny]

CNN.COM

Wednesday August 1st 2012

President Bartlet celebrates 70th birthday

President Josiah Bratlet celebrated his 70th birthday at his farm in Hew Hampshire today.

He was surrounded by many members of his former staff, including Josh Lyman, CJ Craig, Will Bailey & Sam Seaborn.

Former Presidents DW Newman & Matthew Santos also attended, whilst President Walken sent a personal letter to President Bartlet. In a recorded message President Walken praised Bartlet calling him " a true patriot, a great man, who served our nation for eight years".

[disputed]

thehill.com, Thursday August 2nd

Disagreements Mark Bartlet Birthday Gathering

A fascinating picture emerged last night of the inner circle of former President Bartlet at war over the potential 2014 Democratic Presidential race – as each of Bartlet’s closest advisors appears to be heavily engaged behind one or another potential candidates.

An unidentified source from the event reported a “furious” row in a closed doors meeting between C.J. Cregg, Will Bailey, Congresswoman Andi Wyatt, California Senator Sam Seaborn as well as former President Bartlet and his wife Abby.

The argument allegedly centred around a major disagreement between former speechwriter Bailey and CJ Cregg over the anticipated candidacy of former Virginia Senator Brian Cambridge. The source said “Bailey and Cregg were really getting into it – Mrs. Bartlet had to calm them down and get them to take the argument into a separate room.”

The Bartlet inner circle appears to be split on who is best placed to be the party’s standard bearer in 2014. Congressman Bailey remains close to former Vice-President Bob Russell and is expected to support him, Cregg has offered high profile support and advice to Cambridge – who is interestingly also a close friend of the former first lady.

The story is complicated by reports that Wyatt and her ex-husband Toby Ziegler are assisting the campaign of Wisconsin Governor Mark Katzenmoyer, who many expect to emerge a series contender and that California Senator Seaborn has spoken very highly of former New Jersey Governor Kate Crossley who many expect to carry the torch for the party’s liberal wing.

Oddly reports suggested that DNC Chairman Josh Lyman was the peace maker in the discussion insisting that everyone should remain neutral to avoid the impression of a Bartlet endorsement of any of the potential candidates.

Lost in all of this was the presence at the event of another likely Presidential candidate – former Attorney General Alan Fisk, who recently hired former Bartlet advisor Doug Weglund as he explores a potential 2014 run.

[disputed]

politicalscientist.com, Friday August 3rd

Randall Questions President Over Infrastructure Bill

The much contested infrastructure bill working it’s way through congress found it’s most vocal critic last night as Florida Senator Seth Randall attacked the President for “engaging in the same left wing, big government thinking that caused most of our problems in the first place.”

The bill, co-sponsored by freshmen Senators Jack Hunter of Minnesota and Damon Matteo focuses on creating a public-private partnership to drive significant infrastructure development over the next two decades, but has run into opposition on both sides of the aisle.

Randall attacked the Presidents approach to the bill particularly his attempts to use the so-called “Walken coalition” of Blue Dog Democrats and Republicans to get it through Congress.

“The President may be correct that squeezing everything through the middle is the best way to get legislation passed – however, it doesn’t lead to the right decisions. This bill is a mess, and will result in yet more government spending.”

The White House refused to hit back at Randall directly saying only “The President remains a big supporter of this legislation, and he believes he has widespread bi-partisan support.”

[disputed]

politico.com, Friday August 3rd

Crossley: Infrastructure Bill Doesn’t Go Far Enough

Former new Jersey Governor Kate Crossley used an appearance on Capitol Beat this morning to call for a dramatic increase in the infrastructure bill saying that “This bill will barely scratch the surface of what we need.”

Crossley who is seen by many as a likely contender for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2014 drew a sharp comparison with China saying “we can’t expect to keep up with our rivals if they are spending so much more on infrastructure. China spends 9% of their GDP on it. We spend 2%. We urgently need to rebalance that.”

Governor Crossley quickly found disagreement with the show’s second guest Pennsylvania Senate candidate Carlin Cassidy. The former TV star claimed the Governor was living in “a fantasy land” adding “We already have a $16 trillion dollar debt – what she’s proposing would require another $1trillion worth of spending. It’s absurd.”

The appearance continued a ramping up of the Governor’s schedule as she continues to mull a run for the Presidency. Her campaign announced that former White House Director of Legislative Affairs Amy Gardner had agreed to come on board as a senior advisor to Crossley.

[Marky Bunny]

CNN.COM

Saturday August 4th 2012

White House memo on protential Democratic candidates for 2014 posted on-line

In another embrassement for the Walken administration, a memo written by an un-named staffer to incoming White House Chief of Staff Jane Braun has been posted on-line today.

It describes Former Virginia Senator Brian Cambridge as "protential "Democratic" Arnold Vinick, with lots of cross-over protential" but says "he may bottle it as he did in 2006 and his Senate re-election bid". Former Vice President Robert Russell is said to be "a formidable fundraiser" and would have a "massive warchest in any general election" and "many Democrats belived he (Russell) had been proved correct about Matt Santos in 2006".
Former New Jersey Governor Carol Crossley "would be easy to paint as an out of touch "tax & spend" Liberal" but her record as Governor "was more to the centre than many give her credit for". South Carolina Senator Tim Mccord is described as "boring & dull, and would probably get intot he race to run for VP". Wisconsin Governor Mark Katzenmoyer "has good appeal espically in swing states like Michigan & Iowa" but like Mccord is a bit "boring".

No-one from the White House has yet to comment.

[NickCT]

Is there a list of candidates for the Democratic Nomination/Race for Governor in California in 2012? If not, can we get CJ Cregg on the ballot

[NickCT]

Originally Posted by The Conservative Fellah

Is there a list of candidates for the Democratic Nomination/Race for Governor in California in 2012? If not, can we get CJ Cregg on the ballot

just realized she was a rumoured candidate for Ohio Senator ITTL? Did she move to Ohio? Is there anyway for me to write an article about her winning the Democratic Party for Governor in one of these two states?

[disputed]

politico.com, Monday August 6th

Democrats Round on Walken Over Job Reports & Infrastructure Bill

A host of Democrats took to the airwaves on Sunday to question President Walken’s handling of the economy after Friday’s disappointing job numbers.

The announcement on Friday that the economy had added only 115,000 new jobs slowed recent Republican talk that a recovery was well underway. The news cam on the back of anaemic GDP growth numbers for the last quarter.

Stephen Wilson, the Senator from Maine who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for President in 2014 used an appearance on Meet The Press to hit the President saying that “Over the past few months the President and his team seemed to be hanging out the mission accomplished signs – yet it’s clear that we still have a long way to go.”

Wilson, however, refused to commit himself either way on the President’s controversial infrastructure bill that is expected to come to the Senate floor sometime this week. “I still have some issues with the bill and some of the funding mechanisms and I’m not sure if goes far enough – I am meeting with Senator Matteo tomorrow to discuss the bill further.”

Senator Wilson was by no means the only Democrat to question the current administration’s economic policies. DNC Chairman Josh Lyman said that “Walken Austerity simply isn’t enough” and outgoing Ohio Senator August Adair called the numbers “a kick in the teeth for the middle class”.

Republicans fired back with outgoing White House Chief of Staff Evan Drake making his final round of Sunday Shows said “We inherited an economy in a hole, the President understands that it won’t all be smooth sailing – these are disappointing numbers but we’ve added jobs in every month since the President took office, we need to stay the course.”

[Marky Bunny]

SeattleTimes.com

Monday August 6th 2012

GOP Governor nomination race enters last 24 hours

It has been described as one of the most brutal and negative GOP nomination fights in recent history, but today the race to be the nominee for Washington State Governor entered the last 24 hours.

Governor Sean Boone and former Speaker of the House Jeff Haffley are locked togther in the polls, although the final poll on Sunday had Haffley holding a slender 1% lead.

Today Governor Boone today told a 3,000 strong rally in Tacoma "We can't afford to return to the failed policies of my opponent, we need to build on our strong progress of the last two years". Jeff Haffley was in his home city of Spokane where he addressed his own campaign workers "We have just 24 hours until we vote to get rid of this failed liberal Governor, who is only a Republican in name only, just 24 hours until we have a true Conservative candidate for Governor of this great state".

[Marky Bunny]

Maine Senator Stephen Wilson

(photo by Kelsey Grammer)
New Hampshire Senator George Englemann

(photo by Dan Akroyd)
(Both castings agreed by Marky Bunny & Disputed)

[Prometheus_2300]

New Hampshire Senator George Englemann and Rhode Island Senator John Huntingdon

(photo by Dan Akroyd and John Lithgow)

[disputed]

nbs.com/news, Tuesday August 7th

Boone College “Arrest” Photo Appears on Internet

The campaign of Sean Boone have fired back at the “disgraceful distortion” of a police report of the arrest of the Washington Governor aged 15 that was leaked onto the internet this morning.

The report and accompanying photograph was onto a little known website in the early hours of the morning and hit all of the major news outlets shortly afterwards.

Further investigation revealed that Boone was arrested along with a group of school friends over an alleged assault, he was however released without charge and seemingly had no involvement in the incident.

His campaign spokesman Lewis Timmons told reporters that “This is the politics of the sewer, this report, from the sealed file of a minor was maliciously leaked and misrepresented to damage the Governor. We have now released the full report that makes it clear that Governor Boone was questioned, but was not involved or in any way linked to this incident – the arrest was a case of mistaken identity that resulted in three of his fellow school friends also being picked up. The timing of this was blatantly designed to influence voters on the day of the election.”

Reporters also quizzed Boone’s opponent in today’s primary election, former Speaker Jeff Haffley. Speaking in front of his home on his way to vote Haffley said “I am glad that this has been quickly cleared up, misrepresenting this kind of information is damaging to the entire political process. I want to stress that my campaign had no knowledge of, or involvement in this incident.”

[disputed]

politico.com, Tuesday August 7th

Infrastructure Bill Set For Senate Vote, House Democrats Suggest Revolt Likely

Senate Majority Leader Robert Royce confirmed this morning that the expects the Infrastructure Bill to reached the Senate floor on Thursday morning and confirmed that he was “very confident” that it had the votes to pass.

Royce’s optimism though was tempered by comments made by House Majority Whip Noah Gellman suggesting that he didn’t think the bill had sufficient support to pass the House. “I know that there is a lot of opposition. I’ve still got a number of questions I’d need answered before I could support it – hopefully the President will bring a little clarity to the discussion.”

A number of other Democrats were far more scathing about the bills chances. Maryland’s Andrew Fitzpatrick said “I can’t see how any Democrat could vote for it as it currently stands.” He was joined by Allison Baynes of Virginia was said “The bills a total mess – I think it’s probably dead on arrival.”

The White House however, remains confident that the bill will squeeze through with new Chief of Staff Jane Braun telling Fox News this morning that “The President has worked across the aisle on this bill, we know of a number of Democrats who are in favour – I think we’d expect it to pass both houses by next week.”

[Marky Bunny]

The leaked Police photo of Washington Governor Sean Boone aged 15 after his arrest in 1993.

[Marky Bunny]

NBS.COM

Tuesday August 7th 2012

Fisk heads to Iowa

Former Bartlet Administration Attonery General Alan Fisk is inviting yet another round of speculation today about his presidential ambitions in 2014 with this latest scheduling announcement: He's going to Iowa this weekend for two days.

[disputed]

theeye.com, Tuesday August 7th

White House Confirms Announcement Scheduled For 11am, Rushton Nomination Expected

After weeks of speculation President Walken is expected to nominate the Chief Judge of the New York Appeals Court Cassie Rushton to the Supreme Court.

An announcement has been scheduled for 11am and sources close to the President are confirming that he has settled on the 49 years old New Jersey native.

The move ends an intense period of speculation, but analysts are already questioning whether Rushton will be a straight forward confirmation – questions over her increasingly conservative rulings have suggested that there will be considerable push back from liberals in congress.