2010 US Presidential Election

[Marky Bunny]

Thursday April 6th 2017

Clark campaign denies "conflict of interest" with Governor Phillips endorsement

Just when it looked it that the Clark campaign had some welcome good news with the endorsement of three sitting Republican Governors, it has instead developed into a row over the endorsement of Arizona Governor Scott Phillips.

Phillips's Mother, Rose Walton-Phillips is the Cabinet Secretary, and is believed to be close to Henry Shallick. According to the Shallick campaign late last night the Governor had told them that he decided to "stay netural" under the voting began, when he would endorse the former White House Chief of Staff.

Clark campaign supremo Colt Merchant laughed off the remarks from the Shallick team calling them "petty" adding "Governor Phillips is an outstanding Governor and we are delighted to have his support, their is no conflict of interest with regards to his Mothers job in the White House, I have no idea what passed between the Governor and the Shallick team, and I don't care".

With the first Republican debate of the 2018 cycle just two weeks away, Merchant added that the Vice-President would be spending the Easter Weekend at her home in Jasper, Texas, with her key advisors ahead of the debate on April 19th "The Vice-President is looking forward to the first debate, she sees it as a first chance to put across her vision for the next four years".

 

[ajm8888]

BBC.COM/NEWS

BBC NEWS

Friday April 7, 2017.

"We will hit you where you live" warns new terror group

At 3:03 This morning on a Bahji leaning board the first video was uploaded from an anonymous account warning if the US, China, and their allies remain in Qumar much longer, they will target, "The men and women responsible for the current situation in Qumar." The speech was given by a man calling himself the Mullah. His voice is not distorted but he types what he wants into a computer. The man's face is covered. And he sits in front of a green flag.

The group he leads, allegedly, is the Caliphate, a more Islamic nationalist then religious group from the Bahji. MI-6 and the American CIA can confirm this group is real. They have seen the Bahji and the Caliphate fighting each other.

The Mullah said the following in his statement. He introduced himself and the group he leads.

"The men and women responsible for these attacks on Qumar will be subject to the form of justice these outsiders like, assassinations. We shall go after people like Walken, Qian, Romanova, and so forth. If these nations cannot understand that we want the ability to determine our own future how we want then they cannot call themselves democracies. I am a Muslim, I am a man, and I believe in Allah. However, I like many things about the west, their sodas, their cars, and their their landscapes. The same is true for China. But I hate the fact these nations support corrupt regimes in the region, they only care about oil and not the people who live there." Said the Mullah.

"We shall strike at those responsible, we will make those that don't live in the Middle East bleed. And the corrupt monarchs who live here, run. We will kill you. But if people think I am supportive of Iran, they're mistaken. In the coming days our first attacks will happen. I regret the loss of innocent life, but to get to our targets innocent blood will be spilled, so then the rest of the world will know how their governments decide who's acceptable losses."

The video ends afterwards but intelligence sources have told BBC security expert Tom Fielding, "The Caliphate is a quiet group and they're extermely effective against the Bahji. They killed a major learned in the Bahji three months ago with a rocket attack."

These concerns have been taken by the US and Chinese governments over these warned attacks. But with little intelligence the government can do little.

If the Caliphate attacks soon who will it attack and where.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Monday April 10th 2017

Democratic Presidential Polls
National Poll

1. Seaborn 40% (+2)
2. Robinson 20% (n/c)
3. Kellner 14% (+4)
4. Thorn 9% (-3)
5. Carner 6% (n/c)
6. Straus 4% (-3)
7. Stray 3% (n/c)
8. Bighorse 2% (n/c)
9. Garden 1% (n/c)
10. Lyons 1% (n/c)

Iowa

1. Seaborn 40% (+1)
2. Robinson 20% (-3)
3. Kellner 15% (+2)
4. Thorn 8% (-2)
5. Straus 6% (+1)
6. Carner 5% (+1)
7. Bighorse 3% (n/c)
8. Garden 1% (n/c)
9. Lyons 1% (n/c)
10. Stray 1% (n/c)

New Hampshire

1. Seaborn 52% (+2)
2. Robinson 17% (-2)
3. Kellner 9% (+2)
4. Thorn 7% (-2)
5. Stray 5% (n/c)
6. Carner 4% (+1)
7. Straus 3% (-1)
8. Bighorse 1% (-1)
9. Garden 1% (n/c)
10. Lyons 1% (+1)

Michigan

1. Kellner 28% (+2)
2. Seaborn 26% (+2)
3. Robinson 20% (-2)
4. Thorn 9% (-2)
5. Straus 7% (-1)
6. Carner 5% (+1)
7. Bighorse 2% (n/c)
8. Stray 1% (n/c)
9. Garden 1% (n/c)
10. Lyons 1% (n/c)

Nevada

1. Seaborn 40% (+2)
2. Robinson 19% (-3)
3. Kellner 17% (+2)
4. Thorn 7% (-4)
5. Carner 6%(+3)
6. Straus 5% (n/c)
7. Bighorse 2% (n/c)
8. Stray 2% (n/c)
9. Garden 1% (n/c)
10. Lyons 1% (n/c)

South Carolina

1. Seaborn 28% (+1)
2. Robinson 25% (-3)
3. Kellner 24% (+3)
4. Garden 9% (-2)
5. Straus 4% (n/c)
6. Thorn 3% (n/c)
7. Bighorse 2% (n/c)
8. Carner 2% (n/c)
9. Stray 1% (n/c)
10. Lyons 1% (n/c)

Florida

1. Seaborn 40% (n/c)
2. Robinson 21% (-2)
3. Kellner 15% (+4)
4. Thorn 9% (-4)
5. Carner 6% (+3)
6. Straus 4% (n/c)
7. Bighorse 2% (n/c)
8. Garden 1% (-1)
9. Lyons 1% (n/c)
10. Stray 1% (n/c)

Poll of Polls (Top 5 Candidates for Main NBS Debate April 13th)

1. Seaborn 37.66%
2. Robinson 20.33%
3. Kellner 19.66%
4. Thorn 7.5%
5. Straus 4.83%
6. Carner 4.66%
7. Garden 2.33 2%
8. Bighorse 2%
9. Stray 1.83%
10. Lyons 1%

 

[Joe Steele]

nbs.com, Monday April 10th

Schofield Snags Surprise Support

Governor Mike Schofield’s campaign got a needed boost today when Governor James Ritchie of Florida announced he was endorsing the Georgia governor for president.

Schofield reportedly met with James Ritchie over the previous weekend, where the two discussed several topics, including the elder Ritchie’s 2002 presidential campaign. Governor Ritchie has been clear in the past his support would be fully behind the Senate Majority leader Cody Riley if he were to run, but Riley has indicated he will stay in his comfortable job in the Senate.

Along with Governor Ritchie, the Schofield campaign also announced that Georgia Senator and former Governor Charlie Forrester endorsed Schofield. Sources close to the campaign indicate Schofield intends to meet with South Carolina Governor Ethan Butler and North Carolina Governor Andrew Wu in the next few weeks, although Butler and Wu have made it clear they intend to stay neutral.

Ritchie was once considered the front runner for the Republican nomination, although a series of missteps led to a narrow win in the Florida Gubernatorial race in 2016 and an announcement that he would not be vying for the nomination.

Schofield is currently polling at 4% nationally, last out of the five declared candidates, although he has support in the southern states, notably South Carolina and Florida. A strong performance in those two states could give him a big push going into Super Tuesday, and noteworthy endorsements will keep him in the race until the polls open.

 

[Excelsior]

If Sam wins, there are some images from The California 47th where he's standing in front a podium with the Seal of the President. Could be useful.

 

[AbetterAmerica15]

 

[Marky Bunny]

Wednesday April 12th 2017

Kellner camp "confident & buoyant" ahead of first debate

Former Pennsylvania Governor Michael Kellner goes into tomorrows Democratic Presidential debate in Athens, Ohio with a spring in his step. Kellner who left office back in 2013, after declining to run for re-election is his own right has been a surprise of the first four months of this Presidential cycle.

Eric Baker's former Lt-Governor who took over in Harrisburg when Baker became Vice-President in 2007 had been regarded as an outsider at best, but he seems to have been making a difference, he seems at the moment, the credible alternative to Sam Seaborn from outside the Senate. The NBS Poll published two days ago, sees Kellner on the rise across the board, nationally he has moved ahead of Senator Thorn and up four points in just three weeks, although six behind Senator Robinson. State wise he is again up in every state, and is the only person to lead in a pre Super-Tuesday state apart of Seaborn in Michigan, where he is two points ahead of Seaborn and now eight points clear of Robinson.

"We are confident that the Governor can continue to get his view across that he is the only real alternative to Senator Seaborn for the nomination, and that he has proven record in Pennsylvania which appeals to everyone, Democrats and Republicans" Campaign Press Secretary Dan Adams told press on a conference call Tuesday afternoon "The Governor is buoyed by the lift in his numbers, in not only the NBS poll, but also are own polling figures" he also laughed off suggestions that his Presidential bid was only an attempt to become Seantor Seaborn's running-mate "no way, we are in this race to win it, the nomination and then the Presidency, I think that the debate will make clear that the Governor is the only candidate that can take on and beat Senator Seaborn on the issues".

 

[AbetterAmerica15]

 

[AbetterAmerica15]

Sam Seaborn Slogan "Working for us." poster with the Sam Seaborn "S" campaign logo

 

[Marky Bunny]

Thursday April 13th 2017

Second tier candidates fight for relevancy at undercard Democrat debate

Some pundits likened the undercard debate in Athens, hosted by NBS and Facebook and held hours before the main event, to being relegated to the kids’ table or put on the junior varsity team.

And for good reason: In a half-empty theatre , the five candidates who did not make the cut for the 9 p.m. prime-time event, on the basis of their averages in recent polling, found themselves in a scrappy and oddly subdued fight to prove their relevancy rather than locked in a grand battle of ideas with their NBS moderators Mark Bunn and Gemma McCarthy did not hesitate to go for the jugular in the first round, more or less asking each of the contenders how they could conceive of winning the nomination in a ten candidate field in which they were bringing up the rear.

South Dakota Congressman Scott Bighorse said that he had been helped by his defeat in his 2014 Senate race with Jim Simon, and that he had the "proven experience to be President". Maine Governor Paris Stray cited nominees like Josiah Bartlet and Matthew Santos who did not break through until later in the nominating process. Former Wisconsin Senator Jeremy Lyons, who has not been in office since 2012, said his years since in the private sector was an asset, although his name recognition prospects look markedly poor.

Former North Carolina Congressman William Garden was his normal feisty self saying that "this race was not going to be a coronation for someone who thinks the nomination is his default" which was a clear dig at the front-runner Senator Sam Seaborn, but this was the only point when the candidates attacked the Democratic favourite. Most pundits saw Montana Governor Kurt Carner who had just failed to get into the prime-time debate was the most polished and the winner of the debate, saying that the party "had to move on from the Bartlet and the Santos years, and needed a nominee with a clear record of governing" he boosted of his winning twice in a nominally Republican state.

It does look very unlikely that any one of the candidates in this debate will be the next President, but it was Carner who did enough to justify that he should be in the next first tier debate.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Friday April 14th 2017

Straus and Thorn confrontation dominates the first tier Democrat debate as Seaborn defends his ground as the front-runner

The talk leading into last night's first tier Democrat debate was of how front-runner California Senator Sam Seaborn would perform, and also that of the two candidates closest to him in the polls, Indiana Senator Rudi Robinson and former Pennsylvania Governor Michael Kellner, but in the end the debate will be remembered for a remarkable exchange between former Ohio Senator Hayden Straus and New York Senator Andrew Thorn.

The question was regards candidates business dealings outside out of politics in which Straus when onto the attack against Thorn using the 2012 FBI investigation to the Senators business affairs and his various companies "That man cannot not be trusted, he is an agent of capitalism" pointing at Senator Thorn "his practices are all that are wrong about American business" adding "If he became President there would be a vast conflict of interest between him being Commander in Chief and CEO of Thorn industries". Thorn who looked startled by the attack hit back saying that he had "cooperated fully with the FBI and IRS investigation" and that "no charges were ever laid, although I do admit things were not good as they could have been, but since then vast changes have been made" then Thorn struck back "Can I ask Senator Straus about his business dealings, he talks as he says a "socialist" what about the money he makes, have we seen his tax returns, or what about the $100,000 fee he received I believe from large wall Street based national companies, the same ones he attacks here, for two lectures, also what about his own private plane he has, surly no he must sell that now" ending with "my Grand-mother taught me one important phrase, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".Straus was everything most people believed that he would be attacks on globalisation, trade deals, Wall Street, NATO and suggested peace talks with Islamic Bahji in Quamar.

As had happened in the first undercard debate, their were questions about the relevancy of all the other candidates against the front-runner Seaborn "I am sorry" said Rudi Robinson "Do you ever remember President John Hoynes or President Bob Russell, they were the front-runners back in 98 & 06, and look what happened to them, Senator Seaborn may very well end up being our nominee, but he has to prove why he should and why he is better than me and all the others in this race, and I don't believe that he is". Seaborn was relaxed but focused "Well that Rudi that's your opinion and for the record I have never believed that this nomination is mine by rights or it is my turn, I believe I am currently ahead because voters like my message, and I am going to work hard to win every single vote I can".

Former Pennsylvania Governor Michael Kellner who was the first Democrat to declare four months ago, has been on the rise in the polls, and he was asked about his experience "I was Governor of a large and complicated state for six years, I got Democrats and Republicans working together" adding "many Democrats voted for President Walken in 2014 because they believed in the Democratic party that all we what to do is spend our way into debt and increase the size of the Government, we lost my state then but I know I can win it next year, and with my message that we can take the fight to the Republican who ever he or she is". Kellner made no obvious mistakes, and based on the performances he and Senator Thorn do look like the most credible challengers to Senator Seaborn.

 

[disputed]

nbs.com, Friday April 14th

Snap Polls Hand Thorn Debate Win

In a series of post debate polls New York Senator Andrew Thorn appears to have come through the first Democratic debate with flying colours with 3 out of 4 snap polls in the immediate aftermath suggesting he had fared the best of the participants.

Thorn, who clashed repeatedly with former Ohio Senator Haydn Straus, seemed to win over those polled with a full throated defence of his father’s company and it’s scandal hit past. In the category of strong leader Thorn bested California’s Sam Seaborn by 11 points.

Seaborn, the front runner for the nomination, appeared to avoid any major mistakes and generally polled well, but there is no doubt that Thorn’s charisma won over more people. With many expecting Indiana’s Rudi Robinson to emerge as Seaborn’s main competition Thorn may have reset expectations.

Senator Robinson will be disappointed by his numbers. The 6’ 7 former basketball player towered over his opponents on the stage, but his populist, upbeat message was somewhat drowned out by Straus and his much more muscular socialism. Indeed Straus’ attack on Robinson as being half hearted in his desire for a single payer healthcare system seemed to resonate.

The major issue for Robinson appears to come over his experience to be President. Of the five men who participated in the main debate Robinson trailed in last with only 16% of people saying he had the necessary resume to be the Commander in Chief. Thorn again come out on top, narrowly ahead of Seaborn.

The fifth man of the stage, Pennsylvania’s Michael Kellner, performed admirably but was clearly lost in the shuffle of his more high profile competition.

 

[disputed]

capitolbeat.com, Friday April 14th

Shallick team hit “lost in time” Democratic debate

Republican Presidential hopeful Henry Shallick of Missouri took aim at his Democratic rivals tonight saying that their debate “belonged” in a by gone era, adding that “there is no appetite amongst Americans for the kind of radical socialism that the Democratic Party now appears to subscribe to.”

The former White House Chief of Staff and his leading surrogates took to the airwaves immediately after the debate suggesting that the Democratic Party appeared to be “lost in time”. Campaign Manager Chad Driller told Capitol Beat that “If it wasn’t for the high definition on the TV you’d think you were watching a debate from the 1970s in Europe - it seems that socialism is alive and well in the modern Democratic Party.”

Driller was joined by Pennsylvania’s Carlin Cassidy who said he was “shocked by the lack of ideas on show” adding “what you seen tonight was a party who thinks the answer to the failure of big government is more government. I got the distinct impression that amongst all ten candidates that they had never found a government program they didn’t like.”

The first Democratic debate took place in Athens, Georgia on Thursday night.

 

[disputed]

capitolbeat.com, Saturday April 15th

Former Senator Backs Shallick attacks “shambolic” Clark campaign

Robert Royce, the former Senate Majority Leader appeared on Taylor Reid Saturday this afternoon and took the opportunity to throw his support behind Henry Shallick, the former White House Chief of Staff and Labor Secretary, in the race for the Republican nomination for President.

Royce who worked with Shallick for many years on Capitol Hill said that it was “vital” that the country stays the course with the successful policies of President Walken and that he was convinced that Governor Shallick was “by some distance the best candidate” to keep his long time friend and political ally’s course.

The endorsement was something of a surprise and seemed to have triggered by the fact that Vice-President Liz Clark had failed to offer even a press release in response to the first Democratic debate on Thursday night. Royce suggested that something was working inside the campaign “I look at the response to (the Democratic) debate this week - Governor Shellack’s team were disciplined on message and focused on delivering their message, the Vice President was nowhere to be seemed - 72 hours later she hasn’t even commented on it.”

Royce added that the debate was “proof positive that the Democrats are swinging to the left and it’s the job of every Republican to makes sure the American people realise this. As far as I’m concerned the VP’s response is practically negligent.”

The Clark campaign offered little response to the endorsement but refuted the claim they weren’t taking the fight to the Democrats, campaign spokesman Kevin Kahn told Capitol Beat that “a number of top campaign names will be touring Sunday show studios tomorrow continuing to drive home our message that the Vice-President is the perfect choice to drive forward the agenda she’s helped shape for seven years and to offer a new urgency to that plan.”

 

[disputed]

nbs.com, Sunday April 16th

Clark Fires Back At Campaign Questions

In a surprise interview on Meet the Press, Vice-President Liz Clark hit back at media reports that her campaign was in crisis and said that her bid for the nomination was “right on track.”

Clark who was added to the show late on Saturday night instead of a scheduled appearance by campaign manager Colt Marchant. The Vice-President hit out at suggestions of a rift in the White House and spoke highly of her opponent, former White House Chief of Staff Henry Shallick.

“Governor Shallick is a very strong candidate, he’s hugely experienced and has played a vital part in the delivering the President’s agenda but I think I am uniquely placed to both continue the President’s success and reach out to younger voters - what both I and the Governor agree on is that a return to the disastrous policies of the Bartlet/Santos years would be a disaster for the American people, I think we need a robust debate to ensure the strongest candidate goes forward to the General Election.”

Host Chuck Todd pushed Clark on questions of her campaign but she refused to be drawn into a discussion on what she said was “idle gossip”. She also declined to react to Todd’s line of questioning when he asked if she had any clarity on the President’s view of the race saying only “I speak to the President almost everyday - he has made absolutely clear that he will remain neutral, I think everyone should respect that position.”

Vice-President Clark will head into the first Republican debate this week still enjoying a narrow poll lead - though some are speculating that she needs to at the very least slow the momentum of the Shallick campaign which has started the cycle strongly.

The Clark-Shallick battle looks likely to dominate the debate this week but California Congressman Will Durham refused to accept that the race was a two horse race saying during an appearance on Capitol Beat that “thinking the country will automatically elect a candidate just because they say they are the President’s successor, shows a deep misunderstanding of the American people.”

 

[RRusso1982]

Wasn't the first Republican debate last night?

 

[Marky Bunny]

Friday April 21st 2017

Clark and Shallick clash over Walken's legacy in first Republican debate

Vice-President Liz Clark and former White House Chief of Staff and Missouri Governor Henry Shallick clashed over which of them was the "heir" to President Walken in the first republican Presidential debate from University Park, Pennsylvania.

Clark whose campaign had becoming under fire from some senior Republicans did well, better than most people believed she would, deploying a smooth charm, but also a couple of well prepared attacks against her main opponent Shallick "I respect Governor Shallick, but he goes on like he has been Vice-President for the last six years, and three months, no he hasn't I have, he likes to imply that he has the President's overwhelming support, he doesn't, President Walken is a good man and has proved to have been a great President, and I respect his decision to stay neutral until we have a nominee, anything Governor Shallick says in difference to that, is frankly un-true". Shallick seemed more uneasy than most people and pundits believed he would be, and seemed to be turning most of his fire on the Democrats rather than Clark or his three other Republican opponents on stage with him "Most of what we saw last week in the Democratic debate shows that the party is moving further and further to the left, they just want more government spending funded by taxing the middle-class, it's just more of what got us in the mess President Walken inherited back in 2011".

As for the three other contenders, Californian Congressman Will Durham, Kansas Governor Peter Gault and Georgia Governor Mike Schofield all did ok. Gault is clearly making a play for Social Conservatives attacking a repeated line from Congressman Durham stump speech about "not hating modern America" replaying "there is a lot of modern America to hate, Congressman, the fact we still allow abortion, the fact that Christian values are under attack, as is the second amendment, and the rights of gun owners". Durham was relaxed accusing as he has before of Clark and Shallick "thinking that the nomination was going to be won by one of either of them" adding has been his trademark "that the Republican party needed to turn the page and elect a progressive Conservative President". As for Governor Mike Schofield he is a presence on stage, his military background sees to that and spoke well during the part of the debate on Foreign Policy and terrorism. Schofield will probably not win the nomination, but he clearly raised his hopes of getting becoming Secretary of State or Secretary of Defence if a Republican wins the Presidency.

 

[RRusso1982]

One other question. I know the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections are this year. Who are the candidates running?

 

[Marky Bunny]

One other question. I know the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections are this year. Who are the candidates running?

Will be a couple of posts coming up regards these two elections.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Sunday April 23rd 2017

Clark supporters flood the Sunday shows

Supporters of Vice-President Clark have been on the Sunday shows today promoting their candidate boosted by several polls showing that their candidate had won the first Republican debate on Thursday.

Texas Senator Davis Roberts was on Meet the Press saying that "The Vice-President was the clear winner on Thursday, she is the only Republican to build on President Walken's record and the only candidate that can beat Senator Seaborn next November". Fellow Texas Senator Mark Cumberland was on Fox News Sunday and he pushed much the same message "The Vice-President was excellent on Thursday night, she ignored what the so-called experts had been saying her, she focused on the issues and why she is the person best placed to win the nomination and Presidential election".

On CNN and State of the Union, Tennesee Governor Shane Denham said "Only the Vice-President can beat the Democrats next year, and we cannot afford to let a tax and spend Democrat back into the White House".