Whitehouse.gov

Michael P. Meehan, Member, Broadcasting Board of Governors
Michael P. Meehan currently serves as President of Blue Line Strategic Communications, Inc. and as Senior Vice President at Virilion, a digital media company. For over two decades, Meehan served in senior roles for U.S. Senators John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, two presidential campaigns, two U.S. House offices and congressional campaigns in 25 states. Mr. Meehan earned a B.A. in political science from Bates College.

So what?

Because it’s just another fine example of BHussein’s thugs and how they treat people:

We Report, We Get Pushed
Article: Weekly Standard

After Coakley finished her answer, she began walking away from the restaurant, and I walked behind her asking why health care industry lobbyists were supporting her at the fundraiser. She didn’t reply.

As I walked down the street, a man who appeared to be associated with the Coakley campaign pushed me into a freestanding metal railing. I ended up on the sidewalk. I was fine. He helped me up from the ground, but kept pushing up against me, blocking my path toward Coakley down the street.

He asked if I was with the media, and I told him I work for THE WEEKLY STANDARD. When I asked him who he worked for he replied, “I work for me.” He demanded to see my credentials, and even though it was a public street, I showed them to him.

AP Photo

Click for screencap. I'm sure nobody wants to waste their time at Whitehouse.gov.

The Tribune is reporting that Merchandise Mart chief Chris Kennedy will not be entering the Democratic primary for the US Senate:

In a letter e-mailed today, Kennedy, the son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, said he “decided not to run” for the Senate. “The decision wasn’t easy to arrive at,” he said, and he joked that in wanting to consult with his family members, “just speaking to them can take months.”

That leaves State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Urban League head Cheryle Jackson as the two main opponents for the Dem nomination to Senate. A poll from earlier in the month had Giannoulias with a big lead in the primary while another poll released today (this one from Republican-leaning Rasmussen) showed GOP Rep. Mark Kirk within the margin of error against Giannoulias and with a lead over the less well-known Jackson. Both showed quite a lot of undecideds out there.

Progress Illinois notes that Rick Pearson recently told WGN radio personality Steve Cochran: “I got hijacked the other night. Actually, my credibility got hijacked and I’m not happy about it.”

What happened to make him feel so used? FOX News asked him to sit for an interview on Illinois’ upcoming US Senate race. Pearson discussed what he knew about the frontrunners from both parties: Alexi Giannoulias and Mark Kirk.

Being a journalist, Pearson told Cochran he presumed his interview would used for a straight news story about both candidates.

Instead, as ArchPundit and others reported the other day that bits of it were used to bolster an attack on Sean Hannity’s show. We now know this happened unbeknownst to Pearson. FOX’s Sean Hannity took that tape, did a little slicing and dicing, removed commentary about GOP candidate Kirk and turned the Giannoulias comments into fodder for a weak-in-the-knees hatchet job against the Dem.

How much ya wanna bet that FOX “News” segment is going to be circulated among Illinois Republicans and conservatives from now til November 2, 2010 and quoted ad infinitum?

Indeed, the NRSC already has a Google ad up this week cajoling people to:

Stop Alexi Giannoulias

Stand Against the Chicago Machine
Text “NoAlexi” to (######) for info

Hmm… For those that keep up on things, one of the more bizarre central themes of Hannity’s hack job was that Giannoulias, who actually ran against the Machine in 2006’s Democratic primary, is somehow a part of that same Machine. But what’s a little fib for FOX, eh?

And Mark Kirk’s first web ad? Chock full of grainy photos, dark music and references to Blagojevich, Burris and scandal.

Quite the string of coincidences.

And despite his remorse the question remains: When sitting down for an interview with a TV network so full of slimey characters whose only goal it seems is to propagate. one. political. agenda’s. propaganda. … why would Mr. Pearson not expect to walk away feeling slimey himself?

I’ll let Mr. Pearson have the quote of the week:

Frankly, Hannity has had people on before that were not qualified to really tell you what the price of a loaf of bread is in a grocery store.  I’m not a politically ideological person. I don’t pick sides to root for here — any of that stuff.  And for a legitimate news segment, I have no problem with that. But to really, kind of, had this happen to me — I mean, it’s almost like an identity theft kind of thing in a way, because all I have is my credibility.  And I know that show doesn’t have any.

Ya been had, Mr. Pearson.

A choice quote from Sen. Roland Burris’ campaign manager Delmarie Cobb, via a Trib blog:

“As you know, there have been many marquee names thrown out for this seat and so far they have all fizzled,” Cobb said. “With [Burris] as the incumbent, it seems the Democratic Party would do well to rally around the person who has the seat and keep the seat rather than mine for a candidate.”

What was that? Some marquee potential candidates “fizzled”?

From later on the same day, via the Sun-Times…

Sneed has learned U.S. Sen. Roland Burris has decided NOT to seek election to the seat he fought the government to keep [...]

The decision by Burris was based on his inability to raise campaign funds [...]

Seems to me that is the definition of “fizzled”.

Short version: Conservatives like Illinois Review’s Fran Eaton and the NRCC press office from which she lifted a boilperplate attack can’t both complain that Obama’s Recovery Act spends too much money and complain that it’s not doing enough… That’s illogical and actually serves to bolster liberals’ arguments that a second stimulus package is needed.

If you only grease a few pistons but leave the others dry your engine can still lock up.

Longer version is below the fold…

I get that Republicans want to attack a slew of Democratic targets in an effort to soften them up for 2010… and I get that they’d pull together a bunch of half-quotes and innuendo all rolled up into a snarky press release to do so…

Except here’s the thing: Voters are sick of muckraking bullpuckey like this that only complains without offering actual solutions.

Yes unemployment is still creeping up. Starting well before the election economists anticipated such. Pres. Obama has acknowledged all along that it would continue even after any sort of stimulus package was put in place.

Even the conservative Chicago Tribune editorial page – in offering a prebuttal against the notion of a second stimulus package – admitted that not enough of the earlier stimulus package has been implemented to have had much of an effect on the economy, let alone jobs. It’s not like a $787 billion check was cut in one day.

So when Illinois Review editor Fran Eaton copies and pastes a boilerplate NRCC press release like a lemming stopping only to customize the national GOP’s misleading headline in order to spit on Cong. Foster – “Bill Foster’s Trillion-Dollar ‘Misread’” – it’s just more of the same from the Party of No…

…hypocritically voting “no” in lockstep unison on a stimulus concept which has been proven to work in the past*

…despite offering “no” legitimate alternatives of their own

…and now while having “no” shame by shuffling up to what they lambast as “the trough” to get some of the “pork” and “too much spending” for their own districts.

The NRCC didn’t even quote Foster or any of the other 50 or so Democrats they targeted in their boilerplate baloney. Instead they took a few out-of-context half-quotes from some Democratic leaders and mixed in a couple of conservative pundits’ spin for good measure.

But the effect is one of suggesting Congressman Foster himself (or any of the other 50 Dems) somehow misread the Stimulus Bill before voting on it, an implication for which Ms. Eaton and the NRCC offer zero evidence since (again) Bill Foster and the others aren’t even quoted.

By the by, now that Ms. Eaton and the Republicans are apparently quite concerned about Federal spending (where was this concern during the 43rd president’s administration?) they ought to know a recent analysis of Congressional Budget Office reports going back to the beginning of the Bush Administration indicates 90% of the current Federal deficit comes as a result of President Bush’s spending, President Bush’s fiscal policies and the sour economy that began plummeting under his laissez-faire watch.

90% due to Bush and his “conservative” policies; think about it.

—–

PS: The “misread the economy” half-quote comes from an interview between ABC News’ George Stephanopolous and Vice-President Joe Biden, and in fact it was Stephanopolous who first framed his question using the “misread the economy” phrase.

The full context of the interview shows that the NRCC ignored that the Obama Administration did their due diligence and based their plans on the best-guess financial estimates from January, just as the Bush Administration was dealing removing bubble wrap after having moved out.

Having people point out that they actually did their due diligence (as opposed to a certain former administration) is just one of the dangers of trying to pull a fast one by using a half-quote:

STEPHANOPOULOS: While we’ve been here, some pretty grim job numbers back at home — 9.5 percent unemployment in June, the worst numbers in 26 years.  How do you explain that? Because when the president and you all were selling the stimulus package, you predicted at the beginning that, to get this package in place, unemployment will peak at about 8 percent. So, either you misread the economy, or the stimulus package is too slow and to [sic] small. [emphasis added]

BIDEN: The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy. The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there.  Everyone thought at that stage — everyone — the bulk of…

[...]BIDEN: And so the truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited. Now, that doesn’t — I’m not — it’s now our responsibility. So the second question becomes, did the economic package we put in place, including the Recovery Act, is it the right package given the circumstances we’re in? And we believe it is the right package given the circumstances we’re in.  We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package. The truth of the matter was, no one anticipated, no one expected that that recovery package would in fact be in a position at this point of having to distribute the bulk of money.

STEPHANOPOULOS: No, but a lot of people were saying that you needed to do something bigger and bolder then, including the economist Paul Krugman. He’s saying — right now he’s saying the same thing again — don’t wait. You need a second stimulus, you need it now.

—–

* PPS: Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt had jobs programs like the WPA, TVA, etc. and several economic policies all put in place as efforts to stimulate the economy and protect average citizens during the Great Depression. Cumulatively his plans had the effect of slowing and even reversing the staggering double-digit unemployment and weak GDP he inherited from Republican Hoover.

Pres. Obama hasn’t put specific large-scale jobs programs in place (akin to a modern WPA) but his economic plans and stimulus act grants programs are similar to what FDR did, though in relative terms Obama’s $787 billion Recovery Act is quite a bit smaller than FDR’s overall plans when adjusted for inflation.

The only time FDR’s stimulus plans faltered (ie, economy soured again) was when FDR cut spending to appease conservatives’ criticism, criticism of the past which (despite having been proven wrong) sounds incredibly similar to that from the conservatives of today.

To wit, conservatives also had a chance to try their own version of a stimulus package under Pres. Reagan as he cut taxes for the wealthy under the theory of Voodoo/Trickle-Down Economics (sounds familiar again, as if perhaps a more recent GOP president recently tried the same thing).

Unfortunately, unemployment climbed from less than 7.5% to nearly 11% in the years after Reagan’s tax cut even as the wealthy savored their sudden tax-break windfall.

Pres. Reagan did however create many jobs through his defense “stimulus” program as he spent billions upon billions on armaments and equipment. That spending not only worked to boost the economy but also didn’t seem to engender as much criticism from conservatives. Hmmm…

Tonight the House Ethics Committee announced that it was conducting a preliminary inquiry into the now defunct PMA lobbying firm and its relationships with House lawmakers. The firm, which was founded by former Democratic staffers on the House Armed Services Committee was shuttered after the FBI raided its offices last year. Basically its employees stand accused of making PAC contributions to members of the Armed Services Committee in exchange for earmarked appropriations which benefited PMA’s clients in the defense industry.

In an editorial, the San Francisco Examiner says the scheme PMA stands accused of, “appears to be a Chicago-style “pay to play” network that trades earmarks for campaign dough that could potentially involve at least 100 congressmen.” These Congressmen earmarked $300 million in defense earmarks for PMA’s clients.

Among this group of Congressmen is Virginia Democrat Jim Moran. According to the Associated Press, Moran has received $997,348 since 1989. Some Republicans have called on Congressman Moran to give the money back. As for earmarks, Moran has been prolific. (Critics also pointed out that many defense contractors with business before Rep. Moran’s subcommittee made a significant amount of campaign contributions to the gubernatorial campaign of his brother, former Del. Brian Moran.)

I think that’s the right thing to do.  While Congressman Moran hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing, I believe he should give this money back until the investigation is completed. He certainly should say more about what he knows and what his ties are to PMA. (After all, his colleague, Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) has temporarily given up his subcommittee chairmanship after Federal investigators subpoenaed him.)

As the New York Times writes:

It is a sordid and far-too-common tale: PMA’s top lobbyists began as House appropriations staffers and then capitalized on their connections and savvy to strike it rich in the private sector. Still the full story needs to be laid out before the public of how this money roundelay worked — from contractor to lawmaker, with the American taxpayer always footing the bill.

Of all the members of our Virginia Congressional delegation, I probably have the most in common with Jim Moran when it comes to policy issues. If I were a member of Congress, I would vote with Moran almost all the time. In that sense, he has been a perfect representative for me. (And I am a constituent.)

But in recent years, Congressman Moran’s personal behavior has troubled me. I didn’t like the punching of a fellow Congressman on the House floor, I didn’t like the bullying of a kid in Old Town and I hated the way he handled his divorce, his personal finances and I certainly don’t like the sniff of anti-Semitism which came out in the 2004 campaign. Now he stands accused of participating in a pay for play political scheme.

As much as I admire his policy stances, I wish my Congressman would clean up his act. If there was a credible Democrat to run against him in the 2010 primary on ethics and integrity, I would give them a serious look. And if the GOP would nominate a moderate Republican in the mold of Tom Davis, I would vote for them against Rep. Moran.

Congressman Moran, please don’t give the GOP an opening. I don’t want to return to the days of Stan Parris. Maybe you should retire before this happens.

I think there is no shortage of Democrats who could represent me in Congress without the ethical baggage that comes with you in office.

In recount news, today we learned a little bit  more of just how desperate the Republicans  in N.Y. and Minn. are to hold onto power.

The Albany Times-Union reports that GOP Congressional candidate Jim Tedisco challenged this absentee ballot of his former Congresswoman, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) as part of the recount of his race with Democrat Scott Murphy. Politico has more color here, including a statement from Gillibrand’s spokesman.

Separately, the campaign of former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) announced it will be appealing a lower court’s ruling that he lost his reelection bid to Democrat Al Franken, leaving Minnesota with only one Senator, Democrat Amy Klobuchar, since Coleman finished his term more than 100 days ago.

As the Associated Press reports, a successful appeal from Coleman is a long shot. Or as an unnamed GOP strategist told The Hill newspaper, “he’s cooked.”

Dear Virginia Republicans:

I’m trying to understand your alternative reality or as Frank Rich calls it in today’s New York Times, a parallel universe / echo chamber. Maybe you can help me out.

First, leading up to the 2008 U.S. Senate race,  you dumped a popular moderate GOP congressman with a proven track record of winning support from Democrats and Independents in favor of an unpopular and discredited former Governor. 

On Election Day, voters overwhelmingly rejected your Senate choice and picked Mark Warner as our new U.S. Senator. It wasn’t even close. They also took three U.S. House seats away from you and awarded them to Democrats. (Have you met my friends Glenn, Gerry and Tom?)

Oh and least we forget, after 40 years in a row of winning Virginia’s Electoral College votes, you lost them. Our state joined the majority of voters (electoral and otherwise) in electing a Democratic president.

A rational person would conclude that maybe after all of this you’d be just a little chastened and you’d reconsider your approach to governing.

But no.

Since inaugeration day, you diss the BFF of the new President, our Governor, and boycott a bi-partisan meeting of the Congressional delegation that he convened to discuss how the delegation could work together to insert language beneficial to Virginia in the Economic Stimulus package legislation. Of note, now former Attorney General and presumed GOP nominee Bob McDonnell, attended the gathering. (BTW, has he gone to the Charlie Crist campaign school?)

Meanwhile, not one of you voted for the measure and you seem to forget about your role in driving our economy into this ditch by backing the previous spending policies of the last president come hell or high water. Instead, your attack dogs are either trying to smear your opponents and rewrite history or insult the working people who pay your salaries.

Do you think Virginia’s voters are so stupid that we won’t hold you accountable? Or better put, since you all represent gerrymandered districts, do you really expect the non-dittoheads you represent to take you seriously? Really?

I’m sorry, but it was that fiscal conservative Bill Clinton who worked with both parties to end the budget deficits, build up a surplus and start to pay down the national debt which was the legacy of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. George W. Bush, for his part, squandered the economy that he inherited from Bill Clinton and gave us a trillion dollar war based on false premises and a trillion dollars in tax cuts and spending programs which benefitted the super wealthy, but screwed the average Virginian.

So given all of that. Why do you think we will give your party the majority back any time soon? Voters expect more from you and you’re failing us.

Meanwhile in Richmond, your own finance director at the state Republican headquarters quits in disgust and says your party organization is “dysfunctional” and your state chairman, who compared then-candidate Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden, ends up tweeting away your chances at gaining control of the Virginia Senate.

Now he wants us to anoint his wife to take his place in the House of Delegates so he can spend more time leading your party over the cliff.

Your saving grace is Bob McDonnell, a man who seems, on the face of things, to be the kind of Republican who can win in Virginia. (The Richmond Times-Dispatch says, he’s, “usually the adult in the room.” ) My guess is if the Democrats nominate Brian Moran or Creigh Deeds, you can forget about regaining the Governor’s mansion.

If I were your buddy Ed Gillespie, I’d be pulling for the Macker.

But that’s just me.

Sincerely,

Fake Virginia

I woke up to some wonderful political news this morning from New Orleans. On Saturday, the voters of New Orleans elected a new congressman to replace their indicted one, Rep. Bill Jefferson. You will recall that Jefferson was caught by the FBI with $90,000 in his freezer that was part of a bribery sting operation. His federal trial is in the pre-trial motions phase I believe. His opponents call him “Dollar Bill.” It’s not a term of affection.

The new Congressman is Joseph Cao, a first generation Vietnamese-American. He will be the first Vietnamese-American to serve in Congress. Even though he is a Republican, the district which has a 75% Democratic registration, elected him over Jefferson in Saturday’s run off election.

No doubt the endorsement of the New Orleans Times-Picayune helped Cao as did the support from several local Democratic officer holders. Cao’s off to a good start, telling voters after his win, that he’s,  “here to represent everyone.”

I’m proud that the Democrats of News Orleans followed the example of the Republicans of Alaska by firing their crooked elected officials. Like these voters, I firmly believe crooks have no place in public office, regardless of how much I like their politics.

Call me old-fashioned.

This Tuesday is the final election day of consequence. On Tuesday, voters in Georgia will have the chance to fire Saxby Chambliss and hire Jim Martin as their next U.S. Senator. I hope they do.

Saxby Chambliss is a recalcitrant, self-righteous man who has no intention of EVER working across party lines. That’s his history and he’s quite proud of it. In contrast Jim Martin has a long history of working on a bipartisan basis to get things done for Georgians.

Observers say voter turn out will be very light. They also say African American turnout will be very low. I hope Georgians will prove the observers wrong and elect a new U.S. Senator.

To do your part, please call or email your friends in Georgia and hound them into voting. This election could prove decisive to many things Democrats care about. Think about how hard you worked to elect Barack Obama. If you’re like me, you don’t want to wake up on Wednesday and find out Sen. Chambliss was re-elected.

It doesn’t have to be that way, but you have to call your friends in Georgia and ask them to vote for Martin.

Do your part.

The road to a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority is becoming clearer and all signs say it goes through Georgia. Here’s the latest:

Last night, the AP declared Anchorage mayor Mark Begich the Senator-Elect from Alaska. Begich beat long time GOP Senator and convicted felon Ted Stevens by just a few thousand votes. Begich will be the 58th Senator to caucus with the Democrats. (Sen. Sanders and Sen. Lieberman are two independents who caucus with the Dems. Lieberman only does so because we bought him off with a chairmanship.)

In Minnesota, the mandatory recount is underway for the race between GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. Coleman currently holds a 172 vote lead over Franken. The recount must be completed by Dec. 5. There is nothing else that we can do about that except watch.

So that leaves us with Georgia which holds a run-off election on Dec. 2 between GOP Senator Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin. If Franken pulls off an upset in Minnesota, it will all come down to the Georgia race for the Democratic caucus to have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority for change.

That’s why former president Bill Clinton campaigned for Democrat  Jim Martin in Atlanta today.

Clinton declared, “The hopes of America are riding with Georgia. This country does not need a firewall against the future. It needs a bridge to the future, and Jim Martin is a bridge builder.”

Turning out voters for change in Georgia will be tough. But here’s what you can do to help fire Saxby and hire Jim:

• Call your friends in Georgia and urge them to vote early. Early voting in Georgia is already underway. Email this link to everyone you know in Georgia so they can find early voting hours and locations for their counties.
• You can call voters in Georgia and convince them to vote for Jim Martin by using the MyBarackObama tool. Click here to learn more. It’s easier than you think.
• You can contribute to Jim Martin’s campaign for change in Georgia. Click here to do so.

Every vote counts and Georgia has a history of close Senate races. Paul Coverdell beat Democratic Senator Wyche Fowler in 1992 runoff. (Republicans don’t want to be reminded that Coverdell came in second behind Sen. Fowler on the initial vote but came from behind to win the runoff.)

For over 200 years, the citizens of the District of Columbia have not had a say in U.S. Senate elections. By any measure this is wrong.

I don’t know about you, but when the voters of Baghdad have more voting rights than the voters of the District of Columbia, I think there is a serious problem.

Tonight that changed when Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich was declared the winner of Alaska’s Senate race. One could argue that when 12 citizens of the District of Columbia voted to convict Senator Ted Stevens on seven counts of corruption, they ensured the election of Mr. Begich.

While that’s not the exactly my idea of establishing D.C. voting rights, it’s close enough for tonight.

This morning the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that former President Bill Clinton will hold a campaign rally for Jim Martin, who is racing a Dec. 2 run-off in his bid to defeat incumbent Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss. The rally will be held Wednesday in Atlanta.

Have you donated to Martin’s campaign yet? He needs your support now – early voting begins Monday.

This past week was Sarah Palin unplugged. Unfortunately for the Alaska governor, by most accounts she didn’t help herself.

Among all the interviews she gave, the one with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday was the most jaw dropping, especially her remarks about Sen. Ted Stevens. Remember, after Sen. Stevens was convicted of seven felony counts of corruption, Palin refused to say if she would be voting for his reelection.

Only after other Republicans called for Stevens to step aside, did Palin (and John McCain) join the chorus. Her initial statement did not call for Stevens’s resignation.

But during her interview with Blitzer, Palin said that Sen. Stevens’s future is in the hands of the Senate, many of whom have promised an expulsion.

Except there’s one thing Gov. Palin — the voters of Alaska haven’t re-elected Sen. Stevens, nor have they elected his opponent Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. The future of Sen. Stevens is still in the hands of the voters of Alaska and Judge Emmit Sullivan.

At the moment she made this claim on Wednesday, the AP was reporting that over 90,000 ballots were yet to be counted and Stevens held a 3,000 vote lead. As of today, there are over 30,000 ballots left to be counted and currently Begich is ahead in the ballot counting by over 1,000 votes.

But we must remember Gov. Palin lives in a different world from the rest of us. What’s most disturbing is that the media haven’t called her out when she makes such brazen misstatements and worse is that the majority of Republicans believe she is the future of the GOP.

The media, the GOP, Alaska and the U.S. Senate can do better.

In his 2002 campaign to be elected Georgia’s U.S. Senator, then-Rep. Saxby Chambliss, you’ll recall, ran one of the most outrageous campaign ads ever run by any Senate candidate in this country. Chambliss ran an ad with the face of incumbent Sen. Max Cleland alongside of photos of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. The ad clearly implied that Cleland, a Vietnam veteran who lost both legs and one arm in service to our country, was somehow aiding and abetting terrorism when he did not vote the way Chambliss did on a bill creating the Department of Homeland Security.

After Chambliss successfully unseated Sen. Cleland, Sen. McCain spoke out on CNN against the ad and Mr. Chambliss, his fellow Republican.

I’d never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield — it’s worse than disgraceful. It’s reprehensible.

Well “my friends” – that was the old John McCain. We didn’t see much of him in 2008. In fact in an October CNN poll, nearly 6 in 10 said they felt McCain’s attacks against Sen. Barack Obama were “unfairly negative.” Some might say Chambliss-like.

You would think after voter rejected his negative attack politics and elected Sen. Obama president, that McCain would be seeking redemption from voters. For a while it looked like he was on that path. After all, he gave a very gracious and magnanimous concession Election Night speech and then this week, he charmed us all with a very self-deprecating and funny appearance this week on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Maybe the old Mac is back?

Don’t be fooled, “my friends”!  Today Sen. McCain chose to campaign in Georgia for Sen. Chambliss, who is facing a Dec. 2 run off against former Ga. state legislator Jim Martin.

“My friends…it’s reprehensible.”

How any decent human being could campaign for Saxby Chambliss is beyond me!

Fortunately, Jim Martin has waged a tough and principled campaign and stands a good chance to win if his supporters are willing to return to the polls on Dec. 2.

Will you join me in helping Georgians stand up to Saxby Chambliss and his nasty attack politics? I’ve already given a donation to Jim Martin’s campaign. Your contribution will help Jim Martin run ads like the one below leading up to the next vote on Dec. 2. And maybe, just maybe, voters will send another vote for change to Washington.

It’s been nearly a week and I still can’t believe it. Virginians gave its Electoral Votes to Barack Obama, elected Mark Warner to the Senate and took over 2, possibly 3 GOP House seats with the election of Glenn Nye, Gerry Connolly and the possible election of Tom Perriello. They will join Senator Webb and Congressmen Boucher, Moran and Scott as Democrats representing us on Capitol Hill.

Virginia wasn’t the only 2004 Red State to go to Obama in 2008. Obama also flipped Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida. Today the Omaha World Herald declared the Electoral Vote from Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District for Obama. This marks the first time in 44 years that a Democrat has won one of Nebraska’s proportionally allocated votes. The votes for Missouri have still not been awarded.

As Jon Stewart said this week on Comedy Central, he noticed something different in New York — people made eye contact and they smiled at each other. I’ve noticed the same thing here in Fairfax County. Why even the Republicans who said horrible things about Obama during the campaign, suddenly have a new found respect for the country’s president-elect!

America needs a fresh start. We need our leadership to unite the country, focus on solutions and get things done for the people. I remember how President Clinton overreached in 1993 and 1994. The voters punished Clinton with a Contract on America in 1994.

I hope President-elect Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid recognize that and plan accordingly.

On Friday on WRVA News Radio in Richmond, James Madison University political science professor Robert Roberts was quoted as saying Democrats Judy Feder and Tom Perriello could knock off GOP Congressmen Frank Wolf and Virgil Goode on Tuesday, because of a successful Democratic GOTV program led by the Obama campaign. Roberts also predicts a Gerry Connolly win.

Is Dole saying to Hagan this line? "I'll get you my little pretty, and your little dog, too!"

On Hardball tonight, Chris Matthews just called Elizabeth Dole’s “Godless” ad attacking her Democratic opponent Kay Hagan, “The Wicked Witch of the West” ad. Well, Dole IS really from Kansas and not North Carolina, so that’s appropriate.

After showing Hagan’s first response ad, Pat Buchannan said, “It may be one of the great counter punches ever.” The Washington Post’s Gene Robinson said of Hagan’s response, ” It’s honest and straightfoward, tough and effective.”

Meanwhile, Hagan has yet another response ad to Dole. Check it out.

Chris Cillizza, a political writer with the Washington Post has named the Top 50 House seats across the country most likely to switch hands on Tuesday. There are three seats held by Virginia Republicans on the list. He’s also made a bold prediction about Gov. Mark Warner’s Senate race against Gov. Jim Gilmore.

No. 6 – Gerry Connolly’s race to win the seat held by retiring GOP Rep. Tom Davis. Cillizza writes:

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly (D) is now on TV in the costly Washington (D.C.) media market. (The Fix knows — we’ve seen the ads!). It’s probably a precautionary measure given the strong Democratic tilt of northern Virginia. (Previous ranking: 6)

No. 28 – Glenn Nye’s race to defeat GOP Rep. Thelma Drake. Cillizza writes:

Rep. Thelma Drake (R) entered this cycle without having set roots in this southern Virginia district, and now with Obama running strong in the area Drake is in serious trouble. Democrat Glenn Nye is new to the political game and has made his shar of errors but in a district where 21 percent of the population is African American, a huge black turnout for Obama could carry Nye over the line. (Moved from 42 to 28.)

No. 44 – Tom Perriello’s race to defeat GOP Rep. Virgil Goode. Cillizza writes:

Virginia’s 5th district (R): It took a long time — way too long — for Rep. Virgil Goode (R) to realize he was in a real race against Democrat Tom Perriello. And now, Goode continues to struggle to beat back a story about his ties to a movie called, “Eden’s Curve” that documents the life of a gay man in college. (Moved from 50 to 44.)

And what is Cillizza’s prediction for Gov. Mark Warner’s Senate race against Gov. Jim Gilmore? Cillizza predicts the Senate seat currently held by retiring GOP Senator John Warner the nation’s most likely to switch party control. Cillizza writes:

The only question that remains is whether former Gov. Mark Warner (D) can break 60 percent in his race against former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R). Our bet? Yes. (Previous ranking: 1)

It’s happening. The Republicans are in full out panic-mode over the surge of Democratic support in Virginia. The latest sign, according to MSNBC, is that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is focusing more attention on attacking Tom Perriello who’s running against Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Status Quo).

MSNBC reports that the NRCC has issued a press release claiming Perriello is, “someone who feels more at home on the Upper Westside than he does in the heart of Virginia.”

Puh-lease. Perriello was born and raised in the 5th District and the Republicans know it. If being from New York is so horrible, why in the world did Goode take $150,000 from New York financial interests?

Folks, Tom Perriello can win with your help. These ads were just posted on Tom’s YouTube site and are running in rotations on TV across the 5th district.

In 2006, one of the biggest surprises was the election of Nancy Boyda to Congress from the 2nd District of Kansas.

Could Anita Hartke, the Culpeper County Democrat running against GOP Congressman Eric Cantor, be Virginia’s version of Nancy Boyda?

The Rappahannock News had a profile of Ms. Hartke last week which pointed out that Hartke may ride a way of support for Sen. Obama and Gov. Warner that could put Cantor out of a job.

What’s your take? Is Anita our Nancy?

Daily Kos InsideNova.com has a few more details on Obama’s Monday night rally in Manassas Park Manassas at 9:00 p.m. ET at the Prince William Co. Fairgrounds. Given the traffic with the Leesburg rally, I urge you to plan an extra 2 hours into your travel time.

And something I hadn’t yet considered which Farewell Frank points out: Obama began his Virginia campaign and will end his campaign in the 10th Congressional District. This has got to help Judy Feder and scare the crap out of Frank Wolf (R-Status Quo).

This Fake Virginian will see you there!

The Charlottesville Daily Progress reported yesterday that Roanoke’s CBS affiliate WDBJ has pulled GOP ad attacking Tom Perriello because the newspaper story cited in the ad incorrectly stated Perriello’s position on gay marriage. (The paper issued a subsequent correction to its story, but why should that stop the GOP from attacking Tom?)

Here’s the false ad attacking Tom Perriello. To help Tom fight back, make a contribution to his campaign at www.perrielloforcongress.com.

Tom Perriello is gaining traction in the closing days of his campaign to defeat GOP Congressman and Xenophobe Virgil Goode. Today CQ Politics upgraded its rating in the Perriello-Goode race in Tom’s favor. CQ Politics also highlights that today, the Danville Register & Bee endorsed Tom, the first Democrat they’ve endorse for Congress since the endorsed Virgil Goode in 1996, when he was a Democrat.

CQ Politics writes:

Virginia’s 5th District (New Rating: Leans Republican. Previous Rating: Republican Favored)

Conservative six-term Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. has been a fixture in this south-central Virginia district even as he shifted away from his former ties to the Democratic Party, running first as an independent in 2000 and then as a Republican since his 2002 election. But Democrat Tom Perriello, who has worked for international nonprofit organizations and founded faith-based groups, has run a determined effort to unseat Goode this year in a district, Virginia’s largest in land area, that bridges a political gap between liberal-leaning Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia, in the north, and conservative Danville in the south.

Perriello raised $1.5 million as of Oct. 15, about $20,000 more than the receipts reported by Goode — and more than twice the $600,000 that was raised by the Democrat who lost to Goode by 59 percent to 40 percent in 2006. There is no doubt that Goode’s 2008 race is closer, and that Perriello possibly could pull off an upset.

The editorial page of the Danville Register & Bee, which had backed Goode in his previous campaigns for Congress, gave its nod to Perriello, saying Friday that Goode “appears to be either unwilling or unable to work with the growing Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.”

CQ Politics also is making the rating change because of the involvement of the DCCC, which has aired a television ad criticizing Goode. The advertisement cites a half-dozen votes by Goode, including his support for the Bush administration’s 2001 and 2003 tax cut measures and a 2005 overhaul of energy laws (though the latter measure was favored by 75 House Democrats as well as Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, in the Senate).

Also, Perriello could get some lift on a Democratic ticket headed by Obama, who has a slight lead over John McCain in Virginia polls. The 5th District backed President Bush in 2004 by 56 percent to 43 percent, and the margin this year should be closer in a district where African-Americans make up one-fourth of the population — the third-highest black percentage among Virginia’s 11 congressional districts.