If they were a centrist block, 5 might be enough. Since they are a fringe group, 50 is probably about right (for the senate). That is, the blue dog democrats matter because, although there are few of them, they can choose to side with either the Rs or the Ds, depending on the issue. The tea partiers, on the other hand, aren't going to be siding with the Democrats on any issue, ever. So you just mark their votes in permanent ink and worry about the other senators. You mean, will conventional republicans start sucking up to the tea party should the TP gain traction? I think that is already happening quite a bit. barfo
You know I heard in Las Vegas prostitution is illegal, but the rest of the state it is legal. maybe it'll be some sort of reverse of that with alcohol.
Reid would seem to have a huge advantage. He's got a powerful position in D.C., which is a great benefit to Nevada. He's got an ongoing campaign war chest. He's passed the most popular legislation in history, in spite of the opposition of those rascally republicans. Angle had Sarah Palin campaign for her. Speaking of which, have you noticed a correlation between the candidates she's backed and the ones that win? Going back to that NY house seat special election, she's backed the winner in (I think) every race she's been involved in. And in that NY seat race, she backed a 3rd party candidate who came darned close to winning.
No offense Denny, but I just don't get Palin. At all. She was a ditzy grass roots activist- OK, good for her. The world needs more ditzy people in grass roots areas. I respect that. She then became governor of Alaska and proved herself incompetent at that level and had to vacate the position. She then, and this is hard to still believe, became the republican candidate for Vice President of the United States. Horrified shivers run up my spine at that one. And now she is some sort of sage political springboard? And I'm thinking....................................... no. I have serious doubts Palin's backing spurred on any person in a political race. In fact, I'm thinking it may hurt them. We're I running for office and were a republican, I'd distance myself from Palin in a big hurry.
I don't know that I would want her in public office, but she does bring a lot of help to candidates who are running for office. She attracts really big crowds, so candidates can get their message out to those crowds. She brings in a lot of money for those candidates through fundraising. She's been a pretty good attack dog against democrats, president Obama, etc. She is setting the republican agenda. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38302.html Palin's backing pays off for pals Some of Sarah Palin’s riskiest endorsements scored major victories Tuesday for the former Alaska governor, showing off her power in Republican primaries. Palin had four primary endorsements in play – Carly Fiorina, Nikki Haley, Terry Branstad and Cecile Bledsoe – and three won or moved on to a runoff.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show#37791587 Please watch this those who watch fox news, and tell me if you think this is an unfair questioning by the local guy.
I like watching some Fox shows, and I generally don't watch MSNBC (partially b/c I can't stand listening to Olbermann, who's dumber than even I am but refuses to come off of his high horse), and I have to preface it by saying I've never seen this lady's show. I think she did an ok job leading in, and I don't think that the LV news guy was unfair. I think Ms. Angle represented a lot of things that a lot of people hate about politicians. For example: "Tell us about why young people shouldn't get SS". We've had that discussion here in the last 6 hours. She brings up a "Harry Reid Lie". Who the eff cares if Harry Reid said something? There's a reporter here that is asking for your opinion on it. The one part I would ask about is: why is this interview taking place in a bar, and not a studio or Ms. Angle's office or something (believe me, I'm not excusing her, but it seems like poor "reporting".)
It seemed to me like that was where she happened to be. My guess is if she'd said, listen, now is not a good time, but if you come to my office tomorrow I'll answer all your questions, the reporter would have been quite happy with that. But politicians tend to get interviewed whenever they go out in public, so she chose the venue, not the reporter, simply by choosing to be there. barfo
to add further to the venue question, I think Rachel (the msnbc host) prefaced it by saying the woman was holding a rally at that location. Later in the local interview you could see that there many other reporters at this location as well.
For what it's worth, I'd never seen her either until I saw her interview with Rand Paul a few weeks ago. She seems like a sharp cookie. barfo
