Associated Press
Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* According to new estimates, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson spent nearly $150 million to defeat President Obama and congressional Democrats in the 2012 cycle, far more than had previously been reported.
* In California, state Republican lawmaker Tim Donnelly is gearing up for a gubernatorial campaign, but his background is already making his candidacy controversial -- Donnellly is a former leader in the anti-immigrant group known as the Minutemen.
* Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), who lost his re-election bid after serving just one term, told NPR that he's exploring other avenues for public service. Most notably, the right-wing Floridian said, "[A]lways remember, Abraham Lincoln only served one term in Congress, too."
* Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) believes it's far too early to discuss the next presidential campaign, but told CNN yesterday that he has "a warm regard for the people of Iowa and New Hampshire."
* As expected, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) will stay on as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee through the 2014 midterms. Israel was approved by his caucus unanimously after Democrats increased their House caucus to 201 seats.
* Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is hoping to scare away potential primary challengers, holding events over the weekend announcing "the support of top federal and state Republican officials behind his candidacy."
* Despite appeals from the NRSC, Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) will not challenge Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) next year, and will instead focus on rising through the ranks for the House Ways and Means committee.
* And in South Dakota, Sen. Tim Johnson (D) hasn't formally announced his 2014 plans, but released a statement last week hinting that he's likely to seek another term. He'll probably face former Gov. Mike Rounds (R), who entered the race last Thursday.
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So Allen West might run for Pres in 2016? Best way I can think of for the Dems to win again. Bring it on, West!
Yeah, and he tries to equate himself to Abraham Lincoln. What chutzpah!
Plus, how long do you think he could control himself and not go way off into the wasteland of RW craziness? If he thought that he was subjected to intensive scrutiny in his re-election bid, the kind of scrutiny that President Obama was subjected to would drive him completely mad.
West probably wants his picture on a nickel.
Man, I give up. No way to top that one...
If he is put on the nickel will it be heads or tails? The Buffalo Nickel was not supposed to be about the Buffalo you know.
Adelson gambled and lost. He was using house money though, so he won't feel the pain as badly.
Yes, if there was one thing that troubled me above all else in the run-up to the recent election, it was the funding request e-mails. Dozens of them every day, ad nauseum. What I kept thinking was how bizarre it is that we have to "pay to play" in our elections nowadays. Not that you can't vote, but that your candidates will be defeated if you don't contribute.
All this is because you have people with so much money that a spare $100 million or so doesn't even faze them and the rest of us ordinary folk have to dig in to our meager incomes to keep a "level" playing field. Doesn't anybody else find this upsetting?
Meyer Lansky, er, I mean Sheldon Addledson, should be complimented for his untiring efforts to disprove the ancient anti-Semitic slur that all Jews are geniuses.
/snark
How much did Soros contribute to insure Obama's reelection?
just asking...
LOL
one hell of a lot less and got an hell of lot more bang for his buck.
derail if possible as usual.
just saying::::
I do not know about Sorois but I gave my fifty bucks as did a whole lot of people.
Adelson is busy helping Israel maintain it's new status as The new and improved Bully nation. The irony of the whole situation is so ridiculously insane. Are they actually seeking revenge in the 21st. century? When all the obvious players are no longer alive. As far as I can tell, I don't believe Hitler escaped and is living in Iran, what's the deal? They could have picked any other Country to display their long overdo wrath. Why aren't they pointing their cannons at Germany? War is no longer an option. They all better start learning better communication skills.There's a new movement that is starting to enter the arena and that is women against violence, especially war.
Allen West can do the public a service by remaining silent. He has the right just not the sense.
Allen West is the photographic negative of Lincoln striving to liberate the white rich folk from the slave-owing black man Obama and his insidious slave labor tasks of 4 cents more per dollar tax after $250,000 .
Allen West: The Great Emancipator II
It's simple. When in Las Vegas, never go north of Caesars Palace. They made it too easy, go north and you patronize Sheldon Adelson or Steve Wynn. Remember folks, Steve Wynn call our POTUS "anti-colonial" during an interview! Both Caesars and MGM employ unions, and they do not make stupid or bigoted statements.
Not visiting Las Vegas at all is an even better idea. Let it and the idiots dumb enough to be there dry up and blow away back into the desert they should be. Vegas was much better 40 years ago when the Mob ran it; back then all they wanted was your money in the casino, they didn't rob you blind from the minute you arrived, unlike all the completely-amoral corporate scum who run the place today.
Vegas is in my blood TC, all my life, forever. Count me as one of those "idiots".
"Mob ran it; back then all they wanted was your money in the casino"
true, but then they found out all that money they was losing in those other Profit centers, rooms>>profit now,, food>>profit now etc...
i lived there for over 10 years worked in many casinos, friends would come to Vegas (smiling didn't know how many of those i had), they say lets go to the strip,, i hand them car keys point to the strip tell them to call me if they get lost.
well Allen you first going to need an specialist Doctor like maybe a proctologist so you can have that small minded head of your removed from your fourth point of contact.
or as many of your colleagues did have a glass window placed into your navel.
We in Kentucky will be racing North Korean Unicorn's before Allen West can ever be credibility mentioned in the same sentence as with President Lincoln.
"As expected, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) will stay on as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee through the 2014 midterms," despite overseeing Democratic gains in the House that were below expectations and refusing to fund credible challengers to GOoPers like Paul Ryan and Michelle Bachmann because the candidates were progressives rather than DINO centrists like himself. I guess Third Wayism cannot fail, it can only be failed.
Alan-
The Dem party is not homogenous, and the constraints that folks like Israel have to operate within may not be especially obvious. I am not making excuses for the poor performance. Many districts like PA 08 that voted for Obama had congressional candidates who lost by double digits. Those outcomes should have been different, and Dems need to ask hard questions about how to fix the problem.
IMHO, we have to start getting realistic about our expectations for the DNC. The DNC should continue to collect money from the broadest set of donors- and accept the constraints those solicitations impose. If we are to have a broad tent, we must be able to accept disaffected republicans who are right of center.
This also means we cannot realistically expect the DCCC to do anything other than business as usual, as if the marketing oriented 4 year campaign of Messina's OFA organization did not change the fundamental laws of their political universe. The DC elite political operatives command high salaries, and their percentage of the much higher campaign budgets, so we should not be too shocked about that they will not cling to the old ways, where a few political wise men make calls based not on statistics from the socially connected sympathetic voters, but decisions based on their well compensated gut.
It's time for the progressives in Congress to run it's own Messina style OFA network. We essentially must become a party within a party- a more organized version of the T-Party for the Dems.
Unfortunately, Messina is talking not to the OFA organizers, but GOP political operatives about how they were playing a far superior game than the Romney campaign (buzzfeed story). What I am getting from the Stephanie Cutter from the Obama campaign is how I can write letters about what I can do with $2K.
Letter writing? For pete's sake, what is this- cub scout civics? We should recognize by now the only letter the GOP congressmen will listen to is the memo from their state's election official that they have lost the 2014 race to their Dem challenger.
There are 60 House races that Dems can win in 2014. Just as OFA began their 2012 campaign in 2008, a mirror of OFA- say Progressives for America- needs to begin organizing these 60 districts. We need to do this independent of whoever the Dem candidate will be, and regardless how much the DCCC complains that their are too many cooks in the kitchen.
Steve Israel may have played the cards dealt him the best he could. What I am saying is that there is a whole new game that can be played in parallel to what the DCCC does. And we need to start organizing for that game NOW, because we have only 2 years to organize 60 districts, and raise the substantial funds for those OFA style operations.
BTW- I am not talking idealism here, but practicality. The strategy and technology developed by OFA has no political allegiance and can be as easily used by campaigns well funded by Koch and Abelson.
The plutocrats mean business and they know they know this technology is for sale. The Right wing is very very interested- This WND article for example points out how outclassed the GOP GOTV operation was- both its technology and training. We have a lead, and the GOP is so backwards the editors didn't even notice in this story that they typo'd the name of the Romney system.
The question is what we do now. Go to sleep, or wait until the GOP kicks us in the teeth again as they did in 2010.
The Dem party has two choices. They can continue with business as usual, or they can cede the initiative to the GOP and get annihilated in 2014 with the technology and opportunity the Dems had in the palm of their hand.
It is a classic case of responses to innovations in an organization. Traditional companies allow the powerful established product groups to strangle new products that might threaten their lines. Successful companies like Dupont had the motto that if anyone was going to put a Dupont product group out of business, it better be another Dupont product group.
So ultimately, this boils down to a leadership challenge, because absent strong protective intervention by the CEO, rival product groups with innovative approaches will be relentlessly undermined by their more powerful siblings.
Ol Sheldon sez: Kiss my ring, and while you're down there ...
This is one big reason why nothing gets done. They spend all their time running for office instead of doing the job they were elected for. They have nothing to run on because they do nothing but run for office so they accuse their opponent of everything that's wrong with government instead of looking in the mirror. I'd like a job that I would only have to show up for less than two days a week and get the money, benefits and perks they do, but instead, people like me have to actually work for a living to pay for all the freebies they get. Talk about welfare.
Adelson, Donnelly, West- Ha Ha
Say five times very sincerely.
Did you notice what Adelson wants to talk about when he visits Capitol Hill? The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He was only in this election to keep from spending the little time he has left in jail....