The buzzard circles contemplatively toward its prey:
"The House is everyman's roadkill, but I deserve rib eye.
What's good for me is good for the GOP."

Well, the AP says Tsongas won in MA-5.

charles.linsmeier-actually there was a election no so far back, the chavez backed canidates for city council lost from what i heard. so your right, chavez is probably not a viable canidate. im still rooting for denish tho, ok chuck schumer work that silver tounge of yours!

mark-last post of the night here(was pricing laptops, i really need a comp where im at) thanks for the heads up on immigration down in texas,personally i would re task the national guard from being target practice in iraq to guarding the us/mexican border, mainly for drug and illegal immigrant interdiction. that may sound extreme but its better than building a 10 foot wall and seeing sales of 11 foot ladders(or shovels) soar.

MA-5 results, anyone??

Mark, you don't think Texas will swing Democratically at all, even in the current climate? Although - I have been out of the loop for several days and haven't been keeping up so well, so maybe that's not accurate... Kay B.H. is close with the Bush family, though, right? and how are they regarded in Texas now? still popular, or has there been a drop-off?
Rufus, my guess would be that Richardson might run for Senate at the last minute, unless there is already a strong Democrat in the race, although he does seem to be ruling it out now. does anyone who is more local know if he has strong enough ties with any of the potential D candidates to make loyalty a factor?
and Zouk, I agree that Clinton is a classic politician... so for that matter, are Giuliani and Romney, both of whom would not recognize their '90's selves if they were ever to meet on the street. You will notice also that this is true of most if not all of the candidates who have a realistic chance of winning. This is probably not a coincidence.

You only got half the Column written, Chris. Here you have two Republican Representatives running to replace Domenici. If Wilson wins the Primary, she will still be carrying the baggage of her participation in the Alberto Gonzales affair. If she loses she won't be in any real position to run for her own seat. Domenici and Wilson together taint the race for the senate for any Republican, and there may be two open House seats for the Democrats to try to pick up.

Domenici has apparently managed to take out three Republicans in this race.

cnn

"Verizon reveals extent of records released
Verizon Communications says it has provided federal, state and local law enforcement agencies tens of thousands of communication and business records relating to customers based on emergency requests without a court order or administrative subpoena. full story"

tens of thousands? Explain your doublethink gop? Why is this not a federal crime again?

I thought bush "looked in his eye" and saw a freind. Does this mean everything I've been saying is true. is the gop in with the terrorists AND Iran? This seems to say, yes.

"Putin Warns USA Against Attacking Iran...

Blames 'worn-out' equipment for nuclear delay..."

LV, Kay's plans are actually important to the national R Party. She is so strong in Texas, and has p.o.'d so few people, that she is an obvious choice for VP for any eastern or northern R. But if she is really wanting to get home, like she has threatened in the past [and this is for personal reasons, I believe; although she is my age, 64, and was my classmate in Law School, she has two young adopted kids whom she would want to go to public school in Austin, not in DC].

jaymills - both Austin and Santa Fe are more responsive to border issues than is DC. The Hispanics of northern N MX were there before DC was established as the nation's capital. That is true to a much lesser extent the closer you get to the border.
Immigration cuts both ways as an issue here, and in NMX. The fence is not generally popular, but it would be VERY POPULAR in Laredo and El Paso. The drug problems alone are crippling in the twin cities on the border. I believe hardened IDs and more electronic surveillance would be popular. So would a temporary worker program. I wish Bobby Cervantes-Wright were still posting; we would get a closer to the border perspective than mine. I stand subject to correction on a lot of this - I am a frequent visitor to both south TX and northern NMX but I do not reside there.

In other news from NM:
- Madrid is out of the Senate race, but might look at NM-01.
- Pearce opens up NM-03, and Dems are already lining up.
- Leading GOPer in NM-01 releases showing him with a big lead against Democrats. But it's an internal poll.

Details on all of this here:
http://www.campaigndiaries.com/2007/10/new-mexico-shuffle-steve-pearce-jumps.html

Insiders in the capital in Santa Fe say Richardson is running for Secretary of State, a position he or Biden is in a good position to earn.

Denish is likely to run for governor and she should win by a comfortable margin.

If Chavez is the Dem nominee for Senate, the seat will stay in Republican hands. Not sure that Chavez even carried Albuquerque when he ran for Governor after his first term as mayor.

Pearce v. Wilson will be a fascinating primary.

I told you. I told. 9/11 was about silencing the internet (the patriot act). The patriot act was not a result. 9/11 was a false flag attack. The reasons? Oil, stocks, the patriot act/ I told you people. Why are you not as outraged as me?

"Former Telcom CEO: Bush's Illegal Spying Began Months Before 9/11 Attacks
By: Logan Murphy @ 12:22 PM - PDT

Download (1014) | Play (1106) Download (614) | Play (511) (h/t Bill)

GWU Constitutional Law professor Jonathan Turley covered this and other civil rights issues last night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Turley breaks down the lawless nature of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping programs and chides Congress for lacking the spine to go after him.

Washington Post:

A former Qwest Communications International executive, appealing a conviction for insider trading, has alleged that the government withdrew opportunities for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars after Qwest refused to participate in an unidentified National Security Agency program that the company thought might be illegal.

Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week. Read more...

Kagro X at DailyKos makes some great observations -- Bush has long contended that the illegal programs were undertaken in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, but this revelation would mean he had something else in mind. And if, as Nacchio contends, the Bush administration began their illegal spying operations well before the 9/11 attacks, it proves the program failed to stop the attack
"

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Tex., has announced that she won't run for reelection --- in 2012!

The rats aren't wasting any time getting of the sinking GOP ship.

She says she may run for governor in 2010. zzzzzzzzz.

There is never a shoratage of blame. Who builds those refineries you speak of? The oil companies? Yes, or no. How much money have they made since the iraq invasion? Whyare they not refining more if there is more need. Money obvoicsly is not an option. Dubai is sure building and growing like crazy with their oil money. What are we, american oil businesses, doing with it?

Nice try. Conveinant boogyman. The why's always point to the culprit. we can play this game all day. The iraq war and the war on terror are all about oil, and money. Keep reciting gop talking points. It's all you got. I wouldn't expect any less. But you got to expect I will challenge it also.

I'm sick of every republican I hear talk about refinment. I used to think you people were just dittoheads being lied to . now I know better. The fox's and rush's of the world don't exists for you liars and fascists, they exist BECASUE OF you continue. so who is the leader of the "dittohead" nation then? If it's not rush bush or fox. It's called "THE MACHINE". The evil fascist machine. In the old days religous people called it the devil. The mahicne is the devil 2.0. you fascists have sold your soul. You can't say you were never warned.

Consider New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the current frontrunner. When the Iraq war was going well and was popular, Clinton was proud of her vote, saying in late 2003, "I believe that was the right vote." She went on Larry King Live in 2004 and defended the war, saying, "I don't regret giving the president authority." In 2005 she redoubled her commitment: "There can be no doubt that it is not in America's interests for the Iraqi government, the experiment in freedom and democracy, to fail." That same year she even opposed a deadline for troop withdrawal because "that would be like a green light to the terrorists, and we can't afford to do that."

But when things in Iraq went poorly, and public support began to wane, Clinton changed her views and tried to cover up her previous rationale rather than admit she was wrong. The real problem here, of course, is that as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she was relying on the same faulty intelligence as Bush was.

Now Clinton says Bush needs to "extricate our country from this before he leaves office" in January 2009. But during a recent Democratic debate, she couldn't even guarantee that she would do so by 2013.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/10/no-middle-groun.html#more

It is her perogotive to change her mind daily. Polls change.

no, rufus, it actually does depend on refining capacity.. i'll try to make it simple for you as i have read some of your rambling posts..do you put crude oil in your tank or refined gasoline? in the Chicagoland area gas prices have been fairly consistent the last few weeks even though crude oil posts new record prices each day..and it will always be refining capacity cause no one wants 'em built in there own backyards...

"bsimon-well its only painful until you have to buy the gas."

I had a comment about $4/gal gas, but my euphemism for 'complain' triggered the moderation filter.

I know it's conveinant to blame india and china for the gas prices. But facts are facts. We had the same refineries before 9/11. The prices per barrel go up, so does th pump. You are not really that lost are you? your joking right? do you really believe what you say, or is it like a lawyer where they don't beleive their arguemnts

mark in austin-good point about the hispanic population in texas, i never considered that for new mexico. what about immigration? hows that going to play out down there next year?

bsimon-well its only painful until you have to buy the gas. in my area, gas is 2.77 a gallon right now, its a deal but im sure it will be 3 dollars a gallon by the weekend.

well i was going to comment on the rudy/mitt ad buy thread but it degenerated on who's a bigger failure al gore/jimmy carter or gwb. no sense of commenting there but might i suggest that CC start using the ban function for some off topic posts? come on guys al gore,jimmy carter and bill clinton are no longer in office. lets focus on some relevant stuff ok?

the cost at the pump is driven much more by refining capacity"

A republcian lie/trick. It's starnge gas prices dropped drastically before the 06 elections. Why is that. It's strange oil is suddenly higher than it's ever been. I hear this republcain lie all day every day. i know this is the lie being put forth by your people. Why? Becaus ei hear it to a man/woman. What will you people do without your lying propogating avatars?

normally, I wouldn't care about the money race. But this is astounding.

"Dems hold cash edge over GOP in '08 bids
Spending reports reveal intense, close race
By Fredreka Schouten
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- The leading Democratic presidential candidates have nearly three times more money to wage their battle for the presidency as their Republican rivals, campaign reports released Monday show.
"

Bsimon: agreed..the cost at the pump is driven much more by refining capacity, or lack thereof, then what a barrel of crude costs..With that said though we are really only one refinery shut down away from $4 a gallon gas...Still cheap compared to other countries though..Back on topic, my in-laws are in NM and they cower at the though of a "Senator Bill Richardson"..they really can't stand any of us "liberuls"...all the more reason i hope he enters and wins..

If Kay Bailey Hutchison makes good on her suggestion that she will resign her Senate seat in 2009 to run for Gov. of TX, there could be a domino effect. Currently, the Ds are thinking to put there strongest foot forward in the Gov. race in 2010. But I suggest that Kay could resign as Senator-for-life and become Governor-for-life. Then the Ds may put their strongest effort into the vacated Senate seat in a special election.

That could be interesting. I do not think any other R is as strong as Kay in TX - she ran @ 300,000 votes ahead of GWB in 2000. And GWB, who was a modestly successful Gov., was much more respected and liked than Rick, who won with 39% of the vote in '06. So "Senator Perry" is not the future of the Rs.

There are some strong Rs - our new Comptroller, Susan Combs is a standout,
former Ag Commissioner, former Travis County Commissioner, pro-chice, moderate, and going her own way again as RG's statewide coordinator. Kay might endorse her.
------------------------------
GWB had raised the popularity of Rs in TX among MX-Texans to a respectable level, near 50-50, as I recall. The state R Party still responds to the needs of the Valley far better than the national R Party. But if Noriega is nominated and runs a strong race against Cornyn, you can bet the Ds will be energized and hopeful about Hispanic turnout in the special election of '09, provided Kay follows through on her "thought".

"Chris Matthews: "In the '60s and '70s when the Vietnam war was in full swing it was music that helped fuel the anti-war demonstrations. Songs like 'Teach Your Children,' by Crosby, Stills and Nash and Young. They were anthems for the peace movement, they really were, but this war is different. In 20003, 10 days before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks said these 15 words during a concert in London."

[Natalie Maines: "We're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas."]

Matthews: "It took years for the Dixie Chicks to recover from the protests against them and not the war. But the times are changing. Stars like Bruce Springsteen now and John Mellencamp and Neil Young all have new songs out protesting the Iraq war and tomorrow David Crosby and Graham Nash, sitting with me, will join other musicians at the National Cathedral here in Washington for a Pray For Peace concert. David and Graham are with us this evening. Thank you gentlemen. You know I watched the Dixie Chicks take it, I watched people like Imus be a part of that. I'm sorry, Don. Nobody defended them. They were trashed."

"

speakign the truth makes you a marxist? Only in a fascist world. I'll take this as a compliment.:)

"Matthews: "Well I'll tell you one thing, I felt, felt from the beginning of this war and I'm not a Marxist but I have felt the power of money on the side of this war."

Nash: "Absolutely."

Matthews: "And part of it was just playing to the crowd. Everybody was so jingoistic and 'Let's go to war,' and 'Rally 'round the flag.' And so you heard a lot of commercial applause for this war."

Nash: "Because they're making fortunes."

Matthews: "Well the oil companies certainly are."

Nash: "Fortunes are being made, you know?"

Crosby: "Yeah the oil companies-"

Matthews: "Do you see the numbers they're making at Exxon and Mobil?"

Nash: "It's obscene! It's totally obscene!"

Matthews: "$32 billion the first quarter."

Nash: "Insane!"
"

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2007/10/15/chris-matthews-riffs-anti-war-rockers-crosby-nash

"Crosby: "Well they're being fed a lot of infor-, of conflicting information. You know, on the one hand you've got a young kid who is patriotic, who loves his country, believes in it and he's being told, 'Yeah this is the truth and we've gotta go in there to protect your mother and your sister.'"

Matthews: "Yeah."

Crosby: "And he goes over and he finds out the job is killing somebody else's mother and sister."

Matthews: "Yeah."

Crosby: "And he gets disillusioned and he comes back and it's, it's a hellish situation. And, and we can't be wasting some of the best young people we have sending them over there to be killed and then, killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis at the same time."
"

Young men don't go into the army to kill people. That is a murderer's mentality. In my group you may have one or towo of those guys out of 50. Most are patriotic young men, trying to defend the nation. Or they have no hpe other than enlist. Those are the people WE should be fighting for. Not oil. Not stocks. Our youth. Our brothers and sisters. they are not killers. They have been lied to, non-stop for years. It's not their fault.

Who's fault is it? Follow the money. He/she who makes the money is at fault. Oil, defense contratocrs, wall street. To trade the bllod of our brothers and sisters for money is treason. If the gop wins the next election it validates what they have been doing since 2000. If that happens americans will flee this great country in droves. The war lovers will get what they love. I pray for my children. i pary for the future. Will it be a better place or worse than we left it? Depends on what WE do today.

"wow -- hit almost $90 a barrel today--gonna be pain at the pump."

not really. Back up to $3 maybe. Yep, that looked painful a couple years ago. But, as it turned out, people are willing to pay. $100/barrel oil is made out to be more of a boogeyman than it should be.

"Chris Matthews: "Yeah well, I just think back I was, I was at, the New York Times yesterday for lunch, at a lunch with other authors and I have to tell you, when you go back and look at the list of promises. I mean even little hokey things like, 'If we fight the war in Iraq, gasoline is gonna be cheaper. If we fight the war in Iraq their, their oil is gonna pay for all the reconstruction.'"

David Crosby: "Shameless."

Matthews: "'It's gonna be a cakewalk. It's gonna, it's in the last throes, the, the, the insurgency.'"

Crosby: "They're shameless liars."
"

I know that link is bias. I just wanted to flip their propoganda on them. hee hee hee :)

Teh source does not change the WORD. Teh right sure tries though don't they?

The media is in the tank. NEws is now paid advertisments. Other than a few patriotic americans who choose coutnry over self/money (bribes) to LIE about the news. Let's call it what it is

"Chris Matthews Riffs With Anti-war Rockers Crosby and Nash
By Geoffrey Dickens | October 15, 2007 - 18:57 ET
Chris Matthews joined anti-war rockers David Crosby and Graham Nash as they pined for the good old days of Vietnam war era campus activism and hoped it would rise up again to oppose the "shameless liars" in the Bush administration. Invited on Monday night's "Hardball" to promote their appearance at a peace concert at the National Cathedral, Crosby and Nash riffed with the "Hardball" host about everything from the trashing of the Dixie Chicks and Bill Maher to how Big Oil has made "obsence" profits off the Iraq war.

Crosby and Nash received such a friendly audience from Matthews that Nash actually sucked up to his host as he credited Matthews, along with Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, as the only ones who are really "asking the questions":
"

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2007/10/15/chris-matthews-riffs-anti-war-rockers-crosby-nash

'NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices settled at a fresh record high Tuesday on rising demand, a weak dollar and tensions between Turkey and Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq.'

wow -- hit almost $90 a barrel today--gonna be pain at the pump.

conleyma-from my educated guess, if bill richardson doesnt win the nomination, he may jump in a few days after the superduper tuesday primaries. i think the final day to file is febuary 9th.

marty chavez isnt too well liked outside of abquqie(sp) and by the netroots, steve pearce is way too extreme to be elected to higher office and heather wilson just barely won her seat the last time. so unless richardson decides to come back home and run for the seat, diane denish is the best bet for the new mex dems.

if i had to rank the top five senate races here's how it goes.
1)virgina
2)New Hampshire
3)New Mexico
4)Colorado
5)minnestota

Yes, Big Bill would certainly crush any opponent - Dem or Repug. But he's convincingly stated he's not interested. Not a lot of wiggle room in his words.

But in that same poll NM Rep. Tom Udall (NM-3) also overwhelmed his opponents Dem or Repug.

Udall claimed he was happy with his House seat (increasing seniority) and didn't want the Senate seat, but I wish national Demo leaders would lean on Tom and push him into the race. He'd be a fine Senator, wouldn't have to run as often, and Big Bill could find some other dependable candidate to ascend the position in heavily Demo NM 3rd district.

Tom oughta be taken aside and explained how - with his help - the 2008 race could end with a Demo sweep of ALL New Mexico Congressional seats, maybe for a generation, given the usual run of things in the state. THAT would be sweet!!!

I am still holding out hope that Bill Richardson enters this race sooner or later. I saw a recent poll that has him crushing all potential GOP opponents. Although the other Democrats could certainly win, none of them would make the seat a relative sure thing in the way that Richardson would. Maybe a late-January 2008 announcement?

Pearce has, ala Mitty, a large personal fortune he could tap into.

$29 mil in 2005, ranked 22nd wealthiest house member... so that should scare Heather, who may be in legal trouble anyway.

I agree that the battle for Domimici's seat will be a bloody one, both in the primaries and in the general. Pearce is very popular in the Southern part of the state. Wilson isn't really all that popular. She only barely won her current house seat by about 1,300 votes, primarily because her opponent panicked and froze in a debate just before the election.
If Diane Denish decides to run, then it will be a pretty wild race for the Democrats as well. Diane's father Jack Daniels was a well respected politician in his day. Diane is very skilled at politics and so is Marty Chavez, a very polished Harvard grad with lots of savoir faire but also with a lot of baggage. Diane Denish really wants to be Governor. If she doesn't run Marty Chavez will be a sho-in in the primary, but who knows how he would run against Steve Pearce or Heather Wilson? I think I would bet that he would win against either of them, though. Diane would have wide appeal throughout the state. Chavez would have wide appeal among Hispanics.

"But here's what was most telling: It wasn't just bloggers who rushed to Limbaugh's defense, it was also key leadership members of the Republican Party. It was presidential contenders Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney. It was Senate Republican Conference chairman Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ). It was House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and his number two, Roy Blunt (R-MO), along with fellow Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who supported legislation that commended Limbaugh following his "phony soldiers" crack, and Eric Cantor (R-VA) who unveiled a Stand With Rush e-petition, urging "conservatives around the country" to fight for Limbaugh.

"

Who is running this country in the ground? IMO, rush and fox are the main culprits. What will you do without your avatars, zouk?

public enemy #1?

"Leaning at Limbaugh's knee

Where did the right-wing bloggers learn their brand of drive-by invective? From Rush Limbaugh of course, who has made a career out of making hollow and erroneous allegations. So it was fitting that when Limbaugh recently stepped in it with his "phony soldiers" slur, it was right-wing bloggers who came to his rescue.
"

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200710160004