LOWELL, Mass. — The working-class towns along Massachusetts’ Merrimack River are an unlikely setting for a potential election shocker that could provide one of the few Republican rays of hope in 2007.

But operatives from both parties acknowledge that Tuesday’s special election match-up between Republican Jim Ogonowski and Democrat Niki Tsongas, to replace retiring Rep. Martin Meehan (D), is unexpectedly close — and that an Ogonowski victory, or even a close call, could give other GOP candidates some important tips on how to win in 2008.

Politico

Talk about a diamond in the rough.  If Jim pulls this off tomorrow and I think there is a very good chance he will, this will be a lot of egg on the face of those pundits out there who keep telling us that the prospects for the GOP next year are as dismal as last.

Original Harry Reid/Rush Limbaugh Smear Letter

I meant to post this last week, but time ran away from me. This ticks me off.

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey ordered its ambassador in Washington to return to Turkey for consultations over a U.S. House panel’s approval of a bill describing the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The ambassador would stay in Turkey for about a week or 10 days for discussions about the measure, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman.

“We are not withdrawing our ambassador. We have asked him to come to Turkey for some consultations,” he said. “The ambassador was given instructions to return and will come at his earliest convenience.”

Why on Earth, 90 years later, would Democrats do this? I have an idea.

Relations are already strained by accusations that the U.S. is unwilling to help Turkey fight Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military in Iraq. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies by land from Turkish truckers who cross into the northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Democrats wanted to rock the boat and they succeeded. They will do what they can to thwart the war effort leading into an election year. This is all about political gain. They care nothing about the Armenian plight nearly a century ago.