The results are here.
Very close race and that in itself is somewhat of a victory. In the current environment it shouldn’t have even gotten this close, especially in a state like Massachusetts.
With 100% reporting:
Tsongas 51%
Ogonowski 45%
President Bush is now threatening to veto bloated Democrat appropriations bills if they exceed the President’s spending limits. While I’m glad to see that the President has decided to put some sort of limit on spending, I can’t help but think both that it’s not enough and that he should’ve done this starting in 2001.
The Republican Revolution was about changing the size and scope of government. Sadly, the Party collectively checked that theme at the Beltway and continued spending like drunken sailor predecessors. Having failed miserably to follow through on the promises, we got clobbered last year and will probably lose even more seats and the White House next year.
Whether the President will actually follow through remains to be seen. Perhaps the bigger question is whether it matters. The Party of small government has been anything but, and any feeble attempts at fiscal responsibility that the President attempts now are like using gum to patch up a lead in a dam. Don’t get me wrong, this combined with his S-CHIP veto are better than complete surrender for the remainder of the term, but they’re also too little too late.
Idaho Senator Larry E. Craig is lashing out at Mitt Romney, who unceremoniously dumped Craig from his campaign after Craig’s arrest in a Minneapolis airport bathroom sex sting and called the conduct “disgraceful.”“I’d worked hard for him here in the state,” Craig told NBC’s Matt Lauer in an interview to be aired Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. “I was a co-chair of his campaign on Capitol Hill. And he not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again.”
The Romney campaign responded to Craig’s remarks by issuing a statement that the senator resigned from his campaign positions “because he did not want to be a distraction.”
Craig continues to blame everyone for his actions but himself. He is the one doing the State of Idaho and the Republican Party a disservice by refusing to fulfill his pledge to step down. The man is guilty, by his own admission in court, of sexual misconduct. The Idaho GOP needs to tell this guy to hit the pavement already.
I know this happened last week, but work has been brutal and I haven’t had time to comment until now. As everyone knows. Romney has been beaten up for his answer in the last debate that he would consult lawyers before considering whether he needed Congressional approval before attacking Iran. Once again, the GOP is attacking candidates for logical, thoughtful answers. The questions of when the President needs Congressional approval for a military action is a complicated constitutional question to which there is substantial disagreement . Do we really want a President that is so bloodthirsty that he would bomb first and ask questions later? That said, Thompson’s answer was clearly the best, as he pointed out that, whether required or not, the President should get Congressional approval in order to show a united front and enjoy broader support for the effort. It is hard to see how any sort of sustained military action can be undertaken without Congressional support. At the very least, Congress must fund the war.
Also, I am actually OK with some sparks flying between these guys. Its time that we starting forcing distinctions between the major candidates beyond the bland “I’m the most like Reagan” sound bites we’ve endured so far. But arguments about the line item veto aren’t going to win any votes. Romney and Giuliani need to move past the tiresome nitpicking of each others record and start making distinctions about each others future plans. What is the difference between the four major candidates on the war? On Iran? On immigration? There has been almost no fleshing out of these differences so far, and that is forcing voters to pick their guy based on personality and impression.
This is a down year for the GOP but it looks bleak in terms of money raised.
Democrats
GOP
Of the top 3 GOP candidates Thompson did not start fundraising until June and spent less money than he raised. Giuliani and Romney were in the red for the quarter. Giuliani raised $11.5 million but spent $13.1 million. Romney raised $9.8 million and spent $21 million. Ron Paul continues to show he is the Howard Dean of this election cycle with $5.4 cash on hand and $5.2 million raised in the 3rd quarter.
