Interesting-- That's what TheRickWilson said on twitter.

It appears to be the case.

Shortly after the Wall Street Journal posted a story last week suggesting a deal was in the works to get Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of FloridaÂ’s three-way Senate race, a campaign aide to Gov. Charlie Crist forwarded a copy to one of the state's top political reporters at the Miami Herald.

“Hope you’re not getting scooped,” wrote Crist campaign spokesman Danny Kanner in the subject line of the e-mail forwarded to POLITICO.

...

"We had heard rumors from that effect from reporters and voters that the only way to stop Marco Rubio is to elect Charlie Crist. That story reflected those stories we had heard from reporters and voters every day," Kanner said, denying being the source of the Stephen Moore piece.

But Democrats behind Meek don't buy it.

They note that several of Crist's advisers — including Kanner — came from New York and likely had a relationship with the Journal and find it curious that an anonymously sourced story coincidentally landed in a Big Apple publication, far from Florida.

If it's so important to stop the dangerous Marco Rubio (handsome and dangerous?! I'm listening) and Charlie Crist just cares about the people of Florida and all that -- um, why doesn't Charlie Crist man up and drop out himself?

Posted by: Ace at 07:33 AM | Comments (42)
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The Sun says Angle won, and not even in a close one, but then criticizes her for her previous statements about abolishing the Department of Education and Medicare, and etc., that she has since recanted or denies having made in the first place.

A lot of conservatives just love, love, love statements like this, but in the end, the candidate is forced to recant/lie about the statement. So how does making a statement which will ultimately be repudiated help anyone? How about we cut out the middleman and go right to the ultimate outcome of the statement not being made?

Keeps happening. Hope it stops soon.

I think the important take-away is that Angle isn't crazy and is prepared to be Senator. That was the lingering doubt in people's minds. That seems gone now.

Edited: Readers inform me one of the papers linked is part of the nasty "RightHaven" shakedown syndicate, which basically is an attempt to make newspapers profitable via lawsuit against bloggers.

I took down the link.

More: The National Journal's Hotline On Call says it's nearly a knockout blow.

Angle took full advantage of Reid's position as a political insider, taunting him for his support of Democratic policies, from the stimulus to the health care bill. At one point, Angle told Reid to "man up" - and later questioned how he became so wealthy as a public servant.

"I'm not a career politician," Angle said in her opening remarks. "I live in a middle class neighborhood in Reno; Senator Reid lives in the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC."

Here's a YouTube clip from the debate; Sharron Angle asks Reid how exactly he became a millionaire while living on a civil servant's salary.

Posted by: Ace at 06:51 AM | Comments (211)
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It's FiAF. Ladies, you know what that means.

I mean, I assume you know what that means. I have no idea.

Remember November "Kneel before Zod" courtesy Slublog™.

That's right, we trademarked him.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:29 AM | Comments (268)
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Wages are too high in the US, at least as a ratio of what we consume to what we produce. If we wish to regain our competitive edge, wages are going to have to drop. (I'd also abolish the minimum-wage if it were up to me. That's a guranteed way to stimulate hiring on the low-end, but of course Democrats will never allow it.) Pull quote:

I'm sure many of you are reading this and thinking that if anyone is forced to take a pay cut to rebalance the economy, surely it ought to be overpaid investment bankers, corporate executives and newspaper columnists. That's how things would work in a socialist paradise, but not in market economies, which are much better at producing efficiency than fairness.

An "End the Fed" cabal beginning to form? If so, let me know: I'd love to join. I'm a fan of secret societies. Mysterious rituals, bloody oaths taken in the dead of night, arcane symbology, outlandish getups, code-words and secret handshakes. more...

Posted by: Monty at 03:12 AM | Comments (212)
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Tonight's ONT has no theme.

What It's Like To Jump Out of a Perfectly Good Airplane

And land in the middle of Michigan Stadium delivering the game ball ahead of last SaturdayÂ’s Michigan-MSU match-up. I always worry they're going to go off target and smash one of the ants lining the field, but Sgt. Adam Sniffenof the 101st Airborne landed perfectly on target.

And here's a guy jumping out of a perfectly good skyscraper as part of a movie. While on fire. With no parachute. And landing on an air bag that seems awfully small and easy to miss. more...

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:23 PM | Comments (737)
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In Spokane at 7 p.m. (Pacific). Here be linky:

SPOKANE -- KXLY4 and KSPS Public Television are partnering to bring you a live debate between U.S. Senate candidates Patty Murray and Dino Rossi that will be broadcast on KXLY4, KSPS, simulcast on KXLY 920 and streamed live tonight on KXLY.com.

ADDED: Also, as rdbrewer posted in the sidebar, there's a Reid-Angle debate tonight starting at 9 p.m. Eastern and livestreamed at C-SPAN. Link over there-------->

Posted by: Genghis at 04:26 PM | Comments (538)
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Your dose of political porn for the day, courtesy of Real Clear Politics (the nerdy, nuanced version of DOOM): more...

Posted by: CAC at 01:24 PM | Comments (284)
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At Hot Air. Allah says it's not really huge news in the sense we knew somehow this was getting to the Supreme Court, one way or another; this then is just another of the several pathways to get there.

Good analysis of the specific allegations of unconstitutionality; counts one through three allege unconstitutionality due to over-reliance on the Commerce Clause, but four through six suggest another grounds to strike it down: that the federal government cannot "commandeer" the states to enforce certain laws. (A position which has found favor with Scalia, Thomas, and even Kennedy.)

And then there is this bit of wonderfulness:

In his ruling, Vinson criticized Democrats for seeking to have it both ways when it comes to defending the mandate to buy insurance. During the legislative debate, Republicans chastised the proposal as a new tax on the middle class. Obama defended the payment as a penalty and not a tax, but the Justice Department has argued that legally, itÂ’s a tax.

“Congress should not be permitted to secure and cast politically difficult votes on controversial legislation by deliberately calling something one thing, after which the defenders of that legislation take an “Alice-in-Wonderland” tack and argue in court that Congress really meant something else entirely, thereby circumventing the safeguard that exists to keep their broad power in check,” he wrote.

Vinson ruled that itÂ’s a penalty, not a tax, and must be defended under the Commerce Clause and not CongressÂ’ taxing authority.

Win. We citizens have argued against the basic deception and unfairness of this "it's not a tax for purposes of security political passage, but it is a tax for purposes of determining our power to levy it approach," but that a $6 will get you a coffee at Starbucks. A judge has put it on the record that this will not do. That's something.

Posted by: Ace at 01:21 PM | Comments (22)
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Gotta watch this.

Posted by: Ace at 11:31 AM | Comments (290)
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On two counts, the individual mandate, and the Medicare Medicaid* expansion (an unfunded mandate to the states). Ed Anger (heh) tipped it in the comments.

Florida Northern District Senior Judge Roger Vinson on Thursday ruled that two of those six counts can proceed. Aside from the count targeting the individual insurance requirement, Vinson said a constitutional challenge to the law's Medicaid expansion — which critics consider an unfunded mandate for states — can also move forward.

Last week a federal judge in Michigan threw out their challenge to the individual mandate, on the grounds that the Commerce Clause means pretty much whatever the hell they want it to mean. Or something like that.

*oops. corrected

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 11:30 AM | Comments (67)
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