The Boss weighs in.

According to multiple sources with knowledge of his remarks, Soros told those in attendance that he is "used to fighting losing battles but doesn't like to lose without fighting."

"We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line," he said, according to several Democratic sources. "And if this president can't do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else."

Michael Vachon, an adviser to Soros, did not dispute the comment, though he stressed that there was no transcript of a private gathering to check. Vachon also clarified that the longtime progressive giver was not referring to a primary challenge to the president.

"Mr. Soros fully supports the president as the leader of the Democratic Party," said Vachon. "He was not suggesting that we seek another candidate for 2012. His comments were made in a private, informal conversation that was about the need for progressives to be more forceful in promoting their agenda. He was stressing the importance of being heard by elected officials."

Thanks to JoeP.

Posted by: Ace at 01:14 PM | Comments (148)
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Yeah, I fear that Sarah Palin's personalized sort of politics is going to keep him in place.

Opponents claim Steele doesn't have a chance...

“I believe the RNC needs to focus on electing the person who can put the party in the strongest position to win back the White House and Senate,” [Henry Barbour, son of Haley] said. “The momentum on the committee is clearly moving toward making a change, because our country’s future is genuinely at stake if the Obama administration gets an extra four years of their leftist agenda.”

Adding to SteeleÂ’s woes was a letter released by RNC political director Gentry Collins, who resigned from his position on Tuesday. In a move that casts light on some of the internal strife that has existed within the RNC over the last two years, Collins criticized SteeleÂ’s financial stewardship of the committee.

But...

Steele has been an outspoken defender of Palin and her role within the GOP at a time when other strategists question her viability as a leader of the Republican Party.

...

As the knives came out for Steele about 10 months ago, Palin defended him on Fox News, blasting the “establishment” that was “throwing stones” at him.

She said, “[M]ore power to you, Michael. You’re calling it the way that you see it, and you deserve to call it that way.”

The RNC couldn't even do the traditional 72 hour GOTV effort on election weekend. But we're going to keep him because he defended Sarah Palin?

This drives me crazy, this feeling I get a lot of the times that political decisions are being made almost exclusively on the basis of "Helps Palin become president" or "Doesn't help Palin becomes president." It's not healthy for any movement to be so about one person. Nation of laws, not men, and et cetera.

This Daily Caller article is a little surprising, and welcome. Turns out there are a lot of conservatives, including Tea Partiers, who like Sarah Palin, but just don't want her to run for President.

But there are signs that even though Palin enjoys broad support throughout the conservative movement, that enthusiasm does not extend to nominating her to run against President Obama.

A PPP poll in September found that while Palin is the most popular of all the potential 2012 Republican candidates, with 66 percent personal approval, only 24 percent of that 66 percent think she should be president.

Posted by: Ace at 12:24 PM | Comments (488)
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Unapologetic liberalism:

In a sign of Pelosi's strength, Democrats voted 129-68 to proceed to a vote earlier in the day over objections from those who sought a delay in order to have more time to mount a viable challenge to Pelosi.

In making his case to the Democratic caucus today, Shuler said the Democratic Party needs to be a "big tent" party. He argued that it can't take back the majority without a change in leadership, according to a Democratic aide who was in the room. Utah's Jim Matheson, a Blue Dog who argued "it's time to shake things up" in the wake of the midterm losses, nominated Shuler.

Pelosi has argued that she should remain in the leadership in part because she knows how to lead Democrats out of the political wilderness, having done so four years ago. She also argues that she is the most effective fundraiser for members of the caucus. She blames the party's losses on the country's lingering economic troubles and high unemployment rate, not her leadership.

Fundraising, fundraising. Every story mentions her ability to get high-income people to donate money. No one in the media seems to notice this is the sort of thing they usually say is poisonous in politics. For a determined liberal, it's a wonderful thing.

Posted by: Ace at 11:10 AM | Comments (182)
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Heckuva job, Alaska!

JUNEAU, Alaska—Sen. Lisa Murkowski has become the first Senate candidate in more than 50 years to win a write-in campaign.

Ms. Murkowski emerged victorious after a painstaking, two-week count of write-in ballots showed she has overtaken tea party rival Joe Miller.

Her victory became clear when Alaska election officials confirmed they had only about 700 votes left to count, putting Ms. Murkowski in safe territory to win re-election.

Posted by: Slublog at 11:09 AM | Comments (79)
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No hate here.

Former Clinton aide now turned unbiased reporter George Stephanopolous probes deeply into the conspiracy of conservative people voting for someone they like on a TV show with no actual prize for the winner.

Is Bristol getting lots of votes from her mom's fans? Um, duh, of course.

Is she ruining the integrity of Dancing With The Stars, then? To ask that question -- including the word "integrity" in there -- is to answer it.

I used to watch The Apprentice, okay? We all have problems.

Anyway, I watched The Celebrity Apprentice not once but three times. In all three series -- but especially in the last two seasons -- the biggest "celebrities" (and I use that term advisedly; Melissa Rivers was a "celebrity" on one show) were consistently advanced despite failing multiple times.

The Joan Rivers season was particularly bad. She apparently insisted that her daughter be on the show and on her team as her precondition for appearing herself. Joan Rivers was like the only real celebrity on the show (C-list, but still, on someone's list) and so Trump couldn't ever fire her.

And he also couldn't fire Melissa Rivers, either, as Joan Rivers pretty much said straight-up she'd quit the show if he did.

Now both, of course, made it until pretty much the end, and Joan Rivers won the show, despite being awful at almost every task given to her. Even on fundraising stuff she didn't really come through.

So, like, I actually said these words aloud: "I know it's insane to even say this but this is really undermining the integrity of The Celebrity Apprentice."

Absurd, yeah, I know. And yet... true!

But the media didn't really treat that as a conspiracy worth mentioning, did it? Or the various kinda lame American Idols who advanced to the end?

No, only the concerns of partisan liberals like themselves are worth a "news" mention.

Liberals in the media are fond of poking fun at the sillier concerns of conservatives. But check out the serious-stuff-going-on-here hearing they give to their fellow liberals indulging in sillier sillinesses.

Yes, it's a great scandal that Audrina from The Hills was sent home a week early despite being a slightly better amateur dancer on a "celebrity" dancing show than Bristol Palin.

But take heart: The Republic shall endure.

Posted by: Ace at 10:02 AM | Comments (276)
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Here's a synopsis from The Pitch.

If you live in Kansas City and you haven't heard that Curtis Got Slapped!, you got another thing coming -- that is, when Lisa Henry Bowen finds you. A teacher allegedly slapped Lisa Henry Bowen's son, Curtis, in class at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, according to Bowen's gigantic 40-page letter that Bowen CC'd to President Obama, Vice President Biden, three senators, and more than 20 other officials.

She seems a bit upset by this alleged incident but is willing to let bygones be bygones if only the Powers-That-Be would concede to some of her reasonable requests. Such as:

Curtis shall receive, among many other things: $13,500 worth of Wal-Mart gift cards, a free college education, two trips to Disney World, nine years of private tennis lessons on the Plaza, season tickets to the opera, theater, and ballet, almost a decade's worth of psychological counseling by "the best black child psychologist in the country," a whole orchestra's worth of new musical instruments, a three-week trip to Africa at a five-star hotel, and a personal audience with President Obama.

That's just a snapshot. Remember, it goes on for 40 pages. (Nicely formatted, I must admit, with lots of pics of Curtis)

It's pretty over-the-top which is why I'm asking if it might be a spoof or publicity stunt, but apparently Curtis' mom has had some similar issues in the past, also laid out on the "Pitch" site. Either way it's entertaining and "Something Awful" has the entire 40 page diatribe on their site. Read it before it gets vanished.

(H/T tmi3rd)

Posted by: Genghis at 08:17 AM | Comments (312)
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It can be a fine line between nanny statism and fascism. Obama's Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood seems to have successfully planted a foot on both sides.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said using a cell phone while driving is so dangerous that devices may soon be installed in cars to forcibly stop drivers — and potentially anyone else in the vehicle — from using them.

...

“I think it will be done,” said LaHood. “I think the technology is there and I think you’re going to see the technology become adaptable in automobiles to disable these cell phones. We need to do a lot more if were going to save lives.”

...

LaHood has called distracted driving an “epidemic” and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says about 5,000 people a year, or about .001 percent of the U.S. population, die as a result of it. In 2009, however, the NHTSA found that highway fatalities were at the lowest levels since the 1950s. At the time, Lahood applauded the announcement but vowed he “would not rest” until the roads were even safer.

If you're ever in trouble and stuck in your car, don't worry, as Ben Domenech quips, LaHood undoubtedly has that covered.

In the future, if you have car trouble, Ray LaHood will sense it psychically and fly to your aid.

Clearly though if the government is going to take this radical step, there's overwhelming evidence that cell phones are the number 1 4 leading cause of distraction for drivers.

In a study compiled by the United States Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration [OSHA], 57 percent of Americans admit to partaking in distractions for personal purposes while 25 percent of Americans admit to participating in distracting activities while driving for work.

Ever wonder which distractions Americans engage in most? Here are the percentages broken down from the OSHA study:

96% – Talking to passengers
89% - Adjusting vehicle climate/radio controls
74% - Eating a meal/snack
51% - Using a cell phone
41% - Tending to children
34% - Reading a map/publication
19% - Grooming
11% - Preparing for work

Obviously the only soludtion is to create cars so small only one person can fit in them and they don't have a radio in them. Actually, that kind of sounds exactly like the kind of car the Obama administration would love to force people to drive. Well, other people. They and their friends would no doubt get waivers.

Not sure how they will stop people from eating in the car (ban drive-thru windows?) but I guess once they outlaw all the foods people actually want to eat, no one will want to eat carrots and other Michelle Obama approved foods much anyway.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:25 AM | Comments (261)
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Apologies for the lack of posting recently. I was colonized by a virus of the family Orthomyxoviridae, which had me lying on my humble pallet alternately sweating with fever and then shaking like a scared dog. Apparently I was in the "give this chump a placebo" control group when I received my influenza vaccine a couple of weeks back. At any rate, my immune system finally got off its lazy, goldbricking ass and drove off the invaders, so once again...DOOM!

Acting Man points out that even the very best jugglers cannot keep the balls in the air forever. Sooner or later, they're going to fall.

I don't know that I'd say that "businesses are doing great" (a lot of those "profits" they're making are coming from reduced headcount and tightened internal processes, not increased sales), but it is true that the government is still a bloated and inefficient mess. more...

Posted by: Monty at 06:54 AM | Comments (78)
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At my last update, I suggested that if the numbers held steady, Lizzie Maggonsky would end up winning without ever having to count the challenged ballots. She's claiming that's where we are now:

Even subtracting all the votes counted for Murkowski but challenged by the Miller campaign, Murkowski would still be ahead by 2,247 votes. That margin appears to make Miller's lawsuit asking the courts to toss out misspelled votes irrelevant. There aren't enough misspelled votes identified for Miller to win.

But Miller isn't giving up yet. New wrinkle:

The Miller campaign wants the Division of Elections to recount the entire Senate race by hand, spokesman Randy DeSoto said Tuesday night.

[...]

But DeSoto said that the lawsuit is continuing and the campaign hopes a hand recount will pick up more Miller votes. There were more than 255,000 votes cast in Alaska's Senate election.

DeSoto noted the write-in ballots were reviewed by hand to see what name voters wrote in. "Given how close the vote totals are, Miller needs to be given the same opportunity of having all of his ballots inspected and counted by hand to ensure every vote cast for him is counted," DeSoto said in a written statement.

The Alaska Division of Elections, not surprisingly, isn't thrilled about the idea. The director says that recounts aren't done using hand counts, but rather by re-scanning the ballots with optical scanners.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 03:09 AM | Comments (184)
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Six House races and one Senate race are still undecided, in case you were wondering. Math is hard.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:54 AM | Comments (47)
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