I would never, ever have guessed that three weeks after his election he'd be talking up backdoor amnesty again.

Posted by: Ace at 11:15 AM | Comments (431)
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New Hampshire's GOP Senate primary, last night's red headed stepchild, was officially decided today and Sarah Palin's candidate won there too.

Ovide Lamontagne says he is considering, but has not yet decided, whether to seek a recount of primary election results that show him losing by only 1,667 votes to Kelly Ayotte.

But a source told UnionLeader.com he is leaning against the challenge.

Lamontagne told UnionLeader.com moments ago he will closely analyze the numbers this afternoon and make an announcement at 4 p.m. at the Legislative Office Building.

"We're looking at the numbers. They've been in flux since last night," he said. "We're continuing to consider our options."

I have to say I'm a bit sick of these endless, "let's prolong the process" gambits. Unless there's really a compelling reason to continue on, just say, "Congratulations to my opponent" and get off the stage. And no, "But I wanted to win!" is not a compelling reason.

According to pre-primary polls, Ayote was in good shape over Democratic nominee Paul Hodes.

If Ayote wins, she will keep the seat in Republican hands by replacing retiring Senator Judd Gregg.

In a related enough note, Lisa Murkowski says she will announce on Friday whether she will run a write in campaign against Republican Joe Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams.

Today is the deadline for parties to swap candidates on the November ballot. The Murkowski-Libertarian dance ended last week but people are waiting to see if the Democrats try and replace the little known McAdams with someone like the more well known former governor Tony Knowles. It's unlikely and everyone has denied it will happen but with Democrats, you never know.

Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell has told Murkowski it's time to "move on"

Posted by: DrewM at 10:44 AM | Comments (139)
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I actually agree with a lot of this. I wanted to write more about it -- I have some reservations here and there -- but overall, I agree with this.

This was sent in by someone who shall remain nameless by his choice. But It strikes me as some silver-lining here, even for those of us who wanted a better chance at this seat.

Below, his words: more...

Posted by: Ace at 09:00 AM | Comments (411)
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One word: Vetting.

Tea Partiers like people with limited experience in government -- they haven't been tainted by the system, corrupted by it. And, of course, they don't have a long track record of disappointing them. (Yet.)

But there's a good reason to like candidates with the Establishment Code of Approval, people who have been around the block -- you have a pretty good idea of what dirt is lurking in their background. And most of it is old dirt -- it's baked in the cake, unlikely to change anyone's minds when it's floated in the press or in negative ads. Sure, it will be floated, and sure, bad stuff always sounds bad no matter how old it is, but there's a big difference in your reaction to the statements Your girlfriend once slept with this guy you know and You girlfriend slept with this guy last night.

The former eats at you. The latter destroys you.

People who have been in the system in the while have had their backgrounds pawed at. And at each level of high office -- at each new level on the ladder as an ambitious politician climbs -- there is a new level of scrutiny, a higher level, a nastier level.
more...

Posted by: Ace at 08:25 AM | Comments (433)
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Heat.

“Let there be no mistake: The National Republican Senatorial Committee – and I personally as the committee's chairman – strongly stand by all of our Republican nominees, including Christine O'Donnell in Delaware.

“I reached out to Christine this morning, and as I have conveyed to all of our nominees, I offered her my personal congratulations and let her know that she has our support. This support includes a check for $42,000 – the maximum allowable donation that we have provided to all of our nominees – which the NRSC will send to her campaign today.

I don't think they should advertise their spending strategy either, and I ain't getting back into the "should they or shouldn't they fund her" fight, had enough of that. But last night's "unofficial" NRSC response, wherever it came from, struck me as just stupid on timing... that soon after the votes were counted made them look petulant.

dang, I forgot, saw this via Melissa Clothier on Twitter.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 07:26 AM | Comments (416)
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Brand Democrat™ from Slublog.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:22 AM | Comments (400)
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Headline from CBS News: ChileÂ’s Trapped Miners Get 1000 Job offers.

(CBS/AP) “Chile's 33 trapped miners have something good to think about: their next jobs. Bulldozer driver, mechanic, electrician. And here's a couple they might find particularly useful: "risk reduction specialist" and "escape-tunnel driller."

“Two dozen companies with operations in Chile have made more than 1,000 job offers to the trapped miners and their 317 sidelined co-workers at a job fair this week. Even if they choose to go back to mining, the work won't necessarily be underground and it will almost certainly be with a company with a better safety record than their struggling current employer.”

Sounds like maybe some good opportunities for the up-and-coming miners to look into. After they up-and-come that is. Though as posted about before, there’s one of them who may wish to stay down there for awhile and consider his options. (3rd entry) These are basically limited to “going Gollum” and staying there forever or ascending to the surface and hoping for the possibility of a three-way. Each has its own advantages.

All in all though it sounds like it might be a good job creation model that the Obama Administration might want to look into, given that they have no other ideas at the moment. Or ever have. Hell, IÂ’m ready to get started right away and have already taken an online course in basic mining techniques.

I’m shovel-ready baby! I figure if I dig down at least 10 feet and then collapse the tunnel on top of me, I could at least get a couple of letters of interest from the fast food industry. Or I may just keep going ‘till I reach China. The deeper I burrow the better the job offers get. At least I think that's how it works. Should I reach China they'll probably appoint me King. Or Khan. As a benevolent and wise leader I'll return 5% of my Khandom's U.S. securities to you, just before I call in the debt for the remaining 95%.

Posted by: Genghis at 05:00 AM | Comments (21)
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1. Coons could always self-implode. There is a small but nontrivial chance any politician will simply blow up. Odds are maybe 2% of that, but it's somethin'.

2. Coons isn't ideologically suited for Delaware himself. He's called a "bearded Marxist" -- he too may be too extreme for Delaware. Thus, we'd have a Republican too far to the right battling a Democrat too far to the left. Not great chances, but not an impossible longshot, either.

3. Coons may not be a great practical candidate, either. Mike Castle just wins elections -- until now -- so when he entered the race no more experienced Republican challenged him. And, I think, no serious Democrat rose to the challenge, either. Just Coons. (In fact, he was unopposed for the nomination -- apparently no one else wanted it, like O'Donnell versus Biden.) So he's not a superman, either.

4. O'Donnell could actually grow as a candidate. She's got a serious amount of work to do, and I don't know if she can do it. But until now she has been entirely on the defensive against attacks from within her party (which is something that has caused a lot of anger among her supporters). Now she's freed up from the constant defenses to do something besides all that. Will she rise? Probably. Enough? Probably not -- but who knows.

5. The Red Wave might even be bigger than we thought. Actually, I don't know about this one, because I was already thinking of an even bigger Red Wave than most people were and even my big Red Wave, in my mind at least, wasn't enough to do the trick. But with a little help from Coons, and a little help from herself... who knows.

If any mix of those above reasons pan out, the O'Donnell backers will look like geniuses, because there is no doubt, we will have traded a very light purple Castle for a very red O'Donnell. That will be some trick, a deep-red Senator in a blue state.

I don't think any of that will happen. That is why I have contended so hard against this, what I think is an emotion-based move.

But.

It could happen.

Posted by: Ace at 06:09 PM | Comments (1264)
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Good evening all M&Ms. Let the airing of grievances begin.

Army Soldiers Rebuild A Jeep In Under 4 Minutes

In this case Canadian army soldiers from the 3 Area Support Group (3ASG) Technical Services Division stationed at CFB Gagetown. Here they rebuild a Willys MB US Army Jeep during a local parade in Halifax. They're fast but not particularly hurried so I'm guessing they could easily shave 30 seconds off their time if they really tried. And just further proof of how simple yet robust the Willys Jeep was.

New Canadian Army motto: Never leave a bolt behind.
(thanks to Russ) more...

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:12 PM | Comments (652)
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O'Donnell way out.

With over half the precincts reporting, O'Donnell still has a nearly 10 point lead. I'd say it's over.

Via Stace McCain: At O'Donnell HQ, they think it's over, too.

...

Predictions? I say Ayotte, by 4, O'Donnell by 6.

Update: Ayotte in big trouble?

Most votes in from the city of Manchester, NH -- Lamontagne over Ayote 54 to 31 percent (!)... very early but has to be concerning to Ayotte

Sorry... About the Politico link. But they have a good running vote-count at the top of their page that is just better looking than anyone else's. Everyone else like hides it or something, which is STUPID, but whatev's.

Liveblogs: Courtesy of DrewM., one from Delaware Online and another from NH, the Manchester Union Leader.

Delaware State Election Board Returns: O'Donnell up by about... five or six.

DrewM. just clarified -- that's from the southern counties, her stronghold, mostly.

O'Donnell now up in a mix of counties. From Delaware Online:

The looks on people's faces at the Castle event aren't good. Everyone's sort of watching in a little disbelief

I don't know why they'd be in disbelief.

Posted by: Ace at 03:19 PM | Comments (1170)
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