Politics – Page 193 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Jim Geraghty looks at GOP Fundraising

There’s some good, but he notes that in some of our key races, they are coming up short. Let me highlight the PA candidates:

Mike Kelly looks like he has the skills to be a strong challenger inPennsylvaniaâ€™s 3rd District. Itâ€™s not a terribly expensive district, but a10-to-1 cash-on-hand advantage for incumbent Kathy Dahlkemper is ominous.

In the neighboring 4th District, Jason Altmire is on everybodyâ€™s list of vulnerable Democrats to watch, but GOP challengerÂ Keith Rofkus has to make up aÂ 7-to-1 cash-on-hand disadvantage.

InÂ Pennsylvaniaâ€™s 8th District, I have little doubt thatÂ Mike Fitzpatrickwill give incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy a toughÂ challenge, but heâ€™s still looking at aÂ 3-to-1 cash-on-hand disadvantage.

And in the 10th District,Â Tom Marino has onlyÂ about $11,000 on hand, going up against Chris Carney, another incumbent who looks beatable under the right circumstances.

I don’t think money is going to be as important in this election, since the Democrats are doing a bang up job of destroying their brand among likely voters without the GOP having to spend a dime. But the role of money in elections still can’t be discounted. If Altmire holds on to his seat, I won’t be that disaffected, since Altmire has stood up to Pelosi and the White House and voted like a true Blue Dog.

Murphy, on the other hand, might wear the Blue Dog label, but he is no blue dog. But he is anÂ excellentÂ fundraiser, much of it coming from outside the district. Fitz has an uphill battle, since he not only has to overcome Murphy’s cash advantage, but has to overcome a Democratic registration edge in his district. This is a critical election for the 8th District, since if we can’t remove Murphy now, he’ll be dug in like a tick, and will be impossible to remove with the advantage of incumbency.

Next time …

… these folks might want to think about getting a dog instead.

I Think We Should Shoot More

Someone in New Jersey I guess had finally had enough of these flying grass to poop conversion factories. Only in the Garden State would this be considered a heinous crime, rather than a public service.

How Obama Loses

Great article on Politico about how the more Obama wins, the more he loses:

The problem is that he and his West Wing turn out to be not especially good at politics, or communicationsÂ â€” in other words, largely ineffective at the very things on which their campaign reputation was built. And the promises he made in two years of campaigning turn out to be much less appealing as actual policies.

The big problem Obama has is that he knows how to give a speech from a teleprompter. That’s his real talent. He is unskilled in politics. Truth is I don’t see him as capable of reinventing his presidency, as Clinton did after 1994. In addition, my friends in DC say the Democrats are demoralized, a sentiment also echoed in this article:

Many Democrats on the Hill donâ€™t much like Obama, or at least his circle of advisers. They think the White House makes them take tough votes, but doesnâ€™t care that much about the problems those votes leave politicians facing in tough races in 2010. Numerous Democrats have complained privately that Obama only cares about ObamaÂ â€” a view reinforced by Gibbsâ€™s public admission that Democrats could lose the House.

By 2012, the White House may have few friends left. This is good for us because weÂ desperatelyÂ need to make him a one termer if we’re going to preserve the gains we’ve made recently in the courts.

Unintended Consequences

Government regulation of airlines, intended to make life easier for passengers, has actually made things worse. Who could have predicted this?

Doing the Math

Chris Byrne has an excellent analysis of this years race in November. The Dems are going to take a beating. This is uncontested at this point. But it’s not going to be a panacea. This is one reason I think it’s important Reid keep his seat despite the fact that I hate him on other issues. I would hate Schumer or Durbin just as much or more on those same issues, and they’d alsoÂ sabotageÂ NRA every chance they could find. It’s not that I like Reid, it’s just that he’s the best choice there is for that seat given the possible choices.

Recording the Police

I have little sympathy for the animal rights whack jobs protesting the Philadelphia Gun Club, but I will defend them on this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmNU7Zmbe0s[/youtube]

They have every right to film the police, even if they have no right toÂ trespass. Hat tip to Radley Balko on this one. Now that these people are bringing these issues to Bensalem, they need to train their police officers on the law. I can’t stand what these people are doing, but I admire this woman’s tenacity.

Wrong Argument

The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait hasÂ found another loophole, he calls The NRA Health Care Loophole, and notes:

A huge portion of the conservative backlash against health care reform was premised on the notion that reform would force people who choose to lead healthy, responsible lives to subsidize bad decisions by fat, lazy slobs.

Chait then goes on to point out the exemption in the Health Care bill that prohibits insurers from charging extra for gun ownership, and demands we be outraged. I hate to light fire to your straw man there Jon, but I don’t think that’s the argument we’ve made. I believe the argument we’ve made is that it gives government a very appealing reason to control the behavior of citizenry, either by hook or by crook, because of the costs imposed on public health. In other words, it opens up the door to Food Control, Gun Control, bans on risky lifestyle decisions — or at best a sort of quietÂ tyrannyÂ by manipulation of the system to coerce people to make better (by their definition) choices. In other words, we’re afraid of exactly what Jonathan Chait wants us to be outraged by.

Civil Rights Victory in Indiana

Congratulations Hoosiers… due to a state Court tof Appeals ruling, the police can no longer point a gun at you for no reason:

“Reinhart gave no indication that he was armed or dangerous,” Crone wrote. “Nevertheless, with the laser sight of Deputy’s Coney’s gun prominently fixed on him, Reinhart was ordered first to kneel with his hands behind his head for a period and then lie face down on the ground for an additional period of time while waiting for the second police officer to arrive. Reinhart was then handcuffed before he was searched twice. We believe that a reasonable person in Reinhart’s position would not have believed himself to be free to leave but instead would have considered his freedom of movement to have been restrained to the degree associated with a formal arrest.”

They threw out his conviction because his arrest was unlawful, and the subsequent evidence was fruit of the poisonous tree. I’m happy to note, also, that this was a unanimous decision. Good. It would have been kind of scary if any judge thought it was fine for the police to wave guns around willy nilly at the citizenry.

Second Pro-Gun Group Endorses Strickland

This time it’s the Buckeye Firearms Association, citing his carrer of consistent support for our issue. They were careful not to bash Kasich, which I think is wise. Kasich voted for the Clinton Assault Weapons ban, twice if I recall, and also for closing the so-callled “gun show loophole.”

I’m willing to accept Kasich may have come to Jesus on the issue, so to speak, you stick with the guy with a long record of supporting you over promises of someone who’s been out of elected office for a decade, and is making promises. If Kasich wins, he will benefit from the same policy of favoring incumbents who support our issue.

Hat tip to Dave Kopel