Half Of My Content Is Officially Safe...For Now

The FEC has just ruled that it won't regulate politics on the internet.

In a 6-0 vote, the commission decided to regulate only paid political ads placed on another person's Web site.

The decision means that bloggers and online publications will not be covered by provisions of the new election law. Internet bloggers and individuals will therefore be able to use the Internet to attack or support federal candidates without running afoul of campaign spending and contribution limits.

The first amendment has already taken a beating from McCain-Feingold and this is a step in the right direction towards preserving an individual's right to publicly express an opinion.

Posted by: Gary at 01:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 121 words, total size 1 kb.

Color Me Impressed - A Conversation With Fred Barnes

Blog Bud Rick Calvert at The Real Ugly American scored an interview with Weekly Standard co-editor and FoxNews' co-"Beltway Boy" Fred Barnes to talk about his new book, "Rebel-In-Chief".

I myself just finished the book and found it to be a compelling study of the style and vision of President George W. Bush. Not surprisingly, Barnes book is a glowing assessment of this Presidency. But more importantly, he gets to the heart of why his supporters love him and why his detractors hate him - he's a rebel who came to Washington and shook up the status quo.

Kudos to Rick for an excellent job. Go read it now to read Barnes' thoughts about Bush, Politics and even Blogs!

Posted by: Gary at 07:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 137 words, total size 1 kb.

More Poll Nonsense

The bogus methodology of the latest ABC/Washington Post poll picked apart by BullDogPundit.

The MSM. They never learn, do they?

Posted by: Gary at 09:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 26 words, total size 1 kb.

Not So Fast There, Hillary

Just when the angry one thought she was out of the woods in her Senate re-election bid, there is a new challenger. In the wake of Jeanine Pirro's withdrawal from the race for the NY GOP nomination, Kathleen Troia (KT) McFarland is stepping up to make sure Hillary doesn't get a free pass to another six years in the U.S. Senate.

McFarland, a foreign policy and defense expert who served in the Reagan White House, launched her website this weekend. I had seen a story on this on Friday, but I had thought it was still in the prelimary stages. Apparently, this is for real. She has a pretty impressive resume.

At the very least, this should put a crimp in Clinton's recent attempts to appear credible on National Security and Homeland Security. This is going to be interesting (and maybe even fun). I'll be watching this one closely.

Posted by: Gary at 01:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 159 words, total size 1 kb.

New Battleground Poll Released

I don't normally cite polls (except to debunk them) but this one, the Battleground Poll, at least provides the data and methodology to support its findings. In fact, it's actually two reports - one Republican interpretation and one Democrat interpretation. And their authors, Ed Goeas and Celinda Lake, respectively, tend to try and use the data to offer their respective parties some constructive advice.

The biggest conclusion: According to the majority of those polled, politicians in general suck.

The political environment in Washington has gotten especially toxic these days and voters - Democrats, Republicans and Independents are really getting fed up with it. Ironically, they're not especially fed up enough to vote out their own representative but their overall opinion of Washington is abysmal.

From the Republican Analysis (.pdf file):

“Can Republicans lose control of Congress? The data would suggest that under the current political environment it is possible, but does not yet lead one to believe it is probable. Republicans should take solace in the fact that the overall numbers have not changed [since five months ago] and voters view Democratic leaders as negatively as Republican leaders. If the political environment does not change, the outcome of the 2006 elections becomes increasingly a roll of the dice – dependent on how the campaign’s are run, party and interest group resources, and intensity of base voters to turn out to vote.”

From the Democrat Analysis (.pdf file):

“While emphasizing the need for change, Democrats need to be aware that voters do not place the blame for the corruption entirely on Republicans. In fact, many voters see this as endemic in our government, and as such, it pervades both parties. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of voters say that the blame lies with both parties equally. However, among those voters who do put the blame on one party 20 percent say it is Republicans who are the cause and just 11 percent say it is Democrats. It should be noted that those likely to lay blame with one party are stronger partisans.”

In other words, Republicans can't depend on winning with the status quo but Democrats won't necessarily win by attacking the status quo unless they take the high road and - credibly - push meaningful ethics reform.

And those folks out there still crowing over the latest C-BS poll of the President's job approval rating (which has already been exposed as highly flawed), should heed what Democrat Celinda Lake has to say:

“A warning to both parties – voters have an even more negative view of Congress’ job performance than they do of the President’s (37 percent approve, 56 percent disapprove – 38 percent strongly.”

No party has cornered the market on integrity or honesty. Each will have to walk the walk this election season or, quite literally, anything can happen.

Posted by: Gary at 02:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 468 words, total size 3 kb.

CT Rep. Shays Mulling Endorsement Of Lieberman

This is interesting. The Hartford Courant is reporting the Congressman Chris Shays (4-CT), a Republican, intends to endorse Sen. Joe Lieberman in his re-election bid.

No doubt the Democrats in opposition to Lieberman will take this opportunity to reinforce their charge that the CT Senator is really just an elephant in donkey's clothing. But keep two things in mind. First, Shays in not your standard Republican. He's a Liberal weenie. Second, Shays and his fellow Republican Rob Simmons (2-CT) may very well be using this tactic as a quid pro quo for their own re-election bid this year.

Shays and Simmons are facing tough re-election campaigns from their Democratic opponents, Diane Farrell and Joseph Courtney, respectively. Farrell, who also ran two years ago, has used the war as a cudgel against Shays, although she is supporting Lieberman.

While Simmons could benefit by running on the same ballot line with Lieberman, the congressman's campaign manager, Chris Healy, all but ruled out Simmons' signing off on such a gambit -- even though Republicans are unsure if they can convince a serious candidate to oppose Lieberman.

This looks more like an incumbency-protection scheme where the Republicans back Lieberman if Lieberman in turn supports them in November once he secures the nomination. The move, however, may very well backfire by energizing the Democrat base to back Ned Lamont, Lieberman's opponent.

In any case, this is a Democrat matter. And Shays, Simmons or any other Republican should really mind their own business and focus on their own issues.

Posted by: Gary at 07:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 265 words, total size 2 kb.