He's a real charmer, isn't he? Obviously, CA-11 Congressional Candidate Brad Goehring has taken lessons on how to win friends and influence people:

Congressional District 11 GOP candidate Brad Goehring is drawing fire for his confrontational Facebook statement today: [ed. note: page deleted]

“If I could issue hunting permits, I would officially declare today opening day for liberals. The season would extend through November 2 and have no limits on how many taken as we desperately need to “thin” the herd.” [..]

Okay, I doubt Goehring is seriously advocating that conservatives load up and shoot liberals with actual bullets. He later posts a response, “I intended to include the wording ‘we would use votes and not bullets’ (but) hit the share button by accident before I finished and decided to leave it, thinking it would not be taken in a literal sense. I’m sorry if I confused anyone.”

But really, it’s a poor joke.

Uh, yeah, it's a REALLY poor joke, especially in the light of the actual physical threats against Nancy Pelosi and other Congresspeople. Goehring has since deleted the Facebook entry, but there's a screengrab at the link above of the entry. The CA-11 district is a swing district; the current representative is Democrat Jerry McNerney who succeeded the corrupt Richard Pombo. However, it's currently rated as an R+1 in the upcoming election. Goehring is fighting for the Tea Party primary vote in a fairly crowded slate of six Republicans.

UPDATE: You can support Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney from this reprehensible Republican slate by donating here to his Blue America page.

Ugh. Does this sound like someone prepared to run the eighth largest economy in the world? Funny thing. It turns out that trying to manage the press by refusing to take questions at press conferences, limiting interviews to a bare five minutes, nasty and annoying ads against your primary rival and a sketchy record of Republican stances in an era that demands ideological purity doesn't get the media warming to you and therefore, tends to make your support erode.

How can a candidate who has already lent her campaign $59 million and hired the best consulting team money can buy find herself in a dogfight with three weeks to go?

In conversations with close observers of California politics, a few reasons for Whitman's struggles stand out.

First, the state has a history of wariness toward free-spending business people running for office. From Michael Huffington to Al Checchi to Steve Westly, candidates whose money stands at the center of their campaigns have been rejected. (Poizner is something of a flawed messenger on this issue, having already donated $19 million of his own money to his bid.)

Second, Whitman has allowed herself to be defined as the insider in a year when being the outsider represents the political high ground. With former governor Pete Wilson serving as her campaign chairman and endorsements from national political figures such as Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Whitman has turned into the de facto incumbent. Poizner has sought to drive that point home to voters with an ad in which Whitman morphs into Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) -- a decidedly unpopular figure among Republican voters.

Third, Whitman's adversarial relationship with the press -- she has had several high-profile run-ins with the media in the state, and her campaign has been accused by Poizner of hiding her from reporters -- has contributed to a sense of entitlement and aloofness that voters find unattractive.

While there is little debate in California Republican circles that Whitman has lost considerable altitude in the primary, there is far less certainty about where the race is headed.

"Media Event". In campaign speak, that's an opportunity for a candidate to shake a few hands in front of the cameras, make a speech on some subject or the other and give the press a chance to see you. Unless you're Meg Whitman running for the governorship of California:

Press shy GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman found herself challenged by reporters today after she announced an "open press" stop in Oakland, then refused to take questions the press -- which was also barred from covering her tour of the port's Union Pacific facility.

Reporters from Bay Area media outlets -- TV, print and radio -- turned up for Whitman's advertised campaign stop in Oakland, where the former eBay CEO had announced a campaign stop and press event.

But once at the Union Pacific Railroad site, the assembled reporters were not allowed to view her tour -- and herded into a holding room instead.

Then came the news that Whitman also wouldn't take questions; reporters had been called in to "see" her make statements on "how she could be helpful as governor" on jobs and the economy, Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said.[..]

Pompei told reporters Whitman said the no press tour was a Union Pacific call -- that the company's officials did not want media coverage. (Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt begs to differ. He just told us that "we planned, actually, to have press talk with Meg on the tour....we understood there would be media availability and we wanted to work with that.")

It's very possible that Whitman's handlers are nervous about her in front of the press, as her grasp on basic facts seem to be a little skewed, as this ad from California Accountability notes:

As yet, Whitman has still refused to release her taxes for public scrutiny as well, a growing concern as the election ads get progressively nastier.

Given the massive clusterf@#$ that is the state of the State of California (and the fact that not only is California the world's 8th largest economy, California taxes subsidize other states as well), having someone so clearly not-ready-for-prime-time in the Governor's office is a prescription for disaster.

Don't look now, my fellow Californians, but it's official: Governor Moonbeam is back.

Attorney General Jerry Brown will declare his Democratic candidacy for governor Tuesday online, ending months of speculation about his intentions in which Brown insisted he had not yet decided whether to run.[..]

If elected, Brown will win an historic third gubernatorial term after having served two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983. His father Pat Brown also served two terms as California's governor.

Brown faces no Democratic challenger. The most likely candidate, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropped out of the race, ostensibly because his fundraising was inadequate to face the Republican challengers, the very wealthy Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner. Brown can seek this third term because term limits had not been enacted at the time he was previously Governor, so therefore do not apply.

I'm a big fan of Jerry Brown, the man as well as the politician. How refreshing to have an unapologetic liberal running after years of Republican rule and a ridiculously hamstrung legislature. Brown has done a very good job as our state Attorney General (one of many public service positions he's held in his life). But I don't know if he has the nest egg of funding that Whitman and Poizner have, so if you'd like to donate to his campaign, you may do so here.

I think my irony meter just redlined:

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) remains something of a powerhouse in Republican circles, so it seemed noteworthy that he doesn't seem to have much respect for a certain former half-term governor of Alaska.

In a recent interview with Newsmax, Bush was asked whether he thought Palin was a viable candidate for president. Though he had some nice things to say about her "charisma," it was clear that Bush thinks Palin doesn't have the intellectual heft to occupy the oval office. He said that Palin's success depends on her willingness to add a "depth of understanding of the complexity of life we're living in today" to her rhetoric.

"That's up to her," he said. "I mean, I don't know what her deal is, but my belief is in 2010 and 2012, public leaders need to have intellectual curiosity."

Seriously? The need for "intellectual curiosity" wasn't necessary in 2000 or 2004, was it, Jeb? The mind boggles.

Paul Hackett and Dan Senor on Hannity & Colmes, August 2006 (the video is not apropos of the story, but an excellent illustration of the kind of person Dan Senor is)

Proving that terminally wrong Bushies never actually fade away...NY Post:

Dan Senor, the husband of CNN's Campbell Brown and a former Bush administration foreign policy adviser, is eyeing a run as a Republican against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.[..]

Senor is the founder of Rosemont Capital LLC, and brings to his resume the fact that he was among the civilian officials who served the longest in Iraq as the post-Saddam Hussein government was being established.

Dan Senor has been one of the up-and-comers in the neo-conservative movement for years. He is one of the faces and founders of Freedoms Watch, which cheered the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. It will be interesting to see what kind of coverage Senor will get on CNN, given that his wife is one of their prominent talents.

Dan Coats on The Young Turks from the 2008 Republican National Convention

I'm not sure if it's possible to get a more Republican candidate for Indiana than Evan Bayh, but the GOP isn't going to go down without trying. Former Senator Dan Coats has announced this morning that he will challenge Bayh for the Senate seat in the 2010 Election.

But for all of his high profile--and Dan Coats certainly does have that within the Republican Party--I'm not sure the GOP is really learning the lessons of the tea baggers distrusting the incumbents and politicians when opting to promote Coats for the Senate seat.

To wit, Coats is a member of the C-Street Family, responsible for the failed ushering of Harriet Miers through the Supreme Court confirmation process. I think his quote on Miers, who failed to capture even Republican support shows his contempt for Americans:

She certainly has the capability to be an excellent Supreme Court justice. If great intellectual powerhouse is a qualification to be a member of the court and represent the American people and the wishes of the American people and to interpret the Constitution, then I think we have a court so skewed on the intellectual side that we may not be getting representation of America as a whole.

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In a segment of a wide-ranging interview, available here, former New York Govenor Eliot Spitzer gives his impression of the effectiveness of Barack Obama's first year in office and advises the Democratic leadership in Congress that the key to the mid-term elections is to give voters a clear and unequivocable Democratic candidate to re-elect, rather than a frightened, ineffectual politician moving to the right for expediency's sake.

While Spitzer's shine has been tarnished by his peccadillos, his own clear-eyed view of the party and reform are difficult with which to argue. Sadly, inside the Beltway, I don't think this message is getting through, so I'm laying it out clearly now for our friends in DC to show their bosses.

Wouldn't you prefer an unapologetic defender of Democratic Party values (who does not get all the legislation passed due to the political gamesmanship) over someone who will get legislation passed, only by watering it down and capitulating to demands to accomodate the Right?

No matter how much Alito may bobble his head in disagreement with the President over the Supreme Court's recent ruling on Citizens United v. FEC, this is the next logical step in affirming corporate personhood.

Corporation Murray Hill, Inc. has decided to run for the Maryland's 8th congressional district seat, one currently held by DCCC chief Chris Van Hollen. Murray Hill, Inc., will be running as a Republican(s?). From their corporate website:

Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission to allow unlimited corporate funding of federal campaigns, Murray Hill Inc. today announced it was filing to run for U.S. Congress and released its first campaign video on www.youtube.com/user/murrayhillcongress

“Until now,” Murray Hill Inc. said in a statement, “corporate interests had to rely on campaign contributions and influence peddling to achieve their goals in Washington. But thanks to an enlightened Supreme Court, now we can eliminate the middle-man and run for office ourselves.”

Murray Hill Inc. is believed to be the first “corporate person” to exercise its constitutional right to run for office. As Supreme Court observer Lyle Denniston wrote in his SCOTUSblog, “If anything, the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission conferred new dignity on corporate “persons,” treating them — under the First Amendment free-speech clause — as the equal of human beings.”

Murray Hill Inc. agrees. “The strength of America,” Murray Hill Inc. says, “is in the boardrooms, country clubs and Lear jets of America’s great corporations. We’re saying to Wal-Mart, AIG and Pfizer, if not you, who? If not now, when?”

Murray Hill Inc. plans on spending “top dollar” to protect its investment. “It’s our democracy,” Murray Hill Inc. says, “We bought it, we paid for it, and we’re going to keep it.”

Damn straight. I think this is an excellent way to illustrate just how short-sighted and dangerous the SCOTUS decision was. Campaign manager William Klein will be updating the status of the campaign on HuffPo:

Corporations are people too--with the same rights and privileges enjoyed by humans. The Supreme Court says so! The courts have devoted endless attention to the rights of the "unborn," but finally, they are recognizing the rights of the never born.

Murray Hill, Inc.'s run for Congress is, therefore, a milestone in the struggle for civil rights.

And the Murray Hill for Congress campaign is drawing support from all over. Our YouTube video is spreading through the Internet, our Facebook page brings in new Friends and Fans every hour, and and Designated Human Eric Hensal appeared on the Thom Hartmann show as well as Russian TV. (How's that for a juxtaposition?)

And now, we're even selling mousepads. Our message?

Corporations are people too!

Thom Hartmann interviewed Murray Hill Inc.'s designated human, Eric Hensel earlier this week about their campaign..

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty held a press conference this afternoon to tell the media that he's not planning on running for a third term for governor.

A source close to Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty confirms to First Read that Pawlenty will announce today that he will not be running for a third term in 2010.

This announcement, of course, will raise speculation about whether Pawlenty plans to spend the next three years preparing for a presidential bid in 2012.[..]

Pawlenty gave a firebrand speech at the Republican Governor’s Association meeting in Miami, a week after the party’s sound November election losses. He gave some tough medicine to the party, saying, “It needs to get younger, more diverse and build a broader coalition,” we wrote at the time. "If we're going to successfully travel the road, as a Republican,” he said at the time, “we need to see clearly, and be honest about where we've been and where we're headed. … If we're going to be the majority, we're going to have to see we need to grow the party. We cannot compete in the Northeast, the West; we're losing seats in the Great Lakes region. We have a large deficit with women, Hispanics, African Americans -- people with modest financial circumstances. That is not a formula for a majority." In the halls at the meeting, Pawlenty was lukewarm toward another potential 2012 GOP candidate, Sarah Palin. In fact, during his speech “he delivered a line that might sound like an opening 2012 shot at Palin,” we wrote then.

"'Drill baby, drill' by itself is not an energy policy," he said. "It's not enough. We're going to need wind and solar and bio mass."

Pawlenty neglects to mention that even if he did dare try for a third term, he'd be unlikely to win re-election. Just a few days ago he acknowledged to local press that winning a third term would be an uphill battle, even though last year he has said he'd make his decision in early '09. His continued support of Coleman hasn't helped him at all in his state. The Minnesota DFLs tell Pawlenty "Don't let the door hit you..."

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