Apparently, Ron Barber – the Democrat running to replace Gabby Giffords in the AZ-08 special election – has a bit of a problem with the entire ‘Democrat’ thing: “[Republican nominee Jesse] Kelly asked Barber to declare who he’ll vote for in November for president, and Barber – although a Democrat with an incumbent president of his party – refused, saying he’s focused on his own campaign.” This is a somewhat eyebrow-raising evasion – one would think that a Democrat currently running in a Democratic-held seat with a Democrat in the White House would be less coy – and it tells us several things:

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Via Ed Driscoll, via PJ Tatler: Obama in 2011 explaining what he’s going to do to lower gas prices:

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Will this be the 2012 election map?

If the Obama administration keeps up their War on Coal (literally: they consider coal more dangerous than terrorism), quite possibly. And it may be at least partially because of coal.

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For free.  Here’s Mitt Romney‘s latest strike-while-the-iron-is-hot attack ad “Big Bain Backfire:”

Nice to see that they’re keeping up with events, huh?

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When it came out last week that Milwaukee mayor (and Wisconsin Democratic candidate for governor in the upcoming recall election) Tom Barrett had skipped out on two ceremonies honoring Milwaukee police officers, there was some questions about what Barrett thought could possibly be more important that going to, say, a memorial service for slain Wisconsin policemen.  It probably didn’t help either that Barrett was so evasive about the answer, either – to the point of convenient memory loss.  Well, it turns out that Barrett probably wanted to forget the answer of where he was doing instead of honoring fallen officers, given that the answer was… ‘making a stump speech:’

…Mayor Barrett was actually speaking at a luncheon for retired United Auto Workers in Oshkosh at the exact same time that the fallen officers memorial was taking place in Milwaukee.  Barrett spoke to a room of about 50 UAW union members.

I acquired a link to the video of the event that Barrett spoke at: it is unpleasant viewing for those with both a basic ethical sense, and an awareness of the context.

(Link.)

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Tell me you’re surprised.

Three out-of-state men arrested in a Bridgeport apartment raid days before the NATO summit were charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, providing material support for terrorism and possession of an explosive or incendiary device, their attorney and police said early Saturday.

The arrests were the result of a month-long investigation into a group suspected of making Molotov cocktails — crude bombs usually created by filling glass bottles with gasoline, according to law enforcement sources and police records obtained by the Tribune.

Can’t do it, huh?

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Because statewide elections matter.

Executive summary: the new legislation now requires people filling out provisional ballots from lack of acceptable ID at the polling station “to subsequently submit identification to the electoral board if they want their vote to be counted.” The list of acceptable forms of ID was also expanded to include things like current utility bills and valid student IDs, which will no doubt raise eyebrows among people familiar with voter fraud; but making voters responsible for verifying their own provisional ballots is a pretty important step.

Naturally, agents of the Left (like Anna Scholl of ProgressVA) are livid about this legislation passing. As usual, they’re taking the (heavily racist) position that black people are too stupid to remember to bring their voter registration card, Social Security card, driver’s license, state college ID, employee photo ID, utility bill, bank statement, government check, and/or paycheck to the polling station*. Or perhaps Scholl simply doesn’t believe that black people have any of those things: it’s been my experience that hardcore progressive activists are often suffering from raging cases of epistemic closure…

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…Oh, relax: it’s an old vaudville/movie routine. You know: “That was no lady: that was my wife.” Yeah, that one’s older than my parents, let alone me. Still: why exactly did Democratic Wisconsin recall gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett shrug off ceremonies honoring Milwaukee policemen this week? Including one on Wednesday that honored Milwaukee cops slain in the line of duty? I ask… well, mostly because I figure that the answer is going to embarrass Tom Barrett; but also because Barrett likes to talk a lot about how Governor Scott Walker is supposedly campaigning at the expense of his job. Which makes Walker’s presence at a function that Barrett was absent from – we can all agree that honoring slain Milwaukee policemen is part of the job of Mayor of Milwaukee, surely? – somewhat, well, awkward.

Hey! That describes the Wisconsin Democratic party’s current rhetorical position, too! It’s all cyclic, isn’t it…

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The New York Times reported this morning that the combined raised total for Romney and the RNC was $40.1 million in April, with Romney having $61.4 million in the bank: in comparison, Obama/the DNC raised $43.6 million. Barack Obama’s own cash on hand for April – it was $104.1 million at the end of March – and we probably won’t be told it until the Sunday deadline, or possibly a little later than that. Though, to be fair, Romney and the RNC haven’t submitted their latest fundraising reports to the FEC, either.

Also: while I give points to the NYT for mentioning that this was a significant jump from Romney’s March haul of $12.6 million, they might have kept comparing apples-to-apples and included the RNC’s March fundraising total ($13.7 million). Or noted that the Democrats’ $43.6 million number for April represents a drop from March’s $53 million. Then again, I suppose that there’s a narrative in place.

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Slightly contra Instapundit, this call for Mickey Mouse as a write-in on the California ballot is a blogger’s joke rather than an actual movement [UPDATE: I am informed in comments here that this is meant absolutely seriously; please be assured that I had no intention of mocking either the sentiment or the activity], but if it’s kidding then it’s kidding on the square. And it’s illustrating something that is perhaps being under-reported: the way that Obama’s not been doing all that well in the primaries for an incumbent.

I mean, yes: we’ve had it noted that Obama only racked up 59.4% of the West Virginia primary vote; 80.9% of New Hampshire’s; and 79.2% of North Carolina’s. But here are some other primary race vote totals, thus far (all via The Green Papers): Rhode Island, 83.4%. Louisiana, 76.5%. Alabama, 80.8%. Massachusetts, 81.2%, Oklahoma, 57.1%. To give you a baseline… if you remove places like American Samoa or Guam, if I read this right in 2004 George Bush never dipped below 89.5% (Idaho) of the primary vote in states he won and 79.6% (New Hampshire) in states that he didn’t. Other states of note in 2004, to give you an idea: Alabama, 92.8%. Kentucky, 92.5%. Massachusetts, 90.6%. Rhode Island, 84.9%.

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Alernate-alternate title: DOOM.

You know, when I saw this secondhand whine from Wisconsin Democrats upset that the DNC apparently wasn’t prepared to throw half a million dollars at the general recall election, I assumed that this would be resolved. I mean, really: the Left has already thrown away tens of millions of dollars; what’s a bit more? Admittedly, not throwing utterly horrible money after bad (we’ve passed the ‘throwing good money after bad’ stage already) would be the right answer, in a strictly utilitarian sense; but the state party is in a bad way right now. They sort of need an indication that the President cares for more than his own election, right?

Well… that’s apparently not going to happen. MSNBC’s Chuck Todd asked Obama’s deputy* campaign manager Stephanie Cutter whether the DNC would be sending money earmarked for the recall, and Ms. Cutter said… nothing in particular. And definitely nothing that would commit the DNC to giving out money.

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…which is why, of course, I am asking it. The background… comes in three parts:

• Vice President Joe Biden, when he was Senator Joe Biden, happened to be a sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act. We’ll pass to one side for a moment the current (as in, this week) controversy over the latest iteration of the law – it’s up for reauthorization – to specifically note, again, that this was Biden’s baby, as it were.
• Charlie Wilson is known mostly for three things (four, if you count the fact that he’s often confused with the infinitely better Democratic Charlie Wilson from Texas); he was the former Congressman from OH-06; Charlie Wilson of Ohio is an admitted wife-beater; and Charlie Wilson of Ohio is unaccountably running for Congress again.
• Guess where Joe Biden will be stumping for the President, this week? That’s right! OH-06! Also OH-17 (Youngstown), but Thursday Biden will be making a speech Thursday at an auto dealership in Martin’s Ferry.

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(H/T: Hot Air Headlines) Apparently the President wants to spend his extremely hypothetical second term doing the following:

• Repealing DOMA;
• Passing another DREAM Act;
• ‘Reforming’ Wall Street; and
• ‘Investing’ in schools.

Now, I’m not going to fall into the trap of getting sidelined discussing the merits of any or all of those proposals*. Instead, I’m going to ask: just how stupid does President Obama think Democrats are, anyway? From 2009 to 2011 the Democratic Party had between 256 to 258 votes in the House, and 57 to 60 in the Senate. If the President was such a blithering incompetent leader that he couldn’t pass wish-list legislation then, in what alternate universe could anyone legitimately expect him to pass a similar list in any hypothetical future administration? – Because the Democrats aren’t going to enjoy that kind of lopsided majorities in Congress again any time soon. In fact, starting next January they’re probably not going to enjoy a majority in Congress at all.

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Pennsylvania’s going to be an interesting place this November: incumbent Senator Bob Casey is in the unenviable position of having to explain to half of his constituents why he’s not really like President Obama, while explaining to the other half why Bob Casey actually is. If you’re wondering how Senator Casey plans to square that circle; the plan is to ensure that he does not.

Along those lines RedState talked last week with Tom Smith, who won the Republican nomination for Senate.  Tom is a businessman with a history in the coal industry – you know, the industry that Democrats hate – and we talked about both that, and the race generally:

Tom’s site is here.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

I just had it forwarded to me that Barack Obama is doing a 2 million dollar fundraiser today with Tony James, who is the head of the Blackstone financial services group. So… why should you care? Well, two reasons: first off, in February of this year Tony James criticized anti-Romney ads that attempted to demagogue Romney’s relationship with Bain Capital. James felt that they were generally attacking the private equity industry itself, which they generally were… and which also makes one wonder what James plans to do when this becomes the entirety of Barack Obama’s message in September:

Then again, Tony James isn’t too worried: if Obama wins, he gets to enjoy the benefits of class collaboration that comes when one voluntarily brings one’s particular syndicate into full alignment/cooperation with the wishes of the Leaders of the corporative State. And if Romney wins, well, Republicans have never been big on proscription lists*.

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Real short version: this all started when Jay Parmley, the former executive director of the NC Democratic party, was allegedly accused of sexually harassing a male staffer. Reportedly, Parmley had sent said staffer pictures of genitals*…

Hold on: let me stop for a moment and make a PSA for politicians.  DON’T DO THAT.

…anyway, Parmley effectively got tossed out on his ear, but there’s still a lot of speculation of just how far a hypothetical coverup of the alleged incident could have spread.  This isn’t of academic interest: Lt. Governor Walter Dalton might even be involved, and not coincidentally Dalton happens to be running for Governor this year.  He’s doing so because current governor Bev Perdue abruptly decided earlier this year to not seek another term… do people see where this could be going?  Anyway, there was a lot of pressure put on NC Democratic chairman David Parker to resign, and yesterday he did so.  Cue the relieved-but-still-slightly nervous press releases from the Lt. Governor and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall**, congratulating Parker for doing the right thing, here.

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(Via AoSHQ) From Reno, NV… oh, isn’t this the cutest thing ever?

Obama’s got his little podium, and he’s got his little microphone, and, hey, Obama even has his Junior PotUS Presidential Seal to talk behind as he speaks to everybody on the whole block!  Such a big boy, now.  And he’ll probably be such a good President…

…once he grows up, of course.

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Second year running.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s administration said Thursday that its new revenue projections show the state will finish the 2011-2013 budget years with a surplus rather than the deficit predicted earlier this year.

The projections were based on stronger-than-anticipated personal income growth last year, Walker officials said. The numbers could give the governor a boost as he heads into a June 5 recall election against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

Gee, you think?

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It’s funny, really. Somebody like Mark Halperin sees this:

Barack Obama’s decision to base his re-election campaign outside of Washington seems to be working pretty darn well. The campaign’s massive, high-rise headquarters in Chicago’s Loop achieves a fine balance between 2008’s hip-casual dorm room (there’s a Ping-Pong table and cheeky homemade signage) and 2012’s systematized Death Star (there are more employees than I have ever seen in a political campaign, with work stations subdivided as ever more employees are added). The place hums from early morning until late at night, designed for maximum efficiency and manifest focus.

and thinks “Success!” I see it and think “High burn rate.” Also: “Hubris.” Let’s talk about why.

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Let me present to you the amazing amount of scrutiny that apparently needs to go into a Barack Obama campaign ad, just to understand what it actually means.

• Level Minus One. This is the scrutiny that is done by the creators of the ad itself (that is to say, none at all). Summary of said ad (second video at this Hot Air link): this Brian Slagle fellow from Ohio was in the auto industry; he got laid off; but he has a job, now; and thank God for that nice Obama fellow, who made it all possible.
• Level Zero. This was the scrutiny done by ABC News. They discovered that the company that Mr. Slagle works for now (Johnson Controls) apparently frittered away a lot of its stimulus money then; is actually laying off people now; and is currently being investigated for employee health violations. As in, lead poisoning. In other words; it’s not that great a job, and there’s some question about whether its employees are better off with the company still being in business. I mean. Lead poisoning.
• Level One. This is the scrutiny done by The Weekly Standard: in short, actual fact-checking. It turns out that Mr. Slagle has been employed by Johnson Controls… since 2006. This information could be found via the arcane method of “looking up Brian Slagle on Facebook:” the information has since been removed, but TWS took screenshots, of course. Translation: Brian Slagle did not actually get a new job from Obama’s stimulus program. They want you to think that he did, but he didn’t*.

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