Virginia Senate Candidate Sues for Access to Debates

OPEN DEBATES
Senate candidate files lawsuit seeking to join December Kaine-Allen debate (By Ben Pershing, Washington Post/ Virginia Politics) Modica’s lawsuit argues that excluding him from the December debate ”based on standards, defined and created behind closed doors, that, theoretically and practically, only two former Virginia Governors can meet is like excluding your youngest son from Christmas celebrations just because he lives in Northern Virginia.”

Debate on Top Two Open Primary Continues

Ken Beingenheimer has been running a series on Top Two. The debate continues here:

H. Sol: [Opposes Top Two because it] “puts more power into the hands of party insiders.”

Bill: Actually, the exact opposite is true. As I wrote in The Hankster, the California GOP is in a panic precisely because they have just realized that Prop 14 takes away some of the special privileges it once had as a so-called “qualified” party. Party elites and insiders can’t control who gets on the ballot or who uses the label “Republican.” Anybody who registered to vote as a “Republican” can use that label on the ballot.

This reduces the significance of the Party’s precious label. So now, they are no more than one private organization among many. They realize that if they are to have any chance of their official “Republican” candidate standing out among all the other “Republicans,” they have to agree in the primary stage on one candidate per office and back him or her to the hilt.

This is their response to their loss of power, and it does not make up that loss. The Republican Party is a wounded lion in California, and desperately struggling to survive. Prop 14 is working extremely well!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

No party, big part: Unaffiliated voters will impact election (Greenwich Post)

CAMPAIGN

• Independence Party may back presidential choice (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Barkley won't attend
• The Squirrel Vote-By David Brooks and Gail Collins (The Conversation/NY Times/Campaign Stops Blog) Gail: Three weeks to go and what I’ve learned from this election is that bipartisanship doesn’t work. David: I’m amazed at the bloggers who have lost all independence and are simply operatives.
• McCain has lost my support (Mountain Home News) With three weeks to go in this election, McCain has managed to turn off the crucial independent voters and he's looking increasingly desperate.

BLOOMBERG/TERM LIMITS

New Yorkers get 2 hearings on term limit proposal (AP)

Live-blogging the Palin/Biden event/debate--for Independent Voters

10:00 pm ---- switching to twitter... i hear sound bites on both sides and nothing new....






9:55 pm ---

palin -- puttin' the govt back in the hands of the people....

biden -- mccain is bush

pailn takes the lead on foreign policy.... hmmm....

biden -- facts matter... surge will not work in afganistan...



[i'm not changing my vote but i have to say this is a weak performance by joe biden in terms of defending the home turf of getting out of iraq and listening to the american people.... palin the right winger has command of the stage.... just like they said....]







9:49pm ---- Biden is "losing" this debate because he won't come out as anti-war and pro-choice...

and because Palin is on the offense and Biden is on the defense.. seems to be what "they" said would happen...

Biden sounds like an appologist for a failed foreign policy that the Dems helped craft under Repub leadership....






9:44pm -- sorry i may have lost some of the "dialogue"...

they are now talking about Iraq....


The fundamental problem I'm having blogging this "debate" is that Joe Biden is doing exactly what they said he would do and Sarah Palin is doing exactly what they said she would do....

Let's see if they have anything interesting to say.... doubt it, but I'm listening....







So here we go... Joe Biden, Sarah Palin -- Palin clearing the "draw" -- it's almost a sideshow at the 1899 Chicago world's fair...

But in any event, the candidates are speaking...

9:06 -- opening statements

hmmm... seems we might just hear some more crap, different century... seems the debate is once again between the media (or is this directed by the CPD?) and the politicians.

I am once again reminded that if you want to do something about the sinking ship, you need to bring in the yeomen.... If you're concerned about the corruption, you need to BRING IN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE into the process. Democracy is the issue, not govt. oversite.....

Palin -- yada yada maverick...

Now they're talking about the economy

Palin: "Never again"

Biden: tax relief...

Palin: government growth/tax relief...

[I realize this is a lame blog on the debate... }

They are talking about taxes and deregulation....

Palin: her record in Alaska....

Gwen Ifil asked about taxes re: "class warfare" and taking things out on the poor...

[that's good because now we have an issue..... frankly I was spacing out before.... ]

Biden: the middle class is the economic engine, not the super rich...

[do they realize that Wall Street is collapsing???]

Palin: small businesses.... higher taxes.... middle class (Todd and me) Health care... tax credit... purchase health care as opposed to mandated health care from Obama.... not pleasing... affordability and accessibility

Biden: Gwen, I don't know where to start... ha.. ha... McCain taxes health care to ...

Ifil: what promises have you and your campaigns not be able to keep?

Biden: tax cuts for the rich and corps...

Palin: wanna turn it back to the issue of energy... "people are gonna come first..." put America back on the side of the people...

Biden: re: tax breaks... john mccain has added 5 billion dollars to .... we want to give you $1000 bucks like she did.... john mccain wants to give them another x billion...

Palin: would suppor the bailout... awareness about the corruption and the creed and John Mccain's awareness of the need for reform...

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

What do Mike Huckabee, Jackie Salit, George Farah, and Walter Cronkite have in common? They all want to Rock The Debates! (THIRD PARTY WATCH)

Obama follows other African-American presidential hopefuls (AFP-Google) including independent Lenora Fulani, who is the only woman and only African American to have ever been on the ballot for president in all 50 states in the history of our country...

DNC boycott, closed primaries, lock-down in black establishment..... What's a Florida independent to do??? (By Lloyd Dunkelberger, The Ledger)

Polls show surge of young voters, independents carried Obama, while conservative Christians propelled Huckabee (By JONATHAN ROOS and JENNIFER JACOBS, DES MOINES REGISTER)

Obama counts on independents in N.H. (Examiner)

Paul counting on independent voters (By JIM KOZUBEK, New Hampshire Union )

Kucinich contests debate exclusion by ABC (Seattle Times)

Paul left out in the cold in NH--Fox News say their studio isn't big enough.... (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

Hillary, Rudy wounded, turn attention to N.H. (Newsday)

Most NJ voters will be on sidelines on primary day (Newsday)

NH Primary 2008 (D): Hillary 39.2%, Obama 31.7% (Angus Reid Global Monitor)