Oh, No! Election Day is Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010...

CT SENATE
No poll in Connecticut. Rather, a bit of a tempest in a teapot in my mind.
Christopher Dodd (D) is retiring this year. The presumptive Dem nominee and the likely general election winner is Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. He leads any Repub by some 30 points or more.
Following an article in the NYTimes today, Blumenthal said. "On a few occasions. I have mis-spoken about my (military) service..."
From 1965-1970, he got 5 military deferments to complete his education at Harvard, study in the UK and work for the Washington Post. In 1970, his luck was running out. He managed to get into a Marine Corps reserve unit that, according to the Times, focused on local projects like running the holiday "Toys For Tots" campaign.
A decade later he was making statements like "We have learned something since the days I served in Vietnam..." And "I served during the Vietnam era. I remember the taunts, the insults, sometime even the physical abuse." And, at a 1980 patriotic rally, "When we returned, we saw nothing like this."
I have long since, long since, gotten over the reality that a lot of people like Blumenthal and Bush and many of my high school and college friends pulled strings to avoid the draft and VN back then.
I am proud of the inner city black guys, the Puerto Ricans, Cajuns and white trash who ended up in my squad.
It amuses me now to see these guys now, like me, in their mid-60's, periodically get caught up in a reconstruction of the "What did you do in the war, daddy."

Back to our regularly scheduled discussion. Some great primaries tonight.

Reminds me of the feller assigned to some sort of intelligence operation in WWII. They used inflatable tanks, artillery, etc to deceive arial observers. When his kids asked what he did in the war, he told them he blew up a lot of tanks and stuff.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled discussion.

CONNECTICUT SENATE (5/18):
Rasmussen, coincidentally, had a poll scheduled for CT on the day after the NY Times article regarding the leading Democrat candidate, Richard Blumenthal.
It was reported that Blumenthal said or implied he was a Vietnam vet. That was not true.
His poll numbers took a bad hit, but I would caution that it could well be a set back that, given time, he can recover from when the dust settles.
Blumenthal leads Linda McMahon (R) - a business exec - 48% to 45%. That is down from a 13 point lead Blumenthal had a month or so ago.
He is ahead of former member of Congress Rob Simmons (R) 50% to 39%. He was ahead of Simmons by 23 points.
Blumenthal does best against Wall Street banker Peter Schiff (R). 53% to 37%. That is unchanged from the earlier poll.
53% of likely voters say that Blumenthal's "Vietnam Problem" is Somewhat Important and 27% say it is "Very Important."
Both the Repubs and Dems will start a series of state conventions this weekend to select candidates. Blumenthal has an opponent. It could come down to primaries on August 10th if needed.

He completely looks like an opportunist, a lier, and yellow (avoiding Vietnam).....I would hope that he can't recover from that.

Hi, hawkeye, and welcome to this sleepy thread where I do about 90% of the posting.
I do know that there are a few people following this thread. I appreciate that.

Pretty good parody of the Best Ad Ever...(NSFW)

We're Better Than That, Too!!!

Thanks, Irishk, for the parody and to Cyclo for the actual ad.

I'm thinking Rand Paul may have just shot himself in the foot.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100521/ap_on_bi_ge/us_rand_paul

Paul: Obama's criticism of BP sounds 'un-American'

Paul appeared two days after a landslide primary victory over the Republican establishment's candidate, Trey Grayson. He has been scrambling to explain remarks suggesting businesses be allowed to deny service to minorities without fear of federal interference, even though he says he personally abhors discrimination. On Friday he said he wouldn't seek to repeal the Civil Rights Act or Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, among other areas.

Dude is sort of not ready for prime time.

Cycloptichorn

Today, Paul claimed that Obama's criticism of BP was "un-american."
The Repub leadership is scrambling to teach him how not to put his foot in his mouth.

He's canceling his appearance on Meet the Press this weekend! Unheard of for a candidate to do this.

Cycloptichorn

Un huh. That was the main point of the article, and I didn't even post it.

It happens that I have big problems with Obama personalizing people and companies as he does, but Paul is sounding a little out of touch with the times. Regarding BP, mostly, we've got the rope and are looking for a stout cottonwood tree.

Sorry for my post repeating what Roger had already reported re BP. I could swear his post had to do with the earlier Paul gaffe.

It's a matter of style. I favor posting the link and a brief excerpt related to my own point. We did not duplicate one another, even if we used the same article. In both cases, "shot hisself in the foot" was the point.

He's gotta be asking, "Where's the Tylenol???" LOL!

I'm hoping that's not the only question he's asking, and that he is asking someone he will listen to.

KENTUCKY SENATE (5/19):
The 1st Rasmussen poll after the Republican primary has Ron Paul getting a huge bounce in his contest with Attorney General Jack Conway (D).
Paul is shown as leading Conway 59% to 34%. He gets 82% from likely voters who describe themselves as Repubs and 72% of those who say that they are unaffiliated with any party. Conway, meanwhile, gets just 59% from those who say they are Dems.
Paul is a novice to politics, although his father is Ron Paul, a veteran Libertarian. They believe in minimal government involvement.
Rasmussen dryly notes that "Rookie candidates (like Rand Paul) often make unforced errors."
Rand Paul started out the week seeming to say that if private businesses want to refuse service to minorities, that is a business decision and government has no right to object. Later in the week, he said that the Obama administration (or government in general) was being "un-american" for criticizing BP over the oil spill.
I think he was saying in both cases (please give me your take) that the free market will reward or punish good or bad behavior. The government has no role to play.

If he asks the wrong person, he could end up claiming he was captain of the Harvard Swim Team and a 4-star general who earned the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam. Then he'll need something stronger than Tylenol LOL.

ARKANSAS SENATE (5/21):
I think we can safely say that this Senate seat will move from the Democrat to the Republican column come November.
Congressman John Boozeman (R) won his party's primary. He leads either of the 2 Dems by about 60%-30%.
Incumbent Blanche Lincoln (D) and Lt Gov Bill Halter (D) were in a Dem primary last week where there was a 3rd candidate. No one got 50% so Lincoln and Halter will face off in another vote June 8th.
Lincoln could be a victim of the anti-incumbent mood. She voted for the health care bill in a state where 72% of likely voters favor repeal. That is much higher than the 56% nationally.
She is viewed "very unfavorably" by a stunningly high 44%. Fellow Dem Halter comes in at 29% while Boozeman, the Repub, is at a mere 7%.
Mike Beebe (D), the Governor, gets a 72% Approval score.
Obama lost AR 59% to 39% and his approval rating now is just 32% vs 67% who disapprove.

Impressive, but there are still 5 months to go. I'd say if anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it's probably the Republicans lol.