From the Boston Globe:
Democrats made huge gains in the mid term elections for a variety of factors — an unpopular war in Iraq, congressional scandals, frustration with Bush’s style of leadership.
But the victory had its roots in that early and successful battle against Social Security reform, which gave Democrats crucial unity and momentum at a time when many pundits were predicting a permanent Republican majority, according to party strategists and veteran Democratic lawmakers.
Longtime TPM readers might get a chuckle out of seeing what once was a much-debated Democratic strategy deemed risky now portrayed as stroke of brilliance because, of course, you heard that strategy extolled here at TPM very early and very often.
For those readers who have discovered TPM since the Social Security battle of early 2005 and have never heard of the Fainthearted Faction, you missed some good times, but better late than never.
Welcome aboard.
U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-NV) was elected governor of Nevada last week despite the allegations of late-night carousing and sexual assault involving a cocktail waitress three decades his junior. A new round of subpoenas suggests police may be looking at whether obstruction of justice occurred in the case.
Local law enforcement investigating the allegations made by Chrissy Mazzeo has subpoenaed the phone records of all those in the Gibbons’ party on that fateful Friday the 13th of October, according to the Las Vegas Sun:
Metro Police have subpoenaed telephone records of Republican Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons, political strategist Sig Rogich and other witnesses in the investigation into allegations that Gibbons assaulted a woman and tried to force himself on her sexually.
Home and cell phone records of everyone who was drinking with Gibbons and Rogich at McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant before the Oct. 13 alleged assault on Chrissy Mazzeo were among the records subpoenaed, sources close to the investigation told the Sun.
It’s not clear whether the phone records were subpoened as part of the investigation of Mazzeo’s underlying assault claim or her later claim that she was pressured into keeping silent about the incident. Another possible area of interest for law enforcement is the security video from the parking garage where the incident is alleged to have happened, which went missing for several days before being turned over to police.
Police plan another round of witness interviews, including of the governor-elect himself, according to the Sun.
Roll Call: Pelosi comes out for Murtha in Majority Leader’s race.
All I can say is, that’s bold. She’s making a play to really rule the place.
Late Update: Pelosi’s letter to Murtha
11/12/2006
Dear Jack,
Thank you for your letter requesting my support for your candidacy for Majority Leader in the 110th Congress.
As you know so well, for the past 24 months I have done nothing but focus on winning the House, working weekends, morning, noon and night, traveling to dozens of states and cities on behalf of our candidates to assure we had the resources to implement the excellent plan Rahm Emanuel developed.
Working with all the groups in our Caucus over the past two years, we focused the national debate around issues that clearly differentiated Democrats from Republicans, and put us squarely on the side of the American people. We challenged President Bush on his unsound scheme to privatize Social Security, and we prevailed on behalf of America’s seniors. We repudiated the Republican “culture of corruption” that has turned the People’s House into an auction house for special interests. And of course, we challenged President Bush and the Republicans on the Iraq war.
With respect to Iraq in particular, I salute your courageous leadership that changed the national debate and helped make Iraq the central issue of this historic election. It was surely a dark day for the Bush Administration when you spoke truth to power. Your leadership gave so many Americans, including respected military leaders, the encouragement to voice their own disapproval at a failed policy that weakens our military and makes stability in that region even more difficult to achieve. The enthusiastic response of Americans all across this nation gave an enormous lift to our Democratic efforts, and your unsurpassed personal solicitations produced millions of dollars which were new to the effort. Those resources made a huge difference and particularly for the candidates on whose behalf you campaigned..
Your strong voice for national security, the war on terror and Iraq provides genuine leadership for our party, and I count on you to continue to lead on these vital issues. For this and for all you have done for Democrats in the past and especially this last year, I am pleased to support your candidacy for Majority Leader for the 110th Congress. As we move forward and work together on the urgent questions of Iraq, the war on terrorism, strengthening our military to meet 21st century challenges, improving our national security and rebuilding our international relations, and honoring our commitment to our veterans, your presence in the leadership of our party would add a knowledgeable and respected voice to our Democratic team.
Sincerely,
Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader
Later Update: Hoyer responds …
“Nancy told me some time ago that she would personally support Jack. I respect her decision as the two are very close.
“I am grateful for the support I have from my colleagues, and have the majority of the caucus supporting me. I look forward to working with Speaker Pelosi as Majority Leader.”
I just want to take a moment to thank all the readers who have extended their welcomes to me, both in my earlier anonymous incarnation here at TPM and now that I am able to post under my own byline. As I am sure at least some of our attorney readers can understand, posting at TPM was not compatible with my law firm practice.
What changed? Pretty simple actually. I have left the private practice of law.
My own professional transition coincides with the some of the changes underway at TPM, including the expansion of the company, so the timing works well for me to pitch in around here more frequently in the short term.
Shortly after I started posting here on weekends, one reader emailed wanting to know more:
I get the sense however that DK is no ordinary reader, someone sitting around in Peoria who surfs the web and just happened to impress Josh with his/her trenchant insights. Can you give us a little bit of a clue — is DK a journalist, a gov’t insider (or former gov’t insider), a academic, none of the above? I can understand if DK is unwilling to fully reveal him/herself but it would be nice to know a little bit more about them.
Expectations like that don’t make coming out of the closet any easier. Sorry to say, but just an ordinary reader. Not an insider or an academic. A decade ago, before law school, I was a journalist and editor, but for a small alternative newsweekly in the South, far removed from any power centers. I actually live about 250 miles from Peoria, in Missouri, so that reader was closer to being on the mark than he knew.
But enough about me. The work we do here should speak for itself, and it’s not work we could do without your tips, feedback, and trenchant insights. So my thanks to you for that as well.
Americans aren’t frustrated about Iraq, as the President says. They are appalled:
While no one knows how many Iraqis have died, daily tallies of violent deaths by The Associated Press average nearly 45 a day. About half of them are unidentified bodies discovered on city streets or floating in the Tigris River.
The United Nations estimates about 100 violent deaths daily. The Iraqi health minister last week put civilian deaths over the entire 44 months since the U.S. invasion at about 150,000 — close to the U.N. figure and about three times the previously accepted estimates of 45,000 to 50,000.
In morgues across Iraq where capacity stretches beyond thin, bodies are even being turned away.
“We have to reject them,” Hadi al-Itabi of the morgue in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, said he told men who turned in the bodies of six slain border policeman last week. “We just don’t have enough cold storage.”
Iraq’s bureaucracy of death is overwhelmed.
Like the President, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) thinks that Americans are just discouraged. McCain used the word “frustrated” or its variation seven times today in his appearance today on Meet the Press in talking about Iraq and the midterm elections.
The Republicans’ attitude on this is the same now as it was before the elections: if Americans would just buck up, we could win this war.
Dems move to protect the U.S. special auditor in Iraq. That and other news of the day in today’s Daily Muck.
Conservative direct mail guru Richard Viguerie, on Tom Delay:
“When Tom and his bunch first ran, they campaigned against the cesspool in Washington. After a while they looked around and said, ‘Hey, this isn’t a cesspool, it’s a hot tub.’ “
We’ve got so much going on here at TPM that I almost neglected to mention that today, November 13th, is the sixth anniversary of TPM. Right here, you can see the first post I ever wrote at TPM, back on November 13th, 2000, in the thick of the Florida recount.
It amazes me that I’ve actually been doing this for six years. But from another perspective, it’s hard for me to imagine not having this site and this audience as a sort of constant companion in the way I think about politics and news and I guess, candidly, where, if anywhere, I fit into any of it.
If you’re a longtime reader of the site you know that we’ve been growing our operation incrementally over the last 18 months or so. And as I mentioned this weekend, we have major expansion plans that, if all goes according to plan, we’ll be rolling out over the ten weeks or so.
We hope you’ll like the new stuff.
Election Central has an update on the 10 remaining undecided House races.
Update: A counting error has cost Democrat Joe Courtney 100 votes in his still undecided race against Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Simmons in the CT-02. That leaves Courtney ahead by a mere 65 votes.
Late Update: To clarify, the counting error favored Courtney, so the correction of the error reduced his vote tally.