You have to look long and hard for race ratings moving in a Republican direction. But here’s one: Charlie Cook just moved the Maryland senate race from Leans Dem to Toss Up.
Let’s have a little fun.
Anyone remember this? Let’s go back to 1996 and a March 13th AP article on the passage of a new anti-crime and anti-terrorism bill.
Here’s one choice passage …
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, seemed incensed at the prevailing mood on the House floor. “I heard a dear friend of mine, a great Republican, say, ‘I trust Hamas more than I trust my own government,’ Hyde said in a reference to the terrorist group that has claimed responsibility for the recent wave of suicide bombings in Israel.
He did not identify the other lawmaker by name.
Trusts Hamas more than the US government. A Republican member of Congress. Who could that be?
Any guesses? He’s still in Congress. And his race is on the DCCC’s Red to Blue list.
Here, for those interested in sleuthing on the previous post, is the quotation from Rep. Hyde (R-IL) on the day in question from the Congressional Record.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, it is kind of a sad day for me, and I will tell the Members why. Earlier in the day, standing back there I heard a dear friend of mine, a great Republican, say `I trust Hamas more than I trust my own government.’ Those words hurt. That is a very tragic situation, because our Government is made up of a lot of people, including me and you, a lot of good judges, honest judges with families.
What Republican member of the 109th Congress would have said such a thing?
A week later (3/21/96) Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) said Hyde should reveal the name of the congressman who trusted Hamas more than the US government …
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, the entire world has been shocked, appalled, and reviled by the latest wave of terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel. More than 50 innocent men, women, and children have been killed by suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
So I was similarly shocked and reviled to hear a comment made on the House floor last week in the course of debate on the so-called antiterrorist bill. The gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde ], the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, said this: `Early in the day standing back there, I heard a dear friend of mine, a great Republican say, `I trust Hamas more than I trust my own Government.’
He went on to say those words hurt. Those words do hurt indeed. But who, Madam Speaker, who, Mr. Hyde , who on the Republican side really believed they could trust Hamas more than our own Government? Who among my colleagues truly believes they can trust a terrorist organization that sends suicide bombers to rob innocent children more than the U.S. Government?
Madam Speaker, the American people have a right to know who among their elected Representatives trusts Hamas more than the United States. Until that person steps forward, or is identified, a cloud hangs over each and every Republican Member of this House.
Lewis returned to the House floor the next day and said …
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, there is a Member of this Congress, a Republican, who has told one of his colleagues that he `trusts Hamas more than he trusts our own Government.’ That is an outrageous and morally repugnant statement, Mr. Speaker.
Hamas is a terrorist organization that targets, maims, and kills innocent men, women, and children. Which Member of Congress thinks they can trust that sick and twisted group more than our own Government. Whoever believes this doesn’t deserve the right and privilege to serve in this Congress.
Mr. Speaker, this anonymous Republican Member has disgraced him or herself and cast a cloud over the entire Congress. The Members and the American people deserve an explanation and an apology.
Who among you? Who among you believes such a thing? Step forward and explain yourself. The American people are watching and waiting. For shame, Mr. Speaker, for shame.
The congressman never stepped forward.
Wal-Mart cuts ties with GOP hatchet man Terry Nelson, who helped produce RNC’s bimbo ad in Tennessee Senate race.
That splashing sound is the rats jumping overboard:
Corporate America is already thinking beyond Election Day, increasing its share of last-minute donations to Democratic candidates and quietly devising strategies for how to work with Democrats if they win control of Congress.
The shift in political giving, for the first 18 days of October, has not been this pronounced in the final stages of a campaign since 1994, when Republicans swept control of the House for the first time in four decades.
. . .
An analysis by The New York Times of contributions from Oct. 1 to 18, the latest data available, shows that donations to Republicans from corporate political action committees dropped by 11 percentage points in favor of Democratic candidates, compared with corporate giving from January through September.
Republicans still received 57 percent of contributions, compared with 43 percent for Democrats, but it was the first double-digit October switch since 1994.
Hedging time.
The current budget deficit? Clinton’s fault.
So says Rep. John “Animal House” Sweeney (R-NY):
The deficit is actually a result of a recession that began in his administration. We are exponentially paying down the deficit in an accelerated time frame.
Mark Foley started trying to diddle pages during Clinton’s administration, so I guess we should blame Clinton for that, too.
Did Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, the GOP’s write-in candidate for Tom Delay’s old seat, break Texas election laws by campaigning inside a polling station this week?
Poll watcher Jane Borden Matcha said Sekula-Gibbs entered the polling place inside the First Colony Conference Center on Thursday.
“I was dumbfounded because she marched right up to me and said âHi, Iâm Shelley Sekula-Gibbsâ â¦and it was my understanding that candidates are not allowed in the polling place unless they’re voting,” Borden Matcha said.
. . .
“I had gone inside to go the bathroom,” said Sekula-Gibbs. “I was definitely not campaigning.”
Who can blame her for hanging out at polling stations? The poor woman has about the worst name imaginable for a write-in candidate. Actually, what I think she said was, “Hi, I’m S-H-E-L-L-E-Y space S-E-K-U-L-A hyphen G-I-B-B-S.”
The fight is on in New Jersey. The RNC yesterday dropped $3 million into the Senate race for attack ads on Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
More outside money is flowing into the NV-03, where Tessa Hafen is mounting an unexpectedly stiff challenge to Republican incumbent Jon Porter. The Democratic 527 group, VoteVets, whose ads this year include this one about insufficient body armor in Iraq, spent a quarter of a million dollars this week for attack ads on Porter, according to FEC reports filed yesterday.