POLITICS DEPT:
Polling news:
Arizona Republican Senate primary--sure looks to me like John McCain will survive the primary challenge from J.D. Hayworth.
Missouri U.S. Senate race--there, Republican Roy Blunt looks to be in decent shape.
Arizona immigration law: do you think that law remains popular in Arizona? Ever since Governor Jan Brewer signed it into law, she's zoomed to a 20 point lead in the polls in the governor's race.
As for the Republican campaign this fall, this is encouraging:
"In a reprise of a long-ago clash between Democratic presidential candidates, House Republicans contend that they can answer the mocking challenge “Where’s the beef?”
The GOP response: Create incentives for new jobs, cut federal spending and clean up Congress. Although the specifics remain a work in progress, Republican leaders are inching toward a substantive campaign agenda after a behind-the-scenes battle over how specific the policy proposals should be."
But the proof will be in the pudding. I note that Republicans are against, right now, a grand rollout of new ideas a la the Contract with America of 1994. I can see the desire not to be seen as copying from something done 16 years ago. But remember-the Contract was the right thing to do, and...it worked. Republicans need some kind of grand entrance for something, whether they call it a "contract" or something else. And it should signal real change in a conservative direction.
Hmmm...from Chuck Todd et al from MDNBC is their "First Thoughts" section:
"The AP runs this quote from Washington state Senate candidate Dino Rossi (R): "The idea of dragging home pork is an old-school measurement of a senator,’ said Republican Dino Rossi… ‘And right now, with Republicans and Democrats alike doing that, it's bankrupting America. There's nothing in the Constitution that says the job of a senator is bringing home pork." Rossi’ quote raises an important question: If a senator or member of Congress isn’t supposed to bring home the bacon, then what is his/her job? To simply cast votes? Sit at committee hearings? Wage ideological fights?"
Er--well, sure, Chuck and others, I'll be glad to take a crack at that one: yes, one of their jobs is indeed to "cast votes"---informed votes, which show a knowledge of the issues; votes about which the congressperson can then keep his or her district informed. And yes, wage "fights"--if the fight is an important one, over a crucial issue, if the fight is worth having. Many of us believed the "fight" over ObamaCare was a pretty important one, and yes, it involved "ideology", I guess, but that didn't make it bad or unnecessary. Let's ask you guys some questions: do you think most big fights in "congress" are "ideological fights"? Do you think ideological fights are necessarily bad? Do you really think the most important thing a congresscritter should do is "bring home the bacon", i.e. money and projects? If so, where does that end, and how will we ever slow down spending and/or reduce the national debt???
BASEBALL DIARY:
Tigers 6, Blue Jays 5 (2nd game of DH): the Tigers had a tough weekend. They only split 4 games with Toronto; and lost key players to bad injuries. But rallying for 4 runs in the 8th inning to win the nightcap shows they do have some toughness. But all this bad luck makes it real tough to expect Detroit to continue to contend this year...
Rangers 6, Angels 4: but the Texas Rangers had a great weekend. They took 3 of 4 from the Angels, the team chasing them in the AL West. Starting pitcher Tommy Hunter has now won 8 starts and lost none. Josh Hamilton is hitting .357 with a lot of RBIs. The Rangers allowed only 6 runs to the Angels in their 3 victories...
