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I want to start a series that can go on until the November midterm elections on the ridiculous, flawed, unethical, foolish or flat-out insane things that Republican Senate candidates have said, done or proposed doing. Obviously a few have gotten top attention this cycle, we all know that Rand Paul is not too keen on civil rights and that Sharron Angle thinks rape is a questionable at best reason for having an abortion, but I want to go alphabetically through the list of states that have a Senate race this Fall and find at least one reason to not allow the Republican anywhere near the upper house. This week I’m going from Alaska to California. Alaska: Senator Lisa Murkowski is up for reelection in 2010 and her state is first on our list. As much as I want to take a crack at the state’s former governor, Sarah Baracuda isn’t running for anything anytime soon, so we’ll address her Senatorial counterpart. It didn’t take long to remember that Murkowski recently sponsored a bill to eliminate the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon emissions. As Republicans in both houses try to stop a climate bill in its tracks, the EPA has been the backstop for reform. If a bill doesn’t pass then the EPA might act on its own and since Murkowski needs to protect the oil money in Alaska, she tried to prevent carbon pricing. The bill failed, but Murkowski didn’t fail to show us her pro-oil side. Arizona: Well my friends, next up alphabetically is the mavericky, party bucking maverick from Arizona, John (Maverick) McCain. I’m sorry, I misspoke, John McCain is not and has never been a maverick. McCain is running in a primary against arch-conservative J.D. Hayworth and while it was an interesting race for a while, the current senator is now a strong favorite. With that in mind let’s look at a minor change of heart that our favorite maverick. Jon Stewart details the flip-flop in this segment on immigration. The part relevant to Mavericky McMaverickpants starts around 1:15, but the whole clip is worth watching. I could go on about how he now opposes the sort of Cap-and-Trade proposal that he ran on in 2008, but I limited myself to one dose of crazy per race. Arkansas: While I know some of us were pulling for Bill Halter and may not be crazy about Blanche Lincoln at the moment, one thing Lincoln has not done is support partially privatizing Social Security and Medicare. That’s where Representative John Boozman comes in. The Republican candidate and current member of Congress has expressed support for Rep. Ryan’s plan to take your safety net and put it in the hands of Wall Street traders. California: Carly Fiorina really says is best herself. Just watch the ad, oh and this one too. Wow just wow. I know they’re both longer than most of us are used to in a political ad, but sometimes true genius needs to stretch traditional artistic barriers. Give them the time they deserve, you will not regret it. That’s it for this installment, more to come soon. Back CommentsAdd Comment |
