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2010 Political and Government News
2010 is shaping up to be an intense, raucous and possibly historic year in American politics. Congressional off-year elections, the continuing economic crisis, Barack Obama entering his "sophomore" year as president, more and more Senators and Representatives choosing to not run for re-election, and the ongoing issue of war and terrorism, all combine to produce what may be a sea-change in national politics. This page will be updated often as political news and events occur. Check back often for ongoing news and analysis of U.S. political events.Below is a menu of the contents of the 2010 Political News Site
Beau Biden Bows Out--Scott Brown Takes Kennedy Seat--Anti-Government Domestic Terrorist Hits IRS Office--Anti-Tax Activists Laud Joe Stack's Attack--Ron Paul Wins the CPAC Straw Poll--Perry Wins Texas Governor's Primary--
Perry Beats Hutchison in Texas Gubernatorial Primary
More evidence of America's very strong anti-incumbent, anti-D.C. fever came on March 2, 2010 with the defeat of incumbent Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison by Governor Rick Perry in Texas' Republican Gubernatorial primary election. The fact both candidates were incumbents only makes the anti-Congress and anti-Washington D.C. insider message clearer. Perry successfully painted Senator Hutchison as a bad manager of the people's money in her time in the Senate.
Ron Paul Wins the CPAC Straw Poll
The Presidential Straw Poll taken at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference in February, 2010, ended up with a somewhat surprising winner: Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul, who in many respects is the philosophical godfather of the Tea Party Movement. In a sense, his win should not be a total surprise given the very high anti-tax, and anti-Big Government feeling in Conservative circles these days. The Social Conservaties like Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee are now in the backseat. Economic conservatism has often been the bedrock philosophy that the conservative movement goes back to when faced with a liberal, big-government president and (in this case), an even more liberal and left-leaning Democratic majority in Congress. See also: Ron Paul.com.The full poll results are:
Texas Rep. Ron Paul - 31 %Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- 22 %
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- 7 %
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty - 6 %
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich - 4 %
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- 4 %
Indiana Rep. Mike Pence - 5 %
South Dakota Sen. John Thune -- 2 %
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels -- 2 %
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- 2 %
Mississippi Gov. Hailey Barbour - 1 %
Other - 5 %
Undecided - 6 %
Anti-Tax Activists Laud Joe Stack's Attack
Some anti-tax activists, such as Conservative talk show host Jon Alvarez of WFBM-AM 1390 in Syracuse, New York, saw Stack's actions as an appropriate response to pent-up anger and frustration with the IRS and the Federal government. Alvarez went so far as to create a Facebook page lauding Stack's actions. Facebook took the page down, citing its policy against using the social networking site for hateful speech.
Anti-Government Domestic Terrorist Hits IRS Office
The blazing assault by Joe Stack on the Austin IRS offices comes at a scary time in American politics. The euphoria felt in some corners of America after the election of Barack Obama has now given way to fear. Fear by many, especially those drawn to the populist Tea Party demonstrations and events, of an all-powerful government seen as out of control. Fear also, by those who see government as a useful tool to correct social injustice and to aid those who need assistance. That fear is in the form that Obama's promise is being wasted by political theater and partisan divisiveness in Congress and throughout our nation. One needs only look at Senator Evan Bayh's acid comments on the political gridlock in Washington City, and the upset win by a Republican as Ted Kennedy's replacement, to see the political tempest we are now in.
Joe Stack saw the government as an enemy out to get him with tax laws designed to enrich the powerful and already-rich (his manifesto cited Enron, General Motors, and the Wall Street scandals) and not designed to help average Americans. These opinions are nothing new. Many activists on both sides of the political spectrum have said similar things for decades, if not centuries, while trying to advance their own agendas. The scary thing about Joe Stack is that he not only openly called for Americans to revolt and use violence to fix these problems; he acted on his own call to violence. And then he went from being just another taxpayer with a grudge against the IRS to a domestic terrorist when he plunged his plane into a downtown Austin office building full of innocent people. Government workers and bureaucrats who are often the butt of anti-government jokes and insults, yes, but still people innocent of anything deserving of death.
While reading Joe Stack's manifesto, some parts of his diatribe sounded quite similar to commentary made by the Tea Party activists and many economic conservatives critical of the government in general and President Obama in particular. While calls for violence are thankfully few and far between, the fact that many Americans who suffered losses in the Great Recession; lost jobs, lost homes, lost hope, may read Stack's manifesto and see themselves in his list of travails and critiques of government and Wall Street. While clearly no fan of President George W. Bush, Stack in that regard mirrors many who today are frustrated with the system. Analysts have noted that many ordinary citizens drawn to the Tea Party are not necessarily friends of the Republican Party, despite their opposition to the Obama Administration. The fear mentioned earlier is also felt in the GOP, as party leaders see a new movement arise that they may not be able to control and which may turn on them as part of the partisan problem.
Many incumbent politicians fear the rising anti-incumbent fever gripping the electorate; as well they should. But that fear should be only of losing their jobs, not of losing their lives. America is one of the world's most successful, rich, and powerful nations not because we can beat anyone on the battlefield or because our citizenry is any smarter than the rest of the world. No, America's promise, and America's success, rests in the relative stability ensured by our imperfect, yet functioning Constitution, and by the tradition of political stability Americans have cultivated over the centuries. We are no banana republic with a history of coups, revolutions, and constant civil war. We know that when President Obama's time in office ends, either through the ballot box or through constitutionally-mandated term limits, he will leave office, just as all of his predecessors have done. When Americans "throw the Bums out," to use an old-time phrase, we do so with the ballot box, not a box of bullets. Joe Stack (and before him, Timothy McVeigh, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, and all of our other domestic terrorists and assassins) got it all wrong. Some misguided fools may see Stack as a populist hero, but in reality, he misused his anger and rage, and took a step (or flight, as the case may be) onto the Dark Side of American history.
See also:
http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/andrew_joseph_stack.htm
http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/domestic_terrorists_and_assassins.html
Republican Scott Brown Wins the "Kennedy Seat" in Massachusetts
An early preview of the November election is the Special Election in Massachusetts on January 19, 2010 to replace the late Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy, who passed away on August 25, 2009. In a state that has not elected a Republican U.S. Senator since 1972 (when Republican Edward Brooke won office), and for a Senate Seat once held by two members of the famously Democratic Kennedy family. Also, Massachusetts holds a strong liberal Democratic reputation to the point that while campaigning in 2004, President George W. Bush would often deride Massachusetts as the home of Senator Kerry. To conservative voters, those were almost fighting words.
The candidates for this open Senate seat are Democrat Martha Coakley (the incumbent Attorney General in Massachusetts) and Republican State Senator Scott Brown.
As of January 14, 2010, several veteran polling experts all characterized this Senate race as dead even. Given the strong liberal constituency that the late Senator Kennedy enjoyed in his career, the news that a Republican candidate is so close to capturing that Senate seat is a potentially significant blow to President Obama. If the Republicans capture "The Kennedy Seat", Republicans nationwide will be energized for the November elections. On a more immediate level, President Obama's Health Care Reform efforts will be greatly endangered if the Democrats lose their 60-seat supermajority in the Senate.
As election day drew closer, both parties brought out their big guns to campaign for the candidates. On January 15, 2010, former President Bill Clinton campaigned for Democrat Coakley in Worcester, while former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned for Brown in Boston. President Barack Obama appeared to campaign for Coakley on January 17, 2010.
On January 19, 2010, Massachusetts voters elected Republican Scott Brown to take the Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy for 47 years in a major upset that set the tone for the upcoming November elections. Brown took 52% of the vote, while Coakley won only 47% of the vote. High turnout in suburban districts with larger numbers of independent voters who voted for Brown helped push him toward the win.
Beau Biden Bows Out of Delaware Race to Fill His Father's Senate Seat
In late January, 2010, Beau Biden sent shockwaves through Delaware politics, and struck another body blow to the Democratic Party's attempts to retain control of the Senate in the 2010 Congressional Elections when he announce that he would not run for his father's old Senate Seat.
Links and Resources:
Hutchison Concedes Texas G.O.P. Primary to Perry--New York Times, March 2, 2010
Ron Paul wins CPAC straw poll--MSNBC, Feb. 20, 2010
Martha Coakley Campaign website
Ten reasons why the Massachusetts Senate race is very, very important--San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 17, 2010
2010 as 1994? Relax, Democrats--LA Times, Jan. 18, 2010
Massachusetts Senate race: Democratic big guns join the fight-Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 15, 2010
Six factors to watch for Tuesday's election--Boston Globe
Congressional elections, 2010 - On Politics - Breaking News --USA Today
U.S. congressional elections in 2010 - SourceWatch.org
RealClearPolitics - Red Dawn: GOP Revival For 2010 House?--RealClearPolitics.com
Biden’s seat kept warm --TheHill.com, Nov. 24, 2008
Ted Kaufman to succeed Biden in Senate--Politico, Nov. 24, 2008
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15, 2010 Maoist
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15, 2010 Iran
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2010 Earthquake
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13, 2010 Yemen
With al-Qaida Threat May Be New Front In
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2010 al-Qaida
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31, 2009 Attempt
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2009 Joseph
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Joe
Stack Joins Other Domestic Terrorists on the
Dark Side of
History--History Guy
Commentary, posted Feb. 19, 2010