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WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2009 – Pentagon officials today announced additional replacement units scheduled to deploy next year to Afghanistan as part of the requirement to maintain the current level of security efforts there, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. More than 11,000 soldiers from three units – two from the active duty Army and one from the Army National Guard -- will rotate into Afghanistan in the spring, summer and fall of 2010. The units that received orders are: -- 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, from Fort Campbell, Ky.; -- 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment from Vilseck, Germany; and...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will appear as the special guest at a fundraiser next week to benefit South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's 2010 re-election, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by the Fix. The event, which will be held on Monday in Charleston at the home of Sheila and Bill Prezzano, features a number of power players in Palmetto State politics including money men Dick Coen, Bill Hewitt and O.L. Thompson as well as former Gov. Jim Edwards, former Rep. Tommy Hartnett and Republican National Committeewoman Cindy Costa. Hosts for the event are expected to donate...

While his party leaders have lined up behind Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida’s Republican Senate primary next year, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) announced Monday that he was endorsing former state Speaker Marco Rubio. “I enthusiastically support Marco Rubio in his campaign for U.S. Senate,” Inhofe said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “Marco is exactly the type of conservative leader Americans need in Washington today fighting for the principles of limited government, individual liberty and personal responsibility.” In his endorsement, Inhofe also appeared to take an indirect shot at the more moderate Crist for backing President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus...

Charlie Crist has begun airing the first radio ads of the U.S. Senate race – blasting President Obama for his freespending of taxpayer money, some of which the governor earlier endorsed. A pair of 60-second spots have begun airing statewide – one sending a “message” to Obama that “enough is enough.” The other claims “Washington is out of control. “Yet the president has the same tired answer for every problem – to spend more of your money,” the spot begins. Crist’s approach to Obama and federal spending is a departure from just months ago. Shortly after joining Obama in Fort...

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, expanded his fundraising edge over six Republican primary challengers, reporting late Friday that he raked in more than $450,000 during the past three months. Republican small-businessman Rob Curnock raised nearly $56,000 during the same three-month period ending Sept. 30. That left Curnock with $42,557 on hand to spend. Chuck Wilson, a former CIA case officer from Waco, trailed Curnock, having taken in more than $39,000 in the period. A third GOP challenger, Dave McIntyre, a retired Army colonel and national security expert from College Station, raised more than $23,000. Timothy Delasandro and J.W. Autem’s fundraising...

"People are more frightened than they were in '93 and '94 -- both by the radicalism of the administration and by the economy," Gingrich said. But he added: "They're more skeptical of Republicans than they were in '93 and '94. The aftereffect of '06 and '08 is there's not a rush to Republicans."

Tide turns in D.C.2010 elections could be painful for Democrats By Mona Charen Published: October 18, 2009 As Obama, Pelosi and Reid rush to transform America into a European-style social democratic state, they must be nervous; they must feel the sand sliding under their feet. The 2010 elections are just over the horizon and the omens are not encouraging for them. Thomas Jefferson warned that "Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities.” Maybe so. But the Democrats may be calculating that a slender majority is better than an anorexic majority, or no majority at all. In 2006, it...

Ethics fight hits Rep. Charles Rangel's campaign funds; could hurt him in 2010 electionBY Michael Saul DAILY NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Saturday, October 17th 2009, 4:00 AM Rep. Charles Rangel's campaign coffers are being drained by his battle to survive an ethics probe, leaving him vulnerable to a well-funded challenger next year. The Harlem Democrat spent more than $250,000 in campaign cash on legal fees from July 1 to Sept. 30, newly released records show - 56% of his total expenses for the period. His overall lawyer bills now total $1.1 million since a House Ethics Committee probe into his...

Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier announced Thursday that he would switch gears and run for the House seat currently held by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), rather than for the Senate. “It’s time to re-energize the people’s House with new leadership and better solutions. The 7th Congressional District represents the right path, right now, to do my part in helping make America better. The people here deserve a better choice,” Frazier said in a statement.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact : Leigh-Ann Bellew National Communications and Media Relations Coordinator M.O.M. for America www.MOMforAmerica.com labellew@momforamerica.net 732-670-6699 M.O.M. FOR AMERICA TO RALLY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Sisterhood of patriots organizing to voice frustrations over excessive federal spending and increasing governmental interference in the lives of their children and families. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Mothers who are concerned about the future of America for their children and families are organizing to gather next year in the nation’s capital. The M.O.M. for America Rally is set for August 14, 2010. "M.O.M. for America was founded for the mothers of the United States...

The 2010 elections will transform America. Consider what will happen as these massive voter groups begin to fuse and, at an absolute minimum, strongly trend AWAY from big government liberalism. Irritated republicans. Angry conservatives. Ron Paul libertarians. Registered independents. Disaffected democrats. Angry Medicare seniors. Disillusioned Jews. And drum roll: Conservative youth (18-26). Pray, just for a moment (or longer, it's OK), reflect and analyze these energized groups. While political trends are often difficult to recognize and it's nearly impossible to predict individual winners in specific political races, I hold these observations to be self evident: Common sense, combined with American...

What's Glenn Beck Up To? Something Big, He Says Hey -- we like conspiracies too! Here's one, with some fact attached to it: conservative media icon Glenn Beck is planning something big -- very big -- for 2010. On his radio show yesterday, Beck alluded to a major nationwide mobilization project of some kind that he and some colleagues will soon announce. "If you think the 9/12 project was something...you ain't seen nothing yet," he said (roughly -- I didn't have a pen handy when he uttered this). Beck's 9/12 project brought tens of thousands of his ideological compatriots to...

As Democratic congressional contenders Tarryl Clark and Maureen Reed compete for cash, they're walking a tight rope. They must appeal to Democratic activists now without taking stands that could come back to haunt them later with other voters in their Sixth Congressional District showdown with conservative Republican incumbent Michele Bachmann. Signaling a tough race for the DFL endorsement and nomination, Clark and Reed are off to fast fundraising starts more than a year before the election. But Bachmann has started even faster, according to new government reports.

With Rory Reid getting set to kick off his Nevada gubernatorial bid, Chris Cillizza writes on the “dangers of dynastic politics,” especially prescient in this case given the elder Reid’s poor standing with Silver State voters. --- and a bunch more

As you are aware, I released my initial winter outlook on September 1, 2009 (you can read the full post here) and I followed that up with some specific details for key locations with this post. On October 14, 2009, one of the nation’s largest private weather companies, AccuWeather, released their 2009-10 Winter Outlook (viewable by clicking provided link) and today, October 15, 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the official U.S. Government 2009-10 Winter Outlook. I would like to compare my forecast with the other two and to see if we are thinking in similar ways...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Republican Rand Paul has raised more than $1 million for his U.S. Senate campaign, largely from Internet fundraisers that have proven especially lucrative for him. The son of former presidential candidate Ron Paul eclipsed all other major candidates in the third quarter.

Who is the favorite in the Kentucky GOP primary for Jim Bunning's U.S. Senate seat? Candidate A raised $1,010,668 in the third quarter, and Candidate B raised $642,857. While Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson has been considered the Republican establishment pick for the nomination (Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and 22 other GOP Senators supported Grayson at a D.C. fundraiser last month), he is Candidate B in this scenario. Candidate A is Bowling Green eye doctor Rand Paul. Given Paul's $1 million take, primarily from two internet "moneybombs," modeled after the presidential campaigns of Paul's father, U.S. Rep. Ron...

Republican-turned-Democratic Senator Arlen Specter trails potential GOP challenger Pat Toomey by five points in an early look at Pennsylvania's 2010 Senate race. But another Democrat, Joe Sestak, runs dead-even with the likely Republican candidate. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Pennsylvania voters shows 45% would vote for Toomey if the election were held today. Forty percent (40%) would vote for Specter, while six percent (6%) prefer a third option. Nine percent (9%) are undecided. If Sestak wins the Democratic nomination, however, the race is a toss-up: 38% for Sestak and 37% for Toomey.

Hmmm. I could have sworn Nancy Pelosi had the votes for this thing back in July. Then last week they were almost to 218. Now it appears that Steny Hoyer may be punting the House bill into late December or, worse (for the Democrats), into the legislative graveyard of 2010.

Tom Jensen, a spokesman for the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, has been among the most outspoken. He said the high number of Democrats with districts that are significantly black means such a turnout shift could be disastrous for Democrats. “If what looks like is going to happen in Virginia plays out on a national level, I do think Democrats will lose the House,” Jensen said.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday endorsed Sen. Arlen Specter's GOP opponent in the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate race, giving Pat Toomey the backing of one of the Republican Party's most influential members. Romney, who ran unsuccessfully for his party's presidential nomination last year and is considered a top contender in 2012, announced his support for Toomey in Philadelphia.

WASHINGTON -- Americans have historically swung between anger at big business and anger at Washington. This year their rage has targeted business and government with equal fury. Public frustration over Wall Street failures that led to the financial crisis was typified by the uproar over bonus payments to American International Group Inc. executives. Those feelings haven't dissipated, political strategists say. At the same time, Americans are equally upset at what they call overreaching by Congress and federal bureaucrats, with protesters taking to the streets to decry "socialism" and a "government takeover" of the economy. Policy makers face a quandary. With...

The mayor of Hendersonville, N.C., says he is ready to challenge Rep. Health Shuler in 2010. Republican Greg Newman told local news outlets of his decision on Monday. Newman has been mayor of Hendersonville since 2005. In 2008,Shuler won a second term in the House by beating Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower by 26 points in a race that national Republicans did not target. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., carried the district by 5 points in the presidential race, Questions about a real estate development could make Shuler more of a target in 2010. CQ Politics currently rates the general election...

Class III - Senators Whose Terms of Service Expire in 2011

Political handicappers are looking at the 2010 Senate contests and they see lots of blue seats turning purple and red before their eyes.

American voters have been demonstrating a lack of confidence in both parties lately. George W. Bush nearly destroyed the Republican Party, but Barack Obama is giving it a chance at resurrection. Karl Rove dreamed that he and Bush, like strategist Mark Hanna and President William McKinley in 1896, would create a generation of Republican dominance. Instead, he delivered both Congress and the presidency to the Democrats. Receive news alerts Sign Up David Boaz RealClearPolitics election 2010 Democratic Party Health care Republican Party Barack Obama [+] More Bush turned off libertarian-leaning moderates and independents with his profligate spending, his excessive social...

The Tusk has mentioned his prospects in this race before, but now it looks like it's all over for Senate Democrat Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada. Polls are consistently showing him lagging behind his two potential competitors, Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian. But the surest factor indicating his assured retirement is this: Though respondents can't decide whom they want to win the Republican primary, they're certain they don't support Reid, the Senate majority leader seeking his fifth consecutive six-year term. In one general election scenario, 49 percent of respondents picked Lowden and 39 percent chose Reid. In another, 48 percent...

A turning point in US history has come; either the Elites who advocate for the statist cause for control prevails or the self-governance by the citizenry prevails. We are at the tipping point of government micromanagement versus individual responsibility (power). Unless you have been living as a hermit these past few years most people now recognize the stark choice that is before the country. Will the government be allowed to usurp individual choice and responsibility without opposition by reason of clever arguments by those who claim they know better or will the people rise up and clean house in the...

As soon as Republican Rep. Michael N. Castle announced last week that he was running for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s open Senate seat, election analysts rated the contest a tossup favoring the Republican Party. Mr. Biden's seat had been rated safely Democratic by all the forecasters. However, the nine-term congressman and former two-term Delaware governor, who has never lost an election (winning vote totals in the 60 percent to 70 percent range) changed all that with his entry into the race. The Democrats were in danger of losing yet another Senate seat in 2010...

Heart surgeon Dr. Larry Bucshon, the candidate that some 8th District Republican leaders say is the likely GOP challenger to Rep. Brad Ellsworth, is set to announce his candidacy. Bucshon, 47, will make a noon announcement Monday on the riverfront pavilion in Newburgh and appear Monday night at Princeton High School at a book-signing for former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind. Bucshon's campaign issued statements supporting him by party chairmen in Vanderburgh, Warrick, Posey and Gibson counties.

The impending feud between South Carolina Republican Reps. Joe Wilson and Bob Inglis heated up slightly Tuesday as the “You Lie!” Congressman held a fundraiser in Greenville — the heart of Inglis’ conservative Upstate district. Wilson told a packed room at Tommy’s Country Ham House that he felt like he was among friends. The Greenville News reported that Wilson said the trip was an act of gratitude to the Upstate’s talk-radio community for inspiring his larger involvement in the health-care debate. The rare out-of-district fundraiser was undoubtedly a slight at Inglis, who was one of only seven House Republicans to...

Gov. Charlie Crist and his ``stimulus czar'' said Friday that a recent federal report supports Florida's go-slow approach to spending federal recovery money earmarked for highway projects and schools. Even so, Florida's overall stimulus spending is a bit ahead of schedule, said czar Don Winstead, whose official title is special advisor to the governor on economic stimulus. Federal officials in February said they expected the state to spend about 20 percent of its estimated $15 billion in stimulus money by the end of September. ``I think we will be ahead of that schedule,'' Winstead said. ``We are seeing rapid deployment...

Republicans shuffled the deck of possible candidates to take on U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson Friday, with various names moving in or out of play. But the party's front-runner, former state Sen. Dan Webster, kept his congressional plans to himself. One party insider who spoke with Webster late Friday said he expects him to run. The Winter Garden Republican's decision -- which Webster himself said to expect by Saturday -- could then trigger more GOP entries or exits from the race to defeat Orlando's flamboyant freshman Democrat, who lately has made a sport of ticking off conservatives. However, no matter what...

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The full Senate this week is expected to resume its consideration of the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill that funds the nation's immigration court system and reimburses states for the costs they bear in incarcerating criminal aliens.  When it does so, the Senate will be faced with a vote on an amendment offered by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) that would force the Census Bureau to inquire about the immigration status of every person in the United States as part of its 2010 decennial census.  The Senate also this week could be faced with votes on making the E-Verify program permanent...

Michael Long, chairman of the Conservative Party of New York, is urging fellow conservatives not to contribute to the National Republican Congressional Committee. His complaint: The NRCC is supporting the Republican candidate in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, who he says is out of step with GOP values. The Republicans have nominated centrist State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava as their candidate in the special election to be held on Nov. 3. In response, the Conservative Party nominated its own candidate, local accountant Doug Hoffman. Hoffman has been getting some traction, winning endorsements from several conservative groups and garnering 16% support in...

The GOP has had five possible candidates: State Rep. Tom Kovach, who is close to Castle; businessman Anthony Wedo; Ferris Wharton, a former prosecutor who narrowly lost to Beau Biden for state Attorney General in 2006; former U.S. Attorney Colm Connolly; and former state Senate Minority Leader Charlie Copeland. "I don't want to make it seem like once we have a candidate, that candidate will be a frontrunner," the source said. "I think everyone knows it will be an uphill battle to hold the seat. But I feel confident that we can run a credible candidate and run a vigorous...

Former Republican Study Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is announcing that he will back Dede Scozzafava in the special election in New York. “I am supporting Dede Scozzafava in her campaign for Congress," Hensarling said in a statement. "I am backing the only Republican in this race who can win and don’t want to lose this seat to Nancy Pelosi for a generation.” The conservative leader's backing should lend Scozzafava some credibility with the right, as Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman gains endorsements from other conservatives like former presidential candidate Fred Thompson and the American Conservative Union. Hensarling's reference suggests...

Analysts: Rangel's woes could be liability for Dems in 2010updated 7:04 p.m. EDT, Thu October 8, 2009 From Ed Hornick CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As one of the most influential Democrats in the House of Representatives, Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York, has seen the highs and lows that come with the job. Lately, it's been a steady drum beat of criticism by Republicans against the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, the lead body for writing tax law in the House. Rangel has been under investigation for over a year on several ethics issues, including failure...

The nominee in a looming House special election is at the heart of an angry dispute between conservatives and Republican House leadership, a rift so serious that it threatens the party’s chances of keeping control of the upstate New York seat. At issue is the National Republican Congressional Committee’s support for Dede Scozzafava, a New York assemblywoman who conservatives assert is so liberal that they absolutely cannot support her candidacy. Instead, many conservative groups are rallying behind Doug Hoffman, a third-party candidate running on the Conservative Party line, even though their support for him might pave the way for a...

I'm a life-long Republican, and I'm sorry to say I don't recognize the party anymore. The party of smaller government, personal freedom, and fiscal responsibility has become the party of bloated government, covert subjugation of our personal rights, porous borders, and deficits that are bankrupting our nation. Would it shock you to know that three-quarters of our total national debt was incurred under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush? We all know Barack Obama is on a path to outdo the two of them combined. There was much hand-wringing after the last election, with no shortage of advice on what...

I consider myself one of those disgruntled registered voters who prefers to consider himself a conservative rather than a Republican. In fact, I had been leaning toward throwing my support behind candidates from lesser-known third parties. That changed today after a conservative friend of mine shared a copy of an e-mail he sent recently to a local representative of a conservative, third-party group seeking candidates to run against Democrats and Republicans in future elections.

Stock-market champion Warren Buffett was identified this afternoon as a $2,400 donor to Houston Mayor Bill White’s U.S. Senate campaign in a note from White’s campaign otherwise touting his successes raising money online. White spokeswoman Katy Bacon said Buffett also is poised to give again to White if there’s a special-election runoff. Buffett, who hails from Nebraska, doesn’t show up on the Texas Ethics Commission Web site as a past donor to Texas candidates for state office, though he ponied up to Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama last year and to Democratic Senate candidates including Al Franken...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Former New York City mayor and one-time GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is endorsing Meg Whitman's bid for the gubernatorial nomination in California. In a statement released Wednesday by Whitman's campaign, Giuliani says he believes the former eBay chief executive could help re-energize the Republican party's grassroots.

Rangel dodges the bullet again with a little help from his corruption-enabling friends. Final vote tabling Carter’s resolution to remove Rangel from W&M chairmanship: 243-156. 19 voted present. 3 REPUBLICANS joined the Democrats. Will post roll call vote as soon as it is up.

PHOENIX — An Arizona sheriff known for aggressively cracking down on illegal immigration has been stripped of some of his special power to enforce federal immigration law, and he claims the Obama administration is taking away his authority for political reasons. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose office faces racial profiling allegations over crime and immigration sweeps in some heavily Latino areas of metro Phoenix, said officials from Washington won't let him renew a deal that let his deputies make federal immigration arrests

Meg Whitman, the 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate already on the defensive for her embarrassingly poor voting record, once endorsed and actively supported Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, one of the most proudly liberal politicians in California. Whitman not only endorsed Boxer and donated the maximum $4,000 to the junior California senator's 2004 re-election campaign, but the former eBay CEO also served on an exclusive committee of Technology Leaders for Boxer in her re-election battle against Republican California Secretary of State Bill Jones, according to election records obtained by The Chronicle. Whitman, in a 2003 Boxer campaign statement, spoke strongly on Boxer's...

Peter Schiff's day job is running Euro Pacific Capital, a Connecticut-based investment fund. But he's better known as the guy who called the housing collapse and recession back in 2006. Schiff, a hard-core free-marketeer and an adviser to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) during his 2008 presidential run, now moonlights as a cable news analyst and has become a YouTube fixture, thanks to the "Peter Schiff Was Right" mashups of his predictions. His latest job: seeking the Republican nomination to run against Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the banking committee. Washington Post business reporter Frank Ahrens spoke with Schiff about...

Conservative Republican Marco Rubio says $1 million in donations to his Senate campaign is a 'strong statement' about the direction of the GOP. BY BETH REINHARD U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio said Tuesday he raised nearly $1 million in the past three months to challenge Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination, turning what looked like a cakewalk for the popular incumbent governor into a potentially competitive race. In the previous fundraising quarter, Crist's $4.3 million dwarfed the $340,000 raised by Rubio. But the former leader of the Florida House from Miami gained momentum, winning 11 small, unofficial polls of county...

With many eyes trained on candidate recruitment efforts against Rep. Alan Grayson (D) in Florida’s 8th district, it appears that speculation about who might be the GOP’s standard-bearer is focused squarely on one high-profile potential challenger — former state Sen. Dan Webster.