Free Republic

If there was a political attack that could have been predicted, it has to be this one: national Republicans are hitting Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader from Nevada, for living at the Ritz-Carlton. When he is in Washington, Mr. Reid lives in an apartment at the posh hotel. The optics of that would be bad for a politician at almost any time. But it’s especially unfortunate at a moment when Mr. Reid’s home state is ground zero for the housing and foreclosure crisis. The ad, paid for by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, describes the failing economy in Nevada...

With two weeks remaining until Election Day, the political map has expanded to put Democrats on the run across the country – with 99 Democratic-held House seats now in play, according to a POLITICO analysis, and Republicans well in reach of retaking the House. It’s a dramatic departure from the outlook one year ago – and a broader landscape than even just prior to the summer congressional recess. As recently as early September, many Republicans were hesitant to talk about winning a majority for fear of overreaching. Today, however, the non-partisan Cook Political Report predicts a GOP net gain of...

If there's one state that is supposed to represent Democratic ascendancy in recent years, it is Pennsylvania. As one of the Big Three swing states that have determined recent close presidential elections, it was more Democratic than Ohio or Florida, having swung for Al Gore and John Kerry and favored Barack Obama by 10 points. In 2006 Pennsylvania's polarizing, socially conservative senator, Rick Santorum, was tossed out of office by a wide margin. In 2008 Democratic registration in Pennsylvania shot up thanks to excitement over the hotly contested presidential primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, leaving Pennsylvania with 1...

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — The unmistakable, zigzagging profile of the B-2 stealth bomber cut into view here suddenly, roaring above the field of assembled military veterans like a catchy campaign slogan belted at a political rally: Here it is, folks, the plane Representative Ike Skelton brought to town. And in case that message was lost along the way, there was Mr. Skelton, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, his oversize frame still imposing after 17 terms representing this deeply Republican district as that rare Democrat whom the voters have been proud to call their own. Now 78, and facing...

Just received e-mail from my former managing editor at Editor & Publisher (my exit was in January after 10 years) Shawn Moynihan: "The editorial staff of Editor & Publisher has been eliminated by its new owners, Duncan McIntosh Co. inc. As such, I’m writing to let you know I am no longer E&P’s managing editor/online editor." One of my old colleagues in the once-sturdy VNU/Nielsen magazine unit, Tony Case, was first with the news [1]. Top editor Mark Fitzgerald and tech editor Jim Rosenberg also were axed and the new editor works for owner Duncan McIntosh who took over in...

Andy Warhol found artistic inspiration in a can of Campbell's tomato soup. These days, some activists are finding sinister Muslim connections in the same can. Campbell Soup Co., the Camden, N.J., food giant, has been fighting a grass-roots boycott of its products after its Canadian subsidiary rolled out a line of soups certified as halal, meaning they're prepared according to Islamic dietary laws. ISNA, an organization based in Plainfield, Ind., was designated an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the prosecution of a charitable organization that funneled money to Hamas, the Islamist organization that rules the Gaza Strip. Hamas has been named a...

Never mind Nevada. If you are among the party power brokers and political fortune tellers obsessed with America’s most elusive elected position, Senate Seat No. 51, head to Washington — the real one. “It is the future of America that’s at stake here,” said Dino Rossi, the man who just might give the Republicans the Senate majority. “It is, as it’s been dubbed, the 51st seat, potentially.” Or not. “Can I just tell you,” said Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat seeking her fourth term, “that’s the same line I have heard in every election I’ve ever been in.” Is this...

"Non Sequitur" is a popular comic that runs daily in about 800 newspapers, including this one. But the "Non Sequitur" cartoon that appeared in last Sunday's Post was not the one creator Wiley Miller drew for that day. Editors at The Post and many other papers pulled the cartoon and replaced it with one that had appeared previously. They were concerned it might offend and provoke some Post readers, especially Muslims. Miller is known for social satire. But at first glance, the single-panel cartoon he drew for last Sunday seems benign. It is a bucolic scene imitating the best-selling children's...

Naropa University has received a $1.9 million grant -- its largest ever -- to better serve low-income students. The U.S. Department of Education awarded Boulder's Buddhist-inspired college with the grant through its Title III program, and the university will receive $386,000 for this fiscal year. Naropa President Stuart Lord said he's grateful that the Department of Education recognized the school for offering a contemplative education and having a commitment to a diverse student body. Naropa is among 48 schools across the country receiving the grant, offered under the Office of Postsecondary Education's "Strengthening Institutions" program. Schools can use the money...

The acrimonious race between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican challenger Sharron Angle appears to have soured a longtime business relationship between two Las Vegas Valley companies. Speedee Mart executives have notified Anderson Dairy that the convenience store chain will no longer stock Anderson products. The decision by Speedee Mart owners, who regularly support Republican candidates, was made within weeks of Anderson Dairy Vice President Dave Coon narrating a campaign ad for Reid, highlighting the senator’s efforts to help the business. Speedee Mart Operations Manager Ray Johnson said this week that the decision to stop selling Anderson Dairy products,...

New poll numbers out of the Associated Press suggest that Democrats are struggling badly to court white, working class voters in advance of the coming midterm elections, a trend that could have a sizable impact not just on the November election but the 2012 presidential race as well. In the AP data, white voters without college degrees favor Republican over Democrats by 22 points on the generic congressional ballot -- approximately a doubling of the margin the GOP enjoyed among this sliver of the electorate in 2008. The data, which has drawn considerable attention over the past few days, is...

President Obama strove to energize his supporters on Thursday, urging the party faithful in this heavily Democratic town in this most Democratic of states to show up at the polls next month. With less than a month to go before the midterm elections in November, Mr. Obama, facing what most political observers predict will be significant losses of Democratic seats in Congress, was using every weapon in his arsenal to prod the people who helped propel him into the White House two years ago not to cede the partisan battlefield to the Republicans this year. “Don’t make me look bad...

Karen McCarthy, 63, a Missouri Democrat who served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was an early voice of dissent against the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but whose career crumbled amid an ethics breach and a struggle with alcoholism, died Oct. 5 at an Alzheimer's care center in Overland Park, Kan. Ms. McCarthy described herself as a political trailblazer for women. A onetime English teacher, she spent 18 years in the Missouri House of Representatives and rose to become chairwoman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Along the way, she endured taunts from male colleagues. She...

In congressional cloakrooms, an old joke is that everyone responds or salutes when someone asks for “Mr. Chairman.” But on the campaign trail these days, a similar call might cause a run for cover. Known for their seniority in Washington and their political security at home, several House committee chairmen are suddenly on the campaign firing line, a sign that the Republican playing field now extends well beyond the typically vulnerable freshman Democrats and into the most powerful committee offices of the House. At last count, at least six old bulls were facing a serious reelection challenge, with several polling...

Many wealthy Democratic patrons, who in the past have played major roles financing outside groups to help elect the party’s candidates, are sitting out these crucial midterm elections. Democratic donors like George Soros, the bête noire of the right, and his fellow billionaire Peter B. Lewis, who each gave more than $20 million to Democratic-oriented groups in the 2004 election, appear to be holding back so far. “Mr. Soros believes that he can be most effective by funding groups that promote progressive policy outcomes in areas such as health care, the environment and foreign policy,” said an adviser, Michael Vachon....

Five months after the BP oil spill, a federal moratorium still prohibits new deepwater drilling in the American waters of the Gulf of Mexico. And under longstanding federal law, drilling is also banned near the coast of Florida. Yet next year, a Spanish company will begin drilling new wells 50 miles from the Florida Keys — in Cuba’s sovereign waters. Cuba currently produces little oil. But oil experts say the country might have reserves along its north coast as plentiful as that of the international oil middleweights, Ecuador and Colombia — enough to bolster its faltering economy and cut its...

President Obama returned Wednesday to the state that put him on the presidential map, this time fighting to keep his Democratic Party in power and confronting skeptics who challenged him on his policies ranging from tax cuts to health care and the war in Iraq. Continuing his tour of American backyards, Mr. Obama visited the upper middle class neighborhood of Beaverdale, where he took questions from about 70 local residents in the grassy backyard behind a red brick home that belongs to Sandy Clubb, the athletic director at Drake University, and her husband Jeff, who teaches social studies at a...

Max Seifert shot men who tried to kill him and helped solve one of the area’s most horrific animal abuse cases. But a federal judge says the case that cost the Kansas City, Kan., detective the most was his honest investigation of a road rage attack by a federal agent. Seifert exposed the truth about a man who was beaten and charged with a crime after he wouldn’t let an unmarked car pass him on the right. For crossing “the thin blue line,” U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson wrote, Seifert was forced into retirement. “Seifert was shunned, subjected to gossip...

With just three days' notice, Meghan McCain canceled a book tour appearance Thursday at Pennsylvania's Juniata College because of "several unforeseen professional responsibilities," her rep told the college. Busted. The Chronicle of Higher Education looked at McCain's Twitter account and found this: "First real time off in months -- was gonna rest up for phase two next week of my Dirty Sexy Politics book tour," she tweeted Thursday night. "But headed to sin city with my favorite crew of sinners instead ... Viva Las Vegas baby." And McCain kept on tweeting: No apology to the college, just a hissy fit...

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s decision to run for reelection as a write-in candidate has been greeted by conservative activists as the latest outrage in an ongoing struggle between establishment Republicans and the GOP’s activist base. Murkowski’s move ends the 2010 primary season about where it started: With a Republican legislator, well regarded within the Beltway, effectively bolting the party to look after their own fortunes. In the spring of 2009, it was Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switching to the Democratic caucus in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get reelected. Now, it’s Murkowski making a long-shot effort to win another term...