I've had a few days to chew on this, but my take on Tuesday's election: Nothing really changed. A bunch of Blue Dogs got voted out and replaced with Republicans - so what? Blue Dogs didn't get with the program...
Tomorrow night—or Wednesday morning—after the polls are closed and the votes, mainly, counted, there will be a feeling of dismay, no doubt, felt by readers of PolJunk and, dare I say, kindred spirits. This feeling will be predicated on the...
We're doing a two-fer today because this ad is just hilarious. Bill Brady is battling it out with Pat Quinn for the Governor's seat in Illinois. If you haven't been paying attention, running as a Dem for the Governor of...
Sharron Angle has already taken some heat for ads depicting nefarious looking brown men sneaking along what is presumably a border fence. Seems like she's decided she can take the heat though because her new ad is even more brazen....
Democrat Jack Conway takes a page from ultimate GOP dirty trickster Lee Atwater to slam Rand Paul on cultural issues. In an almost comically over-the-top ad out this week, Conway dings Paul on the latter's decidedly Libertarian views on religion...
It is not uncommon to hear modern conservatives call for the elimination of the federal Department of Education. They view it as something between a waste of taxpayer money and in infringement upon states and/or local populations who they feel...
The video speaks for itself. Joe Manchin Campaign Ad - Endorsed by the NRA...
The other day, I quipped that the Republicans were running an Axis of Insanity for Congress this year. What I didn't know is that in addition to the likes of Christine O'Donnel, Joe Miller, and Sharron Angle, the Republicans are...
From Christine "I am not a witch" O'Donnel in Delaware to Joe "The Minimum Wage is Unconstitutional" Miller in Alaska via Sharon (oh, hell, just pick one of these gems) Angle in Nevada, one can pretty much draw an axis...
I can't begin to describe how awesome it is to see an ad start with the words, "I am not a witch." Have we forgotten the lessons of LBJ's Pig Fucker Strategy?...
Allen West, Tea Party candidate for a Florida House seat, on the freedom of religion enshrined in our Constitution (and that most un-American bumper-sticker that says "COEXIST" using various symbols of various religions): Via Think Progress: Apparently, we must defend...
Not only are America's poor people poor by choice, but they're filthy, too! And Carl Paladino, a Republican hopeful vying for New York's governorship, thinks he has just the answer. According to a recent Associated Press article, Paladino said, "Instead...
So, what happens when the Republican Party becomes too bat-shit insane for... Republicans? Representative Bob Inglis (R-SC) recently found out after losing his primary battle to a Tea Party-backed candidate; apparently they throw you out of office for not being...
There's a fight a-brewin' way down yonder in dixie. It appears that the Tea Party (a.k.a. Teabagger) candidate Rick Barber has forced a runoff election between himself and Republican "establishment" candidate Martha Roby in Alabama's 2nd District Republican primary, despite...
Man. Old Rand Paul is just getting his ass handed to him. Now the poor sod doesn't even have Libertarians from his own state on his side, or so they say. In trying to walk back statements by his vice...
As we all know well now, John McCain can be a surly bastard, especially when he's in trouble. This week, as Tea Party-ish challenger J.D. Hayworth creeps dangerously close in the Arizona primaries, John McCain unleashes a scathing video calling...
If you're following the circus that is the Rand Paul campaign in Kentucky then you're either laughing at every utterance he makes or shaking your head in disbelief...or if you're a Libertarian, you're wondering what the big stink is...
Exploitative use of federal employee: CHECK Cynical pandering to base elements and fringe characters: CHECK Stunted speech and uncomfortable body language: CHECK Forced "plain speak" and folksy common sense: CHECK Yep, McCain's in trouble... John McCain for Senate Ad: Complete...
In case you missed it, the latest suggestion for an alternative to Obamacare, or, perhaps, any kind of care at all, was put forth by Nevada Republican Senate hopeful Sue Lowden. She suggested that people revert to the time-honored barter...
"It's hard to be more conservative than I am on issues -- though there are different ways stylistically to communicate that -- I'm pro-life, I'm pro-gun, I'm pro-family, and I''m anti tax." ... "I don't know what else you're supposed...
Nate Silver nails it: To channel my Inner Krugman: it's a political imperative for the Democrats of the highest order to get some sort of jobs bill to Obama's desk -- the sooner and the bigger the better. Suppose...
As I write this, it looks like the Republicans stand to pick up a couple of governorships and a few congressional seats in the wake of elections held in some corners of America. CNN has a nice breakdown of the...
I guess the honeymoon between the President and newly elected Democratic congressmen is just about over. A couple papers are reporting of a terse exchange between Bush and Virginia senator-elect Jim Webb at a recent White House meet and greet....
What the fuck is wrong with Ohio? Four days after polls closed and eight districts are still not accounted for. According to the Crescent News, "elections officials are delaying the count of more than 9,000 provisional ballots by one day...
Like rats form a sinking ship, Republicans are leaving their posts and heading out of town....
The Party's over and Jude's ready to clean up. POLJUNK takes a look around the Web to see how everyone's reacting to the Democratic blow-out....
Last night, POLJUNK hosted its first live blogging event where we got hammered and talked shit as the returns came in. Well, we woke up today with a hangover, a new House, a new Senate, and a Democratic majority of...
Join in on the discussion right here. We'll be following the coverage and commenting until we're too drunk to type. Let's get it on!...
Jesus, the jokes write themselves on this one: Cheney To Go Hunting On Election Day...
You remember Florida, don't you? It was the center of the 2000 election fiasco where Katherine Harris (AKA: the Girl Least Likely) handed then Governor George W. Bush a major victory in the early days of the recount madness by...
The Big Day is here and already reports of dirty tricks are rolling in. John Conyers and John Dingell are demanding that the Justice Department, the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission investigate misleading and harassing phone calls...
He took a lot of shit for letting way too much time go buy in responding to the Swift Boat nonsense of the 2004 election, but today John Kerry has come back swinging at "Republican hacks, who have never worn...
In a personal email to ME from Bill Frist, the retiring Senate Majority Leader implores me to send money to the RNC to ensure Democrats don't take over Congress. To read his words, one would think the commies themselves were...
A new AP-AOL News poll shows a 19-point spread favoring Democrats in the mid-term elections that loom less than two weeks away. According to the poll, the middle class is fleeing the Republican party it sees as out of touch...
Today's New Jersey Supreme Court decision recognizing gay marriage rights is likely to be both a win and a lose for gay Americans. A win because the court made what I think is the only reasonable decision on matters dealing...
Sen. Hillary Clinton's Republican challenger, John Spencer, is denying a report that he described the former First Lady and current Senator from New York as "ugly" and implying that she's had cosmetic plastic surgery to improver her looks. "It's a...
Finally, a Democrat spells it out in plain English: If you want to be fiscally conservative, you've got to be for us. If you want to conserve natural resources, you've got to be for us," former President Bill Clinton said....
The only thing Republicans like more than beating up on Bill Clinton is beating up on Ted Kennedy. Dig this gem from Connecticut shithead, Rep. Chris Shays: "I know the speaker didn't go over a bridge and leave a young...
Harry Reid is now caught up in an ethics snare. Seems the Man from Nevada did a little backroom dealing to triple a land investment—all without reporting it to Congress. The AP reports that Reid, "collected a $1.1 million windfall...
I have no idea whether the NRCC considered this ad or not, but it's an example of both the ugliness of American poltics right now and the power of a focused creative mind bent on disparaging anyone associated with Bill...
I have to admit that when I first heard about the Foley email thing last week I thought it was a simple political hatchet job. The initial reports detailed emails that to me sounded pretty pedestrian. I couldn't understand...
As the mid-term year kicks into high gear and all eyes are already looking ahead to 2008, Democrats search (and search, and search) for a voice in the crowd who will lead them to the promised land. POLJUNK contributor...
Sometimes life really is stranger than fiction. George "Macaca" Allen is actually advertising on his website pictures from his "ethnic rally." What goes through someone's mind when they label a pathetically obvious rally comprised of a variety of people—yes, of...
In what appears to be another obituary for the Republican majority is a frightening and telling nugget. The Washington Post has another in a long string of articles detailing the woes of the Republicans this fall and how the Democrats...
For years Republicans have loved to beat up on the Democrats in "disarray" and point to the amazing party unity the GOP enjoys. They may call it Big Tent party, but everyone in that tent marches to the same orders....
Down from a 12-point lead just a week ago, Lieberman now holds just a two-point advantage over Lamont with the Republican candidate polling at a paltry 3%....
"I said something stupid. I apologize for it and would apologize in person to anyone hurt by my comments. To those who are understandably offended, you have my deepest apologies and I want you to know that it was out...
Taking a page from the Karl Rove playbook by trying to hit the Republicans where their perceived strength lies, The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launched a scathing ad illustrating how the Administration's failures in homeland security and foreign policy have...
Ned Lamont is proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is indeed a political newbie. The man who just knocked out one of the most powerful Democratic Senators in a tooth and nail primary contest is shocked and...
In what was bar-none the most watched primary in the nation, three-time US Senator and former Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman lost to political newbie Ned Lamont. But don't think for a minute you won't have old Joe to...
It's hard to imagine Kansas as a hotbed of radical liberalism, but that's exactly what it was in the early decades of the 20th century when they elected socialists and ran robber barons out of town. No, when most people...
I was watching the Sunday morning talk shows yesterday and was flabbergasted by Cokie Roberts' suggestion that Ned Lamont defeating Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut primaries would be "a disaster for the Democratic Party," and comparing this situation to George...
Next Tuesday, Joe Lieberman will face his constituents in the Democratic primary. His opponent, Ned Lamont, is a darling of the liberal netsphere and has a double digit lead on old Joe. Lots of people are shocked--SHOCKED!!--that Lieberman is having...
As if Howard Dean comparing her to Stalin wasn't bad enough, Katherine Harris now gets a Dear Jane letter from the State Republican Party she used to lord over. In a letter obtained Monday by The Associated Press, Harris is...
It's August in a mid-term year, which means the Fun is about to start! If you live in Ohio, Missouri and Pennsylvania, you might as well turn off your TVs now. Senate Democratic campaign organizations have reserved more than $25...
David Broder gets into the growing dissatisfaction among traditional Conservatives who feel they've been left behind for the religious right. These are the people who made their bones with Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Lee Atwater, the Karl Rove of...
The Manchester Mouth, Howard Dean, is on fire this week. Not only did he kick Katherine Harris while she's down by comparing her to Stalin (!?!?), but he's busting chops on the Iraqi PM and calling him an anti-Semite!...
Stephen Colbert riled the Right with his ballsey send up of President Bush (to his face) at the Washington Press Correspondents dinner a few months ago. Well, this time he's convinced a Democrat facing an uncontested mid-term election to say,...
The freakishly youthful ex-leader of the Christian Coalition took a beating last night in his primary race for Lt. Governor of Georgia. Ralph Reed had a an early lead and an enviable fundraising apparatus, not to mention the network...
Now God is stepping in. According to the AP, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris was "resting comfortably" at her home Monday after surgery to remove an ovarian mass, her office said. Seriously, Kath. Take a hint....
Andrew Sullivan has posted an interesting and I think a very telling email from one of his readers: The Republican party will never respond to the concerns of fiscal and small government conservatives because they don't have to. No matter...
Man, Katherine Harris' campaign is reading like a manual in how to completely alienate yourself and make powerful enemies in national politics. The lady who brought us George W. Bush as president and inspired countless parodies on Saturday Night Live...
Like the good soldier he is, the one-time hope of the Democratic Party Paul Hackett has done an about-face on his former party rival and thrown support behind Sherrod Brown. You might remember Hackett as the Iraqi War veteran who...
The Man Who Can't Take No For an Answer is making arrangements to run as an independent should he lose the Democratic primary to upstart anti-war candidate Ned Lamont. Lieberman has filed papers that would allow him to petition...
When Tom DeLay was indicted a while back, the Republicans took their reputations and the rules of the House seriously and forced him out of his position as Majority Leader. It was a shining moment of ethical virtue and showed...
Democrats have now gone on record saying they'll indeed exercise more oversight if they win control of Congress this fall. Depending on who you are, you can read that two ways: Checks and Balances will finally be restored to our...
Because Democrats can't crowd the field enough this year, we have yet another possible candidate for the 2008 Presidential nomination. He's a guy you know and love from the heady days of 2004, let's give a warm welcome to...
Everyone's talking about the 50th district race out in California. It might sound like a bombastic musical number, but the Busby-Bilbray race was the most watched in this mid-term primary season. Anticipation was high for the mostly unknown Democratic candidate...
