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2014 Senate Map Shifts in GOP’s Favor

Larry Sabato Senate Map

 

2014 Senate Map Shifts in GOP’s Favor

Next year’s Senate landscape has long been regarded as treacherous terrain for Democrats.  In 2008, Barack Obama’s blue wave swept many Democrats into office, including more than a few from red and purple states.  That year’s Senate class will soon be up for re-election in a non-presidential year — which means a smaller, more informed, more Republican electorate, and no help at the top of the ticket.  As Dan reported over the weekend, Democrats’ top recruit to run for Max Baucus’ soon-to-be-vacant seat (former Gov. Brian Schweitzer) has begged off.  Instead, the party will likely nominate either a failed 2010 Congressional candidate, or the president of an organization devoted to abortion.  This development has many political handicappers sliding the Montana race into the “leans GOP” column, alongside two other contests for open seats in red states.  Republicans are favored to win in West Virginia, where Sen. Jay Rockefeller is retiring, as well as South Dakota, where Tim Johnson is stepping down.

If they carry the day in those three races, Republicans would be halfway home to securing a Senate majority.

(Editor’s Note: this map was prepared before Montana’s Dem. Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s decision against running for Senate from that state.)

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Taken from: www.townhall.com | Jul 15, 2013 | Guy Benson

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There Already are TWO STATES: Israel AND Gaza

john-kerry-benjamin-netanyahu-shaking-hands

There Already are TWO STATES:  Israel AND Gaza

Secretary of State Kerry is, once again, attempting to gin up yet another Middle East peace process to replace the one the Palestinian Authority (PA) violated by declaring their “statehood” at the U.N. A few months ago, before a U.S. House committee, he sadly intoned, “I believe the window for a two-state solution is shutting. I think we have some period of time – a year to year-and-a-half to two years, or it’s over.” More recently, Kerry was invited by fellow travelers in Israel to a meeting in Jerusalem with a Knesset caucus favoring a “two-state solution.”

There is one major problem with this diplomatic speak, though – how can there be a “two-state solution” when there already is a second state in the Israel/Palestine area? It is called Gaza, and it is ruled by the Islamist terror group Hamas….

The Palestinians now have their “second state.” So, Secretary Kerry et al., let’s stop talking about a “two-state solution” to the Palestinian Arab-Israeli conflict. What we really should be discussing is whether the Palestinians really deserve yet another (third) state. In other words, is there a “three-state solution” to the Arab-Israeli hostilities?

The answer to that question is, by the way, a clear no.

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by Adam Turner, June 17, 2013, from EMET (www.emetonline.org)

Adam Turner serves as staff counsel to the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET). He is a former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee where he focused on national security law.

 

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words …

PICTURE WORTH A 1000 WORDSA Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:

The White House insisted on covering prominent Christian symbols for a 2009 speech at Georgetown University, but had no problem holding a press conference under a giant a banner of Yasser Arafat, the founder of modern Islamic terrorism who looted hundreds of millions from his people.

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Hagel Through Committee on Party Line Vote

Hagel Through Committee on Party Line Vote

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) voted along party lines Tuesday to send the nomination of Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense secretary to the floor of the Senate, paving the way for a potential showdown over the embattled nominee.

The contentious 14 to 11 party line vote in SASC immediately spurred accusations that Senate Democrats had forced the vote despite growing Republican concern over Hagel’s lack of financial transparency. Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) was not present during the vote.

Republican critics allege that Democrats flouted normal procedure by refusing to permit senators enough time to fully vet Hagel, who has come under scrutiny for failing to disclose financial entanglements he may have had with foreign governments, including Turkey, Iran, and Kazakhstan, among others.

“I’m really concerned about process,” Vitter said during remarks before the committee prior to the vote. “This committee vote and this nomination is being rushed. We’re being asked to vote and required to vote before all reasonable request for information has been received.”

Vitter said that he has outstanding concerns about Hagel’s financial records and copies of speeches he has made over the last five years.

Other GOP lawmakers reiterated their concerns about Hagel during their remarks.

“His performance before this committee was the worst of any nominee I’ve seen for office,” said Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) “I cannot vote to report out Sen. Hagel’s nomination favorably.”

McCain criticized Hagel’s “unfocused” performance before the committee last month.

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R., S.C.) said that Hagel is too far outside of the mainstream to be assume such a sensitive government posting.

“At the end of the day it’s … a series of votes and statements that paint an unusually disturbing picture,” Graham said. “He’s in a league of his own guys. There’s nobody with this series of votes and this series of statements.”

“There’s an edge about him that makes some of us very unnerved,” Graham said. “There are very few people who have been this wrong about so many different things.”

Sources close to the committee condemned the way SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D., Mich.) handled the nomination.

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The Lost Tribe: Jewish Democrats Back Hagel

chuck-hagel-nomination1

THE LOST TRIBE: JEWISH DEMOCRATS BACK HAGEL

With Democrats poised to ram former Senator Chuck Hagel’s nomination through the Senate, despite Hagel’s refusal to turn over all relevant financial records and speeches, all eyes should now turn to the Democrats who portray themselves as pro-Israel.

If a Republican president nominated someone as anti-Israel and borderline antisemitic as Hagel to Secretary of Defense–say, Pat Buchanan–the press would rightly have a field day. But when President Barack Obama does so, aided by self-interested politicians who proclaim their abiding belief in the ties between the United States and Israel, the press remains silent.

To recap: with his openly expressed negativity toward Jews and Israel, Hagel is the most problematic candidate for a high post in an administration in decades. Between his apparent willingness to countenance accusations of Israeli “war crimes,” his support for negotiations with Israel’s terrorist enemies, and his unwillingness to express support for Israel in the face of Palestinian terrorism, Hagel’s anti-Israel credentials are well in order. Add in Hagel’s attempt to shut down the Sixth Fleet’s USO Center in Haifa (“Let the Jews pay for it,” he spat), his scornful assertion that he is not the “Senator for Israel,” and his belief that the so-called “Jewish lobby” intimidates members of Congress, and you’re looking at a bigot.

And yet the Democrats, including President Obama, continue to push Hagel through. That’s no surprise from an administration that treats Israel more harshly than it treats most of America’s enemies. But it is a surprise from the Jewish members of the Democratic caucus, who should know better–not because they have dual loyalties, not because they represent a “lobby,” but because Jewish politicians above all should understand the importance of a safe and secure Israel.

But they don’t.

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