Senate
November 15, 2024 — John Hinderaker
We try to be polite in talking about our political opponents, but sometimes it is impossible. Some of them are–there is no other way to put it–morons. Such as Senator Mazie Hirono, Democrat from Hawaii. I can’t find a good clip of her comments during Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on bump stocks, but here is a report: Hirono began her opening remarks by referencing an earlier hearing in which
»
November 15, 2024 — Scott Johnson
According to the current tabulation posted by the Associated Press, Republican Dave McCormick defeated incumbent Democrat Bob Casey by more than 24,000 votes in Pennsylvania’s Senate contest. The AP called the race for McCormick last week. However, the margin falls just under 0.5 percent of the total and thus triggers a recount under Pennsylvania law. It shouldn’t be possible to pick up 24,000 votes in a recount and Casey could
»
November 9, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Marc Elias is the Democratic Party’s éminence grise. Formerly a partner in the Perkins Coie law firm, he was the architect of the Hillary Clinton campaign’s fabrication of the fake “dossier” on Donald Trump. Perkins Coie acted as a cutout, so that the Clinton campaign submitted a false report to the FEC, characterizing the payment to Fusion GPS as legal fees paid to Perkins Coie. For reasons unknown, no law
»
November 7, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The Republicans fielded an impressive slate of candidates to run in competitive Senate races in this cycle. I thought Dave McCormick was perhaps the most impressive of these candidates. His campaign bio is posted here. McCormick ran against three-term incumbent Bob Casey. Casey is a party-line nullity, but it’s not easy to knock off an entrenched incumbent and Casey added a respected name to the mix. When I saw McCormick
»
October 28, 2024 — Scott Johnson
John Fetterman is the Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania who suffered a serious stroke in the course of his campaign. If he is not at the limit of his recovery he is still recovering. Yet a brain-damaged John Fetterman has distinguished himself from the Democrat pack with his undiluted support of Israel and a clearer understanding of Israel’s current ordeal than some of the speakers at President Trump’s rally last night,
»
October 10, 2024 — John Hinderaker
This New York Times headline will warm your heart: “Republicans Appear Poised to Take Control of Senate, New Poll Shows.” How it must have pained them to write that! The actual article is much less definitive than the headline. It reports on only three Times/Siena polls. Two are holds by Republicans: Ted Cruz is up by four in Texas, and Rick Scott is up by nine in Florida. Neither is
»
October 4, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Republican former Navy captain Hung Cao is running to unseat incumbent Senator Tim Kaine in Virginia. Cao’s site is here. The polls don’t give Cao much of a chance. Yet he is a most impressive American, while Kaine is a zero to the left (in the Spanish expression my wife has taught me). He must have a future somewhere in the world of Republican politics. Cao faced off against Kaine
»
August 14, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Tim Sheehy seemed to me to stand out from the crowd as a high school student attending my alma mater in St. Paul and I was right. He went on to attend the Naval Academy and perform his distinguished military service as a Navy SEAL Officer and Team Leader, deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan, South America, and the Pacific region. Among other things, since leaving the military, he founded Bridger Aerospace
»
May 18, 2024 — Scott Johnson
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez and his wife are charged with corruption the likes of which will serve as fodder for Hollywood at some point. We haven’t kept up with his developing defense. Senator Menendez ungallantly blames his wife, who will stand trial separately. “[S]he took all the bribes, he claims,” the editors of the New York Post point out, “which doesn’t explain why he provided all the pro quos
»
May 17, 2024 — Scott Johnson
In the 2004 Illinois Senate race that launched Barack Obama on the path to political prosperity, only Republican candidate Jack Ryan stood in his way. Ryan appeared to be a formidable candidate. George Will wrote a memorable column — I remember it, anyway — asking whether Ryan was “too good to be true.” He thought Ryan was an impressive and formidable candidate. Once Ryan secured the Republican nomination to oppose
»
March 25, 2024 — Steven Hayward
I came to the conclusion a while ago now that Louisiana Senator John Kennedy may be the greatest Senator since Daniel Webster in terms of oratory and general rhetorical skill. And if I have time I will try to put together a highlight reel of his ritual humiliations of liberal witnesses and nominees in Senate committee hearings. He shreds leftists for breakfast, with no rancor or snark, because he is
»
March 20, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Control of both the House and the Senate will be up for grabs in November. It would be great for Republicans to take control of the Senate, but it is absolutely vital that they retain, and if possible expand, their grip on the House. Today, Rasmussen Reports released their most recent generic Congressional preference numbers: With less than eight months to go before election day, Republicans have a six-point lead
»
March 18, 2024 — John Hinderaker
This year’s Senate race in Ohio could be pivotal to who controls that body in 2025. Incumbent Sherrod Brown, while not unpopular, should be beatable by a strong candidate in increasingly-red Ohio. But here, as so often happens, the question is whether the GOP can come up with a good nominee. The principal candidates in the Republican primary, which is tomorrow, are Trump-endorsed Bernie Moreno and state senator Matt Dolan.
»
March 5, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Kyrsten Sinema announced today that she will not seek reelection to her Arizona Senate seat: Sinema’s move is significant but not unexpected. She raised only $595,000 in the final quarter of 2023, a fraction of the totals that Lake and Gallego each raised — although Sinema maintains nearly $11 million in her campaign account. So it sounds like her mind was made up a while ago. Sinema’s withdrawal means the
»
February 28, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Mitch McConnell announced today that he will resign his Senate leadership position in November, while remaining in office through his current term. I have generally thought well of McConnell and believe that on the whole, he has done a good job of leading his caucus. But it is notable that, as far as I know, not a single Republican has expressed regret at his decision. It was time to go,
»
February 6, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Punchbowl News reports on the unraveling of Republican support for the border bill component of the “emergency” national security supplemental appropriation act last night. “Supplemental national security appropriations act” should probably be in quotes too. This is a characteristic Washington farce. Senator Schumer planned to put up the bill for an initial procedural vote tomorrow. The more time his Republican colleagues had to look at the bill, my theory went,
»
February 5, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Politico West Wing Playbook celebrates “Biden’s border win.” This is what the White House wants its supporters at Politico to know about the so-called “bipartisan border bill.” Metaphorically speaking, we need to separate the propagandistic twigs and seeds from the dope before we put this in our pipe and smoke it, Clinton style (links omitted): Last night’s unveiling of a bipartisan border bill kicked off a hectic race for the
»
