Winning the Argument on SCHIP

Fred Barnes offers some helpful advice and a "winning strategy" to Republicans on SCHIP after citing the much discussed Gallup poll. Money quote:

Limiting S-chip to its original purpose of providing health insurance to poor children (in families at less than $41,200 income) meets with the public's approval. Expanding S-chip into the middle class doesn't. The key is citing the $61,800 figure. .....
So the Republican task on S-chip is easy. All they need to do is oppose making middle class families earning up to $61,800 eligible for a program designed to aid the poor.

Exactly!

Rudy Up By 2 Against Hillary, Again!

Looks like the Rasmussen poll is no longer an outlier. The latest Quinnipiac poll also has Rudy up by 2 points against Hillary.

House Republicans Lash Out at Majority Leader Over SCHIP

As they should be doing. If the Democrats were willing to compromise with Republicans on this issue over the valid concerns Republicans have with income caps, and coverage for illegal immigrants and adults, we would have the SCHIP debate resolved. Instead, the Dems want to play politics over childrens' health, which is disgusting.

And if the Dems were willing to work with Republicans on this issue in the beginning, they wouldn't be dealing with this:

In a closed-door meeting before the last vote on the children’s health care bill, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer appealed for the support of about 30 wavering Republican lawmakers. What he got instead was a tongue-lashing, participants said.

The GOP lawmakers, all of whom had expressed interest in a bipartisan deal on the SCHIP legislation, were furious that the Democratic leader from Maryland had not reached out to them in a more serious way early on. They also criticized him and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois for failing to stop his allies outside Congress from running attack ads in their districts, while they were discussing a bipartisan deal.

If the Dems really cared about childrens' health, they would not be playing political football over this issue. Sadly, all they care about is running attack ads against fine congressmen like Randy Kuhl, thinking they'll win more seats next year by doing so. Fortunately, because the truth is getting out, and with congressional job approval in the toilet because of this and other concerns that the American people have with the Dem leadership, that won't happen!

Rudy v. Hillary

Following up on an earlier post on who can beat Hillary, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows Rudy beating Hillary by 2 points, narrowing the gap between them in the RCP polling average to less than 3 points. This is significant for two reasons: (1) Out of the six polls included in the RCP average, the Rasmussen poll is only one of two polls with a Likely Voter sample, which usually produces a far more accurate poll than one that just uses Registered Voters, and (2) Rasmussen was considered one of the most accurate polling firms in the 2004 presidential election.

City of Geneva Candidate Forum

The Finger Lakes Times has a recap of the candidate forum held earlier this week in the City of Geneva. Given the political climate in Geneva with the current administration, Republicans have a great opportunity to pick up seats in Geneva, including the mayoral race, with Phil Beckley as the Republican candidate.

Victor & East Bloomfield GOP Write-In Campaigns

Today's edition of the D&C has the story of Victor's write-in campaign here, and here's the story regarding both Victor and East Bloomfield from a few weeks ago. While a write-in campaign can be hard, I'm not too worried, especially in Victor. While I haven't been to East Bloomfield in weeks, I drive through Victor everyday going to work, and the entire town and village is covered with Republican candidate signs, far more than the Democrats running for town board. This just means that we, as Republicans, have to redouble our efforts and campaign harder, and like I said, you can't go a block in Victor without seeing a Republican sign, which is wonderful.

So, when you go to the polls in another week and a half and want to vote Republican in Victor or East Bloomfield, just remember to bring a slip of paper of the Republicans running to remind yourself and simply write them in on the ballot. If you have questions on the write-in procedure, you can always ask a polling site monitor.

EDIT 10/26/2007 3:41PM: P.S. The Ontario County Board of Election's website has a helpful instruction sheet on how to vote for a write-in candidate.

Brownback to Endorse Rudy?

From The Hill:

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is considering endorsing Rudy Giuliani for the GOP presidential nomination and [met] with him [today] in Washington to hear his views on abortion.

The article goes on to say that Sen. Brownback will make his decision in the next few weeks after meeting with all the Republican candidates seeking his endorsement.

It would be wonderful if Sen. Brownback endorsed Rudy. I have long admired the Senator, and while I fully back Rudy for the presidency, I would love to see an individual of Sen. Brownback's caliber to be considered as Rudy's running mate.

Dems' Dirty Tactics on SCHIP

Well so much for a meaningful debate on a SCHIP compromise. From Congressman Kuhl:

There are two major problems with the Democratic leadership on today’s SCHIP vote

1. There will be 13 Southern California Representatives (9 Republican and 4 Democrats) absent from today’s SCHIP vote because they are where they should be – taking care of their family, friends, and neighbors during the horrific fires. Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas, CA), Rules Committee Ranking Republican and Leader of the California GOP Congressional Delegation, was joined by several of his California colleagues in formally requesting of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that she delay any consideration of new S-CHIP legislation while members are in their districts dealing with devastating wildfires. In a letter to the Speaker, the California members said that members should not be forced to make a choice between an important vote like S-CHIP and being with their constituents in a time of need. The letter was delivered to Speaker Pelosi’s office amid reports that an S-CHIP vote would be held less than 24 hours after new legislation was shared with the minority.” To see the letter or to read more, click here.

2. The new version of the Democrats’ SCHIP bill, H.R. 3963, was reported out of the House Rules Committee at 11:25 p.m. last night under a closed rule. Which means that the Republicans did not get to view the 293- page bill until late last
night, let alone be part of the negotiations. We will not even have 24 hours to review the bill before we vote on it. Republicans have stated that we are willing to work together to reauthorize the SCHIP program but Democrats have refused our offer.

Interestingly enough, according to Nancy Pelosi in A New Direction for America: “Members should have at least 24 hours to examine bill and conference report text prior to floor consideration. Rules governing floor debate must be reported before 10 p.m. for a bill to be considered the following day.”

So the Dems want to raise our taxes...

Well blow me over with a feather! I'd like to thank Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-Obviously) for promoting "the largest individual income tax increase in history."

You know, this reminds me of a skit Saturday Night Live did a few years ago called, "What Were You Thinking?," mocking Walter Mondale's famous pledge to raise taxes, which ultimately lost him the presidency:

Q: Now Mr. Mondale, you ran for president on a platform of... raising taxes.
Mondale: I know, I know.
Q: Now historically successful candidates have always pledged to... lower taxes.
Mondale: I know, I know...
Q: What were you thinking?
Mondale: I don't know.

SCHIP Polling

So the Fighting 29th has a lengthy reply to my last post, and I do agree with him that "[w]hen pollsters try to probe the reasons behind the thumb up or down, they have to inject some facts into their questions, and their choice of facts adds some bias to their questions." There's no question about that, and it makes the pollster's job a lot harder to gage public opinion on specific issues (especially one as complex as SCHIP expansion) versus who one plans to vote for or the job approval of a specific politician.

That being said, I do take issue with the other polls the Fighting 29th cites, as the questions they asked are extremely "unloaded." For example, here's the main question which the Gallup poll asked, where 52% agreed with Bush and 40% agreed with Democrats:

As you may know, the Democrats want to allow a family of four earning about $62,000 to qualify for the program. President Bush wants most of the increases to go to families earning less than $41,000. Whose side do you favor?

This question is as specific as they come, and goes to the heart of the issue for why President Bush and Congressman Kuhl do not agree with the Democrats, i.e., what should the income cap be for families participating in the program?

However, here's the question that the CBS poll asked, where 81% agreed with expanding SCHIP:

WOULD YOU FAVOR OR OPPOSE EXPANDING SCHIP?

Notice that the question doesn't ask by how much, nor does it give any context to the issue. In fact, if I didn't follow this debate so closely and I was simply asked whether I supported expanding a plan called the State Children's Health Insurance Program, I'd say yes too.

The Washington Post/ABC New poll was more specific. It asked:

There's a proposal to increase federal spending on children's health insurance by 35 billion dollars over the next five years. It would be funded by an increase in cigarette taxes. (Supporters say this would provide insurance for millions of low-income children who are currently uninsured.) (Opponents say this goes too far in covering children in families that can afford health insurance on their own.) Do you support or oppose this increased funding for this program? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?

When this question was asked, 72% supported expansion. Yet note that this poll does NOT address the issue of income levels, as the Gallup poll did. It only asks if people support spending more money on children's health insurance, and that it would be funded through an increase in cigarette taxes (though it doesn't point out that the increase was going to be as high as 61 cents a pack). Again, if I didn't follow this issue so closely and was given this question, I might have said yes, though would have been more reluctant to than the CBS poll.

As for the CNN poll, I unfortunately can't find the polling data online, but this is the story lede:

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows a majority of Americans want Congress to override President Bush’s veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, otherwise known as SCHIP.

If this isn't media bias, I don't know what is. Bush did NOT veto SCHIP; he only vetoed the Democrats' plan to expand the program by so much, which as we know, included upper-middle class families and illegal immigrants.

I strongly disagree with the Fighting 29th's claim that Congressman Kuhl was trying to "cherry-pick the one poll that agrees with my position." Instead, given the options of the polls out there, there was only one that specificly addressed the real issue at hand, and it showed that a majority of Americans agreed with Congressman Kuhl's position.

That being said on SCHIP polling, let's move on. The Fighting 29th has a post up that there's a compromise being discussed on SCHIP that may address the concerns Congressman Kuhl had over the income levels of program participants and whether illegal aliens and adults should be covered, all of which are reasonable concerns. Let's hope this turns into a meaningful debate, versus the emotional hysterics shown the last time around.

The Kaiser Poll on SCHIP

So the comments section is abuzz that I should talk about this poll on SCHIP expansion conducted by the liberal "non-partisan" folks over at NPR, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard.

The Fighting 29th offers the following highlights:

When asked about the possibility of S-CHIP leading to people dropping private insurance, 65% said still favored S-CHIP expansion. 64% said they supported the veto override, and 52% said they weren't concerned about S-CHIP expansion leading to government-run health care. 35% said they would be less likely to support their Member of Congress if he or she voted to sustain the veto.

What he doesn't mention is that the "non-partisan" Kaiser Family Foundation is extremely involved in promoting SCHIP expansion, which makes them much more vested in the outcome of this debate than USA Today/Gallup and, therefore, makes its poll results appear rather dubious.

Second, just look at the party affiliation of the polling sample:

22. Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as: (a Democrat), (a Republican), an independent or what?
34 Democrat
23 Republican
35 Independent
3 Something else
3 Don’t know
2 Refused

23. Do you lean more towards the: (Democratic) or (Republican) Party?
Leaned Party Table based on total
51 Democrat/Leaned Democrat
33 Republican/Leaned Republican
10 Non-Lean Independent
1 Something else
3 Don’t know
1 Refused

Now I know that 2006 was not a banner year for Republicans, but no one can tell me with a serious face that only 23% of Americans consider themselves Republicans, and certainly no one can claim that 51% of Americans "lean" Democrat. If that's the case, how did any Republican survive last fall?

Yet, let's suspend reality for a second and believe this poll and its national percentages for party affiliation. How do these numbers apply to New York's 29th Congressional district when, according to the latest voter registration figures from the New York State Board of Elections, over 45% of registered voters in the district are either Republicans or Conservatives? That's nearly double the number of people than the sample in the Kaiser poll who think of themselves as Republicans, which begs the question: Speaking strictly of Congressman Kuhl's re-election and the opinions of his constituents on SCHIP expansion, what would the Kaiser polling results be if their party affiliation sample mirrored those of the NY 29th?

I have a feeling that the Fighting 29th wouldn't like the results of that kinda poll...

So I did a Google search...

And I discovered that last week, the Fighting 29th linked to my previous blog post on the poll Gallup conducted on SCHIP expansion. Here's a snip of what the Fighting 29th had to say:

Both Kuhl [and] the Ontario GOP omit another interesting statistic from that poll. When asked who they trust to get S-CHIP right, 52% say that they trust the Democrats. Only 32% trust the President. Another interesting fact: 17% of the respondents were following S-CHIP "very closely", and 34% "somewhat closely". Almost half of the public (49%) are following the issue "not too closely" or "not at all".

So, when a generally uninformed public is presented specific facts on S-CHIP, they tend to agree with Republicans. When those facts are absent, their general distrust of the President governs their opinions. The news on S-CHIP could be worse, but this certainly doesn't qualify as good news for Republicans.

So if I understand this right, one of Eric Massa's leading supporters in the blogosphere is essentially saying, "When presented with the facts on SCHIP, the public agrees with Congressman Kuhl's position. Thankfully the American people are either too ignorant or not paying much attention to this issue and will blindly support Democrats on health care, so haha, facts be damned, GO MASSA!" I'm paraphrasing, naturally, but still, that's the Fighting 29th's point. Also notice that he doesn't even dispute the facts given in the poll; he just thanks God that people aren't paying much attention to Massa's signature issue. Because, really, the program's name has the words "children" and "health" in it, so it must be good, and only the Democrats care about "children" and "health," so why care about all these needless facts?

Thankfully, blogs like mine exist to set the record straight and show that the American people really do not want their tax dollars to pay for the health insurance of upper-middle class families, making the public less "uninformed."

That being said, though, I'd like to thank the Fighting 29th for selflessly advertising my blog, and welcome him back anytime!

Letter to the Editor of D&C on SCHIP

Here's a wonderful letter to the editor about the SCHIP veto, written by a fellow Canandaigua resident, published in Saturday's Democrat & Chronicle:

Drop emotional SCHIP rhetoric

Emotional and dubious TV ads criticizing Congressman Kuhl and Republicans require correction.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program is not being discontinued or de-funded. The president is willing to make a modest expansion of funds for the program. It is the expansion to adults and entire families well above the poverty level that the new bill would include, that makes it irresponsible. Social Security is projected, by some estimates, to reach insolvency by 2017. Medicaid costs have been passed down to states and then on to municipalities, causing strains and increased taxes. Medicare is another entitlement with open-ended financial burdens.

Honest media would report what the cost projections for each of these programs were at inception, and the dollar figures in cost at present as an example of the Congress' ineptitude, or deceptive practices, in initiating these dependency programs. Without addressing how to pay for the above obligations, Dems want to burden you and your children even more. Decide about this as you decide about your own financial decisions, using reason and the facts, not emotion.

—MIKE LOFTON
CANANDAIGUA

Latest LA Times/Bloomberg Poll: Rudy Up by 17

According to the latest LA Times/Bloomberg poll, Mayor Giuliani is the "undisputed leader," leading his primary rivals by 17 points, bringing his total lead in the Real Clear Politics polling average to 10.1%.

Rudy Unveils His NYS Regional Leadership Team

Congratulations to Jay Dutcher, Chairman of the Ontario County Republican Committee, for being named West Central Regional Vice Chairman for the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee!

This SCHIP Won't Sail, Part 3

There is some new polling from Gallup, showing that 52% of Americans believe “most [SCHIP] benefits should go to children in families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level – about $41,000 for a family of four. Only 40% said benefits should go to families earning up to $62,000…”

Congressman Kuhl agrees with most Americans on this issue, while Eric Massa wants this program to cover upper-middle class families, which can only be accomplished through a tax increase, and is making this the cornerstone of his campaign. Again, I can't wait until November 2008!

Vaccines for NASCAR?

So the Dems in Congress consider NASCAR a hot zone?

NASCAR fans might seem rabid, but are they actually contagious?

Getting a hepatitis shot is standard procedure for travelers to parts of Africa and Asia, but some congressional aides were instructed to get immunized before going to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord and the racetrack in Talladega, Ala.

The House Homeland Security Committee planned a fact-finding trip about public health preparedness at mass gatherings and decided to conduct the research at two of the nation's most heavily attended sporting events, NASCAR's Bank of America 500 event this weekend and the UAW-Ford 500 last weekend.

Staff who organized the trips advised the NASCAR-bound aides to get a range of vaccines before attending -- hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza.

Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican from Concord, took umbrage when he heard about it. "I have never heard of immunizations for domestic travel, and as the representative for Concord, N.C., I feel compelled to ask why the heck the committee feels that immunizations are needed to travel to my hometown," Hayes said in an Oct. 5 letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the Homeland Security panel.

"I have been to numerous NASCAR races, and the folks who attend these events certainly do not pose any health hazard to congressional staffers or anyone else," Hayes added.

Full disclosure: I met Congressman Hayes a few years ago, spending a weekend campaigning for him in 2002. He's a great guy, and very passionate about NASCAR. While I'm not a fan of the sport, recommending vaccinations before attending a race is clearly absurd. So is this how the Dems plan on winning back the South?

Here's what our very own Congressman Kuhl has to say on the matter.

Rudy Up in Michigan

On the heels of yesterday's debate in Dearborn, a new poll is out in Michigan showing Rudy leading Mitt Romney (son of former MI Gov. George Romney) by 4 points, narrowing Romney's lead in the RCP MI polling average.

Latest Gallup Poll: Rudy Up by 12

According to the latest Gallup poll, Mayor Giuliani is leading his primary rivals by 12 points, bringing his total lead in the Real Clear Politics polling average to 8.6%.

Happy Columbus Day!

Today we celebrate the 515th anniversary of Columbus's landing in the New World, which actually took place of October 12, 1492.

Columbus Day has been a federal holiday since 1937, thanks in large part to the Knights of Columbus. It has been designated as the second Monday in October since 1971.

This past Saturday, the City of Rochester held its first Columbus Day Parade!

Rudy Raises $11M in Q3

From Real Clear Politics:

The Giuliani campaign just released their Q3 fundraising numbers: $11 million total, of which almost the entire amount ($10.5 million) is available for use in the primary. The campaign also reports $16 million cash on hand. (UPDATE: That CoH number is a mix of primary and general dollars. Philip Klein notes Rudy's primary CoH is more around the $11 million mark.)

This puts Rudy at the top of the GOP pack in terms of pure dollars raised (excluding personal loans) for the second quarter in a row, and well ahead of the rest of the Republican field in terms of cash in the bank.

Who Can Beat Hillary?

Following up on my earlier post regarding the current GOP primary polling, a new NBC/WSJ poll shows Rudy still leading his primary rivals by 7%. This poll also asked the following question:

Which one of the following Republican candidates do you think would have the best chance of defeating Hillary Clinton in the general election?

The results:

Giuliani 47 (+31)
Thompson 16
McCain 14
Romney 8

This SCHIP Won't Sail, Part 2

Time Magazine has a story out today about Eric Massa's reaction over Congressman Kuhl's sound position in the SCHIP debate. As I stated previously, the Democrats want to expand this coverage from just lower class families to include upper class families who already have health insurance and illegal immigrants, and fund it all through a tax increase. According to the article in Time, Massa "is now making SCHIP his No. 1 priority."

Let me be clear about this: CONGRESSMAN KUHL IS NOT AGAINST SCHIP! Congressman Kuhl is only against the Dems' brainless expansion of the program. If Eric Massa wants to support unconscionable government spending, and even make that the corner stone of his campaign, then I can't wait for next November!

Prez Polling: Paint by Numbers

So yesterday I received a "strategery" memo from Brent Seaborn, Strategy Director for the Giuliani campaign, which was filled with useful polling information. Here are some highlights:

As it stands today, Senator McCain's support in national public polling has recovered somewhat. His national average has increased about 5 points from his summer low of about 10% according to the Real Clear Politics average. Still, it seems that McCain is capped at approximately 18% or 19% of Republican primary vote share as the field now stands.

Voters responded to Fred Thompson's September entry into the GOP Primary race with a smaller-than-expected announcement bounce. Typically an announcement will generate about a 10 point bounce. Senator Thompson's bounce ranged from zero points to 8 points, but averaged less than 4 points - certainly not what was expected for a campaign that spent so much time preparing to get in the race.

Mitt Romney's campaign spent more than $30 million during the first 2 quarters of 2007 and outspent others by $9 million or more. Nationally, the Romney campaign has spent $8 million on television and radio advertisements. And Romney's Iowa Straw Poll victory had a likely price tag of more than $4 million. Romney's campaign has spent nearly $2 million on television in New Hampshire and more than $1 million in South Carolina and Florida. In the 3rd quarter of 2007 alone, Governor Romney will have put more than $5 million of ads on the air.

And using the helpful Real Clear Politics primary polling averages, which as of today shows the Mayor leading his primary rivals by 7.3% nationally, Seaborn shows how Rudy would be the most electable Republican in the general election, particulary if Hillary Clinton is the Dem nominee (which is pretty much a foregone conclusion):

National polling head-to-head averages on Real Clear Politics show Mayor Giuliani running approximately 8 points stronger than Mitt Romney and about 5 points stronger than Fred Thompson against Clinton in the general election.

In reviewing states with public polls testing hypothetical general election match-ups, Mayor Giuliani runs 6 to 7 points stronger than Fred Thompson against Hillary Clinton. In the most recent state general election polling, Mayor Giuliani beats Hillary Clinton in swing Republican states of Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and Nevada.

More importantly, the Mayor puts blue states like Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, California, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington in play. Pat Toomey, President of the Club for Growth, states that "If Giuliani wins the nomination, he would be a fascinating candidate in that he really re-draws the map." Toomey points out that Giuliani could carry New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania ‘"so he changes the political calculus of the Electoral College dramatically." And Mayor Giuliani may be the only Republican candidate that can now compete and win in Ohio against Hillary Clinton.

Now, as to how Rudy is doing in the primary, below is a map I created showing where we stand in each state holding a primary on or before Super Tuesday (Feb. 5, 2008). For states that Real Clear Politics has formed a polling average for, I've used that average in showing who's leading in that state. Otherwise, I used the last poll conducted in that state in the past year. If no polling data exist, I simply put in the number of delegates in play in those states. In addition, two states, Wyoming and West Virginia, will only have some of their delegates chosen by then.

Now as the map shows, Romney is doing well in the earliest of primary states, such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and Michigan. However, once states such as California, Florida, New York, and New Jersey hold their primaries, which will be in a matter of days after the IA/NH/MI contests, we will see the Mayor become the clear favorite after Super Tuesday.

In order for Rudy to win the primary, he needs 1,230 out of 2,458 delegates at the national convention. Using the most current polling data, after Super Tuesday, here's the number of delegates each candidate will have:

Giuliani: 722 (over half way there to winning the nomination)

Thompson: 221

Romney: 196
McCain: 71
Huckabee: 34
Unknown: 110

This SCHIP Won't Sail

As you know, Congress is currently fighting over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Republicans disagree with Democrats on whether this program (originally intended for lower class families) should cover upper class families who already have private health insurance and illegal immigrants. Believe it or not, the Democrats' plan would allow families making up to $83,000 a year to be eligible for SCHIP. And how are the Dems going to pay for it? Why through a tax increase, of course. The Democrats, in turn, want to portray any Republican against their mindboggling expansion, including Congressman Kuhl, as a heartless bastard.

Here's what George Will has to say on the matter:

SCHIP was created in 1997 by a Republican-controlled Congress. Today's Democratic-controlled Congress wants to transform its mission. It began as a program whereby the federal government would subsidize state governments in providing health insurance for children from households not poor enough (generally 200 percent above the poverty line) to qualify for Medicaid but not affluent enough to afford to buy insurance. Were it to become law, the new SCHIP would be a long stride toward unlimited federal funds working as incentives for states to expand eligibility to more and more affluent families.

It would immediately include some with incomes 400 percent of the poverty line ($83,000 for a family of four). Over time, its "mission creep" would continue. Mike Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services, says that the new SCHIP would enroll 2.8 million more children, but 1.1 million of them would be from families for whom SCHIP had become an incentive to drop their private insurance. To that, some liberals say, sotto voce: Good. (Emphasis added.)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This is the type of nonsense that goes on in a Democrat-controlled Congress.

Congressman Kuhl Takes on Spitzer on Illegal Immigration

Yet another reason why we should re-elect this man:

Greetings...

Welcome to "The Ontario Republican," a new blog created by a conservative Republican living in Ontario County, NY. I created this blog with the purpose of supporting local Republicans in the county, as well as to show my support for state and federal Republican candidates, e.g., Rudy Giuliani. Obviously, most of my posts will contain my personal biases, but frankly, which political blog doesn't? I will, of course, back up my assertions with factual evidence and polling data.

Feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions of my posts in the comments section. I do reserve the right to moderate the comments section in order to prevent foul language or personal attacks.

Finally, while I do support the candidates listed in the right hand column, this blog is neither directly affiliated nor working in conjunction with any of their campaigns.

I welcome you all to my blog, and I hope you enjoy reading it!