Candidates feel the heat as crucial primary elections loom

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - blogment -National News wire - The Infinite Echo

Voters in the states of Florida, Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Oklahoma will be heading to the polls on Tuesday, and for some candidates, the kitchen is getting hot!

The stakes are high! Contests in the states of Arizona and Florida are being watched unusually close by candidates and pundits alike. In Arizona, controversial Republican governor Jan Brewer is expected to easily secure the GOP nomination for her gubernatorial position, but times have been rough for former GOP presidential candidate John McCain, seeking his fifth term in the U.S. Senate. McCains opponent, former Republican Congressman J.D. Hayworth has taken the seventy-three year old, four term Senator to task on a number of hot button issues, most notably, immigration reform.

According to the Washington Post, John McCain has spent over 21 million dollars on this campaign, a seemingly insurmountable sum for a Senate run. Predictably, the effort appears to be paying off for the former Vietnam POW as recent polls have McCain leading Hayworth going into Tuesdays primary election. Still, John McCains reputation as a maverick within the Republican party has taken some serious blows.

Florida will also be holding senate and gubernatorial primaries on Tuesday, with the results expected to have long term ramifications. The polls have many of these races too close to call. Bill McCollum holds a marginal lead over his opponent Rick Scott, in what has been a battle so ugly, only Mark Twain could describe it accurately without wincing. The pair of pugilists are vying for the position of Florida State Attorney General.

Alaska will be searching for a new governor as well, with primaries being held for both parties on Tuesday, as Alaskans look to move beyond Sarah Palin, as the former Alaska governor pursues her ambitions for the GOP presidential nomination.

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - Sound Foundation - National Newswire - The Infinite Echo - Impeachment Now! - Skate the Razor -
Skate the Razor Blog - blogment

Is the Party of 'No' Becoming the Party of No-One?

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - blogment -
National News wire - The Infinite Echo

With the defection of long time GOP stalwart Arlen Specter to the Democrats, could the Republican Party be facing irrelevance?

Tuesday’s announcement that Arlen Specter was bolting from the Republican party caught many by surprise. True, Specter has not been in lock step with the GOP for some time. Still, the senior senator from Pennsylvania had recently reiterated his loyalty to the party. How quickly the realities of politics can change the political landscape.

It’s no secret the GOP is in trouble. The ancient astronauts calling the shots at party HQ just don’t seem to get it. They are determined to play the game their own way, even if it ultimately means playing it alone. And playing it alone is no fun in politics. Just last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to Democrat. Specter understands. He gets the math. If the senior senator from Pennsylvania wants to stay relevant, he needs to represent.

With the Republican party facing a dismal 22 percent approval rating, one would be hard pressed to find good news, or good will, for that matter, within the party. Their highly publicized power struggle has only served to further the ever growing fissure splitting the GOP apart.

Conservative blowhards such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have been no help, continually fanning the flames of discontent. Can you say “scorched Earth”? It's hard to figure what these folks think they stand to gain.

I am not a Republican, and I don‘t mind saying so. I think the party is caught in an untenable time warp, racing toward obscurity. It is a party in disarray, represented by talking heads with no palpable conscience, only acerbic rhetoric. But then, these days, I’m not even certain the GOP has a pulse.

Will the last out the door, please turn off the lights as you leave?

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - Sound Foundation - National Newswire - The Infinite Echo - Impeachment Now! - Skate the Razor -
Skate the Razor Blog - blogment

GOP Convention Analisys: Night of the Living Dead

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - blogment -
National News wire - The Infinite Echo

Is it just me, or has the Republican party gone ‘Full Retard’?

I’m mean, honestly folks, how much seemlier and pathetic can they get? Personally, I wasn’t expecting much from the Republican National Convention to begin with, as obviously, McCain was never their choice. John McCain has railroaded the Republican party, and the neo-cons (ultra-cons) are none too happy about it.


B. Thomas Cooper

And then there’s the issue of Sara Palin, whose choice as running mate was all too clever by half, if I may say so myself. This lady is one scandal after another, just waiting to blow up. October surprise? Just give it time. I know who the editors at National Inquirer will be pulling the lever for.

Oh, and did you catch the remark by Laura Bush suggesting being governor of Alaska qualifies as foreign policy experience, due to it’s proximity with Russia? Is she really that dumb, or is she just desperate and delusional? Either way, it’s one of those crazy remarks that will stand through the ages.

President Bush himself was relegated to an appearance as scorned puppet-master. (Pay no attention to the man behind the mess.) Boy, was his appearance weird, or what? He could have been calling in from the Prague.

Thompson, who should have been a much stronger orator, struggled throughout his speech, choking, and stuttering and stammering his way through his lines. His rhetoric was filled with the kind of make believe scenarios one associates with the movies... like who would win a fight between Batman and Rocky Balboa. Should we feign surprise?

And then there was the jingoistic, nationalism that sounded much more like Hitler than Thomas Jefferson. The Republicans want you to believe it’s patriotic to feed our young men and women to the war machine. They showed no regret for the needless loss of life and limb.

As for that smarmy little traitor, Benedict Lieberman, he came off as only caring about continued war funding, the staple of the economy in Cunnecticut. The Republicans don’t trust him, and his speech changed nothing. They all know damn well he’d turn on the GOP as quickly as he turned on the Democrats. He has no party loyalty, and no, he is not a patriot… he is a bloodthirsty warmonger of the worst kind. He’d stab his own mother in the back if he thought she’d bleed oil.

And this, all before Republican mouth-pieces Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy were caught off camera, but with a live microphone, sounding somewhat less than optimistic about the election. (View clip below).


Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy caught on open mic

So far, the Republican convention has not been a pretty scene, nor has it been well received. At least from my vantage point, it doesn’t appear the Republican base is at all prepared to move forward. Full retard, indeed! Will the last out the door, please turn off the lights as you leave?

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound and Recording - Sound Foundation - National Newswire - The Infinite Echo - Impeachment Now! - Skate the Razor -
Skate the Razor Blog - blogment