Gay Groups Can't Deal With a Paradigm Shift

What do you do if you're a big-time gay activist group and suddenly you find Republicans who are not only tolerating gays but actively supporting their involvement in conservative politics?  You apparently sit back in stunned silence:

The nation’s largest gay rights advocacy organization, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), has instituted its own “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy toward conservative firebrands Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle after they implicitly — but clearly — voiced support for the gay-oriented Republican group GOProud.

The buzz surrounding GOProud’s involvement in this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has been the focus of media attention, after groups that normally participate in the “conservative Woodstock” pulled out of an event accepting of a self-identified gay group.

On Wednesday, Palin reiterated her support for CPAC’s inclusion of “different, diverse groups … involved in political discourse.” Palin will not be in attendance at the conservative-fest, but told the Huffington Post that she is “always in favor of freedom” and encourages “discussion.”

Angle, unlike other high-profile political figures, did not boycott CPAC because of GOProud’s involvement. In attendance herself, Angle echoed Palin’s sentiment when she told the Huffington Post: “We need to be very careful when we get to talk about our opinions and be inclusive.”

The HRC — whose stated goal is to ”achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality” — appears to be holding a second Day of Silence.

“We have no comment on this matter,” HRC Deputy Press Secretary Paul Guequierre told The Daily Caller when asked for a comment regarding Palin and Angle’s recent support of GOProud.

That's what happens when a paradigm shifts without a clutch. The gears come apart. The liberal meme says conservatives are gay-hating bigots, but suddenly...they're not!

The embrace of GOProud by many at CPAC is creating confusion for more than just liberal gay activist groups. Many conservatives aren't happy about it. Erick Erickson at RedState has been very vocally opposed to the inclusion of the gay group in CPAC, while Andrew Breitbart is throwing them parties. And GOProud hasn't always helped themselves.  Last night I saw a piece from one CPAC organizer who said the arrogance and rudeness of many GOProud members might make them persona non grata next year.

I'm all for keeping the conservative tent as big as possible, but we've got to keep the idiots out.  I don't care if a conservative is gay - I'm more interested in their politics.  It's not the gays that bother me but the gay political agenda that demands treatment as a victim group with all sorts of special entitlements.  That's where we have to draw the line.

Killing Them With Kindness

Sharron Angle was the recipient of yesterday's Political Vitriol of the Day from "comedian" Joy Behar of The View.  Today Angle repaid the gift (from Beltway Confidential):

I reported last night that the Sharron Angle campaign had had a banner day fundraising, which the campaign attributed to the fact that The View co-host Joy Behar said of Angle on national television, “She’s going to hell, this bitch!”

The Angle campaign tells me that this morning they sent flowers and a thank you note to Behar:

Joy,

Raised 150K online yesterday –- thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Sharron Angle.

Zing!

This was Behar's bitter response to the flowers:

“I would like to point out that those flowers were picked by illegal immigrants & they’re not voting for you, bitch.”

It must be awful to be such a miserable person.

Political Vitriol of the Day

From that renowned intellectual Joy Behar of The View:

'The View's' Behar: Angle 'going to hell, this b****'...

Actually, Angle is probably going to the Senate:

LATEST POLL: Angle up by 4 over Reid...

Of course you could argue that hell and the Senate are pretty much the same thing.

Because They Cheat Vol. 10

The electronic voting equipment in Nevada is so smart it casts your ballot for you:

Some voters in Boulder City said they are concerned about fraud at the electronic ballot box.

Voter Joyce Ferrara said when they went to vote for Republican Sharron Angle, her Democratic opponent, Sen. Harry Reid’s name was already checked.

Ferrara said she wasn’t alone in her voting experience. She said her husband and several others voting at the same time all had the same thing happen.

“Something’s not right,” Ferrara said. “One person that’s a fluke. Two, that’s strange. But several within a five minute period of time — that’s wrong.”

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said there is no voter fraud, although the issues do come up because the screens are sensitive. For that reason, a person may not want to have their fingers linger too long on the screen after they make a selection at any time.

“Especially in a community with elderly citizens (they have) difficulty in (casting their) ballot,” Lomax said. “Team leaders said there were complaints (and the) race filled in.”

This is happening all over the country. Keep your eyes open.

Farewell Harry Headlines

From Drudge:

OBAMA: 'Harry doesn't move real quick'...
Dem pollster: Reid's campaign close 'underwhelming'...
Reid loss would leave Obama 'politically wounded'...
VIDEO: Angle targets Obama, not Reid, in new ad...
Vegas: Record 15% Unemployment...
Reid defends million-dollar RITZ-CARLTON condo...

The race is still close, but I think you've got to give the edge to Angle. Reid simply is not a likable person and can be held responsible for jamming through much of the Obama agenda.

Political Headline of the Day

From the DC Morning email:

Sharron Angle stumbles all over Harry Reid's lifeless body during first and only debate

That about sums it up.

Sharron Angle Crushes Harry Reid

Read the review of tonight's debate between Sharron Angle and Harry Reid here. It wasn't pretty if you're a Reid fan.

Could Time Zones Be The Democrats Undoing in the West?

There are a number of races in the west that are polling very close right now.  The Senate seats in California, Nevada and Washington, plus the governor's race in California.  Historically Democrats should be favored in all of those races, but his isn't a typical election year and the fact that all are in the Pacific Time Zone may play to the GOP's advantage.  Even the Senate race in Colorado could be effected.

Since we do not have simultaneous poll closing times across the country, polls in many Eastern and Midwestern states will begin closing as much as four hours before they close in California.  The networks will begin making their calls and we'll have a pretty good idea how the night is going to shape up for the GOP well before Westerners stop voting.  If the GOP is having a big night in the East and Midwest, and especially if Dem incumbents are dropping like flies, you can expect Dem turnout in the West to be depressed as people who planned to vote after work may just decide to skip it.  Why bother voting if your party is still going to take a drubbing?

Here are the poll closing times across the U.S. (all times are Eastern)(courtesy of SwingStateProject.com):

We saw this happen in 1980 when Jimmuh Carter conceded the race before the polls closed out West, causing Dem voting to almost stop and costing a number of Democrats their races.  In 2000 something similar happened when the networks called the Florida race for Gore before the polls had closed in the Florida Panhandle, costing President Bush according to some studies as many as 10,000 votes in Florida and 2,000,000 votes across the many states which remained open for several more hours.  Without that early call Bush probably would not only have won Florida with a comfortable margin and avoided the recount and lawsuit nonsense that followed, but would have won the national popular vote as well.  Democrats used the popular vote for eight years to try and strip Bush's presidency of its legitimacy.  Even today they use that race to try and eliminate the Electoral College.

If it becomes obvious early that the GOP will retake the House and have a shot at the Senate, Democrats running in close races in the West will be in deep trouble.  Their voters will just go home.  Any Democrat holding a narrow lead going into Election Day is at risk.

Political Video of the Day

A very good new ad from Sharron Angle, running against Harry Reid in Nevada:

Harry Reid Runs From the Ground Zero Mosque

Harry Reid is one of the few leading Democrats to part ways with Obama over the Ground Zero Mosque. Could there be a close election in his near future?

The Senate's top Democrat says a mosque should not be built near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada on Monday became the highest profile Democrat to break with President Barack Obama, who on Friday backed the right for the developers to build a mosque near ground zero.

In a statement, Reid said the first amendment protects freedom of religion and he respects that, but the mosque should be built somewhere else.

Critics have said the location of the mosque is insensitive because the terrorists who struck were Islamic extremists.

Reid is in a tight campaign for re-election in Nevada. His opponent, Republican Sharron Angle, earlier in the day called for Reid to say whether he agreed with Obama.

This is one of the rare occasions when I agree with Reid, which means he has run pretty far to the right on this issue. He must be pretty worried about Sharron Angle or he wouldn't be differing with Obama like this.

Let's see how many Democrats who aren't in tight races will agree with Harry (of course, just about EVERY Democrat is in a tight race).

Harry Reid is Lost

Harry Reid's famous statement about Iraq that "the war is lost" is now subject to reinterpretation by his campaign.  In other words, he didn't say what you heard him say.  From Matt Lewis: 

Back in April 2007, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) famously said the Iraq War "is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything, as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday." 

Now, Sharron Angle's team is pointing out that Reid is engaged in a bit of historical revisionism. 

Angle's argument is based on what Zac Petkanas, a Reid spokesman,said this past weekend:

"Senator Reid's comment was in agreement with General Petraeus' assessment that the Iraq War could not be won by military force alone and that a political solution was also needed as part of a two-part strategy -- which President Bush refused to pursue."

Uh-huh. Matt goes on to show how silly that statement by the Reid spokeshole really is:

In fact, Reid was not in agreement with Petraeus, nor was he inclined to believe anything he might say about the surge.

Just days after declaring "the war is lost," Reid appeared on CNN's "The Situation Room" and was informed that Petraeus would come to the Hill and say the surge is working. When asked, "Will you believe him when he says that?" Reid responded, "No, I don't believe him, because it's not happening. All you have to do is look at the facts."

Reid also voted against condemning MoveOn.org's attacks on Petraeus, which called him "General Betray Us."

Nice try, Harry. Enjoy your retirement.

Sharron Angle Takes on the Establishment and Wins

Sharron Angle is Harry Reid's opponent in the Nevada Senate race.  Reid is doing everything he can to portray her as "extreme" and "out of the mainstream", or even "crazy" if he can get away with it, but as Mark Tapscott points out in his piece she has a history of taking on the big guys and winning:

"Sharron Angle's first foray into activism was when her son was held back in kindergarten in 1983 and 'the poor little guy was made to feel like a failure. He hated school.' She wanted to home school him, but the school system and the courts said no. Her response was to open a one-room school with a Christian-based curriculum. It soon had 24 students.

"'I didn't realize how many other parents were angry with the school system,' she recalls. She charged $125 a month to cover the cost of supplies but taught for free. (Mrs. Angle has a degree in education from the University of Nevada, Reno.)

"In 1985 she rallied hundreds of parents behind her successful effort to pass a bill through the Nevada legislature allowing parents to home school anywhere in the state. The result of her effort is that in Nevada home schooling has become a popular alternative to the public schools, and Mrs. Angle is referred to as the 'home school heroine.'"

You want change to believe in, there it is, friends and neighbors. One concerned citizen resolves to make something right and overcomes all the opposition to make it happen.

But the home schooling effort wasn't Angle's first encounter with obstinate politicians and unresponsive government. In 2003, she drew national attention with her steadfast opposition as a state legislator to a massive tax increase proposed by Nevada's governor, who was a Republican.

She fought the governor and his legislative allies to a draw, only to see the state supreme court step in and over-rule the state constitution. At that point, I suspect that most politicians, including the majority of those who call themselves conservatives, would have meekly backed off and accepted the allegedly inevitable.

Not Angle. Moore describes what happened next:

"When the bullying failed, the Nevada Supreme Court, in a spectacular abuse of the constitution, allowed the tax hike to go through without the two-thirds vote. The justices decreed that the money was needed for the schools and that the right to an adequate education took precedence over a procedural safeguard.

"The next day, Ms. Angle recalls, 'I went into the conference room and was told there's nothing you can do, Sharron. It's all over. The Supreme Court has the last word. And I said, No, it's not over.'

"She spearheaded a movement to get the Supreme Court replaced. In the next election in 2006, voters threw out five of the seven members of the Nevada Supreme Court; the other two had retired. 'It was a referendum on that tax increase vote,' she argues. 'And the new court came in and reversed that decision and made our constitution whole.'"

That's precisely the kind of political guts and mettle that is in too-short supply in politics. More important, such inner political strength will be absolutely essential after November if the GOP regains a majority in one or both chambers of Congress with a voter mandate to stop and reverse the liberal train wreck at both ends of Pennylvania Avenue.

Harry Reid is such a despicable little rodent of a politician I don't think even the big money from liberal special interest groups will keep his career alive. He's rightfully to blame for advancing so much of Obama's destructive agenda and he'll pay for it with his job in November.

Angle Beating Reid by 11 Points

There were many pundits who felt that Sharron Angle was the weakest of the three GOP candidates running to take on Harry Reid in November.  Well, even if she is, she's still beating Reid:

Sharron Angle, following her come-from-behind Republican Primary win Tuesday, has bounced to an 11-point lead over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada’s closely-watched U.S. Senate race.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Nevada, taken Wednesday night, shows Angle earning 50% support while Reid picks up 39% of the vote. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

A month ago, Angle led Reid 48% to 40% but ran poorest against the incumbent of the three GOP primary hopefuls as she has for months.

Reid will try to portray Angle, a Christian conservative who drew heavily on Tea Party support for her win, as unacceptable to the state. Still, the race for now continues to be about the incumbent, who earned 61% of the vote when he was reelected in 2004 but whose support in this election cycle against any Republican candidate has never risen above the low 40s.

Despite their hotly-contested primary, Republicans already appear to be solidifying behind Angle who now earns 88% support among voters in her party. Reid draws 68% support from Democrats. Voters not affiliated with either party prefer Angle by 10 points.

I'm confidant that nearly all of the GOP voters will rally behind Angle, even if they supported the other two candidates in the race. Harry Reid is just too detestable to let stay in office over petty party disagreements.  He's well on his way to becoming the next Tom Daschle, a Dem Senate Majority Leader voted out of office.