Daily Political Wire 8-16-2010

George Wenschhof

Today, President Obama heads to Milwaukee, Wisconsin - he will be touting the success of ZBB Energy Corp. which makes batteries and fuel cells. Afterward, he will attend a fundraiser for Milwaukee Mayor and Democratic Governor candidate Tom Barrett. The Boston Herald has more here. Back in 1980, when I was Employment and Training Director for the National Association of Counties, I had the fortune of traveling to this wonderful city.

The president is then off to Los Angeles, where he will speak at a fundraiser for the DCCC.

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In case you missed them, here are highlights of the Sunday morning "Talking Heads".



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Crist Ahead in Florida Senate Race - The new Independent has a slight lead according to a Ipsos Public Affairs poll. Charlie Crist had 32% and Republican Marco Rubio had 30%. Democratic candidates Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene are also running close. Reuters.com has more here.

Look to see Crist prevail in the fall with the major question being which political party does he caucus with while serving in Congress? A hint - he showed up when President Obama visited Florida over the weekend and gave his support of the president's statement on religious freedom.

Former President Bill Clinton will be campaign for Kendrick Meek today and while Clinton still has star power, he will not be enough to propel Meek to victory. You can read more here.

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Bloomberg helping Sestak in Pennsylvania Senate Race - the Mayor of New York will be helping Democratic candidate for Senate Joe Sestak who is in a close battle with Republican Pat Toomey. The winner will take the seat currently held by Senator Arlen Specter (D). Politico.com has more here.

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Defense secretary Robert Gates plans to leave next year - a left over from the former George W. Bush administration, he recently stated he plans to step down next year after the U.S. review of Afghanistan policy is complete. ForeignPolicy.com has more here.

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Daily Political Wire 8-14-2010

George Wenschhof

Today, President Obama and the First Family will travel to the Gulf - he will participate in a roundtable discussion with residents in Panama City, Florida. Also attending the discussion will be Florida Independent candidate for Senate; Governor Charlie Crist. At 1:00 PM ET, the president will address the press.

Expect an update on the "Top kill" effort by BP which has apparently stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf. the question now is whether the "bottom kill" with a relief well will help or hurt the current status of the well.

Last night, the president made news when he spoke at the Iftar dinner celebrating the Muslim holy month - he expressed his support of the building of a Mosque near ground zero in New York City. He went on to talk about religious freedom in America being one of the main foundations of our country. You can read the president's remarks here.


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Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey is target of first ad by DSCC - the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee calls Toomey "a Wall Street wheeler-dealer" whose campaign is being funded by the financial industry.



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South Carolina senate candidate Alvin Greene indicted - on charges he showed pornography on a computer to a student. TheHill.com has more here. While convictions of this sort are rare, it continues to be a problem for Democrats who are still wondering how he won the primary with essentially no campaign. He will be facing Republican Senator Jim DeMint in the General Election.

Look for renewed efforts by the state Democratic Party to replace Greene on the Ballot.

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New Afghanistan Disclosures coming from Wikileaks.org - in spite of threats from the u.S. Pentagon, the organization plans to publish an addition 15,000 documents. The pentagon has fear of putting individuals in harms way and damaging U.S. security. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Pat Toomey Gives Republican Response 8-14-2010

George Wenschhof

Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania; Pat Toomey, talks about the danger of the Democratic extreme agenda. He points out the weak economy and lack of job growth.



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Surprise Move By Specter to Give Democrats 60 in Senate

George Wenschhof Bio

In a move similar to the one made by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) prior to the general election in 2006, Senator Arlen Specter (Pa.) has decided to switch parties and become a Democrat.

Many remember Lieberman as the Democratic vice presidential candidate with Al Gore in the 2000 election. After a unsuccessful run for the Democratic party nomination for president in 2004, Lieberman was defeated in the Democratic primary in his bid for reelection to the Senate in 2006. His defeat in the Democratic primary was fueled by his support of the war in Iraq as liberal Democrats opposed continued U.S. presence in Iraq. Lieberman switched to Independent and won reelection to the Senate. He added insult to the Democratic party by supporting Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the 2008 election.

Democratic Leaders realized they would need Lieberman's vote on many key issues, and in spite of the call by many to sanction Lieberman for his actions, the Democratic party only delivered a slight slap on the wrist. They allowed Lieberman to continue to caucus with the Democrats and maintain his chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Senator Arlen Specter is the longest serving Senator in the state of Pennsylvania. He was first elected as a Republican in 1980. He came under recent fire from his fellow Republicans as he was one of only three Republican Senators who supported President Barack Obama's Stimulus bill. Serious moves were being taken to run a more conservative Republican against him in next year's mid-term elections. Recent polls indicated he was losing to declared Republican challenger; former Representative Pat Toomey.

With this surprise move of changing party affiliation to Democrat, he will be a favorite to win in the general election as many Republicans will vote for him in addition to his newly found Democratic voter friends.

In the meantime, The Republican party angst against Senator Specter has backfired and lead the Democratic party to what appears to be a filibuster proof number of 60 seats in the Senate. When Al Franken is finally seated from Minnesota, he will make 57 elected Democrats in the Senate. Independents Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Joe Lieberman (Conn.) caucus with the Democrats and make it 59. So, when Specter makes it official he is a Democrat next week, he will be number 60.

While the official announcement by Specter is not until next week, President Obama has already telephoned Senator Specter this morning and welcomed him to the Democratic party.

Politics makes strange bedfellows...

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