October 22-24, 2018

Oct 22 00:53 Angie Craig's Waterloo
Oct 22 01:45 Tina didn't debate Karin
Oct 22 14:43 Bye-bye big blue wave
Oct 22 21:54 Bye-Bye Keith Ellison?

Oct 23 02:56 The incumbents' fearmongering

Oct 24 02:00 Questioning Angie Craig's policies
Oct 24 10:30 Democrats, the caravan & comprehensive immigration reform
Oct 24 20:12 Juan Williams, newest liberal shill

Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Angie Craig's Waterloo

During their debate on KSTP, Angie Craig totally stepped in it. She brought up the fact that Jason Lewis voted with Republican leadership 96% of the time. During the KSTP debate, Jason turned that around on Angie Craig, saying "I was a lonely voice on breaking the budget caps. I've been willing to take on my party. I don't know of one single issue where she can said 'I disagree with Nancy Pelosi', which she's taking $30,000-$40,000 from, and whom she'll vote for speaker for. I don't know where you disagree there. I don't know where you disagree with Democrats. Enlighten us."

Angie Craig's non-responsive response went like this:
Well, I'll tell ya, one of the things that I've been disappointed in with Congressional Republicans has been on infrastructure investment. As I've travelled around the district, things like a new interchange at Elko-New Market, an additional lane on 35 near Lakeville. These are real issues that mayors and local officials talk to me about. I thought that this was the one area that we could agree on when President Trump ran that we could come to some agreement on, that we could push forward a $1,000,000,000,000 infrastructure bill but instead, congressional Republicans gave that $1,000,000,000,000 to large corporations that gave that money away to the top 5%.
I'm still waiting for a responsive response to Congressman Lewis' question. I doubt that I'll get it, though. DFL candidates don't seem to be responsive to people. (More on that in another post.) Here's the full video of the Lewis-Craig debate:

[Video no longer available]

Why won't Angie Craig enlighten us on where, or if, she disagrees with Nancy Pelosi or Democrats? Frankly, I'm betting that her unresponsive response says everything we need to know about her. I'm betting that she's a lock-step, aka rubberstamp, Democrat. In the end, I'm betting that that's Angie Craig's Waterloo.

Posted Monday, October 22, 2018 12:53 AM

Comment 1 by Chad Q at 22-Oct-18 06:08 PM
Craig dodged answering questions on channel two Saturday also. "I'd like to answer that" and then never answer the question. I have to laugh at her commercial (well any DFLer's for that matter) where she says she's going to fix health care. Her party screwed it up and they want single payer so how is that going to fix anything? A vote for Craig or any other progressive is a vote for government dependency and believing that the government knows best how to spend your money.

Tina didn't debate Karin

In one of the most cowardly decisions of this campaign cycle, Tina Smith refused to debate Karin Housley . According to the article, "KSTP interviewed Karin Housley who is the Republican nominee for the special election for former Sen. Al Franken's seat as part of its day of debates. Sen. Tina Smith declined the invitation to participate due to scheduling conflicts."

That's code for Tina not wanting to debate. If Tina had scheduling conflicts, she should've eliminated them to participate in the debate. By dodging the debate, Tina Smith sent the message that her other event, if it actually exists, is more important to her than informing Minnesota voters.

In one sense, it's perfectly understandable. Tina Smith has been a do-nothing senator. She's done what Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats' special interests have told her to do. Why would Tina Smith want to defend that indefensible record?

That isn't the question, though. The question is whether Tina Smith owes Minnesota voters an explanation of her record with her opponent asking uncomfortable questions. I think she does. I'd say the same thing if a Republican didn't show up. Here's the video of Karin Housley's interview with KSTP:

[Video no longer available]

Posted Monday, October 22, 2018 1:45 AM

Comment 1 by Rexnewman at 24-Oct-18 08:09 PM
For once, Smith was actually thinking. She could only lose such a debate. An 'E-85' gaffe could cost her the election that she will otherwise win or so her people tell her. Plus, she has no charisma on camera or off. Her curiously intentional unkempt appearance will contrast poorly with the always professional Housley.

Bye-bye big blue wave

The big blue wave that never really existed is getting exposed, as I suspected it would, as a regional wave. Though I never had polling proof of this theory, I thought that much of the wave potential and enthusiasm gap was limited to bi-coastal regions. Lately, though, there's some proof that that's the case. Ed Morrissey highlights this 'phenomenon' in this post :




This mirrors a poll last week from the Washington Post and ABC News . Their poll put Democrats up 11 points on the generic ballot, but Republicans at +1 in the 66 battleground districts , also a big swing from their earlier polling. That suggests that Democratic enthusiasm intensified in districts where they were already safe, and that Republican enthusiasm has changed the election where the House majority will be determined.


This doesn't mean that Republicans won't lose seats in the House. I'm thinking, though, that it means their losses in the House will be significantly smaller than predicted.






This close to an election, it's smarter to pay attention to where the alphabets (DCCC, NRCC, etc.) are putting money into or pulling money out of than to pay attention to polls. The fact that the DCCC pulled its money out of MN-8 indicates that Democrats have given up on that race.

Last spring, Democrats tried convincing people that there truly was a blue wave coming by announcing that they were expanding their map from 40+ seats to 60+ seats. I wasn't convinced of the wave because of that. Democrats expanding the map didn't prove that voters bought into the blue wave. As it turns out, more voters each week are picking accomplishments over attacks.

Posted Monday, October 22, 2018 2:43 PM

No comments.

Bye-Bye Keith Ellison?

Jessie van Berkel's article will put a smile on Republicans' faces across the nation. That's especially true for Minnesota's Republicans.

According to van Berkel's article, "Republican Doug Wardlow has pulled ahead of Democrat U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison in the race for Minnesota attorney general, a Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll found. Wardlow now leads by 7 percentage points, at 43 percent to 36 percent for Ellison , just a month after the Democrat held a 5-point edge in a September Minnesota Poll. The switch follows a turbulent period for the Ellison campaign, as he has navigated the political fallout of his former girlfriend's allegation that he abused her in 2016, a claim he denies."

That certainly isn't good news for Ellison but it isn't the worst news for him. This is:




Voters in Hennepin and Ramsey counties preferred Ellison in the new poll, but Wardlow was ahead in every other part of the state . Wardlow's support also grew among voters aged 18 to 34. That age group went for Ellison by a wide margin in the September poll, and while he still leads among such voters, the percentage that backed Wardlow more than doubled.


This is terrible news:








After Sunday night's terrible performance by Ellison at the KSTP debate, it's time for Wardlow to go for the jugular and put Ellison out of our misery.

Posted Monday, October 22, 2018 9:54 PM

No comments.

The incumbents' fearmongering

It's pathetic that the St. Cloud City Council incumbents are using their supporters to spread fear to defeat their challengers. A perfect example of the incumbents' fearmongering is this LTE that the St. Cloud Times published.

In it, the writer writes "In St. Cloud, most of us seek to treat others the way we'd like to be treated. That cuts across race, religion and what's in your wallet. But a handful of candidates running for St. Cloud City Council are trying to divide us against each other. They hope that if we fear our neighbor, believe conspiracy theories about Sharia law and the United Nations, or buy into inflated crime statistics and rhetoric, we might look the other way while they fail to address the issues affecting all of us in our community. I appreciate our current council members Dave Masters, Steve Laraway and John Libert for refusing to accept the rhetoric of those who are targeting certain members in the community to build political power."

What a pile of BS. First off, saying that these candidates are trying to divide citizens by getting them to "buy into inflated crime statistics" is reprehensible. Those statistics came from the FBI. Does this writer want me to believe that I shouldn't trust the FBI?

Next, I don't remember any LTEs written after Jeff Goerger teamed with #UniteCloud in pushing his 'welcoming community' resolution without advance notice. That resolution was written to belittle the resolution that Councilman Jeff Johnson's resolution. Masters, Laraway and Libert each voted to undercut Councilman Johnson. There wasn't any advance notice given by Goerger. Councilman Johnson gave the Council 2 weeks advance notice.

I'd call Laraway, Libert, Goerger and Masters predators but that's too good for them. There's only 2 members of the City Council that actually listen to their constituents: Jeff Johnson and George Hontos. The rest of them only listen to the special interests like the Chamber of Commerce, UniteCloud and Lutheran Social Services. It's rich that people that only listen to the special interests are considered uniters but those that actually listen to their would-be constituents are considered dividers.

BTW, John Palmer, Liz Baklaich, Paul Brandmire and Mike Conway are each running on an agenda of economic development and law and order. Finally, this LTE has the tone of a typical UniteCloud smear job written all over it. UniteCloud specializes in smearing people rather than debating them on a substantive basis.

Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2018 2:56 AM

Comment 1 by John Palmer at 23-Oct-18 10:24 PM
Gary the LTE writer is engaged in classic projection. They accuse their opponents of doing what they are doing. I challenge people to search my website to find any evidence of what I'm accused of doing. Every point I make is grounded in fact. I hope St. Cloud Ward 1 voters will take time to check out my website: www.drjohnwpalmer.com

Questioning Angie Craig's policies

One of the things that Angie Craig criticizes Jason Lewis about is cutting the corporate tax rate. Like a good DFLer, John Croman wrote this article , saying "She said the historic tax overhaul signed into law by President Trump missed the mark. 'I'm all for tax reform if it's for middle class families and small businesses but Jason Lewis voted for a tax bill that put $2 trillion in additional debt on the backs of my children and was a tax giveaway to large corporations and the top one percent.'"

Let's explain something to the mathematically- and economics-challenged, aka the DFL, especially Angie Craig. President Obama's corporate tax hike triggered a mass exodus of US-based multinational corporations. Simply put, these multinational corporations left. While leftists like Angie Craig and President Obama flapped their gums about Warren Buffett's secretary paying a higher tax rate than Buffett himself, companies left, causing economic growth to stagnate.

President Obama famously said that manufacturing jobs had left "and are never coming back":

[Video no longer available]

Jason Lewis helped pass the Republicans' Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, which President Trump hastily signed right before Christmas, 2017. Suddenly, manufacturing jobs returned. The economy grew faster. Wages started rising.

Angie Craig sees what's happening. Despite that, she wants to tear down the policies that've built the strongest economy in 50 years or more. People should ask Angie Craig why she'd want to wreck this high octane economy . I'd love hearing that answer.

Craig's pat answer is to say that the best way to grow the economy is from the middle class outward. Obama said the same thing. The economy grew at a 1.9% rate per year during his administration. In 2 years under President Trump, the economy is growing at a 3+ percent clip. Consumer confidence and small business confidence are soaring like they never did under Obama.

If you want to return to the stagnant Obama economy, vote for Angie Craig. If you want to keep this high-octane Trump economy going, voting for Jason Lewis is imperative.

Posted Wednesday, October 24, 2018 2:00 AM

Comment 1 by Chad Q at 24-Oct-18 05:54 PM
It still amazes me that Craig (and other DFLer's) can peddle this crap and the people seem to be sucking it up because she's neck and neck with Lewis. What is it that people liked about the 8 years of Obama's oppressive policies? 1.9% growth or all the government handouts? Also, corporations don't pay taxes, their employees and the people who use, buy, rent, etc. the corporations services or goods are the ones who pay the tax.

Democrats, the caravan & comprehensive immigration reform

As the mobile mob moving through Mexico gets closer to the US-Mexico border, several things are becoming quite clear. First, whatever it is, it isn't a caravan. I like Laura Ingraham's term of "mobile mob" the best. Next, I appreciate John Kass's article , titled "For Democrats, silence is consent on the immigrant caravan." Rather than criticize the mob, Democrats are silent or worse.

Kass writes "Depending on your politics, you've probably already called it something. Or, you may have followed the example of Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer, who've found a nice pile of warm sand and stuck their heads in there." Kass then continues "Wasn't it just months ago that leading Democratic presidential contenders were demanding to abolish the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that deports people here illegally? Those were the days when the hard left that now controls the Democratic Party made it clear that border enforcement, by its nature, was racist and lacked compassion."

Finally, those Democrat operatives or strategists stuck on TV defending the Democrats' immigration policies quickly retreat to talking about the need for "comprehensive immigration reform."

That isn't a solution. It's a dodge of gigantic proportions. While these strategists and operatives talk about bipartisanship while talking about comprehensive immigration reform, they don't mention that the politicians didn't listen to We The People. There's a huge number of people who don't trust Democrats to fund the wall later. We remember 1986. We remember the Democrats promising security as part of Simpson-Mazzoli. We remember the Democrats breaking their promise on securing the border.

On top of that, Nancy Pelosi, the leader of House Democrats, opposes the wall:

[Video no longer available]

Pelosi actually said "You've characterized very well, and in my view it's immoral, expensive, ineffective and not something people do between countries." Ms. Pelosi, tell the Israelis that walls don't work. You'll get ridiculed.

Tomi Lahren pointed out that Pelosi is the idiot that once said that thought mowing the grass near the border is more effective than building the wall. That doesn't sound like a person who's listened to people.

Posted Wednesday, October 24, 2018 10:30 AM

No comments.

Juan Williams, newest liberal shill

Juan Williams isn't a sane liberal anymore. He isn't as nuts as Maxine Waters but he's as nuts as Kamala Harris. The sane Juan Williams disappeared a year or two ago. Now, his articles are more like this article .

The article opens by saying "Just 15 days from Election Day, the GOP is still looking for a message beyond tribal, blind support for President Trump." That's beyond stupid. The GOP message is their lengthy list of legislative accomplishments. For instance, they've told people how they used the CRA (the Congressional Review Act) to rebuild the coal industry. That isn't a big national issue but it's likely playing well in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The GOP can point at their passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which, despite President Obama's claims, has significantly accelerated economic growth since he left office. The GOP isn't "still looking for a message beyond tribal, blind support for President Trump." They're running on their accomplishments.

Meanwhile, Democrats are running away from the utterly insane wing of their party. They're denying the fact that large donors like Tom Steyer want to impeach Trump. They're denying that large donor George Soros wants open borders and terrible immigration laws.




The Democrats, meanwhile, are having success with political ads focused on lowering the high cost of prescription drugs and healthcare while keeping insurance plans for people with preexisting illnesses. ObamaCare is now more popular than the Trump tax cuts with voters.


First, the health care ads are getting raked over the coals by the fact-checkers. Jeff Johnson is fighting back:

[Video no longer available]

Second, anyone that thinks that the ACA is more popular than the tax cuts is relying on questionable polling. Then there's this:






With the demise of their tax cut message, and the success of the Democrats' health care message, the GOP switched to claims that Justice Brett Kavanaugh was treated unfairly by Democrats. The intent was clearly to stir up the conservative base.


The "tax cut message" didn't die. It's just been overtaken by the economic message of a rapidly growing economy, the lowest unemployment rate since 1969 and other economic great news. At the end of the day, people don't care as much about tax cuts as they care about big paychecks and lots of jobs. If Williams thinks that's surprising, he's an idiot.



Finally, Republicans didn't need to run ads on the Kavanaugh hearing. The GOP base got plenty pissed off about how Senate Democrats mistreated Justice Kavanaugh. What's disheartening is how out-of-touch Williams is with people outside of DC. Frankly, I think he should be fired from Fox because he doesn't contribute anything beyond liberal stupidity.

Posted Wednesday, October 24, 2018 8:12 PM

Comment 1 by Chad Q at 25-Oct-18 05:51 PM
What's the democrat message other than impeach Trump and we'll rescind the tax cuts that are helping everyone and the economy and we'll fix a health care system we broke with Obamacare. Some message.

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