Rand Paul, son of Congressmen Ron Paul, has defeated the establishment candidate in the Kentucky Republican Senate Primary. This is great news for the Libertarian movement and the tea party activists all around the country. It is a single that politicians on both sides of the aisle are huge targets for their out of control spending and reliance on the establishment to get things done in D.C.
From the Politico:
Insurgent Senate candidate Rand Paul claimed the Republican nomination for the seat of retiring Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning Tuesday evening, easily besting establishment favorite Trey Grayson, the sitting secretary of State who won the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
With nearly 50 percent of precincts reporting, Paul was drawing 59 percent of the vote to Grayson’s 35 percent – a yawning lead over a candidate once viewed as a sure bet for his party’s nomination.
On the Democratic side, state Attorney General Jack Conway had pulled into a double-digit lead over Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo, holding 48 percent of the vote to Mongiardo’s 39 percent and likely giving national Democrats their preferred nominee for the fall campaign.
The final hours of the primary race brought accusations of “voter intimidation” from Grayson’s campaign, as the establishment Republican’s campaign manager charged Paul’s supporters with “bullying” and called on Paul to “rein in his goon squad and follow the law.
It is now time to go out and claim the ultimate victory for Rand Paul and deliver him the United States Senate seat and bring a fresh new face to Washington D.C.
Texas Representative Ron Paul garnered more than 80% of his state’s GOP primary election votes yesterday and will be heading back to Washington, easily defeating three different challengers.
Opponents Tim Graney, John Gay and Gerald Wall accused the doctor of becoming too entrenched into the ways and means of Washington D.C. and argued that Paul has abandoned the duties of his position in order to promote his book, among other things.
Paul, who ran for president for the second time in the 2008 presidential elections, was a hero among many believers in small government and the anti-war movement during the campaign. Paul believes in a substantially smaller government, fiscally sound policies and the destruction of our federal reserve system and fiat currency.
Ron Paul has served Texas’ 14th district for 14 years.
Representative Ron Paul spoke to conservative activists about U.S. foreign policy, the costs of overseas troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as federal spending priorities and monetary policy. He also spoke about limited government and individual rights, emphasizing personal responsibility over the regulatory power of government.
Ron Paul has ended Mitt Romney’s three-year run as conservatives’ favorite for president, taking 31 percent of the vote in the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual straw poll.
Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas known for his libertarian views, ran for president in 2008 but was never a serious contender for the GOP nomination.
Romney, former Massachusetts governor and a 2008 GOP candidate, has won the last three presidential straw polls at the annual conference.
The straw poll is not binding — and not necessarily a good forecaster, given that in 2008, John McCain went on to take the party’s nomination over Romney.
This is good news for the Liberty movement and everyone that has supported Ron Paul and his ideas for the conservative movement.
He represents what true conservatism stands for, and has shed is light across many in the movement to take back our country and return it to the ideas of the Constitution.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul – 31 percent Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney – 22 percent Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – 7 percent Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty – 6 percent Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich – 4 percent Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee – 4 percent Indiana Rep. Mike Pence – 5 percent South Dakota Sen. John Thune – 2 percent Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels – 2 percent Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum – 2 percent Mississippi Gov. Hailey Barbour – 1 percent Other – 5 percent Undecided – 6 percent
In a strong reflection of just how strong his standing remains within the die-hard conservative community, Texas Republican and 2008 presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul won the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll on Saturday, earning nearly one-third (31 percent) of the entire vote. The crowd, however, booed heavily when the results were announced.
Paul was far and away the most widely anticipated speaker at the three-day conference, with his base of “Paulites” streaming into the main auditorium to hear him rail against government overreach and neoconservativism on Friday afternoon. In many respects, his win in the CPAC poll seemed pre-ordained — his band of followers having a well-earned reputation for flooding polls and forums like these.
What it portends for a possible 2012 presidential run is anyone’s guess. Paul had a similar cult-like following during the 2008 election, only to garner a relatively small chunk of the actual vote.
The other potential candidates who scored well and are more “mainstream” picks for the Republican nomination include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who earned 22 percent of the vote, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin who came in third with seven percent. Romney had won the last three CPAC polls. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, another talked about 2012 aspirant, tied “undecided” for fourth place at six percent.
The results provide an interesting reflection as to where conservative hearts lie nearly three years before the next presidential elections take place. But with so much time before formal campaigning begins – and with no White House aspirant even officially announcing a bid- its best to resist the temptation to read too deeply into the numbers. For example, last year, disgraced South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford polled at four percent, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — no longer even on the straw poll — came in second at 14 percent.
Nevertheless, the CPAC poll can provide a nice boost (or, at the very least, attention) to prospective candidates. In 2007, Romney etched out a win over former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani by a margin of 21 percent to 17 percent. Sen. John McCain, who wound up winning the nomination, came in fifth with 12 percent of the vote.
Several of the candidates polled attended CPAC in the days, and even hours, ahead of the results being released. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was a keynote speaker on Saturday, preceded by former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (Penn.). Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty spoke on Friday followed by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Paul. Romney addressed the audience on Thursday. All others were not in attendance during the three-day affair.
The grassroots movement to vote out corruption in our Congress is working! We should stop criticizing Senator Dodd – and praise him for stepping down. It must be terribly difficult being a corporate stooge – if we praise him for stepping down it might encourage other career politicians (who know they have committed treason against the people of the United States by putting corporate interests in front of the public interest) to step down as well.
I see two important factors influencing Senator Dodd’s decision.
ByChris Cillizza Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Embattled Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek reelection, sources familiar with his plans said Tuesday night.
President of Euro Pacific Capital and Republican Senatorial candidate for Connecticut, Peter Schiff, is defeating incumbent Democratic Senator Chris Dodd in a latest Rasmussen poll.
Peter Schiff, author of “Crash Proof 2.0” and “The Little Book of Bull Moves in a Bear Market,” is vying for the Republican nomination for the state of Connecticut as a Senator and even though he is behind among his fellow Republican contenders such as Rob Simmons and Linda McMahon, he is defeating incumbent 30-year Senator Chris Dodd, according to Rasmussen.
Dodd is losing to every remaining Republican in the race. Simmons, the frontrunner among all the Republicans, is up 48% to Dodd’s 35%, while McMahon, who has been running ads on all mediums for more than a year, leads 44% to 38%. Schiff is is beating Dodd by one percentage point with 40% to 39%, reports the Hartford Courant.
However, the undecided voters could be a major factor for all candidates as between 9% and 14% are unsure of who they would support.
The Republican American notes that this will concern many Democrats in Washington but they still believe Dodd will win the race.
In an e-mail to Digital Journal, the Schiff for Senate campaign said they are excited about the latest poll numbers because they haven’t even started campaigning yet but will once their campaign headquarters officially opens up next week. They’re especially enthusiastic because Dodd is a five-term Senator and most Connecticut voters do not know what Schiff stands for nor of his private sector record.
They concluded in the e-mail, “One final note: there is a lot of talk out of Washington about the need for “a million-dollar advertising campaign” like the one we are seeing from one of Peter’s opponents. If these poll numbers prove one thing, it’s that: Throwing money at a problem won’t move your poll numbers any more than it will solve the financial crisis.”
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) plans to announce Wednesday that he will retire from the Senate at the end of the year, capping a 30-year career where he rose to be one of the most influential members and held some of the most powerful positions in the upper chamber, several Democratic sources told POLITICO Tuesday night.
Dodd’s decision to forgo a bid for a sixth term paves the way for a more popular Democrat to run, most likely the state’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who has his eye on a Senate seat. And that is good news for Democrats who were hit with the stunning announcement Tuesday that Sen. Byron Dorgan would not run for reelection in North Dakota, likely giving the GOP an advantage for his seat.
So the political winds have forced Dodd to quit. Does this give Peter Schiff more or less of a chance to replace Dodd as Connecticut’s next Senator? I would guess Dodd quitting removes an entire line of attack for any would-be GOP challengers. Peter Schiff is probably unhappy about this move.
To me this just seems like Dodd is playing the part of a child who can’t take it anymore and picks up all his toys and runs home to mommy. Of course, the real reason is that he knows if he stays in the race he’s red meat for Schiff and the other attack dog Republicans.
WASHINGTON – Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, a five-term Democrat whose political stock began falling after the financial meltdown and his failed 2008 presidential bid, has decided not to seek re-election in November, Democratic officials told The Associated Press early Wednesday.
Dodd was expected to make an announcement Wednesday. The officials who disclosed his plans would speak only on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. The Washington Post first reported Dodd’s decision.
Word of his retirement comes hours after North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan announced he will not seek re-election.
Dodd, 66, is chairman of Senate Banking Committee, which was at the center of efforts to deal with the economic meltdown. And he has played a prominent role in the debate over overhauling health care, taking over for his friend Ted Kennedy during his illness and then after his death.
Given Dodd’s bad poll standing, other Democrats have gone out of their way to give him the spotlight in hopes he could recover before November.
*props to the trumpet-sounding Patriot who sent me the AP sourced news article from yahoo regarding this incredibly important 2010 campaign news.
