It's covered

Wow.

The do-nothing Congress

Add immigration reform to the list of Republican failures.

I guess now we can hear calls to send hard line Republicans to Congress so they can work on a border plan for the country, something they could not have done had they actually passed a border plan for the country. It's not like they control the House, the Senate and the White House, as well. It's hard to pass legislation when you rule all three.

So they've failed on immigration reform, Social Security, the estate tax, ANWR drilling...

Tell me again why they should be re-elected?

Danger

While the President certainly faces danger flying to Iraq, it's not near as bad as the danger he faces when he lands in D.C. once again.

Democrats continue to campaign for Arnold

Why on earth would you say this?

"When it comes to Angelides, it would be hard to single out his biggest liability because he's a walking Achilles heel," said Garry South, the chief strategist for the Westly campaign.

Garry South, your side lost. And it sucks for you, sure. But I'm assuming you believe that since your candidate lost, you'd think that Angelides would still be a better choice than Arnold. If that's true, then stop saying things that will help the opposition. Please.

It may be a lost cause at this point, but you can still pretend that Democrats are going to beat Arnold this fall. And maybe if we all work against him instead of against each other, it just might happen.

Truer words were never ironically spoken

David Vitter, speaking on the failure of the Gay Marriage Amendment in the Senate:

"Eventually, Congress is going to have to catch up to the wisdom of the American people or the American people will change Congress for the better."

The latest poll (my emphasis):

Among all Americans, 58 percent say gay marriage should be illegal, but fewer, 42 percent, say it rises to the level of amending the U.S. Constitution.

I look forward to the day when the Senate holds only 42 Republicans who feel gay marriage is a major threat to our country.

local results, finals edition

David Roth defeats Marty Schwimmer. This one seemed pretty obvious to me. Roth now needs help climbing even with Bono as far as funds go. Help him out over here.

In the local district, Steve Clute has a 253 vote edge on Ron Oden with all precincts in. Oden ran strong in Riverside county, where he is better know, but Clute ran stronger in Imperial county, Clute's base. Something tells me there will be a recount here, but Clute I believe ultimately is the better choice despite his fundraising disadvantage. It'd be nice to see Oden endorse Clute and work with him to defeat Bonnie Garcia this fall.

Bilbray/Busby lessons

I think there's one thing that everyone should remember as they look for wisdom to draw from California's 50th district battle, ultimately ending in Bran Bilbray defeating Francine Busby by a 49-45 margin last night: not every district in America is like this.

I realize pundits are paid, and blogger want to look smart, by sussing out conclusions from one race that would apply to the national races this fall. And if each district in America had the same voter registration, geographical positioning, and candidate choices as CA-50, then this certainly would be a problem for Democrats this fall. But that ain't the way things are.

Republican's won't be able to dump $4.5 million dollars into every district they hold a 44-30 voter registration edge in. Democrats will not be running in a district with a disgraced Republican on the way out. Republican's won't have the ability to turn a misstatement into political gold as they could with Busby's "papers" statement. The Democratic upticket battle for Governor was a snoozer. I could go on and on.

Was it disappointing that Busby lost? You bet. And each side will spin her showing for all they are worth. It's what you would expect, and frankly, it's one of the thing that turns me off about politics and why I've become reluctant to blog.

Will Democrats win back the House and Senate this fall? I'm doubtful. But another difference between this election and the one four months from now is that there is still the potential of four months of bad news for Bush and Republicans. Or maybe things all get better - Iraq improves, wages grow for average Americans, and gas prices fall. And Democrats still don't seem to have it together overall.

But blog readers, here's what you want to hear: If you lean Democrat, Busby's strong showing is a sign of weakened Republicans. If you lean Republican, then Bilbray's win proves that the Democrats aren't likely to do much better this fall, either. Both sides can be happy drawing totally opposite conclusions from the same results.

Spin on politicians. Spin on.

Local results

CA 45 (To face Mary Bono)
David Roth has a 2-1 lead, and there's no reason to think he will not hold it.

State Assembly District 80 (29% reporting)
Ron Oden 2,755 51.1
Steve Clute 2,643 48.9

This one's closer than I thought it would be. Ron Oden's name recognition is huge around here, so that could be playing a big factor in his numbers. Of course, a number of local Democrats don't care much for Oden. It should be interesting to see how it turns out.

CA Governor 6.7% reporting
Phil Angelides 274,658 48.1
Steve Westly 244,973 42.9

If it's an election year, there must be danger

CBS News reports that "U.S. officials" wouldn't be surprised if a terrorist attack occurred here in America by the end of this year.

Where ya been?

I wish I could say I've been out pushing the Democratic agenda, and that's why I haven't been here lately. The truth is, I'm simply enjoying life away from the blogs.

That doesn't mean that I'm done posting for good. I'll no doubt stop by here and there, and may come back full force at a later date. But for now, the need and desire for blogging is much less than it was. There are plenty of bloggers still out there that will fill the gap that I will leave. It's pretty easy to search them out.

So drop me in an RSS reader. It'll tell you when I've returned. And best of luck to the Left Wing conspiracy in my absence.

Take care