First House Pickup Of The Night

Suzanne Kosmas takes FL-24 over Tom Feeney. Feeney was the Speaker of the Florida House in 2000 and one of the villains of the recount (he said that regardless of the recount, he would just authorize the House to give the electors to Bush). He was tied up with Abramoff, too, and he actually ran an ad apologizing for his conduct. This is not the purging of a moderate.

...And now Alan Grayson defeats Rick Keller. This one is great. Grayson is a better Democrat, a guy who went after fraudulent defense contractors who were wasting taxpayer dollars in Iraq. He's a bold progressive. He's going to be a leader in Congress.


Here's Grayson on the Bush Administration:

I'm running because I'm fed up with the government mismanagement, the Bush administration's shameless pandering to war profiteers. I think they set out on a deliberate course to make this war good for the people who were their friends. And I want to try to hold them accountable when I'm in Congress. When I'm in Congress... the Bush administration's worst nightmare is going to be me with subpoena power because I know everything that they've done, and I'm going to hold them accountable for it.

Matt Stoller: But wait wait, let me just interrupt you there, the Bush administration's gone in 2009.

Alan Grayson: Oh but all the people they set up as the new kings and queens of America are still around. What Eisenhower said, that we need to fear the military industrial compex, has become true because they have manufactured a five year war that they want to perpetuate for a generation or even a century so that they can keep lining the pockets of their friends, the war whores.

Matt Stoller: So, people are going to say, let bygones be bygones, or let's have some sort of truth and reconciliation commission, what do you think needs to happen?

Alan Grayson: We don't need truth and reconciliation, we need punishment. We need people to be held accountable for all the mistakes that they made that have screwed us up in this war and screwed us up in this economy. The economy is falling apart, the chickens are coming home to roost. You cannot spend $10,000 for every man, woman, and child in America for a war that never should have taken place in the first place.

Matt Stoller: But be specific, what do you mean by punishment?

Alan Grayson: We'll put people in prison. We'll take away the thing that they care about the most, their money. They stole, they hurt the troops, they killed people, they hurt the taxpayers year after year and they've destroyed this economy. They're not going to get off scot-free.

Matt Stoller: Who's 'they'?

Alan Grayson: The people who have been running this government and their assistants who have been running companies like Halliburton. Think about it, we have a Vice President who was the head of Hallburton, who got a $23 million parting gift from them when he became Vice President. And he was the one who instigated this war and made Halliburton the largest army contractor in existence.

Awesome.

Republican Candidate FAIL

Rule #1: running an ad apologizing for your involvement with a convicted criminal isn't the best way to kick off your campaign.

"Five years ago, when I was first elected to Congress I was invited on trip to Scotland. I found out later that it was paid for by a corrupt lobbyist. It was a rookie mistake and I did everything I could to make it right. I reported it to the ethics committee and I paid the money back. I embarrassed myself, I embarrassed you and for that, I'm very sorry. I'm Tom Feeney and I approve this message because public service means about being honest, even when you make a mistake."

I don't entirely see how admitting to something five years after the fact equals "being honest." It would also be better if you mentioned Jack Abramoff's name. Tom Feeney must be really feeling the heat.

But he's George Washington compared to Cynthia Lummis:

The press secretary for Republican U.S. House candidate Cynthia Lummis appears to have called in to a news conference held by her rival — using a fake name and identifying herself as a supporter of the Democrat.

The press secretary, Rachael Seidenschnur, acknowledged calling in to Tuesday's news conference and asking candidate Gary Trauner a question regarding U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But Seidenschnur denied using a fake name and said she did not identify herself as a Trauner supporter.

But an audio recording by The Associated Press shows the only caller to the news conference who asked about Pelosi identified herself as a Trauner supporter named "Sierra."

"I have a question," the caller said. "This is Sierra. I'm just a supporter. I was curious about whether Mr. Trauner supports, or if he'd been in the House, would have voted for Nancy Pelosi's and the rest of the Democrats' energy bill this past week."

That's just embarrassing.