endorsement

If you have any doubts rather Pelosi should be minority leader or not, just take a look at this post from Armstrong Williams:

A barely known Democratic member of the House has done what over a half-dozen more qualified of his colleagues have cowered in fear over — mount a challenge to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and her bid to remain the highest-ranking member when Democrats assume the minority in January.

Rep. Heath Shuler (N.C.), a former Heisman award winner, stepped up yesterday and announced his bid to unseat Pelosi as incoming minority leader. This isn’t some empty challenge, even though Shuler stands little chance. It’s one based on recognition of the political reality facing this party now — they’re about to be led over a cliff again by the same liberal shepherd.

Williams is taking Heath Shuler’s challenge to become minority leader as a real threat against Pelosi. Shuler is one of the few remaining Blue Dogs in the Democratic caucus, which saw a 50% loss of membership on Election Day. The fact that Williams is overlooking is that the more liberal members of Congress did fine in their election bids.

So thanks Armstrong for giving Pelosi the ultimate endorsement. If the House Democrats listen to you and do the exact opposite then they will see their numbers grow in future cycles.

The big news today is President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Elena Kagan.

I’ll be the first to admin that I don’t really know that much about Kagan. Eliot Spitzer, a long time friend of Kagan’s, was out today giving her big praises. To me, that endorsement is enough to say she is a good choice. Here’s his interview from The Today Show:

There’s also a lot of talk about Kagan’s relationship to Goldman-Sachs, but given Spitzer’s tough stance against Wall Street, I don’t think Kagan would show any prejudice in favor of the financial giant.

But the biggest reason I think Kagan might be a good nominee is from the push back she is getting from some on the left, namely people like Glenn Greenwald. Greenwald, like Hamsher, would be upset with any pick Obama makes. Instead of focusing on the positives, they will nitpick to find any negatives and attempt to expand on those. But for me, I trust someone like Spitzer a lot more than I trust some bloggers with their own agenda.

I been reading through a lot of reactions to Arlen Specter’s party switch yesterday, and one quote stuck out at me:

The Republican Party was founded as a party of individual rights and individual initiative. It led the fight to end slavery, give women the right to vote, expand national parks and break up corporate monopolies. Today the party is more movement-oriented: pro-life, pro-gun, pro-tax cut and anti-U.N., with recent pandering in Texas and Alaska to irrational secessionist anger. Arlen Specter didn't fit.

(emphasis added)

That’s from former congressman Jim Leach (R-IA). Leach made headlines last year when he endorsed Barack Obama for President – a rather strong endorsement considering Leach’s foreign policy expertise. This statement goes beyond that cross over we saw last year.

The right is already trying to spin comments like this as hogwash, but Leach is a moderate Republican and echoing what many moderate Republicans are saying. The party has been taken over by the extreme right wing, and that isn’t going to end up good for the Republicans.

Another key voice in the American conservative movement, and a key contributor to the Reagan Doctrine, has come out in support of Obama and his endorsement is appearing in the current issue of The American Conservative.

Let the spin begin!

Bob points out that on FOX, John McCain countered by touting his endorsement of Alexander Haig. Yeah - the same Haig that was Nixon's chief of staff during his final days before resigning.

Actually all Democrats running for Congress received an endorsement from John McCain today, as well as all Democrats running for Governor. Why? It's simple if you think about it. He has chosen a person with less than 2 years experience in anything that counts to be the number two of this country.

Now I know people will jump on the "but Obama doesn't have much more experience". Well even if Obama only had the same amount of experience as Palin, there is a big difference. McCain picked Palin. The people picked Obama.

So what did McCain say about this pick? Well he basically said that there was not a single Republican in Congress that had more experience than Palin. He also said that there are no other Republicans/Conservatives out there that amount to more than two years of actual experience. That's a pretty stunning slam against his colleagues.

In case you missed the big endorsement speech last night, here it is:

Another Senator supporting Obama. That also gives him another super Delegate.