Thursday, October 18, 2012
In the 1970s, CBS’ “60 Minutes” had a recurring segment during which two consummate journalists would briefly argue some issue. It was serious television that apparently caused the writers at “Saturday Night Live!” to wonder what these overly-civilized professionals really thought of each other. The result was SNL’s own late night “Point/Counterpoint,” starring Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd on Point-Counterpoint on SNL
Last night was a real moment in American politics, what amounts to a cock fight, no sexual reference intended, between two candidates who hope to be the proverbial “Leader of the Free World.” More of a rumble than a debate, you have to ask yourself what, exactly, this kind of confrontation is intended to prove.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Does the title of this piece seem just a tad overly dramatic? “Addicted.” “Taking… money.” Maybe a bit, but it’s true.
Consider the following table, based on Federal Election Commission data for the September 30, 2012 campaign financing reports for Second District incumbent Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger and his Republican challenger, Maryland State Senator Nancy Jacobs. (You can click on the table to make it larger.)
Sunday, October 13, 2012
(October 17, 2012. Campaign financing data have been updated to include contributions through the Cardin campaign’s third quarter FEC report.)
Maryland’s junior Senator Ben Cardin is running for re-election to his second term. (Before the Senate, he represented Maryland’s Third Congressional District for 20 years.)
Saturday, October 13, 2012
There are lots of reasons not to re-elect an incumbent. The good reasons have to do with differences of opinion. You believe in this. He/she believes in that, and the difference is a deal breaker.
Friday, October 12, 2012
“Heavy lifting?”
Yesterday, I posted a similarly titled article about a television commercial Senator Cardin ran during the primary. (Ben Cardin is running for his second term as a US Senator from Maryland, having spent the 20 years before that in the House.) The commercial he ran in March was the first of his “My friend, Ben” series and featured a small child talking about how the Senator “wrote a law so every kid can see a dentist.” That never happened.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Senator Ben Cardin is running for re-election to his second term in the Senate, after 20 years in the House. Back in March, prior to the primary that he won, Senator Cardin ran his first commercial in the series called “My friend, Ben.” This first one in the series features a cute little boy talking, in his own voice apparently, about what Senator Cardin has done to assure dental care for financially disadvantaged children.
Monday, October 8, 2012
I don’t know about you, but I think there’s too much at stake to settle for re-electing an incumbent whose recent history in office has been mediocre at best.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Independent Candidate for US Senate, Rob Sobhani
For the record, the official campaign website for the Rob Sobhani campaign is www.SobhaniFor
Maryland.com.
Yesterday afternoon, someone who reads my blog made me aware of a website address (for a WordPress blog) that includes the name of Maryland Independent candidate for Senate, Rob Sobhani. The URL makes it seem as if it’s an official campaign website, but it’s not. Instead, it’s a blog that claims to be “vetting” Rob Sobhani and then proceeds to do so it in a sophomoric, dishonest and prejudicial way. I’m not repeating the URL here because I don’t want to give the site traffic it doesn’t deserve, and because the existence of the site isn’t the point of this article.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
No kidding. In a recent Gonzales Research statewide poll, incumbent Ben Cardin got support from 50% of the 813 respondents, versus Dan Bongino’s 22% and Rob Sobhani’s 21%. Add the two latter numbers together, you get 43% with 7% undecided, and Dan Bongino’s thinking he’d be within striking range if this were only a two-candidate race.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
…and what do those special interest contributors expect in return? That is, of course, “the money question.” Take a look at the table below. You can click on it to make it larger.
Friday, September 28, 2012.
Despite photographic evidence to the contrary, Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu, in New York following his dramatic “red line” speech at the United Nations yesterday, denied reports circulating throughout the Middle East to the effect that an Israeli Mossad agent, known only by the code name “Felix,” has stolen a prototype Iranian bomb.