Putting Money Where Their Mouth Isn't: Rush Limbaugh's Bosses Now Tilt Toward Dems

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Even liberal Sherrod Brown received a donation from the Texas company that writes the rightwing talker's paychecks. Campaign finance data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics reveals the corporate PAC controlled by Rush Limbaugh's employer no longer seems to be on the same page as its hired mouth. In fact, it has turned a page. Clear Channel Communications gave 56 percent of its political contributions to Democrats last year, including $10,000 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Limbaugh has used Pelosi as a target on his conservative talk show, and once remarked that her skills as House leader included an ability to "breastfeed" and not much else. But the money trail indicates Clear Channel doesn't put much stock in Limbaugh's analysis.

Up through the 2008 election cycle, radio giant Clear Channel -- whose stable of conservative talkers includes Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck --steered most of its PAC money -- and PAC money is the mother's milk of politics -- to Republicans. House Dems got $144,500 last year, more than twice the total given to House Republicans. Other Limbaugh targets who benefited from Clear Channel's PAC were Rahm Emanuel, who got $4,000, and Sen. Harry Reid, $6,500.

In Ohio, these were the beneficiaries of Clear Channel's largess:
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, $2,500; Joe Cimperman, $3,000 (he lost in a primary against Kucinich); former GOP Cincinnati U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, $1,500; former Springfield U.S. Rep. Dave Hobson, $1,000; Jim Jordan $1,000; Democratic U.S. Rep. Zach Space, $2,500; Cleveland area Republican U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, $1,000.

Froggermarch To New Hampshire Dems: Cross Lines And Back A GOP Loser

Memo To New Hampshire Democrats:
Vote Romney

By froggermarch
Fellow Dems, it is time to come to the aid of the Mittster. And no, it’s not that I just love today’s “new-look” Mitt— the tie-less one with three hairs carefully tousled. That just makes him look like page 14, rather than page 4, of the Brooks Brothers’ catalogue. No, it’s because he’s lagging, he’s wounded and he needs us. That’s right, us.

And much more importantly, we need him.

Before you go thinking your favorite amphibian here has gone off the lily pad, consider: Any of the Democratic contenders can probably beat any of he current Republican contenders. With one exception: John McCain. McCain will offer a foreign policy advantage over Obama and Edwards and a personality advantage over Clinton. If McCain wins the New Hampshire primary he will quickly become the favorite to win the Republican nomination. Within days of that victory, Fred Thompson will abandon his run and throw his support to McCain (whom he campaigned for in 2000). Romney will have lost two straight and be abandoned by the pro-business Republicans to support the lesser of two evils in their opinion, McCain over Huckabee. McCain then goes on to win in South Carolina and Nevada and makes the Guliani strategy of waiting until February 5 seem to be even more quixotic than it does today.

But if Romney wins, McCain is in trouble. He will have failed to win either of the first two contests and history says that would be very hard to overcome. Romney would have momentum, attention and the wind behind his boneless back. He wins Michigan, South Carolina goes back to the Huckleberry and Fred Thompson hangs around to sleep another day. Guliani becomes just viable enough to keep this party going for months to come. The GOP turns to GOOP, forced to settle their grievances in a caged-match on the convention floor. Since Romney has the most money and fewest principles, it says here he emerges from the fray.

I know you may want to get in on Barackomania. You’ll have your chance in the general election, when it really counts. Edwards will finish third in New Hampshire no matter how many votes are cast, so no loss there. And if you like Hillary, and think this is the time to make a stand to keep her in the race, let it go. That dirge played Thursday night at the southwest corner of a weathered gym in a town named Waterloo. Besides, the ultimate victory here needs to be in the general election, and at this point nothing would threaten the opportunity to win back the White House than the anti-Hillary fervor that would rally the Republicans behind McCain against her.

So, down your Maalox and step up to the Republican ballot. And take one for the cause, by voting for (gulp) Mitt Romney. 'Tis a far, far better vote you cast than you have ever cast before.

Brother, Can You Spare A Grand: Democrats Control Wealthiest House Districts

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The conservative Heritage Foundation and the Washington Times are allied in again spreading the myth and stereotype that most Democrats are rich, and thus have totally lost touch with real America. Once again, the criticism seems to be that they read books, attend plays, and don't listen to James Dobson on the radio; they are too cosmopolitan and elitist for middle America. The Times is reporting that a Heritage Foundation study about national wealth concentrations based on IRS data shows Democrats represent the richest congressional districts. In other words, the expression country club Republican is an oxymoron.

The Washington Times quotes Michael Franc, vice president of government relations at the conservative think tank:

"If you take the wealthiest one-third of the 435 congressional districts, we found that the Democrats represent about 58 percent of those jurisdictions."

The study said more than half of the nation's wealthiest households were in 18 states where the Dems have both Senate seats. According to Franc, this means that the Republicans don't represent the rich side of America because "the vast majority of unabashed conservative House members hail from profoundly middle class districts. I just found the pattern across the board to be very interesting. That pattern shows the likelihood of electing a Democrat to the House is very closely correlated with how many wealthy households are in that district."

This is a theme that goes back to the 2004 campaign for the White House. Karl Rove's strategy was to depict the Dems as a collection of well-heeled snobs, professors, computer billionaires, Jews and Mercedes-driving cheese-eaters who mostly lived in coastal enclaves that were blue patches on the map. There was no room for farmers or hunters or anybody with a gun -- or anybody who went to church -- in that mix.

Thomas Frank, in his best seller What's The Matter With Kansas, ripped into the Dems represent the rich theme as a grand, and false, generalization. Their districts also cover farm country, military bases and NASCAR tracks.

. . .the top three soybean producers -- Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota -- were in fact blue states; or by listing the many military bases located on the coasts; or by nothing that when it came time to build a NASCAR track in Kansas, the country that won the honor was one of only two in the state that went for Gore. Average per capita income in that same lonely blue county, I might as well add, is $16,000, which places it well below Kansas and national averages, and far below what would be required for the putting on of elitist or cosmopolitan airs or any kind."

MainStream Iowan also has a look at the latest revival of the argument that the Democrats are now the party of the rich.

OH-07 Dems: Is A Pizza Maker Qualified For Congress?

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (TD) -- Dave Woolever owns Peppy's Pizza and he's running for the Democratic nomination in an eight-county congressional district across west central Ohio that is rock-ribbed Republican. Dave Hobson, the current occupant of the GOP seat, plans to retire at the end of his term. Woolever is steamed because another Democrat in the race -- a Purdue-trained engineer who once served as an Air Force intelligence officer -- delivered a deep dish about the pizza business. Bill Conner doesn't think much of Woolever's line of work.

Conner was the OH-07 Dem nominee in 2006 and polled 85,201 votes in the general election that year. He wants another shot. But he has to get past Woolever in the primary next March and recently remarked:

"Twelve years of making pizzas does not qualify you for Congress."

Woolever believes it was a cheesy comment. He says he became a small business owner in Circleville after his jobs out of high school were outsourced to foreign nations. He thinks that experience -- being globalized, unemployed and starting over from scratch -- makes him well-qualified for the House because he knows first-hand how tough the Ohio job and business climate has become.

"In 1992 I was laid off whem my job was outsourced to Mexico. In my next position, it was becoming clear that the same thing was about to happen. Facing this challenge, I took a risk and started my business. This is the American dream and what we should encourage in this country. To attack small business owners shows that the Conner campaign doesn't have the understanding of what drives the American economy."

Years ago, when Gov. Ted Strickland was a somewhat forlorn Democrat campaigning and losing often in a solidly Republican southern Ohio district, he was disparaged as a prison psychologist -- he worked at the Lucasville pen. But lightning struck and Strickland toppled former U.S. Rep. Bob McEwan during the 1992 Congressional check bouncing scandal. Bill Conner's web site is here, and he might think about holding the cheese.

Why Ohio Needs Progressive Talkers: Righty Says Dems May Have Poisoned Chief Justice Roberts

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- MediaMatters has the transcript and audio of right wing radio talker Michael Savage's comment that "it's within the realm of possibility" Democrats caused Chief Justice Roberts to be hospitalized for a seizure. Unknowingly, Savage probably made a stronger case for FCC restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. The doctrine would give the Dems equal time to reply and knock down what sounded like slander, or worse, a criminal libel.

Savage theorizes the justice may have eaten poisoned food, perhaps in Manhattan, during a Dem-masterminded plot that unfolded like a Russian hit on an opponent of Vladimir Putin. Savage speculated that Putin had a foe knocked off with plutonium-laced sushi -- a fate that Sen. Chuck Schumer may have had in mind for John Roberts.

The talker is carried by more than 300 stations, but it is unclear how many are in Ohio.

Savage pointed to New York's Schumer as the chief suspect in a Democratic assassination plot. Here is one cite:

"So why can't we assume for a moment that it's within the realm of possibility that Roberts was in some way -- his health was in some way tampered with by the Democrats because they can't believe that no matter what they do, no matter what they do -- even if they engineer a victory for Hillary Clinton/Obama -- they're still not going to be in control because the court's moved to the center? Just a thought. Just a little thought for you to ponder tonight, and all you left wingers who are so glib in your attacks on the conservative movement."

And another:

"That's what Schumer has lived for from the time he was a little boy. That's all he wants, so he had the nerve to say on Friday he will never, ever, ever permit a Bush appointee to get onto a court, to become a judge. Then today we read that the chief justice has had a seizure and fell on a dock. Something's wrong with the picture."

[UPDATE: 6:47 AM --
Drinking Liberally, Cincinnati says Savage belongs in a tin-foil hat, a comment that might be taken as an insult to all kooks who wear tin-foil hats. Savage, perhaps, should be placed in a completely separate wing of kookdom. That is up to the psychiatrists, however.]

New Harris Poll: Democrats' Ranks Are Growing

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- For the second straight year, the number of Americans who consider themselves Republicans has eroded. A new Harris Poll for 2006 shows the Democrats have grown their lead in party affiliation, and more people considered themselves aligned with the political party than at any point since 1998.

White House political operative Karl Rove in 2004 and 2005 was on the stump pushing his idea that the GOP could create a political realignment that would put it in power for years, maybe a generation. But this data seems to say that Rove is a pipe-dreamer who never was the architect of realignment. In fact, the shift is going the other way.

Still, the Dems shouldn't start popping corks, or at least the party's liberal wing. Liberalism remains the L-word in American politics. The nation's two biggest blocs of political ideology are conservative and moderate and the percentage of conservatives increased last year. The polls did not seem to measure what proportion of the population would be "progressive," a label that is heard with increasing frequency after being revived during this decade. Progressives were big in the early 20th Century, but the label fell out of use.

"While Democrats have increased their lead over
Republicans, conservatives continue to outnumber liberals by a wide margin (37% to 19%), a slight increase from a 34 to 20 percent margin in 2005. Moderates have dropped and now are even with conservatives at 37 percent. This is a change from 2005, when they outnumbered conservatives by a modest 42 to 37 percent margin," Harris reported.

Looking back through the Harris data, conservatism peaked in 1995, when 40 percent of Americans aligned themselves with the philosophy. The polling company said the trend over the past 37 years has shown that Democrats once had a huge majority in party affliation that melted away. But they seem to have reversed their decline.

"The Democratic lead over Republicans has fallen from 21 percentage points in the 1970s, to 11 points in the 1980s and seven points in the 1990s. The lead has averaged six percentage points in the 2000s." Clearly, the 9% spread this year is a good sign for the party. But the polling also shows the center -- the moderates -- has shrunk. And just 24% of Americans consider themselves political independents, a huge shift from the 1970s, when nearly half the nation would not claim allegiance to either major party.

The entire poll is HERE. Harris did the poll by telephone between February and November 2006, and said it reached a nationwide cross section of 10,032 voting age adults. The company has been conducting the poll since 1968, but says data for six years are missing -- 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1993 and 1994.

Al Franken: Wonders About Being A Comic In The Senate

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Al Franken, the comic-turned-AirAmerica talker, is thinking about running for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota and today The Associated Press offers more details. The best part of the story is Democrat Franken's line the electorate might not be prepared for the presence of a professional comedian in the Capital.

Al must have been kidding.

Read the story HERE. Some would say there have been more comedians in the Senate than in vaudeville, Hollywood, Broadway and stand-up clubs combined. There is a good Senate joke HERE.