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Pennsylvania, Kentucky Results Show Voter Anger at Failed Politics
Tweet Share on Facebook May 19, 2010 Comment (1)By Linda Killian, the Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The anger and anti-establishment, anti-Washington sentiment that voters displayed Tuesday isn’t new. The wave has been building for several election cycles and both political parties had better take heed. The tsunami of dissatisfaction with the current state of politics in this country is still building and has a long way to go before it crests.
The most vivid repudiations of both party’s political leaders were the Senate primaries in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
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Indiana Rep. Souder's Affair Is a Lesson for Angry Voters
Tweet Share on Facebook May 18, 2010 Comment (6)By Linda Killian, the Thomas Jefferson Street blog
So, another one bites the dust. This time it’s Mark Souder. Yet another unseemly scandal has taken out a Republican member of the House Class of ’94, one of the most celebrated and historic classes in congressional history. Souder, a nerdy, intense conservative who once described himself to me as a policy wonk, admitted Tuesday to having a relationship with a part-time staff member and announced his resignation from Congress effective Friday.
Souder is an Evangelical Christian who grew up in the Apostolic Church and is extremely conservative on social issues. He made seven references to God in his brief resignation statement.
Not of course, that someone who believes in God can’t transgress, but there is a certain amount of irony in the fact that the woman he was involved with recorded a daily radio spot for a Christian radio station in Ft. Wayne with Souder. She also made conservative issue-related videos with Souder including one on teen abstinence. Obviously, there wasn’t much abstinence going on with this couple.
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Politics Trumps Bipartisanship on Immigration, Campaign Finance
Tweet Share on Facebook May 1, 2010 Comment (19)By Linda Killian, the Thomas Jefferson Street blog
When the Democrats announced campaign finance reform 3.0 Thursday on the steps of the Supreme Court, their answer to the court’s Citizens United decision allowing corporate funding of political activity, one man was noticeably absent. John McCain, whose name is on the 2002 campaign finance reform measure which was the focus of the court’s decision, was nowhere in sight.
When I asked Sen. Russ Feingold, the legislation’s other namesake, where McCain was, he quipped that McCain was a little busy fighting off a primary challenge in Arizona and would probably ultimately support the legislation.
Feingold was probably trying to be ironic, but his comment was closer to the mark than he may have meant it to be. McCain’s personal political situation, and that of many others this election year including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are inextricably linked to major legislation dealing with some of the most difficult issues this nation faces.
