Sunday, November 1, 2009

Daggett in double digit polling, pull more votes from Corzine than Cristie...

Independent New Jersey Gubernatorial candidate Chirs Daggett is at 11% in the latest Public Policy Polling poll. Republican challenger Chris Christie leads Democratic Incumbent Jon Corzine 47-41. Christie has now stretched-out to a six point lead after a being with-in a point or even ahead in some polls.

So what effect is Chris Daggett having? The conventional wisdom is the he is hurting the Republican challenger, but the poll results show he’s conventional wisdom is wrong.

Tom Jensen writes on the Public Policy Polling’s blog, “…it seems like Daggett's presence in the race has actually ended up hurting Corzine more than Christie… 45% of Daggett voters say the incumbent is their second choice to 36% for the challenger. Daggett's backers report having voted for Barack Obama by a 67-23 margin last year.”

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Third Party candidate showing more than 50% in polling…

Third Party candidate Doug Hoffman is showing more than 50% in polling for New York's 23rd Congressional District special election.

Public Policy Polling shows Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman leading 51-34-13 in the race for the House of Representatives. This is the first time Hoffman any candidate has passed the 50% threshold.

Tom Jensen writes, “The bottom line though is that Hoffman led by double digits during every segment of the poll, an indication that he may have been headed for a definitive victory regardless of Scozzafava's actions over the course of the weekend.”

Hoffman has commanding lead among Republicans and a solid lead in independents. Hoffman is still picking-up 21% of Democrats.

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Spokesman for Republican backs Third Party candidate, says his old boss is wrong…

Spokesman for liberal-leaning Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava is backing Third Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the New York 23rd Congressional District special election. Matt Burns, Assemblywoman Scozzafava’s old spokesman, says his old boss is wrong to quit her campaign and back the Democrat in the race.

Burns said, “Dede is entitled to her own opinion, as is everyone, but I am disappointed by and disagree with her decision to support Bill Owens. I am supporting Doug Hoffman, because denying Nancy Pelosi another foot soldier is vital to restoring fiscal responsibility and common sense in Washington.”

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Scozzafava the turncoat, actions speak louder words…

Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava the liberal-leaning Republican quit the New York 23rd Congressional special election as Republicans and Conservatives began to back the Third Party candidate Doug Hoffman of the Conservative Party. Assemblywoman Scozzafava kept arguing right up until she quit the race she was a Republican and would support the Republican Party.

She lied. Assemblywoman Scozzafava has now decided to support her former Democratic opponent Bill Owens.

WatertownDailyTimes.com is reporting Senator Chuck Schumer was one of many people that urged Assemblywoman Scozzafava to bolt and back the Democrat. She did. Bill Owens the Democratic candidate said he was “honored” by Scozzafava and in a statement the said, “Now more than ever we need bipartisan solutions to help bring jobs to Upstate New York to get our economy back on track and move our country forward.”

The Hoffman camp called Assemblywoman Scozzafava a turncoat. Hoffman’s Communications Advisor said, “This afternoon Dede Scozzafava betrayed the GOP.“

Scozzafava said on her campaign website, “…I have been always been an independent voice for the people I represent. I have stood for our honest principles, and a truthful discussion of the issues, even when it cost me personally and politically… It is in this spirit that I am writing to let you know I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same.”

We at The Thirds truly respect being independent and think that it took a lot of guts for Assemblywoman Scozzafava to break with the Republican Party and endorse the Democrat Bill Owens. Unfortunately we respect honesty even more. Just a few weeks ago Scozzafava, through her campaign, pledged to support the Republicans. Assemblywoman Scozzafava just proved that she was the damaged candidate that conservatives believed in the first place.

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Modern Whig’s tout wide spread growth…

Modern Whig’s tout wide spread growth in a blog post. They write, “The Modern Whig Party continues to experience another surge in membership. Initially revived by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, this national grassroots movement is attracting mainstream Americans from all political stripes...

They also say they are under attack from people afraid of their movement, “…various people from both the entrenched partisan groups as well as the fringe groups have begun to lash out as they begin to view our development as a threat to their agendas.”

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Being a third party contender allowed Doug Hoffman to rise in special election…

Being a third party contender allowed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman to rise in New York’s 23rd Congressional District special election. That is the take from MSNBC’s Chuck Todd.

Todd writes in the “First Read” column on msnbc.com, “Hoffman's rise has been thanks to a combination of conservatives and independents who apparently have been attracted by Hoffman's anti-Washington and anti-party establishment message. It's still an open question among some Republicans about whether Hoffman could have been as successful as the actual Republican nominee; running as an outsider has been a BIG benefit to his bid.

This argument shows that Third Party candidates can tap into some momentum from general Washington disgust. But they still need at least one “trump card” or a few “face cards” to become real threats.

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On his own website, congressman questions if two-party system can work…

On his own website, Congressman Dennis Kucinich questions if the two-party system can work. The Democrat from Ohio released a statement about the health care debate on his Congressional website.

He said, “If this is the best we can do, then it is time to ask ourselves whether the two-party system is truly capable of representing the American people or whether the system has been so compromised by special interests that we can’t even protect the health of our own people.”

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Independent Joe Lieberman making turn to the right…

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is making a turn to the right. The independent Democrat to told ABC news he will be campaigning for some Republicans in the 2010 mid-term elections.

Jonathan Karl writes on ABCnews.go.com that Senator Lieberman may not seek the Democratic Senate nomination when he runs for re-election in 2012. In the past Lieberman supported Senator John McCain for President and other Republicans running for Congress. The senator told ABC news, “…in between (the hard right and hard left) is the larger group, which is people who really want to see the right thing done, or want something good done for this country and them -- and that means, sometimes, the better choice is somebody who's not a Democrat."

Lieberman has vowed to support his fellow Connecticut senator for re-election in 2010, that Senator is Democrat Chris Dodd.

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What does it take to get your point across? About half a million dollars!

What does it take to get your point across? About half a million dollars! Rebecca Sinderbrand breaksdown on CNN.com the amount of money spend in the New York 23rd Congressional District special election.

She writes nearly $1.8 million worth of ads have been spent in the special election, “…roughly $429,000 worth of ads have aired on Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman's behalf.

So we now understand that you need to have a huge ground swell against a weak candidate plus about half a million dollars. This can be the formula for Third Party candidates, while it may not be attractive, but this is the formula. Another key part of the formula is special interests, Non-candidates have spent more in New York’s 23rd Congressional District than the candidates themselves.

Now with the Republican dropping-out of the race it appears Doug Hoffman is cruising, but it is an election and 20% of the electorate still needs to make-up their mind.

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Independent Senator: Doing 'nothing' is better option than the public option

Mike Soraghan writes on TheHill.com that independent Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut said "'Nothing' is better than getting (a public option).. we ought to follow the doctors' oath and say, 'First, let's do no harm.'"

There had been some question on which direction Senator Lieberman would vote on a health care bill. The Thirds thinks this is clear now.

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Major NJ newspaper re-ups its endorsement of independent candidate…

Major New Jersey newspaper re-ups its endorsement of independent candidate for governor Chirs Daggett. The Star-Ledger newspapers editorial board on November 1st wrote, “Several weeks ago, we endorsed independent candidate Chris Daggett for governor… we renew that endorsement today with even greater conviction.”

The board says only Daggett is treating, “taxpayers, including public employees, as rational adults able to handle the harsh truth about the state’s dire financial condition and the need for belt-tightening by all… Unfortunately, only Daggett has treated voters and taxpayers to this truth.”

The newspaper criticizes incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie, “(the two candidates) makes no pretense of continuing the infamous homeowner rebates — a shameless scam in which the state takes taxpayer money with one hand and, good Samaritan that it is, gives some of it back with the other. It’s the kind of deal you might expect from any three-card monte dealer in Manhattan.”

They even argue that if voters think Daggett will lose the race, they still should still cast a ballot for Daggett. The editorial board writes, “...the value of a vote is not limited to picking a winner… it’s more critical function is to send those who govern in Trenton a clear signal that they’ve gone badly wrong, that radical reform is needed.”

The wrap-up by writing, “Only by sending Chris Daggett to Trenton will voters make it clear that the era of wretched excess and irresponsible spending in Trenton must end — now.”

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Libertarian Congressional candidate shot multiple times by police…

Libertarian Congressional candidate shot multiple times by police in Nevada. Antonio Planas writes on LVJR.com, “The man who was shot multiple times this week while fleeing from a Las Vegas police officer in the northwest valley is Raymond J. Duensing.”

The report says Duensing was shot several times in the arm and torso and tased as well. The shooting happened after what police called “a routine traffic stop”.

Planas said it appears Duensing is the same man that ran for Congress in 2008 versus Democratic Representative Shelley Berkley. Duensing won 4,511 votes or 2% of the votes cast in the race. Representative Berkley easily cruised to re-election in 2008 with 68% of the vote.

Duensing was listed in critical condition, but is expected to survive.

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Green Party to have candidates across Illinois…

Green Party to have candidates across Illinois in the 2010 election. Kurt Erickson writes on PantaGraph.com Illinois Green Party filed nominating petitions for statewide offices.

The people Erickson lists off include:
Rich Whitney for Governor
LeAlan Jones for U.S. Senate
Don Crawford for Lieutenant Governor
Adrian Frost for Secretary of State
Scott Summers for Treasurer
David Black for Attorney General

The Green Party is hoping to get a number of votes in the statewide elections and double their number of candidates in legislative and local races that they had 2008, that number was 56 candidates.

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Third Party candidate on the hook for $80k…

Third Party candidate Carl Romanelli is on the hook for $80,407. Tom Infield writes on Philly.com the Green Party candidate in Pennsylvania’s 2006 Senate race and/or his lawyer will have to pay the court that significant sum of money because he did not have enough signatures to make it onto the ballot. It appears he lost his last appeal.

Democrats challenged if Romanelli had enough real signatures on the ballot. Infield explained, “(Romanelli had) to obtain a number of signatures equal to 2 percent of the votes received by the most popular candidate in the last statewide election.” A judge ruled that Romanelli did not have enough signatures to make it onto the ballot and was tossed-off the ballot and had to pay court costs.

The Thirds believes that if Romanelli did have forged signature,s he should pay that much money if not more. Election fraud is a terrible thing. What happened here is not clear. What is clear, Pennsylvania’s rules for Third Party candidates are extremely unfair and not democratic.

Infield explained the terrible rules in the Key Stone State, “...major-party candidates needed only 2,000 voter signatures to get on the ballot. But a minor-party candidate, such as Romanelli, has to meet a much higher standard of electoral credibility… The candidate has to obtain a number of signatures equal to 2 percent of the votes received by the most popular candidate in the last statewide election… Romanelli needed to obtain a record 60,070 signatures.

Once you get to that high number there are still problems. “If you're registered as Abraham Lincoln but sign as Abe Lincoln, your signature can be ruled out. The name has to be the same as on the registration form,” Infield explained.

This registration issue should be a major rallying cry and uniting forces of all Third Parties, independents and Tea Party activists.

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