Independent poised to be on ballot to replace Ted Kennedy…

Independent Libertarian Joe Kennedy is poised to be on ballot to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Kennedy, a member of the Libertarian Party, is running as an independent because Massachusetts state law makes it cheaper to run as an independent versus a party-backed candidate.

Kennedy says on his website, “Our original goal was 13,500 signatures / 10,200 validated signatures. Not only did we exceed both goals but we BLEW THEM AWAY… I want to thank everyone for their efforts and urge you more than ever to spread the word.”

Candidates needed to get 10,000 signatures to qualify. The primary election for the race is December 8, 2009 with the general election on January 19, 2010.

SOURCE:

http://joekennedyforsenate.com/

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elespeif/senatorincongressma.htm

Bernake on Hold…

Bernake placed on hold, for re-nomination. CBS MarketWatch is reporting Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is placing a hold on the nomination of Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Senator Sanders was quoted saying, “the American people did not bargain for ... another four years for one of the key architects of the Bush economy.” Senator Sanders was also critical of not providing enough credit to small and medium-sized businesses.

SOURCE:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sen-sanders-to-place-hold-on-bernanke-nomination-2009-12-02-2153530?siteid=bnbh

Illinois Gubernatorial candidate not releasing income tax returns…

Illinois Green Party Gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney is not releasing his income tax returns. A posting on NBCChicago.com, is critical of a number of candidates for Illinois Governor are not releasing their tax statements. Whitney did not want to release the documents because of his wife's privacy.

Two Republicans also have refused to release their information and another Republican will only release the income tax information if “everybody else does”.

Two Democrats mentioned in the piece said they would release their information, but have not done it yet.

SOURCE:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/Guv-Candidates-Withhold-Tax-Returns-78126587.html

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1910864,113009transparency.article

Jesse Ventura: MSNBC paid for my silence

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times’ Scott Collins, Jesse Ventura talked about his new television show on truTV and a few other surprising things.

The former Independent Governor of Minnesota also touched on his time on cable television on MSNBC. He said “weird phone calls” started happening asking if Ventura was against the war in Iraq. Which Ventura was against.

Ventura said he was being groomed to get a five day-a-week TV show, then he was taken off the air and not even being used as a consultant, but was still paid for three years. Ventura was quoted saying, “Why do you think you didn't hear from me for three years?”

The interview also focus on Ventura’s conspiracy based show “Conspiracy Theory”. Ventura talked about 9/11 terror attack conspiracies and weather control conspiracies.

SOURCE:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-conversation29-2009nov29,0,1777742.story

Is the door opening to Third Party conservatives?

Two recent polls show there may be an opening for conservative Third Parties in the upcoming 2010 elections.

Democracy Corp said in a recent poll, “only 16 percent have a positive view of the current economy and only a third think the economy is ‘starting’ to improve.” The results of the poll shows that Independents “are particularly pessimistic” on economic issues. People vote with their pocketbooks and if voters are not will to accept the economy is doing well Democrats will fall.

But what about Republicans? When you look at numbers from an “excitement” poll conducted by Research 2000 for the DailyKos, the chances for conservative independent or Third Party candidates are high. The poll shows more than half of the country has negative views of Congressional Democrats and Republicans, and the parties in general.

The excitement gap is where the big news happens. The Research 2000/DailyKos poll asked, “In the 2010 Congressional elections will you definitely vote, probably vote, not likely vote, or definitely will not vote?” 81% of Republican Voters said they are Definitely or Probably Voting in 2010, 65% of Independent voters also felt the same way, with only 56% Democratic voters feeling the same way.

If a conservative candidate can strike a credible message on the economy a third party candidate could get some traction. We saw how in just one month a Third Party candidate in upstate New York (Doug Hoffman) turned the race on its head. It took visits from the Vice President, and the endorsement from the Republican to beat the Third Party challenger.

If Democrats fail to garner excitement and support an independent/Third Party candidate could take some of their votes and then battle for votes from the right and make it into Congress.

SOURCE:

http://www.democracycorps.com/strategy/2009/11/the-economy-at-a-sensitive-juncture/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/27/808503/-Weekly-Tracking-Poll:-New-Feature-Paints-Ugly-2010-Picture

Bloomberg for Mayor: The $100 Million Dollar Mayoral Campaign

The final numbers are in on the New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg's re-election spending. The New York Times says Mayor Bloomberg spent about $102,000,000 to get re-elected to a third term as mayor. That equals about $183 per vote.

Bloomberg is now top-spending self-financed politician in U.S. history. In previous campaigns he spent $85,000,000 and $74,000,000.

SOURCE:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34180267/ns/politics-more_politics/

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AR08320091128

Bernie Sanders makes some news on Sunday talk shows…

Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders makes some news on Sunday talk shows.

Senator Sanders said he would not vote for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to be reappointment to his position. Sanders said on ABC’s ‘This Week’ program, “I absolutely will not vote for Mr. Bernanke. He is part of the problem. He's the smartest guy in the world, why didn't he do anything to prevent us from sinking into this disaster that Wall Street caused and which he was a part of?"

The Progressive Senator also said he would not force a public option in the health care reform bill. Senator Sanders said he would like get a public option, but does not believe is worth destroying the rest of the bill over the public option issue.

SOURCE:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/29/sanders-says-second-term-federal-reserve-chief/

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/11/sanders-no-line-in-sand-on-health-care.html