The quick and dirty on the new Monmouth #DESen Poll

Christine O'Donnell has cut Chris Coons' lead by 9 according to Monmouth's newly released



poll...

In the past two weeks, Republican Christine O’Donnell has narrowed Democrat Chris Coons’ lead in Delaware’s U.S. Senate race from 19 points to 10 points. The latest Monmouth University Poll finds Coons has the support of 51% of likely voters to 41% for O’Donnell. Two weeks ago, this race stood at 57% to 38%.

Christine O'Donnell is winning indies...

O’Donnell has also made gains among independent voters, now leading Coons 47% to 42% among this voting bloc. Two weeks ago, she trailed in the independent vote by 51% to 41%.

Her messaging is working...

60 House seats and 8 Senate seats, so says @krautammer http://bit.ly/9BJXWf #rsrh

Krauthammer destroys Obama and Gibbs in his summary of campaign 2010. He also lays out his prediction - 60 in the House, 8 in the Senate. For myself, I predict - 70/9 with a 50/50 chance of hitting 10.



What do you think?

Amplify’d from www.nationalreview.com

Obama, to his credit, did not get elected to do midnight basketball or school uniforms. No Bill Clinton, he. Obama thinks large. He wants to be a consequential president on the order of Ronald Reagan. His forthright attempt to undo the Reagan revolution with a new burst of expansive liberal governance is the theme animating this entire election.

Democratic apologists would prefer to pretend otherwise — that it’s all about the economy and the electorate’s anger over its parlous condition. Nice try. The most recent CBS/New York Times poll shows that only one in twelve Americans blames the economy on Obama, and seven in ten think the downturn is temporary. And yet, the Democratic party is falling apart. Democrats are four points behind among women, a constituency Democrats had owned for decades; a staggering 20 points behind among independents (a 28-point swing since 2008); and 20 points behind among college graduates, giving lie to the ubiquitous liberal conceit that the Republican surge is the revenge of lumpen know-nothings.

On November 2, a punishing there will surely be. But not quite the kind Obama is encouraging.

My prediction: The Dems lose 60 House seats, eight in the Senate. Rangers in seven.  Read more at www.nationalreview.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/e68r

Jeep fans will like this post. Open Thread

h/t POWIP



Aaron B. Gardner

Taking down the Widener Law version of the 1st Amendment. #DESen @ChristineOD

The below I got in email from a friend. It's a pretty definitive smackdown of Erin Daly, the Law Professor from Widener who thought it smart to trash Delaware Republican Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell on the 1st Amendment and "Separation of Church and State".

Enjoy!

OPEN LETTER TO ERIN DALY

Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Faculty Research and Development

Widener Law

Christine was absolutely right about "Separation of Church and State" not being in the First Amendment or the Constitution. As I am sure you know, but may not admit, the phrase "Separation of Church and State" comes from a letter from President Jefferson to a private group. It did not appear in Supreme Court decisional law until Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145, 164 (1878), a hundred years after the Revolution.

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between a man and his God; that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of the government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”—Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Danbury, Connecticut, Baptists.

The First Amendment was ratified in 1791, a dozen years before the Supreme Court’s 1803 decision in Marbury v. Madison.

On NPR and Juan Williams. Holding to it's principles, NPR fires Juan for speaking the truth.

In case you haven't heard yet, Juan Williams was fired by the taxpayer subsidized NPR (National Public Radio). He was fired for saying that he too has anxiety when he sees people in Muslim garb on a plane with him. He was fired for telling the truth, as Erick Erickson noted in the linked post.

Juan's anxiety is a completely normal human response to a traumatic event perpetrated by people citing their Muslim faith as reason and justification for the same. Juan was speaking from his own experience, with empathy for others who have also suffered losses due to Islamic Terrorism.

Despite these natural human inclinations, Juan went on to explain that we shouldn't lump everyone together. To a degree I think Juan is correct. We shouldn't let stereotypes cloud our judgments, nor should we allow a PC culture to do the same.

Even with these qualifications on his overall statements, NPR decided to fire him. He simply wasn't toeing the line for the NPR mission. This is a good point that I will briefly address after the full O'Reilly segment.

1, 2, 3, Currahee

About a year ago my father died and over this past year, not a day has gone by that I didn't think of him. Sometimes those thoughts would bring pain, other times joy. Today I was checking out the blogs looking for something interesting to read/watch when I found a post on iOwntherworld. The title was Currahee, and I immediately smiled.

Before even watching the video in the post, I was already thinking of my father proudly. For those who don't know, not that you would, my father was in the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. More specifically, he was an artilleryman on FSP Ripcord in 1970. It is an honor to have had a father that fought with "The Stand Alone Battalion", 2nd Battalion (Currahees), 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile).

I also think that my father would be happy and honored to know that the Curahees are still amazing soldiers who defy all the odds.

Get your tissues ready...



1, 2, 3 Currahee!!

A Smart Band with SmartphonesGiving Techno a New Meaning

h/t to Instupundit

Having had their instruments "stolen", Atomic Tom decided to put on an impromptu concert with their iPhones.



I have been to far worse concerts.

Consider this an open thread.

Aaron B. Gardner

Imagine a JumpSaturday Open Thread

This is a mashup of Imagine by John Lennon and Jump by Van Halen. As odd as that may sound, it's actually pretty dang brilliant.

Enjoy...




Aaron B. Gardner

New Background on the Site.

I know it is probably such a subtle change that my 3 readers didn't even notice, but I changed the background just now.

It used to be a stock woodsy photo all blurred up. I didn't like it but it was a close in stock match for a Vermont feel when I first revamped this blog.

I decided to change it, and start blogging here again, earlier this week when I took this picture just down the road from where I live.



Living here certainly has it's benefits. I get to see some of God's great handiwork every day.

I am truly blessed.

Aaron B. Gardner

Still, another new ad from @ChristineOD #DESen

In this ad Christine O'Donnell, Republican candidate for Delaware Senate, has a Wilmington City Councilman talk about Chris "The Bearded Marxist" Coons tax policy.







Go Christine!



Aaron B. Gardner

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/bQcxgL

Delaware's Problem Isn't Christine O'Donnell.If I lived in Delaware I would be looking for Tom Ross' replacement.

I know that it's become popular to get all down in the dumps about the Delaware Senate race. I know that it's all a "done deal" and no amount of campaigning or prodding can change the outcome. The die has been cast.

Alea iacta est.

These words were made famous when Julius Caesar spoke them as he led his army across the Rubicon. Caesar was now in direct defiance and civil war and past the point of no return.

O'Donnell won her primary despite the best efforts of the Delaware GOP and Castle. This race was a contentious one and it has been, more than any other, like a civil war between the moderate and conservative factions of the party.

Since her win she has largely been on her own, still fighting the smears on the left and the potshots from the right. She has had to do all the post primary work, like reuniting the party, without the assistance of the State party. Despite this she has launched what I think is a good ad campaign combined with mailings. She also beat Coons in back to back debates in a matter of 24 hours.

At this point, two weeks out from election day and 2 debates left, a new Rasmussen poll shows Coons at 51% and O'Donnell at 40%.

Now ask yourself this.

If the Delaware GOP had held just one event for O'Donnell since the primary, could this race be closer?

If the Delaware GOP had posted a full throated endorsement of O'Donnell, might that have caused this race to tighten?

Peter Shumlin (D) Drops in on Brian Dubie's Campaign HQ. #VTGov #RGA

I bet Shumlin thought it would be really clever to bring T.V. cameras down to Dubie campaign HQ 45 minutes prior to a debate. I also bet he didn't expect to be engaged in a losing debate with one of the campaign workers.







Oops. Thanks for the donuts though, in fact, that inspired the VT GOP to ask for 12 dollar donations to honor the dozen donut debate.



Well played Peter, well played.



Aaron B. Gardner



P.S. Dubie for Vermont.



P.P.S. Phil Scott too.



P.P.P.S Did I mention Len Britton for Senate?

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/92Mg8H

Democrats for Brian Dubie #VTGot

I certainly hope that Brian wins this, along with Phil Scott as Lt. Gov and a few good recruits running for the State legislature. It's possible we could see Vermont begin it's long climb out of its malaise.



Aaron B. Gardner

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/93RCdA

Republicans hitting their media stride. Two examples, Buck and Miller. #AKSen #COSen

Both of which are backed by Sen. DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund.



First up is Ken Buck, Republican challenger to incumbent Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet:







This ad had an almost Gahndi like message to it. "First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.” Buck reminds me of the happy conservatives of old, Reagan and Kemp style. I think the people of Colorado will be very responsive to this ad. Well done Buck.



Next up is Joe Miller, Republican challenger to Democrat Scott Adams and incumbent Senator - and traitor to her party, - Lisa "Princess" Murkowski:







Joe is having a good time here. The Old Spice ads have become an instant classic in pop culture and capitalizing on that is a smart move by the Miller campaign. Smacking around Murkowski for her entitlement attitude was just icing on top of this already delicious cake. Well played Joe.



Seeing these ads come from these two candidates is no surprise. After all, like I noted above, they are backed by Sen. DeMint and his Senate Conservatives Fund.



Aaron B. Gardner

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/b8V9ik

Double Miracle* Evening Open Thread.

Tonight there were two miracles, 33 Chilean miners were successfully rescued and Christine O'Donnell trounced Chris Coons in a debate that was focused evenly on character and policy.  As the Phoenix capsule rose from deep in the earth pulling one miner after another back to safety, O'Donnell also rose.



Christine O'Donnell rose above the personal attacks on her.  She spoke with maturity not only about the issues she will face in D.C. as a representative of Delaware, but also her own issues.  Issues she has faced and overcome as a conservative.



While CNN decided to cut away from the live debate when it was apparent that Coons was struggling and O'Donnell was outperforming, CSPAN continued their coverage.  Unfazed by losing his own network, Blitzer aided Coons the best he could.  I won't recap the whole debate here, but it is obvious that O'Donnell's prep time with Palin's debate coach was time well spent.  To the unbiased eye, O'Donnell clearly won.



O'Donnell took advantage of this debate to show she is a serious thinker and a serious candidate.  Will that turn to votes?  I don't know, but I suspect after tonights performance there will be a round of polling that will let us know.



Consider this an open thread.



Aaron B. Gardner



*  Actually, O'Donnell's performance isn't really a miracle.  The Dems will call it that, but we all know they don't believe in God**.



**  What?  It's just a joke.  Like when Coons said he was a "bearded Marxist" when he got back from studying in Kenya.  NTTAWWT IYKWIMAITYD



P.S.  Don't forget the #1013Bomb on Twitter

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/9HRR0E

Crossposted at RedState.com

Ssshhhhhh!!!! I'm back.

I am going to try and start posting here again. No promises, we'll see how it goes.

In a few minutes I will be posting on the Delaware Senate debate between Coons and O'Donnell.

Enjoy.

Aaron B. Gardner.