The American Spectator

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Nervous Time

9.13.06 @ 12:01AM

SHOOT THE MESSENGER
Re: David Hogberg's Losing Senate Races:

Your article stated:

"Although Democratic State Treasurer Bob Casey has led in all the polls since February, in recent weeks Senator Rick Santorum has narrowed his lead to single digits. That combined with a devastating performance in his debate with Casey on Meet The Press, and everything seemed to be going Santorum's way. So what to make of the new USAToday/Gallup poll showing Casey with an 18 point lead? I'm inclined to dismiss it as a fluke..."

What you're missing from your analysis is the fact that the link to the USA Today/Gallup poll you provided is dated August 31st, three days before the MTP debate aired. Certainly, the poll was conducted before the results were published on the 31st.
-- Jason

Mr. Hogberg surely must either be Jewish or Catholic. He exhibits an excellently honed sense of "everything is going to turn out wrong." My guess is that he also has a finely honed sense of guilt to go along with his pessimism.

He is obviously correct regarding the "safe" seats in the Senate. They are so obvious that it would be hard to miss on them. He then takes almost every race where the polls show the Democrat in the lead and awards that race the "leans Dem" category. He then takes every race where the Republican has a narrow lead and finds a reason why the polls are wrong and the state really leans Dem. He takes the one race where the Dem challenger to the incumbent Republican may actually be the more conservative candidate (Who could possibly be more liberal that Lincoln Chafee?) and awards this "who the heck cares" race to the Dems. He breaks his singular predictive trend with the Allen race in Virginia, where the whole trumped up "macaca" fiasco is Dem and media driven with the help of the GOP's girly man brigade.

David, I am afraid that just sheer dumb luck will mean that some of the GOP candidates that now lead the polls will stumble into office this November. Pure chance means that not ALL of the unpleasant surprises will discomfit the Republican in the race. Now I dislike the GOP pinup girl, Rosie Scenario, as much as I dislike the purveyors of constant doom and gloom, but could I suggest you change whatever it is that you are drinking and smoking? In the meantime, please arrange for someone to be in charge of keeping all sharp objects out of your reach.
-- Ken Shreve

I can't tell you much about the other U.S. Senate races but as long as Bob Casey is former Governor Bob Casey's son, Rick Santorum has a good chance of beating him. Young Casey is the same insufferable stuffed shirt his father was. He's not about to get out to meet the grubby voters and tell them why they should vote for him. His campaign slogan will be the same (unspoken) one that his father ran on which got him about 2 victories in 5 or 6 attempts at public office and that is: "Vote for me because I'm Bob Casey and I know what's best for you." And he won't even get that message across as well as his father did because he thinks he is entitled to the office by the Law of Primogeniture.
-- Bob Keiser
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania

As the Gipper would say..."Here you go again." Once more we are assailed with predictions of the GOP's demise and Bush's swan song as President. While some races probably are obvious, others are pure conjecture. While the Republican Congress has acted more liberal than conservative, don't write the Republicans off yet. As usual the polls bring hope for a Democrat takeover, but the last two elections proved them dead wrong. Even with a hostile media, which has become a bigger enemy than the terrorists to our freedoms, spewing forth their poison, the American public has seen through all that. The point is, do we really think the Democrats can do any better than the Republicans? Do we really want another Vietnam type defeat and can we really afford such? Are the cut and runners going to set our national policy (remember Somalia)? That will be on the minds of a lot of people.

The enemy knows America's resolve will waver after a period of time, that it will look like we are in a stalemate, that the media and the liberals are their best allies, but has everyone read the mood of this nation right? Sure we're tired of this conflict, as does happen with war, but are we willing to give the enemy a victory by default? Are we going to let the likes of Hillary Clinton speak for us, promise a utopia where there isn't one? I really don't think so.

No, I think when people go to the polls, they are going to remember Sept. 11th, our borders, and many other things. Then they're going to realize that for all his faults, Bush is much more preferable than what the Democrats are offering and to put in a Democrat majority will bring about a disaster in this nation along the lines of 9-11. It will give victory to an enemy whose sole purpose for existence is pure hatred of the West, with the U.S. as the head Satan.

Now, I live in Vermont and that prediction about Sanders is probably right (who really knows?). However, he will be as useless as a senator as he was in the House because this person is so far out of the mainstream -- he will merely be replacing Jeffords as the Senate fool. Like Howard Dean, he's all smoke and mirrors. For let's face it, the truth is the Republicans will have lost their power through stupidity rather than the Democrats gaining it through having a better plan.
-- Pete Chagnon

I wonder why the GOP would spend money in Rhode Island trying for a Lincoln Chafee win, so what if a Dem wins. I don't see where you would be able to tell the difference. Chafee is a Republican in name only and he needs to go. In fact all of the RINO's that vote most of the time with the Dems need to go.
-- Elaine Kyle

BACK CLASH
Re: William Tucker's Overprivileged Children:

William Tucker's review of The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright was very well done, and I look forward to reading the book. However, Tucker makes a comment near the end of his review that calls for a response.

Letter to the Editor

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