SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "Oh my: Deb Fischer leads Bob Kerrey by 18 points in Nebraska"

'AllahPundit':
"Granted, it’s a deep red state, but I’m surprised regardless. Kerrey served two terms in the Senate and another as governor so his name recognition is sky high; Fischer, meanwhile, was a distant third in the primary race behind Bruning and Stenberg as of just a few weeks ago. Can an almost total upstart crush one of the most successful Democrats in recent state history?
Apparently, yeah:

State Senator Deb Fischer holds an 18-point lead over Democrat Bob Kerrey in the first Rasmussen Reports survey of the Nebraska U.S. Senate race since her upset win in last week’s state Republican primary.
A new telephone survey of Likely Voters in Nebraska shows Fischer with 56% support to 38% for Kerrey who is trying to reclaim the Senate seat he retired from in 2001. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and three percent (3%) are undecided.

The question mark with all insurgent primary winners after Angle and O’Donnell is whether they’ll make so many unforced errors on the trail that voters will decide they’re too risky to roll the dice on. Richard Mourdock seems unlikely to have that problem; he already holds statewide office as Indiana’s treasurer and, from what I’ve read, operates as a seasoned pol....."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "Interview with Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz"

Dustin Siggins:
"Last evening conservative favorite Ted Cruz, the insurgent candidate in the Republican Texas Senate Primary who is closing the gap as we hit less than two weeks from primary voting day, gave me 15 minutes of his time for a few questions about taxes, term limits, immigration and Sarah Palin’s endorsement. Below is our conversation.

Dustin Siggins (DS): 12 days out, you’re closing in the polls, Sarah Palin endorsed you…what are your thoughts on how things are going?

Ted Cruz (TC): The campaign is going extraordinarily well. The momentum is off the charts. Sarah Palin endorsed us last week  and we had a thousand contributions come in within 48 hours. We have conservatives of all stripes backing us: grassroots leaders, Republican women – everyone is coalescing behind our campaign.

DS: In a recent interview with Kathleen McKinley at Smart Girl Nation (transcript posted at RightWingNews.com), you said you opposed Democratic amnesty proposals as well as “Democrat-lite” proposals from Republicans. Can you elaborate upon this a bit?

TC: We have a crisis on illegal immigration. Neither party is serious about stopping it. I strongly oppose illegal immigration. I categorically oppose amnesty. I support legal immigrants who come here supporting the American Dream.

I come from the perspective of someone who spent much of my adult life in law enforcement. In a post-9/11 world, it is absolutely unacceptable that we don’t know who comes over our borders. We need to do everything humanly possible to secure the borders. Electronic surveillance, a wall, helicopters and, most importantly, boots on the ground. If elected, the first thing I will do is triple the U.S. Border Patrol.

We should celebrate legal immigrants. No matter the party or the politician, I oppose amnesty. Amnesty is contrary to the rule of law and is unfair to legal immigrants who wait years or decades to come here legally.

When it comes to illegal immigration, conservatives often feel like Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football. The 1986 amnesty was allegedly to secure borders in exchange for amnesty, but the borders were never secured. We should not fall for that again.

A better immigration system is both possible and simple. First, we enforce the law – securing the borders will stop the inflow. Second, put in place a strong E-Verify program. The lack of jobs will dry up the magnet for being here and illegal immigrants will leave. America MUST remain a nation of the rule of law, and non-enforcement of illegal immigration undermines that....."  (Read more? Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Cleaning Up the GOP Moves to Texas "

Bravo! Bravo!  Long live the Kingmaker, Erick Erickson.  Somewhere out there with his Red State.

Erick Erickson:
"Late last evening came word that House Republicans intend to keep parts of Obamacare. Even if the United States Supreme Court throws the whole law out, House Republicans intend to resurrect portions of Obamacare. House Republicans publicly say the story is wrong. I’ve talked to several House Republicans who tell me the story is actually on the money and the Republicans now denying it are really playing at semantics.

These House Republicans tell me these denials about the accuracy of the story are equivalent to the House GOP semantically arguing it was living up to its Pledge to Nowhere requirement for $100 billion in cuts that actually amounted to something like $34 billion. Conservatives in the House of Representatives tell me explicitly to go with Politico on this and be very wary of the House GOP Leadership when it comes to repeal.

It is a sad time for the Republican Party. The base must treat its leaders as if they are Soviets — trust but verify their statements. And lately, it is harder and harder to verify their statements. The work of the Tea Party must continue or within a decade I honestly do not believe the GOP will be one political party.

In both Indiana and Nebraska, the Tea Party has continued to make gains. People have flat out rejected the establishment favorites for U.S. Senate – Dick Lugar and Jon Bruning, respectively – in favor of candidates who offer a challenge to the status quo.

Will Texans prove what they’re made of and do the same?

I love Texas. But let’s face it – the Texas congressional delegation is mediocre at best and leaves much to be desired.

Now, Texas has the chance to get it right – by sending Ted Cruz to the U.S. Senate. But will they? Maybe. But we have a lot to do and the Republican Primary in Texas is only 2 weeks from today.

But the payoff would be worth it – this is Texas for crying out loud. We’ve been given the opportunity to replace long time thorn in our side, Kay Bailey Hutchison, with an actual honest-to-goodness conservative. Ted Cruz is that conservative. David Dewhurst is not......"
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: The Hill "The Hill's House ratings: GOP in position to keep control of chamber"

Josh Lederman and Cameron Joseph:
"Democratic prospects in the House have improved slightly, but Republicans are positioned to retain control of the lower chamber, according to an analysis by The Hill.

It's a tough fight for Democrats, who need to net about two dozen seats to retake control of the House.

In New York, the redistricting process shuffled the map, resulting in lawmakers from both parties becoming more vulnerable in their reelection bids. The seats held by Republican Reps. Chris Gibson and Nan Hayworth move from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican,” while Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul’s seat moved from “lean Democratic” to “toss-up....” (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Human Events "Nebraska Senate primary a war within GOP"

John Gizzi:
"On May 15, Nebraska Republicans will conclude one of those classic clashes in their U.S. Senate primary that one reads a lot about these days -- between tea party-backed outsiders and the Republican “establishment.”  Such clashes, the punditocracy warns, will lead to lasting intraparty scars and, possibly, a resulting Democratic win in the fall.

But the good news in the Cornhusker State is that it doesn’t matter how hard-fought the primary between State Treasurer Don Stenberg and State Attorney General Jon Bruning is or how incendiary it gets in the next two weeks.  Polls show either Republican front-runner in the four-candidate primary handily winning the open Senate seat over the certain Democratic nominee, former Sen. (1988-2000) Bob Kerrey -- who has lived and voted in New York for many years before returning to Nebraska earlier this year to launch his political comeback.

The seat being relinquished by Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson is considered one of two certain to flip to the Republican column this fall and help the GOP turn the current Democratic advantage of 53-to-47 seats into a Republican majority.  The other seat considered likely to change hands is that of retiring Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: The Hill/Ballot Box "Ted Cruz: The man who wants to be the Marco Rubio of Texas"

Sterling Beard:
"The U.S. Senate candidate from Texas, Ted Cruz, hopes to become the next Marco Rubio.

Like Sen. Rubio (R-Fla.), Cruz is a Cuban-American running a Tea Party-fueled campaign against a well-known and better-funded Republican. Texas Lieutenant Gov. David Dewhurst (R) is the front-runner in this race....." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Unlikely Voter "Senate Races 2012"

'SandBox' is linking you to the home page site of Unlikely Voter.

With the intense focus on all the hyperbole surrounding the GOP primary season; one of the most important Senate election cycles is not getting a lot of press coverage.

These are the most politically charged and important elections of our time.  Please stay informed on who is falling to the sidelines and opting for retirement instead of running for senate or congress again.  Keep up with the primary races per state so that you can be fully informed.

A good site to do some of that on is the Unlikely Voter.

Click title.

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."