Liddy Dole - still an asshole

And her husband Bob has squandered whatever integrity he might have had left after the moronic Britney Spears Pepsi ad from a few years ago.

First, Liddy's got a new "godless" ad.


"If godless Americans threw a party in your honor, would you go?"

What the fuck, Liddy? Do you really ask every person you know what kind of faith in the magical sky-being they have before you break bread with them? Does it matter that much to you? Really? Tell you what, then.

Go fuck yourself.

You're running for Senate, not Archbishop. You know, render unto Caesar and all that. No religious test shall ever be applied to an office seeker in the United States of America. Remember that? It's in the Constitution that you swore (on the Bible, if i remember correctly) to uphold.

And Bob?

An adviser for Godless Americans held a fund-raiser at his home for Hagan. The event was not billed as a Godless Americans event, and other hosts included an ambassador and U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

Former Sen. Bob Dole says North Carolina voters deserve to know why Hagan went to the event.

"Just answer the question, I've been in this business a long time and when everything else fails, you just have to answer the question. Even if you don't want to answer the question,” he said.

So, Bob? Here's a question you don't want to answer. Can you still get it up for Britney? What a pair of pseudo-moralistic hypocrites.

Continue reading Liddy Dole - still an asshole

Liddy Dole is an asshole

I'm sure you've all seen, or at least heard about, Liddy Dole's latest attack ad on Kay Hagan, the one where she claims that Kay is spouting "There is no God" in exchange for money raised by a member of a groups called "Godless Americans." In any other part of the western world, a campaign that attempted this line of attack would be laughed into oblivion, but this is North Carolina, where Jesse Helms once won reelection to the Senate with an overt appeal to white racism, so we can't simply laugh this off.

What we'd like to do is sit Liddy down with a copy of the US Constitution, you know, the one she swore to uphold and defend 6 years ago upon taking office. The one that says "but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

Maybe Liddy wants to put the bible above the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, but if that's the case, she needs to get up publicly and say that the Founding Fathers were wrong in the way they organized our republic. Let her repudiate the Constitution, loud and clear. Let her make the case that, like the Taliban, she wants a nation ruled by religious decrees.

That said, Team Hagan's response leaves, in my mind, much to be desired. Here's the email she sent out yesterday:

Elizabeth Dole should be absolutely ashamed of herself. I can't begin to tell you how outraged I am that she has attacked my Christian faith.

Her latest ad is fabricated and pathetic.

Our nation is in a crisis and the only solution Elizabeth Dole has to offer is mud and slime and more of the same. Wall Street was just bailed out and our economy is in shambles and Dole is doing whatever she can to talk about anything BUT the issues.

Enough. This kind of politics will not be tolerated.

Help me respond by paying for an ad directly addressing these claims attacking my Christian faith.

We already have two response ads -- watch them -- and please donate $100, $50 or $25 to help me directly respond to Dole's desperate, divisive and deplorable ads in a third ad.

I don't know what things were like when she grew up in North Carolina, but the North Carolina I raised my children in would never condone this kind of personal slander.

I was raised going to Sunday school and church every week and I raised my children that way. The Hagan family has attended the First Presbyterian Church for over 100 years -- that's where I've taught Sunday school.

If Senator Dole wants to pass judgment on my faith, that's her right -- but that's not the kind of response MY faith teaches.

Join me in taking a stand against the same old tired rhetoric that divides people by contributing today.

Your support at this critical time is imperative to our success.

But even more so -- your support right now is imperative to change the politics of our country.

We need a new direction -- leadership that will bring people together, not tear people apart. Leadership that offers new solutions, not the same old, tired rhetoric.

The people of North Carolina have had enough. No more. It's about time for a change.

Kay Hagan can, of course, respond to Liddy Dole's sleaze any way she wants. But if she's going to come to me asking for money, she has to at least acknowledge that there's a whole 'nother level on which Liddy's attacks are repulsive. It's not simply that Hagan's being called an atheist when she's not. It's that atheism is being attacked as somehow un-American. That people who don't believe in magic sky-beings are not entitled to participate in the American polity. That we are second class.

We're not.

And Kay, you've got my vote, primarily because Liddy Dole is a complete asshole. But if you want my money, you've got to do better than that.

UPDATE: Got a phone call from the Kay Hagan campaign tonight asking for, yep, money to run the response ad. So i got a chance to give them an earful. Hopefully it gets back to the candidate.

Continue reading Liddy Dole is an asshole

Polls

Hagan v Dole for the Senate seat from NC.

h/t the Archer Pelican

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I do not think the word "rock star' means what you think it means

From Under the Dome:

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole will be a no-show at her party's big bash in St. Paul, Minn.

. . .

Dole is in a tough battle for re-election against Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan. Dole will be visiting with businesses, organizations and other constituent groups, but Hallaway said the schedule is not final.

She also is one of the bona fide rock stars of the GOP, the type of speaker who could rally the faithful. Dole had a prime time TV speaking role at the last GOP convention in New York City, where she praised President Bush and talked in support of traditional marriage, freedom of religion and the sanctity of life.

If Liddy is what passes for a rock star in the GOP, this election is already over.

Continue reading I do not think the word "rock star' means what you think it means

Dole: Offshore drilling OK if . . .

Six months ago, i would not have expected energy policy to be a hot electoral topic. So what do i know?

Sen. Elizabeth Dole said North Carolina should have the option of allowing oil exploration off the state's coast, backing away from her long-held support of a federal moratorium on Atlantic drilling.

In a statement Wednesday to The Associated Press, Dole said she supports lifting a 27-year-old moratorium that has prohibited exploration off the North Carolina coast.

"Now, more than ever, responsible and practical steps are needed to increase our energy independence and strengthen economic and national security," Dole said.

The Republican, facing re-election for the first time, said the option should be available to states so long as the exploration is safe, clean and not visible from land.

Well, i guess that last part ought to put the kibosh on any offshore drilling for a while. And if "not visible from land" doesn't qualify as NIMBY, i'm not sure what does.

Continue reading Dole: Offshore drilling OK if . . .

Jim Neal for Senate

I've been leaning in this direction ever since Jim's appearances over at BlueNC. Kay Hagan's recent comments are enough to make me say we don't need her in the Senate. We've already got two Republicans representing NC. Why we'd want to replace Liddy Dole with someone who's going to vote the same way is beyond me.

More on Jim Neal here.

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She must be running for re-election

I don't know if literally throwing money at the taxpayers in an effort to head off a recession is the best approach or not. The Bush administration and the House of Representatives thought so when they passed an "economic stimulus" package a week or so ago.

The Senate is working on a slightly different package that would also extend unemployment benefits in certain areas and give money to some people (some disabled veterans, for example) who don't have any earned income to report. Not unexpectedly, Republicans in the Senate filibustered this plan. Equally predictable, media accounts didn't use the "f" word to describe the maneuver*.

What was totally unexpected, at least from my perspective, is that Liddy Dole voted with the Democrats to close debate on the plan.

She must be feeling the heat.

*UPDATE: I take that back.

Continue reading She must be running for re-election