Posted on 04/30/2006 12:54:09 PM PDT by Torie
Senator Charles E. Schumer, and Representative Rahm Emanuel are leading the campaign committees to get Democrats elected to Congress.
They are fast-talking, hard-charging, wisecracking graduates of two of the most punishing political training grounds in the nation. Representative Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York are loud, garrulous urban brawlers: a blur of endlessly quotable attack lines, opportunistic legislative proposals, relentless fund-raising and big-shoulder tactics.
Mr. Emanuel is the head of the Democratic campaign committee in the House, and Mr. Schumer has the same job in the Senate. ...
"They have the party by the neck and they are shaking it," said James Carville, who met Mr. Emanuel in the 1992 presidential campaign for Bill Clinton. Even Richard Bond, a former [RNC] chairman, described them as "both brilliant at what they are doing: they are performing the way party leadership ought to perform."
To their critics they are shameless self-promoters who will do anything — Mr. Emanuel recited a mock "How do I love thee" sonnet from Republicans to lobbyists on the House floor on Thursday — in search of a headline.
... [They are a] startling contrast [to] Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, whose tepid fund-raising and low profile have stirred discontent in her party, and Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, who is facing a tough challenge to his own seat — orchestrated, of course, by the no-holds-barred gentleman from Chicago.
...
In one sign of how these men have sent waves of worry through Republican circles, Mr. Schumer's committee reported in March that it had $32.1 million in the bank, compared with just $16.5 million in the Republican Senate account. Mr. Emanuel's committee had $23 million, almost the same as the $24.4 million by the Republican Congressional committee.
...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ping.
If the Democratic Party would dump Schumer, and Kennedy, and Hillary, and Durbin, and the other idiots who are front and center any time a camera is present, they would fare really well.
That's not the only thing they're trying to shake. In fact, I think Serpenthead is trying to pull my middle leg.
Cheerleading from the Times. Rah, rah, rah. Start the Soviet national anthem.
He's a pig.
Shmucky Chucky is an obnoxious goofball.
"... are loud, garrulous urban brawlers ..."
... are loud-mouthed, obnoxious, lowlife, hate-America, socialist-commie-fascist scum...
There; that's more accurate.
"Rahm is my congressman here in Chicago. He bigfooted a perfectly good socialist to get his stepping stone to power. He's a pig."
And I'd wish somebody in Chicago would take a good, long, and hard look at where he picked up his personal wealth.
For the last thirty years, as evidenced by the Progressive Caucus of which all but one are Democrats (and that one is avowed socialist Bernie Sanders from Vermont, The Donkey Party has been making a mad dash for the extreme left side of the political spectrum.
What do you know about his money? Did he get it the old fashioned way by marrying it?
"What do you know about his money? Did he get it the old fashioned way by marrying it?"
1. Mossad spy
2. Specialized in fundraising initially in Illinois campaigns and then nationally.
3. Director of Finance in the 1992 Presidential campaign of then-Governor Bill Clinton.
4. "This is about winning campaigns. I come from the Vince Lombardi school: 'Winning is everything.'"
5. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the boss of the House Democratic political operation who is making ethics a centerpiece issue in the November elections, last month quietly switched campaign treasurers -- from a federal lobbyist who has for a long time served in that role to someone else.
Emanuel's move comes as GOP leaders who control Congress are seriously considering a crackdown on ethics rules in the wake of an unfolding GOP scandal triggered by the conviction of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Kathleen Connery, Emanuel's government spokesman, said the treasurer, William Singer, a lawyer and a lobbyist, has been replaced. Asked why, Connery replied, "It's obvious.''
The obvious, I surmise, is this: Emanuel saw the need to get his own ethics house in order. Singer is a former Chicago alderman whose friendship with Emanuel predates his election to Congress. Singer is also a fund-raiser for Senate Democrats.
With the ethics issue heating up, Singer told me he stepped down because "I respect him and want to help him and the best way to do that is not to serve in a meaningless job as treasurer.'' Singer said he will continue to raise money for Emanuel, one of the most prolific fund-raisers in Washington.
6. And more from the Chicago Sun-Times (of all papers!): Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the boss of the House Democratic political operation who is making ethics a centerpiece issue in the November elections, last month quietly switched campaign treasurers -- from a federal lobbyist who has for a long time served in that role to someone else.
Emanuel's move comes as GOP leaders who control Congress are seriously considering a crackdown on ethics rules in the wake of an unfolding GOP scandal triggered by the conviction of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Kathleen Connery, Emanuel's government spokesman, said the treasurer, William Singer, a lawyer and a lobbyist, has been replaced. Asked why, Connery replied, "It's obvious.''
The obvious, I surmise, is this: Emanuel saw the need to get his own ethics house in order. Singer is a former Chicago alderman whose friendship with Emanuel predates his election to Congress. Singer is also a fund-raiser for Senate Democrats.
With the ethics issue heating up, Singer told me he stepped down because "I respect him and want to help him and the best way to do that is not to serve in a meaningless job as treasurer.'' Singer said he will continue to raise money for Emanuel, one of the most prolific fund-raisers in Washington.
I wrote about Singer's connection to Emanuel's campaign Jan. 3, 2002, when Emanuel was first running for his seat.
In Washington, Singer represents United Airlines, mainly on pension issues and Verizon on telecommunication legislation.
Emanuel sits on the Ways and Means Committee, which handles many pension matters. Singer lobbied him on one issue and Emanuel voted against Singer's position.
Emanuel took on ethics as a cause last May when then Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) was under a darkening ethics cloud. Eventually DeLay was indicted on Texas campaign money-laundering charges. DeLay stepped down permanently as majority leader once Abramoff filed his guilty plea since people close to DeLay may be implicated in the widening Abramoff probe.
Back in May, Emanuel and Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) introduced a legislative package of much-needed ethics reforms. Before Abramoff's plea, however, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) showed no interest in moving on the ethics front. The speaker also had no intention of helping Emanuel, who at that point was, with other Democrats, just starting to develop their theme of the GOP congressional "Culture of Corruption.''
The Emanuel-Meehan news conference came two days after the U.S. attorney in Chicago announced a plea agreement with Gerald Wesolowski, a top lieutenant in City Hall's Water Department, part of the ongoing Hired Truck corruption scandal. The pleadings said that City Hall's political army was used to do field work on behalf of campaigns affiliated with Mayor Daley, Emanuel and several others. Emanuel said he knew nothing about City Hall pressuring workers to campaign for him.
But if Emanuel was worried about an ethics spotlight shining on him, it did not show. In October, the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan investigative organization, found that federally registered lobbyists serve as campaign treasurers for 68 federal campaign funds and 61 political action committees run by members of Congress. One of those committees highlighted was Emanuel's.
This week kicks off almost frantic attempts by Republicans and Democrats to move ahead on ethics legislation. As I write this, none of the pending ethics bills calls for a ban on lobbyists having an official role on a fund-raising committee.
But it's coming.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), newly appointed Democratic spokesman on ethics, spent much of Wednesday on ethics matters.
I asked Obama about his views on lobbyists serving as campaign treasurers. "It is the sort of practice that raises great suspicion,'' said Obama. ". . . I personally think that a bright line rule saying lobbyists cannot hold those positions is appropriate. That is something that I would support.''
7. Even thought former Democrat congressman Frank Ballance was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiring to divert taxpayer money to his law firm and family, the DCCC (headed by Rahm Emanuel) has been unwilling to return $29,500 in donations Ballance made to their coffers...
8. Mayor Daley and the Daley family political base’s 11th Ward Democratic organization were recipients of “coerced” campaign contributions, according to the plea agreement of former city Water Department Director of Finance and Administration Gerald Wesolowski. [...]
Congressman Emanuel, elected in 2002, was the recipient of Water Department employee campaign “volunteers,” presumably in his successful primary campaign against State Rep. Nancy Kaszak (D-Chicago).
...
According to the plea agreement, Water Department employees and other city employees were recruited for political work in violation of the Shakman Decree (1969) which forbids the hiring and firing of non-policy making city employees for political reasons. According to the plea agreement, Donald Tomczak, the former First Deputy Commissioner of Mayor Richard Daley’s Water Department, "rewarded certain members of his political organization...with raises, promotions and overtime, in return for their participation in Tomczak directed political activities."
Wesolowski, 46, who was indicted on 15 counts ranging including racketeering, bribery, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice agreed to plead guilty one count of mail fraud and to cooperate in the government’s case.
Wesolowski was one of the bagmen for Tomczak, a co-defendant in the indictment. He is the 6th person to plead guilty in Hired Truck probe to date, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to Wesolowski's plea agreement, "candidates receiving support via this criminal enterprise were 'Jeff Tomczak, mayoral candidate Richard Daley, judicial candidate Amy Bertani, United States congressional candidate Rahm Emanuel and others.' There is also a reference to an unnamed 'Candidate A' with reference to fund raising."
9. Blind Trusts http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd2004/N00024813_2004.pdf
http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd2003/N00024813_2003.pdf
http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd2002/N00024813_2002.pdf
10. http://search.hp.netscape.com/hp/boomframe.jsp?query=Rahm+Emanuel&page=5&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Deaa4c0375e4f7c49%26clickedItemRank%3D65%26userQuery%3DRahm%2BEmanuel%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fherndon1.sdrdc.com%252Fcgi-bin%252Fcom_detail%252FC00368829%26invocationType%3Dnext%26fromPage%3DHPNextPrevB%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fherndon1.sdrdc.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fcom_detail%2FC00368829
The DNC: A cult in search of a clue!
The NY Times is thoroughly disgusting in their naked, rank liberalism.
A winning strategy is to take votes away from the other side as in running conservative black Republicans to woo blacks to vote with white Republicans. Rahm Emmanuel is running Iraq war discontents to piss off Republicans, but that won't get him the votes he needs.
1) attempting to divide the base with divisive issues, and
2) promoting third party candidates who siphon off votes.
I doubt it. The Democrats live and die by being demagogues.
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