2010-memories

[NewYorkExpress]

En Passant


Former Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov became the latest victim of the Russian Government (and Vladimir Putin specifically) to be targeted for a violent end, as armed gunmen shot him twice at the Flamingo Casino in Kimberly, South Africa on May 30, (he was there to play a series of chess matches for charity with Nigel Short, Julian Hodgson, Alexi Barsov, Maurice Ashley and Vassily Ivanchuk). Unfortunately, this shooter's aim was off, and after surgery, doctors were able to announce that Kasparov would be out of the hospital within a week.

Memorial Day Weekend Stateside, generally meant Auto Racing, and it was extra special because 2011, meant the 100th Indianapolis 500.  Juan Pablo Montoya had decided to try to win both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 that evening in Charlotte (Ron Fellows won the pole for Montoya in Charlotte, while Montoya qualified 4th in Indy). He almost got there winning his second Indy 500, by passing Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan on the final lap, but after arriving at Charlotte Motor Speedway 45 minutes before the scheduled start time, and holding the lead most of the race, couldn't win, falling to second after being passed on lap 397 by Tony Stewart.   

[NewYorkExpress]

The First Rule About Debate Club;


Jim Gilmore announced his exit from the Presidential Race on June 1. He had been battered in the polls since calling Spencer Abraham a terrorist back in February (though his poll numbers had never really gotten off the ground, his best results in any polls were in the following, sorted by release date; PPP-Virginia- January 18 15% (3rd), PPP February 14- Maryland 12% (3rd), Rasmussen February 14- Virginia 11.5% (5th) Zogby- March 19 Virginia- 6.8% (6th).) and he'd struggled with fundraising (to the point where he'd missed the first debate to fundraise in Dubuque and Ames). Gilmore became the first Republican out for the second Presidential Cycle in a row.

On June 5,Senator Jim DeMint, capitalizing on Gilmore's exit, announced the formation of an exploratory committee for President. The Next Evening, at a massive rally at Cowpens National Battlefield, DeMint announced he would enter the race, calling himself "the only conservative in the race", and telling voters that "we should choose ideals over victory every time".

DeMint was just in time for the Republicans second debate, which was held at California State University-Chico's Acker Gym.  It was another lively debate, which saw DeMint hit Engler and Romney as "Failed Blue State Governors", and called for eliminating the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. Frist told Moderator Andrea Mitchell that his first Foreign Policy action would be to "ask for a declaration of war against Pakistan". Romney meanwhile had a great debate, with the exception of telling the other Moderator Meredith Vieira that "outside of terrorism, our biggest threat is Russia", which he was attacked for by other Republicans...despite it appearing true.

Romney emerged with the debate victory, but DeMint ran a strong second among voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, and was the winner amongst primary voters in South Carolina.   

[NewYorkExpress]

Supreme Drama-2011 Term

The Supreme Court had been busy throughout the 2010-2011 term. but the significant rulings picked beginning on March 1, 2011 when a 7-1 majority (Kagan recusing herself, and Scalia dissenting) struck a blow to the recently established doctrine of Corporate Personhood, by ruling that the FCC could invade corporations privacy in FCC vs AT&T.

On May 23, the Supreme Court by a 5-3 opinion (Ginsburg, Breyer,Sotomayor,Roberts and Kennedy, with Kagan again abstaining) ruled that Arizona's SB-1070 violated the 14th Amendment, because as Roberts put in his opinion "the high likelihood citizens could mistakenly be rounded up and deported".

Also on May 23 Court released a 5-4 opinion that reversed an Eighth Circuit Court ruling that limited the number of prisoners in California prisons (Alito ,Scalia ,Roberts ,Kennedy, and Thomas formed the majority opinion).


On July 11, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, citing her advancing age (She had turned 78 in March, and was in the worst health of the Justices) announced she would retire pending the confirmation of her successor. While Democrats were doubtful anyone would get through a divided Senate (Republicans held a 51-49 advantage, so blocking a nominee would be difficult for them too). President Obama moved quickly, nominating New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on September 9 (Both Chuck Todd and Brit Hume marveled at how tough a spot it put George Pataki, running for a full term  in the Senate in). Cuomo advanced out of committee on October 19, and after a brief (six hours) filibuster attempt by Bob Corker, earned an up or down vote after Rubio was pressured to drop to the effort by other leading Republicans (including Presidential Candidates Frist Bill Frist and Mitt Romney), which he won 54-46 (Todd Whitman, Castle, Pataki, Snowe, Hatch and Graves were the GOP "yea votes", while, Al Franken and Bernie Sanders both voted against Cuomo "nays" for Democrats.     

[NewYorkExpress]

Election Summer-2011

The Summer of 2011 had several key primaries and special elections, for junkies to digest.

First up was a special election in California's 26th Congressional District, where Jane Harman resigned to become Ambassador to Israel on March 28 (She had been nominated on March 6, and confirmed on March 20 by a 94-5 vote, with Pataki abstaining, and Menendez, Ayotte, Talent, DeMint and Portman voted against). A Special Election was called for June 2, with a runoff set for July 6 if no one reached 50% of the vote. Unfortunately, California Republicans had gotten their perceived top candidate in former Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svornich, and she depressed the number of entries, especially on the Republican side.

CA-36 Special Election Primary

Secretary of State Debra Bowen (D) 45.61%
Former Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svornich (R) 18.06%
Former State Senator Sheila Kuehl (D) 15.77%
Teacher/Community Activist Marcia Winograd (D) 11.03%
Former State Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D) 8.07%
Steve Collett (L) 1.46%

Bowen had come remarkably close to winning without a runoff, but Svornich upped his game, and the few polls over the next much showed the race tightening quickly. Still, it was going to be an uphill battle for any Republican, and Svornich had hit his surge too late.

CA-36 Special Election Runoff

Debra Bowen (D) 55.66%
Rudy Svornich (R) 44.34%

Next in the docket, was a special election for New York's 26th Congressional District, where Chris Lee had resigned on March 7, after an aide sent a sex tape of him to DrudgeReport (with said aide).Governor DiNapoli set a Special Election for July 17 (despite some pressure to set it before the the 4th of July holiday). Democrats nominated Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul, while Republicans, took awhile to settle on a candidate (they didn't need a primary, and that caused headaches), they ultimately settled on Monroe County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo. Daily Beast Editor and Reporter Ian Murphy was the Green Party nominee, and he caused major problems for Hochul in funding, and more importantly polling. The race was tight, but Hochul was able to emerge with a narrow victory after a recount that lasted until July 24.

NY-26 Special Election

Kathy Hochul (D) 46.663%
Cheryl Dinolfo (R) 46.617%
Ian Murphy (G) 4.33%
Write-in/Other 2.39%

Mississppi had it's primaries on August 8, and all eyes were on the race to succeed Haley Barbour as Governor. Democrats nominated Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree without opposition, but the focus was on the GOP Primary, where a battle had built all summer. 

Mississippi Governor-Republicans

Former Senator Trent Lott 50.02%
Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant 41.14%
Former State Representative Dannie Reed 8.84%

New Jersey's anticipated Senate Primaries were August 13, and there was competition on both sides. For Democrats, the field was multiple candidates, while incumbent Christine Todd Whitman faced a primary challenge from the right, in the form of former State Assemblyman Steven Corodemus (no conservative himself, but positioning himself to the right of Todd Whitman). The incumbent would win, but she would be damaged by multiple months of tough campaigning, and looked more vulnerable in November.

New Jersey Senate-Republicans

Christine Todd Whitman 52.66%
Steven Corodemus 47.34%

New Jersey Senate-Democrats[/b]

Congressman Frank Pallone 39.87%
Newark Mayor Cory Booker 38.67%
State Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez 20.56%
Former Hudson County Sheriff Joseph Cassidy 0.9%