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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (306832)	10/18/2006 8:21:36 PM
From: steve harris	Respond to of 1590882

Tells me the American people are tired of the beltway bunch of politicians. Maybe some more candidates no one has mentioned will run.

To: Road Walker who wrote (306832)	10/19/2006 3:03:29 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1590882

Fla. 16 GOP Can’t Mention Negron at Polls, Court Rules By Rachel Kapochunas The Republican Party’s hopes of holding on to the Florida 16th District seat of resigned Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley are greatly hindered by the fact that Foley’s name, under state law, must stay on the ballot — even though votes cast for him will be counted for state Rep. Joe Negron, the replacement candidate picked by GOP officials. And the GOP endured another hit Wednesday when a state judge, ruling on a lawsuit brought by Democratic activists, barred state election officials from posting signs at voting locations and delivering notices about the ballot situation to 16th District voters. Second Judicial Circuit Judge Janet E. Ferris ruled that a state-run information campaign to inform voters about what critics argue was an internal Republican Party foulup would do “irreparable injury” to Democratic nominee Tim Mahoney and his supporters. Ferris wrote that elections supervisors are “ordered not to post the proposed notice, and may not deliver the notice to individual voters posing questions about the race in question.” Negron’s campaign and the secretary of state’s office, headed by Republican appointee Sue M. Cobb, have told local news outlets they will appeal the decision. Democrats sued after the state Division of Elections, supervised by the office of Florida’s secretary of state, recommended that voting officials conduct an information campaign about the Foley/Negron ballot situation, suggesting those two methods as a way to inform voters. Democrats described the action as favoritism, citing a similar incident affecting the Democrats in a neighboring House district in 2004 where, Democrats argue, no strong informational campaign was prompted by the state. Robin Rorapaugh — a former congressional aide who is now a political consultant — was a late replacement nominee in that year’s 22nd District contest against veteran Republican Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. Jim Stork, a bakery owner who was the original Democratic nominee, had belatedly dropped out because of health problems; his name remained on the ballot, even though votes cast for him were counted for Rorapaugh. “We are satisfied that a judge has agreed with us that posting notices bearing candidates’ names in a polling place is not permitted by law,” state Democratic chairwoman Karen Thurman, a former House member (1993-2003), in a statement. “We hope this brings an end to the Republicans’ campaign to illegally influence voters at the polls.” The state GOP and the Negron campaign argue that informing voters should be a priority in this race and that the recommendations do not constitute favoritism. But the ruling, unless overturned, will leave the party with sole responsibility for informing voters. This is a crucial matter because of the scandal that forced Foley to suddenly quit the House and his re-election bid on Sept. 29, 24 days after he was renominated without opposition. Foley quit after it was revealed that he sent sexually explicit Internet messages to underage congressional pages. It will be difficult enough for the Republicans to persuade voters to cast a vote over Foley’s name even if they are aware that the vote will accrue to Negron, who was nominated Oct. 2 to run in Foley’s stead. But it is extremely likely that many voters will refrain from voting Republican if they are not aware that they are not voting to re-elect Foley. All this has put at grave risk a seat that just weeks ago looked etched into the Republican column. Foley, who was highly popular prior to the scandal’s eruption, won a sixth House term with 68 percent of the vote in 2004. But the 16th, which sprawls across Florida from the Atlantic to the Gulf Coast, has an overall profile that is not as strongly Republican: President Bush took 55 percent there that year. CQ rates the race as Leans Democratic. Please visit CQPolitics.com’s Election Forecaster for ratings on all races. cqpolitics.com