Terry McMahon's Awesome Blog

The logic behind all this here. The real story on 2006's prominent Republican candidates!

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

Posted by Terry McMahon at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love it when people say Democrats, or in particular my main man John Edwards, don't stand for anything, even though he's been awesome for years now. Here's what he said on poverty as part of an online chat over at DailyKos:

Unfortunately the answer is not simple. We will never eliminate poverty in America unless we do it comprehensively and nationally. This is another place for big ideas in our party -- no more incrementalism.

We should start with simple things like raising the minimum wage, strengthening the earned income tax credits, and strengthening the ability of unions to organize their workplace. We should help people create assets by establishing matching savings accounts, and cracking down on predatory and payday lenders. We should radically revamp our national housing system, so that we no longer concentrate poor people in one area. We can do this by transforming HUD and creating a million new housing vouchers, to allow lower income families the ability to move into better neighborhoods. And I've already talked about College for Everyone.

Finally, we have to address the societal and cultural issues surrounding poverty -- particularly teen pregnancy and the plight of young African American men in our inner cities. Our drug laws, particularly crack vs. powder cocaine, are not fair to young African American men, and we don't have a support system (rehabilitation, counseling, retraining, etc) to help in the transition from the prison system back into society. Just building more prisons will never solve this problem. But it is also fair to expect that those we are helping will help themselves, and act responsibly.

I mean, that's our biggest domestic problem both morally and economically, and right there John Edwards has a viable plan to stop it. Edwards/Warner?

Also I think this guy is going places.

Posted by Terry McMahon at 1:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At this point, if you read this blog you've probably heard that Mark Warner is not going to run for president. Although I have my favorite already, I love all the guys (and gal) considering a run, and it's kind of a shame to think that Mark Warner will not be our nominee for president. (This time.) It's sort of like my feelings on baseball this year: I really like three of the four teams in it, and I have nothing against the fourth, so while I'd love to see the A's vindicate Moneyball with a World Series win, I'm kind of rooting for everyone to do well.

The official statement, posted on Mark Warner's PAC page, is actually really good, with that "you can tell he wrote it himself" vibe that marks the best in the underrated field of short political statements. This section is key:

I have decided not to run for President.

This past weekend, my family and I went to Connecticut to celebrate my Dad’s 81st birthday, and then we took my oldest daughter Madison to start looking at colleges.

I know these moments are never going to come again. This weekend made clear what I’d been thinking about for many weeks—that while politically this appears to be the right time for me to take the plunge—at this point, I want to have a real life.

And while the chance may never come again, I shouldn’t move forward unless I’m willing to put everything else in my life on the back burner.

This has been a difficult decision, but for me, it’s the right decision.

Hard to argue with that. The other interesting piece I saw was from Taegan Goddard, whose excellent site Political Wire has increasingly included his own commentary. That's fine (I mean, it's his site), but I suppose I have to agree when he says Edwards is the clear winner from Warner's decision. You can't attack his logic, but in a good general life lesson about sucking up, I'm sure all those times Edwards met with Goddard and other bloggers doesn't hurt his analysis either (link, link). (In fact, I heard Taegan Goddard was at the Elizabeth Edwards event I went to last week.)

Posted by Terry McMahon at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whenever the Red Sox are out of it, I always enjoy picking favorites for each MLB playoff series, just for fun. This year I realized I'd actually be happy with anyone winning the World Series, with one exception you might be able to guess. Nonetheless, here are my prepostseason rankings:

1. Oakland Athletics. I love Billy Beane, I love Moneyball, and I ... well, that's about it. It would be nice to see the sabermetric approach win the World Series (without being overshadowed by some curse being broken and the worst collapse in sports history) in hopes that the lesser lights of baseball sportswriting can stop making fun of the A's for knowing how to turn on a computer. (Side note: This won't actually ever happen.)

2. New York Mets. Yes, I've been living in New York too long, and yes, I have too many friends who are Mets fans. This is also a fun team whose fans have the same animus towards New York's other team that I do. Did you know the Mets had a losing record for games Pedro pitched this year?

3. Detroit Tigers. Let's call this a distant third. Still, you gotta love the guys who come out of nowhere.

4. Minnesota Twins. Same reason.

5. San Diego Padres. Does San Diego ever win anything? I feel like the biggest events in that city in the past decade have been Anchorman and when that surfer chick woman almost became mayor.

6. St. Louis Cardinals. Uh, I like Albert Pujols?

7. Los Angeles Dodgers. Uh. Could we get a Bill Simmons column out of this?

8. The Republican Party. I would seriously rather see the Republican Party win than ... ok, that's not true.

9. Any non-life-threatening illness that can take out Derek Jeter. I think Jeter could stub his toe, sit out the playoffs and still win over baseball's crusty old sportswriters with his confidence and iron will to win. Also, his postseason stats are not as good as A-Rod's; as they say, you could look it up.

10. Anyone but the Yankees.

11. If national security hangs in the balance, the Yankees. Maybe.

This means I'm rooting for Detroit over the Yankees (really), Oakland over Minnesota, the Mets over LA, and San Diego over St. Louis. Ortiz for MVP!

Posted by Terry McMahon at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)