GOP Senate candidate calls for Rumsfeld's ouster

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sun, Sep. 03, 2006
GOP Senate candidate calls for Rumsfeld's ouster
ANGELA DELLI SANTI
Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey Republican Tom Kean Jr. called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday, days after a new poll showed the Iraq war was hampering his U.S. Senate bid.

Kean joins a growing chorus of federal lawmakers, mostly Democrats, in calling for a change in leadership at the Pentagon. Senate Democrats could force a no-confidence vote on Rumsfeld this week.
(snip)

Kean said he has become increasingly frustrated over the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war. He said he recently lost faith that new military leadership dispatched to Iraq in June would lead to changes.
(snip)

The son of Republican former Gov. Tom Kean Sr. is locked in a tight race for U.S. Senate. His opponent, Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, holds the seat after being chosen by Gov. Jon S. Corzine to fill it until November.
(snip/...)

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15433895.htm

[stepnw1f]

1. Republicans Always Try Turning Moderate before Elections

then once they are in power, they go back to being fascist corporate suck-ups. Politically smart, because extremists can't get elected any other way, but dishonest.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. I think the correct name for this phenomenon is becoming "Whores"

[meow2u3]

9. The real term is "Election year moderates"

An election year moderate is an extremist, most often right-wing, that pretends to be moderate right before an election.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Election+year+moderate&defid=1909071

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. He'll be branded as a whacko by his own party.

The RW talking heads will bury him, claiming he's a rebel and and over the edge.

[Marrak]

4. Bush War Chief charges...

<>

[rodeodance]

5. I call this sort the Dem groupies--tagging along.

[grytpype]

6. Rummy is not going to make it to Election Day.

I think in the next month, Rummy is going to regretfully announce that he wants to spend more time with his family and that he resigning to take an academic job.

Bush will regretfully accept his resignation, but anonymous sources in the White House and Pentagon will express the growing frustration against him and blame him for losing Iraq.

And that will all happen before the election. The pressure on Bush to throw Rummy over the side is unbelievable.

[The Roux Comes First]

8. I feel for the family . . .

Maybe instead he can resign to spend more time with some family who doesn't yet know him or whose previous merely well-off elitist existence has been turned into full-out embarrassing wealth through the lives Rummie has flushed away in trade for the interests of war-profiteering corporations.

[JerseygirlCT]

11. I agree, it's a "when" not an "if" nt

[independentpiney]

7. Watching his first debate with Menendez

Little Tommyboys positions leaned more Democratic than Repug. That he says he won't tow the party line if elected is either a blatant lie, naivety or a combination of the two. No reason for anyone to vote for a rino when theres a real Democrat in the race!

[JerseygirlCT]

10. But isn't that just the way his dad won the governor's race years

back?

Tom Kean Sr. is seen -- with some justification -- as a moderate. I'm not surprised the son is now attempting to emulate the father. I haven't lived in NJ for a while now, but I thought Sr. was fairly popular still. And from what I'd heard earlier in the year, the son was far more conservative and reactionary than the father. So I'm not surprised by the move toward the center -- seems perfectly calculated, but wise in NJ.

I hope Menendez can fight that off. How are things looking?

[GalleryGod]

12. Junior,adjusting his sails to N.J. , which means diss Bush

Junior seems like a nice enough guy,but you KNOW he'd vote against the people of N.J. and of course, you know he'd add caucas to the Repug majority. Thus, a NO Brainer for Jersey voters who want change.
His Dad was a nice guy,however, his Supply-side Economics, when applied to N.J. left us $550 million in the red at the end of 2 terms.

Don't be alarmed...Dems and those Indies that vote with us, always come home to the fold in October.

NJ Holy Trinity: Anti-Gun
Pro-Environment
Pro-Life.

Kills 'Em every time. Even a Junior-sized Kean.

[JerseygirlCT]

13. That would have been my guess -- thanks! nt

[brentspeak]

14. I'm not confident that Menendez will retain his seat

Most people in NJ don't really know much about Menendez. He's popular in his former congressional district, but he was reelected time and again due to heavy Cuban-American support from his home base in Union. And while very few people don't know anything about Junior, the entire state knows the name "Tom Kean". Plus, Kean Jr. is young, while Menendez doesn't exactly have the gift of personality to offset that difference.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. Will keep my fingers crossed... nt

[brentspeak]

16. Kean is actually a tool of the Club For Growth

His campaign website trumpets the "need" to eliminate the "death tax", which he dishonestly claims affects many people in NJ. If Menendez is smart, he'll call Kean out on that, as well as Kean's connection to the Club For Growth.

[Supersedeas]

17. Lookie what the Election Cycle drug in--a Sept conversion to Moderation

[maxrandb]

18. My first thought was; "Lieberman?" n/t