Not sure if it counts as campaign news, but Rod Blagojevich was impeached overwhelmingly, 114-1-1.

I meant to say, 'by the Illinois House.' Still has to go to the Senate.

The one vote against came from Rep. Mel Patterson (D-Chicago). Patterson said after the roll call that he didn't feel it was his job to vote to impeach the governor. He declined comment on whether he approved of the job Blagojevich is doing.

Is anyone else sick of Gov. Paterson's endless interviewing process? Can he just settle it already? This is a 2-year term.

In reference to Voinivich he's 75 years old now and his wife is 79. That in and of itself isn't an indictment on his ability to serve but lets face it the guy is no great statesman and he's one of the idiots that sponsored the completely meaningless bill about the fairness doctrine. In my book that shows that he's either senile or a complete moron given that the country has about a minimum of a hundred more pressing issues than that nonsense.

"If Arnold Schwarzenegger decides to challenge Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in 2010, he'll probably start off as the underdog."

Two points about this:

1) Why couldn't he wait & run against the totally worthless Feinstein? Boxer is the worthwhile senator from CA. Feinstein is a self serving money grubber.

2) What is the matter with the voting idiots in CA? Arnold's decades of steroid usage combined with the crap job he has done as governor makes me question why anyone would vote for him for anything.

But then again Darrell Issa funded the recall of the previous governor because he thought he could buy the governorship for himself! Just proves that the voters of CA are not complete idiots - just idiots.

Joe the Plumber is more of a crackpot than you might have thought. From http://rogerailes.blogspot.com/2009_01_04_archive.html, I gave up on damn HTML tags so here goes:

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Joe's For Jesus

If you have a loved one who died in Iraq or Afghanistan, he or she just didn't love Jesus enough, says Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher. The illiquid plumber couldn't cut it in crapper repair, so he's got a new gig pestering Israelis for Depends Media.

"I get to go over there and let their 'Average Joes' share their story, what they think, how they feel, especially with world opinion, maybe get a real story out there," [Wurzelbacher] said.

...
Is he scared that one of the Hamas rockets might have his name on it? Not really. After all, as he explained, he's a Christian so God will keep him safe.

"Being a Christian I'm pretty well protected by God I believe," he said.

JtP can convert a few of Israeli Joes to Christianity while he's on assignment, if only to save their lives. And when he gets back, he can baptize Roger L. Simon.

Thak heavens for Jason Miller at TPM. Someone who has his head on straight.

Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie (R), as expected, is launching a gubernatorial campaign, gearing up to challenge incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine (D). The election is one of two gubernatorial races this year; the other is in Virginia.

If Arnold Schwarzenegger decides to challenge Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in 2010, he'll probably start off as the underdog. A new Research 2000 poll, commissioned by Daily Kos, shows Boxer leading Schwarzenegger by nine, 49% to 40%.

Which pretty much says "almost 2 years from a potential election, given a choice between the leading Republican figure in the state and a Democratic incumbent, Democrats and most Democratic-leaning independents favor the Democrat, Republicans and most Republican-leaning independents favor the Republican."

It doesn't really tell you anything that matters.

SadOldVet is right. Ahnold should run against Feinstein. Compared to her, he is a liberal and competent.

I think the Governator's Austrian's goose is cooked. He has shown himself totally incapable of persuading his fellow ReThuglicans on the budget and has not brought ANY fiscal reform to the state since riding in on his promise to do just that.

It's becoming more and more clear that he's an ACTOR, playing the role of Governor, but with a terrible screenplay.

That he's that close to Boxer is just a sign of how she rubs people the wrong way and how dumb voters like Ahhnold for the roles he plays, not his success in governing.

Re Voinovich -- he's actually my neighbor, and at 75 is fit enough that he does his own yardwork. Kind of charming, really. But the Plain Dealer's Washington bureau (such as it is) is reporting that Voinovich has scheduled a teleconference with his donors on Sunday to discuss his plans. Link here. It's unclear what he'll announce as his plans.

Caroline Kennedy =

Sarah Palin (D)

Arnold is going to get his butt kicked by tiny Barbara Boxer. He should go back to Hollywood so Californians and the rest of the nation can choose whether or not to hear him.

Hailing from Ohio, I thought I would weigh in.

Voinovich is not a hardcore wingnut by any stretch of the imagination, and I would have to question whether he will want to go through another election season, given that he will certainly face an angry electorate and a difficult race.

I must admit I have a soft spot for the guy, and I am very disappointed in his failure to speak up in the face of all the abuses we have seen.

However he is by no means alone in this regard, indeed there has been bipartisan failure for years now.

Anyway, upshot is I would not be at all surprised if Voinovich retires rather than run once again.

nolo:

You mean in...the outer ring suburbs? Or DC? Iirc he is from NE Ohio originally, but he has been around forever, so its hard to remember.

Yeah I really think, after his long and distinguished career, that he won't be pushing his luck. Not with what has gone down over the past years, combined with the problems we have now.

LACJ -- in Ohio. He still owns and occupies the modest house in Cleveland that he bought way back when he was either on city council or when he was mayor. He's a pleasant neighbor, actually. I remember having a brief conversation with him not long after he started his Senate career in which he actually said that in a lot of ways he'd rather be home tending his yard. Not surprising, given that it's a big change to go from being governor to being a senator and that his Republican colleagues were going through one of their many crazy phases. I said something polite back, and sat on my snotty side, which was poking me to say that I'd be happy to do anything I could to help him have more time for his yardwork . . .

nolo:

Great story. I would have had a hard time biting my tongue. Although as I say he is not bad, as far as GOP politicians go.

After thinking about this for some time, I am ready to suggest Voinovich is done. Let's see what his announcement is about.