Hamilton's Pamphlets

Predictions

Busy weekend coming so I'm giving my predictions now.

Electoral Vote: Bush 306 Kerry 232
Actual: Bush 284 Kerry 252 - I really thought Minnesota and Wisconsin were going Red...

Popular Vote: Bush 53% Kerry 45% Nader 1% Others 1%
Actual: Bush 51% Kerry 48% Nader 1% - Hey, I was pretty close. I really thought that the "I don't like any of the top three I'm voting for McCain" would rack up about 1%. Oh well. Nailed the Nader vote, yeah I know, who cares...

Senate: Republicans +4 (maybe even +5)
Actual: +4, I was really hoping Coors would win in Colorado. Despite being a political novice, I really like him. I think he would have done a great job in the Senate. He's probably done with running for office, but once bitten by the political bug you never recover. He and his family have always been politically active, look for him to play a more prominent role in that going forward.

House: Republicans pick up seats
Actual: Republicans pick up 4 and I was sufficiently vague enough that I can claim victory. Truth is I didn't evaluate enough of the races to make a more empirical prediction. 435 seats is a bunch to look at and I do have a day job. Besides so much of the House is Local Politics and really hard nail down from a distance.

Obama vs. Keyes: Obama by knock out in the first round. Can Keyes just forfeit and save the embarassment?
Actual: Obama is the only bright spot in the Democrat Debacle. Got this one, but that isn't saying much my 4 year old could have called this one (ok my 2 year old could have called it).

South Dakota: Thune 51% over Daschle 47% (then Daschle really can be a DC resident!)
Actual: Thune wins. The RSCC dumped enough money and support into this race that it had to be competitive. Add to it that John Thune is a great candidate and Daschle was completely out of touch with his constituency and it was a given. Yes I can add. I know that 51 and 47 add up to 98. I thought that because of the hard fought nature of the campaign some folks would opt out and vote neither. Got that wrong on the Presidential election too...

Alaska: Murkowski rides W's coattails and gets the win.
Actual: Murkowski clung to those coattails and squeaked out a win.

Florida: Martinez (R) over Castor (D)
Actual: Martinez wins. The polls showed a close race (the ones that are worth anything anyway) and I credit W's coattails and a strong Hispanic population with conservative leanings. Florida is trending very Republican and their biggest problems are always in South Florida/Miami. I felt that Martinez could hold his own in that area and the R after his name would carry him for the rest.

Colorado: Coors (R) over Salazar (D)
Actual: Coors can't close the deal. Coors was a political rookie running for office. He and his family are legendary in conservative political support, but strong conservative credentials and deep pockets weren't enough, hey this ain't Jersey. Look for Coors to remain politically active in a public way, but I doubt that he runs for office again.

Oklahoma: Coburn (R) over Carson (D)
Actual: Coburn wins. Oklahoma still has a guilty conscience over Steve Largent. This is a very conservative state and solidly Republican. Carson only got traction because he is a very conservative Democrat and is NOT in line with his national party (a la Warner in Virginia).

North Carolina: Burr (R) over Bowles (D) - Fortunately Richard Burr is a much better man than his distant relative Aaron Burr, who for obvious reasons is not highly thought of by Hamilton's Pamphlets.
Actual: Burr wins. Erskine Bowles ain't Bill Clinton. Only Bill Clinton can do what he does. Clinton has never had coattails, being a Clinton Staffer is only good if you want to write a tell all book or get a gig on TV. The South is Dark Red Republican Country now, when the old guard Democrat Senators retire they too will most likely be replaced by Republicans. House seats will remain a reflection of their districts, but trend more Republican than Democrat, especially outside the urban centers.

Louisiana: Vitter wins with more than 50%, no runoff.
Actual: Vitter wins, no runoff. Vitter has been running in the high to mid 40's for months. Given the Republican take over of the South and W's coattails, it looked like a slam dunk that he would get the remaining few percent.

South Carolina: DeMint (R) over Taxenbaum (D).
Actual: DeMint wins. The media and a couple of mis-steps and mis-statements by DeMint kept Tanenbaum in this one. The South is becoming more and more solid Republican and conservative. This was DeMint's race to lose and he toughed it out for the win. Again, W's coattails helped, but I think DeMint won this one on his own merits.

Kentucky: Bunning (R) keeps his senate seat despite some strange goings on...
Actual: Bunning wins. Despite some really odd behavior by Bunning in the closing days of the election cycle he kept his seat. He had a quality opponent and did himself no favors. Kentucky is solid conservative/Republican (they still have dry counties for crying out loud!). The liberals in Louisville will not be able to overcome the rest of the state anytime soon. Bunning however is damaged goods, if the Republicans aren't looking for a replacement they'll be in trouble six years from now - my recommendation is Anne Northup. The downside to that is that the dems will finally get Anne's district back if she moves up to the Senate.

Washington State:
1. Murray (D) 49% over Nethercutt(R)47%, but if George sticks around he'll beat Cantwell in 2006.
Actual: Murray got a margin of 12%, very disappointing. Washington is sooo out of step with the rest of the country. I blame the looney's in Seattle (who over whelmingly sent Jim McDermott back to DC). I still think he can beat Cantwell in 2006, her dotcom millions are gone and she hasn't done much, if anything, for the state.
2. Dino Rossi (R) over Christine "call me Chris" Gregoire (D) in a tight race ~50 to 49%.
Actual: Still too close to call. If the WA State GOP can't get Dino Rossi elected we are doomed to left of center leadership for the foreseeable future...
3. Rob Mckenna (R) over Debra Senn for AG. Rob wins in a walk, Senn isn't well liked by most...
Actual: Rob wins in walk. If Dino doesn't pull it out, maybe Rob will take on "Chris" after four years of more of the same...
4. Dave Reichert (R) over Dave Ross (D) for retiring Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn's seat. Sheriff Dave Reichert is a class act. Polished, well spoken. Looks the part. Wins by at least 4%.
Actual: Dave Reichert wins by 4%. Sometimes I scare myself...

Overall, Bush DOUBLES his Popular Vote support in the BLUE STATES from 2000. Comes within 5% in California, 2% in Oregon and 4% in Washington. Bush wins Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa and maybe Minnesota. It was never close in Colorado or Nevada (easy Bush wins). Bush wins New Mexico.
Actual: Not so good on the percentages, but he did narrow the gap from 2000. Missed Wisconsin and Minnesota, I really thought the President and the GOP had made significant in-roads there. Wisconsin was really close and I think their same day vote/registration is at fault. 11,000 votes could have come in from any where. They really need to tighten that up. Minnesota is the biggest disappointment, they really didn't change significantly from 2000, that's a shame. Got all the rest right.

The Dems are indeed "A National Party No More" as Senator Zell Miller(D-->R) has pointed out.
Actual: They have cancer. They have been diagnosed. Will they treat the disease or pretend everything is ok? Looks like they remain in denial. Look for more losses in State Houses and Governorships.

Dark Horses:
Bush picks up (in order of likelyhood): Hawaii, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania.
Actual: Well, I said they were darkhorses didn't I? Narrowed the gap, but didn't close the deal. 2008 will be very interesting in these states.

Update: I see that the Weekly Standard has posted their staff's predictions. What are some of those people smoking? William Kristol reflects my "best case" scenario. Fred Barnes, Jonathan Last, Rachel DiCarlo and Michael Goldfarb post some very realistic looking numbers. I like David Skinners prediction and I hope his "Dark Horse" scenario works out, I used to live in his district too and Jim Moran is a deplorable human being (very Jim McDermott-like, but less of a commie), so I hope Moran takes it up the ....uh, on the chin.

Anyone care to second guess? The comments are open. We'll see on Tuesday who read the tea leaves best.

Should I get fitted for my tinfoil hat?

Maybe the time has come for me to don the tinfoil hat, but I just have to say it.

CBS does the fake memos and the Kerry Campaign releases "Fortunate Son".

NYT does the Al Qa Qaa non-story and the Kerry Campaign releases an ad about it and it becomes the centerpiece of the stump speeches for several days.

NOW Osama Bin Layin-low Laden pops up and does his best impression of the skinny version of Michael Moore on an anti-Bush rant, and has not the Senator been carping on how "the President let OBL escape at Tora Bora" since mid-September? Did the Kerry Campaign have info that OBL was going to release a late October video? And if they did, could they have been so colossally stupid that they thought it would work in their favor?

I know everyone is saying the polls are all crap, but the ones about handling the war on terror, etc. have been pretty consistent with President Bush in the high 50's and Senator Kerry in the low 30's. There is just no way the Kerryites could think that focusing on GWOT or OBL in the final days before the election could do anything but help the President? Could they?

Now that this is blowing up on them (and all those stupid references to "I wouldn't have let OBL escape"), I'm sure they're trying to figure out a way to blame Karl Rove.

No wait, even better...HALIBURTON!!! Yeah, that's the ticket. Haliburton did it and that's why the FBI chose NOW to start the investigation...

I know, I know...Time for the tinfoil hat...Can you get them fitted?...I'd like mine in 7 and 1/8...Can you get them with scrambled eggs?...Shiny side or matte?...

Somebody wake me on Wednesday. I'm losing it....

Lancelot Finn Nails it...Again!

OK, I'll admit it. I'm coming down with a serious case of Lancelot Finn envy. Nathanael keeps putting together some of the best written and most coherent and well thought out articles in the blogosphere. I almost missed this one from this morning. The Times, They Are A Changin'

Really lays the wood to Tom Friedman and James Klurfeld.

...I believe my generation may have learned the meaning of duty, honor and sacrifice from George W. Bush...Roosevelt articulated a great global mission for our grandparents, Bush expressed one for us...We should bleed with compassion for the hungry, the sick, the poor, the narrow horizons of hope within which so many of this world's people live out their lives. We should be willing to bleed alongside those who fight for freedom, to overthrow tyrants, to do the dirty work of establishing order in failed states. "With great power comes great responsibility...

Once again he leaves me saying, "yeah, that's what I wanted to say" (except he says it much better...) Go read the whole thing, its worth your time.

What ARE these people thinking?!?

Megan McArdle is filling in for Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit and posted this today:

(Megan) They go for Kerry for precisely the reason I'm thinking of doing so:

(The Economist) Many readers, feeling that Mr Bush has the right vision in foreign policy even if he has made many mistakes, will conclude that the safest option is to leave him in office to finish the job he has started. If Mr Bush is re-elected, and uses a new team and a new approach to achieve that goal, and shakes off his fealty to an extreme minority, the religious right, then The Economist will wish him well. But our confidence in him has been shattered. We agree that his broad vision is the right one but we doubt whether Mr Bush is able to change or has sufficient credibility to succeed, especially in the Islamic world. Iraq's fledgling democracy, if it gets the chance to be born at all, will need support from its neighbours - or at least non-interference - if it is to survive. So will other efforts in the Middle East, particularly concerning Israel and Iran.

John Kerry says the war was a mistake, which is unfortunate if he is to be commander-in-chief of the soldiers charged with fighting it. But his plan for the next phase in Iraq is identical to Mr Bush's, which speaks well of his judgment. He has been forthright about the need to win in Iraq, rather than simply to get out, and will stand a chance of making a fresh start in the Israel-Palestine conflict and (though with even greater difficulty) with Iran. After three necessarily tumultuous and transformative years, this is a time for consolidation, for discipline and for repairing America's moral and practical authority. Furthermore, as Mr Bush has often said, there is a need in life for accountability. He has refused to impose it himself, and so voters should, in our view, impose it on him, given a viable alternative. John Kerry, for all the doubts about him, would be in a better position to carry on with America's great tasks.

So that's it? She can't vote for George W. Bush because he is controlled by the religious right and he won't admit any mistakes?

What mistakes are worth discussing? The war on terror and the rebuilding of Iraq are not the "mess" the Main Stream Media (MSM) would have you believe. Come on greater than 70% of the reporters, editors, etc in the MSM are supporting John Kerry. Greater than 70% of the military (active and reserve) and their families are supporting President Bush. I'm military. THE MSM ARE LYING ABOUT OUR SUCCESS IN IRAQ!!!!! Remember, a lie of omission is still a lie.

Controlled by the religious right? Because a man professes his faith in God and displays strong, consistent moral values, he is considered to be controlled by "an extreme minority, the religious right". Give me a break. You want to go back to the situational ethics of the Clinton Administration? I quote, "That depends on what your definition of is, is". You have to be kidding.

The tortured logic and sheer rationalization by The Ecomomist and Megan is both painful and demoralizing.

Here's the email I sent to Megan (I'll bet money you'll never see this on Instapundit or Megan's blog Asymmetrical Information) -

Megan, Please, I'm begging you. As a Naval Officer with nearly 20 years of service, please don't do that to me. John Kerry would make Jimmy Carter look like a genius Commander-in-Chief by comparison. Perhaps you don't remember the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the botched rescue attempt. I do.

If the argument you posed at Instapundit today is your rationale, please reconsider. Israel is the only true ally we've had in the middle east ever (no I'm not Jewish, Presbyterian if that matters at all). John Kerry would recycle all the failed diplomacy of Carter and Clinton and we would again be "popular" with Palestine and "old Europe", but we will have sold out Israel's security and our own self respect in the bargain.

Think back to 2001. The week after September 11th. Did you feel safe? Probably not. Afraid where the next attack would come from? Not sure if you wanted to get on that bus? Ride that subway? How do you feel now. You probably don't even think about your own safety. That's because our President took the fight to the bad guys in THEIR BACKYARD.

Think the war and rebuilding in Iraq is going badly. Think again. I'm military, I work these issues every day. It is going pretty much exactly as we expected it would. Sure there have been set backs, but there have been unexpected wins too. You can't honestly tell me you believe the crap the MSM is putting out? Go back and read the transcript of President Bush's speech from October 2001. He laid out how long hard difficult and painful the war on terror was going to be. No one thought it was going to be easy and anyone who says differently is lying or trying to sell you something.

The economy? Give me a break. Nobel Prize winning economists even say the tax cut wasn't big enough. I know I appreciated it (married, 4 kids - meant alot to us!!). Did you see the report last week that said the deficit was smaller than expected? Probably not, the MSM buried it. Smaller than OMB's esitmate, smaller than CBO's estimate. Stated reason: The economy produced more tax revenue than expected (tax cuts kicking in...).

What can possibly appeal to you about the Senator? He is a political opportunist, with no real hard and fast values. He is such a poser and a fake, is that what you want in our leader?

If you don't find any of this convincing, go rent "BlackHawk Down". That's the Clinton/Kerry military. Send us in without the equipment and rules of engagement to even protect ourselves, much less enforce whatever "peaceful mission" we were assigned. Every assignment becomes a potential "suicide mission". It is an all volunteer military and I will continue to support and serve the President whoever it may be, but I will be bitterly dissappointed if the country I proudly serve thinks so little of my life and my service as to put John Kerry in the Whitehouse.

If you know anyone who is still considering voting for John Kerry, I ask you do three things.
1. Ask them about how they felt the week after September 11, 2001 and how safe they feel now.
2. Have them read the President's speech from October 2001 where he outlined the strategy for the war on Terror and introduced what we now know as "The Bush Doctrine". He never said this was going to be easy and this speech shows what gratuitous liars the Democrats have become.
3. Rent and watch "BlackHawk Down". That's the military we'll have under a Kerry Administration. Ragtag Warlords tearing up our troops and third world rioters dragging our Servicemen and women's bodies through the streets.

If they still feel compelled to vote for John Kerry then we all need to pray for them and for John Kerry that they will receive wisdom, compassion and courage that they have not so far shown or demonstrated.

Update: Lancelot Finn piles on. Apparently Lancelot was actually a fan of The Economist. Emphasis on was. Check it out at For this, there is no forgiveness. I always get the "I wish I had said it that way" when I read Lancelot's stuff. Very well done and worth your time, go read it.

Update II: Not a word on Instapundit or Asymmetrical Information, as predicted. Could be they didn't even read the email. Could be they don't have an answer they can live with.

Update III: Megan McArdle finally endorsed President Bush. She puts a thought out synopsis of why on AI. I'd like to say well thought out, but I just don't agree with several of her conclusions and her logic. However, I do agree with her choice. I'd like to think my email had some small part in it... who am I kidding, she never read it... at least she's voting for Bush.

Fast Forward to Wednesday and President Bush's Victory speech...Please!

OK. It's late and I've been trying all afternoon and evening to come up with another post to move the "He died of a broken Heart" post off the top spot in my blog. I was afraid that a newcomer to the blog might think they stumbled onto a Dr. Phil/Oprah simulblog or something...

While prowling the internet and the blogs to find something worth talking about or linking to, what I have discovered is, according to Real Clear Politics, is that Kerry (that miserable bastard) is up in the polls in Ohio! What the #$%!!@$%!!! Have the good citizens of the Buckeye State lost their freakin minds? Have they figured out that the rumbling they're hearing is not an earthquake, but their ancestors (and mine!) spinning in their graves!! There has to be something screwy in these polls. New Jersey is tied? Down by one in UAW controlled Michigan? Close in Florida? Down in Ohio? Tied in Hawaii?

Somebody please stop the insanity!!!!

The pundits have all said ignore the polls in the final days, they will fluctuate too wildly to do anything other than aggrevate your acid reflux. Is there a rational explanation for all this and could someone please explain it to me? Please?

There, I've said my piece AND I've moved that damn "getting in touch with my feminine side" story off the top spot. I can go to bed and maybe get some sleep, while that acid reflux eats me alive because of those stupid polls from Ohio and Florida...

"He died of a broken heart"

OK, I admit it. I don't always read Michelle Malkin, more often then not she's too "girly" for me and frankly she sounds alot like my wife, whom I DO listen to so why get the re-run from Michelle. Well, today I zipped by her blog and saw this:

He died of a broken heart

It is the story of a man who lost his wife in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001. As many of the Hamilton's Pamphlets readers know, I was assigned to the Pentagon on that fateful day and I have a great deal of sympathy for those affected by what happened. This story is heartbreaking.

From the story:

Kenneth Edelle Foster, 51, a retired Army sergeant whose wife lost her life at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, died Oct. 10 at his home in Arlington, Tex., of pulmonary fibrosis and congestive heart failure. He had lived in the Washington area since 1972 and moved back to North Texas, where he grew up, in 2003.
A civilian Army policy analyst, Mr. Foster was working in his office in the Hoffman Building in Alexandria on Sept. 11 when he got word that a plane had hit the Pentagon, where his wife, Sandra Nadine Hill, had worked for 25 years. He jumped into his truck and raced toward the billowing black cloud he could see in the distance, going the wrong way on Interstate 95.

"He could have got over his physical ailments, I believe," his mother said, "but he just didn't want to live. He died of a broken heart. We all know that."

From Michelle's post:

Says my reader: "Makes you feel enraged when Kerry says 9/11 didn't change him much at all."

Exactly.

Read about it here (WaPo - registration required).

9/11 changed me, my wife, my family, my Navy, my President, my country. ANYBODY who doesn't get that does not deserve to be elected dog catcher, much less President of the United States.

Terrorists take a hit in Hit

Snipers, Marine Snipers.
From the Marine Corps News via FreeRepublic.

1/23 Snipers reclaim city from insurgents

It's just amazing what some talented young men with .50 Caliber Rifles can do. Neat, clean, efficient and cost effective (and only minor injuries to the snipers!).

Excerpt:

"They were all out in the open doing whatever they wanted to," said Hancock, 35, a native of Bryan, Texas. "They were in control of that side of the city, rerouting traffic, threatening to kill people and terrorizing people.

"Any convoy that looked like it had anything to do with the coalition was attacked and hit by (improvised explosive devices). There were civilians and civilian cars in the area, but they didn't care. They were being blatant about the fact that they were in control."

After witnessing the insurgents pull people from their cars, shoot at civilians and detonate IEDs in the traffic circle, the snipers began to fire at them.

Sergeant Milo S. Afong, a sniper with the platoon, took the first shot.

"I had a perfect silhouette of his body and his weapon," said Afong, 23, a native of Vista, Calif. "It had been the first time I saw people out here with weapons."

After the first shots were fired and a few insurgents were hit, the masked men in the traffic circle realized they were under attack.

"Even more of them showed up carrying (rocket propelled grenades) and AK-47s," said Cpl. Stephen R. Johnson, an assistant team leader with the platoon. "That is when they started shooting back. At first they were fighting us out in the open and behind cars. That wasn't working for them so they got up in the buildings and tried to set up concealed positions and shoot at us."

And more...

That was the heaviest firefight in the city, according to Johnson. That particular firefight lasted approximately 45 minutes. However, the sniper battle against the insurgents in the area lasted several more days, until their extract.

"The whole time it was like we were in a shooting gallery with people shooting at us," said Afong.

The Marines proved themselves as valuable assets to the battalion.

"We showed how (a handful of) guys basically eliminated a whole platoon," said Johnson, 24, a native of Woodlands, Texas. "We have proven that snipers are cost effective with lives and rounds. There are no substitutes for snipers on the battlefield."

The snipers made it out of the fighting with only minor injuries.

Read the whole story, click here.

How come we never here about this in the MSM? Good news is no news. This is top shelf stuff. This is history in the making! Damn the liberal press & media! These guys are heroes and no one is going to hear about it because the U.S. media doesn't want to hear about success in Iraq. It just isn't right...

The Logistics of Looting

From Ed over at Captain's Quarters:

Insurgents Hauling 380 Tons Of Explosives Not Exactly A Covert Act

Unfortunately for the New York Times, no one gave a thought about the logistics of the notion that small bands of insurgents made off with 380 tons of explosives under the noses of the Coalition with no one noticing. CQ reader and retired Army Reserve Captain Ian Dodgson got paid to think about logistics, and he did some "cocktail-napkin" math that escaped the geniuses at the Paper of Record:...

...Bottom line this operation would take the resources of AN ENTIRE COMPANY (approx. 100 men) OVER TWO WEEKS, good Intel to know exactly where the "right" explosives were hidden and a means of breaching huge steel doors and concrete of an ASP.

And all of this would have to be done in an area with numerous intel overflights that would be looking for exactly this kind of activity in the combat zone, and not get noticed at all. Like so much of what the New York Times, CBS, and the Kerry campaign feeds us ... it just doesn't add up.

Captain Dodgson lays out all the number crunching and calculations to back all his conclusions up. Worth reading (Especially for a Loggie like me!). What it tells me, loud and clear, is that the stuff was taken out of there while we waited for the U.N. to join the coalition to oust Saddam Hussein and while we were trying "diplomacy" instead of "Rushing to war". Yet another concrete example of how John Kerry's world-view and way of doing things is ineffective and will get more people (and more Americans) killed in the long run.

Welcome to the Socialist Republic of Washington

Just last night the Metropolitan King County Council (which covers Seattle and ALOT of rural and suburban area around Seattle) passed county land use ordinances that would have made Stalin proud. From the Seattle Times, County approves three of land-use regulations By Keith Ervin (Seattle Times staff reporter)

Environmentalists supported the package, while rural landowners mounted months of protests and blasted it as "a massive land grab" that violates their property rights.

Yesterday's action came six days after the Pierce County Council became the first in the state to adopt a tough clearing rule that requires rural residential landowners to keep 65 percent of their land in native vegetation.

Sims' original proposal contained that restriction, but the council's growth-management committee last month reduced the native-vegetation requirement to 50 percent on properties of 5 acres or less.

If adopted, the modified ordinance would allow owners of more than 5 acres to set aside 2½ acres or 65 percent of the land, whichever is less.

The clearing restriction is intended to protect streams and species such as threatened chinook salmon by preserving forests throughout watersheds. Advocates cited scientific research that suggests deforestation significantly alters the runoff of rainwater, damaging streams.

Members of the Republican minority on the County Council blasted the package as unfairly putting the burden of environmental protection on rural residents, while city dwellers and suburbanites shoulder little of the burden.

Pierce County is where Washington's second largest city, Tacoma, is located. Coincidentally?, King and Pierce Counties are the Democrat strongholds (strangleholds?) in the state. While these measures are incredibly popular with the "tree huggers" and city dwellers, the folks living in the suburbs and rural areas just got clobbered. If this ordinance stands it will wipe out the value of land held for generations as savings and investment for hundreds, if not thousands of King and Pierce County residents. These counties have basically taken 50 to 65 percent of all private land holdings and made them unusable and off limits. Oh, and by the way the owners still have to pay the taxes on them.

I think, however, there may be a bright side to this. If the Republicans on the ballots jump on this and use it effectively it could put Dino Rossi in the Governor's Mansion and make even be enough to push George Nethercutt ahead of uber-Democrat Patty Murray. Maybe I'm just over-thinking and really over-reaching on this, but I really believe that these sharply partisan votes in two counties over land use could reach all the way to the Governor's Mansion and maybe even to the chambers of the United States Senate.

Dare I say it? Could it even erode Democrat support on the Presidential ticket? The backlash from this could be significant. The local Democrats could have just handed the state and national Democrats a stunning set back. In the words of a famous Democrat, Tip O'neill, "All politics is local".

Come on Washington State GOP, the Dumocrat's have given us the ball, let's run with it!!

Oak Leaf to Senator Kerry. Come In. Over.

An Open Letter to Senator Kerry

From Oak Leaf via Lorie Byrd at PoliPundit.

Here's the lead in:

An Open Letter to Senator John F. Kerry

Dear Senator Kerry:

Yesterday, in response to a New York Times article on unaccounted for munitions, you specifically stated, “The unbelievable incompetence of this president and his administration has put our troops at risk.” Further, throughout the campaign, you continually denigrate “the administration” for every negative event that has occurred in Operation Iraqi Freedom. This Officer, and many of my peers, as plans officers, considers your reference to “the administration” as a direct attack on our professional and competent military judgment.

Click here to read the rest.

As a professional military officer, I whole heartedly agree with what Oak Leaf said (one minor nit - it the Naval War College, not the Navy War College). Oak Leaf really nailed it. The more desperate Senator Kerry becomes in the final days of this campaign the more he proves that he is not fit to lead our Armed Forces.