pacino wrote:booker does suck in comparison to Holt. maybe Holt can be senator next go around.

jerseyhoya wrote:Pallone and Holt never took the gloves off against him. He started off with a big lead and the organizations eventually lined up behind him to back the winner. I was surprised Pallone and Holt waited to go up on TV long after the race was decided. They needed to try to change the narrative of the race right out of the gate.

I don't think anyone loves Booker other than the media (though that NYT story on his startup was pretty tough). But no one really dislikes him either, and with his name id, strong starting position and his opponents' reluctance at attacking him, the race never got as competitive as it could have.

TenuredVulture wrote:Isn't this basically how NJ got Sen/Gov Corzine?

dajafi wrote:Welp, DiBlasio now leads the Democratic primary for NYC Mayor based on today's Quinnipiac poll.

Was kind of getting tired of government anyway. And if I consult again, I'll have more time to follow the Phillies!

(sound of gunshot; something heavy falls to the floor)

CalvinBall wrote:He will make the third black guy in the senate, right?

While speaking at a GOP fundraiser in Rock Rapids, the former Republican presidential candidate said the concept of class is used by Democrats to their advantage.

"Don't use the term the other side uses. What does Barack Obama talk about all the time? The middle class," he said at a fundraiser hosted by the Lyon County GOP. "Since when in America do we have classes? Since when in America are people stuck in areas or defined places called a class? That's Marxism talk."

He continued, "When Republicans get up and talk about middle class, we're buying into their rhetoric of dividing America. Stop it. There's no class in America. Call them on it."
Santorum has previously urged conservatives to avoid the term. During a Republican debate in New Hampshire in January 2012, Santorum chided then-rival Mitt Romney for using the phrase.

"The governor used the term earlier that I shrink from," Santorum said. "It's one I don't think we should be using as Republicans. Middle class. There are no classes in America. We are a country that doesn't allow for titles. We don't put people in classes. Maybe middle-income people."

However, as The Huffington Post's Amanda Terkel pointed out, Santorum has repeatedly used the term himself, including in his 2012 campaign literature.

A Danish Muslim leader who seven years ago travelled the Muslim world fuelling the uproar over newspaper caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad is back in the headlines in Denmark after doing an about-face on the issue.

Once a leading critic of the Danish cartoons, which sparked fiery protests in Muslim countries, Lebanese-born Ahmad Akkari now says the Jyllands-Posten newspaper had the right to print them.

His unexpected change of heart has received praise from pundits and politicians in recent weeks, though some question his sincerity. It has also disappointed some in the country's Muslim minority who were deeply offended by the cartoons.

Akkari, now 35, was the spokesman for a group of imams who led the protests against the drawings in Denmark. They travelled to Lebanon, Egypt and Syria to elicit support, saying the Danish government wouldn't listen to their concerns.

Their journeys helped turn the dispute into an international crisis. Dozens were killed in weeks of protests that included violent attacks against Danish missions in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Tiny Denmark found itself on a collision course with the Muslim world – something Akkari now regrets.

"I want to be clear today about the trip: It was totally wrong," Akkari said this week. "At that time, I was so fascinated with this logical force in the Islamic mindset that I could not see the greater picture. I was convinced it was a fight for my faith, Islam."

He said he's still a practising Muslim but started doubting his fundamentalist beliefs after a 2007 trip to Lebanon, where he met Islamist leaders. "I was shocked. I realized what an oppressive mentality they have," Akkari said.

A year later, he moved to Greenland, the desolate Danish Arctic island, where he worked in a school for two years.

"I had plenty of time to read and write. And think," said Akkari, who has shaved off the beard he used to wear.

"I met a man who has converted from being an Islamist to become a humanist who understands the values of our society," Westergaard said of Akkari. "To me, he is really sincere, convincing and strong in his views."

pacino wrote:i didnt see that discussion going on, just that we much preferred Holt

The Nightman Cometh wrote:

pacino wrote:i didnt see that discussion going on, just that we much preferred Holt

Everyone was comparing him to CORZINE.

anyway, I think Holt is going to run for Gov in a few years. I'd be surprised if his war chest took much of a hit from this election.