Tim Kaine to run for Senate

MoonHowler

The long wait is over. Every since Senator Jim Webb announced he would not be running for re-election, Virginia and the rest of the nation have speculated on who would run to replace him on the Democratic ticket.  Today former  Virginia Governor  Tim Kaine announced his candidacy.

According to myfoxDC.com:

Kaine, who won election as governor in 2005, was among the first elected officials to back Obama’s primary bid. Obama named him the DNC post and has nudged Kaine toward a run. Last week, he said Kaine was “not just a leader for Virginia; he’s a leader for America.”

…Republican George Allen, who lost the Senate seat to Webb in 2006 and was governor from 1994 to 1998, announced his candidacy earlier this year.

There are others considering the lofty run for Senate, including tea party person Jaime Radtke.  Corey Stewart and Bob Marshall also are considering the run.   All have been trying to get name recognition.  Stewart has been trumpeting an anti immigration stance and Marshall continues his anti-reproductive rights campaign. 

Tim Kaine is the son-in-law of former Governor Linwood Holton (R) who was governor from 1970-1974.  He was the first Republican governor in Virginia since Reconstruction. 

Let the wars begin!  Run Corey Run [evil grin]  😈

 

5-4 Citizens United Decision Clearly Judicial Activism

MoonHowler

Today the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission which overturned a hundred years of campaign finance laws, including part of the McCain FeingoldAct.  Corporations and Unions can now spend money directly on the support of candidates.  According to Michael Waldman of the Washington Post:

This far-reaching ruling augurs a significant power struggle. For the first time since 1937, an increasingly conservative federal judiciary faces a progressive and activist Congress and president. Until now, it was unclear how the justices would accommodate the new political alignment. The Citizens United decision suggests an assertive court, eager to overturn precedent, looming as a challenge to President Obama’s agenda.

The Atlantic explains the decision:

Justice Kennedy, in the majority opinion, reasoned that the government can’t discriminate against speakers based on their corporate identities, and that “all speakers, including individuals and the media, use money amassed from the economic marketplace to fund their speech, and the First Amendment protects the resulting speech.”

This basically eliminates a middleman: before today, corporations and unions had to set up PACs (political action committees), filed separately with the IRS, that would receive donations. And they did. Corporations and unions spend millions of dollars on elections. Now, however, the accounting firewall is gone, and Wal-Mart or the Service Employees International Union, for instance, can spend their corporate/union money directly on candidates.

 

 
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