By Hunter Walker 2/09/12 7:20pm

Revolution 9

Herman Cain (Getty)

Herman Cain Does The Math: ‘We Outnumber The Stupid People’

WASHINGTON — Herman Cain, erstwhile Republican frontrunner, former Godfather’s Pizza CEO and godfather of the “9-9-9 Plan,” stuck to his numerical schtick in his speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference today. He began by reciting a series of dates from the timeline of the Revolutionary War to introduce the idea that “we need another revolution in this country” to combat myriad crises facing the country; “an economic crisis,” an “energy crisis,” an “illegal immigration crisis,” a “foggy foreign policy crisis,” a “moral crisis” and “the biggest crisis we have” a “severe deficiency of leadership crisis.”

“We must outsmart the liberals. We must outsmart the stupid people that are trying to ruin America,” Mr. Cain said. “We outnumber the stupid people. Trust me, I counted them.”

Mr. Cain hewed to his numerical theme throughout his remarks including when he explained the “two reasons” he dropped out of the race after his series of sex scandals.

“There were two reasons I dropped out of the race; gutter politics and, number two, I chose to put family first,” Mr. Cain said. Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/09/12 6:46pm

suggested reading

Christine Quinn gave her State of the City address today. (Photo: NY1)

Roundup: Christine Quinn Gave a Speech; Candidates Go to CPAC

Jack McEneny, a key figure in the redistricting negotiations, claims to know nothing about combining Carolyn McCarthy and Gary Ackerman’s districts.

More Queens redistricting drama.

Should we be freaking out about redistricting? (Aaaaaaaaagh!)

Michael McMahon is calling around, could he be contemplating another Congressional run?

Rafael Espinal likes Erik Dilan’s chances.

George Amedore took a step towards a State Senate run. Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/09/12 4:34pm

federal elections

(Photo: Getty)

Judge Further Establishes Congressional Election Schedule

All candidates for Congressional and Senate campaigns this cycle will need to collect the necessary signatures by April 16th, a federal judge ruled today.

The number of signatures needed for these campaigns will be dropped 25% as well, because of the compressed schedule that resuled from a recent federal ruling establishing the primary date for Congressional and Senatorial primary elections on June 26th, to comply with a new federal law.

No lines have been established yet, and then number of required signatures may still drop more if Albany stalls with redistricting and candidates do not know what districts they will even be running in. Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/09/12 4:14pm

running in westchester

Diane Roth

Diane DiDonato-Roth to Run for Oppenheimer’s State Senate Seat

Diane DiDonato-Roth, a realtor and member of the North Castle Town Council in Westchester County, will be entering the Republican primary to succeed retiring Democratic State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer.

“I’m going to be making a public statement in a few days,”  Ms. DiDonato-Roth said to The Politicker this afternoon. “I’m not only filing, I’m going to win. I’m going to give this a 100% effort”

There is already a Republican candidate in the race, businessman Bob Cohen, who came extremely close to beating Ms. Oppenheimer in 2010, but Ms. DiDonato-Roth, who says she already has a campaign manager and a political consultant working on her behalf, says she’s ready to make this a race. Read More

By Hunter Walker 2/09/12 4:05pm

Stand By Your Man

Congresswoman Michele Bachamnn (Getty)

Michele Bachmann Blasts Obama For Not ‘Standing By’ Israel And Mubarak

WASHINGTON Michele Bachmann made a speech at the American Conservative Union’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. where she accused President Barack Obama of making a series of dangerous foreign policy “miscalculations” including failing to support Israel and not standing by ousted Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak in his quest to keep the Muslim Brotherhood at bay.

“Obama failed to stand by Mubarak and that helped fuel the revolution in Egypt and it led to a regime that was based on sharia law with 72 percent of the seats in the Lower House in Egypt now occupied by the Brotherhood and an even more radical Salafist party,” Ms. Bachmann said. Read More

By David Freedlander 2/09/12 3:13pm

ny9

Rory Lancman, on the left

Turner, Lancman Turn Attention To Orthodox Stronghold

 

Rory Lancman, on the left

The Daily News reported this morning something that we speculated earlier in the week–that Caroline McCarthy and Gary Ackerman’s congressional seats may be merged.

According to sources in Albany, this has led to an effort by Bob Turner to grab the Five Towns area, an enclave of Orthodox Jews currently represented by Ms. McCarthy.

Mr. Turner, you will recall, won election to the Brooklyn Queens Congressional seat held by Anthony Weiner by making an explicit play for the votes of religious Jews in a race that turned on President Barack Obama’s perceived weakness on Middle Eastern policy. Mr. Turner has in the months since winning election traveled to Israel and further courted the Jewish vote.  Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/09/12 2:40pm

crew screw

Congressman Grimm (Photo: Facebook)

Democratic-Leaning Watchdog Group Calls for Grimm Investigation

Earlier today, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate Staten Island Congressman Michael Grimm in the face of fundraising allegations recently raised by the New York Times. The Times‘ sources allege, among other things, that Mr. Grimm accepted envelopes full of cash and contributions from foreign donors, charges Mr. Grimm sharply denies.

“Campaign fundraising can sometimes be shady, but Rep. Grimm has sunk to a new low. A former FBI agent meeting in the shadow of the Manhattan FBI office to take an illegal campaign contribution in an unmarked envelope? Sounds like something out of a Grisham novel,” CREW’s Executive Director, Melanie Sloan, said in a statement.

“In addition to the illegal campaign contributions, it also appears Rep. Grimm may have promised to use the powers of Congress to assist a fundraiser in procuring a green card. In other words, Rep. Grimm may have engaged in bribery. These are serious allegations that demand an immediate investigation.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/09/12 2:22pm

ring ring

Ed Koch (Photo: Getty)

Ed Koch Robocalls for Lew Fidler

Former Mayor Ed Koch waded into the special election to replace Carl Kruger in the State Senate this week by recording a robocall on Democratic Councilman Lew Fidler’s behalf, and sources both in the district and outside of it told The Politicker they have already begun receiving them.

This isn’t the first time voters in this district have received robocalls from Mr. Koch about a special election; the former mayor recorded  robocalls for GOP Congressional candidate Bob Turner in the same corner of southeastern Brooklyn, including one bashing the Democratic candidate, David Weprin.

Needless to say, Mr. Koch is back on the Democratic team in this time. Here’s the script: Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 2/09/12 2:03pm

Streaming

spotify

America’s Dad Barack Obama Made You a Semi-Cheesy Spotify Playlist

Remember when your Dad discovered Facebook? This is better. This afternoon, the President (you know, that guy who got Zuck to put down the hoodie) tweeted and tumbled a link to his 2012 Campaign Playlist on Spotify. POTUSes, they're early adopters just like us!




As the Verge points out, President Obama may catch a little flack for using a Swedish service like Spotify instead of its American counterparts, but we think it shows a keen eye for global tech trends. Besides, Spotify's Facebook integration gives Obama another reason to mention the Second Coming of Tech IPOs in his stump speeches.

Read More