+Tea Party | 573 days ago

The Rebirth of the New England GOP (Or Something Approximating It)

By Jay Newton-Small

In 2006 and 2008 Democrats wiped out every New England House Republican and with the departure (from the Party and then the Senate) of Vermont’s Jim Jeffords, and John Sununu and Lincoln Chafee’s losses at the polls, GOP senators looked endangered as well. Pundits talked about how New England was turning permanently blue and how it was only a matter of time before Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, and New Hampshire’s Judd Gregg, would not be far behind.

Then came Scott Brown in Massachusetts. And the door has been cracked open for a new breed of New England Republicans and some of them look a lot like the old breed of New England Republicans. Charlie Bass, the former chairman of the Republican Main Street Partnership – the near-extinct moderate House Republicans – won back his seat tonight by a slim margin, 49% to Democrat Ann Kuster’s 46%. And Kelly Ayotte, who narrowly beat back a Tea Party primary challenge, won the Senate seat being vacated by Gregg. Proof the moderate New England Republican isn’t dead.

+Senate | 726 days ago

No One’s Going to Beam You Out of This One, Mr. Kirk

By Katy Steinmetz

Vice President Joe Biden, in his ever-loving, half-aware candor, has called it “The Blumenthal Mistake,” which is a pretty brutal epithet: Of all the deeds a politician wouldn’t want his name standing in for, lying about military service has got to be close to the top of the list. Perhaps the label won’t stick, but [...]

+Senate | 735 days ago

Blumenthal’s Damage Control Bungle

By Michael Scherer

About a week ago, Connecticut Attorney General/U.S. Senate Candidate Richard Blumenthal gathered a bunch of veterans around him to rebut suggestions that he had intentionally misled people about his Vietnam service. He admitted to using the phrase “in Vietnam” instead of “during Vietnam,” but urged on by the guttural objections of the men around him [...]

+Senate | 741 days ago

War on the Home Front

By Jay Newton-Small

From TIME’s Pentagon Correspondent, Mark Thompson, who also happens to hail from the Nutmeg State: Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat seeking to succeed Christopher Dodd in the U.S. Senate, did a lot more fighting over Vietnam Tuesday than he ever did inside the country. That’s because, despite his claims to the contrary, he never actually [...]

+Senate | 742 days ago

Questions Emerge On Blumenthal’s Service Record

By Jay Newton-Small

The New York Times is reporting that Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, never served in the Vietnam War despite his claims that he did. At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life. “We [...]