Charles Rangel

Charlie Rangel, a major supporter of Hillary Clinton, is joining Chuck Schumer and a growing number of superdelegates who think the Democratic nominee should reflect the popular vote, not the will of the superdelegates.

From Newsday:  read more »

City Councilman Miguel Martinez was one of the politicians who helped deliver Hillary Clinton's February 5 primary win in Harlem, which looked far from a sure thing beforehand, despite the support she had from much of the political establishment in the district.  read more »

Charlie Rangel was busy yesterday morning.

On his way to speak at three churches uptown within 90 minutes, Rangel made an unscheduled stop at West 155th Street, where Clinton supporters were kicking off a 61-block march north.

“Okay, what a gorgeous day,” said Rangel when he emerged from his Cadillac, surrounded by campaign volunteers and reporters.  read more »

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama weren’t in New York today, but their supporters were.

A rally for Obama at Columbus Circle this afternoon was billed as a show of strength among women, but the theme, judging from at least one speaker, was a changing of the guard in New York politics.

“County leaders don’t run me—other elected officials don’t run me," City Council member Helen Diane Foster of the Bronx told the crowd of about 500 people. "The people run me.”

Foster went on to say, “I say we get rid of Bushes. I say we get rid of the name we won't mention [because] this isn't her state."  read more »

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C.—We were at a community center attached to a megachurch-ish place called the Brookland Baptist Church. No one seemed to know we were coming. Charlie Rangel ambled in, looking Ranglian. He took three questions. The first, from a Greenville news reporter, was basically, what are you doing here.

"I have no idea,” Rangel responded. “I'm campaigning for Hillary Cllnton and this is my first stop...I'm here to do what campaigning is all about."

The second question was about why people should vote for her versus Obama.  read more »

Discussing George W. Bush's proposed economic stimulus package this morning from the podium at the A.B.N.Y. breakfast at the Sheraton, Charlie Rangel shied away from saying outright that he would discontinue the Bush tax cuts when they expire in 2010.

"As most of you know, there seems to be a lot of concern about whether or not the tax cuts of President Bush will be extended" he said. "Well, people have asked me, as Chairman of the [House Ways and Means] Committee, do we plan to extend these tax cuts in 2010?

"And I remind them--David Dinkins, who's older than me--that at 78 years old, I don’t buy green bananas," he went on. "And so I don’t know what’s going to happen in 2010."

Then Rangel, who is a long-time supporter of Hillary Clinton, said, "And after seeing the great fights on the screen last night at the Democratic debate, I don’t know what is going to happen in 2008."

He finished, "But having said that, it would seem to me that when we take a look back, not only did Hillary Clinton find her voice, but it seems like Chairman Greenspan has found his voice in saying that we should not have had those cuts unless what? Unless they were paid for."

“It’s going to be ethnic politics as usual,” said Al Sharpton during a commercial break from his radio show on Tuesday afternoon, a few minutes before Bill Clinton called in to defend his wife’s campaign, once again, against allegations of racial insensitivity. “The beyond-racial candidates are having the biggest racial attack I’ve seen in a long time.”

“All of a sudden,” Mr. Sharpton added, “we are back in The Bonfire of the Vanities, with a new cast and the same old script.”  read more »

John Hall, a freshman Democratic congressmember from the Hudson Valley, is having a fund-raiser at the home of Democratic super-donor George Soros on December 17, and Representative Charlie Rangel will be in attendance.Tickets start at $500.

The invite notes that Hall is a Democrat facing a tough re-election, and:

“won election by the closest margin of any N.Y. race last year. He was on Karl Rove’s now notorious target list and is already facing a multi-millionaire G.O.P. opponent.”

 

 

 

 

 

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It's worth noting that Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one trying to get squared away with Eliot Spitzer’s new license policy.

The governor’s (original) plan would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license, but now it's being linked to federal guidelines that will be outlined in the Real ID Act. Although Spitzer backed Real ID this week, a number of Democratic congress members from New York opposed it during a 2005 vote (which may explain why it hasn't been easy getting most of them to say anything about Spitzer's new plan).

One congressional aide was kind enough to refer me to the results of the 2005 vote on the Real ID Act.

Democrats Gary Ackerman (Queens/Nassau), Tim Bishop (Suffolk), Joe Crowley (Queens/Bronx), Eliot Engel (Bronx/Westchester), Carolyn Maloney (Manhattan/Queens), Greg Meeks (Queens), Jerry Nadler (Manhattan/Brooklyn), Charlie Rangel (Manhattan), Jose Serrano (Bronx), Ed Towns (Brooklyn), Nydia Velazquez (Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens) and Anthony Weiner (Queens/Brooklyn) all voted against it.

UPDATE: Another congressional staffer, putting this story in context, noted that every Democratic congress member in the state voted against Real ID, except for Mike McNulty, who voted for it, and Maurice Hinchey who was absent.

"She is no stranger here," said Calvin Butts, the Pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where a "homecoming" rally was held for Hillary Clinton on Saturday.

In a very specific way, at least, the origins of Clinton's Senate career can be traced back to the 125th Street offices of Charlie Rangel, who, Clinton lore has it, was the first person to suggest she run for office. Rangel is also credited with finding Bill Clinton his uptown headquarters.

On the rainy Saturday afternoon, Rangel sat on one side of the church's marble altar and Bill and Hillary sat on the other.

"He loves being home," Clinton said of Rangel when it was her turn to talk.

"It's great getting off that plane and being able to come back to Harlem. Isn't it, Charlie?"

The audience was thrilled to have Rangel and Hillary on the same stage.  read more »

Fun quote from New York congressional dean and Hillary supporter Charlie Rangel from a recent conversation about Barack Obama's criticism of Clinton's vote in favor of a bill labeling Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group:

"Poor Obama. He thinks he is raising hell by saying he didn’t like Hillary’s vote. He thinks that's an attack, you know? Well, goddamn. They can get me to say I don’t like her vote either, but that’s not an attack."

A reader in DC called in to remind me that a number of City Council members were there last night for a dinner hosted by Rep. Joe Crowley, and to attend a breakfast there this morning hosted by Rep. Charlie Rangel.

They’re there to deliver the City Council’s federal agenda to Congressional lawmakers (and check out some new office space).

Does anyone know if anything interesting happened? Or, while we're at it, whether the affected Council lawmakers are going to get back in time to vote in the local elections taking place today?

UPDATE: A reader called to inform me that Quinn met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss 9/11 health issues, the Council's number one
legislative priority. 

A reader sent over this invitation to Gregory Meeks' October 5 fund-raiser. (Maybe this was an early draft?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Charie Rangel blew out his birthday cake last year, he had two wishes: "That we win back the House and I become Chairman of the Ways and Means committee."

That's according to an early invitation obtained by The Observer to his 77th birthday gala, set for August 8 at Tavern on the Green.

His dreams having finally come true, Mr. Rangel is apparently celebrating what one New York City contributor to his campaign is calling "possibly the largest congressional fund-raiser in the history of New York."

The evening's special guest will be Rangel endorsee Hillary Clinton, but she won't be alone: the source told The Observer (and Rangel campaign finance executive director Walter Swett confirmed) that David Paterson, Sheldon Silver, Malcolm Smith and Tom DiNapoli will be joined at the event by playwright-poet-activist-actress Ruby Dee. Chevy Chase will be in attendance and Aretha Franklin is also likely, according to Swett. No word yet if Eliot Spitzer will be on board for the festivities. (And it's probably not the right time to ask.)

Chairs are asked to raise $20,000 and the lowest fund-raiser level -- patrons -- are expected to bring in $1,000. According to the invitation, proceeds will go to Rangel's National Leadership PAC to ensure the expansion of the Democratic majority in Congress.

"Most of all," Rangel writes in the invite, "we celebrate living in the greatest democracy on earth, a country where dreams can come true and a high school dropout from Lenox Avenue can get a second chance from the GI Bill and make something of himself."

Al Sharpton is going Michael Bloomberg one better in a fight over garbage facility siting here at the OEM building in Brooklyn, where the mayor is urging state lawmakers to approve a citywide garbage plan that includes using a state park in Manhattan as one of the trash-processing locations.

"The mayor has said this is a city issue -- to me, it's also a civil rights issue," said Sharpton. "It seems to me ironic, if not pathetic," he continued, that some liberal lawmakers are opposing the plan.

Representative Charlie Rangel, who spoke immediately after Sharpton, added, "To get caught up in the politics of the day, the children really deserve better." Rangel also said somewhat pointedly that the "other side" -- lower Manhattan lawmakers including Assembly members Deborah Glick, Richard Gottfried and Linda Rosenthal -- isn't willing to share the real reason for their opposition publicly.

Charlie Rangel, who said he doesn't want to see the debate about Medicaid spending turn into a "food fight," seemed ready for one on Saturday in Long Island City, where he was awarded the the Kung Hwa Medal by the Korean government.

[Photo credit: Grace Meng.]

-- Azi Paybarah

Representative Charlie Rangel just called now to explain his strident and surprisingly personal objections to Eliot Spitzer's health care spending plan, which included an assertion that the governor has an anger problem.

In a brief interview with Rangel just now, he said, "We're going to have to clear the air if we're going to operate as professionals. Period. No further comment."

He went on to say that the whole debate is "very unpleasant for me," and "we're not going to be distracted by television ads."

The conversation also included this fun exchange:

CR: So, I don't want to get any further involved. I will be getting further involved, but not where you're taking me.

AP: I'm not trying to take you anywhere.

CR: Well you should, if you're a professional reporter...

The full transcript is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

After Rep. Charlie Rangel reportedly called Eliot Spitzer's budget "disastrous," a spokeswoman for Spitzer emailed this response:

"The Governor's budget is good for the people of New York and New York City who will benefit from an historic investments in education and a move to patient centered health care. No amount of distortive rhetoric or advertising will cause the Governor to back down from the core reforms and necessary reality check embodied in this budget."

-- Azi Paybarah

Charlie Rangel, who once sarcastically called Eliot Spitzer "the smartest man in the world," said that Spitzer's health care spending plans would be "disastrous," the AP reports.

Rangel attended a business breakfast last week at which Spitzer blasted the health care industry, but these are his first comments on the plan.

-- Azi Paybarah

Later today, Representative Joe Crowley of Queens will be reappointed as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Business Council, the fund-raising arm that reaches into the deep pockets of business leaders nationwide.

Crowley's fund-raising prowess was cited in the recent past by Charlie Rangel earlier as a reason to give him a seat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

It seems he still has the touch.

UPDATE: Crowley will also perform with his Bruce Springsteen tribute band in DC tonight. Details after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Saturday Starting at 10 a.m. Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion will give veterans info about various services available to them, at the Bronx County Courthouse.

At 6:30 p.m., the National Book Critics Circle will announce their award finalists, at the Housing Works Used Book Cafe.

At 7 p.m., a taped interview of Hillary Clinton discussing her trip to Iraq and Afghanistan will air on CNN.

Sunday At 9 a.m., Charlie Rangel will be honored at a breakfast at the Center for Jewish History at West 16th Street

At 2 p.m., Hillary and others discuss expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, on 10th Avenue

At 3 p.m., Lt. Governor David Paterson will deliver the keynote speech at Newark Mayor Cory Booker's MLK celebration, in Newark.

Monday At 10 a.m. at Ground Zero, Chuck Schumer, Hillary, and Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerry Nadler and Vito Fossella and first responders attending Tuesday's State of the Union speech call for more federal funding to monitor and treat 9/11health problems.

At 12:30, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and others kickoff efforts to increase food stamp participation among immigrant communities, at the Queens Museum of Art.

And Bill Clinton hosts a book party for former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe.

-- Azi Paybarah

Mike Bloomberg, jokingly I think, just told the audience at the National Action Network's Martin Luther King Day event that his personal choice for president in 2008, standing on stage with him right now, is Charlie Rangel.

Bloomberg also said that he's been known to change his mind.

-- Azi Paybarah

Technically, the Democrats can end America’s presence in Iraq.    read more »

Jason Horowitz writes about the efforts of Washington Democrats to assert themselves on Iraq without handing the Republicans a political gift. As Charlie Rangel put it:

"The President will say we're in business with Osama bin Laden. Anytime, politically, you have to explain what you are saying, you have a problem. And so if I am there saying, 'Cut the funds for Iraq and the war in Iraq,' then someone is going to say, 'You are taking away rifles.'"

Joe Conason thinks the Democrats ought to cut funding for the war anyway.

Steve Kornacki explains the political perils of the McCain Doctrine.

And John Koblin writes, from amid the steaming wreckage in Foxborough, about the feel-good season of the New York Jets.

-- Josh Benson

Picking a new comptroller is dividing Democrats in Albany.

Foreign policy questions are dividing Democrats who are running for president.

Chuck Schumer thinks domestic issues will drive the agenda in 2008.

Arnold Schwarzenegger wants Mike Michael Bloomberg to run.

Charlie Rangel encouraged Barack Obama to run.

Christine Quinn is apparently gearing up for a mayoral run by bringing aboard Hilary Keller, a key fundraiser for Eliot Spitzer.

And Bloomberg told the Financial Times "those who worked their way up the legislative branch of government have absolutely no skills to do the job" of mayor.

-- Azi Paybarah

So now that the Democrats have won control of Congress, what should they do about the war in Iraq?  read more »

So now that the Democrats have won control of Congress, what should they do about the war in Iraq?  read more »

Here is a photo Una Clarke shared with me recently showing her chatting with a slightly disheveled Rep. Charlie Rangel.

She'll surely be hoping that longstanding relationship will come in handy for her daughter Yvette, the incoming House freshman who finally won the seat this year that Una once coveted.

On a related note, here's what Yvette told me a couple of days ago about the notion that it was her mom who got her onto the City Council and, now, into Congress:

"They love it when it's George Bush and his father. They love it when it's Al Gore and his father. They love it when it's the whole damn Kennedy family. But it's just Yvette and Una from Brooklyn, and it's like, 'You think you're owed this and blah, blah, blah.' No, I have to work every single day for each and every vote I can possibly get."

-- Azi Paybarah

On Saturday, the Independent and Small Press Book Fair takes place at Small Press Center (20 West 44th St.). At 11 a.m., a protest over the Sean Bell shooting starts at Kalua Cabaret (143-08 94th Ave.,) in Jamaica.

At 11 a.m., Congressman Charles Rangel speaks at the New York Synagogue (124 East 58th St) in Manhattan.

Also at 11 a.m., Councilman Tony Avella and members of Juniper Park Civic Association protest prolific real estate developer Tommy Huang, at 57-39 Mazeau St., in Maspeth, Queens.

And DNC Chairman Howard Dean speaks to the DNC Executive Committee in Washington, DC

On Sunday, former Sen. John Edwards signs copies of his book, "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives," in CA.

And C-Span goes in depth with Jimmy Carter.

On Monday, Barack Obama comes to New York to attend a children's charity.

And Sen. Evan Bayh is scheduled to make another trip to Iowa.

What else is happening?

-- Azi Paybarah

Office space in the Rayburn Building is given to congress members based on a mix of seniority and a lottery system.

A DC reader notes that first member of the 1998 class of Congress members to get a nice new office in the Rayburn building is Joseph Crowley. Lucky, huh?

Not sure if this increased his odds, but Crowley was on the winning side of the Steny Hoyer-Jack Murtha leadership race, had Charlie Rangel vouch for his fund-raising prowess, and also happens to be Democratic County Chairman in Queens.

-- Azi Paybarah

Rep. Charlie Rangel, speaking at a Crain's breakfast in midtown this morning, shared his thoughts on the draft and some Ivy League students.

"I spoke about the draft at Columbia, Harvard and Brown. These kids don't even know there's a war in Iraq."

It doesn't sound like he's ready to let go of the issue any time soon, despite the near-unanimous lack of support he's received for a proposal to reinstate the draft. And Rangel, a decorated war veteran, will have the ability to make things increasingly uncomfortable for his newly empowered Democratic colleagues every day that goes by without a coherent alternative position on how to deal with Iraq.

-- Azi Paybarah

Incoming AG Andrew Cuomo is having a transition meeting this morning in the Sheraton, where in another room, Rep. Charlie Rangel is speaking at a Crain's breakfast. -- Azi Paybarah

Charlie Rangel addresses the Crain's NY Business Breakfast Forum at the Sheraton.

Public housing tenants hold a rally before testifying at a City Council hearing on the NYC Housing Authority's modernization plan on the steps of City Hall.

The Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century issues its final report recommending the restructuring and closure of hospitals and nursing homes at the NY Marriott East Side.

The New York Immigration Coalition criticizes Mayor Bloomberg's small high school reform initiation for failing to meet the needs of immigrant and English language learners at their headquarters.

The City Council celebrates the life of Mary Gay Taylor, former City Hall Bureau Chief for WCBS 880 Radio.

A panel discussion on "The Black Underclass and America's Criminal Justice System" will be held at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The State University of New York Board of Trustees hold a public meeting at the State University College of Optometry.

The Museum of Television and Radio hosts a forum on Blogging & Elections, which can be viewed live from their website.

—Nicole Brydson

It was only after the midterm elections that the real campaigning began.

Below is a letter, dated November 15, from Charlie Rangel and Nita Lowey asking Nancy Pelosi to put Joe Crowley on the influential House Ways and Means Committee.

It's a position that provides access to business-minded constituents with lots of campaign cash to dole out to committee members. That's something, to judge by this recommendation, that's not lost on Rangel and Lowey.

"Joe has hosted events for candidates and Frontline Members in New York and contributed directly $275,000 to the DCCC and raised over $6.75 million in his role as Business Council Chair. Joe will continue to work in the 110th to support our Freshman and continue turning red seats blue."

The rest of the letter is over here [pdf].

-- Azi Paybarah

Charlie Rangel wants to bring back the draft.

The governor's appointee investigating the Alan Hevesi chauffeur scandal now has subpoena power.

Chauffeur scandals wouldn't happen if elected officialstook public transportation, like Mike Bloomberg.

Who's now worth about $20 billion.

Ben looks at Malcolm Smith's business practices.

Chris Smith wonders what's next for Chuck Schumer.

Next for Roberto Ramirez and other lobbyists who raised money for Eliot Spitzer: new offices in Albany.

The New Yorker looks at the effect of the Democratic victory on some of the White House's more aggressivemilitary options.

In between the pages of the New Yorker: a copy of Al Gore's movie.

Unlike Democrats, election results don't change Republicans, says Jonathan Chait in TNR [subscription]. "If Republicans win, it's because they were conservative. If they lose, it's because they weren't." That's not good, say the WSJ's editors [subscription].

Rudy Giuliani may get swift-boated by his New York City-based critics like Norm Siegel.

The Post looks at one of the friends of disgraced labor leader Brian McLaughlin.

Why did Nancy Pelosi get involved in the Murtha-Hoyer race for Majority Leader?

Time Magazine dispels six myths of the 2004 elections.

Newsweek looks at Bill and Hillary's battle plan in the wake of the midterm elections.

Howard Feinman looks at the divisions in the Democratic Party Nancy Pelosi has to manage.

And the Clintons' neighbor got shot.

-- Azi Paybarah

Rudy Giuliani set up an exploratory committee to run for president.

Which is technically different than officially declaring his candidacy.

But still, this may set up the dream race, at least for the New York media, of Rudy vs. Hillary.

John McCain, who is also exploring a presidential bid, declined to comment on Rudy.

McCain, unlike other national figures, wants more troops In Iraq.

John Murtha is campaigning hard for the House No. 2 job, relying on the cautiously expressed support he got from Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi.

Charlie Rangel is sticking with the incumbent against Murtha.

Joseph Mondello doesn't need to campaign to get the job of chairman of the state Republican Party. The job is now his, practically. But a November 30th vote of party leaders will make it official.

The guy who helped Eliot Spitzer cruise to victory in his campaign, ad man Jimmy Siegel, gets profiled.

But Spitzer's secret weapon in his campaign to reform Albany is the people, says Fred Dicker.

And right after taking back control of the congress, Rep. Charlie Rangel, Ed Towns and others tooka trip to Panama City.

-- Azi Paybarah

Hillary Clinton, looking relaxed, arrived at the Grand Hyatt and took the stage at ten after nine a.m. Charlie Rangel, filling time while she was delayed, had eventually veered off on an impassioned speech on how history would remember the wars. "During this horrible period in this nation's history, what were we doing?" he asked. "What did we say? Did we protest?"

Mrs. Clinton had been delayed by traffic. She said she'd been flipping through the paper over the weekend and had found something she wouldn't normally read. She said she had learned that "Mercury is in retrograde, whatever that means" and had been thinking of that as her little caravan had inched along.

She thanked Mr. Rangel for filling the ballroom's dead air. "I love Charlie Rangel," she said. "I'll say it. I'm sure I'll be on the front of some tabloid tomorrow."

-- Choire Sicha

Charles Rangel, giving a little speech this morning at the Association for a Better New York breakfast while a full crowd waited for a tardy Hillary Clinton in the Grand Hyatt ballroom, made a full apology for his recent trashing of Mississippi.

"For all of you from Mississippi, I'd like to extend my deepest apologies," he said. "I promise I'll visit as soon as I find a food taster. My brother David Dinkins isn't available."

-- Choire Sicha

The respectable party last night was at the Sheraton.

But the truly great victory celebration was in Harlem, where Charlie Rangel and a few close friends celebrated his ascension to the House Ways and Means chairmanship.

It turned out to be a seven-hour affair in a bar and lounge across the street from his offices in the Adam Clayton Powell building on 125th street. Rangel wore a typically well-tailored suit, with a gold Congressional clip on his burgundy tie and a white button on his lapel that said "Bush" with a black line through it.

"You have no idea what it is like to be held hostage by the Republicans in the House," he said. "The Republicans didn't understand what was going on. But the people got it!"

Between camera flashes and throaty cheers, Rangel took a weak stab at modesty.

"It's the most exciting thing to happen tonight," he said. "My chairmanship is like a grain of sand on a vast beach compared to the intelligence of all the voters."  read more »

(If I missed any events, email me!) On Saturday at 10 a.m., Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Charlie Rangel and almost everybody else will be supporting the Democratic ticket at a rally at 2155 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.

At 12:30, Hillary speaks at the 9th Annual Parent Conference of the United Federation of Teachers at the Sheraton in Midtown. John Faso campaigns in Brookhaven at 9 a.m., then at the Mayfair Shopping Center on Jericho Turnpike in Commack at 11:15; the King Kullen Shopping Center in West Islip at 12:30 p.m., and a few other places.

At 10 a.m., UFT president Randi Weingarten campaigns for Democratic Congressional candidate Steve Harrison and State Assembly candidate Janele Hyer-Spencer at Staten Island's Miller field [added].

Also at 10 a.m., volunteer cars to help Democratic state Senate Jimmy Dahroug in Long Island leave from Bayside (and on Sunday too!)

The phone bank for upstate Democratic candidate John Hall starts dialing voters.

State Senate candidate Flip Pidot does some street campaigning.

Also on Saturday, Jeanine Pirro campaigns in Elmira at 10 a.m., in Oswego County at 11 a.m. and in Broome County at 1 p.m.

Upstate Democratic congressional candidate Eric Massa campaigns everywhere on Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday, Faso attends a political forum at Temple Beth El (2710 Genesee Street,Utica) at 9 a.m., mass at St. John the Evangelist Church in New Hartford at 10:30 a.m.; a rally in Syracuse at 1 p.m. and another rally in Waterford at 5:30 p.m..

Bill and Hillary Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Chuck Schumer and others campaign for Andrea Stewart-Cousins at The Royal Regency Hotel in Yonkers (165 Tuckahoe Road) at 1 p.m. [added].

And there's a marathon in the city. More Sunday stuff will be posted as it comes in.

-- Azi Paybarah

For voters in next week's Congressional elections, their decision on Tuesday may be a referendum on 1) the Bush administration and Iraq, 2) the economy, 3) GOP's handling of Mark Foley or 4) the idea of Nancy Pelosi and Charlie Rangel controlling one branch of government.

Few people, I presume, will cast their votes based on candidates' positions on the public financing of federal elections.

Common Cause NY is hoping that the issue public financing -- and the more general issue of governmental transparency -- is a growing concern, sending out word earlier today that while 18 Congressional candidates in New York have signed on to their Vote First pledge to support "full public financing of public elections," 44 have not.

It'll be worth noting after Tuesday if there are any consequences whatsoever for the candidates who didn't sign.

-- Azi Paybarah

Mike Desch, a political scientist at Texas A&M's George [H.W.] Bush School, says I'm wrong about the military being less educated than American society as a whole:

Indeed, it is more so. Take a look at the attached: http://www.dod.mil/prhome/poprep2002/contents/contents.htm. The key figures for enlisted are "reading ability" and for officers "education." In both cases, the military is above the norm. These figures are for 2002 and may have dropped a little bit since then, but I very much doubt. If you look at FY 2004, the enlisted reading ability is still above the norm. Officer's education is still high but for some reason they did not report civilian levels. http://www.dod.mil/prhome/poprep2004/contents/contents.html. But if you compare 2004 to census data, the military still looks very good on education http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/education/cps2005/tab05a-01.xls.

I looked up Desch's references and told him I wasn't convinced. They show that the average American youth in 1980 had a reading ability of grade 10.3; and in 1984, the average Army enlistee was behind that, at 10. The Navy average was higher than the national average, at about 11 in 1984. And the Army number got to 11 by 2000 or so. But as I responded to Desch, the average American youth has surely gone up too.

He responded:

The 1980 figure comes from a Department of Labor study which is the only benchmark out there because the armed forces reading exam is based on the DOL metric. Your points are fair, but for this to be a problem you have to assume that general reading ability in the population has increased at a faster rate than that in the armed services. This DOE graph tells me that is has not (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ltt/results2004/nat-reading-scales core.asp) It's pretty generally agreed that the quality of AVF accessions rose significantly in the 1980s and 1990s. Let's look at the officer corps: The median age in 2004 is 27. For that year 7.9% of officers had less than college, 76.8% had college degrees, and 15.3% had advanced degrees. According to the census data for 2005, the figures (if I have calculated them correctly for the general population [all races and both sexes, 25-29 years]) are 68% with less than college, 25% with college degrees, and 7% with advanced degrees. That strikes me as a huge difference in favor of the military compared to the general population! Bottom-line: it is hard to defend with data what Kerry said, as opposed to what he wanted to say, unless things have changed dramatically since 2004.

Desch wins the point re officers. I'm not giving in yet on enlistees and the economic draft. Where's Charlie Rangel?

Facing an antagonistic electorate and the strong possibility of losing the House, Republicans are desperately trying to motivate their base by propping Charlie Rangel up as its mid-term bogeyman. That only works if Rangel plays the part.

For a while, he was excrutiatingly careful not to take the bait. This week, he kind of blew it, calling Vice President Dick Cheney, his frequent sparring partner, a "son of a bitch."

"It doesn't help the cause," said Amy Walter, who follows the House races for the Cook Political Report. "What Democrats really need to do is make sure the focus and spotlight remains on Republicans period. If you are making a change argument, you only hurt yourself when you get involved in part of the debate."

Rangel's outburst has played right into the Republican gameplan - even though Cheney is not exacty a stranger to foul language. Rangel, achingly close to landing the dream job as chairman of the Ways and Means committee that would be the culmination of his political career, has apparently realized that he made a mistake and even expressed some unusual contrition.

But Walter doubts it will make much of a difference to the Democrats chances of taking the House, as Republicans have already pulled out every stop to get their base to the polls.

"They have already thrown in the whole kitchen sink," said Walter, "and it has not been able to get the kind of traction that Republicans would have hoped it would."

--Jason Horowitz

Alan Hevesi's campaign has just rolled out yet more statements of qualified support from Democrats. The latest batch includes comments from Rep. Charlie Rangel, Rev. Floyd Flake and former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Sr. [statements after the jump]

Each of the canned comments is formulated in pretty much the same way, saying that X official doesn't believe Republican Christopher Callaghan is qualified to be comptroller and that X official would therefore be voting fo