Barack Obama, Bob Etheridge, Gitmo, Ground Zero, Guantanamo, Renee Ellmers

Did North Carolina voters ask liberal Bob Etheridge ‘Who are you?’

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Congressman Bob Etheridge was the only Democrat incumbent from North Carolina in a toss-up race to end Election Day behind in votes in their Congressional District.

Election night results in the four North Carolina ‘toss up’ races

Congressman Bob Etheridge’s grabbing a “reporter” by the arm and striking him in the head this past June likely contributed to his apparent defeat in the midterm election. (Etheridge has stated he will ask for a recount if the vote is within one percent after the absentee ballots are counted and the race is certified.)

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Yet also look at the 111th Congress voting records for the four “at-risk” Democrats running for reelection in North Carolina:

NC-2 48.6% Etheridge – 49.5% Ellmers
HEALTH CARE BILL Yes
STIMULUS PACKAGE Yes
TARP Yes
ENERGY BILL Yes

NC-7 53.8% McIntyre – 46.2% Pantano
HEALTH CARE BILL No
STIMULUS PACKAGE Yes
TARP No
ENERGY BILL No

NC-8 52.9% Kissell – 44.0% Johnson
HEALTH CARE BILL No
STIMULUS PACKAGE Yes
TARP N.A.
ENERGY BILL No

NC-11 54.3% Shuler – 45.7% Miller
HEALTH CARE BILL No
STIMULUS PACKAGE No
TARP No
ENERGY BILL Yes

In addition, Congressman Etheridge consistently voted for closing Guantanamo Bay and for bringing Gitmo detainees to the U.S. for a civilian trial. Coupled with his weak response to Renee Ellmers’ ‘No Mosque at Ground Zero‘ campaign advertisement, they served to highlight Etheridge’s alignment with the politics of President Obama:

Bob Etheridge has never thought building this mosque and community center so close to Ground Zero is a good idea, spokesman Mike Davis said in a statement Tuesday. Davis labeled the ad a political tactic designed to distract voters. [Davis later added that Etheridge had not previously commented because it was “a New York” issue.] …
Etheridge has the clear financial edge in the race, sitting on more than $1.2 million as of his latest campaign filing. Ellmers has raised $355,000 to date, which her campaign notes is more than any of Etheridge’s previous GOP challengers have raised.

Renee Ellmers ran against Congressman Etheridge’s liberal voting record. He stood out as compared to the more conservative Democrats in North Carolina and that likely also contributed to why he lost the NC-2 election.

9/11, Barack Obama, Congress, Debra Burlingame, Democrats, Election 2010, Gitmo, Guantanamo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Vote out those House Democrats who flip-flopped to give KSM a civilian trial (Updated)

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Updated, 4:55 a.m. Eastern. Nov 25:

While the win-loss tally for the Gitmo switchers was close to an even split, the Democrats lost the House and their vote to bring terrorists into U.S. federal courts for trial contributed to that loss.

In addition, a significant number of House Democrats who consistently voted to bring Gitmo detainees to the U.S. were defeated. They are:

Joe Sestak, PA-7, lost to Pat Toomey in the PA Senate race.

Bob Etheridge, NC-2, lost to Renee Ellmers

John Spratt, SC-5, lost to Mike Mulvaney

Rich Boucher, VA-9, lost to Morgan Griffith

Scott Murphy, NY-20, lost to Christopher Gibson

Steven Kagen, WI-8, lost to Reid Ribble

Phil Hare, IL-17, lost to Robert Schilling

James Oberstar, MN-8, lost to Chip Chavaack

Travis Childers, MS-1, lost to Alan Nunnelee

Gene Taylor, MS-4, lost to Steve Palazzo

Chet Edwards, TX-17, lost to Bill Flores

Ciro Rodriguez, TX-23, lost to Francisco Canseco

John Salazar, CO-3, lost to Scott Tipton

Steve Driehaus, OH-1, lost to Steve Chabot

Solomon Ortiz, TX-27, lost to Blake Farenthold

So far, 41 Democrats who voted on October 15, 2009 to bring Gitmo detainees to the U.S. for trial have lost their congressional races. There remains one undecided race (NY-1).

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Original Post, October 31, 2010, 7:11 AM:

President Barack Obama has indicated he will again attempt to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed into the U.S. for a federal trial after the midterm elections. The good news is the House Armed Services Committee cut off the funding this past spring when poll after poll showed a strong majority of the American people are opposed to the plan. If the House shifts to a Republican majority, it is unlikely the funding will be restored. We will be watching for the reelection results of those Democrats who first voted, in a non-binding vote on October 1, 2009, against authorizing the President to bring Guantanamo detainees into the U.S. for trial and then, when it counted a mere two weeks later, they switched their votes.

Two-thirds of these flip-flopping Democrats are in toss up, leans GOP, or likely GOP races with Election Day nearing. One particularly arrogant Congressman, Baron Hill of Indiana’s 9th District, is in a leans GOP race against Todd Young, a former Marine and Deputy Prosecutor in Orange County, IN. Congressman Hill had this to say last October after switching his vote:

“I haven’t had one person ask me about Guantanamo,” said Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind. He added that he does “not in the least” fear it as an issue in next year’s elections.

Maybe Hill is correct; his votes for the health care, stimulus, and energy bills are perhaps why he is behind in the polls.

Yet in comparatively liberal New York, Congressman Daniel Maffei (NY-25) made those same votes, including switching to allow civilian trials for terrorists, and he has lost his lead against challenger Ann Marie Buerkle. Maffei had this to say about his Gitmo switch:

“It’s a non-issue. Inside the beltway stuff,” said first-term Rep. Dan Maffai [sic], D-N.Y. “People care about jobs, the economy, health care.”

A third example is Congressman Brad Ellsworth (D, IN-8) in a likely GOP race for that open Senate seat against Dan Coats. While Ellsworth voted for both the health care bill and TARP, Coats slammed Ellsworth for his Gitmo vote in his very first television advertisement.

There are others, like Melissa Bean (IL-8) in a tight race against Joe Walsh, Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8) in a toss up race against Marine veteran Jesse Kelly, and Ron Klein (FL-22) in a leans GOP race against retired Army veteran Lieutenant Colonel Allen West.

To be clear, we would like to see every Congressman who voted to afford the enemy a civilian trial voted out of Congress. But for now, we will be watching the Gitmo flip-floppers listed below (on the left). We urge our fellow Americans to vote for their opponents (listed on the right).

Michael Arcuri, NY-24, versus Richard Hanna *

Melissa Bean, IL-8, versus Joe Walsh *

Tim Bishop, NY-1, versus Randy Altschuler u

* Sanford Bishop, GA-2, versus Mike Keown

John Boccieri, OH-16, versus Jim Renacci *

Rick Boucher, VA-9, versus Morgan Griffith *

* Dennis Cardoza, CA-18, versus Michael Berryhill

* Russ Carnahan, MO-3, versus Ed Martin

* Ben Chandler, KY-6, versus Andy Barr

* Jim Costa, CA-20, versus Andy Vidak

* Jerry F. Costello, IL-12, versus Teri Newman

* Henry Cuellar, TX-28, versus Bryan Underwood

Kathy Dahlkemper, PA-3, versus Mike Kelly *

Lincoln Davis, TN-4, versus, Scott DesJarlais *

* Peter DeFazio, OR-4, versus Art Robinson

Brad Ellsworth, IN-8, versus Dan Coats (for U.S. Senate) *

* Gabrielle Giffords, AZ-8, versus Jesse Kelly

Alan Grayson, FL-8, versus Daniel Webster *

Debbie Halvorson, IL-11, versus Adam Kinzinger *

* Martin Heinrich, NM-1, versus Jonathan Barela

* Brian Higgins, NY-27, versus Leonard Roberto

Baron Hill, IN-9, versus Todd Young *

* Jim Himes, CT-4, versus Dan Debicella

Paul E. Kanjorski, PA-11, versus Lou Barletta *

* Larry Kissell, NC-8, versus Harold Johnson

Ron Klein, FL-22, versus Allen West *

Suzanne M. Kosmas, FL-24, versus Sandy Adams *

* Daniel Lipinski, IL-3, versus Michael A. Bendas

* Stephen Lynch, MA-9, versus Vernon Harrison

Daniel Maffei, NY-25, versus Ann Marie Buerkle *

Betsy Markey, CO-4, versus Cory Gardner *

Jim Marshall, GA-8, versus Austin Scott *

* Jim Matheson, UT-2, versus Morgan Philpot

Kendrick B. Meek, FL-17, versus Marco Rubio (for U.S. Senate) *

* Mike Michaud, ME-2, versus Jason Levesque

Scott Murphy, NY-20, versus Christopher Gibson *

Patrick Murphy, PA-8, versus Michael Fitzpatrick *

Glen Nye, VA-2, versus Scott Rigell *

* Ed Perlmutter, CO-7, versus Ryan L. Frazier

Tom Perriello, VA-5, versus Robert Hurt *

* Collin Peterson, MN-7, versus Lee Byberg

Earl Pomeroy, ND-1, versus Rick Berg *

* Mike Ross, AR-4, versus Beth Anne Rankin

* Bobby Rush, IL-1, versus Ray Wardingley

* Loretta Sanchez, CA-47, versus Van Tran

Mark Schauer, MI-7, versus Tim Walberg *

* Kurt Schrader, OR-5, versus Scott Bruun

* Allyson Schwartz, PA-13, versus Dee Adcock

* Heath Shuler, NC-11, versus Jeff Miller

Ike Skelton, MO-4, versus Vicky Hartzler *

* Adam Smith, WA-9, versus Richard Muri

Dina Titus, NV-3, versus Joe Heck *

Charlie Wilson, OH-6, versus Bill Johnson *

* John Yarmuth, KY-3, versus Todd Lally

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Note:

See RealClearPolitics.com for election race assessments.

November 2 is also All Souls’ Day and we remember 2,976 of those who departed on 9/11.