Stormy Daniels quits Senate race

It seems money does talk in elections. Big time! David Vitter is a US Senator for Louisiana who got caught up in telephone sex and other seedy stuff. Stormy Daniels is a porn star who has been thinking of running for the senate this year against Vitter, who has $5 million in his campaign coffers. Stormy has considerably less and it is this that has convinced her that she should pack it all in and return to the day job (or is it night job?).

When I first heard of Stormy Daniels and this election bid I thought it had a lot of sense about it. Why not? I'm not in any way in favour of what she does as a "career" but that's not the point here I think. She came forward, admittedly after some student set up a Draft Stormy campaign, because she saw hypocrisy in action. As I said before, if she ever did get to the Senate she may well do a hell of a job. For one thing, she wouldn't be taking any of the nonsense that already festers the place.

I think she should reconsider her position and make a run for it. If the people of Louisiana want transparency over the same old politics then they have a choice. This may be a missed opportunity. Of course, Ms Daniels would have to be a politician above reproach in the Senate. No more moonlighting. I just think someone like her at the heart of political power could obtain results nobody else could. Louisiana folk may think they should persuade her to reconsider.

Stormy Daniels senate race hots up

When Stormy Daniels, porn star of repute, said she was running for the US Senate many scoffed. They thought it was all a publicity stunt. They admitted that her intended opponent, incumbent David Vitter, was damaged goods but they were sure that the Democrats would find someone to run against him. Daniels, they suggested, was a no-hoper. Her supporters begged to differ and she embarked on a listening tour.

Things are moving up a notch or two. Daniels is still in the race and the name of Democrat Charlie Melancon of Napoleonville is being touted around. Apparently he needs a good bit of touting. From what I can gather, Melancon is someone likely to repeat the same porkbarrel business in the senate. A fight between Vitter as the Republican and Melancon as the Democrat could see Daniels coming up through the middle, in a manner of speaking.

Louisiana is in for some fun and games!

Stormy Daniels keeps on storming!

I was wondering what was happening with the Stormy Daniels campaign for the US Senate seat in Louisiana. I found the Team Stormy site and they report that on July 2nd and 3rd, she swept through Lafayette, Shreveport and Delhi (not the one in India!) on the second leg of her Louisiana listening tour. A video from Stormy’s stop in Shreveport, where she dined with patrons of the world-famous Southfield Grill, is shown below.

Two things I noticed. People are beginning to take her seriously, which suggests honesty and straight talk is preferred by voters over spin and deceit. Second, even though the reporter on this piece suggests Daniels thinks she is not qualified, one wonders what qualified those senators before. Certainly not the ability to think that money grows on trees!

Stormy Daniels storms on in Senate race!

"He ran for the Senate on a family values, anti-sex education platform, and he’s caught with prostitutes. That’s hypocritical. Call me what you will, but you can’t call me a hypocrite." So says the former porn star Stormy Daniels, the proud winner of the 2007 Golden G-string award, who is running in a US Senate race against a Christian family-values Republican shamed after being caught cavorting with prostitutes.

The shamed Republican is David Vitter. He's got his troubles hanging out on the washing line! The Times reports that "few think Ms Daniels can actually beat Mr Vitter next year but her candidacy is an uncomfortable reminder for a Republican party as to why it has been so resoundingly rejected by US voters." But the point is some think she can win. George Bush is now firmly of the opinion that he should never have got mixed up with the so-called Christian right. "Those whackos" he calls them. Is Vitter one of the whackos? And if he's been cavorting with prostitutes what else may he have done? He says he had "asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife" as if God and his wife were in the same room at the time.

The voters of Lousiana have a good choice. Between an incumbent politician who has fallen short and a woman who has apparently nothing to hide. I'd say this. If it's straightforward no-nonsense talk and action you want from your Senate representative, then Stormy Daniels may be your woman.

She'd uncover the hypocrites, cut to the chase and keep the spinners and deceivers at bay. Sounds like the kind of representation I'd go for.

Porn star for US Senate?

There have been some sexually explosive political representatives before, as with Ilona Staller, better known as the Italian porn star and former MP known as La Cicciolina. Now the state of Louisiana is about to get a chance to vote for, or at least draft, a porn star known as Stormy Daniels. She is going up against Senator David Vitter, who himself got into a spot of bother over having his name on a madam's phone list.

She will have to wait until next year before she could swap seats with Vitter in the US Senate, but perhaps she would be an honest addition to the representation spectrum. After all, many on Capitol Hill have been seen out at night. Remember Wilbur Mills? Having her in the Senate may make them think twice. I doubt she would conduct that kind of business inside the pot and they would be reminded all the time that America is not as squeaky clean as they might have us believe!

Blagojevich and Burris in high-wire double act

I may be on the wrong tack here, meddling in domestic American politics, but I maintain that, as the credit crunch bites my ankles, I can have a say in the system that is helping the crunch bite better!

So I am not surprised when I hear U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid say, as he did on Meet The Press that Democrats will use every legal power they have to keep Burris from being sworn in on Tuesday. "We think we're pretty clear on what we believe is the law and precedent in the U.S Senate. We're the ones who determine, Democrats and Republicans, determine who's going to sit in the Senate". So the good citizens of Illinois, you are not capable of selecting your next senator. Harry Reid and his chums are the only ones. Blimey, it's a sort of self-selecting club with the electorate supplying the fixings!

I suppose the sight of mop-haired Blagojevich standing next to Roland Burris at press conferences makes the senators shudder. The thrust of Reid's political thought is that Blagojevich should move on, and the Lieutenant-Governor "appoints Burris or anyone else". The governor could be doomed. All it takes is a simple majority in the house to impeach him and he could be gone from office if 2/3rds of the State Senate believes he's guilty.

That's the whole dodgy thing here. Allegations all round. Sounds like solid evidence is not really required and the voters get to watch it all on TV. Now that is a reality show!

Caroline Kennedy has eyes on Senate seat

The Times has suggested that Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president, has fluffed her lines so badly that she may not make it to the Senate. She wants the New York Governor, David Paterson – who has the sole power to pick a successor to Mrs Clinton now that she is becoming Secretary of State – to appoint her to the seat once held by her uncle, Bobby Kennedy. That would make the Kennedy clan all the more ubiquitous as well as politically powerful.

I'm not sure that fluffing your lines is a cause to say no. The question is, does she have what it takes. Unlike in Britain, there is no by-election on offer. The people of New York State get no say in the matter, other than lobbying a passing politician. This is all down to the TV channels giving the governor a few videos to watch! Democracy in action do you think?

The Kennedy family make an odd lot for the supposed first family in Democratic Party politics. The name is given up as some magical cure for the nation's ailments. Caroline Kennedy (she won't be running as Mrs. Schlossberg , I take it!) has been mocked for speaking in a dull monotone,“Um, this is a fairly unique moment both in our, you know, in our country’s history, and, and in, in, you know, my own life, and um, you know, we are facing, you know, unbelievable challenges, our economy, you know, healthcare, people are losing their jobs here in New York obviously um, arh, you know. . . ” Well, we do know. The economy is in freefall. If she can get to grips with some of the nonsense being peddled at the moment, she will be doing a hundred times better than the average politician who has been plucking imaginary dollar bills off fairyland trees! If not, then she's not going to be much use.

Caroline Kennedy has something far greater to claim fame for, though. She was the person whose name was so attractive to Ronan O'Reilly that he gave Radio Caroline that name. People like me, sixties teenagers, see that as the passive resistance to authoritarian nonsense. It was once illegal even to listen to that station!

So, Ms Kennedy is only good for this Senate seat if she can rock and roll in the aisles and give change a chance!

Radio Caroline at Sea in the '60s

Elected Senate versus House of Lords

The American Senate is vaguely similar to the House of Lords. In this regard it is the second chamber of a bicameral governing institution. The Americans have a congress, the British have a parliament. One thing that appears to unite the US Senate and the House of Lords is the extreme age of many of the members. It used to be said that the Lords were in God's waiting room. Now there are murmurings on Capitol Hill about the age and competence of some senators.

Robert Byrd is a senator from West Virginia. He was born just as the First World War ended. It makes him 90. Some think being as old as that is not the best thing for a senator to be. Others think it an outright impudence that the subject is mentioned. Yesterday (Wednesday) he was managing a two-hour Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the Iraq war that for the time being silenced critics who say he’s no longer fit to serve as chairman. The average age of the Senate is 63, which implies half are in the bus pass club!

The House of Lords also has a lot of older members. It is not unusual for centenarians to be cogitating on the latest piece of legislation. Lord Shinwell was over 100 and still going. On his 100th birthday he came out of the chamber to greet both Neil Kinnock, the then Labour leader, and the press. Egged on by a tabloid hack, the peer leaned forward to Kinnock and said "You'll get nowhere by grinning all the time!" and Kinnock went a violent shade of carrot red. When you get old you can say what you want more or less. Senator Byrd has told his detractors to "Shut up".

Those campaigning in the UK for an elected second chamber should look at the US Senate. Yes, it's elected, but unless you've done something really wrong and even that may not matter, you get to stay there until you snuff it or get wheeled out. The American voters don't get much say in the matter. In fact, if the Senate turned into a sort of House of Lords, probably not that many would know or care.

Senator Byrd has had been in hospital twice this year. He uses a frame on occasions to get around. The health and stamina of the senator has been a question mark for months because of his weakening physical condition. His mobility was limited further in February by a fall at his home, the subsequent discovery of a urinary tract infection and an allergic reaction to medication that put him into hospital. All this leads to the speculation.

Byrd is the longest-serving senator in history. Probably of any parliament or congress for that matter. And because senators go on and on, people come to believe that they are there for ever. A kind of perpetual politician. Elections come and go, but the senators stay the course. I get the feeling that these rumblings are not about his age, but about how the Congress is adminstered.

Robert Byrd, is currently president pro tempore of the Senate, which makes him third in line to the presidency. That is why he is still keen to demonstrate his abilities, no doubt. But are the American people so sure?