New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was known as a man who wouldn't back down from a fight while serving as attorney general for the state. He went after corporations (his favorite targets) including: insurance, record and financial firms. He stuck it to the man at every opportunity like a good anti-Capitalist.

Now, as governor, he has the opportunity to stop crime by doing nothing, just letting a law on the books stand. But no, Spitzer has gain street cred with the other Dems and try to increase his vote among Hispanics by changing a law that stopped illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses:

The change rolls back rules adopted four years ago under the Pataki administration that made it difficult, if not impossible, for tens of thousands of immigrants to obtain driver's licenses because they could not prove legal status. Under the new rules, the Department of Motor Vehicles will accept a current foreign passport as proof of identity without also requiring a valid yearlong visa or other evidence of legal immigration.

Just a question, governor: didn't at least three of the ten men in two planes kill thousands of people in your biggest city overstay their visas? They all had passports as I recall, so your little plan here would not have caught them.

It's coming folks, the individual states are making their moves to subvert federal law and pass their own amnesty plans. The same party that freaks out every time someone suggests that abortion should be decided by the states will have no issue with states acting on this issue. They couldn't care less about the national security implications or even the implications to local security, as long as it gets them more votes and keeps them in power, it's all good.

Spitzer has his eye on a run at the presidency and he's being a good soldier for the real leadership in New York, Hillary Clinton and Chuckie Schumer. They are the power players and whatever they want, Spitzer will give them. Keep that in mind when he runs in 2012 or 2016.

Yes, and Nelson Mandela is dead don't you know, and there must be some WMD oil around here somewhere. I hope President George Bush campaigns with every Republican in the land (who will have him). If you want a real tell on how far the Republican party has fallen watch how far the Presidential and Congressional candidates run from Bush. They may want him for their $2,000/plate chicken dinners because the rich have made out like bandits (literally) under this president. As he once said, he's their president.

He just isn't ours. The president of the war that never needed to happen, the economy that is a house of debt cards, the balloning national debt, the shame of Katrina, the cronyism, the no-bid contracts, the million dollar screws (literally), the most vacations ever, and the worst health care. Yes, please campaign with Rudy, Fred, Newt, and Tom, Dick and Mitt. Go for it or as you would say, bring it on.

The fact that 25% of the voters will continue following him over one cliff after the other does not mean the rest of America has lost its mind. Of course, given the Democrats have been unable to get even the Webb amendment thru the Senate, they may well need 60 seats to end the war.

Please Mr. President, campign often, campaign in every state and let's see how it goes. Maybe you could get bin Laden to campaign with you. At least then you could say you found him.

Ted Nugent is again talking about running for governor of Michigan.

"That would be beautiful," Nugent said when asked if he would run for governor of Michigan in 2010. "I have threatened to do so and I was sincere."

Some of Nugent's antics make even Schwarzenegger's past outspokenness appear measured by comparison.

"Michigan was once a great state. Michigan was a state that rewarded the entrepreneur and the most productive, work-ethic families of the state. Now the pimps and the whores and the welfare brats are basically the state's babies."

This isn't the first time he's talked about this. Back in 2005, there was some talk, but no action. So don't hold your breath, or get too excited if you're a Nugent fan. But I have to admit, with one-liners like that, his candidacy would surely get the 2010 MI governor's race a whole lot of media attention.

And don't count it completely out. Since Granholm won in 2006 over Amway bigwig Dick Devos (yes, that Amway), Michigan is continuing on its path of a one-state recession. If this continues on until 2010, Michigan will be ready for someone else, anyone else. Ted Nugent would immediately have a lot of cache with the gun owner population and the Generation X Michigan kids who grew up listening to his music. If he put together enough serious policies that wouldn't scare people off, he would be a serious threat, and be fun to watch.

In the last four presidential elections, California has voted for a Democrat. That's a galling fact-of-life for Republican lawyer Thomas Hiltachk, who is pushing a ballot initiative to radically alter how the state's electoral votes are counted:

California awards its cache of 55 electoral votes to the statewide winner in presidential elections - the largest single prize in the nation. But a prominent Republican lawyer wants to put a proposal on the ballot that would award the statewide winner only two electoral votes. The rest would be distributed to the winning candidate in each of the state's congressional districts. In effect, that would create 53 races, each with one electoral vote up for grabs.

The initiative is titled The Presidential Election Reform Act. Hiltachk works out of Sacramento, at a firm that represents the California Republican Party. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a past client of Hiltachk's, disavows any connection to the initiative. State Republican Chairman Ron Nehring, on the other hand, seems to think it's a swell idea, saying, "We'll take a serious look at it, once it qualifies for the ballot."

Call it gerrymandering writ-large. If you can't win California's electoral votes the way the elections are currently run, change the rules! Let's hope the voters of the Golden State shoot this shameless attempt at rigging the next election down in flames. If you want to make democracy more representative, then do so in every state of the union. These are, after all, national elections.

The State House, that is. His governorship has been closely resembling the candidacy of former Attorney General Tom Reilly, and now Governor Deval Patrick has a new chief of staff has he begins to move out of the so-called "honeymoon period" and on passed his first 100 days.

Governor Deval Patrick has tapped his top campaign adviser, Doug Rubin, to replace Joan Wallace-Benjamin as his chief of staff, a move aimed at ramping up his senior staff with politically and media savvy aides, senior administration sources said yesterday.

Patrick is shuffling his staff as he tries to recover from a tumultuous first 100 days in office, during which he made a number of missteps that have weakened his political position on Beacon Hill and damaged public confidence in his ability to handle the job.

Rubin's appointment as chief of staff, which takes effect Tuesday, will give Patrick what many of his critics and supporters say has been lacking in the governor's office in the critical first months in office: a strong hand to guide him through the political minefields on Beacon Hill and to shape the administration's media operations.

Rubin will serve in the top post at least through the budget season, which generally ends in July, and perhaps into the fall. His tenure will depend on how much he is needed and how quickly he can get Patrick's inner circle working effectively, an administration source said.

Ramping up his senior staff with politically and media savvy aides... Yeah, that's a good idea, those are your two weakest areas. Deval Patrick Watch notes a recent phone call made to Deval Patrick, and no, not another shady Ameriquest phone call.

Everything potential presidential candidates do is now scrutinized under a microscope, often to an undue level. Some recent news from Massachusetts patently shows this disproportionate criticism:

Gov. Mitt Romney, who is weighing a White House bid, signed an agreement Wednesday that allows Massachusetts State Police troopers to detain illegal aliens they encounter over the course of their normal duties.

Under the terms of the agreement, made with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, an initial group of 30 troopers will receive five weeks of specialized training next year, paid by the federal government.

30 state troopers. That's it. Also, this isn't a large piece of legislation Romney has been pushing for, but merely an agreement he signed off on after being approached by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Furthermore, the troopers aren't seeking out the illegal aliens. Instead, the troopers now, if they encounter an illegal immigrant, will be able to detain him or her. Overall, this is minor news with a very slight impact on current Massachusetts policy. But what do the Democrats do?

As a candidate, you could somewhat excuse Deval Patrick for his deliberate ambiguity over what his plans were. When polls suggested voters sided with Kerry Healey on many issues, the last thing he needed to do was make it easier for her to demonstrate how out of the mainstream his positions were.

Well we're still seeing governor-elect Patrick delivering the same campaign-style vagueness. It seems like whenever he's confronted about a particular issue, he never has a definitive answer... He always has to think "more about it," "look into it," or "do more homework."

Take down the tolls? Deval hasn't seen enough of the homework.

Casinos and gambling in Massachusetts? Deval has more homework to do.

Troopers arresting illegals? He needs to investigate.

Of course any new governor will spend some time learning on the job, but these were all issues that came up during the campaign, and Deval should be willing and able to tell us what his intentions are. After running for governor for over a year, one would think Deval had already done his homework and been able to make some decisions or atleast give a definitive answer about what he wants/plans to do.

It was bad enough during the campaign... Now that he's governor-elect, a little transparency and openness would be nice.

Is this what we have to look forward to over the next four years? How long will Deval Patrick be ducking questions and avoiding issues by saying that he has to do his "homework" first? Will he ever get his "homework" done after four years, or are we going to find out his dog ate it?

As Rep. Christopher Shays begins to get over the shock of being almost the only Republican in a close race to win, the fate of one of his Connecticut colleagues is still undecided. Rep. Rob Simmons is currently down in his challenge with Democrat Joe Courtney by 167 votes. Twelve term incumbent Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson lost her re-election bid to a newcomer, and while Republican governor Jodi Rell was re-elected, none of the Republican underticket will be joining her. The Connecticut House now has a veto-proof majority. So what happened to Connecticut Republicans?

Rep. Shays was able to win because he isn't really considered a Republican, more of an independent maverick like John McCain. Simmons, typically considered more in-step with his party, now mired in a drawn-out recount process, is being abandoned by the governor. Rell apparently hasn't even contacted Rep. Simmons to offer support or encouragement. Gov. Rell does have a reputation for only being interested in her own political survival, which might be said to be a reflection on the Connecticut Republican party as a whole. If the party had been more cohesive, then "Republican in Connecticut" might have actually stood a chance in this past election. Instead, it was a massacre, with only politicians like Shays, often derided as Republican in Name Only (RINO), winning.

To borrow a little bit of a headline from the UK's Daily Mirror from a few years ago: How Can 1,230,065 People Be So Dumb?

I remained hopeful, yet realistic, in the waning hours of the election. Hopeful that Massachusetts residents would realize the gravity of the decision they were making, and do what was best for the Commonwealth. I was wrong.

We are now faced with four years of Deval Patrick. Four years of one-party rule. Four years of hubris. Four years of sound bites. Four years of slogans. Four years of Deval Patrick. While there may not be a Republican in the Corner Office, today was not about electing change. There is no change. Today in Massachusetts, democracy killed democracy. The voters of Massachusetts rejected two-party government; they rejected debate in the arena of ideas; they rejected the positive, and believed the negative.

The night of the election, I joked with my fellow Republicans that we should all just get up and leave Massachusetts and "just let the Democrats have it."

Look who introduced the victorious lieutenant governor candidate at the big Democratic victory party Tuesday night.

It was the junior senator of Massachusetts, John Kerry. Although he wasn't a candidate, he was facing a test of sorts: How would the crowd receive him?

Kerry emerged as a winner. He'd canceled his campaign appearances prior to Election Day. But on Tuesday, he was chosen to welcome new Lt. Gov. Tim Murray. He got cheers. He sounded triumphant and touted his experience: "They won big and so did Massachusetts," he said. "I know something about being lieutenant governor." (He served under Michael Dukakis.)

A Democratic victory on Election Day can bring good cheer to a man who -- some might say -- did a great deal to make things more interesting.

Reed Hillman, running mate of Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Kerry Healey, guest blogged at Hub Politics earlier today.

This election presents a clear choice for voters. Massachusetts has the opportunity to move forward and change for the better, or move back to the days of one-party rule, closed-door meetings and perpetual tax hikes.

I am honored to run for Lt. Governor alongside Kerry Healey. She has demonstrated a vital understanding of the criminal justice system. Over her term as Lt. Governor, Kerry has successfully worked with the legislature to toughen our sex offender and drunk driving laws. Her passion for the protection of victims makes her an ideal candidate to be chief executive of the Commonwealth.

Click here to read the whole thing.

So it looks like Deval Patrick's supporters have committed a "tit-for-tat" in response to the isolated behavior of some Healey supporters who took it upon themselves to demonstrate in front of the house of Patrick's campaign manager John Walsh, over a week ago. This caused a bit of controversy because of the protest occurred in front of Walsh's 12-year-old son.

Deval Patrick's camp went nuts last week when Healey supporters clad in orange jumpsuits picketed a campaign manager's house and allegedly berated the man's 12-year-old son.

But according to the Healey camp, Patrick's sign-toting minions committed a similarly ugly foul recently . . . on Healey's kids.

Sources close to Healey said Deval supporters camping out in Beverly recently "harassed" the lieutenant governor's children, ages 11 and 14, as the kids walked to a friend's house.

The kids were not harmed, but a source said they were upset by the incident.

Patrick campaign adviser Doug Rubin said, "If that did happen, we do not condone it. We would hope our volunteers would act more professionally."

When Healey supporters committed a similar infraction, Healey issued an "apology" that was not really an apology. Frankly, I don't see why a candidate needs to directly apologize for the behavior of passionate supporters. Now, Doug Rubin's "non-apology" is a bit more interesting to examine, because the Patrick campaign demanded an apology from Healey, and saw her non-apology as not sufficient enough when they were asked by Kim Atkins if Healey had apologized.

Deval Patrick never seems to be on the side of the victim. We saw this in the case of Benjamin LaGuer, Carl Ray Songer, and we can see it in this story that the Boston Herald is now reporting on.

As the Justice Department's chief civil rights prosecutor, Deval Patrick made the controversial decision not to criminally prosecute an FBI sniper who shot and killed an unarmed woman as she held her infant daughter in her arms during a 1992 standoff in Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

The incident, in which U.S. Marshall William F. Degan of Quincy and the wife and son of white separatist Randy Weaver were killed during an 11-day standoff, is cited by experts as the spark that started the anti-government militia movement that exploded after the standoff in Waco, Texas, less than a year later.

In 1994, Patrick, the Democratic candidate for governor who was then assistant attorney general, concluded there was insufficient basis to prosecute FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi for shooting and killing 43-year-old Vicki Weaver. Horiuchi had testified that he opened fire on the woman's husband and his friend, Kevin Harris, when he thought they were about to fire on an FBI helicopter.

Some of us have questioned the accuracy of recent polls showing Deval Patrick with a 25 point lead over Kerry Healey, and that often results in those of us on the right getting accused of being shills for Healey. Well, maybe those folks will give more credence to the theory that the polls are inaccurate now, since a Democrat-insider is also questioning the polls.

At least one local Democratic Party member doesn't believe recent polls showing Deval Patrick with a 25 percent lead over Healey. The veteran Dem, who wished to remain anonymous, called The Sun this week to say he's been involved in several internal polls covering Merrimack Valley towns and results show Patrick holding a much smaller, single-digit lead.

"Where are they getting these numbers from?" he asked. For confidential reasons, he refused to give precise information. But he did say that Healey, by his survey work of 200 calls to residents in Tewksbury, Wilmington and Billerica during the past week, was narrowly trailing Patrick. Of course, those three towns were the weakest in supporting Patrick in September, but this person said he has seen other internal poll numbers reflecting similar results.

"You have to wonder who is being called by these pollsters, and whether they are going to vote," he said.

This would explain a lot of things, and is something even the most die hard Patrick supporter cannot ignore.

But the real story will be on Election Day. Even if Patrick comes out victorious, it will not be by a margin of 25 points or near that. Chances are the Healey and Patrick will be within 10 points of each other.

Last week, when Mitt Romney finally came out to stump for Kerry Healey, he reminded voters about what a Patrick Administration will bring back to Massachusetts.

Making a rare appearance on the stump for Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, Gov. Mitt Romney called her Democratic rival, Deval Patrick, a "Mike Dukakis liberal" yesterday and warned against the one-party rule his victory would bring.

"I'm intrigued by Deval Patrick's theme 'Together We Can' (because) if Deval Patrick were elected there'd be no 'together' anymore," Romney told reporters at a downtown press conference. "It'd be entirely a one-party system. 'Alone we can't' in my view."

On no, Mitt Romney is making fun of Democrats in Massachusetts! He's making fun of the whole state. Will the Deval Patrick campaign issue a press release?