Martes, Mayo 29, 2012

Bitter primaries undercut GOP hopes in 3 states

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mutual admiration was the rule for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's listening session at the University of South Florida.
School provost Ralph Wilcox introduced the two-term senator as a "steadfast advocate for all Floridians." Nelson, best known for flying the space shuttle Columbia in January 1986, flattered the more than two dozen students present, saying they had a keen sense about people running for elected office. "You guys can usually smell out folks. You can spot a phony," he said.
Nelson collected their personal stories about the unbearable weight of student loans for a Senate speech days later on the need to keep the interest rate low. At the conclusion of the hour-plus session, he posed for photos with students.
Don't go looking for compliments and congeniality in the Republican primary to decide Nelson's election-year challenger. It's one of the meanest races in the country.
George LeMieux calls rival Connie Mack a congressional no-show, claiming that the four-term House member spends more time in California with his wife, Rep. Mary Bono Mack, than either in Florida or on Capitol Hill. A devastating web video from LeMieux portrays Mack as Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen, highlighting years-old bar fights and Mack's previous experience as an events coordinator for Hooters.
Privately, top Republicans in the state bemoan their choices and the GOP candidates' anemic fundraising.
It wasn't supposed to be like this in Florida or Pennsylvania or Michigan, three presidential battleground states. Republicans romped in all three in 2010, grabbing governorships, seizing majority control of state legislatures, and winning House and Senate seats. The three Democratic senators facing re-election in 2012 — Nelson, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan — were certain to face top GOP recruits and strong political headwinds.
Now, roughly five months to Election Day, the three states look like missed opportunities for the GOP.
In Pennsylvania, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's choice to challenge Casey finished an embarrassing third in the April primary. The GOP nominee is Tom Smith, who made a fortune in the coal mining business but lacks the name recognition of Casey, the son of a popular former governor.
In Michigan, former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who finished second in the 2010 GOP primary for governor, stumbled in January with a controversial ad in which a young Asian woman spoke in broken English about China taking U.S. jobs. He faces a challenge from Clark Durant, who has the support of top Republicans Spencer Abraham and Saul Anuzis in a likely five-man primary on Aug. 7. Abraham represented Michigan in the U.S. Senate until he was ousted by Stabenow in the 2000 election, while Anuzis is running for Republican National Committee chairman.
The GOP envisions a road to a Senate majority — it needs a net gain of four seats to win control — but at this stage, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida aren't prime real estate.
"The environment can change in pretty short order," Casey said in an interview, recalling his father's success in 1990 and President Bill Clinton's in 1992, followed by Republican wins in 1994 and 1998. "We don't know what 2012 will be. We don't know whether it will be a dramatic departure from 2010 or not."
Christopher Borick, assistant professor of political science at Muhlenberg College, describes Casey as the prohibitive favorite based on his solid approval ratings, crossover appeal with Republicans and independents and his willingness to challenge President Barack Obama on several issues, most notably the requirement — later amended — that religious schools and hospitals provide insurance for free birth control to their employees.
Votes in Pennsylvania for Romney and Casey "won't be uncommon," Borick said.
Casey has $5.3 million cash on hand to Smith's $2 million, though the senator said "it's always a struggle when you're running against someone who can take out a pen" and write a personal check. Stabenow, who recently completed work on a five-year farm bill as chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has close to $7 million cash on hand, while Hoekstra and Durant have about $1.5 million apiece.
In Florida, Republicans describe Nelson as one of the luckiest politicians, with support they insist is a mile wide but only an inch deep. They point to his less-than-formidable opponents in past elections, former Rep. Bill McCollum and divisive 2000 recount figure Katherine Harris, whom he beat 60-38 percent in 2006.
Mack, in the first rush of fundraising, emerged with just $1.38 million cash on hand at the end of March, according to Federal Election Commission reports. LeMieux had $1.19 million. By comparison, Nelson reported $9.54 million cash on hand to run in a state with 10 expensive media markets.
This spring, Republicans, including freshman Sen. Marco Rubio, had talked up the candidacy of Florida's chief financial officer, Jeff Atwater, but he decided against running.
LeMieux claims Mack — great-grandson of baseball Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack and son of the former senator — is in Washington on name recognition only.
Mack "doesn't have the competency or character to be U.S. senator. If his name were Connie Smith, he wouldn't have been elected to anything," LeMieux said in an interview. LeMieux, who served as interim senator, added, "It's hard to ask for a promotion when you're not showing up for work."
Mack has the backing of likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and is considered the front-runner in the Aug. 14 primary. He's answering LeMieux's attacks with his own assault.
Seizing on published reports last week, Mack's campaign called for a Justice Department investigation into allegations that LeMieux pressured then-Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint him to the Senate for the remaining 16 months of Republican Mel Martinez's term in 2009. The newspaper reports suggested the two had a quid pro quo, with LeMieux backing Crist's unsuccessful Senate bid in 2010.
Mack shrugs off LeMieux's criticism as "juvenile" and insists that the former senator should be ashamed.
"George LeMieux is fixated on making a joke of his own campaign. We're fine to let him do that," Mack said in an interview, arguing that he's more focused on addressing the nation's problems.
Stepping into this scorched earth race is former Rep. Dave Weldon, who launched his late bid arguing that none of the candidates, including businessman Mike McCalister, has won over conservatives.
The races are certain to tighten as the November election closes in, especially with a divided electorate, outside money in the millions, and Obama and Romney spending millions more.
"Keep your eye on Florida because it is ground zero," Nelson said in an interview, pointing out that Florida's 29 electoral votes make it the biggest prize among swing states.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently spent $2 million on an ad criticizing Nelson for his support for Obama's health care law.
"Obamacare will be a nightmare for seniors," the ad says. "Did Bill Nelson consider the consequences when he cast the deciding vote for Obamacare?"
Among several locations, the ads ran in Tallahassee and Panama City, part of the Florida Panhandle in the northwestern part of the state. The choice was intentional as state Republicans and Democrats say the folksy Nelson runs stronger in the Panhandle than most Democrats, including Obama.
Mack is already trying to undercut that support, referring to Obama and Nelson as "two lock-step liberals who are joined at the hip."
Nelson will benefit, though, from the Obama campaign's strong organization in the state, said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a Democrat who recently was re-elected.
"They've been at it for a year already in central Florida. ... They have a very visible presence," Dyer said.

Manhunt launched for two murder suspects in Arkansas jail break

(Reuters) - Authorities in southwestern Arkansas have launched a manhunt for two murder suspects who escaped from jail before dawn on Monday by cutting through the window bars of their second-story cell with a hacksaw, sheriff's officials said.
After removing the bars and smashing through a pane of glass, the two men then shoved mattresses through the window and climbed out of the Miller County Sheriff's Detention Center in Texarkana, Arkansas, spokeswoman Vanessa Schaeffer said.
"They pushed through mattresses to soften their drop to the ground," Schaeffer said.
The pair then cleared a 10-foot-high fence topped with razor wire before disappearing beyond the confines of the facility, she said.
Authorities brought in a K-9 dog unit to search the area after jail staff discovered the breakout at about 4 a.m. but failed to locate the two men in the immediate vicinity.
The fugitives were identified as Cortez Rashod Hooper, 23, and Quincy Vernard Stewart, 36, both described as dangerous. Schaeffer said the search for the pair was continuing and that members of the public who might encounter them were advised to keep their distance and call 911.
"Don't approach them," Schaeffer said.
Officials declined to say how the pair obtained a hacksaw in their jail cell or whether the tool was recovered.
Hooper, who stands 5-foot-4 and weighs 130 pounds, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and a probation violation.
Stewart, who is 5 foot-7 and weighs 169 pounds, is charged with possessing a controlled substance and was to be turned over to authorities in neighboring Bowie County, Texas, on suspicion of capital murder.

N. Zealand triplets among 19 dead in Qatar mall fire

Qatar prepared on Tuesday to bury or send home the bodies of 19 people who perished in a blaze that whipped through a nursery at a shopping mall, including New Zealand triplets and 10 other trapped children.
As investigators scoured for clues as to the cause of Monday's fire at the Villaggio Mall, a Qatari official said some of the victims will be buried in Doha on Tuesday, while most of the others will be repatriated.
"The families of four or five Muslims have requested to bury them in Qatar," said Captain Mubarak al-Bouainain, head of information department at the interior ministry.
Newspapers in the Gulf state raised questions over the licensing of a nursery in the middle of a huge mall, where the children and four teachers, including three from the Philippines and a South African, died of of smoke inhalation.
Bouainain confirmed that the dead children included the New Zealanders, four Spaniards, a South African boy, an American girl of Arab origin, a Chinese boy, a Canadian girl and an Egyptian girl and boy were killed.
The Egyptian boy also held French citizenship, the French embassy said.
He said two fire fighters, a Moroccan and an Iranian, also died.
In Wellington, Prime Minister John Key said New Zealand triplets, believed to be three-year-olds, were among those who died in the inferno.
Radio New Zealand named them as Lillie, Jackson and Willsher Weekes.
In Madrid, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said four of the youngsters who died were Spanish, while Paris announced that a three-year-old French child also perished.
Footage posted online showed black smoke billowing from the upmarket, Venice-themed complex as emergency vehicles rushed to the scene. Other pictures showed rescue workers carrying children on the roof of the mall.
The fire broke out at the Gympanzee nursery, or possibly near it.
"The first report of fire at Villaggio was received by the operations centre at 11:02 am (0802 GMT)," QNA state news agency quoted state minister for the interior Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani as saying, adding that police and civil defence reached the site within minutes.
He said it became clear that 20 children were in the first-floor nursery and "all efforts were concentrated on evacuating those kids," adding that fire fighters had to break through the roof to gain access after a staircase collapsed.
Dense smoke inside the mall combined with the fierce temperature from the flames made reaching the trapped children very difficult, a civil defence representative told a news conference.
Expatriate New Zealand journalist Tarek Bazley said he was in the shopping centre with his two children when the fire broke out, but they escaped unharmed.
"The volume of smoke coming out of it, it looked like you had 30 steam trains all pumping their smoke out above it," Bazley told Radio New Zealand.
But he said there was a lack of urgency from officials in the mall when alarms went off and complained of a "complete lack of planning, a complete lack of coordination in terms of removing people from this area."
"The first thing I heard of it was a very benign fire alarm; it sounded more like a door bell to be honest," he said.
Health Minister Khaled al-Qahtani said all the fatalities were caused by asphyxiation, adding that 17 people were injured, mostly fire fighters.
Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani ordered a commission set up to probe the blaze, Doha-based Al-Jazeera television reported.
In Madrid, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said embassy officials were trying to get more details on the four Spanish children killed.
Yamina Benguigui, the minister in charge of French expatriates, announced in Paris that a French child died, but declined to give any further details, including whether the victim was a boy or a girl.
"It is with great sorrow that I confirm that a French child aged three is among the victims," she said in a statement.
Community news Tumblr Doha News posted a note from South African Maryam Charles saying that her daughter, Shameega Charles, 29, who was a teacher at the nursery, "perished in the blaze."
It also said an 18-month-old South African was among the dead, in addition to a Moroccan fire fighter.
In Manila, a foreign department spokesman said three Filipino teachers who worked at the nursery died of smoke inhalation.
"Did this nursery meet the conditions to get a license," asked Al-Watan daily, addressing its question to the ministry of social affairs.
"We await answers over how it was allowed that kids of such age could be at a place not sufficiently equipped," it said.
"It is negligence that resembles a premeditated murder," charged Saleh al-Kawari, editor-in-chief of Al-Raya daily, in his editorial.
"This is a real catastrophe."