D.C. Council Panels Back Stadium Plan – The Post
The ballpark funding has moved out of committees (a bit narrowly, but that is okay) and will be presented to the full council next week. Our hero (and my early favorite for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination), finance committee chairman Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) used some profanity when discussing some amendments with David A. Catania (I-At Large). Jack really wants this legislation to go through. The business community is still concerned about the community fund. Deal with it guys!
More from The Wash. Times: Panels approve ballpark measure
Thom Loverro – Ballclub suffers first loss – The Wash. Times
Harsh criticism of MLB’s decision to hire Jim Bowden as Expos/Senators/Grays/Nationals GM.
D.C. dates conflict with O’s – The Wash. Times
If Peter Angelo$ had not spent all of the summer time fighting the inevitable, this probably could have been avoided, to some degree. Baltimore gets no sympathy from me.
TWO DAYS UNTIL KICKOFF
Robinson doing what he can to help Nittany Lions end skid – CDT
Playing WR is the best thing he can do for the team. Period.
Gordon Brunskill – Losing seasons could affect more than football team very soon – CDT
A look at the financial ramifications of continued losing. These numbers are probably keeping AD Tim Curley up at night.
Letter to the editor – PSU football a poor investment – CDT
A well written letter from a long time fan and season ticket holder; an articulate “Joe must go.”
Brown’s talk encourages linemen – Patriot-News
The big uglies had a pow-wow with Levi Brown giving the pep talk.
Promising group fails to deliver – Post-Gazette
A look at the 2000 recruiting class.
Ask Heather – CDT
Outgoing beat writer Heather Dinich answers dozens of questions about PSU football. She makes it pretty clear that Jay Paterno needs to leave.
Penn State’s graduation rates for athletes top national averages – CDT
There is some good news coming out of Intercollegiate Athletics.
WWN ELECTION WRAP-UP
Here is a look at races that William World News has been following during the campaign. This is, as Brenda put it, a Beltway blog after all.
In my part of BeltwayLand, Arlington, there were no surprises. The schools bond passed, as did transportation bonds, including one for Metro (81%!). There were similar results over in Fairfax County, my once and probably future home. All the local House reps, Jim Moran (sadly, another yellow dog), and Republicans Frank Wolf (’61 Penn State), and Tom Davis (seen wearing an Expos jersey in September, sorry no photo) all won.
Lungren storms back in House – The Sacramento Bee
In the 1980s when he was first in Congress representing Long Beach, Californian Dan Lungren (R) lived at the bottom of my cul-de-sac. He returns to the House, this time from the Sacramento area following a nearly thirty point win. Congratulations and best of luck to him and thanks for letting us go sledding in your yard all of those years.
Marion Barry Wins District Council Race – The Post
To the surprise of no one, the ultimate yellow-dog Democrat of all time, Marion Barry (file photo) was elected as Ward-8 council member. He is of course, opposed to a ballpark, but likes baseball, so if/when the ballpark funding goes through, he can have his cake and eat it too. Remember, he has not been caught with illegal drugs (CNN) in almost three years!
In his Potomac Confidential: Election Special chat yesterday, Marc Fisher answered a question about the Nite Owl:
Silver Spring, Md.: Marion Barry is vowing to stop the stadium deal. Can he do it?
Marc Fisher: I don’t see how, but he sure can make a lot of noise, if he has the energy to do that. My sense is that Barry ran for office in good part to torment Mayor Williams, and the stadium issue is a gift from the gods toward that purpose.
Barry says he can roll back any deal that the current D.C. council approves. But that would mean pulling out of a signed legal contract. More likely, he will push to win jobs and other concessions for Ward 8–and he might well get that.
U.S. HOUSE: Wide margin surprises Holden – Patriot-News
U.S. Rep. Tim Holden handed the Paternos yet another defeat in an already disappointing year in a blow out over Republican Scott Paterno.
It turns out that to win public office, particularly a House seat, you need more than your father’s name. Scott Paterno (R), a contemporary of our good friend Tom Harrison, but political novice, got his clock cleaned in his Congressional bid in the Harrisburg area. It turns out in order to win, you have to campaign, raise money, air TV commercials before the end of October, and of course, not write columns in college that accuse a president of murders and support drug legalization — among other things. It probably help if dad is doing a little better than 2 – 6 too.
Free advice to the Democrats: When your opponent is able to build part of his appeal on the fact that he downplays (nearly to the point of omission) that he was a New England preppy who was in Skull & Bones, maybe running a candidate who has nearly similar credentials and does not downplay them, might not go over well in the “heartland,” particularly when he is aloof as John Kerry. The chances of a Massachusetts politician winning the presidency again is pretty unlikely for a generation or two. Also, being a “war hero” is generally not that strong a selling point to voters; just ask Bob Dole and George McGovern, who did not win, and Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush who got voted out of office. The way the whole party seemed to anoint Kerry the POTUS candidate after a couple of primary victories was counter-productive. This is not something that just they do, but a problem with the front-loaded primary system in general. Also, did you notice that John Edwards upstaged Kerry with his great speech?