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Aglm Is Rand Paul Still a Tea Partier
Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn repeatedly attempted to tie her Democratic opponent Phil Bredesen to national Democrats in their second and final debate on Wednesday, while the former Tennessee governor deflected the attacks by once again promising to improve bipartisanship in Congress.The two candidates exchanged barbs and and went on the attack during Wednesday s hour-long event mdash; based at the University of Tennessee s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center stanley cups for Public Policy mdash; on topics ranging from health care, sexual misconduct allegations to gun control.With election day less than a month away, the outcome of the competitive red-state race has attracted the national spotlight due to a 51-49 Republican Senate m stanley tumbler ajority in the balance. The race has become so high-profile that even pop superstar Taylor Swift broke her political silence by going on Instagram to endorse Bredesen and encourage people to vote Nov. 6. Despite Bredesen kicking off the debate pleading for civil discourse, Blackburn immediately jumped into attacking Bredesen for attending a fundraiser that headlined ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. That was possibly the shortest civil debate we ve had in a long time, Bredesen responded.Bredesen later said he didn t seek stanley thermos out Bloomberg s assistance but that Bloomberg called and offered his help. Blackburn said after the debate Bredesen and Bloomberg probably talked about taking guns away from Tennesseans or bei Tmdg Donald Berwick s Recess Appointment Draws Ire from Republicans, Support from Democrats
Democrats are just one step away from forcing President Bush to wield the veto pen on funding of the Iraq war.Chiefly along party lines, the House passed a bill that includes a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops beginning in Octob stanley mug er and finishing by April 2008. It includes nonbinding goals for withdrawal and would still provide money for limited operations--counterterrorism and training of Iraqi forces--in 2008.Republicans assailed their counterparts: Setting a timeline for withdrawal is like holding up a white flag, they charged. No, said Democrats, the bill funds the troops at the level Bush requested and more, and it holds the president accountable for showing progress. In many ways, the looming showdown is a bit anticlimactic. The two sides have been girding for battle. The rhetoric has been building for weeks, months, maybe since Election Day last November. The next two steps are pretty clear.Today , Senate Democrats will try to pass the same bill as in the House. They re expecting a speedy win. The bill will then head to Bush s desk early next week for an expected speedy veto. It would be only the second of his presidency. stanley water jug Then the real questions begin. Democrats, in this proverbial game of chicken, need to figure out what comes next. They could ... stage a veto override vote, but that d be stanley water bottle a waste of time, Democrats say. After all, the bill barely passed the House and most likely wouldn t have the support there or in the