Jim Risch to be named Craig's replacement.

We have just recieved word that Governor Butch Otter will name State Lieutnant Governor Jim Risch, Larry Criag's replacement in the U.S. Senate our sources tell us. Risch was expected to challlenge Craig in the 2008 Primary before the scandal erupted. Risch is expected to run for a full term of office. No statement yet from Risch himself, but officials say Governor Otter will name Risch U.S. Senator.

Decision 2008: Presidential Power Rankings #34

Here are your End of the Month Rankings for the 2008 Presidential Race. I apologize for the delay.

Republicans

1st: Rudy Giuliani (steady) Giuliani leads nationally and more early states areb turning his way but for awhile his campaign has been at a tsnad still with little media coverage while his challengers Romney, Thompson and Huckabee steal the spotlight. Giuliani may be hut by this.

2nd: Mitt Romney (rising) Mitt has nowehere to go, but up since Ames. His surge in Iowa and NH keeps him strong. His polls and fundraising totals are going up and up and a Gallup poll put him 2nd with 16% nationally. Romney really does have a shot at winning the GOP nomination.

3rd: Fred Thompson (falling) His announcement may give him some buzz, but it is our opinion that his chance has come and gone in winning. His polls remain strong but he is losing more and more suport day by day.

4th Tied: Mike Huckabee (rising) Since ames Huckabee has been a spark. He now leads McCain and Thompson in Iowa in 3rd place with 14%. He seems to be the rising star of the party and turned a dime into a doallr with Ames. I say keep an eye on him he may surprise you.

4th Tied: John McCain (falling) His polls now avearge 10% which his 15 point down from June when his decline began. McCain still is considered a major contender, but he really needs to step it up a notch.

6th: Newt Gingrich (falling) Looking to announce in a month's time. Gingrich may put a new story in this ever exciting GOP race, however his baggage will keep him from winning the nomination.

7th: Sam Brownback (steady) Didn't get quite the spot he wanted at Ames, but he still remains the leader of the 2nd tier with Huckabee's accensionto the top tier. Brownback shouldn't go far.

8th: Ron Paul (steady) Such strength in fundraising, on the internet, and among the youth, keeps Paul in this race and should be in it till the bitter ed. he could run for the Libertarian nomination and continue till November if he has to.

9th: Tom Tancredo (steady) He did well at Ames coming in 4th, but he is alrwayd discussing re-election plans instead of presidential plans so you know his campaign is near the end.

10th: Duncan Hunter (falling) Getting ziltch amount of support at Ames and concentrating on his sons's campaign to succed him in congress. The closest Hunter will get to the White House is the tour.

Democrats

1st: Hillary Clinton (rising) Nothing in my mind tells me that Hillary won't get the nomination, easily. Her national lead is 20+ points and she has gained leads in Iowa and NH. With more steady campaigning Hillary should have this locked up and can begin campaigning in the general.

2nd: Barack Obama (falling) His polls continue to fall and support for him is disappearing every day. Obama gave it a good shot, but he really jsut can't best Hillary's momentum.

3rd: John Edwards (steady) Edwards may be the Democrats only hope at not nominating Hillary. With a win in Iowa he could get a strong finish in NH and possibly win SC giving him strength in the south. It doesn't look as if that will happen as his Iowa polls fall.

4th: Bill Richardson (steady) One of the worse performances a a forum I have evr seen he should have just skipped that Gay forum. Richardson's numbers still remain strong in Iowa and NH so we may actually see him pull something. Look for him to go for veep.

5th: Joe Biden (falling) Biden hasn't recieved any attention and won't for quite some time. Look for him to bow out early and run for re-election.

6th: Chris Dodd: (falling) Dodd remains too far behinfd to catch up. Dodd, Richardson, and Biden are the most experienced Democrats running and none are expected to come close.

7th: Dennis Kucinish (steady) Kucinich's campaign is running just as his 2004 campaign did. He will likely never break the 3% mark.

8th: Mike Gravel (steady) Gravel isn't going anywhere and seems to just be using his campaign so he can be heard.

Decision 2008: Fred Thompson to announce Thursday!

Former Tennessee U.S. Senator and Law and Order star, Fred Thompson declared today that he shall formally announce his canddiacy for president on Thursday Sept. 6th. Thompson had been speculated to run sincr April, however he took his time about entering. Thompson said his late entry would not effect his involvement in Iowa or NH or any of the early contests. Thompson comes in as the race for the GOP nomination becomes heated. Right now frontrunners Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney lead with John McCain struggling to catch up. Sen. Thompson's numbers have lagged in recent days, but he still should perform well. many wonder whther he will be able to catch Romney and Giuliani is fundraisiing since they have a 6 month head start on him. Thompson's late entry does hurt his chances since he is now at a month low in national polls.

Idaho U.S. Senator Larry Craig to step down.

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who has been embattled lately because of his scandal in an airport bathroom, will announce tomorrow he will resign as a U.S. Senator from Idaho. This comes after the Republican Party's push to force him out of office. Presidential Candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain, the RNC, Sen. Norm Coleman, and even the White House have asked for Craig's resignation. Now that Craig is out of office, Idaho moves out of the danger zone of turning Democratic and the seat up for election in 2008 should remain GOP. Several were worried that if Criag remained in office and was somehow remoninated by the Idaho GOP that this republican seat would go Democratic. However there is no doubt that the seat will remain in the GOP's corner. Possible replacements for Sen. Craig include: Lt. Governor Jim Risch, State Treasurer Ron Crane, U.S. Congressman Bill Sali and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. Former Congressman Larry LaRocco is currently running as a Democrat to succeed Craig. I support Craig's withdrawal from the senate, because of his denial of the Late Craig Thomas's Memorial Bill on National Parks. Thomas as I have previously stated was my senator and I knew that that bill meant alot to him. Craig is irresonsible and shouldn't of even been in any criminal circumstance as a U.S. Senator.

U4prez Candidate Rankings.

We are going to release our end of the month rankings next week on Friday August 31st but until then we are going to start U4prez rankings for the nominations on the site. In October the conventions for those nominations will begin and the 3 nominees will face each other for the win. I will start posting my rankings for the races.

Republicans
1st: Ike J. Friday "Friday" (rising) Just off his win of the undefeated Faustus37 in a runoff Friday has picked up speed and zoomed to the #1 highest ranked GOP on u4prez. He is also nearing the 4000 vote mark.

2nd: Anthony Del Pellegrino "Kempite" (steady) One of the most active members onu4prez. Since the start of his show he has picked up steam. he is one of the highest vote getters on u4prez with 8,000 votes. His raw score must be impressive.

3rd: Harold Hedrick "Hedrick" (rising) Hedrick stays in the top 3 in the Republicans among rankings and has recently neared the #1 spot only a view ratings away. He has really picked up steam and gained lost ground because of the other leading candidates early starts on u4prez.

4th: Mike Duminiak "Mduminiak" (steady) Being the U4prez GOP Leader does give him a shot and he has already won a monthly primary qualifying him for the convention.

5th: Tim Austin "Hawk" (falling) Hasn't been to active in u4prez lately but he has collected alot of votes. He is one of the longest candidates on u4prez. 2 primary wins still give him a ticket the the GOP convention.


Democrats

1st: Lane Startin "Faustus37" (rising) Finally suffering his 1st runoff loss to Friday, a week ago, but still going strong with an unprecendented 3rd monthly primary win. Faustus also has his experience by running for the U.S. House and currently running for Governor of Idaho in the real world.

2nd: Name unknown "Lucky-Num1" (rising) He has been the highest ranked Democrat on u4prez for nearly a month and just started his campaign a month ago and nearely beat Faustus in the Democratic monthly primary. He's moving quickly.

3rd: Katherine Siebert "kt2020" (steady) She was recently selected as the new Democratic U4prez Leader and is quite popular on blogtalkradio. Her work to clean up the u4prez dems has gotten her in the top 3 in the Democrats and many many votes.

4th: Corey P. Cronin "Corkey" (steady) He has been moving quickly in hte past month pn u4prez. He went from below the top 10 to currently the #2 Democrat and has passed the 2000 vote mark. If he gets into a runoff he may be trouble for the other leading candidates.

5th: Nikki Blenkinsopp "Nikkib" (steady) He has recived as many as 2700 votes and remains in the the top 5- top 10. He may have a shot.

Independents

1st: Cory Froelich "CoryF" (steady) Recieving nearly 3000 votes and leading the independents in rankings is impressive. This could be enough to win him the nomination but Icababe isn't far behind.

2nd: Barry Davidson "Icababe" (steady) He also ahs recievd nearly 3000 votes and has been in the top 4 rankings and even #1 numerous times. He has lead the race for sometime. It should be close between 3 members.

3rd: Randall Sobien "RSobien" (steady) He has come on strong recently so look for him to do quite well also. he has also remained in the Top 5.

4th: Name Unknown "TheWiz" (steady) The former interim Indyleader may have something to say on u4prez if his supporters really come and support him.

5th: Mike Weinheimer "Maditude (steady) Isn't in the top rankings but has what counts. A primary win under his belt.

Decision 2008: Former Sen. Sam Nunn to run for President?

Former Georgia U.S. Senator Sam Nunn admitted he had had discussion about a possibel independent presidential run in 2008. These discussions were held with New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg who is also considering an independent presidential run in 2008. Nunn declared that he wouldn't run for vice president and who only seek the presidency if he did run for office in 2008. Nunn adds to the list of possible huge independent presidential candidates with Mike Bloomberg and Chuck Hagel who have both yet to state their ambitions in 2008. Nunn served as Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman and was elected to the senate in 1972. He was stated as a possible contender for the

Clinton Cabinet and the Gore Cabinet as Secretary of Defense.

Politics-Central taking a break.

I'm taking a break this week because of work and other reasons, so I will reutrn Friday for the weekly power rankings.

Decision 2008: Political News

Well I just wanted to give a post about my U.S. House Seat contest which seems to be heating up to be one of the hottest races in Wyoming History. 2 days ago Businessman, and Teton County School Board Chairman, Gary Trauner, who ran unsuccessfully last year, is moving closer to running for the U.S. House. Trauner narrowly lost by just over 1,000 votes in 2006 to incumbent U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Cubin. Cubin had yet to state whether she will run but political pundits and potential challengers all say she will likely run for an 8th term in the U.S. House. Cubin's husband Fritz is in critical condition and Cubin has stayed at his side and missed sveral votes. I believe this should be left out of the campaign for Cuin's personnel matters. Cubin and Trauner will be close it is expected but will Cubin even get that far. State House Marjority Leader and Son of Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, Colin Simpson, who unsuccessfully sought for Craig Thomas's seat 3 months ago has said he will challenge Cubin next year in the primary and shall announce his intentions early next year. Simpson met with Cubin already to discuss 2008. He revealed he shall run and she will too in 2008. Also 2006 GOP candidate Bill Winney, a retired naval captain who recived nearly 40% against Cubin in the primary last year is also seen to be considering another run. We expect the 2 U.S. Senators up for election next year here in Wyoming, Mike Enzi and John Barrasso will glide to easy re-elections. All eyes should be on the House seat where long time incumbent Barbara Cubin may be in trouble.

Independent Debate Recap.

Well 15 minutes ago we ended our Independent Presidential Candidate Debate and in my opinion all 4 candidate debated well and are great candidates for the highest office in the land. Steve Adams, Bob Hargis, Jon Greenspon and Frank McEnulty debated the issues and seemd to agree mostly. They had similar views on Gay Marriage and all believed they were pro-Life. They also belive pulling out of Iraq is the way to go in the middle east and that we need to address Iran as a nuclear weapon country. We had 81 Live listeners not quite our goal but I think I shall keep the show going. The 81 dropped to 7 towards the end of the show but oh well. Thanks all to listening. Catch next week's show on u4prez debating next Saturday at 3 Eastern Time. Go to my site and listen to the archived shows:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/politics-central

Decision 2008: Can Huckabee win?

One of the quickly moving candidates in polls, Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has become the most seen likely darkhorse candidate. It is in my opinion Huckabee has a real shot at the Republican Nomination and the White House after Ames. His strength began a month ago when he started leading the other candidates in the 2nd tier in every poll. He started to tie Sen. McCain in polls and we declared him as the leader in deabtes among the 2nd tier. Then he amazed us all at Ames by spending only $90,000 and coming in 2nd. His message got out and he pulled an upset over his main rival Sen. Brownback. Expect polls to start swinging his way with his message you dont need all the money in the world to be president. He seems to be more down to Earth and connects more with voters like when he playe din his band at the straw polls. He connects far more with voters than the top tier. Voters like his appearence and thats what can get him elected. He can get the religous vote which seems not to be supporting the top tier. He is fighting for the social conservative vote and with his win over main rival Sam Brownback he could win theor vote as well. He has said he will surprise many in Iowa and NH. Gingrich says he is an "interesting darkhorse". He is the most likely darkhorse among the GOP. With a 3rd place finish in Iowa he could go far in NH, SC and Super Tuesday. I will conclude with keep your eyes on Huckabee he may surprise you. (Note: This isn't an endorsement)

Decision 2008: Presidential Power Rankings #33

Sorry about not posting our rankings, but with the Ames Straw Poll and Friday's show I was too busy. I may have to delay next week's rankings and posts, because I go back to work full-time next week.

Republicans

1st: Mitt Romney (steady) Ames Straw Poll win gives him the #1 spot, but when the actual polls come in and Mitt is behing Rudy liek we expect we shall postion him in 3rd. Mitt's straw poll win may be overhudged sine McCain and Rudy weren't in the poll.

2nd: Rudy Giuliani (steady) National polls still lean his way and polls in IA and NH are coming his way, but we still dont expect him to win the nomination.

3rd: Fred Thompson (steady) He wasn't even on the ballot and he got a strong finish at Ames. Southern polls give him strength and the only one that can stop him from sweeping it is Mike Huckabee.

4th: John McCain (steady) McCain still looks to be out of this race, but we still see him taking the nomination. No matter how bad it gets.

5th: Mike Huckabee (steady) Huckabee finished 2nd even after not spending too much money on Ames. This shows his strong support in Iwa and polls show him tied with McCain in Iowa so he may yet have something to say in this race.

Democrats

1st: Hillary Clinton (rising) Her polls keep going up and up and he expect her now to curise to the nomination. Her other challengers just dont have what it takes to beat her.

2nd: Barack Obama (falling) Obama is falling in polls and SC is now leaning for Hillary. I dont see a way that he can comeback and top Hillary.

3rd: John Edwards (falling) He should start considering vying for veep or in Hillary's cabinet the way his campaign is going.

4th: Bill Richardson (steady) The only Democrat whose polls aren't dropping. He seems to be vying for veep then trying for president.

5th: Joe Biden (steady) He denied that he would seek a position on a Democrat's cabinet and looks to be president. Like we have said he will not be in a cabinet and he will win another term in the senate.

Decision 2008: Tommy Thompson officially leaves presidential race and Karl Rove leaves Team Bush.

Yesterday a day after the Ames Straw Poll Former Heath and Human Services Secretary and Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson left the presidential race officially after a poor 6th place finish at Ames. He needs at least a 2nd place finish to stay in the race. Thompson declared Iowa a must-win state and polls showed him far behind. He visited every county and visited the state constantly. His polls didn't break 3% and his fundraising was even more poor. It appears there just wasn't enough room for 2 Thompsons in the race. Tommy Thompson stated he is returning to the private sector and hasn't endorsed any candidate as of now. Long time Bush team member who was there when it all started in 1994 is going to quit the Bush team and resign as Deputy Chief of Staff. Rove was stated to be "Bush's Brain" He hall be severly missed in President Bush's White House and among republicans. Rove left stating that if Hillary gets the nomination that his party shall hold on to the White House.

Politics-Central On Air's Independent Presidential Candidates Debate!

Yes you heard me. Our first actual presidential debate. This Saturday at 3:00 pm Eastern Time. Independents Steve Adams, Jon Greenspon, and Bob Hargis are expected to attend. The 3 shall debate the issues for 1 hour with our new debate format. Come and join us at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/politics-central and listen to the 3 go at it!

The Candidates:

(I)Steve Adams-Software Designer, Methodist Church Youth Volunteer, and 2008 Presidential Candidate

(I)Bob Hargis-Paramedic, Teacher, EMS Administrator and 2008 Presidential Candidate

(I)Jon Greenspon-U.S. Marine Corp. Enlised Member, Technology and General Business Member and 2008 Presidential Candidate

Decision 2008: Results from Ames, The Iowa Straw Poll

Yesterday 40,000 republicans gathered and 14,000 casted ballots in Iowa for who they support in the presidential race. Big surprises yesterday. I think the biggest was the low turn out. They expected twice as many votes as were casted. Well predictions came ture and Mitt Romney will his excellent organization in Iowa won the straw poll. He had spent millions on this poll and big contender no shows from Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain led to the poll going for Mitt. He won by what was expected and he isn't hurt by this poll. He isn't strengthened either, because he didn't win it big time. I see things staying the same in Iowa. What was surprising was Mike Huckabee coming in 2nd. He had been runnign a quiet campaign in Iowa and surprised most by beating Brownback for 2nd. This says he is in this race for the lon haul and could get in the top 3 in Iowa. Brownback came in 3rd and Tom Tancredo came in 4th. This really helps Tancredo who has been lagging in his campaign. Ron Paul's huge support from the internet got him 5th. Tommy Thompson who was hoping for 1st or 2nd gets 6th and is widely expected to withdraw soon. He said he would if he wasn't in the top two and 6th is far from that. We will miss you Tommy, but this race isn't big enough for 2 Thompsons. Fred Thompson came in 7th ahead of Rudy and Ducan Hunter who finished poorly got 8th. McCain did somewhat well for not competing. John Cox, whom we have interviewed finished with only 41 votes, but being a minor candidate we weren't expecting him to do any better. What does this straw poll mean? Well it proves who is organized in Iowa. Mitt is very organized. The straw poll winner has always gone on to win Iowa and 2 have won the nomination 1 winning the presidency. However 3 main candidates didm't compete so it is widley expected that the Iowa contest is still wide open. Huckabee proved his strength and Brownback said he has gotten a ticket to the caucuses. Hunter and Thompson are widely seen as the losers of the poll and it may cause both to end their presidential ambitions. It took 1 hour and a half to get results after what was assumed the time they would be given out because of machine malfunctions, hiwever we did finally get the results. It was an interesting day at Ames and now on to Iowa the caucuses.

Full Iowa Straw Poll Results

(R)Mitt Romney 4,516 31%

(R)Mike Huckabee 2,5867 18%

(R)Sam Brownback 2,192 15%

(R)Tom Tancredo 1,961 14%

(R)Ron Paul 1,305 9%

(R)Tommy Thompson 1,039 7%

(R)Fred Thompson 203 1%

(R)Rudy Giuliani 183 1%

(R)Duncan Hunter 174 1%

(R)John McCain 101 1%

(R)John Cox 41 .01%

Decision 2008: Sheehan runs and Ames Straw Poll

The former face of the anti-war movement and President Bush's harshest challenger of the Iraq War, Cindy Sheehan, has jumped in the race for California's U.S. House District #8 which is the district currently represented by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sheehan states her campaign is to say to the democratsto be more forceful with ending the U.S. involvement in Iraq. She hopes to impeach both Bush and Vice President Cheney once in office but the Bush administration will have only 17 days left if she is elected and sworn in. She hopes others will use her campaign to begn proceedings. She moved to this by stating is Speaker Pelosi didn't begin impeaching President Bush she would challenge her in 2008. She fully expects to defeat Pelosi even though Pelosi is always re-elected by 60 point margins. We expect her to run a good campaign but Pelost should easily win another term. Today is the eve of the Ames Straw poll and a Universirty of Iowa Poll shows: Romney 27% Rudy Giuliani 11% Fred Thompson 7% and the rest failing to get more than 4%. We may possible see the candidate field narrow by 2 tomorrow. Former Wisconsin Governor and HHS Secretary Tommt Thompson says if he doesn't win or get 2nd place tomorrow he will withdraw. Former Arkansas Govenor Mike Huckabee said if he doesn't get at least 3rd and according to these polls isn't likely he will drop out. I predict Mitt Romney to easily win the straw poll and the rest to rail far behind. If someone can upset Romney they will instantly surge to 1st tier status, but a comet hitting NYC has a better chance of happening. Thats is for today but listen to our show with Steve Adams at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/politics-central

Election Day Countdown

Polls close and the winner of the u4prez debate is..

You the listeners of my u4prez presidential debate voted and chose Harold Hedrick in a landslide over the other u4prez participants. Keep voting in our polls and we will put a new one out soon.

U4prez Debate
(R)Harold Hedrick 79%
(R)Mike Duminiak 10%
(R)Anthony Del Pellegrino 6%
(D)Corey P. Cronin 3%

Pellegrino and Duminiak have both started shows as well so listen to them on blogtalkradio. They are called Into the Breach and Kempite Country.

Politics-Central On Air Schedule

He is our show schedule for the Month of August:

Friday August 10th, 2007 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time: Interview with Presidential candidate Steve Adams and political discussion afterwards.

Saturday August 18th, 2007 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time: Independent Presidential Candidates sponsored by this site Politics-Central. Steve Adams and Jon Greenspon are confirmed and Ray McKinney and Bob Hargis are also invited.

Saturday August 25th, 2007 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time: U4prez Presidential Candidates Debate #2: 5-4 u4prez candidates go at it again.

Saturday September 1st, 2007 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time: Politics1.com Show,
A show devoted to Politics1.com bloggers and political debate.

Stay tuned for more shows. Season 1 of Politics-Central On Air has begun are you ready to listen? Go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/politics-central to listen to our July Shows.

Decision 2008: Presidential Power Rankings Week #32

Hey sorry about the week long hiatus, but I was out of town here are your late power rankings. Also I cannot separate those rankings because of blogger's program.

Republicans

1st: Rudy Giuliani (rising) Recent polls have him ahead of Mitt Romney in key states and he remains ahead nationally. Most however still expects Rudy to fall apart soon possible after Ames?

2nd: Mitt Romney (falling) Mitt is losing ground in Iowa and NH. If he loses them he will have no hope left. Ames should help pick up his campaign.

3rd: Fred Thompson (rising) He know picks up Georgia and Alabama and holds on to Texas. His support in the south is strong and that may carry this once unknown to the nomination.

4th: John McCain (steady) Funds starting to slowly come back and polls remaining in the double digits. Is there still time for McCain to come back? We see it happening as Mitt and Rudy fall.

5th: Newt Ginigrch (rising) Gingrich seems to be moving closer to jumping into the race. No one candidate has clinched the nomination and he still has time to catch up in polls and fundraising.

Democrats

1st: Hillary Clinton (rising) Her lead nationally has nearly doubled in recent weeks and polls in Iowa and South Carolina are coming her way. Hillary may clinch the nomination sooner than expected.

2nd: Barack Obama (falling) Appears to be seem more as Hillary's running mate than a presidential candidate. His funds and crowd drawing skills aren't working and his polls continue to drop.

Tie 3rd: John Edwards (falling) Edwards's must win Iowa is starting to head Hillary's way. A new polls show him tied for 2nd. Without Iowa Edwards is toast.

Tie 3rd: Bill Richardson (rising) Support in early states has reached double digits and his national polls are rising too. He seems to be creeping into the top tier.

5th: Joe Biden (steady) Biden still hasn't cracked the code like Richardson. Look for him to quit early and run for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2008.