• Ruffini Notes the Importance of OH-02 in 2005, and Therefore 2008
• Michigan’s on the Brink, But Indiana’s in the Pink (a bit of a distillation of this previous BizzyBlog post)

Gee, I saw it in Republican State Central Committeeman John Becker’s report on Tuesday, and didn’t think it was a big deal.

Bill Sloat was the first blogger on the news, followed by Matt at Weapons of Mass Discussion and Dave at Wide Open.

First, to dispel the inevitable: I haven’t endorsed any Republican in the Second Congressional District. At this point I don’t intend to, but I reserve the right to change my mind. I will only say that anyone who wants to take the seat away from incumbent Jean Schmidt should have to tell us why their performance will be better than hers, not just that he or she happens not to be her. None of this should surprise anyone.

Now to the Anthony Muñoz situation. Matt, Dave, and, in his follow-up post, Bill Sloat, are all calling the Pro Football Hall of Famer’s October 16 appearance as a guest speaker at “the fundraiser at the home of Bob and Marilyn Rhein” (from Becker’s post) an “endorsement.”

It is not. Obviously, it’s a show of support. Muñoz may endorse Heimlich, but he hasn’t yet, and based on past history, there’s at least some reason to believe he won’t.

“Showing support” vs. “endorsing” is more than a distinction without a difference. In January and February of 2006, during Bob McEwen’s second attempt to defeat Schmidt, Muñoz’s endorsement of McEwen from the Spring 2005 Special Election primary stayed on McEwen’s campaign web site for several weeks after he announced his candidacy. Muñoz’s name was at some point taken down, along with the names of several others who had endorsed McEwen in 2005, but were not doing so in 2006. One of those other names was that of right-to-life legend John Willkie, who endorsed Schmidt.

In March, during preparation for an unsuccessful election law complaint against McEwen relating to endorsements and other matters, I spoke with Muñoz’s personal secretary, who, apparently after speaking with Muñoz, specifically told me that he would not be endorsing anyone in the primary. Muñoz did indeed “show support” for McEwen by appearing at a campaign fundraiser that also featured jack Kemp. But he never formally endorsed McEwen, and his name never reappeared on McEwen’s Endorsements page, which still exists, during the 2006 campaign.

Given what came out about Mr. McEwen during the final few weeks of the 2006 primary campaign, I suspect that Mr. Muñoz is more than a little relieved that he did not formally endorse him. That lack of a formal endorsement saved Muñoz, who is heavily involved in the community with character-building and other noble programs, quite a bit of embarrassment and backtracking.

Now, to Heimlich. His web site does not have an endorsements page. It does have an announcement of the October 16 event, which begins as follows:

NFL Hall-of-Famer Anthony Munoz will be the featured speaker at a fundraiser to support Phil Heimlich’s campaign for Congress on October 16.

The fundraiser is to support Heimlich; the speaker, as of this moment, hasn’t endorsed him.

That said, there are solid reasons, including Heimlich’s involvement in some of the same character-related programs as Muñoz, and Heimlich’s probable lack of McEwenesque overstuffed baggage, to believe that a formal endorsement by Muñoz is coming. If it does, it will shake up the race. Until then, I remain true to my patron saint’s nickname.

How now Dow 14 thou? The Dow is up over 1000 points since August 16, and is one very good day away from hitting 14000. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 are also very close to their mid-July levels.

Part of the seeming disconnect between the markets and the supposedly “mediocre” economy is that while home sales are declining, home prices are not.

I said, “Home prices are not.” This is the best avaliable evidence of that. The changing regional mix of home sales towards the less-expensive South, noted here a few months ago, remains the reason why the fall in the nationwide median sale price figure released monthly by the Commerce Department is misleading. The markets know that, even if the press can’t or won’t figure it out. I think the current upbeat situation in the markets has little to do with hopes for another Fed rate cut, which I don’t see happening. I believe another rate cut should not take place, because it might stoke inflation.

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Was this ever overdue:

The Bush administration took the gloves off Monday in its fight over immigration enforcement, suing the state of Illinois for banning use of a federal system that checks whether workers are in the United States legally.

The same people who are always screaming that “it’s a federal matter” when it comes to enforcing immigration laws told employers they can’t use the federal employment-verification system. Whether this is a look-good stunt by the administration or the beginning of a consistent effort remains to be seen.

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Like Mike Gallagher said — “What a jerk”:

Filling in for Tucker Carlson, the bow-tied conservative, Shuster’s invited guest was a Republican Congresswoman from Tennessee, Rep. Marsha Blackburn. The announced topic was the ongoing outrage over the Moveon.Org ad in the New York Times that referred to General Petraeus as a traitor.

Shuster, a political reporter (not a talk show host) was evidently agitated by Rep. Blackburn’s measured and responsible condemnation of the vicious ad. In the middle of the interview, he suddenly decided to go for the jugular and attack her by using a brave, dead soldier as his weapon. “You represent a district in western Tennessee”, Shuster snarled. “What was the name of the last soldier from your district who was killed in Iraq?”

….. Shuster knew the congresswoman likely wouldn’t know that name when he triumphantly crowed, “Ok, his name was Jeremy Bohannon. He was killed August the ninth, 2007. How come you didn’t know the name?” he demanded.

The only problem is that David Shuster didn’t know the name, either. It turns out he was flat wrong. Army Private Bohannon didn’t live in Rep. Blackburn’s district, he lived in a neighboring district represented by John Tanner, a Democrat.

….. It must be have been pretty painful for Shuster when he sheepishly appeared on a subsequent MSNBC show to make a public apology for his asinine behavior.

….. I was told that prior to his public apology, Shuster went on a liberal talk radio show and he and the host were chortling and guffawing together over the “gotcha” interview he conducted with Rep. Blackburn. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

I’ll bet David Shuster isn’t giggling now.

I’ll bet the only thing he’s really sorry about is that he picked the wrong soldier.

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The idea that the New York Times may be in Sarbanes Oxley trouble because of the MoveOn ad fiasco is not far-fetched. The ability of a “favored” customer to get a discount that should not have been available is an indication that internal control systems aren’t working properly, and could indicate that there is a “material weakness” as SarBox defines it that should have been reported to shareholders. MoveOn’s subsequent sheepish reimbursement of the difference, only after the Times’s public editor showed that the discount was, according to an employee who should know, “contrary to our policies,” does nothing to change that. Thomas Lifson at American Thinker has much more. The company’s auditors are surely taking notes.

All of this makes the Times’s ongoing and avid editorial support of keeping SarBox as it is, including here last year, all the more ironic. It also makes NYT’s free-falling share price (Thursday’s close: $19.25, down over 12% since shortly before it placed MoveOn’s Petraeus/Betray Us ad) more understandable, even beyond the company’s already-lousy business fundamentals.

From Tampa, Florida (video is at link):

September 21, 2007

14-year-old Michael Evans gets a chance to meet the nurses who helped save his life. Last year, he and a friend were running away from some neighborhood bullies. As they hid behind a palmetto bush, Michael realized they ran into something even more dangerous, four rattlesnakes similar to this one, “I didn’t feel them bite me but I felt my mouth starting to jump. And I had to spit and I told Dustin to get on my back because I was afraid he was going to get bit.”

There are photos of when Michael was first taken to the hospital. His blisters looked like balloons. But yet he couldn’t feel a thing, “I kept asking will I die, will I die over and over again.” …..

Go here for the rest of the story.