Profile Facts

Sunday, October 24

Krystal Ball the Left's Answer to Sarah Palin

Christine O'Donnell may have been, for a brief shining moment, the poster candidate of youthful overexposure, what Slate's Jessica Grose called the "first new media candidate" who presaged "a media universe in which old, dumb Facebook posts and unearthed tweets become a consistent source of fodder for journalists." But we didn't have to wait very long for that next phase. In case you're not the sort of reader who clicks on links headlined "At Least One Candidate for Congress Has Fellated a Reindeer Nose": Krystal Ball is a 28-year-old Virginia Democrat running for Congress in a very Republican district. She found herself suddenly in the national spotlight when a right-wing blog published six- or seven-year-old photos of Ball dressed as sexy Santa, performing the aforementioned act on a dildo affixed to her antler-wearing then-husband's nose.

National sites like Gawker racked up hundreds of thousands of pageviews by republishing the photos. That, combined with her seriously? name quickly made Ball a punch line. But instead of backing away red-faced, Ball took umbrage: She fired back with a statement that was not only unapologetic but defiant. Soon it morphed into a manifesto of Facebook-generation feminism: "Society has to accept that women of my generation have sexual lives that are going to leak into the public sphere. Sooner or later, this is a reality that has to be faced, or many young women in my generation will not be able to run for office." As for the photos, she finds them "tremendously embarrassing, but mostly because I'm shy, not because I think that what I did was wrong." Millennial women writing on Jezebel, Broadsheet, Lemondrop, and the Frisky were indeed enthused. One 26-year-old I know went so far as to breathlessly compare the statement to Obama's 2008 speech on race. But what's most interesting about Ball is something that might not endear her to the left. She admires Sarah Palin—maybe not her policy views, but her nervy willingness to run as a mother of young children, and her unapologetic folksiness. And in a way, she has modeled herself after Palin. In her wholehearted embrace of femininity, her sense of entitlement, her bold jump to the front of the line, Ball may be the left's answer to Sarah Palin.

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(source:slate.com)

Krystal Ball: Criticism Over Photos Reflects Sexist Double Standard

Virginia Democratic Congressional candidate Krystal Ball said in an interview on Fox News today that an uproar over embarrassing photos of her reflects a sexist double standard, and pointed to the experience of Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown to prove her point.

Ball told Fox News (video at left) that "the tactic of painting successful women as whores -- and I also can't believe I'm using this word on your program -- that's nothing new."

"Ask Sarah Palin, ask Meg Whitman, ask Nikki Haley, Christine O'Donnell," she said. "Lots of women face this same thing. And so I decided, although I wanted to just sort of hide in a corner and cry, that I couldn't let these tactics succeed."

Ball, who is 28, made headlines when six year old photos of her at a Christmas party surfaced online. In the photos, Ball's then-husband is wearing a Rudolph costume that includes a red dildo for a nose. Ball is seen horsing around with the object and is also shown holding her husband by a leash.

Asked if there was a double standard in response to the photos, Bell referenced Republican Scott Brown, who appeared naked in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1982.

Critical Contests: Interactive Map with CBS News' Election 2010 Race Ratings

"He had pictures from the same age as those pictures were taken of me, only he was completely naked, in the centerfold of a national magazine, and it was not even a bump in his campaign; in fact he has said that it helped him a little bit in his campaign," she said.

While she is "not holding anything against Senator Scott Brown," she added, "those sorts of things to me are not relevant to the campaign trail. And I do think there's a double standard."

Ball also took to the Huffington Post to make her case.

"I don't believe these pictures were posted with a desire to just embarrass me; they wanted me to feel like a whore," she wrote. "They wanted me to collapse in a ball of embarrassment and to hang my head in shame. After all, when you are a woman named Krystal Ball, 28 years old, running for Congress, well, you get the picture. Stripper. Porn star. I've heard them all."

She added: "On the day the photos were posted, I thought of Hillary Clinton. How she came out the next day after her private life was public and held her head high. Many advisors told me I was finished, that this was not what people wanted from their member of Congress. I decided that I had to fight. I had to come out publicly and raise my voice on this issue, even though I risked becoming some joke candidate named Krystal Ball. I also risked drawing more attention to the photos, which I still find tremendously embarrassing, but mostly because I'm shy, not because I think that what I did was wrong."

(source:cbsnews.com)

vote for Krystal Ball,Vote wisely

Vote wisely; vote for Krystal Ball

Do you believe in social and economic justice? Vote for the Democratic candidate, Krystal Ball.

Do you believe in "me first" and "no" for the things that matter for the health of the country? If so, vote for the Republican candidate. Do you believe in the U.S. Constitutions of 1787, 1803, 1820, 1860, 1917, 1931, 1920, 1945, 1965, 1981, and 2010? Vote for Krystal.

The ongoing debate of Madison versus Hamilton over the adoption of the 1787 Constitution was won by Alexander Hamilton at the close of the Civil War in 1864, and passage of the 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The 9th and 10th Amendments are dead in our country's constitutional life.

Whatever you believe, vote wisely on Nov. 2. Our country's future depends on it. My family and I will be voting for Krystal. We believe in the United States of America.

(source:fredericksburg.com)

Republicans have lead in campaign money

New campaign finance reports show that Democratic candidate Krystal Ball went into the last days of the campaign with about $40,000 in her campaign account.

Her opponent in the 1st District congressional campaign, Republican incumbent Rob Wittman, had $493,912, a huge cash advantage.

Ball also loaned her campaign another $35,000 of her own money, bringing the total she has loaned herself to more than $260,000. About $36,000 of that has been paid back to her, according to the reports.

Ball brought in $22,087 in donations between Oct. 1 and Oct. 13, according to the pre-general-election report filed yesterday. She also reported a $2,400 contribution and a $2,000 contribution after the reporting period closed. Candidates are required to report large contributions separately this close to the election.

Wittman received $61,290 in contributions during the same time period--$38,790 from individuals and $22,500 from PACs. Ball has said she won't take money from PACs.

Wittman also reported about $7,300 in large contributions after the reporting period closed.

Wittman spent $103,753, a bit more than Ball's $93,173. For both candidates, the biggest chunk of spending was for campaign mailers, political consulting and staff salaries. Ball also pays at least some portion of staff housing.

Since the campaign started, Ball has raised $695,495 in contributions and spent $861,839 trying to win the seat, not counting the loans or loan repayment.

Wittman has received $1.2 million in donations and spent $821,734 during the campaign.

The 1st District runs from Fauquier County down through the Northern Neck to Yorktown.

In the 7th District, Republican incumbent Eric Cantor--who is also the House minority whip--has received about $4.8 million throughout the campaign, with about half of that coming from individuals and half from political committees.

He has spent about $4.3 million, partly by donating money to other candidates, both in Virginia and around the country.

Cantor's Democratic opponent, Rick Waugh, has raised $85,112 in this campaign and spent most of it--he ended the Oct. 13 report with just $2,168 cash on hand.

Independent Floyd Bayne has raised $14,297 and ended the reporting period with $6,805 cash on hand.

The election is Nov. 2.

Chelyen Davis: 540/368-5028

Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com

(source:fredericksburg.com)

Krystal Ball 1st District:

Richmond, Va. --Every marriage has its challenges. Couples must struggle with life decisions such as where to live, how to balance family and career, how to divide the household responsibilities. But if trust and love are lost in a marriage, none of these issues matters much, nor will they be resolved in a positive way if husband and wife come to see themselves as adversaries rather than life partners.

In our country now, we face a similar situation. We have many large challenges -- how to balance economic stimulus with deficit reduction, how to provide a quality education to every child, how to move toward true energy independence -- but none of these problems will be resolved until we learn to see each other as colleagues and partners, rather than enemies.

I spoke with a pastor of 35 years last week who told me that in his lifetime, he had never seen the country so divided. Over the past two years we have seen some of the worst in partisan politics: A member of Congress screaming "You lie!" at the president, fistfights breaking out at debates, a gubernatorial candidate's campaign calling his opponent a whore.

I don't know if this division started with our political leaders or with the people, but I am confident we will not begin to heal until our leaders set the tone for the country. We must treat one another with respect, make serious efforts to work together to solve our nation's problems, and look upon one another as colleagues rather than enemies.

There's nothing wrong with debate and disagreement, but we've allowed it to become personal. At a house party last week I was asked, "Where are the statesmen?" We used to be able to lock horns on the floor of the House, but it wasn't personal. Now there is no socializing between the parties, no respect, no trust, and certainly no love.

How do we fix this problem, which I truly believe stands between us and addressing the many challenges facing our nation? This is a question that I struggle with every day. There are no easy answers. I believe, though, that we can see change with a new mindset, new representatives, and new leadership. We need a new mindset among our people and among our leaders. We need a commitment to healing, to cooperation, to respect, and basic decency. At the end of the day we need our leaders to ask themselves whether they did what was best for their constituents and for their country rather than whether they scored political points and advanced the interests of their political party.

Unfortunately, I have little confidence that we will achieve such a change in mindset with our current Congress. I have no interest in vilifying politicians, most of whom I truly believe went to serve with the best of intentions, but they have been seduced by the bickering, the political point-scoring, and the extreme partisan division.

Einstein said: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." We're not going to change the status quo by sending the same people back to Congress.

For similar reasons, I believe we need a change in leadership. While I believe Nancy Pelosi has been a strong and effective manager, she has become such a lightning rod for division and partisan rancor that it is hard for me to see how we begin to heal without a new speaker of the House. This is painful for me to say because Nancy Pelosi is a woman I admire greatly as a model of strength and courage and an example of the heights that determined women can reach.

I find it unlikely, however, that we can build trust and good will without a change in leadership. Republican John Boehner seems unlikely to be an improvement, as he, too, has become a symbol of extreme partisan division. We need a new face of cooperation to lead us forward.

The first step to healing begins with a look in the mirror. Every one of us has to find ways to love those on the other side of the political divide and work to elect leaders interested in doing the same. I have taken my own look in the mirror and not always liked what I've seen. Campaigns are stressful and designed to divide rather than unite. I am trying to do better, though, and am committed, whether as a member of Congress or a concerned citizen, to do what I can to build love and trust rather than hate and suspicion.

'Money flows into Nevada's tight Senate race

Senate race in Nevada, which late polling suggests is a dead heat, has become a central battlefield in the midterm elections with backers of both parties pouring money into last-minute barrages of television attack ads.

Pro-Republican organizations like American Crossroads -- which counts Republican consultant Karl Rove as one of its founders -- have been investing in TV ads criticizing Nevada's Democratic incumbent, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Crossroads' latest spot on October 17 alleged.........

Palin plugs Florida Republicans - and her TV show

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin rallied Republican candidates in Florida on Saturday by pillorying President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms and economic policies -- and she also used her speech to plug her new TV reality show "Sarah Palin's Alaska."

At a Republican rally in Orlando, Florida, the Tea Party favorite and former vice presidential candidate invoked former Republican............

Washington plays out in Nevada politics

There is a canyon of difference between Harry Reid and Sharron Angle, on just about every issue in their rancorous Nevada Senate race.

But beyond those differences, beyond even their standing as Washington insider and "tea party" outsider, there is a more fundamental gap between the two, which speaks to one of the enduring features of life and politics in the West.

One candidate sees government as a helpmate, the other as a hindrance.

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One says Nevada, so reliant on Washington.............

Read more: Washington plays out in Nevada politics