Another victory for the Tea Party Express
(CNN) - One of the winners in Tuesday's primaries in Utah wasn't on the ballot, and isn't even based in the state.
Republican candidate for the Senate Mike Lee was victorious in the battle for his party's nomination, but his win can also be seen as another primary victory for the Tea Party Express, a national Tea Party organization based in California.
The group, best known for its three high profile national bus tours, endorsed Lee and launched a radio campaign and a get out the vote effort to assist the candidate.
"We are so excited to see another tea party candidate win a critical election, and the voters in Utah will be well-served with Mike Lee in the U.S. Senate," said Tea Party Express Political Director Bryan Shroyer, in a statement.
Albright memoir to be published in 2012
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/23/art.albright6.gi.jpg caption ="Madeleine Albright will write a memoir to be released in 2012, publishing house HarperCollins announced Wednesday."](CNN) - Publisher HarperCollins announced Wednesday that it will publish former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's new book, "While I Was Growing Up," in 2012.
According to a press release, the book will be "part memoir and part cautionary tale," and is "a dramatic guide to the future through the lessons of the past, as seen through the eyes of one of the international community's most respected and fascinating figures."
Albright has written four books since leaving office in 2001. She was the first woman appointed to be the nation's top diplomat.
Tea Party backed candidate closer to US Senate
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/23/art.mikelee.0619r.mikelee.jpg caption ="Mike Lee (far left) captured the GOP Senate nomination in Utah Tuesday night."](CNN) - A Tea Party backed candidate in Utah is a major step closer Wednesday morning to joining the U.S. Senate.
Mike Lee, a 38 year old attorney, captured the GOP Senate nomination in Utah Tuesday, edging out fellow conservative Tim Bridgewater, in a battle to succeed another Republican, Sen. Bob Bennett.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Lee beat Bridgewater 51 percent to 49 percent, according to a vote count by Associated Press.
"We had an army of hard-fighting, hard-campaigning volunteers and they just refused to quit because they believed in our message," said Lee late Tuesday night, according to local reports.
Sanfords together again–briefly
(CNN) - Nikki Haley's victory in South Carolina Tuesday did more than make her the Republican nominee for governor, it brought one of the political world's most famous ex-couples back together again – briefly.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and ex-wife Jenny, the subject of ongoing media attention for a year, embraced and kissed at Haley's victory party Tuesday night. Both are supporters of the state lawmaker who handily beat Rep. Gresham Barrett in a runoff for the party's gubernatorial nomination.
But the total running time of affection was a mere two seconds before Jenny Sanford moved on to address another individual in the room.
It was exactly a year ago that Sanford went missing and his office infamously told members of the media the governor was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. It was discovered days later the Republican governor was actually in Argentina visiting a mistress. After a long separation, the two were divorced in February.
Haley to supporters: 'We're not there yet'
Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Nikki Haley - a 38-year old Indian-American state legislator who could become South Carolina's first female governor - captured the Republican nomination in dominant fashion Tuesday, dispatching her opponent, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, by a more than 30-point margin.
"This is a great night for the Republican Party, which is getting behind the people who have said we want a conservative government and government that is accountable to the people," Haley told supporters at her victory rally in Columbia. "South Carolina just showed the rest of the country what we're made of."
But she added: "Don't get too excited; we're not there yet."
Barrett, who captured 35 percent of the vote to Haley's 65 percent, conceded that Tuesday's result was mostly a foregone conclusion.
"It might not have been a close race," Barrett said. "But it was a good race for South Carolina. It was an honest conversation about the future of this state and the conservative reforms we need for this generation and the next to prosper."
Haley's general election opponent will be state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, arguably the most formidable statewide candidate Democrats have fielded in a decade.
Full story
Pentagon asked for list of possible replacements for McChrystal
(CNN) - Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, will meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates Wednesday morning at the Pentagon before meeting with President Barack Obama, Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
After meeting with Gates, McChrystal will meet with Obama in the Oval Office, Vietor said.
Then they will join a larger group of senior administration aides in a meeting about Afghanistan and Pakistan that is scheduled to begin at 11:35 a.m. ET.
The general's job is in jeopardy over disparaging comments from his staff about President Barack Obama's national security team.
The White House has asked the Pentagon to make list of possible replacements for Gen. Stanley McChrystal because President Barack Obama wants to be ready if he decides to fire the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, a senior administration official told CNN Wednesday.
Senate clears backlogged Obama nominations but delays key vote
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/23/art.capitoldome.file4.gi.jpg caption ="The Senate cleared dozens of backlogged Obama administration nominations Tuesday."]Washington (CNN) - The Senate cleared dozens of backlogged Obama administration nominations Tuesday, including two appointments for the National Labor Relations Board that will allow it to operate with full membership for the first time in two and a half years.
Senators approved unanimously the appointment of Democrat Mark Pearce and Republican Brian Hayes to fill out the five-member board, which mediates labor-management disputes. Just last week, the Supreme Court ruled the NLRB acted without authority in more than 500 cases because it had just two members.
Action on the nominations came only after Democrats agreed to put off a vote on another NLRB member, Craig Becker, to a full five-year term on the board.
Becker, who Republicans adamantly oppose because of his long ties to labor unions, is currently serving temporarily on the board after getting a recess appointment from President Obama this spring. A recess appointment allows Becker to serve without Senate confirmation but his term will expire at the end of this congressional session in early 2011.
South Carolina drama tops four runoffs on Tuesday
(CNN) - Voters in four states headed to the polls Tuesday, and in one of those states history was made:
South Carolina
South Carolina Republicans made state Rep. Nikki Haley their first female gubernatorial nominee, handing her an easy victory in her primary runoff race against U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett.
Haley just missed out on winning the nomination outright in the June 8 primary, capturing 49 percent of the vote in a four-candidate field. She was short of the 50 percent-plus-one needed to take the nomination.
Once facing long odds for the GOP nomination, Haley rose in the polls thanks in part to endorsements by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Results out of North Carolina, Mississippi and Utah, after the jump:
Full story
CNN/Opinion Research Poll – June 16 – Recession, Mood of Nation
TOPICS: Economic conditions, mood of country
POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world.
WASHINGTON/POLITICAL
For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com
CNN: South Carolina drama tops four runoffs on Tuesday
South Carolina Republicans made state Rep. Nikki Haley their first female gubernatorial nominee, handing her an easy victory in her primary runoff race against U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett. Haley just missed out on winning the nomination outright in the June 8 primary, capturing 49 percent of the vote in a four-candidate field. She was short of the 50 percent-plus-one needed to take the nomination. Once facing long odds for the GOP nomination, Haley rose in the polls thanks in part to endorsements by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
The Hill: Son of one-time segregationist loses to black Republican in S.C.
Republican Tim Scott earned a landslide victory against challenger Paul Thurmond in the Republican runoff in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District. There was no question that Scott was the candidate of the party's D.C. establishment in South Carolina's 1st congressional district.
CQ Politics: Lee Wins Utah GOP Nomination
Attorney Mike Lee won Utah's GOP Senate nomination Tuesday night and all but assured he'll be headed to Congress next year to represent his overwhelmingly Republican state. Lee's victory comes as the second rebuke of Sen. Bob Bennett (R) by state Republicans in two months. Bennett, whose willingness to occasionally partner with Democrats in the Senate made him a top target of tea party groups and conservative activists this cycle, was kept from the primary by finishing in third place at the GOP nominating convention on May 8.
CNN: Key Senate Democrat calls for McChrystal to resign
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, became the first member of the Senate Democratic leadership on Tuesday to suggest that Gen. Stanley McChrystal should resign. Asked by CNN in a Capitol Hill hallway if McChrystal's comments in Rolling Stone magazine warrant resignation, Dorgan replied that if McChrystal "said what it was reported that he said, the answer is yes." Dorgan, who chairs the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, was visibly annoyed by McChrystal's comments, as were many of his colleagues.
St. Petersburg Times: Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene trade barbs in Democratic U.S. Senate debate
You know a campaign is getting down and dirty when one candidate tells his opponent to quit insulting his mother. "How dare you attack the character of my mother," demanded Kendrick Meek of rival Jeff Greene on Tuesday, in the first debate between the major Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate.”How dare you, Jeff Greene." Greene didn't apologize for attacking the Miami congressman for seeking earmarked federal funds from a developer who had hired Meek's mother, former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek. Kendrick Meek denies any wrongdoing and says he didn't know developer Dennis Stackhouse — now facing fraud charges — had given his mother $90,000 and a Cadillac Escalade for consulting work.
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