By ASHRAF KHAN, Associated Press Writer Ashraf Khan, Associated Press Writer

KARACHI, Pakistan – A tropical storm lashed Pakistan’s coast with torrential rains and heavy winds Sunday, damaging mud houses and submerging roads in the country’s largest city. Seven people were electrocuted in floodwaters, officials said.

Authorities feared worse flooding was to come in and around Karachi and tried to evacuate people from their homes elsewhere along the country’s southern coastline. Some villagers refused to move, but several thousand people shifted to higher ground, said Hamal Kalmati, a government minister in Baluchistan province.

He said many mud houses in Gawadar and Pasni districts had already collapsed.

The storm made landfall late Sunday to the east of Karachi, bringing winds as high as 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour. The meteorological department said ocean storm surges of between 2 and 4 meters were likely in Karachi and other coastal towns.

The storm was forecast to lose strength as it moved inland. Originally of cyclone strength, Tropical Storm Phet hit Oman on Friday, killing at least two people and causing widespread flooding.

In Karachi, hours of rain left roads under more than one foot (30 centimeters) of water. Electricity was cut in many districts in the mostly low-lying city of 18 million people.

Many parts of Karachi and other towns along Pakistan’s coast are desperately poor. Roads, bridges, houses and drainage systems are already in bad condition, making them vulnerable to high winds, heavy rain and rough seas.

The heavy rains were welcomed by some residents in Karachi, which is baking in the summer heat.

“Let the storm come. We are not afraid,” said Saeed Ali, a 17-year student who was playing cricket on a normally busy street. “We rarely get rain in summer. This is a golden moment.”

By FRANK BAJAK and FRAN

KLIN BRICENO, Associated Press Writers

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS and DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writers

–ISTANBUL – An aid ship trying to break the blockade of Gaza could reach Israel’s 20-mile (32-kilometer) exclusion zone late Friday, an activist said, but Israel’s prime minister has vowed the ship will not reach land.

The dueling comments suggest a potential new clash over Israel’s three-year-old blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip — and come only four days after an Israeli commando raid on a larger aid flotilla left nine activists dead.

Greta Berlin, a spokesman for the Free Gaza group, said in Nicosia the 1,200-ton Rachel Corrie is heading directly to Gaza and will not stop in any port on the way. It is trying to deliver hundreds of tons of aid, including wheelchairs, medical supplies and concrete.

By Friday afternoon, the ship was 150 miles (240 kilometers) from the coast of Gaza in international waters, the group said on its website. Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead McGuire and the former head of the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, Denis Halliday, were among the 11 passengers on board.

The Irish vessel is named after an American college student crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while protesting house demolitions in Gaza.

Israel will not allow the aid ship to reach Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told senior Cabinet ministers late Thursday. According to a participant in the meeting, he said Israel made several offers to direct the ship to an Israeli port, where the aid supplies would be unloaded, inspected and transferred to Gaza by land, but the offers were rejected.

Netanyahu has hotly rejected calls to lift the blockade on Gaza, insisting that it prevents missile attacks on Israel. The Rachel Corrie’s cargo of concrete is also a problem, because Israel considers that to have military uses.

Netanyahu has instructed the military to act with sensitivity in preventing the Rachel Corrie from landing and avoid harming those on board, the participant said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Israel has rejected demands for an international panel to probe Monday’s deadly commando raid on the aid ships, saying it can conduct a professional, impartial investigation on its own.

Activists say Israel sabotaged the previous aid flotilla, and Israeli defense officials said Friday only that unspecified “actions” were taken when the boats were still far from Gaza that delayed the flotilla. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was classified.

The Turkish activists’ deaths on the aid ship increased tensions in the Mideast, especially with Turkey, an important ally of Israel. On Thursday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel’s actions “a historic mistake.”

His deputy on Friday announced that Turkey was reducing its economic and defense cooperation with Israel. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said all deals with Israel are being evaluated.

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Determined to project both command and compassion, President Barack Obama is returning to the Louisiana coast for a fresh reality check on work to stanch the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico and the spiraling effects of the nation’s worst environmental disaster. The president underscored the mounting political implications by abruptly canceling plans for a trip to Indonesia and Australia later this month.

Addressing a crisis that threatens to undermine his presidency, Obama spoke for many Thursday in declaring himself furious at a situation that “is imperiling an entire way of life and an entire region for potentially years.” Friday’s trip will be his second to the Gulf in eight days, answering critics in both parties who suggest he has seemed detached from the crisis.

Polls show the public growing more negative toward the president’s handling of the spill.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs announced late Thursday that Obama was scrapping his foreign trip — which already had been postponed — “to deal with important issues, one of which is the oil spill.”

Speculation the president would need to rethink the trip, set to begin June 13, mounted as the administration came under increasing scrutiny for its handling of the Gulf spill. The trip was first put off while Obama was making the final push for his massive health care overhaul.

Obama had a sensitive political decision to make: Risk putting off two allies in a strategic part of the world once again or endure all the downsides, including an inevitable backlash, of being on the other side of the world during a crisis at home

The domestic agenda proved dominant.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia and the president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, both said through spokesmen they were disappointed by the turn of events, but understood it was necessary for Obama to stay home and deal with the crisis.

While in Louisiana, Obama planned to meet with Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is overseeing the response effort, and with state and local officials, then visit Gulf Coast communities where lives have been upended by the spill.

Gibbs said the president wanted to talk firsthand with business leaders and individuals suffering the economic consequences of the disaster.

In an interview Thursday with CNN’s Larry King, Obama expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of British oil company BP’s reaction to the spill, saying, “What I haven’t seen as much as I’d like is the kind of rapid response.”

His administration on Thursday handed the company a $69 million bill for recovery costs to date — a figure sure to grow in the weeks and months ahead.

The president visited the Gulf region twice in May, and Friday’s visit surely will not be his last, as the president tries to show he’s staying on top of the situation, without getting in the way.

“You never want to take resources away from the response and recovery efforts, so we’re certainly mindful of that,” Gibbs said. “At the same time … I think he’ll go as often as he thinks that is productive in aiding those response efforts.”

Somewhere between 21 million and 46 million gallons of crude oil have been disgorged into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, according to government estimates. Eleven workers were killed in the blast.

Obama told King he was furious that “someone didn’t think through the consequences of their actions,” and he tried to deflect criticism that he hasn’t shown enough emotion about the epic dimensions of the problem.

“I would love to just spend a lot of my time venting and yelling at people,” the president said, “but that’s not the job I was hired to do. My job is to solve this problem.”

Traveling in Singapore Friday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he could not foresee a more active role for the military. “The truth of the matter is, we don’t have any expertise in this area,” he said at a news conference. Gates said the military has already offered help in the form of manpower, and stands ready to do more if asked.

“We’ll do whatever we can to help,” Gates said, “but this is not our area of specialty.”

The president may well get questions about the administration’s mixed signals on future drilling in the Gulf. The government’s Minerals Management Service stopped issuing permits for new oil and gas drilling in the Gulf, but an administration official denied that a formal freeze had been decreed on drilling in shallow water.

Obama said he was “supportive of offshore drilling if it can be done safely and it doesn’t result in these kinds of horrible environmental disasters.”

If you live in the northern hemisphere, go out any night this week an hour or so after sunset and look at the western sky to catch a planetary triple play starring Venus, Saturn and Mars.

The first thing skywatchers will see — weather permitting — is the brilliant planet Venus, slightly north of west, in the constellation Gemini. Look for Gemini’s twin first magnitude stars, Pollux and Castor, just above Venus.

As the sky gets darker, the planet Mars can be spotted to Venus’ left as it appears in the constellation Leo very close to the bright, first magnitude star Regulus. Further still to the left will be Saturn shining in the western part of the constellation Virgo.

This sky map shows how to spot all three planets as they appear across a 71-degree angle in the night sky. For comparison, your closed fist held at arm’s length covers about 5 degrees of arc in the sky.

Venus, Mars and Saturn are all currently appearing slightly north of the ecliptic, the path the sun appears to follow over the year, shown in green in the sky map. [More Mars photos.]

Note the positions of these three planets in relation to the bright background stars, because they are beginning an interesting journey which you will be able to follow over the next two months.

In early July, Venus will have moved rapidly to the left, crossing Cancer into Leo so that now it is next to the star Regulus. Mars, meanwhile, will have moved somewhat to the left. Saturn appears to have hardly moved at all.

By then, the three planets will now cover only 37 degrees in the sky, only half the spread they showed in early June.

A month after this, in the first week of August, the planets will be crowded into a 7-degree angle, and Mars will now be to the left of Saturn in Virgo. Venus, too, will have moved into Virgo.

All three will fit comfortably in the viewing field of a small pair of binoculars.

By August, Venus will still be brilliant, but both Saturn and Mars will have faded so that they just barely reach first magnitude. That’s because Saturn and Mars are getting farther away from Earth, while Venus is getting closer.

From the southern hemisphere, the planets will appear in the same positions relative to each other, but the ecliptic will be almost vertical, and the planets arrayed one above the other, rather than forming an oblique angle with the horizon.

This will be a fine opportunity to observe the relative motion of three bright planets against a well marked background of stars, and to see the very different speeds at which they move: Venus traversing four constellations and Mars two, with Saturn hardly moving at all.

* Gallery — Venus Seen From Around the World
* Beginner Astrophotography Telescopes
* More Night Sky Features from Starry Night Education

This article was provided to SPACE.com by Starry Night Education, the leader in space science curriculum solutions.

* Original Story: Planet Triple Play: Saturn, Mars and Venus Appear Together

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By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writer Justin Pritchard, Associated Press Writer   – 22 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Cadmium has been discovered in the painted design on “Shrek”-themed drinking glasses being sold nationwide at McDonald’s, forcing the burger giant to recall 12 million of the cheap U.S.-made collectibles while dramatically expanding contamination concerns about the toxic metal beyond imported children’s jewelry.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced the voluntary recall early Friday, warned consumers to immediately stop using the glasses; McDonald’s said it would post instructions on its website next week regarding refunds.

The 16-ounce glasses, being sold for about $2 each as part of a promotional campaign for the movie “Shrek Forever After,” were available in four designs depicting the characters Shrek, Princess Fiona, Puss in Boots and Donkey.

In the animated comedy, which debuted May 21 as the latest installment of the successful DreamWorks Animation franchise, the voice of Shrek is performed by Mike Myers of “Austin Powers” fame, Cameron Diaz performs as Princess Fiona, Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots and Eddie Murphy voices Donkey. The movie has been No. 1 at the box office since its release.

The CPSC noted in its recall notice that “long-term exposure to cadmium can cause adverse health effects.” Cadmium is a known carcinogen that research shows also can cause bone softening and severe kidney problems.

In the case of the Shrek-themed glassware, the potential danger would be long-term exposure to low levels of cadmium, which could leach from the paint onto a child’s hand, then enter the body if the child puts that unwashed hand to his or her mouth.

Cadmium can be used to create reds and yellows in paint. McDonald’s USA spokesman Bill Whitman said a pigment in paint on the glasses contained cadmium.

“A very small amount of cadmium can come to the surface of the glass, and in order to be as protective as possible of children, CPSC and McDonald’s worked together on this recall,” said CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson. He would not specify the amounts of cadmium that leached from the paint in tests, but said the amounts were “slightly above the protective level currently being developed by the agency.”

Wolfson said the glasses have “far less cadmium than the children’s metal jewelry that CPSC has previously recalled.”

Concerns about cadmium exposure emerged in January, when The Associated Press reported that some items of children’s jewelry sold at major national chains contained up to 91 percent of the metal. Federal regulators worry that kids could ingest cadmium by biting, sucking or even swallowing contaminated pendants and bracelets.

The consumer protection agency has issued three recalls this spring for jewelry highlighted in the AP stories, including products sold at Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer; at Claire’s, a major jewelry and accessories chain in North America and Europe; and at discount and dollar stores.

Those recalls all involved children’s metal jewelry — and all of that jewelry was made in China.

Manufactured by ARC International of Millville, N.J., the glasses were to be sold from May 21 into June. Roughly seven million of the glasses had been sold; another approximately five million are in stores or have not yet been shipped, said Whitman.

Associated Press reporters tried unsuccessfully to buy the glasses late Thursday at McDonald’s in New York, Los Angeles and northern New Jersey but were alternately told the merchandise was sold out, no longer available or “there’ll be more tomorrow.”

The company that makes the drinking glasses said it only learned of the problem late Thursday and will look into it. Tom Reed, vice president of human resources at Arc International’s plant in Millville, N.J., said the company received a copy of a McDonald’s memo on the recall but has not heard anything else.

Reed would not say where the paint was made or whether it’s used in Arc’s other products. Arc is based in France and owns the Pyrex brand of cookware in Europe.

McDonald’s said it was asking customers to stop using the glasses “out of an abundance of caution.”

“We believe the Shrek glassware is safe for consumer use,” Whitman said. “However, again to ensure that our customers receive safe products from us, we made the decision to stop selling them and voluntarily recall these products effective immediately.”

Whitman said that as the CPSC develops new protocols and standards for cadmium in consumer products, “we adjust as necessary to ensure that our customers can continue to trust what they receive from McDonald’s.”

Federal scrutiny of the glasses began last week. The Washington office of U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who has proposed strictly limiting cadmium in jewelry, received what a spokesman described as an anonymous tip that testing with an X-ray gun that estimates how much cadmium an item contains indicated the metal was present in the glass paint. Speier’s office requested samples of the glasses from the tipster, and upon receiving them May 27 sent them to the CPSC for further investigation.

“Our children’s health should not depend on the consciences of anonymous sources,” Speier said in a statement Friday. “Although McDonald’s did the right thing by recalling these products, we need stronger testing standards to ensure that all children’s products are proven safe before they hit the shelves.”

By RAHIM FAIEZ and HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writers Rahim Faiez And Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writers   – 1 hr 28 mins ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – Insurgents launched a brazen pre-dawn assault Wednesday against the giant U.S.-run Bagram Air Field, killing an American contractor and wounding nine troops in the second Taliban strike at NATO forces in and around the capital in as many days.

Small groups of suicide bombers — some wearing uniforms that appeared to match those of U.S. or NATO forces — tried to storm the base’s defenses, while others fired rockets, grenades and guns over the walls into the base, said Maj. Virginia McCabe, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces at Bagram.

No insurgents made it inside the base, but blasts and gunbattles raged for eight hours as U.S. soldiers hunted the attackers down in the surrounding fields north of Kabul, she said.

At least 10 of the insurgents died, according to McCabe. Five of them were killed by air strikes, said Lutf Rahman Reshad, an Afghan police official in Bagram district.

McCabe said that helicopters were out in a supporting role but she could not confirm if air strikes killed any of the insurgents or even if any of them fired.

U.S. forces said the base was undamaged except for “minor” damage to one building not considered strategically important. There were no details about the dead contractor.

The Bagram attack came a day after a suicide bomber struck a U.S. convoy in Kabul, killing 18 people. The dead included five American troops and a Canadian, making it the most lethal attack on NATO in the Afghan capital in eight months.

The back-to-back assaults underscore the militants’ intent to strike at the heart of the U.S.-led mission. The attacks appear to be part of an offensive announced by the Taliban this month to target NATO forces, foreign diplomats, contractors and Afghan government officials.

For its part, NATO is currently preparing for a major operation to restore order in the turbulent south.

In the latest violence in the south, a NATO service member died in a bomb attack Wednesday, the military alliance said in a statement. It did not provide further details.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both the Kabul bombing and the attack at Bagram, 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Kabul. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said 20 suicide attackers were involved in the Bagram attack.

McCabe said the number of attackers was unclear but that it was somewhere around 20 or 30.

An Afghan provincial police commander, Gen. Abdul Rahman Sayedkhail, said the attack began when U.S. guards spotted would-be attackers in a car just outside the base. The Americans opened fire, triggering a gunbattle in which at least one militant triggered his suicide vest. Running gunbattles broke out as U.S. troops hunted down the other attackers.

Four of the slain insurgents had intended to be suicide bombers, U.S. forces said in a statement.

Residents of the area discovered one of the would-be suicide bombers hiding in a garden, said Reshad, the Afghan police official. They called police, but the attacker lobbed grenades at the officers when they arrived. The police fired at the man, who then detonated his explosives vest. The insurgent was wearing what appeared to be an American military uniform, Reshad said.

The militants’ use of uniforms recall an attack in Iraq three years ago. On Jan. 20, 2007 a group of Shiite insurgents wearing American uniforms and carrying American weapons slipped into an Iraqi police compound in Karbala, kidnapped four U.S. soldiers and then killed them about 25 miles away. A fifth American soldier was killed in a firefight at the compound.

Wednesday was not the first time militants have attacked Bagram. In February 2007, a suicide bombing killed more than 20 people at a Bagram security gate while then-Vice President Dick Cheney was inside the base. Cheney was unhurt but the Taliban said he was the target.

Bagram Air Field — the control hub for U.S. forces in Afghanistan — is a sprawling complex of more than 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) filled with offices, barracks, runways and weaponry in the shadow of the Hindu Kush mountains. The base operates almost like a small town, with paved roads, bus service and hospital facilities.

The U.S. established Bagram Air Field on the site of a former Soviet base, though it has greatly expanded from that installation. The hulls of old Soviet tanks can be seen in the fields surrounding the base, and much of that area is still mined from that era.

The base has exterior and interior security perimeters. McCabe said the insurgents did not penetrate the exterior perimeter.

Tuesday was the deadliest day of the year for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Seven Americans were killed, including the five in the Kabul bombing and two others who died in separate attacks in the south.

U.S., NATO and Afghan forces are gearing up for a major operation to secure Kandahar, the biggest city in the south and the former Taliban headquarters before they were ousted from power in 2001. American officials believe control of Kandahar is the key to stabilizing the Taliban’ southern heartland.

NATO’s senior civilian representative in Afghanistan said recent Taliban attacks have not delayed the Kandahar operation or any of NATO’s key goals over the next few months.

“The overall campaign is on track” Mark Sedwill told reporters. He stressed that the Kandahar operation will not be a quick-strike offensive like this past winter’s push into the town of Marjah in neighboring Helmand province.

Since the Taliban is not in complete control of Kandahar city and its surrounding villages, the first stage of the mission is meetings with local leaders, he said. Then NATO forces expect to launch a series of operations over weeks or months to establish security.

“I believe that by the end of this year we will be able to demonstrate that we have the initiative and the momentum is with us,” Sedwill said.

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer Charles Babington, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Voters rejected one of President Barack Obama’s hand-picked candidates and forced another into a runoff, the latest sign that his political capital is slipping beneath a wave of anti-establishment anger.

Sen. Arlen Specter became the fourth Democrat in seven months to lose a high-profile race despite the president’s active involvement, raising doubts about Obama’s ability to help fellow Democrats in this November’s elections.

The first three candidates fell to Republicans. But Specter’s loss Tuesday to Rep. Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania’s Democratic senatorial primary cast doubts on Obama’s influence and popularity even within his own party — and in a battleground state, no less.

Of course, it’s possible that Democrats will fare better than expected this fall. And there’s only so much that any president can do to help other candidates, especially in a non-presidential election year.

Still, Obama’s poor record thus far could hurt his legislative agenda if Democratic lawmakers decide they need some distance from him as they seek re-election in what is shaping up as a pro-Republican year. Conversely, it might embolden Republican lawmakers and candidates who oppose him.

“We’re licking our chops at running against President Obama,” said Rand Paul, tea party candidate and victor in Kentucky’s Republican primary for retiring GOP Sen. Jim Bunning’s seat. Paul told CNN on Wednesday he’d relish Obama’s campaigning on behalf of Democrat Jack Conway. Obama’s agenda, Paul said, is “so far to the left, he’s not popular in Kentucky.”

Obama’s track record also raises the question of whether he may be hurting candidates he supports by motivating his foes — such as tea party supporters — to vote. Though this month’s AP-GfK Poll shows Americans split about evenly over how he’s handling his job, those strongly disapproving outnumber people who strongly back him by 33 percent to 22 percent — not an enviable position for the president’s party.

Sestak’s victory over Specter is especially embarrassing, because he won by portraying himself and his supporters as being more faithful to the Democratic Party than were Specter and his backers — who included the president, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and other high-ranking party officials.

Creating another bruise for Obama and the Democratic establishment Tuesday, Sen. Blanche Lincoln was forced into a runoff in Arkansas’ Democratic senatorial primary. Obama supports her bid for a third term, but he is not as closely associated with her campaign as he was with Specter’s.

In previous months, Obama’s endorsements and campaign appearances weren’t enough to save then-Gov. Jon Corzine’s re-election bid in New Jersey, Creigh Deeds’ run for governor in Virginia or Martha Coakley’s campaign in Massachusetts to keep the late Edward M. Kennedy’s Senate seat in Democratic hands.

In fairness, Deeds was an underdog from the start, and Corzine brought many problems on himself. But the Coakley loss to Republican Scott Brown was excruciating. She once was considered a shoo-in, and her defeat restored the Republicans’ ability to block Democratic bills with Senate filibusters.

Unlike the Corzine, Deeds and Coakley races, Obama made no late-campaign appearances for Specter. But it will be hard for the president to distance himself from Specter’s career-ending loss.

Obama campaigned for Specter last September in Philadelphia, where he said, “I love Arlen Specter.” Specter used the clip in recent TV ads. Obama also e-mailed his supporters on Specter’s behalf, and he was the first person Specter thanked in his concession speech.

Vice President Joe Biden, a Pennsylvania native, made several appearances for Specter. Last week he told a Pittsburgh radio station, “Arlen is the Democratic candidate.”

Moreover, Obama was central to an all-important deal with Specter that struck some Democratic voters as opportunistic at best.

Specter had been a Republican senator for 28 years, opposing countless Democratic bills and appointees even if he showed more independence than most lawmakers. Thirteen months ago, however, he concluded he could not win the GOP nomination for a sixth term against conservative Pat Toomey. He and top Democrats struck a deal.

Specter would become a Democrat, giving the party the crucial 60th Senate vote it needed to overcome Republican filibusters, which were frustrating the administration. In exchange, Obama, Biden, Rendell and the entire Democratic hierarchy agreed to support Specter’s 2010 re-election, including efforts to clear his way to the party’s nomination.

The losers in the deal were any longtime Democrats who aspired to the U.S. Senate. They essentially were told to step aside for an 80-year-old longtime Republican. Pennsylvania’s Democratic voters were asked to concur.

Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral first elected to the House in 2006, refused to go along. He plugged away without help from the state or national party. A few weeks ago he trailed Specter by about 20 percentage points in polls of likely Democratic voters.

But Sestak caught fire in the closing days, partly through a TV ad showing Specter campaigning enthusiastically with then-President George W. Bush, who remains deeply unpopular with many Democratic primary voters.

In the past few weeks, the White House has played down Obama’s role in the Tuesday primaries, and he spent Election Day in Ohio talking about the economy.

“At some point, you feel like we’ve done what we can do,” senior White House adviser David Axelrod told The Associated Press in an interview. “We do have other stuff going on,” he said.

Matt Bennett, a Democratic strategist and vice president of the group Third Way, said he doubts that Democratic lawmakers will panic over Obama’s inability to help Specter to a victory.

“Presidents have coattails when their names are on the ballot,” Bennett said, and tha

By MICHAEL SCHERER / WASHINGTON Michael Scherer / Washington   – 38 mins ago

This is how it goes in 2010 at the ballot box: old orders are upended, political lions become roadkill, chosen successors get left behind and the outsider, riding a wave of discontent, becomes the new front runner.

In quick succession on Tuesday night, the jittery inhabitants of Washington’s marble halls found three more reasons to worry about their staying power. Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the Senate’s patron saint of resilience, was turned out in a Democratic primary in favor of an unwanted rival, Representative Joe Sestak, who had neither major union support nor White House support. In Arkansas, Senator Blanche Lincoln, a model of Southern Democratic moderation, was forced into a primary runoff by a self-styled outsider, Bill Halter, challenging from her left. And in Kentucky, the Washington establishment’s chosen Republican Senate candidate, Trey Grayson, fell to the son of a libertarian outlier who carried the flag of another party. “I have a message, a message from the Tea Party, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We’ve come to take our government back,” declared Rand Paul, son of Representative and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, upon winning by a double-digit margin. (See 10 races that have Democrats worried for 2010.)

In all three races, voters rejected the instructions of their party’s leadership, as they have repeatedly this year in states as varied as Utah and Florida. Indeed, even before the polls closed, that leadership had mostly gone into hiding. President Obama traveled on Tuesday to Youngstown, Ohio, just miles from the Pennsylvania border, where his chosen candidate, Specter, was struggling to get voters to the polls in the rain. But Obama, who once promised his “full support” of Specter, made no mention of the primary, choosing instead to tour an 85-ton electric arc furnace. “It’s just nice to get out of Washington,” Obama said. Vice President Joe Biden, a decades-long colleague of Specter who had also promised “full support” and rarely misses an opportunity to stump in his native Pennsylvania, spent his day in Iowa. (See “The Price of Opportunism: Arlen Specter’s Tough Fight.”)

On Capitol Hill, Republican leaders also hid from the elephant in the room. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who had handpicked Grayson for his home state, made no mention of the election when he met with reporters in the Capitol. “Obviously, the biggest item around the Hill this week is the oil spill in Louisiana,” McConnell said instead.

With less than six months to go before the midterm elections on Nov. 2, all signs are pointing to a tidal wave. Electoral railbirds, steeped in historical stats, point to the many bad signs for Democrats. In polls, Republicans and conservatives demonstrate much more enthusiasm than Democrats and liberals. The President’s approval rating is below 50%, and more registered voters say they expect to vote for Republicans than Democrats for Congress. “This is as favorable an election for Republicans, as hostile for Democrats, as any in recent memory,” says Mark Blumenthal, editor of Pollster.com. (See 10 races that have Republicans worried for 2010.)

But Republicans have their own worries. In addition to anemic fundraising, the Grand Old Party faces a simmering insurrection in its ranks. Apart from the defeat in Kentucky, Utah Senator Bob Bennett, a moderate fixture of the Washington establishment since 1992, lost his bid for re-election two weeks ago, after his state party’s convention delegates revolted over his vote to bail out banks and work with Democrats on health care reform. In Florida, the once popular Republican governor, Charlie Christ, recently abandoned his party to launch an independent bid after a more conservative challenger threatened to deny him a shot for the state’s open Senate seat.

This anti-incumbent mood pervades both parties, leaving open the possibility that the same wave that brought Obama into office in 2008 will undo his governing majorities in 2010. The one bright spot for Obama was a special election on Tuesday night in Pennsylvania’s 12th district, where Democrats held on to a seat in a conservative district previously held by John Murtha, the big-spending defense appropriator who died earlier this year. The seat was won by Mark Critz, a pro-life, pro-gun former Murtha staffer who opposes health care reform and overcame significant Republican spending. The victory demonstrated that Democrats still have hope for making congressional races local, not national, affairs in the fall. (See “Primary Tuesday: Sending the Bums the Right Message.”)

But this is scant consolation for those incumbents who have become less and less comfortable with each turn at the ballot boxes this year. On Tuesday afternoon, Specter, whose career has survived two bouts with cancer and two party switches, seemed his old fighting self. In an interview on MSNBC, the host suggested that his opponent, Sestak, was more vigorous. “You must be smoking Dutch cleanser,” Specter responded, in typical cantankerous fashion.

Just a few hours later, at a downcast concession speech in Philadelphia, Specter did not have much fire left to show. “It’s been a great privilege to be in the United States Senate,” he said of his 30-year career. “Thank you all.” And with that, he quickly left the stage.By MICHAEL SCHERER / WASHINGTON Michael Scherer / Washington   – 38 mins ago

This is how it goes in 2010 at the ballot box: old orders are upended, political lions become roadkill, chosen successors get left behind and the outsider, riding a wave of discontent, becomes the new front runner.

In quick succession on Tuesday night, the jittery inhabitants of Washington’s marble halls found three more reasons to worry about their staying power. Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the Senate’s patron saint of resilience, was turned out in a Democratic primary in favor of an unwanted rival, Representative Joe Sestak, who had neither major union support nor White House support. In Arkansas, Senator Blanche Lincoln, a model of Southern Democratic moderation, was forced into a primary runoff by a self-styled outsider, Bill Halter, challenging from her left. And in Kentucky, the Washington establishment’s chosen Republican Senate candidate, Trey Grayson, fell to the son of a libertarian outlier who carried the flag of another party. “I have a message, a message from the Tea Party, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We’ve come to take our government back,” declared Rand Paul, son of Representative and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, upon winning by a double-digit margin. (See 10 races that have Democrats worried for 2010.)

In all three races, voters rejected the instructions of their party’s leadership, as they have repeatedly this year in states as varied as Utah and Florida. Indeed, even before the polls closed, that leadership had mostly gone into hiding. President Obama traveled on Tuesday to Youngstown, Ohio, just miles from the Pennsylvania border, where his chosen candidate, Specter, was struggling to get voters to the polls in the rain. But Obama, who once promised his “full support” of Specter, made no mention of the primary, choosing instead to tour an 85-ton electric arc furnace. “It’s just nice to get out of Washington,” Obama said. Vice President Joe Biden, a decades-long colleague of Specter who had also promised “full support” and rarely misses an opportunity to stump in his native Pennsylvania, spent his day in Iowa. (See “The Price of Opportunism: Arlen Specter’s Tough Fight.”)

On Capitol Hill, Republican leaders also hid from the elephant in the room. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who had handpicked Grayson for his home state, made no mention of the election when he met with reporters in the Capitol. “Obviously, the biggest item around the Hill this week is the oil spill in Louisiana,” McConnell said instead.

With less than six months to go before the midterm elections on Nov. 2, all signs are pointing to a tidal wave. Electoral railbirds, steeped in historical stats, point to the many bad signs for Democrats. In polls, Republicans and conservatives demonstrate much more enthusiasm than Democrats and liberals. The President’s approval rating is below 50%, and more registered voters say they expect to vote for Republicans than Democrats for Congress. “This is as favorable an election for Republicans, as hostile for Democrats, as any in recent memory,” says Mark Blumenthal, editor of Pollster.com. (See 10 races that have Republicans worried for 2010.)

But Republicans have their own worries. In addition to anemic fundraising, the Grand Old Party faces a simmering insurrection in its ranks. Apart from the defeat in Kentucky, Utah Senator Bob Bennett, a moderate fixture of the Washington establishment since 1992, lost his bid for re-election two weeks ago, after his state party’s convention delegates revolted over his vote to bail out banks and work with Democrats on health care reform. In Florida, the once popular Republican governor, Charlie Christ, recently abandoned his party to launch an independent bid after a more conservative challenger threatened to deny him a shot for the state’s open Senate seat.

This anti-incumbent mood pervades both parties, leaving open the possibility that the same wave that brought Obama into office in 2008 will undo his governing majorities in 2010. The one bright spot for Obama was a special election on Tuesday night in Pennsylvania’s 12th district, where Democrats held on to a seat in a conservative district previously held by John Murtha, the big-spending defense appropriator who died earlier this year. The seat was won by Mark Critz, a pro-life, pro-gun former Murtha staffer who opposes health care reform and overcame significant Republican spending. The victory demonstrated that Democrats still have hope for making congressional races local, not national, affairs in the fall. (See “Primary Tuesday: Sending the Bums the Right Message.”)

But this is scant consolation for those incumbents who have become less and less comfortable with each turn at the ballot boxes this year. On Tuesday afternoon, Specter, whose career has survived two bouts with cancer and two party switches, seemed his old fighting self. In an interview on MSNBC, the host suggested that his opponent, Sestak, was more vigorous. “You must be smoking Dutch cleanser,” Specter responded, in typical cantankerous fashion.

Just a few hours later, at a downcast concession speech in Philadelphia, Specter did not have much fire left to show. “It’s been a great privilege to be in the United States Senate,” he said of his 30-year career. “Thank you all.” And with that, he quickly left the stage.

y DINESH RAMDE, Associated Press Writer Dinesh Ramde, Associated Press
DELAFIELD, Wis. – Seven score and seven years ago, a wounded Wisconsin soldier stood his ground on the Gettysburg battlefield and made a valiant stand before he was felled by a Confederate bullet.

Now, thanks to the dogged efforts of modern-day supporters, 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing shall not have died in vain, nor shall his memory have perished from the earth.

Descendants and some Civil War history buffs have been pushing the U.S. Army to award the soldier the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration. They’ll soon get their wish.

Secretary of the Army John McHugh has approved their request, leaving a few formal steps before the award becomes official this summer. Cushing will become one of 3,447 recipients of the medal, and the second from the Civil War honored in the last 10 years.

It’s an honor that’s 147 years overdue, said Margaret Zerwekh. The 90-year-old woman lives on the land in Delafield where Cushing was born, and jokes she’s been adopted by the Cushing family for her efforts to see Alonzo recognized.

“I was jumping up and down when I heard it was approved,” said Zerwekh, who walks with two canes. “I was terribly excited.”

Cushing died on July 3, 1863, the last day of the three-day battle of Gettysburg. He was 22.

The West Point graduate and his men of the Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery were defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett’s Charge, a major Confederate thrust that could have turned the tide in the war.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was planning an invasion of the North; both sides knew how important this engagement was.

Cushing commanded about 110 men and six cannons. His small force along with reinforcements stood their ground under artillery bombardment as nearly 13,000 Confederate infantrymen waited to advance.

“Clap your hands as fast as you can — that’s as fast as the shells are coming in,” said Scott Hartwig, a historian with the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. “They were under terrific fire.”

The bombardment lasted two hours. Cushing was wounded in the shoulder and groin, and his battery was left with two guns and no long-range ammunition. His stricken battery should have been withdrawn and replaced with reserve forces, Hartwig said, but Cushing shouted that he would take his guns to the front lines.

“What that means is, ‘While I’ve got a man left to fight, I’ll fight,’” Hartwig said. Within minutes, he was killed by a Confederate bullet to the head.

Confederate soldiers advanced into the Union fire, but finally retreated with massive casualties. The South never recovered from the defeat.

The soldier’s bravery so inspired one Civil War history buff that he took up Cushing’s cause by launching a Facebook page titled “Give Alonzo Cushing the Medal of Honor.” Phil Shapiro, a 27-year-old Air Force captain, said such heroism displayed in one of the nation’s most pivotal battles deserved recognition, even at this late date.

“We need to honor those people who got our country to where it is,” said Shapiro, of Cabot, Ark.

Zerwekh first started campaigning for Cushing in 1987 by writing to Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire. Proxmire entered comments into the Congressional Record, she said, and she assumed that was as far as it would go. But current Sen. Russ Feingold later pitched in and helped Zerwekh and others petition the Army.

After a lengthy review of historical records, the Army agreed earlier this year to recommend the medal.

More than 1,500 soldiers from the Civil War have received the Medal of Honor, according to the Defense Department. The last honoree for Civil War service was Cpl. Andrew Jackson Smith of Clinton, Ill., who received the medal in 2001.

The Cushing name is prominent in the southeastern Wisconsin town of Delafield. A monument to Cushing and two of his brothers — Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing — stands at Cushing Memorial Park, where the town holds most of its Memorial Day celebrations.

Shapiro, the Facebook fan, said he thought of Alonzo Cushing plenty of times last year as he faced a number of dangerous situations during a five-month stint in Iraq.

“I’d think about what Cushing accomplished, what he was able to deal with at age 22,” Shapiro said. “I thought if he could do that then I can certainly deal with whatever I’m facing.”