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Aren’t puzzles puzzling?

Out of the box their pieces are tiny, oddly shaped and maddeningly indistinguishable (like a pea, a marble and our editor’s brain). But when you look at the cover of the box, the pieces are mysteriously assembled to paint a clear picture.

A clear picture is being painted right now in Washington DC. As these pieces come together, this political picture is not looking good… for the Democrats.

Here are some of the pieces…

Fund Raising: A new Supreme Court ruling, Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, frees corporations to write unlimited blank checks to political campaigns (Open the Floodgates!).

Web Surfing: The Republicans are getting more savvy as to how to use The Internet for political gain. The recent election of Massachusetts Senator Senator Scott Brown has been attributed to a rigorous use of the internet. Elsewhere,  California conservative Carly Fiorina have taken to running attack adds through the web. Seen below is the “Demon Sheep” add run against her primary challenger Tom Campbell.

Hell Raising: The Republicans are out maneuvering the Democrats. An excellent analysis by TPM details Democrat’s political liabilities and tactical weaknesses that are hurting them in regards to the mid-terms (think economy and health care).

It seems all these new campaign bucks and web stuff is scaring even the most powerful of Democrats.

Take Sen. Chuck Schumer (D, NY) (please…). He has amassed an epic $19.4 million dollar political war chest .

Even Schumer, a popular senator in a blue state is worried.  CNBC host Larry Kudlow is considering a senate bid against him, and he is courting Wall St. for help. (get your bathing suits, the floodgates are now officially open).

But not all is lost for the hapless Democrats.

A big vote set for Monday on an important JOBS BILL… and Senate Republicans are considering a filibuster.

This gives Democrats a chance to leave egg on GOP faces. But are the Democrats ready for a tussle?

The pieces of the puzzle are coming together but the picture is still unclear. 2010 presents a modernizing political war machine, swelling war chests, and new political maneuvering. Who do you think will win the day?

www.nola.com

Last year Conservative film maker James O’Keefe was a political star.

He and a friend, Hanna Giles, dressed up as a pimp and prostitute (respectively) in a film that gave ACORN (a national community activist group) a basket of problems. In their guise the duo filmed a few ACORN employees giving illegal advice.

The ensuing controversy cost ACORN their federal funding and turned O’Keefe into a conservative rock star.

Well he’s back. This time in hand-cuffs.

O’Keefe and three others were arrested earlier this week for allegedly attempting to tamper with Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D LA) office. More specifically the phones.

Two members of the crew entered Landrieu’s New Orleans office dressed in construction garb (think Bob The Builder). After tampering with the phone system in the Landrieu’s office the two, posing as repair men, asked for access to the building’s main telephone system.

Here is where the wheels started to come off. The two were asked for identification, when they could produce none suspicions were raised. Shortly after all four were arrested by federal marshals.

Unfortunately for O’Keefe and his compatriots, this is a tad more than a simple prank. They are being charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony. This carries a charge a max sentance of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.

In layman’s terms: this = big trouble.

O’Keefe’s motives are another question. The operation was initially identified as a failed wire tapping. Interestingly, O’Keefe claims his intentions were less sinister. Instead of bugging the phones, O’Keefe and company planned to disable the phones.

The crew allegedly wanted to see how Landrieu’s office handled a problem with the phones. TPM has a detailed analysis here.

Whatever the out come of this particular case may be, it was only a matter of time before O’Keefe’s methods got him into the hot box. ACORN is suing O’Keefe for video tapping their employees without permission.

The once bright future of this young filmmaker is now turning jumpsuit orange.