Filed under: Senate , Democrats , Primaries , 2010 Elections Former five-term Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford, who now lives in New York and is a regular on the political talk show circuit, says he won’t be “bullied or intimidated” by Democratic party leaders who are trying to discourage him from challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed last year to fill out the term of Hillary Clinton, according to the New York Times . The Times quoted a spokesman for Ford as saying that New York needed a senator with the “independence to stand up and do what is right for our state, regardless of what the party bosses in Albany and Washington want.” While party leaders like New York’s senior senator, Charles Schumer, have rallied around Gillibrand, other New York Democrats are concerned about her ability to win re-election. While the Democrats can probably breath a sigh of relief that former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani decided not to challenge her, the polls have consistently shown that she is having difficulty making herself known to the state’s voters.

Filed under: Republicans , 2010 Elections , Congress Michael Steele is no stranger to running into static about the way he is doing his job as chairman of the Republican National Committee, and he has done it again by riling GOP congressional leaders who were caught by surprise by his new book laying out his election strategy for the party, the Washington Post reports. Aside from the book, titled “Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda,” some top Hill Republicans have also not been amused by Steele’s remarks on a series of promotional interviews he has done on television talk shows, such as when he said on the Fox News Channel last Monday that he did not believe the GOP would be able to win a majority in either chamber in 2010. Steele has said he did not write the book for members of Congress and that he would continue to do what he’s doing,”"I’m the guy that they’re afraid of because, guess what? I’m a Tea Partier, I’m a town haller, I’m a grass-roots-er,” Steele told a St. Louis radio station. “I’m the chairman. Deal with it,” Steele also said this week.

Filed under: Senate , Barack Obama , Polls , Poll Watch , Harry Reid This was not the best of days for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who found himself apologizing for having referred to candidate Barack Obama in private as a “light-skinned” black with no “Negro dialect,” and then having to digest a new poll saying most Nevadans viewed him unfavorably and would elect any of his potential GOP opponents over him.

Filed under: Emily’s Post The National Enquirer is a supermarket tabloid, but the time has come for the media elite to admit that it has an excellent investigative reporting team, which broke the biggest political scandal of 2009, the John Edwards affair. While its own editor concedes that the paper would never be given a Pulitzer Prize — the jury is dominated by the newspaper establishment — I believe the time has come for us to recognize the Enquirer’s political investigative reporting. Though I don’t know the other nominees for the 2009 investigative category (the deadline isn’t until February), and I’m sure there are many worthy entries, it’s clear to me that the Enquirer deserves consideration for what remains the highest honor in American journalism.

We had a lot of fun hanging with the guys at the Electro Joe booth — they definitely love their crapgadgets. Our favorite was a little something called Gimme Tunes, a pair of speakers in craptastic high heeled cases. These guys are powered by USB, but the audio input is a classic headphone jack. “Gimme Tunes,” the guy in the booth asked. “It’s a pun. Do you get it?” Uh, no. “You know, like Jimmy Choo.” Right. Continue reading Crapgadget CES, round 5: Gimme Tunes Crapgadget CES, round 5: Gimme Tunes originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Welcome to the future of the Engadget Mobile Podcast. And by the future, we mean the present. The now. The 2010 where we have a Blackberry on our wrist, a Rumor in our hand, and The Need For Speed on our Pre. Strap in and log on. Hosts: Chris Ziegler, Sean Cooper Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Solvent – Devices and Strategies ( Ghostly International ) 03:36 – Live from Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo’s CES 2010 keynote 06:40 – LG Rumor Touch hands-on 07:45 – LG Lotus Elite hands-on: it’s red, square, and marginally attractive 15:53 – inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry wrist-on 21:32 – LG’s GT540 mixes Android 2.0, pretty, and low-end 22:53 – Google support forums rife with Nexus One 3G complaints, is this a real problem? 25:20 – LG GW990 hands-on video 41:25 – Palm gets serious about 3D gaming on webOS Subscribe to the podcast [ iTunes ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes [ RSS MP3 ] Add the Engadget Mobile Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically [ RSS AAC ] Add the Engadget Mobile Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator [ Zune ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) Contact the podcast podcast (at) engadgetmobile (dot) com. Filed under: Podcasts Engadget Mobile Podcast 031: Saturday @ CES 2010 – 01.09.2010 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

We don’t know what it is, but there’s just something a bit too “netbook” about Samsung’s netbooks. We took a look at the new N210, NB30 and N150 models that Samsung is showing here at CES, and while there’s nothing precisely wrong with any of them, they just felt a little uninspired. Like almost everybody these days, Samsung has moved to chiclet keys, which would be alright if they were as quality as previous generations of Sammy’s netbook keyboards, but they just felt a little plastic and shallow. At least the NB30 has an excuse, with its water-resistant keyboard tray, and to the lineup’s credit, there was very little flex to any of the keyboards — a common netbook problem. The durable, ridged plastic that encases the NB30 is also pretty nice, but nothing to make our heart aflutter. We spied the NB150 sporting a rather unique pink shell and accents, but apparently the final model will come in a rather more tame black. Interestingly, the most inspired netbook in Samsung’s lineup was the N127 (pictured), which they aren’t even planning on bringing to market (yet). The unit runs Moblin at a lightning fast pace, has the old school “good” Samsung keyboard, and if it came to retail would likely undercut its Windows brethren by a nice margin. We’re not sure if Moblin is ready for the mass market, and obviously Samsung isn’t either, but it would be a fun experiment from our perspective. After all, if you’re going to bother building three formulaic netbooks, what’s the harm in cutting a little loose on the fourth? Gallery: Samsung’s new netbook line goes hands-on, Moblin makes a cameo Samsung’s new netbook line goes hands-on, Moblin makes a cameo originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

You know that snotty, slimy stuff that you can get in vending machines for a quarter? The stuff that comes in the little, clear plastic bubbles and stains wallpaper and carpet instantly? Ever wonder what would happen if you gave it a refreshing lemony scent and then smeared it into your keyboard? We certainly never did, but Cyber Clean gave us the opportunity to find out anyway, handing us (and nearly everyone else at the show) a sample of the stuff. How does it work? How does it feel? How does it sound when it’s thrown at a camera and slimes the microphone? We’ve got the answers after the break. Gallery: Cyber Clean Continue reading Cyber Clean smears our keyboards, fills our nostrils as we go hands-on (video) Cyber Clean smears our keyboards, fills our nostrils as we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

We swung by the Audiovox / RCA booth in search of the new Lexi e-reader but sadly were met with a non-working version that was effectively useless. We’ve heard about the specs but were lacking in the image department, so it was good to at least see what the thing will look like when it hits the increasingly crowded e-reader space. The design is basic, and from the signage in the booth, so is the UI on the handheld itself. There’s not much else to say here, and the PR reps weren’t the most helpful, but we managed to snag a bunch of shots anyway so check them out below. Gallery: Lexi e-reader hands-on Lexi e-book reader probably won’t ever be called sexy (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

I hopped off the plane at LAS with a dream and my MacBook Pro Welcome to the show of tech and glow, whoa will I make a big win? Jumped in a cab, here I am for the third time Look to the right, and I see the CES sign This is all so crazy, everybody seems so nerdy My tummy’s turnin’ from some cheese I ate at DigEx Too much e-ink and I’m wired That’s when the podcast man turned on the radio And the Miley song was on And the Miley song was on And the Miley song was on Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Producer: Trent Wolbe Song: Party in the U.S.A. (Chopped and Screwed) Hear the podcast 05:00 – Pixel Qi screens to be used by a major manufacturer in 2010 15:30 – Qualcomm Mirasol display video hands-on in glorious 1080p 19:35 – Live from Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo’s CES 2010 keynote 32:43 – Andy Rubin on multitouch in Android: ‘I personally don’t like two-handed operations’ 33:20 – Live from All Things D at CES 2010 40:01 – Dell divulges Mini 3 details, tablet (Mini 5?) caught running Android 1.6 (update: video!) 46:20 – Windows Mobile 7 coming to MWC in February, not just ‘evolutionary’ 59:15 – Boxee Box interface demo video Subscribe to the podcast [ iTunes ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC). [ RSS MP3 ] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [ RSS AAC ] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [ Zune ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast 1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com. Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget Filed under: CES , Podcasts Engadget Podcast 178: CES 2010 Day 4 – 01.09.2010 [Chopped n' Screwed Remix] originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink