++Bishop Willard "Mitt" Romney has given the word to his donors that he is considering another run for the Presidency. He cites the turmoil overseas and the state of the economy as his reasons. Consider this: President Obama created the same number of jobs that Romney said he would create in his first term.
++Mike Huckabee quit Fox News, a sign he will run.
++Chris Christie is already putting out the word he is running.
++Believe or not , Marco Rubio is defying Jennifer Rubin, and is indicating he will run.
++Former UN Ambassador John Bolton quit his FOX News gig as a sign he too will throw his hat in the ring.
++And, believe it or not, Scott Brown, who ran a carpetbagger for Senate in New Hampshire, wants to give it another try by running in------California for Barbara Boxer's seat.
++The New reform conservative movement has indicated that they want to increase defense spending and cut discretionary programs. In short, they want to restore George W. Bush's foreign policy. Oh myy.
Showing posts with label Scott Brown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Brown. Show all posts
Friday, January 9, 2015
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Still There
++Louisiana to go to runoff.
++Mike Rounds wins in South Dakota. Alright,what happens when he is indicted? Since the FBI confirmed during the campaign he was under criminal investigation. Sorry, Rick Weiland didn't make it.
++Scott Brown could run next time in Maine where he really was born.
++So far,no real surprises. But the Warner race in Virginia is giving people the heebie-jeebies.
++Sam Wang says the New Hampshire and Kentucky races didn't help him on his Delta rating.
++Mark Udall is polling less than Hickenlooper is.
++Maine governor's race still tight.
++Mike Rounds wins in South Dakota. Alright,what happens when he is indicted? Since the FBI confirmed during the campaign he was under criminal investigation. Sorry, Rick Weiland didn't make it.
++Scott Brown could run next time in Maine where he really was born.
++So far,no real surprises. But the Warner race in Virginia is giving people the heebie-jeebies.
++Sam Wang says the New Hampshire and Kentucky races didn't help him on his Delta rating.
++Mark Udall is polling less than Hickenlooper is.
++Maine governor's race still tight.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
The World Didn't End
++Rev. Hagee said that the blood red moon meant the world was ending. It didn't.
++But the IPCC report said we may be getting close with global warming if we don't adopt policies for 20-24% alternative fuels within 15 years. The report was developed by 2,000 scientists in hover 110 nations, who reviewed over 9,000 academic studies. If the humans generate 1,000 gigatons of carbon that we are all toast. The planet will survive but we won't.
++The CBO's report on Obamacare is giving the GOP heartburn. Obamacare will cost $104.6 billion less than projected over a ten-year span, will increase,not decrease employer-based insurance by 7 million, lower premiums and healthcare costs.
++But the GOP have found a new Obamacare issue. The Census bureau will be recalculating the number of uninsured. To the GOP, this means we will not know the true effects of Obamacare. It's Obama's fault.
++The CBO reports that the deficit will be $23 billion less than projected to $492 billion. This will be the lowest deficit since 2007 and represent 2.8% of the GDP. Since 1980,the deficit has averaged 3.2%.
++Mike Huckabee told the Freedom Summit in New Hampshire that the United States was less free than North Korea.
++In the same state, former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown said Democratic Senator Jeanne Sheehan was like another Senator from Massachusetts. Brown has lived in New Hampshire for 40 days and Sheehan in New Hampshire for 40 years. More worrisome to New Hampshites should be that Scott was born in Maine and not in New Hampshire as he claims.
++PPP-Move-on. org conducted polls in congressional districts and find that GOP incumbents are very vulnerable in 17 seats and with the right GOTV the Democrats could take back the House.
++John Boehner's primary opponents cut an ad accusing Boehner of electile dysfunction.
++Governor Sandoval of Nevada became the first Republican governor to ask the House to extend the unemployment insurance for the long-term. The Nevada party also threw out its anti-abortion, anti-gay platform because they wanted to be inclusive ,not exclusive.
++Britt Hume and George Will accused President Obama and Eric Holder of "playing the race card". Hank Aaron,the baseball great, likened critics of President Obama to those racist who threatened him during his race to beat Babe Ruth's home run record. For that remark, he received buckets of racist mail. I guess race doesn't play into any of this.
++Rand Paul is being beat up for his remarks about Duck Cheney being for the war in Iraq because of his role as CEO in Halliburton. Bart Stephens in the Wall Street Journal attacks Paul and asserts that the GOP would lose in one of the largest landslides. Rick Lowry of the National Review has a more fun attack on Paul.
++Carville claims that the GOP will become extinct if Hillary Clinton runs for President.
++Willard "Mitt" Romney tweeted Harry Reid with a photo of him paying his taxes. I'm glad he did for the first time in a decade.
++Senator Pryor,the struggling Democrat in Arkansas,top Rep. Cotton in the fifth straight poll, prompting the Republican to challenge him to five debates.
++Sovereign Citizens' groups, the Oathkeepers, and militiamen rallied to the cause of rancher Bundy, who had neglected to pay taxes for 1993 and refuses to pay the BLM cattle raising fees. The classy groups put women and children in the front lines because they wanted to create another WACO and spark a revolution. The BLM stood down but is moving in legal directions against the tax evader. FOX news and the rightwing websites proclaimed the nutty spectacle a win for freedom
++John Brennan, the director of the CIA, was in the UKraine and tensions mount in the East.
++Bandar Bush, the old Saudi friend of the Republicans and Saudi spy chief, was resigned. His last assignment by the Saudi monarchy was to topple Assad in Syria.
++But the IPCC report said we may be getting close with global warming if we don't adopt policies for 20-24% alternative fuels within 15 years. The report was developed by 2,000 scientists in hover 110 nations, who reviewed over 9,000 academic studies. If the humans generate 1,000 gigatons of carbon that we are all toast. The planet will survive but we won't.
++The CBO's report on Obamacare is giving the GOP heartburn. Obamacare will cost $104.6 billion less than projected over a ten-year span, will increase,not decrease employer-based insurance by 7 million, lower premiums and healthcare costs.
++But the GOP have found a new Obamacare issue. The Census bureau will be recalculating the number of uninsured. To the GOP, this means we will not know the true effects of Obamacare. It's Obama's fault.
++The CBO reports that the deficit will be $23 billion less than projected to $492 billion. This will be the lowest deficit since 2007 and represent 2.8% of the GDP. Since 1980,the deficit has averaged 3.2%.
++Mike Huckabee told the Freedom Summit in New Hampshire that the United States was less free than North Korea.
++In the same state, former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown said Democratic Senator Jeanne Sheehan was like another Senator from Massachusetts. Brown has lived in New Hampshire for 40 days and Sheehan in New Hampshire for 40 years. More worrisome to New Hampshites should be that Scott was born in Maine and not in New Hampshire as he claims.
++PPP-Move-on. org conducted polls in congressional districts and find that GOP incumbents are very vulnerable in 17 seats and with the right GOTV the Democrats could take back the House.
++John Boehner's primary opponents cut an ad accusing Boehner of electile dysfunction.
++Governor Sandoval of Nevada became the first Republican governor to ask the House to extend the unemployment insurance for the long-term. The Nevada party also threw out its anti-abortion, anti-gay platform because they wanted to be inclusive ,not exclusive.
++Britt Hume and George Will accused President Obama and Eric Holder of "playing the race card". Hank Aaron,the baseball great, likened critics of President Obama to those racist who threatened him during his race to beat Babe Ruth's home run record. For that remark, he received buckets of racist mail. I guess race doesn't play into any of this.
++Rand Paul is being beat up for his remarks about Duck Cheney being for the war in Iraq because of his role as CEO in Halliburton. Bart Stephens in the Wall Street Journal attacks Paul and asserts that the GOP would lose in one of the largest landslides. Rick Lowry of the National Review has a more fun attack on Paul.
++Carville claims that the GOP will become extinct if Hillary Clinton runs for President.
++Willard "Mitt" Romney tweeted Harry Reid with a photo of him paying his taxes. I'm glad he did for the first time in a decade.
++Senator Pryor,the struggling Democrat in Arkansas,top Rep. Cotton in the fifth straight poll, prompting the Republican to challenge him to five debates.
++Sovereign Citizens' groups, the Oathkeepers, and militiamen rallied to the cause of rancher Bundy, who had neglected to pay taxes for 1993 and refuses to pay the BLM cattle raising fees. The classy groups put women and children in the front lines because they wanted to create another WACO and spark a revolution. The BLM stood down but is moving in legal directions against the tax evader. FOX news and the rightwing websites proclaimed the nutty spectacle a win for freedom
++John Brennan, the director of the CIA, was in the UKraine and tensions mount in the East.
++Bandar Bush, the old Saudi friend of the Republicans and Saudi spy chief, was resigned. His last assignment by the Saudi monarchy was to topple Assad in Syria.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Democrats Doomed Because of Snow in D.C.
++The Amazon Post this morning ran several articles on the GOP making a big push in 2014. Morning Joe claims the Republicans are unbeatable. Karl Rove says the GOP will win big. Even David Plouffe warns that the Democrats could lose the Senate. Although he did say it will be caused if Democrats stay home.
++One indicator for the pundits is the entry into the New Hampshire Senate race of Scott Brown, who moved to New Hampshire from Massachusetts. In all the polls he runs far behind Jeanne Sheehan. His best poll shows him ten behind.
++The big new this morning is that the GOP will offer up after 6 years an alternative to Obamacare. I won't go into the details until they really,really unveil this alternative. It might be good for Democrats on the campaign trail to ask their GOP counterpart what the alternatives are. We know they want to sell junk insurance across state lines,let small business pool their insurance,have tort reform,and have catastrophic insurance but not have the protections of Obamacare. The initial price tags are an increase in the national debt and the uninsured.
++Brainwrap may end up being right about his 5.5 million prediction. Today,the 5 millionth person signed up for Obamacare.
++The Koch Brothers pulled their anti-Obamcare ads because the pushback from fact-checkers got too much that even the cancer victim had to hide.
++Talking Points Memo had a piece today about how the GOP will monkey around with Obamacare , presuming they win the Senate.
++The mindlessness today reminds me of 2010. But we should withhold judgment until June. The generic poll has Democrats leading except in the NYTimes where Republicans have a 3+ lead. All the Sunday pundits point to Obama's shrinking approval rating as evidence this will be a big year for Republicans. Today's Rasmussen is 49 Approve,49 disapprove, not the territory that W had at this point.
++Republican governors still face uphill battles in Maine, Pennsylvania,Florida, Wisconsin and Georgia. Wendy Davis is only double digits behind in Texas.
++Historically,the President's party gets hit in the 6th year of a presidency. And yes, this year the Democrats are defending more seats than the Republicans. And, yes, the Democrats have only a 36% approval rating. But, the GOP has 20%. That's a winning ticket?
++The American public have lived through the Tea Party revolution and the government shutdown and 52 attempts to repeal Obamacare without a replacement. Will this generate the same type of second term midterm that is projected?
++As the demographic of the GOP base--over 60,white male, I still can't understand why older Americans would favor the GOP when they know they are committed to destroying Social Security, Medicare and are committed to war.
++Millennials have real beefs with the Obama Administration. In particular, the continued issues of the national security state or the Deep State. Dana Millbank reports on this in the Amazon Post. The other critique is that no one was punished for their role in the 2008 collapse of the global economy.
++Any woman who votes for the GOP has to have her head examined now that the war against women has entered into the bizarre realm of trying to outlaw contraceptives, a decision that was made by the Supreme Court before I was a teenager.
++Republicans have vowed nothing significant will be done this year in Congress. A great message to elect them to total control of Congress.
++So where will the economy go. Obama, the Socialist, created the situation where there is now a record millionaires in the United States--9.63, who will of course vote against Democrats. Household wealth is now at 80.7 trillion. Consumer confidence is at its second highest since August. Retail sales increased for the first time in 3 months. As a fed official said, we are not in a "soft patch" in the economy.
++Since the extended unemployed are thought not to vote, the 2 million will have to wait until after the St. Paddy's day congressional break for a Senate vote. The House will probably not vote on it.
++President Obama's directives on overtime tries to remedy a long-time wrong and will affect millions of workers. The private sector are beginning to scream about it.
++With immigration reform receding as the GOP wants to strengthen their white vote, President Obama has decided to review deportation figures.
++Referenda on raising the minimum wage and medical marijuana may serve to get out the Democratic vote in 2014 the way anti-gay marriage votes got out the Republicans. In Florida, where the Democratic party is weak, this would be a big plus in the governor's race of Crist versus Scott.
++The GOP is great at proclaiming victory prematurely. But there is something happening that is under the radar. Last election, I wanted President Obama to campaign in Georgia because I thought he could win it. This year, we have Michelle Nunn, Sam's daughter, and Jason Carter both leading in the Senate and Governor's races.
++The last Alaskan race I liked Senator Begich because of his campaign and no-nonsense ,low-key campaign. I like how he slapped down this year's Koch ads on Obamacare and the cap and trade law--which doesn't exist and won't. I still lean toward him to win re-election.
++The two Democrats I see in trouble are Pryor in Arkansas and Hagen in North Carolina. But they are still competitive in their races. Weirdly, I think Mary Landrieu has a decent chance in Louisiana. The reason is that Jindal's approvals are in the toilet and the gubernatorial race will feature lingerie-wearing Senator Vitter.
++Democrats should consider the mini-Obama strategy that won Virginia against the Cooch.It can be duplicated.
++I still believe organization triumphs over money.
++One indicator for the pundits is the entry into the New Hampshire Senate race of Scott Brown, who moved to New Hampshire from Massachusetts. In all the polls he runs far behind Jeanne Sheehan. His best poll shows him ten behind.
++The big new this morning is that the GOP will offer up after 6 years an alternative to Obamacare. I won't go into the details until they really,really unveil this alternative. It might be good for Democrats on the campaign trail to ask their GOP counterpart what the alternatives are. We know they want to sell junk insurance across state lines,let small business pool their insurance,have tort reform,and have catastrophic insurance but not have the protections of Obamacare. The initial price tags are an increase in the national debt and the uninsured.
++Brainwrap may end up being right about his 5.5 million prediction. Today,the 5 millionth person signed up for Obamacare.
++The Koch Brothers pulled their anti-Obamcare ads because the pushback from fact-checkers got too much that even the cancer victim had to hide.
++Talking Points Memo had a piece today about how the GOP will monkey around with Obamacare , presuming they win the Senate.
++The mindlessness today reminds me of 2010. But we should withhold judgment until June. The generic poll has Democrats leading except in the NYTimes where Republicans have a 3+ lead. All the Sunday pundits point to Obama's shrinking approval rating as evidence this will be a big year for Republicans. Today's Rasmussen is 49 Approve,49 disapprove, not the territory that W had at this point.
++Republican governors still face uphill battles in Maine, Pennsylvania,Florida, Wisconsin and Georgia. Wendy Davis is only double digits behind in Texas.
++Historically,the President's party gets hit in the 6th year of a presidency. And yes, this year the Democrats are defending more seats than the Republicans. And, yes, the Democrats have only a 36% approval rating. But, the GOP has 20%. That's a winning ticket?
++The American public have lived through the Tea Party revolution and the government shutdown and 52 attempts to repeal Obamacare without a replacement. Will this generate the same type of second term midterm that is projected?
++As the demographic of the GOP base--over 60,white male, I still can't understand why older Americans would favor the GOP when they know they are committed to destroying Social Security, Medicare and are committed to war.
++Millennials have real beefs with the Obama Administration. In particular, the continued issues of the national security state or the Deep State. Dana Millbank reports on this in the Amazon Post. The other critique is that no one was punished for their role in the 2008 collapse of the global economy.
++Any woman who votes for the GOP has to have her head examined now that the war against women has entered into the bizarre realm of trying to outlaw contraceptives, a decision that was made by the Supreme Court before I was a teenager.
++Republicans have vowed nothing significant will be done this year in Congress. A great message to elect them to total control of Congress.
++So where will the economy go. Obama, the Socialist, created the situation where there is now a record millionaires in the United States--9.63, who will of course vote against Democrats. Household wealth is now at 80.7 trillion. Consumer confidence is at its second highest since August. Retail sales increased for the first time in 3 months. As a fed official said, we are not in a "soft patch" in the economy.
++Since the extended unemployed are thought not to vote, the 2 million will have to wait until after the St. Paddy's day congressional break for a Senate vote. The House will probably not vote on it.
++President Obama's directives on overtime tries to remedy a long-time wrong and will affect millions of workers. The private sector are beginning to scream about it.
++With immigration reform receding as the GOP wants to strengthen their white vote, President Obama has decided to review deportation figures.
++Referenda on raising the minimum wage and medical marijuana may serve to get out the Democratic vote in 2014 the way anti-gay marriage votes got out the Republicans. In Florida, where the Democratic party is weak, this would be a big plus in the governor's race of Crist versus Scott.
++The GOP is great at proclaiming victory prematurely. But there is something happening that is under the radar. Last election, I wanted President Obama to campaign in Georgia because I thought he could win it. This year, we have Michelle Nunn, Sam's daughter, and Jason Carter both leading in the Senate and Governor's races.
++The last Alaskan race I liked Senator Begich because of his campaign and no-nonsense ,low-key campaign. I like how he slapped down this year's Koch ads on Obamacare and the cap and trade law--which doesn't exist and won't. I still lean toward him to win re-election.
++The two Democrats I see in trouble are Pryor in Arkansas and Hagen in North Carolina. But they are still competitive in their races. Weirdly, I think Mary Landrieu has a decent chance in Louisiana. The reason is that Jindal's approvals are in the toilet and the gubernatorial race will feature lingerie-wearing Senator Vitter.
++Democrats should consider the mini-Obama strategy that won Virginia against the Cooch.It can be duplicated.
++I still believe organization triumphs over money.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Set The Calendar Again For Another Game
++Watching the Senate slow crawl to a budget deal reminds me of waiting for paint to dry. A sprinkle of nominations continue to be approved. Yes,despite the alarmist news of yesterday, the budget deal made cloture at 67 to 33.
++Now the pundits are gaming the 2014 elections. You see with President Obama at 43% approval rating and the majority of Americans hating both parties,the Amazon Post again raises the possibility of a wave election for the Republicans.
++Paul Ryan is back as Washington's darling, the Jesus of the GOP. The applause is that he has his name on a real piece of legislation. Previously,he got rid of taxes on arrows for bows and arrows and got a post office named.
++Republicans have seen their generic poll gap to Democrats being reversed so their mantra for 2014 is not to do anything at all. They do not want to upset voters with another shutdown. Although they are threatening to hold the debt ceiling hostage. But no one knows when this will take place--somewhere from March to May.
++Scott Brown has moved to New Hampshire and is sounding out whether to run for Senate there, having grown up in southern New Hampshire.
++Like others in the GOP, Brown plans to run against Obamacare.
++Meanwhile Obamacare with its Medicaid expansion has topped the 3 million mark and is climbing. It will be interesting to see how running against it will fly next November.
++Since I bungled on the 2010 elections, I doubt whether I will make any predictions on the House this year. The prize is the Senate. This will be Karl Rove's third consecutive shot at taking over the Senate. If the Democrats can hold for 2014, then 2016 on will look good.
++The contests I am most interested in are the Governors' races--particularly Pennsylvania,Florida and Ohio.
++We should note that the compromise budget is $200 billion less than the Obama budget and lacks unemployment benefits for over 1 million Americans. Somehow the Administration believes that the deal allows them to move ahead on their legislative agenda for the rest of President Obama's term.
++The news stories for the year will be about fake wars in both parties.
++A Federal judge has ruled--sort of--that the NSA domestic spying is unconstitutional. He punted the issue upwards for an appeal by the government before recommending changes.
++The NSA last week suggested Snowden should get amnesty in return for telling them everything he stole.The Obama Administration said no to amnesty. Snowden has asked Brazil for asylum in return for helping them on NSA spying in Brazil.
++Immigration reform advocates still say they can get it passed by the end of next year.
++Now the pundits are gaming the 2014 elections. You see with President Obama at 43% approval rating and the majority of Americans hating both parties,the Amazon Post again raises the possibility of a wave election for the Republicans.
++Paul Ryan is back as Washington's darling, the Jesus of the GOP. The applause is that he has his name on a real piece of legislation. Previously,he got rid of taxes on arrows for bows and arrows and got a post office named.
++Republicans have seen their generic poll gap to Democrats being reversed so their mantra for 2014 is not to do anything at all. They do not want to upset voters with another shutdown. Although they are threatening to hold the debt ceiling hostage. But no one knows when this will take place--somewhere from March to May.
++Scott Brown has moved to New Hampshire and is sounding out whether to run for Senate there, having grown up in southern New Hampshire.
++Like others in the GOP, Brown plans to run against Obamacare.
++Meanwhile Obamacare with its Medicaid expansion has topped the 3 million mark and is climbing. It will be interesting to see how running against it will fly next November.
++Since I bungled on the 2010 elections, I doubt whether I will make any predictions on the House this year. The prize is the Senate. This will be Karl Rove's third consecutive shot at taking over the Senate. If the Democrats can hold for 2014, then 2016 on will look good.
++The contests I am most interested in are the Governors' races--particularly Pennsylvania,Florida and Ohio.
++We should note that the compromise budget is $200 billion less than the Obama budget and lacks unemployment benefits for over 1 million Americans. Somehow the Administration believes that the deal allows them to move ahead on their legislative agenda for the rest of President Obama's term.
++The news stories for the year will be about fake wars in both parties.
++A Federal judge has ruled--sort of--that the NSA domestic spying is unconstitutional. He punted the issue upwards for an appeal by the government before recommending changes.
++The NSA last week suggested Snowden should get amnesty in return for telling them everything he stole.The Obama Administration said no to amnesty. Snowden has asked Brazil for asylum in return for helping them on NSA spying in Brazil.
++Immigration reform advocates still say they can get it passed by the end of next year.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Before The Election--Previews of Things to Come
Elections in Massachusetts have become fairly tame since the days of Louisa Day Hicks, who excited the racist crowd in South Boston. But the Boston Globe today lashed out at the Brown campaign for its attempts at voter suppression and its physical "bullying" of Coakley supporters. An engineer in the western part of the state said he was given a ballot with Brown's name already marked. He politely asked for a clean ballot.
Republicans only have a 15% party identification in the state; Democrats 35% and independents are huge 50%. Republicans--like William Weld and Mitt Romney--can't win office unless they are socially liberal. Yesterday, the Republican-oriented newspaper in Brown's home district brought this home by endorsing Coakley. The reasons were Brown's vocal support for torture, his "ambivalence" on choice (depending on which audience he's talking to) and his statements against gay marriage, calling for a Constitutional Amendment against it. They pointed to Coakley's "well-thought out plan on economics and her fiscal restraint". Curiously missing from the campaign has been Mitt Romney himself, who will vote using his son's address now that he moved to New Hampshire. Sarah Palin has enthusiastically endorsed Brown via her Fox News forum.
So what gives? The optics of the race are quite different whether you are in the State or outside. Outside it's all about healthcare and President Obama. In the state, Brown has tapped state anger at the Governor, the first Democrat after 12 years of Weld and Romney, and cases of corruption in the legislature. It has only been the last few days that Brown has been caught out with his strange new bedfellows the teabaggers and the birthers. In state, he tries to distance himself from this fringe because he knows Massachusetts don't take kindly to them. But to out of state audiences and the right-wing radio crowd he throws them red meat.
But the physical harrassment of Martha Coakley herself and the calling of her supporters "Nazis" allow us to look at what may be the Republican roadmap for the future. Republicans, especially under the tutelage of Karl Rove, are masters of voter suppression--that is their bread and butter. Suppress the available electorate and then use wedge issues to drive victory home. Here, you also have to look at the Brown campaign--it may be a model for the future.
Brown himself is surrounded by Romney staff, who play the moderate Republican card. The entire conservative network is flooding the state with money, including the Tea Bag Express. In many ways, this allows the major corporations to get around the law since these groups are their front organizations. We have the old stand-by the anti-Coakley robocalls--that she protects child abusers, the new epithet--from out of state. The actual Get Out The Vote campaign is being provided by workers hired from temp agencies because the campiagn and the Republican Party do not have enough volunteers.
In short, the whole Brown campaign actually introduces the idea that our political parties now will become "privatized". Except for the handful of Romney aides, everything else is commercial--even the outrage. And, of course, the national media fall for this because the narrative has conflict. Now the teabaggers are accepted as legitimate political forces even though their corporate origins have been examined and laid out ad nauseum.
For its part, the Coakley campaign has the democratic party machine. And now with the urgency of the situation, the labor movements have kicked in, Obama's Organizing for America, and the netroots overcame their progressive disdain for Coakley to fill the breach.
This is what the 2010 elections will look like. It will become double this when the U.S. Supreme Court rules that corporations can give without limit to political campaigns. The corporations will still prefer the astro-turf grass-roots groups because they seem to sanitize their contributions and actually make it appear that their positions are of public concern.
By this morning, Nate The Great Silver believed Coakley only had a 25% chance of winning, a chance from yesterday. Zogby believes Coakley will win. And others believe the electronic Diebold machines will push it toward Brown. I don't have a clue. But the campaign is worth studying for the pyrotechnics we will see this coming year.
Republicans only have a 15% party identification in the state; Democrats 35% and independents are huge 50%. Republicans--like William Weld and Mitt Romney--can't win office unless they are socially liberal. Yesterday, the Republican-oriented newspaper in Brown's home district brought this home by endorsing Coakley. The reasons were Brown's vocal support for torture, his "ambivalence" on choice (depending on which audience he's talking to) and his statements against gay marriage, calling for a Constitutional Amendment against it. They pointed to Coakley's "well-thought out plan on economics and her fiscal restraint". Curiously missing from the campaign has been Mitt Romney himself, who will vote using his son's address now that he moved to New Hampshire. Sarah Palin has enthusiastically endorsed Brown via her Fox News forum.
So what gives? The optics of the race are quite different whether you are in the State or outside. Outside it's all about healthcare and President Obama. In the state, Brown has tapped state anger at the Governor, the first Democrat after 12 years of Weld and Romney, and cases of corruption in the legislature. It has only been the last few days that Brown has been caught out with his strange new bedfellows the teabaggers and the birthers. In state, he tries to distance himself from this fringe because he knows Massachusetts don't take kindly to them. But to out of state audiences and the right-wing radio crowd he throws them red meat.
But the physical harrassment of Martha Coakley herself and the calling of her supporters "Nazis" allow us to look at what may be the Republican roadmap for the future. Republicans, especially under the tutelage of Karl Rove, are masters of voter suppression--that is their bread and butter. Suppress the available electorate and then use wedge issues to drive victory home. Here, you also have to look at the Brown campaign--it may be a model for the future.
Brown himself is surrounded by Romney staff, who play the moderate Republican card. The entire conservative network is flooding the state with money, including the Tea Bag Express. In many ways, this allows the major corporations to get around the law since these groups are their front organizations. We have the old stand-by the anti-Coakley robocalls--that she protects child abusers, the new epithet--from out of state. The actual Get Out The Vote campaign is being provided by workers hired from temp agencies because the campiagn and the Republican Party do not have enough volunteers.
In short, the whole Brown campaign actually introduces the idea that our political parties now will become "privatized". Except for the handful of Romney aides, everything else is commercial--even the outrage. And, of course, the national media fall for this because the narrative has conflict. Now the teabaggers are accepted as legitimate political forces even though their corporate origins have been examined and laid out ad nauseum.
For its part, the Coakley campaign has the democratic party machine. And now with the urgency of the situation, the labor movements have kicked in, Obama's Organizing for America, and the netroots overcame their progressive disdain for Coakley to fill the breach.
This is what the 2010 elections will look like. It will become double this when the U.S. Supreme Court rules that corporations can give without limit to political campaigns. The corporations will still prefer the astro-turf grass-roots groups because they seem to sanitize their contributions and actually make it appear that their positions are of public concern.
By this morning, Nate The Great Silver believed Coakley only had a 25% chance of winning, a chance from yesterday. Zogby believes Coakley will win. And others believe the electronic Diebold machines will push it toward Brown. I don't have a clue. But the campaign is worth studying for the pyrotechnics we will see this coming year.
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