Campaign and Election News – Covering Key Races Around the Country
Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?
199 thoughts on “Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?”
What books would you recommend for fellow SSPers?
My pick is “The Earl of Louisiana”. It provides a very entertaining account of Earl Long’s quest to regain the governorship in the 1959-1960 Louisiana Gubernatorial Election. It’s a very fun read and gives a good feel for Southern politics of the era. Its description of Louisiana politics (aside from there being no real Republican Party at the time) holds up well. Great pick for anyone interested in politics of the era or Louisiana politics in general.
Has anybody here watched the 8.5-hour filibuster that Sen. Bernie Sanders (my home-state Senator, for full disclosure) of Vermont launched late this morning? He wrapped it up about half an hour ago. Sanders was ranting and raving about his opposition to the tax cut deal.
Epic!
If a Treebagger falls in the forest, will anybody give a crap?
This guy Boland sounds pretty good. 100% rating from the LCV, 88% lifetime rating from the AFL-CIO, 100% rating from Planned Parenthood, 18% from the Chamber of Commerce, and 89% from Citizen Action Illinois (a group pushing for “lower utility rates, fair taxes, affordable and quality health care, insurance and campaign finance reform, and stronger environmental and food safety protections”).
I know presidential stuff isn’t supposed to be allowed here, but it will certainly affect downticket races. This is the first evidence that the tax cut deal is going to hurt downballot:
“He’s having the worst of both worlds right now,” said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in New York, which conducted the national survey.
“As he moves to the center, he’s not picking up support among independents and he’s having some fall-off among his base. If his strategy is to gain independents and keep the Democrats in tow, it isn’t working so far.”
The poll was taken from Dec. 2 through Wednesday, as the president proposed a two-year freeze on federal civilian workers’ pay and cut a deal with congressional Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts – even those for the wealthy, which he’d opposed.
Overall, just 42 percent of registered voters approve of how he’s doing his job, while 50 percent disapprove.
Obama’s standing among Democrats dropped from a month ago, with his approval rating falling to 74 percent from 83 percent, and his disapproval rating almost doubling, from 11 percent to 21 percent.
Among liberals, his approval rating dropped from 78 percent to 69 percent and his disapproval rating jumped from 14 percent to 22 percent.
His position among independents remained virtually the same, with 39 percent approving and 52 percent disapproving. A month ago, it was 38-54.
sorry i can’t link to just the article. seriously, WTF? is he afraid of pence? he thinks he can challenge obama from the middle? He says it’s because of his sons, but how many times have politician’s said it was their family? every time. unless he’s not physically, or mentally well and he just doesn’t want to say it, what a weiner!
here in Minneapolis. I live on Lowry hill and my roommate couldnt make it up it in his car so he had to park in a downtown ramp and walk 15 blocks home from work.
Hope everyone else is having a lovely outdoors weekend. 🙂
It lays out the candidates on both sides well. At the moment both primaries look like it’ll be an elected official versus a millionaire. The article is focused mainly on Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, who’s aiming to be the first black governor of the state, but it has some good info on the others as well. Well worth reading.
“This president has to succeed. We all have an enormous amount of capital invested in his success,” the mayor said. “His success is the country’s success.”
He said voters unhappy with Obama will have a chance to vote for someone else in two years “but right now we should all pull together… and make sure that this president is successful.”
He also said, “We don’t give him enough credit” especially for promoting American exports when he visits foreign countries
Almost sounds like an endorsement to me.
Here’s an interesting article on the GOP field for FL-Sen.
It describes Haridopolos as the frontrunner, but I’m not at all sure I agree. I think if Mack IV runs, he’ll be the frountrunner. His dad was a very popular senator and he’ll have any number of contacts who he can raise funds with and Haridopolos just isn’t that well known statewide. Mack’s also fairly conservative and would probably be a better fit to take on Nelson. I don’t honestly think LeMieux is going to get much momentum.
While it’s true that Mack would be risking a safe seat in congress, it’s worth noting that his father did the same thing. When he jumped into the race back in 1988, it was against the very popular Lawton Chiles. It was only after Mack III was in and running that Chiles dropped out and was replaced by Askew (who also dropped out!) and eventually Mack went on to beat Buddy McKay. So taking risks runs in the family. And even if Mack were to lose, his wife (Mary Bono Mack) would still be in the House.
I don’t see Nelson as terribly vulnerable – he’ll rise or fall with the fortunes of the Democrats. If they have a good year, I’d expect him to win. But if it’s marginal and the GOP has a good candidate, I would think that would be enough for him to lose. For sure, he’s going to give the Dems heartburn for the next two years as he tacks to the right.
First of all, does anyone think he will use his newfound celebrity to run, either as an independent or in the primary? If he did run as an independent, who would be potential running mates? Dean is out, since they both live in VT, unless Dean has moved. Feingold would be good, since he has $1 million left in his campaign account. The only other person I could see from elective office would be Dennis Kucinich. I’m not familiar with big non-office holding names on the left, who else is there? He could also pick a statewide office holder somewhere, or a state legislator, or something.
What the progressives forget is that black intellectuals have been called “paranoid,” “bitter,” “rowdy,” “angry,” “bullies,” and accused of tirades and diatribes for more than 100 years.
snip
Unlike white progressives, blacks and Latinos are not used to getting it all. They know how it feels to be unemployed and unable to buy your children Christmas presents. They know when not to shout. The president, the coolest man in the room, who worked among the unemployed in Chicago, knows too.
What books would you recommend for fellow SSPers?
My pick is “The Earl of Louisiana”. It provides a very entertaining account of Earl Long’s quest to regain the governorship in the 1959-1960 Louisiana Gubernatorial Election. It’s a very fun read and gives a good feel for Southern politics of the era. Its description of Louisiana politics (aside from there being no real Republican Party at the time) holds up well. Great pick for anyone interested in politics of the era or Louisiana politics in general.
Has anybody here watched the 8.5-hour filibuster that Sen. Bernie Sanders (my home-state Senator, for full disclosure) of Vermont launched late this morning? He wrapped it up about half an hour ago. Sanders was ranting and raving about his opposition to the tax cut deal.
Epic!
If a Treebagger falls in the forest, will anybody give a crap?
http://www.rollcall.com/news/-…
This guy Boland sounds pretty good. 100% rating from the LCV, 88% lifetime rating from the AFL-CIO, 100% rating from Planned Parenthood, 18% from the Chamber of Commerce, and 89% from Citizen Action Illinois (a group pushing for “lower utility rates, fair taxes, affordable and quality health care, insurance and campaign finance reform, and stronger environmental and food safety protections”).
I know presidential stuff isn’t supposed to be allowed here, but it will certainly affect downticket races. This is the first evidence that the tax cut deal is going to hurt downballot:
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/201…
I wonder if he thinks this will help him when he takes on Judas in 2012. Connecticut is a very liberal state, but it’s also a very rich state
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/…
Phila-Mayor.
if party switching in the South matters anymore, but the GOP now has a supermajority in the TX House:
http://www.texastribune.org/te…
http://blog.washingtonpost.com…
sorry i can’t link to just the article. seriously, WTF? is he afraid of pence? he thinks he can challenge obama from the middle? He says it’s because of his sons, but how many times have politician’s said it was their family? every time. unless he’s not physically, or mentally well and he just doesn’t want to say it, what a weiner!
here in Minneapolis. I live on Lowry hill and my roommate couldnt make it up it in his car so he had to park in a downtown ramp and walk 15 blocks home from work.
Hope everyone else is having a lovely outdoors weekend. 🙂
http://www.clarionledger.com/a…
It lays out the candidates on both sides well. At the moment both primaries look like it’ll be an elected official versus a millionaire. The article is focused mainly on Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, who’s aiming to be the first black governor of the state, but it has some good info on the others as well. Well worth reading.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40…
Almost sounds like an endorsement to me.
Here’s an interesting article on the GOP field for FL-Sen.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/p…
It describes Haridopolos as the frontrunner, but I’m not at all sure I agree. I think if Mack IV runs, he’ll be the frountrunner. His dad was a very popular senator and he’ll have any number of contacts who he can raise funds with and Haridopolos just isn’t that well known statewide. Mack’s also fairly conservative and would probably be a better fit to take on Nelson. I don’t honestly think LeMieux is going to get much momentum.
While it’s true that Mack would be risking a safe seat in congress, it’s worth noting that his father did the same thing. When he jumped into the race back in 1988, it was against the very popular Lawton Chiles. It was only after Mack III was in and running that Chiles dropped out and was replaced by Askew (who also dropped out!) and eventually Mack went on to beat Buddy McKay. So taking risks runs in the family. And even if Mack were to lose, his wife (Mary Bono Mack) would still be in the House.
I don’t see Nelson as terribly vulnerable – he’ll rise or fall with the fortunes of the Democrats. If they have a good year, I’d expect him to win. But if it’s marginal and the GOP has a good candidate, I would think that would be enough for him to lose. For sure, he’s going to give the Dems heartburn for the next two years as he tacks to the right.
First of all, does anyone think he will use his newfound celebrity to run, either as an independent or in the primary? If he did run as an independent, who would be potential running mates? Dean is out, since they both live in VT, unless Dean has moved. Feingold would be good, since he has $1 million left in his campaign account. The only other person I could see from elective office would be Dennis Kucinich. I’m not familiar with big non-office holding names on the left, who else is there? He could also pick a statewide office holder somewhere, or a state legislator, or something.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12…
snip
cue the sound of conservatives orgasming.