This post originally appeared at the Political Animal.
We’ll know soon enough what the midterm elections have in store for us, but it’s interesting to see how political observers prepare for the likely outcome. Given the expected rancor and gridlock, it’s not unreasonable to wonder just how bad things might get in 2011 and 2012.
For some, there’s no reason to be too worried. Over the last couple of decades, we’ve seen the White House change party hands more than once, and the same goes for fleeting congressional majorities. We’ve been pushed to the brink, and some constitutional crises have popped up, but we’ve generally weathered some unpleasant storms. For much of the ’90s, we even enjoyed peace and prosperity.
For others, the avoidable future poses a more a serious danger. Paul Krugman, expecting a GOP majority, noted yesterday that “this is going to be terrible.” READ FULL POST
This post originally appeared at Political Animal.
In Florida’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, the campaign has unfolded exactly as the center-left feared — the far-right former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) is cruising to a comfortable victory, as former Gov. Charlie Crist (I) and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) split the reasonable vote. READ FULL POST
This post first appeared on Washington Monthly.
Even during an election cycle with some truly breathtaking Republican candidates, Ohio’s Rich Iott seemed to stand out. Iott, recruited by the NRCC to take on Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) in Ohio’s 9th district, hadn’t made much of a name for himself, until we learned he spent years dressing up as a Nazi for recreational purposes.
The story seemed to run its course a couple of weeks ago. The NRCC put some distance between Iott and the party, and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) denounced Iott’s recreational habits on national television.
But House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), the would-be Speaker, has a very different approach.
This post first appeared on Washington Monthly.
Republican candidates’ antipathy for constitutional principles has been on display quite a bit lately, but ThinkProgress flags another gem this morning, highlighting extremist Senate candidate Ken Buck’s (R) approach to church-state separation.
This post first appeared on Washington Monthly.
Over the summer, there was a major egg recall, following at least 1,300 salmonella-related illnesses spanning 22 states over the summer. The Washington Post reported in August that the outbreak highlights the need to fix “the holes in the country’s food safety net.”
That truth was hard to deny, and even harder to ignore. As we learned more about the story, we saw that the salmonella problems stemmed from an uninspected producer in Iowa, with a record of health, safety, labor, and other violations that go back 20 years. The need for better regulations and enforcement has been obvious for decades, but conservative, anti-regulatory lawmakers have consistently put industry profits above public safety.
This post originally appeared at the Political Animal.
With several recent youth suicides stemming from anti-gay bullying, an initiative like the It Gets Better Project has an opportunity to make an enormous difference. As part of the effort, created last month by Dan Savage, people from a variety of backgrounds submit videos reminding LGBT young people that in time, life really does get better, even if it’s hard to imagine a better future now.
Last night, the initiative received a major boost from the White House, with President Obama recording a video for the project. READ FULL POST
This post first appeared on the Washington Monthly.
For a couple of weeks, a wide variety of pundits have said Democrats are making a mistake focusing on undisclosed contributions fueling Republicans in the midterms. Much of the political establishment has concluded that of all the issues on voters’ minds, no one really cares about secret, possibly foreign, campaign donations.
There’s been at least some evidence to suggest the pundits are wrong, and more evidence continues to arrive. Take the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, for example.
This post first appeared on Washington Monthly.
Pundits continue to argue that Democrats are making a big mistake focusing on undisclosed contributions fueling Republican hopes in the midterms. The argument from the establishment, in a nutshell, is that no one really cares.
With at least some evidence that the pundits are wrong, the Democratic National Committee launched this new ad overnight, continuing to hammer the attack ads fueled by secret money. For those of you who can’t watch clips from your work computers, a voice-over tells viewers, “You’ve seen the ads. Millions being spent by right wing groups to buy an election — all from secret donors. What’s not a secret is why. Republicans and their corporate buddies want to be back in charge. Wall Street writing its own rules again. Big oil and Insurance Companies calling the shots. More jobs shipped overseas. Millions in attack ads to put the corporate interests back in charge.
This post first appeared on Washington Monthly.
Ken Buck has already made quite a name for himself as Colorado’s right-wing Senate candidate. From extremist positions on the issues to inexplicable professional misjudgments, the Republican nominee stands out — but not in a good way.
This morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” viewers got another opportunity to get to know Buck. Host David Gregory noted to the GOP challenger, “In a debate last month, you expressed your support for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell [and] you alluded to ‘lifestyle choices.’ Do you believe being gay say choice?”
This post first appeared on Washington Monthly.
The U.S. Senate race in Illinois is one of the most competitive contests in the country, with recent polls showing an extremely tight race between state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) and Tommy Flanagan impersonator, Rep. Mark Kirk (R).
Ideally, with just 20 days to go, the campaigns would be doing everything possible to get their supporters ready to vote on Nov. 2. In Kirk’s case, however, this is right about the time to work on preventing some voters from participating at all.
In a private phone conversation that was secretly recorded, Mark Kirk, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois, told state Republican leaders last week about his plan to send “voter integrity” squads to four predominately African American neighborhoods of Chicago “where the other side might be tempted to jigger the numbers somewhat.”
Kirk’s campaign confirmed the candidate was secretly taped last week as he was talking about his anti-voter fraud effort. [...]
As TPMMuckraker has reported, accusations from conservatives that ineligible voters are fraudulently stealing elections for Democrats have continued to fly in the 2010 campaign cycle, despite the lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud. “Voter fraud” has been the rally cry for conservative groups seeking to make it more difficult to cast ballots and suppress minority voter turnout.
The story was originally uncovered by the Illinois-based ArchPundit.
Regrettably, this isn’t new — GOP efforts to combat non-existent “voter fraud” have been ongoing for years, but evidence of actual wrongdoing has remained elusive. The fear on the right isn’t about anyone trying to “jigger the numbers”; it’s about reducing the number of minorities who participate in an election.
One can only wonder what it’d be like if candidates like Kirk spent as much energy trying to get these voters to support him as trying to keep them from casting a ballot.
