In 1964, the Republican Party nominated Barry Goldwater, who appealed to activists, but was a weak general election candidate. In the long run, the Goldwater movement infused the GOP with energy that helped the party in later election cycles.
What if the Republicans approach the 2012 elections the way they approached the 1964 election? Instead of nominating a strong candidate for the general election the GOP goes with someone like Ron Paul, Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin.
What if Obama decided to be the VP nominee in 2012 and had his delegates nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton?
Find out how much you saved. (The "Making Work Pay" amount from form M is the general one, but there are many new savings listed in the "what's new" section of the directions.) Then tell your friends, even more important, tell your local paper. After the jump is what I wrote to the Chicago Tribune.
When you've written your LTE come back here and list the name of your paper in a comment. If this has scrolled off the screen, write a new diary listing your LTE and enough information that others can copy you.
Will President Barack Obama choose between Pat Quinn or Dan Hynes in the 2010 Illinois Democratic primary for governor?
Perhaps.
In the last week, both the New York Times and the Washington Post report that the Obama White House political operation is picking sides in primaries across the country, and—most notably—trying to push politically enfeebled New York Governor David Paterson out of his state’s primary all together.
Paterson’s job approval rating is hovering at 18% and disapproval at 80%. Ouch.
Here in Illinois, Governor Quinn’s job approval rating is at 39% and disapproval is at 26%, while 35% have no fixed opinion, according to a recent Chicago Tribune poll.
Quinn is not now in a Paterson-like danger zone.
But with a 39% approval and a 35% “no opinion”, Quinn—who inherited his job after the Illinois legislature ceremoniously booted Rod Blagojevich from office —must have landed on some political health “watch list” in the White House.
Others are noticing the impropriety of Obama gallivanting off to Copenhagen at a moment with a second Honduran coup occurring, health care markups, Afghanistan troop demands by his general and an un-employment about to hit 9.8%. Charles Lemos at MyDD says:
The White House has announced that the President will travel to Copenhagen on Thursday in an effort to save Chicago's sagging bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. It is a misuse of the President's time and reflects misplaced priorities.
What's nice is his calling it a sagging bid and Obama changing his mind and now going certainly points to that. Here's something I wasn't aware of:
Chicago is competing with Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Both Madrid and Tokyo have agreed to support Rio de Janeiro's bid once those cities are eliminated from the voting.
The primary reason Team Obama wants other-than-Paterson to head the Democratic ticket in the Empire State is that Paterson is considered a drag on the Democratic ticket.
OK. Is Todd Stroger a drag on the Democratic ticket?
I have a friend who used to be a Republican but felt compelled to leave that allegiance because his particular anti-war beliefs were becoming compromised by the specific Bush war in Iraq. I wonder now how he might feel about the current U.S. regime's involvement in Afghanistan. For those of us who opposed Johnson's escalation in Viet Nam only to see it become Nixon's war followed by nearly forty more years of conservative warmongering, it may be understandable that we would be hesitant to oppose Obama at this juncture. And it doesn't help to have the Nader albatross about our necks.
This is at a time that as Mark Ames has just pointed out, “Obama is doubling down in Afghanistan with more troops deployed now than the Soviets ever had.” Yes, add up US troops and contractors and you get a US invasion of Afghanistan bigger than the Soviet force at its peak.
Is there any sign of life in a movement that marshaled hundreds of thousands to march in protest against war in Iraq? Ah, but those were the Bush years. Now we have a Democrat in the White House.
So, friend, what kind of juggling is going on in your particular political mind now?
It's not often that I have a medium-intersection moment. I just happened to pass a paper Wall Street Journal and an article about health-care caught my eye. In it they quoted Rahm Emanuel saying:
It is more important that health-care legislation inject stiff competition among insurance plans than it is for Congress to create a pure government-run option, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Monday.
"The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest," he said in an interview. "The goal is non-negotiable; the path is" negotiable.
My gut reaction was to distrust the Journal.
But then Adam Green over at the internet blog OpenLeft had this post titled Obama to Rahm: Shut. Up.
I am pleased by the progress we're making on health care reform and still believe, as I've said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest. I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals.
(Green's emphasis) So what do you think? Is that a scolding of Rahm? Political44, linked above, called it a "walk back."
As members of the new Populist caucus some local reps have taken a stand by signing and sending a letter to Obama on the need to approach trade agreements in a better way than the NAFTA style agreements. MyDD has the full list and text here. According to OpenLeft the letter is already effecting the desired results with Obama backing off of support to quickly move the Panama agreement forward. I didn't try to find local supporters from other than Illinois, Iowa and Indiana.
Chicago Magazine has an inside baseball type of story about the nexus of David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel to both Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama, and, on how the two clients of Axelrod both ended up in very different places.
The arrest of Governor Rod Blagojevich in December cast a shadowy light on the relationships among four leading players in the Illinois Democratic Party-Blagojevich, Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and David Axelrod. The new president and his two aides would like to minimize their dealings with the disgraced ex-governor. But the record tells a more complex story
It's called 'Chicago Straight', and it's definitely the kind of story that PSB-ers love to read. Enjoy!
Perhaps to no one's surprise, but to the continuing disappointment of millions of progressives who busted their rears and emptied their wallets in 2006 to elect a Democratic Congress with a mandate to end the war, and who contributed with even greater fervor to elect in 2008 a president whose principal early distinction from his primary opponents was his opposition to the war, the House of Representatives yesterday approved a supplemental appropriations bill that continues to fund and arguably escalates the war in the Middle East and Central Asia. The final vote was 368-60, with 9 Republicans joining 51 Democrats in opposition. Some of the reasons to vote no are articulated by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) in her floor speech:
I like you. I voted for you. But you're lying about the torture photographs.
The photographs and video recordings aren't going to enrage the Iraqi people. What will enrage the Iraqi people is that the U.S. government (the military and civilian chain of command) knew about these abuses (or declined to view the evidence of these abuses) and failed to hold the perpetrators accountable.
This is a Hobbesian choice manufactured by the Bush administration.
Either you side with the U.S. military and conceal egregious abuses of Iraqis. Remember, the U.S. military ostensibly invaded to liberate the Iraqi people.
Or you can choose justice for the victims of torture which risks alienating members of the U.S. military.
Looks like these are the last days of Governor Blagojevich. While there will be a collective sigh of relief across the land that we will have seen the last of this Governor's corrupt rule, it will neither be the last we see of Blagojevich, abuse of power in Illinois government nor the last of the corrupt political system in which the Governor arose.
It is important to realize that this has been a family feud, a war amongst the members of Illinois' political "machine," over who will control the levers of state government (and, thus, the money that flows from it). Ridding ourselves of Rod Blagojevich only removes the most public embarrassment that stems from the corruption endemic to the state's politics. But it won't change the fact that the state remains one of the most corrupt in the nation.
This is Illinois, as one political reporter likes to remind us. Corruption is endemic here. Abuse of power is common. It is, as Illinoisans like to remind outsiders, the price of getting things done. People accept it. That's the way it's been since people can remember.
President Barack Obama is retaining a powerful but controversial weapon left over from the Bush administration's war on terror: Predator missile strikes on Pakistan.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled to senators Tuesday that missile strikes will continue. He did not directly refer to the Predator hunt-and-kill drone program but said the U.S. would continue to strike at al-Qaida inside Pakistan along its border with Afghanistan.
A friend recently expressed skepticism of Obama's policy of continuing to use drone aircraft to launch missiles in Pakistan. I conditionally defended the policy.
I reasoned that if Obama's inaugeration allowed the United States to negotiate new tribal allies that left the Taliban and al Qaeda substantially isolated then it might make sense to continue to use the drone aircraft missile strikes. If there was a chance of delivering a knockout blow it would make sense to continue the drone aircraft missile strikes.
Despite having tickets for one of the closer sections and getting in line well before the gates opened, Lisa and I were still too far from the action to witness it directly. We could just see the Capitol archway from which the dignitaries emerged, but for the action on the platform, we had to scan the nearest jumbotron like everyone else.
Still, it was great to be part of the crowd on this cold but sunny day and to share in the moment. Details after the jump.
No longer see event calendar or event posting capability so hope it's ok if I post event info. We're keeping very busy in Kendall County!
Inauguration Ball Fundraiser
Hosted by the Kendall County Democrats
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Best Western Timber Creek & Inn Suites, 3300 Drew Avenue, Sandwich, IL 60548
Cocktails 6:00pm
Dinner Buffet 7:00pm
Entertainment & Dancing 8:00pm until ...
Cash Bar - 50/50 Raffle
I've taken a slew of calls from national political reporters and other people who live outside of Illinois on the Blagojevich impeachment proceedings. The first thing I tell them is that this isn't political, and it isn't legal. These proceedings are personal. And there isn't a damn thing that's going to happen until the Illinois Supreme Court rules on Lisa Madigan's motion. Period.
Trying to understand what is happening through the lens of public opinion polls or reading the Constitution won't help. There's only one poll that matters. What does Michael Madigan (Illinois House Speaker and proud papa of Illinois' Attorney General, Lisa Madigan) want (and when)?
Like I said, nothing's going to happen until the Supreme Court decides on Lisa's motion.
Blagojevich's slip fuels Davis speculation
By Klaus Marre
Posted: 11/28/08 10:51 AM [ET]
A slip of the tongue from Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) is fueling speculation that Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) could be chosen as President-elect Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate.
Blagojevich referred to Davis as "senator," according to the Associated Press. The lawmaker has expressed an interest in the position and the governor said Davis would make a great senator.
In a telephone poll commissioned by Friends of Sandi Jackson, Illinois voters preferred Congressman Jesse Jackson over nine other people who might be considered possible replacements. The list included Tammy Duckworth, Jan Schakowsky and Danny Davis.
Commissioned by Jackson's wife (to whom Jr. moved hundreds of thousands of dollars before her election to the Chicago City Council) means that state political dollars were used, and not those falling under the rules of the FEC. Illinois has no limit on the amount that someone can give a state political committee. Contributions to federal campaigns are currently limited to $2,300 per cycle.
The survey, conducted Nov. 5-6, 2008, shows that, given a choice of 10 possible candidates, 21% think Gov. Rod Blagojevich should appoint Jackson to the seat when Obama leaves it vacant to ascend to the presidency, far more than the rest of the field. Tammy Duckworth, a former Democratic congresswoman candidate from a suburban Chicago district, is the only other potential candidate to win double-digit support -14% said she should be appointed.
