Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer just signed a horribly regressive immigration bill that will virtually ensure that Arizona goes blue in the near future. She gave her base what it wanted, and gave her state's eleven electoral votes (based on projections for 2012) to Democrats in the process.
Note: McCain/Palin staffers have admitted that if the Republican nominee had not been the state's senior senator, Arizona would have probably gone for Obama/Biden in 2008.
2010 - John McCain (or J.D. Hayworth) will face a solid Democrat in Rodney Glassman.
2012 - Arizona other Senator, GOP whip Jon Kyl will be in the fight of his political life. He'll probably lose. AZ goes blue at the presidential level.
This could have a major impact throughout the Cactus Corner. We've seen a dramatic shift over the last few cycles in New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado. Arizona was already next on the list. And then there's the GOP's worst nightmare; something that rarely gets coverage, but is a total game changer: Texas going blue. This is a real possibility in the next decade.
A new CNN poll shows support for the Obama Administration's plan to reduce nuclear weapons is 42% higher than opposition.
Support - 70%
Oppose - 28%
We've seen this movie before.
During the 2008 Democratic primary, after then - Senator Obama made the case for direct diplomacy, many pundits claimed that it would cost him. It didn't. In fact, numerous polls showed around 70% of the country agreed with him.
There is high support for repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and much of the opposition is generational.
Opinion on the escalation in Afghanistan is still split fairly evenly. But it's likely that it will move toward those of us who believe the escalation is a mistake in the near future.
Not to mention that in 2004, the idea that a national Democrat could have opposed the war in Iraq from the start and win was derided by many, including some in our party. Now... well, who is the president again?
My point here is that strong Democrats shouldn't run from right - wing talking points on national security / foreign policy. There's nothing to be afraid of. As always, we can't be stupid about what we say, but we shouldn't fear political attacks from the likes of Cheneys, Bill Kristol, Sarah Palin, and Rudy Giuliani. If we're silent -- as all too often we've been -- the GOP is going to gain ground. Running from them is the problem, not the solution. If we assert ourselves, these are debates we can win.
Note: Greg Sargent and Joan McCarter have done a really good job of covering the lack of a sustained Democratic pushback to GOP attacks on these issues.
Earlier this week, President Obama took steps toward reigning in nuclear weapons that are about as common sense as it gets.
Right - wing media figures, including self - described "common sense conservative" Sarah Palin jumped at the chance to read from the "you can't trust Democrats on national security" script.
It became clear that Palin is either unaware of or ignoring Ronald Reagan's approach to this very issue.
This morning, President Obama was asked about Palin's comments. Let's just say that he showed great restraint in his answer.
President Obama Presses for Answers on Mine Safety
Focus on Safety, Enforcement Effectiveness
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The President has tasked Federal mine safety officials to report next week on their initial assessment of the cause of the nation's worst coal mining disaster in more than a quarter century, and what actions could prevent further tragedies in this industry.
The President will meet next week with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Mine Safety and Health Administrator Joe Main. He expects them to report on their early assessment of the deadly explosion's cause, the safety record at the Upper Branch mine, and the steps that the Federal government should take to improve safety enforcement and prevent future tragedies. The Secretary and MSHA Administrator will address safety issues as well as enforcement and legal authorities in their briefing.
My next couple of posts are going to be fairly critical of President Obama on working / Middle Class issues, so I wanted to give credit where it's due.
Becker, who Senate Republicans (along with Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln) fiercely oppose because of his pro - labor credentials, is finally headed to the NLRB.
Mark Pearce also received a recess appointment.
Credit to the White House for doing the right thing here. Expect a total Republican freakout over this in the coming days.
UPDATE:
John Judis wrote a really good piece on why Becker matters at the beginning of the month.
At the end of this month, Obama will have a chance to prove these critics wrong. It would certainly be the politically smart thing to do. Labor remains essential to the Democratic coalition, and, given that Obama cannot offer unions what they really want--the Employee Free Choice Act--he can at least mollify them with this. More than a shrewd political move, however, filling the vacancies on the NLRB is the right thing to do. It is a small agency but an important one. And, as long as it remains crippled, one of the core philosophical commitments of the Democratic Party--the idea that workers ought to have some counterweight to the overwhelming power of big business--goes unfulfilled.
The president will sign health insurance legislation into law in around two hours. Below are some reactions to Sunday night's vote in the House to pass the bill.
If the hearing word bipartisan makes you want to commit senseless acts of violence, chances are that you are probably one of those pacifist liberals. Just like so many words in American politics, bipartisan no longer means what we think it means. It would also seem that "progressive action" has come to mean being in the constant state of erasing lines in the sand.
All this time so many Democratic supporters were thinking that Social Security and Medicare represented the backbone of the Party of FDR but in the spirit of bipartisanship our Democratic president recently appointed a Republican as the chairman of the euphemistically named National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. That way the former Republican Senator from Wyoming can "save" the United States from "insolvency" by hacking away at Social Security and Medicare.
Yesterday there was this story by James Ridgeway and he seems to have understood what to expect from the beginning. It really helps to redefine bipartisanship and understand where progress will be going under "bipartisan Democrats."
On Friday, Rachel Maddow covered the conservative movement's latest desperate attempt to pin something nefarious on President Obama. Since this stuff matters a lot to Republicans, I'm launching the President Obama Conspiracy Generator in an effort to be more bipartisan.
It's the same old story. Another slap in the face to both organized labor and the entire middle class as both Craig Becker and the National Labor Relations Board are in limbo. Harry Reid called for recess appointments, The AFL-CIO sprang into action and the president's response is limbo continued. There is nothing this Democratic president can do for such close allies? As workers are wondering if a functioning NLRB is being saved for October of 2012 this all seems so 1994. But top that off with Obama's lust for the HCR excise tax and it gets so much worse.
In the debate over the finance of health insurance expansion it would be worth noting that the wealthy who voted for Barack Obama and supported the Democratic party fully expected that healthcare reform would be financed by a roll back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year. The union members who voted for, stuffed envelopes, reached into their pockets an organized fundraisers, were under the impression that they would see some much needed advancement from a Democratic president after eight years of Bush.
By now most progressive bloggers have moved way beyond these workers who have been losing ground since the 1970's. It has been rationalized to death so everyone could move on to the next action, followed by the next capitulation, followed by the next wild goose chase towards progress. Come November blue collar workers, like Massachusetts voters recently, might end up being framed as stupid for protecting themselves from harm.
Distrust for government seems to work for Republicans, not for Democrats. As the public option is being presented once again, probably another carrot on a string, a deeper look at this excise tax that will live in the memories of workers for many years is in order. How much trust will be left between the workers and Democratic leadership once this excise tax becomes law and in years to come?
This is the first post in a series on the Obama presidency. It's a round - up of what I saw as the most salient parts of the discussion that took place at The American Prospect and Huffington Post as the Obama Administration approached the one year mark.
This is the final preliminary post in a series on the Obama presidency that was initially going to be posted after the health care reform effort was finished in December of last year. Continuing to wait for a resolution on this issue would push the series back even further, so I'm going to post it now with a scaled down health care section.
In the two months since this original version of this post was written, there have been new developments that have cast John Edwards in an increasingly negative light. Everytime I think this story has hit bottom, I'm proven wrong. There are bound to be very strong feelings about this, but I believe that at the bottom of this mess there is something very important, despite how far one of its most recent champions has fallen. The goal of this post is to take another look at why the 2008 Edwards campaign was supported by many in the Democratic base (especially labor and the progressive blogosphere), and the aspects of the campaign and its message that are especially relevant today.
Below is an overview of where I was coming from when I supported Edwards, and where I'm coming from now. This is meant to be a discussion starter. Feel free to weigh in.
