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Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?

by: James L.

Sat Sep 19, 2009 at 1:11 AM EDT


Shanah Tova!
James L. :: Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?
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Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In? | 88 comments
Happy 5770!
It's the 70's again!  Does this mean disco's back?

21, male, CA-15 (home and voting there), LA-2 (college)


Well...
I don't know about disco, but I'd love to see a return to 70s-style cinema and more 70s-era classic rock.

Damn! Why'd the Baby Boomers get all the great music while mine (the Milennials) got nothing?

[ Parent ]
Well
at least for those of us born in the early to mid 80s, in the 90s we got lots of great music and especially awesome TV shows. They started dying off at around the turn of the millennium.

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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Agreed
Plenty of great music and TV shows in the '90s.
[ Parent ]
Including these.
[ Parent ]
Today's good music is underground/indie
You have to look harder to find it.
[ Parent ]
RI-Governor
Now that Lincoln Chafee is pretty much officially in, it looks like he's the unofficial frontrunner. I haven't heard much from the Democrats about who wants to run. As for the Republicans, I'm leaving them out of the picture because at this point they're a non-factor. This race is pretty much going to come down to Chafee vs Democrat, just like in Massachusetts with Patrick vs Cahill. And if Maine has a strong independent running, we'll have three New England states with third party candidates making a strong contention.

On a more personal note, I was playing Beatles Rock Band last night, and I'm disappointed that the more famous songs weren't on it (i.e. She Loves You). Most of them were songs I've never heard of (i.e. Taxman, I am the Walrus). I mean, what the?  

Taxman? I Am the Walrus?
Seriously, I can't tell if you're joking or not.

They will probably eventually put every single Beatles song on the game as DLC (except for the ones like Revolution 9 and Goodnight that wouldn't exactly translate to Rock Band), though, so don't worry.

[ Parent ]
Not Joking
Okay, Taxman I may have heard mentioned briefly sometime before, but I am the Walrus I've never heard of. Sorry for not being THAT into the Beatles as many other people, but I'm more of a Michael Jackson fan (you know, before he went insane).
[ Parent ]
Maybe four.
Vermont, as always, has the Progressive Party, and though both Dem frontrunners are doing their best to smooth things out with the Progs so that the Progs don't kneecap them, good ol' Anthony Nader Pollina could easily run again for the 97th time on a "more ego stroking for me" platform.

It'd be hilarious if we could get it up to 6/6, but Rell and Lynch are both incumbents, and both are way too popular to fall to a member of the opposite party, let alone an independent.

[ Parent ]
Virginia's House of Delegates
I've put up my third update on the hot races here in November:

http://swingstateproject.com/d...

Even though Deeds is still behind, the Democrats' position is relatively strong for the House. I doubt there would be a turnover of the six seats needed to take control of the House, but I think it's likely the margin would narrow, possibly by as much as 4 seats. And there are rumors that one or two Rs in the House would vote for a Democratic speaker over Speaker Howell. Not sure if there is any truth to that, but I'd welcome any opportunity to get rid of him.

California State Legislature
Just posted my SSP-style ratings and Cook PVIs for each district. http://www.swingstateproject.c...

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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
RI
It will be pretty sad if we can't capture the RI Gov house yet again after losing 2x to a Conservative.

Why didn't the Dems approach Chaffee about running as a Dem?

29/D/Male/NY-01

RI Dems probably did
I know he was pressured to switch while a senator, but refused.  If he ran as a Democrat for governor, with other strong established Democrats already in the race, he could easily lose the primary.  His best path to the governorship would be as an independent.  So he's taking it.
[ Parent ]
Why would it be so sad for Chafee to win as an independent?
He's a good guy who would probably do well by the people of Rhode Island. Isn't that more important than whether he runs on a party line or not, since we don't have to be concerned with who he votes for for Senate Majority Leader in this situation?

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
I don't think it's sad at all.
I'm cheering him on. If I lived in RI, and control of the Senate wasn't at stake in '06, I'd have voted for him enthusiastically.

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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
While Chafee is a liberal on social issues
he is a moderate on economic issues.  I wouldn't have counted on his vote for a public option, card check, or other votes for the middle class.  While Chafee would have had no problem in voting for deregulation.

If Chafee had switched parties, he'd be similar to Dianne Feinstein, probably a tad more conservative.

[ Parent ]
Well...
Considering that the Republicans have all of 6 seats (out of 75) in the House and 4 seats (out of 38) in the Senate, I can't imagine how much that'll matter.

Either way, I suspect that Chafee would be more like Jeffords, especially considering that he'd have to deal with a primary challenge anyways.

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

[ Parent ]
Hold up
Maybe I'm behind the curve, but I don't recall seeing any polling on this race. Sure, we can assume Chafee's in a commanding position, but Lynch as I understand it is a fairly popular statewide official.

On an unrelated note - if Patrick Lynch were to be elected governor of Rhode Island and John Lynch were to be re-elected in New Hampshire (pretty much a pre-ordained conclusion should he run), it would create the second pair of governors in the same region to share the same last name, joining Sonny and Bev Perdue in Georgia and North Carolina, respectively.

Sometimes I wonder if I have more important things to think about.

Male, 23, DC-At Large

[ Parent ]
Rick Perry declares his state recession-proof
and jokes that he didn't know we're in one

I still think he beats Hutchison on account of the Glenn Beck crowd, but if the eventual Democratic nominee can't make this stick to him, we deserve to lose the race.

We're recession-proof? Really?
Looks like my employer missed the memo. Like HarrisCountyBrian, I work in retail and my employer is also cutting back on hours and three of my colleagues got fired in a matter of one month.

Is Governor 39% just asking to lose?

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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)

[ Parent ]
New NJ Poll
Courtesy of Neighborhood Research(R)

Registered Voters
Christie: 37

Corzine: 33

Daggett: 8

"Definite Voters"
Christie: 40

Corzine: 33

http://politicalwire.com/archi...

AKA Rick Shaftan
Neighborhood Research is Rick Shaftan's polling firm, and Rick Shaftan is a far-right-wing political consultant who managed Steve Lonegan's failed primary campaign for governor earlier this year. He's got an agenda to serve: Make Chris Christie look bad. And if you read Shaftan's analysis, he sure does go out of his way to do that.
[ Parent ]
CA-Gov
 Bill Clinton Endorses Gavin Newsom.  Game Changer or to little, too late?

After reading a poll showing Newsome losing to Brown in his own damn city, I felt like he was toast.  How likely is Newsom to win the primary?

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)

Seems pretty unlikely to me
Newsom just isn't an appealing candidate. He's pretty conservative on fiscal issues, so he's not attractive to the left, and the whole gay marriage thing is not going to endear him to the middle. Brown also has statewide recognition and a large fundraising lead.
[ Parent ]
I think it could be close
Most Californians don't have a good sense of Newsom, though of course San Franciscans do. His relative unpopularity there will be a problem. But he's young, handsome, and his image is malleable. Brown is older, better financed, and better known. If Newsom can find the funding and come up with some canny TV ads, he could make it a race.

It's unclear to me at this point which of them is more progressive, and which would make a better governor. I'll probably vote for the one who looks as though he can rein in the legislative Republicans who, though a distinct minority, have been calling most of the shots in recent years.

[ Parent ]
re Olympia Snowe
Sen. Jay Rockefeller:
I think the world of Olympia Snowe. She's got incredible courage, and the Republican leadership is brutal in the way they apply pressure. Much more so than the Democrats... They bring the hammer down on her, and I'm not going to say how.
http://politicalwire.com/archi...
So why doesn't she just switch parties? Her caucus hates her. Most conservatives loath her. Seems to me her life would be so much easier and much more pleasant.

(This in in accord with a comment James L. made a couple days ago, to wit: never underestimate the ability of the Repub caucus to whip their members.)

I'd be fine with a Specter 2.0...
Look and what it did for us, it made Specter less of a moderate by way of voting.

I will still support Sestak though.  Specter seemed far to willing to buck the Repubs based on a tough primary, only to be met with another primary.  Sestak is keeping him honest on the left, but if he wins, I really doubt he will stay there.

As for Snowe, she doesn't need this, and I would hope she changes parties as well, lest she face a tough primary in 2012.

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)

[ Parent ]
More likely
she'll just retire in 2012. Granted, she isn't old (only 62), but I read somewhere that she has very severe arthritis and may decide that all this aggravation just isn't worth it.
[ Parent ]
It's difficult for me to imagine
what they could be holding over her. It's not like they have any leadership positions to offer, and she's probably indestructible in Maine. I would say that the biggest political threat to her is if she's seen as a tool of southern Republicans.  
[ Parent ]
The Top Post on Finance
They could be telling her she'll never get the ranking/chair position on Finance. Only Grassley and Hatch rank above her on the panel, and both are a lot older than she is.
[ Parent ]
Republicans don't do chairmanship by senority anymore
There is no way they'll ever let her take the top spot at Finance.

My main reason for believing she won't switch is that she truly believes in the platform of the Republican Party and wants it to go back to that platform, the way it was...in Maine...when she joined it...in the 1970s and as long as she isn't threatened in Maine, as Specter was in Pennsylvania, she can keep being that voice.

Republicans will never oust her in a primary, and she'll never lose a general election.

[ Parent ]
Are you sure she isnt going to be threated?
I would assume all the moderate republicans changed party affiliation to vote in the Democratic Presidential Primary in 2008.  Now all that is left in the republican party, as in many states, are the crazies.

If someone wants to Primary either Snowe or Collins to the right, when they are up for re-election, I think they are toast.

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)

[ Parent ]
I don't think this is true in Maine
I would assume all the moderate republicans changed party affiliation to vote in the Democratic Presidential Primary in 2008.

Anyway, couldn't they change back, if a senator they like is primaried by some nut?

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

[ Parent ]
Conventional wisdom on party affiliation
Is that people don't change it unless they are really involved politicly.  Joe schmoe isn't going to go from repub to dem to repub again just to vote onthe primarys.  Thy likely will just stay where they were after voting in the primary.

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)
[ Parent ]
I should probebly clairify that
Regular folks don't really care about their registration status, unless they are interested in one parties primary.  Hence, moderate republicans likely switched over to democratic registration in Maine to vote for either Hillary or Barack.  Since they did this, they will likely not move back, just due to lazyness.

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)
[ Parent ]
Doesn't look like that many changed parties
In November 2006, there were 309,525 Democrats, 279,641 Republicans, and 375,235 unenrolled. In November 2008, there were 334,462 Democrats, 276,850 Republicans, and 385,712 unenrolled. Maybe some switched, but not a whole lot.
[ Parent ]
Who exactly?
The Maine Republican party is really composed of people like Snowe and Collins, there is no conservative base to challenge them.

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

[ Parent ]
Beleive me, there are crazies everywhere...
Its similar to what happened in in PA.  There were moderate repubs that wanted Specter to be the nominee in 2004.  Those people likely switched to democratic registration because the republican nomination was already secure by that point, and that the battle between Barack and Hillary was going on for such a long time.

This is one of the main reasons why Toomey was polling so strongly, of registered republicans, there are only the conservatives left.

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)

[ Parent ]
Maine and Pennsylvania are two very different states
As someone who has been to Maine on several occasions, I can tell you that the Republicans who live in Maine tend to be quite moderate.

Either way, Maine held caucuses, and there were only like 3300 attendees (that's nowhere near enough to make a dent in a primary election).

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

[ Parent ]
Nate Silver
Said on MSNBC the day Specter switched parties that Maine Republicans are more of the libertarian type while Pennsylvania Republicans are like their counterparts in the South. Also apparently a majority of Mainers love Snowe and Collins, they wouldn't keep returning them in landslides to the Senate otherwise.

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
[ Parent ]
Not to mention
Conservatives are better than moderates at mobilizing their faction of the GOP to vote for their candidate in a primary. But as others have said, the conservative presence in Maine is kind of negligible compared to other states.
[ Parent ]
oh they'll threaten her
but she'll wipe the floor with a Club for Growth primary challenger in Maine.

Maine Republicans are not Pennsylvania Republicans.  

[ Parent ]
Here is how we get her to switch
We need DK to polling once the political mood chills out and is at least more neutral.  The poll will be asking Mainers, "Would you rather Senator Olympia Snowe switch to the Democrats or stay as a Republican."  Or however you'd word.  Id be QUITE interested to see those results.  If it's a solid stay, then good for her.  But a real damning poll showing a majority wishing she'd switch, she's an excellent Senator and would probably take that to heart.
[ Parent ]
She has too much power as a Republican
Snowe will stay a Republican forever, because as the only moderate Republican, she possesses a great deal of power.  Think about it, she is the one that Democrats go to when they need one R vote, so she has all the leverage in the world to alter bills to make them pallatable to her more moderate sensibilities.  Look at how much money that she and Collins took out of the stimulus.
[ Parent ]
LA-Sen
I hope Charlie Melancon can raise money well because even though he may not be everyone's favorite over here I think he would be a vast improvement over David Vitter who I use to think was genuine about his concerns regarding prescription drug coverage was genuine, but that turned out not to be the case of course.  

Please donate to amcharities.org to help build more after school centers in the Miami area.  

23, Democrat, IA-2

I beleive every deep southern state is very backwards
But, I am interested to see just HOW backwards they are.  If David Vitter wins re-election, I will re-evaluate whether Abe Lincoln did a good thing by trying to keep the Union together.

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)
[ Parent ]
Lots of liberals won't contribute
to an opponent of guaranteed health insurance, etc. I certainly won't, though I definitely agree that he would be a vast improvement over Vitter. Maybe if I were a millionaire, I'd send his campaign $20, but I'm not and I won't.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
L'Shanah Tova everyone!
Just wondering, are there any other Jews on here?
L'Shanah Tovah
Jew here. :-)

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
Irish Jew!


Male, 23, DC-At Large
[ Parent ]
I'm an atheist myself
but am descended from Russian Jews on my maternal grandmother's side. My boyfriend is also atheist and is descended from Portuguese Jews, who happened to have fled the Inquisition, on his maternal grandfather's side.

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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Shalom!
Reform Jew here!

21, male, CA-15 (home and voting there), LA-2 (college)


[ Parent ]
Happy New Year
Boston Jew here
[ Parent ]
Err...
Well, my dad's a Jew, and my mom's a Catholic; so naturally their children are a non-practicing God-believer, a pagan, and an Atheist (yes, diversity is responsible for the destruction of good Christian values :P)

As an aside, my dad likes to joke around that the only real Jews are from Brooklyn, and the rest have varying degrees of "realness" ;)

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

[ Parent ]
I'm a deist goy,
but I've had enough Jewish friends over the years that I've participated in a seder, and I spent much of my ninth grade year teaching myself how to sing along to the Klezmatics because growing up in Vermont I was bored out of my skull, thus I can sing in Yiddish. I still remember all of the words to 'Fisherlid' to this day (and their translation in English), even though I quickly forgot the science homework I was supposed to be working on. That's about as close as I come.

Still too much of a goyim to say it in Hebrew, but happy new year.  

[ Parent ]
Catholic
but my uncle's a Jew...I don't get to see much of him this time of year.

[ Parent ]
MO-Sen
This doesn't seem to have been mentioned here yet:

Roy Blunt's macaca moment - literally!

Roy Blunt made a monkey joke about the president at the "Values Voter Summit." Oh sure, he'll deny it, because he'll say he didn't mention the president by name or title, but the context is really clear and this is really obvious and unsubtle racism. Blunt was consistently trailing Carnahan in the opinion polls, but I think after this, his political career, except perhaps in the conservative media or speech circuit (that is, things that require no election victories), is probably dead.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

Even if this goes nowhere it demonstrates his gaffe potential
This is only the latest in a long line of stupid things he's said lately.  For all the talk of this race being a toss-up I have the feeling Blunt's Biden-like gaffe rate will get him a lot of negative attention and lose him the race.

21, male, CA-15 (home and voting there), LA-2 (college)


[ Parent ]
The GOP may try and primary Blunt
in order to attempt to save the seat but I dont think Carnahan is beatable no matter who they put up against her. Thats why I think Kit Bond retired rather than losing his seat in a bitter election.
[ Parent ]
Agreed
Carnahan has a huge advantage over any Republican they could have put up.  Blunt will bring out the party-line GOP voters, but that's about it.  Independents are going to go for Carnahan in a big way.

This may actually be our easiest pickup of 2010.

[ Parent ]
Ironically.
New Hampshire was supposed to be our easiest pickup of 2010, but it's looking like we could easily lose that one while winning Republican-leaning Missouri in a landslide.

Yet more proof that Presidential preference is only somewhat related to who voters in any given state like downticket.  

[ Parent ]
I never thought New Hampshire was gonna be easy
Ohio is what I thought would be the easiest pickup.

A lot of times it relies on the candidates. the Democrats route to 60 is not only because they won races in swing states, but also because people like John Hoeven, Jeb Bush, Bill Owens, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson, Dino Rossi, and Shelley Moore Capito decided not to run.  

[ Parent ]
Obama trying to
It seems a little irregular
but as a New Yorker, I'm glad he's doing it. What I don't get is why Paterson is so "resistant." He actually thinks he has a snowball's chance in Hell of winning?

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
How
did Paterson get into that deep hole he couldn't dig himself out of in the first place? I know the economy is really damaging governors all across the map, but something else Paterson did really must of ticked off the state.

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
[ Parent ]
the budget battles last fall
started it. Some say the Senate appointment hurt him, but I don't think that was the gist of it.

His biggest drop registered last winter when budget cuts, some of which he couldn't avoid, registered unpopular. Hospitals in NYC and Upstate were forced to close and advocates to keep them open ran ads that really damaged him, including one where a child had an allergic reaction, his parents rush him to a hospital, but it was closed because of Paterson's budget cuts...pretty much implying this young child will die because of Paterson.

[ Parent ]
Paterson was unwilling to raise taxes on the richest
It's one thing to have to make cuts, but to show yourself as quite willing to make cuts and raise fares on the MTA while arguing that the state can't afford to increase taxes on the rich makes people wonder why he calls himself a "Democrat." The inept way he handled the Senate appointment didn't help, but I think the budget stuff was really bad.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
In fairness
those tax hikes would have never passed the State Senate, even in Democratic control...that's what happens when Democrats win State Senate seats in rich Long Island districts.

[ Parent ]
I'm not sure I agree
But that is NO reason for him not to champion more taxes on the rich and use that as a righteously populist cudgel against state senators who could be defeated in the next election.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
I'm impressed.
I hope this doesn't start bogging Obama down somehow, but being the only black elected official higher on the food chain than Paterson, Obama's the only one who can tell Paterson what we've all been dying to tell him for a year and not be accused of some "racism" straw man argument. Paterson is a bad governor and a bad Democrat who happens to be black. He's not these things because he's black, or legally blind for that matter. I'm glad the White House is doing what everybody else is too afraid to do because of political correctness gone horribly awry.

At the very least, I hope knowing that Obama has his back will be enough to push Cuomo into the race and end this once and for all.

Now if we could only get rid of Charlie Rangel while we're at at....

[ Parent ]
I second the Rangel comment
Corrupt, free trader, draft supporter.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
Like Bill Jefferson, only important.
Jefferson was flamboyantly corrupt, but he was also from Louisiana, where politics is as much theater as anything. Rangel is basically the same wrapped in New Yorker leadership clothing and without the cash obviously stuffed in his freezer.

I will say, though, that the draft thing was supposed to be some sort of Trojan horse protest to show the hypocrisy of Republicans in sending the National Guard to do the job of the regular army. It was still horrifically bad politics that made the press jump all over Democrats at large, but, heh, you know that saying about the road to hell.

If Congressional Dems wouldn't even expel Jefferson after he was indicted, we can't depend on them to get rid of one of their own. I hope this isn't a Dan Lipinski-type situation where the bad Democrat happens to be so plugged into the machine that he can deflect any primary challenge, but I'm almost afraid that it is.

[ Parent ]
The Draft
I know about the political reason behind it, but it backfired on us.  It made it harder to talk about a backdoor draft (or an open draft) when we have members of the Democratic leadership supporting one.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
Exactly
Not a good decision on the part of those Democrats.

In my opinion, if Congress wants to start a new draft, they better pass a damn declaration of war first.

[ Parent ]
Nita Lowey has endorsed Bloomberg
Did she endorse KG for NY senate?

if she did, was it before the senior empousa's withdrawal?

She endorsed Gillibrand in late May
So, before either Carolyn opted out.
[ Parent ]
Slightly off-topic post
Patrick Leahy has introduced a bill that would repeal health insurance companies' exemption from anti-trust laws.

Personally, I think passing this bill would be one of the most important steps we could take towards reforming the health system, regardless of whether we pass a public option or not.

Read more here:
http://senatus.wordpress.com/2...

Why did these scumbags
ever get an anti-trust exemption to begin with?
[ Parent ]
That's a really good question.
I was wondering that for a long time myself. I did a little digging and found out a few things.

First of all, other than insurance companies (not just health insurance, but insurance companies in general), only the NFL and MLB are exempt from these laws.

Secondly, to answer your question, I looked up the pertinent federal law. This law, enacted in 1945, is called the McCarran-Ferguson Act, named for Senators Pat McCarran (D-Nevada) and Homer Ferguson (R-Michigan). The law was a sort of backlash against a U.S. Supreme Court decision, United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, in which the Court ruled that insurance companies were subject to federal anti-trust laws because the insurance business was interstate commerce unless Congress legislated otherwise. Well, Congress did legislate otherwise shortly thereafter. The McCarran-Ferguson Act did two things that have created the non-competitive, monopolistic insurance system we have today. First, it says that "the business of insurance" shall be regulated by the states without federal government interference. Second, it basically exempted insurance companies from federal antitrust laws by explicitly removing the business of insurance from interstate commerce, thus removing it from the scope of Congress's regulatory power.

Repealing this law, in my mind, should be priority #1 in the drive for healthcare reform.  

[ Parent ]
My question is why did FDR sign that bill into law?
Was that only a provision of a larger law that reformed the way insurance companies operated or was that the main focus of the legislation?

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)
[ Parent ]
FDR died in April of 1945
Could have been Truman. Still doesn't make much sense considering Truman wanted universal health care.
[ Parent ]
No, it was FDR.
And remember, this law deals with the entire insurance business in general, not just health insurance.  
[ Parent ]
No, that was the main thrust of the legislation.
As I wrote above, the law was basically a reaction to a Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court said that insurance companies were subject to antitrust laws unless Congress says they're not. Thus, a couple of Senators got together and wrote a bill that would overturn the decision.

For the record, yes, the bill was signed by FDR. Why did he sign it? I don't know. Maybe he didn't foresee the repercussions of leaving insurance regulation completely up to the states.

[ Parent ]
DailyKos on NY-Gov
There are a couple of DailyKos diaries on President Obama's request to Governor Paterson that he get out of the New York Gubernatorial race. The most interesting one is NY-Gov: Why Obama Stepped In

Here are the crucial paragraphs:

It would create an absolute disaster if Paterson runs in the general election, against either Lazio or Giuliani...really doesn't matter. Seconldy, his and Rangel's comments will create a poisonous political atmosphere the likes of which we haven't seen since the late 1980's. Which, in my opinion, helped bring us Giuliani and Pataki. Finally, keep this in mind: THIS IS NEW YORK, MEDIA CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. An election that brings back New York racially tinged politics is going to be national news every single day, dragging down Democrats across the country who have nothing to do with it. The media will cover it heavily because they happen to be here.

There is only one man who can stop this disaster, and that's President Barack Obama. As an inverse to Paterson, Obama's approval among African-Americans in New York is in the high 90's. He can provide Cuomo, or whoever runs against Paterson, with full political cover from a guy like Rangel. He's got more juice than anybody.



"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
Rangel isn't all that popular either
it's his senority that keeps people like him from being primaried...one of those "yeah, he's a crook, but he bring a lot of money to us"

If someone (specifically an African-American or Dominican) primaries Rangel, I wouldn't be surprised if Rangel gets a run for his money.

[ Parent ]
Patterson cannot recover
He'd have to have his approval ratings improve by at least 30 points to be re-electible. However, I do believe that Bev Perdue who has approval ratings similar to those of Patterson has time to recover and win re-election.
It helps that she is up for reelection in 3 years instead of 1.


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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In? | 88 comments

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