The 60th Vote

If only all 60... (4.00 / 1)

were like our newest Senator. :)

Agreed on this -

This gives the DINOs (Democrats in Name Only) and moderate Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins far too much power, as they can make whatever demands they wish in exchange for their support in overriding filibusters.

Specter, ughh.  I stopped (obsessively) following politics last year, after I completed my last mission (electing Jeff Merkley to the US Senate), although I'm kinda sorta following this year's Gubernatorial in New Jersey.  What a choice!  A guy I don't like (but who I worked and voted for in 2000 (US Senate) and 2005 (NJ Governor), and for whom I would do the same for again if I still lived there - meets New Jersey's Bobby Jindal.

Ughh.  Anyways, I'll call Corzine by 6.

But I gotta say, current goings-on here in Portland just may drag me right back in (Just when I thought I was out, heh...) soon.

Our. Mayor. Will. Stay.

Anyways, back to PA - anybody there know anything about any primary stuff, etc?  Pennsylvania deserves much better than an "I only pretend to be for labor when it's convenient for me", and "I run on the ticket of whatever Party gives me a better chance of winning" Senator...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 22:46:23 PM UTC

I'm hoping The Specter (4.00 / 2)

is playing them close to the vest to dissuade the Reps from mounting an even bigger battle against Franken.

The trouble with becoming too involved with politics is that you end up pouring thousands of dollars into Act Blue. only to have most of your candidates turn into dirty-rotten-stinking-low-down-no-good-traitors once they're elected.

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 22:55:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I guess you are referring to Rep Chris Carney (4.00 / 2)

from the western part of our state..I actually think the folks  at Act Blue tried getting the money back.

I'm really active here in Democratic politics. I've already told our chair that I won't do shit to help Specter get elected. We do deserve better,

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by: LeeN @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 00:28:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Claire McCaskill : Missouri (4.00 / 2)

is the only one who comes to mind who didn't take the money and run. There may be others, but I was spending like Michael Jackson in '06.

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 01:12:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Damn, I remember '06... (0.00 / 0)

That may have been one of my generation's political "moments" (finally reversed "The Horror of '94", yuck...).  At least, for those of us who were into progressive politics back then.

Ticking off one win after another, all night long...

Ah, but yeah - I didn't expect much more than a breather out of '06.  We got that, at least...

The biggest thing that upset me about Election Night '06 was Linda Stender's (NJ-07) razor-thin (1%) loss to 3-term incumbent Republican Mike Ferguson.  He was supposed to win that race by about 17 points or so, just like every other year, and it wasn't even on anybody's radar - we came thisdamnedclose, though!  I was hanging out in that district every weekend, must have knocked on about 45,000 doors (only a slight exaggeration) that year, the Summer of 2006, my last in New Jersey...

After that, Lil' Mikey "retired" a few months later.

Of course, Leonard Lance (another R) took that open seat by a mile in 2008 against the very same Linda Stender (except for "wave years" - when Republicans run against Republicans, voters will choose the "real" Republican every time - isn't that what they say?).  But NJ is losing a Congressional seat starting 2012, after the 2010 Census, so Leonard Lance is going to get drawn out then.  Let's just hope he doesn't manage to do too much damage before then...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 01:30:56 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'd say all the work I put into Kerry (4.00 / 1)

was the real disappointment for me. I worked a lot with MoveOn and went out registering voters by the drove. Had a neighborhood buddy I was paired up with through Moveon and we canvassed our entire precinct and registered god knows how many new voters. On election day I hosted a neighborhood "war room" from 6AM until the Polls were closed. Had volunteers from five States here, printed neighborhood maps and sent out pairs of people to get people to the polls. There were twenty-five of us. We also used both our phones, and the sofa was reserved for "the phone bank" with lists of ppl in the neighborhood. Once or twice I had to drop everything and go out to drive someone to the Polls.

In the morning, (at 6AM), I went out and came back with three boxes of Joe from Dunkin Donuts and six dozen donuts. At lunch I sent out for ten pizzas.

And then Ohio happened and the sonofabitch didn't let out a squeak.

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 01:55:25 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ughhh, I remember that.... (4.00 / 1)

Yeah, I was doing the same for John Kerry in New Jersey that day, too.

Looking back, I certainly could have come up with much better ways to spend my time than what I did, which was to supervise a bunch of high school kids on a canvassing effort in Woodbridge (and knock on two or three hundred doors that afternoon myself, as well...).

Btw - do you remember those stupid-assed Air America radio hosts reporting faulty 'exit polls' from New Mexico (and other states) that predicted an easy John Kerry victory that evening?  I still wonder if they were partly responsible for what happened...

Despite his "faults" (mainly media things, and he was my guy all the way!)?  Howard Dean never would have caved and surrendered and gone out like John Kerry did.  Not in a million years...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 02:38:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

imo Dean was axed BECAUSE he was a fighter (4.00 / 1)

Wanna see my political cartoons?

Too late. Here they are...

http://s388.photobucket.com...

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 02:42:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Lol... (4.00 / 1)

The Statue of Liberty thing is brutal, and sadly (still) all too true.  Proud to say I never fell for Mr. Hopey's bullshit...

Can't we make Michelle President?  Please?!

Heh - love "the best part of Junior ran down my leg", even if it does make me want to gag for hours...

:)

Richard Ben Cramer has gotta be one of the greatest writers in history, because in his Classic, he actually makes you feel sort of a connection to a Bush.  Poppy, but still.  Amazingly enough, it works.  A must read...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 02:52:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Michelle could kick some ass. (4.00 / 1)

"Fire the lot! And start over!"

Bush I was Reagan's Cheney. But that's just my opinion.

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 03:01:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hmmm, interesting point... (4.00 / 1)

Bush I was Reagan's Cheney. But that's just my opinion.

Certainly not saying I liked the guy, but I don't think Richard Ben Cramer could have ever done for Cheney what he did for H.W. in "What It Takes"...

And that brings up another interesting point - who was the bigger figurehead - Reagan or Dubya?  I gotta go with Reagan there, because he was clearly losing his mind by the end of his first term and only seemed to be interested in his tv dinners... even though Dubya was clearly a completely and totally non-functional and angry dry drunk (or if you believed the rumors, "wet drunk"...) with Napoleonic delusions of grandeur.

Who surrounded themselves with the worst people?  Shit, they both surrounded themselves with the same people!  And of course, the scary thing was that they were all 20-plus years older in Dubya's case...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 03:21:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I just meant Bush I (4.00 / 1)

was the brains of the outfit. Dubya couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel.

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 03:32:37 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

sounds like us... (4.00 / 1)

Then it was my husband, daughter who was then 14 and me. I had fund raisers here. And she held a Kerry coffee klatch here for her high school friiends. Our living room was wall to wall kids. We worked the polls, and I remember at 7:30 that night going up and down my street with my van door opened and my daughter jumping out and knocking on doors to get every vote for Kerry. Boy was he a lousy candidate.

I did however get involved in DFA and still am,,,

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by: LeeN @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 11:23:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Maybe Kucinich could be President (4.00 / 2)

after the Revolution. He was my first choice in '08.

I know, I'm a dreamer. ;-)

Yankee Frugality: use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.

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by: Anonymous Bosch @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 02:03:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ah the rub... (4.00 / 4)

How 5% of America gets to stand in the way, via that stuffiest of halves of the Bicameral Legislature. Just like the Electoral College, the small population states get bigger votes.

"We are living in an interminable succession of absurdities imposed by the myopic logic of short-term thinking."-Jacques-Yves Cousteau

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by: supak @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 00:51:43 AM UTC