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Obama Proving a Drag in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York
Tweet Share on Facebook October 30, 2009 Comment (91)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Anyone who follows U.S. politics now accepts as fact the idea that the Republican victories in the off-year elections of 1993 set up the 1994 GOP landslide. According to almost all the analysis, the first real signs that Bill Clinton was much weaker politically than the national media was reporting were the elections of Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey and Republican mayors in Los Angeles and New York City, hardly hospitable territory for candidates of the Grand Old Party.
Jumping forward 16 years, with a similar set of elections having rolled around, both parties are trying to set up the spin on next week's results. The Republicans will argue that any positive results, like winning the Virginia governorship, mean the GOP is on the comeback trail, with how far along they are being dependent on how many victories they post. The Democrats will argue that the re-election of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, if it happens, or any other good news, means the party remains strong.
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Baseball Must Expand Instant Replay
Tweet Share on Facebook October 30, 2009 Comment (82)By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
What will it take for baseball to expand its instant replay system? A series of umpiring blunders in the post-season? Been there: There was Joe Mauer's "foul" ball down the left field line in the ALDS ... the botched double-play benefiting the Yankees in the ALCS ... in the same series, there was Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher incorrectly called safe on a pick-off attempt and then incorrectly being called out after tagging up and scoring on a fly ball—all in the same inning. There are other examples from preliminary playoff rounds.
Blown calls potentially affecting the outcome of the World Series itself? Done that. In a tight second game on Thursday night, umpires managed a blunder double-play, killing two late-inning rallies in a tight game. In the championship series.
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New Jersey, Virginia, New York Races Show Republican Need to Expand the Tent
Tweet Share on Facebook October 30, 2009 Comment (8)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
It's pretty clear what's going to happen in next week's gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey and the Congressional special election in New York's 23rd district—both parties will start passing out blame for defeats by the time the polls close Tuesday.
The Virginia race in particular gives the GOP an opportunity to redefine itself. Bob McDonnell shunned the far-right angry rhetoric and stuck to kitchen-table issues—like jobs, taxes, and transportation—that conservatives, moderates, and independents wanted to hear about. The latest Gallup poll this week shows that many of those same independent voters nationally have started to move to the right, and between now and the midterm elections the Republican Party has an opportunity to keep that momentum from the Virginia race going if it sticks with McDonnell's winning strategy.
David Frum predicts a win in Virginia, and then takes a look at the other races:
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Washington Halloween Parade: What Palin, Obama, Hillary, and the Rest Should Wear
Tweet Share on Facebook October 30, 2009 Comment (6)By Jamie Stiehm, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Halloween's all the rage—and I don't mean the sweet young set of trick-or-treaters. I mean with grown men and women everywhere. Somehow you're never too old and dignified to get into a Halloween costume for a party.
So here's my designer dream Halloween party, set for midnight tomorrow at home in Washington. Quite a cast of characters, mostly political because, well, politics is what we do here. It's all we know.
Let's start with the obvious: the three Bushmen—George 41, George 43, and Jeb—are naturals as the three Macbeth witches with the boiling cauldron. Theatrically, they ask when the three of them shall meet again—in Florida, Texas, or in Maine?
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Dan Snyder Unifies Redskins Fans in Misery--Rush Limbaugh Could Do Better
Tweet Share on Facebook October 30, 2009 Comment (7)By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
"It's about unity...we do not move towards divisive actions," National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell told the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday.
How fitting it was that Goodell made the comment in Washington, a town that knows the concept of unity better than any other. Washington is unified like never before. Not, however, because of promises of unity from President Barack Obama or former President George W. Bush. No, the only person who can successfully unite Washington is Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
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Liberals Should Stop Complaining About Obama's All-Male Basketball Games
Tweet Share on Facebook October 29, 2009 Comment (4)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
My colleague Bonnie Erbe went after President Obama earlier this week for his all-male basketball game, which led her to this conclusion about him:
Whether it was his treatment of Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail (as in his condescending remark that she was "likeable enough") or his clearly career-oriented mate who has been toned down and remorphed into a Stepford Wife, I just don't get the impression this man is comfortable with women. Nor do I believe he cares about them beyond needing women's votes. It's an act and a thoroughly see-through, amateur one at that.
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Democrats' Plan is Not Free Healthcare, It's Taxes for Everyone
Tweet Share on Facebook October 29, 2009 Comment (19)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The instant analysis of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's healthcare bill shows that not much has changed since Congress broke for the August recess.
The plan Pelosi unveiled Thursday, if passed into law, would generate higher taxes, higher premiums, Medicare cuts, and a decline in the quality of the American healthcare system. According to the pro-taxpayer group Americans for Tax Reform, a simple word search of the Pelosi bill uncovered the word "tax" 87 times, "taxable" 62 times, and found 10 instances of the phrase "excise tax." What she and her fellow Democrats are offering is not "free healthcare"—it is an illusion.
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Special Interest Cash Floods New York House Race
Tweet Share on Facebook October 29, 2009 Comment (3)By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Much has been written—a lot of it by me—about how the special election in New York's 23d district has become a proxy for a GOP civil war between base conservatives and more pragmatic establishment Republicans. Perhaps the starkest illustration of how this race—the only House contest in the country this year—has become about something more than the Republican candidate, the Democratic candidate and the Conservative candidate, take a look at some of the dollar figures for amounts raised and spent in the race, specifically the more than $3 million outside groups have funneled into the district.
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Obama's Response to H1N1 Vaccine Crisis Could be Key to Healthcare Reform
Tweet Share on Facebook October 29, 2009 Comment (19)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Health centers and clinics across the country began turning away people this week who came in search of the H1N1 or swine flu vaccine. A report from Bloomberg states:
From New York, where October deliveries fell short by 400,000 doses, to Dallas and Phoenix, which have postponed mass vaccinations, to San Francisco, where one family clinic is fielding 400 calls a day, local officials are being pressured by parents for swine flu vaccine as the death toll for children in the United States reached 95.
The flu threatened to blossom into an epidemic, as the government reported 95 deaths from H1N1 and 351 schools closed down nationwide, shutting out 126,000 students in 19 states—to prevent spread of the flu.
How the Obama administration handles this public health emergency could be key to its healthcare reform proposal. In a major blunder, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted that of the 80 million to 120 million doses it was promised this summer, just more than 23 million doses have been delivered.
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Colorado Democrats' Political Prospects Ride on Economic Recovery
Tweet Share on Facebook October 29, 2009 Comment (36)By Laura Chapin, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Last week, Colorado's Department of Labor and Employment announced that the state jobless rate had dropped to 7 percent, almost three points below the national average.
"The worst may be behind us," said Don Mares, the department's executive director.
If the trend holds, the same could be said of pessimistic predictions for Democrats in Colorado in 2010 and the view they've hit a political ceiling. Republicans are putting all their political eggs in the economic basket—they have finally abandoned the diminishing returns of social issues and are doubling down on the economy.
According to an October 6 survey by Colorado pollster Floyd Ciruli, Colorado voters rank the economy as the top issue, beating out the hot-button social issue of immigration.
So if the state and national economy continue to recover—and overall the economy has shown signs of life in the third quarter of 2009—the electoral prospects for the Democrats for the U.S. Senate, governor's mansion, and state legislature may perk up as well. It lessens the ability of the Republicans to tie state Democrats to President Obama's economic policies, and there would be plenty of ad fodder for Republicans courtesy of the president's signing of the economic stimulus bill in Denver in February.
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