Day: November 5, 2010

Do The Republicans Really Want The Tea Party To Become Their Image?

Ronald Leave a comment

There already is evidence that mainstream Republican conservatives are not very happy with the influence of the Tea Party Movement on them in Congress.

Does the Republican Party really think that a party with the public image of Michele Bachmann, Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, and Sarah Palin, among others, is a good omen for their future success?

Why is it so much attention is being paid to these Tea Party favorites, and others like them, and focus is not being placed on more mainstream conservatives, such as newly elected Senators Roy Blunt of Missouri, Dan Coats of Indiana, and Rob Portman of Ohio, and veteran Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Richard Lugar of Indiana, among others?

If the Republican Party really expects to gain control of the Senate and retain the House of Representatives in future elections, would it not make more sense to focus and promote the more mainstream, respectable conservatives and moderates in the party?

Extremism and loony behavior are not the road to long range success and respectability for any political party, and it can be expected that the struggle within the Republican Party over the next two years will have a long range effect on the party’s fortunes in Congress, as well as in the Presidential race of 2012!

Should Nancy Pelosi Remain Democratic Leader In The House Of Representatives? Why Not?

Ronald Leave a comment

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has decided to run for the post of Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, after the Democratic Party lost more seats than at any time since 1938, as the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt were coming to an end!

There are many who feel that Pelosi was a lightning rod who alienated many voters, and that she should take the blame and leave as a leader of her party after the loss of more than 60 seats, a walloping rebuke by the voters!

But others point out that the Democrats in the House accomplished landmark legislation in so many ways, and that hundreds of other bills that have passed the House may not become law because of blockage in the Senate!

It is clear that Nancy Pelosi, despite the Democratic defeat, has been one of the best and most effective Speakers of the House in US History!

Her gutsy, aggressive personality has upset many people who don’t like a woman who can compete with ambitious, aggressive men. The personal enmity of many Republicans, conservatives, and ordinary citizens toward Pelosi would not be half the level if Pelosi was male. There is still a “glass ceiling” in many people’s minds, the same one that expresses the view that an African American should not be President of the United States!

So, considering her accomplishments as Speaker, and despite the public repudiation in the midterm elections, Nancy Pelosi should be encouraged to stay and fight for the return of her party to the majority in the 2012 election!

The next congressional election in 2012 should seen as a battle of progressives to overcome adversity, and the fight for political democracy, social justice, and economic regulation should not be abandoned or compromised, by the “quitting” of Nancy Pelosi!

Sarah Palin may have quit, but Nancy Pelosi is no “quitter”! Rather, she is a courageous, hard working woman who is not about to give up the fight, or allow criticism to cause her to avoid the fray!

The Suspension Of Keith Olbermann By MSNBC: Is It Appropriate? NO! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

Progressive talk show host Keith Olbermann of MSNBC has been suspended because he gave political donations to Democrats who ran for office in Arizona and Kentucky, working against the candidacies of Governor Jan Brewer and Senate candidate Rand Paul.

MSNBC felt that a talk show host should not be permitted to contribute to candidates, as it compromises them on their show.

Does this make sense? NO, as is there anyone who does not know by watching Keith Olbermann, that he is a progressive voice, and that he favors the Democratic Party?

Does being on a talk show mean that one loses his freedom of speech, which contributing to a political campaign is, according to the Supreme Court in the January 2010 Citizens United case, that has allowed unlimited contributions by corporations?

Is not MSNBC a corporation which can contribute to campaigns, as Fox News Channel has done to the Republican Party? Why is it that employees of a corporation don’t have the same right to contribute that their employer has?

Is there anyone who does not know how Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and others feel about the Republican party?

The only people in news media who should be discreet about politics are those who simply report the news, but Fox News Channel and MSNBC are stations that promote an agenda, so what is good for one should be the same for the other!

MSNBC has made a mistake in suspending Olbermann, and should reverse its decision, and bring back to the airwaves one of the most insightful and principled progressives who are engaged in the fight against the Right Wing, corporate takeover of this country, which the Supreme Court has, regretfully, encouraged!

Personal Fortunes And Election Success: Only In Wisconsin And Florida! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

This election year saw many businessmen and businesswomen who decided that they were going to utilize their personal fortunes to seek office as Governor or Senator, and happily, it can now be reported that they failed to accomplish their goal, except in two tragic cases: Wisconsin and Florida!

All of the personal fortune candidates were Republicans except for Jeff Greene in Florida, who ran for the Senate in the Democratic primary against Congressman Kendrick Meek, and was soundly defeated, by a margin of about 25 points!

Meanwhile, Meg Whitman set an all time record of using a personal fortune to seek the California Governorship, spending approximately $150 million, but losing to Jerry Brown!

Carly Fiorina sought the Senate seat in California, but lost to Senator Barbara Boxer.

Linda McMahon spent a good part of her fortune for the Senate seat in Connecticut, but lost to Richard Blumenthal.

John Raese sought the Senate seat in West Virginia, using a good part of his personal fortune, but lost to Governor Joe Manchin.

Carl Paladino ran for Governor in New York, but despite the use of a good part of his personal fortune, lost to Andrew Cuomo.

However, sadly, Ron Johnson, without any background in running for office, spent a lot of his personal fortune, and defeated Senator Russ Feingold, a major loss to progressive reform, probably the greatest single setback of the 2010 midterm election! 🙁

And even more tragically, Rick Scott, who had been involved in massive Medicare fraud in the 1990s, and forced to pay a major fine but able to avoid prison, had the gall to run for Governor of Florida, defeat state Attorney General Bill McCollum for the nomination, and defeat Chief Financial Office Alex Sink by the small margin statewide of 50,000 votes, and therefore will succeed Governor Charlie Crist, who lost his Independent run for the US Senate to Republican Marco Rubio! 🙁

The idea that a wealthy man, with a background of business fraud, and with not one newspaper in the state of Florida endorsing him, and with police chiefs and many Republican politicos refusing to back him, could end up winning the Governorship of the fourth largest state, is a sad commentary on politics in the state of Florida! The voters of the state should feel ashamed at what they have wrought! 🙁

The Failure Of Republican Women Senate Candidates In 2010!

Ronald Leave a comment

The year 2010 was supposed to be the year of the Republican woman Senators, but it turned out to be not that at all!

Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire did win the vacant seat in New Hampshire, but she had come across as noncontroversial in her race.

But Sharron Angle of Nevada, Christine O’Donnell of Delaware, Carly Fiorina of California, and Linda McMahon of Connecticut all lost their races, with Fiorina and McMahon spending millions of their own personal fortunes on trying to go from the corporate world to the Senate. Angle also had millions of dollars donated to her campaign to unseat Harry Reid, but fell far short of such a possibility.

O’Donnell, of course, had the problem of being seen as totally unqualified in every sense for the Senate, and the GOP defeat of Congressman Mike Castle in the primary basically gave away the seat to Chris Coons, who could not have had better luck!

Meanwhile, Democratic women in the Senate who were up for re-election won another term, specifically Barbara Boxer in California and Patty Murray in Washington State.

So the era of the Republican woman in the Senate is not quite here, with only Ayotte, Kay Bailey Hutchison in Texas, and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe in Maine representing the fairer sex for the GOP in the Senate. With Lisa Murkowski leading in her write in campaign to retain her seat in Alaska, the number of women who are Senate Republicans might rise from four to five, if Murkowski is able to produce what many consider a miracle!

But actually, at least in the mind of Tea Party Movement activists, Hutchison, Collins and Snowe are all seen as targets when they come up for re-election, as being too moderate! 🙁

So it is still easier for Democratic women than it is for Republican women, when it comes to service in the US Senate!