Day: March 7, 2012

2012 Could Become Another “Year Of The Woman” In Both Houses Of Congress

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2012 could well prove to be another “Year Of The Woman” in both houses of Congress, similar to 1992, when a dramatic increase in women in government occurred.

Presently, there are 76 women in the House of Representatives, 52 Democrats and 24 Republicans. The US Senate has 17 women as members, with 12 Democrats and 5 Republicans. So the Democrats have two thirds of all women in Congress, with 64 as compared to the Republicans with 29.

With the Republican attack on contraception, and the Rush Limbaugh fatal mistake to attack a woman personally for her testimony about contraception before a Congressional committee, and with no criticism by GOP Presidential candidates, and very little criticism by any Republicans in Congress, including the women members, it is certain that there will be many new, primarily Democratic, women elected in 2012 to both houses of Congress.

The Democrats have about 38 women running for House seats, while the GOP only have 7, while in the Senate, there are 6 women running as Democrats as compared to 4 for the Republicans. Many of those running for the Senate, particularly for the Democrats, come from states that have never had women elected to that distinguished body.

Notice that for women running for Congress, 44 are Democrats and only 11 are Republicans, 80 percent of the total, as compared to 71 percent for those presently in Congress.

More than ever, it seems highly likely that women will play a major role in the elections, and that will benefit the Democrats and Barack Obama.

And the odds of future women candidates for President from the Democratic Party grows dramatically, with the potential for more than 20 women Democrats in the US Senate in 2013!

“Joe The Plumber” Rears His Ugly Head Again! Candidate Against Marcy Kaptur In Ohio!

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“Joe The Plumber”, Samuel Wurzelbacher, who became infamous in 2008 when he confronted Presidential nominee Barack Obama on a campaign swing and challenged his views, and then showed up at campaign events of John McCain and Sarah Palin, has emerged from obscurity, and is now the Republican nominee in a congressional district covering parts of Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio.

He is running against long time Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who won another nomination by defeating fellow Democrat Dennis Kucinich, when redistricting forced them into the same Congressional district.

This will be one of the more exciting and captivating races, as Kaptur has been in Congress for nearly 30 years, and is highly regarded and believed to be very tough to beat. Just by defeating Kucinich in the primary marks her as a tough lady who will be difficult for Wurzelbacher, who demonstrated NO knowledge or understanding of public affairs in 2008, to overcome due to her intelligence and her seniority and her excellent Congressional performance.

She has served in Congress since 1983, and is the third longest serving woman in Congress, the second longest serving woman ever in the House of Representatives, the longest serving woman presently in the House, the senior member of Ohio’s Congressional delegation, and the senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Imagining a debate between them is a fascinating example of knowledge vs the Know Nothingism of Wurzelbacher!

Republican Primary And Caucus Support For Mitt Romney Lowest In Modern Republican History

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Ever since the primary and caucus system developed in the 1970s, where voters en masse had the ability to vote for who they wished to be Presidential nominees, the Republican Party has always, through 2004, ended up having majority support in popular votes for a nominee.

In 2008, that did not happen, as John McCain only got 47 percent of the total GOP primary and caucus vote against his opponents.

This time around, Mitt Romney ONLY has 40 percent backing, an all time low!

That means, of course that six out of ten participants in GOP primaries and caucuses do NOT support Mitt Romney as their nominee!

That is very bad news, and a major negative for Mitt Romney, as he continues to battle Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul for the Republican Presidential nomination!

What Can Mitt Romney Win In November?

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Mitt Romney may have won Ohio by the small margin of one percent and about 12,000 votes over Rick Santorum, but the question remains: Where can he win a combination of states to equal a majority of 270 electoral votes?

Can he win New England, even his home state of Massachusetts? Unlikely, with maybe the exception of New Hampshire.

Can he win the Middle Atlantic states? Unlikely, with the best chance in Pennsylvania, but unlikely.

Can he win the South? Unlikely, despite being the GOP nominee, because of his Mormon faith. Sure, he will win some of the states but unlikely to win Florida, North Carolina or Virginia, the swing states, and a chance to lose Georgia to Barack Obama as well, with the growing Hispanic and Latino vote in the Peach State.

Can he win the Midwest? Well, maybe a few states, but he has lost all of the Midwest and Great Plains states that have had primaries and caucuses so far, except for his birth state of Michigan and a narrow win in Ohio. Rick Santorum has real support in this area of the country.

Can he win the Mountain States? Yes, for those which have large numbers of Mormons, including Arizona, Utah, and Idaho, and probably Montana and Wyoming as well, but not likely to win New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada.

Can he win the Pacific Coast states? Is that a serious question? NO, except for Alaska.

If the economy continues to get better, Mitt Romney has lost his biggest issue.

If the anti woman vendetta of Rush Limbaugh and social conservatives in Congress and the states continues, as with the failed Blunt Amendment and the Virginia vaginal probe law, Romney will lose.

If the anti immigrant (Hispanic and Latino) mentality of Arizona, Alabama, Georgia and other states continues, the only Hispanic vote Romney might win is the Cuban vote in Florida and elsewhere, but not the Mexican, Puerto Rican, Colombian, and other Latin nations’ immigrants, meaning only those who are legal and can vote.

If the extremism of the GOP continues down its destructive path, Independents will leave them in droves.

Of course, Barack Obama and the Democrats must work and plan as if they could lose the election, because they could, but the obstacles facing Mitt Romney are massive, and this could have a deleterious effect on the Republican Party in many state races and in both houses of Congress.

The Defeat Of Dennis Kucinich: “Dennis The Menace” At The End Of A Colorful, Controversial Political Career!

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Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich, one of the most colorful members of the House of Representatives in the present generation, will be retiring from Congress at the end of 2012, as a result of his overwhelming defeat by Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a fellow Democrat, longest serving woman in the House at present, who was forced into a race against Kucinich, due to the loss of two Ohio congressional seats as a result of redistricting.

Kucinich first came to notice as the boy mayor of Cleveland, and the push to recall him in 1979, which failed.

He re-emerged in Congress in the 1996 Congressional elections, and ran for President twice, in 2004 and 2008.

He became the leading critic of the Iraq War and pushed to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

Everything he ever tried or did ended in failure, but he fought the good fight, and was seen, even by critics, as a man of principle, dedicated to his nation, and beloved by many progressives, even though it was obvious he was the equivalent of Don Quixote.

While in theory he could move to the Seattle, Washington area in the next month, and still qualify for a new Congressional district created by population growth in that state, it might be seen as making him ineligible to keep his Ohio seat for the rest of this year, and being a “carpetbagger”, he might be rejected for that seat if he was to run on such short notice and residency.

Annoying to many, Dennis Kucinich will still go down in history as someone memorable, and not easily forgotten!

Barack Obama Advice From Yogi Berra: “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over”!

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There will be the tendency for Barack Obama supporters to feel good after Super Tuesday, and feel that Barack Obama has a second term in the White House in the bag.

That would be the worst assumption possible!

On paper, yes, things are looking good as the GOP race for the Presidential nomination continues, and Mitt Romney looks in trouble, and Rick Santorum, who most logical people cannot see having any chance to win the nomination or election, continues to do well, particularly in the heartland of the nation.

Eight months to go until the election, and the world can turn upside down and inside out, in less than that amount of time.

We could have a major war in the Middle East against Iran, or another economic downturn, which could be triggered by that war with Iran.

Unforeseen circumstances we cannot imagine could occur, and the tides could turn.

Remember that Thomas E. Dewey was ahead of Harry Truman in 1948; Richard Nixon ahead of John F. Kennedy in 1960; Jimmy Carter ahead of Ronald Reagan in 1980; Michael Dukakis ahead of George H. W. Bush in 1988; George H. W. Bush ahead of Bill Clinton in 1992; and Al Gore ahead of George W. Bush in 2000 to the end, but not considering the electoral vote issue that would help Bush in the end.

There is plenty of work ahead for the Obama team, and they cannot afford to be cocky.

They need to remember the admonition of Yankee great, catcher Yogi Berra, who is famous for his line about baseball games: “It ain’t over till it’s over”!

No more true statement can be expressed regarding politics, as well as sports!