Easy E wrote:
Amy Klobuchar is the Senator from Minnesota. She specializes in not being a bomb thrower and staying just on the radar.

Full Disclosure: Senator Klobuchar has purchased stuff from my bakery and had it sent to Washington DC. She sent us a nice picture with our stuff, news blurb, and helped us get it put into our local paper. When her office called, we thought it was a prank.

 whembly wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
After he broke the unions in Wis, I thought the next step would be the Presidency for Walker.

Is this going to be 2010 all over again for the Dems or what? It looks that way. You would think they would be going like crazy to motivate their base, but so far i see nothing. Are they crazy, lazy, out of money, or just waiting until the challengers are set?

Probably waiting to see if HRC explodes... *shrug*

I still think she'd win handily over any Republican candidate.

All I'd want is the next President to have been Governor.

What do ya'll think of Bill Richardson? Obviously, he's left of me policy wise... but, objectively I think he'd be a good Prez.

 Easy E wrote:
How did we start talking about the President during the Mid-terms?

How is the R and D brands holding up this election season? That's the real question.

 d-usa wrote:
Don't forget about good old Biden running!

 d-usa wrote:
Don't forget about good old Biden running!

 Frazzled wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:

 d-usa wrote:
Don't forget about good old Biden running!

Say what you want but his quote about Iraq breaking up was prescient.

 Frazzled wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
How did we start talking about the President during the Mid-terms?

How is the R and D brands holding up this election season? That's the real question.

1. Good point EE.
2. brands are holding up very poorly currently. Even worse is the "incumbent" brand. Usually thats a lot of smoke and little flame but we'll see.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) acknowledged Thursday that he put his foot in his mouth when he recently compared being gay to being an alcoholic.

At a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, he sought to shift emphasis away from the disputed comparison -- which was panned by a CNBC anchor and, naturally, mocked by Jon Stewart.

“I got asked about an issue, and instead of saying, ‘You know what, we need to be a really respectful and tolerant country, and get back to talking about, whether you’re gay or straight you need to be having a job, and those are the focuses I want to be involved with,’ instead of getting — which I did, I readily admit, I stepped right in it,” Perry said, as quoted by Politico.

Perry said the Republican Party needs to focus less on social issues and more on convincing Americans that its policies will benefit them economically.

“If you really are going to be the party that’s going to talk to everyone, we say, ‘Listen you may not agree with all of my positions, but giving you and your family and your loved ones the opportunity to get a better life, if we create a climate in this country where you’re going to have a job, and a good job, and a good paying job’ — if we’ll do that, then I think we’ll be successful,” he said, as quoted by Politico.

 Easy E wrote:
Amy Klobuchar is the Senator from Minnesota. She specializes in not being a bomb thrower and staying just on the radar.

Full Disclosure: Senator Klobuchar has purchased stuff from my bakery and had it sent to Washington DC. She sent us a nice picture with our stuff, news blurb, and helped us get it put into our local paper. When her office called, we thought it was a prank.

 dogma wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Amy Klobuchar is the Senator from Minnesota. She specializes in not being a bomb thrower and staying just on the radar.

Full Disclosure: Senator Klobuchar has purchased stuff from my bakery and had it sent to Washington DC. She sent us a nice picture with our stuff, news blurb, and helped us get it put into our local paper. When her office called, we thought it was a prank.

Having met Klobuchar, she seems like a genuinely nice person; a rarity in politics. I think that could help carry her through the Primary, but would see her McCained in the General.

 whembly wrote:
If she picks a male Sarah Palin as VP???

 whembly wrote:

If she picks a male Sarah Palin as VP???

 Easy E wrote:
Do you think proxies can do the heavy lifting? I actually heard her mentioned more as a VP candidate than for the big ticket itself. Oh look, I'm back to talking about Presidential politics again. it is just so sexy I can't resist.

For the Mid-terms, will it revolve around Obamacare again or will some othe rissue suddenly take center stage?

 whembly wrote:
Obamacare? Maybe if bad news keep sprouting up... such as in a 3,137-County Analysis: Obamacare Increased 2014 Individual-Market Premiums By Average Of 49 percent.

 sebster wrote:

 whembly wrote:
Obamacare? Maybe if bad news keep sprouting up... such as in a 3,137-County Analysis: Obamacare Increased 2014 Individual-Market Premiums By Average Of 49 percent.

Oh come on. First up - Manhattan Institute, so we're talking about a survey done by what is basically a wing of the Republican Party.

Second up, it's the same fething scam that's been run over and over again since ACA was announced - take the minimum legal package pre-ACA, which no-one on God's Earth will pretend was adequate healthcare, and compare it to the much greater minimum package post-ACA. Shockingly enough, the post-ACA mid-range sedan does cost more than the pre-ACA Ford Pinto with the bald tyres.

 sebster wrote:

But I do agree that it's the party fatigue that's the issue. It's very hard to keep getting re-elected on 'we'll carry on as things are already going'. Anything that's worked has already been taken for granted and forgotten about, anything that's failed is being raised over and over again.

 whembly wrote:
Simply party fatigue.

 d-usa wrote:
Speaking of Democratic Contenders:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/19/brian-schweitzer-says-his-gaydar-goes-off-when-he-sees-eric-cantor/

...
“We should tell these countries in Central America that no more aid, no more assistance, no nothing until they stop this from happening,” Arizona Sen. John McCain told KFYI radio in Phoenix…

“And tell our friends in Mexico to secure their border, their Southern border as well as their Northern border, and no comprehensive immigration reform until we get our border secured. It’s unacceptable,” McCain continued. “It’s a human tragedy, and when they encourage people to come up through Mexico … they are subjecting these young people, and primarily young women to the worst kinds of abuse.”

McCain said he had heard from Customs and Border Protection that there were signs in recent months that the unaccompanied migrant crisis was approaching, but he did not know whether President Barack Obama had been briefed.

“He sure as heck should have, should have been informed and he should have known that this is coming,” McCain said. “It is one of the most, frankly, disappointing things for me personally because as you know, I’ve been for comprehensive immigration reform. You can’t do that unless you have secure borders.”
...

 whembly wrote:

Man... that's a hard flip his old Gang of Eight bill, eh? Politicians... what'd you expect?

 d-usa wrote:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/08/palin-calls-for-obamas-impeachment-over-border-crisis/

"Impeach Obama", has it been a couple months ago already?

The Democracy Alliance is not a famous organization, but it deserves to be. The Alliance consists of approximately 100 rich liberals who have taken upon themselves the task of coordinating America’s many left-wing organizations to promote a single radical agenda. The Alliance does not publicize the names of its members, but it held a conference for its “partners” and membership prospects in April, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel (naturally) in Chicago. Someone who attended the conference unfortunately (heh) left his or her copy of the documents passed out by the Democracy Alliance behind, and they eventually fell into the wrong hands. Ours.

In the document below, you can see the agenda for the April DA conference and get information about DA’s partners, among other things.

Democracy Alliance Docs_063014


here is always a certain dissociation when leftists gather at a Ritz Carlton hotel to discuss their commitment to the poor. It is impossible not to laugh at this invitation to a dinner with Katrina vanden Heuvel, the heiress who bought and now runs the Nation magazine, a Communist publication, and New York’s newly-elected mayor Bill de Blasio. They will discuss “New York’s path to social and economic equality.” Sure: in the world to come, the hedge fund manager will share his income equally with the doorman, and Miss vanden Heuvel will divide her inheritance with New York’s poor. [whembly: heh!]

In the meantime, though, let’s make sure the Democratic Party’s donors all make another billion or two. (Tom Steyer figured prominently at the DA conference.) And don’t miss this delicious detail: all of the wine that the Ritz Carlton served at the vanden Heuvel-de Blasio after-dinner event came from vineyards owned by Democracy Alliance partners! Some things, we conservatives just can’t match.


When you look at the agenda, it is striking how seamlessly the Democracy Alliance, with its far-left tint, meshes with the Obama administration. Thus, the DA partners were treated to appearances by David Axelrod and Debbie Wasserman Schultz:


But that’s not all: the ultimate Obama insider, Valerie Jarrett, also graced DA’s Chicago conference:


Note that Ms. Jarrett appeared along with Lizz Winstead, a comedian of sorts who founded the Daily Show, which, we are told, is the main source from which young people learn about current events. Entirely non-partisan, of course.[whembly: ]
The Democracy Alliance does not itself raise and spend a great deal of money. Rather, being a partner in the Alliance requires one to contribute large amounts to other left-wing groups. The Alliance evaluates left-wing organizations on various criteria, and makes recommendations to its members as to where they should put their money. Currently, the Alliance lists 21 groups in its “Aligned Network”: America Votes, American Constitution Society, Black Civic Engagement Fund, Brennan Center, Catalist, Center for American Progress, Center for Community Change, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Common Purpose Project, Fund for the Republic, Latino Engagement Fund, Media Matters for America, New Media Ventures, New Organizing Institute, Organizing For Action, Progressive Majority, Progress Now, State Engagement Initiative, State Voices, Women’s Equality Center and Youth Engagement Fund. You can see the list, with descriptions of each group, in the document below:

img-521072109-0001

The most interesting of the DA documents that have come to light is the one below. It contains DA’s “investment recommendations” for 2014. Not only does it list the recommended organizations, but it rates each organization in several categories, sets out the group’s budget for 2014, and shows how much of that budget should be contributed by the 100 members of the Democracy Alliance. One category in which DA rates the organizations is “Collaboration,” as DA believes that all left-wing groups should coordinate their activities for maximum political impact.

Politicians like Harry Reid have denounced Charles and David Koch and others who contribute to conservative causes as “shadowy,” “secretive” people who infest politics with “dark money.” In that context, it is worth noting that most of the groups to which the Alliance and its elite liberal members contribute are 501(c)(4)s that do not disclose their donors. In fact, this question is addressed in a “FAQ” in one of the DA documents:


Harry Reid has no problem with that, since they are Democrats. [whembly: Zing!]

There is much information in this document, which I haven’t yet had time to digest fully. For example: have you ever wondered what Media Matters’ budget is? I can tell you: in 2013, it raised $13,820,000, of which $2,700,000 came from Democracy Alliance partners. Most of the rest, if I am not mistaken, was contributed by George Soros. DA notes that last year, Media Matters “partially met” its goal “to diversify funding and make organization more sustainable.” I assume that means that if one or two rich leftists die, David Brock is out of business.

These documents place an enormous amount of information about America’s Left at your fingertips. We have no proprietary interest in them; on the contrary, you can read them and comment on them here or elsewhere, and anyone can embed them on his or her own web site. They deserve, I think, broad circulation, as a window on the contemporary American Left.

 dogma wrote:
I'm sorry, I stopped reading when the article claimed The Nation is a communist publication.

 Co'tor Shas wrote:

I'm not sure what it's trying to prove though. That "rich leftists" also make big political contrabutions?

 dogma wrote:
I'm sorry, I stopped reading when the article claimed The Nation is a communist publication.