It looks like Barack Obama will take at least a 24-point victory in California, and a 7-point win nationwide, and around 364 electoral votes in becoming the 44th President of the United States of America.
I want to focus on California and this tremendous disconnect we're all feeling between the joy of the national moment and the indifference for the local one. But that can wait for a minute. Let's consider what we've done here, and more important, what we must do.
Sometime this month, there's going to be a day when Obama gets a briefing that would turn anyone's hair white. The extent to which this country has been fucked up by eight years of misrule is still not known to us. Republicans lost because they failed to produce anything substantive for the country, and indeed degraded much of it. And it's going to be tossed on Obama to clean up. And he won't get any help from conservatives, who consider it their duty to fight this guy tooth and nail, the country be damned. They will obstruct as they have been obstructing, they think it's a principled stand to let greedy realtors stay greedy and allow corporations to destroy the planet and reap profit.
The question then will be what Obama does when he comes out of that briefing room. Will he rise to the historical moment? Or will he offer a measured agenda that fails to meet the needs of the American people? I think he has an army behind him of supporters who have worked their communities, met neighbors, and forged a grassroots movement unlike few in American politics. Will he put them to work? America may begin to be liked again globally. Will he leverage it?
This will play out pretty quickly over the next several months. But I also want to focus on the enormity of this moment, with an ethnic minority leading a nation of immigrants, a man who looks like a new image of America leading America, a man of the world in a nation where the world comes together, rejecting fear, rejecting anxiousness, and proud to lead. Here's the best example I can find of this phenomenon, a shocking statement on where we've come from and where we're going:
Gertrude Baines' 114-year-old fingers wrapped lightly over the ballpoint pen as she bubbled in No. 18 on her ballot Tuesday. Her mouth curled up in a smile. A laugh escaped. The deed was done.
A daughter of former slaves, Baines had just voted for a black man to be president of the United States. "What's his name? I can't say it," she said shyly afterward. Those who helped her fill out the absentee ballot at a convalescent facility west of USC chimed in: "Barack Obama."
Baines is the world's oldest person of African descent, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which validates claims of extreme old age. She is the third-oldest person in the world, and the second-oldest in the United States after Edna Parker of Indiana, who is 115.
When Baines was born, Grover Cleveland was president and the U.S. flag had 44 stars. She grew up in Georgia during a time when black people were prevented from voting, discriminated against and subject to violent racism. In her lifetime, she has seen women gain the right to vote, and drastic changes to federal voting laws and to the Constitution -- and now, this.
"No, I didn't never think I'd live this long." she said.
I'll have a much larger roundup later. But it looks to me like there was a significant undervote in the election. So far, 10.04 million votes have been counted in the Presidential race. Yet on Prop. 8 we have about 9.9 million votes counted. The difference there is 79,000 votes. But that's the smallest discrepancy. Most of the other statewide ballot measures had undervotes of around 600,000-800,000 votes. And there are maybe 1 million votes yet to be counted, so this spread could be much higher.
And if you look at the Congressional and state legislature ballots, the spread is just as high.
A lot of people stopped at the top, probably because they didn't have enough information and didn't feel comfortable about voting.
It is sadly typical of the knuckle-draggers in the California Republican Party that they picked today to file a lawsuit over Obama's travel to Hawaii to visit Mrs. Dunham for the last time. The RNC jumped on this lawsuit filing today as well.
Turns out she passed away today. Obama took time off the campaign trail in the final weeks to say his last goodbyes. Unfortunately she could not make it to Election Day.
What a classy bunch over at the CRP offices.
RIP Madelyn Dunham.
...I should also note that the Nevada State Director of the Obama campaign died from a massive heart attack this morning at the age of just 44. Much of my volunteer efforts for Obama supported Nevada. This is also a tragic loss.
In a story that Hal Ginsberg broke yesterday morning on KRXA 540 AM the Monterey County Republicans sent out an email comparing Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. The email, sent to their entire list, is basically a long rant against and addressed to "Barack Hussein Obama" but toward the end descends into some nasty territory:
Because some of these people are frightened about the future, the economy, and their financial security ... and you are preying on their fears with empty promises ... and because some (especially our young people) are consumed by your wonderful style and promises for 'change' like the Germans who voted for Adolf Hitler in 1932. The greed/envy by Germans in 1932 kept them from recognizing Hitler for who he was. They loved his style. Greed and envy are keeping many Americans from recognizing you ... your style has camouflaged your dishonesty ... but many of us see you for who you really are ... and we will not stop exposing who you are every day, forever if it is necessary. [Ellipsis in original]
The response from Monterey County Democrats was swift:
Vinz Koller, executive director of the county Democratic Party, said he was shocked that local Republicans distributed "such despicable hate mail."
He said the local GOP should "set the record straight."
"They have to stand up for what it's saying or repudiate it," he said.
Koller said he personally reviews every e-mail distributed by the local Democratic Party to ensure against any light-speed faux pas.
(Which I can vouch for, since I write many of those emails he reviews.)
Local party officials immediately climbed out of the muck to repudiate the piece and apologize, right?
Not exactly.
In a news release, the party disavowed the Hitler comparison but acknowledged that it had sent the piece out, in its entirety, because it was interesting and "might incite conversation."
However, the release went on, "This sort of inflammatory language is neither condoned nor encouraged by our party."
Except, that is, when this sort of inflammatory language is, in fact, condoned, encouraged and even distributed by the party.
And they're calling him dishonest.
What happened here is obvious. The true face of the Republican Party came out and had a look around, a local radio host caught it and called them on it, and suddenly the local Republican officials felt the need to backpedal and try to deny to the public that their party's base is full of people who think like that. We've seen it at McCain/Palin rallies around the country and from other Republican Party organizations around the state. Brandon Gesicki and his party can try and distance themselves from it all they like, but the truth is out there.
So the latest poll on Prop. 8 has come out from the PPIC, showing the No side still ahead, albeit with a narrower lead than the last time PPIC was in the field.
A majority of Californians still oppose a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, but the margin is narrowing so notably that the fate of Proposition 8 may hinge on the turnout for the presidential race.
A new poll released late Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California shows Prop. 8 losing 52 to 44 percent among likely voters. That eight-point margin has narrowed from the 14-point spread that PPIC polls found in August and September. Just 4 percent of likely voters remain undecided.
"The vote on Proposition 8 could get closer between now and the election, because we know that Californians are evenly divided in general on whether they favor or oppose gay marriage," said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the PPIC.
There should be a Field Poll on this next week. But I think it'll confirm what we see here - a close race that either side can take. The polling guru Nate Silver of 538 waded into this today.
Both the PPIC and SurveyUSA polls have Barack Obama leading by large (20+ point) margins, so I'm not sure that opponents of the measure can count on some sort of turnout surge above and beyond what is already reflected in the polls. There are evidently fair numbers of Obama/'Yes on 8' tickets, especially among the state's black and Latino populations.
On the one hand, there have been suggestions that there is something of 'Bradley Effect' on polling on gay marriage bans, and that such measures tend to overperform their polls, although a more recent analysis refutes this suggestion.
On the other hand, because ballot measures are confusing, it is usually better to be on the 'No' side of them ... people tend to vote 'no' on things that they don't understand. In this case, that gives an advantage to the marriage equality folks. (It may even be the case that some voters vote 'no', thinking that they're voting no to gay marriage, when in fact the wording of the resolution is such that a 'no' vote protects gay marriage).
I'd peg the 'no' side as about a 55/45 favorite, but not more than that.
Sounds pretty accurate to me. So what can turn the tide in this race at this late date? Well, there are the human interest stories like this ex-mayor of Folsom coming out and opposing Prop. 8 in an emotional display. I think putting a face on whose rights would be eliminated can be powerful. There is also value in putting a spotlight on the extremism and basic indecency coming from the Yes side.
Standing there as the "Yes on 8" rally outside Oakland's Foothill Missionary Baptist Church began to wind down today, I noticed a gentleman in the crowd approach an elderly woman who was holding a "Gay marriage = legal perversion" sign. I eavesdropped - hey, that's my job - as he told her he agreed with her sign completely, but he urged her to ditch it and just use a "Yes on 8" sign instead because her homemade sign's sentiment might turn off some voters.
They're trying to hide their wingnuts, but they're pretty ubiquitous. And this story seems to me to be a good one to push, considering that one of the key arguments of the Yes side concerns classroom indoctrination.
A Salinas High School teacher who distributed "Yes on Proposition 8" literature to her students last week has been asked to refrain from doing so by administrators [...]
The literature that was passed out to students says it is important to protect marriage as an institution between a man and a woman.
The one-page statement also says it is critical to vote yes on Proposition 8, saying its failure would eventually force the state to approve "polygamy, polymory, incest, group and other 'creative' arrangements for marriage."
Think of the children!
But a more controversial idea, expressed by Andrew Sullivan, is that Barack Obama should get involved in this race. Obama has already expressed his opposition to Prop. 8, but Sullivan argues that he should do more.
As expected, one reason Proposition 8, stripping gay couples of marriage equality, is still viable in California is because of strong African-American support. Black Californians back the anti-gay measure by a margin of 20 points, 58 - 38, in the SUSA poll. No other ethnic group comes close to the level of opposition and black turnout is likely to be very high next month.
All this makes it vital, in my opinion, that Barack Obama strongly and unequivocally oppose Proposition 8 in California, rather than keeping mainly quiet as he has done so far. We need him to make an ad opposing it. This is a core test of whether gay Americans should back Obama as enthusiastically as they have in the last month. If he does not stand up for gay couples now, why should we believe he will when he is in office? And if black Americans are the critical bloc that helps kill civil rights for gays, that will not help deepen Obama's governing coalition. It could tear it apart.
I think Sen. Obama is focused on winning a different election right now. Still, even a small measure, like sending out a fundraising appeal to his California list, could speak volumes. And as he's already on the record, it's not like the McCain campaign couldn't already point to the issue if they so chose.
The Presidential campaign on the Republican side has really become ridiculous, with nonsense talk of "socialism" (I guess that's what the kids are calling the progressive tax system nowadays). Here, Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to defend it by playing the "I was born in socialist Europe" card (expect this to be part of his campaign address for John McCain in Ohio next week):
• Schwarzenegger seemed to embrace language that Republican John McCain has been using in his latest attacks against Democrat Barack Obama related to "redistribution of wealth."
"I left Europe because of the socialistic kind of environment and the way countries were run and the way government was on your back and therefore stifled the opportunities in Europe and that's why I came to America," he said. "So I hope -- and that's why I've been always involved in campaigning for political leaders that I believe in, because I wanted to do everything that I can to make sure that America doesn't go back to those days of 40 years ago when I left Europe, that we go back to that system of redistribution of wealth that some people are talking about. There is no redistribution of wealth."
"Redistribution of wealth," apparently, is raising the top tax rate from 36% to 39%. Ooh! Why don't you just give everybody borscht as well? (By the way, hasn't Arnold called for new taxes to fill the budget gap? Um, Arnold, isn't that, er, redistributing wealth?)
But that's not half as embarrassing as this exchange with CNN's Campbell Brown:
BROWN: Do you think she's qualified to be president?
SCHWARZENEGGER: I think that she will get to be qualified.
BROWN: She will get there? What do you mean? She's not ready yet?
SCHWARZENEGGER: By the time that she is sworn in I think she will be ready.
OK, today is October 23. Inauguration Day is January 20. Exactly what is going to happen over three months that would suddenly make Sarah Palin qualified for the office of the Presidency?
The answer, of course, is nothing. But Arnold is a loyal Republican soldier and a "Free To Choose" economic royalist, so he can't see that. What a fraud.
Some people don't have a well-developed sense of honor, I guess.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger once again will stump for a Republican presidential candidate in Ohio on the weekend before the election, this time making a Halloween stop for Sen. John McCain in Columbus.
Schwarzenegger considers the Ohio capital his second home. He hosts his Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus each winter and has invested in a suburban mall there.
At a press conference backing the redistricting initiative today in San Diego, Schwarzenegger called Columbus "the city where I traditionally always go and campaign, like the weekend before the election. I have done this in 1988 and in 1992 and so on, so I will be going there for one event to Columbus, Ohio."
Somebody should ask Arnold if this means he agrees that Barack Obama pals around with terrorists. Somebody should ask him if he agrees that Obama tried to teach kindergarteners sex ed. Somebody should ask him about every one of the despicable tactics McCain has used in the most dishonorable campaign in anybody's memory. And whether or not Sarah Palin is qualified to be President.
The thing is that, for all the moves to the contrary, Schwarzenegger is a doctrinaire Republican and loyal soldier. There are many other Republicans rejecting McCain's approach in this campaign - Arnold's ideological soulmate Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, is basically sitting out the election. But Arnold would never think of that. He's a Republican serving in a state that is rapidly trending Democratic. He's stumping for McCain while holding office in a state that may go for Obama by 20 points.
Well, Arnold can do what he wants, although I don't want to hear another word from him about post-partisanship. And McCain can have Schwarzenegger; I'll take my chances with Obama and teh Google.
They're not just economic royalists and Yacht Tax Loophole lovers anymore, they have graduated to out and out eliminationist status:
Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama" - material that offended even state GOP leaders.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has pushed the party to try to broaden its appeal, took issue with the site. "In the governor's view, it's completely and totally inappropriate," said Julie Soderlund, a Schwarzenegger spokeswoman [...]
Taking credit for the site (sacramentorepublicans.org) and its content was county party chairman Craig MacGlashan - husband of Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan.
The Bee asked MacGlashan about the content after seeking his reaction to hate-filled graffiti that was spray-painted over an Obama display on a fence at Fair Oaks Boulevard and Garfield Avenue.
In recent weeks, MacGlashan, an attorney, joined local Democratic party officials in condemning vandalism to political displays.
The vandalism to the Obama display appeared to have been done overnight Monday. A racial epithet, profanity, "KKK" and the words "white power" were clearly visible from the roadway. Six of the nine fence panels were defaced.
"What you are describing to me is not free speech, it's vandalism. We don't condone it," MacGlashan said.
But he defended his Web site. "I'm aware of the content," he said. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things."
Republicans have been taught for 30 years that the Presidency is their divine right and any Democrat who accedes to the office must be illegitimate. Compounding this is the fact that this next President is a black man. The hatred is welling up from everywhere and the resultant anger will make the Clinton Years look like the Era of Good Feeling.
We haven't written much about the Presidential race here lately because California is largely out of reach - the FiveThirtyEight composite projects a 16-point win for Obama, and even the Stockton Record is endorsing Obama for President. Nevertheless, Vets for Freedom and Pete Wilson are wasting $2.2 million dollars on an ad campaign trumpeting the success of the surge. Way to gauge the public mood, guys. By the way, the California Nurses Association is firing back with a vicious ad about John McCain, and they have the sense to run it in swing states where it might matter.
Which brings us to tonight's VP debate. I wrote a little debate preview over at my site. My take - watch out for the hissy fit! Watch out for Drudge running with some manufactured slight and all the networks going into 24-hour "Biden disrespected Palin" mode and Lynne Cheney walking out and saying "This is a baaaad man!"
Anyway, I'll be trying to sort all of this out tonight with Brad Friedman of BradBlog, who's guest-hosting a special "VP Debate" edition of the Mike Malloy Show immediately following the Biden-Palin matchup. Also appearing:
Former Los Angeles Mayor (and Republican) Dick Riordan attended a fundraiser for Democratic nominee Barack Obama for president. You can check the video here (h/t CA Faultline).
Riordan was the "post-partisan" Republican candidate of 2002, and he polled really well against incumbent Gov. Davis. The Davis team reached into the Republican primary, and in the end Riordan was defeated for the nomination by Bill Simon. I'm sure the GOP voters in California will hardly be shocked after tagging him as a "RINO".
However, this does speak to McCain's loss of the moderate vote. Riordan was able to win in LA, despite the strong Democratic tilt. While LA itself won't be at all determinative for the general election, the "independent" vote will be important. Sure, McCain did something to consolidate his base with the Palin pick, but now that the bloom is falling off that rose, where will he turn?
Here's LA Times blogger Andrew Malcolm, who was Laura Bush's press secretary in 1999-2000, trying to make something out of nothing and playing John McCain's POW card for him:
As part of its effort to show the 72-year-old Republican Sen. John McCain as old and out of touch, the Democratic Party's hip campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, which frequently says it honors the former POW's military service to his country, Friday released a new ad.
As noted Friday by our blogging colleagues over at the Technology blog here, the ad says, among other things: "1982, John McCain goes to Washington. Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn't.
"He admits he doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail."
Like many of his generation, McCain does not like to talk details a lot about his wartime experiences, certainly not about any lingering physical symptoms. To be honest, it could sound like complaining and, as he's ruefully noted, unlike many others, McCain did come home [...]
Here's a passage from a lengthy Boston Globe profile on McCain that was published the last time he ran for president. It was headlined "McCain character loyal to a fault." It was written by Mary Leonard.
And it was printed more than eight years ago, on March 4, 2000.
It is available online, where Jonah Goldberg of The Corner blog at the National Review found it.
"McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan -- Ted Williams is his hero -- but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball."
BRZEZINSKI: Does John McCain, does he use the internet? Does he use email? [...]
DAVIS: He actually is, he always is grabbing people's Blackberrys on the bus. In fact, no reporter's Blackberry is safe from his prying eyes. He loves to tool around on the internet, he especially loves the videos that get produced that usually poke fun at him. I think that's his most entertaining part of the internet.
Now, maybe his thumbs work and his fingers don't, but considering that he said in the same article that he's learning to get on the Internet by himself, I highly doubt the veracity of this. Oh, and here's Tucker Bounds claiming he travels with a laptop:
"John McCain travels with a laptop," said McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. "This is a senseless tactic from Obama's campaign because they're struggling with the realization that the American people understand he is not equipped to deliver change because his record has no bipartisanship or significant legislative accomplishment in it."
The day before she was announced as John McCain's vice presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin called on Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto a landmark bill that would levy fees on cargo containers at state ports to raise money for pollution mitigation standards. The air around California ports, especially LA-Long Beach, is among the worst in the nation with major negative health impacts on nearby residents. But Palin doesn't care:
"Enactment of Senate Bill 974 will have negative impacts on both Alaska and California," Palin wrote. "For Alaskans, a very large percentage of goods [90% or more] shipped to Alaska arrive as marine cargo in a container."
Palin said many Alaskan communities lack road access and depend entirely on goods shipped by container, something that has significantly increased in cost in recent years. Many of those containers pass through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports before arriving in Alaska, and Palin argues that the fee will add even more to the cost of goods shipped to her state.
"This tax makes the situation worse," Palin wrote. "Similarly, the tax may harm California by driving port business away from its ports."
The letter concludes by requesting that "due consideration be given to our state and that you not sign Senate Bill 974."
State Sen. Alan Lowenthal, author of SB 974, had a devastating response to Palin's interference:
On Thursday, with the Palin letter hitting the Internet, Lowenthal invited the Alaskan governor to travel to the Southern California ports to see first-hand why the fee is needed.
"We are losing about 3,400 Californians each year because of pollution," Lowenthal said. "No matter what Gov. Palin would like to see happen, the impact is killing Californians. I don't think Gov. Palin truly understands the impacts going on here."
RUMBLE, RUMBLE. That's the hum of my community, so close to the nation's largest port complex. The air tickles your throat, but my daughter and I are not laughing. We've been living in Long Beach for ten years. The doctor first diagnosed her with asthma when she was six. It's been traumatizing to watch my child suffer. Through my involvement with the Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma, I've learned about managing my child's asthma, including controlling triggers inside the home. Unfortunately, it's impossible to control the environment outside, when you live next to the largest fixed source of air pollution in greater Los Angeles. I believe there are solutions to these problems. I don't believe industry's claim that reducing pollution will hurt our economy. These companies make a lot of money while I spend money on medicine and miss work and my daughter misses school.
Adriana Hernandez
I LIVE NEAR I-710: a parking lot of nearly 50,000 cargo trucks daily. Next door is Wilmington, an area pockmarked with refineries. We get hit with pollution from all sides. My youngest son was born with a closed trachea and his left vocal cord paralyzed; he still takes speech classes. He also suffered from severe asthma attacks. I had to medicate him and connect him to a breathing machine, feeling desperate that my child couldn't breathe.
This is what Palin, for whom motherhood is such a central part of her message and appeal, is enabling with her effort to squelch California's clean air laws - Palin is supporting pollution that is hurting working families.
Her interference in California's lawmaking process is bad enough, but it's a harbinger of what we can expect from a McCain-Palin Administration. As we saw with the EPA waiver the federal government has the power to preempt California clean air rules, and Palin is signaling that if she and McCain win they will likely use that power to undermine our efforts to provide healthy lives for our families.
California may not have the same role to play in the election that swing states like Nevada and Ohio do, but we can help Americans understand exactly what they'll be getting from McCain-Palin - more of the same attacks on our health, our environmental laws, and our states rights.
It's kind of odd how big a role Der Spiegel is playing in the Presidential campaign. First Nouri al-Maliki essentially endorsed Barack Obama's plan for Iraq in those pages, and now Arnold Schwarzenegger explains how he was prepared to self-censor at the Republican National Convention before the budget crisis kept him at home.
SCHWARZENEGGER: The speech I would have given is the one that Fred Thompson gave. I gave him my speech because I did not go to the convention. It was a great speech because it talked in minute detail about McCain's torture and his being a POW, and that's the speech that the party wanted me to give. Why? Because this way I don't go and talk about centrist politics and maybe rub some people the wrong way. That's another stage.
We all know that there's tight message control around these conventions, and virtually all of the speeches are written by the respective campaigns. Still, it's interesting that Mr. Post-Partisan Maverick McCain, who always puts country above party and who very rarely talks about his POW experience, was willing to go to these lengths to muzzle Arnold.
(Also, who else thinks it would've been a bad idea to have the guy you handpick to present the story of torture and prison camps do it in what amounts to a German accent?)
Last night, in one of the most shocking bits of incompetence in Republican National Convention history, John McCain spoke to America in front of what convention organizers must have thought was the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but was actually Walter Reed MIDDLE SCHOOL in North Hollywood. TPM has been all over this story today, and now they report that the CDP is stepping up on it.
One other interesting development: The California Democratic Party is actually holding a press conference in front of the school within minutes, where Dems will hit McCain for not knowing the difference between the school and Walter Reed Medical Center, which is believed to be the backdrop the McCain campaign really wanted.
Though multiple news organizations are asking for clarification, the McCain campaign is still refusing to comment on questions about whether it had hoped to use the medical center as a backdrop and accidentally used the school instead. Hard to blame them...
Good for the CDP for calling attention to this embarrassment. Aren't the Republicans supposed to be the ones who are good at stagecraft? Hopefully Matt or someone will give us an update.
• Today we'll see just how infatuated John McCain is with the policies of our nation's worst president ever, George W. Bush. If you want to learn more about the man of so many flip-flops and political lives, I'd recommend you check out NYT reporter David Kirpatrick's interview on Fresh Air this morning. It's a bit long at 43 minutes, but quite interesting. Get ready to hear Mr. Third Term try to distance himself from Bush, while trying to reassure the Republicans that he'll be Bush redux.
• I really like Alyson Huber. She's a great candidate in a district (AD-10) that's trending our way. And now she's got a new website. Sweet!
• Mayor Gavin Newsom put the available to all ID card program on hold pending legal review. The legislative proponent of the cards, soon to be Asm. Tom Ammiano, says they will still be issued in November.
• Capitol Weekly has their wrap of bills that were passed.
• Despite the fact that T. Boone Pickens sponsored the Big Tent, I still find him an abhorrent person for his Swift Boat attacks against John Kerry. The man has no principles, is a liar and Democrats who get chummy with him should remember that. That includes you Sen. Obama. And oh yeah, NO on Prop 10! It's just a scheme to make Pickens even more wealthy and poor public policy. The Consumer Federation has more info on Prop 10. Vote NO!
• Anything else on your mind? McCain or otherwise?
You wouldn't think that anyone would look at the dysfunction that is the California legislature and use it as a model, but that's precisely what the national Republicans have done in their party platform, as the eagle-eyed Matt Yglesias discovers:
Page 16 of the Republican Platform endorses a Balanced Budget Amendment "to require a balanced budget except in times of war" and then page 17 says that "because the problem is too much spending, not too few taxes, we support a supermajority requirement in both the House and Senate to guard against tax hikes."
The next time you see some legislative Republican weeping crocodile tears about the impact of the late budget, understand that they consider it a success, all the way up to John Boehner and Mitch McConnell and John McCain. They desire a balanced budget amendment and supermajorities to pass tax increases, so that no matter who holds the seat of power, spending cuts must be used as the only possible answer to any fiscal crisis or economic downturn, with no consequent way to reverse them after the downturn subsides. This is what they want - they think a paralyzed government is the best possible solution. In fact, if they could do away with the government itself - except for the cushy salaries for the lawmakers and their staffs, of course - then it would be absolutely perfect.
In practice, there aren't enough votes to make the desired spending cuts, either, so the only recourse is borrowing. So what the Republican wet dream really looks like is a perpetual mortgaging of the future, spending billions upon billions in taxpayer money for no material benefit.
When we do get the opportunity to overturn this at the ballot box, what has to be made clear is that Republicans want no part of governing. They are hostage-takers, and far from this being a localized problem in California, it's a national strategy to strangle government, and to lock in impossible burdens that constrain Democrats and Republicans alike. There's a name for professional hostage-takers, but I don't think I need to tell you what it is.
For the most part, I wasn't all that prolific during the convention. There are better livebloggers than me, so a special thanks to those who did so here. What I did accomplish was talking to a lot of people, which really was quite a thrill. It's always fun to see old friends and meet new ones. So, if nothing else, it was worth the trip for that alone, even with the fact that we still have a few wedding details to wrap up.
Yet, of course, there was more. Because we had the California "state blogger pool" pass, the four members of our editorial board had the opportunity to sit on the floor with the delegation. So, for that, thank you to the DNC and the CDP. From a personal perspective, being at Mile High for Barack Obama's acceptance of the nomination was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and I will treasure the memory. Of course, now it is even more incumbent upon us to make sure Obama wins, because it would sure stink to have that memory tainted with electoral defeat.
By and large the Democratic response to the Palin pick as McCain's running mate has been strong, especially when you contrast it to the feeble words from the Republicans after Obama's big speech last night.
Sen. Barbara Boxer just issued this fantastic statement about Gov. Palin, who is a weak pick for McCain and a huge gamble. Boxer goes right after her.
The Vice President is a heartbeat away from becoming President, so to choose someone with not one hour's worth of experience on national issues is a dangerous choice.
If John McCain thought that choosing Sarah Palin would attract Hillary Clinton voters, he is badly mistaken.
The only similarity between her and Hillary Clinton is that they are both women. On the issues, they could not be further apart.
Senator McCain had so many other options if he wanted to put a women on his ticket, such as Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison or Senator Olympia Snowe - they would have been an appropriate choice compared to this dangerous choice.
In addition, Sarah Palin is under investigation by the Alaska state legislature which makes this more incomprehensible.
Interestingly, Hillary's statement is much weaker, but I think by design.
"We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate."
Clinton is going to be all nice and then spend the next several months tearing into her. This pick guarantees an even bigger role for Hillary Clinton. She will be the one continuing to make the argument to her supporters that Barack Obama is a much superior choice than the anti-choice, anti-equality, anti-working class ticket of McCain/Palin.
Joe Biden has just been selected as the Vice Presidential nominee. There's a little "BI-DEN, BI-DEN" chant in the room, which I pretty much never thought I'd see.
After a short video we'll have the speech.
In the video: "When you see the abuse of power, you've got to speak." This is going to be a solid speech.
...Beau Biden, the Attorney General of Delaware, who is being shipped out to Iraq in a month, is introducing him. He's talking about that horrible accident that killed his mother and sister. Joe Biden sat by his bedside and said "Delaware can get another Senator, but my boys can't get another father." Eventually he was encouraged to serve, and he commuted to work every day while he was a US Senator. This is a good introduction into Biden the man.
...Biden opens by praising President Clinton, "a man who brought this country so far I pray we can do it again." He praises Hillary as well.
"Let me make this pledge to you... no longer will you hear the most dreaded eight words in the English language... "the Vice President's office is on the phone." Unfortunately he mangled the setup slightly. He's working into this one.
Biden introduces his mother... Her motto was "failure at some point of your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable." He sets up the red meat by saying that when bullies would fight him, he'd send him back out and saying "bloody their nose." My mother's creed is the American creed, everyone is equal, no one is better than you.
...Biden moving on to how the American dream is slipping away. He's building a narrative of how Republicans have broken this country. It's very accessible to the middle class. "That's the America George Bush has left us. And that's the America we'll have if Geor- John McCain is made President. Freudian slip!"
Biden: Barack "is the great American story." The measure of a man is what he chooses to do... and he tells the story of Obama moving to the South Side of Chicago to help steelworkers instead of taking a big corporate job.
...Biden has had a few flubs, but this is an emotional speech. He's making the case for Obama, and he's giving testimony of the quality of his character. "We don't have to accept a situation we cannot bear, we have the power to change it."
...the obligatory "John McCain is my friend" part, but now we are into the red meat. He's tying McCain to Bush and repeating the "more of the same" refrain.
...I hadn't heard the "McCain has voted 19 times against the minimum wage" bit of research before. He then followed up with the "we need a wise leader."
...I have to say that this is not that great a speech. The passion was there in the beginning, but he's now reading lines that it doesn't seem like he would read. And this Obama part is a bit too wonky. The "that's the change we need" is a bit grating. I understand that he's trying to define change, but it's not the best way to do it, IMO. Maybe this will improve.
...He's on stronger ground on foreign policy here. His foreign policy knowledge is broad and wide, and he's very blunt about it. "John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was right" on foreign policy.
...He's bringing into the headlines the recent collapse of the Bush foreign policy and how McCain wants to go down the same path. With Obama "we'll be able to lead again." This is pretty decent stuff.
