Joe Lieberman's desire to prove he's an absolutely awful, despicable piece of shit knows no bounds. Maybe this will finally be the move that leads to Harry Reid stripping Revoltin' Joe from all of his leadership positions and his role in the caucus, but I know better than to get my hopes up.
I wrote a piece for Global Comment tonight on Obama's speech, so I'll post a link when that goes up. For now, though, the thing I wanted to share is way, way cooler.
So Congressman Joe Wilson, of South Carolina's 2nd district, was the one who shouted "Liar!" at Obama during his speech. Always classy, since the good old days of taking handouts from Jack Abramoff, that Wilson. I've been bitching about him since I lived in SC, but no one really cares about South Carolina politicians until they screw up on a national scale. People still buy into the red state/blue state divide and just assume that South Carolina republicans are untouchable.
But Joe Wilson pissed off a lot of people. And petitions started circulating on Twitter as soon as people found out who had been the heckler. But some people (me being one of them) decided that a better way to punish Wilson would be to donate to his opponent, a nice guy named Rob Miller who ran and lost in 2008 but forced a more competitive race than Wilson has faced in my memory.
Well, as of a few minutes ago, Rob Miller's campaign was $40,000 richer. Just on the ActBlue page, at press time (since it keeps changing) he's raised $29,312. His home page was down the last time I tried it from traffic.
Twitter activism might fade out quickly, but perhaps fundraising/reverse fundraising is the best use of that flickering moment when thousands of people are all good and pissed off. The people who donate to Miller tonight may not remember him in 2010 (unless they live in SC's 2nd) but their dollars will go a long way toward making the race competitive.
I have two Democratic senators for the first time since I lived in Massachusetts (and was too young to appreciate Kerry & Kennedy). Arlen Specter has jumped the fence--and not only ditched the GOP, but joined the Democrats.
I'll have more on this later, but here's the dirt:
"Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."
It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.
...
My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change.
Whatever my party affiliation, I will continue to be guided by President Kennedy’s statement that sometimes Party asks too much. When it does, I will continue my independent voting and follow my conscience on what I think is best for Pennsylvania and America.
Shorter handful of Republican senators: "unlikely death by swine flu is a much greater threat than forcing abortions on Americans against their will." But hey, at least an actually legitimate potential health crisis like swine flu is a bigger concern to at least 60 senators than stonewalling over somebody's stance on abortion for political purposes. So there's hope yet for politicians....
The Republicans are really desperate for 2010. Obama hasn't even taken power yet and the Republican senators are running for the hills. Four Republicans have already decided to retire. Democrats could take all 4 of these seats. 3 are in battleground states--Kit Bond in Missouri, Mel Martinez in Florida, and George Voinvoich in Ohio. Sam Brownback's seat in Kansas might usually be safe for Republicans, but the extremely popular Democratic governor Kathleen Sebelius is expected to run for it.
Now the Senate Republicans are begging Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to not run for governor, as she has been planning. They fear they could lose that seat too and give the Democrats a filibuster proof majority.
I have news for the Republicans. If they lose Hutchison's seat, they are far gone beyond 60. Not only should that seat remain safe for the Republicans for the next several years, but every other open seat is more likely to switch. With the Democrats likely at 59 once this Minnesota mess gets settled, and with only Harry Reid's seat in trouble at this point for the Democrats, the Republicans had better have bigger things to worry about than Texas.
Saturday afternoon, I went down to our local grocery store (a very fine store that has been family-owned in Redlands for generations). I parked my car, and was locking the door when a middle-aged white guy in one of those dreadful Scion breadbox cars was inching past me in the lot. It was a very pleasant afternoon in Southern California, so he had his window down. Said middle-aged white guy must have seen the Obama sticker on my car, because he looked at me and proceeded to instruct me to be a "real American" and vote McCain-Palin. I was taken aback and asked him to repeat himself, thinking that I had misheard him. I thought he could have been making a joke, so I smiled. He was not, in fact, joking. He got rather angry and said something about not being patriotic and that no real American would vote for Obama.
Many of you that know me can attest to the fact that I am not a violent (or even angry) person. Unfortunately, I was so angry I could only come up with the cursory, highly uncreative "fuck you" response, but the guy kept yammering on. Finally, I walked closer to car and told him to get out of the car and say it all again. He told me to fuck off and called me a "fag" and drove out of the parking lot.
Seriously? What happened to reasonable Republicans? I know they are out there, but the most vocal wing of their party is really ruining that party's party, so to speak. We've seen the hateful, disgusting speech and actions at the McCain rallies, the public recognition that ensuring all Florida voters get to vote will be McCain's undoing in the state, and public pining for the Bradley Effect by McCain surrogates.
Politics are ugly, and there are certainly over-the-top Obama people out there-- but come on. This incarnation of the GOP-- this "win-at-all-costs", "backs against the wall" kind-- this could end up being worse than the Bush GOP, and I shudder to think of what a Palin-led GOP would look like in the future.
Is it Tuesday yet? Maybe then I can go to the grocery store without being hassled.
George Will cries in Newsweek that early voting sucks.
The second problem with early voting is that one of its supposed benefits is actually a subtraction from civic health. The benefit is that it makes voting easier—indeed, essentially effortless. But surely the quality of the electoral turnout declines when the quantity is increased by "convenience voting."
A word describes most of the people who will vote only if a ballot is shoved through their mail slot: "slothful." What kind of people will not bestir themselves to exercise their franchise if doing so requires them to get off their couches and visit neighborhood polling places? People who are barely interested, and hence probably are barely informed.
Waaaaahhhhh!!!
Poor George Will. Early voting means that the nation is more democratic. It means that poor people, who can't take time off from work to vote, who have 5 kids that need taken care of, who don't have transportation, who are too sick to leave their house, and who for a variety of reasons can't go to a polling station will actually get to cast their ballot. This means more votes for Democrats.
This is why Republicans freak out over supposed fradulent voting, push for voter ID, hate same-day registration, and now are depressed over the rise of mail-in voting. They are trying to suppress democracy so their plutocratic party can remain in power.
McCain is suspending his campaign because of the financial crisis? He wants to cancel Friday's debate?
What?
This is arguably the most desperate and pathetic move in the history of American presidential campaigns. Seriously. #1. It's even more weird since it is a foreign policy debate, supposedly McCain's speciality in a format that is not Obama's favorite. Huh. Sounds fine to me.
As many others have pointed out already, including Obama--part of being president is dealing with multiple things at once. I guess the Republicans are saying that McCain really cares about the economy--more than being president. But this is both absurd and is not going to work. I think Americans want actual leadership. They want someone who can deal with a financial crisis and take care of Iraq and deal with Russia and health care and a bunch of other things. All at the same time. McCain is showing that he either can't or won't do these things.
Barney Frank said this about McCain's stunt: "It's the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys." Yes. This is true desperation. It's badly thought out and shows him to be entirely incapable of the office.
The first thing I was thinking was that there have been lots of presidential campaigns in US history. They have happened in good times and they have happened in bad times. And no my knowledge no one has ever actually called for suspending the campaign. Then, Eric Rauchway did my homework for me. He points out that on September 24, 1864, we were in the middle of the Civil War. Campaigning was intense that year and did not stop for a second. On September 24, 1932, we were dealing with the Great Depression, a crisis more serious by like a magnitude of 400 to this one. Yet FDR, Hoover, and their surrogates were trading blows left and right. And On September 24, 1944, in the middle of World War II, Thomas Dewey was attacking Franklin Roosevelt. I'm sure David Horowitz would call this treason....
See, this is how you campaign. You talk about the issues at hand. You try to demonstrate how you will deal with them. You don't stop campaigning and try to cancel the upcoming debate.
Commentary on this from around the intertubes has been pretty interesting. Aimai picks up some good stuff from The National Review. This guy gives McCain some advice:
I think McCain should show up for the debate looking reluctant and disheveled. He could apologize for this condition, saying he had to rush back from doing the nation’s business. He could be like Grant having to apologize to the impeccably dressed Lee at Appomattox for showing up all muddy and in an old private’s coat. There was, after all, a war that needed winning.
"You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves."Yes, indeed.
