The Red and the Blue

If you feared (or hoped) Fred Thompson’s abysmal return to the political realm in the 2008 Republican primaries shamed him into leaving the scene, fear not. I received another email from the “Friends of Fred” PAC announcing an “important endorsement” in New York’s 20th congressional district special election. This is the race to replace Kristin Gillibrand, who was appointed by Governor David Paterson to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat.

Why does Fred (we’re on a first name basis now), a former Senator from Tennessee care about New York, you ask? Apparently this particular congressional election holds the key to the elusive Republican Revival that will someday sweep the country once more. Here’s the lowdown on the race according to Fred:

The Republican candidate, Jim Tedisco is a solid conservative. He is being opposed by a Wall Street Democrat, Scott Murphy.

A Tedisco victory will start the process of building an effective opposition to the Obama-Pelosi agenda, and send a clear message: conservatives aren’t going to let the extremist left in Washington strip us of our rights and freedoms. Read more…

Uncategorized Fred Thompson, Jim Tedisco, Republican, Scott Murphy

Reading online newspapers is my favorite way of procrastinating for midterms/essays, so of course I opened the article on Politico whose title indirectly berated me: “Dem freshman: Leaders make us cram like kids.” The blurb quotes freshman Representative Mary Jo Kilroy saying, “Members of Congress shouldn’t be pulling all-nighters, cramming like college kids before exams.”

My first reaction to this was Jim Cramer-ish: “Yes, actually, you should be pulling all-nighters, you should be doing whatever is humanly possible to prevent the economic crisis from getting worse. Not all of us have the amazing healthcare and pension benefits that long-standing members of Congress do.”

Upon further thought, however, it becomes clear that Kilroy’s analogy is false, to the detriment of her argument (which is discussed less sensationally in this Columbus Dispatch article).  For one thing, my all-nighters leave me with the functioning ability of a clam the next day, and I’m young and relatively healthy. I certainly don’t want my elected members of Congress walking around in a zombie-like trance; who knows what hair-brained legislation they’d propose?

The biggest problem with Kilroy’s analogy, however, is that we college crammers are presented with a syllabus, the reading material and exam schedule at the beginning of the semester—it’s our own fault that we leave studying until the night before the test.

In Congress, members are expected to read, analyze and decide whether to support 1,000-plus page, multi-billion dollar bills written in legalese, which they receive sometimes only a few hours before the vote is held.  This would be akin to college students receiving the reading assignments the morning of an exam worth 100% of the grade. Analyzed in that light, it’s a bit harder to fault Kilroy; although she’d probably complain less if she ordered Insomnia Cookies on her next all-nighter.

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Jon Huntsman, Jr.

A recent New York Times/CBS poll gave President Barack Obama a 68% job approval rating. Most Americans believe Obama “was striving to work in a bipartisan way” and that “most faulted Republicans for their response to the president, saying the party had objected to the $787 billion economic stimulus plan for political reasons. Most said Mr. Obama should pursue the priorities he campaigned on…rather than seek middle ground with Republicans.”

This analysis should plunge Republicans into the stark reality of the post-Bush era, although I think it unlikely that real change will come to the party until it finds leaders who will breathe new life into a stale, traditional platform.  This resurrection will not come from the Republicans in Congress, leftovers from the Reagan coalition and Gingrich revolution, but from the ranks of the Republican governors – most notably Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Charlie Crist of Florida, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, and Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah.  All of these men were on the vice-presidential short list for John McCain and likely would not have required a $150,000 wardrobe.

The problem Republicans face right now is that some of these up and comers are playing petty politics at a time of national crisis, evidenced most clearly by those governors refusing some of the federal stimulus money for ideological reasons.  Their opposition without a cause is exactly what irked the Americans polled.  With the national unemployment rate rising 2.7% last quarter (to 11.4 million people), Americans want to see action and a good faith effort at stemming the downward spiral, not more hot air.

Fortunately some Republican governors recognize this need and have already signed on to Obama’s plan. Huntsman and Crist are two governors putting their constituents’ needs ahead of their own political ambitions and, in the process, probably bettering their chances for a future run than stick-in-the-mud governors like Jindal and Sanford. In order to have any hope of an electoral future, the Reasonable Republicans will need to turn their party into an organization that stands for something besides reactionary politicking.

Uncategorized Republicans, Stimulus

In the fall of 2008, I thought it would be fun to sign up for the email lists of all the candidates running for president. The entertainment value was worth the clutter in my inbox. By far my favorite was from the “Friends for Fred Thompson” PAC that asked all the “friends of Fred” out there to buy him a Christmas gift —I can imagine an old lady in Floyds Knobs, Indiana (yes, it’s a real town) sending him a fruitcake or something.

But I digress. Obama’s emails were a cut above all the other candidates from the very beginning not only in layout but also as pieces of clear communication. Obama ran a lean, mean communication machine by integrating email, text messages, Internet videos, television commercials and even rallies into one coherent, change-chanting campaign.

Organizing for America, part of the DNC, is using Obama’s campaign email list and continues to send messages. After the stimulus bill was signed into law, I received an email that explained how the bill would help address the recession and urged me to thank my congressman and senators who supported the bill. The email even provided the contact numbers for their local offices. I won’t even address the revolutionary concept of the Executive Branch asking its supporters to thank the Legislative Branch for the success of a bill because the changes in political communication that Obama continues to enact are staggering.

There is a White House blog updated daily, a more user-friendly White House fact page (the Bush one was quite boring, in my opinion), a description of signed legislation and a sort of progress report on the Obama agenda. Obama posts video addresses in addition to his radio addresses. Perhaps most important of all is the continuation of the personal anecdotes the Obama team emails out that help foster a sense of national community. Obama’s integration of internet and television have permanently changed how politicians relate to their constituents and will be a feature of political communication from now on.

Uncategorized Campaign, Obama

With Tom Daschle’s ignominious withdrawal from consideration as Secretary for Health and Human Services, all eyes are turned towards Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of the Great State of Kansas, as his likely replacement.

The focus on Sebelius is twofold. She’s a known entity who, along with Senator Claire McCaskill, risked a lot by backing Obama early in the primaries and formed the crucial “white middle-aged women politicians for Obama” club. More importantly for her potential role as HHS, she is living proof that it is possible to pass meaningful policy with Republicans.

I don’t expect many people on the coasts to even pay attention to Kansas politics (or, as my experience has shown, can even point to the state on a map), but Sebelius’s success is an extraordinary accomplishment.  She could have taken complete advantage of The Great Schism of the Kansas Republican Party, a tale unto itself, and rammed through her agenda. Instead, Sebelius made an alliance with moderate Republicans and maintained a respectful discourse/cooperation with the more extreme members of the state GOP. She managed to pursue and pass multiple policies during her two terms in office that led Time Magazine to rate her one of the five best governors in the country.

From a purely selfish standpoint, I hope she turns down the HHS job and finishes her term as governor.  She can put a rest to the ridiculous coal plant proposals and then run for Sam Brownback’s seat in 2010—fivethirtyeight.com has her starting 10 points ahead of a generic Republican. It would be nice to have a Democratic senator for the first time since the 1930s… Read more…

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