The Commentariat -- Feb. 10, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Daniel Strauss of Politico: "... Carly Fiorina dropped out of the 2016 [presidential] contest on Wednesday, ending a campaign that failed to enlist enough support despite Republican voters' clear preference for a Washington outsider this cycle. I've said throughout this campaign that I will not sit down and be quiet. I'm not going to start now,' the former Hewlett-Packard CEO said in a statement. 'While I suspend my candidacy today, I will continue to travel this country and fight for those Americans who refuse to settle for the way things are and a status quo that no longer works for them.'" CW: With luck, the media won't cover her travels & fights.
Annie Karni of Politico: "As she looks toward the more diverse March states, [Hillary] Clinton is putting a new focus on race. The first salvo came Wednesday, when African-American elected officials and civil rights leaders supporting her campaign participated in a conference call to raise questions about Sanders' record on gun violence and criminal justice reform.... On a conference call with African-American surrogates for Hillary Clinton, civil rights leader and former NAACP president Hazel Dukes dismissed the significance of Bernie Sanders' participation in the March on Washington in 1963.... New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on the call that ... 'When you match up the record of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, there simply is no comparison.... She's been at the dance from the beginning of her career.' In contrast, 'Sanders has been missing in action on issues of importance to the African American community,' Jeffries said, characterizing him as 'a new arrival to the dance ... at the twilight of his career.'"
Nick Gass of Politico: "President Barack Obama will not endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary, but there is no doubt where he is leaning, according to former White House press secretary Jay Carney. 'I think the president has signaled while still remaining neutral that he supports Secretary Clinton's candidacy and who prefer to see her as the nominee,' Carney said on CNN Wednesday...." ...
... AP: "President Barack Obama returned Wednesday to the Illinois capital where he launched his national political career and appealed for help ridding politics of 'polarization and meanness' that discourage participation in civic life. In an address to the Illinois General Assembly, Obama said he regretted his failure to apply to Washington politics the lessons he had learned about working across the political aisle as a state senator. Changing the tone is possible, he said, but it 'requires citizenship and a sense that we are one.":
Matea Gold & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bernie Sanders took a few moments in his victory speech Tuesday night to make a small request of his supporters: 'Please help us raise the funds we need, whether it's 10 bucks, 20 bucks, or 50 bucks,' he said. The response was so overwhelming that his website buckled under the traffic. Between the close of polls and mid-afternoon Wednesday, his campaign brought in a record $5.2 million. Sanders is barreling out of New Hampshire in a position few anticipated when he first entered the 2016 White House contest: financially competitive with Hillary Clinton."
Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Ta-Nehisi Coates, the award-winning writer who has become one of the nation's most influential voices on cultural and political issues, particularly touching on race relations, said Wednesday that he would be voting for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The decision by Mr. Coates, the recipient of a MacArthur 'genius grant' and ... winner of the National Book Award, came as something of a surprise: Last month, Mr. Coates, author of a widely read 2014 Atlantic essay, 'The Case for Reparations,' wrote two articles sharply criticizing Mr. Sanders over his opposition to reparations for slavery."
Marco Marco Marco Knew Christie Was on the Attack. Jeremy Peters & Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Mr. Christie had not just telegraphed the coming attack, he directly forewarned Mr. Rubio backstage on Saturday night as the two men waited for their names to be called by the ABC News moderators. 'I understand I am going to have a hard time tonight,' Mr. Rubio playfully told Mr. Christie. 'Yes, you are,' Mr. Christie replied, according to three people to whom he recounted the conversation. Todd Harris, a senior Rubio adviser, called the conversation 'completely fabricated.'" ...
... BUT Now Marco Marco Marco Is "Funny, Unscripted & Human." Jeremy Peters: "Senator Marco Rubio of Florida took questions from reporters aboard his charter flight to South Carolina for nearly 45 minutes.... As he spoke, he made it clear that he was entering a new phase of his campaign, one less burdened by the caution and message discipline that have made him seem mechanical and scripted at times."
Alex Isenstadt & David Strauss of Politico: "Chris Christie is expected to formally suspend his campaign later on Wednesday, according to a source close to the campaign, after finishing a disappointing sixth in the New Hampshire primary. The New Jersey governor was expected to spend part of the day reaching out to donors and top supporters to discuss his decision, the source said."
Charles Pierce has fun reflecting upon the outcomes of the primaries.
Driftglass Welcomes Michael Bloomberg: "... who better to step in out of the Beltway pundit's magic Centrist unicorn dreams and into the race... Who better to dump another shit-ton of money into a race already choking on the fumes of burning piles of cash...Who better to grab both the unruly anti-Wall Street Democrats and the unhinged, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant wingnut rabble by the scruff of the neck and tell them all to STFU and fall in line... than yet another New York billionaire!"
Jonathan Chait: "Among those shocked by Donald Trump's runaway victory in the New Hampshire primary was Eric Cantor, who had just a few weeks before made a bet that Trump would fail to win a single primary. The experience of being shocked should not come as a shock to Cantor. In 2010, Cantor invested some $15,000 in a fund that bet on higher inflation, which was widely predicted by conservatives at the time but utterly failed to come about. In 2014, he lost his primary despite internal polling that showed him 34 points ahead, and admitted he was 'absolutely' shocked by the defeat.... People who want to bet their money on Cantor's ability to see the future" can find him at his investment firm, advising wealthy people on what the future holds. CW: Love the accompanying photo of Cantor, adjusting his glasses in such a way as to remind potential investors that he is (a) a very smart guy (b) who can see into the future.
*****
Presidential Race
Yuuuge! Here's a clip from Sanders' victory speech:
... Update: Here's the full speech:
Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "Bernie Sanders is the future of the Democratic party.... Democrats especially if they are white, millennial and postgrad -- are increasingly likely to call themselves liberals.... It is true that younger blacks and Hispanics are also trending liberal, but for now, there are enough moderate and conservative older blacks and Hispanics to give Clinton some breathing room." CW: The Democratic party will fade to a faction if it can't bring along minorities & moderate white people. ...
... Matt Yglesias of Vox: ""Bernie Sanders is the future of the Democratic party.... Hillary Clinton's campaign -- and, frankly, many DC journalists -- has been repeatedly taken by surprise by the potency of some of Sanders's attacks, because they apply to such a broad swath of the party. But this is precisely the point. Sanders and his youthful supporters want the Democrats to be a different kind of party: a more ideological, more left-wing one."
... Eric Levitz of New York: "Sanders's victory is a remarkable triumph for a certain strain of American Jewish political thought. When asked about his spirituality at last week's Democratic debate, the Vermont senator replied, 'My spirituality is that we are all in this together and that when children go hungry, when veterans sleep out on the street, it impacts me.' Sanders's Judaism is the socialist, universalist sort that was conceived through centuries of Talmudic scholarship, incubated in sweatshop factories in New York and Chicago, and brought to life in the great labor struggles of the early 20th century."
Isaac Chotiner of Slate: "Hillary Clinton's impressive concession speech Tuesday night, which followed Bernie Sanders' even more impressive win in the New Hampshire primary, was a bracing call for getting real.... What made the speech better than many of her previous efforts -- I'm not including her Goldman Sachs speeches, since we haven't seen those -- was that she mixed this practical approach to leadership with a surprising amount of heart":
... Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Bernie Sanders's nearly 22-point victory came after Mrs. Clinton's advisers had worked hard to lower expectations, but privately, many people close to Mrs. Clinton, including her husband, believed the state would once again serve as a lifeline." ...
... Annie Karni of Politico: "Both Hillary and Bill Clinton knew she would lose [in New Hampshire] -- but not by this much. Now, after a drubbing so serious as to call into question every aspect of her campaign from her data operation to her message, the wounded front-runner and her allies are actively preparing to retool their campaign, according to Clinton allies.... Clinton is set to campaign with African-American victims of law enforcement deaths, like Trayvon Martin's mother and Eric Garner's mother. And the campaign, sources said, is expected to push a new focus on systematic racism, criminal justice reform, voting rights and gun violence that will mitigate concerns about her lack of an inspirational message." ...
... Lisa Desjardins of PBS NewsHour: "Hours before official New Hampshire results appeared Tuesday, Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook conceded to staffers, supporters and some reporters that the Granite State race was lost, in a memo obtained by PBS NewsHour that urged the Clinton team to focus past February and on March."
... Molly Ball of the Atlantic: "One thing is certain: A major fight for the Democratic nomination lies ahead."
We're being ripped off by everybody. And I guess that's the thing that Bernie Sanders and myself have in common. We know about the trade. But unfortunately he can't do anything to fix it, whereas I will. The only thing he does know, and he's right about, is that we're being ripped off; he says that constantly; and I guess he and I are the only two that really say that. -- Donald Trump, on "Morning Joe" today...
... Greg Sargent: "In her concession speech..., Clinton continued to describe Sanders's success in limited emotional terms -- as if he is merely speaking to people's anger and frustration. Some pundits similarly describe Trump's appeal as an ability to harness 'anger.' Yet there's more to it than this. What both Trump and Sanders share is that they treat the problem as one of political economy, in which both the economic and political systems are rigged in intertwined ways, thus speaking directly to people's understandable intellectual assessment of what is deeply wrong with our system and why it no longer works for them." ...
... Michael Grunwald of Politico Magazine: "New Hampshire's unemployment rate is only 3.1 percent. New Hampshire's average gasoline price is only $1.98 per gallon. New Hampshire's murder rate is the lowest in the country, and so is New Hampshire's poverty rate. Also: New Hampshire's voters want serious change. That was the in-your-face message of last night's primary results, a widely predicted but still somehow viscerally shocking call for overthrow, on both sides.... The seething disgust that propelled Trump and Sanders to victory is hard to deny, and neither Clinton nor Kasich or Bush seems well-positioned to win a disgust-a-thon against more natural purveyors of disgust."
"A Racist, Sexist Demagogue Just Won The New Hampshire Primary." Ryan Grim & Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: Donald Trump's "resounding victory amid a crowded field of more experienced and accomplished candidates is a stunning turn of events for a party that vowed just four years ago to be more inclusive to minorities after failing to unseat President Barack Obama in the bitter 2012 election. What the GOP got instead is a xenophobic demagogue who's insulted pretty much everyone and even earned the endorsement of white supremacists. Trump's victory in New Hampshire likely points to a drawn-out slog between Trump and at least one of his rivals as they battle to secure enough delegates in hopes of winning their party's nomination...." ...
... Brian Beutler of the New Republic: "Trump's victory, and the magnitude of his victory, is a political cataclysm for the Republican Party.... He more than doubled the support of the second-place finisher John Kasich. This gives Trump an early delegate lead going into nominating contests in South Carolina and Nevada, where he also enjoys commanding advantages in public polls.... Everything that's happened since last Monday has served as a reminder that the Republican establishment is hanging its fortunes on extremely thin reeds....
After Iowa, and despite a third-place finish, Rubio briefly benefited from a deluge of endorsements and campaign donations on the basis of the impression that he was both uniquely electable, and uniquely capable of uniting the party. These notions took hold despite widespread awareness of Rubio's thin resume and inability to act with a clear head under pressure. His momentum was thus extremely fragile and after one public demonstration that the concerns were valid, it collapsed. Tonight he finished fifth.
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "For the establishment wing of the Republican Party, the picture just keeps getting bleaker.... The establishment lane is now more crowded than ever, with Rubio, Jeb Bush, and New Hampshire runner-up John Kasich heading for a brutal fight in South Carolina -- a state known for its rough-and-tumble political culture." CW: Really? Not if Chrisco drops out, as he seems likely to do. All the candidates are wing-nuts, but the perceived outsiders -- Trump & Cruz -- are battling for the same voters, & Rubio, too, is competing for the wing-nuttiest. If you squint, you can still see a path for Jeb!, where Trump, Cruz & Rubio duke it out for the crazies, Christie stays in New Jersey & the underfunded Kasich fades. Of course, there's always Carly! Oh, I forgot Ole Doc.
Andrew Ryan of the Boston Globe: "Senator Marco Rubio appeared to be heading for a distant fifth-place finish Tuesday in New Hampshire's Republican presidential primary, a stinging disappointment for a candidate who brimmed with momentum after his strong finish in Iowa.... 'I'm disappointed,' Rubio told supporters at his primary night rally. 'It's on me. I [did] not do well on Saturday night, so listen to this: That will never happen again.' Rubio added, 'We will win this election. Because if we do not win this election, we may lose our country.'" CW: So here's Marco once again portraying himself as the one-and-only savior despite his noxious remark that "There's only one savior and it's not me. It's Jesus Christ who came down to earth and died for our sins.'" We live on a pretty big piece of geography to get lost, but if HarpenCollins can lose Israel, I suppose anything is possible. ...
... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "... Marco Rubio accepted the blame for his disappointing fifth-place finish in New Hampshire but also pointed to another culprit: the media. 'What happened is obviously Saturday night the debate went the way it went, and then just the media coverage over the last 72 hours was very negative about it and so forth,' Rubio said Wednesday on 'Fox & Friends.'" ...
... CW: Dana Milbank has another amusing anecdote about Marco that slipped my notice: "The reviews [of Rubio's debate performance] were savage, and then, on Monday night, RubioBot malfunctioned again. 'Janette and I are raising our four children in the 21st century, and we know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids instead of the values they try to ram down our throats,' he told supporters, then added: 'In the 21st century, it's becoming harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats.'... Had Rubio received scrutiny earlier, voters might have been able to find a candidate who didn't wilt in the spotlight. But Iowa and New Hampshire didn't serve their functions this time. Trump got in the way."
Clare Foran of the Atlantic: Chris "Christie won't even finish in the top five. An as-yet-incomplete vote tally shows him trailing Trump, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio. Speaking to supporters Tuesday evening, Christie announced that he'll go home to New Jersey where he'll wait to see how the final vote shakes out before making a decision about what comes next. He said he should be ready to make that decision tomorrow, and it sounds very likely that he may soon drop out of the 2016 race." CW: But thanks, Gov. Chrisco, for exposing MarcoBot, even if you did copy President Josiah Bartlett. ...
... Claude Brodesser-Akner of NJ.com: "Gov. Chris Christie is still waiting to exhale, but Republican experts are saying the New Jersey governor is all but certain to end his presidential campaign in New Jersey sometime Wednesday."
Josh Voorhees of Slate: Ohio Gov. John "Kasich’s surprise [second-place] showing actually turns the GOP's Trump-themed headache into a migraine."
Paul Krugman (Feb. 8): "... on economic policy -- which sort of matters -- Kasich is terrible, arguably worse than the rest of the GOP field. It's not just his balanced-budget fetishism, which would be disastrous in an economic crisis. He’s also a hard-money man.... He is viscerally opposed to monetary as well as fiscal stimulus in the face of high unemployment. So no, Kasich isn't sensible. He's just off the wall in ways that differ in some ways from the GOP mainstream. If he'd been president in 2009-10, we'd have had a full replay of the Great Depression."
At 8:00 pm ET, the New York Times has already called the New Hampshire primaries, declaring Bernie Sanders the winner on the Democratic side & Donald Trump the winner of the GOP race. (Front page.) CW: Not sure who made the projections; it's usually the AP. ...
... Patrick Healy & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont rocked the American political establishment on Tuesday night, harnessing working-class fury to surge to commanding victories in a New Hampshire primary that drew energetic turnout across the state."
... Dan Balz, et al., of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bernie Sanders and billionaire Donald Trump have been projected as the winners of the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries in New Hampshire -- a remarkable victory for two outsiders who tapped into voter anger at the two parties' establishments, and each promised massive government actions to provide working people with an economic boost." CW: Really? Bernie Sanders is just like Donald Trump? Um, exactly what "massive government actions" has Trump promised? Oh, maybe Balz & Co. are referring to Trump's tax plan, which like all the other GOP tax plans, would make the rich richer & the government poorer. ...
... BUT Fox "News" had the results before noon! Nolan McCaskill & Hadas Gold of Politico: "Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday -- according to a premature Fox News report. Citing every precinct reporting, Fox News' website accidentally published election results declaring Trump the winner with 28 percent support and 14 delegates."
The New York Times' primary results page is here. On the Republican side with 37 votes cast (yep, 37), there's a three-way tie on the Republican side: 9 votes each for Cruz, Trump & Kasich. Sanders leads Clinton 17-9, with 28 votes counted.
The New York Times' liveblog is here. Even before the polls close, it has some interesting tidbits: Ben Carson felt he had to telegraph his intention to stay in the race, Bernie couldn't find his car in downtown Concord, Hillary doesn't know what "went viral" means (suggesting to me she doesn't read the news; she has it read to her), & Donald Trump says (3:21 pm) he won't be calling people pussies when he's president: ("On 'Fox and Friends,' Mr. Trump argued again that he was not to blame for the use of the expletive..., which a woman in the crowd called out and Mr. Trump repeated. 'It was like a retweet,' Mr. Trump ... said. 'I would never say a word like that.'"
Eric Levitz of New York: "... if Sanders wins by a margin of 55 to 45 percent, Hillary Clinton will walk away with an even share of New Hampshire's delegates. Since our nation was founded on the principle of 'no taxation without an insanely convoluted process of electing representation,' as long as Clinton gets above 43.8 percent of the vote, she's entitled to half the state's delegates."
At the end of yesterday's Comments thread, contributor Elizabeth has a great first-hand report on her New Hampshire polling place. Her report jibes with the New York Times' banner headline (at 6:45 pm ET): "Voter turnout is said to be strong as polls near close." Most polls close at 7 pm ET.
Andrew O'Hehir of Salon: "There is an immense ideological gulf at the heart of the Democratic electorate that this campaign has exposed, and it cannot be easily papered over, no matter who wins."
Charles Pierce: "One thing about the Clinton team: because they've been the object of sophisticated (and well-financed) ratfcking for over 25 years, they've developed a real talent for opposition research their own selves." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... "Half a Dream." Charles Blow (Feb. 8): "... possibly the most damaging of Clinton's attributes is, ironically, her practicality. As one person commented to me on social media: Clinton is running an I-Have-Half-A-Dream campaign. That simply doesn't inspire young people brimming with the biggest of dreams. Clinton's message says: Aim lower, think smaller, move slower. It says, I have more modest ambitions, but they are more realistic. As Clinton put it Thursday in a swipe at Sanders, 'I'm not making promises that I cannot keep.' But the pragmatic progressive line is not going to help her chip away at Sanders's support among the young. That support is hardening into hipness." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "During the 2000 presidential campaign, one of the mantras of then-Gov. George W. Bush's campaign was that he would 'restore honor and dignity' to the White House. That line was always met with a roar of approval from people appalled by the White House indiscretions of President Clinton.... [The Republican] party has gone from craving honor and dignity to demanding bread and circuses. And Trump gives the faithful exactly what they want, no matter how vile."
McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed: "... to those who have known him longest, [Marco] Rubio's flustered performance Saturday night fit perfectly with an all-too-familiar strain of his personality, one that his handlers and image-makers have labored for years to keep out of public view. Though generally seen as cool-headed and quick on his feet, Rubio is known to friends, allies, and advisers for a kind of incurable anxiousness -- and an occasional propensity to panic in moments of crisis, both real and imagined." CW: Panic under pressure: an excellent qualification for a job that requires responses to multiple crises every day.
Tuesday's Biggest Winners -- Karl & the Supremes. Ken Vogel of Politico: "The Internal Revenue Service ― in a move signaling a lack of appetite for policing big-money campaign spending ― granted tax exempt status to a Karl Rove-conceived non-profit group that pioneered secret money-funded attack ads. The group..., Crossroads GPS..., has come to epitomize the new types of big-money spending made possible by the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision. Elections watchdogs for years have accused it of violating tax and election laws by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on political ads attacking Democratic candidates and boosting Republican ones ― all while failing to disclose its donors' identities or registering as a political committee with the Federal Election Commission."
Other News
** Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked implementation of President Obama's ambitious proposal to limit carbon emissions and reduce global warming while the plan is challenged. The court granted a stay request from more than two dozen states, utilities and coal miners who said the Environmental Protection Agency was overstepping its powers. The court's decision does not address the merits of the challenge, but indicates justices think the states have raised serious questions.... The court's four liberal justices objected to the decision...." ...
... Jonathan Chait on the implications: "Democrats need to hold on to the White House or literally risk planetary disaster." CW: Gives new meaning to Kate Madison's call to "Remember the Supremes!"
Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "President Obama on Tuesday sent his final annual budget proposal to a hostile Republican-led Congress, seeking $19 billion for a broad new cybersecurity initiative and rejecting the lame-duck label as he declared that his plan 'is about looking forward.' The budget for fiscal year 2017, which starts Oct. 1, would top $4 trillion, although only about one-quarter of that is the so-called discretionary spending for domestic and military programs that the president and Congress dicker over each year. The rest is for mandatory spending, chiefly interest on the federal debt and the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits that are expanding as the population ages." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "At the center of the final budget of President Obama's term is a concession that the major macroeconomic trends of the past two generations -- particularly the loss of benefits that once went with formal employment relationships -- are largely irreversible. In laying out proposals from improving access to 401(k) plans to supplementing the incomes of workers who accept lower wages after losing jobs, the president laid out a clear, if limited, view of government's role in the labor market. Inside the budget is a detailed agenda to ease the anxieties of workers weighed down by job insecurity and income volatility." ...
... Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "The release of President Obama's eighth and final budget on Tuesday has forced into the open the seething tensions that never really went away after a spending agreement was reached last year, in part to ease [Paul] Ryan's transition into the speaker's suite. That deal set spending until the end of October of this year, at levels that the president adhered to and Senate Republicans hope to make stick. But a core group of House Republicans who gave Mr. Ryan a pass back then now say they want to toss those numbers out like so much flotsam and pass their own budget with far tighter spending restrictions."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Ted Cruz blocked the Senate from confirming State Department nominees for the third time in the past week, even though the Texas Republican is campaigning in New Hampshire. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) tried on Monday evening to get unanimous consent to confirm Samuel Heins to be ambassador to Norway and Azita Raji to be ambassador to Sweden. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), however, objected, and said he was doing so on behalf of Cruz, who has spent much of the last week campaigning in New Hampshire...."
... Hurts the Bottom Line. Daniel Victor New York Times: "Having women in the highest corporate offices is correlated with increased profitability, according to a new study of nearly 22,000 publicly traded companies in 91 countries. The study, released Monday by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a nonprofit group based in Washington, and EY, the audit firm formerly known as Ernst & Young, found that despite the apparent economic benefits, many corporations are lacking in gender diversity. Almost 60 percent of the companies reviewed had no female board members, and more than 50 percent had no female executives. Just under 5 percent had a female chief executive."
David Jolly of the New York Times: "The United States Army will deploy hundreds of soldiers to the southern Afghan province of Helmand, where government forces have been pushed to the brink by Taliban militants, a military spokesman said Tuesday.It will be the largest deployment of American troops outside major bases in Afghanistan since the end of the NATO combat mission in 2014."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Adrienne Varkiani of Think Progress: "A statement released Tuesday by Doctors Without Borders confirms that a hospital in the Dara'a Governorate in Syria was hit by an airstrike on February 5. The airstrike on the hospital killed three people and wounded an additional six, according to the statement. The Talas hospital, which is close to the Jordanian border, is still partially damaged. It is the 13th health care facility to be attacked in Syria this year alone, according to Doctors Without Borders, which has documented such attacks in the past."
Share Article
Reader Comments (34)
Just listened to Hillary's concession speech: she doesn't realize that there is no "I" in team. There is simply no inspiration in her I, me, mine meme. And Trump just got me up out of my chair to turn off the radio.
One final note: listening to Bernie makes me think that he's inspiring in the sense that he doesn't like he is done learning about and refreshing his ideas. How nice is it to grow older and still be fresh? Good for him.
The returns are for the winners of each party, and yeah! Trump got his win...but, what is far more interesting to me was a look at the total number of votes by NH voters. Sanders
and Clinton have each garnered more actual votes ...waaaaaay ahead of Trump's total votes. (this with over 55% reporting).
The color Blue is looking good!
While I don't appreciate the condescending tone of Citizen's viewpoint about Sec. Clinton, I am fully with him/her, in that I just shut off the screeching screen full of Trump in order to avoid putting a fist right through the flatscreen. Many thanks, idiots of New Hampshire... he lives to fight another day. And fight he will, with everyone. On the plus side, Bernie is such a class act, he is a joy to see.
Whether you're a Hillary or a Bernie supporter, it's a good night to be a liberal. Since the First Clinton Era, the Democratic party has been a shell of its former self, & I lost heart. It didn't help that Barack Obama, who probably is a secret liberal, is first & foremost a master of the system who has been all too willing to cede liberal interests to capitalists' demands in exchange for corporate support.
But now, but now. In the past few weeks especially, we have seen Bernie Sanders elevate liberal views to a viable political philosophy. This was evident in Hillary Clinton's concession speech: despite her lip service to pragmatism, it was clear she knew she had to reach beyond the First Clinton Era comfort zone of school uniforms & Gingrich-friendly welfare reform.
Bernie has freed the left from its 25-years banishment to the doghouse. The trick of course is to make liberal values palatable to a swath of the nation that is comfortable with GOP platitudes & scare tactics & with mainstream media conventional "wisdom." I do think that what Bernie actually means is what many Obama voters -- including many self-identified conservatives -- hoped Obama meant, so it's possible the sell isn't as hard as we might think it is. We'll see.
Marie
Despite that both the Trumpet and Bernie won big over their opponents there is still something that scares me. When adding the total votes cast for the NH primaries, the R's came out in greater force than the D's with 53.2% of all votes going to Confederate contenders (based on NYT numbers.) Looks like NH isn't so blue after all.
@Unwashed: Independents make up a yuuuge percentage of New Hampshire voters, & they can vote in either primary. So so-called independents aren't necessarily independent at all. As Clare Malone of 538 wrote, "According to polling data collected from 1999 to 2014 by Moore and Smith, about 40 percent consistently vote Republican, 45 percent Democratic and only 15 percent are truly independents." Once they've voted, they can change their party affiliation immediately, right there at the polling place. As Malone points out, true independents don't usually show up for the primaries; those who do are better described as "undeclared" than as independent.
It seems likely that there was more interest in the GOP primary than in the Democratic primary -- more than 1,000 political teevee ads ran in NH Monday -- & many people may have voted Republican because one candidate repulsed them more than others. Also, polls have showed Bernie Sanders comfortably ahead for a couple of months. When an outcome is "known," it reduces the incentive to vote in that primary.
If I see an analysis of how the independent vote may have skewed the election, I'll post a link. My guess is that Kasich -- who came in 2nd -- benefited from votes by people who will vote for Hillary or Bernie in November.
Marie
@Marie Hear, hear on a revival of liberalism! Bill Curry has a new column in Salon that I think builds on your thesis.
"It would be hard to overstate what Bernie Sanders has already achieved in his campaign for president, or the obstacles he’s had to surmount in order to achieve it. Not only has he turned a planned Hillary Clinton coronation into an exercise in grass-roots democracy, he’s reset the terms of the debate. We are edging closer to the national conversation we so desperately need to have. If we get there, all credit goes to Bernie."
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/07/its_almost_over_for_hillary_this_election_is_a_mass_insurrection_against_a_rigged_system/
My hope back in May was that Bernie would begin to reset the conversation, and move Hillary to the left. I never dreamed he would come so far! Rest assured, if Hillary does secure the nomination, I will vote for her because the alternative will plunge the country back to the Dark Ages. I sincerely hope that the Clintons refrain from attacks such as those lobbed over the weekend because we need a united party to win in November.
The N.H. voters have spoken. Now we'll see if the rest of the country agrees with the GOP front runner buffoon. For Bernie it was a sure thing. But Kasich was somewhat of a surprise. Listening to his speech afterwards, I said aloud––We gots ourselves a preacher man here!––the Lord has guided him, he, Kasich, will heal the poor and comfort the needy, and with god's help we will move forward to a better tomorrow. Did he, I wonder, extoll these sentiments on all his many, many town hall gatherings? Has he stolen the Christians from Cruz?
And speaking of Cruz: when I read that he pledged to block (and has) State Department nominees over the Iran deal, I lost it. What the fuck kind of game are you playing here? The deal is already done and you are holding up nominees out of spite? And you want to be ....oh, never mind, it's like a broken record––literally–-cracked, damaged and unplayable.
The other problem I read about is this: "Detroit's public schools have been in financial decline for more than a decade as their enrollment plummeted. Now on the brink of insolvency, the district is confronted with decrepit buildings, a chronic lack of resources and fed up teachers who have staged "sick-outs" in protest of the conditions." (PBS News)
We are back in Rick's place––no free drinks and cool piano players but decrepit buildings that house our nation's children. One of these school's playgrounds has been closed for almost a year because there is a steam geyser coming from the sewer system that is spewing hot liquid into the playground area causing the playground temperature to reach 110 degrees. Their gym has been closed for months because the floor was covered with black mold that had been taken up, but then left destroyed––lack of funds to complete the job. So the kids exercise by walking around inside. Perhaps these are the kinds of problems we need these candidates to address––oh, did I mention that these schools house mostly black children.
On a more positive note: If John McCain is walking a little taller, maybe smiling a little more, it's because he just learned that he is the 2nd cousin seven times removed to George Washington, thanks to Henry Louis Gates, Jr. who probed McCain's historical lineage on his program, "Finding Your Roots."
On Sunday or Monday, NPR had a segment on John Kasich that included part of one of his Town Hall meetings. He did a good job of sounding like a reasonable person, along the lines of "The economy is really pretty solid, despite what my competitors are saying. The sky isn't falling." It was scary, given the substance of his actual policies. If he is able to hoodwink NH voters into thinking he's reasonable, he has a chance at the national electorate.
A morning after comment on liberalism's re-emergence in the N.H. snows:
Most intriguing to me is my odd-ball calculation that tells me about 130% of the N.H. voters chose candidates with populist economic platforms. We've got the Sander's candidacy about which there is no question, the awkward Clinton shuffle away from Wall St. and the Trumpet imitating a cracked-mirror image Huey Long, perfectly willing to take rhetorical swings at his fellow billionaires (hedge fund managers, big pharma) and, unlike his fellow R's, promising if not new government goodies, at least energetic preservation of the old.
That's the economic side.
But those social liberal values? Harder to tell where that's going. Can't imagine the Trumpet gives a hoot about abortion or gay rights, but his willingness to play the race card (seems to be the majority of cards in his deck, in fact) is certainly not what we have come to know as liberal....so I have to term him a racist populist, not the first in our history.
....a Huey Long for the 21st Century, and equally dangerous.
.
I'm on vacation in a much warmer (and more liberal) locale, so I'm feeling pretty zen about last night's primary.
Dems-what's not for me to like about the party wanting to embrace liberal policies? Been hoping for that for decades. If Bernie comes out on top, looks like he'll bring lots of young voters to the polls. If Hillary wants to win, she'll have to find a way to fire up those voters.
Repubs- looks like Christie took out Rubio in a Pyrrhic victory, and there is still chaos over there. So far Kasich is still getting away with his reasonable moderate act, but he has limited cash and organization.
I think everything on both sides is still up in the air. I'm pretty concerned about the general election, but I'm going to try to wait until the picture becomes clearer before panicking.
Meanwhile back home, the Wisconsin legislature just passed a bill allowing online registration for voters--but eliminating Special Registration Deputies (like me) who can register voters, pretty much making voter registration drives unpossible.
@NiskyGuy: I agree. Kasich's economic views sound reasonable to non-economists, & they're ones that regular people can "understand": cutting taxes; balancing federal budgets (just like you & your family do); the Fed has too much power & abuses it.
In fact, Kasich's plan is to cut taxes on the rich & businesses; like all of the GOP, he's still a "trickle-down" advocate, but of course they all pretend "cutting taxes" means "cutting your taxes." A relatively balanced budget is a good idea in a hot economy. And the Fed does have the power to regulate the flow of money, & at least in theory, without bowing to political pressure. The fact that most recently it has done so in a fairly good way is not something most people can easily grasp. Try explaining quantitative easing to Joe the Plumber.
Moreover, Bernie has been an outspoken critic of the Fed, accusing it -- not wrongly -- of being in bed with the bankers it is supposed to regulate & failing to vigorously execute the second half of its dual mandate: to maximize employment. So Kasich's criticisms of the Fed, tho nearly the exact opposite of Sanders', can sound reasonable, since most people (including Kasich) can't grasp elementary macroeconomics.
As Krugman points out the post linked above, Kasich is just a different kind of loon, but he's still a loon.
Marie
A Side Order For My Morning Java:
"Mr. Trump argued again that he was not to blame for the use of the expletive [I was unaware that "The P Word" was an 'expletive'] against Mr. Cruz, which a woman in the crowd called out and Mr. Trump repeated. 'It was like a retweet,' Mr. Trump ... said. 'I would never say a word like that."
I recall Trumplestiltskin telling Tucker Carlson (a twerp most deserving of one's fist-through-flat-screen rage), after having the straw spun into gold, that nests upon his pate, insulted -
'But I get more pussy than you do.'
@Ophelia M.: Expletive or not, I don't think a politician can use the word "pussy" in public any more than he can use the word "cunt." If Trump wanted to endorse the woman's point, he could easily have done so by saying, "She said something terrible about Ted Cruz, & I won't repeat it. But I agree with her sentiment. Ted is a wuss."
Marie
Marie -
It appears that I've been unclear in my post, reading strength of your reaction, so let me try this:
I am not a fan of "pussy". Neither of "The C Word" (and I'm not referencing "Cancer"). So very, very far from it. What I was communicating - obviously quite poorly - was - -
1) my own understanding of the word "expletive" and how it was used within the article's context: to me - perhaps inaccurately (and I'll defer to your expertise in language & writing) - was not as I understand what an "Expletive!" is (I'll refrain from offering examples, lest I run the risk of offending or being misunderstood).
and
2) I was, overall, wanting to point out the untruth of Trump stating he would never use such a word, when he clearly has . . . and, I suspect, more often than when having addressed Carlson
I believe there has been a 'failure to communicate'. :)
@Ophelia M.: I had the same understanding as "expletive" as you do, as an exclamatory word. However, one of the definitions is "swear word," which, like "pussy," isn't usually exclamatory. Like you, I'd call "pussy" obscene, but apparently others view it also as an expletive, by the broader definition.
Marie
Ophelia,
Trump is a lying sack of shit (I myself am not averse to an expletive or two now and again) but I think in this case his claim to never have used that word was tongue in cheek. He loves having everyone think of him as a kind of devil may care roguish sort of fellow, one who is entirely familiar with all forms of anatomical euphemisms.
The Cruz is a....comment is classic Trump. This is part of his truly sleazy MO. Throw out some outrageous charge--one that you yourself have started--then claim to simply be repeating what others have said after your initial charge is bounced around the web a few million times, asserting that YOU don't necessarily think that, but hey, a lot of people sure are talking about it.
A nephew of mine 'round about 6 years old, was once upbraided by his mom for using the word "damn". His response was hysterical. "Well, I know now not to say damn, because damn is a bad word, and I promise I'll never say damn again even if I hear someone else say damn. Because damn is a bad word and you shouldn't say damn. I'm glad you told me that about damn so I don't get in trouble by saying damn to someone else."
He was 6. What's Trump's excuse?
Marie -
"Obscene" is the perfect adjective . . . not only for the-word-in-question . . . but also for my favorite (NOT!) New Yorker.
(I'm still hoping to awaken from this trumpian nightmare.)
Akhilleus -
I enjoyed reading your response.
and
Your nephew sounds wonderful.
I hope you have many opportunities to spend time with him:
Unless ruined by "the rod", children are much smarter & more creative than so many "adults".
Cheers -
Fear of Flying (apologies to Erica Jong)
I'm starting to overcome my inclination (boring as it is) to be pragmatic about this election, to stay with Hillary, the safe choice, thinking that Bernie won't have a chance in the general. But I'm starting to think differently about that.
Polls have limited value. So much depends on when and where and who is being questioned and how the questions are phrased ("Would you vote for a socialist who wants to destroy our capitalist way of life?" You know what I mean...)
And polls tend to be quite often about as correct as Karl Rove was about the Rat's chances in Ohio on election night in 2012.
But just for the hell of it, I checked out some polls pitting Trump against Bernie Sanders. In almost all polls, Sanders beats him handily. In fact, he beats him by wider margins than Clinton when put up against Carrot Top. I checked out ten polls and in all but three (one of which, was Fox, natch--a Fox poll would show a dead guy beating any Democrat you can name) Sanders wins.
Is it crazy to think about Bernie Sanders winning in the general against Trump? Cruz I'm not too concerned about. He's pond scum and pretty much everyone knows it. He'd take get the Bible bangers' vote but that's about it. But Trump....if he can win in NH, a state not known for the run of the mill, knuckle dragging, mouthbreathers who typically support Trump, he might be a viable candidate in the general.
But Bernie!
Maybe pragmatism is overrated.
Sanders is not a bomb throwing Trotskyite. He's not Lenin in a suit. He has important, carefully considered, and exciting things to say about vital issues facing the country today. He has passion and he has a head of steam up right now. If this could translate to something akin to the Obama '08 campaign, if he can build on his early momentum, we could be seeing something I thought we'd never see again, a liberal revival. If he can get voters to see past the Socialist label and listen to what he's got to say, it could be a hot time in the old nation.
So I'm thinking seriously about letting it all go and getting used to flying again.
Ophelia,
"...children are much smarter & more creative than so many "adults".
Ain't it da truth.
Michael Bloomberg...
If this guy declares, I'm gonna have to kidnap him and keep him in an undisclosed penthouse for the duration. Another egotistical run that will fuck things up. Maybe we can set up a sort of undercard election where Bloomberg and Nader can square off. May the best ego win. This election season is already crazy enough without any additional distractions. Plus, the press, always ready to be dazzled by new shiny objects, will run fluff pieces on the two NY billionaires instead of concentrating (or at least pretending) on the sort of serious issues Sanders and Clinton have been talking about.
Some Thoughts of Sanders . . .
I a'm so very fond of the man. I realize that may sound odd to some. But it's one way I express deeply felt admiration for someone . . . someone who's smart and vital and courageous and who "feels" so accessible and human. I believe the word "Mensch" might be a suitable descriptive.
Speaking of (or in) Yiddish . . .
l'm finding it a stretch that someone of an Eastern European *Jewish* background (a NON-CHRISTIAN), would be voted into the White House.
In some ways (IMO), it hits me as more of an issue - or obstacle - than for an African American becoming POTUS.
I believe Bernie self-identifies as a "Jew" - even if a Secular Jew - and is judged by many for not following the teachings of Jesus. I wonder what he thinks of the "Prayer Breakfasts" and the requisite ". . . and God bless the United States of America." I believe his wife is not Jewish (an "inter-religious"/"racial" marriage), and - I think? - not the first union for either of them: Both facts not following the conservative, biblical "norm".
For The Record:
These (potential/actual) issues mean absolutely nothing to me, nor to the folks I call my friends/family. I'm commenting from a place of what I see, read and hear "out there" in this "Christian" nation of ours.
I also wonder how relations with Israel (Zionism & Judaism are conflated, even when Jews deplore Israel's "policies") reflect back to Sanders in the public's eye.
Anyhow - Thinking a loud , a lot, today.
Cheers -
RE BLOOMBERG / Akhilleus -
"If this guy declares, I'm gonna have to kidnap him and keep him in an undisclosed penthouse for the duration. Another egotistical run that will fuck things up."
Can't stand Bloomberg! Let me know if you need Noo Yawk "boots on the ground" to aid & abet your plan.
@Ophelia M.: Two
CorinthiansNew Yorkers Walk into a Bar.... In a Sanders v. Trump match-up, the choice would be between the two most secular people in the race, both of whom are from the outer boroughs. Even if that other New York billionaire (& secular Jew) gets in the race, as he threatens to do if the choice ends up being between President Trump or President Sanders, religion shouldn't become too much of a factor.Remember, when he showed up at an Iowa church, Trump couldn't tell the difference between a communion plate (it's loaded with "little crackers," Donald, as you would say) & an offertory plate (it has cash & little envelopes in it -- you're familiar with money, aren't you?).
As for Judeo-Christian values, I'd say Sanders is a much better exemplar.
@Akhilleus: I don't have a penthouse, but if you kidnap Bloomberg, you can deposit him in my basement. It might be entertaining to have a billionaire in the basement. Unless I grow fond if his tap-tap-tapping on the trap door, I'll let him out right after the election. P.S. to FBI: We're just kidding here.
Marie
Marie -
<< Two Corinthians New Yorkers Walk into a Bar.... >> LOL
<> Very funny & true!
Ah yes - those 'little crackers' & the offertory plate. I hope you're right about (any) religion not being a factor.
<< As for Judeo-Christian values, I'd say Sanders is a much better exemplar. >> I would not disagree with that. Just can't help but wonder about the masses (people, not prayers).
<< P.S. to FBI: We're just kidding here. >> LOL
<>
Very funny & true.
(My "paste" didn't completely "stick" in the previous post.)
Okay - Enuf from me.
Marie and Ophelia,
Many thanks for your offers of assistance in k*dn*pp*ng M*chael Bl**b*rg (in c*se the FB* is re*ding th*s). I don't dislike the guy enough to tie him up in a basement, but if he does get into the race, that could change. There are already too many schmucks in this soapbox derby.
Although I see that we may be light at least one and maybe two schmucks. Carly Liarina has "suspended" her campaign (this has become the new euphemism for quitting the race--the subtext seems to be, well, I'm done for now, but if you guys piss me off enough, I'll unsuspend the thing and come back to kick some ass. Seriously? Just say "I'm out" and be done with it.) and perhaps the New Jersey Bridge Closer will be doing the same thing, none of which means there is now room for someone else.
Crikey!
Oh, forgot this:
Marie, "Billionaire in the Basement" sounds like it could be a fabulous new reality TV hit. Just imagine the Kochs, Sheldon Adelson, Bob Perry, and Pete Peterson holed up in a damp basement, left to their own devices with nary a single junk bond or tax fraud scheme between them . It'd be epic, I tells ya, epic.
I've already got my popcorn ready.
Who else thinks that the NH Republicans are putting us on? Do
they actually think Trump is material for POTUS? I'm thinking
they may be sending a message to the Congress-critters and to the
Governors they previously voted in and are now just coming to
the conclusion that it's not working out like they expected. And if
that is the case, it's a dangerous ploy, because he just might be the
next POTUS and they might be totally disappointed again.
God forbid, or whomever.
@Forest: your query was addressed by someone at the Charlie Rose roundtable discussion of all things that went down in N.H. He (didn't get his name) said he thought many of those who voted for Trump were sticking their fingers up to the people they had voted for before, but have not delivered. It is their way of saying "stuff it." And he agreed with you that it is a dangerous ploy and I'd add a very stupid choice.
It was interesting to read Akhilleus' and Ophelia's discourse on a possible Bernie presidency. We do hear more about a first female presidency being such a break through rather than the first Jew to grace the House. I'm still with Clinton and my pragmatism rules here. I'd like Sanders to stay in the senate where he can implement some of those things he says he can implement because in the end that's gonna be where "stuff" can be moved. But my hat is off for Bernie and if he gets the crown I'll rally round.
RE Akhilleus To Marie:
" "Billionaire in the Basement" sounds like it could be a fabulous new reality TV hit. Just imagine the Kochs, Sheldon Adelson, Bob Perry, and Pete Peterson holed up in a damp basement, left to their own devices with nary a single junk bond or tax fraud scheme between them . It'd be epic, I tells ya, epic." "
Hilarious / Brilliant / Thanks For The Giggles
My millennial daughter called today. Said her Facebook is exploding with Bernie stuff. She has finally decided on her candidate, though. She said "Bernie's ideas are unrealistic. I'm voting for Hillary Clinton."
To Forrest & PD Pepe -
It was with interest that I read both of your posts regarding the NH Trump victory and the suggestion (belief?) that it may have been a GOP 'stuff it' ploy: A friend had shared this very viewpoint with me and it was (then) the first and only time it had been brought to my attention. I wonder . . .