To be kind, Obama's DNC head, Tim Kaine, isn't exactly from the Howard Dean mold and doesn't quite represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. Generally speaking, the outgoing governor of Virginia represents the Establishment or, in Paul Krugman's words about his kind of Democrats, "corporate tools, defending special interests." What he has in common with Dean, though, is that...
It can be scary for adults to change careers, but the recession has handed many American workers no choice. Enrollment at trade schools, community colleges and specialized private colleges has increased all over the U.S. But whether or not graduates of these programs find work in their new area of competence varies based on the quality of the training, the choice of skills to learn, and whether or...
The "Blue Dog" Democrats, 44 'fiscally conservative' congresspersons, did not acquit themselves well in this year, says the Heritage Foundation, via Stephen Moore : On three votes that would massively expand the size of government -- the stimulus plan, cap and trade, and health care reform -- Blue Dogs mostly were AWOL. "Of the 52 House Blue Dogs, only four voted against all three,"...
This weekend we looked, sadly, at Tom Perriello's failed balancing act between his attempts to do the right thing-- he was one of the only red district freshmen who voted for cap and trade, and he did vote for the healthcare bill-- and his attempts to curry enough favor with GOP extremists to stay in office. Congressmen who live in fear, everyday though, rarely, make inspiring leaders, something many...
Could be, according to some numbers crunched by Red State's Moe Lane regarding the House seats seen as competitive next year. TX-17 Chet Edwards R+20 ID-1 Walter Minnick R+18 AL-2 Bobby Bright R+16 MO-4 Ike Skelton R+14 IN-3 Mark Souder...
Looking at the Cook Political Report’s latest competitive race chart is in itself informative - the short version is that of the top 108 competitive races, the following ratios apply: Dem GOP Likely D 45 0 Leans D 23 1 Toss-up D 12 0 Toss-up R 0 3 Leans R 1 8 Likely R 0 15 Total 81 27 …but there’s some interesting things that can be seen with a little sorting. Below is a chart of...
You may remember that in the wake of the 2008 elections, I tried out a new quantitative project, developing an index for predicting vulnerability for House members based on a mix of PVI and previous House election performance. (It turned out to be pretty useful, in that 2006 numbers were pretty predictive of who actually got knocked off in 2008.) I included, of course, what the index would predict...
Although I live in the Second Congressional District and reluctantly voted for Bobby Bright, he has never truly represented me. Early in his campaign against Jay Love to win a seat in Congress, he always represented his own interests -- winning the seat. Now it's all about keeping it.
“I’ve always been focusing on making the right decisions for the people of my district, whether or not it will cost me my political future.” - Freshman Democratic Rep. John Adler (N.J.) — Freshman Democratic Rep. John Boccieri (Ohio) — Freshman Democratic Rep. Bobby Bright (Ala.) — Freshman Democratic Rep. Parker Griffith (Ala.) — Freshman Democratic Rep. Larry...
Note: lesson learned: always go by official roll call votes . What was once eight is now four. Call them the HVT-4. Four Democratic members of Congress have voted against the economic stimulus package, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and the Democratic health care reform legislation. They're the low-hanging fruit - or highest value targets - for the National Republican Congressional Committee...
I spent the better part of this past weekend defending Democratic Rep. Artur Davis, Rep. Bobby Bright and Rep. Parker Griffith to progressives around the country. Why? Because they were amongst the 39 Democrats who voted against HR 3962 on Saturday night, and many progressives view that as unforgiveable offense. Here is the reality, when advocates for [...] Related posts: Bright and Griffith Break...
Just so everyone is clear. Rep. Bobby Bright from the 2nd Congressional District of Alabama voted for the health care bill before he voted against it. Rep. Bright’s first vote as a member of Congress was to elect Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House. That vote was the first vote on health care [...]
Two different progressive approaches I got a lovely personalized e-mail from MoveOn.org yesterday thanking me for having a little something to do with the health care victory Saturday night. (My congressmember, Diane Watson-- who I love for her prefect voting record and wonderful leadership role among progressives, but who has never responded to a phone call from me-- voted for the bill. If not her,...
I can understand Democrats who don't support the stimulus. I can understand Democrats who don't support health care reform or the public option. I can even understand Democrats who don't support clean energy legislation. I cannot abide Democrats who oppose all three. I am not a purist and do not appreciate ideological litmus tests, but a politician must have at least some reason for belonging to their...
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