News and commentary with an uncompromising liberal bias

Great footage from Obama on the campaign trail

I saw this on CNN, and just had to post it. This is a long clip (about 6:30), but it shows so many of Obama’s great attributes. I appreciate his willingness to stand up for what he believes in, even when I don’t agree with him; his ability to speak frankly on the campaign trail, without pandering; and his ability to answer a complex question completely and in detail.

Most importantly,I appreciate Obama’s willingness to compromise. I can hear the collective groan of lefties around the country, but the fact is that compromise is important. You all should have learned that lesson in Kindergarten. These are Congressmen we are talking about; not six-year-olds. They should be able to compromise for the good of the country. Whether you agree or disagree with him on particular votes he’s taken, we can all respect his willingness to compromise to get things done.

A great quote from Obama:

I intend to get things done as President…. And that means that sometimes we’re going to have to compromise to get things done. That’s how a Democracy works. I’m not gonna be elected as Monarch; I’m gonna be elected as President.

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There’s nothing wrong with compromise, as long as you understand what your core principles are.

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Under Pawlenty, Minnesota continues its slide into mediocrity

Tim Pawlenty has let our infrastructure crumble, defunded our cities and counties, and treated the Governor’s office as a campaign for vice president. So it should come as no surprise that he’s allowing our schools to slip backwards, too. Our continuing decline from “the State that works” to just some mediocre place on the frozen tundra is why we need to vote down the Republicans now. They’ve done enough harm for a while, and it’s time for a change.

The latest example of our backwards slide comes from education. The Star Tribune reports:

Minnesota has long enjoyed a reputation as a nationwide leader in science education, but the results of a new test could cast a shadow on that image.

Only about four out of 10 Minnesota students can be labeled “proficient” in science, according to results released today by the Minnesota Department of Education.

More evidence from the same article:

In 2000, on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Montana was the only state to score significantly higher than Minnesota’s eighth-graders. In 2005, five states significantly outperformed Minnesota.

Make no mistake: this is what the Republican vision for our state and our country looks like. Letting our schools fall apart is just another example of Republicans effort to cripple the government until they can “drown it in a bathtub.” Do you think that’s really the best course of action for our childrens’ future?

Conservatives have no problem throwing our children under the bus to achieve their goal — a privatized society in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and in which the social mobility that used to be the American story is all but erased. But we know better than that. Minnesotans have a long history of giving people the tools they need to succeed. Don’t let the Republicans take that away.

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Tomorrow is Ashwin Madia blog day!

Iraq War veteran Ashwin Madia is running a fantastic campaign in CD3. He’s winning votes the right way: by taking courageous stances on the issues, running a citizen-powered campaign, and wearing out shoes from knocking on so many doors. Madia is the DFL’s best hope to pick up a House seat this year. He’s also a genuinely great guy with strong convictions and tons of political courage.

But don’t let me tell you about him. Here’s an example of his political courage in his own words:

I am a Marine Corps veteran, an Iraq war veteran and the Democratic candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s Third District, so I hear a lot about patriotism these days. But real patriotism sometimes means taking on the system if you know what you’re doing is the right thing. As a Marine Corps lawyer, I was one of the first attorneys to successfully defend a gay Marine from discrimination by the military.

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If the Marines, some of the most conservative members of our society, can look beyond sexual preference, maybe the rest of America can do so too. If someone is willing to wear the uniform, fight, and possibly die for this country, it shouldn’t matter who they are and who they love.

Ash is the sort of guy I want representing our state. To help him out, myself and a number of other bloggers are sponsoring Ashwin Madia blog day tomorrow; we hope to raise $2000 for Madia. Make sure you donate!

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UPDATE: After most recent poll, Republican spinmeisters going crazy

I noted yesterday that Minnesota Democrats Exposed was furiously spinning the good news for the Franken campaign from the latest poll. I didn’t think the situation was so bad for them that they needed to start breaking out the lies already. Apparently, though, they’re getting that worried about the state of this race.

Norm “W” Coleman was never going to be able to win this race on his record. The fact is, he hasn’t voted in the interests of most Minnesotans, although over the past two years, he’s tried to lay claim to being a moderate. The only way his campaign could win was through personal attacks, and now that Franken has managed to climb out of the muck, Coleman’s in serious trouble. How much trouble? Enough that conservative bloggers are distorting his poll numbers to shore up the base.

Yesterday, MDE made the following claim:

In a three-way race, Coleman still holds a statistically significant lead over Franken, while Franken still can’t break 40% of the vote. [emphasis added]

The fact is, because of the poll’s margin of error, the Senate race is now a statistical tie! Coleman’s lead is statistically insignificant, despite Brodkorb’s claims to the contrary. I know that scares the heck out of the conservatives, but the numbers don’t lie.

A more detailed explanation of why this is a statistical tie follows after the break [WARNING: boring technical stuff ahead].

Read more »

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Obama already taking steps to build Democratic party, shrink GOP

I wrote recently that, despite having an advantage in the 2006 and 2008 election, the Democrats ultimately have a lot of work to do to gain the upper-hand over the Republicans when it comes to political strategy. I also suggested that, with Barack Obama as president, he could help move the Democrats toward that goal. Well, he’s not even president yet, and he’s already started whipping the party into shape. From the American Prospect (via Political Wire):

For all the talk of post-partisan “unity,” Barack Obama has been proving himself the most party-focused presidential candidate in recent history–possibly ever. Paradoxically, although Obama’s success has been more dependent on personal charisma than any recent nominee’s has, he’s been leveraging that charisma to build a broader Democratic infrastructure less dependent on the presidential nominee.

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Historically, the Democratic Party has operated less as a strong party than as an uncertain coalition. It has been regionally fractured, racially divided, ideologically torn, and economically disparate… Rather than acting as a single institution united around a common agenda, the party was all too often a nominal nation-state in which sets of warring fiefdoms protected their properties and sought expansion.

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If Bill Clinton’s project for the Democratic Party was mostly ideological, Obama’s is mostly organizational. Clinton sought to change the party’s ideas; Obama is more interested in building its infrastructure.

That’s exactly what we need right now. When it comes down to it, Obama’s policies are good but nothing special. It’s unlikely that he will truly be able to change the entrenched culture in Washington, D.C. all by his lonesome. However, he’ll have one long-lasting impact: he will remake the Democratic party into one that is competitive for the coming decades.

Read more »

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Housekeeping: sorry about the slow RSS feed!

RSS subscribers: I know that for some of you, updates have been coming really slowly. I am working on getting the situation fixed, and it will get better once I figure out what the problem is.  Just wanted to let you know I haven’t forgotten about you.

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The Shrinking GOP: Will Mark Olson’s endorsement fracture the MNGOP?

They’ve been falling apart nationally, and now the Republicans are starting to fall apart in Minnesota, too. MNGOP leaders who were hoping for a quick and painless resolution to the SD-16 endorsement of Mark Olson, who was convicted of domestic assault, are going to be disappointed.

Political Muse at Liberal in the Land of Conservative reports that, despite MNGOP leadership’s best efforts, Olson will not be going down quietly. This is particularly bad news for them because the fact is that denouncing Olson was a great move for the Republicans. In fact, it was the only move that would allow them to continue their attacks on Franken, in a race that’s a much bigger deal than the SD-16 state senate race.

But now comes the dissension in the ranks. Jason Lewis, noted talk-radio lunatic, supports Olson (via Dump Mark Olson and MnPublius):

I can’t tell you how shocked I was to see the letter from the Senate State Caucus basically insulting all the state delegates that came to our convention and made their decision. Saying “No, you people are too stupid. You’re just country hicks. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

More from Lewis:

This is the pinnacle of elitism. A bunch of elitist, Republican party hacks have gotten together and decided to override your choice. That’s what rubs me the wrong way. [ed. note: see the Conservative-to-English dictionary; "elitist" is a catch-all term for anyone disagreeing with whatever you deem public opinion.]

There’s one simple reason why this is a huge deal: It represents a major breakdown in Republican message discipline and party unity. That’s always been one of their largest strengths, and one I have argued the Democrats need to improve on. With Republican message discipline starting to fall apart in Minnesota, it’s going to cause serious consequences up and down the line in state elections. The more Mark Olson fights for his survival, the further he’ll pull the whole MNGOP down with him.

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No spin required: It’s the beginning of the end for Coleman

The numbers are finally starting to shift in the Senate race, and this could mean serious trouble for Norm Coleman. Franken has finally turned around a campaign that had some trouble in the beginning, with plenty of time remaining for the sprint to the finish.

Here’s an excerpt from the article at KSTP:

Coleman’s lead on Franken shrinking

Most political analysts have long thought Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race would be a close one. Norm Coleman has had a comfortable lead in many recent polls, but there’s evidence things are tightening up.

Republican incumbent Norm Coleman leads DFL challenger Al Franken by seven points, 46 to 39. Eleven percent chose “other,” possibly whomever emerges as the independence party candidate.

This is great news for the Franken campaign, and I think we will start to see steady movement in the right direction. Franken is steadily gaining support from Democrats, but there is still a lot of room for growth. As his numbers continue to improve, more and more Democrats will fall in line. Where he still needs to improve is in support from independents. But Norm “W” Coleman can’t hide from his record, and now that Franken has begun to play offense, I believe he’ll start picking up independents.

In related news, I laughed and laughed and laughed at a late-night post on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. Republican shill/press-release-poster Michael Brodkorb, spinning like crazy, wrote:

Team Franken will have some furious spinning to do tonight after the new Survey USA/KSTP poll was released. In a three-way race, Coleman still holds a statistically significant lead over Franken, while Franken still can’t break 40% of the vote.

This is my favorite conservative tactic: to hide your spin, claim that the other side will be spinning. There’s no spin required from an article entitled “Coleman’s lead over Franken shrinking.” Sorry Mikey, but Norm “W” Coleman is now in serious trouble.

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