What’s Wrong with Kennedy?

So I’ve been watching some of my dear friends on the left exploding over the possibility that Caroline Kennedy will be appointed to the U.S. Senate from New York. And I wonder….why? Somehow she is being called unqualified….that is a laughable suggestion. When one looks at her charitable works it is clear that those endeavors involve serious matters of public policy like education policy…One can easily make the case that she is an expert on education policy. Also she has written published works on constitutional law that have been highly regarded…Let’s see…lawyer, philanthropist for causes that have relationships to substantive public policy…and she’s not qualified? Please, get over yourself Daily Kos…stop whining

-Rizzo

Special Election? Surely, You Jest

Blagojevich is that good story that just won’t go away. Now, there is talk of a special election to fill the vacant Senate seat in Illinois….and some Democrats actually think it’s a good idea. Really!

Why should Democrats allow a special election to go forward? So Republicans can run against “Blagojevich Democrats,” “Chicago Politics,” and the ” Culture of Corruption?” Then if Republicans win they will spin the victory as a huge victory over Obama, and make the case that voters are having “buyer’s remorse” and that POTUS Obama does not have a mandate.

Dear Dems…..this seat is ours…let’s not flush it down the political toliet. Now besides the obvious political arguments against a special election, Democrats can make several credible arguments against a special election….

1) The “will of the people” has already been spoken for. In 2004, the people of Illinois voted for a 6 year term for a Democratic candidate.

2) The law is clear…Illinois law dictates that the Governor can fill the seat of Senator who is no longer serving.

3) The appointment is not for 6 years, but merely to fill out a term that the voters of Illinois have already cast judgment on.

4) Voters will soon have an opportunity to cast a judgment on this new appointee in ‘10 and can judge him/her on their own merits.

Should Blago choose the new Senator? No!!!! He needs to resign or be impeached, so that Lt. Gov Pat Quinn can make the choice. Pat Quinn has never been implicated in Blagojevich’s scandal, and in fact has not spoken to the Gov in nearly a year. Quinn was one of the first elected officials to call on Blago to resign, and clearly has the capacity to make the choice…

I get the rationale behind the call for a special election…..but when the path is clear to the basket….dunk- don’t pull back behind the 3 point line and hurl one.

Arlen Specter, Eric Holder and the Fight to Come

This news period has been quite busy for a transition period! In fact, so busy that we haven’t talked about POTUS-Elect Obama’s nomination of Eric Holder to be Attorney General. I am fully supportive of Holder’s candidacy-he’s a pragmatic progressive with a strong record. So why has there been some grumblings on the Republican side of the aisle?

It’s a couple things…First, Republicans are smartly looking for a fight with the new administration. When a party is learning how to be the opposition again it goes through a period of wandering where it tries to find credible lines of attack. For Republicans, Holder’s far-away relationship to the Marc Rich pardon is something that sticks in their gut because they fiercely opposed the pardon.  Also, Holder’s criticism of the Bush administration’s views about executive power and wire-tapping et al is disturbing to them because they honestly disagree.

Secondly, Sen. Arlen Specter [the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee] is up for reelection in 2010 and weak among the Republican base in Pennsylvania. He can’t appear to be too eager to support the Obama agenda, or his inevitable primary challenge will increase in intensity by the day. My gut feeling is that Specter will ultimately support the nomination, but does not want to appear as if he is a “rubber stamp for the Obama agenda.” Now, one of my rules of politics is that I never make concrete judgments about the motives of others, so I won’t presume to know why Specter is hesitating on Holder, yet there is a distinct confluence of events between his likely primary challenge and his hesitancy on Holder.

Specter becomes very important with 58 or 59 Democrats in the Senate. Specter is a moderate by instinct but may check those instincts at the door of the Senate chamber as he feels more pressure to be responsive to his GOP constituency.  Specter’s vote is particularly important on the Employee Free Choice Act because Specter is known to be supportive of unions, and received the endorsement of major Philadelphia unions in the ‘04 election. So watching Specter operate on the Holder nomination serves as an important window into his behavior on other issues like EFCA, Freedom of Choice Act, judges, wiretaps, torture et al.

Stay tuned…..

-Rizzo

The Lame Elephant in the Room..no pun intended

I constantly hear everyone talk about what Obama has said, and what Obama has done…..but all that I want to know is, what is George W. Bush doing? I understand the idea of the lame duck president, but what an embarrassment this guy is! We are in a recession, a war, our energy plan is a joke, and yet, still, all I have heard from this guy recently is that he has a nice house, and that people are unhappy with republican in general…oh let me not forget that they “might” just bail out the big 3 on their own.

For a while before the election, I really did feel sorry for him. He looked miserable, he looked older, and I wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do to fix the situation. I apologize for my momentary sense of pity. I forgot that he took just 4 years to make this mess, and another 4 years to prove that he had no intentions of “learning” form his mistakes. This isnt about being republican or democrat, this is about doing right by our country.

I really want him to stand up and just SAY something on substance. It disturbs me that not one in his role as president has he apologized for anything! Nothing has been his fault. Even the republicans have left his side.

I really have nothing else to say about him, I cant even think of anything good to say to him…well….one thing taht hes really good at, is dodging a shoe! that was an incredible dodge! I was impressed.

-Bex

Jindal Opts for the Long Road

Lost this week in all the controversy over Blagojevich’s follies has been Gov. Bobby Jindal’s announcement that he will not seek the presidency in 2012. This tells me that Jindal is a pretty smart politician and more ambitious than one might think.

In announcing his decision not to seek the presidency, Jindal referenced his upcoming reelection for Louisiana Governor in 2011 and his desire to remain the CEO of the state. Implicit in his announcement is an acknowledgment that he cannot raise the $700 million necessary to compete with President Obama. It would be impossible to win reelection in 2011 and then turn his entire operation into presidential mode in such a short period of time. Moreover, gubernatorial candidates cannot transfer funds from their state account to a federal account because each state has different campaign finance laws.

Although Jindal may be out in 2012, his future in the GOP is bright. He will likely win reelction as governor then could be a leading candidate for a cabinet position in a Republican administration, a leading candidate for Vice President on a Republican ticket or a leading candidate for a Senate seat from Louisiana. Time is on Jindal’s side- he’s young [not even 40] and can afford to wait until the GOP brand is rehabilitated before he becomes its standardbearer. Modern electoral politics has a new unwritten rule: you get once chance at the presidency. Jindal is smart enough to know this and wait until the time is right for him to run.

Although Jindal appears to be nothing but squeaky clean, he should take a lesson from the Blagojevich mess this week. First, you’re one bondeheaded scandal away from losing it all. Second, Jindal should have learned that he and Obama have much more in common than one might think. Like Obama, Jindal comes from a state notorious for political corruption. Like Obama, Jindal is not a native of his political state and has cultural and religious past that is woven with the same complexity as Obama’s is. Jindal should be commended for his well earned reformer credentials, yet one day the people he met on the way up in Louisiana will likely make him cringe in the same way that Blagojevich et al makes Obama cringe.

Watch out for the Gov from Louisiana ….he’s going to be a household name one day.

-Rizzo

GOP Reborn: More Conservative and Ideologically Driven

We’ve all been waiting to see what the GOP will look like after their election defeat—–well we don’t have to wait until January because last night’s showdown over the auto bailout gave us a clue. The “new” GOP will be more conservative and ideologically driven, and for an example look at their behavior in the U.S. Senate last night.

Instead of showing some maturity like President Bush and his administration, Senate Republicans engaged in a union busting campaign driven by ideology as opposed to pragmatism. Last night, the conservative leadership presented a false choice to the UAW, and then turned around and blamed the UAW when the legislation failed.

So what did the Republicans want? Basically, they wanted to rip up the UAW contract that expires in 2011 and slash wages for workers from a contract that had already been implemented. The UAW has made massive concessions to management and now all new hires are paid the same as workers who work for foreign automakers in America. More simply put- unions and management have solved the wage problem as it relates to the future, yet some current workers operate under agreements that were negotiated prior to new concessions. So, these “free market conservatives” wanted to unilaterally alter a contract privately negotiated between two parties—-ironic, right?

In a spirit of further concession the UAW was willing to overhaul worker wages once the existing contract expired in 2011. In 2011, the government “Car Czar” would work to facilitate these negotiations to ensure that a new contract was competitive. Although this idea seems rather reasonable [I mean even Bush was OK with it], the radical cabal in the Senate couldn’t wait to bust the UAW.

Last night’s debate will most likely be a moot point because the Bush Administration appers willing to use TARP funds to keep the industry afloat, yet we’ve seen a preview into how the GOP will operate in the 111th Congress.

Far right ideology will likely govern their approach to healthcare, energy, hate crimes, stem cells and the economy because the members of their caucus are largely more southern and more conservative than has been the case in previous sessions. Although these GOPers in Congress are true believers in their principles, their chances for electoral success become dimmer as they seem more far right. All of the big action in the next year will take place in Congress so the GOP brand is likely to be shaped by the message that emanates from the Republican caucus. So far, it appears as if this message will be more conservative and this likely does not bode well with an electorate that is increasingly moderate and in favor of more government action.

-Rizzo