As of 10:45 pm EST, Obama and McCain were tied for the likelihood of winning their respective party's nomination at 94.7 on intrade. Thought that was neat.

Posted at June 3, 2008 10:51 PM in response to Networks Call Montana For Obama, South Dakota For Hillary

So that is how she choose to use her, likely, last opportunity to use the pulpit of national television...

Posted at June 3, 2008 10:01 PM in response to Hillary: "I Will Be Making No Decisions Tonight"

Barbara Boxer would be my choice. California has a very high rate of union membership (15.7% vs 12.0% nationally) and has a strong record of support for opposing unfettered free trade. She is a very effective communicator and this could become her signature issue in the Senate. One problem is that she is older at 68.

However, you do raise a good point that there aren't very many people waiting in the wings to take over leadership of union issues.

Posted at May 21, 2008 3:45 PM in response to What If Hillary Clinton Returns to the Senate as Labor's Voice?

Count me among the skeptics of Hillary's newfound affinity for the Labor movement for the following reasons.

1) Her union busting law firm back in Arkansas
2) Her time on the board of Wal-Mart and silence/complicity when union breaking was discussed
3) Her longstanding connections to the DLC
4) NAFTA-Which she did support despite recent obfuscation
5) "Screw 'em" in reference to Southern working class whites back in the mid 1990's
6) "Lobbyists are people too"
7) "Business Loves Hillary!"-http://politicallycorrected.wordpress.com/2007/07/05/the-champion-working-familes-deserve/
8) Her ability to grasp what is politically expedient and take advantage of it.

Hillary could not care less about the white working class vote until it became her main constituency by accident. Just like she became a champion of Hispanic causes when she was obtaining the majority of that demographic's vote. She is very adept at taking advantage of what is most politically expedient at the moment and it has kept her campaign "alive" for an extra couple of months. However, to claim that this recent affinity for the White Working class vote is the true Hillary, and not the previous 35 years of evidence, I think is a very tenuous argument.

Furthermore, she has no legislative accomplishments despite her claims of experience. She has not been able to get any of her bills of consequence passed into law-unlike Senator Obama. Her lone major legislative initiative failed miserably. Even if she has become a true believer of the White Working Class movement, her legislative acumen would have to improve dramatically for her to even approach Sen. Kennedy's effectiveness.

Sure, it would be great if she took over the role of Sen. Kennedy as champion of the labor movement whenever Sen. Kennedy is no longer in the Senate. However, I wouldn't hold my breath and I'd argue that this connection between Hillary and the White Working Class vote is nothing more than a spring fling that ends with the primaries.

Posted at May 21, 2008 1:25 PM in response to What If Hillary Clinton Returns to the Senate as Labor's Voice?

That is just not true. Of the 16% of KY voters that voted based on sex yesterday, 79% of them chose Hillary Clinton.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#KYDEM

Posted at May 21, 2008 10:30 AM in response to Oregon Exit Polls: Obama Handily Beat Hillary Among Whites, No-College, Less-Than-$50,000 Voters

Dean,

I completely agree with your point that the solution is much more convoluted than it needs to be if the main purpose was to save as many homeowners as possible. However, I am of the belief that this bill is more about preventing banks from losing all of their equity capital during the next year than it is about saving homeowners. After all, Frank is the chair of the house financial services committee. His main concern is going to be the banking system.

That said, it is a joke that the banks aren't being expected to pay for this bailout (which this effectively is) in the form of higher tax rates going forward or pay restrictions. The government is providing them with a massive influx of cash that they need to, likely, prevent bankruptcy and it doesn't appear that they have to sacrifice anything. It would also help to put the focus on the banks' behavior and not just the "reckless homeowners" (which some admittedly were).

Posted at May 13, 2008 10:50 AM in response to Congress Pushes for Unaffordable Housing

Eric,

You are drawing conclusions of causality without examining the past data. What was the fundraising like last presidential cycle for both the RNC and DNC? What was the burn rate last cycle for both organizations? What was the fundraising like after a presumptive nominee was established?

Without providing that data, you can't say that the fundraising prowess of the DNC is being diminished b/c of Dean's 50 state strategy. The fundraising for the DNC might be better this cycle compared to last cycle for all we know given what you provide.

Posted at April 17, 2008 12:54 PM in response to RNC Beating DNC At The Money Game

Not a big fan of the concept of the ad but I liked the modifications that kept it out from being blatant fear-mongering. Notice the narrator mentioned "Safe and Asleep," and it didn't go into specifics about an amorphous threat. After that it just listed policy accomplishments which definitely helps Barack's case. I guess I wish the ad wasn't necessary to run but it is an effective counter nonetheless.

Posted at February 29, 2008 5:31 PM in response to Obama Response Ad: "In A Dangerous World, It's Judgment That Matters"

The "present" votes were done in coordination with and encouragement of Planned Parenthood: http://ppaurora.blogspot.com/2008/02/setting-record-straight-illinois-nows.html

Posted at February 29, 2008 12:54 PM in response to Obama Responds: I Will Never Use "Threat Of Terrorism To Scare Up Votes"

Oh man, Pat Buchannon just said Hillary needed a "Deus Ex Machina" to win. MSNBC just got my viewership for quite some time.

Posted at February 20, 2008 12:54 AM in response to Exit Polls: Obama Cut Deep Into Hillary's Core Constituencies