August 20, 2008
What if Hillary Clinton's ardent supporters here in Massachusetts were to channel that energy and enthusiasm (and indignation and anger) into efforts to get women elected back home in the Bay State? In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix, with the Democratic National Convention (and the official end of the Clinton campaign) looming, I take a look at the possibility of that happening.
The issue is out tomorrow, but the article is online now: Women On The Verge
August 20, 2008
PolitickerMA correctly notes that our own gov Deval Patrick ("Father of a lesbian daughter," a press release reminds us) will headline the Stonewall Democrats National Convention Sunday brunch this coming weekend in Denver. I can also inform you that Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons will appear at the Stonewall awards dinner Saturday night. All of which proves once again that the Greater Boston area is totally the go-to place for gayness -- I don't see any SF Bay Area names on the speakers list.
August 20, 2008
Day 1 of the Republican National Convention, Monday Sept. 1, is themed "Service," as in John McCain's "commitment forged in service to his country." (The other nights' themes: Reform; Prosperity; Peace.)
The scheduled speakers for that day announced so far are Joe Lieberman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dick Cheney, Laura Bush, and George W. Bush.
Well, let's see now.... Two of those five were not eligible for US military service. The other three were all draftable for the Vietnam War. Lieberman never served in the military, having received first an educational deferment and then a family deferment. Cheney received five deferments and never served. Bush, of course, got into the Texas Air National Guard and was never deployed.
Update: Oops -- it has been pointed out to me that of course women like Laura Bush were eligible for US military service. They were not drafted, but could certainly enlist. Laura did not. My bad. (Schwarzenegger, BTW, did a year of compulsory service in Austria.)
August 19, 2008
As I have discussed before, perhaps obsessively, the really important thing about Presidential nominees is whether they went to Harvard or Yale. For quite some time, Harvard has been humiliated, left outside while Yalies -- like Bush Sr. and Jr., and Bill Clinton -- have bested Cambridge's best.
Well, not this year: Barack Obama, Harvard Law '91, outdueled Hillary Rodham Clinton, Yale Law '73. Take that, New Haven!
The GOP, of course, took a different course, choosing someone out of the military academies. So, will an Ivy at least get on the Republican ticket? And if so, which school? Here are the most commonly mentioned candidates:
Willard Mitt Romney: double-Harvard (business and law)
Tom Ridge: Harvard undergrad
Joe Lieberman: double-Yale (undergrad and law)
Tim Pawlenty: no Ivy
Bobby Jindal: Brown!
In case you're wondering about Obama's choices, the only Ivy alum heading the recent Veepstakes lists is Tim Kaine out of Harvard Law. Biden, Bayh, and Sebelius went to, I dunno, other schools that I'm sure are fine too.
If Obama wants to balance the ticket, John Forbes Kerry has a BA from Yale....
August 19, 2008
She was once just another Western Massachusetts liberal lesbian appearing on WRNX in Amherst; then she became all national on Air America; then she got big-time as MSNBC's "it girl." Well, now Rachel Maddow apparently is getting her very own prime-time show on that network, replacing the guy who has that show that signals that it's time to turn the dial. (That would be Dan Abrams.)
I think MSNBC has been desperate to put a woman in the host chair for a political show, after Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann took so much heat from Hillary Clinton supporters for alleged sexism. That kind of exposed the fact that virtually every political talk show on TV is hosted by men (with the exception of Gwen Ifill on PBS, and Campbell Brown's new CNN show). Fox News probably doesn't care about having an all-male line-up, but I've always had the impression that MSNBC needs female eyeballs.
August 19, 2008
As I predicted (OK, it was an easy call), John Kerry has been given a Wednesday speaking slot for next week's Democratic National Convention. That's the night of the VP nomination; the night is themed Securing America's Future. Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed -- another occasional VP rumoree -- has also been added to Wednesday's lineup of speakers, which also includes potential VPs Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, and Bill Richardson.
One other New Englander added to the schedule: Vermont Senator Pat Leahy will speak on Tuesday. Theme of the day: Renewing America's Promise.
August 19, 2008
The National Review has stirred up a hornet's nest by reporting that John McCain is considering a pro-choice VP.
This has the national punditry and blogosphere speculating that McCain must be leaning toward Tom Ridge, or perhaps even Rudy Giuliani.
Am I the only one willing to look at it the other way around -- as a suggestion that Romney has changed his position again?
August 18, 2008
The Sonia Chang-Diaz campaign has released an internal poll showing her leading incumbent Dianne Wilkerson, 47% to 30%, with 23% undecided.
Those numbers are almost exactly the same as the response on whether Wilkerson deserves re-election: 47% say time for someone new, 25% say she deserves re-election.
So, while the numbers are obviously great news for Chang-Diaz, it still suggests to me that Wilkerson has a path to victory: that is to say, the election is purely a referendum on Wilkerson, and less than half the electorate are convinced she needs to go.
The poll shows Chang-Diaz with a remarkable favorability rating -- 58% favorable, 4.5% unfavorable -- which may suggest that she is vulnerable to losing some of her support as Wilkerson begins campaigning.
Also, I don't know what assumptions the poll is making about turnout, which will be a big factor in the election.
August 15, 2008
15 months ago, I interviewed New Mexico governor Bill Richardson during the early days of his Presidential campaign. (He actually didn't officially 'declare' his candidacy until two weeks later.) I never ended up using the interview, but during the recent Russia-Georgia flare-up I recalled asking Richardson specifically about US-Russia relations. (I studied Soviet politics at Tufts, which is also Richardson's alma mater.) Note that a month ago in Tbilisi Condi Rice publicly called for fast-tracking of Georgia entry into NATO. Here's the exchange, from May 7, 2007.
Bernstein: We don’t hear very much discussion about the
relationship between America
and Russia,
as a central area of importance. I’m wondering what your thinking is about how
we improve that relationship, to get their help both in securing their own
former republics’ nuclear materials, and with the Iran problem -- and whether you think that NATO admitting more
Warsaw Pact nations is something that America should support?
Richardson: Well I agree with you, the US-Russia relationship is
essential. But we’ve got to accept that there are areas of strategic
competitiveness, and we have some differences. But we need to work together,
especially in the following areas -- and we are not doing them. One, is
securing Russian nuclear materials that are still out there. With the end of
the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet empire, the last thing you want
is nuclear material, uranium or plutonium, to be found in terrorist hands. And
there is still a lot of that, and we need to increase our cooperative program.
Number two, we need to find ways with Russia to reduce each others’ nuclear
arsenal. We haven’t had arms-control talks in a long period of time. The major nuclear
powers have to lead, at a time when problems of nuclear proliferation, lack of
verification systems, North Korea, countries acquiring more nuclear weapons --
what is needed is a new nuclear inspection and new non-proliferation treaty,
comprehensive test-ban treaty, and it should be led by the US and Russia.
Number three, we’ve got to find ways to properly channel Russia’s vast energy resources, at least as a
supplier to Europe, to Japan, to the West, and
we have to do that in a positive way. And I’m for advocating less [dependence] on
foreign oil, but if we maintain this dependence at least it should be from
friendly states, like Mexico,
Canada, and possibly Russia. I think
we need to speak out strongly on Chechnya
and human rights violations, press freedoms that Russia
doesn’t have, on ways that we can bring Russia into more democratic
compliance. There was great hope when Putin came in, that he would move in the
direction of press freedoms and economic freedoms -- sometimes it seems like
he’s running Russia
as what he used to be, the former head of the KGB. Now, on the other side, we’ve
got to explain to Russia,
why is it that we’re expanding NATO around their perimeters, and we don’t allow
Russia
in? I mean, of course they’re going to get sensitive about that. A lot of it is
dialog. A lot of it is building personal trust between presidents. A lot of it
is diplomacy, saying to Russia:
“Look, you’ve got to help us on Iran.
You don’t want Iran
with a nuclear weapon, that’s not in your interest.” And finding ways to do it.
Instead, we’re poking Russia
in these other areas, without explaining to them what we can do for them and
what they can do for us. It’s the building of personal relationships. Clinton used to have this
with Yeltsin. Reagan used to have this with Gorbachev. And that helped have a
relationship of mutual respect, while [allowing] enormous competitiveness.
That’s what I would do with Russia.
August 13, 2008
State House News Service is reporting that our very own gov Deval Patrick is scheduled to speak Tuesday night in prime time at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Don't expect the networks to carry it, but hey, being on CSPAN is kinda good too.
Tuesday's theme is "Renewing America's Promise." Oh, and Hillary Clinton is speaking that night too.
August 13, 2008
Back in May I first wrote in the Phoenix about rumors that John Kerry could be named to a cabinet position -- likely Secretary of State -- if Obama gets elected. What I didn't write then, but have mentioned on TV appearances, is the distinct possibility that Kerry is on the VP short list (an idea first put in my head in May by Washington insider extraordinaire Thomas Quinn).
Well, guess whose name popped out of Howard Wolfson's mouth on TV last night? He has heard some rumors, which now has become the Veepstakes rumor du jour. (How Wolfson would know, or why he would say, is beyond me, but whatever.)
The interesting piece of confirmational evidence, for those seeking some, is the recent announcement of daily themes for the Democratic National Convention. Wednesday, the day the VP will be nominated and give his speech, has been designated for foreign policy issues and the contributions of veterans. How perfectly does JK fit that theme, huh?
Here's my prediction: JK gets to make a speech Wednesday, but not as the VP choice. But you never know.
August 13, 2008
In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix, I take a look at someone who is emerging as a potential hero of Massachusetts progressives: Sara Orozco, the political neophyte trying to unseat state senator Scott Brown. I depict her as Underdog versus the All-American, and I'd be interested what any of you out there think about her chances.
The issue is out in print tomorrow, but you can read it online now:
The Underdog: Sara Orozco thinks she can beat all-American GOP superstar Scott Brown. Can she
convince anyone else?
August 09, 2008
Barack Obama's campaign is hitting John McCain hard on McCain's involvement in facilitating the DHL merger that is ultimately leading to massive layoffs in Ohio.
If it has legs, it should pretty much kill Mitt Romney's chances at the VP slot, and would prove the point that I and others have been trying to make in that regard.
You see, if McCain can be blamed a little for the Ohio layoffs, Romney can be blamed A LOT for, say, the AmPad layoffs in Indiana that Ted Kennedy used against him in their 1994 Senate contest. (Say, weren't the AmPad layoffs in Indiana, which is one of Obama's top target states? Why, yes they were.)
Many pundits have been glibly saying that since the economy became the big voter issue, a businessman like Romney would be a boon to the GOP ticket, making up for McCain's admitted intellectual weakness in that area.
But in a political campaign about the economy, businessman Romney is what you might call a "target-rich environment." He made hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and his wealthy cohorts by buying companies, stripping them to the bone, and selling off the carcass. (OK, that's not how they describe it on their web site; but it would sure look that way in an attack ad.) Jobs? Workers? Not an important column on the spreadsheet.
More broadly, Romney is just not on the middle- and working-class worker's side in the economic struggle, and there's plenty from his life story, his Bain career, and his governorship to use against him. (Cue footage of Romney campaigning in 2002 promising that he would use his access to CEOs and boardrooms to get companies to move to Massachusetts, while a scroll shows headlines of companies leaving the state, and job numers declining, during his years in office.)
Romney never got hit as a cold-blooded fatcat in the primaries, because they were Republican primaries -- you're supposed to be on the side of capital against labor. The general election is another story: McCain has to win regular-family votes in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Indiana. If DHL hurts McCain, Romney would KILL him.
August 07, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reports today that a former financial-management executive has filed a complaint claiming that he was fired for not coughing up for Mitt Romney's campaign.
A year ago, I wrote a lengthy article, "Mitt's Equity Army," suggesting that in "raising the capital for his latest venture," ie, running for President, Romney was tapping into an extended network of firms who had made money, or could make money, off of Romney's connections through Bain and elsewhere:
His “bundlers” — supporters who raise large sums by soliciting donations from
their friends and associates — include dozens of people who have, in some way,
benefited from Romney’s business acumen (or largesse) and through the
private-equity company he co-founded
When you control vast sums of money, and have close allies who control even greater sums, you have a lot of ways to reward, say, Huron Consulting Group, the Chicago-based company that is the subject of the new complaint. Huron employees contributed nearly $100,000 to Romney's campaign. According to the Journal, Huron CEO Gary Holden "repeatedly linked his requests for donations to Huron's business prospects" in emails to staff:
"This is not about me trying to force a political candidate on you... This is just business and the way business works."
"I wanted to thank all of you who contributed to Mitt Romney. You can't realize how much leverage this gives Huron going forward to ask various people for business."
In another solicitation email, Holden boasted that Daniel Dumezich, a major Romney bundler and tax lawyer, had "given Huron a large JP Morgan tax case." In addition, Holden recounted a conversation with Romney national finance co-chair Muneer Satter, the managing director who oversees private investment accounts for mega-financer Goldman Sachs. "I again reminded Muneer that... I hope he knows that I am going to call him and his partners in the future asking for business from Goldman," Holden wrote.
August 05, 2008
Three weeks ago I wrote that bike sharing could become city councilor John Connolly's first idea to get wified -- ie, stolen by the mayor. Sure enough, today Menino held a public press event at which, according to a press release:
[Menino] announced that the City has released a request for information (RFI) for bike
sharing, where one can rent a bike and tour the City using multiple pick up and
drop off locations.
I wasn't there, but I am told that Connolly was not at the Mayoral press event. (If I recall correctly, Rob Consalvo got to at least stand in the background when Tommy announced his ShotSpotter idea.)
Update: To be fair, the bike-share plan was already under development by Menino's people when Connolly independently proposed it; both sides indicate that neither stole it from the other -- just great minds thinking alike, so to speak.