I confess to being depressed, near despondent really, about both the presidential campaign and the performance of Congress. So, I know that the only thing that is going to keep me going is the senatorial and congressional races. And, on that score, the news just keeps getting better.
Let’s start out with the fact that Jim Walsh (NY-25) is retiring. Walsh is the 6th ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. The GOP representation on the committee is being decimated with retirements. It’s now almost certain that Dan Maffei will replace him and add another name in the ‘D’ column. Maffei is unapologetically against the war in Iraq.
Another piece of good news comes out of Illinois’ 11th District, where the Republican ‘consensus candidate’ to replace the corrupt Jerry Weller, Tim Baldermann, doesn’t want to raise any money. Dennis Hastert is going to do a fundraiser for him.
Baldermann admits he needs the money.
“I have done very little fundraising,” he said. “It makes me sick to my stomach. My campaign people gave me a list of people who gave money to (Weller). I told them, ‘If you think I’m going to call somebody who’s never heard of me and ask for $2,300, that’s insane.’ I fight with them every single day over it.
“They wanted my Christmas card list. I’m not doing that stuff. I refuse to do it. The Republican Party wanted me to run; the Republican Party should help fund my campaign.”
While I completely sympathize with Mr. Baldermann’s plight, that’s no attitude to take into a race with state Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson. Halvorson has a step-son that has served in Iraq and she wants to bring the troops home.
Something remarkable is happening down in South Florida. The Democrats are enjoying a recruiting bonanza of Cuban-Americans to run against three Republican Cuban-Americans. I would dearly love to see the end of the Republican’s iron grip over Florida’s Cuban community. And it could happen with Raul Martinez, Joe Garcia, and Annette Taddeo (check out her resume). And this isn’t even all of the encouraging news coming out of Florida.
The map of vulnerable seats just keeps expanding and expanding, and the Republicans simply have no money to defend them, let alone go after any of our vulnerable freshmen. It’s enough to kind of cheer me up…a little.
Well Boo, I have a funny suspicion that you might feel better about the Presidential race on Saturday. Hang in there. And watch a speech to cheer you up. Always works for me.
Oh. Here’s one!
thanks, Randy, but a win in South Carolina isn’t going to cheer me up much.
On Tucker Carlson tonight they had a banner up for 10 minutes that said (paraphrasing) ‘Could winning South Carolina cost Obama the nomination?’
I kid you not.
make the rounds among Democratic women over the next few days and make a big difference:
I’d just like to see some debate moderator ask Clinton what her stance is on the Equal Rights Amendment. (Frankly, I’d like to see all three of them get nailed with that question.)
I mean, we are eventually going to get it written into the Constitution, aren’t we? Or is gender equality no longer a goal of the American left?
Lisa- That’s helpful. Have you seen this? Not just the letter that he published, which is good, but the comments. These are no ordinary blog comments. I was stunned. I think attitudes are going to change in California between now and Feb 5. Boo could be in for a big surprise.
Nobody watches Tucker Carlson except the type who watch, say, Glen Beck. Tucker’s ratings are only slightly higher than Beck’s and they both SUCK. I can’t stand to watch that self-loathing closet-case prick (either one of them, actually). Tucker needs to be replaced by Rachel Maddow. I don’t know what’s taking so long in doing this.
But it ain’t over till it’s over. You’re getting ahead of yourself. Stop it. And cheer up, dammit! You’re reminding me of myself after the 2004 election when the worst possible candidate (Dubya) beat out the mediocre candidate (Kerry.) And nobody questioned why the exit polls were so off from the official election returns. I was on a bender for a week after that one.
Right now we’ve got such hope for the future. I hate to see such inspirational folks as yourself getting over-run by polls and propaganda spread on cable TV.
Amen. It’s not over till it’s over. The entire point of corporate media coverage is to convince you that you are powerless to challenge the status quo. It’s bound to be depressing if you give it too much credit.
It’s not unique to Tucker Carlson, it’s not being written into the national narrative. Obama will lose South Carolina either by losing, by not winning by enough, or by winning itself. The media cares not which is the cause of his devastating loss.
it’s ‘now’ being written, not ‘not’ being written.
My GOD, man… What in the hell is wrong with you? Why are you letting this overcome you? Don’t fuking worry about “the narrative.” Fight for what you believe in, man. You seem so resigned to all of this and that bothers me. I am not. That speech I pointed to at the top of the thread… go over there and read all the comments from young voting-age people. Has it occurred to you that the “media narrative” might be ignored this time around? It’s a different time now.
Just stop it. We can talk about how bad things are after the primaries are over. Right now you need to focus on what we can do to stop the Clinton machine. And you know what? Your vote in Pennsylvania might actually be the deciding vote with the way things are going now. Don’t give up hope, man. Don’t do it.
And watch the damn speech!
And watch it AGAIN! And AGAIN! And AGAIN!
God dammit, Boo. You seem to be losing the faith. And that pisses me off! I’m an atheist, so I’m obviously not talking about religion but just FAITH in the way we need tings to turn out in this country, politically.
If I knew your mother, I would call her and get her very riled up about what you’re doing to yourself now. It’s outrageous! Get a grip, brother.
Tucker needs to be replaced by Rachel Maddow
My impression is that this is about to happen. Seems that she is increasingly being used as commentator; they are raising her profile and public recognition. Give it a few months and she will have the chair.
I agree with you, and I think a similar comment was actually made on air (not that Tucker would be replaced with her, but that she should have her own show).
A welcome addition to the lineup, IMO.
I hope so! I have been impressed with her every time I’ve seen her on Countdown or the post-election discussions. She’s sharp, she clearly understands what’s going on and she’s extremely articulate. She and Keith are what makes the MSNBC coverage worth watching (I try to tune out Chris Matthews as much as possible, he comes across as such a idiot…)
Yes. As of a few days ago, they even gave her a title of “MSNBC contributer” or something like that and they are actually paying her a salary, even.
She needs her own show. She would be great teamed up with David Shuster, who I also love.
Obama is up over 12 points in the average of the polls from the last two weeks at http://www.realclearpolitics.com. That’s why Hillary left right after the debate. They know SC is a lost cause, but they’re trying to wound Obama so he won’t have such a big surge after his win. The more than can trim it, the less impressive it will be.
Obama was behind in every national poll until he won Iowa. Then he surged to the lead in SC, and nearly tied Clinton nationally. After he lost NH, it dipped again. So we can expect a big spike this time, and it might be enough to change the game dramatically. And this is why the Clintons are playing so dirty.
If you watched the news today, I saw show after show dissecting the debate claims and the latest (awful) anti-Obama ad from the Clintons, and 100% of the press explained it all correctly – Obama never said what the Clinton’s say he said.
That was heartening to me.
Cheer up, Booman. Your site offers hope to all of us, hope that people care, people think, people evaluate, and still have optimism and ideals.
I asked a friend what he did when he felt despair, and he sent me a wonderful little story so I’m sharing it.
It’s getting warmer tomorrow … good news for me, at least.
Getting tired of evenings that dip below -10 degrees!
FINE.
Have some.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/24/0240/82104/379/442026
John Edwards, taking steps that will hopefully shame his opponents into doing their tax-payer funded JOBS.
Can this be pushed further out, maybe even to the front page, here, to rile MORE people up, into giving him $$, so he can keep pissing off the establishment?
I’ve put in $50, will do more when I can. Here’s to disestablishmentarianism!!
Hi BooMan,
Hot-headedly, I said I would not read your site after
you attacked Moveon.org for the Be-trayus ad. I
“honored” my pledge for awhile (mostly) but started
reading your site again regularly as the primary
elections began.
Anyway, I’m back again as a regular reader (and will try very hard to be less hot-headed in the future).
Like you, I think that nominating Clinton is likely to be a mistake and I’m very angry at the Clintons’ tactics. It’s starting to look like the main “experience” they’ve derived from their time in government is in how to mimic Rove and pals.
Like you, I also tend to get depressed at the way the
elections and polls have tended so far. I started to write to refer you to an interesting diary on Kos, if you hadn’t already seen it, but I see that another reader has already linked to the video from YouTube of a former Illinois NOW/NARAL leader supporting Obama’s
record on abortion rights and switching her allegiance
from Clinton to Obama. <dailykos.com/user/Brainwrap>
I know the “present” votes in the Illinois legislature
are hard to explain to a lay audience, but the speaker
seems to get to the heart of the matter. In other words, on this issue (not to mention other issues), Obama is honest, and Hillary is not!
(By the way, I still think you were
wrong about Moveon but I’m happy to move on!)
Tarzanne
Yeah, the presidential race is depressing. What’s more depressing is that the rest of the fucking blogosphere knowingly stands on the sidelines and doesn’t do shit to fight against the Clinton machine – the very machine of the Democratic Party that the blogosphere should inherently oppose.
The spirit of ‘Crashing The Gates’ has died, and this presidential primary process has made that all the more clear. I’d argue that the blogosphere has become nothing more than its own circle-jerk of punditry at this point.
Glad to see you posting here. I always enjoyed your diaries on the orange. But I now visit there infrequently. For lots of reasons which I won’t delve into because I don’t want to start a negative discussion on what’s going on over there. But it upsets me almost as much as what Boo is writing about here.
i share your despair too.
but i have to say, i was overjoyed to hear about jim walsh’s intentions to retire. i was born in syracuse in that district, and my family still lives there. and walsh has been a total republican neo-con neo-liberal hack and before him it was his father in that seat, if i remember correctly.
so this is just great news!!
good riddance to him and hello to an anti-war candidate.
The Clintons are joined at the hip and see the U.S. as their toy, playground, fief. The prospect of their renewed presence as heads of state is disconcerting and ominous to say the least. If Obama were a black woman, they wouldn’t have a prayer. Don’t despair. We owe it to each other to keep our heads above water.
is gonna suck, and you might as well get used to it. I know, we all want the war to end. NEWS FLASH: The troops will NOT COME HOME in 2008. So, don’t be despondent if they do not. THEY WILL NOT.
NEWS FLASH: Bush holds the whip hand on FISA. If we can get is SLIGHTLY LESS FASCIST, that’s all I ask. We are between the hammer of Bush’s veto, and the anvil of the 2008 election, in which votes can be distorted. So, do not have raised expectations.
I am NOT saying “relax and enjoy it” I am saying that matters are not amenable to change at this point. We need to concentrate on changing the shape of the House.
Booman, please try this.
I’ve got it on a loop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPIRzu14viA
It’s sort of funny when you think about how old that song is…now if I could only find his “Expatriate” on youtube.
Please keep writing about the congressional candidates you think are progressive. This is where we will swing our support. It’s one of the few places where we believe we might make a difference.
As favorably as things seem to be shaking up in terms of Congressional races, when you watch what is happening right now it is hard to be very optimistic about things. By the time a new President and new Congress are sworn in next year, things are going to be very, very far gone. When you consider how much of Bush’s foreign adventurism and Constitution-shredding has been ratified and even expanded under the current Democratic majority, with the greatest betrayal yet in the works on the latest greatest FISA bill, it is difficult to imagine how even some of it can be undone.
As I have been saying since the Democrats first caved on Iraq in early 2007, no Democratic President is going to want to “lose” Iraq. You begin to end the war during Bush’s term, or you are not going to end it, period. That has clearly come to pass. We are in Iraq for years, under Obama or Hillary. First, there will be midterms to think about, and then a second Presidential term to think about. The same advisors who urge caution now will urge caution in 2009.
The same is true of the restoration of habeas and the rest of the Constitution. Once you grant immunity to the telecoms, there is no going back, no matter what the makeup of Congress is next year. An effort to roll back some of the warrantless spying powers that have been granted and are about to be granted may be more possible, but I take it as a given that none (or very few) of the Congress members who are currently falling over themselves to gut the Constitution are going to do a 180 in a year’s time. And even if new members shift the balance somewhat, I am guessing you at best achieve a bare majority in either house for rolling back those powers, and a bill supported by that majority may or may not see the light of day with the crap leadership the Dems have in place. And even if it passes, what better way for the new Democratic President– whether the “inexperienced” (and possibly Muslim!!!!!!!!!) Obama, or womanishly weak and notoriously liberal Hillary– to show their stones on national security than by vetoing an intemperate and weak-kneed bill sent up by the Democrats?
So, good news or not, prospects are grim and getting grimmer.
The experiment in Democracy and freedom is definitely over. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted and I have family in canada if things get THAT bad…
What’s most depressing to me is to see my friends and fellow travelers giving up so easily. We all need to come together and fight this battle.
For years I considered leaving the country and moving to Europe or Canada. I could do it. I really could. BUT I’d rather die in some Bush-Cheney torture chamber than give up on what this country is all about. People are finally coming around… And at the same time I see we’re all just getting too tired to keep up the fight.
On the FISA thing, we need to stop telecom immunity because that’s the only thing we can’t undo later. I really don’t care if there is any financial penalty to the telcos for cooperating with Cheney’s illegal spying program on all Americans (for purely political purposes) which started in February 2001, right after they took office… not after 9/11 as so many claim. But we must not stop the current lawsuits from discovering what happened. It can’t just be “classified.” It has to come out in the open and stopped. Right now I’ve got C-Span2 on and I’m gonna have it on all day. Russ Feingold just gave a great speech. I wanted him to run for President but he didn’t. Oh well.
But friends… Don’t give up. I can’t believe my ears either when I hear all of this fear mongering, but we’ve got to keep up the fight. Really.
It ain’t depression, it’s reality. If I were a nice liberal I’d try and cheer you up, but as a mean lefty I can only say, deal with it.
Hate to add to your delicate condition, but I wouldn’t put too much hope into IL-11. The newly Dem-controlled state government is probably more hated around here than alQaida, and with good reason. Being a honcho in that House of Shame is not likely to get Halvorson any brownie points, at least if her opponent knows enough to mobilize the hate.
Plus, if I lived in the district, I’d be mighty tempted to vote for Baldermann simply because he’s brave enough to pull the curtain away from our abominable scam of an electoral “system”.
But there is some potential good news from around here: we have strong candidates in IL-14, Hastert’s old district. Bill Foster, a retired physicist and businessman, is favored in the primary and supported by the party hierarchy. He’s too middle-of-the-road for my taste, but will probably appeal in the transitional GOP district. My own pref is John Laesch, the carpenter who got 40% against Hastert last time around with very little money. He has endorsements from popular lt. Gov Pat Quinn as well as Noam Chomsky, among others. Either one should have a decent shot against likely Rep nominee Jim Oberweiss, a dairy magnate and wingnut who runs unsuccessfully in pretty much every election that comes around.
But there’s more! We finally have a strong candidate in the 18th, Ray LaHood’s vacated seat. Colleen Callahan is a radio/TV reporter with the personality and credibility to make a strong run. This is a race that national Dems should get behind.
So we keep on lurching through the pervasive muck as usual. No point in being depressed about reality. Boo, maybe you need to listen to some Leonard Cohen while you read some Samuel Beckett — just my contrarian therapy prescription.