Casual Observation

11 Comments

1. 

   Parallax on March 29, 2016 at 5:00 pm

   Agreed. I don’t think there’s any doubt it helped Obama — in numerous ways, from building campaign infrastructure, to registering voters, to honing his skills — in 2008. Everything will be fine so long as our party comes together in support of a single candidate at the end of the day.

2. 

   GUBula on March 29, 2016 at 5:04 pm

   … and clearing the field for anointed candidates is a terrible idea. At all levels of government

   • 

     Rachel Q on March 29, 2016 at 5:21 pm

     Agreed. If Clinton hadn’t tried this time she’d probably have multiple candidates to her left splitting the left-wing vote, and the challengers would have gotten some national exposure for other races.

     As I see it, the only positive thing that’s come out of this year’s strategy is a primary challenge for DWS. 🙂

     • 

       Rachel Q on March 29, 2016 at 5:27 pm

       Oh, and the Sanders movement is definitely a positive, and it’s stronger since the field was so weak. Sanders has changed the conversation.

     • 

       The Voice In The Wilderness on March 29, 2016 at 7:24 pm

       We send fundraising emails because our campaign refuses to ask for support from billionaires, federal lobbyists, or corporate interest groups. We don’t have a Super PAC and we don’t want one. This campaign is all about proving there is another way to win elections — by receiving grassroots support from the people.

       And when Debbie Wasserman Schultz is confronted about our campaign on national television, or you hear about all the momentum we’re building here in Florida, rest assured that it is your individual support that makes it possible.

       Please make a contribution of $8, or whatever you can afford today, before Thursday’s FEC filing deadline. Help us fix our rigged political and economic systems.

       You know that obscene amounts of campaign donations are distorting our democracy — but with your help, we can rewrite the political playbook and restore a voice for ordinary citizens.

       Join us today. Let’s remind the establishment that the grassroots matters.

       http://action.timcanova.com/page/m/29b53407/5f6715a5/16de5f55/69c186b9/2391294284/VEsF/

       It’s quixotic and Pollyannaish, but, what the Hell, throw the guy the price of a Margarita.

       • 

         Heart of the Rockies on March 31, 2016 at 10:50 am

         Considering Sanders has brought in $39.7 million in March alone, with a hoped for $43 million by the end of this month  (source: McClatchy), there’s a helluva lot of margarita drinking going on!

3. 

   Joelcr on March 29, 2016 at 8:56 pm

   Yep!

4. 

   yastreblyansky on March 29, 2016 at 10:27 pm

   Sounds like a good reason for having closed primaries–as a way to encourage competitive races by convincing the parties it benefits them.

   • 

     Rachel Q on March 30, 2016 at 1:34 am

     I like same-day registration – get everyone registered you can.

5. 

   rikyrah on March 30, 2016 at 11:42 am

   OT: uh huh

   uh huh

   hmmmmmmm

   ………..

   Tech C.E.O.s Held a Secret Meeting with Top Republicans to Stop Trump

   Billionaires, tech C.E.O.s, and G.O.P. leaders all converged to discuss the Republican front-runner.

   BY MAYA KOSOFF
   MARCH 8, 2016 9:42 AM

   The most powerful people in the technology sector, along with other billionaires and top Republicans, flew to a small island off the coast of Georgia last weekend to attend a secretive forum, where they discussed, among other things, how to keep current Republican front-runner Donald Trump from winning the party’s presidential nomination, the Huffington Post reports.

   Among the cabal of tech C.E.O.s who met at the remote Sea Island Resort for the American Enterprise Institute’s annual World Forum were Apple C.E.O. Tim Cook, Tesla Motors and SpaceX C.E.O. Elon Musk, Napster C.E.O. Sean Parker, and Google co-founder Larry Page. Top Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator Tom Cotton, and Karl Rove also attended the forum, as did billionaire G.O.P. donor Philip Anschutz and New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger.

   …………………..

   Trump wasn’t the only topic that had attendees squirming in their seats. Senator Cotton and Apple C.E.O. Tim Cook also had an uncomfortable debate over encryption. Apple is currently in a legal battle with the F.B.I. over an iPhone that belonged to one of the terrorists in last year’s San Bernardino attacks. “Cotton was pretty harsh on Cook,” one source told the Huffington Post, adding “everyone was a little uncomfortable about how hostile Cotton was.”

   G.O.P. leaders and experts both at Sea Island and at a recent Republican Governors Association retreat in Park City have strategized about how to defeat Trump, either by beating him at the polls, or by denying him enough delegates to prevent a brokered convention, in which Republican delegates would be freed up to vote for another candidate. A presentation shared with The Washington Post by operatives from an anti-Trump super-PAC shows where some G.O.P. leaders see the front-runner’s vulnerabilities, though others think anti-Trump efforts are futile. Trump’s success hinges on one thing: a set of primaries in states including Ohio, Florida, and Illinois on March 15.

6. 

   Heart of the Rockies on March 31, 2016 at 10:57 am

   In Colorado 37% of registered voters are unaffiliated.  I read recently, but cannot recall where, that nationally 47% of registered voters are independent/unaffiliated/fail to state.  I will probably re-register unaffiliated after the Democratic convention.  The super delegates all started campaigning for Hillary before our Democratic caucuses.  Colorado went 59% for Bernie, with 60-65% of most counties favoring him.   The party has shown no loyalty to its liberal base.  I want to let the conservative poohbahs at the top know I return the “favor.”