Bernie Sanders
The term the pundits are using now to describe Bernie Sanders‘ chances of winning the Democratic Party presidential nomination is “nearly impossible.” Looking at the cold hard math of the Democratic Party nomination process, especially the proportional rather than winner-take-all awarding of state “pledged” delegates, we agree. If Hillary Clinton does capture the requisite majority of delegates as expected, the blame game will begin as to why Sanders lost. Here, in no particular order, are the first five reasons for Sanders’ failure:
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U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
It is said that voters vote with their hearts in the primaries and with their heads in the general election. However, the death of right wing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at age 79 might cut that process short. In particular, in the Democratic primaries, Scalia’s death may focus voters’ attention on using their heads and strategy, which may be more associated with Hillary Clinton, and less on Clinton’s aspirational competitor, Bernie Sanders. Here are several reasons why:
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President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama after clinching 2008 Democratic presidential nomination
Last night, one week before the Iowa Caucus, CNN hosted a Town Hall event at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, featuring Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley. The three candidates showed differences in their views and policies while answering questions from the audience of mostly undecided Democratic voters and from moderator Chris Cuomo. But perhaps more striking was the level of knowledge, substance and forcefulness each candidate exhibited on the issues.
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Leave a comment! Tags: 2016 Elections, Affordable Care Act, Bernie Sanders, climate change, CNN, Democratic Party, Democratic primaries, Donald Trump, economy, healthcare, Hillary Clinton, ISIS, jobs, Martin O'Malley, President Barack Obama
Janet Jackson’s FCC “Nipplegate” moment
Under the U.S. Constitution, presidents have certain limited powers, but in the 21st Century, the president also controls a huge machinery of government. It’s almost impossible to come up with an exhaustive list of all the things presidents exercise authority over, but we’ve started such a list. We’ll be doing a series, with each post describing one or more categories where presidents are heavily involved. Please take a look at the series, and you will see the difference between having a Republican and a Democrat in the White House, and why the 2016 elections are therefore so crucial:
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John Boehner at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference
After announcing his resignation from Congress, Republican U.S. House Speaker John Boehner told John Dickerson of CBS‘ “Face the Nation” that we should “beware of false prophets” from the Republican Party who promise things that they know can’t happen in our current government, such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Most people think that Boehner was referring to Republican U.S. Senator Rafael “Ted” Cruz, among others. However, the corporate mainstream media are giving John Boehner a pass by portraying Boehner as the adult in the room who was unable to manage an unruly Republican right wing, when in fact Boehner was part of the GOP’s anti-government anarchy. As House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said upon hearing the news of Boehner’s resignation, the Republican Party is “a political party at war with its own government.”
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Leave a comment! Tags: Affordable Care Act, Benghazi, Congress, GOP, Hillary Clinton, John Boehner, Meet the Press, Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, President Barack Obama, Republican Party
Pope Francis t-shirt vendors
“The Catholic Church is now more progressive on both science and social issues than the GOP.” That’s the message coming from the humorous meme site lolworthy.com, accompanied by a photo of an astronaut on a spacewalk. Once again, the humorists have it right. The visit of Pope Francis to the United States is most noteworthy in the contrast between the Pope’s hopeful, humanistic message and the negative reaction from many in the Republican party.
Speaking before a joint session of Congress on Thursday, Pope Francis said some things that appeared to go against current Republican dogma:
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March for Michael Brown in response to Ferguson grand jury decision
Rights group Amnesty International held a webinar yesterday regarding police use of deadly force in the United States. Amnesty’s presentation follows its report released last week, charging that all 50 U.S. states fall short of international standards on police use of lethal force. Amnesty’s report and presentation follow a number of high-profile police fatal shootings of young unarmed black men and boys, including Michael Brown and Tamir Rice.
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CRomnibus opponent Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Conservatives and Liberals finally agree on one thing: they hate the $1.1 trillion continuing resolution of the omnibus federal spending bill (nicknamed “CRomnibus”) designed to fund the U.S. federal government through September 2015. However, conservatives and liberals oppose the bill for different reasons. Strolling through the Twitter hashtag #CRominbus, as well as reading and hearing statements from various quarters, is quite revealing.
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Leave a comment! Tags: budget, Congress, conservatives, CRomnibus, Democrats, House, John Boehner, liberals, President Barack Obama, Republicans, Senate, spending
Hillary Clinton, 67, at Tom Harkin Steak Fry, September 2014
The post-election analysis of the Democratic Party’s massive losses has covered numerous factors, including Republican dark money, a lack of a unified Democratic message, and historic trends for the sixth year of a two-term incumbent president. Some pundits say “just wait until 2016” when the Democrats will make a stunning comeback, winning the White House and retaking the U.S. Senate. However, few of these analysts mention a potential time bomb that could spoil the Democrats’ 2016 election chances. That time bomb is age.
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Leave a comment! Tags: 2014 Election, 2016 election, Bernie Sanders, Democratic Party, Elizabeth Warren, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama, Republican Party, Ronald Reagan
According to her campaign website today, Liz Cheney, daughter of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, has ended her bid for U.S. Senate from Wyoming. Cheney’s withdrawal comes as a relief to Senator Mike Enzi, the Wyoming Republican incumbent who Cheney was challenging from the right. Enzi was one of a number of Republican U.S. Senators who are or were facing primary challenges from fellow Republicans aligned with the right wing Tea Party.
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