Carnahan's are a pretty big name in Missouri politics as public servants who have gone above and beyond to lead and serve with distinction. The first (possibly only) campaign my cousin (who is 10 years older than me and have always looked up to) was a Carnahan campaign. I haven't stopped hearing about them since.
But as a next generation voter and politico in my family, I've discovered my favorite Carnahan in Robin for her relentless pursuit of fair and accurate voting laws.
Give the 
At a time when organizations across the country are focused on increasing voter registration, the Student Association for Voter Empowerment (
I couldn't help wondering, when Senator Barak Obama first called for a “new” politics, why the politics we’ve been using for the last 2,500 years needs to be replaced. Okay, Shrub has sanctioned a "disconnect" with the American people over the last four years, the natural result of "wedge" politics.But maybe the real problem lies not with the lying, two faced, double dealing, back-stabbing, opportunistic, insincere politicians but with the idiots who vote for them: i.e. us. Check my math, please: politicians lie, politicians get elected; could there be a connection? Let me give you a little example from ancient history, so nobody feels insulted.
- Vote No on Judge Phill Kline-
I just saw this on the morning post on the MAINblog and about choked on my coffee.
It seems Phyllis Schlafly has taken an interest in seeing judges elected in Johnson County Kansas vs. having them appointed in a non-partisan process that costs tax payers little to nothing.
- Judicial Appointments or Elections-
A truly interesting and extensive piece appeared over at the MAINstream Coalition's blog today that discussed an upcoming ballot initiative in Johnson County, Kansas that would move county judges from being appointed by a panel to being elected by the public.
The instigator of the ballot initiative is of course another wing-nut who thinks that by making judges become elected he would score a bunch of conservative judges - ignoring the fact that this will definitely not be the case, especially among the members of the Johnson County Bar Association.
The piece links to a 2007 AP story on the Tim Golba as well as info on the specific bill.
- IN and NC set Precedent (or Presidents?)- Crossposted from WiretapMag
In the most exciting news I've seen on election coverage, the Washington Post declares Young Voters to be one of the winners of last night's election.
- BREAKING: Voting Rights Under Assault- The US Supreme Court just voted to disproportionately disenfranchises our rights to cast a ballot. Remember that whole thing about democracy and everyone having the right to vote - HA! I bet you thought that was real, right??
UPDATE 2: Rock the Vote recently released statement calling it "supremely wrong."
UPDATE 1: Politico has also reported on the topic
------------------
- March 4 Young Voters Smackdown the Vote- Crossposted from Wiretap
First, let me just say that I told you McCain would win. And Mike Huckabee conceded with a lovely speech about a pitcher that is always waiting and ready in the event the other pitcher can't make it. Media folks are speculating if this is Huck making a comment about being VP? Or is this a crack about McCain being so old he's nearing death? I think that this was actually a comment about Mike Huckabee's new career in baseball.
Last night's primary and caucuses brought another opportunity for us to measure the successes of the youth vote. All of the following are for 17-29 year olds and can be found by combing through the CNN Exit polls.
- YOU ARE VOTING FOR WHO?-
I just saw this on the morning post on the MAINblog and about choked on my coffee.
It seems Phyllis Schlafly has taken an interest in seeing judges elected in Johnson County Kansas vs. having them appointed in a non-partisan process that costs tax payers little to nothing.
"Voters in Johnson County, Kan. will have a proposition on the November ballot that could send shock waves through the tenure of state court judges.
A truly interesting and extensive piece appeared over at the MAINstream Coalition's blog today that discussed an upcoming ballot initiative in Johnson County, Kansas that would move county judges from being appointed by a panel to being elected by the public.
The instigator of the ballot initiative is of course another wing-nut who thinks that by making judges become elected he would score a bunch of conservative judges - ignoring the fact that this will definitely not be the case, especially among the members of the Johnson County Bar Association.
The piece links to a 2007 AP story on the Tim Golba as well as info on the specific bill."No age group has been more ridiculed for their lack of participation than those under 30. But in Indiana that age group comprised 16 percent of the overall vote while those 65 or older comprised 15 percent. Under 30s went for Obama 61 percent to 39 percent, a margin that all but neutralized Clinton's 44 percent margin among older Hoosiers."
I am about to tell you something you do not want to hear, so let me cloak it in an alliteration to make 
it more palatable: to borrow the words of the theatrical Mary Magdalene; “I don’t know why he moves me. He’s a man. He’s just as man.” There, did that hurt any less? I hope it did. But of course those are also the words, in reprise, of Judas Iscariot, also from “Jesus Christ Superstar”, so maybe you are now offended, but at least now you know of whom I am referring, because the Superstar of the moment can be none other than Senator Barack Obama, Superstar and junior 
Senator from Illinois, the land of Lincoln. But is Barack another Lincoln? He couldn’t be of course because Lincoln wasn’t Lincoln until after he was dead. Before he was dead Lincoln was just another politician, and worse, he was a mouth piece for the railroads, the mega-corporations of his day. His last year in private law practice, 1859, Lincoln made an estimated $100,000.00, or about 2 million in today’s dollars. And nobody picked him for sainthood because everybody was looking for the next George Washington or the next Andrew Jackson. And Lincoln sure as hell wasn’t up to the standards of George Washington. Now, do you need to hear what a schmuck post-revolutionary Americans thought Washington was?
*
- Jim Ryun Source of KS Voter Caging- I just had to tell ya'll about this because its something that makes me crazy.
Last year around Christmas time - the Kansas GOP sent out what I'm sure they thought was a normal everyday fundraising email. What they mistakenly did was talk about all the great work they are doing and talked about their Vote Caging program.
- Impeachment, Iraq, and Elections: Progressives Need to Get Tough- Americans like to complain. Grassroots progressives, myself included, in particular like to complain. Sometimes I have seen the complaints become almost an obsession, to the detriment of actually getting things done. Nader is a perfect example of this. I have seen progressive apathy or even antipathy sink some of the most progressive and honest candidates you could ever imagine. This is the danger of being on the forefront of progress. You can get ahead of yourself, ahead of everything and wind up all alone.
- Glassbooth.org- I was standing at the nurses station yesterday doing my work when I heard the nurses discussing who they were going to vote for on Super Tuesday. And then it happened....again. The one thing that makes me nuts about our democratic process. One of the nurses said, "I think I will vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman and it is time that a woman ran the country." Then another nurse said that she was going to vote for Barack Obama because it seemed like he was honest. I wanted to scream.
- Candidates: "The worst job I ever had was..."- The candidates for the presidency were asked what the worst job they ever had was.
Mike Huckabee had a job wiping people's fingerprints off the glass doors and windows at Penney's. Hillary Clinton had one of those horrible "gutting fish" jobs in Alaska and got yelled at when she didn't do it fast enough. Mitt Romney was rich, but he cut sewer pipe while summering at a family ranch. (Do you know what that can do to your hair?)
John McCain couldn't remember. Fred Thompson; well, he's an actor, he'll do anything for buck. He was a bouncer at drag strip (what the hell do you have to do to get thrown out of a drag strip?) Bill Richardson got minimum wage to pitch in a no-name baseball league.
Edwards mopped out the grease at a textile mill. Obama hated his job at Baskin Robbins because he ate too much ice cream (can you imagine Obama being eloquent at Baskin Robbins in one of those paper hats?)
But nobody asked "the man" himself, George W. Bush, what his worst job ever was. If he was asked, I think his answer would go...something like this...
- The Impending Crisis in Russia: How will Putin Seize Power?- Reading back into Putin's recent political manipulations, and then, even further back, at how Putin seized, consolidated, and has used power in Russia, it is apparent that Putin will shortly seize power in Russia.
- Analogy That Explains Your Role In American Politics- Look at this picture. This is how you see yourself, relative to the Democratic Party.
No, that's not the end of this article, dummy, keep reading:
- Disheartened but Not Enraged- For more than a year now the people of the United States of America have disapproved of the way that the Bush administration has run the country. The majority of Americans actually finally agreed that they didn’t like what the Bush administration was doing shortly after he was re-elected in November of 2004.
- Fox 'news' Channel Tries To Mislead Viewers On GOP California Electoral Vote Scheme- Remember the GOP attempt to steal the 2008 presidential election with a cleverly-disguised ballot initiative designed to dilute California's electoral vote strength?
- Church Lady meets Presidential Politics- As a Kansan, I simply had to post this and pass it around as much as humanly possible. Please... do enjoy
- We're rallying early for a huge 2008 victory- Twenty-First Century Democrats is in the middle of our Annual Youth Leadership Speakers Series. We put on this program in order to provide a chance for the interns who flood Washington DC during the summer to hear real progressive leaders. These young people come to DC with high idealism and a desire to change the world, yet too often they only find cynicism and complacency.
- Report: GOP Tries To Use Sleazy Ballot Measure To Steal 2008 Election- Republicans who stole elections in 2000 (Florida) and 2004 (Ohio) are trying to do it again in California.
Here's what the New Yorker is reporting:
- The Future's So Bright...- With the Yearly Kos convention around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at where we are and how far we have come. The last two presidential elections were quite a shock to me. Having lived in Texas under Governor Bush I didn't think it was possible that he could beat Al Gore in any election and of course many of us still believe he didn't. I thought initially it would be a cake walk for Gore.
- 21st Century Democrats Endorses Darcy Burner- Twenty-First Century Democrats is proud to endorse Darcy Burner for Congress in Washington’s 8th Congressional District.
- We Won The War!!!-
Mission Accomplished? Yes, actually.
- Why I Won't Like Mike- Cross-posted to DailyKos.
With Michael Bloomberg's announcement the other week that he has left the GOP, there has been much speculation about an independent bid for the presidency on his part. Bloomberg himself refuses to rule anything out, and, indeed, the mere act of leaving the Republican Party seems to indicate that the mayor may be taking the first steps towards such a bid.
While at least some progressives may be enamoured with Bloomberg, I am not. Nor is there any way I can see myself voting for him for President.
- Guerrilla vlogger: Ned Lamont in Portsmouth, NH. -
- It is time to implement a Verifiable Voting System that Represents the people not the Politicians! - As we are heading towards the 2008 elections I am reminded that the problems we experienced the last two times still persist. I have not heard anything done to resolve them. We cannot wait until we are in the middle of an election once again before this becomes an issue again. It seems as the usual out of sight out of sound is applying once again.
- Health Care Industries Buying 2008 Election-
- Victory NOT Guaranteed- Cross-posted to DailyKos
Lately, I've been exposed to comments, both in the netroots community, and in the "real world," that seem assured of the ability of the Democrats to win in 2008. While most agree that the Democrats are on good footing going into 2008, at least some people, in both parties, seem to have reached the conclusion that 2008 will break Democratic because the Republicans are too damaged to win, or because the public will simply decide that it's the "Democrats turn."
Such ideas of assured victory are false, and progressive activists must not be lulled into believing otherwise.
- False Leaders Vs. Genuine Ones-
it more palatable: to borrow the words of the theatrical Mary Magdalene; “I don’t know why he moves me. He’s a man. He’s just as man.” There, did that hurt any less? I hope it did. But of course those are also the words, in reprise, of Judas Iscariot, also from “Jesus Christ Superstar”, so maybe you are now offended, but at least now you know of whom I am referring, because the Superstar of the moment can be none other than Senator Barack Obama, Superstar and junior 
Senator from Illinois, the land of Lincoln. But is Barack another Lincoln? He couldn’t be of course because Lincoln wasn’t Lincoln until after he was dead. Before he was dead Lincoln was just another politician, and worse, he was a mouth piece for the railroads, the mega-corporations of his day. His last year in private law practice, 1859, Lincoln made an estimated $100,000.00, or about 2 million in today’s dollars. And nobody picked him for sainthood because everybody was looking for the next George Washington or the next Andrew Jackson. And Lincoln sure as hell wasn’t up to the standards of George Washington. Now, do you need to hear what a schmuck post-revolutionary Americans thought Washington was?*
No, that's not the end of this article, dummy, keep reading:
Mission Accomplished? Yes, actually.
cross posted at Blue Hampshire
I went to a NH meet and greet with Ned Lamont appearing on behalf of Chris Dodd for President. It was old school Granite State grassroots with about 30 people attending an open discussion of current events in a lovely private home.
If you can bear to read another depressing healthcare diary, you will understand and have $ome human empathy for Hillary Clinton and why $he is being, $hall we $ay, a little cautiou$ about $tepping on too many toe$$$$ when it comes to discu$$ing her health care plan.
Today, my thoughts wandered on to the subject of the upcoming 2008 elections in the US and how soon I hope we have elections in Canada, in order to throw the neocons incompetents (see previous entries of mine here, here, here and here) out of power in both countries - at last.
However, I remain wary that neocons may yet retain power after such elections, if only because ...
- Know a progressive candidate?- Friday was the last filing day in my county. Lots of small towns and big (Tacoma, well sorta big) have seats open for everything from park commissioner to mayor. Some counties have council seats up for grabs.
- The Recipe for Debate Du Jour- As with any recipe the use of quality ingredients will have a direct result on your outcome. Start with half a dozen or so canned and homogenized candidates, making sure that each candidate is so full of themselves as to exude confidence. Then in a well-greased and corporately funded cable news network place the candidates in the media-mixing bowl.
- Bob Olson to join MN DFL US Senate race- -- Cross-posted from mnblue.com, home of the Norm Coleman Weasel Meter --
Next Tuesday, Bob Olson will be officially joining the DFL US Senate race (MN-SEN) to send Norm Coleman back to the private sector. He joins Al Franken and Mike Ciresi who have also officially announced. I may have slightly 'misspoken' in my previous post ... Peter Agre is still only mulling joining the race.
- Federal election agency asks for investigation of itself- A federal election agency, stung by criticism that it altered research finding on voter fraud to reflect partisan considerations, asked for an inspector general review of the agency's conduct. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) asked their inspector general (link to PDF) to investigate twelve points surrounding the Commission's handling of both the voter fraud report and a recent voter ID research report (link to previous blog posting).
- Shape Up Democrats: Anybody But Bush Will Not Do- By Paul A. Donovan
With the 2008 election approaching fast, I find myself with the same unsettled feeling I had in the last presidential race to the bottom. Perhaps it is because I feel that the age-old maxim, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” is as true for today as it was in 2004. Fact is, if we do not wake up quick, and start pressing the current Democratic Party frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, to be more leftist, or in other words to be more like Presidential candidate Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), then we can hope for little substantive change in the next administration.
- Local Politicking: I Attend a County Commissioner Candidate's Forum- Cross-posted at DailyKos.
In my experience, most "netroots" progressives are the kind of people who follow the national news. They're likely to already know who's running for President on both the Democratic and Republican sides. They're likely to know who's running for Congress, Senate, or Governor in not only their own state, but also states half way across the country. They're likely to have contributed money to a candidate, or to have spent time working for one (or more) themselves.
- The Importance of Hope- Cross-posted to DailyKos.
On Tuesday, May 15th, I will be voting in Pennsylvania's primary election. The race that is gaining most of my attention is to determine which Democrats will be nominated in the York County Commissioners race. Doug Kilgore, Doug Hoke, and Ned Grove are all running for the slot. Two of them will be nominated.
- Where Every Vote Counts: Voting in Local Elections- Cross-posted to DailyKos.
The dust has settled in the Pennsylvania primary election. Debra Todd and Seamus McCaffery are now the Democratic nominees for two open State Supreme Court positions. Act 1, part of Governor Rendell's plan for property tax relief, faced a resounding defeat, everywhere in the state. And, in my home county of York, Pennsylvania, Doug Hoke and Ned Grove, in a surprising upset, defeated incumbent Doug Kilgore in the Democratic primary for County Commissioner.
- How is that going to help? (Changing the nomination calendar or process)- As more states move their primary dates up, presumably to attract more attention from the candidates and to have more of a say in the nomination, the effect of such leapfrogging on individual candidacies is unknown. As Devilstower diaried yesterday at DailyKos (Who Wins At Leapfrog?), there is a lot of discussion about the jockeying going on among the states and no apparent consensus about what the result might be for any particular candidate for the presidential nomination.
- Giuliani Attacks Ron Paul; Disputes Theological Theories-
- American Revolution Part II or Taliban America- Here follows an imperfect but essentially accurate history, and a sad and frightening prognosis and prognostication that I desperately hope is wrong:
- End Game- The U.S. is NOT “the richest country on earthâ€Â; it merely plays host to the largest pieces of the largest corporations on earth, as well as to several of the richest families on earth. It plays host in the same way a human body plays host to a virus.
- Why I Still Want Wes Clark to Run-
- Mitt Romney; Money, Media, Majesty, a French Connection. Democrats?-
Rachel Maddow's Campaign Asylum - Romney's French Connection © copyright 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
- Dennis Kucinich. Bill Maher Helps Introduce America's Best Candidate-
- Harvard IOP Survey 2007: Young Voters and Participation-
- Talk To Us: Democrats, Policy, and Young Voters- Cross-posted at MyDD and Daily Kos
In 2004, John Kerry made a huge mistake. While touring colleges and universities,he delivered long-winded speeches about medicare and social security to audiences of teens and twenty-somethings whose main concerns were rising student debt, shrinking employment opportunities, and their friends, busy fighting an ill-conceived land war in Asia. As a result, one of the more popular sites during the '04 election was called John Kerry is a douchebag but I'm voting for him anyway.
- Action for DC Voting Rights, April 16, 2007- I am passing on a request from a reader of my Uncle Bud's Select Taproom series. He would like to spread the word about a march in DC tomorrow, Monday, April 16th, for DC Representation in Congress.
Info about the March.
Mike's name and email are used with his permission.
- It's not liberals who should worry about evangelicals- Cross-posted at alien & sedition.
The American left has been subject to a good deal of unproductive speculation and fear-mongering when it comes to the question of evangelical Christians. We've been forced to listen to vacuous scoldings from the bobbleheaded purveyors of the conventional wisdom, who - evidence be damned - insist that Democrats must get right with something called "values voters" if they're ever to have chance at political success again. And from our own ranks we've been capitivated by waves of hysteria over the barbarians at the gates, as we fixate on the most titillatingly scary fundamentalists we can find.
- Chapter 2: Freedom Fyter brings Democracy to DC, pt. 1.-
I have been watching the news, the campaigns, and I realize we have a very diverse group of Democratic Candidates already in the race for President and the leader of the pack. We probably have the most diverse group to ever be in contention at anytime in history, and it seems absurd that I can not find comfort in any of them.
Rachel Maddow's Campaign Asylum - Romney's French Connection © copyright 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
Cross posted at Future Majority.
The Harvard Institute of Politics released their spring survey of young voters this week. The survey has a sample size of 2,923 young voters - defined as 18-24 year olds - and was roughly split 50/50 between college students and non-college youth. For reporting on the horse race, I'll refer you to this piece in The Hill and this piece by Jason Fink, at Future Majority. (Hint: Obama and Giuliani are up, Edwards is WAY down.)
After hearing from Uncle Bud about his DC bar, I decided take some time off work and visit. When I mentioned on my blog that I was going to DC, Freedom Fyter asked if he could come along. We were both curious about the reception a 6' 5" openly gay Black man would receive at Uncle Bud's. He assured me that he'd dress conservatively, which I took to mean that he wouldn't be wearing one of his numerous Gay Pride T-shirts by refinish69. (He also bet me he'd know at least two people there from DC area gay bars. He was wrong. He knew four.)
