Retooling the Democratic machine
Democrats have long way to go to get out of the hole they’re in. In the last seven years, they’ve lost both Houses of Congress and the presidency. They’ve lost 1,000 legislative seats and Republicans now control two-thirds of state legislative chambers across the...
Time to take responsibility
When my younger brother was about three years old, he stuck his head between the railings on a stairway and got it stuck. My parents were out and our babysitter was in a bit of a panic. After what seemed like a few hours of pulling and pushing, somebody got the idea...
A permanent majority? Don’t count on it.
Back in 2004, after George W. Bush won his second term, Karl Rove declared that Republicans were on the brink of permanent majority. Two years later, Democrats washed away GOP majorities in both the House and Senate in the 2006 wave. After 2008, Democrats had control...
Chair of the DNC needs to lead the party, not a movement
This weekend, The Nation endorsed Keith Ellison for Chair of the Democratic National Committee. They support the Congressman from Minnesota because of his commitment to “build an activist party” at a time when “when movements matter more to tens of millions of...
Obstructionism ushered in Trump
Republicans are finding that repealing Obamacare is more difficult than they expected. Now, they’re starting to talk about “repair” instead of “repeal.” They should have done so a long time ago and the ACA would be a better program than it is today and Americans would...
Reaching younger voters
When the numbers were released in North Carolina, they showed that almost half of voters under 25 years old didn’t vote and over 40% of voters aged 26-40 stayed home. Hunter Buxton, executive director of First Vote NC, notes that more than 40% of the 18-25 year olds...
Lessons of HB2: McCrory never learned
The News & Observer’s article about Pat McCrory’s emails concerning HB2 describe a man who never figured out to survive in state government. He was clearly thin-skinned, obsessing over news reports and unwilling to stand up for what he really believed. He got...
Tyranny of the minority
From a political standpoint, Donald Trump’s ban on travelers from seven Muslim countries was successful. He never called it a ban on Muslims but the press did and his base supporters responded positively. As far as they’re concerned, he’s delivered on another campaign...
Democrats’ turnout problems in North Carolina
The 2016 election data is in and it’s pretty ugly for North Carolina Democrats. According to data released by Democracy North Carolina yesterday, their turnout in November was down 1.4% from 2012 while Republican turnout was up 2.5%. That’s what they call an...
Voter suppression version of the Reichstag fire
Yesterday, Donald Trump again said that massive voter fraud cost him the popular vote. Immediately, people on social media said not to pay attention to Trump’s lies but to his actions. At the same time, he was claiming massive voter fraud, he was signing executive...
