Archive for July, 2010

The gay marriage ruling a game changer in Ga-4? UPDATED

Posted: July 9, 2010 by datechguy in elections, internet/free speech, opinion/news
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I had already given my appraisal of Ga-4, but this Gay Marriage ruling is a gamechanger. I’ve already declared Liz Carter the stronger candidate on the republican side. Her position on Gay Marriage wasn’t going to hurt much, economics was the issue and her gay marriage position wouldn’t matter in the house.

Now almost certainly another push will come for a constitutional amendment and Carter’s vote goes from unimportant to critical. With Cory Ruth a Black minister on the ticket some conservatives already had pragmatically decided he was the best choice to oppose Hank Johnson in a majority black district. Now this ruling gives social conservatives a reason to defect. Ruth would also put black ministers on the spot. They might support Johnson over Carter but they would have a very hard time endorsing Johnson over a black minister who opposes gay marriage.

If the election was this Tuesday rather than next Tuesday it might have been too late to hurt Carter, but Ruth will have a full week to play this up. It is his best chance to pull this off. This is where the mettle of both candidates will be tested. Can Carter hold on? (perhaps) Will she flip flop (not a chance), does the youthful Ruth have the killer instinct to use the advantage that he has just been given? (no idea) And can Victor Armendariz use this to take enough votes who might defect from Carter who might not like Ruth to force his way into a runoff? (very unlikely)

If you asked me yesterday to bet money it would have been Liz all the way. Today, I just don’t know, if it was Massachusetts Liz would still win. In Ga? This is where all the hard work and goodwill she established before this ruling is put to the test. This is WHY you put in that work and fight so hard. You can’t match on every issue so the strength of personality makes a ton of difference.

On the democratic side it’s the same. Johnson was going to win it in a walk but he has supported Gay Marriage right along so unless he flip flops Vernon Jones has the same opening that Cory Ruth does, and it’s my impression that Jones has more of a killer instinct than Ruth. Will it be enough? I just don’t know.

In a general election Carter v Johnson the dynamics would not change, but Ruth vs Johnson would really be tough for the democrats. What black minister wants to risk their congregation and living to endorse a candidate in favor of gay marriage when the alternative is a fellow black minister?

If Jones pulls it off then he plays this card against Liz to counter the character issue. From everything I’ve heard about Vernon I don’t know if it would be enough

It sure isn’t going to be boring.

Update: I talked to Liz Carter this morning. She confirmed that her position on marriage remains unchanged. In her opinion this is a 10th amendment issue and the Federal government has no business dictating to individual states on this or any other issue not constitutionally prescribed (obamacare anyone?). The 10th amendment grounds on which this ruling is based is consistent with her position. There is no better year to be running on this idea.

It would be very easy to change or clarify a position to head off a potential problem. We have seen pol after pol to this and conservatives are sick and tired of it. It is really refreshing to see someone unwilling to play that game. That’s a sign of integrity, rare in a pol, but not surprising to anyone who has spent any time at all with Liz Carter.

While I’ve been back in Massachusetts she has continued to work hard picking up some solid endorsements. She has also continued to make inroads in the black community taking the campaign directly to them. It’s really hard to demonize a person that you have made a personal impression on. This is where retail politics pays off big and will likely still pay off. Tip O’Neill always said “All Politics is local”. Liz Carter has learned this lesson well.

Update 2: Of course it is easier to take advantage of a new issue with the base if you aren’t advocating moving Haitian refugees to the US en masse to congress.

It’s always Massachusetts isn’t it?

Posted: July 9, 2010 by datechguy in elections, internet/free speech, opinion/news
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How is it the judges here are such idiots?

A federal district court judge in Boston today struck down the 1996 federal law that defines marriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman.

Judge Joseph L. Tauro ruled that the federal Defense of Marriage law violates the Constitutional right of married same-sex couples to equal protection under the law and upends the federal government’s long history of allowing states to set their own marriage laws.

This is going to be a big game changer. Liberal sites on Memeorandom are all over it.

First of all those who said a constitutional amendment was not necessary have no leg to stand on, however those who were saying that knew it was false when they said it, they were playing for time. Little did they know that time state after state, even ones as liberal as Maine and California would reject Gay Marriage at the ballot box. So much for stalling for time.

Second of all democrats in borderline districts are now going to be in even worse shape. If the party opposes an amendment even more seats will be lost in swing states.

Third of all this is a big issue in both the Black and Latino communities and it’s an issue that the democratic party is on the wrong side of. They don’t want to deal with it but now they have no choice.

Fourth of all suddenly the Elena Kagan nomination becomes perhaps something worth fighting for and a test vote on gay marriage that democratic senators don’t want to have.

Finally this forces the president to make a call. If he comes out in favor of gay marriage that will be a bridge too far for the religious Black community particularly with only one vote making the difference on the court. There is no barrier to break anymore. That will be the difference in 2012. Expect him to speak against this ruling, but avoid introducing a constitutional amendment unless he is sure it will be defeated.

In one respect the timing isn’t bad for democrats, this is going to be a bad year anyway so you might as well get it all over with.

Take note of every site in this Memeorandum

Posted: July 8, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
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link that is excoriating Sharon Angle for her position on abortion.

I don’t know if she is Catholic or not but are we do deduce from their reaction that believing Catholics who follow the Church doctrine rather the Kennedy/Pelosi doctrine are too “extreme” for office? Is that not a religious test?

Just asking.

What an interesting coincidence

Posted: July 8, 2010 by datechguy in employment, opinion/news
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Robert Stacy’s post happens to coincide with a subject that recently came up for me.

As you may or may not know my own unemployment benefits have run out and my wife recently lost her job so things have become incredibly tight around here with only two teenagers working, however I have a liberal friend who has been in much more dire straights for much longer. I’ve been hoping and praying that he would find employment and just got the news today that he has been offered a good job at good money. He will likely start next week.

I had been in a very bad mood to day so this brightened me up considerably. I congratulated him on his change of fortune and we talked about the position. I was arguing that his employment benefits others and talked about the multiplier of employment, he insisted otherwise saying that he learned to live bear bones and would likely keep doing so. Every time I mentioned an item he insisted he would still do without. Finally I brought up shopping suggesting he might purchase perhaps a name brand rather than a generic on some items. His answer blew me away.

He said it was not a fair example since he is still on Mass. Food Stamps the state gives them out 6 months at a time so he will have them for some time while employed. He maintained the example is bad because his food would be paid for with “free money” so of course he would buy better stuff now that he has some other income, but for his own money he would be not be spending a penny that he didn’t have to.

Listening to him describe how foolish Massachusetts is was really something. He talked about establishing residency in NH to avoid the Mass income tax and how he would buy the groceries in NH since stores across the border take them. Liberal views be damned, if Massachusetts was dumb enough to give him the money he was going to spend it and if he could avoid the taxes he would do so.

Liberalism you might want to vote it but you don’t want to live it.

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