Posts Tagged ‘democratic party’

Ah there is nothing quite like the tolerant left

Posted: August 12, 2010 by datechguy in elections, media, tea parties
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Politico reports on the Democrats latest paean to open mindedness and tolerance:

Last summer, Democrats argued that the Tea Party movement was the astroturf creation of corporate groups. Now that the grass-roots conservative resurgence has emerged as a clear force on the right, the left is making a different case: That tea parties are simply the enemy.

To that end, the Agenda Project, a new, progressive group with roots in New York’s fundraising scene and a goal of strengthening the progressive movement, has launched the **** Tea project (full censorship mine but it rhymes with “Duck”)

Ah the left still trying to shut down an authentic grass roots movement. Gateway notes the progression:

First the left introduced the Coffee Party.
Then they introduced the Cocoa Party.
Then last month the left came out with yet another astroturfed group to counter the tea party… “One Nation.”

Perhaps these groups all failed because they, unlike the tea party, were actually AstroTurf groups?

With this new group and the T(ea?)-Shirts that go with it they might be able to get a few sales from the college crowd or people who like to say **** but if this is the big plan of democrats they these guys are finished. One more note:

The new project, so far, features merchandise, polling statistics aimed to paint Tea Party members as ignorant, and a mocking video.

Well I have video upon video upon video upon video, upon video, upon video, upon video (you get the picture) of ACTUAL tea party protesters and ACTUAL tea party members giving their actual unrehearsed opinions so your mocking stuff is just another pathetic attempt to attack Americans you can’t win an argument with.

Memeorandum thread here

Faux candidates, everything old is new again

Posted: August 10, 2010 by datechguy in elections, opinion/news, politics, tea parties
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There have been quite a few stories about faux tea party candidates being financed by Democrats to try to hurt Republican vote this fall:

Tea Party activists in New Jersey, Michigan, California, Florida and other states are suddenly seeing registered “Tea Party” independent candidates appear on the ballot and they don’t know these candidates. As they dig into the information available on public records (donations, nominating signatures, etc.) they are finding Democrat ties to these fake Tea Party candidates. Aside from challenges over just who can use the label Tea Party on the ballot, there appears little that can be done legally to stop these fake candidates.

Hearing about these things it brought to mind page 107 of Tip O’Neill’s autobiography and the story of his first race for congress:

Given the way politics worked in those days, I guess it was inevitable that the race soon developed into an ethnic battle between the Italians and the Irish. The district was approximately 40 % Irish and 35% Italian, with the rest made up of many different groups

So what do you do when the chips are down. Well in 1952 this is what you did:

Leo Diehl, my lifelong friend from the state house , took an active role in the campaign, and to help divide the Italian vote he brought in a candidate named Chris Carolina, who ran as a favor to us. LoPresti’s people had already pulled the same stunt on me with a fellow named Casey.

But Casey wasn’t Tip’s biggest problem, it was another unknown with an interesting name:

“See that fellow over there?” He (Paul Feeney) said, pointing to a stranger on the other side of Beacon Street. “Believe it or not, his name is John F. Kennedy, and he’s one of the guys running against you . Nobody knows him, but with a name like that he could cause you a lot of problems. Let’s go over and say hello.”

Somehow Feeney managed to talk Kennedy into withdrawing then and there and even had a withdrawal slip handy for him to sign. Tip had this to say:

I realized later that if Paul Feeney hadn’t pushed John Kennedy to get out, I would have lost the election. By 1952 after Jack Kennedy had served three terms in the House, the Kennedy name was so strong in our district that John Kennedy–who was not, of course, a “real” Kennedy—would have siphoned off many of the votes.

Remember both Tip & LoPresti were democrats and just a few years ago the only reason why Democrats were not exposed for fixing a delegation election in 1948 O’Neill dropping his plans to go to the Ballot Law Commission after was Paul Dever warned him:

“The party is already in bad shape. If we show people we’re a bunch of thieves, it will destroy us. In the name of party unity, please drop this fight.”(p55)

So this is a bit of democratic history. Not illegal (like the stolen ’48 delegate election) but a tactic that has been in the playbook for years. There are two choices as to what to do. Dean Chambers has one:

What can and should be done in every instance of the fakers, is for the Real Tea Party groups to out them as the fakes they are and inform their supporters to NOT be fooled by the imposters. And in addition to and while doing that, they should educate the public on the trickery Democrats are willing to use to FOOL the public into electing their candidates again. It’s more than time for the public to learn their lesson. Knowing this, are you still going to vote for the Democrats again?

This is certainly an option, daylight is the best disinfectant and in an internet age it is not possible to hide such things, but said daylight will not stop such a candidate from getting votes that would go Republican.

The other option of course is the Turnabout is fair play game, we can help get signatures for Green party candidates to take votes away from democrats. They will scream bloody murder but when the screaming is done it will still mean votes that would go to democrats

All perfectly legal. Using the same tactics as your foes is very Jacksonian. If they want a dirty fight, lets give them one, dirty but legal.

How’s that “Republicans are the party of the Rich!” Meme working out?

Posted: August 2, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Two stories that hit the nail on the head here. First Charles Lane in Slate on the new $41,000 Volt:

And that’s my problem with the Obama administration’s energy policy, or at least with his lavish subsidies for the Volt, Nissan’s all-electric Leaf (likely sticker price $33,000), and Tesla’s $100,000 all-electric Roadster: Where does the federal government get off spending the average person’s tax dollars to help better-off-than-average Americans buy expensive new cars?

The newest car in my driveway is 10 years old. The local one man garage I use is overwhelmed by business because people can’t afford new cars. How much less a $41k model. I wonder who is going to by that Volt? Lane answers:

How rarefied is the electric-car demographic? When Deloitte Consulting interviewed industry experts and 2,000 potential buyers, it found that from now until 2020, only “young, very high income individuals”—those from households making more than $200,000 a year—would even be interested in plug-in hybrids or all-electric cars. This “small number” of people will provide “nowhere near the volume needed for mass adoption.” They will be concentrated in Southern California, where weather, state regulations, and infrastructure are all favorable to electric vehicles—”adoption is already being popularized by high-profile celebrities.”

Yeah that’s the Tip O’Neill demographic isn’t it? Speaking of Tip today in the Boston Globe:

DEMOCRAT JOHN Kerry sets sail in a $7 million yacht built in New Zealand. Republican Scott Brown hits the campaign trail in a GMC pickup truck with 200,000 miles on it.

From Newport, R.I., where Kerry’s “Isabel’’ was berthed before heading to Nantucket, to Rhinebeck, N.Y., where Chelsea Clinton was married in a mansion modeled after Versailles, today’s Democrats are looking more like Louis XVI than Tip O’Neill.

It is the Boston Globe and Vennochi goes on to bash the GOP as phonies, but I didn’t see a lot of rich people at the tea party in Boston in April did you, Joan or did you skip that gathering of the Hoi Polloi?

The republicans have (and lets be fair, it has been partly by default) become the party of small business, you know the guys who actually those regular joes that the democrats used to love so much. On occasion I still hear old Roosevelt Democrats call Republicans the party of the rich, and the democrats the party of the working man. If they still believe that it’s only because they just haven’t been paying attention.

Update: Slashdot (via Glenn) includes the Lane Story and a revolt takes place in comments.

The citizen in me cheers the partisan frowns…

Posted: July 23, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
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…at this story:

The revelation that tax increases could hurt the economy has recently been heard from Senators Evan Bayh of Indiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and, most surprising, even from Kent Conrad of North Dakota. On a scale of unlikely events, this is like the Pope coming out against celibacy. As Senate Budget Chairman, Mr. Conrad has rarely seen a tax increase he didn’t like, but this week he averred that “As a general rule, you don’t want to be cutting spending or raising taxes in the midst of a downturn.”

Granted the writer is not aware of the rules concerning married priests in the church but I digress. he continues:

Over in the House, Bobby Bright of Alabama even dared to defend the rich Americans who Democrats have been pounding for years. “I don’t care if it’s the wealthiest of the wealthy. You don’t raise their taxes,” he told The Hill newspaper. “In a recession you don’t tax, burden and restrict.” Better don the body armor on your next visit to the Speaker’s office, Bobby.

The citizen in me is very pleased as HotAir points out:

It’s the wealthy who drive consumer spending and the last thing you want to do in this economy is reduce that by raising taxes on them

No politically this might anger their base a bit but I don’t think it will lose them the votes people think. In fact making the right economic moves makes it more likely that the recession will end and may sustain their re-election.

Now the partisan in me doesn’t like anything that helps the democrats re-election so in that sense this is bad news.

However the citizen always has to trump the partisan. I didn’t become a republican because I like the letter “R”, I vote republican because I have a set of views and beliefs that I believe in and I think are best for the country, I’d just as soon have them soon have them advanced sooner than later. If it means an issue is off the table so be it.

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