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Jennifer S. Horn-Palin said it, yesterday, far better than I can:
In the special congressional election in New York's 23rd District, the liberal Republican dropped out last week, leaving the Democrat to face a Conservative Party challenger backed by Sarah Palin and other notable conservatives. It sends a powerful message: Those who believe that 2010 will be a typical mid-term election year in which the minority party sweeps to victory are sadly disconnected from the voters.
Congratulations, Democrat and Congressman-Elect Bill Owens, of NY's 23rd district, which hasn't had a Democrat representing it for over 100 years.
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - Voters in Maine on Tuesday overturned a law allowing same-sex couples to wed, dealing a fresh setback to the U.S. gay marriage movement in a race that attracted national attention.
...With 87 percent of precincts reporting, votes to reject the law were running at 52.75 percent to 47.25 percent, according to unofficial tallies from the Bangor Daily News.
Here are my four cents:
1) Put it in context. Try to imagine the landmark civil rights legislation in the 60's making ti through a ballot refererendum in precisely the states where it mattered most.
2) Not party, but age. Polls showed this was a young-old issue, not a blue-red one. Time is on our side.
3) To the good Mainers whose rights were just rejected by others with the same rights: we're right next door.
Please use this thread to point us to local elections of interest to you, and provide any anecdotal info about voting in your area.
(Personally, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more focused on Maine today than anything else both in-state and out. ADDING: here's a results page you can use to give your refresh command a workout)
And... Go Garth!
UPDATE (7:36pm): Great news about Manch aldermen from Ray in the comments:
1 - Joyce Craig
2 - Ron Ludwig
3 - Pat Long
5 - Ed Osborne
6 - Garth Corriveau
7 - John Shea
8 - Betsi DeVries
9 - Barbara Shea
10 - Republican Phil Greazzo beat Geo Smith
11 - Russ Ouellette
12 - Patrick Arnold
Mike Lopez and Dan O'Neil at large
LARGEST DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY IN MANCHESTER HISTORY
UPDATE (7:40): Not so great, but completely unsurprising news, via a Pindell email alert:
MANCHESTER -- Leading heavily in 11 of 12 wards NHPoliticalReport.com projects that Alderman and State Sen. Ted Gatsas the winner of the Manchester Mayoral contest.
UPDATE (8:00pm): Per Ray, 2 to 1 DEFEAT of tax cap in Claremont! (but passes in Manchester)
And, in light of NY-23, is pushing that meme for all it's worth!
Poor Charlie - he could've run for Senate and avoided all this nonsense by making it a two-person race against Ayotte and touting his political experience over her lack thereof.
Now he might lose the primary to someone who better represents where Republicans are in New Hampshire, circa 2009.
John Gregg, a.k.a, the John DiStaso of a newly dominant region of Granite State politics:
State Sen. Matthew Houde, D-Plainfield, is supporting Ann McLane Kuster, a Concord-area lawyer and longtime Democratic activists.
But Houde's mentor, former state Sen. Peter Burling, D-Cornish, said yesterday he is backing Katrina Swett, a former candidate expected to formally enter the race in the weeks to come.
Also of note is Burling's mention of Swett's internal poll, a spread of "nearly 20 points."
This is a really fascinating fault line, imo. It looks like both Kuster and Swett have wisely figured out that to win the primary, they'll need to reach deep into the base, and nowhere in this state is the Democratic base deeper than the Upper Valley. Speaking of which, more Gregg:
University of New Hampshire political science professor Dante Scala said Swett has a reputation as more of a moderate-conservative Democrat than is Kuster. Early endorsements from the two Lebanon-area lawmakers indicate the growing clout of the region, a hotbed for progressive activists, in New Hampshire politics.
"What's striking generally is how important Grafton County has become for the Democratic Party, not just in primaries but in the general election," Scala said. "People used to say 'how Hanover went, so went Vermont.' Now, Grafton County has become a driving force in a way they weren't before, especially as Yankee Republicans have moved on or passed away."
Once again, Dante shows why he is the most perceptive political analyst in this state.
And relatedly: am I the only one who suspects, given the recent Team Swett media tour, that Kuster's latest fundraising email cum action alert about reproductive rights was not coincidentally timed?
The decision not to charge for most content at papers like the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle means that competing publications will have to think twice about pursuing aggressive pay strategies.
If the Washington Post continues to freely give away its political and international coverage, can the New York Times get away with charging for essentially the same content?
Let me rephrase that last question slightly:
If the Washington PostConcord Monitor and Nashua Telegraph and Valley News continues to freely give away its political and international coveragecolumnists, can the New York TimesUnion Leader get away with charging for essentially the same content?
Here are two earlier posts on this sorry development.
The market opportunity for vaccine sellers is about 18 months long, based on similar outbreaks. It takes six months to grow sufficient quantities of the vaccine.
If you are a Dynamic Young Entrepreneur in early 2009 and you go looking for venture capital money from Dynamic Young Angels, you will find no funding. The business plan drops off a cliff in mid 2011. Better things to do with our money, they will say.
That wonderful marketplace competition that could create news strains of vaccine at lower prices? It takes too long. Maybe it will work for the common cold (still waiting for that), but not for a short-lived threat - excuse me, "opportunity."
If you want to save lives when a swine flu epidemic hits, don't call the Chamber of Commerce.
Call the government.
Or even call Big Pharma, an industry that is well insulated from free market forces by barriers to entry, regulation, and patent law.
But don't call your libertarian friends. Ron Paul can only preside over the funerals.
I wrote earlier to your ally, former Governor Sarah Palin, in regard to her success in NY's North Country and the interesting opportunities that success opens up in the great Granite State.
After I saw some rumblings of yours in Roll Call, I thought I would write you as well. How pleased I am to hear that you are already elaborating on possible plans to challenge Kelly Ayotte, of whom you say: "...it's hard to determine exactly where she is on the issues."
Well, I have some exciting news for you! Right before she decided to be a candidate for Senate, Kelly Ayotte was a touting a program that was funded by the stimulus package. And I note with interest that the support for the stimulus package is a chief reason you are thinking of going after Charlie Crist in Florida.
Luckily for you, and for New Hampshire Republicans, we have some viable, true conservative candidates in the running for this seat who were not virtually endorsed and managed from afar by John Cornyn and the NRSC.
As I wrote to Governor Palin, the fact that we are the First-in-the-Nation Primary state makes your involvement in our senate race a win-win. Work that you do here to clarify what it means to be a New Hampshire Republican in the 21st century will certainly be salubrious both to the Republican presidential candidates who will soon start visiting, and the state electorate.
In full disclosure, and as I mentioned to Governor Palin: I am not a Republican. But I believe in truth in advertising, and Kelly Ayotte's campaign to be all things to all people is unhelpful for voters who would like to know where her values and her potential future votes stand.
Kevin Landrigan puts at the bottom of his column a remarkable statement from Team Swett, apparently in an effort to brush back rumors that Katrina Swett is thinking about dropping out from consideration:
[Swett aide Megan] Coffman confided the group's own internal polling showed her name recognition had doubled and that she was beating Democratic primary rival Anne McLane Kuster by 20 percentage points. When positive and negative messages were tested against both of them, Swett's lead grew, their camp claimed.
...The respected Quinlan, Greenberg, Rosner firm did the Oct. 20-22 survey.
Tangentially related to that, can I just say how annoying it is to have poll questions reinforce FOXNews style narratives about Democrats?
Asked about Swett's campaign mantra that the Democrats need to field a moderate, not tax-and-spend nominee to hold onto the seat, Coffman said 75 percent of Democrats in the poll agreed.
Although that's Landrigan's description of it (itself telling); I wonder how the actual question read.
(And here's a site that can set you up for making phone calls, good neighbors. - promoted by Dean Barker)
Please make calls Monday and Tuesday to Maine. OR, at send E-Mails to anyone you know.
Like many people, including from New Hampshire, I spent most of the weekend, and quite a few days during the past several months, in Maine -- in the Kittery, York, and Ogunquit areas -- helping friends in the fight against repeal of their marriage equality law.
But they need more help. The vote will likely be close, and the result depends on voter turnout.
Please, IF YOU KNOW OF ANYONE -- a current or former co-worker of yours, a friend, a family member, a long-lost classmate -- anyone who lives in Maine, give them a call on Monday or Tuesday and ask them to vote against repeal. Vote "NO" on Question #1.
What worries me most as I've talked with people over the telephone and in person at their doors is that there is still a misunderstanding of what marriage equality will do, and won't do. There won't be "teaching of gay marriage" in schools -- I don't know how you'd teach that anyway. And there won't be any negative impact on anyone else's marriage.
Tell your friends in Maine that their very good Governor, John Baldacci, supports marriage equality, just as our good Governor, John Lynch, does. There is a feeling among some voters that they are losing something. Actually, they're gaining something -- the greater freedom and love that will be shared by more of their citizens.
Your calls may result in THE votes that will make the difference. The ads have been run. The letters have been mailed. Now as in all elections, it's all about who turns out at the polls.
I wasn't going to bring it up, but since Landrigan led with it as if it were something newsworthy*: couldn't Team Ayotte have spent just a little more time and money on that amateur hour web ad?
I mean, I'm the world's worst photographer/videographer/visual arts person, and I think even I could have done a better job with a half hour and my bottom-of-the-line three-year-old Mac.
* (Which is the whole point of web ads, isn't it? To get the media to notice.)
Northern New England tends to be similar in so many respects.
H1N1 vaccine availability? Not so much.
Check out Maine's extensive chart of impending public clinics throughout their state. Or Vermont's database of the same, searchable by town, date, or county.
We have zero public clinics in the works at this time. Here's the latest (evening of 11/1) from the great Granite State:
Based on the current H1N1 Influenza A vaccine allocation to the State of New Hampshire and New Hampshire's Vaccine Distribution Plan, the following people are eligible to receive the H1N1 Influenza A vaccine through their personal health care providers: (10/15/09)
* Health Care Workers and First Responders with direct patient contact
* Pregnant women
* Children 6 months to 5 years with chronic medical conditions for which the available vaccine is appropriate
Additional population groups will be added to this list as more vaccine comes into the state.
Note the date in the blockquote: that info hasn't been updated in over two weeks' time.
A few days ago, Forbes investigated the H1N1 vaccine disparities throughout the states. At 45 doses per 1000 citizens, it turns out New Hampshire has the 7th worst stats in the nation. And why?
Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the CDC, says that the variation reflects the planning efforts in different states. Some may have waited to order the vaccine until they decided precisely how it would be distributed, while others requested their allotments early.
So if the CDC isn't spinning (and I have no way of knowing), we were slower to order it than most of the US.
At my age, my circle of friends includes lots of families with small children. Now, we Granite Staters are a hardy bunch, and are accustomed to frugality almost as a point of pride. But we're also reality-based, and the number of incidents of H1N1 relative to other years is obvious to anyone who can eyeball a graph.
I hope in the next few weeks this basically becomes a non-issue. But for the past month or so, it's been frustrating.
