11/30/2004
Rehberg Won’t Tell
by Matt Singer on 10:51 am.
Denny Rehberg doesn’t think he needs to share how he votes in caucus:
Gallatin Democrats received a email from a Montanan about Rep Rehberg’s position on the DeLay vote:If you live in Montana, you can drop Denny a line:“I gotta hold of Jay(ed note: Jay is Rehbergs ethics staffer), finally, and it turns out that Rehberg’s office has received plenty of calls on the issue, but that Denny refuses to tell how he voted. The staffer argued that caucus votes aren’t about representing the people of Montana, but rather a dialogue internal to the GOP, as if the only thing that counted for constituents was what happened in the confines of the House floor. Rehberg’s stance is that he has no stance, and you can hold him to that.”
This story has legs. It’s not over.
Another Montanan: “What I wanted to know is why it is okay for my government to check out my reading habits, my medical, dental and veterinary records as well as my financial records, but I can’t find out how my own state representative voted on a move to condone criminal acts by a friend of his. By the way, I think that Tom Delay needs to reimburse the American people for his personal use of the FAA, the FBI, and the homeland security department.”
DC Office – 202-225-3211
Billings – 256-1019
Helena – 443-7878
Great Falls – 454-1066
Missoula – 543-9550
I guess you can even do it if you don’t live in Montana, but you’ll probably be even less likely to get a response. Even if Denny thinks this that caucus votes don’t deal with representing Montana, he’d be wise to remember that the only damn reason he has a vote in that caucus is because of the people of Montana.
A letter to the editor may also be in order.
| Comments (3) | Permanent Link | Categories: corrupt, ideologues, montana, overreach, political, republicans |
Good Posts on Kos
by Matt Singer on 9:51 am.
Kos has some good and relevant stories up today. The former is in favor of amending the Constitution to allow foreign-born citizens to run for President. The latter is taking nominations for an organization-based “Kos Dozen” to earn money for solid progressive groups to help them get going.
I’d been hoping the latter was going to happen for a while. I completely agree with Kos on the issues involved in the former. The native-born requirement is not necessary, it is out-of-date, and it is xenophobic. Democrats should start advocating for this. Groups advocating for it should drop the partisanship.
| Comments (4) | Permanent Link | Categories: political |
News on the Recount
by Matt Singer on 9:41 am.
Things are getting interesting up in Lake County. Polson is the new Palm Beach, so to speak. For those who don’t know, there is a recount in Lake County that determines whether Democrats get control of the House of Representatives, completing their hat trick, or merely come within one vote and we still face a Speaker Brown. The Missoulian has a story today on the state of the county. Basic story: it is down to a one-vote-split again between Jore (Constitution) and Windham (Democrat). This is narrowed from a two-vote-split that was found earlier. Numbers from one precinct are apparently in dispute so the Elections board has not yet decided this number is final. They are recounting this precinct today.
There is no word on the handful of voters who should have voted in this House District, but were given ballots for the wrong precinct. There has been word of a legal challenge there, but that talk seems to have quieted down.
The new interesting legal dispute centers on something entirely different, and it is a doozy:
If Jore’s one-vote lead holds up Tuesday, Windham is likely to immediately challenge the recount in District Court. One reason will be four or five votes – even that number is in dispute – that the board allowed to be counted for Jore, even though the ballots were marked both for Jore and Cross. Windham said they should be thrown out as spoiled ballots, since there is no clear intent shown by the voter.Now, you’re probably wondering why these ballots were counted for either candidate when they seem to be clear overvotes, the board does have a reason:
In these cases, the ovals designating a voter’s choice were filled in for both Cross and Jore, but Cross’ name was marked out with either an “X” mark or a squiggly line. Election officials originally counted these for Jore, reasoning that Cross’ name was crossed out once the voter saw Constitutional Party candidate Jore as an option. The Recount Board agreed, saying it was clear that the voter intended to mark out Cross, thus the votes should count for Jore.Clear as mud, right? So, we’ve got four or five ballots and at least one of them features a “X” mark over Jack Cross’ name. Why is that relevant?
But Windham and her husband Wilmer Windham, an attorney, said it was much more likely that the voter was emphasizing his vote for Cross over Jore by using the “X.” They pointed out that Cross had run a radio ad campaign right before the election urging voters to make a “cross” or “X” mark when they went to the polls, that is, “make a cross for Cross.”So we have a candidate specifically asking voters to make an “X” mark to vote for him. Even more interesting.
I remember back in the post-HAVA days, the state was rewriting the administrative rules pertaining to elections and there is a long list of rules pertaining to overvotes. Here’s the relevant section:
(h) more than one designated voting area has been marked, but a clear word, mark or statement is used to indicate the correct vote. The election official shall clarify the ballot and cause a vote to be counted for the designated voting area indicated as the correct vote;So, now the question really will come down to whether the “X” is a clear “mark…used to indicate the correct vote.” Now, I suppose we could get hella technical and argue that both the “X” and the squiggly line are clear marks used to indicate the incorrect vote, which is not what the administrative rules call for to clarify. That’s a pretty abhorrent standard, though, since we should be aiming whether we can discern a clear intent of the voter.
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: montana, political |
11/29/2004
Memo to Presidential Contenders: Declare Yourself a Reform Democrat
by Matt Singer on 3:52 pm.
A hint to prospective Democratic Presidential contenders: If you want to start a flurry of support through netroots, here is a phrase you can use: “My name is _____________ and I am a Reform Democrat!”
That seems to be the hip new thing these days. Start working it into your speeches and interviews. The Kos community will fall in love.
| Comments (2) | Permanent Link | Categories: democrats, general, political |
I Want You to Have a Toyota Prius
by Matt Singer on 3:10 pm.
So I’m letting you in on a contest. If you haven’t heard about it, The Center for a New American Dream is giving away a Toyota Prius to whoever can come up with the best slogan for their campaign get more hybrid vehicles on the market. That’s a pretty good deal. You give them ten words, they give you a free car. Of course, you have to be better than anyone else, so that’s a pretty big catch.
But don’t worry, I have faith in you.
Now, go get ‘em, tiger.
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: general |
Recount Underway
by Matt Singer on 1:23 pm.
I still haven’t heard anything out of Polson on the recount up there. If I have time, I’ll post something on it when I find out. If I have more time, I’ll offer some thoughts on what it all means. Since control of the House here depends on the outcome of this recount (although there may be lawsuit options still open), it is a fairly big deal.
If word comes when I’m not around and someone is aware, please provide it in comments. People who are actively waiting for word should keep their eyes peeled at the Billings Gazette, which does the best job of regularly updating the news ticker throughout the day.
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: montana, political |
Attention: Deficit
by Matt Singer on 1:09 pm.
I finally managed to read Clay Risen’s “Debt Riders.” I heartily recommend it for anyone with TNRD access. Risen makes a pretty powerful case for using deficits against the Republicans (let us return to our meme of credit card Republicans and the first MBNA President). The magazine also posted an old piece from Kinsley that supposedly is offered up as a counter-point. If it was one, I didn’t find it to be a very strong one. Mostly it made the case that the sort of out-of-control deficit spending that started with Reagan and now continues under is dangerous, which is different from run-of-the-mill deficits or recession deficits, which really aren’t a big deal. Risen’s article is better, although Kinsley’s piece is worth reading if you want to understand why Bush’s deficits are bad but also why a balanced budget amendment is not the solution.
Also good? Gregg Easterbrook’s “Cape Hope,” which perhaps should have been titled “Cape Fear.” It is a short piece about how we could actually have some green power if people would get over this damn NIMBY syndrome. To Ted Kennedy, I say, shut your piehole and look forward to seeing the windmills every morning. Remind yourself that those windmills mean less pollution causing asthma for people who live near coal plants; they mean fewer salmon unable to reproduce; they mean a better America.
Cheers to wind power, which should be our future. I, for one, like seeing windmills in non-wilderness areas, kind of like I enjoy seeing those giant sprinkler things. They’re awesome.
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: democrats, economic, general, policy, political, taxes |
Greatest Part of Having a Blog…
by Matt Singer on 11:14 am.
is finding the search terms people use to discover you.
From the month of November:
- porn causes masturbation
- remote control deer hunting houston
- you are lame
- red state assholes
- yup
- commit sepuku
- fraternal organizations small town colorado
So I checked some of these. Sure enough, LitW is third for “you are lame” and twelfth for “commit sepuku.” Thanks for the honors.
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: general |
Great Frame: First MBNA President
by Matt Singer on 10:11 am.
From Jesse.
First MBNA President fits in nicely with the whole credit card Republican meme and is a good one to pin this President with.
Although, to be frank, I still like the Paris Hilton Tax Plan more.
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: economic, general, political |
An Art Critic and an Economist
by Matt Singer on 10:02 am.
Why are these guys the two best political columnists this country has produced? We have an economist from Princeton and the art critic who isn’t even on the op-ed page. But that’s where we have to go to find nuggets like this:
The mainstream press, itself in love with the “moral values” story line and traumatized by the visual exaggerations of the red-blue map, is too cowed to challenge the likes of the American Family Association. So are politicians of both parties. It took a British publication, The Economist, to point out that the percentage of American voters citing moral and ethical values as their prime concern is actually down from 2000 (35 percent) and 1996 (40 percent).And like this:
The evidence suggests that Mr. Limbaugh’s prurient mind is the exception, not the rule. Though seen nationwide, and as early as 6 p.m. on the West Coast, the spot [with Terrell Owens and Nicollette Sheridan] initially caused so little stir that the next morning only two newspapers in the country, both in Philadelphia, reported on it. ABC’s switchboards were not swamped by shocked viewers on Monday night. A spokesman for ABC Sports told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he hadn’t received a single phone call or e-mail in the immediate aftermath of the broadcast.It would just be nice if we could have some real diversity in media, if we could occasionally hear a liberal or progressive talking head who when this “moral values” schtick raised its ugly head, could point out, calmly but firmly, that the pundits are full of shit.
But it seems that if we’re going to find that talking head, we’ll have to either look in the art or economics departments. The politicos ain’t cutting it anymore.
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: montana, political |
Jerry Falwell: Hate the Sinners, Love the Sin
by Matt Singer on 9:49 am.
Jerry Falwell talks values: “Well the fact that he’s a gay Republican means he should join the Democratic party.”
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: general |
11/28/2004
More About Howard
by Matt Singer on 10:18 pm.
Let’s all repeat it together: this isn’t about liberal-vs-centrist. This isn’t about whether we need to look more appealing to “mainstream” America. Politics is about standing for something.
Politics is about winning and winning involves presenting a compelling message. And something that the DNC (and by DNC, I mean every person stuck in the Beltway mindset) needs to get through its head is that Dean was never running as a left-winger. He was never even running as a hardcore liberal. He was running as a centrist outraged over what was being done to his country.
And for a damn good reason, what is happening to our country is outrageous. Apparently, the same people who voted Bush back into office. 63% of them don’t think he has a mandate. Something like 55% think we need to switch directions in this country. They voted for him out of fear, not out of hope. When Gray Davis did that in California, did the Republicans curl up in a corner and cry? Hell no, they sent in the god damn Terminator, the robot from the future, to raise Hell and win an election.
And he did it. He recalled a sitting Governor that people didn’t like that much but who they stuck with cause they didn’t know what else to do.
And now, we have the same situation. A President that most Americans would prefer to not have. A Senate that most Americans would prefer to not have. A House of Representatives that most Americans would prefer not to have.
And the Democratic Party gets ready to act out its own death on stage again. We are a party of hypochondriacs. Every time we lose, we’re convinced we’re deathly ill. In Montana, in 2000, Democrats lost three big statewide offices. They lost the Governor’s race, the US House race, and a US Senate race. They thought the world had ended. But they’d held the Attorney General’s office, the State Auditor’s office, and the OPI office. They made gains in the legislature. The world wasn’t ending. We’d just had a rough year. But people thought things were falling apart. Guess what — we didn’t change party leadership. We just bucked up and kept working. And in 2002, we won a US Senate race, more seats in the legislature, and control of the Public Service Commission.
Then this year, we took back the damn Governor’s office. And we didn’t do it with a namby-pamby-roll-over-and-keep-your -mouth-shut style. We did it by running a candidate with clear contrasts with the Republicans and by pointing out how we would make the state a better place.
And it is high damn time we did that for America. We can’t expect the press to show how we differ from the Republicans or even why one would want to differ from the Republicans. The press typically knows how to do its job about as well as the 15-year-old-with-acne flipping burgers at McDonald’s. The difference between the media and McDonald’s? The latter contains essential vitamins and minerals. The only way something worthwhile ends up in the paper is if we get it in there. The only way people find out the truth about the Bush White House is when people bring the truth up.
And the damn RNC’s oppo room is not going to do your work for you (although, they may have already, break into the place if you have to — make them know how Watergate feels).
You’re actually going to have to work. You’re going to have to draw distinctions. You’re going to have to have a message. A clear message. A concise message (no rants like this one). A damn compelling message.
And if you can’t do that with a sandtrap in one hemisphere and a looming economic collapse in another, well, maybe you aren’t cut out for this line of work. And so when the usual suspect DC press corps types start portraying Howard Dean as “bash-Bush, man-the-barricades liberalism mixed with the latest in Internet-fueled fund-raising and organizing” I get a bit upset. Frankly, we can bash Bush. The man is not very popular. Bashing him is at least a strategy. And that seems to be more than anyone else has.
Dean was never that liberal. He was willing to get out there and fight. We need a fighter. The Democratic Party keeps expecting the referee to protect us and hit back for us. That isn’t going to happen. It is time to “declare the state of affairs unacceptable.” It is time to stand up for ourselves. It is time to fight. It is time to reform the Democratic Party and then to reform America.
| Comments (4) | Permanent Link | Categories: democrats, political |
I’m Back and Then I Leave Again
by Matt Singer on 9:59 pm.
I’m freshly returned from B-town and am currently waiting for a friend to return my phone call (he had to split before I could get my stuff out of his pick-up). Thanksgiving treated me well. I had some excellent food in Billings and saw my family. My Great Grandmother recently turned 97, which is a Hell-of-an accomplishment.
The Grizzlies absolutely stomped Northwestern State yesterday. Good for them. I guess the Demons don’t know how to handle the Hell-frozen-over that Washington Grizzly Stadium can be for a visiting team. If I-AA had a slaughter rule, it may have been invoked. As it is, the Griz are pumped and moving forward in the post-season. Special credit, of course, goes out to Dan Carr. Craig Ochs probably had something to do with the victory as well.
And, although Craig doesn’t note it, New Hampshire did beat Georgia Southern, so next weekend, the Griz take on NH. I, fortunately, will be in China, but I’ll be curious to see how that game goes. As Craig did note, EWU defeated Southern Illinois. In I-AA, up is down and left is right. Let’s see where it goes as the Grizzlies move forward.
Finally, I watched Bubba Ho-Tep, the new Bruce Campbell movie. Brilliant.
Anyways, after one more quick post and a smattering over the next couple days, I’ll be off to Beijing on Wednesday morning for a much needed vacation. I’m hoping Daphne, Wulfgar, and Jesse can keep you all entertained. I think they will.
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: general, movies |
11/26/2004
Western Democrats are Democrats
by Matt Singer on 1:15 pm.
Ken, in comments on an earlier post, wondered, “A question about Montana Democrats? [sic] Are they Democrats?” He then asks about their positions on a variety of issues and wonders whether we aren’t actually running Republicans out here.
Now, there are a number of good responses to this question. One is “Go fork yourself.” No one asks those questions after a Democratic sweep in California. No one asks that in Washington. And I’m just guessing that Ken is one of those people wondering why Kansas gets to claim to be real America. Well, I’m wondering why Ken gets to claim to be a real Democrat and question that validity of our membership in the Democratic Party.
Here’s what the Democratic Party I know stands for: protecting opportunity for all Americans, by protecting affordable education and ensuring its quality, by creating good-paying jobs so that work is more rewarding than welfare; making sure no one is left behind, by making sure more Americans have quality health care, and that adequate social safety nets are in place so that the richest country on Earth isn’t also the poorest country on Earth; and protecting people from criminals here at home and from international threats, because people who follow the rules shouldn’t have to worry about their own safety.
Honestly, as soon as Schweitzer won, I started seeing random blog comments about how it didn’t matter, because he was a pro-life Democrat. One problem with this statement: it isn’t true. Schweitzer is personally pro-life, but politically pro-choice. That’s a reasonable position, especially for a practicing Catholic.
I think the real problem here is with blue state Democrats who are so confused by their own losses that they really can’t understand that in Montana and Colorado, real Democrats won. We appreciate y’all trying to denigrate our successes, but we didn’t elect any Zell Millers.
| Comments (5) | Permanent Link | Categories: democrats, political |
11/23/2004
Take 5 Minutes, Join 5 Thousand
by Matt Singer on 4:39 pm.
I just got an email that the Draft Howard petition now has over 5,000 signatories. You should add yours. This isn’t about right-vs.-left, it’s about change-v.-more-of-the-same and it’s about whether this country will have a proactive center-left party or one that constantly worries about defining itself relation to the other.
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: democrats, political |
How Quickly We Become Addicted
by Matt Singer on 4:28 pm.
Speaking of cigarettes, I just downloaded Firefox a couple days ago and I’m hooked. I went to the school today and was reading some sites and kept trying to open tabs.
Try it. You’ll like it.
| Comments (3) | Permanent Link | Categories: general |
Some More Montana Data
by Matt Singer on 4:23 pm.
I’ve been playing with more Montana data, especially now that the statewide canvass has been completed. The county-by-county files will be available soon, which will allow for some more digging.
In the meanwhile, I’ve done the following: I encoded each county as either blue, sky blue, pink, or red based on this year’s Governor’s totals. If Schweitzer won an out-right majority, the county is blue. If he won a plurality, it is sky blue. If Brown won a plurality, it is pink. If Brown won a majority, it is red. I could distinguish further, but that seems difficult. Basically I wanted to take a look at swing counties.
Then I did a sort, not based on how much a county’s share of the vote increased or decreased over the last four years. I resorted and this time simply sorted by the difference in number (not percentage) of voters turning out to the polls in 2000 vs. 2004.
Considered this way, there are six counties that added more than 1,000 voters in the last four years:
- Yellowstone – 8794 – Blue
- Gallatin – 7571 – Pink
- Missoula – 5844 – Blue
- Flathead – 4327 – Red
- Lewis & Clark – 2890 – Blue
- Lake – 1122 – Light Blue
Interestingly 15 counties actually experienced fewer voters at the polls this year than in 2000. In these 15 counties, 1655 fewer voters turned out to the polls this year. 904 of those voters were in Blue counties. 261 were in Pink. The remaining 490 were in Red counties. Strangely, Wheatland County (Red) experienced the exact same number of voters this year as compared to four years ago.
Also of note, in between 2000 and 2002, Blue and Light Blue county turnout dropped by 47518 votes. Red and Pink county turnout dropped by only 22814 votes.
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: general, montana, political |
Guest Blogger #3: Wulfgar
by Matt Singer on 1:06 pm.
[Here's the third guest blogger who will be joining us sometime soon. He's got an active blog of his own, but he thought he'd come here to share his political thoughts for a short time. He's a quite interesting writer. I hope you enjoy him.]
Rob Kailey (aka Wulfgar)
Contact Wulfgar
A Chicken is Not Pillage – Wulfgar’s blog
My name is Rob, though I have been known online as Wulfgar for many years. I am forty-something, and serve the students of Montana State University as the IT Manager at the MSU Bookstore, in Bozeman. My education includes several years studying Computer Science at U of M, and a BA in Philosophy from MSU. That alone
should convince anyone that I am a contrarian. Though I was born in Colorado (GO BRONCOS!), I moved to Montana at an early age, and have chosen to live my life out in this fine state. I greatly enjoy defying the stereotypes of the typical liberal in that I favor the rights of gun ownership and outdoorsmen, and I’m an unashamed carnivore. In truth, I am a moderate, and that leaves me opposed to the ever more popular paths that the extreme rightest elements in charge would take our nation in.
My strong belief in personal rights and personal responsibility is the foundation of my hopes for the Democratic party, and for progressive causes in Montana, and America.
| Comments (3) | Permanent Link | Categories: general |
Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Barack Obama
by Matt Singer on 1:00 pm.
Last summer, Democrats were given an amazing lesson through one simple speech. Barack Obama laid out a progressive vision of strength and opportunity. He spoke of one America. He spoke of shared values. Now in the aftermath of an election in which our candidate could never seize the message quite as well, we are faced with recriminations. I’ve turned back to Barack’s speech to highlight the messages that are vital for Democrats to move on, come together, and get back to the work of tearing down barriers. It seems for the past couple weeks we’ve been only too busy dividing a party for all the wrong reasons.
Obama’s speech laid out everything we need to know:
- “Not a Liberal America and a Conservative America — There’s the United States of America”
- “I Owe a Debt”
- “The Insistence on Small Miracles”
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: democrats, political |
11/22/2004
Ideas Coalescing
by Matt Singer on 10:35 pm.
Chris Bowers is starting to piece together an idea for a 50-state strategy based on networked MeetUps and House Parties. I think his ideas mesh well with the thoughts that I offered up in my post below subtitled “Why MeetUp Worked Better Than GetLocal Tools.” A consolidated strategy of building a strong grassroots structure to the party, complete with active parties at the national, state, county, and precinct or multi-precinct (in Montana, House District would probably work great) level. In other words, we need to build a machine.
So what needs to happen for this to actually work? Well, some damn good database work, for one. The national party and state and local parties would need to work together to figure out how to subdivide at smaller and smaller levels, tie the whole thing in to ZIP+4 matching. The national party would likely have to go in and help rebuild state parties that are not doing well (like Ohio and Florida). The national party would also prioritize trainings for MeetUp Coordinators in key areas, while fostering participation in less targeted locations. Meetings would be taking places in community centers, union halls, university classrooms, and other public locations (public is crucial to getting first-timers there, I am convinced — not to mention avoiding problems related to last-minute issues for hosts).
I think, though, that BlueStateDigital’s software could be tweaked just a bit to allow for things like this to happen.
As it gets closer to election time, the meetings would start happening more often and they would always be organizing meetings, signing people up to leaflet, knock doors, call people, and poll watch. In some places, these teams could adopt local candidates, provide home cooked meals, do laundry, and other chores so candidates can be out on the door.
Thoughts?
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: democrats, political |
