Information
ARCHIVES
Friday, April 30, 2024
By Steven L. Taylor

Via the NYTCrist Announces Independent Bid for Senate:

Mr. Crist told supporters in his home town of St. Petersburg that his decision to leave the Republican party is "the right thing for America" and "the right thing for Florida."

"My decision to run for the U.S. Senate as a candidate without party affiliation says more about our nation and our state than it says about me," Mr. Crist said. "Unfortunately our political system is broken. I think we need a new tone in Washington."

While it is certainly true that the fact that Crist was going to be crushed in the GOP primary by Marco Rubio, and thus facilitating this move, is commentary on the current state of the Republican Party in Florida (and maybe nationally), it isn’t evidence that anything is broken.  Indeed, it is a rather arrogant thing to say that because one won’t be nominated by one’s former party that it is therefore evidence of systemic breakdown.

Beyond that, the bottom line is that this move is very much about Charlie Crist.  He wants to be a US Senator from Florida and his way is blocked in the GOP.  He has calculated that he at least has a shot as an independent, so he is running as an independent.  There is nothing wrong with making such a strategic choice.  Of course, it wouldn’t sound too good if he just said all of that in his announcement.  (“This is the right thing for Charlie Crist” doesn’t sound as good as “the right thing for America.”)

And if I had a dollar for every politician who says that they are going to go set a “new tone” in Washington, I could probably retire…

Thursday, April 29, 2024
By Steven L. Taylor

Two posts at OTB (yesterday’s 2010 Bigger Than 1994? by James Joyner and today’s 2010 Bigger than 1994? Ctd. by Alex Knapp—both worth a read, btw) reminded me that I wanted to say a couple of things about the current spate of stories and essay comparing 1994 and 2024.

1.  There are incumbent Republicans, too.  I saw a lot of commentary yesterday  based on a new polls (ABC News/WaPo) that showed a high level of anger at incumbents.  Said commentary took that to mean that the GOP was poised for a take over of the Congress (best example here).  Now, there are more incumbent Democrats than there are incumbent. Republicans at the moment, so anti-incumbent sentiment will disproportionately affect Democrats.  However, as noted above, there are incumbent Republicans, too and they may face their own voter-based anger. 

If anything, it seems problematic to pretend that general anger at the Congress will only affect one party.  Indeed, the term “wishful thinking” comes to mind.

2.  Incumbents Could Suffer in Primaries.  One place GOP incumbents may face challenges is in the primary process, especially if Tea Party candidates or other very conservative candidates challenge and oust sitting members.  This could ultimately be problematic in some races for the GOP, as if, say, a Tea Partier wins the nomination against an incumbent, the dynamic of the race change.  Not only would the seat become open, i.e., no incumbents in the race, but a more conservative candidate may not do as well in the general election as they did in the primary.

Of course, it will be helpful to get through the primary season before we can really understand what the situation is.

Filed under: 2010,US Politics,elections | Comments Off|
By Steven L. Taylor

PM Gordon Brown is the latest casualty of a hot microphone:

Mr Brown has apologised to Mrs Duffy, who said she had only gone out to buy a loaf of bread when she saw the the Labour leader and challenged him on a variety of topics – including immigration from eastern Europe.

In comments caught on a microphone afterwards, Mr Brown was heard to tell an aide that the meeting "was a disaster" and call Mrs Duffy a "bigoted woman".

He later went to the pensioner’s house to apologise in person and emerged to say that he had made a mistake and "misunderstood" some of the words she had used and apologised to Labour activists in an e-mail.

Source, the BBC:  Election 2024: I understand immigration fears – Brown.

Also, the latest polls from the UK:

The latest polls – carried out before Wednesday’s encounter – continue to suggest a hung Parliament remains a possibility.

A Comres poll for the Independent/ITV News put the Conservatives up three points on 36%, Labour unchanged on 29% and the Lib Dems down three at 26%. A YouGov poll for the Sun, meanwhile, puts the Tories up a point on 34%, the Lib Dems up three points on 31% and Labour down two points to 27%.

Wednesday, April 28, 2024
By Steven L. Taylor

Blue Blossom

365.118 (4/28/10)

Filed under: photoblogging | Comments Off|
By Steven L. Taylor

A Photo

365.117 (4/27/10). When one is trying to take a photo a day, some days one has to simply take a photo.

Filed under: photoblogging | Comments Off|
By Steven L. Taylor

Via the Miami HeraldManuel Noriega faces a new fight in France.

Filed under: Criminal Justice,Europe,Latin America,US Politics | Comments Off|
By Steven L. Taylor

Via the BBC:  Venezuela leader Hugo Chavez takes to Twitter

By Steven L. Taylor

Via the BBC:  Peru rebels ambush and kill coca plantation clearers.

Shining Path isn’t a name one hears/reads very often theses days.  Indeed, it is difficult to truly consider the current incarnation as really being a part of the older version.  Not that that makes any difference to the three victims of this ambush.

Filed under: Latin America,War on Drugs | Comments Off|
Tuesday, April 27, 2024
By Steven L. Taylor

It strikes me as noteworthy that concerns over aspects of Arizona’s new immigration bill are not limited to solely the leftward side of US politics.

To wit, Marco Rubio, Tea Party favorite and considered to be a conservative’s conservative had the following to say (Marco Rubio speaks out on AZ immigration law):

While I don’t believe Arizona’s policy was based on anything other than trying to get a handle on our broken borders, I think aspects of the law, especially that dealing with ‘reasonable suspicion,’ are going to put our law enforcement officers in an incredibly difficult position.  It could also unreasonably single out people who are here legally, including many American citizens.  Throughout American history and throughout this administration we have seen that when government is given an inch it takes a mile.

Indeed.

(Emphasis mine.)

By Steven L. Taylor

RCN reports:  Mockus se ubica primero en la intención de voto para elecciones de mayo.

Again, my inclination is to take this with a grain of salt, but the trend is has been pretty steady insofar as Mockus has gained in every poll since he allied with Sergio Fajardo.

image

Next Page »

blog advertising is good for you

Visitors Since 2/15/03


Blogroll
Wikio - Top of the Blogs - Politics
---


Advertisement

Advertisement


Powered by WordPress