Is Scarpinato effectively running Jesse Kelly’s campaign?
May 9, 2012
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by David Safier Jim Nintzel is a careful journalist with lots of sources, so when he says "We're hearing that . . ." I don't take it as gospel, but I pay serious attention. And he says "we're hearing that" Daniel Scarpinato is the new behind-the-scenes guy in Jesse Kelly's campaign. According to Nintzel on … Read more
Wisconsin Update: On to the main event!
May 9, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The preliminary bouts are over and the fight card is set for the main event on Tuesday, June 5.
This is a cataclysmic battle between the forces of light who want to preserve Wisconsin's long cherished tradition of progressive values — it is the birthplace of unions and the progressive movement — and the forces of darkness, the Tea-Publicans who want to repeal the 20th Century and return to the Gilded Age of über-rich Robber Barons controlling your lives (in Wisconsin this means Koch Industries).
Wisconsin is ground zero in this epic battle between good and evil. Wisconsin has been engaged in nothing less than a civil war since January 2011. And yet, Tuesday's "record turnout" in a primary election was projected to be between 30 and 35 percent of registered voters — which means that in the most politically engaged state in the country, somewhere around 70 percent of Wisconsinites who took the time to register to vote chose to do nothing. If we lose our democracy in this country it will be due to the politically disengaged who did not exercise their franchise and failed their civic duty to defend it.
Primary Results
Voter turnout about 30 percent in recall primaries for governor:
State elections officials predicted a 30 percent to 35 percent statewide turnout for Tuesday's election, or between 1.3 million and 1.5 million voters.
As of 11 p.m., with 99 percent of wards in, 1.28 million voters, or 29.5 percent of those eligible, cast ballots, preliminary Associated Press figures showed. That's a 50 percent increase over the total turnout in the 2010 gubernatorial primary, when 19.6 percent of eligible voters went to the polls.
Tuesday's turnout was one of the highest in state history for a partisan primary, adding to the already historic nature of the recall of Gov. Scott Walker.
Milwaukee mayor earns a do-over with convincing win in recall primary:
The rematch is on between Tom Barrett and Gov. Scott Walker, after the Milwaukee mayor coasted to victory over former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk on Tuesday in the 2012 recall primary.
Barrett, 58, now faces a 28-day sprint to the finish in a historic recall election June 5 against the embattled Republican governor.
Jesse’s shakes his Etch A Sketch once again
May 8, 2012
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by David Safier CORRECTION: Someone pointed out to me that the Sahuarita Sun Q&A in the May 8 paper is, as it states at the top of the article, "a repeat of a questionnaire published during the Congressional District 8 primary." I missed that statement and assumed it was a new questionnaire. I regret the … Read more
‘You’re So Bain’
May 8, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Absolutely. Brilliant.
Someone who goes by BeauChiocchi on YouTube has posted a video about the vulture capitalist Willard "Mittens" Romney, rewriting the lyrics to one of my favorite songs from the 1970s, Carly Simon's classic "You're So Vain." It is a devastating piece of political commentary.
The new lyrics to this old classic should be sung at campaign events.
Video below the fold.
Star blog features new Barber ad
May 8, 2012
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by David Safier
Brady McCombs has a new blog post on the Star website about Barber's latest ad: "Worry." (You can view the ad below the fold.) It begins with a pretty good summary of the ad.
Democrat Ron Barber has released a new TV ad, again attacking his GOP opponent, Jesse Kelly, for his past comments about proposing to privatize and phase out Social Security and Medicare.
The ad starts by using Kelly’s own words from his most recent TV ad in which he tells his grandpa Hank Allgyer “not to worry” in an spot where Kelly pledges to protect seniors’ benefits.
“With Jesse Kelly, there is a lot to worry about,” the narrator says in the ad. “Kelly said he’d loved to eliminate Social Security and Medicare.”
The 30-second ad highlights remarks made by Kelly in 2009 and 2010 — during his failed attempt to win the seat — in which he talks about phasing out Medicare and privatizing and eliminating Social Security.
“Now, Jesse Kelly will say anything to get elected,” the narrator says.
McCombs follows this by noting Kelly recently changed his website, taking out a statement advocating for the privatization of Social Security.
The section now says Kelly supports “preserving, protecting and strengthening” Social Security and Medicare, and that he does not support privatizing, eliminating or phasing out the programs.
McCombs post gives the Kelly campaign some space to get in a few digs against Barber. Fair enough.
When I open the Star tomorrow, I'll be looking for an article on Barber's Monday press conference which folds in some information from the blog post, since that's the coverage Kelly got when he held a presser and released an ad last week. (No, this isn't false equivalence on my part. It's talking about equal treatment of the candidates, giving them approximately the same amount of coverage. "False equivalence" is where you say or imply both candidates are equally right or wrong on an issue when they aren't.)
Watch the ad below the fold.
Democratic presidents are better for job creation
May 8, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: "If you want to live like a Republican, vote Democratic." – Harry S. Truman I have posted about this topic from time to time over the years, for example Democratic Presidents Are Always Better For The Economy – Always, and Why elections matter: the economy always does better under Democrats. Today, Steve … Read more
Civil Rights Office investigations of TUSD
May 8, 2012
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by David Safier I haven't written about this, simply because I don't understand it very well. The summary is, the U.S. Department of Ed is looking into allegations of discrimination at TUSD. Apparently, this relates to events at School Board meetings. Here's a statement from the Dept. of Ed. “Our Office for Civil Rights is … Read more
Latinos for Obama!
May 8, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: OFA Announcement: What: Organization meeting of Latinos for Obama When: Wednesday, May 9, 2012 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Where: Pima County Democratic Party HQ, 4639 E.1st Street (one block Sount of Speedway and West of Swan Road). Details: All new volunteers are invited to come and learn how to become a part of the … Read more
