I am back from vacation and back into the political arena. Next week I hope my friend, Devin Cohen, succeeds getting elected as a civil court judge in Brooklyn. And I hope another friend, Steve Harrison, gets the nomination for Congress in the NY-13 district. I hope any readers in those districts can help out! As the remnants of Gustav bear down on NYC and Hanna and Ike approach the US, I hope everyone is staying dry and safe.
Notice how Sarah Palin, not John McCain, was the big story of the week from the Repub Convention? I am so pleased that we are finally at a point in history where even the Repubs are willing to nominate a woman to VP, more than 2 decades after the Dems did. And I am pleased to live at a time when America will finally get either a woman VP or a black president. That is very real progress. But...
I mean, Sarah Palin was the best McCain could pick??? The woman is under investigation, for goodness sake! If the Republicans want to shed their culture of corruption, choosing an Alaska Republican as VP is NOT the way to do it. So, like everyone else, I will focus a great deal on Palin this week. Palin certainly seems to be galvanizing the Repub base, but I believe she will be a liability in the end. She is under investigation for crimes and ethics violations. She attends a church which has been openly anti-Semitic. And she clearly seems incapable of leading the nation. You can read one Alaskan's view of Palin here. It seems a fair and honest assessment of Palin. Why did McCain pick her? Clearly he decided to pick a woman (long after Democrats did) to appeal to the supposed masses of disaffected Hillary voters. What about Susan Collins? What about Kay Bailey Hutchinson? What about Elizabeth Dole? If he wanted a woman, there are far better ones out there in the Republican Party. I may not like them for policy reasons, but they are sure more experienced and competent than Palin.
Obama remains the frontrunner. This does not mean that the election is a slam dunk for us. But we remain ahead, with Obama even having an edge in North Dakota, running neck and neck in Virginia and competitive in North Carolina. I believe that Obama's supporters are underpolled because traditional young voters and black voters are not considered "likely voters" but they are far more likely to vote this year than usual. So I think polls are underestimating Obama's edge. But we can't count on this, particularly since Republicans will cheat in some states (e.g. Florida, of course, which can't seem to run a fair election). A LOT can happen between now and November, but I think if the election were held today, Obama would win. The only question is whether he would win with 298 or 311 electoral votes (with Virginia making the difference). I am assuming McCain will win North Dakota and Indiana (which are both AMAZINGLY in play) as well as Florida in this calculation.
Buried in the news is the fact that Abramoff is now sentenced to 4 years in prison. This was the Republican wonder worker who became the biggest Republican scandal and his corruption helped Democrats win so big in 2006. Republican Congressional leader Bob Ney of Ohio is now in jail thanks to the Abramoff scandal. If there is true justice in America, far more Republicans will go to jail over the Abramoff scandal.
I will leave you with this video of Obama responding to the RNC:
Here is this week's newsletter.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
McCain/Palin: Corrupt Bush Republicans
Cindy McCain and Republican Elitism
NYC Primary: Scalia fan vs. Progressive
NYC Primary: Referendum on Mayoral Control of Schools
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