Sports Redux: Pats Fans: Feel The Schadenfreude
Kells Closing
Photo of the Day, February 8, 2010: Alewife Station
Scott Brown: 41st Vote or Campaign Prop?
Last night, Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe came to the First Parish Church to preach to the Cambridge choir about the great 2008 presidential campaign (and to promote his new book, The Audacity to Win, which covers the campaign process). While the evening progressed mostly as expected (Gobama!, softball questions at the end), Plouffe did toss out some decent soundbites throughout, and perhaps said a word or two that could benefit our state's own up-and-coming senate candidates. We'll certainly be watching the WGBH democratic senatorial forum (moderated by Emily Rooney) Monday at 7pm; leading up to the election, we'll see if any of the candidates take Plouffe's campaign advice to heart (or head?).
Plouffe emphasized that Obama's campaign was based on "changing the electorate" and attracting new voters, rather than pandering to the existing infrastructure: "we defied convention by believing in people" rather than politics. He also detailed the campaign's obsessive focus on demographics, from where voters shopped to what degrees they held. To the campaign, it was "not how many people came, but who they were," and how they could help Obama by bringing in more of their friends from the demographic. Retirees and students were the largest donor groups for the Obama campaign, and as such played a crucial role in its success. This nontraditional combination of demographics demonstrated that political success can stem from outside of the lobbyists and PACs, subverting the need to focus on these powerful but often overly biased groups.
Saying that the electoral college makes a presidential election "The furthest thing from a national election you can imagine," Plouffe discussed how this structure necessitated a focus on battleground states, some of which Obama had visited once or never prior to beginning his campaign. Plouffe also noted how "our presidential [election] process is deeply flawed... but very transparent" in the sense that a great deal of attention is paid to all aspects of the presidential election. He expressed a belief that Obama's campaign would become an important part of political history, and seemed proud to have played a part in it.
In response to questions about some of Obama's current initiatives, Plouffe asserted that "If we do not get this [health care reform] done now... we deserve what comes to us." He made it clear that Democrats should be safe in 2010 if they can point to accomplishments with regard to the economy, health care, and education; if progress is not made on these fronts, the Republicans may have a stronger chance to overthrow the Democrats' hold. Plouffe also outlined a crucial distinction between leadership and legislation, recognizing the importance of both actions in politics but putting particular importance on the inspirational quality of the former.
Plouffe stressed that politics is a process and can't be judged "like a baseball game" that takes place under particular conditions and within a specific timeframe. Despite the inherently uncertain and drawn-out nature of process, though, Plouffe advised, "If you can know something, know it. Eliminate opinions." With America-haters spouting often-unfounded opinions on the airwaves left and right, the ability to know remains central to making informed decisions: never trust what one source has to say.
Overall, Plouffe came off as a politically savvy figure, successfully dodging some tough audience questions about "Don't Ask, Don't Give" and foreign policy, and even employing that trademark (Bill) Clinton gesture. Despite his status as someone who knows (and plays) the "game," Plouffe still visibly believes in the power of people to create change in spite of politics. We can all work together to help make him right.
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The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Every vote, everywhere, would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections.
The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes--that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
The Constitution gives every state the power to allocate its electoral votes for president, as well as to change state law on how those votes are awarded.
The bill is currently endorsed by over 1,659 state legislators (in 48 states) who have sponsored and/or cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.
In Gallup polls since 1944, only about 20% of the public has supported the current system of awarding all of a state's electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in each separate state (with about 70% opposed and about 10% undecided). The recent Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University poll shows 72% support for direct nationwide election of the President. This national result is similar to recent polls in closely divided battleground states: Colorado-- 68%, Iowa --75%, Michigan-- 73%, Missouri-- 70%, New Hampshire-- 69%, Nevada-- 72%, New Mexico-- 76%, North Carolina-- 74%, Ohio-- 70%, Pennsylvania -- 78%, Virginia -- 74%, and Wisconsin -- 71%; in smaller states (3 to 5 electoral votes): Delaware --75%, Maine -- 77%, Nebraska -- 74%, New Hampshire --69%, Nevada -- 72%, New Mexico -- 76%, Rhode Island -- 74%, and Vermont -- 75%; in Southern and border states: Arkansas --80%, Kentucky -- 80%, Mississippi --77%, Missouri -- 70%, North Carolina -- 74%, and Virginia -- 74%; and in other states polled: California -- 70%, Connecticut -- 74% , Massachusetts -- 73%, New York -- 79%, and Washington -- 77%.
The National Popular Vote bill has passed 29 state legislative chambers, in 19 small, medium-small, medium, and large states, including one house in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oregon, and both houses in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. The bill has been enacted by Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington. These five states possess 61 electoral votes -- 23% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.
See http://www.NationalPopularVote.com
what a great book.