TRR Exclusive: Florida Dem chair pins party’s hopes on redistricting, won’t rule out gov run
Florida Democrat Party Chair Rod Smith speaks at a rally for AFSCME's Council 79 2011 Lobby Day Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at the Leon County Courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith believes Florida’s misshapen districts have hampered Democrats’ ability to win elections, almost more than any other factor. And he won’t give a Shermanesque statement on not running for governor again. Smith spoke to TRR in an exclusive interview on March 31st. Here’s what else he had to say. Read more
Happy New Year, you gorgeous creatures! Now enjoy these awesome fireworks…
As you can see, in the spirit of American exceptionalism, I’ve outsourced the fireworks to Asia … Read more
In the states: GOP control puts women, students, the poor in crosshairs
Kansas to become an “abortion free zone” … states enacting “covenant marriages” that are near impossible to leave … privatized Medicaid that allows HMOs to function as literal “death panels” and more. Glimpse the future — one that could be especially hard on women and the poor — in several states where Republicans won governorships and strengthened their hold on state houses. Read more
Pew poll: voters unenthused by midterm results
Americans care about jobs, not elections.
A new Pew poll finds fewer than half of Americans feel good about the results of last week’s “shellacking” election, and an alarming number don’t expect the new Congress to get much done. Read more
Rick Scott: ‘let’s get to work…! now take this awesome gift card’
You really can’t make this stuff up. Rick Scott, the guy who slinked out of his former hospital corporation, Columbia/HCA, with a $300 million golden parachute before the company settled with the federal government to the tune of $1.7 billion over Medicare fraud… whose new company, Solantic, also is being looked at for Medicare fraud, who spent $73 million of his ill-gotten gains to make himself governor of Florida, in part by running against a Republican establishment that among other things, handed out American Express cards paid for by donors, which Florida politicians like Marco Rubio abused like they were on an episode of “Pimp My Life,” paid some of his campaign workers not with cash or checks … but with gift cards … American Express … gift cards. Wow. Read more
Read this: the way forward in Florida
I promise I’m going to stop posting about the election… I promise I’m going to stop posting about the election … I promise I’m going to stop posting about the election. But first, if you are a Democrat in Florida, you need to read this, by one half of the top drawer team at Eye on Miami: Read more
Alex Sink: meet the mirror. You lost because of YOU, and your state party (**UPDATED**)
I wasn’t going to do any more retrospectives on the 2010 election, because I’m already on to the business of how we progressives move forward. But if there’s one thing I hate in politics, it’s people pointing the finger at everyone other than themselves when they lose. President Obama is catching hell from some of his base for capitulating to a barrage of reporters’ demanding that he take responsibility for the beating Democrats took on November 2nd, but at least he manned up. Alex Sink on the other hand, thinks she lost the Florida governor’s race because of … Barack Obama. Madame, please. Read more
Exit poll remainders: jobs, jobs, jobs
A couple of interesting items from the 2010 exit polls (as if you haven’t heard enough election stuff…)
In the Florida Senate race, Charlie Crist may actually have a future as a Democrat. He got 19 percent of the black vote (versus 76 percent for Meek, and about what Crist got when he was elected governor,) 23 percent of the Latino vote (versus 55 percent for Marco Rubio,) he won the 18-24 vote, despite being the oldest of the three candidates (by one point with 37 percentm versus 36 percent for Rubio an d 27 percent for Meek), effectively tied Rubio 40-41 with the most educated voters, and got 42 percent of Democrats (versus 49 percent for Meek) and a pretty stunning 50 percent of self-described liberals, versus 39 percent for Meek. I can’t really explain the 10 percent of liberals who voted for Rubio, but there you go. Crist also won moderates, 38 percent to 36 percent for Rubio and 27 percent for Meek.
Not sure what that means for Charlie Ballgame’s future, but there it is.
On a national level, you can get your House exit polls here. Key findings: Democrats won self-described moderates by 55 percent, but clearly many more conservatives turned out. Dems also won voters with no high school education plus the most educated voters, those with post-grad degrees. Republicans won big with blue collar white voters, evangelicals and conservatives. Dems also won voters who were casting ballots for the first time. Read more
Read this: why Democrats lost
Kenneth Quinnell, formerly of the Kendrick Meek campaign and now back to the Florida Progressive Coalition (and ThinkProgress) offers a candid assessment of what went wrong for Florida Democrats on November 2nd. Short version: a suckish state party, a compromising president, a lackluster progressive movement, and voters who could give a damn. Read more
(Video) Joy on MSNBC: the Fox News candidates
I think it was a bit of a faux pas mentioning the Network that Is Not News on MSNBC, but Media Matters picks up the clip in which your humble TRR editor discusses the Fox training received by our “grassroots” GOP Titans of 2010:
Meanwhile, over at Comedy Central … Read more
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WTF Has Barack Obama Done So Far?
