Category Archives: Democrat

DeWine says his focus is on children, including the unborn

Gov. Mike DeWine at his victory party pledged to continue his focus on children, including those yet to be born.

"This is an administration that focuses on the most vulnerable members of our society and that certainly includes the unborn. So it's something that we care very, very deeply about," DeWine said with his wife Fran and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted at his side.

DeWine also doubled down on law-and-order politics, saying he favors funding the police and stopping the spread of illegal drugs coming across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Republican also took a victory lap on Ohio landing the Intel chip manufacturing project in Licking County. "Why did they come to Ohio? Because they know there is no better place to raise a family," he said.

Without naming Democratic nominee Nan Whaley, DeWine said he will draw contrasts between him and his opponent.

Former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley won the Democratic primary for Ohio governor in a commanding fashion, becoming the first woman to win a major partys nomination for the job.

Whaleydefeated former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, a friend and colleague, in a race that was largely cordial but involved a late-campaignspat pitting her leadership in Dayton against his in Cincinnati.

Whaley now sets her sights on Gov. Mike DeWine, who easily won the GOP nomination.Whaley and running mate Cheryl Stephens, a Cuyahoga County Council member,campaigned on the idea thatOhio deserves better than the policies that Republicans have imposed over the years.

Expect Whaley to focus on corruption at the Ohio Statehouse tied to a $1 billion nuclear bailout and abortion access asthe landmark Roe v. Wade decision is likely hanging by a thread.

Whaley won the primary without an endorsement from the Ohio Democratic Party, which remained neutral in the race.

Gov. Mike DeWine easily won the Republican partys nomination over a crowded field despite frustrations about how the longtime politician handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

DeWine, 75, of Cedarville, defeated former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, Canal Winchester farmer Joe Blystone and former state Rep. Ron Hood to win the GOP nomination. He had won 56.6% of the vote when the Associated Press called the race at 8:16 p.m. Tuesday.

DeWine is among the state's best-known politicians, having served asa U.S. senator and representative, lieutenant governor, state senatorand most recently attorney general. He was on Ohioans' television and computer screens daily amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It would be difficult to find an Ohioan who doesn't know DeWine.

But his Republican competitors were banking on GOP voters not liking what they knew: The governor closed businesses, schools and polling locations to slow the spread of COVID-19. His record on guns was mixed over the decades. He doesn't spend much time talkingabout former President Donald Trump.

A single, focused candidate might have skewered DeWine for these positions, but the field was too large and disorganized to mount a credible campaign as the anti-DeWine candidate.

Renacci, who came in second with 25.7% of the vote, spent time attackingBlystone rather than focusing on DeWine. Renacci, who lost a U.S. Senate bid to Democrat Sherrod Brown in 2018, repeated the same errors in his previous race: donating large sums to his own campaign but not spending enough of it on advertisements.

Blystone captured some grassroots support, appealing to voters as an outsider candidate. But his campaign wasmessy withhigh turnover among volunteer staffand incomplete campaign finance reports.

Former state Rep. Ron Hood and running mate Candice Keller were last-minute entries into the race and barely registered with most voters.

DeWine enters the fall race as the heavy favorite in a state that elected former President Donald Trump by 8 percentage points, twice. He has name recognition and a campaign war chest that Democrats can't hope to match. Add to thatPresident Joe Biden's poor approval ratings and Novembercould be a tough road for Democrats.

But Democratic candidate Nan Whaley, who was leading Tuesday night, hopes to attack DeWineon corruption at the Ohio Statehouse and access to abortion, which is in a precarious spot with the U.S. Supreme Cour

Earlier story:

In today's election, Gov. Mike DeWine expects to fend off challenges from three Republicans, and two Southwest Ohio mayorsface off in the Democratic primary.

In his reelection bid, DeWine is up againstformer U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, farmer Joe Blystone and ex-state Rep. Ron Hood for the GOP nomination. Each challenger has tried to capitalize on voters' frustrations with DeWine closingbusinesses, schools and polling locations to slow the spread of COVID-19.

That anti-DeWine sentiment exists, but it's also divided among the candidates. Any effort to consolidate or reduce the number of candidates ultimately failed. Former President Donald Trump did not endorse a candidate in the governor race despite picking J.D. Vance to replace Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio's contentious U.S. Senate race.

COVID and politics: In battling COVID-19, DeWine infuriated some in the GOP. How will that affect reelection?

Ohio governor race: Jim Renacci flier touts past Trump endorsement in bid to unseat DeWine

Grassroots leader or shady spoiler?: Why Joe Blystone is running for Ohio governor

Former state representative: Ron Hood files to run for Ohio governor against incumbent Mike DeWine

On the Democratic side, former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley faces former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley for the nomination. The night before, Politico published a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion striking down the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade. The news pushed the abortion debate back into the forefront of voters' minds, a fact that likely benefits Whaley because of her consistent position supporting access to abortion.

Cranley and Whaley come to the race with similar resumes, havingled Southwest Ohio cities during the past eight years. But each has different plans if elected governor.

Whaley benefits from a slew of endorsements, most notably U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. Cranley racked up support from newspaper editorial boards. The Ohio Democratic Party did not endorse in the primary despite picking U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan for the U.S. Senate race.

The race could come down to which candidate is better known by voters in Democrat-rich Cleveland and Columbus.

If Whaley clinches the Democratic primary, she would be the first woman to win a major political party's nomination in Ohio's history.

Democratic race for nomination: As Democratsfight to replace Mike DeWine, Cincinnati and Dayton are on the ballot

Ohio Politics Explained podcast: What's on your primary ballot?

Watch: Ohio's district maps and the May 3 primary

Ohio has never elected a womanas governor. Gov. Nancy Hollister served as the state's leader for 11 days after Gov. George Voinovich started work in theU.S. Senate and before Gov. Bob Taft took office.

Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. If you are in line when polls close, you will be able to vote.

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

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Nan Whaley becomes first woman nominated by major party for Ohio governor, will face DeWine - The Columbus Dispatch

The Democratic Party has a huge problem. For decades now, they have been hemorrhaging white rural and working class voters to the Republicans, a trend they have managed to offset with super majorities of voters of color. This was the basis of the "Emerging Majority" theory popular in Democratic circles just a few years ago, which posited that as America became less and less white, it would become more and more firmly attached to the Democratic Party.

The problem with this theory is that it relied the premise that minorities were going to remain solid Democrats. And that premise is turning out to be false. What we're seeing today is that working class Hispanic voters and conservative Black voters are a lot more like their white counterparts than anyone in the Democratic Party had bargained for. And that spells serious trouble for the Left.

Much has been made of the Republican shift among Hispanic voters. And to be sure, it has been significant; between the 2018 to 2020 elections, Hispanic voters without a college degree swung to the GOP by a whopping 30 points.

This was even more pronounced in Texas border counties, where local communities are experiencing the crisis at the border first hand. The county with the highest percentage of Hispanic voters once backed Hillary Clinton by 60 points; but they only backed then-candidate Joe Biden by five.

It is clear to many that the Hispanic vote is far more competitive than Democrats would like them to be. But fewer are willing to accept a possibly more significant trend: the attrition of Black voters that the Democrats are dealing with.

According to Pew Research Center, fully 25 percent of Black Democrats identify as "conservative" (around 40 percent identify as "moderate"). And with these voters, like their Hispanic counterparts, there was also a massive shift between 2016 and 2020.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won Black conservative voters by 58 points. But in 2020, now-President Joe Biden won them by just 20 points, a 38 point drop. And the trend is holding; since taking office, Biden went from an 87 percent approval rating among Black voters overall to 67 percent, a 20 point drop.

"There's just no recent historical analogy for what happened with conservative Black voters in 2020," writes Harry Enten at CNN. "It really broke the mold."

If the current polls hold up, Democrats have the lowest margins of the Black vote in 2022 since at least 1990.

So what's happening here?

Because the Black vote has been solidly Democratic since 1964, political prognosticators tend to ignore and even deny the diversity of thought in the Black community. It's how they missed the fact that for a majority of Black voters, being a Democrat does not mean being a liberal, and it certainly doesn't mean being "woke." It has always been more complicated than that, part of a communal identity that rejected the historic racism of Republicans and viewed progress as building out the achievements of the civil rights movement.

And as the Democratic Party started to cater more and more to white coastal elites, it revealed a deep tension between the needs of a mostly moderate Black community anxious for a fair shot at achieving the American Dream and a party catering to a college-educated professional class that doesn't think much of America.

This tension has always been there. If you look beyond the surface, the modern Democratic coalition has always been a house of cards. How do you create an agenda that appeals to both a conservative, Black, churchgoing southerner and a liberal, white, secular atheist? How do you serve the needs of both Hispanic working class voters and rich elitists?

When elections were more localized, it was easier to campaign as a "different kind of Democrat." But in this age of nationalized campaigns, the real dividing lines are becoming harder to ignore. And the opposition party is noticing.

Republicans in previous years had a minority outreach "strategy" that consisted of blaming voters for rejecting them. For years, the GOP's arrogant approach to Black voters (who once were loyal Republicans) has been that of the jilted lover determined to prove that they can be successful without the one who left them.

Ironically, it has been the party's populists that have changed the trajectory. As today's Republicans focus more on class and culture, it is beginning to attract voters of all races who share their views on those issues.

This new Republican approach met a Democratic Party dominated by far left elites, giving it an even harder time convincing Black conservatives that there's a place for them on the Left. And as Republicans begin to finally learn how to tone down the "stuck on the Democrat plantation" rhetoric and get serious about winning over black voters by offering them what they're looking for, those Black voters who are already more ideologically aligned with the GOP are becoming more comfortable voting for that party's candidates.

The future for American politics could be similar to what we often see with political parties in Europe, where polarization is typically based more on class and ideology than of race. And if the Democratic Party is determined to fully turn into the party of the white liberal, they will displace millions of Black and Hispanic voters.

These voters already have more in common economically and ideologically with their counterparts on the Right than they do with white progressives. If the Democrats are hellbent on alienating the very voters that they need the most, the elections in November will be the least of their problems.

Darvio Morrow is the CEO of the FCB Radio Network and co-host of The Outlaws Radio Show. Follow him on Twitter @DTheKingpin.

The views in this article are the writer's own.

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It's Not Just Hispanics. The Democrats Are Losing the Black Vote | Opinion - Newsweek

As we get closer and closer to November's midterm elections, doomsday predictions about a bloodbath for Democrats have come to dominate the news. It seems like you can't turn on your TV or scroll through Twitter for five minutes without being informed by some pundit or otheron both sides of the political spectrumabout the dire situation the Democrats face in races across the country.

These naysayers are missing the robust record that the Democrats have to run onone that includes the not insignificant line item of being the only side standing up for Democracy itself.

Republicans have shown their laissez faire attitude toward democracy in numerous ways, starting with passing bills across the country restricting the right to vote. Then there's their penchant for denying the results of the 2020 election, or opposing the bipartisan commission to investigate the storming of the Capitol on January 6, an effort designed to undermine the electoral process altogether.

Most recently, leaked tapes revealed how Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy really felt about Trump's role in inciting the January 6 attack, going so far as to say that Trump should resign immediately. In another recently released tape, McCarthy accused some GOP lawmakers of putting people in jeopardy.

McCarthy was telling the truth: GOP lawmakers put their colleagues in jeopardy and Trump should've resigned. But instead of admitting this, McCarthy attacked the press, accusing them of spreading lies.

Of course, he had to deny his condemnation of Trump; he has done nothing but defend him since January 6, fighting the creation of an inquiry into that ugly day. Meanwhile, it's been the Democrats (and two exiled Republicans) who have worked overtime to expose Republicans' corruption and sedition.

But while the work of the January 6 Committee is crucial to stabilizing our democracy, it's only the first in a long list of accomplishments that Democrats can tout to their constituents.

President Biden's infrastructure bill is already delivering: The bill has created jobs and is already fixing roads, bridges and railways. It's already bringing clean drinking water to some of the poorest communities and building access to high-speed internet across the country.

Democrats should be speaking nationally about these accomplishments while showing the specific locations that are being improved in their states or congressional districts. This is nothing short of a home run for candidates running on the blue ticket.

Another huge victory for Democrats to tout is the American Rescue Plan, which helped put money directly in the pockets of the American people, helped protect them from COVID-19 and gave money directly to working families. Democrats should remind voters of thisand of the fact that most Republicans voted against the plan.

Democrats also swiftly pushed through Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination, a historic victory that made Judge Jackson the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, another thing most Republicans opposed. Reminding voters of this accomplishment, and that it happened under the most diverse administration in American history, should remind folks that diversity in leadership matters.

Then there's the fact that Biden helped unite the western world against Russia together with the leadership shown by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats.

Finally, we must remind Americans what Republicans stand for: a whole lot of nothing. Nothing good, at least. The Republicans are the party of January 6, of banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools where it's not taught, and of anti-gay legislation that addresses "problems" that don't exist.

So as Democrats move into the midterm elections, they must remember one key thing: This is their election to lose. They have the record to run on and theirs is the only party defending democracy.

If the Democratic Party can focus on a clear, cohesive and united message that just tells the American people the truth, they will prove to be unbeatable.

Scott Dworkin is an author, and serves as Executive Director of The Democratic Coalition. He is the host of The Dworkin Report podcast and co-hosts The Report Card podcast. He was a deputy director for the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee and the 2012 Democratic National Convention, and a senior adviser to the Draft Biden and Run Warren Run campaigns. Follow him on Twitter: @funder.

The views in this article are the writer's own.

Excerpt from:

There's No Choice in the Midterms. The Democrats Are the Only Side Defending Democracy | Opinion - Newsweek

She wrote a New York Times op-ed last week claiming Democrats are headed toward big losses in the midterms without delivering on their goals, sat for a lengthy Crooked Media podcast interview to push the party to make deals on issues it ran on in 2020, then did a rare three-network sweep on the Sunday shows.

Democrats cant afford to lose a single Senate seat and are at great risk of losing the House in November but Warren is offering a prescription thats in keeping with her policy-wonk identity during the 2020 primary. She wants anti-price gouging legislation and a ban on lawmaker stock trades on the Senate floor ASAP and quick work on a drug pricing and tax reform bill to wash away the bad taste of Build Back Betters failure.

Summing up her role in the fractious Democratic Party at the moment, Warren said: My job right now is to light the fire of urgency. We cant waste a single day.

In tandem with Congress, she also wants President Joe Biden to cancel student loan debt, raise overtime pay and use executive actions to bring down drug prices. With the evenly divided Senate struggling to pass even a $10 billion coronavirus bill, its a tall order; still, Warren is pitching her revitalized agenda as a vital antidote to conservative framing of the election.

Economically struggling Americans creates an urgency that Democrats need to respond to. Thats why were here, Warren said. Were not here to fight cultural wars. Were here to make a real difference in the lives of people who need us.

Theres some debate among Democrats about just how successful theyve been during the last 16 months of complete control of Washington. They passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law, a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure law, a government funding law, postal reform, confirmed a new Supreme Court justice and are on the verge of clinching a competition and manufacturing bill.

But rising prices, war in Ukraine and sagging public sentiment are dominating the political discourse.

The inflation thing is really difficult because people will assume its Bidens fault or our fault. When in fact the pandemic is causing more of this than anything else. And Ukraine is not helping, said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who wants the Senate to focus on lowering meat and prescription drug prices. Weve got to figure out things that we can do that we can tout.

Some Democrats see a real risk of disappointing voters if they dont take more action after running on a sweeping anti-corruption bill, federal elections reform, beefing up social spending programs and reversing the Trump tax cuts. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said that as a general rule, I definitely think that over-promising and under-delivering is not an effective strategy.

What I would be doing is reversing the Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and extending the Child Tax Credit that expired in January, said Bennet, who is up for reelection this fall. That would help.

There are nascent discussions occurring between Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on tax reform, climate and prescription drug bill to take the place of the sweeping Build Back Better social policy bill that Manchin opposed. That probably wont have the expanded child tax credit in it, but Warren said nonetheless its critical Democrats use their power to pass a party-line spending plan successfully.

I dont care about the titles, labels, I dont care about who gets to carry the leadership mantle or the authorship for doing the pieces. We need to pick the pieces that the American people are counting on us to deliver on, she said.

But some Democrats are reluctant to crank up the negotiations, publicly at least. As Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) put it: We have an opportunity to do more. We dont want the negotiations to be public ... And I dont want to raise expectations. He argues that last year was the best year for a president during his three decades in Congress.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has advocated that Schumer put popular pieces of the defunct Build Back Better on the floor and dare Republicans and Manchin to block them, a strategy the Democratic leader has declined to embrace. And while Warren isnt exactly pitching that, she said there could be some utility to creating contrasts between the two parties.

She wants Democrats to put a bill allowing the Federal Trade Commission to investigate price gouging responsible for costly consumer goods and dare the Republicans to vote against it. A clean, simple bill.

Lets put it to the Republicans. Do they care about price gouging from the perspective of helping the consumers? Or from the perspective of letting the big corporations continue to get away with it? Warren said.

The tension between his multiple ambitious members visions sets up complicated dynamics for Schumer to navigate in the coming weeks. As Biden is asking for more money for military aid for Ukraine, theres bipartisan hand-wringing over Bidens border policies and Democrats are itching to confront rising prices.

There are also plenty of nominees Biden wants confirmed while Democrats still control the Senate, and a decreasing window of floor time. Tester described Schumers dilemma as: What can he put on the floor to get the most bang for the buck and actually make a difference, that is more than just a press release?

Warren sees an aggressive agenda as the best way to get Democrats out of their defensive crouch and scramble the assumption that they are headed for a shellacking this fall. The urgency of the moment demands it, she argues.

The things we need to do are things that touch peoples lives directly, Warren said. We promised to act on this. The Republicans did not.

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Warren tries to 'light the fire of urgency' for Democrats - POLITICO

A coalition of 17 Democratic governors sent a letter to Congress Tuesday urging U.S. lawmakers to codify Roe v. Wade to protect the right to abortion access following a draft opinion leaked from the Supreme Court that would overturn the landmark ruling.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), who is leading the coalition, shared the Tuesday letter on Twitter. It urges Congress to take immediate action to protect reproductive rights across the nation by passing the Womens Health Protection Act legislation introduced in September 2021 that would guarantee a womens right to abortion access.

Reproductive healthcare decisions are deeply personal and should be made by patients in consultation with their healthcare providers, not by politicians, the letter reads. The consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade for millions across the nation cannot be overstated. Our collective responsibility to defend access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion, has never been more important.

In addition to Evers, the letter was signed by Govs. Gavin Newsom (Calif.), Ned Lamont (Conn.), Jared Polis (Colo.), J.B. Pritzker (Ill.), Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.), Tim Walz (Minn.) and Steve Sisolak (Nev.), Phil Murphy (N.J.), Michelle Lujan Grisham (N.M.), Kathy Hochul (N.Y.), Roy Cooper (N.C.), Kate Brown (Ore.), Tom Wolf (Pa.), Daniel McKee (R.I.), Jay Inslee (Wash.) and Albert Bryan Jr. (Virgin Islands).

Politico on Monday night leaked a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito and backed by a conservative majority that would overturn Roe v. Wade. The court will is expected to rule on the case Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which involves a challenge to a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi, in the coming weeks.

Chief Justice John Roberts released a statement on Tuesday confirming the authenticity of the draft opinion, but noted it was just a draft and opinions could change. He also called for an investigation into who leaked it.

Both the leak and its contents drew an explosion of concerns across the country from politicians, advocacy organizations and celebrities.

On Tuesday, President Biden called on Congress and states to act and said Americans should vote in pro-choice candidates in the upcoming midterm elections.

If the Court does overturnRoe,it will fall on our nations elected officials at all levels of government to protect a womans right to choose, Biden said. And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November.

After former president Donald Trump installed a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, Republican-led states from Texas to Oklahoma have introduced new laws that severely limit abortion access.

Thirteen states have trigger laws in place, designed to take effect automatically or by quick state action if Roe no longer applies.

In the letter to Congress, the Democratic governors warned that some conservative states could quickly criminalize abortion without federal intervention.

Overturning Roe will turn back the clock on reproductive health, and Congress must immediately take action to ensure that our nation does not go backward and that the rights of all Americans to access reproductive healthcare and abortion continue to be protected, the letter reads.

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Democratic governors urge Congress to codify Roe v. Wade in light of draft opinion - The Hill

The commission documents said Perkins Coie where a partner at the time, Marc Elias, was representing the Clinton campaign paid Fusion GPS slightly more than $1 million in 2016, and the law firm was in turn paid $175,000 by the campaign and about $850,000 by the party during six weeks in July and August 2016. Campaign spending disclosure reports described most of those payments to Perkins Coie as having been for legal services and legal and compliance consulting.

The Washington Examiner earlier reported on the commissions letter to Mr. Backer.

The Steele dossier was a set of reports written by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent whose research firm was a subcontractor that Fusion GPS hired to look into Mr. Trumps purported links to Russia. The reports cited unnamed sources who claimed that there was a well-developed conspiracy of coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and that Russia had a blackmail tape of Mr. Trump with prostitutes.

In addition to giving his reports to Perkins Coie, Mr. Steele shared some with the F.B.I. and reporters. The F.B.I. which had opened its investigation into Russias election interference operation and links to the Trump campaign on other grounds used part of the dossier in applications to wiretap a Trump associate. BuzzFeed published the dossier in January 2017, heightening suspicion about Mr. Trump and Russia.

It has become clear that the dossiers sourcing was thin. No corroborating evidence emerged in the intervening years to support many of its claims, such as the purported sex tape, and investigators determined that one key allegation that a lawyer for Mr. Trump, Michael D. Cohen, had met with Russian officials in Prague during the campaign was false.

The primary source of information in the dossier was Igor Danchenko, a researcher hired by Mr. Steele to canvass for information about Mr. Trump and Russia from people he knew, including in Europe and Russia.

Mr. Danchenko told the F.B.I. in 2017 that he thought the tenor of the dossier was more conclusive than was justified. He portrayed the story of the blackmail tape as speculation that he was unable to confirm; a key source had called him without identifying himself, he said, adding that he had guessed at the sources identity.

Last year, the Trump-era special counsel investigating the Russia inquiry, John H. Durham, indicted Mr. Danchenko on charges that he lied to the F.B.I. about some of his sources.

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Democrats Agree to Pay $113,000 Over Campaign Spending Inquiry - The New York Times

Last year, election results in New Jersey and Virginia left Democrats disappointed, like Weezer fans in 1998 upon hearing the news that Matt Sharp had departed the band. If progressives want a better outcome in this Novembers crucial midterms, they need to take a hard look in the reflective surface of their 2017 Pacific Daydream CD and realize that the problem is their out-of-touch messaging. Its plain to see that Americans perceive Democrats as a party that simply could not care less about Weezer.

In my conversations with the citizens of this great nationwhether they are Weezer Appreciation Society members from the East Coast, Midwest, or West Coast; people in the front row at Weezer concerts; or strangers on Weezer message boardsI encounter the same refrain, one that is spreading faster than the chorus of Weezers first-ever No. 1 single, 2005s Beverly Hills. What I hear is, What about Weezer?

The chasm between politicians and those they serve has become as wide as the gap between the raw emotional shriek of Pinkerton and the polished power-pop of the Green Album. But try explaining that to lites who have spent so much time in their bubbles that they no longer have the slightest clue what normal folks worry about. Everyday Americans dont want to talk about divisive political issues; they want to talk about Weezer. How can any politician claim to understand ordinary citizens but not know that their concerns are not some side project, like Pat Wilsons Special Goodness or Brian Bells Space Twins?

There is hope. When Weezer released Hurley, it seemed like they might have taken a permanent wrong turn into scattershot experimentationbut Everything Will Be Alright in the End showed that the band could return to form with a straightforward alternative LP that fans loved. As Rivers Cuomo sang on the hit single Back to the Shack, Maybe I should play the lead guitar and Pat should play the drums.

Democratic politicians need to keep their audience in mind, much as Weezer does when performing crowd-pleasing cuts such as Say It Aint So and Buddy Holly night after night. Liberal politicians cant afford to speak the esoteric language of graduate students and policy wonks. If they want to get more votes than their opponents in the heartland, they instead must get back to the basics: months-long discussions about every detail of Weezers history, discography, and live-set lists.

As the classic Weezer T-shirt says, If its too loud, turn it down. Democrats non-Weezer obsessions have been drowning out the sound of the musical phenomenon that has sold thirty-five million albums worldwide. Voters are hungry for leaders who recognize that there is not a Blue Album America and a Red Album America. There is only one united Weezer America. Now thats the kind of slogan that belongs on a bumper sticker.

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If Democrats Want to Win in 2022, They Must Focus on Weezer: An Op-Ed by the President of the Weezer Appreciation Society - The New Yorker

What are Democrats to do about Clarence Thomas? Following further revelations about wife Ginni Thomass involvement in efforts to undermine Joe Bidens 2020 election victory including her conspiratorial text messages to former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows Democrats have been exploring ways to handle the massive ethical concerns swirling around the conservative Supreme Court justice. But the party has yet to settle on a response, with lawmakers divided over what they can and should do to hold Thomas to account and maintain the credibility of the court.

A handful of progressives, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, have suggested Thomas should be impeached. This is a tipping point, the New York representative wrote Tuesday. Inaction is a decision to erode and further delegitimize SCOTUS. Others have called for him to resign or at the very least recuse himself from matters related to the insurrection January 6. Ive always thought he should recuse himself, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Monday. But party leaders have also suggested there are limits to what they themselves can do about it.

Its up to an individual justice, Pelosi reportedly told Democratic colleagues in a closed-door meeting Tuesday, to decide to recuse himself if his wife is participating in a coup.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and 23 congressional colleagues wrote a letter earlier this week demanding Thomas immediately issue a written explanation for his failure to recuse himself from previous 2020 election cases and to promptly recuse himself from any future Supreme Court cases involving the efforts to overturn Trumps reelection loss. The letter also called on Chief Justice John Roberts to create a binding Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court by the end of April. Chief Justice Roberts has often spoken about the importance of the Supreme Courts credibility and legitimacy as an institution, Warren and the two dozen Democratic signatories wrote. That trust, already at all-time lows with the American public, must be earned.

Ginni Thomass right-wing activism has long fueled conflict of interest questions about her husband, the high courts senior conservative. But those concerns have intensified in recent weeks after she admitted to attending one of the rallies preceding the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol and the Washington Post last week published texts she sent to Meadows parroting election fraud conspiracy theories and urging him to Help This Great President stand firm.

The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History, Ginni Thomas wrote Trumps chief of staff after news outlets called the election for Biden November 10.

Thomass endorsement of wild conspiracy theories and her engagement after the 2020 election with congressional Republicans and the Trump White House, possibly including the former presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner have further undermined any claim to non-partisanship Clarence Thomas may have had, and raised doubts about his ability to fairly preside over January 6 cases including Trumps effort to withhold records from the House select committee investigating the riot, which the Supreme Court rejected in January, with Thomas the lone dissent. (That committee, led by Representative Bennie Thompson, is expected to call on Ginni Thomas to testify.)

Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin have all called for Thomas to remove himself from January 6 cases. Meanwhile, two lawmakers Senator Chris Murphy and Representative Hank Johnson, who has suggested Thomas resign are renewing calls to pass the Supreme Court Ethics Act, which they reintroduced last year to reverse some of the dangerous politicization of the Supreme Court that weve seen in the past, and build public trust in the independence and integrity of the court. Now is the time to pass it, Murphy wrote.

But it isnt clear what will come of the Democrats pressure on Thomas or their broader demands for ethics reforms on the nations high court. Republicans have dismissed Thomass conflicts of interest, framing it as an effort by Democrats to delegitimize the Supreme Court and attack one of its most conservative judges. Its a coordinated effort to nullify the presence of Justice Clarence Thomas on the court, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in floor remarks Wednesday, describing calls for his recusal as inappropriate. (Other Republicans have called on Democrats to keep family members out of politics, even as they invoke Hunter Biden in their attacks on Democrats.) And based on Pelosis pointed comments in the closed-door meeting Tuesday, which came in response to a question from Ocasio-Cortez, its not clear how much interest Democratic leaders have in going beyond their calls that Thomas recuse himself a measure the justice has shown no inclination for taking.

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Calls for Recusals, Resignations, and Even Impeachment: Democrats Escalate Ethics Campaign Around Clarence Thomas - Vanity Fair

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Bill Callahan accepts the honor of North Andover Democrat of the Year at Salvatore's in Lawrence.

Bryan McGonigle, Wicked Local

Hes known for his financial acumen, service to the community and loud mouth on social media. And now, the North Andover Democratic Town Committee has named Bill Callahan as Democrat of the Year.

Callahan who taught social studies in Brookline and New York State before jumping over to the corporate world has served on the towns Finance Committee from 2014 to 2017 and is currently a member of the Community Preservation Committee.

Callahan accepted the honor at the groups annual Scholarship Breakfast and first thanked his wife and three kids, who he said are far more outspoken than he.

Its said Im outspoken. I dont even know if I crack the top three at 23 Lyman Road, Callahan laughed. If you think youve worked a tough room, just come to our kitchen.

Callahan, who was raised on the South Shore, has also been helping out with campaigns for the past few years, promoting Democratic and left-leaning candidates for local and state races: holding signs, spreading the word and being extra vocal on issues he cares about.

They say, a lot of the time that Massachusetts is a one-party state. And at this point, its almost kind of true, he continued. Weve got one party out there governing. And weve got the Mass. GOP meeting in garages of their benefactor, and they have about as much influence as an interpretive dance troupe.

And that would really be funny, except that those people whose ideas are so regressive they want to take us to paces we dont want to go anymore.

Callahan urged people in the audience to get active in the campaigns to come this year. Gov. Charlie Baker is not running again, so the corner office on Beacon Hill is wide open. And there are a slew of other state offices open.

I think politics is a term that gets a bad name. Harold Lasswell was a political scientist whose definition I used in my classes, and he said: Politics can be defined as who gets what, how and when. And when the Massachusetts Democratic Party practices politics, the citizens of Massachusetts benefit.

Our kids get great educations. Were number one in the country for education. Our citizens get health care. Were number one for health care coverage in this country. Our sisters and daughters get access to reproductive rights no matter what happens in June when the Supreme Court makes their decision. And our LGBTQIA+ citizens get the respect and the dignity they deserve by state law, and theyre protected.

As with every year, Sundays event included a straw poll including candidates for state and local races.

North Andover School Committee:

Democratic nominee for governor:

Sonia Chang-Diaz 10.43%

Maura Healey 89.57%

Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor:

Democratic nominee for attorney general:

Democratic nominee for secretary of state:

Democratic nominee for state auditor

Democratic nominee for Essex County District Attorney:

President Joe Bidens job performance

Support for Royal Crest redevelopment

Support for school renovation and building plans

More here:

Bill Callahan named North Andover Democrat of the Year - Wicked Local

Watching congressional Democrats these days feels like a painful, slow-motion car wreck. They are sleepwalking into a health care disaster thats entirely of their own making. With little debate or media focus, Democrats are on the verge of dooming millions of Americans to huge new health care bills, which will in turn serve to ruin any hope Democrats have of winning the midterms. And that will effectively destroy any chance of real health care reform for at least another decade.

In 2021, as part of the American Rescue Plan, Democrats improved the Affordable Care Act subsidies for the insurance exchanges. For the first time, this created a situation where all American citizens qualified to get health insurance at a legally defined affordable premium. Despite its flaws, it was a big ideological statement, and a serious improvement for the 14 million with exchange coverage. While the bill only improved subsidies for two years, almost everyone assumed Democrats would eventually make the change permanent, since it had support across the entire Senate caucus, and allowing enhanced subsidies to expire would be politically idiotic.

More from Jon Walker

It turns out, though, that one should never underestimate the collective incompetence of the Democratic Party. Making the enhanced subsidies permanent was supposed to be part of the Build Back Better plan, but Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) killed that. Now, Manchin is talking about a new, much smaller reconciliation package, which notably does not include these subsidies or any other social-program improvements. All of the spending in Manchins proposed package would be on energy programs.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, some 3.4 million Americans will become uninsured if these subsidies arent extended. The health care foundation KFF determined that premiums would more than double for many. Potentially all subscribers on the insurance exchanges will be affected, though we dont know precisely how.

Unlike the expiration of the expanded Child Tax Credit, which was a relatively even hit for every parent a year before the election, how much a person will be impacted varies greatly depending on income, age, and location. For some, the change will be modest, but others will receive news effectively of financial ruin right before they vote.

While current enhanced ACA subsidies dont expire until the end of December, open enrollment to sign up for insurance in 2023 starts on November 1st. This means customers will receive letters about their 2023 premiums, and the news will start covering stories about premium increases, in October, the same time that mail-in ballots will reach voters.

Currently, inflation ranks as the top concern among Americans, and Democrats have set it up so that millions will be told they face a massive increase in their cost of living right before the election.

Beyond broadly hurting 14 million people, the end of these subsidies will create thousands of uniquely horrific stories of financial devastation.

For a sense of how devastating inaction on extending the subsidies will be, imagine a 60-year-old woman in Huntington, West Virginia, who lost her job due to the pandemic and started a small business making $56,000 a year. The enhanced ACA subsidies mean that this year, the cheapest health insurance plan is costing her only $93 a month. But next year without the subsidies, she will be paying over $1,500 a month for the same coverage with a very high deductible.

Since almost no one thought Democrats would fail to extend the subsidies, many people made employment and financial plans accordingly. Individuals have quit jobs, moved, dropped previous insurance, and made other plans that rely on the new subsidies, only to have the rug potentially pulled out from under them in October.

Beyond broadly hurting 14 million people, the end of these subsidies will create thousands of uniquely horrific stories of financial devastation. Due to the weird interplay of the ACAs insurance rules around age and the design of the subsidies, the most jaw-dropping price hikes will be among older middle-class Americans. Many of them will likely feel betrayed that Democrats made them financially worse off than before. This is a group that tends to turn out disproportionately in midterm elections. All of these stories will be news fodder to highlight in the weeks before the midterms.

Congressional Republicans have steadfastly opposed any improvement to the ACA since its inception. Republicans have even refused to allow the normal minor clerical corrections that follow almost every major piece of legislation, so they could try to exploit these technical issues to ruin the ACA in multiple lawsuits. If Republicans win another massive midterm victory because Democrats once again mishandled health care, it is extremely unlikely they are going to want to turn around and help Democrats fix the problem.

Furthermore, if Republicans win in 2022, Democrats are unlikely to win another trifecta for at least another decade, if not longer. In addition, if millions of people feel they have been burned by making the mistake of choosing to use the Democrats health care program, public opinion of the program could take a big hit. The ACAs favorable rating has improved by five points since Democrats enhanced the subsidies, but remains at 58 percent, owing in part to implacable opposition from the right wing. Those numbers will likely rocket downward if the subsidy enhancements expire.

On a separate track, previous pandemic relief measures included a continuous coverage option that gave states higher shares of Medicaid funding. Those changes end if the administration ends the public-health emergency created by COVID-19. The emergency could end as soon as this summer, according to published reports, which would instantly allow states to cull their Medicaid rolls and throw 12 million people, by one estimate, off public health insurance. Build Back Better would have stepped down the increased payments to states slowly, kept a small portion of them in place, and made it harder for states to disenroll lots of beneficiaries in one shot. But with Build Back Better dead, thats gone too, imperiling millions of Medicaid patients, again just before the midterms.

If Democrats miss the opportunity to permanently fix Medicaid and the ACA subsidies, it might not be possible to ever rebuild trust in the ACA or in the Democrats brand as the party of health care. It will be very hard to sell slowly building on the ACA if Democrats prove they cant be trusted to ever do that.

See the article here:

Democrats Creating Their Own October Surprise - The American Prospect