By George Skelton Capitol Journal

March 4, 2013

SACRAMENTO — “Too white, too right and too uptight,” says a veteran political consultant. “That’s why the Republican Party can’t come back in California.”

Strategist David Townsend is a Democrat, so that’s the sort of comment you would expect from the likes of him.

Karl Rove, former President George W. Bush’s chief strategist, told a luncheon of about 500 delegates Saturday that the GOP needs to reflect the diversity of America. “If we do, we’ll succeed.”

U.S. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, California’s highest-ranking Republican, told the Sacramento Press Club on Friday that the party “should embrace a little bit of libertarianism.”

More: Ugly Numbers for State GOP

In this town where tragedy relaunched the nation’s debate over gun violence, people on all sides of the political divide expressed support Wednesday for President Obama’s proposals to ban assault weapons and establish tighter background checks for gun buyers.

“It shouldn’t be a Democratic or a Republican issue,” said Marsha Moskowitz, a Democrat who supports the president’s proposals. “It’s a human issue. It’s about humanity.”

First Selectman Pat Llodra, a Republican who is Newtown’s chief executive, said she supports them, too.

Llodra, who attended Obama’s announcement, was in Washington meeting with mayors who support efforts to reduce gun violence, improve mental health policies and address school safety needs

“We are past the time for political ideology or rhetoric — this is the time for change,” Llodra said in a written statement to USA TODAY. “It should not be an issue of Democrats or Republicans — the I-say-yes, so-you-say-no nonsense we have all witnessed the past few years.”

In last year’s presidential election, Newtown voted for Republican Mitt Romney. In 2008, Obama won most of the Newtown vote.

More: Newtown Residents Express Support for Obama Gun Plan

Powell’s in the same boat I am — I voted for the GOP presidential candidate in the 7 elections prior to 2012. I’m now a registered Democrat, and it’s unlikely that I will vote for a Republican anytime soon.

More: Powell on Racism

More at Politics USA politicususa.com

Kyrsten Sinema Prepares for National Stage

Representative-elect Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) meets with supporters at a Phoenix coffee shop in Arizona’s 9th District. Photo by Peter O’Dowd

This January, Arizona will send a very different type of Congresswoman to Washington, D.C. Democrat Kyrsten Sinema was a social worker who rose quickly through the state legislature.

She also grew up homeless for a time.

And now, at 36, she’s about to hit the national stage as the first person to represent Arizona’s new 9th Congressional District.

On a rainy Saturday morning in December, Sinema sat with her legs dangling from a table at a Phoenix coffee shop.

“So we won the election,” she said, eliciting laughter and applause from about a dozen supporters. “That was good.”

Sinema’s also got a place to live in Washington, D.C., and a new Congressional office.

She told her audience that she marvels at the number of women, minorities and members of the LGBT community that will join her in the freshman class.

“I’m really proud of the Democratic caucus,” said Sinema, who will be the first openly bisexual member of Congress. “I look around in our meetings and I think ‘we really look like America.’”

[…]

Read it all. It’s good and not too long. There’s also an audio clip at the link.

Then, if you want more, Peter O’Dowd has added a blog post with a link to Sinema’s Ph.D. thesis.

Representative-elect Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat with a Ph.D., is heading to Congress early next year.

While I was writing a profile about Sinema that’s set to air this week, I came across her doctoral dissertation on the Rwandan genocide. Sinema finished the degree at Arizona State University’s School of Social Justice this year. (Yes, she also ran successfully for Congress in 2012.)

The treatise is 251 pages long and not really relevant for the radio story. But I’m posting it here for a few reasons:

[…]

You really need to punch out to view this full screen.

xkcd.com

A good summary of why we need federal government, and what is at risk during this election:

Who will build bridges, provide sewage systems, national defense, roads, airports, water systems, and so on if not the government? Who will force internalization of all costs of production if not the government? Who else can overcome adverse selection, information, and moral hazard problems in health and retirement markets? Conservatives can come up with stories about how the private sector will overcome these problems and provide goods in each case, but historically these goods simply haven’t been provided, at least not at the scale and breadth needed. That’s why government stepped in to begin with. To think it will somehow be different this time if government stepped out of the way is highly wishful thinking.

Read the full article: Extreme Politics will make the the US the Biggest Loser

rawstory.com

A Wisconsin man was charged on Friday afternoon for threats he made in February and March, in which he claimed that he was going to shoot Democrats and blow up the party’s state headquarters in Madison.

In more than 100 calls allegedly placed by William O. Diedrich to the Wisconsin Democratic Party headquarters, he threatened that his attack would make the devestation at the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995 look “like a firecracker compared to what’s gonna happen to you people,” according to The Wisconsin State Journal.

In another message allegedly left by Diedrich, he sang a song about how “Bama” should be murdered. In yet another, he warned that Democrats “better be wearing bulletproof vests.”

The calls were placed using a mobile device on the Tracfone prepaid service, so police had to recruit the help of AT&T in order to track down the man’s identity.

nj.com

In a dramatic move, Democratic leaders plan to announce Monday that a bill legalizing gay marriage will be the first measure to be introduced in the new session of the Senate and the Assembly, sources with knowledge of their intentions said last night.

The unified Democratic leadership represents the best chance supporters will have to see a bill legalizing gay marriage move through both houses, according to three sources who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the plan.

State Sen. President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who is now said to be a pivotal supporter of the legislation, abstained the last time the issue came before the Legislature in 2010 — a decision he later said he regretted more than any other in his career. A spokeman for Sweeney did not respond to questions about the plan last night.

thehill.com

While it’s never a sure thing sometimes where the actual money is going can be a leading indicator of who will win biggest in the coming election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) outraised the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in August and narrowly leads it in overall fundraising for the year to date.

The DCCC raised $3.6 million last month to the NRCC’s $3 million. For 2011, the DCCC has raised $41.3 million to the NRCC’s $40.4 million, although it trails the NRCC in cash on hand.

It is unusual for the minority party to outraise the party in power.

The race (NY) might point to another trend: a softening in Obama support from the Jewish community, which strongly backed him in 2008. The district has one of the largest Orthodox Jewish communities in the country.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a prominent Jewish congressman, said the Jewish vote is a concern for his party.

‘I think Jewish voters will be Democratic and be for Obama in 2012, especially if you get a Republican candidate like [Texas] Gov. [Rick] Perry,’ he said. ‘But there’s no question the Jewish community is much more bipartisan than it has been in previous years. There are Jews who are trending toward the Republican Party, some of it because of their misunderstanding of Obama’s policies in the Middle East, and some of it, quite frankly, for economic reasons. They feel they want to protect their wealth, which is why a lot of well-off voters vote for Republicans.’

I know he is Jewish, and I can’t say he is antisemitic, but he sure does feed the antisemites.

thehill.com