MOMocrats™

A Word On Bi-Partisanship

Man, who ever thought it would be so hard being in charge?  Seriously.  It's become quite apparent that the Democrats have a serious case of minority-party PTSD as, with the exception of a hand full of brave souls, they seem capable of doing little more than cowering in the corner while Boehner and McConnell continue to steal their lunch money.

And all the while the drumbeat of criticism levied at President Obama about his push toward "bi-partisan" solutions has grown louder as even reasonable minded Democrats seem about ready to abandon this presidency and resign themselves to handing the keys back over to the GOP.  I'll admit, I'm on that ledge.  But let's consider this.  What if bi-partisanship is not about Republican support, but about trying to wrestle in the remaining Reagan Democrats in Congress?

Look at who is consistently blocking Democratic initiatives, for example.  Ben Nelson (D-NE) is a perfect case study.  Now, as a Nebraskan I can speak a bit to Nelson and he is a classic Nebraska Democrat.  If the Republicans were not so blatant in their racism he'd (and most his voters) would be Republicans.  Same with Evan Bayh.  Unless the Democrats were to get real comfortable with the idea of passing every piece of legislation via reconciliation (which would be far too brass-knuckled for the delicate constitutions of Democrats), President Obama needed to find a way to maintain 60 votes, and keep up appearances of Democratic unity.  That's a political quagmire if one ever existed.

But so what?  What do we do now that the Republicans control the House and have pledged to block every piece of legislation the Democrats introduce (save, of course, tax cuts, OBVIOUSLY).  Do we let them, as some on the left have suggested and let the American people see them for the obstructionists that they are?  Sounds tempting, but I'm starting to think that's too sophisticated for our current political media and most voters.  Sigh.

Or, do we take the tactic of our President and work to get SOMETHING passed, knowing that something is better than nothing and it is easier to build on legislation than to pass it?  That's what we did with health care reform and financial services reform.  It's also what we did with civil rights legislation.  Our first Civil Rights Act was pretty meager.  Over time it got better.  I suspect the same will be true with the Affordable Care Act, presuming the Democrats (and a few sane Republicans) find the will to beat back the impulse to cave to the quick and conservative-media driven narrative that the bill is garbage.

So, I guess what I'm saying is let's not give up, no matter how dark and how cold our political climate may be right now.  And lets resist the urge to punish one man for the failings of Congress and keep in mind that legislative change happens incrementally, and often is a process of two steps forward, one step back.  We'll get there, and President Obama can still bring us there, but not if we expect miracles and victories at every turn and in every year.

MOMocrats Get the (Skinny) Scoop on Women & Politics

Recently, the MOMocrats partnered with personal polling site The Skinny Scoop to develop an on-line poll to find out how politics and political discussions impact women's lives.  We posted a ten-question non-partisan "Quiz" to find out: (1) What issues are important in how we will be voiting in the 2010 midterm elections; (2) How involved women are in politics, from voting to following the news; (3) How politics affects their personal relationships with partners and friends; and (4) Whether gender plays a role in how we vote. 

 Not surprisingly, the economy tops the list of issues that women are most concerned about this election cycle. At least one of the commenters felt that only being able to choose one topic was difficult, since some of the topics are inter-related and important to everyone.

 Somewhat more surprising was the fact that 36% of women get their political news/info from social media sites, rather than traditional media outlets.  Candidates should probably be paying more attention to their Twitter and Facebook accounts than they probably are.  Of course, the best source for news online are the MOMocrats blog, Facebook, and Twitter, but I'm a little biased on that front.

Women who answered the quiz were an amazingly active group, with 65% stating that they had volunteered for a political candidate or party.  We hope that activism spills out into the upcoming mid-term elections.

On the gender factor in deciding who to vote for, 50% of those polled say that, all things being equal, a political candidate being a woman is a positive.  A little less than half thought it was a "neutral" factor, and none thought it was a negative factor.  On the topic of gender, 63% of women who answered think a woman will be President of the US by 2020.  I'm still waiting to see who that woman will be.  Currently, Australia, Argentina, Costa Rica, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, India, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland,  and Trinidad & Tobago all have women presidents or prime ministers.  Sixty-nine women world-wide have led their countries, whereas according to 50-50 by 2020, in the US, only  31 women have ever served as governor of 23 states.  If you ask me, we may have come a long way, baby, but we've got a long way to go to get to parity in government.

What do you think about these topics?  The Quiz is still open, so please go and register your opinions on these topics and more at Skinny Scoop.

~When not answering polls, MOMocrat Glennia can be found blogging at her family travel blog, The Silent I.

MOMocrats Interview: Jim Meffert

Last week MOMocrats writer Jaelithe Judy had the chance to speak with Jim Meffert, a Democrat running for Congress in Minnesota's Third District against incumbent Republican Erik Paulsen, who was elected in 2008.

A former president of the Minnesota State PTA Board, a member of the P-20 Partnership for Education, and the the executive director of the Minnesota Optometric Association, Jim Meffert is also a father of three. 

Listen to the interview below, or read the transcript. 

Meffert_Interview_MOMocrats

Jim Meffert: I'm going to get get my wife hooked up with you guys.

Jaelithe Judy: That's great.

She's a professional musician — clarinetist — and has extremely strong opinions, on everything! Which is fantastic. And frankly, about a year ago when we were looking at getting into this, she and I would gauge where we were at with getting into the race. She was at 70% on day one; I was at about 50%. And she said, you've got to get out and do this. So she would be great to connect with.

We definitely like opinionated women at MOMocrats.

And I tell you, I don't know if you know any of my background, but, being on the board of the state PTA, and I was chair of a group called the Minnesota Children's Platform Coalition, and worked with Every Child Matters, and so I have spent my entire, my volunteer career, around strong women trying to do the same that you're doing — trying to get families involved, trying to talk about how we help families and kids, talking about parents' involvement in schools. So, anything that I can do to help you guys also, to broaden the audience and broaden the discussion, let me know, because we've got to use campaigns to do that too.

Well thanks, I appreciate that! Well, I have some questions for you if you're ready.

"The Great Unfinished Business of Our Time": Health Care Reform

In the closing passages of his speech to the joint session of Congress, President Obama urged members of the House and Senate to rise to the finest in our national character and finally provide a humane way to address the health needs of all of America's citizens. We know the status quo is broken. What'll we do about it?

Woven into the soaring rhetoric of President Obama's speech were specific calls to three prominent Republican senators: Senator John McCain, Senator Orrin Hatch, and Senator Chuck Grassley.

Senator McCain, President Obama noted, had worked in bipartisan fashion with Senator Ted Kennedy to advance a federal patient's bill of rights (which never passed in the House). Senator Orrin Hatch worked with Senator Ted Kennedy to pass children's health insurance. Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Ted Kennedy collaborated on a bill that helped families take better care of their children with disabilities.

If you're on Twitter, use these buttons to quickly and conveniently sign a petition urging these senators to vote for a health insurance reform bill that has a strong public option.

Senator John McCain

Senator Chuck Grassley

Senator Orrin Hatch

In the Voting Booth, No One Knows You're a Dog

Ssssshhhhh, come here. I want to tell you a secret.

You know the saying, "On the internetz, no one knows you're a dog?"

Well, in the voting booth, no one knows you're a dog either.

A lot's been said about the Bradley effect  here, and here, where whites asked if they'll vote for Obama lie to polltakers. It's a question that clouds the candidacy of every African American running for elected office no matter their record of achievement, partisan affiliation, or the fact that largely white states populated by Iowans, Wisconsinites, and the many many white people of California all voted for Obama. And not only were these intrepid white people *not* struck down by lightning, they felt better, looked an average of 5-9 years younger, any lingering back problems went away, and their skin cleared up immediately. (I can see you through the computer screen, and You. Look. Marvelous.)

Polls are only as reliable as people are honest. And who's going to tell a pollster, a total stranger, "I'd never vote for a black man"? Only a really really hard-core person who can't get past race. (As we heard from Mary in Nebraska, unfortunately, there are more than a few of those people around everywhere. But even they might not want to say what they really think and feel to someone they don't already know.)

That's why at MOMocrats we have a category called "Polls, Shmolls."

The DNC: The Road to the White House Goes Through the Mountain West States

(Note: I began this piece while at the DNC and have only now had a chance to complete it. The presentation at the DNC was excellent, substantive, and on-point--unlike our recent roll in the mud with Palin as VP pick, thanks to the RNC and McCain. As an addition to the McCain ticket, Palin's a hot mess straight from Jerry Springer, with media vetting of her record and life, literally, by the National Enquirer. How about a refocus on issues and the people who vote for them?)

Senator Ken Salazar (CO), Governor Janet Napolitano (AZ), and pollster Andrew Myers presented the case for Obama's potential 2008 win with votes from a newly emergent coalition, one consisting of eight Mountain West states (pdf). Latinos, college educated/upper income voters, and libertarian-leaning gun owners dominate the demography of the region, and generally they are hugely uninterested in the concerns that typically characterize Southern Coalition voters. The latter coalition have in past elections been mobilized by "values" issues summarized in shorthand as "(pro-)god, (pro-)guns, and (anti-)gays."

Latino Voters Prefer Obama to McCain

Today's LA Times summarizes a few polls showing how nationally, and in the state of California, a healthy majority of registered Latino voters prefer Obama to McCain.

A new Gallup Poll summary of surveys taken in May shows Obama winning 62% of Latino registered voters nationwide, compared with just 29% for McCain. Others have found a wide gap as well. The pro-Democratic group Democracy Corps compiled surveys from March through May that showed Obama with a 19-point lead among Latinos. And a Times poll published last month showed Obama leading McCain among California Latinos by 14 points.

Big State Distortions and Buyer's Remorse--in California, At Least

One of the linchpins of Clinton's claim to a winning electoral map (the catchy "map, not math" jingle that made its debut recently) is that she has won all the big states that are rich in electoral college votes.

The biggest state population-wise is where I'm based: California. At 55 electoral college votes, the next president has to carry this state to make 270 electoral college votes or face defeat.

Clinton won a majority of the delegates in California when our primary was held on Super Tuesday. But one of the biggest fallacies of her argument for viability as a nominee is the assumption that all those "17 million people" who voted for her have not budged in their support for her.

Testing Your Knowledge of Gay Rights...

Hunter College just released the results of a comprehensive study, touted by the institution as the most comprehensive study of lesbian, gay and bisexual attitudes and behavior to date.

When the results went public, the headline news was that its finding that roughly 2.9% of Americans are lesbian, gay or bisexual. While instinctively, that number feels low to me (I believe that my kids might argue, in the context of that stat, that I know all the gay people in America). But this is not the finding of most interest to me. Or the most disturbing one.

Respondents to the survey who identified as gay were tested on their knowledge regarding the law as it relates to their rights. They were asked four questions. And no, the first one was not "Why is tonight different from all other nights?"

Rather than give you the answers, I'll pose the questions, so you can play along. For each question below, see if YOU know the answer.

Ready?  Here goes.

1. Is marriage between two men or two women legal in your state?
2. Can gay men and lesbians serve openly in the military?
3. Does the U.S. Constitution have an amendment that bans same-sex marriage?
4. Is there a national law making it illegal to fire someone for being lesbian, gay or bisexual?

OK, I'll give you a little while.  This quiz is open to all without regard to sexual orientation.  And we work on the honor system.  Don't go telling me you got all 4 right if you didn't.

Or, if you'd prefer, why don't you guess what % of gay respondents got all four questions right?  Weigh in and stay tuned.

Obama Works: Yes They Can

It's shocking the amount of money both Democratic candidates have raised since entering the race, whether big checks from wealthy benefactors, or from individuals who give in small $5 or $10 portions.

Since declaring her candidacy in 2007, Hillary Clinton has raised over $189 million through 3/31/08. Barack Obama has raised almost $235 million as of 3/31/08.

Given the nature of Obama's grassroots campaign, the progressive agenda that's united his supporters, and the increasingly pinched feeling we're all getting from our shrinking economy, it's no surprise that Obama supporters felt that they could use their energies and fundraising ability to contribute to the greater good RIGHT NOW.