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New York, 2:32 AM
Mon Nov 9
14 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/04/09
11/04/09
I'm not really clear on why the news media is conveniently ignoring this fact. #barackobama
11/04/09
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11/05/09
11/05/09
As a political issue, term limits have historically been sought by conservatives and libertarians as a political ploy to break up what they see as entrenched Democratic constituencies (the Kennedys). The last notable time that term limits came to the fore as an issue was when Gingrich's "Contract With America" gang tried to get them imposed in Congress.
In New York City they were sought as part of the Conservative tilt that brought Giuliani to power. They were later confirmed, with the support of the mayor, in 1996. You are right, however, in saying that NYC term limits were sought through popular referendum, but that has not generally been the case, historically. #michaelbloomberg
11/05/09
Now, if a term limit were, in and of itself, an anti-democratic policy (as, say, abolishing womens' voting rights would be), I would see your point. But again, you haven't really demonstrated why it's anti-democratic. The fact that republicans/conservatives have, historically speaking, been the ones to float the idea doesn't prove that point.
11/04/09
Things, particularly politics, can be complicated, and it's not helpful to understanding an election to reduce it to a single narrative.
It's definitely true that both dem candidates in NJ and VA sucked.
And that (ergo / e.g.) in VA Deeds pretty much failed to turn out the Obama coalition, specifically young people and African Americans.
And it's definitely true that both elections (particularly NJ) focused on local issues.
However -- and I can speak with more specific knowledge to VA than NJ -- "national" issues like big government, tea bagging, etc also came into play.
Obama has definitely lost ground with indp voters. (Rightly or wrongly. I personally think wrongly / unfairly but it's still a problem.)
My bottom line is that while it would have been nice to win NJ and VA gov, we're talking about shitty candidates who deserved to lose. I have more sympathy for Deeds than for Corzine (former Goldman CEO who was on ok senator but a craptastic gov), but they both ran terrible campaigns.
And my hope is that these losses will serve as a wake-up call for 2010, both for the DNC/DCCC/DSCC and (more importantly) for we "grass roots" and the "Obama coalition" overall. #barackobama
11/04/09
11/04/09
One note about the independent voters: the number of people identifying as independent has boomed in part because of disaffected GOPers joining their ranks. It seems like at least some of the independent shift to the right is coming from these voters, many of whom were still identifying as Republican prior to the '08 election.
It's difficult to compare the level of independent voter support from then to now when the population of independent voters is increasing and the ID of "independent" is not affiliated with any specific political viewpoint. The strategists are going to have to get to work on the problem, since there are now more independents than either Democrats or Republicans. #barackobama
11/04/09
Hate Bloomberg or not, he has aided the arts, developed neighborhoods, while they are expensive, they are safe! I live in one of them, one that Bloomberg has dedicated most of his years in developing, expanding parks, bringing in schools and police presence and well my neighbors thank him. Yes, NYC is expensive, tell me something I dont know, but at least we get services for what we pay for. #michaelbloomberg
11/04/09
[www.cbsnews.com] #barackobama
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11/04/09
The Newark Star Ledger had a picture of a Hoboken Condo (where the Gov lives???) with a banner draping virtually the entire building with the tag line of "Column A All the Way"
Essex, Hudson, Bergen, Camden, etc. counties traditionally vote for democrats. They did so last night. Essex and Hudson were 68% Corzine.
Union shocked most people when it went 51% Corzine and 43% Christie. Union was expected to have a 30 point gap. Similarly, Bergen, the most populous county, was about 50/50.
Yes property tax was the main issue. However, many voters saw Gov Corzine's progressive policies as the source of the skyrocketing rates. [I got it, most ppty tax is municipal, not state]. For example, the NJ legislative budget office put a $20,000,0000,000 price tag on his COAH initiative.
His inability / unwillingness to address the key issues of his 2004 election also sealed his fate. 1) Did not bring transparency. He actually went to the NJ Supreme Court to shield his email to his ex-girlfriend labor leader. 2) He failed to rein in corruption. Instead, he (and his foundations) contributed to organizations and/or campaigns managed by many of the indicted. 3) He did nothing for property tax. Hew was seen as the person who piled on more programs. Before responding, I am not judging the merits of his programs -- many I support.
It was his arrogance that alienated many democratic voters. #barackobama
11/04/09
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11/04/09
That said, having lived in this city for 90% of my life, I can safely say he's best mayor we've had in my lifetime.
Gone is the nasty, shouting tone of our politics that seemed to dominate in the Koch and Giuliani era. Greenspace, closing down chunks of Broadway. 311. I could go on. These are things Bloomberg could accomplish precisely because he is an autocrat.
You really are deluding yourself if you think that Thompson would have been an effective mayor. Until the Dems clean up the party in this town, any Democratic mayor who gets elected is going to be so mortgaged to the Unions and other special interests, that they will be completely unable to function.
That is a fact. #michaelbloomberg
11/04/09
11/04/09
It seems to me all they wanted was Obama's endorsement in order to ride it out like a networked business card at an interview, but do none of the work themselves to actually get in office. It was lazy. They used the teacher's pass to goof off in the halls. Pitiful, if you ask me and the end result was deserved. So I attribute none of this to Obama's name power, as it were, if the candidates don't want to actually work for the position.
11/04/09
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11/04/09
I don't know much about the VA election, but the Northeast elections had little to nothing to do with Obama and a lot to do with people not being happy with what they had. #barackobama
11/04/09
11/04/09
But, you know, I always like your debate, Momchick. Where the hell is Chillbear in all this? Your team is looking a little lite these days. #barackobama
11/04/09
I have to quibble with you that the "I'm no Bush" strategy was last used with Kerry. While I agree that BO didn't use it (until he got into office and blamed all of our current situation on Dubya, who was a big, dumb cowboy), many liberal Senators and Congressman used that strategy against their Republican opponents to get into office last year.
I think that last night's results in NJ and Va isn't a referendum on Obama, but rather it reflects the nervousness of independents regarding the expensive sweeping changes Obama, Pelosi and Reid are proposing.
I will be curious to see how the Blue Dogs vote on Cap and Trade and health care after last night's results. I think only then will be fully grasp the results of Dem gubernatorial losses. #barackobama
11/04/09
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11/04/09
And also this: [www.zanyholidays.com]
11/04/09
To the barricades, comrades! #michaelbloomberg
11/04/09
Bloomberg is an arrogant ass, and Thompson embodies the citywide Democratic party's unique tendency to squander its numerical advantage by failing to field a candidate with more charm, fight, and appeal than a garden slug. They should have gone with Anthony Weiner. Maybe in 2013?
In that I was able to express a protest vote against the further stratification and Sex-in-the-Citification of NYC and my (perhaps futile) support for a lively, diverse, and middle-class friendly urban fabric, I don't regret my vote for Billy Talen for a damned minute.
11/04/09
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11/04/09
@The Real JR: Props to you and the rest of the other 8964 like-minded NYers who voted green. And yes, my only ballot booth quandary was arguing which third-party candidate to vote for—Talen or, as you mention, this guy: #michaelbloomberg
11/04/09
11/04/09
But go ahead. Superimpose on the above any map of NYC income by assembly district—or for that matter, ethnoracial composition—and the correlation is nearly exact. The Bronx (sans Riverdale), Central Brooklyn, Jamaica, and upper Manhattan are true blue while the Upper East Side, Eastern Queens, the fancy parts of Brooklyn, and Staten Island are deep, blood-of-the-proletarians red. #michaelbloomberg
11/04/09
11/04/09
And the Rockaways, to wit, dramatize what I'm talking about—the suburby-beachy nilla end went for Bloomberg, and the projecty-minorityish end went for Thompson.
So yeah: the point here is basically that I just get inordinate enjoyment from nerding-out about maps. #michaelbloomberg
11/04/09