-- Both DBC and Gadfly have analyzed the 'what went right/wrong' for the US Greens and the Texas Greens, which beats the hell out of Kuff's theory of numbers or whatever he's deep into a spreadsheet about this week.
This isn't brain surgery: the Greens will take a quantum leap of sorts if/when a number of prominent Democrats give up on a Revolution from within, bolt that party, and take over the GP, bringing professional infrastructure with them. I wished hard for it to be Bernie Sanders almost two years ago, but as you may recall it was Tad Devine that convinced him, against his inclination, to run for president as a Democrat.
So there must be some collective and public exodus of elected officials and their operatives, not just a few political scientists like Dr. Cornel West. A prominent name at the top of the ticket, like Ralph Nader was in 2000, is critical. As we blog today, there simply aren't enough Donkeys who believe that it's anything but a pipe dream to build something viable outside the two-party box, and that's because the media exposure won't be there for them, and because the presidential debates are run by a cabal of duopolists. Those two things have to change before the GP can take the next step. Media exposure will come if the name is big enough; the CPD must be made obsolete by replacing it with something else first.
Update: As a reminder for those such as Dan Savage who don't really get what the Green Party represents beyond Jill Stein, Politics of Courage supplies a list of all Greens who ran for Congress, state, and local offices in 2016 and the vote percentages they earned. It's also worth noting that Laredo city council member George Altgelt, first elected with Green Party support and just re-elected in that city's non-partisan municipal contests, endorsed Gary Johnson for president.
-- For those Democrats still transitioning from denial and anger toward acceptance ... this isn't going to make you feel better. Charles Schumer was the wrong guy at the wrong time to lead this charge, but you're stuck with him now.
It's going to get worse in 2018 before it gets better in 2020. Hopefully.
Update: Twenty-twenty is the big enchilada, with an imperative to turn Trump out of office and electing a slew of Democrats in the statehouses, as the census is performed and redistricting moves to the top of the priorities list.
Speaking of going from bad to worse...
-- The Texas Legislature is readying for next year's session with a conservative agenda that makes Trump's look liberal. Dan Patrick is going in for the kill.
No mention of addressing, much less fixing, the state's funding for its public school system. Nothing about improving the healthcare of Texans. And as in Washington, there's nothing on the horizon that suggests 2018 will be anything but another red wave at the statehouse again. The Castro brothers aren't stupid enough to run for anything in two years. (They were not the attack dogs that Wendy Davis could have benefited from in 2014 and they won't be of much use to anybody who dares to run in 2018. Their precious political capital is invested in non-liquid assets.)
Texas Republicans may be the absolute shittiest in the country, but it's Texas Democrats who keep losing to them. Who will be the sacrificial lambs Democrats proffer for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and so on down the list of statewide executive offices? Could they at least find someone to challenge Sid "C-word" Miller, for crine out loud? Or will it be another assembly of no-name stooges that can manage 38% or so on the basis of straight-ticket voting, like Jim Hogan or Grady Yarbrough or Betsy "Combat Boots" Johnson?
Who wants to run against Ted Cruz? Besides Michael McCaul, I mean.
Sad!
-- Rick Perry for Department of Oops. Only Donald Trump would consider our illustrious, longest-serving governor in history to run a Washington bureau that was on his list to eliminate, but which he could not remember the name of.
This isn't brain surgery: the Greens will take a quantum leap of sorts if/when a number of prominent Democrats give up on a Revolution from within, bolt that party, and take over the GP, bringing professional infrastructure with them. I wished hard for it to be Bernie Sanders almost two years ago, but as you may recall it was Tad Devine that convinced him, against his inclination, to run for president as a Democrat.
So there must be some collective and public exodus of elected officials and their operatives, not just a few political scientists like Dr. Cornel West. A prominent name at the top of the ticket, like Ralph Nader was in 2000, is critical. As we blog today, there simply aren't enough Donkeys who believe that it's anything but a pipe dream to build something viable outside the two-party box, and that's because the media exposure won't be there for them, and because the presidential debates are run by a cabal of duopolists. Those two things have to change before the GP can take the next step. Media exposure will come if the name is big enough; the CPD must be made obsolete by replacing it with something else first.
Update: As a reminder for those such as Dan Savage who don't really get what the Green Party represents beyond Jill Stein, Politics of Courage supplies a list of all Greens who ran for Congress, state, and local offices in 2016 and the vote percentages they earned. It's also worth noting that Laredo city council member George Altgelt, first elected with Green Party support and just re-elected in that city's non-partisan municipal contests, endorsed Gary Johnson for president.
-- For those Democrats still transitioning from denial and anger toward acceptance ... this isn't going to make you feel better. Charles Schumer was the wrong guy at the wrong time to lead this charge, but you're stuck with him now.
Senate Democrats are the last line of defense against Trump's agenda because of the chamber's supermajority hurdle. They're expected to oppose any attempt to repeal Obamacare and slash tax rates, among other policies. At the same time, they want to work with him to pass a massive infrastructure package and crack down on Chinese currency manipulation.
On top of that, Democrats must defend 25 Senate seats in 2018, including five in deeply conservative states and another five in traditional battlegrounds that Trump won.
It's going to get worse in 2018 before it gets better in 2020. Hopefully.
Update: Twenty-twenty is the big enchilada, with an imperative to turn Trump out of office and electing a slew of Democrats in the statehouses, as the census is performed and redistricting moves to the top of the priorities list.
Speaking of going from bad to worse...
-- The Texas Legislature is readying for next year's session with a conservative agenda that makes Trump's look liberal. Dan Patrick is going in for the kill.
Patrick's top two priorities are passing a balanced budget — which is required by state law — and reforming the state's property tax system, which he said is "taxing people out of their homes and hampering business growth." The rest of the list is filled with ideas that will be stringently opposed by Democrats and, in some cases, moderate Republicans, including limiting which bathrooms transgender people could use; imposing more restrictions on abortion; strengthening the state's voter ID law, and allowing parents more choice in the schools that their children attend.
[...]
The rest of his list included plans to ban local governments from refusing to cooperate with immigration agents or enforce immigration laws; prevent student-teacher relationships; cap increases in state spending, and rein in insurance lawsuits after hailstorms.
No mention of addressing, much less fixing, the state's funding for its public school system. Nothing about improving the healthcare of Texans. And as in Washington, there's nothing on the horizon that suggests 2018 will be anything but another red wave at the statehouse again. The Castro brothers aren't stupid enough to run for anything in two years. (They were not the attack dogs that Wendy Davis could have benefited from in 2014 and they won't be of much use to anybody who dares to run in 2018. Their precious political capital is invested in non-liquid assets.)
Texas Republicans may be the absolute shittiest in the country, but it's Texas Democrats who keep losing to them. Who will be the sacrificial lambs Democrats proffer for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and so on down the list of statewide executive offices? Could they at least find someone to challenge Sid "C-word" Miller, for crine out loud? Or will it be another assembly of no-name stooges that can manage 38% or so on the basis of straight-ticket voting, like Jim Hogan or Grady Yarbrough or Betsy "Combat Boots" Johnson?
Who wants to run against Ted Cruz? Besides Michael McCaul, I mean.
Sad!
-- Rick Perry for Department of Oops. Only Donald Trump would consider our illustrious, longest-serving governor in history to run a Washington bureau that was on his list to eliminate, but which he could not remember the name of.
