"Cruel Girl" - The Red Button
On Mad Men the other night, Don Draper was searching for a Beatles sound-alike band. I believe that The Red Button was exactly the sound for which he was searching.
- Once again Republicans in pursuit of the ideologically pure have turned an easy Senate win into a serious contest. I don't think that Richard Mourdock is quite in the same territory as Christine O'Donnell or Sharron Angle -- in fact, I would predict he will likely win this race. Still, the loss by Lugar took what was pretty close to a sure thing and gave the Democratic candidate, Congressman Joe Donnelly, a fighting chance. I think organized labor is going to be primed for this race given what has been going on in Indiana. A win here would be a clear sign that it is going to be a very good evening for us in November.
- I see that David Brooks and Moral Hazard are going to be my new neighbors -- he'll be about a mile and half due south of where I live. Maybe Stanley and Moral Hazard can become friends. I love that Brooks is moving into a quintessential upscale urban liberal neighborhood in DC -- Cleveland Park is a really nice part of the world -- rather than opting for some virtuous red state exurb, easily available over the river in places like Loudon County Virginia. But true to form, those who pay lip service to the heartland virtues of such places seem to want the amenities associated with the godless cities of the coasts. I can't wait to run into him.
- The Wisconsin recall election is going to be an interesting harbinger for the fall. I cannot stress how important it is for Tom Barrett to prevail. If the Democrats can win the governorship and take at least one of the state senate seats that are also being contested, it would be a powerful repudiation of the worst that the Republican Party has to offer. Turnout for both parties in the primary was pretty high, with the Democratic vote only exceeding the Republican vote by about 24,000 voters.
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Governor - Dem Special Primary |
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May 09, 2012 - 08:58AM CT |
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Wisconsin - 3423 of 3423 Precincts Reporting - 100% |
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Governor - GOP Special Primary |
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May 09, 2012 - 08:58AM CT |
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Wisconsin - 3423 of 3423 Precincts Reporting - 100% |
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This is going to be a close, close election.
- Defining deviancy down. As Ed Kilgore points out, the continued treatment of the filibuster by the press as though it were a perfectly normal thing under our constitutional system makes me crazy. The Democatic attempt to take care of the pending increase in interest rates for student loans was blocked by a party line vote of Republicans against cloture. And in the Profiles in Courage Department, lame duck Senator Olympia Snowe voted "present" on the issue. Her uselessness is hard to quantify. Truly one of the most overrated human beings on the planet.
- This chart about the recent decline in public sector employment is getting a lot of attention and deservedly so. I have to believe that at some point in time people will look back on this madness and wonder what could have possessed our political leaders to embrace such a self-defeating approach.
- The result of the North Carolina referendum on gay marriage was a sobering reminder of the fact that progress on this issue is still a hit or miss thing. And it can't have helped with respect to President Obama's evolution on this issue. The Obama campaign really wants to carry North Carolina and I don't see this helping move him along to where he should be on the issue.
What else is going on out there?
