While much of the media’s attention has been focused in the past few weeks on the ongoing national debt ceiling crisis; the polarizing, and seemingly intractable immigration issue continues to divide the country.
Recently, Alabama passed a very controversial immigration statute that some say is even more restrictive and punitive than the very controversial law that was passed by Arizona last year.
Tomorrow morning, contributing RP Artur Davis — a Congressman who represented Alabama for three terms, as well as a former federal prosecutor — shares his take on the law passed in his home state.
Be sure to tune in at 8:30 AM for Davis’ column, and as always, so much more.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jul 7, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Speed
Here is a really nice article explaining how the feud between ESPN and Comcast/NBC is killing the already sputtering sport of Indycar racing. Even though Indycar racing in America is old and well-established, in today’s sports world if you aren’t making money, you’re out. [The Daly Planet]
A street-legal, modified Ford GT set the record in a newly-established category for the Guiness Book of World Records: “standing-mile speed by a street-legal car.” The official record time is 223 mph, even though this car has reached speeds of up to 267 mph. [Jalopnik]
If, for some reason, you are not acquainted with rally car racing – this is the article for you. It explains, in detail, why this sport is “The Toughest Motor Sport in the World.” [My Ride Is Me]
This week’s ESPN NASCAR power rankings feature Kyle Busch taking over the top spot, his brother Kurt falling to #5, with Harvick, Edwards, and Kenseth in the middle. [ESPN]
For the first time in 10 years NASCAR’s Sprint Cup will race at a new track: Kentucky Speedway in my home state. After adding around 40,000 seats and selling a total of 107,000 tickets, it’s safe to say that the Bluegrass state is plenty excited to see it’s first Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. [ESPN]
No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces.
No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces.
Our primary guest is former New Jersey Governor and Bush Administration EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. Whitman has been a long and strong advocate of bipartisan cooperation in Washington and our state capitals.
Last Friday, in my role as a contributor to Politico’s “Arena”, I responded to a question about the presidential candidacy of guitar-playing, wise-cracking Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter. Was there room for him in the Republican field?
Sure, I replied. He can join Newt Gingrich in filling the comic relief void. He starts out, I noted dryly, with national name ID approximating that of my dad.
Several people told me they found my remarks amusing. But as I had the chance to reflect over the weekend, I realized that – with all due respect to Mark Halperin – I was being a dick.
I disagree with most of what Thaddeus McCotter – who calls himself a true constitutional conservative – espouses, but people shouldn’t mock passionate, sincere candidates just because they are longshots. And of all people, I definitely shouldn’t mock them.
***
When I decided to run for Congress in 2004, I was a nobody: a 29 year-old adjunct lecturing at a local university while trying to complete my Ph.D. I had no money, no political base and no name; my staff was a ragtag crew of students. The leading candidate was Russ Carnahan, scion of Missouri’s most powerful political dynasty: the “Kennedys of Missouri.” Russ’s dad was a two-term Governor and his mom a U.S. Senator; my dad had been a golf coach, a sportswriter, a pool hustler, and adverstising copywriter, and my mom counseled children with special needs. Ten candidates filed; Carnahan led the field by 40 points.
I set two benchmarks for myself, one concrete, the other less so. The real benchmark was that I vowed to raise $100K in my first quarter, somehow.
The second benchmark was somewhat less scientific. One evening after teaching, I went across the street from campus and canvassed a neighborhood to see if people would take me seriously as a congressional candidate, or if they thought I looked too young (I was a boyish 29, 5’6” and 120 pounds soaking wet). I knocked on about 40 doors.
The first door was answered by a thirty-something woman who immediately after my introduction asked me point-blank if I was pro-choice. “Absolutely,” I said. She said she’d vote for me as long as I didn’t waver on that issue. I thought to myself, OK, there’s one vote, at least I won’t get shut out.
A few doors later an older man asked me if I supported stem-cell research. “Absolutely,” I said, and he said he was a genomic researcher and would back me as long as I supported the right to unfettered scientific research. Two for two. I can do this.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged woman opened her door, and I introduced myself. “Hi, my name’s Jeff Smith, and I’m planning to run for Congress next year, but just wanted to come by today and see if you have any questions for me.”
She looked at me quizzically. “Where are you coming from?”
“Uh, well, from campus, actually.”
“Oh, yes, you must want to see Janie. Hold on one second.” She called up the stairs, “Janie, come on downstairs, there’s a young man here who wants to talk to you, he’s running for Student Congress.”
“Tell him I’m busy, Mom,” came the disembodied voice of a college girl.
I was too embarrassed to explain myself. I said goodbye, walked back to campus, and started thinking of how I could raise $100K in 3 months, which I did, barely.
***
No, I'm Thaddeus!
Thaddeus McCotter knows exactly what I realized back in 2003: Primaries are about finding niches. And the terrain he encounters is not unlike the one I faced nearly a decade ago: a crowded field, but one in which he can identify possible niches to fill.
I knew there would be at least seven candidates (ultimately there were ten), and with each candidate to enter, the race became that much more attractive to more candidates, given the declining percentage needed to win. I spent weeks looking at numbers, analyzing different combinations, figuring out if there was enough space for me to fill. I estimated that with seven candidates, one could win with just 28-29% of the vote, and that the entrance of another candidate or two could reduce that number to 23-24%. For me, every decline in this number made the race more appealing, because the fewer votes needed to win, the more important each vote became. And the increased importance of each vote magnified the influence of a grassroots campaign relative to a money-and-media-driven campaign.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Wed Jul 6, 2011 at 4:00 PM ET
A new U.S. Army program helps soldiers improve their mental health after coming back from the combat zone. [Washington Post]
Here’s a kind of recovery that you don’t see every day: scientists digging mammoth and mastodon bones out of the ground. [NY Times]
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain talks overcoming bankruptcy and living on the edge (sample quote: “I had no self-control. I denied myself nothing. I had no moral compass.”. [Newsweek]
Got 12 minutes to kill? Spend it with the beautiful stop motion short film “Zero.” It will make you contemplate the world and how you can make it better. [Huffington Post]
Maybe this isn’t related to recovery, but it’s seriously cool. Graphic design and public relations firms analyze the current 2012 Republican presidential nominees’ campaign logos. [CNN]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed Jul 6, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Laughter
Did you ever play the telephone game when you were a kid? It’s the one where you whisper a message to someone, send it around the room and see what it turns into. Well, this website has a similar tool that uses Google Translate to translate your message into over 20 different languages. [Translation Telephone]
Who ever created this advertisement probably was not an engineer. [picture]
Yeah, I’m not sure things work the way you think they do, Observer in Hampton. [newspaper]
By Will Allison, on Wed Jul 6, 2011 at 10:30 AM ET
Hello there! My name is Will Allison, and Jonathan has quite generously offered to let me blog at RP. I thought I’d use my inaugural piece to fill readers in on who I am, and where I am coming from.
You might be wondering…who? Well, first and foremost, I am a proud native son of Louisville, KY. I grew up in the Highlands, in a family that passionately mixed politics with the arts. My father was a civil rights attorney, my mother an actress and acting teacher. If we weren’t at Actor’s Theatre, we were at a rally at Memorial Hall. One of my earliest memories is watching my mother perform in a one-woman show, portraying the South African anti-apartheid activist Ruth First. I guess you could say that experience was emblematic of my parents’ activism, and the values they taught their children.
Both of my sisters entered the arts, so as I became a teenager, I tried to take a different path, focusing on writing rather than politics or the theatre. However, I was quickly drawn back to the stage, attending the Youth Performing Arts School and falling in love all over again with Euripides and Stephen Sondheim alike. Assured I would become the next Ralph Fiennes, I journeyed far after high school from Louisville to Boston to continue my acting training. I had some great moments with Pinter, Brecht, Kaufman, Shakespeare and others. Assured I would become the next Philip Seymour Hoffman, I journeyed (not so) far after college from Boston to New York, to take the world by storm.
Well, that didn’t pan out so much. So, I turned back to the other family business.
Jane Hoffman
In the spring of 2002, I joined Democrat Jane Hoffman’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor of NY State as a junior staffer. It’s worth pointing out that joining any Democrat’s campaign for anything in the spring of 2002 was a risky proposition at best. The city was still reeling from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. George W. Bush had poll numbers in the stratosphere. Locally, Republican Rudy Giuliani had gone from disgraced philanderer and failed Senate candidate to “America’s Mayor”. And Gov. George Pataki was cruising to re-election for a third term with more money than any opponent could compete with. All three men were wielding 9/11 as a deadly political weapon, and doing it brilliantly (if cynically).
But Jane was a compelling presence on the stump, a dedicated Consumer Affairs Commissioner, and a highly telegenic figure. As the summer campaign wore on, we felt we had at least an outsider’s shot of upsetting the establishment candidates in the race. That feeling ended the day Jane announced she had become very ill with a rare eye disease, and the campaign would have to end. A campaign without a victory is by its very nature a sad place to be, but I can’t recall a sadder way to end a campaign than that.
Read the rest of… Will Allison: Let’s Begin the Conversation
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Jul 6, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Two weeks ago, I shared with readers of The Recovering Politiciana disturbing interview in which Kentucky GOP bigwig Larry Forgy stated his bizarre and pernicious theory that Jews such as George Soros, Barbra Streisand and Steve Spielberg would be pumping in significant loads of cash to support their co-religionist, Jerry Abramson, in his bid for Lieutenant Governor.
The RP Nation responded with outrage — dozens of your comments and emails unanimously denounced Forgy’s slur.
As far as the Kentucky mainstream media…well…the response was much more muted. It took two weeks for one of the state’s leading newspapers to issue a condemnation, and it did not even address the most offensive remarks. The other editorial page — from the very paper that broke the story — has been atypically silent.
I share my own views about the media response — as well as my belief that it is incumbent on all of us to denounce intolerance whenever it rears its ugly head — in my column this week in The Huffington Post:
My bet is that is that it was a conscious decision [by the media] to deprive oxygen to the flames of anti-Semitism. I suppose they believe that ignoring the issue and refusing to publish the more outrageous accusations will prevent them from being repeated and then accepted in areas of the state where latent anti-Semitism could be transformed into something much worse. Hopefully if this is the case, the rest of the media, as well as the state Republican party, will get the message and send Forgy off to permanent pasture.
But if the 20th Century taught us anything about the proper response to anti-Semitism, it is that we must confront it whenever it raises its ugly head. As I argued in this column two weeks ago, we no longer need to be afraid that this sort of anti-Semitism would be welcomed in this country, even in the rural, conservative Bible Belt. Indeed, by exposing and then denouncing language such as Forgy’s, we help reinforce the message now emanating from rural, evangelical churches — to love their Jewish neighbors.
