As things stand, there is a good chance that Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives in 2022, thanks in large part to gerrymandering and to changes in election laws in Republican states. One recent poll suggests that up to 2/3rds of Republican voters believe that the 2020 election was stolen, and about […]
Elections
On wokeness, defunding the police, Shor, and Populism
Ezra Klein in the New York Times wrote an article reviewing the work of political consultant and pollster David Shor, who said that the Democrats need to tone down their support for minority (black) rights if they want to win back white voters, whose motivations may or not be based on racism. Klein writes: All […]
Rep. Adam Smith explains why he accepts PAC money
At the June 8th Town Hall meeting of Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA 9th CD) in Crossroads, Bellevue, Rep Adam Smith gave progressive answers to almost every question he was asked: on immigration, on the environment, on low-yield nuclear weapons, on convening impeachment hearings for Trump (he mostly supports it), on taxation, on peace, etc. One […]
These WA Legislature bills call for a limited constitutional convention to overturn Citizens United
The Washington State Senate is considering Senate Joint Memorial 8002 (SJM 8002) — Asking Congress to call a limited convention, authorized under Article V of the United States Constitution, for the purpose of proposing a free and fair elections amendment to that Constitution. The companion state house bill is HJM 4004. You can read the […]
Dems want votes counted. Repugs don’t.
Marco Rubio: Democrats Are Trying to Steal Florida Senate Race by Counting All the Votes (Sounds like something from The Onion, or from Andy Borwoitz.) Likewise, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 500,000 voters were recently purged. “Since 2012, according to federal and state data, Georgia has removed about 1.4 million people from the voting rolls.”
Uncle Sam on the Lam
by Lansing Scott Drunk Uncle Sam is on the lam. He escaped from DC and has been hitchhiking across the country, sleeping under bridges, & drinking his Thunderbird for months now. Hes almost reached Vancouver, BC, where he will formally apply for political asylum. Asked to explain his sudden departure from his job as personification […]
Why women — especially older women — rule in Washington State
Out of the 4.6 million registered voters in Washington State, 2.4 million (51.9%) are female. Out of the 3.4 million active registered voters (meaning they’ve voted since 2012), 2.4 million (52.8%) are female. Women rule — or at least decide who rules — in Washington State. Furthermore, older people vote at much higher numbers than […]
Letter to the editor in Bellevue Reporter, on attack ads and Litzow
On the day the primary election ballots arrived in my mailbox, I also received an attack ad, from a group opposed to 41st LD state Senate candidate Lisa Wellman. Wow, they’re starting early this year! In 2010 her opponent, Steve Litzow, won by about 200 votes because of last-minute attack ads sent out by an […]
Response to Jonathan Rauch's "How American Politics Went Insane"
In a lengthy article in The Atlantic, How American Politics Went Insane, Jonathan Rauch diagnoses dysfunction in American politics as being caused by a breakdown of party structure and the rise of extremist outside groups such as the Tea Party who can’t be controlled. Rauch’s proposed solution to our political dysfunction is to bring back […]