The scent of desperation

As we watch the Republicans in states like North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Texas attempt to pass draconian bills affecting things like women's right to chose and citizen's access to the ballot, I can't help but say that I smell a sense of desperation. Its almost as if they know they are a dying beast and are in a hurry to do as much damage as possible prior to their demise.

They're right.

Take a look at this chart put together by Nate Silver just a couple of days after the 2012 election showing the size of the lead for Obama and Romney in each state. Notice the states where the election was the closest...Virginia, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina. Texas was quite a bit farther into Romney territory. But in 2005, Texas became the 4th state in the country where whites are a minority. Its just a matter of time there.

All 5 of these states will be flipping to solid blue over the next decade. We still have to fight every one of these encroachments as they surface because they profoundly affect the very real lives of people here and now. But unless/until Republicans change their ways, this overreach is only going to hasten their demise with a ferocious backlash.

P.S. To further things along, I hope you'll join me today in contributing to Battleground Texas and the North Carolina NAACP (sponsor of the Moral Monday Movement).

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What Obama Learned as a Community Organizer

I recently ran across this article that Barack Obama wrote back in 1988 while he was still a community organizer. The closing paragraph speaks not only to what he learned during those years, but it is a great example of why so many people talk about his amazing talent as a writer. Just imagine what it would be like if we had a President who wrote about urban Americans like this :-)
In return, organizing teaches as nothing else does the beauty and strength of everyday people. Through the songs of the church and the talk on the stoops, through the hundreds of individual stories of coming up from the South and finding any job that would pay, of raising families on threadbare budgets, of losing some children to drugs and watching others earn degrees and land jobs their parents could never aspire to — it is through these stories and songs of dashed hopes and powers of endurance, of ugliness and strife, subtlety and laughter, that organizers can shape a sense of community not only for othe…

A Tale of Two Ground Games

I recently ran across two stories about what things look like on the ground in Southwestern Ohio - a state where the RCP polling average gives Hillary Clinton a 2.6 lead over Donald Trump.

The first comes from a blogger at Daily Kos with the screen name mt41w. He attended the opening of a field office in "deeply red" Mason.
The fact that Hillary’s ground game is focused, extremely competent, hard-working and ready to GOTV was plain with the opening of the Mason, Ohio office on Wednesday evening August 10th. This was one of seven offices “opening for business” Wednesday in Ohio...

Anyhow, the house was literally standing-room-only. In the room where I stood and sweated — the A/C was overwhelmed — I counted 35 people, including the Channel 12 CBS Local News crew and cameraman. And I was in the smaller of six rooms in this converted house on Mason’s Main Street. I could see more people outside on the porch and sidewalk unwilling or unable to brave the crowded rooms, so I’d take…

Ed Henry: Three Strikes and You're OUT

In yesterday's press conference President Obama tackled some extremely important issues: like the warmongering currently underway with Republicans.

But on a lighter note, I'm beginning to wonder if we shouldn't call these press conferences "Ed Henry Smackdowns." Does this Faux News reporter have any appreciation for the concept of "three strikes and you're out?"

As a refresher - here's strike one.

Strike two.

And yesterday's big swing and miss...strike three.

To switch metaphors, one has to wonder when the referee calls it for the great counter-puncher.

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