Meet newly-minted Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

Yup, it's official.

Democrats seek to cement Baldwin’s status as favorite

Associated Press:

Former President Bill Clinton voiced his support for Democratic Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin in an ad released Tuesday, the same day that her challenger Tommy Thompson campaigned with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

Baldwin spent Tuesday in the Fox Valley, an important swing area in the state that leans Republican but where there are enough independent voters for Democrats to make headway. Thompson was originally scheduled to be in nearby Green Bay, but those plans got scuttled at the last minute so he could instead campaign with Ryan in western Wisconsin, where they were meeting with supporters and filling hurricane relief packages.

[…]

In the new Clinton spot, the former president praises Baldwin’s support of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law, noting that young adults under age 26 will still be covered under their parents’ plan. Clinton was scheduled to appear in Wisconsin later in the week to campaign for Obama.

Baldwin is currently about the 4-in-5 favorite to win the race — 83% chance of winning at FiveThirtyEight and 76.3% at PredictWise. Clinton’s ad is clearly to lock in a win that will protect the democratic majority in the senate.

A little early Halloween candy for Baldwin backers here in Wisconsin

Courtesy of Nate Silver.

Tommy Thompson claimed to be the best person 'to do away with Medicaid and Medicare'

ThinkProgress:

Republicans and their defenders have claimed that the GOP’s massive proposed cuts to the nation’s health care safety net will not eliminate Medicare or Medicaid. The Romney campaign even released talking points claiming GOP proposals would “strengthen Medicare” shortly after they announced that Paul Ryan, the author of a 2011 plan to phase out Medicare, would be the vice presidential candidate. Yet, in a speech last May to a conservative group, former Bush Secretary of Health and Human Services and U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Thompson (R-WI) appeared to admit that the GOP’s proposals have a far more nefarious purpose:

[W]ho better than me, who’s already finished one of the entitlement programs, to come up with programs to do away with Medicaid and Medicare? Let’s block-grant what the state has, and allow the states to determine what’s going to go into Medicaid. And Medicare, let’s wait until everyone that right now is under 55 reaches 55 by age [sic] 2020, and give them a choice whether they want to purchase health insurance with a subsidy from the federal government, or stay on Medicare.

The “one entitlement” program Thompson refers to is Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which he was instrumental in abolishing under “welfare reform.” For an idea of how well that little disaster has worked out, take a look at all the rent-to-own stores and payday loan scammers all over the damned place — those didn’t used to exist, until Clinton screwed the poor by knuckling under to dopes like Thompson and signing welfare reform into law, creating a need for loan sharks to the needy. Long story short, this guy — and people like him — do not have good ideas.

But man, does that quote ever lay it all bare. They don’t want to “fix” it, they want to repeal it — along with the rest of the 20th century.

A note on Tammy Baldwin

With Josh Marshall wondering if maybe Tammy’s not surging in Wisconsin, I think I can explain why that surge would be happening. In Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren gets a similar surge, but it follows a masterful and high profile speech at the DNC. Baldwin spoke too, but not in a slot where most would’ve seen her. If Tammy’s surging like Warren, it’s not for the same reason.

But Tammy Baldwin was the first openly lesbian member of congress and, if elected, she’d be the first openly lesbian Senator. The historic nature of her political career makes her a fundraising powerhouse. She’s been running ads slamming Thompson’s ties to Wall Street and painting him as a changed man from when he was the governor — a lot of ads. And she can likely afford to run a lot more.

On top of that, the recall movement structure has never really gone away, despite losing that election. All the volunteers are still out there and they all want to see Tammy win. A lot of people with clipboards are knocking doors right now.

Stories to Watch: 7/5/11

Hope everyone had a good Fourth. I know I enjoyed it. Now here's the news...


I mentioned earlier today that Richard Cohen compared the GOP to a cult and now it turns out that Republicans have gotten too crazy for David Brooks as well. All of which causes Steve Benen to wonder if the party has lost the punditry. Man, you sure hope so.


Of course, Brooks' column was the worst thing ever.


As Republicans bash Democrats as being weak in defense of Israel, it pays to point out that this strategy isn't working.


Rep. Tammy Baldwin still has eyes for Herb Kohl's senate seat. Hope for this one to pan out, because it'd be like having a second Bernie Sanders in the Senate -- only younger.


The crazy people's candidate of choice; Rick Perry.


Newt's campaign is pretty much flat busted broke.


Bristol Palin says her mom isn't dumb. I've got to say, her mom hides that fact well.


Finally, Michele Bachmann wants to smite the wicked... Or something.

Related articles

• Tammy Baldwin "Very Likely" Running For Senate (lezgetreal.com)
• Quote of the Day: If the GOP Was a Normal Party It'd Accept Victories In Economic Debate (But Noooooo) UPDATED (themoderatevoice.com)
• Bristol Palin: Michele Bachmann Totally Stole My Mom's Look! (mediaite.com)
• One of the best speeches EVER!!: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont) (madonna-and-child.com)

Stories to Watch: 5/14/11

Well, that was fun. The blogs still aren't 100%, but I'm going to go ahead and start using them again anyway. Google says they're restoring lost posts and, at this point, I'm still waiting. If they don't come back, I'll just copy and repost from my Tumblr blog -- which I'm extremely happy to have right now. I'll give it until Sunday night. Now here's the news...


***
Conservative blogger Ann Althouse assumes the obvious -- that the Google Blogger outage was all about her. "You know, I'm beginning to suspect that there's some behind-the-scenes campaign to report my blog as abusive," she wrote. "People who hate/fear the Althouse blog could make a loud noise to Google."

Yeah Ann, you're freakin' terrifying.

Normal people check Blogger Status and the Blogger Help Forum when their blog is acting screwy. I did this right away and, while I wasn't happy with what I learned there, I wasn't left to make up paranoid scenarios to explain my problems.

Abnormal people assume it's a liberal plot and take to the blogosphere to express their outrage and engage in paranoid speculation.


***
Ron Paul, having learned absolutely nothing from the crapstorm his son went through for the same thing, says he wouldn't have voted for the Civil Rights Act.


Even worse, Paul calls for the abolishment of FEMA, saying the emergency agency only exists to bail out people who "do dumb things" -- like live on coasts or areas that may flood. Here's a fun game for Ron Paul: name the disaster-proof area of the United States. Hell, go ahead and name the disaster-proof area of the world. I'll be right here when you come up with an answer. Until then, we can only assume that Ron Paul believes that living on Earth is a "dumb thing" to do. There are times when Ron Paul just seems to be a pleasant, but eccentric, old guy. It pays to be reminded that he's really a jerk.


Obama caves on offshore drilling. Expect gas prices to move down zero points as a result.


London is invaded by parakeets. No, really.


Shirley Sherrod, who you might remember as the victim of a baseless Brietbart smear campaign, is back at the USDA.


Yet another poll shows that Republican voters would rather have someone else than any of the current 2012 presidential candidates.


Finally, could Rep. Tammy Baldwin become the first openly lesbian US Senator? With the retirement of Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl, there's a chance. Depending on who she's up against and whether the current anti-GOP momentum carries, it could really happen. She'd make a fine choice.

Related articles

• Ron Paul Announces Presidential Run (birdflu666.wordpress.com)
• Ron Paul Would Have Voted Against the Civil Rights Act (themoderatevoice.com)
• Ron Paul. He's Crossed Off My List. Sheesh What A Boob. (fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com)
• Ron Paul Announces His Third Presidential Campaign (laist.com)

Griper Blade: Creating a New Mandate

I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.
-Franklin Roosevelt, comment to reformers

Yesterday, I wrote that the winners of the 2008 election were the people and that the winners shouldn't go home. We can count on Obama to work on the agenda he spelled out on the campaign trail, but there is still a place for activism after your guy wins. While the right is trying to launch an "Obama doesn't have a mandate" narrative, this seems doomed to failure to me, since it requires you to believe BS about what it is you want. I kind of think you're the expert there. You really don't need some jerk explaining to you what you think. As spin jobs go, this one seems a little pointless.

But Obama only has a mandate to do what he proposed in his presidential campaign; restoring tax fairness, reforming health care, rebuilding the economy, getting out of Iraq, investing in infrastructure and green energy, etc. These are the things we can expect the new president to address in his first term.

But there are issues that weren't brought up on the campaign trail. In discussing the president-elect, we tend to forget the sitting president. George W. Bush hid out during the campaign, an invisible president who avoided the public spotlight the way a vampire avoids sunlight. One big issue was fairly successfully avoided by John McCain and that was what the hell to do about George W. Bush and company...

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