Georgia Senate Race

A couple days ago, there was an article published in the Washington Post talking about Michelle Nunn's U.S. Senate run.  The article talked about the efforts of the Democratic Party trying to win a statewide race in Georgia.  Michelle Nunn is absolutely capable of winning the senate race in Georgia.  In a poll by PPP back in August, it showed Michelle Nunn leading or tied with her potential Republican opponents.  Three of her potential Republican opponents have already made pretty embarrassing gaffes.  Congressman Paul Broun called evolution and the Big Bang Theory, "Lies Straight from the Pit of Hell".  Congressman Phil Gingrey said, "Todd Akin is partly right about legitimate rape."  Finally, Congressman Jack Kingston suggested children who receive reduced cost lunches should become school janitors.  In October, Michelle Nunn raised $1.7 Million for the three-month filing period.  It proves that even though Michelle Nunn has never run for office, she is definitely capable of winning this race in a historically Republican state.  The changing demographics also help Nunn in Georgia as well.  President Obama won 47% of vote in 2008 and he won 45% of the vote in 2012 even though he never really contested the state either time.  I think Georgia is one of the states Democrats will flip from Republicans to Democrats in the U.S. Senate race.

Footnotes- Michelle Nunn, Jason Carter hope to rechart the course of Georgia ... Nunn in close race for Chambliss’ open Senate seat, Rep. Paul Broun Says Evolution, Embryology, and Big Bang Theory ..., Rep. Phil Gingrey says Todd Akin 'partly right' about rape, Georgia Congressman Proposes That Poor Kids Sweep Schools For Their Lunch, Michelle Nunn raises $1.7 million - Washington Post, 

Statewide Sweep

Today, State Senator Mark Obenshain will concede the Virginia Attorney General's Race to Democrat Mark Herring.  That means for the time since 1969, Democrats will hold all 5 statewide offices in Virginia.  Currently the Governor-Elect is Democrat Terry McAuliffe, the Lieutenant Governor-Elect is Democrat Ralph Northam, and Democrat Mark Herring is now the Attorney General-Elect.  Democratic Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine currently represent Virginia in the U.S. Senate.

Footnotes- Obenshain to concede Virginia attorney general's race on Wednesday in Richmond, Terry McAuliffe elected in blow to Republicans - The Guardian, Ralph Northam wins race for Virginia lieutenant governor - The ..., Senator Mark Warner - U.S. Senate, Home | Tim Kaine | U.S. Senator for Virginia

Kentucky Senate Race

According to the most recent poll from PPP, it shows Sen. Mitch McConnell barely ahead of Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes 43-42%.  It also shows Republican Matt Bevin ahead of Grimes 39-38%.  It shows that McConnell has a 31-61% disapproval rating.  It also shows Grimes with a 31-37% unfavorability rating.  Matt Bevin also has 13-23% unfavorability rating.  Unfortunately, the poll also shows that President Obama has a 31-64 disapproval rating among Kentucky voters.  Democrats are hopeful they can take down McConnell because he's so unpopular among Kentucky voters.  I think Alison Grimes can win this race because she's running the race as a Kentucky Democrat and not a National Democrat.  Grimes has made clear she disagrees with the Obama administration on it's position on coal.  She's also made clear that she supports raising the minimum wage something voters in Kentucky support very strongly.  She's also made clear she disagrees with National Democrats on gun rights.  As Grimes gets better known among voters, I'm sure she'll have an even better chance.

Footnotes- Kentucky Senate race continues to look like a toss up, Alison Lundergan Grimes says she opposes Obama's coal policies ..., Grimes Repeats Call For Higher Minimum Wage | WUKY, Kentucky Shootout: Alison Lundergan Grimes and Mitch McConnell ...

Nuclear Option

On Thursday November 21, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid invoked the nuclear option in the U.S. Senate.  That means that executive and judicial nominees don't require 60 votes when invoking cloture on their nomination.  It's understandable as to why Senator Reid invoked the nuclear option.  For a long time Senator Reid had been threatening to invoke the nuclear option.  Earlier this year, for the first time ever Republicans in the senate filibustered Chuck Hagel the nominee for Secretary of Defense.  Never before has a presidential cabinet nominee been filibustered.  The Republicans have filibustered nominees to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Housing Agency, and numerous nominees to the D.C. Circuit.  It's okay for the minority to have some say in who the president nominates, but that doesn't mean you filibuster nominees that are nominated to agencies you don't like, or filibuster numerous nominees because it'll change the ideological balance of a Circuit Court.

Footnotes- Reid, Democrats trigger 'nuclear' option; eliminate most filibusters on ..., Harry Reid Threatens 'Nuclear Option' -- And Soon, BREAKING: Senate Republicans Make History, First To Filibuster ..., Senate blocks Richard Cordray confirmation to head consumer ..., U.S. Senate Republicans Block Nomination of Mel Watt to Head ..., Senate blocks D.C. circuit nominee | MSNBC

Who shares your values?

According to a new Pew Research poll, it shows the president has a 45% approval rating from millennials.  Before the president's 2nd inauguration, his approval among millennials was 67%.  I can't explain the drop in his numbers from this demographic.  It seems understandable though given the challenges he's faced this past year.  There were many scandals the administration had to tackle.  The IRS was unfairly targeting groups based on their ideology.  Personally, that scandal was blown way out of proportion by the Tea Party groups themselves because liberal groups were also targeted.  The NSA surveillance on Americans was another big scandal.  It's understandable as to why the NSA is using these tactics, however the NSA has gone totally overboard with the power it has used.  Most people think the NSA's broad powers were authorized by the Patriot Act and therefore it should be repealed.  It's true the Patriot Act authorizes things such as roving wiretaps, random searches of records without a warrant, and many other different things.  What many don't realize is that the Patriot Act also has things like: Making sure intelligence agencies share information, provisions against terrorist money laundering, provisions related to border security, and section 5 of the Patriot Act removes obstacles to investigating terrorism.  The Patriot Act was passed by an overwhelming majority in both houses of congress.  That doesn't mean that there weren't any dissenting votes though.  It's true the Patriot Act should be reformed to protect civil liberties; it doesn't mean that it's okay to throw out the entire law just because you disagree with one part of it though.  Just because you disagree with one provision of Obamacare doesn't mean it should be thrown out entirely.  Another reason the president might be losing popularity among millennials is the ACA.  It's true the president promised you could keep your existing insurance plan if you liked it.  I believe he should keep the promise that he made.  The administrative fix he gave was nothing more than band-aid though.  That's why it's critical for congress to pass the Landrieu bill proposed in the senate to allow people to keep their plans.  Unlike the Upton bill, the Landrieu bill grandfathers your health plan, but it doesn't say insurance companies are still allowed to sell those existing policies.  The Landrieu bill also requires insurance companies to point you to the health insurance exchanges that are set up by the ACA.  It also requires insurance companies to tell consumers why their old plans don't meet minimum standards.  Poll numbers go up and down all the time.  Polls don't always give you an indicator of what might happen in the future.  It's critical though for millennials to understand which party is advocating for them in congress.  The Democratic Party will continue to be the advocate for young Americans because the party has always shared their values.

Footnotes- Obama Loses Millennials,
HowStuffWorks "How the Patriot Act Works", Landrieu Introduces Bill To Ensure Individuals Can Keep Health Plan if They Like It,  Looking back at NSA revelations since the Snowden leaks | PBS ..., IRS inspector general: Liberals also on target list - CNN.com

Louisiana Senate Race

Next year, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu is running for re-election.  Louisiana has been drifting to the Republican Party in recent years.  Even though Republicans are doing better in Louisiana, President Obama increased his vote share from 40% in 2008 to 41% in 2012.  Yes, a 1% jump doesn't seem like a remarkable comeback.  It does show that certain Democrats are still viable in Louisiana though.  Senator Landrieu has never won an election with more than 52% of the vote.  It's important for her to receive a high African American turnout since they vote predominately for the Democrats.  It is also important for her to receive at least 30% of the white vote as well.  Mary Landrieu is able to win in Louisiana because she's what you'd call a "Southern Democrat".  The Koch Brothers group Americans for Prosperity has been running ads against Landrieu in Louisiana.  According to the most recent poll from PPP back in August, shows Landrieu ahead of her likely opponent Congressman Bill Cassidy 50-40%.  In Louisiana, they have what is called a blanket primary where all candidates are on the ballot on election day.  If no candidate receives at least 50% on election day, the election then goes to a runoff in December.  Landrieu is also ahead of potential Tea-Party challenger Rob Maness 50-37%.  I'm sure these are not what the polls look like now because of the Health Care rollout that hurt many Democrats.  I still think she has the upper hand having won elections in Louisiana before and being a skilled politician.  This race is one to watch because it could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

Footnotes-Landrieus lead in Louisiana, Tell Mary Landrieu #ExemptMeToo - YouTube, Comparing state-by-state presidential performance: 2012 vs. 2008, Sen. Mary Landrieu: She may be a GOP target, but don't dismiss her

Budget Agreement

This past week, Congressman Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray reached a 2-year budget deal.  It didn't have everything I wanted in it, but the alternative which is nothing is absolutely worse.  I do agree there definitely needs to be an extension for unemployment insurance.  Unfortunately, it took way too long for Congress to go to conference committee to deal with the Fiscal Year 2014 budget.  This year both houses of congress passed budget resolutions; passing a budget resolution is not something both chambers can brag about a lot even though  the ones passed are extremely one-sided.  Bipartisanship in congress is something that we don't see enough of.  Bipartisanship used to be considered necessary to get just about anything done in Washington, but that's not something we can say in today's Washington.  The U.S. Senate is typically the institution where bipartisanship is necessary to get anything done because of a 60-vote supermajority to pass legislation.  Unfortunately, the institution today is so polarizing that Harry Reid the Majority Leader and Mitch McConnell the Minority Leader have an extremely testy working relationship.  Back in 2004, Then- Majority Leader Bill Frist campaigned against Then-Minority Leader Tom Daschle when he was running for re-election.  It's understandable to have disagreements with members of the opposite party, but it's another thing to campaign against somebody you should have a working relationship with.  Civility in the senate cuts both ways because it seems like neither leader in the senate has a good working relationship with the other.  If Washington wants to get things done for the people they represent, it's about time they roll up their sleeves and come together around the things they agree on as opposed to the things they don't agree on.

Footnotes- The Senate race in South Dakota: Enter Bill Frist | The Economist, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell don't get along. That's a major ..., Republicans Spent Year Blocking Budget Conference (VIDEO), Here's what's in Paul Ryan and Patty Murray's mini-budget deal