This is the fourth article in a continuing series by the NRDC Action Fund looking at candidates' environmental stances in key races nationwide.
Michigan's 7th Congressional District takes in five counties in southern Michigan plus parts of two others. Though the 7th gave birth to the Republican Party in 1854, today it's represented in the House by Democrat Mark Schauer. This fall, Schauer will face former Representative Tim Walberg, whom Schauer narrowly defeated (48.8%-46.5%) in 2008.
In his first term in Congress, Rep. Schauer proved to be an environmental champion. He received a 100% rating from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) in 2009, and voted in favor of the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), the first global warming bill to ever pass a chamber of Congress. Following the vote, Schauer said he supported ACES because his "top priority as a member of Congress is to fight for Michigan jobs, and this bill will help put our people back to work...This is the jumpstart we need to turn Michigan's economy around and help break our dependence on foreign oil." In a statement, he added that ACES will "allow us to crack down on polluters while reducing deadly emissions that contaminate the water we drink and pollute the air we breathe."
This was a marked change from Walberg, who carried the banner for Big Oil during his time in DC. In his own words, he: "introduced, fought for and demanded votes on legislation to immediately drill in places like the Gulf of Mexico, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf off the Atlantic coast and to increase our refinery capacity." In fact, in 2008, the LCV named him to their "Dirty Dozen" list of the worst environmental actors in Congress. According to the LCV, Walberg "distinguished himself as one of the most anti-environment members of the 2006 Congressional class...voted against clean, renewable energy and is an adamant supporter of the failed Bush/Cheney energy policies that serve only to increase profits for ExxonMobil and the other big oil companies." The LCV added that Walberg "voted against repealing subsidies to Big Oil, against increasing the use of renewable electricity and against efforts to help American drivers go further on a gallon of gas."
On the campaign trail Walberg is attacking Rep. Schauer for standing up for the environment, and questioning the science behind global warming. At a town hall meeting in 2008, Schauer responded to a question about climate change by questioning the scientific evidence: "I read scientists, editors...an equal number at the very least that say just the opposite that this is something that's gone on for eons, that we go through these cycles," and by joking that "if this isn't warming, give me more warming!" Judging by his vote in favor of ACES, one hopes he figured out the difference between junk science and expert climate scientists. Let's hope Walberg gets the memo.
The NRDC Action Fund believes that it is important for the public in general, and the voters of specific Congressional districts, be aware of this information as they weigh their choices for November.
As Michigan considers following the dangerous example of Arizona's controversial anti-immigration law, one of the candidates for the state's chief election official is fanning the flames of hysteria in a way that threatens voting rights.
The California Legislature approved a bill last week to extend voter registration privileges to 17-year-old citizens. If signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bill would help put California youth on the road to a lifetime of democratic participation.
Granholm's remarks on the rescue came after her announcement that state tax breaks for 20 business projects will net the state $2.3 billion in new investments.
That will ultimately produce 7,400 new jobs, directly and indirectly, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC).
Among the ventures is a company that makes wind turbines and a firm that will make a lightweight bus that gets three times the gas mileage of conventional buses.
Such a vision might transform manufacturing in the midwest and bring new prosperity to the long suffering rust belt... Except that this initiatives is very close to failing, if... if... (more over the break)
This is the second in a series of Grassroots Reports we will be providing over the final few weeks of the campaign to let the blogosphere know what 21st Century Democrats is doing in several key battleground states. This week we're focusing on Michigan where Democrats continue to build momentum. Recently, John McCain was forced to pull out of the Wolverine State in a move that will benefit not only Barack Obama, but Democrats all down the ticket - including our endorsed candidates Gary Peters, Mark Schauer and Andy Meisner.
21st Century Democrats has focused the majority of our resources in the important swing district of Oakland County. We've had organizers on the ground there for months and the polls have started to show voters moving in the Democrats' favor with Barack Obama now leading John McCain in the county by 6%. While this is a good sign, we must keep fighting hard until all the votes are counted on November 4th.
In Michigan's 9th Congressional District (which includes Oakland County), Gary Peters is running ahead of incumbent Republican Rep. Joe Knollenberg. Recent polling has shown Peters up by as much as 9 points, and he is 'banking' a lot of support in preparation for a strong get-out-the-vote effort. The campaign has already identified over 55,000 'yes' votes for Gary! Things are also looking good in the 7th Congressional District where Mark Schauer is consistently polling 7-10 points ahead of his opponent, Rep. Tim Walberg.
Andy Meisner, our endorsed candidate for Oakland County Treasurer, is running a truly impressive field operation as he tries to move to a new post after three successful terms in the state legislature. 21st Century Democrats' organizers have helped the Meisner Campaign contact 34,143 voters and make 7,886 IDs. The numbers are looking very good with 7,886 voters identified as a '1s' or '2s' (meaning they will likely vote for Andy) against only 463 people who said they would probably vote for his opponent.
The prospects for a big Democratic victory in Michigan are strong, but we can't let McCain's withdrawal make us complacent. As Peter's Republican opponent's campaign manager said, "our voter turnout operation is knocking on doors to get people to show up on Election Day." These Republicans understand the value of knocking doors and turning out the vote - and so do we! I hope you will support our efforts in Michigan and around the country.
Our first state report (on Montana) can be found here.
Afraid that they will lose this election, Republicans have turned ACORN into the boogie man. They are making baseless claims that ACORN is perpetuating voter fraud due to its voter registration activities.
In fact, the Republican National Committee's chief lawyer has labeled ACORN a "quasi-criminal organization," and McCain's campaign has launched ads accusing the group of "massive voter fraud" and bullying banks into making risky home loans. McCain's camp is also trying to link Democratic Sen. Barack Obama to ACORN. Last night, McCain said, "ACORN is destroying the fabric of democracy."
Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters Weekly Voting Rights News Update
By Erin Ferns
Monday marked the last day to register to vote before November's presidential election in many states and the conclusion to one of the nation's largest nonpartisan voter registration drives in history. Helping more than 1.3 million of the America's underrepresented young, low-income and minority citizens register to vote, Project Vote and its voter registration drive partner, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), have played a leading role this election cycle in changing the face of the electorate to represent all Americans.
So McCain will have no more mail, TV, or staff in Michigan, though the Republican independent expenditures arm will still be running a campaign on his behalf. Larry Kissell is leading by 11 points in his North Carolina district, just one more data point this crisis has been great for Democrats (something Lieberman echoes in lauding the passage of the bailout as good for McCain). The polling lead for Obama has expanded, but now, if the economy settles down, the race can tighten up again. Jointly pushing this bailout could take the economic crisis off the table, and bring back Wright and the nonsense of the conventions.
Meanwhile, what we're learning about this crisis, in a terrifically reported article by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Diana B. Henriques, Edmund L. Andrews and Joe Nocera, is pretty awful. One thing that confused me is how small dollar donors and ordinary people thought this was a travesty, but elites and wealthy progressives were absolutely panicked and crazed that it had to go through. This article clears that right up; the crisis was essentially a bank run by hedge fund managers and billionaires. One way to think about investment banks is as basically banks where rich people and companies put billions of dollars; when the Fed let Lehman fail, billions of dollars in those accounts were frozen. If you are someone with tens of millions of dollars, some of your money at Lehman was inaccessible, and it was supposed to be liquid. Hence, panic. This panic was directly Bernanke/Paulson's fault for letting Lehman go under after bailing out Bear Stearns and AIG.
Last week, we finished surveying the lay of the land out West. This week, we begin to turn our attention to the Midwest. Yes, that's right. The Midwest looks to be once again a crucial battleground to win both the White House and Congress. And with just six weeks left until election day, we'd like to talk about the state of the races in America's Heartland.
Cross-posted at Project Vote's Voting Matter's Blog Weekly Voting Rights News Update
By Erin Ferns
Partisan political operatives in Michigan are taking voter caging operations to depths that would surprise even the most cynical observers of American elections. If their plans are put into action, thousands of Michigan foreclosure victims may find that they will not only have lost their homes this year, but also their vote.
The national trend from Pollster.com shows Obama ahead by 2.4%, although that will probably eke up slightly with the addition of the new Gallup numbers (Rasmussen's numbers from tomorrow, not today, will be added into the average).
With a new poll yesterday, McCain's advantage in Missouri has grown to 2.8%, both in the four-poll average an in the regression trend line. In Michigan, where there was also a new poll yesterday, Obama's advantage has dropped to 3.2% in the four-poll average, and 5.4% in the regression trendline.
The state of the campaign continues to hover between a statistically significant Obama lead, and a statistically insignificant Obama lead. A complete, 50-state survey of the four-poll averages can be found at my Presidential Forecast, and a complete survey of regression trendlines can be found at Pollster.com.
As a result of gians made in the 2006 elections, the path to the White House now leads entirely through blue states. If one adds Colorado, Iowa and New Mexico to the states Kerry won in the 2004 election, there is now an easy, non-Ohio, non-Florida path to victory for Democrats. The new, natural governing map now looks like this:
"Easy" Or "Firewall" Map: Obama 273--265 McCain
This is the easy path to victory, and it requires neither Ohio nor Florida. Here are some worthwhile facts about these twenty-two states, plus D.C.:
Democrats control both branches in 20 of the 22 state legislatures: In every state except Michigan and Pennsylvania, Democrats control both branches of the state legislature.
Democrats control a majority of 22 of the 23 congressional delegations (note: some errors follow--update below): If the members of the House and Senate are combined, Democrats control the majority of congressional delegations in every single one of these states except Michigan, where Democrats trail by only an eight to nine margin.
Obama leads in all 23 states: Obama currently leads by 5.5% or more in all 23 jurisdictions, except in Colorado where he leads by 4.0%. I has been more than a month since even a single poll has shown McCain either ahead or tied in any of these states. The last was a poll Michigan, on May 27th. Since hat time, three Michigan polls have shown Obama ahead by 3%, 6%, and 9% respectively.
Democratic dominance in three new states: In Colorado, Iowa and New Mexico, Democrats hold the trifecta--both branches of the state legislature and the Governorship. Democrats have picked up four of the fifteen seats in the U.S. House in these three states over the last four years, and are poised to pickup even more this time (NM-01 is a particularly strong pickup). Democrats picked up a U.S. Senate seat in Colorado in 2004, and are set to pick up tow more Senate seats this year, with the Udalls poised for a Colorado and New Mexico sweep.
In other words, thanks to large local gains in the 2006 elections, Democrats now completely dominate local politics in enough non-southern states to win the Electoral College. There are now enough "naturally" Democratic states in order to win the White House.
Unlike Gore and Kerry in 2000 and 2004, Obama does not have to go through Republican states in order to win the Presidency. He doesn't have to win Ohio, and he doesn't have to win Florida. Basically, all he has to do is hold states where, other than Michigan, Democrats have been completely dominant lately. If we lose this election, it will be because we lost at least one blue state, and picked up no red states. As such, we now win unless something abnormal happens. The Presidency is now ours for the taking.
Update: Oh yeah, Republicans still technically control the New York State Senate, for at least another couple of months. I forgot that Bruno's retirement didn't automatically and immediately hand over control. Also, Democrats do control the Michigan State House, while Republicans control the Delaware and Wisconsin State Houses. See it all here. Democrats have two of three (Sate House, State Senate and Governor) in all of the blue states listed above.
The Democrats have plenty of strong VP picks this cycle. Amongst those who get a lot of blogosphere attention I'm particularly partial to Sherrod Brown, Brian Schweitzer, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Kathleen Sebelius and Bill Richardson.
Nevertheless, the blogosphere doesn't make the decision. And we have less influence than the media. The conventional wisdom in the media is that Obama needs to pick a moderate elder statesman with defence and foreign policy credentials. A lotofpeople seem to be backing Sam Nunn.
This would be a truly appalling choice. He's been good on nuclear non-proliferation issues and is no doubt a dab hand at negotiating with banana republic despots, but he's terrible on economic issues and routinely favoured regressive social policies.
He supported the Iraq war and he mulled an independent run this year. The only saving grace is that he's too old to run as Obama's successor.
Thankfully such a choice appears unlikely at present. Obama's decision to interview Patty Murray suggests that he's not fooled by the beltway consensus that Unity 08 was a great idea.
Nevertheless, there's still an outside chance that Nunn, or similar wastes of space like former Indiana congressmen Lee Hamilton and Tim Roemer. And even if that doesn't happen, this kind of media discourse pushes the Overton window leftward, so figures like Feingold are not perceived as remotely plausible candidates.
After any close election, not only will there be a sense of frustration and anguish among the supporters of the losing candidate, but there will also be a significant amount of feeling that the result was somehow unfair or unjust. The 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination campaign will be no different in this regard, as there are already numerous narratives from the Clinton campaign and Clinton supporters that Senator Hillary Clinton was, in some fashion, robbed of the nomination.
However, while there are at least six narratives of this type, none of them hold up to closer scrutiny. I examine, and debunk, each of these six arguments in the extended entry.
Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters
Weekly Voting Rights News Update
By Erin Ferns
In light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold Indiana's voter ID law, the state-by-state battle to pass similar legislation has escalated with politicians seeking partisan gain furiously pushing laws that hinder access to the ballot. However, lawmakers seeking to dismantle barriers to electoral participation are just as committed to election integrity and protecting the voting rights of potentially millions of voters by calling out voter ID laws as "sheer political posturing." Meanwhile, positive measures to increase participation through Election Day Registration (EDR) are gaining ground in several states even as Iowa prepares to test-drive its new EDR law in the June 3 primary.
STATE BLOGS
