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Exits

post from Talking Points Memo on 03 November 2009 07:19:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

7:20 PM: Interesting nugget from the NBC exits. In Virginia, 15% of the electorate was African-American compared to 20% last year. [...]

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Virginia Polls Close

post from MyDD on 03 November 2009 07:08:10 PM. © MyDD

CBS News tweets: As Polls Close in Va., CBS News Estimates GOP's Bob McDonnell Is Leading the Gov. Race As of about 7:13 PM Eastern, even Fox News is calling this race "too close to call" (note, this is not "too early to call," which is more about[...]

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When Generals Go Off the Reservation

post from The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks! on 03 November 2009 07:08:00 PM. © The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks!

Who's the Boss - Regardless of whether top military brass agree with the President's policies, the public square isn't the place to air their disagreements. Generals advise and carry policies out, they don't set them.

For the second time in as many months, a General has publicly questioned the policies of his Commander-in-Chief. This time, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway expressed his displeasure with Obama?s desire to abandon Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell (DADT). Whether you agree or disagree with DADT, the standoff underlines a larger problem and sets a potentially dangerous precedent.

There?s nothing wrong with generals having advice for the C-in-C. They can, and should, candidly advise the President about policy decisions and the policies? implications. There are few decisions a President makes that are more important than military ones and he should not make them in a vacuum. However, as Constitutional Commander of the military he?s under no obligation to follow the advice the generals give him.

There?s no bone to pick with Conway expressing opposition to the President?s policies. He had advice and they offered it. There?s not even anything wrong with expressing it ?colorfully? ? as long as they do it privately. To do otherwise can send a confused signal to potential adversaries and blur the Constitutional line between setting policy and conducting military operations.

The military and White House have a long tradition of handling disagreements privately. When they haven?t ? like Douglas MacArthur and Harry Truman?s Korean WR disagreements ? the President has ?reminded? the General who?s in charge. That?s how MacArthur found himself first being called ?former general?.

To put it another way, if a general?s subordinate publicly questioned his orders (or even in some cases, privately) there?d be hell to pay. There?s a word for this behavior ? insubordination. If the breach was bad enough there might even be grounds for a treason charge.

Many opponents of DADT cite maintaining good discipline and unit cohesion as reasons to leave the policy be. Obama, in repeatedly allowing the public criticism, is undermining exactly the thing the generals cite for bucking DADT. When soldiers don?t understand who?s giving the orders there can?t be good discipline or cohesion ? instead, you?ve created the world?s most powerfully armed gang and left it to be run by a general under the mistaken impression he can do as he pleases.

Obama is apparently under the mistaken impression that tolerance and consensus building is more important than his policies. He seems not to realize the military isn?t a democracy so he handles DADT as an unwanted distraction from his domestic agenda. In the end, he alienates his party?s liberal faction while giving ammo to his political opponents to harass him on the domestic front ? bipartisanship at its worst.

The sad part is this could?ve been avoided had Bill Clinton taken a harder stance with the generals then under his command. Because of his reluctance to give clear orders to the generals and Congress, we ended up with DADT ? a wishy-washy compromise that satisfied no one and muddied the waters to boot.

Retired Air Force Colonel Dick Klass has said, “Clinton’s mistake was to call the Chiefs into the Oval Office and ask them what they thought about gays in the military. What Clinton should have done, and what Obama should do, is call the Chiefs in, explain that repealing the ban is a matter of national security, and tell them that if they are uncomfortable with that, they should resign.”

My sentiments exactly.

The Case of the Whining General, Stanley McChrystal (omnipotentpoobah.com)
The Fierce Urgency Of Whenever, Ctd. (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
The Military Way (themoderatevoice.com)
Marines Chief James Conway Doesn’t Want His Sailors Acting Faggy (queerty.com)
Obama pledges to end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ (cbc.ca)

dont ask dont tell james conway marine commandant obama

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First Dem Win of the Night

post from Talking Points Memo on 03 November 2009 07:06:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

7:06 PM and VA-Gov race still not called for McDonnell. [...]

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Election 2009: Election Night Thread #1; Polls
Now Closed in VA

post from Firedoglake on 03 November 2009 07:03:35 PM. © Firedoglake

The polls close in Virginia at 7:00 ET polls are now closed in Virginia. The reports show light turnout, seen as a boost for Bob McDonnell, who doesn’t really need a boost. I’d expect a call on this race within minutes of the polls closing.[...]

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Sestak Legislation Would Extend COBRA Coverage,
Subsidies

post from Crooks and Liars on 03 November 2009 07:00:12 PM. © Crooks and Liars

video details and more

Good for Joe Sestak for recognizing the problem. Let your congress person know you support the bill, even if you can't afford COBRA yourself. Keeping health coverage on the political radar is an important step towards affordable universal health care:

Laura C. Trueman has spent much of her career promoting affordable health care. Now, she wishes she could find some herself.
Laid off from her marketing job at a managed-care company late last year, Trueman was able to keep her health insurance thanks to a provision in the federal stimulus bill that gave furloughed workers the right to purchase their old employer-based coverage at a 65% discount. The subsidies, which last up to nine months, were designed to give workers like Trueman time to get back on their feet.
Today, with the job market weak, Trueman is still without a job, and her family is bracing for an uncertain future. With the subsidies, she and her husband, a self-employed attorney were paying a manageable $460 a month for their health insurance; starting Dec. 1, the cost jumps to $1,313. They can ill afford the increase. They're already having trouble making their mortgage payment, and fear they might lose their Northern Virginia home.
?It has really made a huge difference for us,? she says of the insurance assistance, adding that the higher payment ?would be a real stretch.?
Since 1985, a law known as COBRA has given laid off-workers the right to hold onto their employer-based health insurance for up to 18 months so long as they continue to pay the premiums, including payments that their employers used to make on their behalf.
In the past very few people could afford this option, but the government subsidies have changed that, and now enrollments appear to be growing sharply. Hewitt Associates, a Lincolnshire, Ill., consulting firm, recently estimated that the rate at which workers were opting for coverage under COBRA had doubled compared with pre-subsidy levels.
Although federal officials do not have figures on the number of people participating in the program, millions have been eligible. The law covers anyone laid off between Sept. 1 of last year and Dec. 31 of this year.
But with the first discounts having gone into effect March 1, many people are about to see the benefit expire, including many who remain unemployed. The Obama administration and some members of Congress are talking about whether to extend the subsidy. Some lawmakers aren't enthused because of budget concerns, but backers say the subsidy is a crucial lifeline for people still hunting for jobs.
Just this week, Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Penn., introduced legislation that would extend from 9 to 15 months the total allowable time an unemployed worker and her family could receive the subsidized COBRA assistance. The legislation would also extend the subsidies to people laid off through June 30, 2010, widening the window of eligibility by six months. A third provision would give an extra six months of undiscounted COBRA coverage to people who were laid off early in 2008 before the subsidy law took effect.

I was laid off in July 2007, just before the subsidies kicked in. But at this point, I'd be happy just to be eligible for another six months.

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Virginia Election Results Thread--McDonnell Wins

post from Open Left - Front Page on 03 November 2009 06:59:49 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

The first campaign up tonight will be Virginia, at 7 p.m. eastern.Virginia-Governor (36.44%[...]

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-thread-1

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Election Results Thread #1

This is the thread for all elections tonight except Maine and New Jersey.The first campaign up will[...]

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Not a referendum on Obama

Ignore the exit poll topline numbers, since those are always bunk. However, the issue stuff is always much better, and while the numbers might shift some as the data is massaged to reflect the actual results, these numbers are well within the exit poll's margin of error:

Per CNN, voters in Virginia did not see their state's gubernatorial race as an opportunity to voice opposition to Barack Obama. A 55 percent majority of voters said that the President was not a factor in their vote, and an additional 18 percent indicated their vote in Virginia was one of support in the President. Just 24 percent of voters indicated that their vote was one of opposition to President Obama. The numbers out of New Jersey are not terribly different, with 60 percent saying that Barack Obama played no role in their gubernatorial vote, 19 percent saying that their vote was one in support of the President, and 20 percent saying that their vote was in opposition to President Obama.
Concludes CNN, this is not a referendum on Barack Obama.

Chuck Todd reports that Barack Obama's approval rating among Virginia voters stands at 51 percent (just under the 52.6 percent of the vote he received in the state last November) and 57 percent in New Jersey (almost exactly the same as the 57.1 percent of the vote he earned in that state last November). In other words, exit polling indicates President Obama has not really lost supporters over the past year.

This is not a nationalized election. Democratic special election victories in early 2004 had no bearing on the beating we took that November, while a solid Republican showing in MA-05 in 2007 had no bearing on the trashing they took in November of 2008. These were not nationalized elections, and focused mostly on local issues.

Republicans will spin any gains as a repudiation of Obama, but they risk the same level of delusion that I suffered when I thought winning special elections in South Dakota and Kentucky meant anything more than "good Democratic candidates running on local issues beat shitty Republican ones."

In Virginia, McDonnell (R) was by far a better candidate than the Democrats' Deeds. And while NJ Gov. Jon Corzine continues to suffer from approval ratings in the 30s, the race is only competitive because the Republican has turned out to be a horrendous candidate. Incumbents with approval ratings in the 30s have no business winning reelection.

All that aside, the race I most care about tonight is Question 1. I'd immediately trade the rest away in a heartbeat to preserve equality in Maine.

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HBO Special

Edward Norton (The Hulk) has produced a documentary which will be airing on HBO tonight. The[...]

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