Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 5/26/09

post from Daily Kos on 26 May 2009 11:50:06 PM. © Daily Kos

Shockingly, political stories got knocked to the back burner today with the historic selection of Sonia Sotomayor as the designated nominee of the president to the Supreme Court. But in between the biographical tidbits and utterly predictable right-wing talking points, we did have quite a bit of campaign news. So let's put Tuesday in the world of politics to bed, shall we?

NATIONAL: Nate Silver Looks At Race and Gay Marriage
On a day when the "other" big news story was the California Supreme Court's decision on the case involving Proposition 8, Nate Silver crunches some numbers and seeks to dispel the myth that Hispanic voters oppose gay marriage at a higher level than do white voters. An interesting read, and timely, given the likelihood that the matter will be back on the ballot in California sooner rather than later.

NATIONAL: Gallup Looks At The Voting Patterns of Veterans
In an interesting study, the folks over at Gallup look at the differences between partisan identification of veterans, and those of non-veterans. The conclusion--veterans tend to identify more as Republicans, but not as much as you might think. Curiously, the effect is most magnified among younger veterans. One key stat I would have loved to see: whether or not that self-identification has changed dramatically over the past decades.

AL-05: Freshman Democrat Gets Unique GOP Challenger
According to Swing State Project, freshman Democrat Parker Griffith is getting a challenge from African-American GOP candidate Lester Phillip, who works for the Alabama GOP. The track record of black GOP candidates is mixed, particularly in the South. J.C. Watts was successful in Oklahoma, but Dylan Glenn never got off the ground in Georgia in several electoral attempts. And then there was that Steele guy in Maryland....

CT-SEN: A Crowded GOP Primary?? PLUS A New Poll Out Soon
Republican hopes that they would be able to clear the GOP field in the Connecticut Senate challenge to Chris Dodd are growing MORE remote, not less remote. Former Congressman Rob Simmons was the establishment choice in the field, and probably could have held off state senator Sam Caligiuri, who mines the same ideological grounds as Simmons, it would seem. But now there may be a third GOP candidate in the field, and this one could not be classified as a moderate: Peter Schiff, classified by Ron Gunzberger's Politics1 as a "stockbroker and anti-tax activist."

Also, in Connecticut: Taegan Goddard lets us know that Quinnipiac will release new numbers on this race tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if Chris Dodd has gained back any ground in the past two months.

NC-SEN: Burr Leads All Comers, But With Less Than 50%
PPP, which is based in the state of North Carolina, releases new numbers on the 2010 Senate race in North Carolina, and they find Republican incumbent Richard Burr in an interesting position. He holds double-digit leads over six potential Democratic contenders, but all of them hold Burr under 50%. Closest: Elizabeth Edwards (a longshot, to be sure) and Dan Blue, both of whom hold Burr to eleven-point leads.

NC-08: Minter-Kissell Contest--Incomplete!!!
Went with that headline only because the boys at Swing State Project already took the good headline about the hopes of the NRCC being intercepted. After all, it was just days ago that Republicans were crowing about the possibility that recently retired NFL defensive back Mike Minter was going to take back North Carolina's 8th district from Democratic freshman Larry Kissell. Over the weekend, Minter decided not to run. Count this as another recruiting failure for House Republicans, who already saw top-tier candidates eschew challenges in Idaho, Florida, New Jersey, and Arizona.

NY-GOV/NY-SEN: New Siena Poll Shows Stability in the Empire State
Siena College releases new 2010 numbers, and it is a real case of the "same old, same old." Here is the quick rundown that everyone here should be familiar with: (1) Paterson gets smooshed in a Democratic primary, or in a general election; (2) Andrew Cuomo is the smoosher in said Democratic primary, and leads in the general election by a pretty healthy margin; (3) Kirsten Gillibrand leads potential GOP candidate Peter King easily, but is in a real toss-up if George Pataki attempts a political comeback. Gillibrand's re-elect numbers, by the by, are one of the few changes: lousy before, they have actually improved somewhat.

OH-SEN: GOP Senate Candidate Portman Makes Embarrassing Weekend Blunder
The Dayton Daily News reports a double dose of red-faced faux pas hilarity for former Congressman and one-time Bush OMB head Rob Portman. Portman, now a U.S. Senate candidate in the open seat contest to replace retiring Republican George Voinovich, went campaigning at a VA Medical Center in Dayton. Ruh-roh Moment #1--Portman had to be reminded that it was illegal for him to campaign on federal property. Ruh-roh Moment #2--While there, he managed to get an earful for the cuts to the VA that occurred under the Bush administration. Cuts that would have to have crossed the desk of Bush's budget guy. A guy by the name of...Rob Portman. The Dayton Daily News article then helpfully points out that President Obama's draft budget has a substantial increase in the VA budget.

VA-GOV: Pick Your Poll!!
An occasional feature done by the folks at PPP. Already determined to go into the field in Virginia this week, as Daily Kos did last week, the gentlemen at PPP are letting their blog's readers decide whether they want a primary poll or a general election poll to be conducted. If you want a voice in that, you can vote at their blog.

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-Wrap-Up,-5-26-09

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Going To Bat For LGBT: The California Court
Branded "Second Class Citizens"

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 26 May 2009 11:36:37 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

(Crossposted from The Free Speech Zone)SAN FRANCISCO - Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban that California voters approved last year, will stand as a constitutionally acceptable exercise of voters' free will, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday,[...]

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Paint your roof white

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 26 May 2009 11:35:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

Yes, but does it match faux brick and vinyl siding? Outside of Greece or ancient Greek outposts there aren't many places in the world that use white roofs. There's nothing wrong with it but it would take a lot of change in attitudes of what looks "normal" to people. Over here I think of roofs as either clay tile, slate or sometimes (in Normandy) grass/thatch. In the States I think of gray synthetic tiles or slate. Once people got over the look, then there's the cost of doing the roof. Maybe during the building process though, whenever that starts again. The Independent:

Steven Chu, the US Secretary of Energy and a Nobel prize-winning scientist, said yesterday that making roofs and pavements white or light-coloured would help to reduce global warming by both conserving energy and reflecting sunlight back into space. It would, he said, be the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world off the road for 11 years.

Speaking in London prior to a meeting of some of the world's best minds on how to combat climate change, Dr Chu said the simple act of painting roofs white could have a dramatic impact on the amount of energy used to keep buildings comfortable, as well as directly offsetting global warming by increasing the reflectivity of the Earth.

"If that building is air-conditioned, it's going to be a lot cooler, it can use 10 or 15 per cent less electricity," he said. "You also do something in that you change the albedo of the Earth ? you make it more reflective. So the sunlight comes down and it actually goes back up ? there is no greenhouse effect," Dr Chu said.

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Tuesday Stuff

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 26 May 2009 11:32:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

Still shooting for a return tomorrow - we'll see...

In the meantime, it looks like The Poor Man Institute beat me to the punch here (h/t Atrios), but here I go anyway (with former pretend presidential candidate Mike Huckabee channeling Richard Beymer a bit here)...

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..."Worst Persons" (TV blogger David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun tries to make fun of K.O. and Rachel Maddow by comparing them to Nazi propagandists in the '30s - nice; Lt. Pete Hegseth is next with more of this "eight-plus-years-of-safety-since-9/11" crap - yeah, usually we should leave our service people alone, but this clown is an exception, and a nod to Atrios to boot; Laura Ingraham takes it, though, for alleging that torture is somehow OK if it only happens three times...wonder if she got her law degree from the same place as Christine Flowers - really don't want to contemplate the bizarro universe of these people)...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

...and by the way, consider this video to be a public service announcement (as a parent, it doesn't make me feel warm and cozy - ugh)...

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...and this gives you a bit of insight into our NYC activities of a few days ago; great show (overdue for some jazz here, and a big raspberry to the Italian gentlemen at our table who wouldn't shut up).

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Empathy and Experience in the Law

post from Open Left - Front Page on 26 May 2009 11:30:00 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

When Obama declared "empathy" a necessary quality for a Supreme Court justice, the main organs of[...]

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C&L's Late Nite Music Club with Wilco: Jay
Bennett R.I.P.

post from Crooks and Liars on 26 May 2009 11:30:00 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Title: MisunderstoodArtist: Wilco, featuring Jay Bennett
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Some very sad news from over the weekend:

Jim DeRogatis/Chicago Sun-Times:

Jay Bennett, a rock musician with deep ties to Chicago best known as a former member of Wilco, died early Sunday morning in downstate Urbana, where he had been running a recording studio, according to a spokesman for his family.
The singer and multi-instrumentalist was 45 years old.
"Early this morning, Jay died in his sleep and an autopsy is being performed," said Edward Burch, a friend and musician who collaborated with Bennett on the 2005 2002 album "The Palace at 4 a.m." "The family is in mourning and is unavailable for comment at this time."

When great tunesmiths are backed by gifted instrumentalists and arrangers, it means the difference between moderate success and legendary status. Jeff Tweedy from Wilco is undoubtedly one of the most gifted songwriters putting pen to paper today, but Bennett's contributions, like Mike Campbell's to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or Chris Walla's to Death Cab for Cutie, were the wings that made Tweedy's best songs truly soar. The band suffered a huge loss with Bennett's acrimonious exit in 2001; the world just suffered a larger one.

Bennett's keyboard work on this performance of 'Misunderstood' is absolutely explosive, especially around the 3:40-4:20 mark.

Fans are paying tribute in the comments on Jay's MySpace page. Rest in peace, Brother.

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GOP Leaning On Race

post from MyDD on 26 May 2009 11:28:56 PM. © MyDD

Sen. Inhofe (R-OK) doesn't mask his true concern: Of primary concern to me is whether or not Judge Sotomayor follows the proper role of judges and refrains from legislating from the bench. Some of her recent comments on this matter have given me cause[...]

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TX SEN: White's Republican Ties Disturbing In
Context Of Texas Voter ID Debate

Fronted by Jerome.As Democrats in the Texas House worked all weekend and through the early part of the week chubbing to death a voter identification bill that would disenfranchise millions of Texans and has rapidly become the civil rights battle of the[...]

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Mike The Huckster Huckabee On President Barack
Hussein Obamas SCOTUS Nominee Sonia Sotomayor: Shes Too Thoughtful, Shes More Liberal Than Antonin Scalia And The Closest Thing To An Antichrist Of Possible SCOTUS Nominees

Question: What In The World Was Mr. Huckabee Expecting In An Obama Appointed Supreme Court Replacement For David Souter Anyway?Folks, you’ve gotta admit — Mike Huckabee is “hip” and “cool”. To the best of my knowledge, he is the most competent rock-n-roll...

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Happy Birthday, Daily Kos!

Someone on Twitter just reminded me that today is Daily Kos' birthday! So here's a brief break from vacation to wish this great site and community a happy 7th birthday!