Allen County Democratic Party

The first step in recovery is to admit one has a problem....

The good news for those of you who don't share your humble correspondent's obsession with the NY 23rd Congressional District race is that the election is Tuesday.  In the meantime, please indulge me.  In the absence of finding a very strong 12-step program soon, it is easier to just give in with the realization that things will be over in 72 hours.  (Unless there's a recount.....in which case I may need to seek professional help.)

So, if you aren't spending all of your free time on TPM, here's the latest:

Today the Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, suspended her campaign after publication of a poll showed her falling further and further behind in this three-way race.  The polls shows the Democrat candidate and the third-party Conservative candidate running neck and neck.

Read Scozzafava's statement here.  Interestingly, she does not endorse either candidate, saying "...I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so."

If Council goes late Tuesday night you may see me sneaking away from the table to check the news.  Sorry, it's just too much to pass up for this political junkie.

Happy Birthday, Statue of Liberty!

123 years old today.

"...Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Rhodes Scholar jumps into Treasurer's race

Businessman Pete Buttigieg of South Bend has announced his exploratory committee to run for State Treasurer.  His background is most impressive so be sure to check it out.  You can also sign up for e-mail updates from his campaign.

In an e-mail today he said,

I am in this race for a number of reasons.  First, Hoosiers deserve better than the current State Treasurer. Unfortunately, the incumbent has made poor decisions that have jeopardized not only our tax dollars, but Hoosier jobs. The incumbent has invested in junk bonds and other risky financial instruments. He has used this important office to launch needless partisan political attacks against President Obama, against energy reform, and against health care legislation.  And, despite the thousands of Hoosier jobs it would have threatened, he even used our tax dollars to sue the federal government in an effort to stop the rescue of Chrysler.  

Secondly, I think we need an innovative, proactive State Treasurer who will do more to better the lives of all our citizens. As Treasurer I will put in place policies that encourage us to invest our tax dollars in Indiana-based businesses so we can create more jobs right here at home. I will work to protect our families from unscrupulous mortgage lenders and out-of-control credit card companies. And I will work to improve transparency in the office, while aggressively promoting financial awareness and literacy. 

Finally, I am running for this office because I know I am ready to do this job. I used my time at Harvard and as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford to learn the principles of economics. And in my experience as a businessman - advising leading business, nonprofit, and government leaders on major strategic decisions around the world - I have put those principles into practice, gaining insight on how to invest wisely and securely. And my involvement in state and local politics has taught me the real difference that dedicated and responsible leaders can make. 

I know this is a big challenge - but I also know that, with your help, we can win!

 

Young Democrats on Facebook

If you aren't already hooked into the Allen County YD's, check out the group on Facebook.  Their next meeting is coming up this Monday, November 2, 6 p.m. at ACDP Headquarters.  If you want to contact the YD's through e-mail rather than FB, use this address:  AllenCountyYoungDems@gmail.com.

All politics is local

So said Tip O'Neill, a Democrat (okay, apparently Tip's father said it, but he was a Democrat, too).  I am sure that many smart Republicans have thought the same thing - it is a nonpartisan observation.  The point is that you can never overlook the people in your district (or city or state or wherever you are running) and the issues that matter to them.  Campaigns, as they say, are never about the candidates and always about the voters.

Apparently that concept has been lost on the Conservative Party candidate running in the New York 23rd Congressional District race.  (Your humble correspondent will confess to a minor obsession with All Things 23rd but give me a break - it's really compelling stuff.)

Most of us voters like to think that we are sending someone to Washington to work for us and the bread and butter issues that matter to us, not as part of some weird national political drama.  Just food for thought.

No, we don't have a health insurance problem in this country

Your humble correspondent thinks that it is a great thing for people to join our armed forces because they want to serve our country, or learn a new skill, or grow up.

However, she doesn't think that they should be forced into leaving a sick spouse by joining the army because that is the only way for the family to get health insurance.

Kinda gives you a new perspective on "public option," doesn't it?

H/T to Andrew Sullivan, via a friend of the blog.

Goings on in New York

Yes, this is the blog of the Allen County, Indiana, Democratic Party and most of the time we focus on issues of importance to us as citizens and Democrats in Allen County, Indiana, and the United States.  But every so often there is something so notable in another state that your humble correspondent cannot resist the temptation to stray off the path.  For example, when she agrees with Newt Gingrich. 

You see, there's a historically Republican Congressional seat open in New York.  The Republican nominee is a moderate (as these things go) and Gingrich is one of the few R's who is supporting her - his stated reasoning is that if his party is to obtain/maintain a majority then it must be open to members with a range of views.  The other R's, including Sarah Palin, are supporting a very conservative third-party candidate who is apparently more to their liking.  At this point the Democrat is polling a plurality and may well end up with the seat.  (And no, New York does not have run off elections for Congress.)

Before anyone starts whining about how I am picking on just the Republicans in New York (which I am not - it is just that I agree with Newt Gingrich and therefore felt obligated to share that unusual circumstance with the rest of the blogosphere), I will put something here about how fascinating, in a 3-news-cycle sort of way, last month's scuffle regarding the re-election bid of Governor Paterson was.

So there.  Bipartisan political entertainment from our friends in New York.

A little Sunday morning humor

Yeah, there's an app Rep for that:

Thanks to Todd via Facebook!

Better late than never

All snarkiness aside, it is always refreshing when facts triumph over ideology.

Ayn Rand and the ideology of the right

Rarely is a book review as interesting as this one.

It starts with

The current era of Democratic governance has provoked a florid response on the right, ranging from the prosaic (routine denunciations of big spending and debt) to the overheated (fears of socialism) to the lunatic (the belief that Democrats plan to put the elderly to death). Amid this cacophony of rage and dread, there has emerged one anxiety that is an actual idea, and not a mere slogan or factual misapprehension. The idea is that the United States is divided into two classes--the hard-working productive elite, and the indolent masses leeching off their labor by means of confiscatory taxes and transfer programs.

And uses a couple of biographies of Ayn Rand to describe not only her influence on the ideology of 20th (and 21st) century American conservativism, but the ideology in general.

Highly recommended reading.