I won’t lie. I’ve been drawn in with fascination by the latest battle in the late night wars. (I also rubberneck at car accidents.) Jay Leno addressed the mess on his show last night. Watch.
Local media is reporting heavy turnout in today’s election in Massachusetts. But the reports we’re getting from people in strong Democratic districts describe light morning turnout, at least compared to what people remember in 2008.
I’m not sure the 2008 presidential is a fair point of comparison. And anecdotal reports only have so much value. But this is what we’re hearing.
Jon Stewart ain’t too happy with this Massachusetts debacle either. Watch.
Tea party activists in Florida file lawsuit against a GOP consultant and his ally over who has the right to use the name “Tea Party.”
Gotta love this quote that one of the plaintiffs gave TPMmuckraker:
We have a very successful movement, similar to the Civil Rights movement, or women’s suffrage. And we have a political entity that’s trying to take advantage of that. They’re trying to take that success and momentum and hijack it for their own political and/or personal needs.
As Arlo Guthrie would say, “Friends, they may thinks it’s a movement.”
If Martha Coakley wins tonight, the health care reform calculus is simple. But let’s assume she doesn’t, in which case it gets much more complicated. There’s a lot of talk about ‘Plan B’ — how much time will Dems have before Scott Brown is seated? Will the House liberals accept the senate bill word for word with no revisions? Will conservative and swing-district House Dems and refused to support what they already voted for, despite the senate bill’s being more conservative than the original House one?
I think this is very simple. And we’re about to see what the congressional Dems are made of. Obama too. Read More
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who’s eying a run for governor: “If I’m governor, I’ll cavort with showgirls and I’ll keep drinking my gin and betting on anything that moves.”
Just how did the progress of Health Care on the Hill and the Massachusetts senate special election intertwine to get us to this point? Check out our new timeline where you can see it unfold before your eyes.
Two really good, short articles from TNR about the Mass senate election and what it means for health care reform. One by Jon Cohn, another by Jon Chait. The bottom-line is broadly consistent with what I wrote earlier today. I’m not sure it’s quite that the Dems have nothing to fear but fear itself. But it is a classic case where they’re only really in trouble if they lose their nerve, freak out and listen to the voices telling them to pull the plug on reform. It’s time for buck up, shut up, pass the bill and move on — quickly through the senate if they’re certain they can and if not just push it right through the House.
Who are the pols going to be who can rise to this moment?
I’ve had a few questions about why I’m pushing for Plan B (just passing the bill through the House) rather than Plan A (completing the negotiations and passing the revised bill through the senate before Brown, if he wins, is seated). Here are my thoughts. Read More