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The Democratic Strategist

Political Strategy for a Permanent Democratic Majority

Political Strategy Notes

There are 59 vacancies on America’s federal courts, “including 27 that have been classified as judicial emergencies because of the strain they are putting on caseloads,” according to Working Assets. Yet “Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley, known for his obstructionism when he was in the minority, is slow-walking current nominees through his committee. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not scheduling votes for nominees who do finally make it through Grassley’s committee.” If you want to do something to help end the Republican roadblock, register your support here.
After the landmark Supreme Court decision protecting the ACA, Jacob Hacker ponders the Act’s future at The American Prospect .
Former Bush speechwriter David Frum gets in his ‘Mend it, don’t end it I-told-you-so’ licks at The Atlantic.
On the perils of having two big shot GOP candidates for President, a divisive Governor and increasingly complex demographics in one mega-state, Scott Bland notes at National Journal: “Frosty relationships and Byzantine turf wars are nothing new to politics in any state, especially when one party dominates, the way Republicans have in Florida. But with a presidential election 17 months away, many Republicans are worried that the party’s trouble with state leaders could do more than fray nerves–it could ultimately deny the GOP’s eventual nominee Florida’s 29 electoral votes.”
From “Republicans are in retreat” by David Russell at The Hill: “So the Republicans are all in a flurry to redefine, adjust or refocus their message, since the past week showed them to be out of step with both their normally conservative brethren on the Supreme Court and American public opinion. It wasn’t just a matter of Obamacare, gay marriage or public anxiety over corporate sponsored trade agreements; it was a confluence of a whole host of data points that made them look out of step and quite silly.Just to string together a few of the threads: The nine deaths in a Charleston, S.C., church bared their racial preferences with a nod toward removing the Confederate flag, but not an inch of give on gun legislation; A Republican-sponsored bill banning notification of the source of meat products as protection for consumers gets national laughs; Their ridicule for Pope Francis’s pronouncements on climate change is seen as offensive; The bombastic entry of Donald Trump into the presidential fray, joined by also-ran Govs. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) and Bobby Jindal (R-La.), does little more than highlight the comic element of the Republican presidential campaign; A bill sponsored by Comcast, tagged onto budget legislation to end net neutrality, is called out for the regressive step it is; And a notification that the rich donors have already exceeded their spending in the last election gives the public notice to just how much the party is in the pocket of wealthy sponsors.”
Of course Dems should applaud the SCOTUS decision upholding independent redistricting commissions as a victory for good government. But National Journal’s Jack Fitzpatrick explains why it will be a tough sell.
Jennifer Agiesta reports at CNN that “A new CNN/ORC poll finds that for the first time in more than two years, 50% of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling the presidency. And his overall ratings are bolstered by increasingly positive reviews of his treatment of race relations and the economy…Obama’s approval rating for handling the economy has also climbed, 52% approve in the new poll, compared with 46% who approved in the May survey. That’s the first time approval for Obama’s handling of the economy has topped 50% in CNN/ORC polling in nearly six years.”
The Demolition of Workers’ Compensation” — a ‘sleeper issue’ almost guaranteed to make Republicans just about everywhere squirm and sweat, when asked what they would do about it.
Here’s a GOP ticket that could lock up the ‘low-information voter’ bloc.

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