In “Black Voters, Not the ‘Gender Gap,’ Won Virginia for McAuliffe,” Zerlina Maxwell makes the point that “Women of color are the “gender gap.”
From The New York Times editorial on “Low Stress Voting.” “The Brennan Center for Justice recommends that New York and other states with outdated election schedules provide for a two-week voting period instead of cramming it all into one day. At least 32 states and the District of Columbia offer some form of early voting, and apparently voters like it a lot…The center’s survey found that early voting also means shorter lines, better performance by poll workers and more time to fix broken machines or other problems.”
Harold Meyerson considers “What Divides Democrats” — and what should unite Dems — at The American Prospect.
At last — a big presidential push for infrastructure investment. A Bloomberg poll found earlier this year that “Americans by 49 percent to 44 percent believe Obama’s proposals for government spending on infrastructure, education and alternative energy are more likely to create jobs than Republican calls to cut spending and taxes to build business confidence and spur employment.”
Ben Jacobs argues at The Daily Beast that the relatively good showing for Libertarian candidate Robertt Sarvis in the VA governor’s election just may signal trouble ahead for both parties –particularly in the south.
In his New York Times column, Bill Keller has a well-stated suggestion for President Obama’s message: “The message could be: “Divided government has brought us paralysis and crisis and made us a global laughingstock. Send me Democrats, and we’ll get things working again. Or at least, send me Republicans with a trace of pragmatism.”
In their National Journal article, “What Two Bellwether Counties Tell Us About the Republican Party’s Future,” by Josh Kraushaar, Peter Bell, Brian McGill and Stephanie Stamm the authors explain: “Our guys don’t understand [suburban] areas like Northern Virginia, suburban Philadelphia, areas that used to be our base. We’re getting smoked in these areas,” said former Republican congressman Tom Davis, who represented a Fairfax County-based House seat from 1992 to 2008. “Northern Virginia is a disaster for Republicans, these [statewide candidates] do not know how to run up here. They focus so hard on the social issues, cultural stuff.”
John Perr’s “The revenge of the insurance industry” at Daily Kos provides a revealing round-up of the ways some insurance companies have obstructed the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Lest we forget on this Veterans Day: in addition to repeatedly cutting budgets for American veterans services, remember this video clip showing how former Republican presidential nominee and Purple Heart vet Bob Dole was treated when he came to congress to support the U.N. Treaty on People with Disabilities:
