Hats off for the top ‘regular guy’ actor James Garner — also a lifelong Democrat who supported the campaigns of “Dennis Kucinich (Congress in 2002), Richard Gephardt, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, and various Democratic committees and groups,” according to wikipedia. He was one of a handful of leading actors who supported MLK and sat in the third row during King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Below is a clip of Garner in one of his best performances as a reluctant warrior (he had two purple hearts in real life) in “The Americanization of Emily.” But don’t miss his hilarious portrayal of RJR Nabisco CEO Ross Johnson in “Barbarians at the Gates,” either.
FiveThirtyEight’s Harry Enten probes the data to determine whether or not “Voters Are Rational in Midterm Elections.”
Shout out to the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, along with supporting pollster and message-developer Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, for providing the leadership needed to make San Diego the largest American city to enact a minimum wage hike. Naturally, the fat cats are already scheming to undermine the victory.
David Montgomery has an interesting report at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader on the troubles of the South Dakota Democratic party, and what various players say is needed to repair the damage left by the upcoming retirement of Sen. Tim Johnson.
WaPo’s Philip Rucker and Robert Costa have an informative round-up of the array of Democrats making moves to get into position for a 2016 run, including Amy Klobuchar, Martin O’Malley, Kristen Gillbrand, Andrew Cuomo and others.
But some, if not most of them, may really be running for Hillary Clinton’s veep, suggests Chris Cillizza at The Fix.
National Journal’s Emma Roller rolls out “Elizabeth Warren’s 11 Commandments of Progressivism.”
Re Wendy Davis’s run for Texas Governor, Dan Balz reports, “Jeremy Bird, who set up Battleground Texas, said there is a path to victory for Davis: turning out registered minority voters who often stay home; registering unregistered minority voters; and attracting the support of suburban white women. She will do better among African Americans and Hispanics than the polls now show, he said.”
Macer Hall of the Daily Express reports that British Labour party Leader Ed Milliband, who is being advised by David Axelrod and Stan Greenberg, is due in the U.S. this week, no doubt looking for guidance and support in his quest to restore a Labour majority. Apparently, the UK’s electorate is as polarized as our own.