Ezra Klein’s “Wonkbook: Absolutely everything you need to know about health-reform Supreme Court debut” provides as good an introduction to the hearings as you are likely to find.
it’s an ad, but “Seniors and the Affordable Care Act” does have some good talking points for Dem candidates directed at highest turnout constituency.
Louise Radnofsky’s “Camping Out for a Ticket In” in the Wall St. Journal takes a look at the unsavory spectacle of people hustling for a limited number (60) of available free tickets to the Supreme Court’s hearings on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including hired place holders ($36 hourly) and scalping ($600). Although there is no acceptable reason why the proceedings will not be televised, “The court has said it will provide, on its website, audio recordings of the arguments a few hours after they wrap up for each session.”
Joshua Miller spotlights “Five Races in Which the Health Care Debate Will Matter” at CQ Politics.
ProPublica has an interesting widget in “A Tangled Web: Who’s Making Money From All This Campaign Spending?” by Al Shaw, Kim Barker and Justin Elliott, showing who get how much from whom and for what.
Tomasky argues for delayed White House support of gay marriage: “I would argue that it makes sense to win first and then do it. If he did it in a campaign context, many people would ascribe the move to other motives, and it would be the topic of heated debate. But if he does it in a second term, no one will be the least bit surprised.”
The Fix’s Aaron Blake reports that GOP primary turnout is up slightly.
Isolde Raftery’s “What Gender Gap? Washington State Has a History of Women Who Lead” in The New York Times sheds light on how one state over comes male domination of politics. “Nationwide, women’s groups point out the glaring gender disparity in public life, noting that there are only 6 female governors and 17 female senators. Across the country, women make up 23.6 percent of state legislatures.” She cites the late settling of the west as a factor in reducing the male advantage, along with the state’s “breed of tough, activist women.”
Despite the GOP’s recent blunders regarding reproductive rights, Vicki Needham warns at The Hill that “Slower jobs growth for women voters could cost Obama in election.” Needham notes that “women are the only group for whom employment growth lagged behind population growth from 2009 to 2011…During that time, female employment grew by 0.9 percent and lagged behind growth in the population of working-age women by 1.5 percent…That has led to jobs gains of only 600,000 — from 65.5 million to 66.1 million — for women, compared with 2.6 million for men during those two years, the survey showed.” She acknowledges, however, that Obama still has a strong edge in the polls with women voters.
Ryan as Romney’s ticketmate? Unlikely in my view. Strategic considerations will probably compel Mitt to look southward, where he has been underperforming. Maybe Rubio (FL + Latino cred), DeMint (tea party pander) or Chambliss (oozes southerness).

For an insightful read about the future of wingnut talk radio, check out The Daily Beast’s “Mike Huckabee Brings on Rush Limbaugh’s Decline” by former Bush II speechwriter David Frum. It seems that the 30 sponsors bailing in the wake of Limbaugh’s ‘slut’ tirade may not be his most worrisome concern, as Frum explains:

…On April 2, Limbaugh will face a more-serious challenge. That’s when the new Mike Huckabee show launches on 100 stations in Limbaugh’s very own noon-to-3 time slot.
Huckabee’s competition threatens Limbaugh not only because Huckabee has already proven himself an attractive and popular TV broadcaster, but also because Huckabee is arriving on the scene at a time when Limbaugh’s business model is crashing around him.
To understand the power of Huckabee’s challenge to Limbaugh, you have to understand the strange economics of talk radio. Most talk-radio programs offer radio stations this deal: we’ll give you three hours of content for free. (Some programs–cough, Glenn, cough, Beck–have actually offered to pay radio stations to accept their content.) Those three hours will include 54 minutes of ad time. That ad time is split between the radio station and the show: each gets 27 minutes to sell.

But Limbaugh, Frum notes, was able to charge for his content and rake in big bucks in advertising — until 2009, when his listeners began shrinking to the point where they are now about half as many as three years ago. Limbaugh responded by cranking up his “TSL” ratings, ‘time spent listening’ — by pandering to his hard core base, getting them to listen longer. Frum adds:

That imperative explains why Limbaugh kept talking about Sandra Fluke for so long. He was boosting his TSL to compensate for his dwindling market share. Few things boost TSL like getting the old folks agitated over how much sexy sex these shameless young hussies are having nowadays. (And make no mistake: Limbaugh’s audience is very old. One station manager quipped to me, “The median age of Limbaugh’s audience? Deceased.”)
……Limbaugh’s audience not only skews old; it skews male. It was already 72 percent male in 2009–more male than that of almost any other program on radio or TV. Advertisers are not nearly as interested in talking to old men as to middle-aged women. If Huckabee can draw such women to his new program, as he has drawn them to his TV show, he will reshape the market.
…Limbaugh’s advertisers and his stations had already begun to feel ripped off. To quote my station-manager friend again: “I don’t mind paying for content. But I do mind paying for trouble.” So advertisers revolted against the TSL strategy, with Sears, JCPenney, and many other sponsors dropping the show. Many of the local advertisers who buy their ads from the local stations rather than from the syndicators have been ordering that their purchased minutes be placed on some less-controversial program.

Enter Huckabee.

Limbaugh’s calculation that his core advertisers must return always rested on the assumption that there was nowhere else to go. Suddenly, in the worst month of Limbaugh’s career, somewhere else has appeared: a lower-priced alternative, with big audience reach and a host an advertiser can trust never, ever to abuse a student as a “slut” and “prostitute.”
The new Huckabee show’s slogan is “more conversation; less confrontation.” “I don’t want it to be a show that every day, every hour, pushes everyone’s buttons to raise their blood pressure,” Huckabee says. “I figure the cost of high blood pressure is enough already.”
Huckabee’s politics are emphatically conservative of course, both on social and economic issues. Yet his politics differ in important ways from those of the Limbaugh-influenced Republican electorate…The less-strident Huckabee approach arises both from his experience as a long-serving governor in a Democratic-leaning state and from Huckabee’s famously genial temperament. “I have to believe that there are people who are highly opinionated but who actually find it informative and engaging to find out what the other side is thinking,” he says. “And not through a shouting match, but through an adult-level, civil conversation.”

While it is gratifying to see Limbaugh tank, Dems should hold the high-fives for a while. Huckabee is a shrewder reactionary than Limbaugh, and may be even more aggressive about pushing the wingnut agenda in electoral politics, albeit with more subtlety. In addition, Huckabee does have a certain gift for the soundbite put-down, as evidenced by his “We’ve had a congress that spends money like John Edwards in a beauty shop” zinger (this and other Huck quips here) during the early ’08 campaign. It’s not hard to imagine Huckabee besting the four current GOP presidential contenders, had he decided to enter the fray. His comments to the contrary, he may be laying the groundwork for a 2016 run.
Huckabee’s Achilles’ Heel, however, is his tendency to blather, a weakness which has damaged many ‘shock jock’ careers, from Imus to Limbaugh and a host of lesser-knowns in between. Last fall, Huckabee ‘jokingly’ (wink, wink) suggested creating confusion about election day at a pancake breakfast/rally in Mason, Ohio, as Molly Reilly tells in her HuffPo report::

“Make a list,” said Huckabee, referring to supporters’ family and friends. “Call them and ask them, ‘Are you going to vote on Issue 2 and are you going to vote for it?’ If they say no, well, you just make sure that they don’t go vote. Let the air out of their tires on election day. Tell them the election has been moved to a different date. That’s up to you how you creatively get the job done…The crowd laughed at Huckabee’s remarks. In 2009, he made a similar joke in Virginia, saying, “Let the air our of their tires … keep ’em home. Do the Lord’s work.”

Whether Huckabee refrains from advocating voter suppression on the air waves in his new gig remains to be seen. It’s good that Limbaugh is beginning to fade away like Glenn Beck. But Dems have always had a weaker talk radio echo chamber than Republicans — and the GOP’s edge may soon get even sharper.

At WaPo’s ‘The Fix,’ Aaron Blake has an interesting read, “On health care, Supreme Court loss could be electoral win.” Blake believes the GOP’s glee about the upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the ACA could backfire — in an unexpected way. Blake explains:

…Some Republicans are worried that their big challenge to Obama’s health care law could backfire come election time.
Obama, of course, does not want to see his signature initiative overturned by the Supreme Court, which holds oral arguments on the bill next week and should render a decision by late June. And Republicans who have long railed against the bill would certainly be overjoyed to see the bill struck down.
But in an electoral milieu (yes, we just used that word) in which winning is often based more on voting against something rather than voting for it, losing at the Supreme Court may be the best thing that could happen to either side — and particularly Democrats.
“In a perverse way, Obama is helped if it is overturned, because then he can use it to rally his base,” said GOP pollster Glen Bolger. “If it is not overturned, then Republicans have a frying pan to bash over the Democrats’ head…”

That last point may be a bit of a stretch. It’s just as easy to imagine the GOP looking like whiners, grumbling about a pro-Republican court saying the law is sound. Plus it may be overstating the intensity of opposition to the mandate — many who don’t like it may be willing to at least give it a try, especially if the High Court says it’s OK.
In addition, don’t forget that polls indicate many who opposed the bill wanted a stronger role for government. Asked “What, if anything, do you think Congress should do with the health care law? Expand it. Leave it as is. Repeal it.” in a Pew Research poll conducted March 7-11, 53 percent said “expand it” (33 percent) or “leave it as it is” (20 percent), with just 38 percent supporting repeal.
Blake is on more solid ground, however, in arguing:

Republicans already hate the law, and if it gets struck down, there’s nothing to unite against. Obama may pay a price from his political capital for enacting a law that is eventually declared unconstitutional, but all of a sudden, the bogeyman disappears, and the GOP loses one of its top rallying cries.
The Democratic base, meanwhile, would be incensed at the Supreme Court, which has generally tilted 5-to-4 in favor of conservatives on contentious issues, and could redouble its efforts to reelect Obama so that he could fill whatever Supreme Court vacancies may arise.

Blake argues less persuasively that Republicans will still put energy into repealing the law, even after the Supreme Court’s ruling. Seems to me that this would be a huge loser for the GOP. The public was tired of the legislative debate a long time ago. I would agree with Blake’s assessment, however, that Dems may “have more to gain than Republicans do” in terms of the election — even with an adverse ruling.

The political utility of smartphone “apps” has thus far been largely unimpressive, at least from a progressive point of view. But here’s one, “Learn how the Affordable Care Act Benefits You,” which could do some good.
The RNC has a new attack ad out, faulting the President for rising health care costs. Should be a tough sell, if the Obama campaign does a good job of explaining when the ACA’s cost-cutting provisions kick in.
In the 1970s, the so-called “Swedish welfare state” arguably achieved the most humane government in world history, with near-full employment, comprehensive health care, free education and a broad range standard-setting social benefits. The ‘Solidarity Principle” was part of the social contract, insuring that the lowest-paid workers would get the largest pay increases. There was some erosion in benefits over the next decades. But in 2006, Swedish voters made the mistake of electing a ‘center-right” government that slashed taxes and gutted benefits, leading to an alarming rise in poverty, increasing protests about accelerated income inequality and a 25% uptick in “acute” homelessness since 2005 — a cautionary tale for the U.S.
Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger if you would prefer that politicians pipe down about religion already. M.J. Lee reports at Politico on a new Pew Research poll which indicates that “Almost four in ten Americans say there is “too much” talk of religion and prayer by politicians – an all-time high since the question was first asked more than 10 years ago, according to a new poll.”
Lest your concern for the heart-breaking woes of Wall St. bankers was flagging, Jim Hightower has a tongue-in-cheek tear-jerker at Nation of Change about the great sacrifices they have been forced to make, including: “A hedge-fund manager, for example, says he’ll now have to strain to pay his $7,500 annual dues to remain a member of the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester. Plus, he worries about food, health care and boarding. Not for him and his family, but for his two dogs — he’s been laying out $17,000 a year for upkeep of his labradoodle and bichon frise, including around $5,000 to hire a dog-walker to take them out each day. He might resort to walking them himself a couple times a week.”
At The Nation, Chris Lehmann traces the origins of the war against unions and its devastating consequences for America back to the Gipper. “The true economic legacy of the Reagan years is an uglier practice: unionbusting.”
There’s no denying the central role of racism in the slaying of Trayvon Martin. but it looks to me like the National Rifle Association’s hard lobbying for the so-called “Stand Your ground” laws (aka “shoot first” laws) is partly to blame. As Mother Jones notes: “…In 2010, the Tampa Bay Times reported that “justifiable homicides”–i.e., killings that were deemed legitimate–have skyrocketed in Florida over several years since the “stand your ground” law went into effect.” See also John Nichols’ post in The Nation, “How ALEC Took Florida’s ‘License to Kill’ Law National.”
Sean Sullivan reports at National Journal’s Hotline on “DCCC Adds Five Illinois Races to “Red to Blue” List.” Sullivan quotes DCCC Chair Steve israel: “I am conservative in telling you we will pick up two seats in Illinois, I am comfortable in telling we will pick up three to four seats in seats in Illinois, I think in a wave election in an aggressive climate we could pick up five seats.”
I didn’t think the “etch-a-sketch” comment was all that big a deal. But Joe Klein makes a potent case that it is. Newt’s comment backs up Klein’s argument, “Gov. Romney’s staff, they don’t even have the decency to wait until they get the nomination to explain to us how they’ll sell us out,” he said. “I think having an Etch A Sketch as your campaign model raises every doubt about where we’re going.” Looks like the GOP front-runner has got himself a new nickname.
Ezra Klein flags a time when Gov. Etch-a-Sketch spoke more kindly about rising gas prices, saying “I’m not sure there will be the right time, for us to encourage the use of more gasoline…I’m very much in favor of people recognizing that these high gasoline prices are probably here to stay.” Hopefully, someone will find the video clip.

Dems have been faulted by conservative journalists for excessive political hyperbole in using the term “war on” in connection with GOP campaigns against unions, young voters, people of color, undocumented workers and women. Call it what you will, there shouldn’t be much doubt that Republicans are dedicated to undermining the political and citizenship rights of these groups.
Not content to wage a war on voting against pro-Democratic groups, it now appears that Republicans have declared a war on free speech as well. We had a staff post yesterday on the draconian anti-picketing bill now making it’s way through the Republican-controlled legislature in Georgia. Today DemocraticDiva Donna Gatehouse has an equally-disturbing blog, “AZ Legislature Attacks Civil Liberties” up at AFL-CIO Now. As Gatehouse explains:

…Women’s and reproductive rights groups will undoubtedly be at the state capitol to speak out against numerous shocking and intrusive anti-abortion and anti-contraception measures before the legislature this session. The GOP majority is apparently so frightened by this prospect it’s trying to make it a Class 1 misdemeanor to engage in “passive resistance.” Common nonviolent protest tactics such as going limp when the police try to remove you from an area or chaining yourself to something could get you up to a six-month month jail sentence.
The deadline to introduce new bills has passed but Arizona has a maneuver, called a “striker,” that permits legislators to introduce bills beyond it. They strike out all the language in a previous bill and replace it with a new, and often totally unrelated, bill. It’s supposed to be reserved for real emergencies but it’s used for all kinds of bills, and usually to railroad them through the process with little time for public comment or debate. In this case, the “emergency” is lawmakers facing the unbearable thought of citizens calling attention to their outrageous and undemocratic agenda in the public square.
Phoenix blogger Steve Muratore reports that the “no passive resistance” bill is the idea of Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Scottsdale), who has a long background in law enforcement.
…Apparently, he testified that law enforcement officers are at risk of harm from Occupy protesters who passively resist…What harm? A hernia? Not if they lift with their knees as they’re supposed to.

Given the chance, today’s GOP would make criminals out of American heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis, who tapped the power of nonviolent protest to strengthen America’s rights of free expression, freedom of assembly and free speech. During Dr. King’s lifetime, there were some Republican leaders of patriotic integrity who stepped up and took a stand in support of the first Amendment rights of protest and free speech. It appears that none who can meet that standard remain in today’s GOP.

Dan Rivoli points out at International Business Times that the Supreme Court will decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) beginning March 26, “arguably its most anticipated case in years.” Rivoli adds that the High Court will deliberate about the ACA for 3 days, and “will address aspects of the law beyond the key question of whether the Constitution allows the government to force Americans to buy health insurance. The justices will also consider whether the law can stand without the mandate, expansion of Medicaid eligibility and whether it’s even proper for the court to hear the challenges to the insurance-purchase requirement before it takes effect in 2014.” Rivoli cites the new Kaiser Family Foundation poll indicating wide public misunderstanding about the ACA.
Democrats have a lot of work to do to educate the public about the need for the individual mandate in the ACA. According to Scott Clement’s WaPo report about a new Washington Post/ABC news poll, 42 percent “want the high court to throw out the entire law” and “25 percent want to do away with the mandate alone and a similar proportion wants the justices to uphold the entire law.” Clement adds that the above-noted Kaiser poll indicates that 51 percent believe that the mandate is unconstitutional, while only 28 percent believe it is constitutional.
Dems have begun addressing the merits of the health care reform law in their messaging, as Deirdre Wash reports at CNN.com: “Democrats will also argue that all the dire predictions GOP opponents warned about in 2009 haven’t materialized. Republicans said senior citizens would lose their health care coverage and private plans would be forced to impose massive hikes in premiums…”None of those things have happened, and in fact good things have happened — so that is a help to us,” claimed one senior Democratic aide coordinating the week’s activities. “People are seeing the good things and the crazy things Republicans said were going to happen didn’t happen.” …Congressional Democrats this week, with a major push from the White House, are planning a series of events to highlight the two major provisions of the law implemented in the last two years — rules extending health care coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ plans until they turn 26.”
Kyle Kondik explains why those who are looking for an anti-incumbent tidal wave will likely be disappointed.
All talk of anyone other than Romney getting the GOP nod is starting to sound a little silly. As Brad Knickerbocker reports at the Monitor on Romney’s chances of victory in Illinois tomorrow, “Nate Silver of the New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight political blog gives him an 86 percent chance of winning. (The Intrade prediction market puts Romney’s chances of winning Illinois at 92 percent.)”
Need more persuasion that it’s Romney’s to lose? As Larry J. Sabato, Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley report at the Crystal Ball, “Mitt Romney, appears poised to further pad his lead in delegates in upcoming Republican nomination contests, starting with Illinois next Tuesday and through a northeastern primary day on April 24…From now until the end of April, we expect Romney to win not only the majority of nominating contests, but also the majority of delegates awarded in these contests…Barring a massive, difficult to fathom shift in this contest, Mitt Romney has a better than 80% chance to be the GOP nominee. No amount of wild tapping on CNN’s magic wall will alter those odds.”
Political Wire’s Taegan Goddard cites good reasons why Dems should guard against overconfidence about President Obama’s re-election prospects.
Chris Cillizza writes about the VA Senate race in ‘the Fix’: “This may be the truest of the many toss-ups …In fact, when a recent poll showed former senator George Allen (R) leading by 8 percent, another poll soon showed former Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine (D) leading by 9 points. The truth is probably right in between those two polls.” Dems who want to make sure Kaine has the resources to compete can help out at his Act Blue page.
The AFL-CIO has a great new user-friendly web page, with lots of tools for progressives to get up to speed on critical legislation, political issues and campaigns.

Jamelle Bouie has an important article, “The Other Glass Ceiling” up at The American Prospect addressing the dearth of African American elected officials in the age of Obama. Indeed, conservative advocates of eliminating section 5 of the Voting Rights Act often argue that it is unnecessary, since having an African American President shows that discrimination in voting laws are largely a thing of the past. As Bouie points out, however, Black Americans are still very much under-represented in our major political institutions:

…Since the momentous 2008 election, there has been no great flowering of black political life, no renaissance in black political leadership. In a year when the first black president is running for re-election, the only African American bidding for a top statewide office is Maryland state Senator C. Anthony Muse, who is challenging Ben Cardin–a well-liked incumbent–in a hopeless race for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination. At most, by the end of 2012, two of the nation’s 150 governors and senators will be African American.
…If the number of officeholders was in line with African Americans’ share of the population–12.2 percent–there would be at least 12 African American senators and six governors. By contrast, the percentage of African Americans in the House of Representatives is nearly consistent with their share of the population–42 members, or almost 10 percent.

Bouie goes on to discuss plausible demographic and financial reasons for the shortage of Black candidates for these offices, as well as failed efforts by promising candidates, like Harvey Gantt’s bid for U.S. Senate in NC. He notes also the ugly racial stereotypes promoted in GOP ad campaigns designed to gin up irrational fears among white voters, such as GOP political consultant Alex Castellanos’s infamous “hands” ad, which helped Jesse Helms defeat Gantt.
Bouie stops short of exploring possible solutions, no doubt because there are not a lot of viable options available at the moment. Democrats, of course have done much better than Republicans in electing African Americans and other people of color, as well as women, to office. But there is no question that Dems have also failed to make much of an effort to achieve anything resembling proportional representation in terms of race and gender.
One thing that is needed is an active policy driven by a conscious commitment on the part of the national and state Democratic Parties to recruit, train and fund more African American, Latino and Women candidates. Some state Democratic parties do better than others, but there is enormous room for improvement everywhere.
Perhaps a special effort to recruit potential African American, Latino and women leaders from the ranks of organized labor and business would yield more viable state-wide candidates. But there has to be a real commitment to providing them with the needed financial and training resources.
One thing remains clear: The dearth of people of color and women candidates is an embarrassment to a party which bills itself as the hope of a more progressive society. All of the legitimate demographic and financial obstacles notwithstanding, Democrats must more forcefully address this issue at the national and state levels. In doing so, we just might find a pivotal asset in the struggle for a more permanent progressive majority.

In the latest Fox news poll, Obama beats Romney 46-42 percent, whips Rick Santorum by 51-39 percent, Ron Paul by 50-38 percent and Gingrich by 53-35 percent. The new Bloomberg poll has Obama and Romney tied at 47 percent, and beating the other GOP presidential candidates. The new Pew Research Center poll has Obama ahead by 12 percent over Romney and 18 percent over Santorum.
The Pew poll has some other findings Republicans should find disturbing, including “Latinos, for example, view the Republican party unfavorably by a 2-1 margin (30% favorable, 60% unfavorable). By contrast, Latinos view the Democrats favorably, 56%-31%…The picture among Americans under 30 is almost as negative, 34% view the GOP favorably, while 53% have an unfavorable view. Their view of Democrats is almost the exact opposite, 54% have a positive view, and 35% negative. Among those with a college degree or more, only 31% said they had a favorable view of the Republicans, while 66% were unfavorable. That group, which was a key to Barack Obama’s victory in 2008, views Democrats favorably by 55%-42%.”
All well and good, but Nicholas Confessore and Michael Luo report at The New York Times on a serious problem facing the Obama campaign and Democrats in general — a huge fund-raising gap between Dem and GOP Super-PACs, noting that “few so far have written the kind of six- and seven-figure checks that Republican super PACs are collecting.” One notable exception is Bill Maher who gave the pro-Dem Super PAC Priorities USA Action $1 million.
At SLATE.com, Richard L. Hasen has a revealing update on the still growing impact of the Citizens United decision. Hasen notes: “A Center for Responsive Politics study found that in 2010 the percentage of “spending coming from groups that did not disclose their donors rose from 1 percent to 47 percent since the 2006 midterm elections,” and “501(c) non-profit spending increased from 0 percent of total spending by outside groups in 2006 to 42 percent in 2010.” The same report found that 72 percent “of political advertising spending by outside groups in 2010 came from sources that were prohibited from spending money in 2006.”
Jobless benefits claims dip to lowest level in four years.
In addition, “The jobless rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans has fallen to 7.6%, well below the overall U.S. unemployment rate of 8.3%, and nearly five percentage points below the 12.5% rate for veterans a year ago.”
Looks like Tomasky was right about House Republicans getting ready to break their budget agreement. As Steve Benen notes, “Reuters reports that House GOP leaders are “ready to break a hard-fought budget deal,” in large part because rank-and-file Republicans are insisting upon it. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are now reportedly seeking a compromise on the compromise, asking Dems to accept an additional $19 billion in cuts, on top of the cuts Democrats already agreed to swallow.”
Just in case you thought Republicans were done with making stupid remarks that alienate women voters, GOP front-runner Romney comes up with a dilly — “Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that.”
Senate Republicans are also opposing renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, despite warnings by GOp women leaders.
Meanwhile Allison Yarrow reports at the Daily Beast on legislation being introduced by women state legislators to help males better understand how offensive and burdensome conservative meddling into women’s reproductive rights can be. Yarrow discusses bills to require “a rectal exam, celibacy lecture, and waiting period” before providing potency drugs to men. “Ohio joins states like Missouri, Virginia, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Georgia in…the race to concoct the craziest gag on men’s sex lives. Georgia state Rep. Yasmin Neal protested a colleague’s bill to end late-term abortions without exception by parrying with vasectomy regulations.”

Susan Saulny reports on what could be a huge game-changer in her New York Times article,”Centrist Women Tell of Disenchantment With Republicans.” Saulny notes: “From 1992 to 2008, Democrats won the overall women’s vote in every presidential election…But in the 2010 midterm election, women swung to the Republicans. Now there are signs of another shift: in a New York Times/CBS News poll last month, the president finished ahead of Mr. Romney among all women by 57 percent to 37 percent. He held much the same advantage over Mr. Santorum.”
Janet Hook’s Wall St. Journal article, “GOP Loses Sure Grip on Some Senate Seats,” has some good news for Dems regarding the Maine Senate race: “The picture was clouded early last week with the decision of popular former Gov. Angus King, a left-leaning independent, to run. He was widely seen as the instant front-runner…Mr. King, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, hasn’t said whether he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans if he were elected, but no one in either party sees much chance he would opt for the GOP. Although he backed George W. Bush for president in 2000, he supported John Kerry for president in 2004 and Mr. Obama in 2008..”
It might be a good idea for Dems to start breaking down the “it’s the economy, Stupid” thing into its component parts while formulating strategy. At least that’s one conclusion you can draw from an Elon University/Charlotte Observer poll of North Carolinians, reported by McClatchy Tribune News service. The poll found that “Losing my retirement fund” was the top economic fear (25 percent), followed by “losing my health insurance” (25 percent), “losing money in the stock market” (24 percent). “Losing my job,” presumably a top fear during the depths of the recession, was named by 19 percent. as for “which aspects of the economy most concerned them,” 70 percent said the price of gas, followed by the national debt (55 percent), the cost of health care (53 percent), the job market (40 percent) and the ability to retire comfortably (38 percent). On the plus side, 67 percent said the economy will stay the same or get better.
WaPo’s Dan Balz and Jon Cohen report on the adverse impact of rising gas prices on the president’s approval polling, particularly among the working-class. “The downshift is particularly notable…among white people without college degrees, with disapproval among this group now topping approval by a ratio of more than 2 to 1, at 66 versus 28.”
An ABC News/Washington Post poll indicates that 60 percent of Americans say the war in Afghanistan is not worth its costs, and Republicans are evenly divided on whether the war has been worth it. In all, 54 percent of Americans want the U.S. to pull its troops from Afghanistan.
Steven Greenhouse’s “Labor Leaders Plan to Apply New Clout in Effort for Obama” in the Sunday New York Times should put a little zing in the steps of Democratic leaders. Greenhouse explains how the Citizens United ruling gives unions increased political leverage in deploying ground troops, and adds “With unions representing 11.8 percent of all workers, labor volunteers canvassing in previous elections could often just knock on one in 10 doors. They might knock on a door and then have to walk two blocks to the next union household. But now they can knock on every door in a neighborhood.” Greenhouse quotes Stephen J. Law, president of American Crossroads, the GOP super PAC, who says “Their ability to be totally unified and focused on their message will make them ultimately the most decisive single player in the political landscape this year…Groups like us, we don’t have millions of members that we can readily deploy. We tend to be more active on the airwaves and mass communications.”
David Jarman takes a wonky look at “The PVI/Vote Index: Quantifying good Democrats, bad Democrats and ugly Republicans” at Daily Kos and summarizes the utility of the index in a nut graph: “Most congresspersons, in fact, do perform about how you’d expect, but it’s the ones who don’t who are the interesting ones and deserving more of our attention. We can use this method to spot Democrats who are underperforming their districts and might benefit from a primary challenge to straighten up or get out; we can also use it as a means of finding below-the-radar Democrats who are voting more liberally than their districts would warrant, and giving them some encouragement. It can also help us spot potentially vulnerable Republicans, the wingnuts hidden in swing districts whose records provide ample ammunition for a general election attack.”
You probably knew that the GOP primaries and caucuses have been dominated by older white guys. But it’s likely you didn’t know the extent of their domination. For that, you can read Perry Bacon Jr.’s post at Red, Black and Blue, in which he notes: “The Ohio electorate in the GOP primary last week was 96 percent white and a quarter over 65, compared to 83 percent white and 17 percent over 65 in the general election four years ago.”
CNN.com’s Brandon Griggs mulls over a curious phenomenon, the lack of conservative political comedy. It’s not like we Dems aren’t occasionally ridiculous.

All of Romney’s glaring weaknesses notwithstanding, his Ohio win feeds an image of a competent winner, which can only grow as he clinches the nomination. As Greg Sargent notes at the Plum Line: “Dems have not undermined impressions of Romney’s competence at all — which may loom larger in the general election than anything else.”
Yet more indications of Romney’s weakness with working class voters continue to surface: Tom Curry reports at MSNBC.com that “On Tuesday in Ohio, early exit poll data indicated that Romney won 34 percent of those without a college degree, lagging behind former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who won 38 percent of those voters. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas won 12 percent of those voters and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won 14 percent…When exit poll interviewers asked voters which candidate best understands the problems of average Americans, Santorum led by 33 percent to 22 percent for Romney.”
There was no possibiity of a happy outcome for Dems in the Kaptur-Kucinich House race, which had to result in a net loss of a Democratic House seat. Progressive Dems lost an eloquent voice in the House with the defeat of Kucinich to the more moderate Kaptur, who reportedly brought home the bacon. The outcome provides a regrettable, but instructive lesson in the importance of redistricting as a political weapon to divide and disempower the opposition. Kucinich joins Barney Frank as a leading progressive House member undone by redistricting, though in Frank’s case it was Democrats who did the damage.
NPR has that handy chart you’ve probably been looking for, classifying the GOP primaries and caucuses ahead by winner-take-all vs. proportional delegate selection. Hint: It’s hard to see how Romney can blow it.
Jonathan Merrittt writes in The Monitor that “Religious pollsters and demographers have long warned that young people were leaving churches in alarming numbers…according to Notre Dame professor David Campbell and Harvard professor Robert Putnam, the fusion of faith and partisan politics – particularly the conservative type – is at least partly to blame…”The best evidence indicates that this dramatic generational shift is primarily in reaction to the religious right,” they wrote in the latest Foreign Affairs in an essay titled “God and Caesar in America: Why Mixing Religion and Politics is Bad for Both.” They explain: “And Millennials are even more sensitive to it, partly because many of them are liberal (especially on the touchstone issue of gay rights) and partly because they have only known a world in which religion and the right are intertwined…In effect, Americans (especially young Americans) who might otherwise attend religious services are saying, ‘Well, if religion is just about conservative politics, then I’m outta here…”
TDS Co-Editor Ruy Teixeira has a post, “Can Obama Recapture the Hispanic Vote?” at The New York Times, as part of a forum on “The last gasp of the GOP?” Says Teixeira: “…It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the current anti-immigrant tilt of the Republican Party, especially as displayed in the primaries, has decisively turned off Hispanic voters and thrown them into the arms of the Democrats.”
At The Daily Beast, Wayne Barrett makes a strong case that Romney’s limp critique of Rush Limbaugh’s misogynist meltdown was likely attributed to Clear Channel’s generous support (over $726K) of Romney’s campaigns. In addition, “Romney’s former company, Bain Capital, acquired Clear Channel in 2008 with another Boston-based investment firm, Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL)…The $26 billion merger, which was launched simultaneously with Romney’s first presidential candidacy in late 2006…placed Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and much of the talk-show right under Bain/Lee control…”
Guess who is paying for the broadcast of Limbaugh’s daily bile-fest to the American Forces Network? That would be you.
Limbaugh may have given a hot-foot to a sleeping giant as Steve Kornacki argues at Salon.com: “It’s also worth noting that single women tend to participate in elections at a lower rate than married women. The Voter Participation Center estimates that if turnout levels were equalized at the married rate, roughly 6 million new unmarried women would head to the polls. In demeaning an intelligent, well-spoken 30-year-old single woman, Limbaugh is doing his part to wake these nonvoters up.”
Gerald F. Seib of the Wall St. Journal flags some interesting stats from a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll indicating that President Obama loses the male vote by 6 and 4 percent against Romney and Paul, respectively. But Obama wins the male vote by 6 and 5 points against Gingrich and Santorum respectively.
George Monbiot of Guardian UK has a post “How Ayn Rand Became the New Right’s Version of Marx” at Reader Supported News. Monbiot observes “…The belief system constructed by Ayn Rand, who died 30 years ago today, has never been more popular or influential…Ignoring Rand’s evangelical atheism, the Tea Party movement has taken her to its heart…She is the guiding spirit of the Republicans in Congress…I wonder how many would continue to worship at the shrine of Ayn Rand if they knew that towards the end of her life she signed on for both Medicare and social security. She had railed furiously against both programmes, as they represented everything she despised about the intrusive state. Her belief system was no match for the realities of age and ill health.”