dagblog - Comments for "All Politics is Local"

It would seem that one needs

Elusive Trope — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:17:34 +0000

In reply to Interesting piece AT. Last

It would seem that one needs to look for not a greater number of politicians being swept out of office, but in the make-up of the 10% to 15% of those who are able to successfully challenge the incumbent.

And just looking at the incumbent re-election can also be a tad misleading. OpenSecret's "Casualty List" from the last election, 24 Senators and Reps left office and 30 retired, leading to 54 seats to competed for with no incumbent, which almost equals the 59 incumbents who lost. Another 10 lost in the primary.

Interesting, to note that between 2000 and 2006, only there were on 7 who retired and 6 who left office (with two resignations after convictions). Then in 2008 we see 13 leaving office and 28 retiring.

I went out book scouting and

Oxy Mora — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:02:53 +0000

In reply to One could say that all of the

I went out book scouting and in the back of my mind kept wondering how I might explain my addendum. Well done, Trope, now I don't need to. I found a very interesting book, on sale, "Battling Wall St., The Kennedy Presidency, Donald Gibson, 1994. It seems Pete Peterson could be called the "invisible hand" as far as America is concerned.

One could say that all of the

Elusive Trope — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:47:38 +0000

In reply to Trope, excellent blog and

One could say that all of the dynamics we see inside the beltway are on glorious display in the school yards across the great nation. The coalition building, the partisanship and in-fighting, everything leading us to one step away from the Lord of the Flies.

Nice Trope, you know I

tmccarthy0 — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:14:19 +0000

In reply to All Politics is Local

Nice Trope, you know I believe this 100%. Gelman's piece is excellent, I read it last night and then let it seep through my brain. I have that piece bookmarked now, it is really good.

Thanks for the excellent piece and good read.

Interesting piece AT. Last

Michael Wolraich — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:09:06 +0000

In reply to All Politics is Local

Interesting piece AT. Last fall, I was considering writing a book on the nationalization of American politics, starting with Gingrich. I figured that the "wave" elections in which large numbers of incumbents were swept from office in 2006 and 2010 were a symptom of the trend. But as you experienced, the data didn't meet my expectations. The wave elections of the past 20 years have not really been larger or more frequent than before that.

FDR made it worked because he

Elusive Trope — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 15:02:05 +0000

In reply to This is good. I was thinking

FDR made it worked because he kept the scope of his efforts narrowed to the relief efforts.

Through the 1930s, legislative dominance by Southern Democrats was buoyed by strong party allegiance in the south and a weak Northern Democratic party. Legislators were more concerned with passing relief bills for an economically depressed constituency than with helping blacks regain suffrage in the South. Black leaders referred to the New Deal as the "Raw Deal," as blacks' concerns were largely ignored. Roosevelt needed the votes of Southern Democrats to pass relief legislation, and he feared losing Congressional support by introducing any provisions for civil rights.

This a key reason why the Left has had such a difficult time developing coalitions. Individuals driven by, say, labor issues need to also accept and stand along side those who are driven by gay rights, and they have stand along the immigration rights people, and these three have join in solidarity with the environmentalists, and so on and so on. Eventually there is someone's agenda and demands to turn off just about everybody.

Trope, excellent blog and

Oxy Mora — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:39:13 +0000

In reply to All Politics is Local

Trope, excellent blog and some great references there.

Oxy's addenda. "And everything local begins in the school yard."

Excellent post, and great

Oxy Mora — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:37:29 +0000

In reply to This is good. I was thinking

Excellent post, and great comments by you, Mr. Day. I know what you mean by solicitation.

Building coalitions. If we can't do this in a way which will hang the "tea party" around Perry's neck, we're in for a tougher slog than we thought.

Local no more. Wall Street

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:28:16 +0000

In reply to All Politics is Local

Local no more.

Wall Street and particularly the SC nixed Main Street in every way possible.

This is good. I was thinking

Richard Day — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 07:08:20 +0000

In reply to All Politics is Local

This is good.

I was thinking about some of these very issues lately.

We see the hypocrisy right off. I mean Bachmann is doing all she can to get Federal monies into her Minnesota district. Texas--as one of our bloggers pointed out recently--receives more Federal funds than it pays out....

So if I am in Texas, I want as much Fed money as I can get and yet I call for less government! Which means I do not wish California to get anything!

You turn this contradiction into a coalition by attacking gays or attacking minorities or attacking atheists...

But FDR had a coalition of White racists and socialists and laborists and Jews and libertines and it somehow worked!

I do not have any answers but Moveon.org and a host of other organizations are doing all they can to sort of get an FDR 'type' of coalition going. And it takes money so I have five organizations asking me for money every day.

I rant too long here, but good points are made in your essay!