Thursday Open Thread [5.21.15]

The notion that Hillary Clinton is too centrist/moderate for progressives gets a thrashing from Daily Beast columnist Michael Tomasky, who says:

“If you are a 40-something Democrat [I am, well actually 39] who has voted over the years for Bill Clinton and Al Gore and John Kerry and Barack Obama, it’s looking like you are about to cast a vote next year for the most liberal Democratic nominee of your voting lifetime.”

Tomasky then reports that Hillary Clinton’s positions on the minimum wage, immigration, family and medical leave, criminal justice reform, child care, and hedge fund taxation loopholes are substantially more progressive than recent Democratic presidents. I still think Obama has been the most liberal President of my lifetime, and the most liberal since Roosevelt. But we will see how Hillary stacks. I do know that the characterization of her as this flaming moderate has mostly to do with her sometimes war-hawkish stances, rather than anything else.

The new Gallup poll shows that President Obama’s favorability is at 53%, up from 49% in March.

New York Times: “Staring at startling exit polls after a beating by President Obama in 2012, Republicans vowed they were finally ready to do something about immigration reform or risk further alienating Hispanic voters. But two-and-a-half years later they have seem to have decided to lurch to the right on the issue.”

And if they lurch any further right they will be deporting themselves.

“The United States and Cuba are closer than ever to reaching an agreement to fully restore diplomatic relations and reopen embassies, officials in both countries say, as negotiators prepare to meet Thursday in Washington for another round of talks to iron out remaining details and discuss possible dates,” the New York Times reports.

The fifth most Republican and conservative state in the Union — NEBRASKA —- yes, freaking Nebraska, voted with the dirty hippies and voted to repeal the death penalty. Hey, Trey Paradee, explain that! No bother, the Republicans did for you:

Republicans offered a variety of reasons for supporting the death penalty’s end, from the high cost of administering executions to the surprisingly uncommon idea that it’s important to be consistent in support for human life. “I’m pro-life from conception until when God calls somebody home,” state Sen. Tommy Garrett told the World-Herald. “I’m not going to quibble over innocent life versus those who are guilty for what they have done. This is a matter of conscience.”