Senator Elizabeth Warren at Netroots Nation

Senator Elizabeth Warren at Netroots Nation

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The media doesn't typically pay that much attention to Netroots Nation -- unlike CPAC coverage (which is pretty much non-stop on NPR), where I think the media flocks to in order to hear the crazy. Still. NPR covered VP Biden's speech at Netroots Nation in order to cite him as a source for the Malaysian Airlines plane being shot out of the sky and to spin out the Presidential Horserace story for Democrats. I Googled Elizabeth Warren's speech and found not one, but 3 Politico articles on how she is the heart of progressives at this event. Then there are the horserace articles about whether Warren will take on Hillary Clinton in the Presidential primaries. It's just sad that you have to provide some juicy theater for the press to cover you.
Vice President Biden at Netroots Nation

Vice President Biden at Netroots Nation

Here is the video (about 47 mins) of VP Biden addressing the progressives at Netroots Nation in Detroit this week. Props to him for showing up there. Loved how he owned the perception that he is gaffe-prone. And he made the pitch that progressives were crucial to the political conversation and were needed more than ever. Then again, this Joe Biden telling progressives that he is one of them (touting -- among other things -- that he led the fight against Bork, Alito and Roberts) is the same Joe Biden who mistreated Anita Hill during the Thomas confirmation hearings. At the 20 minute mark, VP Biden is heckled by a group of folks opposed to deportations and encourages the applause for them. Nicely done, too. So take a look and tell us if you think he is running for President:
Saturday Open Thread [7.19.14]

Saturday Open Thread [7.19.14]

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The world would be a much better place if John McCain were put back on his meds, if he just retired to a home, or just slipped away. His hyperbolic statements are getting a little outrageous lately. Yesterday, I saw a quote from notorious murderer and former Congressman Allen West (yes, he killed someone intentionally and yet was elected to Congress) that blamed President Obama for the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. You can chalk up that kind of quote to the insanity of Mr. West. Then McCain repeated it.
Mr. McCain said that Mr. Obama is running a “cowardly administration that failed to give the Ukrainians weapons with which to defend themselves.”
Mr. McCain, how... IN THE FUCKING WORLD... would this intentional act of murder on the part of the Russian backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine been prevented by the President giving Ukraine weapons?

The Weekly Addresses

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President Obama The West Wing Week, with its focus on Delaware... Governor Markell hasn't posted a weekly message update on his YouTube channel (which is where I always check) in three weeks. Sussex Watcher informs me that he has hidden his weekly messages at part of his state website. So he been posting messages, just not publicly to his YouTube channel. So here is this week's update: And over the craziness of the last few weeks, I forgot to post this legislative wrap up from the House Democratic Caucus from Valerie Longhurst and Speaker Schwartzkopf. I do highly encourage the House and the Senate to continue these weekly messages from various lawmakers, even when the General Assembly is out of session. One of the travesties of our democracy is that everyone knows who the President is, but very few know who their local state representative and senator are, and those officials are the ones who are and are supposed to be most responsive to your needs and requests. Keep it up GA.

A Republican for the 9th? [Updated with my call with Speaker Schwartzkopf, and responses from Andye Daley]

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State Representative Rebecca Walker (D) has represented this district for four years, first elected in 2010. She has risen quickly in the committee structure of the House, chairing the House Judiciary Committee (and thus bottling up some more progressive legislation like death penalty repeal) in the last term. She has a reputation for being overly cautious politically (like not going for her rematch against the forever vulnerable former Republican Majority Leader Dick Cathcart in 2010, to whom she lost in 2008, until Cathcart dropped out) and not being an overly good campaigner. This year, while some of us expected her to retire and not run, she surprised us and refiled to run. And then, two days after the filing deadline, she announced she was withdrawing and not running for reelection. The reason she did this was to not allow the voters in her district any control or any voice over who their nominee was going to be. For you see, after the primary filing deadline passed on July 8, the RD Committee for the district gets to decide who the nominee is, usually under severe pressure from higherups in the party. Well, that is what is happening. The candidate being pushed directly by Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf is Jason Horitz.
Delaware Political Weekly: July 12-18, 2014

Delaware Political Weekly: July 12-18, 2014

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The Democratic Party endorses neither candidate for the State Treasurer primary. Kremlinologists no doubt will enjoy parsing the following sentence:
Given the Committee’s perception of quality both Democratic Treasurer candidates possess, the committee failed to reach consensus on the endorsement of either candidate.
Might I suggest that this is one endorsement that neither candidate really wanted? How could Chip run as the anti-establishment candidate if the establishment endorsed him, and how could Barney run as someone not beholden to the Carpers and Carneys of this world if he got the endorsement? My vote will ultimately come down to this: What can we least afford? A self-delusional narcissist who has had his hands effectively tied, or the next Carper or Carney?

The President in Delaware

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We have the President's full remarks at the Port of Wilmington inside. I worked from home yesterday, covering some conferences and a deposition over the computer and the phone. But around lunchtime, I headed down Concord Pike to hit M&T Bank to deposit some checks, and I had just passed the Charcoal Pit and was coming up on the light at the old Rollins Tower, when the President's motorcade came barreling up north on Concord Pike. That was unexpected. I knew the President was in my lovely state, but I expected him to stay south. After a delay of a few minutes that allowed the President to pass, traffic south of the Charcoal Pit was allowed to move again, so I was only slightly inconvenienced, not that I care. I thought it was pretty cool. Here is something that Cassandra saw yesterday that was hilarious. If you have any stories or pictures from yesterday, share them here.