*sniff*

Daily Kos: A toast to those who should have lived to have seen Tuesday

Alright, I admit it: for the first time since Obama won, something’s finally got me teary. There’s so many leaders who paved the way for us. Just today I was writing a LiveJournal comment to someone about Paul Wellstone and my own political awakening, and the force of it came back to me, the impossibility of this moment as seen from a little over five years ago. I can’t imagine what people older than me are thinking. And I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.

Don’t tease me, Barry

Obama: ‘If Paul Krugman has a good idea…then we’re going to do it.’

Is that a promise?

You know you love me – xoxo, Politico

Lei-off: Obama snubs Dean.

Look, I love Howard Dean as much as the next progressive, and yeah, I think Obama has erred in not giving him his due. But writing a whole story about his non-appearance at the DNC presser? Really, Politico? It’s sort of ridiculous, especially considering there will be a formal passing-of-the-torch type deal with Dean and Kaine later.

Politico needs to take a long look at its current setup, because this is Gossip Girl level reporting. All it needs is a description of Kaine’s Prada tie and a shot of Dean sipping Golden Honey Margaritas with Blair Waldorf in the Hamptons.

The Bad Doctor

Conyers: Obama Should Not Nominate Sanjay Gupta.

First of all, there is the embarassing error that starts the letter — Krugman won the Nobel Prize in Economics, not Peace. As for the issue itself, Gupta is just about the last concern on my list. As Howard Dean pointed out on Hardball, the Surgeon General’s main role is to educate the country on health issues and answer questions that arise in public discourse.

While I have the utmost respect for Krugman’s positions, I think he’s way off on this. The issue I have the biggest problem with his Obama’s nomination of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. While I remember quite well how Krugman supported her, I think she’s too hawkish and susceptible to public opinion. The current situation in Gaza has only reinforced my wish that Obama had picked soon to be former Senator Chuck Hagel, whose evenhanded views on Israel/Palestine stand in stark contrast to his peers.

But I disgress. (Isn’t that the point of blogging?) Progressives who want to influence Obama’s cabinet have a far better chance of actually changing policy if we push where it matters. Let’s make sure he follows the economic plan he set up in the campaign instead of being swayed by his advisors. And let’s make sure he enacts the smart foreign policy he’s promised. Let’s not spend our time wringing our hands over a glorified spokesman.

And another one gone

Bad news for the GOP in ‘10: Bond will be out, along with Martinez and Brownback. More and more GOP senators are declaring their intention to retire, with the only Dem added to the mix being Ted Kaufman, Biden’s two-year replacement.

Who’s next to retire, besides the obvious Hutchinson? Gossip suggests Voinovich, who faces a tough re-election at an advanced age. Of course he is more moderate than Bond, but another Dem seat in Ohio would be sweet.

Uplifting news

Va. Governor Kaine to Become DNC Chairman

There will be the usual bitching (he isn’t a progressive, he has DLC ties) but I’m thankful for this news. Coming from a state that four years ago was solidly in the Republican column, Kaine understands the power of the changing electoral map more than your average party hack. He’s guarenteed to stay loyal to the Obama line and push his agenda. This also gives him something to do for the next few years if Obama plans to appoint him to some position (AG?) after reelection in 2012.

So count me in as immensely pleased with the pick – this makes up for the Richardson brouhaha and then some.

It was the lack of beard that really killed his bid, I think

Richardson withdraws as Commerce nominee

I personally have a lot of respect for Richardson. He was my #2 Secretary of State pick after Chuck Hagel. But I find it unlikely that he’s withdrawing solely because of the “distraction”. Surely there is something more to the story?

It will be interesting to see who Obama picks now. Penny Pritzker was a rumored pick, but she is not exactly clean either. Olympia Snowe would give him a chance to take away a Republican senator, albiet a very moderate one, and give the Dems a full 60 seats. Mark Warner would be perfect, but he was just nominated.

I trust Obama’s team will make a good choice. But I also wonder how many news cycles this story will take up. Unlike the Blago dramarama, the shenanigans can’t be plausibly tied back to the administration in any way, but it still doesn’t look good for the president-elect’s much ballyhooed judgement. (Not that it’s a worse judgement call than, say, voting for the Iraq war — but still.)

Franken for the win, yo

Recount latest: Franken now leads by 50 – TwinCities.com.

With only mistakenly rejected absentee ballots left to tally in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate recount, Democrat Al Franken has a 50-vote lead over Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.

It’s still hard for me to believe we’re at this point. When I was out canvassing for the DFL, most of the people I spoke to were supporting Obama, leaning Obama, or neutral. (The few McCain supporters I met didn’t hate Obama, but opposed him on ideological grounds. The one exception was the angry Dittohead who told me Obama was a socialist and slammed the door when I tried to talk to him.) On the other hand, people were actively hostile to Coleman and Franken equally – the people who told me they were voting Franken seemed to do so with resignation, and the people who were voting Coleman sheepishly explained it away as better the devil you know. I know many of them probably went into the voting booth and, faced with a choice of two despised men, filled in the circle next to Barkley.

That’s why I resigned myself to another six years of Coleman, the man who called himself better than Paul Wellstone in every way, representing my state. I still went out and talked my mouth off for Franken, pleading with people by telling them Franken was a real progressive who hadn’t come up through the gofer system of politics, who wouldn’t be beholden to special interests or the whims of his party leaders. My spirits were further beaten down as I saw the “comic books” sent out by the RNC, talking about Franken’s supposed rape jokes and saying Minnesota needn’t be “ashamed” of its senator. Nasty, provocative, and totally ignored by the media: those will always stand out as the dirtiest part of Election ‘08 to me.

As the election results came in, I was — well, I was very drunk, so my thinking wasn’t totally clear. But I was shocked at how close the results were. I knew Coleman would declare victory if it got close enough, but I was unprepared for how close it was. Still: I was more confident than I’d ever been that we would get fair results. Franken knew what went wrong in 2000. The last thing he would do was let the Coleman camp get away with legal tricks. As time went on, I was also impressed by my state’s legal system. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie went on The Rachel Maddow Show and said that the right wing could smear him as much as they wanted (they were calling him a communist on Fox News) but that they wouldn’t get their hands on the election results. The state Supreme Court also shocked me in the most pleasant way as they ruled unanimously for Franken’s side time and again. Not bad considering that they’re mostly Pawlenty and Ventura appointees.

I’m positive now that Franken won. Looking at the results, I can see that the Democratic get-out-the-vote machine in the state was far better than I could have anticipated. And while Barkley took a bite out of both sides, he didn’t take as much as I’d feared – and far more of Coleman’s side than I’d dared to hope. And thanks to my state’s commendable recount system, I’m positive now that Franken will be seated as Minnesota’s next senator. That’s the kind of sentence that seemed crazy to me in so many ways a few months ago, but I write it today with complete certainty.

So… I guess in a way, you could say that for the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really  proud to be a Minnesotan? Yeah, that works.

Oh, and just to rub it in the right-wingers’ faces — Mark Ritchie for Governor 2010!

All Blago, all the time

Blagojevich is my favorite delusional politician EVAH. Further proof why: he’s decided to appoint a Senator after all! The fucking valuable seat goes to former Illinois AG Roland Burris, who previously expressed interest in running for the seat, saying he would only serve temporarily and step aside for the next candidate.

It’s sort of suprising to see myself type this, but I think Allahpundit at Hot Air has the funniest take. Blago really should pull the “I’m on a mission from God” card. And it’s hard to tell what the best course for Reid is. Reject the appointment? Seat him provisionally? Pass the buck on to the Senate lawyer team? Jeff Greenfield seems to think the Senate doesn’t have much say in the matter.

Whatever happens, we’re sure to be in for more Blago insanity — and that makes me a happy, happy girl. I’d be happier if he’d decided to appoint himself, but that may have been too much to ask, huh?

Um.

The great thing about year-end roundups is finding fascinating  articles about overlooked stories you would have otherwise missed. And then there’s the New Republic:

Eve Fairbanks examines the “bromantic” relationship between John McCain and side-kick Senator Lindsey Graham, one that includes bird-watching, a yen for Indiana Jones films, and stays (for Graham) in the “mermaid-themed bedroom” of McCain’s youngest daughter

… there’s no way I can comment on that without being immature, is there? God damn it.