November 2010 archive

Finding Clues to the Future in Flood of Midterm Data



By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Published: November 1, 2010

WASHINGTON – Even for a nation that is, by now, used to drinking in political news through a fire hose, election night on Tuesday could be a difficult one to absorb.

More than 500 House, Senate and governor’s races will be decided, if not by the end of the night, then over the course of the nail-biting days ahead as write-in ballots are counted and recounts are requested.

Beyond the individual results, the nation will be looking at the returns for answers to bigger questions: Was this election about President Obama? How powerful a phenomenon is the Tea Party movement? How will the new Congress address the still-weak economy? What will it mean for the crop of likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate?  Did anonymous campaign money sway the outcome?

Stimulus bill plays a larger role in campaigns than in some voters’ lives

Many voters can’t see any direct benefit from the federal money, even when they live near a marquee infrastructure project. They see a static economy but differ on what that means for candidates.

By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times

November 1, 2010

Reporting from Concord, Calif. – The upcoming election was far from cabinetmaker Kevin Rodriguez’ mind as he and his 5-year-old son watched a Halloween parade last week in a downtown plaza of this East Bay community.

Over the last two years as the nation slid into recession, the 46-year-old independent voter lost his business and was forced to sell his house. He has scraped together a living from side jobs, savings and unemployment benefits, which are about to run out. He even contemplated the once-unthinkable: applying for food stamps.

A flagship-venue for middle-brow intellectuals in America, the Atlantic Monthly is currently exhibiting a pathetic list of big ideas from “Brave Thinkers,” and…

Weep while you puke, America, because the best that your brightest can come up with is a sad little idea by a nauseating shit-head named…

Deborah Gist!

In your first year as the commissioner of education in Rhode Island, you earned headlines for backing a plan to fire all the high-school teachers in the poorly performing district of Central Falls. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and even President Obama chimed in with support.

Fire every teacher in the district! Obama loves that plan!

And Central Falls wants to thank Deborah Gist and her biggest fan Barack Obama for all their help with everything, because…

Central Falls is bankrupt! The entire city is in receivership! And why wouldn’t it be? It’s the smallest, densest, poorest city in Rhode Island, with 18,000 poor people crammed into 1.29 square miles, 800 acres of antequated factories and urban blight, and what can we do to help, asks Barack Obama?

Let’s fire all their fucking teachers!