The End of the Tea Party?

Image from source, Salon

Have you ever gotten a glass of iced tea at a restaurant that was "skunky?" I mean bad tasting, bad smelling. A taste you can't put your finger on, but it's kind of like spoiled tomatoes? People who know the food industry have told me that is what happens when the tea maker hasn't been cleaned out in a while. It just gets skunky.


Seems like as good as a metaphor for the tea party as any. Except that the tea party was merely a rebranding of the hard-core conservatives in the first place.


[Excerpt]


This is what GOP brand poisoning looks like 

The most recent national survey from the Quinnipiac Polling Institute suggests a serious image problem for the Republican Party, with just 28 percent of voters saying they have a favorable view of the GOP and 57 percent saying they have an unfavorable one. Tuesday night offered a demonstration of why this is, with voters in several states siding against some of the most prominent faces and ideas of the Tea Party-era Republican Party. . .

Read more at: Salon

Maine Restores Same-Day Voter Registration

Image from source, Raw Story

Okay, so is the good news for Democrats in this off-year election just the pendulum swinging back after 2010, or is it a reaction to Republican overreach? Or does one follow from the other? Anyway, given all of the attempts to restrict various voting rights around the country, it's nice to see one that got undone.

Sidebar: I hope one of Herman Cain's accusers comes from Maine, just to set up the joke, "Bangor? I hardly knew her!"

[Excerpt]

Maine voters restore same-day voter registration


The citizens of Maine on Tuesday repealed a recently passed law requiring voters to enroll at least two days before an election.

With more than three-quarters of the state’s precincts reporting, 60 percent of voters had rejected the law, according to the Bangor Daily News. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Mississippi "Personhood" Law Defeated

Sorry, lady. If your wacky law couldn't pass in Mississippi, I doubt
you're going to have luck anywhere else. Image from source,
Washington Times.

Well, well, well. Since the 2010 elections of heavy Republican majorities in many states, they've been governing with a heavy hand. Not on jobs--no, no--but on their pet projects like union-busting and abortion. Liberals can be heartened by tonight's elections. No, we didn't win every battle, but aside from the union-busting bill in Ohio being overturned, the ridiculous "Personhood" law was also voted down.

If you don't know, "Personhood" was going to be legally defined as life beginning at the moment of conception. Not implantation which is how it is usually understood. Would it have passed, it would have outlawed many types of birth control. It would've outlawed abortion in all cases, including rape, incest and life of the mother. And it would have potentially cast a shadow over miscarriages. . .did the mother cause it? Mostly, it disproves the notion that the GOP wants small government. 


[Excerpt]


Anti-abortion ‘personhood’ amendment fails in Mississippi

A constitutional amendment that would have defined a fertilized egg as a person failed on the ballot in Mississippi on Tuesday, dealing the so-called “personhood” movement another blow. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Ohio Defeats John Kasich Anti-Union Law

Image from source, StateImpact

When you hear Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh trying to turn the Ohio lemons into lemonade, don't believe them. This was a big issue, nationwide. What Ohio did in defeating the anti-union measure proves that the people don't just have to sit and take these extreme laws and lawmakers.

Now, the passage of a law allowing Ohio to opt out of "Obamacare" is a bit troubling. I'm not sure exactly what it means (is there a Kasichcare?), but it will be interesting to watch as the Affordable Care Act takes effect in states that haven't opted out. I just hope my Ohioan sister and her family aren't getting gypped here.


[Excerpt]


Ohio Issue 2 Results: Voters Repeal Controversial Collective Bargaining Law

. . .What could these results mean?

They could mean that Democratic-leaning groups like, say, unions, can get organized and get out the vote, both important skills leading up to the 2012 presidential election, particularly in a swing state like Ohio. That energy and organization could also help Democrats get two other referendums on the November 2012 ballot and approved. But then again, that election is a year away. . .

Read more at: State Impact