The Pulse of Liberal Activism

Yesterday during the marvelously warm afternoon, members of the Activist Council’s Students Advancing Marriage Equality (SAME) marched in the St. Pat’s for All parade in Sunnyside, Queens. The St. Pat’s for All parade was created as an all-inclusive alternative to New York City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, which excludes LGBTQ groups from registering to march. Along with members from MENY (Marriage Equality New York), we voiced our support for equal marriage rights for all couples. Notable attendees included Lieutenant Dan Choi, Assemblyman José Peralta, and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. (Click image to see in full-view.)

Sophia, Marilyn, and Noah were interviewed by various news sources, including NY 1. (Click for news link.)

Sam, Sarah, and Sean getting ready for the Parade.

Marilyn and Sophia sporting the SAME campaign logo.

Sam expressing his love for marriage equality and all things Irish.

Activists from MENY before the parade started.

MENY supporters were there to march. (Pun fun.)

A couple from NY who came to march in the parade.

On the move!

Marilyn greeting supporters on the sidelines.

On the sidelines clapping for marriage equality.

Not everyone was so supportive.

Regardless, solidarity.

Happy early St. Patrick’s Day!

With equal love,

SAME

Greetings midterm-dead Dems,

Once again your delightful and exuberant board members Matt and Bridgit greet you to discuss the upcoming Colorado Senate election (even though we can barely function — midterms). Colorado is a brand new liberal-trending state. Who would have thought, considering that Focus on the Family was founded there? But its true. Currently both Senators and the Governor are Democrats, and Obama carried the state by roughly 8 percentage points. In addition, both the Colorado State Senate and House are controlled by the Democratic party. Despite all these wonderful things, virtually every political website is labeling this race as a toss-up. Let’s find out why.

This seat was vacated by Ken Salazar, who gave it up to become Secretary of the Interior in the Obama administration. Governor Bill Ritter appointed Michael Bennet, the Denver Public Schools Superintendent, to the seat to serve out Salazar’s term, which ends in 2010. Currently, Bennet is the youngest Senator in the body, being a fresh-faced 44 years young. Bennet entered public service in 1988, serving as an aide to Ohio Governor Richard Celeste, before entering law school. He followed in his father’s political background, who was an ambassador to India as well as an aide to Vice President Hubert Humphrey. After working in the Clinton White House, Bennet then moved to Colorado and served two years as Chief of Staff to Denver Mayor  John Hickenlooper. Prior to his Senate appointment, he served as Superintendent of Denver Public Schools.

Bennet has never been exceedingly popular in Colorado. His was an unexpected appointment, and his approval ratings have no broken 50% since he took office. As a result, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff has entered the Democratic primary race, which takes place on August 10th, 2010. Although it would appear that Bennet should be vulnerable, it is in reality highly unlikely that he will lose, having secured the endorsement of President Obama, fellow Senator from Colorado Mark Udall, and Representatives Betsey Markey, Jared Polis,and John Salazar. We expect Bennet to have a relatively easy time securing the Democratic nomination, but we believe that Romanoff has a bright future. On the Republican primary side, there are 6 confirmed candidates, the most important of which are former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton and Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck. The most recent poll had Norton dominating Buck, but the poll was taken months ago so know one really knows what’s going on there.

When Bennet is put against the Republicans, one begins to see why this race is so exciting. Against Norton, Rasmussen has Bennet down by 14 points. However, a Daily Kos poll taken the same day as another Rasmussen poll has Bennet up by one. In addition, Norton has never run a race on her own; the only office she has occupied is the Lt. Governor position, which she won on a ticket. In a Buck versus Bennet election, recent polling has the Republican up by 4, but just last month Daily Kos had Bennet up by 3. Keep in mind, though, that Bennet has not yet begun to spend his treasure troves of money. During Bennet’s first three months in office, he raised a record $1.37 million, a record for a Colorado Senate candidate in an off-year before an election. In addition, both President Obama and Rahm Emmanuel have hosted fundraisers for him, making Bennet very financially stable. Everyone in the state is ready for incredible amounts of money to be thrown around, and if the Democrats are able to rally grassroots support for Bennet, it is very likely that he will win the election. Or so we can only hope.

Next Week: Pennsylvania (Brand-new Dem Arlen Spector goes for reelection! Will either side actually vote for him?)

I don’t always get political, but when I do I prefer the Democrats. Stay liberal my friends.

Hello fellow snowed-in Dems,

Welcome back to the 2010 Election Watch with your brilliant, exquisite, and utterly incomparable board members Matt and Bridgit! Today, we look at the complex Senate race currently underway in the great state of Kentucky, home of amazing basketball, Mitch McConnell, and fried chicken. Now you might be asking, why are you two blogging about Kentucky? That’s a Republican state, it went for John McCain, Mitch McConnell is from there, and its a terrible time for Democrats! It’s not going to be close, right? Wrong! Kentucky is actually a Democratic leaning state, with 57% of registered voters aligning with the Democrats, compared to only 36.5% who align with the Republicans. In addition, both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are Democrats, as is the Speaker of the House. To even further this point, Kentucky voted for Democratic Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton (twice). In fact, Kentucky voted for the winner of every Presidential race from 1964 through 2004, only losing that streak in the 2008 election when it went for McCain.

Kentucky has become one of those states, such as West Virginia, that is full of conservative Democrats and likes to elect Dems to state offices, but then vote for Republicans in national elections. Luckily for us, the Democrats have a very strong field in the election, and are looking to turn this seat blue. The seat is being vacated by two-term Republican Senator Jim Bunning, a baseball Hall of Famer and a man prone to horrific political gaffes, who was essentially forced into retirement by the Republican party, which saw him as a weak candidate (he barely survived reelection in 2004, winning 51% of the vote compared to Democrat Daniel Mongiardo’s 49%). Currently, the Democratic primary has two real candidates, one of them being Lt. Governor Mongiardo. The other is current Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. Conway is young and emphatically defeated his Republican counterpart in the race for Attorney General, leading many Democrats to believe that he too would be a very strong candidate.

The Republicans, unfortunately, also field a strong primary, with many candidates who will surely do better than the incumbent would have done. Two strong candidates have come forward, the first being current Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who actually used to be a Democrat and actively campaigned for Bill Clinton in the state, which has worried some conservatives. The other major candidate is Rand Paul, son of infamous Libertarian congressman Ron Paul of Texas. Paul has never been in government, but did found the Kentucky Taxpayers United, a “nonpartisan” but ideologically conservative organization that ranks Kentucky’s representatives on how the raise or lower taxes. Both candidates have pledged to keep conservative values in the Senate, which is hugely important to the voters of the state.

Kentucky’s primary election is on May 18, and thus far no candidate has been able to gain a substantial lead over his rival. A late December poll has Conway up by 4 points over Mongiardo in the Democratic race, and on the Republican side a recent poll has Paul up by 19 points, but only 3 months before that Grayson was up by 15, so we’ll just to have to wait and see how that race turns out. In putting the four candidates against each other, the Republicans are winning every time, with the biggest spread being Grayson versus Mongiardo (Grayson is up 9 on average) and the smallest being Paul versus Conway (Paul is up 3 on average). In any case, this race is much closer than many Democrats expected, and we believe that the Dems have a fighting chance to win this seat, which would be huge considering the losses we may be taking in other places (North Dakota, so sad). This is a race where TV time, money, and volunteers are going to be hugely important, so expect the Obama machine to come out in full force to try to take this seat. Hopefully we can do it! We believe!

Next Week: Colorado (Will this new liberal-leaning state stay with the Dems?)

I don’t always get political, but when I do, I prefer the Democrats. Stay liberal my friends.

Last Thursday, February 11th, Activist Council hosted its first event to kick off the full-fledged campaign for marriage equality in New York state. From 9 A.M. to 3 P.M., students and activists gathered on Low Plaza to sign Valentine’s Day cards to Queens Senator Joe Addabbo shaming him for his vote against marriage equality and proclaiming their support of equal marriage rights for all couples regardless of sexual orientation. (Click images to see in full-view.)

Low Plaza

Students signing Valentine’s Day cards to Senator Addabbo.

Valentine’s Day cards pledging support for marriage equality.

From noon to 1 P.M., New York state Assemblyman O’Donnell, leader of CQA Sean Udell, President of CUCD Kate O’Gorman, and CUCD member Jonathan Backer gave impassioned speachers adovcating for marriage equality.

Assemblyman O’Donnell

CQA leader Sean Udell

CU College Democrats President Kate O’Gorman

CUCD member/Progressive Caucus leader Jonathan Backer with Joe

Activist Council Lead Helen Kilian MCing the event.

CUCD President Kate O’Gorman, Outreach Coordinator Ganiatu Afolabi, and Lead Activist Helen Kilian sporting the campaign logo t-shirts.

Throughout the day, students wrote personal letters to Joe Addabbo expressing their disappointment in his vote and voicing their belief in equal marriage rights for all couples.

“I pledge to support marriage equality in New York by:
1) Raising awareness of the issue among my friends and family
2) Attending events on campus, sit-ins, and other rallies
3) Volunteering in support of pro-equality candidates”

With love,

By James Downie

Five months ago, in passing the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the House finally passed a key piece of legislation in the fight for better access to higher education, cutting a huge subsidy to the student loan industry, and redirecting the spending into Pell Grants and lower loan interest rates. The proposal put all funds under the Federal Direct Lending Program, removed the private middle man and shielding students from the numerous corruption scandals that have plagued private lenders. So far, so good, right?

The Senate, however, appears determined to uphold its reputation as the killer of good legislation: in the “upper chamber,” progress towards that magical sixty votes remains stalled. Facing sweeping changes, powerful, corrupt lenders like Sallie Mae have been lobbying their favorite targets on Capitol Hill for a “compromise” version of the legislation. Sallie Mae’s proposal would put the loans in a “participation trust,” and lenders would sell these loans back to the Department of Education after 120 days. While technically reducing the role of private sector (in that lenders must sell back to the DOE), the “compromise” would effectively extend the current lending program indefinitely, pay lenders the same amount as they currently are paid per loan, and give Sallie Mae and its large lending partners a near-monopoly on student loans. In short, a great deal for large lenders, and a lousy one for students.

Departing “Democratic” Indiana senator Evan Bayh is the latest senator to pipe up with support for Sallie Mae. In a letter yesterday to Education Committee chair Tom Harkin, Bayh cited “concerns about the short-term impact reform efforts could have on employment in Indiana,” parroting the Sallie Mae line that “hundreds” of jobs would be lost in Indiana if the House legislation passed. These concerns, even if true, are simply excuses for moderate Democrats to appease their corporate friends. Simply put, hundreds of jobs simply do not compare to the thousands upon thousands of students (including, Mr. Bayh, thousands of Indianans) who each year have their educational futures affected by the student loan industry’s corrupt policies. The White House has made its position clear: President Obama has called the House legislation “a no-brainer,” while yesterday Education Secretary Arne Duncan held a conference call with reporters to bolster support for the bill.  Rhetoric, though, is not enough; the stakes for higher education are too great. If sixty votes cannot be had, the Democrats should stand up for students, and for the young people that put them in power, and pass the House bill through reconciliation.