Mark Green
And they're rounding the turn!... As the 2010 political derby races to the finish line, no one yet really knows whether the margin will be closer to 30 or 50 seats in the House and 7 or 11 seats in the Senate - the differences being, respectively, GOP control or not. (Listen to highlights version of this week's radio show below.
*On Women: Because of all the GOP women stealing the headlines this year - Palin, Angle, O'Donnell, Haley, Whitman, Fiorina, McMahon, Bachman - how are they different from their predecessors? Even more conservative? Pro-life? Wealthy? Numerous? Neither woman accepted the female frame: Arianna regretted their rise because of their "irrationality" - on evolution, immigration et. al -- while Mary argued that it's not about being female but being for fiscal responsibility and smaller government.
OK, what then did being a "Mama Grizzly" mean? This was essentially a Jungian metaphor, according to Arianna, not a policy platform. And if a group of women is against big government, does that mean that they're against education, health, safety programs for children? Aren't Grizzlies for their cubs?
*On Best/Worst Attack Lines. The Both Sides women focused on what's working or not in four major races: Joe Sestak trying to hang the "extreme fringe" around Pat Toomey's neck in Pennsylvania; Jack Conway going back 30 years to pummel Rand Paul in Kentucky (consensus that it was desperate), Joe Miller's bad month in Alaska when it came to evading or arresting local media; and Jerry Brown's ad showing the eerie parallels between Whitman and the unpopular Schwarzenegger (consensus that it was the best ad of the year).
*On Ginny Thomas's call to Anita Hill. Mary forgave her as a spouse who won't let go - and insists, from her own personal experience, that in today's world husbands and wives don't need or get permission for words or deeds. Arianna thought it bizarre and problematic - and wondered what Justice Thomas thought when he saw that his wife had ended up reminding new generations of Americans about his alleged private misconduct.
*On NPR and Juan Williams. Should he have been fired - and for what? The women had ardent and opposite views - Mary declared it to be "the end of the era of political correctness" while Arianna said that Williams played into widespread prejudice talking about Muslims in headgear when that wasn't the problem on 9/11 and won't be in the future.
*On the Radar: Arianna notes that three major pollsters and predictors - HuffPo's Mark Blumenthal, Nat Silver and Larry Sabato - all have concluded that Republicans will gain between 45 and 47 House seats. Really stay tuned.
Mark Green is the creator and host of "Both Sides Now", which is powered by the American Federation of Teachers.
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