Democrat

When a Marijuana Loss Is Actually a Victory

Rob Kampia | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Congress, Libertarian, Sam Farr, Marijuana, Democrat, Medical Marijuana, Obama, Green, Justice Department, Republican, Dana Rohrabacher, Maurice Hinchey, Rob Kampia, Nancy Pelosi, Tom McClintock, U.S. House of Representatives, Marijuana Policy Project, Politics News

The vote on a major medical marijuana amendment on the floor of the U.S. House on Wednesday night was an exciting development, even though the amendme...

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Congress Needs Bipartisan Friendships Now More Than Ever

Ambassador Tony Hall | Posted 05.08.2012

Bipartisan friendships don't erase our political divisions, but they do fundamentally change how political opponents view one another and engage with one another in the public arena.

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WATCH: Liberal, Conservative: Are You Born That Way?

HuffingtonPost.com | Cara Santa Maria | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Politics, Democrat, Video, Neuroscience, Progressive, Personality, Brain, Talk Nerdy to Me, Republican, Chris Mooney, Science, Conservative, Liberal, Cara Santa Maria, Science News, The Republican Brain, Ideology, Science News

Do we have traits that can be used to reliably predict whether someone is liberal or conservative in nature?

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Why Politicians Love Cinco De Mayo

HuffingtonPost.com | Janell Ross | Posted 05.05.2012

Read More: Latino-Politics, Jose Hernandez, Democrat, George W. Bush, Hispanic Heritage, Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Law Suit, Cinco De Mayo, Mexican, Cinco De Mayo 2012, 10th Congressional District California, Barack Obama, Video, Condit, Republican, Astronauts, Cinco De Mayo Politicians, Latino Voices News

With the intersection of Cinco de Mayo and an election year in which Latino voters are likely to play a definitive role, President Barack Obama’s qu...

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Republicans, Democrats and the "Crazy Gap"

Chris Ladd | Posted 04.09.2012

Read More: Republican, Democrat, Religious Right, Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, Democratic Party, Occupy Movement, Politics News

Occupy Wall Street is little more than a footnote, having failed to wield any noticeable influence in democratic politics. The Tea Party, on the other hand, spread through the Republican biosphere like the zombie virus from The Walking Dead.

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George Washington's Biggest Critic

Chris Weigant | Posted 04.21.2012

When Washington died, the phrase which spread the country was: "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." While this may be almost universally true today, it was not when the man held office.

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Red States Outscored Blue Under Obama

Richard Barrington | Posted 03.13.2012

Read More: Credit Card, Experian, Credit Score, Red States, Blue States, Household Finances, President Obama, Interest Rates, Debt, Republican, Democrat, Credit Card Offers, Business News

It's the classic election year question: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? As the primary season gets under way, expect to hear some version of that question with increasing frequency. Your answer may depend on where you live -- and how you vote.

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My 2011 "McLaughlin Awards" [Part 2]

Chris Weigant | Posted 02.24.2012

Read More: Mark Udall, Elizabeth Warren, Tea Party, Leon Panetta, Andy Rooney, Ron Paul, Best Government Dollar Spent, Awards, Worst Political Theater, Eric Holder, Sarah Palin, Ows, Warren, Most Overreported Story, Public Sector, No Budget No Pay, Pern, Union, Worst Political Scandal, Rick Perry, Sorry to See You Go, National Jukebox, Steve Jobs, The Pill, Marco Rubio, Unemployment Benefits, Labor, Rick Santorum, Democrat, Most Underrated, Newt Gingrich, Democrats, Frank Buckles, Barack Obama, Geraldine Ferraro, Best Idea, David Wu, Predictions, Constitution, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, 15 Minutes of Fame, Donald Trump, Fast and Furious, State of the Union, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Post Office, Best Spin, President, Destined for Political Oblivion, Third Party, President Obama, John Boehner, Cdc, Obama, Iraq, Democratic, Occupy Wall Street, Most Overrated, Media, Republican, Job Creators, Mclaughlin, Destined for Political Stardom, Biggest Government Waste, Rubio, Chris Lee, Anthony Weiner, Americans Elect, Msm, McLaughlin Group, Government Shutdown, Most Underreported Story, Best Political Theater, Boldest Political Tactic, 2011, 99 Percenters, Mainstream Media, Supercommittee, Wisconsin, Chris Weigant, Herman Cain, Stamps, Libya, Most Honest Person, Fox News, Tim Pawlenty, Zombie Apocalypse, Schwarzenegger, Worst Idea, Anne Mccaffrey, Politics News

This year we turn to the Democrats to find the winner of Destined For Political Stardom. If Elizabeth Warren manages to wrest Teddy Kennedy's old Senate seat away from the Republican usurper, she will indeed be on the road to Democratic stardom.

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Americans Are Greater Together

Leo W. Gerard | Posted 02.11.2012

Read More: Teddy Roosevelt, President Obama, Ron Paul, Filibuster, Democrat, Occupy Wall Street, Fema, Civil War, Newt Gingrich, Republican, Paul Wellstone, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Epa, Osawatomie, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Orrin Hatch, Rick Perry, Environmental Protection Agency, Politics News

"We all do better when we all do better." Republicans don't ascribe to that. They want to set up a country where every person is responsible for every aspect of daily life, from ensuring drinking water is safe to reducing workplace hazards.

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Notes From the Occupation: Occupy Wall Street is Not the Tea Party of the Left

Chris Weigant | Posted 01.11.2012

Read More: 99 Percent, Tea Party, President Obama, The Left, One Percent, Paula, Chris Weigant, Occupy, Ows, Democrat, Congress, Obama, Occupy Wall Street, Tea Party of the Left, Barack Obama, Republican, Politics News

Every so often, I am so impressed by a comment to one of my columns that I offer to just turn my column over to the author, and let them have my soapb...

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Tea Party, OWS & Blue Republicans: Is This Phase Change?

Robin Koerner | Posted 12.28.2011

Read More: Phase Change, Conservative, Ows, Tea Party, Liberal, Democrat, Federal Reserve, Occupy Wall Street, Blue Republican, Monetary System, Republican, Wright Patman, Politics News

I can think of numerous statements about which most original members of the Tea Party could agree with most of the OWSers -- even if they don't yet realize it.

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Friday Talking Points -- Foreign Policy Issues Reappear

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.21.2011

Read More: Al Qaeda, Ben Nelson, Troops, President Obama, War on Terror, Firefighters, Police, Osama Bin Laden, Mark Pryor, Home for the Holidays, Jobs, Iraq, Obama, Democratic, Jim Webb, Withdrawal, Republican, Dadt, Liberators, Unemployment, Revolution, Midotw, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Orrin Hatch, Drug War, American Jobs Act, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Justice, Scott Brown, Dont Ask Dont Tell, House, Gaddafi, Qaddafi, Olympia Snowe, War, Rebels, Democrat, Congress, Lindsey Graham, Democrats, Barack Obama, Mddotw, Chris Weigant, Libya, Harry Reid, Afghanistan, Joe Lieberman, Hillary Clinton, Teachers, Friday Talking Points, Senate, Ghaddafi, Politics News

It has been a big week on the foreign policy front, with the death of Libya's dictator and President Obama's announcement today that all U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by the end of this year.

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Friday Talking Points -- I Am A 99 Percenter

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.14.2011

Read More: Ben Nelson, 99 Percenter, President Obama, Cesca, 99-Er, Filibuster, Jobs, Occupy Wall Street, Obama, Democratic, Ben and Jerrys, Fiscal Responsibility, Republican, Ows, Deficit, Unemployment, Midotw, Tax Cut, Protest, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, American Jobs Act, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Occupy, 99 Percent, Bob Cesca, House, I Am a 99 Percenter, Democrat, Growth, Congress, Cfpb, Zuccotti Park, Democrats, Barack Obama, New York, Epa, Movement, Support the Troops, Mddotw, Chris Weigant, Branding, Harry Reid, Gdp, Jon Tester, Friday Talking Points, Senate, Mipcotw, Politics News

The Occupy Wall Street protest continues. So far, its staying power has surprised and enthused a large swath of America, and surprised and bemused mu...

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Friday Talking Points -- Long Live Steve Jobs

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.07.2011

Read More: Floppy, President Obama, Consumer Watchdog, Medical Marijuana, Occupy Wall Street, Obama, Democratic, Neill Franklin, Parc, Eric Holder, Macintosh, California, Republican, Apple, Values, Midotw, Xerox, Macintosh Division, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, American Jobs Act, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Steve Jobs, Mac, House, Computers, Democrat, Thomas Edison, Congress, Democrats, Bill Panzer, Barack Obama, Leap, 99 Percent, Gui, Wall Street, Mddotw, Chris Weigant, Harry Reid, Friday Talking Points, Millionaires Tax, Chuck Schumer, Senate, Politics News

[Note: Today's column is seriously disjointed. If you're already sick of hearing what a wonderful guy Steve Jobs was, then I strongly advise you to j...

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The Hidden Power of Occupy Wall Street

Edward Murray | Posted 12.03.2011

Read More: Tea Party, Noam Chomsky, Libertarian, Mitch McConnell, Ron Paul, Democrat, Liberty Square, Barack Obama, Republican, Cnn, Michele Bachmann, Corporations, Occupy Wall Street, We Are the 99%, Green Party, Ralph Nader, Politics News

Some people say Occupy Wall Street is a bunch of unemployed kids shouting, "Grr, money bad!" Young New Yorkers don't need to sleep in a park to complain about being broke; they have bars in Astoria for that.

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Campaign Advice for All Future Centrist Incumbents

Frank Dwyer | Posted 11.20.2011

Read More: Democrat, Election, Election Strategy, Politics News

Best strategy to win second term as Dem? Uh . . . be one in first term....

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Friday Talking Points -- Ads Obama Should Run

Chris Weigant | Posted 11.16.2011

Read More: Special Election, President Obama, Jobs, Supercommittee, Obama, Democratic, We Cant Wait, Campaign, Anniversary, Republican, Deficit, Do Nothing Congress, Political Ad, Midotw, Congressional Budget Office, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, American Jobs Act, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Merkley, Ny-9, Anthony Weiner, Committee, House, Cbo, David Weprin, Two Million Jobs, Democrat, Congress, Ad, Bully Pulpit, Democrats, Barack Obama, New York, Mddotw, Chris Weigant, Score, Phone, Tell the Truth on Jobs, Jobs Plan, Jeff Merkley, Friday Talking Points, Senate, Politics News

Obama should run a few ads right now which do not even mention the election. Instead of saying "vote for me!" these ads should say "pass my jobs bill" in as many creative ways as possible.

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Obama and Perry Stop Folking America

Mark Steinberg | Posted 11.14.2011

Read More: Congress, Debate, Democrat, Affordable Care Act, Job Bill, Obama, Gingrich, Palin, California, Pharma, Folks, Obama Speech, Perry, Obamacare, Presidential Campaign, Shocker, Elite, Folk, George Allen, Republican, Media Criticism, Oil Banker, Oval Office, Grand Wizard, Folking, Comedy News

A quick read of President Obama's 4,000 word jobs speech to Congress on September 8 reveals that he has apparently decided there are no folks in Ame...

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Friday Talking Points -- Give 'Em Hell, Barry!

Chris Weigant | Posted 11.09.2011

Read More: Salvatore DiMasi, President Obama, American Exceptionalism, Speech, Economy, 911, Jobs, Obama, Democratic, Friday Talking Points, Star Trek, Pass This Jobs Bill, Republican, Its Simple Math, Mojave, Midotw, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, American Jobs Act, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Taxes, Give Em Hell Barry, House, Dimasi, Democrat, Massachusetts, Congress, Democrats, Bully Pulpit, Barack Obama, Mddotw, Chris Weigant, Obama Speech, Jobs Plan, Economist, Senate, Harry S Truman, Politics News

President Barack Obama opened his re-election campaign last night with a wowzer of a speech to a joint session of Congress.

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Friday Talking Points -- Labor Daze

Chris Weigant | Posted 11.02.2011

Read More: Polls, Tea Party, President Obama, Speech, Keith Ellison, Obama, Democratic, Republican, Holiday, Workmans Comp, Progressive Caucus, Regulations, Unemployment, Workers Comp, Labor Day, Midotw, Work Day, Grijalva, Union, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Andre Carson, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Overtime, Work Week, Weekend, Child Labor, Raul Grijalva, Ellison, Carson, Labor, Democrat, Congress, Democrats, Osha, Barack Obama, Paid Holiday, Epa, Jim Crow, Mddotw, Lynching, Obama Speech, Friday Talking Points, Politics News

It surpasses all irony and actually enters into the realm of bitter humor that we're about to celebrate Labor Day when the unemployment rate remains at the sky-high level of 9.1 percent.

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2008 Election Celebs: Where Are They Now?

POLITICO | Posted 10.21.2011

Read More: Democrat, Elections 2008, Mccain, Joe the Plumber, Elections 2012, Gop, Obama, 2008 Election, Republicans, Politics News

To the bystander, the contemporary political campaign is a frightening juggernaut that careens unpredictably through randomly-chosen American towns; m...

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Wisconsin's Vote More Important Than Iowa's

Chris Weigant | Posted 10.08.2011

Read More: State Senate, Tea Party, Debate, Democrat, Straw Poll, Machine, Ames, Republican, Senate, Wisconsin, Vote, Party, Iowa, Scott Walker, Union Busting, Legislature, Vote Buying, Recall, Union, Wisconsin Recall, Wisconsin Recall Elections, Politics News

The less said about the Iowa straw poll the better, actually. Wisconsin could prove to be a much better weathervane in terms of predicting which way the political winds will be blowing, come next year.

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Friday Talking Points -- More Tea, Anyone?

Chris Weigant | Posted 10.05.2011

Read More: Debt, Tea Party, Populism, Faa, Mcconnell, Mitch McConnell, President Obama, John Boehner, Middle Class, Compromise, Extremist, Obama, Democratic, Tax the Rich, Big Banks, Tea Partier, Republican, Deficit, Giffords, Populist, Midotw, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Brinksmanship, Reid, Mainstream, Taxes, American People, House, Terrorist, Democrat, Congress, Extremist Party, Joe Biden, Democrats, Barack Obama, Biden, Debt Ceiling, Wall Street, Mddotw, Chris Weigant, Tax, Crisis, Harry Reid, Gabrielle Giffords, Kitchen Table, Teachers, Friday Talking Points, Class Warfare, Boehner, Senate, Gabby Giffords, Extremism, Politics News

With the conclusion of the debt ceiling "crisis," the media pivoted swiftly to their standard larger questions (to them, at any rate) about any politi...

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Friday Talking Points -- In The Darkest Depths of Mordor

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.28.2011

Read More: Caucus, Debt, Blue Dog, Tea Party, Debate, President Obama, Mick Jagger, Ronald Reagan, John Boehner, Post Office, Economy, 14th Nervous Breakdown, Obama, Democratic, Sauron, Wall Street Journal, Republican, Deficit, Pelosi, Tolkien, Midotw, Nancy Pelosi, Hobbit, Tax Cuts, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, House, Budget, Speaker of the House, Democrat, Congress, Democrats, Bully Pulpit, Barack Obama, Debt Ceiling, David Wu, Mddotw, Tax, Friday Talking Points, Boehner, Middle Earth, Dune, Senate, Fourteenth Amendment, Wu, Mordor, Politics News

If I were a hobbit, right about now I would be wondering just how the heck I wound up at the center of this Washington intraparty political fight, personally.

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Friday Talking Points -- What Would Ronald Reagan Do?

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.21.2011

Read More: Elizabeth Warren, Pentagon, Feinstein, Leon Panetta, Reagan, Warren, Anti-Consumer, Military, Midotw, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Reid, Dont Ask Dont Tell, Panetta, Bruce Braley, Richard Branson, Democrat, Democrats, Barack Obama, Mddotw, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Allen West, Harry Reid, Friday Talking Points, Pluto, Richard Cordray, President Obama, Ronald Reagan, Kennedy, Democratic, Obama, Dianne Feinstein, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Braley, Republican, Dadt, Gay Rights, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Space Shuttle, Moon, Defense of Marriage Act, Scott Brown, Pro-Bank, House, Space Station, Cfpb, Neil Armstrong, Howard Baker, Wall Street, Recess Appointment, Doma, Cordray, Politics News

Since the Republican Party now worships at the altar of "Saint Ronald of Reagan," it's always fun to point out the hard, cold fact that Reagan would simply not be acceptable to the Republican Party as it stands today.

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