Two Senate Democrats Locked Out

As the new Congress begins its work it looks like 2 Democratic Senators will be locked out.

It now appears that Al Franken has prevailed over Norm Coleman in Minnesota. At least that is the ruling of the Board of Canvassers after they did a recount. Coleman, playing the role of sore loser, seems to have settled on a plan of tying up the procress with legal appeals. This could take months. Apparently the philosophy is if he can't be The Man, then nobody will be for the time being. Nothing much can be done about this. Republicans can deny the seat to the duly elected Democrat at a critical stage in the legislative process. It continues a Republican philosophy that believes if you can't win at the ballot box then you win in the courtroom.

The second Democratic Senator to be locked out, at least for awhile, will be Roland Burris. He was legally appointed by the Governor of Illinois to fill the seat left vacant by Barack Obama. The problem is that the Gov. is a crook. For years people in Illinois knew that. Now everyone in the world knows. However, "knowing" the Gov. is a crook is not a valid reason for rejecting his appointment. You actually have to follow the law. That means you have to convict him and remove him as Gov. That has not happened and will not anytime in the near future. The US Senate appears ready to lock Burris out on a technicality. His certification was not signed by the Illinois Sec. of State, Jesse White. This way White takes the heat for the lock out and not Harry Reid.

This is a scary process. The reality is that the Democratic leadership in the Senate is ready to give the Illinois Sec. of State veto power over seating US Senators without any kind of due process. And they are willing to block appointments they don't like. This is foolishness. It is also a scary, scary precedent. If a Republican Sec. of St. or a Republican Senate Leadership were blocking a Democratic Senator from being seated we Democrats would be up it arms. Maybe it is time to fire Harry Reid.

We need every Democratic vote we can get in the Senate. We can't stop Coleman from being a sore loser. We can expect our own Democratic Leadership to follow the law and seat Roland Burris as the Senator from Illinois. We've had enough political foolishness. It is time to work on the real problems we have in this country.

Night of the Living Republicans

Democrats Bad - The Video "The Night of the Living Republicans"



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Preparing for Victory

It was great to see so many Democrats attending our Dist. 2 training session put on by the Michigan Democratic Party. We had great participation as we came together to be more skillful in our election efforts. This seems typical for this election cycle. We are energized and impatient to get started as we work to turn around Republican policies that hurt our state and country. We all see the energy that is out there.

Clearly the hot race of this election cycle will be for State Rep. Dan Scripps brings to the race name recognition, proven fund raising and campaigning skills, and a host of volunteers who smell blood in this election. The Republicans are spending their time duking it out with each other in a three way primary race. The Dec. 31 reporting deadline for fundraising may be a pivotal day for them. The field may shrink if a candidate does not have adequate money coming in.

Democrats are fortunate in this race because we have have a candidate who has earned the respect of many people in the Republican party as well as our own. Many in our district view the Republican contenders as second tier. Probably this is happening because it looks more likely that Republicans will lose this seat after controlling it for several years.

This upcoming election will see a great deal of passion from Democrats who are crying out for change. For Republicans it seems to be a season of embarrassment and frustration. From the top of the ticket on down their choices are just not that exciting. And sometimes they are disgraceful.

Will this be the year that the radical religious right pushes the Republican Party to the brink of collaspe? Maybe that has to happen before the Republicans can turn to a more moderate middle.

It will be an interesting year. Our MDP training session was just the start. Next month we have Camp Millie. Democrats are planning to work hard and also work smart. This is our year. The excitement builds.