North Carolina
Yesterday, my inbox blazed with the news that Obama's standing among African Americans is plummeting in North Carolina.
Thanks, Cuz. Thanks, Justice Kennedy.
During the Republican presidential primaries, the new landscape created by the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and other recent loosening of campaign finance regulations took on an almost comic quality -- we could all laugh over the way that Shel Adelson, the casino magnate, and Foster Friess, the aspirin-contraception-advocate, were keeping alive the candidacies of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, respectively. Some pundits even ventured the argument the SuperPACs allowed by Citizens United were good for democracy in that they were making the primaries more competitive than they other
How Hip Cities Hurt The Democrats
There was a lot of chatter last week about an eye-opening New York Times piece by Sabrina Tavernise about the growing gap between the haves and have-nots when it comes to where the country’s young college graduates are choosing to live.
Religion And Mobility
Richard Florida has an interesting post on the Atlantic’s “Cities” Web site playing with some new state-level data from Pew about economic mobility.
Doc Watson’s Appalachian Swing
Doc Watson, the guitarist and singer who died this week at 89, seemed the embodiment of traditional American rural values. He was a handsome mountain man, solid in body and temperament, and he comported himself on stage with courtly grace and gentle humor. Born in the hills of North Carolina, he lost his sight as young child (though he would always have limited perception of light), and found early that he had a knack for playing the mountain music he heard growing up—first on a banjo his father made with the skin of the family’s recently deceased pet cat, then on the harmonica and guitar.
Religion And Mobility
Richard Florida has an interesting post on the Atlantic’s “Cities” Web site playing with some new state-level data from Pew about economic mobility.
Gay Marriage: The Case For Cynicism
Was President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage crassly political? God, I hope so. Like a lot of people, I worry about the impact that Obama's comments will have on some independent voters, and about whether it will cause trouble when the Democrats hold their convention in North Carolina, which just voted overwhelmingly against gay marriage. But like a lot of people, I'm also hopeful that the gay-marriage endorsement will help Obama pick up some other independent voters.
On Gay Marriage, the Real Risk Is For Romney
In endorsing gay marriage, Barack Obama may have gotten ahead of public opinion on one of the most emotional issues in politics. And yet I can’t help thinking the move poses more risk for Mitt Romney. Am I crazy? The conventional wisdom is that the president’s decision firms up his base, especially the portion that helps fund his campaign, but potentially hurts him among swing voters.
Mitt’s Very Awkward History On Gay Marriage
Who knows what calculations went into Barack Obama’s decision to “evolve” back to where he’d started on gay marriage in 1996. The timing is striking—after Joe Biden’s blurt on Sunday, there were a lot of pundits and activists arguing that Obama was now behind not only his vice president but most of the country on this issue. Yet he decided to make his move the day after an election, in the swing state of North Carolina, that showed to what extent this is far from a settled issue in many parts of the country, whatever the polls might say.
A Watershed Moment for Equality
President Obama has said he supports same-sex marriage—a move that will change no law, at least immediately, but that represents a watershed moment in the recognition of LGBT Americans as full and equal citizens. The statement came in a television interview with ABC News and it came at a pivotal political moment, less than 24 hours after North Carolina voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment banning not just same-sex marriage but also civil unions.
