It's a Desert in the Political Center

Bravo. Well said. So why do we settle for this?

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/the-unraveling-of-government/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120928

Sorry, Lady, You're Just Not Right Enough

This is probably an indication of where the Republican Party is going. I shouldn't be surprised, yet I am.

Dede Scozzafazza is a moderate Republican Assemblywoman who was running for Congress in the 23rd Congressional District against Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. She's been under intense fire from Republicans, including Sarah Palin, who label her as too "liberal" in her stances on gay rights, abortion rights and fiscal issues.

She has now pulled out of the race as a new poll shows her too far behind to catch up and she says her campaign doesn't have the money necessary to do an advertising blitz. She hasn't endorsed either candidate. Really - how could she?

The blogs are buzzing today; this could be the sign of things to come. Republicans who don't toe the line that the Rush Limbaugh set have drawn way over to the right may be bumped aside by third party challengers who are willing to stand way over there.

"I think we are going to get into a very difficult environment around the country if suddenly conservative leaders decide they are going to anoint people without regard to local primaries and local choices," said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, who had endorsed Scozzafava.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/01/MNOI1ADFLE.DTL&type=politics#ixzz0VcQqtRUJ

Fred Thompson (you remember him, don't you?) is already putting his truly significant support behind Hoffman.



And here's what Scozzafazza had to say: It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my Party will emerge stronger and our District and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.

On Election Day my name will appear on the ballot, but victory is unlikely. To those who support me – and to those who choose not to – I offer my sincerest thanks.

Dede

If the Republican Party is going to be taken over by the hard line Right Wing, I can actually envision a viable third party emerging; a place where those blue dog Democrats and moderate Republicans can meet. But they'd better hurry up and do it.
Glenn Beck, The Cheney Clan, Rush and Sarah P. are very effective at getting the word out and somehow many people are buying it.

I have a growing sense that the ultra right is growing more and more paranoid and the rhetoric I'm hearing is designed to frighten any sympathetic listener into believing the new mantra: If you're not with us, you're with the Devil.

It's going to take not just liberals and progressives, but moderates to show them for the fear-mongerers they are.

More on The Republicans' Answer to Hillary Clinton

Sarah Palin is a hot topic for someone hosting a women's issues show. And I'm learning a lot.

First, I read the email written by a woman Palin supposedly 'hates' for standing in the way of the then-mayor's attempt to fire the local librarian. Ann Kilkenny's getting a lot of attention for a letter she says she never intended to be public. She says she was just answering questions posed by friends outside of Alaska. I don't doubt it. The first thing I did when Palin was tapped for VP was to write a note to my friend in Anchorage asking what she knew.
You can read Kilkenny's letter here:

http://stupidcelebrities.net/2008/09/05/ann-killkenny-palin-email-photos/

Gloria Steinem has come out swinging as some try to label Palin the feminists' alternative to Hillary Clinton. "The only thing Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have in common is a chromosome," she wrote.

I interviewed a woman today who's been covering Palin for years. Shannyn Moore is a progressive journalist, so it's a safe bet that she's not going to be a cheerleader.

"What are your issues with her?" I asked her.

"She's far more like George Bush than John McCain," she told me. "She's secretive, she surrounds herself with people who will not disagree with her, and she's a fundamentalist Christian. But I think she's a far more authentic fundamentalist than Bush is. She's hard core. And that's actually scarier to me."

I asked her what she knew about the librarian fracas from Palin's mayoral days. Moore said that, as far as she knows, Palin never specifically named books she wanted banned...but she felt out the librarian on the possibility of banning books. When the librarian said absolutely not, Palin tried to fire her. She only withdrew the termination when opponents made enough noise that it became politically prudent to do so.

Moore points out that Palin's city is the crystal meth capital of Alaska. "If she wanted to put books on how to make crystal meth on a special shelf behind the desk and make people register to take them out, I wouldn't have had a problem with that. But as far as I know, that wasn't what she was thinking about."

Moore points to Palin's delivery of her youngest child. She says Palin finished a speech in Texas, got on a plane, transferred flights and continued flying home although labor had begun. She says continuing to travel while in labor with what she knew was a high risk pregnancy is a sign of poor judgement. It's not about whose baby is whose...it's about placing herself and her own desires before her child's, her family's and her fellow passengers on those flights.

Moore says Palin has a very public record of sacrificing the environment in favor of oil and gas drilling and building. Polar bears and beluga whales? Don't be silly.

"Why," I asked her, "hasn't Palin been speaking to the press since her nomination?"

"Because they're still telling her what she thinks," was her simple answer. "She'll say whatever they want."

And as for the bright and shiny opportunity to get a woman within spitting distance of the Oval Office? Moore says she may be a woman, but she's no feminist. She's against abortion, even in the event of incest or rape. Moore said her favorite anecdote just happened recently. She and a friend were sitting in a tavern discussing Palin. The friend asked if Palin could be considered a feminist.

"Down by the bar, a big, burly guy in a flannel shirt, Carharts and boots was sitting nursing a beer. He looked across his beer at us, wiped the foam off his beard and said, 'I'm more of a feminist than Sarah Palin is.' And he was right!"

Palin's views may not be extreme in Alaska, but they're sure extreme in the rest of the country. She wants creationism taught in schools. She offered to cooperate with an investigation into the attempt to fire her ex-brother-in-law...but once evidence began to indicate there may be wrongdoing, her staff has clammed up. She is suing the government to keep polar bears from being listed as endangered. She is taking credit for accomplishments that further examination is showing were not hers.

Moore's getting phone calls from news organizations around the world. But they're not asking about Palin's positions on the issues.

"All they want to know about is Bristol's baby."