The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling in 2003 striking down the state’s gay-marriage ban arguably helped re-elect President Bush. Fired-up social conservatives, spurred on by GOP political operatives, put gay-marriage amendments on the ballots in 11 states in November 2004, helping drive voter turnout in those states and elsewhere. In such battleground states as Ohio, it likely was the difference between Bush winning and losing.
So how will Thursday’s California Supreme Court ruling play out? It certainly won’t have as big an impact, as only three states are expected to have the issue on the ballot — California, Arizona and Florida. And though John McCain supports such state amendments, he doesn’t support a federal gay-marriage ban, which rankles many social conservatives. Also, pocketbook issues and Iraq are more important to most voters this election than social issues. Still, McCain and the GOP likely will exploit the ruling as another example of “activist judges.”
Younger voters might not be enough to elect Barack Obama this year, but they will soon have a major impact on elections and politics — and it likely won’t be favorable for the GOP.
“The number of young people in the millennial generation (loosely defined as those born in the 1980s and 1990s) is somewhere between 80 million and 95 million,†columnist Bob Herbert wrote. “That represents a ton of potential votes — in this election and years to come. And the (Center for) American Progress study shows that those young people do not feel they have been treated kindly by conservative policies or principles.â€
According to the study: “Millennials mostly reject the conservative viewpoint that government is the problem, and that free markets always produce the best results for society. Indeed, millennials’ views are more progressive than those of other age groups today, and are more progressive than previous generations when they were younger.â€
There are easier ways to make a living than being in Congress — and to make a much better living. But Kansas’ lawmakers are getting by or better, according to the Sunlight Foundation. Its new study finds Sen. Sam Brownback, with a $13.3 million net worth in 2006, leading his fellow Kansans, followed by Rep. Nancy Boyda ($2.2 million), Sen. Pat Roberts ($1.7 million), Rep. Dennis Moore ($827,000), Rep. Jerry Moran ($510,000) and the 4th District’s own Rep. Todd Tiahrt ($121,000). The average net worth among their fellow Americans in 2006 was $93,000.
Overall, Kansas’ delegation members fell well within the extremes of wealth or lack of it cited by the study — from California Rep. Jane Harmon’s $409 million to Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings’ $4.7 million debt.
The problem isn’t just that several Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies violated county policy by sending e-mails with inappropriate racial and sexual content; it’s that they apparently thought the offensive comments were OK. In other words, it would have been just as bad if the deputies had whispered the comments to one another rather than used county computers to disseminate them. It’s good that the office is taking the policy violations seriously and intends to take disciplinary action. But the lesson to the deputies is not about being more careful with their e-mail; it’s about changing their mind-set.
“You don’t walk off the court before the buzzer sounds. You never know, you might get a three-point shot at the end.†— Hillary Clinton, on CNN
The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling in 2003 striking down the state’s gay-marriage ban arguably helped re-elect President Bush. Fired-up social conservatives, spurred on by GOP political operatives, put gay-marriage amendments on the ballots in 11 states in November 2004, helping drive voter turnout in those states and elsewhere. In such battleground states as Ohio, it likely was the difference between Bush winning and losing.
