The RNC Chairman resigns. The former House Speaker Dennis Hastert resigns. The former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott resigns. The number of Senate and House GOP incumbents retiring continues to rise. The Senate Minority Leader is in serious political trouble. By any measure the GOP's Presidential field is one of modern times. Their party's handling of the war in Iraq, the economy, the budget and immigration have left them ideologically in tatters. In the Presidential debate process they have repeatedly stiffed minorities, fighting in a reactionary way the changing demography of our nation.
As NDN's recent national poll shows the national GOP is at 33 percent in both the Presidential and Congressional generic polls, a remarkably low number by any measure. As the NY Times reports today, another sign of the utter collapse of the GOP brand is their inability to raise money. Democrats, using new and old methods, have outraised the GOP this year by hundreds of millions of dollars. In Congress the political and financial collapse is so complete that the GOP is now turning to wealthy self-funders, a potentially perilous political choice at a time when the middle class is desperately looking for champions to help them navigate the rigors of the ever competitive global economy.
The political and ideological collapse of the modern GOP is perhaps the most dramatic story in American politics today. It is a theme we've been discussing for some time at NDN. It is also what makes the current opportunity so great for progressives, an opportunity Peter Leyden and I write about extensively in the current issue of Mother Jones magazine, in a story called The 50-Year Strategy.
What a sorry legacy Bush and Rove are going to leave the nation, their party, and their own ideological movement. And what an opportunity they have given progressives to seize the initiative and lead America with confidence and grace into a challenging new century.
Today's New York Times makes the case for comprehensive immigration reform, powerfully:
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This year’s federal failure will not be undone until 2009 at the earliest, while states and local governments will continue doing their own thing, creating a mishmash of immigration policies, most of them harsh and shortsighted. But the wilderness of anger into which Mr. Tancredo helped lead America is not where the country has to be on this vitally important issue, nor where it truly is.
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Mrs. Clinton was closer to being right the first time, when she haltingly defended Mr. Spitzer’s reasoning. Fixing immigration is not a yes-or-no question. It’s yes and no. Or if you prefer, no and yes — no to more illegal immigration, to uncontrolled borders and to a flourishing underground economy where employer greed feeds off worker desperation. Yes to extending the blanket of law over the anonymous, undocumented population — through fines and other penalties for breaking the nation’s laws and an orderly path to legal status and citizenship to those who qualify.
These are the ingredients of a realistic approach to a complicated problem. It’s called comprehensive reform, and it rests on the idea that having an undocumented underclass does the country more harm than good. This is not “open-borders amnesty,” a false label stuck on by those who want enforcement and nothing else. It’s tough on the border and on those who sneaked across it. It’s tough but fair to employers who need immigrant workers. It recognizes that American citizens should not have to compete for jobs with a desperate population frightened into accepting rock-bottom wages and working conditions. It makes a serious effort to fix legal immigration by creating an orderly future flow of legal workers.
Americans accept this approach. The National Immigration Forum has compiled nearly two dozen polls from 2007 alone that show Americans consistently favoring a combination of tough enforcement and earned legalization over just enforcement. Elections confirm this. Straight-talking moderates like Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico thrive in the immigration crucible along the southern border. Those who obsess about immigration as single-issue hard-liners, like the Arizonans J. D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, have disappeared, booted by voters. Voters in Virginia this month rejected similar candidates and handed control of the State Senate to Democrats.
It may not be “amnesty” that gets Americans worked up as much as inaction. They seem to sense the weakness and futility in the enforcement-only strategy, the idea of tightening the screws on an informal apartheid system until it is so frightening and hopeless that millions of poor people pack up and leave.
That is the attrition argument, the only answer the anti-amnesty crowd has to comprehensive reform. It is, of course, a passive amnesty that rewards only the most furtive and wily illegal immigrants and the bottom-feeding employers who hire them. It will drive some people out of the country, but will push millions of others — families with members of mixed immigration status, lots of citizen children and practically a nation’s worth of decent, hard workers — further into hiding.
We are already seeing what a full-bore enforcement-only strategy will bring. Bias crimes against Hispanic people are up, hate groups are on the march. Legal immigration remains a mess. Applications for citizenship are up, and the federal citizenship agency, which steeply raised its fees to increase efficiency, is drowning in paperwork and delays. American citizens are being caught up in house-to-house raids by immigration agents.
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America is waiting for a leader to risk saying that the best answer is not the simplest one. As John Edwards said at the last debate, “When is our party going to show a little backbone and strength and courage and speak up for those people who have been left behind?”
He was talking about the poor and people without health insurance, but he could — and should — have included a host of others: Business owners who want to hire legal workers. Americans who don’t want their opportunities undermined by the off-the-books economy. Children whosedreams of education and advancement are thwarted by their parents’ hopeless immigration status. And the immigrants, here and abroad, who want to find their place in a society that once welcomed their honest labor, but can’t find a way to do it anymore.
Yesterday the Post first reported on the growing backlog at DHS that may end up denying the vote to hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants. The NIF's two analyses cited in the editorial can be found linked here. And my most recent essay on the politics of immigration, Has the GOP Throws in the Towel on Immigration Reform?, can be found here.
As we head into Thanksgiving, check out this new ad from John Edwards. Also check out this new ad from Barack Obama - "Hope and Change" - running in South Carolina. Enjoy the holiday, everyone!
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
- First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE BIDEN! It's not often that I'm doing a roundup on a candidates' birthday, so there you have it. On a campaign-related note, Biden announced his energy and climate plan today in Iowa. Also be sure to read Biden's op-ed in the Des Moines Registeron ending the war in Iraq, and check out "Joe is Right" if you haven't already seen it.
- The Presidential candidates are posting on VetVoice.com about issues veterans, their families, and their supporters care about. All campaigns were contacted. Six Democratic candidates posted, one Republican, Congressman Ron Paul.
- The candidates have also posted responses to WhyTuesday? As part of the Why Tuesday Challenge, the candidates are giving their views on the voting system.
- Dennis Kucinich has some advice for you: never leave home without a copy of the Constitution.
- John McCain received a big endorsement yesterday from Tom Kean, former Governor of New Jersey and 9/11 Commission Chairman.
- Former U.S. Senator John Durkin, the last Democratic Senator from New Hampshire, endorsed Chris Dodd.
- It has been a while since Duncan Hunter appeared on the update. That changes TODAY! In this new ad, Hunter discusses giving soldiers good jobs upon their return.
- Hillary Clinton has a lot going on: yesterday in Iowa she gave a speech on America's Economic Challenges, she has a new ad up in Iowa and New Hampshire entitled "Joe Ward", and be sure to check out "Machine", which is running in New Hampshire. Senator Clinton is also the top candidate with which most people would want to share Thanksgiving dinner.
- Fred Thompson isn't doing too well in New Hampshire, according to a new poll.
- Rudy Giuliani has a new ad out entitled "Leadership". Also be sure to read a recent article from the LA Times which covers Rudy's sentiment on nominating conservative Supreme Court Justices in an effort to court the Federalist Society's endorsement.
- Stephen Dinan from the Washington Timestakes a look at the types of people behind Ron Paul's impressive fundraising drive.
- Mike Gravel - who, thanks to PrezVid, revealed his Xbox gamertag - was not at the Las Vegas debate. So he decided to set up shop, sit on a stage, and commentate during the debate. Check out the video below:
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
In his New York Times column yesterday Paul Krugman thoughtfully examines the centrality of a great national electoral strategy, the Southern Strategy, to the recent rise of conservatives. It is a story line he explores in much more depth in his very worthwhile new book, The Conscience of a Liberal.
In our new article in Mother Jones magazine, The 50 Year Strategy, Peter Leyden and I argue that the progressives and Democrats are in the process of constructing the next great electoral strategy, one yet unnamed, that capitalizes on the emerging demography and politics of the early 21st century.
This new strategy builds upon Democratic strongholds in the Northeast and Pacific West, requires Democrats and progressives to win in all the other regions of the country, and builds particularly upon the support of two new groups that will end being very influential in the 21st century - Hispanics and Millennials.
Implicit in all this is how the concept of race is changing in America. For over 300 years, race in America was a white-black, majority-minority, exploitive experience. The very large wave of immigration America is currently experiencing, driven to a great degree by new Asian and Hispanic immigrants, is changing that historic and pernicious equation. In the age of the Southern Strategy minorities - African Americans - were a small fraction of the population. In America today "minorities" are 30 percent of our national population. In my lifetime America will become a majority minority nation. Even the word minority itself will begin to change its meaning as American becomes a very different place with a very different people in the 21st century.
To get a sense of all this look at the Presidential fields. Taken together the GOP Presidential candidates look that 20th century Southern Strategy Party. The Democratic field, featuring a woman, an Hispanic, a mixed race candidate of African descent and a white populist from the New South, looks much more like the Party of this next more racially and geographically complicated post-Southern Strategy nation.
For more on the changing nature of America's Hispanic population, check out our new report Hispanics Rising. And for more on Millennials visit our affiliate, the New Politics Institute.
I just couldn't wait for tomorrow morning's roundup to post Mike Huckabee's new ad featuring Chuck Norris, I'm sorry. Check it out below. (Thanks to Brad, a former NDN intern and Arkansas native for sending this!)
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
- DISCLAIMER: the information in this might be more disjointed than usual, as I will be playing Presidential Pong while I post. Speaking of which, is anyone else upset at the limited amount of players? I bet Fred Thompson is quite the presence on the tennis court...
- As Simon points out, tonight is the Nevada Democratic Presidential Debate. Hosted by CNN and the Nevada Democratic Party, the debate begins at 5pm/8pm EST. (Sadly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will not be in the audience.)
- Fred Thompson was endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee. The endorsement comes with the usual amount of speculation, though, as Mitt Romney's supporters questioned the NRLC's motive. Earlier this week, Thompson also unveiled his "Four Pillars of a Revitalized National Defense."
- David Yepsen of the Des Moines Register was very flattering in his praise of Barack Obama's speech at the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson dinner. Check out Obama's speech on YouTube. (Note the tailored introduction that reminds us of the introduction used by the Chicago Bulls during their home games.)
- Quick Obama related note: Yesterday in the Valley, Barack Obama unveild his innovation agenda at the Google campus. Afterwards, he took questions and did a YouTube interview.
- Mike Huckabee continues to move up in the polls. The findings of a recent New York Times/CBS poll puts Huckabee in second place behind Mitt Romney.
- Leading up to tonight's debate, Hillary Clinton's campaign welcomed another endorsement from Nevada Assemblyman Ruben Kiuhen. Also, the campaign is promoting the latest of a few fun web videos, entitled "Caucusing is Easy."
- Chris Dodd - whose first hour on the job as President would solve much of the topics he discusses on the stump - knows his JFK trivia!
- Ron Paul continues to rake in the money. Check his home page for an updated amount, which is currently just above $8.2 million.
- The Biden campaign announced that its candidate has received his thirteenth Iowa political endorsement, Rep. Mary Gaskill, a member of Iowa's House of Representatives.
- Yesterday in Florida, Rudy Giuliani kicked off Viva Rudy, a group of Hispanic voters supporting the former Mayor. First there was the race between Rudy and Mitt Romney to see who was toughest on immigration, now he's touting his support within the Hispanic community? Interesting...
- John Edwards, whose two Americas special play in Presidential Pong is incredible, has a very interesting plan to reform how we treat veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
The Globe has an interesting article today on two private companies are providing new - and i think vital - competition to Nicholas Negroponte's remarkable One Laptop Per Child effort.
Be sure to check out NDN's recent paper calling for laptops for all America's children, A Laptop in Every Backback.
- The RNC stripped New Hampshire, Florida, South Carolina, Wyoming, and Michigan of half of their allotted delegations to the convention because of violating party rules by holding their primaries before February 5th.
- Senator Hillary Clinton has taken rapid-response to the internet with the introduction of the Fact Hub. One thing that most likely won't appear on the fact hub: Governor Ted Strickland's endorsed the Senator. One thing that may appear: this article from The Hill discussing her earmarks - Senator Clinton received more money in earmarks than her rivals.
- Fred Thompson gets advice from Ira Teinowitz from AdAge about campaigning in New Hampshire.
- There are a few new ads to check out: Mitt Romney's new ad, "Change Immigration," defines his stance on immigration; Barack Obama, who will appear on "Meet the Press" this Sunday after ending his Change We Can Believe In tour, released "High and Dry," which focuses on reforming pension and bankruptcy laws; and Tom Tancredo says the Supreme Court is "one death or retirement away from reversing Roe vs. Wade" in a new radio ad airing in Iowa.
- Chris Dodd's time in the Dominican Republic is the focus of a very interesting article running in the Concord Monitor. Dodd was there serving with the Peace Corps.
- Chris Cillizza analyzes the influence of the Club for Growth in Mike Huckabee's campaign. Huckabee, whose statement reacting to Mitt Romney receiving the endorsement of Paul Weyrich had a disapointed tone, hasn't seemed to let anything slow him down. Take this piece from Michael Gerson for example. And then there's the possible endorsement from James Dobson...
- The Edwards campaign posted a video to YouTube on the experiences of the 5 winners of their "Build with John" contest" in New Orleans, LA.
- There has been a lot of talk over Pat Robertson's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani: DailyKos blogger DHinMI discusses the issue, as does Chris Cillizza from The Fix, and Josh Marshall from TPM media (below):
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
- Chris Cillizza from the Washington Post blog, The Fix, takes a focused look at the possible longevity of the 2008 primaries.
- In an effort to court Latino voters, supporters of Barack Obama - who recently made an appearance on Saturday Night Live - have launched a mini novela series, Tu Voz, Tu Voto. Learn more about the series or watch the first novela on the Amigos de Obama website.
- According to the Washington Times, House Republicans feel that Rudy Giuliani is the best candidate to return their party to the majority because of his ability to make inroads into the Northeast - specifically New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.
- Hillary Clinton unveiled her energy/climate plan. Bill Richardson - a former Secretary of Energy - also outlined his plan in his book, Leading By Example: How We Can Inspire an Energy and Security Revolution. For a broad look at how the candidates view environmental issues, check out this website from the League of Conservation Voters.
- Ron Paul is on a roll with regard to online fundraising. Yesterday, his campaign announced that they have broken the record for the single largest fundraising effort in the 2008 campaign. (What a way to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day!)
- John Edwards outlined his strategy for Iran in Iowa yesterday. Prior to that, Edwards kicked off his Americas Heroes Tour in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
- Mitt Romney picked up a big endorsement from Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation.
- Chris Dodd is a serious guy. Not only has he refused to let up on the fight for constitutional rights, but he also enrolled his daughter at an Iowa elementary school.
- Today in South Carolina, Fred Thompson's campaign launched Veterans for Fred.
- Governor Bill Richardson was on CNN recently discussing the current situation in Pakistan. Joe Biden discussed the same issue on CBS's Face the Nation.
For more information on NDN's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election, click here.
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- John McCain received a 
- As if you thought the Chuck Norris endorsement of Mike Huckabee wasn't enough. The Nature Boy, Ric Flair, 
