totally impressed by the caliber of democratic candidates this cycle

Sanders, Clinton, O'Malley: all top notch.
where were these people in 2000, 2004? these are exciting times we live in: I believe that we are undergoing a renaissance of liberal thought. very proud to support the party which fields all of these candidates.

I am not a Hillary supporter, but I did get to visit a townhall she hosted a few weeks back. very impressed: highly intelligent woman, appears to work to her ideals. I don't believe she is the best candidate but if she does win the nomination no tears shed here. my only disappointment will be that dems were not brave enough to choose the candidate they agree with but the one who is centrist enough to win (helpful hint: it doesn't matter, they hate us all. might as well take a stand).

hard to see democrats arguing amongst themselves. too many of the thread titles here are obvious baiting "why bernie won the debate", etc. give it a rest people. flinging poo is what the republicans do.

do we get the candidates we deserve?

considering the kind of time commitment I'll be making with the upcoming election -- the work that needs to be done to offset the interests of the capitalist class, and I wonder: is america worth it? do we get the candidates we deserve?

one of the field organizers I worked with was convinced that americans will vote for the guy they want to have a beer with.

well, I thought somewhat optimistically, that would rule out dick cheney.

but it didn't rule out ronald reagan or bush jr.

what I am NOT looking forward to this year is knocking on doors to get such responses as,

"voting is too much work"
"people forced to live on welfare are lazy and I'm going to make you listen to an vitriolic diatribe abt my problems with them which are really to do with my employer being a cheap bastard and not the fact that some people are sick or disabled and still need to eat"
or, the highly original doorslam

that said, the political fervor I find here, as well as the general commitment to leftist causes is quite inspiring. how do you guys avoid burnout? I wish I knew more irl activists, all the local politicos are careerists.

what's the scoop on psnh?

it sounds like our state government sold off our public service behind our backs. if so, where was the profit? why are they suddenly cutting services?

read in the union leader that following the sale, rates would increase in order to make up for losses incurred by selling the nh power plants. the deal that was cut charges residential customers (ie you and me) with a much higher 'stranded cost' rate than businesses, all of which reeks of political corruption.

I really want to do more research on this but I haven't had the time; so far every politically involved nhite I've contacted pleads ignorance.

I can't see any upside to privatizing,decentralizing the power grid; it seems like common sense that utilities, by design, are less expensive when it's a single public service whose cost is shared among stakeholders. as I remember thatcher tried something similar and the results were not good.

kelly ayotte tells off frank guinta, and more from this unfolding story of congressional corruption

Rep. Frank Guinta has certainly seen better days. Last Wednesday, the New Hampshire Republican paid a fine to the FEC over a mysterious (and illegal) $355,000 campaign loan from his parents, perhaps thinking that he could put this long-running story behind him. However, Guinta's move only led to more questions about his honesty, and his own party wants him out of this swing district.

Last week, Sen. Kelly Ayotte did little to defend the incumbent, but she ditched any subtlety on Monday and publicly told Guinta to get lost. State Senate President Chuck Morse and state House Speaker Shawn Jasper also called for his resignation, while state party chair Jennifer Horn called his situation "serious and extremely troubling." The hacks at the NRCC didn't exactly get Guinta's back either, saying only that they're "continuing to evaluate this very complex situation."


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/18/1385722/-Frank-Guinta-s-situation-worsens-as-his-fellow-Republicans-stuff-him-in-the-woodchipper?detail=twitter_sf

I read guinta's interview in the union leader a week ago. it was supposed to be sympathetic, and still he came off as a lying liar.

TWITTER SPEAKS OUT ON HILLARY

hold up kids! I didn't get to talk!

someone locked down my thread b4 could ask, 'why was the bernie speech the other day attended primarily by well-dressed rich people'? esp one hosted by the afl-cio. where were all the actual... working people? not because it was the middle of the day; this is a retail town. yes, I can recognize construction workers when I see them. they could make it, but what about the walmart retail zombies? what's their excuse?

this is a serious concern and one I have abt the democratic party at large. for whom I have worked and with which I have noticed that ppl are hired upon their good-lookingness and ethereal academic qualifications rather than any actual competence. on the flip side of the coin, I've noticed that getting my twentysomething coworkers to give a flip abt the Serious Geopolitical Concerns of the Day is like pulling effing teeth. ditto for the fortysomething ones, tho that's not gonna stop me from GETTING OUT THE VOTE.

before you all get your panties in a wad like you did last time, I do support bernie. I support him a lot, and have been planning on volunteering for him. I will be volunteering for him. etc.

please explain why an event centering on a democratic socialist candidate...

...is attended primarily by upper-middle class birkenstock-wearing pseudo-preppie types. is politics a rich man's game?

sanders came to my town today.
except for the afl-cio officers, who were all sadly few and far between, there was a real dearth of his so-called 'stakeholders'. am I confusing 'middle' and 'working' class? are working people too busy working to care about their well being in the general scheme of things? do elections not have consequences nearly as profound as we liberals like to wax on about? does politics matter after all, or is the apathy, esp among the democratic 'voting base' as bad as sanders himself mentioned?

also, plz guide this socially retarded political neophyte, one had a strong feeling that the purpose of these events was for politically likeminded people to schmooze and get to know each other. I think that's why they all stayed after to chat. it certainly wasn't for the nonexistent catering.

I'm glad he's running. my impression from him was very 'new england democratic politician-y' which is a group of people I rather like as a whole. still, despite his unusual political career, he seemed very ordinary and even banal w/i our on context.

took a peek at the rand paul website, and was amused by the emphasis he put on his pro bono

his pro bono medical work.
so he can give free eye exams to illegal immigrants, but can't help them get proper health coverage?
does anyone else smell the hypocrisy?

(take a look for yourself: https://www.randpaul.com/about)
(or, rather, don't.)

help me smart DUers! need snappy talking points to counter claims of "it's all obama's fault".

apparently the hitchhikers I pick up on the way home from work are quite fond of political discussion, but not terribly astute.
I am noticing a trend of black=stupid or something like that b/c not sure how anyone comes to the conclusion that obama is dumb. he talks with sentences that make sense, something exceedingly rare in a politician. also he sometimes talks to say things, also pretty rare in a politician.

did bush raid the old age and survivors ss fund to pay for the iraq war?

read this abt the web and was hoping for confirmation.