Haven't done one of these in a while...it's an occasional item about things that aren't in the news or haven't happened, which is therefore newsworthy.
1. Minimum wage as a campaign issue, or for that matter a minimum wage dust-up in Congress. Seems like a natural for the Democrats. James Galbraith has been pushing it, but most Democratic pols seem oddly uninterested.
2. A third party candidate. Yes, Americans Elect is around, and nailing down ballot positions all over the place, but still no high-profile candidate. For context: Ross Perot's kick-off on Larry King was on February 20, 1992; John Anderson began his campaign some time after the Wisconsin primary, which was on April 1. So it's getting late, although the Americans Elect ballot line is certainly a wild card.
3. The Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Those who go back earlier than the 2008 cycle might remember when the big danger was that it would run out of money. It's now presumably overflowing with money, no? Oh, this is also an excuse to link to what I wrote about related campaign finance stuff over at Post Partisan today.
4. Toss up between gun control and, of course, the Fairness Doctrine. I'm getting scared though, that Republicans are really giving up on the fantasy that Democrats are going to bring back the Fairness Doctrine any minute now.
When's the last time you read about Card Check? Googling it under News turns up almost nothing. Search results were quite different in 2008-2009. More than a few people since then have noticed the growth of income and wealth inequality, and some of them have recognized how unions once were a force against growing inequality, but Card Check remains a distant memory.
ReplyDeleteAnon: It seems like the union fights in the last couple of years have been over remaining in existence in states that threaten that (like WI). So, I wonder if the card check fight got set aside. Not sure, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd JB: didn't you see today's NRA convo? Obama is going to take the guns away on January 22!
Given that Ron Paul has done absolutely nothing to try to shake things up and remain relevant or build any steam, I'm wondering just what sort of deal he may have worked out with Romney to lay relatively low. Otherwise, it's not clear what he'd have to lose. Why wouldn't he really be trying to mess with the Republican coalition?
ReplyDeleteAnon (8:57) - Well, Ron Paul's crowds easily rival Romney's at this point. You can't exactly blame him if the media chooses to ignore it: http://youtu.be/1VZh0TlVAXI
ReplyDelete#2 - I don't know much about Americans Elect, but I do know that the Libertarian Party candidate (probably Gary Johnson) will likely be on the ballot in every state.
#4 - I'm not sure why you seem to think that gun control is a red herring (remember the Assault Weapons Ban?). But aside from the two issues you raise, the sad reality is that our Constitutional freedoms have continued to be eroded... and both parties have an equal hand in it, so neither can be counted on to stop it.