Hawaii may be the most reliably Democratic state in the union.
In 2012, President Barack Obama won his home state of Hawaii by
more than 42 percentage points, a margin larger than in any other
state. Hawaii is so blue that its state senate seats only a single
Republican. That Republican is Senator Sam Slom, known by his
colleagues as the Lone Ranger.
Reason TV sat down with Slom to talk about what it’s like being
the only member of a minority part in a virtually single-party
state, as well as to discuss the history of Hawaiin politics and
what sort of future free market reforms could turn Hawaii into an
international trade hub.
Approximately 4 minutes.
Interview by Sharif Matar. Camera and Editing by Zach
Weissmueller.
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America’s Loneliest Senator: Hawaii’s Lone Ranger Sam Slom
Greens advance while Centre trails: poll
The Green Party reclaimed its spot as third largest parliamentary party in the latest opinion poll by Sifo, while the Centre and Christian Democrat parties both came in below the threshold for parliamentary seats. … Read More
Elephant Mixtapes Hides Musical Treasures Around Chicago
We get it—you’re tired of hearing about mixtapes and cassette culture and all that hipster fluff, but we have something a little different for you: Elephant Mixtapes is a new project that plants handmade mixtapes around the city and relies on participation from the people who find them.
Here’s how it work: The project’s creator (he prefers to keep his identity undisclosed and the project itself in the spotlight) assembles a mixtape and makes ten copies every month then hides them around the city. You can find them in environments fitting for an audience that might actually own a tape deck, like bars and record stores—you won’t have to go lifting manhole covers or running your hands along the gummy undersides of bus seats.
Obama needs to make fixing Plan B his plan A
This past election, President Barack Obama made blatant appeals to female voters to great success. Fifty-five percent of women and a jaw-dropping 68 percent of single women voted for the president this round. Feminist and reproductive-rights groups especially campaigned hard, not just to reward him for some significant wins for women in office but because they widely believed that he could do even more in a second term, especially with 18 congressional seats swapping from anti- or mixed-choice to pro-choice.In other words, feminist-leaning women helped usher in Obama’s victory, and now they’re wondering how he intends to show his gratitude.Continue Reading… … Read More
Gene Healy on Let’s Hear It for Scandal!
I can’t abide the sort of
Beltway scold who looks down his nose at political scandals as
distractions from “the business of governing,” writes Gene Healy.
Ringside seats at the latest –’gate are among the few redeeming
features of life in this miserable company town.
At a minimum, scandals serve as a useful reminder that we’re
usually led by people of questionable competence, miserable
judgment and a flexible relationship with the truth. At their best,
they can even provoke much-needed reforms. View this article.
America’s first class-warfare election
In 2012, class warfare broke out in American politics. And from the president to key Senate races, the middle class won.When the 2012 campaign began, the lousy economy made President Obama vulnerable. Republicans were favored to take back the Senate, given retirements in conservative states. Republican billionaires — the Koch brothers, Adelson and others — put up big money in the effort to have it all. Instead the president swept to victory, and Democrats gained seats in the Senate and the House.Many factors contributed. Republicans learned once more the shortcomings of a stale, male, pale, Southern-based party in a nation of diversity. The GOP “legitimate rape” caucus helped give away two Senate seats. But too little attention has been paid to the new emerging reality. This was the first class warfare election of the new Gilded Age — and the middle class won big.Continue Reading… … Read More
Pelosi to stay on as House Dems’ leader
WASHINGTON — A congressional official said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told her party caucus Wednesday that she will remain as minority leader in the new session of Congress.This official said the 72-year-old Pelosi made the decision to remain at the helm of the party’s House leadership even though Democrats failed to win the necessary 25 additional seats to become the majority party again.The official, who is close to Pelosi, revealed her decision on condition of anonymity because she hadn’t yet publicly announced it.Pelosi’s quarter-century of service in Congress representing a San Francisco area district in the House includes becoming the first woman in history to serve as speaker. The tea party-fueled political wave of 2010 forced the gavel from her hand to Rep. John Boehner, an Ohio Republican.Continue Reading… … Read More
