Tagged: Democrats

Ever feel like the only way things get done in Washington is if there's a crisis? You're not alone. Bipartisanism is driving moderates out of the Senate according to a recent editorial from the Star Tribune.  Charles Wheelan is senior lecturer at Dartmouth, and the author of several books including Naked Economics. His newest is called The Centrist Manifesto and it’s the basis for a new centrist party designed to break congressional gridlock, find consensus, and restore faith in American politics.

Think about how anti-gay marriage rhetoric played a critical role in George W. Bush’s re-election in 2004, or how talking up a surging economy made Bill Clinton the first two-term democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt won in 1936.

New Hampshire Democrats met in Manchester this morning at a Unity Breakfast to set the tone for the run up to the general election in November.

Gubernatorial candidate Maggie Hassan, her former challenger Jackie Cilley, and other Democratic candidates spoke at the party’s first major post-primary event.

In a show of solidarity, Jackie Cilley removed her own campaign button from her coat and pinned a Hassan button in its place, asking her supporters to do the same.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of last night was not that Democrat Jackie Cilley lost to her rival Maggie, Hassan, but by how big a margin. What was supposed to be a close race turned out to be a run-away.

This primary season the question has been: will democrats elect a candidate who hasn’t pledged to veto an income or sales tax? From the outset, Cilley has made not taking such a pledge the centerpiece of her campaign.

But with the very first poll returns it was clear that Cilley was in for a rough night. Later she took the podium to concede the race.

With just under a week before primary day the Democratic Candidates for Governor met in Goffstown for their first televised debate. But anyone hoping for clear contrasts between the two leading candidates --  former state Senators Maggie Hassan and Jackie Cilley -- were likely disappointed.

Democratic candidate for Governor Jackie Cilley is defending breaking with her party to oppose mandatory seatbelt laws and banning pay-day loans. Former State Senator Cilley defended her record on NHPR’s the Exchange with Laura Knoy. Her primary opponent Maggie Hassan has criticized her refusal to support a seatbelt law and outlaw payday loans.

Former Nebraska Gov. and two-term Sen. Bob Kerrey, who faces long odds in reclaiming the seat left open by retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, is in his home state trying to get his old job back.

After a full of morning of shaking hands, smiling and trying to win over voters, Kerrey settles on lunch at the Taqueria Tijuana in south Omaha.

After lunch, he takes off walking down 24th Street, telling his staffers to catch up with him. He says things are different now from when he first sought public office in 1982.