Democratic strategist
Democratic consultant in San Francisco, California and senior adviser to the superPAC Ready for Hillary; chief strategist for Next Gen Climate, the Super PAC founded primarily by billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer; former staffer in the Clinton White House and former press secretary for then-Vice President Al Gore; adviser to Governor Gray Davis after the 2001 energy crisis
California, Here They Come With California prepared for a showdown next week in the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton picked a fight yesterday with Republican Donald Trump. "This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes – because it's not hard to imagine Donald Trump leading us into a war just because somebody got under his very thin skin." Lost in the latest flap between Trump and Clinton is Bernie Sanders — but he's leading in the latest poll before next Tuesday's primary. We look at the potential impact of all this on next Tuesday's California primary and political events to come.
Sugar Daddies, Super PAC's and Winning the White House The US Supreme Court has taken the lid off political spending, so presidential candidates are lining up billionaires to finance next year's campaigns. It's not just the South Carolina and New Hampshire primaries any more. There's the "Adelson primary" and the "Koch primary" facetiously named for Republican mega-donors. Hillary Clinton is cozying up to super-rich Democrats. That's giving enormous power to a tiny group of billionaires – a Florida car dealer , a New York hedge fund operator and others . What do they want — what will they get -- for their money?
In This Year’s Mid-Term Elections, It’s Big Money versus Big Money The US Supreme Court has taken the lid off campaign spending limits. Super PAC’s can spend as much as they want to. The result is that almost $4 billion will have been spent on campaigns for the Senate and Congress by the time the voting is over. Some races aren’t even controlled by the candidates any more. The real players are big spending “outsiders, ”some of whom can contribute in secret. And it turns out that Democrats are so much a party of rich donors they’re sometimes beating Republicans at their own game. But, while everybody says they hate being inundated by TV spots, most voters learn what they know from political advertising.
The Democrats Get Down to Business Mitt Romney has taken heat for not being specific about proposals for turning the country around. Now it's the President's turn. Barack Obama has not laid out a specific second-term agenda, and Democrats have fumbled the ball when Paul Ryan asks, “Are you better off than four years ago?" With so many people still hurting, it's hard to run on the record. What can the President do to bring disappointed voters back into the fold? On Day One in Charlotte , we hear from reporters, Democrats and conservative columnist David Brooks of the New York Times. We also look at the Democrats' focus on the Latino vote, including tonight's Keynote Address and efforts at mobilization. (We also heard KCRW's Saul Gonzalez speaking with Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.) To the Point is broadcasting live from the Democratic convention all week. You can find all our coverage at KCRW.org/election2012 . DNC image: Chris Keane/Reuters
Sizing Up the Mid-term Elections Yesterday, in primary elections around the country, candidates of both Democratic and Republican establishments faced challenges from within their own parties. It's a long time until November, but political pros are looking at the results for signs of what might be on the horizon.
Come for the Clintons, Stay for Obama…Please In the closest primary race in history, Hillary Clinton almost became the first woman presidential nominee of a major American party. She and her supporters have since made it clear they're not going away, and there were signs of possible trouble if her name was not placed in nomination at the Democratic convention . The Obama campaign said today, it will . She already was scheduled to speak on Tuesday—with Bill Clinton on Wednesday—the same night as the vice presidential nominee. Is this evidence that Hillary is the choice for the second spot or is it proof that she's not? In either case, will the Clintons still dominate the show? This comes amid revelations about Clinton's primary strategy against Obama, which appears to have been adopted by John McCain . What are the prospects for party unity?
Election Post Mortem – Local and National Barack Obama made history last night after the final two primaries of the season, becoming the first African American to be a major party’s nominee for president . He now has more than the 2,118 delegates needed to win the democratic nomination. But his opponent Hillary Clinton showed no signs of backing down last night, prompting all kinds of speculation among pundits about whether she is pushing too hard for the VP slot on the Obama ticket. What is at stake for Democrats as Obama reaches out to Clinton and her eighteen million supporters? What kind of general election campaign is ahead for a young visionary senator versus a more experienced war hero?
Obama Claims Historic Victory, Clinton Holds On, McCain Takes Aim Barack Obama made history last night after the final two primaries of the season, becoming the first African American to be a major party's nominee for president. He now has more than the 2,118 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination. But his opponent Hillary Clinton showed no signs of backing down last night, prompting speculation among pundits about whether she is pushing too hard for the vice presidential slot. What is at stake for Democrats as Obama reaches out to Clinton and her eighteen million supporters? What kind of general election campaign is ahead for a young visionary senator versus more experienced war hero John McCain ?
Will the Race for President Turn into a Generational Showdown? During last night's Republican debate in Florida, the only Democrats mentioned were Bill and Hillary Clinton. But the Democratic nomination has yet to be decided. In advance of tomorrow's primary in South Carolina, Clinton and Obama have engaged in a series of nasty exchanges, in what's become the kind of campaign that Obama had hoped to avoid. In his book, The Audacity of Hope , he describes the politics of the baby-boom generation as "rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched out long ago," by which he means the 1960's. Obama, who offers a style of leadership designed for younger voters, says he's running against that status quo--Republican and Democratic. Hillary Clinton's campaign says former President Bill will stay on the campaign trail, evoking reminders of eight baby-boom years in the White House. Will post-boom voters be turned off by the politics of divide and conquer? Will boomers themselves be attracted to the Clintons' "experience?" On the Republican side, why does John McCain , the oldest candidate in the race, appeal to young people?
California's Electoral Challenge In America’s indirect presidential election system, voters in each state choose representatives to the Electoral College . All except Maine and Nebraska let the winner take all. In California, Republicans are gathering signatures for a ballot measure to change the system by allocating electoral-college votes according to which candidate wins each Congressional district.
Villaraigosa's School Bill Passes in Legislature After weeks of relentless campaigning, Antonio Villaraigosa pushed a much-compromised school reorganization plan through the Assembly and Senate. The Mayor had hoped to take over LA's public schools--like the mayors of New York and Chicago, but he's put his career on the line to get something much less than the total control he'd wanted. Even if Governor Schwarzenegger signs the reform measure, it won't go into effect until the first of next year, and delay isn't the only obstacle to his goals of improving student performance and reducing the drop-out rate. If it doesn't work out, will he still get all the blame? Can bitter enemies forget their differences and help each other achieve common goals? We look at the potential risks and possible benefits of a political gamble.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.