The Year of the Anti-Incumbent?

I've got a news flash for y'all....Americans are mad! Not because of the upcoming remake of "The Karate Kid" (though there are a lot of questions surrounding that, namely "why is a movie about a Japanese martial art taking place in China....with Will Smith's kid?"). No, Americans are mad at their government! Now, I know that's not surprising. Americans have always hated their government. But there's something different this year. Americans actually seem to be acting on that anger. If you've been watching the news, (or the Daily Show), you may have heard reporters talking about "anti-incumbent feeling" or similar ideas. What's this all about?

Well, you may not be aware of it, but we're smack dab in the middle of election season. No, there's no presidential election, but in November we will be electing all 435 members of the House of Representatives, as well as 36 senators and a couple dozen of governors. Now, even though those elections don't happen until November, the political parties are currently scrambling to decide who they want to nominate to be their candidate in November. All across the country, the parties are holding primary elections to choose their candidate. A primary election is like a playoff election. In baseball, the American League and the National League each hold a series of playoffs to determine who will be their representative in the World Series. It's the same thing in politics. The Republican Party will hold a playoff elections (primary) to determine who will be its candidate for the general election in November, and same deal for the Democrats.

Now, normally, nobody gives a flying hoot about these primaries, so usually the current person in office, or the "incumbent", gets the nomination. Not this year. We've already seen several incumbents being told by their party supporters "You're out, someone else is in." In the House, West Virginia Democrat Alan Mollohan was rejected after 27 years, and Alabama Republican Parker Griffith was thrown out after switching from the Democrats last year. Over in the Senate, Utah Republican Bob Bennett was thrown out after 18 years. And in Pennsylvania, in a huge upset, Democrat Arlen Specter (who switched from the Republicans last year) was defeated after having been in the Senate for 30 years. Again folks, keep in mind, these losses came in PRIMARY elections. That means their FELLOW PARTY MEMBERS voted their butts out! An additional primary election in Kentucky saw that state's Republicans reject the "insider" candidate for political newcomer Rand Paul (son of libertarian congressman Ron Paul, who ran for president in 2008). In addition, 13 Senators and 37 Representatives have chosen NOT to run for re-election, rather than face the wrath of the voters.

So why are Americans mad? Why are they voting out all of these incumbent candidates? You may have noticed that the voters' anger is directed at BOTH major parties, but why? Here's Mr. G's take on things: After eight years of Republican George Bush as president, during which the country faced two wars, a blundered response to Hurrican Katrina, the Patriot Act, loss of civil liberties, possible torture of prisoners at Guantanomo Bay, increases in the national debt, a struggling economy, an unpopular and expensive bailout of the banking and auto industries, and the insepid idiocy of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," Americans really did "hope" for some "change." So they voted in Democrat Barack Obama, who promised them...hope and change. Perfect! Fast forward 18 months, and what is the country facing? Two wars, a blundered response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a renewal of the Patriot Act, a continuing loss of civil liberties, prisoners still in Guantanomo Bay, a surge in the national debt, an unpopular and expensive recovery bill (TARP), and the insepid idiocy of "The Suite Life on Deck"...(really? They're on a boat now?). Add an unpopular health care bill to the picture, and you've got the situation we are now facing. Americans were promised change, and so far, the Obama Administration seems to have failed in delivering that change. Or, in the case of the health care bill, it's been change that a sizeable portion of the electorate opposes.

Hence, we now face the Year of the Anti-Incumbent, where anybody who's been in Washington, or even has the image of a career politician, is in danger of losing. And perhaps the next target...Sen. John McCain from Arizona. That's right. Less than two years after running for president, McCain is now fighting for his political life. That primary is still two months away. Will the voters anger calm any by then? Or will the full might of the Tea Party folks come out against him and send him packing? What are your thoughts and predictions are all of this? Questions? Be sure to respond!

Finally Remembered....

So I finally remembered my username and password to this blog, so hooray for that. I'm going to be doing a better job of keeping this site more up to date and interactive this summer, so be sure to keep checking back!

Summertime.....and Honduras

Hey folks! It's been quite a busy month since the last time I saw y'all! No, I'm not talking about the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Billy Mays, and Steve McNair. (Grim Reaper's been busy). No, I'm talking about the world of politics and government!!! Quick rundown on the big events of last month:
- Crisis in Honduras
- Protests in Iran
- Republican Party screw-ups
- Senate race in Minnesota is over
- Virginia Democratic primary results
Those events are the focus of the following posts in Mr. G's blog. Be sure to read on! Have questions, comments, rants? Post em!

First up, let's talk Honduras. In the early morning hours of June 28th, the military of Honduras broke into the presidential palace and arrested the president, Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya was then exiled to Costa Rica, while still wearing his pajamas. Zelaya, as well as his best bud Hugo Chavez, the socialist president of Venezuela, called this a coup d'tat, or a military takeover of the government. Pretty much the rest of the world, including the U.S., has agreed and have demanded that Zelaya be reinstated as the president of Honduras.

However, here's the kicker.....what the military did is perfectly legal! In the Honduran Constitution, the Supreme Court and the military are given the power to remove the president if he starts doing bad things, you know, like treason or trying to seize more power. And guess what Zelaya was trying to do. If you guess "get more power!", you are correct. You see, the president of Honduras is only limited to one term. Zelaya didn't care for any of that, so he was trying to arrange a referendum to allow him to seek more than one term. The Supreme Court ruled that this was unconstitutional, to which Zelaya basically responded "Screw the Supreme Court, I'm having the referendum anyway". And this is way the Supreme Court ordered his arrest and subsequent exile.

Well, apparently the rest of the world said "Screw the Supreme Court" as well, and have demanded that Zelaya be reinstated, even though the military has acted entirely within the constitution of Honduras. And on July 5th, Zelaya dramatically tried to re-enter Honduras, flying back to the capital city. Well, admist violent protests which left several dead, the Honduran military placed vehicles and other obstacles on the airport's runway, preventing the plane from landing. Now, there is a growing sense of possible civil war breaking out in the country. You see, Zelaya is popular with a lot of Hondurans, but also equally unpopular with another segment of Honduran society, who totally support his removal from power. These two sides are extremely agitated at the moment, and all it'll take is one spark to set them off. And you heard it here first: if civil war does break out in Honduras, it will not remain a civil war long. Other countries will get involved. The question we need to be concerned with is: what other countries? What countries do you think we need to be worried about in this region? Comments? Questions? Rants? Please post!

New Iranian Revolution

I don't care if you dropped off the face of the earth the last month, you probably have some knowledge of some kind of disturbance going on in the country of Iran. Here's the run-down of what's happening there.

Couple of weeks ago, Iran held a presidential election. The two major candidates were current hardline President (and everyone's favorite Holocaust denier) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and political reformer Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The election was held on June 12th, and Ahmadinejad was declared the winner, and shortly thereafter, massive protests erupted. Most of this you are probably aware of. Now, to be fair, it's entirely possible that Ahmadinejad DID win the election. He is extremely popular in the rural parts of the country, where that whole "I think Jews should be wiped off the face of the earth" campaign slogan is very popular. However, what everyone is upset about is that they're pretty sure that, if he did win, he rigged the election anyway. And considering that several parts of the country had more than 100% voter turnout, and several candidates actually LOST during the counting period, yeah, he definitely rigged the election. Hence the protests. And Iran responded to the protests as everyone thought they would....with bullets. At least 150 people have died, with numerous more arrested. One of those killed was a young woman named Neda Agha-Soltan, an aspiring musician who was shot by pro-Ahmadinejad forces. Graphic cell phone video of her death quickly shot around the world, on sites like YouTube and Twitter. Thousands of been arrested.

The question now is, what happens next? Since the crackdown, there have been fewer public protests. However, Mousavi is calling for a general boycott, similar to what Gandhi did in India in order to gain Indian independence. In addition, we are now hearing that some of the leading Islamic clerics in Iran are siding with the protesters. This is big news, because the religious leaders of Iran have always tried to deliver a united voice. With divisions now appearing in that group, Ahmadinejad is going to have a much harder time trying to hold onto power. Unfortunately, he will not give up power without more bloodshed.

Republican Woes

Wow, talk about a rough month for Republicans! Three rising stars have suddenly plummeted to the ground in absolute humiliation....let's talk about them!

First up, we have Sen. John Ensign from Nevada. Several news outlets were touting him as a possible presidential nominee in 2012. Frankly, I think that's giving him a little too much credit. Vice-President nominee? Sure. President? I have more of a chance of being confused for George Clooney than of Enisgn getting the prez. nod. Anyway, it seems that Sen. Ensign has found himself involved in a sex scandal with a member of his campaign staff. For any of you interested in running for office one day, Mr. G's helpful tip of the day is......DON'T DO THIS!!!! Nothing can kill a political career like a sex scandal.

Next up in the Republican bag of "Why Did I Do That?", we find the governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford. Unlike Ensign up there, this fella was a serious contender for the presidential nomination in 2012. Sanford comes from the old school wing of the Republican Party: small government, fiscal conservative, states' rights, etc. Sanford is what the Republican Party was before George W. Bush turned it into the "YeeHaw! Let's blow stuff up!" Party. Sanford attracted a lot of attention when he refused to accept any of the federal stimulus money that was designated for South Carolina, claiming that it would result in South Carolina having more debt in the future (which, by the way, he's probably right about). Many Republicans got giddy. "Hey, here's a guy who's actually showing some courage and standing up to Pres. Obama and the Democrats, and doesn't look like an idiot when he's doing it!" Then, shortly after the South Carolina legislature voted to accept the stimulus money anyway, Sanford disappeared. Seriously, the governor freakin disappeared! His staff claimed that he was "clearing his mind" by hiking the Appalachian Trail. Turns out, he was clearing his mind in Argentina....with his mistress. Remember Mr. G's tip about being in political office? DON'T HAVE A SEX SCANDAL!!!

Which brings us to Sarah Palin. No, there's no sex scandal involved here, so don't get excited Corey. On July 4th, while the rest of you were celebrating the birth of your country by blowing up a small part of it with homemade fireworks, Ms. Palin made a stunning announcement. Effective later this month, she would be resigning as governor of Alaska! What?!?!?! Now, this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Palin may not be the brightest Republican, but she has major grass-roots support. And she was in the best position to get the presidential nomination in 2012. Now, she has the appearance of a quitter, someone who can't take the heat. And if you can't take the heat in ALASKA, then you're probably not gonna be able to handle the spotlight of Pennsylvania Avenue.

So, who does that leave for the Republican nomination for 2012? The media is currently looking at former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney, and former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee. Dark horse candidates include libertarian Congressman Ron Paul from Texas, who attracted a lot of attention last year during the Republican primaries, and the governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal. (By the way, if Mr. G were a gambling man, he'd place his money on Jindal). But as of right now, if the Republicans don't get their stuff together, they better just forget about 2012 and start looking at the 2016 election!

New Senator from Minnesota

And the senate election from Minnesota is finally over! After eight months of recounting ballots, Minnesota has finally declared former Saturday Night Live comedian and Democratic candidate Al Franken as the victor of the election.....by a mere 312 votes! That's right, out of the entire state of Minnesota, Franken won by less votes than there are students at Stonewall Jackson! Now, this isn't news just because the recounting process was so long, or because the race was so tight, or because some person cast a write-in vote for "Lizard People". No, the reason this is important is because Franken will become the 60th Democrat in the Senate. And with 60 votes, the Democrats can stop all debate on ANY topic. In other words, if all 60 Democrats agree on something, the Republicans can do NOTHING to stop it! Big news, huge news, keep paying attention to the news!

Virginia Democratic Primary- June 9th

On June 9th, Democrats all around Virginia went to the polls to vote in the Virginia Democratic primary election. Primaries are internal party elections held in order to select that party's candidate for the general election in November. In other words, they're like playoff games held to select which teams will play in the championship game. Anywho, there were three main candidates seeking the Democratic nomination:

- Terry McAuliffe, the chief fundraiser and organizer of Bill Clinton's presidential election wins;

- Creigh Deeds, a state senator from Bath County and a bit of a moderate

- Brian Moran, former state delegate from northern Virginia

From the get-go, everyone figured that McAuliffe was gonna win this thing in a landslide. He's a fantastic fundraiser, had TOOONNNNSSSS of money, and instant name recognition. Everyone, that is, except for yours truly. You see, people don't get excited about primary elections. They've got better things to do, like watch paint dry. When election day came around, only 6% of Virginia's 5 million voters came out to vote! And most of that 6% were Deeds supporters!

So, this sets up an exciting gubernatorial election this November between moderate Democrat Creigh Deeds and moderate Republican Bob McDonnell. "Wait, moderate vs. moderate? How is that exciting?" you may be asking yourself. Simple....the Virginia gubernatorial election (along with New Jersey's) is the first election since we've had a new president. The national media and national politicians will be paying attention and viewing them as sort of opinion poll on how President Obama is doing. If Democrats do well in Virginia and Jersey, the media will view it as an approval of Obama's policies. If vice versa, then Obama will seek new changes in his policies. Keep an eye on the Virginia governor race!