What would life be like if Rep. John Boehner were Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives?

Would we enjoy regular rhetorical treats like his “Hell no, you can’t!” rant before the passage of the healthcare legislation?

Such outbursts might be marginally entertaining for a little while. But after two, four, eight, even ten years, they would likely wear a bit thin.

But that’s how long Rep. Boehner could be Speaker. That’s how long the Republicans could hold the majority in the House of Representatives if Republican state legislators control the redistricting process next year.

The Speaker decides which bills even come up for a vote. That means Speaker John Boehner could single-handedly block every progressive priority for the next ten years.

Speaker Boehner could derail the Democratic vision for the future and undo all the progress we've made -- simply by saying "No."

Speaker Boehner could gut the health care reform law by saying "No" to an annual budget that funds it.

Speaker Boehner could destabilize Medicare by saying "No" to the doc-fix that makes Medicare reimbursements affordable for doctors.

Speaker Boehner could let BP off the hook for the oil spill by saying "No" to removing oil spill liability caps.

Other Republican leaders are already bragging about their plan to shut down the government every time they feel like throwing an ideological temper-tantrum.

The worst part is, Speaker Boehner would be unassailable. Propped up by an artificial Republican majority guaranteed through gerrymandering, America would have to depend on other Republican members of Congress to hold him accountable.

These same Republicans defended George W. Bush to the bitter end. They let the Republican congressman who apologized to BP stay next in line to head the Energy Committee. Would they really hold Speaker John Boehner accountable?

Hell no, they won't!

This is why state legislative races are incredibly important this year. If Democratic state legislators don’t hold majorities in their chambers after the 2010 elections, they will have no seat at the table in 2011 when new congressional district lines are drawn. Democrats won’t get to draw a single outline of a single district, while Republicans state legislators will crack and pack and use every other trick in the book to gerrymander the most possible safe Republican congressional districts.

The greater the number of safe Republican districts, the greater the likelihood that Republicans will attain—and maintain—a majority in the U.S. House. A Republican majority would likely give Rep. Boehner the Speaker’s gavel.

And we already have a pretty good idea of how that would turn out.

UPDATE: (2:35PM) Boehner himself just announced that this really is the GOP's plan if they regain power. Check out these clips from a speech he just gave to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

An era in American politics draws to a close today. It’s widely known that West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd is both the longest-serving member of Congress and the longest-serving United States Senator.

But many people may not be aware that Sen. Byrd was the only West Virginian to be elected to both houses of the state legislature as well as both houses of Congress. His political career began in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Today’s Washington Post described his first run for office:

In 1946, he ran for the West Virginia House of Delegates. He met nearly every voter in the district while campaigning alone throughout the little coal-mining towns and backwoods hollows. When he made public appearances, he laid out his positions on the issues and then took out his fiddle.

He read music and could play classical pieces, but on the campaign trail he played the mountain tunes his neighbors knew and loved, the same songs he had played for years at coal camp square dances and Saturday night frolics.

Because he didn't know how to drive at the time, he'd have a miner ferry him around the district, and he'd invite the men to come out and sit in the car with him while he sawed away at "Ida Red," "Old Joe Clark," "Bile Them Cabbage Down" and other Appalachian tunes.

"The back seat of an automobile is a rather odd place to play a violin, considering the bowing room that is needed, but apparently Byrd could pull it off," Sherrill wrote in the 1971 New York Times article.

Voters elected the 28-year-old grocer to the state House with an overwhelming majority. In 1950, he won a state Senate seat by a similar margin.

"I worked hard," he wrote in his memoir. "I never spent time at after-hours joints around Charleston, as was the habit of some members of the legislature."

Sen. Byrd carried that work ethic with him throughout his political career. This giant of American politics fought tirelessly for the benefit of his home state. He will be missed.

At this week’s Virginia State Crime Commission work group meeting, attendees heard a harrowing story.

Del. Ward Armstrong recalls an incident in which a woman going through a divorce had obtained a protective order against her husband, who nevertheless walked into her workplace and shot her to death.

"If she'd had a little warning, maybe she could've gotten out the back door," said Armstrong, D-Henry County.

The incident prompted him to propose legislation that would allow judges to require Virginians who are served protective orders to wear GPS tracking devices. Such devices can be set up to alert police, the person who requested the order, or both if the abuser gets too close to the victim.

After all, while protective orders are important and useful tools for victims of domestic violence, they’re just pieces of paper; they won’t stop a fist, a knife, or a bullet. Using technology to improve protective orders’ effectiveness is a smart solution to a problem facing over a million Americans every year.

But Minority Leader Armstrong isn’t the only Democrat leading the way in the fight against domestic violence.

In Connecticut, Democratic Speaker of the House Christopher Donovan created a task force last year to identify trends relating to domestic violence matters and developing a series of legislative recommendations. In May, the biggest group of domestic violence reforms in 25 years passed the Democratically-controlled state legislature. These reforms include:

• The creation of a pilot program for electronic monitoring for the highest risk domestic violence offenders;
• Enhancement of information sharing in family violence cases among appropriate state agencies;
• Authorization for prosecutors to consider out-of-state offenses for persistent family violence offenders;
• The creation of three additional domestic violence court dockets.

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo sponsored a bill, the final version of which was passed unanimously by the state House and Senate in April, known as Amanda’s Law.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, sponsored the bill in response to the Sept. 11 shooting death of state worker Amanda Ross in Lexington. Former state Rep. Steve Nunn was charged with her murder and has pleaded not guilty. Ross sought court protection from Nunn before she was gunned down.

Amanda’s Law would allow judges to order electronic monitoring in domestic-violence cases if certain violations of protective orders occur, such as assault, burglary or kidnapping.

Oklahoma Democrats took on domestic violence issues in their legislative session, as well. Minority Floor Leader Mike Brown and Senator Jim Wilson authored legislation which would stop the shameful practice of insurance companies in Oklahoma of denying coverage, refusing to renew, or canceling a person’s health benefit plan on the basis of that person’s status as a victim of domestic abuse. The measure passed on the last day of the legislative session, and once it is signed by the Governor, domestic violence will no longer be a “preexisting condition” in Oklahoma.

Efforts to address and prevent domestic violence are ongoing across the country. Democratic state legislators are tackling this issue head-on, and we can look forward to even more progress toward domestic abuse prevention and victim protection in legislative sessions to come.

Republican state legislators in Texas were busy last week.

State Rep. Todd Smith pushed legislation that would suppress voting.

State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown found herself under an ethics cloud for accepting gifts in an apparent conflict of interest with her position on the House Transportation Committee.

And State Rep. Wayne Christian was assembling a new platform for the Texas GOP.

The Texas Republican Party held their annual convention last week, and Rep. Christian chaired the Platform Committee, which came up with a 25-page manifesto proclaiming the state party’s allegiance to “freedom and opportunity,” among other things.

Some select items from the 2010 Texas Republican Party Platform (all emphases are added):

We support legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for such.

We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.

We support an immediate and orderly transition to a system of private pensions based on the concept of individual retirement accounts, and gradually phasing out the Social Security tax.

We urge the Congress to defund, repeal, and reject the national healthcare takeover, also known as “ObamaCare” or any similar legislation.

Education falls under the 10th Amendment to our United States Constitution. Given this, the Department of Education (DOE) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have no jurisdiction and must be repealed.

We pledge our influence toward a return to the original intent of the First Amendment and toward dispelling the myth of separation of church and state.

We deplore all discrimination. We also deplore forced sensitivity training and urge repeal of any mandate requiring it. We urge immediate repeal of the Hate Crimes Law.

We call on the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of these United States to clarify Section 1 of the 14th amendment to limit citizenship by birth to those born to a citizen of the United States: with no exceptions.

We call Congress and the President to use their constitutional powers to restrain activist judges. We urge Congress to adopt the Judicial Conduct Act of 2005 and remove judges who abuse their authority. Further, we urge Congress to withhold Supreme Court jurisdiction in cases involving abortion, religious freedom, and the Bill of Rights.

And these are only a few of the gems of the Texas GOP platform.

One plank in particular has a special significance in Texas statehouse elections this fall. Basically, it’s an enforcement clause that reads, in part:

The Republican State Chairman and county chairs are responsible for implementing this platform by requiring party candidates to indicate their positions on platform planks before their acceptance on the ticket … We support the withholding of campaign contributions to organizations or campaigns … who do not support the principles of the 2010 Texas State Republican Party Platform.

So all Republicans for whom Texans vote this November support privatizing Social Security, depriving the Supreme Court of much of its jurisdiction, repealing hate crimes legislation, generally altering the U.S. Constitution to suit their fancy… and that’s just for starters.

State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown is going to have a tough time with the conflict of interest plank.

[h/t Political Correction]

Whenever there are big-ticket contests in a state, some extremely interesting down-ballot happenings can go under the radar. Such was the case three weeks ago when millionaire Republican State Sen. Charles Bishop of Alabama lost the GOP primary to take on State House Majority Leader Ken Guin, a member of the DLCC Board of Directors.

Bishop, who’s compiled a lengthy history of violent altercations with fellow legislators, earned infamy for this 2007 incident in which he punched Democratic State Sen. Lowell Barron on the Senate Floor:

One of the legislators in the video restraining Bishop from landing any further punches is none other than then-Democratic Sen. Parker Griffith. Griffith, of course, was later elected to Congress, switched parties, and was then humiliated in the GOP primary three weeks ago (losing the same night as Bishop).

Good riddance to them both.

Bishop had initially announced his retirement this cycle before making a surprise, last-minute entry as a candidate against State Rep. Guin (whom Bishop was apparently also not fond of). Based on the primary result - in which Bishop was dispatched by an underfunded political newcomer - Bishop obviously should have stuck with his retirement plans.

Eleven days ago, it seemed possible that Hawaiian civil unions legislation would pass its final hurdle in becoming law as early as today.

But instead of signing the historic civil unions bill into law, Governor Linda Lingle has dodged her deadline by giving herself an extension.

Since its approval by state lawmakers in April, this legislation, which would enable both same-sex and heterosexual couples to receive the same protections under law as married couples, has languished on Governor Lingle’s desk. Today the governor included the legislation on a list of bills she may veto.

Now she has until July 6 to take action—or not—on the bills on this list, including the civil unions bill. If she has not vetoed the measure by that date, it will become law without her signature.

Declining to veto the bill will mark the fulfillment of a promise Lingle made in her first campaign for governor in 2002.

It was during a live debate broadcast on PBS Hawaii that Lingle was asked by moderator Linda Taira about her position on the arrangements for gay couples with rights such as family and bereavement leaves, probate rights and hospital visitation.

"On the issue of domestic partnerships, I have stated that if the Legislature (should) pass legislation granting certain rights I would not veto that legislation," Lingle said [emphasis added].

It seems odd to ask—to hope—that Governor Lingle take no action on this historic civil rights legislation. But all signals given by the governor since the bill’s passage by the Hawaii state legislature indicate that she will not sign the measure into law.

Inaction can be a form of action. The governor’s inaction on this civil unions bill will lead to same-sex couples in Hawaii receiving the same rights and protections as married couples. If she won’t act to affix her signature to the bill, her inaction through July 6 is most welcome.

Join the call for equal rights in Hawaii- Sign the petition today!

Texas Republican State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown drives a very nice car.

But she doesn’t own the 2010 Mercedes Benz sedan (valued at about $55,000) she drives. The car was actually purchased by a highway contractor that does millions of dollars of business with the state every year. Durable Enterprises Equipment, a company owned by Jeffrey Bryan, owns the Mercedes. In fact, Rep. Harper-Brown has driven cars owned by Durable Enterprises Equipment since her election to the state House in 2002.

In addition to Durable Enterprises Equipment, Jeffrey Bryan owns Durable Specialties and Paradigm Traffic Systems. According to the Texas comptroller’s office, these companies have done $12 million in work (such as installing and managing highway cameras) for the Texas Department of Transportation over the last three years.

Republican Rep. Harper-Brown sits on the House Transportation Committee. According to Dallas/Fort Worth’s WFAA:

After she amended the law in 2003 to allow cities to put in red-light cameras, Paradigm got into that business, too, although it says with little success.

Neither Bryan nor Harper-Brown would comment to WFAA about the car arrangement or their relationship regarding legislation.

Rep. Harper-Brown’s husband, William Brown, seemed pleased to comment on the matter.

Brown told WFAA by phone that Durable has been his accounting client since the 1980s, from which he arranged to accept vehicles as compensation instead of cash.

“I choose to allow my wife to drive one of the cars that's mine, just like I buy her supper,” Brown said.

Brown claims he pays taxes on the cars, but refused to turn over any records as proof.

Rep. Harper-Brown’s accountant husband further insists:

“She does not control any part of my business," he said. "It's my business; it's my income.”

But Rep. Harper-Brown clearly didn’t always feel that the fact that Durable was her husband’s client absolved her of any conflict-of-interest issues.

Prior to her election to the Texas House, Harper-Brown sat on the Irving city council. During her five years in that post, she abstained from votes on Paradigm bids, citing a conflict of interest.

Funny how that conflict seemed to disappear when this Republican was elected to higher office and appointed to the influential House Transportation Committee.

And not only did that conflict disappear, but she also suddenly decided that driving cars owned by that same contractor was ethically acceptable.

Rep. Harper-Brown is hoping to be elected to her fifth term in the Texas House this fall. What vehicle do you suppose she drives to her campaign events?

An AP-GfK poll conducted earlier this month indicates that, by a 46 percent to 39 percent margin, Americans want Democrats to win control of Congress this fall.

And when it comes to the financial concerns that weigh foremost on American minds -- and will likely continue to do so for years to come-- people trust Democrats more than Republicans to guide the economy.

But if Americans want Democrats to continue to steer our economic recovery, they need to peel back a layer of this fall’s elections and focus on not congressional races, but on the state-level legislative races taking place across the country.

Republicans seem to get it. GOP pollster David Hill put it well in today’s edition of The Hill:

While many look at control of Congress as the biggest story of the 2010 elections, it’s likely that state legislative races across the nation … will end up having more impact on party and other political fortunes in the long run.

The parties that control the legislatures after the 2010 elections and census will be masters of the redistricting process in many states, deciding which party is advantaged when legislative and congressional lines are redrawn for the next decade.

Simply put, a Republican-controlled state House, Assembly, or Senate chamber is going to draw congressional district lines designed to favor the election of Republicans to the U.S. Congress.

The more Republicans who win the numerous state legislative races this fall, the more state legislative chambers they’ll control.

The more state chambers Republicans control after the 2010 elections, the more congressional districts they get to draw in 2011.

The more congressional districts Republican-controlled chambers draw in 2011, the more Republicans get elected to Congress in 2012.

And 2014.

And 2016.

And so on, until the 2020 Census gives state legislatures the opportunity to draw those lines all over again.

Americans hope congressional Democrats will have led us out of this economic crisis by then. But if the new district lines lead to a Republican-run show in Congress, there’s no telling where we might be in ten years.

So while this fall’s congressional elections are getting top billing on the national stage, they’re certainly not the only show in town.

And in terms of long-term impact, congressional elections are being upstaged by state races everywhere.

Despite the many crucial concerns facing Texans, Texas House Republicans are indicating that addressing supposed “voter fraud” could be as important to them in the 2011 legislative session as addressing issues like a multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall, unemployment, and immigration, just to name a few.

Republican State Rep. Todd Smith, Chair of the House Elections Committee, met yesterday to hear testimony on whether any new evidence could be found to support a requirement that Texas voters present a photo ID before casting a ballot.

Such legislation, which is opposed by many Democrats, failed in Texas’ last legislative session:

The issue nearly derailed the 81st session after House Democrats “chubbed” — a tactic in which members engage in pointless banter over minor bills — to prevent a vote on the voter ID bill. They argue voter ID would only disenfranchise students, the elderly and minorities.

(Republican antics in that fight are another story altogether.)

In addition to potential voter disenfranchisement, a key issue with voter ID legislation is whether voter fraud is a real problem.

Consider the following statistics.

Since 2002, more than 20 million ballots have been cast in November general elections in Texas.

Since 2002, 267 requests to investigate voter fraud have been referred to the Texas Attorney General’s office.

That’s less than 0.0014 percent (rounding up) of all votes cast.

Of those 267 requests to investigate voter fraud, only 35 warranted investigation that resulted in prosecution.

That’s 13 percent of that 0.0014 percent… Which is 0.0002 percent of all votes cast in November general elections over the past eight years.

Whether you prefer the hard numbers or the itty-bitty percentages, the point is, voter fraud in Texas doesn’t seem to be a serious problem.

And in the face of massive budget shortfalls and high unemployment, it certainly doesn’t seem to be an issue that deserves the time and resources of the Texas legislature.

Remember our friend State Sen. Jake Knotts in South Carolina?

He’s not having a great day.

It seems a few South Carolina Republicans have finally taken the appropriate umbrage at Sen. Knotts’ racially charged comments regarding fellow Republican Nikki Haley’s background. Sen. Knotts’ description of Haley, whose parents were Sikh immigrants from India, as a “raghead” compelled Lexington County Republican Committee to pass a resolution last night to censure him. (Knotts and Haley both live in Lexington County.)

Additionally, the chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party, the largest county party in the state, said yesterday that State Sen. Knotts should be expelled from the state party.

From CNN’s Political Ticker:

Greenville County GOP chairman Patrick Haddon, who also serves as First Vice Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, said he will motion for Knotts' expulsion at the next meeting of the state party's executive committee.

"I cannot sit idly by and watch our Party be torn apart by Senator Jake Knotts' bigotry," Haddon said in a statement. "This is the harshest penalty the Party can impose, and it is more than justified in this situation."

And on top of that, U.S. Representative Joe “You Lie!” Wilson, whose district represents all of Knotts’ home county and who has even appeared in a campaign ad for the State Senator, has issued the following statement:

"As a member of Congress representing the Second District of South Carolina, I was hurt and disgusted to hear Senator Jake Knotts direct such offensive slurs at a community which is very close to me.

"Senator Knotts did not reflect the values of our citizens in his language or in the tone of his remarks and certainly did not reflect mine. Having served as the chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, I know first hand how hurtful his remarks personally were to so many of our fellow citizens.

"I believe Senator Knotts still owes an apology to the people at which the slurs were directed. Our Party must focus on issues like creating jobs and cutting taxes; and providing a positive vision for the future of our state and country."

All of this adds up to a pretty rough Friday for Senator Knotts. Maybe he’ll have a nicer weekend… but he probably shouldn’t count on it.

Eleven days – that’s how long we have to make our voices heard on a crucial piece of equal rights legislation. Republican Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii has announced that she’ll decide whether to sign or veto her state’s new civil unions bill when she returns from an overseas trip.

Gov. Linda Lingle will decide whether to sign or veto a contentious proposal to allow same-gender couples to form civl [sic] unions after returning from a two-week-long working trip to China and Japan, she said yesterday. (…)

Speaking at a state Capitol news conference, Lingle said she likely will take until June 21, the deadline by which she must tell the Legislature which bills she may veto. She then has until July 6 to veto those measures if that is the action she chooses.

Measures not on the June 21 list would become law, either with or without her signature.

Lingle's trip to Asia begins Friday and she is due to return June 19.

Given the impact her decision will have on many of her state’s residents, it’s unfortunate that Governor Lingle will not also be stopping in Australia or New Zealand, both of which provide for same-sex civil unions (nationwide in New Zealand, but only in certain Australian political subdivisions). If she did, she would realize that human society has not, in fact, collapsed in either country – rather it has been strengthened.

But so long as the Governor plans on waiting until after this trip to make her decision, we plan to have one last batch of petitions waiting for her when she returns.

If you haven’t already, please click here to add your voice.

If Governor Lingle signs the Hawaii civil unions bill, she will only be keeping a promise she made during her 2002 campaign for governor:

It was during a live debate broadcast on PBS Hawaii that Lingle was asked by moderator Linda Taira about her position on the arrangements for gay couples with rights such as family and bereavement leaves, probate rights and hospital visitation.

"On the issue of domestic partnerships, I have stated that if the Legislature (should) pass legislation granting certain rights I would not veto that legislation," Lingle said.

Whether sincere or not, Lingle probably never expected that civil unions would come to occupy the “middle ground” of American politics as quickly as they did. 2002 was before Massachusetts became the first civil marriage equality state, and it was just two years after progressive Vermont approved civil unions because of a court ruling that was extremely controversial at the time. In that context, Lingle coming out in favor of civil unions in 2002 – as a Republican – put her at the vanguard of the equal rights movement nationwide.

Was it nothing more than shameless pandering – a ruse to burnish her “moderate” credentials in a heavily Democratic state? Or was it something else?

One June 21st, Hawaiians will find out once and for all.

Help us make sure she does the right thing.

Big-ticket primary races dominated the media coverage this week, but there were several under-the-radar results we at the DLCC found interesting.

• Dennis Nolan Defeated: Wouldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Which is to say, if Republican State Senator Dennis Nolan of Nevada hadn’t been caught on tape telling a witness in a sexual assault case that it would be “very financially beneficial” to change her story, and if he hadn’t then posted intimate details about the victim’s sexual history on his campaign website, he might still be the Republican nominee for Nevada SD-09. We still think he should resign.
  
  

• Board Member Karen Bass Nominated for Congress: DLCC Board Member and California Assembly Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass was nominated to succeed Diane Watson in the 33rd Congressional District last night. We wish her the best of luck this November.
  
  

• Veto-Proof Majority Possible in Nevada?: With only 21 members in the Nevada Senate, the 12-member Democratic caucus is in a unique position. They’re only two seats away from losing control of the chamber, but they’re also just two seats away from a veto-proof 2/3 majority. Earlier in the cycle, the former seemed possble, but now (especially with Nolan’s loss above) prognosticators are growing more bullish about the latter. And with Democrats already commanding a 2/3 majority in the State Assembly, the Las Vegas Sun is suggesting that the targeted State Senate races are even more important than this year’s gubernatorial election.
  
  

• Parties Split California Special Elections: A traditionally-Democratic Assembly seat (AD-43) and a traditionally-Republican Senate seat (SD-37) were both filled in special elections last night. Each party’s winning candidate pulled a comfortable 58% of the vote. Congratulations to Assemblyperson-Elect Mike Gatto, who won Assembly District 43 for the Democrats.

Virginia’s 26th Delegate District is an inhospitable place for Democrats. Based in Rockingham County and Harrisonburg, it typically gives statewide Republican candidates between 60%-70% of its votes. But local issues and candidate recruiting have made next week’s special election here a potential sleeper race for Democratic candidate Kai Degner.

First, Degner has proven to be a formidable candidate. He has high name-recognition as the popular Mayor of Harrisonburg, the district’s population anchor, and he’s been an effective fundraiser – outraising Republican nominee Tony Wilt $108,000 to $96,000. He'll have enough resources to run a solid campaign and an effective Get Out the Vote operation in the compressed special election time-frame.

Meanwhile, Republican Tony Wilt is stumbling to the finish line in this race. He supports a controversial method of retrieving natural gas from shale deposits in the area, known as hydrofracking. According to the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record, “Hydrofracking involves high water pressure and a mixture of chemicals to break the rock apart,” releasing natural gas.

Local landowners are concerned that the process would contaminate the underground aquifers they rely on for water, and there are additional concerns that companies could use eminent domain to force residents to give up their property for infrastructure like pipelines. Despite these concerns, Wilt failed to disclose his own family’s financial interest in shale energy development before making it a campaign issue, leaving many to question where his loyalties really lie.

Degner still has a tough hill to climb in this race, but with his advantages as a candidate, strong engagement by Democratic organizations in Virginia, and the unique weaknesses Tony Wilt brings to this campaign, no one should be shocked if Kai Degner pulls off the upset this Tuesday - June 15th.

Late Friday afternoon, Politico’s Ken Vogel published an interesting assessment of the upcoming fight over redistricting.

“GOP lags in early redistricting race” is a broad look at the players in this year’s state-level elections and next year’s map-drawing, as well as at how those organizations fit together.

If you don’t have the time to peruse the three-page article at the moment (or even if you do), I thought you might enjoy some selected highlights.

Outmaneuvered by the GOP during the last round of redistricting a decade ago, Democrats appear to have an early advantage as the two parties gear up again for the expensive and high-stakes battle over redrawing state legislative and congressional districts.
“I do believe that the Democrats are much better organized at this stage,” said Ben Ginsberg, a top Republican election lawyer.
...
The GOP’s redistricting gains were wiped out by the electoral tidal waves that swept Democrats to power in Congress and the White House in 2006 and 2008. But Michael Sargeant, executive director of a top Democratic redistricting-related group called the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said Democrats are “definitely playing catch up to Republicans as far as the maps — both at the state legislative and at the congressional level. But we’re more prepared than we were last cycle.”
...
[[Ed]] Gillespie has said he hopes to double the budget of the Republican State Leadership Committee, a 527 group formed in 2002 to help elect Republican attorneys general, lieutenant governors, secretaries of state and state lawmakers that he took over this year. With Gillespie at the helm, it absorbed the American Majority Project, and launched a reapportionment initiative called REDistricting MAjority Project or REDMAP, which is intended to target and win state legislative races that can tip the balance of legislatures that craft and vote on redistricting plans.
...
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, a 527 run by Sargeant that was established in 1994 to help the party win state legislative seats, will target key races in an effort to protect or capture Democratic legislative majorities in states with pivotal redistricting battles.

I do recommend you read the entire article, though—it’s certainly worth the time.

At risk of being lost as a link on page two, though, is an interesting memo distributed last month to state Republican Party chairs nationwide.

The memo is written by GOP redistricting expert Dr. Thomas Hofeller and does a solid job of explaining why the state-level 2010 elections are vital and articulating what the stakes are in each state (with pictures!).

A money quote (replace “GOP” with “Democrats,” and the argument remains the same):

Why are these state-level contests so important to the GOP? It is because it is in the states where the results of the 2010 census will be used to redraw the boundaries of congressional districts which will be used in the 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 elections. The outcome of this battle will determine the electoral playing field for the next decade.

It’s no surprise that the GOP is as acutely aware as we are of the stakes in this year’s state-level elections. The DLCC has labored tirelessly since the harsh redistricting of 2001 and has made solid gains in statehouses across the country. But we are by no means secure as we face the 2011 redistricting. One bad cycle can destroy everything we’ve accomplished, and we never forget that as we work to support and build infrastructure for local campaigns. The GOP may be “lagging” in this redistricting race, but they’re nowhere close to losing, and we have a long way to go.

You might remember Republican State Sen. Dennis Nolan of Nevada from last week, when he was caught on tape allegedly offering to bribe the witness in a rape trial to change her story. (You can listen to the audio here.)

Well, this story just got much, much uglier. Sen. Nolan has now posted an open letter on his campaign website claiming he feels “compelled to believe the sex was consensual” because the 16-year-old victim had been “very sexually active” prior to the rape, and because (“as a side note,” he says) 42% of Nevada teenagers have been sexually active before age 16.

Just to reiterate, this is a man whose job it is to write laws, including the laws used to prosecute sexual assault. This man has no business serving in any public office – he needs to resign, immediately.

This is the sort of document that eventually gets scrubbed from a campaign website, so we’ll quote from the screen-shots we took:

As a side note in Nevada, approximately 42% of all teens ages 12-16, admit to having had intercourse, about 25% of them admit to having multiple partners.(Council of Chief of State Schools Officers), Is it right? NO! Is it right for adults to engage in sex with minors? NO! But sadly, it is happening, and that’s the fact.

Knowing this young lady, reading the case and observing her behavior before and after the incident, I am compelled to believe the sex was consensual. She was very sexually active and, according to court records, had an abortion just two weeks prior to the alleged sexual assault (this is now public record). Was it right? NO!

Nolan also lashes out against the victim’s father, accusing him of being a pedophile:

My call to the “alleged” victim’s sister, Mr. Lawes' ex-wife, who is an acquaintance, was made only after I received information that both young women were abused as children by their father and that he may be continuing to “control them” as abusers often do. The possibility that the very person publicly accusing me of “defending a SEX OFFENDER, being FRIENDS with a RAPIST “ may himself have been or may be an abuser, is maddening.

And as for the answering machine message – the one where he tells a witness from the case that it would be “very financially beneficial" to change her story? Nolan has an explanation for that too:

I made two calls to the woman pleading with her to talk to me and offering to assist in getting the help she needed to stand up to her father and regain custody of her children. They went unanswered, I left a third message implying “someone” could compensate her if she would tell the truth “about what was going on”. The Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau Legal Division issued a written legal opinion which stated clearly, this did not constitute “attempted bribery”! These allegations are just plain lies!

Clearly. Nolan’s logic is that he offered someone else’s money, therefore it couldn’t have been a bribe. Just like this girl could not have been raped because some other teenage girls are sexually active. And just like being sexually active even once means that all future sexual activity is consensual.

This kind of disgusting rhetoric – especially coming from an elected official – is exactly why sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes in the country. Victims have to worry about whether they’ll be believed at all and whether their reputations will be dragged through the mud by people like Dennis Nolan.

We already thought Nolan had gone too far, but now we’re convinced. He needs to resign - click here to add your name to our petition.

CHECK THE FACTS – read Sen. Nolan’s letter for yourself:

Nolan Letter page 1 – 06-04-2010
Nolan Letter page 2 – 06-04-2010

Republican drama in South Carolina isn’t exactly in short supply. Its latest manifestation comes in the form of Republican State Sen. Jake Knotts’ racially charged statement about President Barack Obama and fellow Republican State Rep. Nikki Haley (of recent alleged extramarital affair infamy).

From Columbia, SC’s WLTX:

Lexington County State Senator Jake Knotts is in a bit of hot water following his controversial remarks on Nikki Haley and President Barack Obama.

Knotts appeared on a Columbia internet talk show and used a racial slur to describe both Haley and Obama.

The program is called "Pub Politics" and on it Knotts said "We already got one raghead in the White House, We don't need a raghead in the Governor's Mansion."

Rep. Haley is an Indian-American and faces a hotly contested gubernatorial primary. Sen. Knotts made the comment after discussing her background.

For what it’s worth, Sen. Knotts has since apologized:

"I still believe Ms. Haley is pretending to be someone she is not, much as Obama did, but I do apologize to both for an unintended slur."

The debate still rages in America over when life begins. But what is beyond debate is that an infant born into this world is indisputably a living, breathing, feeling human being.

And Republicans in Tennessee just voted to let some of them die.

Since 2004, Tennessee’s Office of Children's Care Coordination has given millions of dollars in grants across the state in an effort to teach expectant parents how to prevent premature births and have otherwise healthy newborns, all as part of a broader effort to drive down third-world-level infant mortality rates in some parts of Tennessee.

The program has been so successful that its administrator said outright that canceling funding for the program would cause Tennessee babies to die.

Naturally, a State Senate committee's Republicans voted unanimously to do just that:

The committee voted 7-4, on straight party lines Thursday night to reject an effort by Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis and others to restore the state budget funding for the governor's Office of Children's Care Coordination and the grants it administers across Tennessee.

Republicans hold a 19-14 Senate majority, and the budget alternative they first unveiled May 11 has called for cutting the program's $4.6 million budget in half for the fiscal year that starts July 1, then eliminating it entirely the following year.

But Bob Duncan, director of both the Office of Children's Care Coordination and the Cover Kids health insurance program, said that effectively eliminates the program and its grants for local services in Shelby County and across Tennessee on Dec. 31. Asked what would happen if that occurs, he said, "You will see an increase in babies dying." [emphasis added]

Newspapers across Tennessee blasted this vote, and rightly so. The Nashville Tennessean called the Republican budget plan that ended funding for the program “heartbreaking hypocrisy.” And that, in a nutshell, is why this vote and this budget are so dangerous for Tennessee Republicans. It exposes their years of masquerading as “pro-life” legislators for what it really was: lies.

"If you are going to have a baby, let's give that baby a fighting chance," said Bob Duncan, head of the Governor's Office of Children's Care Coordination, which is on the chopping block. "This is real stuff. This is lives that are being saved and babies getting a chance to live. It just breaks my heart to know what is going to happen." If the Senate's budget passes, this office will close.

What is going to happen? Newborns are going to die. It's that simple. Politicians cannot hide the chilling statistics: In 2006, nine out of every 1,000 babies born in Nashville died before their first birthday. Today, thanks to this program that rate is down to six out of 1,000 births.

Democrats only need to pick up three seats to win back control the State Senate and two seats for control of the State House. That’s all it would take to make sure a budget like this never sees the light of day.

If the full Republican Senate approves this budget, they’ll take life issues off the table for their campaigns. From then on, if they even think about using abortion to smear their opponents, Democrats will have a powerful weapon to hit back with: the Republicans' own indifference to human life.

Hypocrisy is always a tougher sell than fear. Win or lose, Tennessee Republicans are going to remember that after November.

Republican State Rep. Denny Hoskins of Missouri has had a bad few months. He ran for office touting his experience as a Certified Public Accountant, but once he got to the legislature, it turned out that he had more than 20 grand in late, unpaid taxes. The stress has clearly gotten to Denny, as he’s now getting into fights on the House Floor:

[Democratic Rep. Michael] Frame on Friday said Hoskins "came charging over to the Democrats' side of the House, saying, 'You got a problem? Let's solve it right now.'"

Rep. Trent Skaggs, D-Kansas City, interrupted Frame's story, saying Hoskins used "curse words" and he stepped between to keep Hoskins away from Frame.

Rep. John Burnett, D-Kansas City, said he joined Skaggs in getting between Hoskins and Frame.

"(Hoskins) physically challenged Representative Frame, so I jumped up," Burnett said, adding, "Tempers get short at the end of the session. I've been here eight years. I've seen three or four little dustups like that."

All that, apparently, was because Rep. Frame had called one of Hoskins’ bills “the best resolution in the universe,” a sort of veiled reference to an ethics bill debated earlier. But whatever the meaning, it’s still unclear why Hoskins blew his fuse in response.

Regardless, if residents of the Warrensburg-based 121st Missouri House district want a representative who isn’t a complete embarrassment, they have an alternative in Courtney Cole, who’s running a very strong race as Hoskins’ Democratic challenger.

So strong, in fact, that the non-partisan Missouri Political News ranks this race as one of the Democrats' best pickup opportunities in the State House. We expect it to be hard-fought all the way to November.