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[Mictlantecuhtli]

So, once again, Mitt was right.

[palsch]

While I'm on stories that made me smile today, this one did for a very different reason.

Tammy Baldwin may become the first openly gay U.S. senator. And no one is talking about it.

In 1998, the year Baldwin won her House seat, the openly gay Marc Pocan ran for her Assembly seat. At the time, a Republican candidate for Assembly cut a radio ad attacking another Democrat for being endorsed by Pocan—warning that “gays from Madison” would be “knocking on the doors” of upstanding citizens. Those ads don’t get made here anymore.

Today, Pocan is running for Baldwin’s House seat and winning it easily. (The redistricted WI-02 gave 69 percent of the vote to Obama-Biden in 2008.) It will probably become the first seat to be represented by two gay members in a row. Between the election and his swearing in, Pocan will celebrate his sixth wedding anniversary. We meet up at Fair Trade Coffee, near the local Obama for America/Baldwin campaign office.

“Fourteen years ago, when I ran for office, if there was an article about me someone would write ‘dead faggot’ across my face and send it to my home,” says Pocan. “Things like that. People like Ralph Ovadal—he’s this guy who runs a church out of an old machine shed building—would come over and leaflet my home. And now it’s almost a nonissue. I was in Lafayette County the other day. You can’t buy a pair of pants in Lafayette County. There are no street lights. And I went to go speak to a group in Lafayette County, the Democrats down there, and I saw a woman with a PFLAG sticker.”

It’s more than a nonissue. There’s no upside for the Republicans who talk about it. In early September, Thompson’s political director sent out an email with video of Baldwin dancing at a gay pride parade. “Clearly, there is no one better positioned to talk ‘heartland values’ than Tammy,” he wrote. Thompson promised to demote him. It’s not clear whether or not he actually did. Just as importantly, though, the Baldwin campaign blew off the story, letting Thompson get sucked into a media shame cycle.

[Darvi]

...that article is talking about it isn't it?

[darkrider2]

Weird I just went on youtube and ended up seeing a political ad with a morgan freeman voice-over, or... at least a morgan freeman impersonator.

All I know is that if it really is morgan freeman, my entire vote goes to him.

[kaenneth]

Honestly, at 49.9-50.1% between candidates, might as well flip a coin after the primaries are done.

[SealyStar]

Who else is pissed off at Thomas Peterffy?

If you haven't heard, he's basically an asshole of a WS billionaire who has suddenly, with his own money, bought a whole bunch of ad time on various networks (and YouTube), where he's preaching that you should vote Republican, because "I groo op een a zoshahleest cohntree ware dare eez noh ohp, noh vreedohm...", and that the Democrats are socialists just because they want to tax rich assholes like him more. He deserves it.

His ads criticize the concept of "Class Warfare", even as he's implicitly declaring it.

[Kilroy the Grand]

Who else is pissed off at Thomas Peterffy?

If you haven't heard, he's basically an asshole of a WS billionaire who has suddenly, with his own money, bought a whole bunch of ad time on various networks (and YouTube), where he's preaching that you should vote Republican, because "I groo op een a zoshahleest cohntree ware dare eez noh ohp, noh vreedohm...", and that the Democrats are socialists just because they want to tax rich assholes like him more. He deserves it.

His ads criticize the concept of "Class Warfare", even as he's implicitly declaring it.

I personally believe that anyone can spend their money on whatever stupid bullshit they want. He still has freedom of speach

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Your post sounded an awful lot like class warfare, check yo' privilege

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I personally believe that anyone can spend their money on whatever stupid bullshit they want. He still has freedom of speach

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Your post sounded an awful lot like class warfare, check yo' privilege

Freedom of speech =/= Attempting to funnel money into advertising to contort people' views.

[mainiac]

It's only class warfare when we fight back... 

This guy is directly gunning for the middle class by attacking progressive taxation.  He is basing his preference for the republicans on taxes and the republicans are campaigning on a platform of outright regressive taxation where the combined tax burden for the very wealthy is lower then that for the middle class.  If it's class warfare to object to this then it is certainly class warfare to fight for it.

[kaenneth]

It takes two to tango.

[SealyStar]

It's only class warfare when we fight back... 

This guy is directly gunning for the middle class by attacking progressive taxation.  He is basing his preference for the republicans on taxes and the republicans are campaigning on a platform of outright regressive taxation where the combined tax burden for the very wealthy is lower then that for the middle class.  If it's class warfare to object to this then it is certainly class warfare to fight for it.

There is absolutely no moral superiority in having a lot of spare cash. If you had a billion dollars, you could pay $999 million in taxes and have more money in your pocket right then and there than most people save in their lifetimes. It would be one thing if the rich spent their money on valuable things, but just buying status symbols and leaving cash in the bank is completely inexcusable when we've got a $14 billion deficit and millions of people on welfare.

Whatever the middle class is, it's definitely not the group most Republicans really care for.

[mainiac]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[kaijyuu]

Ultimately I don't see why "class warfare" is a bad thing. It's like, an empty accusation.

"You're unhappy due to class discrepancies? How could you!?"

[Strife26]

Ultimately I don't see why "class warfare" is a bad thing. It's like, an empty accusation.

"You're unhappy due to class discrepancies? How could you!?"

That's a little strawmanish, while I would agree with the sentiment, I'd argue the proper Republican point is more along the lines of "everyone benefits from capitalism, class warfare hurts everyone"

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Except class warfare is only a catch phrase used to defend low tax rates for the super rich without going into any of those bothersome numbers [which would blow up the pro-rich tax system].