Obama on The View, Sherrod, and Rangel

Jul 30, 2010

POTUS was on the View.  Uhggg… I guess that politics in 2010.  It’s nice to know he doesn’t know who Snookie is.  I am not opposed  to President Obama going on the View, I guess I am just upset I had to watch the View.

Shirley Sherrod say’s she will file a lawsuit against conservative blogger Andrew Briegtbart.  Ok.  I guess that’s an option.  Will she also file against her former employer?  Should she?

The House Ethics Committee announced 13 ethic charges against NY Congressman Charlie Rangel.  I hate to say this about my fellow St, John’s Law School Alumnus, but he needs to settle this even if it means his resignation and he should have done it last week.  He has had a wonderful 40 year career in Congress and I would hate to see it end with his removal.  The battle over the finer points of the law and whether or not he broke any rules will not be the determining factor here.  At the end of the day, a vote will occur, in Congress, weeks if not days before an election.  I find it hard to believe that many House members will view this on the substance of the legal arguments as applied to the facts of his case and not on how it will influence the election.  The GOP will make Rangel a focus of their Fall campaign regardless of what comes out in the trial.  Public opinion will determine how House members vote especially those in tough races.

At the end of the day, politics will win out even if Charlie makes his case.  He knows this and this is why a deal will be struck soon.

Does Anyone Care?

Jul 28, 2010

The Quinnipiac poll today says it all. http://www.scribd.com/doc/34984372/072810-NY-GOV-BP  People are not paying attention to the primary in NY. Anything can happen. It’s going to come down to organization even in statewide contests.
This poll reminds me of a funny incident I had a few weeks back with an elected official who was very concerned about going out in public. He asked if my national television appearances had led to people approaching me. I told him that the only people who know I have done the spots are people who know me already and I told I was on. The total benefit of 6 national and local tv appearances and 16 stints on the Strategy Room over the last three months is I got extra chocolate chips on my gelato at the shop I have been going to every week for 2 years. (they knew I was on because I told them).
I told the official that he needed to get over himself. No one knows him. No one knows AG candidates running state wide and spending millions of dollars. People outside of politics don’t care as much about it as those of us junkies who live and breathe it. I advised the pol that chances are you can go out and grab a drink without worry that the paparazzi will publish a picture of you enjoying a draft. I believe he is looking for fake mustaches as we speak.
I was in the green room at Fox with John Kasich, the GOP candidate for Governor in Ohio. I am a political junkie but I did not know him by face. I introduced myself to him, he assumed I knew who he was and did not introduce himself. After all we are at Fox News Channel and Ohio is a swing state. It lead to an awkward moment thats all I will say about that encounter. John I don’t usually give advice to GOP candidates but here’s some. Introduce yourself to everyone you meet when you’re running for office. Maybe it was a New York thing but we talked for 10 minutes and I didn’t realize he was running for Governor until I saw his spot on the air.  I was a little embarrassed.
Point is this poll is not unusual.  There are few politicians who achieve the status as being known by the public at large.  They may know their names but not much else.  The Ag’s race in NY is going to come down to organization and who can get out the vote.  

More Mid Term fun. Today’s Strategy Room

Jul 28, 2010

On today’s strategy room we talked about the mid terms and the Wiki Leaks.  Again I pressed the argument that House seats are local affairs and candidates matter in statewide elections.  Although the prevailing wind is pushing the GOP forward, they’re facing major headwinds due to poor candidate selection and in part due to the Tea Parties influence.

Some candidates around the nation are downright bizarre.  We discussed Nevada’s Sharron Angle who is clearly not ready for prime time.  Here in NY, the likely GOP nominee for the 1st Congressional District is a guy who made his millions outsourcing jobs to India.  That should play well in this economy.   
In Colorado, former GOP congressman Tom Tancredo is promising to run on a third party line.  This comes as today the Democratic candidate has inched ahead of his likely GOP opponent for the first time all year.  If Tancredo joins the race and pulls the right wing of the party away from the GOP candidate, the Democrat can’t lose.  GOP Senate hopes are fading in Colorado as there leading candidate, Ken Buck, who claims to be a Tea Party member offended some when in a movement of honesty he referred to “Tea Party Birthers” as “dumb asses.”  He could have chose his words more carefully, but he’s right.  Of course, that remark could cost him the primary as it’s now against the law of the Tea Party to ever agree with Obama even when it comes to where he was born.  Colorado looks like it will join Nevada as a state where the GOP will fail to pick up a seats due to candidate selection.  
We also talked about the Wiki Leaks story now dominating the news.  In reality there is little that we have learned from this that the American public hasn’t expected for some time.  The war in Afghanistan is not going well and the Pakistanis at best aren’t much help at worst are actively working against us.  This complicates the decisions the President must make in the coming months.  July 2011 is coming up fast.  
I would love your thoughts.

News 12 from June on State Budget…

Jul 27, 2010

With the legislature back in Albany this week I thought I would post a clip up of an appearance on News 12 Long Island’s LI Talks program from late June.  Since nothing has changed since then I think this analysis holds up….

The Week Ahead

Jul 26, 2010

This week should be fun.  In New York, Governor Paterson has called the State Legislature back to Albany for an “Extraordinary Session”  It’s possible they will finalize the budget this week and tie up some of the loose ends left from June.  One can hope.

Nationally its 100 days till the mid-term elections and there should be a flurry of activity this week.  As I stated in an earlier post, the GOP should have a successful election season as is the trend, but the Tea Party has pushed the party so far to the right and forced so many primaries across the country that it will likely reduce the amount of seats they pick up.  Even if this is a national referendum, House elections are local affairs and candidates matter.

I will be on Fox News Strategy Room Tuesday Morning at 10am talking politics.  Log on to   http://live.foxnews.com/strategy-room watch and send your questions and comments.   

My Column from today’s LIBN….

Jul 24, 2010

Hahn: Break the stalemate

by Christopher Hahn
Published: July 23, 2010
Tags: , , 
Yet another town decided to kill a promising project. The system ensures that it almost always comes down this way. The Lighthouse project is too big an idea for town government to process. We need a better way. Let’s have the state do it.
Ed Mangano should call Gov. Paterson and sell him the project’s property. Paterson and the Legislature should create the Nassau Coliseum Redevelopment Authority. Empower it with two key functions: zoning and bonding.
This authority’s board should be appointed by the governor and the Legislature with one seat from the Town of Hempstead and one from the county, and it should be chaired by the chairman of the Long Island Regional Planning Board.
The authority should determine what is economically viable and work with developers to build it. Turning this property over to the state allows the authority to bypass local zoning laws that are not equipped to deal with projects of this magnitude.
This project is too significant to the region to allow parochial interests to stop it. An authority appointed for a single term would not have to worry about getting re-elected and therefore would do the right thing. The only flaw in this plan? It would require the state to work quickly and leaders to agree on something, neither of which seems possible right now.
Town officials must be responsive to local concerns; that’s their job, even in towns as large as Hempstead. It’s good politics, but bad policy. You rarely lose an election by rejecting a project, even one as high-profile as the Lighthouse. The region loses thousands of jobs, millions in tax revenue and countless opportunities for new businesses to emerge.
This isn’t a criticism of the town. They took an overwhelming proposal and responded with something they felt their residents could stomach.
Communication among the town, the county and developers has been suspect throughout this process. Many town officials complained they had little opportunity to discuss components of the project. While the response from Hempstead is unfortunate, it wasn’t unexpected.
The area around the Coliseum is the last remaining place in Nassau for serious development.
Nassau needs accessible downtowns with housing options, entertainment, shopping and office space. Even if we ignore suggestions that this project is not viable without increased density, density equals smart growth. Greater density in a centralized area allows for the preservation of land outside that downtown. If this project fails it will be a lost opportunity and will mean tough choices in Nassau for years to come.

Mid-Terms

Jul 23, 2010

The conventional wisdom is that the GOP should come close to taking the majority in the House and pick up a few seats in the Senate in this year’s mid-term elections.  The party of the President almost always loses seats in the mid-terms.  This year will likely similar with one major difference.  The Tea Party movement has produced many candidates so outside the mainstream that it’s possible, if not likely, the rising GOP tide will not lift their boats.

Case in point Sharron Angle.  If you asked me in January what would happen to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in this years election I would have told you he would have plenty of time to enjoy Vegas come 2011.  A funny thing happened on the way to the GOP victory party.  They selected Tea Partier Sharron Angle in a contentious GOP primary.  Angle is among the most conservative Senate candidates running this year.  She is incredibly anti-government and has stated publicly on the record that Social Security should be eliminated.  Now I know she is new to politics, but the first thing I was taught about the business is that Senior Citizen’s always vote.  They also collect Social Security.  In Nevada, Seniors make up 30% of the electorate, their children and grandchildren  make up the other 70%.   She has also suggested that if conservatives don’t win this year, they should consider “2nd Amendment Remedies.”  Sharron if you’re saying what I think you are saying you’re suggesting treason.  The Constitution has a remedy for that.  This woman is so unprepared for the race that she refuses to meet with the press, local, national or otherwise.  Senator McConnell, the minority leader, announced today that he will not go to Nevada to campaign for Angle.  I am starting to like Senator Reid’s chances and I think Vegas will have to wait another 6 years for his retirement party.

All in all, the GOP is having an identity crisis when it comes to the Tea Party.  We know what the Tea Party is against, but what are they for?   If you’re a Republican candidate with an innovative idea for government, dare you campaign about it?  I mean, its a new government program that may actually require government spending.  What if you are an incumbent Congressman who secured an appropriation for a project? It’s going to be a tricky year.  I know the GOP will pick up seats, but not as many as you think.

Thoughts?

The Sherrod Charade…

Jul 21, 2010

When a ridiculous right wing blog put up a highly edited tape accusing a long time federal official of racism against white people someone in the administration should have looked for the entire tape. I just watched it. In fact it’s the exact opposite of racism and its disgusting what happened to her. Mark Twain once said “a lie can travel half way around the world before the truth can put its boots on.” This was a lie and it traveled fast… Thank God the truth caught up to it.

Shirley Sherrod grew up in a South I pray is much different then it is today. Her father was murdered by a white supremacist and his killer never brought to justice. The speech was about how she reached an epiphany that whites and blacks share the problems of poverty and how she dedicated her career to help poor southern farmers regardless of race. No one who watches the entire speech can think anything else. The farmer and his wife were all over the news praising her work and how she saved their farm.

The blogger (who I won’t even name)is a race baiter and should never be taken seriously. Secretary Vilsack made a huge mistake by not taking a deep breath before they reacted to the reports. He and the administration are doing the right thing by admitting they got it wrong and apologizing to her.

Lindsay in Jail

Jul 21, 2010

I don’t know what how you feel about Lindsay but Drinking and Driving is a serious crime. I have lost an aunt and a H.S. friend to it. She is lucky that no one got hurt by her behavior. That said, I hope Lindsay comes out of jail and makes a comeback. She should follow the Robert Downey Jr. model. Get her life together and focus on her work. Some doubt her acting chops. I don’t… Mean Girls was a pretty good movie and she was good in it. She will play 70’s porn star Linda Lovelace in an upcoming biopic that will get tons of attention (probably more now that she’s going to jail) If she hits a home run it would be great for her career. There is nothing I love more then a comeback, so I am rooting for her. What do you think?