Newsflash:
The End of the Perpetual War President Obama’s speech on Thursday was the most important statement on counterterrorism policy since the 2001 attacks, a momentous turning point in post-9/11 America.For the first time, a president stated clearly and unequivocally that the state of perpetual warfare that began nearly 12 years ago is unsustainable for a democracy and must come to an end in the not-too-distant future.       Read the Full Story
Banks’ Lobbyists Help in Drafting Financial Bills WASHINGTON — Bank lobbyists are not leaving it to lawmakers to draft legislation that softens financial regulations. Instead, the lobbyists are helping to write it themselves. Read the Full Story
Elizabeth Warren: Trade talks could weaken bank oversight Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised concerns Tuesday that negotiations over new trade agreements could be used as a backdoor way to water down financial regulations. Read the Full Story
Exclusive: Why I Spoke Out at Obama's Foreign Policy Speech On why Obama's policies themselves, not those who speak out against them, are rude Having worked for years on the issues of drones and Guantanamo, I was delighted to get a pass (the source will remain anonymous) to attend President Obama’s speech at the National Defense University. Read the Full Story
Pivoting From a War Footing, Obama Acts to Curtail Drones WASHINGTON — Nearly a dozen years after the hijackings that transformed America, President Obama said Thursday that it was time to narrow the scope of the grinding battle against terrorists and begin the transition to a day when the country will no longer be on a war footing.       Read the Full Story
New Terror Strategy Shifts C.I.A. Focus Back to Spying WASHINGTON — For more than seven years, Mike — a lean, chain-smoking officer at the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters in Virginia — has managed the agency’s deadly campaign of armed drone strikes. As the head of the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorism Center, Mike wielded tremendous power in hundreds of decisions over who lived and died in far-off lands.       Read the Full Story
Boy Scouts End Longtime Ban on Openly Gay Youths GRAPEVINE, Tex. — The Boy Scouts of America on Thursday ended its longstanding policy of forbidding openly gay youths to participate in its activities, a step its chief executive called “compassionate, caring and kind.”       Read the Full Story
PDA, Allies March Against Fracking in Maryland More than 100 "Fracktivists" rallied for clean air and water outside the Democratic Governors Association meeting in Maryland yesterday. Concerned about the controversial practice of extracting methane gas from shale rock formations known as hydraulic fracturing or "Fracking", Progressive Democrats of America, Food and Water Watch, MoveOn, Progressive Neighbors, and Progressive Cheverly members and others gathered to hear speakers and then matched chanting outside the high-level meeting. Read the Full Story
Congresswoman Barbara Lee Responds to President Obama’s Call for AUMF Repeal, Introduces Legislation Creating Greater Oversight of Drones Washington, D.C.— Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech focusing on drone warfare and national security. In advance of the speech, Congresswoman Lee introduced related legislation, The Drones Accountability Act. Read the Full Story
Obama Heckled During Speech On Drones, Gitmo (VIDEO) President Barack Obama was heckled during a speech at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Read the Full Story
IMF Sounds Warning on U.K. Austerity LONDON—The International Monetary Fund urged the U.K. government to counter the effects of its austerity program by raising spending on infrastructure projects to avoid long-term damage to the nation's growth prospects. Read the Full Story
Congresswoman Lee Introduces “No More Ghost Money Act” Washington, D.C.— Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the No More Ghost Money Act of 2013. The bill would prohibit illegal payments to foreign officials and would require a report to Congress on payments made by the CIA to employees, officers, and elected officials to foreign entities. Read the Full Story
image The End of the Perpetual War
image Banks’ Lobbyists Help in Drafting Financial Bills
image Elizabeth Warren: Trade talks could weaken bank oversight
image Exclusive: Why I Spoke Out at Obama's Foreign Policy Speech
image Pivoting From a War Footing, Obama Acts to Curtail Drones
image New Terror Strategy Shifts C.I.A. Focus Back to Spying
image Boy Scouts End Longtime Ban on Openly Gay Youths
image PDA, Allies March Against Fracking in Maryland
image Congresswoman Barbara Lee Responds to President Obama’s Call for AUMF Repeal, Introduces Legislation Creating Greater Oversight of Drones
image Obama Heckled During Speech On Drones, Gitmo (VIDEO)
image IMF Sounds Warning on U.K. Austerity
image Congresswoman Lee Introduces “No More Ghost Money Act”
Saturday, 22 September 2012 17:06

"Mudcat" Saunders on the Southern Strategy

Written by  Patrick Gavin | Politico.com
"Mudcat" Saunders on the Southern Strategy

With less than two months until Election Day, one of the challenges facing Democrats at the voting booth has plagued them for decades: how to play well in the South.

“Mudcat” Saunders, a consultant who’s worked on campaigns of John Edwards, Mark Warner and Jim Webb, has long advised Democrats on how to win the hearts and minds of Southerners, including in his 2006 book, “Foxes in the Henhouse: How the Republicans Stole the South and the Heartland, and What the Democrats Must Do to Run ’em Out.” Saunders is currently advising Wayne Powell in his attempt to unseat Rep. Eric Cantor in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.

Saunders admits that his candidate has “an uphill climb” to upset the powerful incumbent but says, “If we continue to raise money and our fundraising kicks up a little bit more, we’ve got a legitimate shot.” (In response to Saunders’s statement, Cantor deputy chief of staff Doug Heye said, “It’s an interesting strategy by Dave to admit that his candidate does not have a ‘legitimate shot’ at winning. That may be a first in American politics.”)

As for Democrats across the South, Saunders says it’s about appealing to Reagan Democrats.

“Reagan Democrats are ready to come home, there’s no question,” Saunders told POLITICO.

“Democrats go after class and Republicans go after culture, and culture wins every single time. I say, as far as Reagan Democrats are concerned, in every Republican there’s a Democrat trying to get out, but as long as we continue to not knock these cultural wedges out, to not properly articulate them, we can’t win the cultural battle.”

 

Saunders said that for Democrats to improve their odds in the South, they need to play up their talk of individual liberties.

“Liberty is everything and you don’t hear anybody talk about liberty anymore besides the tea party, and I think they’re right to talk about it — and we need to be talking about liberty as Democrats and get back to the constitutional stance that our party believes in.”

Saunders admitted that, on the presidential level, the Obama campaign is smart to send Vice President Joe Biden to rural, Southern areas.

“I don’t think there’s any question that Joe Biden is more effective,” Saunders said. “It’s blue collar. He’s one of us. He talks strong. He raises hell, and we like that.”

Watch POLITICO’s full interview with Saunders above.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81387.html#ixzz26wVEPYlZ

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