Democracy | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Democracy: September 6th, 2012
- Clinton Delivers Stirring Plea for Obama Second Term
- Jerusalem Language Restored by Democrats
- Are You Better Off? There’s No Easy Answer
- The Campaign-Super PAC Revolving Door
- Food Stamps: the New Normal
More top stories and excerpts below:
CLINTON SPEECH: Clinton Delivers Stirring Plea for Obama Second Term – NYT
JEFF ZELENY, MARK LANDLER: Former President Bill Clinton and President Obama hugged onstage Wednesday night after Mr. Clinton delivered an impassioned plea on behalf of Mr. Obama’s re-election.
DNC PLATFORM: Jerusalem Language Restored by Democrats- WSJ
After coming under fire for omitting language describing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Democrats at their national convention swiftly reinserted the language in the party platform.
DNC/HILLARY: Not by Design, Another Clinton Watches Convention From Afar – NYT
STEVEN LEE MYERS: As the Democrats have held their convention, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been doing what she has done throughout President Obama’s term: foreswearing partisan politics.
OBAMA: 4 Years Later, Scarred but Still Confident – NYT
PETER BAKER: President Obama is making the case that while progress is slow, he is taking America to a better place — and that he will be a better president over the next four years than the last.
ELECTIONS 2012/ECONOMY: Are You Better Off? There’s No Easy Answer - BLOOMBERG, EDITORIAL
When President Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination Thursday, he will have to be ready with a response. But a simple yes is pretty much off the table.
ELECTIONS 2012/ECONOMY: The Better Economic Question – NYT, EDITORIAL It’s not just whether voters are better off than they were four years ago. They are. Voters should be asking how to ensure financial security.
ELECTIONS 2012/VOTERS: Obama Faces Test From Voters Who Drifted Away – NYT
President Obama is preparing to make an aggressive pitch at the Democratic convention, hoping to return to the fold voters who supported him in 2008 but now express disappointment.
DNC/REAGAN: Role Reversal: Democrats as Heirs of Reagan’s Optimism - TIME, OPINION
FAREED ZAKARIA: Reagan was said to be three parts optimism and one part nostalgia. Recently, that formula has been inverted. Today it is the Republican Party that often seems angry with America.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE/PAC’S: The Campaign-Super PAC Revolving Door- NYT, OP-ED
ANDREW ROSENTHAL: Rahm Emanuel is stepping down as co-chair of the Obama campaign. And stepping up to raise money for a pro-Obama super PAC.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE/PAC’S:Emanuel Takes New Role as ‘Super PAC’ Wrangler – NYT
NICHOLAS CONFESSORE: Rahm Emanuel’s departure from the Obama campaign reflects Democrats’ worries about the fund-raising gap enjoyed by Republican-leaning outside groups.
ENTITLEMENTS: Food Stamps: the New Normal- BLOOMBERG, OPINION
Kirsten Salyer: Remember when Newt Gingrich labeled President Barack Obama the “food-stamp president” in January? Almost 15 percent of Americans — a record high — now rely on the government for their most basic necessity: food.
ENTITLEMENTS: One Nation on Welfare – TIME, OPINION
ADAM SORENSEN: As Democrats in Charlotte tell it, Barack Obama is helping out the most deserving Americans with federal spending. Here’s the reality: we’re all on the government dole.
VOTER RIGHTS: Voter ID Wars – NYT, OP-ED
MO ROCCA: There are so many problems with the way we run elections in this country. Voter impersonation is not one of them.
ABORTION/THALIDOMIDE: A Never-Ending Story – NYT, OPINION
LINDA GREENHOUSE: A 50-year-old episode continues to shed light on the abortion debate.
HEALTHCARE: The Arkansas Innovation – NYT, OP-ED
EZEKIEL J. EMANUEL: An experiment in appointing a doctor or hospital as the “quarterback” to be responsible for an episode of patient care.
HEALTH: West Nile cases mount nationwide- WP
The number of West Nile virus cases reported in the US is the highest year-to-date total since the disease was first detected in this country in 1999, federal officials said.
HEALTH/SPORTS: NFL Funds Brain-Injury Study – WSJ
The National Football League has provided a $30 million grant to study brain injuries and other sports-related health issues.
DROUGHT/ENERGY: For Farms in the West, Oil Wells Are Thirsty Rivals – NYT
A race for water is rippling through the drought-scorched heartland, pitting farmers against oil and gas interests that use the water-intensive hydraulic fracturing process.
DROUGHT: Wide Area of Nation Still Parched After Storm – NYT Many states, and their crops, saw very little rain from Hurricane Isaac’s remnants.
UNION RULING: Michigan Court Allows Union Measure on Ballot – WSJ
Michigan’s Supreme Court cleared the way for three more initiatives to be put to voters on the November ballot, including a union-backed measure that would enshrine collective-bargaining rights in the state constitution.
MILITARY RECRUITING: Like the Army Itself, Recruiters Prepare to Make Do With Less - NYT
The Army is remaking its recruiting structure amid concerns over whether budget cuts scheduled for 2013 will make joining the service a tougher sell.
EDUCATION/IMMIGRANTS: Rulings Help Illegal Immigrants’ College-Bound Children- NYT
JULIA PRESTON: Some college-bound children of illegal immigrants have been denied resident tuition and financial aid, but New Jersey and Florida courts have recently made it more difficult for states to discriminate.
EDUCATION/CHICAGO: Rahm’s Chicago Education – WSJ, OPINION
Collin Levy: Why Charlotte wasn’t the only city paying close attention to Rahm Emanuel’s comments on education last night.
EDUCATION: Learning as Freedom - NYT, OP-ED
MICHAEL S. ROTH: The call for a more narrowly tailored education — especially for Americans with limited economic prospects — is not new.
SCIENCE/GENOME: Bits of Mystery DNA, Far From ‘Junk,’ Play Crucial Role – NYT
At least four million gene switches that reside in sections of the human genome once thought to be inactive turn out to have critical functions in the body, researchers reported.
SCIENCE/GENOME: ‘Junk DNA’ Debunked - WSJ
The deepest look into the human genome so far shows it to be a richer, messier and more intriguing place than envisioned, offering scientists both more challenges and opportunities.
OHIO TERRORISM PLEA: Guilty Pleas in Ohio Bridge-Bomb Plot - WSJ
Three more men charged with planning to bomb a highway bridge in Ohio admitted their roles in the plot in a move meant to avoid life prison sentences.
MARIJUANA LAWS: L.A. Pot Ban Is Blocked for Now - WSJ
A Los Angeles ban on storefront pot dispensaries won’t go into effect after advocates for medical marijuana successfully petitioned to block it, the latest skirmish in the battle over how local governments around the nation should regulate pot businesses.
TENNIS RETIREMENT: Roddick Takes His Final Bow – WSJ
Roddick, the last American to win the U.S. Open–or any Grand Slam title–in 2003, ended his career with a 6-7(1), 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-4 loss to Juan Martin del Potro.
*MORE DNC/CONVENTION STORIES:
ABORTION: How Democrats Lost Their Way on Abortion – BLOOMBERG, OPINION Margaret Carlson: Why has the party removed the sentence “Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare” from its platform?
DNC/FACT CHECK: A Startling Truth Amid the Hyperbole - NYT
MICHAEL COOPER, SCOTT SHANE, ANNIE LOWREY: Democratic officials and the party’s platform have made a number of exaggerated or misleading claims on jobs, civil liberties and housing.
BIDEN SPEECH: Biden’s Speech Likely to Spotlight Strengths, or Foibles – NYT
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will arrive onstage Thursday as the president’s most important political partner, policy enforcer, conscience, scold and occasional albatross.
DNC/GAYS: Gay Democrats Celebrate a Newfound Visibility – NYT
ADAM NAGOURNEY: Nearly every speech at the Democratic National Convention has mentioned gay rights issues, including Michelle Obama’s.
ELIZABETH WARREN: For Warren, Bad Blood Over Ethnic Claims - NYT ASHLEY PARKER, MICHAEL BARBARO: The still-simmering controversy over Elizabeth Warren’s self-proclaimed American Indian heritage has chased her from the campaign trail in Massachusetts to North Carolina.
ELIZABETH WARREN: Can Elizabeth Warren Win? – WSJ, OPINION
Jason L. Riley: Before Democrats decide that Elizabeth Warren is the party’s next big female star, they might want to make sure that she’s electable.
SPEAKERS: In Clinton and Warren, Competing Messages for the Middle Class – NYT MATT BAI: Wednesday’s prime-time Democratic convention speakers — Elizabeth Warren and Bill Clinton, one right after the other — represent irreconcilable strains of American liberalism.
FUTURE CANDIDATES: Hopefuls for 2016 Press the Flesh With Key Deciders – WSJ
A small cast of elected Democrats graced a modest stage in a hotel parking lot here to audition for the role of his replacement before delegates from the early voting state of Iowa.
*MORE ELECTIONS 2012:
SENATE ELECTIONS: The Other Election: Beyond the White House – NEW YORKER
Steve Coll: Even if Mitt Romney wins, controlling the Senate is really the only plausible scenario in which Republicans could wield real power…
OBAMA/ FIRST TERM: Obama’s First-Term Report Card- NYT, OP-ED
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF: Considering that we were sliding toward a Great Depression before President Obama took office, of course, we’re better off now.
OBAMA/FIRST TERM: Obama: the real radical – WP, OPINION
George F. Will: Four years ago, Barack Obama was America’s Rorschach test, upon whom voters could project their disparate yearnings. To govern, however, is to choose, and now his choices have clarified him.
ECONOMY: Obama faces up to doomsayers – FT
Historical benchmarks including unemployment and approval rating ought to spell disaster for the US president at the polls, but he seems to be beating the odds.
DEBATES/ROMNEY: Romney Focus Is on Preparing for the Debates – NYT
As Democrats formally nominate President Obama, Mitt Romney is getting ready for what aides believe will be a decisive moment for his campaign.
OHIO/ECONOMY: Did Barack Obama Save Ohio? – NYT
MATT BAI: Why the battle to take credit for Ohio’s ever-so-slightly above-average economy could swing the presidential election.
The Common Good publishes a U.S. domestic news digest every weekday, available here.
