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Jeff Chidester

The American political landscape is a mess, in large part because one of our two major political parties is not only in chaos, but has absolutely no sense of its identity.

This party is in complete disarray, lacking leadership, vision and focus. Indeed, it is accurate to say the condition of the Democratic Party is in a state of utter disorder, and as with all disorders, the affected are usually the last to know they have a problem, let alone how to cure what ails them.

I want a strong, vigorous political system in our country. It is essential that intellectual, disciplined, robust debate be a part of a healthy political system in our country, or any country. However, the tiresome weekly protests are not only a distraction to what Democrats should be focused on, but are nothing more than the comical resurrection of the discredited primal scream therapy. If the best youve got is singing Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Goodbye on the House floor after the vote to Repeal and Replace Obamacare, you are not only singing out of tune, but you are tone deaf to what Americans are concerned about.

In no small part, the Democratic Party has only itself to blame for its most recent presidential election loss. The party has abandoned Middle America, and seems to be content with being a political party that only represents the Coastal Elites. New York, California, and a few other elitist pockets scattered about the rest of the country present only a single voice, a single perspective, in a vast country rich with many views. The party not only seems to ignore Middle America, the so called flyover States, but at times, often with the encouragement of a Coastal Elite mentality, mock and belittle those who live in the Heartland.

You dont win hearts and minds by turning inwards, listening to like-minded voices and stifling potential allies who may differ with you on some issues. The Democrats are lost in the woods because they walked away from the words of Bobby Kennedy (1968) - Ive seen proud men in the hills of Appalachia who wish only to work in dignity, but they cannot, for the mines have closed and their jobs are gone, and no one neither industry, labor nor government has cared enough to help

Bobby Kennedy talked to the people of Appalachia, but the new Democratic Party is the lecture party. Todays Democratic Party is disconnected, caring more about redefining gender, while most Americans are watching lone-wolf terrorist attacks on our shores. The party lectured and pointed fingers at those who held opposing views, and falsely labeled them as bigots, misogynists and racists. While many Americans worried about keeping their jobs, how to put food on their tables, dealing with the devastating effects of addiction, and whether they could make their mortgage payment, Democrats lectured Americans about identity politics and which bathroom we should use.

I know youre thinking, but Jeff, have you not been watching what the Republicans have been doing? Yes, I have. The GOP has problems, but nothing like the clown show the Democratic Party has turned into. Trust me when I tell you the Republican Party has issues, and neither major political party is in great standing with the American public. Politics ebbs and flows, and I could just as easily be writing a similar article soon about the Republicans. But at least the Republicans are still made up of people with many different views. Sure, there is tension amongst Republicans, but try being a Democrat who is pro-life and a supporter of the Second Amendment and see what happens. Potty-mouth Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez made it clear to members of the Democratic Party that they must support abortion or else, even though at best estimates at least 30 percent of self-described Democrats claim to be pro-life. However, abortion is just one issue that either pushes Democrats out of the party tent, or discourages entry in the first place.

The 2016 election should have been a wake-up call for the Democratic Party, but in its defeat the party looks and acts more like the Donner Party than the party of Kennedy and Clinton. However, the biggest issue is the deli number approach the Democratic Party has reverted to, ignoring the success of Obama.

Where is the Democratic bench? Biden will be 74 in 2020, Elizabeth Warren will be 71, and forget Bernie Sanders age, it is just comical that the last, best, hope of the Democratic Party isnt even a Democrat! The Democratic Party has some potentially strong leaders who should be elevated to the public face of the party: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Amy Klobuch and Sen. Chris Murphy. However, the bench is not as deep as it should be because it has only been focused on the White House.

The presidency and capturing elitist strongholds are not the only battles to be won. The Republican Party controls the governors office and both chambers of the state legislature in 24 states, having gained four more states with the 2016 election. The Democratic Party only managed to do that in six states. There are 33 Republican governors. The Democratic Party only controls 16. Republicans also control 32 state legislative benches. Why does this matter? Because this is where your party bench comes from. Obama may have emerged from the U.S. Senate, but he cut his teeth at the local level. Yet the Democratic Party would rather say it is not your turn, or you do not walk in lock-step with the party, instead of bringing forth candidates who represent not just the elitist view of the party, but the view everyday Americans hold dear.

Keep marching, keep singing, keeping looking to New York and Hollywood, and oh by the way, keep losing.

Jeff Chidester was raised in Portsmouth and is a lifelong resident of New Hampshire. He is the host of the Clear Channel radio show New Hampshire Perspective with Jeff Chidester, which can be heard on News Radio WQSO 96.7 FM and New Hampshires News Network WGIR 610 AM. E-mail him at nhperspective@gmail.com.

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Democratic Party in chaos - Foster's Daily Democrat

McClatchy Washington Bureau

EXCLUSIVE: Democratic ad blitz takes aim at vulnerable House Republicans on Obamacare McClatchy Washington Bureau The five-figure ad buy is the latest in an aggressive campaign by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that started immediately after the House barely passed the American Health Care Act on Thursday. The push includes graphics on ... Republicans face more 'shutdown traps' into Democrat spendingWashington Times Vulnerable Senate Democrats think Republicans just handed them a lifeline on health careWashington Post Finley: Obamacare lies keep comingThe Detroit News New York Times -FiveThirtyEight all 7,305 news articles »

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EXCLUSIVE: Democratic ad blitz takes aim at vulnerable House Republicans on Obamacare - McClatchy Washington Bureau

AUGUSTA, Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, introduced a new bill Monday that would expand and enhance Maines social services safety net, largely funded with what Gideon said is $150 million in federal funds that Gov. Paul LePages administration isnt spending.

Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said the proposal would drain federal resources and trap Mainers in poverty.

Among the elements of Gideons wide-ranging bill are requirements for the state to use federal grants to expand access to child care; establish a housing voucher program for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients and families whose housing costs exceed 50 percent of their income; increase the maximum TANF benefit to the average of nearby states; and create the Addiction Prevention and Family Stabilization Program. The bill also proposes pilot programs to provide low-income families with transportation, install high-efficiency heating systems and create a reserve fund to cover learn years when not enough TANF funding is available.

A 2016 analysis by the Legislatures Office of Fiscal and Program Review found that about $155 million in unspent TANF funding had accrued by the end of fiscal year 2016. DHHS and LePages office ignored questions from the Bangor Daily News on this point, though it said in a news release that a small percentage of the funds had been rerouted to other programs.

[More: How Maine redirected millions meant to help poor families with kids.]

Contrary to Mayhews assertions, Gideon said the intent of the bill is providing expanded services to low-income families but also helping them make a gradual transition from taxpayer-funded services to independence as their income increased above the thresholds for social service programs. This concept is known as the welfare cliff.

This bill provides the opportunity to keep people in successful and sustainable employment, said Gideon.

Gideon cited the American Community Survey when she said the number of Maine children living in deep poverty less than $10,000 per year for a family of three is increasing eight times faster than the national average.

Mayhew pointed to a 2016 study by the LePage administration that showed new work requirements in the TANF program increased incomes and led to more people working.

Weve seen the positive outcomes of these reforms and how they are helping strengthen Maines economy by putting people back to work, said Mayhew in a written statement. We cannot ignore this and we cannot allow this success to be overturned.

Gideon said during a Monday news conference at the State House that her motivation for the bill was primarily to help children dig out of familial cycles of poverty that unchecked can last generations.

Their future was already being proscribed by their present and the poverty they were living in, said Gideon. For me, those kids were my personal reason and call for doing something. The very idea of any child experiencing the sort of insecurity, instability, anxiety and hunger that comes with poverty is just unacceptable to anybody.

Gideon said the program, as well as its pilot elements, could be covered by existing federal resources, but she acknowledged that it could affect future state budgets after the pilot periods expire.

The bill already has some bipartisan support, including four Republican lawmakers from northern and eastern Maine.

Supporters are sure to receive intense pushback. Social service cutbacks through rulemaking and laws that have tightened eligibility and established limits on benefits have been a priority for LePage and most legislative Republicans. One example of that is LePages pending proposal to reduce the lifetime limit on collecting TANF funds from five years to three years.

Gideons proposal is a component of Democrats push this year to blunt LePages latest round of proposed public assistance cuts and changes in a year when state revenues exceed expenses. Supporting low-earning Mainers particularly children is at the core of the Democrats Opportunity Agenda, a set of goals designed to counter many of the elements of LePages biennial state budget proposal.

While tightening eligibility requirements and limiting spending on public assistance programs has been a Republican focus in recent legislatures, they have another priority this year. Republicans are intent on repealing the 3 percent surtax on income above $200,000, which was enacted by voters last year to support public schools.

However, Democratic leaders have made it clear they will go to the mat fighting those changes. Meanwhile, Democrats have taken a page from the LePage playbook by holding town hall meetings all over Maine in recent weeks touting their Opportunity Agenda.

With the release of Gideons bill, perhaps the 128th Legislatures battle lines and stalemate issues that could last well into June have been etched.

This item was originally published in Daily Brief, a free political newsletter distributed Monday through Friday by the Bangor Daily News to inform dialogue about Maine politics and government. To read more of todays Daily Brief, click here. To have the Daily Brief delivered daily to your inbox, click here.

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Democrat Sara Gideon draws new battle line with LePage on welfare - Bangor Daily News

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PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF

BY PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF | May 7, 2017, 10:31PM

| Updated 4 hours ago.

The head of the Marin County coroners office was arrested last week on a warrant charging him with four felony county of child molestation.

According to the Marin Independent Journal, Chief Deputy Coroner Darrell Harris, of San Rafael, was arrested Thursday in Eureka and booked into the Humboldt County Jail.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Marin Superior Court.

The alleged crimes occurred in Marin County. Santa Rosa police are investigating the case because of Harris ties to Marin law enforcement.

The complaint alleges one count of continuous sexual abuse of a girl under 14 years old. The complaint alleges the molestation occurred at least three times between May 2008 and May 2011.

The other counts include charges such as lewd acts and oral sex with a minor between 2011 and 2015 when the girl was between ages 14 and 17.

A fifth count of misdemeanor sexual battery involves the same alleged victim, and occurred between May 2015 and March 2017.

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Marin head coroner arrested on molestation charges - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

The campaign of Rob Quist, the folk music star and Democrat running for Montanas open House seat,slammed Quists opponent,Republican Greg Gianforte, for allegedly discriminating against a disabled employee, opening up a new line of attack in an increasingly competitive special election.

Late last month, Raw Story reported that Gianforte, a tech millionaire originally from New Jersey, settled a 1991 lawsuit with a former employee who accused Gianforte of firing him for having multiple sclerosis.

The details of the suit are harrowing. The former employee at Brightwork Development, Gianfortes software company, won awards for his sales numbers after his diagnosis.Gianforte allegedly heard about the disease and summoned the employee to his office to ask probing questions about whether it was affecting his performance. A couple months later, the company fired the employee.

Now the Quist campaign is citing the suit as more evidence that Gianforte is out of touch with state residents.

No real Montanan would fire someone after discovering theyre suffering from a health condition like multiple sclerosis, Quists spokeswoman Tina Olechowski said in a statement. Every day Montanans learn more about why New Jersey multimillionaire Greg Gianforte is not one of us and doesnt share our values.

In his failed 2016 bid for Montana governor, Gianforte also faced questions about why Petra Academy, a private Christian school in Bozeman where he is board chairman, does not welcome all students with disabilities. In a tense exchange about the topic in February 2016, Gianforte told the Billings Gazette editorial boardthat the school, which is not subject to the law requiring public schools to accommodate students with special needs, does not admit students who need an extra staff person devoted to them.

One of the editorial board members interviewing Gianforte was incredulous, demanding to know why the school couldnt afford to welcome all students when he had donated millions of dollars to the school. Gianforte claimed that it was simply too costly.If Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock had not vetoed a bill creating a public fund for parents of special needs kids to use toward any school,it would be much easier for schools like Petra to accommodate students with disabilities, according to Gianforte.

Petra Academys Headmaster Craig Dunham confirmed to HuffPost that the policy remains in place.

The Gianforte campaign did not respond to a request for clarification about the accusations in the 1991 lawsuit or the reasons for Petra Academys policy.

William Campbell/Getty Images

The Quist campaigns new critique caps off a tumultuous week for Gianforte as the candidate struggles to craft a consistent message on the Republican health care bill. Gianfortes campaign has not said whether he would have voted for the bill that passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

In a statement to the Washington Post on Friday, Gianfortes spokesman Shane Scanlon reiterated Gianfortes claims that he will not support a bill until he knows it reduces premiums, preserves rural access and protects Montanans with preexisting conditions.

But in a private conference call with Republican-leaning lobbyists the same day, Gianforte praised the legislation, the New York Times reported.

The votes in the House are going to determine whether we get tax reform done, sounds like we just passed a health care thing, which Im thankful for, sounds like were starting to repeal and replace, Gianforte said.

The Gianforte campaign explained the discrepancy to the Times by claiming that he was merely thankful that Obamacare repeal is underway, not for the specific law, since he has not read it.

After refusing to say how he would have voted on the disastrous D.C. health care bill, it turns out Greg Gianforte was saying something different to the special-interest lobbyists bankrolling his campaign, Quist said in a statement on Friday. We need an independent voice in Congress who will stand up to the special interests, not a dishonest politician who says one thing to Montanans and another to the millionaires behind closed doors.

Democrats are eager to translate liberal anger at President Donald Trump into concrete electoral gains and special congressional elections are the first opportunity to do so at the national level.

The party has invested the most resources into a contest for an open seat in Georgias 6th congressional district, where 30-year-old filmmaker Jon Ossoff is locked in a tight runoff slated for June 20.

Democratic officials have recently begun taking a greater interest in Quist, however, apparently concluding that his chances have improved. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee more than doubled its financial commitment to Quist earlier this week with an injection of $400,000 into his campaign.

Republicans are sounding alarms about the race as well. Vice President Mike Pence will soon be coming to Montana to campaign for Gianforte, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) told donors on a Thursday call obtained by the Washington Post.

Daines and Gianforte also told donors that Gianfortes lead over Quist is down to single digits. An April poll, by contrast, had Gianforte up by 15 percentage points.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who Quist backed in the 2016 primary, will hit the campaign trail for Quist in the coming weeks. But Quist turned down an offer of in-person assistance from Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez.

The Montana House seat opened up when Trump named then-Rep. Ryan Zinke (R) as his Secretary of the Interior. Election Day is May 25.

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Montana Democrat Attacks Opponent Over Disability Discrimination Lawsuit - Huffington post (press release) (blog)