Mediaboss Marketing

From Barack ObamaBarack ObamaPence dodges on whether he believes Obama wiretapped Trump Tower Graham says he would subpoena for evidence on Trump wiretap claim Republican state strength will withstand Democrat lawsuits MORE and Eric HolderEric H. HolderRepublican state strength will withstand Democrat lawsuits Uber shifts into damage control mode Former Uber employee shares sexism allegations MORE to David Brock, George Soros and the Democracy Alliance, top-liberal talent and money is shifting focus to state politics.

Democrats are organizing and publicly rallying behind countless groups dedicated to spending tens of millions of dollars to win state races and impact 2020 redistricting. To fully understand the Democrats redistricting urgency, its important to first understand how we got here.

For Republicans, preparation met opportunity through the Republican State Leadership Committees (RSLC) 2010 REDistricting MAjority Project (REDMAP). Party leaders Ed Gillespie, Tom Reynolds and Karl Rove developed a national strategy which, when coupled with great candidates, effective campaigns and the failures of an overreaching Obama-led, Democrat-dominated Washington, resulted in historic-Republican gains, changing the electoral map overnight.

In 21 chambers that year, control flipped from Democrats to Republicans, and most of the districts where Republicans won in those states were drawn by Democrats.

During the last reapportionment, Republicans drew fair and competitive congressional, state and local districts a stark difference from the Democrat-redistricting dominance that hung heavy over most of the 20th century. With fair lines, Republicans won with quality candidates, better operations and a better vision for their states. Historic GOP majorities grew over the next several cycles at all levels of government. Today, Republicans control a record 69 of 99 legislative chambers with tied control in the Connecticut Senate, winning a recent special election despite being outspent.

Contrary to Democrat myth, these victories were not in magically-gerrymandered districts. In 2012, 410 Republican state legislators won in districts that Obama simultaneously carried. Since 2009, almost 1,000 state legislative seats have changed from blue to red. Additionally, Republicans now hold majorities of governors, lieutenant governors, secretaries of state, attorneys general, the United States Senate and others defined by state boundaries not impacted by redistricting. More broadly, polling has shown that nearly every state is more likely to vote Republican than it was prior to 2010.

And red states have gotten redder, with Republicans holding more than 70 percent of the legislative and statewide offices in 10 states and at least two-thirds of 20 state senates. The increasingly right-leaning political and ideological temperature of the country has moved the battlefield into purple and blue states, where were even winning control in Minnesota and Washington.

This multi-cycle trend put many formerly Democrat and competitive chambers and the U.S. House out of reach for Democrats. That helped prime the battlefront for Republicans to re-capture the U.S. Senate, and, most notably in the Great Lakes states, helped blaze the skillfully-executed path to victory by Donald TrumpDonald TrumpWash. judge upholds fines for faithless electors Is Trump throwing Ukraine to the Kremlin sharks? Republican state strength will withstand Democrat lawsuits MORE.

The Democrat response to Republicans historic success has been as predictable as it will be unsuccessful. Democrats lost control with a lack of quality candidates and good ideas. Now they resort to baseless disparagement and attempts to change the rules.

Since the last redistricting, fringe liberals and their groups, billionaires and unions have spent millions bringing legal cases which would slant the playing field unfairly towards them. Courts were asked to intervene in 42 states with over 220 cases filed in federal and state courts. Democrat press releases about the lawsuits and crocodile tears about Republican unfairness were rarely followed by coverage of their ultimate failures in court. Now, liberals are spending millions to gain control of elected court majorities themselves in key redistricting states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Facing formidable opposition and liberal billionaires ready to open their checkbooks and engage, it is critical that Republicans and Independents renew and enhance their commitment to a broader, deeper, collaborative effort.

Republicans need to be prepared to effectively defend their fair lines in court and continue the good work of the RSLCs Judicial Fairness Initiative to help elect judges committed to the Constitution, not partisan politics.

We must ensure that the best data is available to drive fair and sound decisions on where lines are drawn and how legal cases are pursued. The public needs to know where Democrats may have abused their authority in states like Illinois.

Most importantly, we will need to continue supporting quality candidates with a good vision for their districts and states. We must increase support for the RSLC's Future Majority Project (FMP) and Right Women, Right Now (RWRN), which have helped elect nearly 400 new women Republicans and nearly 100 new diverse Republicans to state-level offices nationwide.

Voters judge elected officials on how well they execute the duties of their office and improve their lives. Redistricting is an important part of the process, but it is only one element. Democrat A-listers are gearing up for a state-level showdown, but the ultimate measure of American democracy is the strength of its candidates and articulation of their vision. Republicans have been winning this battle throughout the first half of this decade, and if we have the additional focus and resources, we will continue to win moving forward.

Bill McCollum is the chairman of the Republican State Leadership Committee and a former Florida Attorney General and U.S. Congressman.

Matt Walter is the president of the Republican State Leadership Committee.

The views of contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.

See the article here:
Republican state strength will withstand Democrat lawsuits - The Hill (blog)

That supposed FBI investigation of collusion with the Russians? Never mind . . .

By Andrew C. McCarthy, The National Review

@AndrewCMcCarthy

Theyre in retreat now. You may have missed it amid President Trumps startling Saturday tweet storm, the recriminations over president-on-candidate spying, and the Jeff Sessions recusal a whirlwind weekend. But while you werent looking, an elaborate narrative died.

For months, the media-Democrat complex has peddled a storyline that the Putin regime in Russia hacked the U.S. presidential election. There is, of course, no evidence that the election was hacked in the sense that the actual voting process was compromised. Rather, there is evidence that e-mail accounts of prominent Democrats were hacked months before the election, and thousands of those e-mails were published by WikiLeaks in the months leading up to the election.

Into this misleading Russia hacked the election narrative, the press and the Dems injected a second explosive allegation or at least an explosive suspicion that theyve wanted us to perceive as a credible allegation meriting a serious investigation. The suspicion/allegation is: Not only did Russia hack the election, but there are also enough ties between people in the Trump orbit and operatives of the Putin regime that there are grounds to believe that the Trump campaign was complicit in Russias hacking of the election.

Transparently, the aim is to undermine the legitimacy of Trumps election victory.

Finally, the third prong, without the support of which the stool would collapse: the impression that the FBI has been feverishly investigating what is said to be the Trump campaigns collusion in what is said to be the Russian hacking of the election. This reporting is designed to get you saying to yourself: Why would there be such a zealous investigation by FBI agents in addition to several other intelligence and law-enforcement agents unless there really were grave reasons to believe the shocking election-hacking conspiracy narrative?

See the original post here:
McCarthy: While You Weren't Looking, the DemocratMedia Election-Hacking Narrative Just Collapsed - Fox News

A second Democrat is jumping into the race to challenge Republican Rep. Darrell Issa in California.

Mike Levin, an environmental lawyer based in San Juan Capistrano, announced his candidacy Wednesday.

Levin is a member of the board of directors for the Center for Sustainable Energy and is director of government affairs for FuelCell Energy, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Levin has also worked in Democratic politics, as his profile page shows he was on the National Finance Committee for Hillary s 2016presidential run. Clintons campaign website labeled him as a Hillblazer who either contributed or raised more than $100,000.

In addition, Levin served as executive director for the Orange County Democratic Party and donated money to it.

Federal Election Commission documents show that he has also given to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Committee and John Kerrys 2004 presidential campaign.

In his announcement, Levin expressedfrustration thatIssa relentlessly pursued the Obama administration with what he considers frivolous investigations while he was chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Now, faced with mounting evidence of conflicts of interest, dishonesty and malfeasance in the administration of Donald Trump, a candidate he enthusiastically backed, Issa is failing to exercise the independence and courage that our nation so desperately needs, Levin said.

That is not entirely true, as Issa has calledfor an independent prosecutor to investigate communications between Trump's campaign and Russia.

Last year, Issa faced hisfirst real challenge since first being elected in 2000 against retired Marine Corps Col. Doug Applegate, winningby 1,621 votes. Applegate has alreadyannouncedhe plans a rematch against Issa.

Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.

See the original post:
Second Democrat Jumps into Issa Race - Roll Call - Roll Call

Of the seven senators flanking him on Monday at a news conference supporting the so-called bathroom bill, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick singled out the one Democrat for special praise.

Patrick, not usually prone to kind words about members of the opposing party, called Eddie Lucio Jr. a man who is bold and courageous and does the right thing, always.

Lucios presence bestowed bipartisan credentials on the measure championed by Patrick. He became the first and so far the only Democrat in the Legislature to support it.

Mondays news conference isnt the first time Lucio has found himself the loneDemocrat allied with the Senate'sRepublicanmajority. The Brownsville senator has bucked his party on a number of controversial topics, including abortion, gay marriage and privateschool choice programs.

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

When asked about the times he's broken with fellow Democrats, Lucio said he's never abandoned his commitment to his party. Adevout Catholic who has served in the Senate for more than two decades, Lucioalso said his religious beliefs serve as an important guide.

"I look at issues in a nonpartisan way, and Ive voted like that in my entire career," he said. "I turn to my faith for my decision making and I do that in the most sincerest of ways, always trying to do my best to be inclusive of all my stakeholders."

Here are some of Lucios most notable odd-man-out moments from the 2015 session:

1. The two-thirds rule: Lucio sided with Republicans to break the almost 70-year Senate tradition intended to encourage compromise among its 31members. The change, for which Lucio provided the crucial swing vote, had the practical effect of allowing Republicans to consider a bill without a single vote from one of the chamber's 11 Democrats. At the time, Lucio said he supported doing away with the rule because too many good bills had been killed over the years after they lacked one vote to come to the floor.

2. Tax-credit scholarships: When Patrick brought his prize school choice measure to the floor, Lucio was the only Democrat to vote in favor. Opponents decried the legislation, whichprovided state tax credits for businesses that donate money to fund private school scholarships, as a voucher program that would drain money from public schools. The bill later died in the House. Lucio cited his work with Patrick on the Senate's education panel as the reason for their current friendship.

3. Judicial bypass on abortions: Lucio was the lone Democratic vote in the Senate for a 2015 measure that tightened the requirements on judicial bypass, the legal process that allows minors to obtain court approval for an abortion if asking their parents for permission could endanger them. The senator, who reliably supports anti-abortion measures in the chamber, said those were the easiest votes for him to cast.

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

4. Anti gay-marriage resolution: A measure forbidding state or local governments from using public money to issue same-sex marriage licenses got new life when Lucio attached it to a wide-ranging county government bill that came through the intergovernmental affairs committee he chairs. When the bill came to the Senate floor, Lucio was forced to take it down after it became clear its original author would not let it pass in the House. He instead joined the chambers Republicans in passing a resolution reaffirming the states opposition to same-sex marriage.

The legislation Lucio announced his support for Monday requires transgender people to use the bathroom inpublic schools, government buildings and public universitiesthat matches their biological sex and reverses local nondiscrimination ordinances that cover the topic.It has ignited widespread opposition among LGBT advocates and members of the business community, who say it is discriminatory and could have dire consequences on the state's economy.

As he spoke at the news conference, Lucio said he would vote for Senate Bill 6 because of his sympathy for parents and children on both sides of the issue.

We can be compassionate and fair to all while working to defend human dignity, he said. Children, youth, and parents in these difficult situations deserve compassion, sensitivity, and respectwithout infringing on legitimate concerns about privacy and security from other students and parents.

The backlash against his position was swift and fierce. Liberal groups across the state, including Progress Texas and the ACLU of Texas, asked their members to call Lucios office to express their disappointment. His sonEddie Lucio III,a Democratic state representative from Brownsville, was prompted to issue a statement Monday eveningclarifying that he did not join his father in supporting the bill.

"Shortly after it was made public that my father supports SB 6 and participated in a press conference, my office started receiving negative feedback from across Texas on his position on the bill, he said. "Unfortunately, most of the people who were calling my office were mistaking me for my father. On this issue, I respectfully disagree with my father."

The elder Lucio said he had raised his son to have a mind of his own.

"My approach is a little different. I grew up in a different generation maybe, but I taught my son to always be fair, never to cheat anyone, never to take from anyone one, always to give, and he has," he said. "I love him more when he speaks his mind."

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

He said he had received "emails, texts, calls" from constituents thanking him for his support of the legislation and that he wasn't concerned about negative reaction within his district.

"At my age I don't worry about political backlash," he said. "I don't worry about the next election. I want to improve the quality of life."

Disclosure: Progress Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors is availablehere.

Continued here:
Lucio's bathroom bill support is the latest example of aisle-crossing by Valley Democrat - Texas Tribune

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - One week after the Democrat-led House Finance Committee suggested a dramatic reduction in state payments to local governments that issue school bonds, the committee voted along caucus lines to add funding back into the operating budget proposal.

The 7-4 vote happened Tuesday afternoon as the committee considered hundreds of budget amendments, nearly all from minority Republican members attempting in vain to reduce government spending.

While the move would save $48 million annually, an idea that comes as policymakers grapple with $3 billion budget gap, Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, said the reversal of course came in response to intense criticism from local governments that would have picked up the tab.

In particular, Fairbanks may have been unable to cover the increased expenses because it has a hard revenue cap, Gara said.

The decision likely sets up negotiations with the GOP-controlled Senate over the K-12 budget, which takes up more money than anything else. In addition to potentially reducing bond debt reimbursement, a likely topic of conversation in coming weeks is whether or not to reduce the dollar amount school districts receive for each student enrolled.

Read the original post:
Democrat-led finance committee reverses course on proposal to cut school debt reimbursement - KTUU.com