Mediaboss Marketing

The death of former New York governor Mario Cuomo Thursday triggered an immediate and laudatory recollection from Democrats of his fiercely delivered 1984 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, with many party figures calling the address a touchstone moment that reinvigorated weary liberals during the Reagan years.

On social media, hundreds of stunned Cuomo admirers quickly shared a YouTube video of the speech upon learning of his passing, including Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for President Obama, who wrote in a Twitter message, the speech is in my top five of all time.

Also on Twitter, Keith Boykin, a former aide in the Clinton White House, called it one of the best political speeches ever delivered.

Cuomos speech, given on a July night at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, was originally crafted as a response to Ronald Reagans frequent and cheery description of the United States as a shining city on a hill. Cuomo took that image and turned it, urging Reagan to look closer at the countrys condition.

This nation is more a tale of two cities than it is just a shining city on a hill, Cuomo said. There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces you dont see, in the places you dont visit in your shining city.

The late former New York governor gave a keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention that launched him into the spotlight. (CSPAN)

In the decades since, the speech has become a beloved text in Democratic politics, cited as an electric example of liberal vigor and hope, months before Democrat Walter F. Mondale would go on to lose to Reagan in a landslide and eight years before Bill Clinton would win the presidency.

On Twitter Thursday evening, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the Nation, a liberal magazine, described the speech as prescient.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a statement, heaped praised on Cuomos soaring oratory that stirred the very soul.

The approximately eight-minute speech was also the culmination of the political pitch Cuomo had been honing in the years before, and adhered to his long-held belief that lyrical persuasion was critical to politics, as much as the policies. At its core, there was a strong emphasis on the need for government, at both a state and federal level, to operate as a family, with care and compassion for those whose were in need.

Go here to read the rest:
Cuomos 1984 speech stirred Democrats, then and for decades

By Humberto Sanchez Posted at 1:39 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2015

Schumer warned Republicans against any effort to politicize the Congressional Budget Office. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Sen. Charles E. Schumer and five other Senate Democrats raised concerns in a letter Friday that Republican leaders will replace the current Congressional Budget Office director as part of an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

We strongly object to any effort to politicize this important office, the letter said.Appointing a new CBO Director on the basis of ideology would fundamentally compromise the integrity of an institution that has served as a trusted scorekeeper.

The Democrats also called for current director Doug Elmendorf to be allowed to stay on.

Director Elmendorfs record and the importance of continuity in such a critical position are compelling reasons why he should remain in the position, and we hope very much that you will reach that conclusion, the letter said.

The letter was addressed to incoming Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, incoming Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and incoming House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga.

Signatories of the letter included Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who is chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Center, and DPCC vice chairman Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is DPCC strategic policy adviser, and Sen. Mark Warner, who is DPCC policy development adviser, also signed on to the letter. Both were added to the Senate Democratic leadership ranks in reaction to the loss of the majority in the 2014-midterm elections.

With control of both chambers, Republicans are entitled to pick a new CBO director. The House speaker and the Senate president pro tempore jointly appoint the CBO director after considering recommendations from the House and Senate budget committees.

Read more:
Democrats Call on GOP to Keep CBO's Elmendorf

Listen Story audio 4min 4sec Peterson, Franken, and WalzScott Takushi / The St. Paul Pioneer Press via AP

Some Minnesota congressional Democrats seem surprisingly optimistic about losing power.

Republicans will control the U.S. House and Senate next year and no politician wants to be in the minority. But members on both sides of the aisle expect a degree of stability now that the GOP will run both houses. That may open new opportunities to work together.

The GOP plans to look for issues that at least some Democrats are likely to support, said 3rd District GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen.

High on Paulsen's list is a repeal of the medical device tax that's part of the Affordable Care Act.

Even though Democrats generally oppose making changes to the law, undoing the tax is one provision that's gathered bipartisan support.

"I think the philosophy that our leadership has is that we're going to start producing legislation and looking for opportunities to show that we can govern and get some things done," Paulsen said.

As the recent vote to fund the government made clear, there are deep splits within both parties deep enough that some DFLers see an opening.

"Sometimes in the minority you actually have more leverage than you might otherwise," said 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz. He thinks GOP House Speaker John Boehner may try to push legislation that won't have the support of tea party-allied Republicans.

"They're going to need some moderates to help them out on some things, and I think that's a role that we play well," Walz said. "That's what my constituents want me to do."

The rest is here:
Out of power, MN congressional Democrats see room to maneuver

SBY #39;s Democrats Clamor for New Party Congress to Elect Leader

By: BeritaSatu English

Original post:
SBY's Democrats Clamor for New Party Congress to Elect Leader - Video

Democrats are taking a strikingly cautious approach to the controversy surrounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and his speech to a white supremacist group in 2002.

The vast majority ofDemocrats are not calling for Scalise to resign, or for leadership to drop him. But they are tying Scalise to other Republicans and arguing the issue is emblematic of a party Democrats argue is at odds with minority groups on a range of policies.

Democrats dont want to get too far in front of the story, particularly since it is unclear whether Scalises 2002 address to the European-American Unity and Rights Organization is an isolated incident.

Its also possible that Democrats are quite happy to see Scalise continue to be a part of the GOP leadership, since it will allow them to return to the story about his address to a group founded by David Duke repeatedly between now and Election Day 2016, when Democrats hope a broader electorate will help them win the White House and take back House and Senate seats.Only Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (N.Y.) has called for his resignation as majority whip.

They probably believe that hes more useful to them if he remains a leader in the Republican Party, said Bob Mann, a professor at Louisiana State University and a former Democratic aide.

If he resigns, problem solved, the Republicans have banished this embarrassing person from their midst, and the Democrats cant use him as a symbol for intolerance.

The statement from Pelosis office framed Scalises address as symptomatic of a larger GOP problem.

Actions speak louder than whatever Steve Scalise said to that group in 2002, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said.

Just this year, House Republicans have refused to restore the Voting Rights Act or pass comprehensive immigration reform, and leading Republican members are now actively supporting in the federal courts efforts by another known extremist group, the American Center for Law and Justice, which is seeking to overturn the presidents immigration executive actions.

Peter Fenn, a Democratic strategist and contributor at The Hill, said that it would be pretty Machiavellian for Democrats to want to keep Scalise in leadership for personal gain. He believes that Pelosi and other Democrats are holding back in fear of jumping the gun before all the facts come out.

Read the original post:
Democrats take cautious approach with GOP, Scalise