As we move on from the results of the 2008 presidential election, Imagine A Great Election will monitor President-elect Barack Obama and his transition team. As the financial crisis continues to worsen, it’s clear there is no transition for Americans who are losing their jobs and life savings and are facing financial ruin in their retirement. We cannot afford to wait until the inauguration of President Obama to express our informed opinions to our government, our representatives, and the media on matters of such urgency.
Consider the various conflicting opinions regarding a possible auto industry bailout:
Republicans say that automakers that can’t sustain themselves should use bankruptcy protection to become competitive rather than depend on federal assistance.
Democrats say money for automakers should be taken from the $700 billion financial industry bailout. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decided not to conduct a vote this week on such a plan, saying the Bush administration already has the power to offer this assistance with no further legislation.
President Bush reportedly has “no appetite” for using financial industry bailout money to help auto companies. His administration is urging members of Congress to pass a compromise plan that Bush can support.
President-elect Obama has called on the Bush administration to accelerate $25 billion in loans promised by a recent law designed to help automakers retool for the development of fuel-efficient vehicles.
A bipartisan group of senators from car-making states (MI, OH, MO) this week also voiced support of offering $25 billion in loans via a compromise plan. The group believes such a compromise would pass because funds would come from the Energy Independence and Security Act passed in 2007, not the $700 billion financial rescue plan.
Any bailout of the U.S. automobile industry must focus on the workers, not on the people who organize labor for, own, or lead the corporations in this industry. The need for such a bailout is NOT the fault of workers and the rising costs of maintaining the pensions they earn or the healthcare they and their families need. The blame for the state of the auto industry lies with industry leaders, the same leaders who will survive this crisis with their pensions intact while the people they were supposed to lead end up with no jobs, no pensions, and no healthcare. We must protect the workers, not support the corporate fat cats who’ve caused the problem in the first place. When automaker executives fly to Washington on corporate jets with their hands out for assistance, they make it clear they just don’t get it and/or just don’t care.
This is our opinion. Voice your opinion by contacting your representatives, the leadership of both parties, and members of the committees that ought to be exercising oversight in Congress. Also contact Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson and the President of the United States. Individually and collectively, American citizens can and should influence the actions of our leaders. It is our responsiblity as well as our right.
—Sherry Seiber
When President Obama is sworn into office in January, we will launch ImagineAGreatCountry.com. Imagine A Great Country will analyze issues of top importance to American voters and will encourage readers to continue to contact their elected representatives and the media on such critical matters.
The Election is Not Over
At least not in Colorado. Colorado is in need of a Secretary of State because the current Secretary of State, Republican Mike Coffman, is going to Congress.
The law of succession states that the Governor of Colorado is responsible for appointing someone to fill the vacancy.
The politics of succession is that the Governor is a Democrat and the resigning Secretary of State is a Republican. It is customary to appoint as a replacement for such a vacancy a person of the same party as the Governor. The Denver Post reports that this custom is validated by the the Republican Party Chairman, Dick Wadhams, who has stated that he would not be critical of the Governor for appointing a Democrat. The Governor’s selection in this case is made easy by the fact that Mike Coffman narrowly defeated State Senator Ken Gordon, a Democrat, in 2006. Senator Gordon has at least 748,532 personal references:
Secretary of State Candidate
Political Party
Popular Vote
Mike Coffman
Republican
772,403
50.78%
Ken Gordon
Democratic
748,532
49.22%
Mike Coffman benefitted from the disastrous 2006 election when Senator Gordon led Coffman 70% to 30% in Denver County. The lines to vote during this mid-term election were so long that voters were discouraged by the wait. Many also were discouraged by Republican operatives who intentionally misinformed voters that their votes would not count if they were not inside the building by the time the polls closed.
While in office as Secretary of State, Mike Coffman continued the tradition of voter repression by the Republican party when he intentionally violated the Federal law which prohibits purging voter registrations within 90 days before an election. To read more about the Republican Party’s concerted effort to repress votes, go here.
Unlike Mike Coffman, Senator Gordon is still interested in becoming Secretary of State.
Governor Ritter has a unique opportunity in politics: He can appoint a replacement who has already garnered the support of 49.22% of the electorate’s confidence. Ken Gordon would then have two years to prove he is capable of performing the job.
From a purely political point of view, one need only look to 2004 when now-Senator Ken Salazar resigned as Colorado Attorney General. Republican Governor Bill Owens appointed John Suthers, a Republican, to replace him. In the 2006 election, Suthers won the position in an otherwise Democratic year.
If you agree that Senator Ken Gordon should be appointed as Colorado’s Secretary of State, contact the Governor’s office and share your opinion with Governor Ritter.
December 11, 2008 Update: All three current candidates for Colorado Secretary of State are dedicated, capable public servants. We at Imagine A Great Election continue to endorse Ken Gordon because he has demonstrated his commitment to this position.
—Sherry Seiber
Celebrating Obama Imagine A Great Election considers the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States to be an historic event worthy of much celebration. Go to My Mixed-Race Family for a unique perspective on this election from Imagine A Great Election contributor, Karen DeGroot Carter. Additional personal perspectives will be featured in Essays on Obama in the near future.
Go here to read a letter from France entitled “Thank you America” and to view election night photos from around the world.
Go here to watch and listen to President-Elect Obama’s address to the world from Chicago on election night, November 4, 2008.
We Imagined A Great Election. We have had just that, a great election. In a time when politicians and their strategists plan the narrowest of roads to victory, Barack Obama stepped forward and led this nation upwards on the broadest road to unity.
However, to ensure a continuation of this unifying approach, Americans will need to be vigilant. A November 13, 2008 Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Karl Rove clearly indicates that Rove and other political strategists insist Republican party leaders must pursue an increasingly narrow, limited approach as they prepare for future elections. Imagine A Great Election will actively cover such plans and the strategies put in place to further them.