Ben Kirby - page 8

Gene Sperling is the Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. On Friday, President Obama announced that Sperling will be leaving the White House on January 1, replaced by former budget chief Jeff Zients. I would submit that this is — and will remain — the under-reported political story of the week, maybe the month. The world is focused on American relations with Russia, what will happen next in Syria, the Middle East…

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Mayor Bill Foster and challenger Rick Kriseman squared off in a mayoral debate last night the focus of which was business development in St. Petersburg. A quick scan of the post-event reporting isn’t too shocking. Mark Puente at the Tampa Bay Times ably covered the blow-by-blow quite well. It is no surprise to anyone paying attention when he goes on to characterize the heightening tensions as a “battle”. Will Mansell at the St. Pete Patch is not wrong when he reports that things…

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I don’t know about you, but after last year’s election I had my fill of polling for a bit. For me, the breaking point came a couple of weeks before the election. The Talking Points Memo PollTracker app on my phone set off buzzing alerts every few minutes — and , like a fool, I’d compulsively check them. For two or three months I’m not quite sure anyone ever saw me without my phone in my hand. Eyes gazing at…

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There are days in political campaigns that just don’t go well. Walking neighborhoods, a door gets slammed in your face one too many times. The big-time fundraiser doesn’t return your call. Maybe there’s an article that doesn’t reflect well on you. Perhaps your opponent gets a little earned media, a good-news day. Every campaign experiences bad days. And the bad days are a bi-partisan exercise — both sides have to cope with bad days. What you hope for is that…

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I have a question for you regarding the following twenty-nine words: Whoa! When we caught wind of the Koch Brothers’ secret plan to annihilate President Obama’s second term, we knew we’d need a powerful response. But this is SERIOUSLY jaw-dropping!!! If you received an email, the subject line of which was”JAW-DROPPING” — indeed, all caps — and then proceeded to read those next twenty-nine words, would any of them — exclamation points included — compel you to stroke a check…

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For those wondering what the next Big News might be following the anticlimactic St. Petersburg mayoral primary, that shoe dropped: St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon announced his resignation.  The Times headline may speak more volumes than any story or post ever could… Battered in mayoral election, St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon to retire It is the story not so much of Chuck Harmon, but of the St. Petersburg mayoral election itself. The first — and probably the most important —…

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President Obama is seeking Congressional approval for military action against the Syrian regime. This is smart politics, and a typical Obama move: put the ball in the court of Congress and loudmouth skeptics who like to complain because Obama is, well, Obama.  It is politically useful to make sure the anti-Obama crusaders have a little skin in the game.   The anti-Obama contingent may well vote no on any action in Syria — but like Democrats who voted “yes” to…

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