Rich Woman, Poor Woman, Beggar Woman, Thief

It was Night of the Republican Woman in the primary elections held around the country this Tuesday to pick candidates for the November 2010 races. You could count them on the cherry stones: rich woman, poor woman, beggar woman, thief.

There is a school of political thought that you should vote the biography not the issues. Let's see how that works with the new women of the Republican Party.

Meg Whitman is the rich woman and has so far spent $71 million of her own money (plus $10 million of other people's money) running for Governor of California. Meg ran eBay for 10 years, taking the company from $4.7 million to $8 billion in annual sales. Her net worth is reported to be $1.4 billion, making her one of the great entrepreneurs of the internet. She created 15,000 jobs at eBay and made the thousands upon thousands of small businesses that sell and trade on eBay possible.

Fun fact: In a previous job at Hasbro, Meg played a role in importing Teletubbies into the U.S.

Carly Fiorina as the former CEO of Hewlett Packard is the relatively poor woman running for U.S. Senate in California. Carly was reported at one time to have a net worth of $2.2 billion, but she now reports it's in the range of $30-120 million. With an apparent reduction in net worth of 95% to 99%, Carly's memoir Tough Choices would seem better titled Tough Luck.

Fun fact: Carly's campaign first gained our notice with her resemblance to Martha Coakley.

Nikki Haley must play beggar woman for votes again on June 22 in her primary race for Governor of South Carolina, as she finished at 49% just shy of the 50% needed to win her five-way race under state election law. Her closest challenger got 22% and will need to do some speed dating to catch her in just 2 weeks. Nikki's parents immigrated to the U.S. from India, which if she wins the race will make her the second Indian-American governor of a southern state (along with Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana). Would those xenophobic, racist, confederate-flag-flying rednecks down South do that? You betcha.

Fun fact: During the primary campaign, two players in the South Carolina Republican Party claimed to have had affairs with Nikki, which drove her poll numbers straight up by double digits.

Sharron Angle is the thief, the Tea Party Express candidate who stole the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Nevada in a three way race with Sue Lowden, the former Chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party (the barter for health care with chickens lady), and Danny Tarkanian, son of the legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Fun fact: The old pols don't give Sharron much chance against Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader whose reelection bid she will be hoping to tea bag in November. I don't know, September and October are two very pleasant months to tea party in Vegas.

My prediction is that 3 out of 4 of these women will win in November. And I will renew my previous prediction that the first woman President of the United States will be elected in 2016, and she will not be Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin.

Iowa to Rerun That '70s Show this Summer and Fall

After the Iowa primaries Tuesday night, it looks like it will be a rerun of That '70s Show this summer and fall going into the November 2010 general elections. At least that's the way it looks in the two big races for Governor and U.S. Senator.

In the U.S. Senate Race, Democrat Roxanne Conlin has been nominated to take on sitting Republican Senator Charles Grassley.

Grassley made his name in Iowa politics as the only Republican Congressman in Iowa to survive the 1974 election after Watergate and President Nixon's resignation. He has sat in the Senate seat for 30 years, and hopes to add 6 more.

Conlin made her name as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, getting appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. In 1982 she ran unsuccessfully for Governor.

In the Governor's race, sitting Democratic Governor Chet Culver will be challenged by former Republican Governor Terry Branstad.

Chet Culver's father John got elected U.S Senator for Iowa in the 1974 Democratic landslide and served one term before losing to Charles Grassley, who still holds the seat. Chet would like to extend his Governorship to two terms, and break the family curse.

Terry Branstad got elected Lieutenant Governor in 1979, and after one term in that office went on to serve as Governor for 16 years. After several years off, he wants to make it 20 years as Governor.

And how does Iowa feel about That '70s Show? Cedar Rapids, Iowa native Ashton Kutcher is said to be "pleased, punk'd, and looking forward to the residuals."

Republican primary voters were asked about the anti-incumbent Tea Party movement. "I'll have to double check with the local chapter of the DAR," one said. "That's Daughters of the American Revolution," she explained, "but I am sure we are still boycotting that British tea."

Actually, Tea Party candidates did win some Republican primaries in local races across the states. The Iowa Family PAC, which had hoped to elect candidates to repeal gay marriage, did not fare as well. So it seems Iowa is moving away the social conservatism that dominated the 1980s and 1990s and back to a more pocketbook conservatism, albeit with all the glacial slowness that formed its rolling hills.

Guess Who Made Emily's List and Who Didn't

Emily's List is the political action committee whose single-minded mission is the election of women, so long as they are Democrats and prochoice. Of course, prochoice Republican women, prolife Democratic women, and prochoice men need not apply.

Here's the list of who the Emilistas are supporting in the November 2010 races:

Candidate	Race	State
Diane Denish	Governor	New Mexico
Margaret Anderson Kelliher	Governor	Minnesota
Alex Sink	Governor	Florida
Deb Markowitz	Governor	Vermont
Robin Carnahan	U.S. Senate	Missouri
Kirsten Gillibrand	U.S. Senate	New York
Barbara Mikulski	U.S. Senate	Maryland
Patty Murray	U.S. Senate	Washington
Karen Bass	U.S. House	California
Barbara Boxer	U.S. House	California
Tarryl Clark	U.S. House	Minnesota
Suzan DelBene	U.S. House	Washington
Gabrielle Giffords	U.S. House	Arizona
Debbie Halvorson	U.S. House	Illinois
Colleen Hanabusa	U.S. House	Hawaii
Jane Harman	U.S. House	California
Mary Jo Kilroy	U.S. House	Ohio
Ann Kirkpatrick	U.S. House	Arizona
Suzanne Kosmas	U.S. House	Florida
Ann McLane Kuster	U.S. House	New Hampshire
Julie Lassa	U.S. House	Wisconsin
Carolyn Maloney	U.S. House	New York
Betsy Markey	U.S. House	Colorado
Terri Sewell	U.S. House	Alabama
Carol Shea-Porter	U.S. House	New Hampshire
Betty Sutton	U.S. House	Ohio
Dina Titus	U.S. House	Nevada

So who is not on this list?

Martha Coakley got the tap from Emily's List in last January's special election for U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Martha lost that election but is running for reelection this November for Massachusetts Attorney General. Maybe Martha forgot to send her Thank You notes.

Blanche Lincoln is running for reelection for U.S. Senate in Arkansas. Blanche just barely eked out a victory against a tough primary challenger and now faces a tough Republican challenger in November. She is on the brag list of women Emily's List helped elect. So why isn't she on the 2010 list?

Folk Lunch Wednesday in Kendall Square, Folk Lunch Thursday in Harvard Square

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but who needs a free lunch when you can get free folk music from Club Passim?

Kendall Square Folk Lunch Wednesday:

What: Club Passim Summer Concert Series, in partnership with Cambridge Center
When: Wednesdays 1-2 PM
Where: Cambridge Center Plaza, Kendall Square Cambridge, Mass.
Where is that again: the courtyard on Main Street next to Legal Sea Foods and the Red Line station
Line-up:
6/16 - Brendan Hogan
6/23 - Rose Polenzani
6/30 - Margaret Glaspy
7/7 - Chris O'Brien
7/14 - Jason Myles Goss
7/21 - Emily Elbert
7/28 - Kate Klim
8/4 - David Wax Museum
8/11 - Todd Thibaud
8/18 - Jay Nash
8/25 -Julia Easterlin

Harvard Square Folk Lunch Thursday:

What: Club Passim on Palmer, in partnership with The Cambridge Arts Council sponsored by The Harvard Coop, The Harvard Business Association and The Cambridge Office for Tourism
When: Thursdays 12-1PM, June 17-Sept. 9
Where: Palmer Street
Where is that again: The alleyway between the two Harvard Coop buildings, and between the Border Cafe & Club Passim
Line-up:
6/17 - John Gerard
6/24 - Chris O'Brien
7/1 - Hanneke Cassel
7/8 - Liz Longley
7/15 - Jake Armerding
7/22 - Lloyd Thayer
7/29 - Kimber Ludiker & Andy Cambria
8/5 - Royer's One Man Band
8/12 - Carsie Blanton
8/19 - David Wax Museum
8/26 - Margaret Glaspy
9/2 - Emily Elbert
9/9 - The Whiskey Boys


A good reason not to leave town early for the July 4th weekend is to catch Hanneke Cassel playing in Harvard Square at noon on Thursday, July 1.

Toby Keith to Light up Boston on the Fourth of July

Country music megastar Toby Keith will be performing with the Boston Pops for the Fourth of July concert on the Charles River Esplanade. According to july4th.org, that concert begins in 24 days, 9 hours, 8 minutes, and 17 seconds.

No word yet on whether Toby and the Boston Pops will be performing Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American):


...
Now this nation that I love has fallen under attack.
A mighty sucker punch came flying in from somewhere in the back.
Soon as we could see clearly through our big black eye,
Man we lit up your world like the Fourth of July.

Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly,
And there's gonna be Hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell!
It's gonna feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you...
Brought to you courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!

Oh, Justice will be served and the battle will rage.
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
You'll be sorry that you messed with the US of A
'Cuz we'll put a boot in your ass
It's the American way.
...

They could perform it with live cannon fire, church bells, and fireworks as is the Boston Pops tradition for the William Tell Overture. That I would cross the river to see!

By the way, I don't think Toby Keith consults with experts to learn whose ass to kick. He just knows. And there is no Harvard comma in the title of his most notorious song.

Pretty Soon We'll Just Need Two Boxes on the Census Form

According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, 14% of new marriages in the U.S. are interracial or interethnic. And the intermarriage rates are increasing, more than doubling from 1980 (6.7%) to 2008 (14.6%).

At the family level, 35% of all adults say they have an immediate family member or close relative who is married to someone of a different race. Again, increasing intermarriage is the trend with 26% of those ages 50 and over saying this and 41% of those under age 50 saying this.

This comes as no surprise to me, as noted here 16 months ago. I think this means that soon we will just need two boxes on the U.S. census form:

__ American
__ Not American

And don't be telling me it's Un-American to suggest such a thing. I'm ready to dispense with these old labels. But I'll give you ten years to get used to the idea, in time for the next census.

Ghost in the Dave Rawlings Machine

The Dave Rawlings Machine played the Paradise Rock Club on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston this Saturday night. It was two sets followed by two encores, and we were lucky to get back across the river to Cambridge by midnight.

The band is a new incarnation for Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch, who have been performing together as Gillian Welch for more than 15 years. And the show was a homecoming of sorts as both trained at Boston's Berklee College of Music in the early 1990s.


The Dave Rawlings Machine is a band won't sit still for a picture, even during the second encore at the Paradise in Boston.


Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch performing at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City.

Those who come to hear Gillian Welch are bound to be disappointed. We found the Dave Rawlings Machine to be happy and high energy, whereas Gillian Welch will slowly rip your heart out every time. We will admit that Dave is a better backup singer for Gillian than Gillian is for Dave. But the ensemble pulled together some crowd pleasing covers such as This Land is Your Land and The Weight.

And the lyric "To Be Young, Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High" is well on its way to becoming an anthem for the alt-country Americana crowd, judging by the audience sing-along. And there was a lot of candy to go around with Big Rock Candy Mountain, Sweet Tooth, and a third song that went on forever and whose name is a little sticky in my memory right now.

You can get your Sweet Tooth filled by running out and buying A Friend of a Friend.