Politics

Politics

There are 1,050 posts filed in Politics (this is page 44 of 105).

Raleigh Aquatics to do away with punch passes

At tonight’s Parks and Rec Fees and Charges committee meeting, I learned that the Raleigh Parks and Recreation Aquatics program plans to do away with the popular punch passes. The passes allow 15 swims apiece but will be phased out beginning in January.

Aquatics director Terry Stroupe said the goal is to get people moved to the monthly and annual passes, which offer greater savings. I believe there is also an issue with the new “class” system and swipe cards not being able to support the punch-pass type of transaction.
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Stepping away from CACs

This morning I let my fellow RCAC members know that I would not be running for a second term as chair of the RCAC when my term is up in January. It was a difficult decision for me as it’s been an honor to serve as the leader of leaders. I’ve really seen folks working together to a degree I hadn’t seen in a long while. That seems like a good time to step aside, though, doesn’t it? When things are going well?

I have had a few chairs ask if I would consider staying on but I was noncommittal until today. Part of my job as leader is to help create other leaders. People tend to step up when there’s a leadership opportunity. I have confidence that the RCAC will have a great leader to follow me and that the RCAC will continue to grow and prosper.
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More ‘fewer angry white guys’

Tim Funk at the News and Observer also points out the value of the non-white vote.

Tuesday’s voting results held some good news for North Carolina Democrats hoping to keep the state competitive in future election years.

Black voters, who make up 22 percent of the state’s population, cast 23 percent of the vote and went for Obama 96 percent to 4 percent, according to exit polls.

And Latinos went for Obama 68 percent to 31 percent. “You’re talking 2-1 in a group that’s getting to be a bigger part of this state,” said Bitzer.

But exit polls also said this: White voters, who now represent 70 percent of the state’s electorate, were even less supportive of the president than in 2008.

That year, 35 percent of white voters in North Carolina cast their ballots for Obama.

In 2012, he got 31 percent.

via 5 reasons why Obama didn’t carry North Carolina – Elections – NewsObserver.com.

Not Enough ‘Angry White Guys’

Here’s why I’m not at all worried about the future of the Democratic Party: demographics. The “angry white guys” that have lately been the target constituency of the GOP are fast becoming a minority. Couple with the fact that many of those angry white guys are also older means that this demographic isn’t a long-term way to build a party.

The Tea Party may disagree, but the racism that once kept Jessie Helms in office and Michael Dukakis out of office is a dead-end political strategy. The party that values inclusiveness (and more closely aligns with the changing demographics) will be the one that succeeds in the long term.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham’s remark that there weren’t enough “angry white guys” to bring Republicans to power seemed prophetic in the light of President Barack Obama’s victory. A decline in the number of white voters and a surge in voters from ethnic minorities and women helped Obama on election night. Ohio, one of the key battleground states, was captured in part through a rise in turnout among African-Americans, who voted overwhelmingly for Obama.

via Secret to Romney’s Defeat: Not Enough ‘Angry White Guys’? – U.S. Election 2012 – CNBC.

The Daylight Saving Time Fog

I was on the agenda for yesterday’s City Council meeting. Lately I’ve been done with these in about an hour. This session had a few more detailed items for discussion, however, and I waited in the audience long enough that I began to lose focus.

It seemed like I wasn’t the only one with this affliction. Maybe I was seeing things through sleepy eyes but to me the whole room seemed remarkably devoid of energy.

An amusing parade then began at the Council table. City Attorney Tom McCormick, a man who usually stays glued to his seat lest the Councilors get themselves into legal hot water while unsupervised, quietly stepped away from the table and out of the room, returning after a few minutes. I’m not sure why Tom stepped away, obviously, but I do know that it’s very rare for him to do so.
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Can we let go of the anger now?

Yesterday was Election Day and, like many other elections, I found some time to volunteer for a campaign. My friend Sig Hutchinson was running for state senate, so I stood outside the Lacy Elementary polling place as a poll greeter for Sig from before sunrise to 9 AM.

As I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see the poll greeter across from me was also supporting Democratic party candidates. For the first hour we were alone, wondering where the Republican poll greeters were. Soon after, we were joined by others, one supporting Dr. Jim Fulghrum, one supporting Dan Forest, and one supporting Caroline Sullivan. Aside from the signs and campaign material, though, you never would’ve known that we all weren’t simply good friends, though. We were having such a fun and friendly conversation that I felt compelled to snap a picture of us all, lest I wake up this morning and think it was all just a dream.
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NBC News picks up on the Hacked by Mitt Romney story


NBC News’s Red Tape Chronicles blog mentioned the Hacked by Mitt Romney Facebook page in its story this afternoon on political social media fakery.

There have even been claims by hundreds of Obama supporters that they were somehow tricked or hacked into “liking” Mitt Romney on Facebook, as evidenced by the “Hacked by Mitt Romney” page. Facebook says there’s a much simpler explanation than hacking; it’s fairly easy to accidentally like a page on Facebook, making that the likely culprit.

What’s ironic is that this issue is gaining legitimacy largely due to the growing numbers of Facebook fans that the Hacked by Mitt Romney page is attracting.

via On social media, fakery muddies political discussion – Red Tape.

Miami journalist Hacked by Mitt Romney

I found this interesting Tweet from Hannah Sampson, business writer for the Miami Herald:

Hannah Sampson ?@hannahbsampson

@mkramer I like no candidate on Facebook (per my newspaper’s policy) but someone decided I liked Mitt Romney and hacked my page to say so.

Journalists are often prohibited by their media employers from publicly displaying their political beliefs in order to maintain nonpartiality (or the illusion of it, anyway). That Sampson would have made herself a fan of Mitt Romney’s Facebook page is quite unlikely indeed.

Tech guru Fred Langa gets Hacked by Mitt Romney


Veteran tech journalist and Windows expert Fred Langa found himself Hacked by Mitt Romney:

It happened to me about a week ago, when Facebook told me — and all my contacts — that I’d “liked” Romney.

I’d done no such thing.

Fess up, Facebook. You think he made a mistake with Facebook Mobile, don’t you?

via Fred Langa: "What comes next?": It's spreading: Facebook name-harvesting for fake Romney 'likes'.