Governor's race

At this point, former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear (D) is virtually assured to defeat Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R), according to a Survey USA poll, which shows him up, 62% to 34%. This would further the Democrats' lead in governorships- 29 to 21, due, in part, to a high number of popular governors in the midwest. However, as Congressman Bobby Jindal (R) is also assured of the governorship in the upcoming Louisianna Governor's race, with the departure of popular former Sen. John Breaux from the ring, the shift would return to 28-22 in the Dems' favor on the number of governor's mansions garnered.

Illegal Immigration

While I have political stances of most issues, I'm pretty moderate on illegal immigration. It's a heated topic and the only time that the two sides have ever agreed on anything was that they both disapprove of the recently scrapped compromise. And everyone hates McCain (who supports the compromise) more than ever. The rightwing voter feels that McCain is letting down the border agents (reality check: the bill would add 18,000 more border patrol agents) and latinos gripe about the $5,000 fine, among others (at least this speeds up the number of illegals who get green cards over the current system). It's unfortunate, because this is a problem that badly needs reform. There are about 12 million illegals who have difficulty speaking English, getting recognition in hospitals, and paying taxes with the fear they'll get caught. Yes, there is labor to be done but there are also places where illegals simply aren't welcome (like Farmer's Branch). I respected McCain before but now with his flip-flopping and simply saying what the audience likes over what is right, I certainly don't think of him as positively as now. But speeding reform on this issue is one of the decent things that McCain has done right now and he's paying the price. While our politicians are laying off on the issue for fear that they'll lose voters from both sides, we need to recognize that we need compromise on this issue- no extreme measure on either side is going to pass. We need to grant citizenship to some and tighten border control, no matter how unpopular this plan may be.

Welcome!

This blog will be dedicated to American politics and maybe a few things off topic. So what shall we start with? 2008? WashingtonWatch? religion in politics? civil liberties? We'll be covering it all soon.