Washington Post “She the People” blogger Mary C. Curtis and Reuters White House correspondent Steve Holland discuss the significance of President Obama’s speech on race and Trayvon Martin.
What Foxx’s promotion means for him, the White House and Charlotte
CHARLOTTE — When Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx said that he would not run for the third term he was almost guaranteed to win easily, most folks in town figured something big was in his future. The explanation everyone expected officially came on Monday when President Obama announced Foxx, a Democrat, was his choice to join his second-term cabinet as Secretary of Transportation. The White House praised Foxx’s dealing with federal, state, regional and local transportation issues.
Foxx, who turns 42 on Tuesday, is Charlotte second African American mayor, the city’s youngest when he was first elected in 2009. No one in the region is surprised. When the FBI starts vetting you, it’s pretty hard to keep it a secret, especially in a Southern city that can be more like a small town.
Apr292013 TAGS: Anthony Foxx, Charlotte, Mayor Anthony Foxx, President Barack Obama, Ray LaHoood, Secretary of Transportation
Clinton, Feinstein and standing up to bullies
If you said Hillary Rodham Clinton owes the start of her independent political career to Rick Lazio, even Lazio might agree. The tipping point for the 2000 race for the U.S. Senate from New York between a former first lady and a U.S. Congressman? When Lazio, the Republican nominee, crossed over to Clinton’s side of the stage in a pre-election debate and demanded she sign a piece of paper. Few remember what was on that page, a pledge against using soft money in the campaign. They do remember the moment. Women – and to be fair, a lot of men – cringed, recalling similar encounters they might have had with a guy who stepped over the line. The rest is history, and it belongs to Clinton.
I thought of that image watching the back-and-forth between Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the gun legislation debate last week. Cruz’s question on the constitutionality of a ban on assault weapons, using the example of limits on the First Amendment, had merit. But it was the tone of condescension in Cruz’s voice and the smirk on his face that stuck.
While his Senate seat looks to be safe in Texas, his national ambitions definitely took a hit. Who wants a president who reminds them of that dude who treated you like an idiot?
Mar202013 TAGS: Dianne Feinstein, guns, Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama, Senate, Ted Cruz
Obama’s speech adjusted for more constrained circumstances
Four years ago, it seemed as though the Obama campaign could control everything — even the weather. On that night of his acceptance speech in the stadium in Denver, the setting was ideal, dry and cool, with the backdrop of endless sky perfect for the thousands who roared at his triumph. After that, his win in November 2008 was anticlimactic, almost pre-ordained.
Four years later in Charlotte, unpredictable storms marked the shortened Democratic convention. There were clear moments when everything seemed fine and on the right track, the air humid in the way you would expect in a Southern September. Then the sky would open for minutes of rain, and not a gentle mist, either. No, these were torrential downpours – brief but intense.
Sep082012 TAGS: Charlotte, Democratic convention, Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama, speech
