Bill Clinton Has a Dream

Nevada: Culinary's help sent back to the chef

Click on image for full cartoon

The Culinary Union's endorsement of Barack Obama in Nevada was supposed to seal the deal for him. How could Hillary Clinton overcome the turnout in voters that the Culinary Union could provide?

Well, she did, winning seven of the nine at-large caucus sites on the Strip. They were the same sites Bill had criticized as giving an unfair advantage to the 60,000-strong union.

So in the secondary battle, D. Taylor, the head of the Culinary Union, lost to Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, the son of Harry Reid who helped push out the vote for Hillary. It was a risky move for Rory, but it looks like it paid off.

New Hampshire: Kucinich controls the votes

Click on image for full cartoon

Today we welcome the newest memember to the Politicker family, PolitickerNH.com.

Dennis Kucinich may not be making too many waves out there in the Democratic primary, to the point where the Texas Supreme Court isn't allowing him to be on their ballot, but the one place he is making a difference in New Hampshire. He has paid $27,000 to the Secretary of State's office to start a re-count of the primary vote in the Granite State. Election officials say that the recount, which officially began last week, could take up to a month, and could ultimately cost Kucinich $70,000 to re-count the entire state.

Supreme Court keeps Kucinich off Texas primary ballot
Houston Chronicle

N.H. Primary Democratic Re-Count Under Way
WBZ TV

New Jersey: The King's Highways

This week, Corzine continued to push his financial restructuring plan throughout the state. I've already commented in the cartoon below that I think Corzine has his plan stuck in his head, and is willing to 'hear' other people's suggestions while not really 'listening' to them.

Click on image for full cartoon

An interesting side note is the size of our unmentioned behemoth state government, which won't be cut, and will probably grow under his plan. Everyone in the state might be po'd in different degrees by Corzine's plan, but the state workers prefer it over actually loosing their jobs, or having their job's eliminated. So it's "woo-hoo" by them.

Unless they live near the turnpike or the parkway.

As a side note, since 'The Wizard of Trenton' is a play off the popular "Wizard of Id', I always try to draw it as if it were on the comics page. This time around, the strip I've included below it is 'Cul de Sac,' one of my favorite new strips, by the very awesome Richard Thompson. If you've never reads it, check it out here, and go check out Richard's blog here.

Here's the sketch:

Vermont: Leahy picks Obama

Click on image for full cartoon

Wally Edge from PolitickerVT.com notes this:

The Senior Senators move marks a clear blow to the Clinton campaign in the endorsement department. One democratic insider said that “the Clinton’s early on assumed everyone would be with them, especially someone in Leadership and from a neighboring state”.

Here's the sketch:

Colorado: Bruce goes on kicking

Click on image for full cartoon

Antitax crusader and all-around nutjob Douglas Bruce kicked a newspaper photographer and was then sworn in as a state representative on Monday. According to Cbs4Denver, Bruce later said he wouldn't apologize and that photographer should be the one to say he's sorry.

"I think that's the most offensive thing I've seen a photographer do in 21 years," Bruce said. "If people are going to cause a disruption during a public prayer, they should be called for it. He owes an apology to the House and the public."

Judge for your self. Watch the video here.

And here are some addiontal Doug Bruce cartoons for your viewing pleasure:

Ed Stein
Rocky Montain News

Mike Keefe
Denver Post

Maine: NewPage to close Rumford paper mill

Click on image for full cartoon

New Page officials announced on Wednesday that they are shutting down the #11 paper machine in Rumford, Maine, and with it goes about 60 jobs. It's just the latest smack the Maine economy has had to endure.

A bit of silver lining may be Verso Paper's announcement that it's looking to beef up the work force at its Bucksport mill. According to the Bangor Daily News, officials at the mill are still trying to determine how many employees they will need to hire. It appears the mill will need between five and 10 employees.

Here's the sketch:



And here are some links:

View the full cartoon over at PolitickerME.com.

Papermaker cuts 60 jobs in Rumford
Portland Press Herald

New Page troubles put spotlight on Edwards, trade policy
PolitickerME

Housing market keeps cauing trouble

A lot of attention (justifiably so) has been given to the sub-prime market meltdown, and the affect it has on the ability for you and I to sell our homes. What the economists seem to forget is that this meltdown also has had an effect on all the "table-scrap" industries that depend on a healthy housing market to survive, everything from furniture stores to landscaping businesses, even mega-giants like Lowes and Home Depot.

And I'm now officially depressed.

Library of Congress' Flickr page

I'll have more cartoons later this afternoon, but for now, check this out. It's a photo from the Library of Congress's flickr page. There are over 3000 photos in two sets, 1930s-40s in Color and News in the 1910s. The photo above is by Buck Hezog taken for the Bain News Service, taken way back in 1911. Awesome.

Check out the collection here.

Hat tip to Gawker.

Maryland: Gwendolyn Britt: 1941-2008

Click on image for full cartoon

Final respects to Prince George's County state Sen. Gwendolyn Britt can be paid at services for her Friday in Glen Dale.

The wake will take place Jan. 18 at 9:00 a.m., followed by the funeral at 11:00 a.m. at Reid Temple AME Church, 11400 Glenn Dale Boulevard in Glenn Dale.

On Thursday, her family will be present in the Senate Chambers for a 10 a.m. memoriam.

Gwendolyn Britt
Gwendolyn Britt's Senate homepage

Md. Senator Known for Putting People First
Washington Post

New Jersey: Corzine "listens" to people's suggestions about financial restructuring

Click on image for full cartoon

What is Corzine listening to on his iPod? Well, one this is for certain...he's not listening to people's suggestions about where he can put his toll road plan.

View the full cartoon over at PolitickerNJ.com.

Nevada: Tonight's debate put into perspective

Here's today's cartoon over at PolitickerNV.com.

All right everyone, get ready. It's debate time again in Nevada!

And with Hillary and Obama going back-and-forth on race, I thought I'd invoke the words of an expert on the matter to interject and put things into perspective.

The race card has been dealt
Politico

Arizona: A woman scorned

Here's today's cartoon over at PolitickerAZ.com.

So how many people out there are asking, "Who is Janet Napolitano?" Well, if you're not in the southwest, Napolitano is the Governor of Arizona, and her endorsement of Barack Obama could be significant in a state now regarded as winnable by a Democratic presidential candidate after decades as a near-lock for Republicans.

Granted, the endorsement might defy conventional wisdom. As a woman, you might assume that Napolitano would gravitate towards Clinton. (Also, Bill Clinton appointed Napolitano as a U.S. Attorney for Arizona in the 90s, you might think she owes it to the power couple.) But the results of the Iowa caucus, where Obama pulled in more female voters than Clinton, illustrated that for many women gender isn’t everything.

Here's the sketch:



More on the Napolitano endorsement
PolitickerAZ.com

Oregon: Kroger for Senate?

Click above to view today's cartoon over at PolitickerOR.com.

John Kroger loves telling everyone that he's "not a politician." But, recently he was caught telling some prospective supporters he wants to run for US Senate in six years because he doesn't think either Merkley or Novick have enough hutzpuh to take down Gordon Smith.

The Daily Kos touched on the idea of this way back in February:

Oregon is ripe for a genuine people-powered candidate. One name I'm hearing from locals is John Kroger, a former federal prosecutor who busted mafia kingpins and Enron execs. He's been a policy aide to Bill Clinton, Tom Foley and Chuck Schumer.

Condi loves her frozen drinks

Associated Press / Arizona Republic

I won't have any new cartoons until later on tonight into tomorrow, so to hold you over, here's Condoleezza Rice really getting into a strawberry slurpee during a visit to the Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday.

On the web: Arizona Republic photo gallery

New Jersey: To the loser go the spoils

Oh, Nick. At least you're not walking away empty handed. He may not have won the new car, but at least he got appointed to a public post at the Board of Public Utilities the day the lame-duck senator cast a critical vote for the governor's school-funding bill.

From the Cape May Herald:

On the same day he was named to the post, Asselta voted in favor of Corzine’s controversial $7.8-billion school funding formula, which squeaked to victory in a 23-13 vote in the Senate when it needed a minimum 21 votes to pass. Asselta was one of only five Republicans to approve the measure.

And just to belay your fears that the administration was doing something dirty, Brady Abelow assures us that's not the case:

"We never talk about the process that we go through to get the talented people that we find," Abe low said. "I've got nothing more to say on this other than it had nothing to do with" the school funding vote.

Did I mention that Abelow will be making $125,000 a year in his new post. By comparison, his annual salary as a legislator was $49,000.

Asselta got BPU job offer on day of crucial vote
Press of Atlantic City

Asselta out of '09 Assembly race
PolitickerNJ.com

Maine: So what did Baldacci have to say?

Click above to view my latest cartoon over at PolitickerME.com.

Vermont: The State of the State

It's South Carolina...let the dirty ads begin!

Ouch!

The ad is put out by a new 527 group called Victims Voice. They were set up by one Arkansas Republican, Keith Emis, with the assistance of his new financial backers.

Anti-Huck 527's Brutal Ad Stars Mother of One of Dumond's Murder Victims
Election Central

Dumond goes viral
Arkansas Blog (Arkansas Times)

Nevada: Culinary Union knows what they want for dinner

Click on that pretty lil' face above to view today's cartoon at PolitickerNV.com.

Well, the all-mighty Culinary Worker's Union has spoken from on high, bestowing Barack Obama with their all-powerful endorsement. This follows the smaller Nevada SEIU's endorsement of Obama earlier in the day.

Which means no love for John Edwards.

Hillary did manage to steal some of Obama's thunder in Nevada. U.S. Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, who had pledged alongside Harry Reid not to endorse a candidate in the primary, did so just after the Culinary Union made its endorsement. Now, it comes as no surprise that Berkley is a Hillary supporter; one only needs to look at her campaign donations. But it definitely was her and the Clinton campaign's intention to steal some of Obama's thunder, and at least get a mention alongside Barack.

Culinary Workers Endorse Obama
PolitickerNV.com

Breaking neutrality pledge, Berkley endorses Clinton
PolitickerNV.com

Nevada Savors Its Place as Maker of Momentum
New York Times