Say it again - this time with feeling:
This Time, Ballot Issues Could Rally Liberal Base!I have never been giddier about the headlines I am reading this morning - this is all fantastic.
According to the
National Review, six states have "minimum-wage initiatives on the ballot in six states this fall:
Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and Ohio. Five of them — Colorado is the single exception — are home to a Senate race featuring a Republican incumbent."from the
Washington Post<snip>
In 2006, Democrats are hoping to prove that ballot politics can work in the other direction. Measures to increase the minimum wage are before voters in six states. Four of those, Arizona, Ohio, Missouri and Montana, feature close Senate races with a GOP incumbent. In Missouri, moreover, a measure backing stem cell research is ahead in the polls -- which Democrats say could lift their candidate.
<snip>
"Rewarding hard work with a fair wage is not just an abstract pocketbook economic issue but a statement of values," said Kristina Wilfore, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which promotes using ballot strategy for liberal causes. "While the left usually talks in dry economic terms, the right made a concerted effort to copyright values -- meaning a set of divisive, scapegoating issues. The popularity of the minimum-wage initiatives is a testament to how powerfully progressive values speak to Americans."
<snip>
Cathy Madewall, 49, an administrative assistant in Cincinnati, said she heard about Let Justice Roll, a faith-based effort in Ohio to raise the minimum wage, at her church. She has not been active in politics in the past, but she has spent hours working for the minimum-wage campaign. And she will vote for a Democratic slate this fall.
<snip>
"I think Sherrod Brown and all the members of the Democratic ticket will ride on the coattails of the minimum wage," he said.
I like it. Help the Democrats help lift people out of poverty.
What a nice way to start the day.