VP Nominee Almost Recalled as Mayor of Wasilla

Whew, it sounds like Elaine Bennes wasn't vetted very well by McCain. Pretty tough job when you only met that person once. Seems like in 1997, Elaine fired the chief of Police and Library Director of Wasilla for no good reason. Citizens of Wasilla considered a recall of Bennes. Here's a story about the situation. Amazingly, she could do such a bad job as a mayor of town with 5,400 people thar se almost got recalled. Sounds like a perfect VP.

Elaine Bennes as VP?

Why did John McCain pick Elaine Bennes as his VP?

Income Distribution, Unemployment, and Poverty Increases

I was reading the Commercial Appeal today and it had a story about povery increasing here in Memphis. Anyone who has been here over the past few years is well aware of this, but here is some data about Memphis.

The overall median household income in 2000 was $32,285. In 2006, it was $37,676. Non adjusted for inflation.

For whites:

2000- $41,112

2006- $49,453

For Blacks:

2000- $26,850

2006- $26,058

Read that part about black household income again. It dropped. If you adjust $26,058 in 2006 dollars to year 2000 dollars, it is $22,372. In actual purchasing power, Black people in Memphis are only able to buy in 2006 83% of what they could in 2000. I'm 99% sure that the situation has continued to decline.

Here is what that median household income breaks down on the map of Memphis. I think it is safe to say that poverty is decentralizing. the disturbing problem is that the poorest areas will continue to fall further and further behind if things do not change.

I it looks like over 80% of the city will not even keep up with inflation over the next four years. Those folks in the poorest areas will only get poorer.

Look at the concentration of unemployment in the poorest areas of the city. (note the airport, President's Island, and Shelby farms are data quirks) We as a city and a nation have to re-evaluate education and employment policies. Are we going to continue to wharehouse these unemployed people in prisons and slums? In Memphis' case, we have to think about what is coming over the horizon in terms of economic opprotunity. Our only hope is to become a center for alternative energy manufacturing, wind, hydro, and solar. If we don't pursue this we will not be able to address this fundamental economic problem and we'll become the Detroit of the South.

Super District 9 Maps

So Vibinc calls me out when he used maps in his post about the Super District 9 race ;) He showed precincts with strength for Conrad, Lit, and Wilder. I checked them out and I thought I'd add my two cents on the race.

The above map shows the precincts of Super District 9 and total number of black registered voters. In Super District 9, there are 51,165 black voters, 97,795 white voters, and 67,992 other voters.

The above map shows the number of white voters.

This map show the precincts Vibnic said were strong for Wilder, Lit, and Conrad. Lit and Conrad are strong in East Memphis. Conrad is also supposed to do well in Cordova. Wilder is supposed to be strong in Midtown, Frayser, and Jackson Ave area.

Above map: Here's where I think 2 Shay will win and do well, much of it at the cost of Mary Wilder. Everyone knows Black voter turnout is going to be big because of Obama. The precincts where 2 Shay wins are the ones with a black voter majority. The other precincts are ones where black voters are 30% or more of the total registered voters. If I am 2 Shay, I put out 4 by 8 plywood signs with my picture on it and "Democrat" across the bottom (Who cares if the election is nonpartisan). I then do a mail out to all 51,000 black registered voters in Super District 9 with his picture next to Obama's. Finally, I go to every Hispanic voter group I can in Hickory Hill, Raleigh, Frayser, and the Jackson Ave areas. I'd even go on Spanish language radio and talk about issues facing hispanics in Memphis. My catch phrase would be "If Obama can be the first black president, I can be the first black Super District 9 council member".

Oh, one last thing. Here was the turnout for the November general election in 2006. I'm figuring it will be similar. Lower turnout in east Memphis and bigger turnout in 2 Shay's districts.

McCain's Convoy to Starbucks

Per the LA Times today. John McCain had a 9 car convoy escort him to Starbucks. I guess that is one car from every house. hahahahaha

I Have to Check with My Staff and See How Many Houses I Own

McCain didn't know how many houses he owns. He checked with his staffer and the staffer said at least 4. Obama says it is 7. Josh Marshall says it is at least 10. 4, 7, 10, who can keep up with such things?

Carol Chumney- Welcome to Political Oblivion

I don't really know what Carol Chumney is thinking. She has politically maxed out. She will never get elected to anything higher than city council. I don't understand why she can't see this. It's like she's Wily Coyote and she's trying to defy the laws of political gravity through obliviousness.

"When the right opportunity presents itself for public service, I'll be ready to again offer my 17 years of state and local government experience, my platform of positive change, my passion, drive and dedication to making this a world-class city, for consideration by the voters."

Huh? When the time is right? When will that be?
When Deidre Malone runs for county mayor in 2010- No, because Deidre Malone will whip her six ways to Sunday.
When AC Wharton or Myron Lowery run for city mayor in 2011- No. They will whip her seven ways to Sunday. (She's not splitting the black vote either and sliding through with the vote vote. White folks are going to vote for AC and Myron more than Chumney.)

The only way Carol Chumney has any political relevance or future is for her to run in this special election and get back on the council. Otherwise, she will never get re-elected to the council again and she will never be mayor. Why she can't figure this out is beyond me.

Was Being the Worst Person in the World on August 6th, 2008 Really Worth 19%?

Perhaps this is the greatest flame-out ever in local Memphis politics. Sure, there have been people who have gotten whupped just as bad as Tinker, but no one has gotten such colossal failure documented across the country. Stop for just a second and think about how Tinker went so far down in the mud that DailyKos, Talking Points Memo, and the New York Times wrote about her. Was it really worth getting named the Worst Person in the World on national television for 19% of the vote? For years to come, when Tinker goes to some union busting convention and she introduces herself, people will say "weren't you the race baiting democrat who got named 'Worst Person in the World.'" There's no hiding from this. Every activist democrat in the country knows about her. Her revolting campaign and thumping will have internet immortality. When she is 80 years old and running for president of the Boca Vistas Retirement home in Coco Beach Florida, somebody will google her and she'll lose that election.

I do have one suggestion. Start going by Nicole or use an alias. I've always been partial to Cruella de Tinker. It seems so fitting.

PS-Emily's List, you are morons who pissed away your reputation on this haint.

Final Early Voting Turnout- Democrats

So how does the 9th Congressional Primary look to you? Does the higher turnout in Southeast Memphis, East Memphis, Midtown and Downtown help Cohen? Can Cohen split the vote coming out of Whitehaven?

On a side note, as I am writing this post I watching the Binghampton special on Channel 5. On this map Binghampton is the dark green square in the center of the city next to high turnout precincts in Midtown. Needless to say, that neighborhood has problems.

The Dominance of Female Early Voting

This is an interesting phenomenon. I haven't been around politics long enough to know if this is a normal pattern for Memphis. There is a huge number of precincts that have over 2/3's of early voters being women. The question I have is why? Is it because of differences in employment, apathy, poverty, lost voting rights? After the election I'll make an updated map to see if the pattern still holds.

Final Early Voting Turnout- Republican