That time the DNC quashed superdelegate reform

Bernie Sanders supporters have suddenly discovered the Democrats' infamous superdelegates, those party luminaries who, unlike ordinary delegates to the national convention, are allowed a vote for whatever presidential nominee they feel like, without direction from primary voters anywhere. But for those older than 20 or so, this shouldn't be coming as a surprise, as the party went through all of this back in 2008, when at one point it looked like superdelegates might steal the nomination from Barack Obama and give it to Hillary Clinton.

What few realize is that the effort to reform the system so that this could never happen again was intentionally foiled by the Democratic National Committee back in 2010. I broke the story for Newsweek at the time -- and at a stage in the process where the decision could still have been reversed. Guess what? Nobody cared. Not MoveOn, not Bernie Sanders, not even the White House, even though they'd backed the reforms the DNC overturned. Indeed, the only person who tried to do something about it was one of the committemen from Maine, Sam Spencer, who was subsequently tossed out of his position.

But this week, suddenly lots of people care. Huffington Post had this piece on my 2010 piece. Newsweek tweeted it out as if it was fresh news. Salon cited Spencer's quotes. Now MoveOn has petitions demanding the rules be changed now, which is of course not how this all works.

Lesson: if you're a Democrat and think this is a bad way of doing things, make a stink in the off-year when the decisions are actually being made, not during the election when those decisions suddenly imperil your favorite candidate. And maybe buy Sam Spencer a drink.

On Olympia Snowe's departure in The Daily Beast

As you've undoubtedly heard by now, Olympia Snowe, one of the last of the Yankee Republicans, has announced she is not going to seek reelection to the U.S. Senate this fall. And as you can probably imagine, it's created something of an earthquake here in Maine, where any additional candidates have only 15 more days to round up signatures.

Here's my piece on Snowe's departure at The Daily Beast, what it means for the Senate and House races here, and for the future of centrists and the Maine Republican party generally.

We may learn more about Snowe's decision on Friday, when she holds a press conference here in Maine.

For more background on Snowe's deteriorating position, try this Newsweek piece. On the changing face of the Maine Republican Party: this Down East article.

Daily Beast: American Nations "a true triumph"

The Daily Beast/Newsweek has just published a glowing review of my new book, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.

"[In] offering us a way to better understand the forces at play in the rumpus room of current American politics, Colin Woodard has scored a true triumph," Beast reviewer Steve Kettmann writes. "The key to the book’s effectiveness is Woodard’s skill—and irreverence—in delving into history with no qualms about being both brisk and contrarian....Yankees come off the worst...and Woodard seems particularly aghast at their eagerness to claim the U.S. narrative as their own."

I particularly enjoyed that last bit, as it's indeed true. Yes -- as some Deep Southern sympathizers have pointed out -- I'm from Yankeedom; but what they don't realize is that I'm also a native Mainer and, thus, raised in a regional subculture that was conquered by -- and has remained skeptical of -- the Puritan project, including the seizure of the historical narrative of both the region and the federation. (For more on all this subregional discord, please see my second book, The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and The Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier.)

And I certainly don't mind being lumped in with Jon Stewart, who remains far and away the most forthright and insightful political commentator on U.S. television. (Happy to lend a hand, Jon, anytime you need someone on the show.)

Is Maine's new governor damaging himself?

Maine Governor Paul LePage earned more bad national press in one weekend than his predecessor did in eight years in office. And the story kept on going here in Maine, fueled by the governor's sadly characteristic explanatory falsehoods.

My latest piece at Newsweek.com asks if LePage's penchant for inflammatory speech and, frankly, making stuff up, is likely to do him political damage. The consensus: yes, if he doesn't change course. Interviews with Colby and USM political scientists, Republicans Kevin Raye and Phil Harriman, Democrats Emily Cain and Ethan Strimling, and the governor's spokesperson, Dan Demeritt.

A few items from my reporting that weren't of interest to a national audience, but might be to Mainers:

Mr. Demeritt tacitly admitted the Governor's "black prisoners" story was inaccurate: "It was 7 months ago right after the primary, and that was how Paul LePage and the one or two staff people understood the event [invitation] at the time."

Demeritt also said he -- and probably his boss -- didn't know about the Corrections Corporation of America's $25,000 PAC donation in support of LePage's candidacy. "It was a donation to the RGA. I didn’t know about it and I don’t believe Paul LePage knew of it. If there’s an opportunity to save the taxpayers money and create jobs in Milo that's something to look at." Since we spoke last week, LePage announced he was nominating a CCA warden to head the Department of Corrections.

Colby's Sandy Maisel observed that a Maine politician probably hasn't earned as much bad national press since James G. Blaine ("The Continental Liar From the State of Maine"), who left the U.S. Senate in 1881. "All the Tea Party people aren't like this," Maisel said. "You don't see Rand Paul talk like this, and he understands the issues better than Paul LePage. In fact, LePage may be the only winning candidate of all the Tea Party backed people who has been out there with what I consider outlandish quotes attacking others. The other Tea Party people who did that all lost."

As for the NAACP, Rachel Talbot Ross was sounding a conciliatory note last week. "At this point the NAACP is moving on and we hope to be able to schedule a meeting with the governor as soon as possible. We want to work with him ob very specific issues of economic justice." she said. "We’re trying to focus on a way to engage with him respectfully so that we can help Maine move forward. I’d rather not continue to comment on the governor’s unfortunate comments about the NAACP."

"We hold out some hope that we can educate the governor as to what the NAACP does and to see us as a resource and a partner moving forward," she added. " It's going to be a very difficult challenge given the way we’ve started the relationship but I don’t think it has to define it."

Is the Tea Party on the verge of Civil War?

Thus far, the "Tea Party" movement has been a Big Tent affair, with Ayn Rand-loving Libertarians, 19th century Liberals, conspiracy nuts, and the soldiers of the Christian Right joining forces to punish alleged agents of socialism lurking in the halls of Congress, Federal Reserve headquarters, the Oval Office, and the offices of moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe. But sooner or later, "leave me alone" Libertarians and evangelical advocates of instituting "Biblical law" were going to realize they don't have that much in common.

Sooner, it turns out.

As you'll read in my new piece at Newsweek, the cracks between the two Tea Party factions are already apparent, as each jockeys for influence over the new Republican Congress. And the current leading voice of the libertarian faction -- Andrew Ian Dodge -- is from Maine, of all places. Sources think its a matter of months before the battle is joined, and that the libertarians are grossly outgunned.

Lincoln Chafee on future of "old school" Republicans

Over at Newsweek.com last week I wrote about the future of Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and, by extension, the "old school" Northeastern Republican tradition in these Tea Partying times.

As sometimes happens, some interesting material ended up on the cutting room floor by the time the piece passed through editing. In this case, it was former Republican Senator (and current independent candidate for governor of Rhode Island) Lincoln Chafee's thoughts on the future of this "Teddy Roosevelt" or "Rockefeller" Republican tradition, now that even Sunbelt conservatives are being challenged from the right.

“Ultimately I don’t think we can all survive as unaffiliated independents, and the Democratic Party hasn’t proven attractive for us,” Chafee told me. “I think a third party, a progressive party, might have to be formed so we can have a true home and organization.”

The Chafee family's G.O.P ties go far deeper than those of the current national party leadership, most of whom were Southern Democrats until the 1970s. The son of a Republican senator and governor, great-great-grandson of another governor, and great-great-nephew of two more, Chafee's remarks highlight the historic sea change in the party in recent decades, which could now be said to be the Party of Lincoln in Name Only.

Are Snowe and Collins Vulnerable?

My latest piece for Newsweek.com just posted, this exploring whether Maine senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are vulnerable on their right in these Tea Partying times.

As you'll read, the fate of Maine's senators is also that of the old Northeastern (or "Rockefeller") Republican tradition, the one that created the G.O.P. and ran it for the first century of its existence. These "old school" Republicans claim to uphold a decidedly Yankee combination of frugality and (government-directed) social reform, both outgrowths of the Calvinist mission of the early Puritans. But the Sunbelt-controlled national party has swerved to the right since the mid-1960s, declaring government the enemy (and, often, Jesus as their policy adviser), driving many Rockefeller Republicans into the ranks of the unenrolled or into the arms of the Democrats. Their supporters gone AWOL, moderates can find themselves in a tough spot in winning over increasingly conservative Republican primary voters.

There's input from both senators, Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee, a national pollster, and a wide range of Maine politicos. After reading, you may wish to peruse Public Policy Polling's polls -- here and here -- on the Maine Senators' alleged vulnerability. I've also written in more detail about the state of the Maine G.O.P. in this article at Down East.

How the DNC saved the superdelegates

It's not often one breaks a national politics story from Maine, but my piece over at Newsweek.com appears to be the first to call attention to the derailing of a key Democratic Party electoral reform last month.

Remember the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, when everyone got worried that unelected "superdelegates" might decide the race between Obama and Clinton, rather than the voters? There were calls to change the rules to take away these party luminaries' special powers, ensuring they would never overrule the electorate.

The body created to recommend reforms agreed with the critics, suggesting party big wigs should be required to cast their votes for a candidate assigned to them on the basis of electoral results. But as you'll see in my piece, the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee took a dim view of this suggestion. Barring a coup at the DNC meeting later this month, superdelegates are here to stay.

One strange event: while reporting this story, I received an anonymous call from a guy who insisted on giving me three "tips" (all of which proved false) and urged me to talk to three sources (none of whom returned messages.) They just don't make Deep Throats like they used to, I guess.

Also, by an odd coincidence, the piece posted within minutes of the Washington Post announcing it is selling Newsweek, and that editor Jon Meacham will be stepping down.

[Update, 8/3/2010: I like New York magazine's headline for this story. Also, some Maine Republicans found my piece and are trumpeting how "Dem Primary" is "Not in Voters' Hands," apparently unaware that their own caucus rules completely disenfranchise all rank and file voters, and that their state rules committee chose not to change them this year.]