Tag Archives: GOP

The Internet Targets SOPA-Sponsor Lamar Smith

Lamar Smith should win easily in next week’s Republican primary, but the Internet is making the Texas congressman’s reelection campaign a little more difficult.

Smith became persona non grata online last year thanks to his sponsorship of the SOPA, the draconian anti-piracy bill that was finally slain by Internet backlash in January.

Now, a few upstanding members of the online community are pooling their resources to become political players deep in the heart of Texas’s 21st Congressional district. On Monday, Test PAC, the brainchild of some angry Redditors, made a small ad buy in Smith’s district, which includes parts of Austin and San Antonio.

Here’s the ad they ran:

But Test PAC’s founders aren’t the only crusaders taking aim at Lamar Smith; Ben Huh, the creative force behind the I Can Haz Cheezburger media conglomerate, bankrolled a pair of billboards in the San Antonio area through a group called Fight for the Future.

2012 will be Lamar Smith’s fourteenth congressional election and he tends to win big. The fledgling opposition doesn’t pose much of a threat to Smith this time around, but it does send an important message to politicians at every level.

For the first time, internet communities are mobilizing and lobbying for their pet cause (online freedom) in the real world. And though this election cycle likely won’t be influenced much by groups like Test PAC, the internet is transforming into an efficient grassroots lobbying platform that can compete with the moneyed interests that dominate the electoral process.

So, who’s ready for /b/PAC?

Lamar Smith should win easily in next week’s Republican primary, but the internet is making the Texas congressman’s reelection campaign a little more difficult.

Smith became a persona non grata online thanks to his sponsorship of the SOPA, the draconian anti-piracy bill that was killed by internet backlash in January.

Now, a few upstanding members of the online community are pooling their resources to become political players deep in the heart of Texas’s 21st Congressional district.

As Politicians Preach, Voter Support Grows for Separation of Church and State

1 Reply

An extensive Pew Research public opinion survey on the separation of church found that a growing number of voters believe the church should not involve itself in political matters.

54% say that religion should remain apolitical; only 40% believe that the church (or other place of worship) should speak its mind and actively influence politics. These numbers represent a pretty significant shift in the attitudes of the general population over the last fifteen years.

Pew’s data suggests that this trend might be due to the public’s increasing distaste for religious displays from politicians. The public perception of politicians’ religious displays has changed dramatically in the past two years. This is likely due to the Republican primary contest that featured aggressive wooing of Christian voters.

The changes in the public’s attitude likely stem from a change in the political climate, rather than a move away from religion by the public. Over the last ten years, the number of people who believe that politicians talk too much about religion has quadrupled among Democrats and tripled among Republicans.

These trends, taken together, seem to reflect a growing displeasure with the amount of religion injected into politics. It’s unclear what effect these trends may have in the short term, but it’s likely that a continued trend away from politicized religion (and the social conservatism that typically accompanies it) would mean trouble for the current Republican party.

Betty White Bucks Old Lady Trend, Endorses Obama

Everyone’s favorite old lady, Betty White, has endorsed President Obama in his reelection campaign.

The last living Golden Girl told the Associate Press that she “very, very much favors” Obama, saying that she likes what he has done and “how he represents us.”

Old people are generally unfriendly toward the president, to say the least. Obama’s approval rating among people 65 and over is 42%, a full five percent lower than any other age group.

I can’t help but wonder if Betty White’s political inclinations are indicative of the times in which she came of age. When she was my age, FDR was the president. Unlike regular old people, who mostly came of age in the post-war glory days under Truman and Eisenhower, the super-old still have memories of growing up in the Depression.

I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Probably not. But it would be interesting if the pollsters divided up old people a little bit to see how their opinions change with age.

Anyway, Betty says she’s tried to remain apolitical through most of her career for fear of her alienating her fans but, really… she’s 90.

And she’s got a history with the president.