Keeping Track of 2024: Election Tips & Weekend News
1/17 Pension Commission Meeting coming up very soon. Iowa and New Hampshire primaries too.
We are already into mid-January. More to cover down the road, but here are a few things to keep an eye on:
January 17th is coming up fast. There will be a rally at the Rhode Island State House for Justice & Accountability from 2:30-6:30 PM. Attendees will be calling for a full and comprehensive analysis of the Rhode Island state pension system by the SEC, an impartial evaluation of the 2011 pension cuts by the General Assembly (vs. people like Mike DiBiase, former director of the RI Department of Administration under Raimondo), and the formation of a congressional oversight commission in Providence. The latter would investigate allegations about the violations of both state & federal laws, based upon the conduct of U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on multiple fronts (for a model for such a proposal, please refer to the iconic 2002-2003 Whitey Bulger-Boston FBI probes).
For those who do come (i.e., state retirees, organized labor, progressive organizations, local conservatives, and many others), make sure you bundle up, bring food, water, and chairs if needed, and congregate all around the State House complex. Both inside and outside. If enough people come, we will also feature speakers from all corners of Rhode Island. It is time for Smith Hill and Capitol Hill to finally hear us out in public. Come if you can, or even just spread the word.
On a different note, take a look at this recent post from Salzillo’s Two Cents on some local news. And some Substack Notes I have newly added.
Also check out Ebony Payne’s campaign for D.C. Council in Ward 7. Ebony is running on a holistic approach to public safety, ending the food deserts so common even in our nation’s capital, providing a great education for its students, and investing in affordable housing where rents are sky-high. Local races do matter very much across the country.
I highly recommend Ted Siedle’s recent article on Facebook retiree groups and efforts to address the pension crises all across this country. I can personally attest to the work of such groups in Rhode Island and look forward to supporting their causes in the near future.
The Iowa and New Hampshire primaries are coming up fast. Which brings me to the next point: there are some great places for coverage of Campaign 2024. Here are several suggestions I have for all of you:
First, in terms of keeping track of election results, CNN and MSNBC have great election data on their websites for upcoming contests, not to mention expert analysts like John King and Steve Kornacki. Yet I also want to mention Anthony Salvanto of CBS News, an underrated analyst and one of the top poll number crunchers in the entire country.
Second, in terms of staying informed on campaign news, there are many. The Hill, Politico, Roll Call, and Axios are among the few that D.C. insiders follow most closely. As a college professor who had a brief internship in the U.S. Senate once told me, these outlets are read by national journalists and D.C. politicians alike.
Third, there are data firms that have almost anything and everything one could look for, including past election results and live updates. FiveThirtyEight, RealClearPolitics, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball are the most well-known. Others with a lot of data are David Leip’s Election Atlas and Our Campaigns, among others. Our Campaigns is interesting for many reasons, one of which is that it updates regularly on election results and the size of a candidate field in any particular contest.
Finally, for the young up-and-comers like myself, there are numerous online blogs available to help keep track of primary contests, fundraising reports, local headlines, candidate announcements, election laws, map challenges, and much more. Blogs like Daily Kos Elections come in my inbox throughout the week, and I also keep an eye on Primaries for Progress.
Stay tuned for more updates. The upcoming weeks will be busy ones for 2024.
