I got home safe and sound around noon. Weatherwise the outbound trip was perfectly timed, as I was safely on the train when the storm hit Chicago and safely in the hotel when it reached Boston. The Boston storm was mostly ice rather than snow. Sidewalks very slippery, but the restaurant where I mostly ate dinner was just around the corner from the hotel entrance -- actually in the same building. Monday night my two roommates and I walked about a block and a half to a Legal Seafood for a farewell dinner before they caught their plane home. Sidewalks (but not intersections) were mostly clear by then but the wind chill was serious. Not particularly bad as I was walking to the train station around noon yesterday. But the train was heading directly into the ice storm that had already hit Chicago. Mid-afternoon my wife phoned me to say the sidewalks were impossible and I should take a cob home instead of walking to the "EL." Which I did, although by then it was more snow than ice. Storm seems to have completely stopped by now.
Biggest problem of the trip was that on the return the light in my Amtrak roomette wouldn't turn off. After about a hour of trying this and that, the attendant and conductor figured out that there was an empty bedroom where I could sleep. (And, oh yes, the pipes froze in the morning so the toilets wouldn't flush. But we were approaching Chicago by then.)
Re ballot access: If Bernie runs as an independent, primaries are irrelevant -- there is no Independent primary. Independents file directly for the general elction ballot. Requirements vary widely from state to state, but in Illinois the number of petition signatures required is low enough that parties no one has ever heard of manage to qualify.
As a side note, I am totally unaware of any Illinois ground presence for Our Revolution. I had thought it was almost purely an on-line organization.
What Alan says about ballot access for the Green Party isn't clear from an Illinois perspective. There was a four-year period when the Greens were considered an "established party" required to have its own primary whose nominees automatically qualified for the general election ballot. That came about because a lot of social conservatives got tired of moderate establishment candidates consistently winning the Republican primary, so they voted for the Green candidate in protest. That was a one-time thing. But even with the number of petition signatures required to qualify for the general election ballot maybe 2 or 3 times what is needed to qualify for the primary ballot, it's still not a major challenge.
So, you're saying that running as an Independent, Bernie would bypass the primary system altogether? Sounds great!
From what I gather, here in Massachusetts Our Revolution is highly organized, with committees and identity caucuses and scrolls of rules. It all seems hyper organized to me and terribly stuffy and self-important. Then again, I haven't been able to attend any real world meetings. They may not be as prissy as they seem. And they are effective on the state level.
Well, it rained all night, it's still raining and it melted ALL THE SNOW I could not shovel.
ReplyDeleteThat's impressive!
DeleteThat's a good thing then.
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump dared Nancy Pelosi to cancel his State of the Union speech. So she did.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2019/01/23/politics/donald-trump-nancy-pelosi/index.html
Michael Cohen delays congressional testimony, citing threats from President Trump
ReplyDeletehttps://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-cohen-trump-delay-20190123-story.html
I got home safe and sound around noon. Weatherwise the outbound trip was perfectly timed, as I was safely on the train when the storm hit Chicago and safely in the hotel when it reached Boston. The Boston storm was mostly ice rather than snow. Sidewalks very slippery, but the restaurant where I mostly ate dinner was just around the corner from the hotel entrance -- actually in the same building. Monday night my two roommates and I walked about a block and a half to a Legal Seafood for a farewell dinner before they caught their plane home. Sidewalks (but not intersections) were mostly clear by then but the wind chill was serious. Not particularly bad as I was walking to the train station around noon yesterday. But the train was heading directly into the ice storm that had already hit Chicago. Mid-afternoon my wife phoned me to say the sidewalks were impossible and I should take a cob home instead of walking to the "EL." Which I did, although by then it was more snow than ice. Storm seems to have completely stopped by now.
ReplyDeleteBiggest problem of the trip was that on the return the light in my Amtrak roomette wouldn't turn off. After about a hour of trying this and that, the attendant and conductor figured out that there was an empty bedroom where I could sleep. (And, oh yes, the pipes froze in the morning so the toilets wouldn't flush. But we were approaching Chicago by then.)
Glad you're safe and sound, Bill!
DeleteWhat Cat said; it sounds more like an adventure than a simple trip.
DeleteRe ballot access: If Bernie runs as an independent, primaries are irrelevant -- there is no Independent primary. Independents file directly for the general elction ballot. Requirements vary widely from state to state, but in Illinois the number of petition signatures required is low enough that parties no one has ever heard of manage to qualify.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, I am totally unaware of any Illinois ground presence for Our Revolution. I had thought it was almost purely an on-line organization.
What Alan says about ballot access for the Green Party isn't clear from an Illinois perspective. There was a four-year period when the Greens were considered an "established party" required to have its own primary whose nominees automatically qualified for the general election ballot. That came about because a lot of social conservatives got tired of moderate establishment candidates consistently winning the Republican primary, so they voted for the Green candidate in protest. That was a one-time thing. But even with the number of petition signatures required to qualify for the general election ballot maybe 2 or 3 times what is needed to qualify for the primary ballot, it's still not a major challenge.
So, you're saying that running as an Independent, Bernie would bypass the primary system altogether? Sounds great!
DeleteFrom what I gather, here in Massachusetts Our Revolution is highly organized, with committees and identity caucuses and scrolls of rules. It all seems hyper organized to me and terribly stuffy and self-important. Then again, I haven't been able to attend any real world meetings. They may not be as prissy as they seem. And they are effective on the state level.
Just finished watching Song of the South, an utterly charming movie.
ReplyDeleteLatest on Pete Buttigieg (it’s Maltese, pronounced Boot-uh-judge” [Click]
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alan. A young man to watch, that's for sure.
DeleteWhy Joe Biden shouldn't run for president [Click] The author’s list is not comprehensive, IMO.
ReplyDeleteTrump's remarks could stymie US extradition of Huawei CFO from Canada[Click]
Warm and raining. Flood watch. Fun.
ReplyDeleteRuh roh
Delete