Daily Political Wire 4-14-2010

George Wenschhof

President Obama capped the hosting of a successful two day nuclear summit with announcing all 47 nations had agreed to eliminate or safely secure nuclear weapons - former Senator Sam Nunn (Ga.) who has counseled the president on this issue said "we are now closer to cooperation than to catastrophe". The NY Times has more here.

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Financial reform next big battle in the Senate - the House passed their version for reform back in December and of course, the "Republican Party of No" is trying their best to weaken or kill the bill. Reuters.com has more here.

This is ironic as it was the Republicans who were in power in the White House and Congress who relaxed financial regulations which lead to the meltdown in 2008.

President Obama will host Congressional leaders today at the White House to discuss financial reform. At issue will be the notion of "too big to fail" as to the size of financial institutions and the creation of a consumer finance protection agency.

How the argument is framed over this issue by both major political parties and the ultimate disposition of the issue will potentially have a more significant impact on the mid term elections than the passage of health care reform. Democrats can not allow Republicans to frame this message, but instead need to remind voters it was Republicans who caused the high unemployment we are experiencing now.

Just as there was a need to reign in monopolies and the high rollers after the Great Depression of the 1930's, the need to stronger regulate financial institutions and protect consumers is there today.

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Democrat Ted Deutch easily wins Florida special election - the special election was held to replace Robert Wexler (D) in the 19th district. in a heavily voter registered Democratic district the Republican challenger Ed Lynch had tried to use the passage of health care to persuade the retired voters (who numbered 40% of the district) to vote for him.

The retirees did not buy what will soon become a tired refrain from the Republican candidates and Deutch won 62-36%. Hotlineoncall.com has more here.

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Democrats battling may lead to Republican victory in Hawaii special election - this special election to be held on May 22 is to fill the vacant House seat of Neil Abercrombie, who is running for Governor. Ed Case and; a former Representative and state senate president Colleen Hanabusa are the two Democrats battling. Politico.com has more here.

Case is being eyed seriously by the DCCC to provide support and Hanabusa has the support of the two U.S. Senators in Hawaii; Daniel Alaska and Daniel Inouye. In fact, Inouye just sent a $100,000 to the DCCC. Case has angered the Senators by running against Alaska in the 2006 primary.

Unfortunately, in the special election all three candidates will appear on the ballot. Republican candidate Charles Djon; Honolulu city councilman hopes the battle between the Democrats leads to his victory. Stay Tuned.....

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