This Just In! New York Times Scooped By a Gaggle of Law Dorks.

The hacks at the New York Times just published a story about Candidate Lit, a story we broke here at the Michigan Law School Democrats Blog almost a month ago! The story (which might as well just be a link to my blog post) is here. The unreliable rag even has some of its facts wrong. Mike Huckabee did not write one book, he wrote one library of books. Perhaps this is why the press does not regard Huckabee as seriously as it should.

-Erik

Franken is in!

Today Al Franken officially joined the race for US Senate from Minnesota to contest the seat currently held by Republican (former Democrat) Norm Coleman. Coleman, you might remember, was elected days after proud Minnesota progressive Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash. From the wreakage of his impending defeat at the hands of the firey Wellstone, Coleman wrested a narrow victory over DFL lion and former Vice President Walter Mondale, who took Wellstone's place on the ticket. Now Franken becomes the first DFLer to join the race to take back what is rightfully ours.

In my conversations with DFL activists and members of the Minnesota Legislature, opinions on the Franken candidacy are mixed. Everyone likes Franken as an activist, but some are concerned that he will not be taken seriously enough by voters. This is certainly a valid concern, especially given Norm's strength on the stump, but I believe the concern is overblown. With the exception of Keith Ellison, many of the candidates garnering the support of party activists in multi-party contests tend to lack a certain fire, even though they tend to be strong on issues of progressive policy. And let's not forget the willingness of Minnesotans to choose unconventional candidates.

This Event Will Rock Your World

On Wednesday, February 21, the Michigan Law School Democrats are presenting a special Congressional Preview in Hutchins Hall, room 250. We've put together a stellar panel of professors to discuss the challenges ahead for the 110th Congress. They'll be talking about what we, humble constituents, can expect in the coming months from both parties, how the Congress has performed so far, the impact of the run-up to the 2008 election, and other juicy topics. It should be a lively discussion (non-partisan, by the by) and enlightening. Did I mention the burritos? There will be burritos. To eat.

The panelists include:

Professor Sally Katzen, Public Interest/Public Service Faculty Fellow, University of Michigan Law, and Former Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget (1999-2001)

Professor Marvin Krislov, Vice President and General Counsel of the University of Michigan

Professor James Levinsohn, J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor, Ford School of Public Policy

If you have questions, contact Erik Buehman, buehmann at umich.edu.

Romney says YES! to Michigan after 30 years of saying NO.

Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachussetts, announced his quixotic campaign for the presidency today at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. It is clear that, by referencing his childhood in the Great Lakes Splendor, Mitt hopes to distance himself from his time as governor of "Taxachussetts" to make him more palatable to the Republican's conservative base. Romney was born in Michigan, the son of former Michigan Governor George Romney. George was the chairman of the now-defunct American Motors Corporation (it brought you the AMC Gremlin and the Mirthmobile from Wayne's World). Although there are questions about whether George was a "natural born" citizen, having been born in Mexico, he ran his own quixotic campaign for the presidency in the 1968 Republican Primary. His ambitions were dashed by strange comments concerning mind-control and the Vietnam war.

This brings me to two important and interesting conversation starters:

1. John McCain was born in the U.S. administered Panama Canal Zone. Is he "natural born?" Now, Congress passed a law in 1790 that specified that children of citizens born over seas will be considered "natural born." But is this Constitutional? Could we pass a law that might increase the scope of "natural born" to embrace Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jenny Granholm? What about Barry Goldwater, who was born in Arizona before it was a state? What about Zombie Barry Goldwater?

2. When should we learn from our fathers in an effort to avoid new mistakes in the future?

-Erik