Race and Class Discourse from an Ivory Tower in Connecticut

Its official, Herman Cain has "enthusiastically" endorsed Newt Gingrich for president of the United States. "There are many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is that I know that Speaker Gingrich is a patriot. Speaker Gingrich is not afraid of bold ideas, and I also know that Speaker Gingrich is running for president and going through this sausage grinder," said Cain. "I know what this sausage grinder is all about. I know that he is going through this sausage grinder because he cares about the future of the United States of America." Cain, the former head of Godfather Pizza and a former frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination who suspended his campaign in December under a cloud of allegations of sexual and marital deviance is black, and to some, this is the kind of prima facie evidence that supports Newt's claim that he is not a racist. I concede that there are times when my eyes and ears seem to lie to me about certain things, bu...

In commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in my role as Chair of the Board of Directors for Common Cause in Connecticut, I participated in a press conference – along with Connecticut's Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill – to call for preserving voting rights and expanding access to voter registration. At the press conference, the Governor and Secretary of the State proposed the following legislation: Election Day Registration, online voter registration, and amending the state's constitution to allow "no excuse" absentee voting. My sense is that these can be really important election reforms for Connecticut. For example: Election Day Registration can be an important tool for boosting voter turnout. Voter turnout rates are typically 10 – 12 percent higher in states that offer Election Day registration, higher than in states without EDR. EDR allows voters who may have been mistakenly purged from voti...