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After trying and failing to make the Koch brothers the focus of the mid-term election, Democrats are digging deeper into the billionaire brothers operations to combat their prodigious fundraising and making them the focus once again of the 2016 election.

Representatives of several powerful Democratic groups from unions to abortion rights activists and environmentalists gathered behind closed doors on Tuesday to take the next steps in plotting a strategy for dealing with Charles and David Kochs plan to raise and spend more than $889 million over the next two years.

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They emerged with a commitment to expand their rapid-response and research teams to fight back against the Kochs political agenda, according to attendees. And the host of the meeting, the well-funded opposition-research group American Bridge, has been pouring resources into a series of state reports that will focus on the Koch brothers business practices environmental record, layoffs and outsourcing and their impact in key states such as Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin for Democrats to use in campaigns nationwide.

There was only one problem: Pro-Democratic outside groups representing some of the same interests spent millions in 2014 trying to draw attention to the Kochs and lost almost every election in which they intervened. But with a more collaborative and thorough approach this time around, outside groups and party leaders are hoping that their anti-Koch strategy will move voters in 2016.

At the meeting Tuesday evening, representatives from groups such as AFL-CIO, Center for American Progress, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Correct the Record and Planned Parenthood heard from experts including Paul Tencher who served as campaign manager for now-Sen. Gary Peters and Guy Molyneux of Hart Research, who presented polling data showing that direct attacks on the Koch brothers could be effective.

Facing criticism from some within the party after millions of dollars spent on anti-Koch ads yielded few wins, Democrats have repeatedly used Peters 2014 race in Michigan as the prime example of how their Koch messaging can be successful.

Tencher gave a presentation to the roughly 70 attendees, explaining how the campaign was able to hit Peters opponent, Terri Lynn Land, by connecting her to the Koch brothers and encouraged groups to use the strategy more in 2016.

Outside groups involved in the race also hammered Land using the same approach. For example, the super PAC created by mega donor, environmentalist Tom Steyer spent heavily on ads in Michigan connecting the piles of petroleum coke contaminating the Detroit River area to the Koch brothers and Land.

At this weeks meeting, attendees said Democrats were in agreement that although they lost the Senate and several seats in the House, the Koch strategy was not to blame. Its not a black and white thing, said Ben Ray, spokesman for American Bridge.

Read the original post:
Liberals' secret Koch strategy

This is the third article in a three-part series titled Your Brain on Energy for ournew Energy and Environment coverage. For Part I, click here. For Part II, clickhere.

In San Diego, the solar rooftop market is booming. And no wonder: Electricity is expensive, but sunshine is plentiful and it doesnt hurt that California has shined itspolicy radianceon the solar industry. The city boasts more than 44,000 residential solar installations and most strikingly, theyre not all owned by liberal do-gooders.

Not by a long shot.

Instead, as solar has become more popular, it has increasingly tapped into a base of more ideologically conservative customers,according to the Center for Sustainable Energy, a local nonprofit supporting clean power.

When it was more of a fringe technology, you would see anatural gravitation towards the technology by people who are more liberal, says Timothy Treadwell, a director at the center. Now that solar is mainstream, that distinction, and that kindof self-selection, is pretty much gone from the market.

So what happened? Treadwell recently surveyed1,200 San Diego area solar adopters about their political beliefs and why theyhad installed solar. Liberals and conservatives were evenly mixed in the group. Their reasons for installing panels were verydifferent: While liberals were much more likely to do so for environmental reasons, conservatives held to hard-nosed economicones, like reducing their electricity costs.

The conservatives have come around, in Treadwells view, because they heard the right message. It wentfrom being viewed as a nice thing to do for the planet, and it turned into this very clear, understandable value proposition,he says. If youre paying hundreds of dollars a month for electricity, why wouldnt you do it?

Which may be the key to something of holy grail in the energy sphere getting political conservatives to participate in environmentalor energy conservation programs and behaviors to the same extent that liberals do.

The left, the right, and power

When it comes to saving energy, lets face it: Liberals and especially liberal environmentalists are already on board.Research has shownthey are (not surprisingly) more likely to buy Priuses and conserve gasoline, and appear to useless energy overall 10 percent less than those who are politically conservative and live in conservative communities.

More here:
The best way to get conservatives to save energy: Talk about money

This is the third article in a three-part series titled Your Brain on Energy for ournew Energy and Environment coverage. For Part I, click here. For Part II, clickhere.

In San Diego, the solar rooftop market is booming. And no wonder: Electricity is expensive, but sunshine is plentiful and it doesnt hurt that California has shined itspolicy radianceon the solar industry. The city boasts more than 44,000 residential solar installations and most strikingly, theyre not all owned by liberal do-gooders.

Not by a long shot.

Instead, as solar has become more popular, it has increasingly tapped into a base of more ideologically conservative customers,according to the Center for Sustainable Energy, a local nonprofit supporting clean power.

When it was more of a fringe technology, you would see anatural gravitation towards the technology by people who are more liberal, says Timothy Treadwell, a director at the center. Now that solar is mainstream, that distinction, and that kindof self-selection, is pretty much gone from the market.

So what happened? Treadwell recently surveyed1,200 San Diego area solar adopters about their political beliefs and why theyhad installed solar. Liberals and conservatives were evenly mixed in the group. Their reasons for installing panels were verydifferent: While liberals were much more likely to do so for environmental reasons, conservatives held to hard-nosed economicones, like reducing their electricity costs.

The conservatives have come around, in Treadwells view, because they heard the right message. It wentfrom being viewed as a nice thing to do for the planet, and it turned into this very clear, understandable value proposition,he says. If youre paying hundreds of dollars a month for electricity, why wouldnt you do it?

Which may be the key to something of holy grail in the energy sphere getting political conservatives to participate in environmentalor energy conservation programs and behaviors to the same extent that liberals do.

The left, the right, and power

When it comes to saving energy, lets face it: Liberals and especially liberal environmentalists are already on board.Research has shownthey are (not surprisingly) more likely to buy Priuses and conserve gasoline, and appear to useless energy overall 10 percent less than those who are politically conservative and live in conservative communities.

Continued here:
The best way to get conservatives to save energy is to stop the environmentalist preaching

Queensland Liberals. You can #39;t trust them.
Video ad by Dr. Chris Davis, for the Queensland elections. For those not in Australia, the LNP are Australia #39;s GOP. Neo-con social policy and neo-lib economi...

By: Jane Rakali

Here is the original post:
Queensland Liberals. You can't trust them. - Video

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: Larry Kusch

Posted: 02/11/2015 7:59 PM | Comments:

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

Justin Trudeau addresses a crowd of about 400 at the Punjab Cultural Centre in Winnipeg Wednesday evening. The rally closed out a day of local events for the federal Liberal leader all of which were closed to reporters. Photo Store

Justin Trudeau delivered an election-style speech to more than 400 supporters in which he attacked Prime Minister Stephen Harper for catering to the rich while, he said, the Liberals would cater to the middle class and those in need.

"We care about helping-hard working Canadians make ends meet. That is our priority," the 43-year-old Liberal leader told a rally at the Punjab Cultural Centre this evening.

Local Liberals are optimistic they can improve their local seat total in the general election, set for this October.

Of Manitobas 14 MPs, only one is a Liberal Kevin Lamoureux in Winnipeg North.

But the party which now stands a distant third to the Conservatives and the NDP with 35 of 308 House of Commons seats has seen a resurgence in popularity since Trudeau became leader in April 2013.

Originally posted here:
Liberals will help middle class, Trudeau tells Winnipeg supporters