Author: craigcrawford

Tucked inside her New York Primary victory speech last night Hillary Clinton included a seemingly offhand comment that her staff ought to clarify right away.

“We have to reform our criminal justice system and ‘ban the box’ so others have a fair chance to succeed.”

She was referring to a movement — “ban the box” — to prevent employers from asking potential employees about any criminal record.

Was this a dog whistle to supporters of the movement in hopes the general populace wouldn’t notice? Sure, employers should be encouraged to give some convicts a chance but surely they have a right to know what they’re getting into.

Regardless of the merits of that proposal, the politics could be disastrous in a general election.

Imagine the Republican TV ad: “Hillary would deny employers the right to ask Willie Horton if he had ever been in jail.”

And don’t even get me started on the Kitty Dukakis debate question this might provoke.

Here is your thread for watching NY election returns.

Thanks to the good folks at Vox.com, a brief rundown:

Who’s voting: Republicans and Democrats

Republican delegates at stake: 95, most awarded by congressional district; winner-take-all with a majority

Democratic delegates at stake: 247, awarded proportionally

Voting ends: 9 pm Eastern. (Polls open at 6 am in New York City and surrounding counties, and at noon in the rest of the state.)

The Republican outlook: Donald Trump appears poised to cruise to victory in his home state of New York. The only question is how many places he manages to hit the 50 percent threshold. If Trump gets more than 50 percent statewide — and given that he’s polling 30 points ahead of his closest rival, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, according to RealClearPolitics, that’s not impossible — he’ll take all of New York’s 14 statewide delegates. In every congressional district where he hits over 50 percent, he’ll get all of that district’s delegates as well.

The Democratic outlook: Hillary Clinton has a comfortable lead in the polls of about 10 points, according to RealClearPolitics. But the polls have been wrong on Sanders before, and he had a strong debate on Thursday night. New York is make or break for Sanders’s campaign — although he’s climbing in national polls, he still trails Clinton significantly in the delegate count. And the next run of primaries, including New York, aren’t held in states where the demographics favor his campaign.

It has been a long time since the Big Apple mattered in a primary on either side of the aisle. Bring it on. Vote counting today.

For the record, this was Liza’s song before Sinatra pilfered it.

Here’s your thread for Democratic debate commentary.

A Big Boost For Reusable Rockets
Discovery.com: a “revolutionary step was accomplished on Friday when another SpaceX Falcon rocket dispatched a cargo ship to the International Space Station, then turned around and landed on a platform gently bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean.”

“And they said it couldn’t be done (at least no one has ever done it) until, of course, you did it,” former NASA space shuttle manager Wayne Hale wrote in a congratulatory note to SpaceX on Twitter.