Tag Archives: Elections

May 31, 2011 · 9:00 pm

CNN Poll: Obama’s Approval Rating Edges Up

Great news…

Now if the economy doesn’t tank- more- he should be fine for re-election next year…

The GOP Primary season is going to be the Greatest Show on Earth with all the clowns they have running…

That will only make President Obama look better to the electorate…

Bring on Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann!

President Barack Obama’s performance on national security and international affairs and his image as a strong leader appear to be behind his rising approval rating, according to new national poll conducted as the president was on an overseas visit to four countries.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday indicates that Obama’s approval rating among Americans stands at 54 percent, with 45 percent saying they disapprove of the job he’s doing as president. Obama’s approval rating appears to have steadily risen in the past two months, from 48 percent in early April to 52 percent in early May and the current mark of 54 percent.

“On specific issues, the president’s approval rating is over 50 percent on only three out of 11 items tested, and all three – terrorism, Afghanistan, and Iraq – are foreign or security issues,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “But his approval rating on every domestic issue listed in the poll is well below 50 and on most of them – including the economy, health care, taxes, and the budget deficit – his rating has remained flat or dropped since the start of the year.”

via CNN Poll: Obama’s approval rating edges up thanks to foreign policy – CNN Political Ticker – CNN.com Blogs.

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May 29, 2011 · 6:00 am

Support Collapses for House Republicans

From Political Wire…

This shows that familiarity does breed contempt.

The more the true GOP Agenda comes out, the more people know, the less they like the Republicans.

Now if the notoriously  short memory of the American Electorate can just retain this information by the next election…

A new Democracy Corps (D) survey finds disapproval of House Republicans has surged from 46% in February to 55% in April to a striking 59% now.

Disapproval now outnumbers approval two-to-one; intense disapproval by three-to-one.

via Support Collapses for House Republicans.

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May 28, 2011 · 6:30 pm

Why the Democratic Party Has Abandoned the Middle Class in Favor of the Rich | | AlterNet

Great article from Kevin Drum at “Mother Jones” reposted at Alternet.com.

This is really worth reading if you are still tying to figure out why things did not turn out as well as some of us hoped after the 2008 Elections…

In 2008, a liberal Democrat was elected president. Landslide votes gave Democrats huge congressional majorities. Eight years of war and scandal and George W. Bush had stigmatized the Republican Party almost beyond redemption. A global financial crisis had discredited the disciples of free-market fundamentalism, and Americans were ready for serious change.

Or so it seemed. But two years later, Wall Street is back to earning record profits, and conservatives are triumphant. To understand why this happened, it’s not enough to examine polls and tea parties and the makeup of Barack Obama’s economic team. You have to understand how we fell so short, and what we rightfully should have expected from Obama’s election. And you have to understand two crucial things about American politics.

More:  Why the Democratic Party Has Abandoned the Middle Class in Favor of the Rich | | AlterNet.

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May 26, 2011 · 8:39 pm

John Edwards Plea Deal Possible As Potential Indictment Looms?

Speaking as a former supporter, he just needs to settle this and go away…

We’re all tired of him and his tacky ways.  I’ve always believed “Class will tell and the lack of it even faster”.

It took us way too long to find out the truth on Johnny Boy- he has none.

Now that we know all this, there is no possible “rehabilitation” of his image that I can see…

He just needs to go away….

From Huffington Post:

John Edwards is considering a plea deal that would allow him to avert a looming indictment in a more than two year investigation into alleged campaign finance violations, North Carolina station WRAL reports.

The AP relays background on the case:

Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter has sued former campaign aide Andrew Young to have a sex tape and other items returned to her. Young has said he helped cover up Edwards’ affair during the 2008 presidential campaign and worked for months to keep Hunter in hiding.

Edwards has admitted to the affair and fathering Hunter’s child. She worked as a videographer in 2006 for Edwards’ political action committee.

Edwards’ lawyer, Gregory Craig, issued a statement on Wednesday denying his client broke the law. “The government’s theory is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law. It is novel and untested. There is no civil or criminal precedent for such a prosecution,” he said.

Ben Smith at Politico reported on Thursday:

Two other sources in the Edwards camp also said that his own legal team is in deep discussions with their client — himself an almost legendary star of the North Carolina trial bar — over whether he should accept the risk and expense of a criminal trial or sacrifice his law license and possibly his freedom with a guilty plea that might nonetheless represent a real chance for reinventing his tattered public image.

ABC’s James Hill reported on Thursday night:

Multiple sources at the estate of Rachel “Bunny” Mellon confirm to ABC News that the former North Carolina senator met Mellon today for lunch at her sprawling compound in Northern Virginia.

The AP elaborates on the significance of Bunny’s role in relation to the probe into Edwards’ conduct:

According to the network, the reason for the meeting remains unknown. Young has said that Edwards agreed in 2007 to solicit money directly from Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the 100-year-old widow of banking heir Paul Mellon. Young has said he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks from Mellon for his use and Hunter’s, with some of the checks hidden in boxes of chocolate.

Mellon’s attorney has said she didn’t know where the money was going but intended it as a personal gift.

via John Edwards Plea Deal Possible As Potential Indictment Looms? (VIDEO).

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May 26, 2011 · 7:00 am

Texas Gov. Perry Thinking About Presidential Bid

I knew they would get around to him eventually….

The GOP did so well with their last empty-headed Texas Governor/Figurehead…

All I can think is how the late, great Molly Ivins always called him Rick”Good Hair” Perry…

Good Hair/ Empty Head….

From Political Wire:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) chief political strategist, Dave Carney, tells the Texas Tribune Perry is probably mulling a presidential bid.

Said Carney: “Obviously, it’s flattering to have everybody, Rush Limbaugh and all these other conservative, right-of-center leaders, talk about you, urging you to think about it, urging you to run, saying they support you. But I don’t see any difference in terms of the governor’s thinking… I’m sure he’s thinking about it because it’s just human nature when you have Rush Limbaugh spend 20 minutes talking about you and have all these other people mention you, that you don’t sort of think that’s flattering and think about it. But I don’t see any change in his direction, what he’s planning to do.”

via Perry Thinking About Presidential Bid.

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May 26, 2011 · 5:34 am

Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly To End Medicare

Good…

The GOP is finally in the record with what they gave been trying to hide…

If the Dems just hold fast and protect Medicare and Social Security, they/we can take back the House and hold the Senate….

That’s the only way to protect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security from the GOP….

That’s a big “if” given the Dem’s habit of shooting themselves in the foot…

But I think the GOP just shot itself in the head….

From TalkingPointsMemo.com:

The GOP continued its bloody walk into the Medicare buzzsaw Wednesday, when 40 out of 47 Senate Republicans voted in support of the House GOP budget, and its plan to phase out and privatize the popular entitlement program.

The test vote failed by a vote of 57-40. But the roll call illustrates that Medicare privatization — along with deep cuts to Medicaid and other social services — remains the consensus position of the GOP despite the growing political backlash against them.

Voting with all of the Democrats against debating the plan were Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) — both 2012 incumbents — along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against it because it wasn’t radical enough.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) did not vote.

Democrats intentionally scheduled the vote less than 24 hours after a Democrat won a special election in New York’s 26th — and heavily Republican — congressional district, on the strength of defending Medicare from a GOP onslaught. The outcome of that election heightened the political stakes, but sent few Republicans bolting for the exits.

via Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly To End Medicare | TPMDC.

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May 25, 2011 · 8:40 am

John Edwards Prosecution Given Go Ahead By Justice Department

Since they are canceling so many long running soap operas on television, it’s amazing that this one just keeps going on and on….

But it looks like it might be retooled into a “Judge Judy” episode….

From HuffingtonPost.com:

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicated that it will allow John Edwards to be prosecuted in an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations, North Carolina station ABC11 reports.

According to the local outlet, the 2008 presidential candidate is expected to be indicted in the case.

NBC News confirms that the Justice Department will permit prosecutors to file criminal charges against Edwards.

WRAL News reported on Tuesday that the culmination of the probe was imminent.

Sources told WRAL News on Tuesday that a major development would occur in the next two weeks. It could be an indictment or perhaps a plea deal. Sources said it’s unlikely that prosecutors would walk away from the case.

The AP relays background on the case:

Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter has sued former campaign aide Andrew Young to have a sex tape and other items returned to her. Young has said he helped cover up Edwards’ affair during the 2008 presidential campaign and worked for months to keep Hunter in hiding.

…

Edwards has admitted to the affair and fathering Hunter’s child. She worked as a videographer in 2006 for Edwards’ political action committee.

WRAL reports:

Former Edwards aide Andrew Young wrote in his tell-all book, “The Politician,” that heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon gave Edwards a total of $700,000 as a gift. The so-called “Bunny money” helped fund the cover-up of Edwards’ affair with video producer Rielle Hunter, who was pregnant with the former U.S. senator’s child.

Political observers have said the money was a campaign contribution and should have been noted in Edwards’ campaign finance reports.

via John Edwards Prosecution Given Go Ahead By Justice Department: Report (VIDEO).

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May 24, 2011 · 10:20 pm

Democrat Wins Upstate New York Congressional Race – NYTimes.com

More from the New York Times:

Democrats scored an upset in one of New York’s most conservative congressional districts on Tuesday, dealing a blow to the national Republican Party in a race that largely turned on the party’s plan to overhaul Medicare.

The results set off elation among Democrats and soul-searching among Republicans, who questioned whether the party should rethink its commitment to the Medicare plan, which appears to have become a liability as 2012 elections loom.

Two months ago, the Democrat, Kathy Hochul, was considered an all-but-certain loser. But Ms. Hochul seized on her Republican rival’s embrace of the proposal from Representative Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, to overhaul Medicare, and she never let up.

via Democrat Wins Upstate New York Congressional Race – NYTimes.com.

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May 24, 2011 · 10:16 pm

Democrat Wins Republican Seat in Special Congressional Election in NY-26

Congratulations to Democratic Congresswoman-Elect Kathy Hochul.

This Congressional district is so Republican it has only elected a Democrat something like 3 times since the Civil War.

The Ryan Republican plan to destroy Medicare handed this race to the Democrats.

I just hope the Democrats take note and stand by their position as protectors of Medicare and Social Security.  And I hope they make damn sure everyone knows the GOP wants to destroy them both.  Now we have them on record.

From The Hill:

The emergence of Medicare reform as an issue in the New York special election “changed the climate,” presenting Democrats with an opportunity to capture the heavily Republican district, according to Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The House GOP’s budget plan converts Medicare to a type of voucher system for those currently under 55 as a way to rein in costs. Instead of government-run Medicare, seniors would buy private insurance and the government would foot some of the bill.

Only four Republicans voted against the proposal when it came up in the House in April and Jane Corwin, the GOP nominee in the 26th district, embraced the plan.

“Whether the Democrat is elected or not, Medicare changed the climate in that district,” Israel told The Ballot Box.

via Dem campaign chief: Medicare ‘changed the climate’ in NY-26 – The Hill’s Ballot Box.

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May 22, 2011 · 12:27 pm

Secret Donors Multiply in U.S. Election Spending – Bloomberg

People laughed at Hillary Clinton when she talked about the “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy” all those years ago….

Little did we know how right she was…..

Commission on Hope and four other Republican-leaning groups spent at least $4.05 million attacking candidates in the run-up to the November voting, according to Campaign Media estimates and TV station records obtained by Bloomberg News. None of that spending can be found searching the public database of the Federal Election Commission, and FEC spokeswoman Mary Brandenberger said the commission has no record of it.

Federal law requires FEC disclosure of money spent on ads mentioning or depicting a candidate in the 60 days before a general election. The five groups whose spending wasn’t reported either declined to comment, were unreachable, or said they deemed the spending not reportable under the law.

via Secret Donors Multiply in U.S. Election Spending – Bloomberg.

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