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http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
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The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows Mitt Romney earning 50% of the vote and President Obama attracting 43% support. Four percent (4%) would vote for a third party candidate, while another three percent (3%) are undecided.
Matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update).
This is the first time Romney has reached the 50% level of support and is his largest lead ever over the president. It comes a week after a disappointing jobs report that raised new questions about the state of the economy. See tracking history.
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Beach Boys Singer : 'Obama's a Socialist A**hole'
TMZ ^ | MAY 11, 2012 | TMZ
Americans will be "f**ked" if Barack Obama gets re-elected ... this according to Beach Boys singer Bruce Johnston.
Bruce was signing autographs for fans in New York yesterday when the conversation turned political.
"Obama's an a**hole, "Johnston says ... adding, "Unless you're interested in never having any money and being socialized."
But Johnston was an equal opportunity disser -- saying, "And who's the Republican a**hole?"
"Our guy isn't any good."
He continued, "You got Reagan and Tip O'Neill ... those are the last two good guys."
"Wait 'til Obama doesnt have to try anymore," Bruce added .. "you're f**ked."
(Excerpt) Read more at tmz.com ...
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Romney Surges to Within Four... In Oregon!
Pundit Press ^ | 5/11/2012 | Matthew
Perhaps you've been to Oregon, the hipster capital of the Pacific rim? The land of Subarus and home to Portland is sometimes seen as a bastion for Democratic and other left-of-center politicians. The state has shifted quite significantly to the left in the last decade, especially as the California exodus continues apace.
So Democrat Barack Obama should be winning by a landslide margin, correct? After all, he won by 16 points in 2008. After his endorsement of gay marriage, he should be surging-- and at least holding the ground he once held.
Instead, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has cut the Obama lead quite significantly. Two months ago, Romney was behind by 11%. That deficit has been cut by nearly 2/3.
(Excerpt) Read more at punditpress.com ...
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Time for Obama, if he's done beating up fat girls, to whore himself to the gays again.
BTW, the peanut gallery seems to be absent. Check my thread about this Romney bully mess.
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Oh, but he is still up in the swing states!!! Has anybody seen the networks today? Are they still spinning that crap about the swing states?
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Oh, but he is still up in the swing states!!! Has anybody seen the networks today? Are they still spinning that crap about the swing states?
Not quite! According to RCP, Obama is up by less than point in Florida (statistically tied).
He's up 3 in in Virginia; that's also statistically tied, depending on the margin of error.
Throw in the undecided factor, most of which breaks against the incumbent, and Obama is in BIG, BIG TROUBLE!
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GOP Opens 12-Point Lead in WI Senate Race
Pundit Press ^ | 5/11/2012 | Matthew
Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 2:56:43 PM by therightliveswithus
With the recall election facing sitting Governor Scott Walker heating up, the Republican base appears to be backing their candidates. Walker has opened up a five point lead, according to recent polling, and even received more primary votes than the top two Democratic candidates combined.
The Republican Party may have some thinking to do about the race for President in that state later this year, but it appears that the race for Senate is getting better. Former Governor Tommy Thompson appears to be running away with the race for an open Senate seat. This comes after incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold was defeated in 2010.
This poll comes to us from Rasmussen and shows Thompson leading his Democratic opponent Tammy Baldwin.
(Excerpt) Read more at punditpress.com ...
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Poll: 40 percent say Obama's gay marriage stance will affect vote (This ain't good news for Bam)
The Politico ^ | May 11, 2012 | Donovan Slack
Gallup is out with a new poll suggesting a whopping 40 percent of Americans say President Obama's newly public support of gay marriage will affect their votes.
Of those, 26 percent say it will make them less likely to vote for Obama, while 13 percent say it will make them more likely to vote for him.
The critical number in the poll, though is for independents - 23 percent of whom said the gay marriage support makes it less likely they will vote for Obama.
The survey is the first since the president publicly endorsed gay marriage on Wednesday with unknown political fallout.
Gallup analyst Jeffrey Jones said that at first blush, it would appear the declaration is a "net minus" for Obama, although that could change....
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
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Romney Surges to Within Four... In Oregon!
Pundit Press ^ | 5/11/2012 | Matthew
Perhaps you've been to Oregon, the hipster capital of the Pacific rim? The land of Subarus and home to Portland is sometimes seen as a bastion for Democratic and other left-of-center politicians. The state has shifted quite significantly to the left in the last decade, especially as the California exodus continues apace.
So Democrat Barack Obama should be winning by a landslide margin, correct? After all, he won by 16 points in 2008. After his endorsement of gay marriage, he should be surging-- and at least holding the ground he once held.
Instead, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has cut the Obama lead quite significantly. Two months ago, Romney was behind by 11%. That deficit has been cut by nearly 2/3.
(Excerpt) Read more at punditpress.com ...
I wonder if the zealot Californians here will still vehemently deny their fellow citizens mass exodus to the northern states.
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Rasmussen: Romney 50%, Obama 42%. Obama at -22%. 44% Approval
RasmussenReports ^ | 5/12/12 | Scott Rasmussen
Posted on May 12, 2012 9:43:05 AM EDT by NE Cons
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Mitt Romney earning 50% of the vote and President Obama attracting 42% support. Four percent (4%) would vote for a third party candidate, while another three percent (3%) are undecided.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.rasmussenreports.com ...
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I wonder if the zealot Californians here will still vehemently deny their fellow citizens mass exodus to the northern states.
What's funny about the California exodus is that they hate everything California has turned into yet they bring it all with them and are working to turn the places they went to into the same thing.
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I'm kinda depressed about the election myself. The only choices are gonna be the oblivious, watching-from-the-sidelines Obama or a clueless Mormon plutocrat robot.
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What's funny about the California exodus is that they hate everything California has turned into yet they bring it all with them and are working to turn the places they went to into the same thing.
I tried to explain this to some on here, as I was literally living it in Washington.
They massively move into King County Washington, and proceed to start voting in the same shit-ass governmental laws that destroyed their state, and caused them to flee it. And since King County has such a massive population for how much land they occupy, theyre relatively small percentage dominates the entire rest of the state.
Idiocracy at its finest, I guess.
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What's funny about the California exodus is that they hate everything California has turned into yet they bring it all with them and are working to turn the places they went to into the same thing.
Yeah, its like the state version of the Mexican and Latin American immigrants who come in to the US and vote for the same socialist policies that decimated thier homelands in the first place.
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Yeah, its like the state version of the Mexican and Latin American immigrants who come in to the US and vote for the same socialist policies that decimated thier homelands in the first place.
IMHO, its because people always vote what they feel is going to benefit them the most, they dont have that "sacrifice for the greater good" mentality anymore.
There is no more preservation of life and liberty, its "vote whoever is going to give me the most free shit". That goes for BOTH parties.
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Election 2012: North Carolina President
North Carolina: Romney 51%, Obama 43%
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Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
Radio Update: The Economy, Not Same Sex Marriage, Will Determine Who Wins in 2012
51% Trust Romney’s Economic Judgment More Than Obama’s
65% Angry At Government’s Current Policies
56% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law
Massachusetts: Obama 56%, Romney 35%
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Mitt Romney has moved out to an eight-point lead over President Obama in North Carolina after the two men were virtually tied a month ago.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Tar Heel State shows the putative Republican nominee earning 51% of the vote to Obama’s 43%. Two percent (2%) like some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
That’s a big change from last month when Romney posted a narrow 46% to 44% lead over the president in Rasmussen Reports’ first survey of the race in North Carolina. Democrats have signaled North Carolina’s importance as a key swing state by deciding to hold their national convention in Charlotte this summer.
Romney has held a slight lead over the president nationally for over a week now in the daily Presidential Tracking Poll following the release of a disappointing jobs report for April.
Voters nationally regard the economy as far and away the most important issue in the upcoming election, and just 11% of North Carolina voters now describe the U.S. economy as good or excellent. Forty-seven percent (47%) rate it as poor. Thirty-one percent (31%) say the economy is getting better, but 41% think it is getting worse.
The president leads overwhelmingly among those who give the economy positive marks, while Romney is far ahead among the much larger group that views the economy as poor.
Eighty-eight percent (88%) of North Carolina Republicans now support Romney, compared to 76% of Democrats in the state who back Obama. Nearly one-in-five North Carolina Democrats (18%) now favor the Republican. The GOP challenger holds a modest 49% to 45% lead among voters not affiliated with either party, but the two men were tied with 38% support each among this group a month ago.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 500 Likely Voters in North Carolina was conducted on May 14, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Last week, 61% of North Carolina voters last week approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between only a man and a woman. The next night, Obama became the first U.S. president to publicly endorse gay marriage. At the same time, North Carolina’s Democratic Party is embroiled in a divisive leadership spat.
Obama edged Republican John McCain 50% to 49% in the 2008 election to become the first Democrat to carry North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Now 46% approve of the job Obama is doing as president, while 54% disapprove. The latter finding is up four points from a month ago. The new numbers include 28% who Strongly Approve of the president’s job performance and 45% who Strongly Disapprove.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of voters in the state share a favorable opinion of Romney, including 23% who regard him Very Favorably. The former Massachusetts governor is seen unfavorably by 43%, with 23% who hold a Very Unfavorable view of him. This marks an increase of several points in both his Very Favorables and Very Unfavorables from last month.
Just 22% of Tar Heel voters think the federal government has the constitutional authority to force everyone in the country to buy or obtain health insurance, a central element of the president’s national health care plan. Forty-three percent (43%) at least somewhat favor a law that includes such a mandate, while 53% are at least somewhat opposed. This includes 19% who Strongly Favor the law and 38% who Strongly Oppose it.
Obama earns 75% support from those who Strongly Favor such a law. Ninety percent (90%) of those who Strongly Oppose it prefer Romney.
Fifty-two percent (52%) of all North Carolina voters would like to see the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the national health care law, while 35% would rather see the high court uphold the legality of the measure. Forty-eight percent (48%) believe the court will overturn the law, but 32% think it will be upheld. Those numbers are similar to the national average.
In combined polling of the key swing states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, Obama holds a slight edge over Romney. The president also leads Romney in Nevada, Ohio, Wisconsin, California and New Mexico. He is nearly tied with his GOP challenger in Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania but trails him in Missouri, Montana, Arizona and Nebraska.
Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.
ITS COMING!!!!!
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http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/generic_congressional_ballot
HOLY SHIT!!!!!! if this keeps going 2010 WAS THE WARM UP FOR WHATS COMING IN NOVEMBER.
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http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/generic_congressional_vote-2170.html
Wow - the congressional ballot is exploding for the demos too.
The reckoning is coming you commie rats!
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this won't keep going. this is the initial momentum when romney is an unknown to many swing voters.
this happens every time. Wes Clark was the frontrunner once ;) Fred Thompson ring a bell?
Kerry was leading Bush in Jun 2008. Once the world saw what a douchey phony he was, the numbers eroded. Maybe romney isn't a douchey phony, who knows.
At least we do know that if Obama wins, you won't blame a weak RINO candidate who bought the nomination - you'll blame the media, the system, etc.
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this won't keep going. this is the initial momentum when romney is an unknown to many swing voters.
this happens every time. Wes Clark was the frontrunner once ;) Fred Thompson ring a bell?
Kerry was leading Bush in Jun 2008. Once the world saw what a douchey phony he was, the numbers eroded. Maybe romney isn't a douchey phony, who knows.
At least we do know that if Obama wins, you won't blame a weak RINO candidate who bought the nomination - you'll blame the media, the system, etc.
LOL FAIL!!!!
What don't you get !!!! Obama is a disgusting piece of shit. Its ABO don't you fng get it yet?
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LOL FAIL!!!!
What don't you get !!!! Obama is a disgusting piece of shit. Its ABO don't you fng get it yet?
Oh, I see a tidal wave coming, all right. A tidal wave of 18 hour copy and paste days by you. Jesus Christ, you are posting poll numbers twenty to thirty times a day in multiple threads.
Maybe it's time to get some help.
Internet addiction disorder (IAD), or, more broadly, Internet overuse, problematic computer use or pathological computer use, is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life.
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Oh, I see a tidal wave coming, all right. A tidal wave of 18 hour copy and paste days by you. Jesus Christ, you are posting poll numbers twenty to thirty times a day in multiple threads.
Maybe it's time to get some help.
Internet addiction disorder (IAD), or, more broadly, Internet overuse, problematic computer use or pathological computer use, is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life.
Fuck off you gay troll.
Deal with it - this little experiment of placing the least competent least qualified most radical nut in the most important office in the land has failed.
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Fuck off you gay troll.
Deal with it - this little experiment of placing the least competent least qualified most radical nut in the most important office in the land has failed.
Why do you keep bringing up George Bush? He's been out of office for three years.
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Why do you keep bringing up George Bush? He's been out of office for three years.
Nice ;D
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Romney to Win Undecideds (Romney Creaming Obama 51-42 in Nationwide Poll)
The Hill ^ | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 | Dick Morris
Posted on May 16, 2012 8:35:58 PM EDT by kristinn
From May 5-11, 2012, I conducted a survey of 6,000 likely voters. On such a mammoth sample, the margin of error is less than 1 percent. I found that Romney has amassed a sizable lead over Obama of 51-42, far in excess of what published polling and surveys of registered — as opposed to likely — voters are indicating.
If Romney were to win 51 percent of the vote, the election would, of course, be very close. But if he could hold Obama to 42 percent, it would be a landslide. So the obvious question is how Romney should go about winning the voters in between.
To answer this question, I drilled down in my sample to these undecided voters, none of whom voted for Romney in the survey. I added to their ranks those who voted for Obama but indicated that they only “somewhat” approved of his performance in office. This left me with a sample of 1,500 likely voters who are in play. The data in this column reflects their views. If Romney can win a quarter or a third of their votes, he will win by a landslide margin of 10 points.
On the economy, 46 percent of these swing voters do not believe that there is any recovery. Twenty-three percent say the economy is the same as when Obama took office and an additional 23 percent say it is worse. Thirty-nine percent say the jobs situation has not improved. Twenty-five percent say it is the same and 14 percent say it is worse. And 37 percent agree with the statement that “if we look around, there isn’t real evidence that we are actually making progress.”
Specifically, swing voters do not believe that the unemployment rate drop Obama heralds is real.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
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Wisconsin is now in play and has become a true tossup state.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/05/16/warning-signs-in-wisconsin-for-obama/tab/comments/
Skip to the comments. You will find some dude who says his sister is an uber liberal who is working in the effort to recall Scott Walker. She beleives Walker will win and is very worried about November.
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Wisconsin is now in play and has become a true tossup state.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/05/16/warning-signs-in-wisconsin-for-obama/tab/comments/
Skip to the comments. You will find some dude who says his sister is an uber liberal who is working in the effort to recall Scott Walker. She beleives Walker will win and is very worried about November.
MM2k. The issue is not only obama! It's holder, kagan, Hillary, Chu, lahood, Biden, Perez, Lisa Jackson, etc.
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Whenever you have momentum swings like this, you always want to be careful to not get too excited, because usually in politics there are ups and downs. But this momentum swing feels different. Obama, the Democrats, and thier incompetence are sorta like this big pink elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. The independents didnt want to believe he was a failure (particularly the ones who voted for him). Now, the indpendents have gotten rid of thier denial and are finally talking about the big elephant in the room, and are flat out rejecting Obama. That is what we are both seeing and feeling in the polls the past 2 or 3 weeks.
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New Wisconsin poll: Walker by six among likely voters, Romney tied with Obama at 46
Hotair ^ | 05/16/2012 | AllahPundit
Posted on May 16, 2012 5:22:05 PM EDT by SeekAndFind
The last Marquette poll, which had Walker leading Barrett by one thin point, made me want to drink whiskey in the daytime. This one makes me want to drink champagne. Yesterday's dKos/PPP poll had nearly identical numbers so it's safe to say this really is the state of the race in Wisconsin at this moment.
I can’t believe I'm asking this, but are we headed for a Scott Walker landslide?
Republicans are more likely to say they are “absolutely certain” to vote on June 5, at 91 percent, than are Democrats and independents, both at 83 percent. In other areas of participation, Republicans also have an advantage. Sixty-two percent of Republicans say that they have tried to persuade someone to vote for or against a candidate, compared to 54 percent among Democrats and 48 percent among independents ...
Another indication of Republican mobilization is a shift in the balance of Republican and Democratic partisanship over the past several months among all registered voters. In January there were two percentage points more Democrats than Republicans in the poll. That rose to eight points in February but has since declined to six points in March, three points in April and now just one point in May. When independents are asked if they feel closer to a party, the balance tips to a one-point Republican advantage in the May data. Such changes might be due to random variation from sample to sample, as the month-to-month changes are not large. However, polling by the Democratic polling firm, Public Policy Polling, finds a similar trend…
Collective bargaining continues to divide the electorate by single digits. Voters prefer to keep the current collective bargaining law rather than return to what it was prior to last year, by a 50-43 percentage point margin. Restoring collective bargaining is supported by 78 percent of Democrats and opposed by 81 percent of Republicans. Among independents, 53 percent want to keep the current law while 38 percent want to return to the previous law.
Last month Walker’s approval rating was 47/51. This month it’s 50/46. Some of that’s due to the good news on jobs in his first year in office and some of it’s surely due to Walker tapping his enormous war chest for the recall effort. But judging from that amazing split among indies on the collective bargaining law, Walker’s message that it’s been a net plus for the state has apparently penetrated. Back when the Madison protests were raging, I think big labor’s dream was to turn the Walker recall election into a referendum on public-employee unions. Then they got some unwelcome facts about the new law and clammed up about it, but it looks like they’re getting their referendum anyway. Hope they enjoy the results.
I don’t know what to make of that trend towards the GOP among the Wisconsin electorate generally, though. Two possibilities. One: Could be that the uptick in Republican identification is being driven partly by the presidential primaries that began in January and rolled on until April. Some of the anti-Obama rhetoric from Romney, Santorum, Gingrich et al. may have nudged fencesitters into the Republican column while O’s sat mostly silent on the sidelines. Two: Note that Democratic identification surged in February, shortly after Democrats announced they had the signatures needed to force a recall election. Maybe that woke up tepid Republicans and fencesitters to the possibility that Walker really might be removed and that labor would treat that as an epochal victory proving the righteousness of PEUs, resulting in a sustained pro-GOP backlash. Or, maybe this is all just the product of standard political forces at work. Walker’s spent a bunch of money to make his case and the national economy under The One continues to reek, so undecideds are reacting predictably. No wonder the DNC has apparently thrown in the towel.
All Romney needs to do now is figure out how to keep that GOP enthusiasm going and he can force O to spend a bunch of money on a state the Democrats never expected they’d need to protect. Speaking of which, Mitt’s favorable rating is now up to 40/44 from 33/46 in April, which was to be expected as hard feelings among Santorum and Gingrich fans after the bitter GOP primary start to soften. Obama will spend the next six months trying to knock it back down again. Quick, media — more stories about bullying that happened 50 years ago, stat.
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BUMP
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Everything will be great when this happens.. look at the bang up job they are doing in the house.
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Everything will be great when this happens.. look at the bang up job they are doing in the house.
The memory capacity of the members on this board is so fucked up
They have already forgot what 8 years of GOP control got us
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Everything will be great when this happens.. look at the bang up job they are doing in the house.
True - they passed three budgets and those thugs obama and reid are sitting on their asses.
Can't wait till november comes and you leftist drones are completely refudiated on your failed ideaology .
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The memory capacity of the members on this board is so fucked up
They have already forgot what 8 years of GOP control got us
Yeah, those 8 years were horrible. Over 40 consecutive months of job growth, lower UE, lower amount of people in welfare, lower deficit, lower monthly expenses by the government, lower gas prices.
Dems had control for 3 years, Obama has been in office for 1 term, and every economic indicator is worse.
Yes, you are right. You have forgotten that the economy is worse under Obama. EVERYTHING IS WORSE UNDER THE DEMOCRATS.
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Yeah, those 8 years were horrible. Over 40 consecutive months of job growth, lower UE, lower amount of people in welfare, lower deficit, lower monthly expenses by the government, lower gas prices.
Dems had control for 3 years, Obama has been in office for 1 term, and every economic indicator is worse.
Yes, you are right. You have forgotten that the economy is worse under Obama. EVERYTHING IS WORSE UNDER THE DEMOCRATS.
Who gives a shit? The economy is shit and its gonna continue whoever the president is. Do you think Romney has a magic Wand to fix the economy?
Atleast Obama is trying to enable Health care for everybody and he is killing AQ a lot more effective than the repub who got us into Iraq with lots of dead soldiers being the prize.
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Who gives a shit? The economy is shit and its gonna continue whoever the president is. Do you think Romney has a magic Wand to fix the economy?
Atleast Obama is trying to enable Health care for everybody and he is killing AQ a lot more effective than the repub who got us into Iraq with lots of dead soldiers being the prize.
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True - they passed three budgets and those thugs obama and reid are sitting on their asses.
Can't wait till november comes and you leftist drones are completely refudiated on your failed ideaology .
Wait wait..i said that in jest... You really think the Republicans are doing a great job over here...like in real life?
Your answer will be very telling.
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very insightful response.
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Wait wait..i said that in jest... You really think the Republicans are doing a great job over here...like in real life?
Your answer will be very telling.
Not really since they have not issued contempt of congress against holder and shut the govt down so gaybama cant spend any more, but they have at least stopped the crazy shit.
They passed repeal of NaziCare, 3 budgets, etc.
Not perfect, but way better than do nothings like Gaybama and Reid
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What Scott Walker’s Victory Signals
Peter Wehner | @Peter_Wehner 06.06.2012 - 10:40 AM
Governor Scott Walker’s victory last night – his seven-point win against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was by a greater margin than in 2010 – will have profound national ramifications. It was a historic defeat for organized labor, and most especially public sector unions. They chose Wisconsin as the ground on which they would make their stand and make an example out of Walker. Instead, they were decimated. In addition, Walker instantly becomes a dominant political player in the GOP, as well as a model to other reform-minded governors. The loss will also drive a wedge between President Obama and organized labor, which cannot be pleased at the indifference Obama showed toward this race. (Tom Barrett was one of Obama’s earliest supporters in 2007.) The president wasn’t there when organized labor needed him. They are likely to return the favor in November.
When combined with the dismal jobs report on Friday, the news Monday that new orders for U.S. factory goods fell in April for the third time in four months, and the downward revision of economic growth in the first quarter (to 1.9 percent) – all of which signal that our weak economy is growing still weaker – Democrats must feel as though the walls are beginning to crash down around them.
The epic 2010 mid-term election was foreshadowed by three races in particular – the victories by Bob McDonnell in Virginia and Chris Christie in New Jersey in November 2009 and Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts in January 2010. They were clear signals of what awaited Democrats in November 2010.
Scott Walker’s crushing win in Wisconsin – which occurred only 154 days before the presidential election — has a similar feel to it. Wisconsin ain’t Utah; it is the home of Robert La Follette and a state with a strong progressive tradition. Barack Obama carried Wisconsin by 14 points in 2008 and it hasn’t gone Republican since 1984. For Governor Walker to win by the margin he did, based on the agenda he’s enacted, is a sign that the political currents in America strongly favor conservatism and the GOP. Even in Wisconsin.
Intelligent Democrats know that. Which is why panic is spreading throughout their ranks this morning. They see another huge wave forming and growing. And right now, they have no idea how to avoid it.
Topics: Democrats, GOP, Obama, Scott Walker, Tom Barrett, Wisconsin recall election
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/06/06/what-scott-walker-victory-signals
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Whenever you have momentum swings like this, you always want to be careful to not get too excited, because usually in politics there are ups and downs. But this momentum swing feels different. Obama, the Democrats, and thier incompetence are sorta like this big pink elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. The independents didnt want to believe he was a failure (particularly the ones who voted for him). Now, the indpendents have gotten rid of thier denial and are finally talking about the big elephant in the room, and are flat out rejecting Obama. That is what we are both seeing and feeling in the polls the past 2 or 3 weeks.
pendulum effect. every 4 or 6 years, the middle 20% change how they feel.
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Obama, Democrats Face Cruel June
via HP
By DONNA CASSATA 06/06/12 04:06 PM ET
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Elections 2012, Barack Obama , Election Results , Elections 2012, Health Care Reform, Barack Obama , Video, Arizona Special Election, Health Care Supreme Court, Obama 2012, Wisconsin Recall, Wisconsin Vote, Politics News
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WASHINGTON — Just one week old, June already is proving a cruel month for President Barack Obama and the Democrats – and it could get a lot worse.
The political blows from Tuesday's bitter loss in Wisconsin's gubernatorial recall and from last week's abysmal unemployment numbers, bad as they were, could multiply before the month is out.
The Supreme Court will pass judgment shortly on the president's signature legislative achievement – the 2010 law overhauling the nation's health care system – and also will decide on his administration's challenge to Arizona's tough immigration law. If Chief Justice John Roberts and the court strike down all or part of the health care law, it could demoralize Democrats who invested more than a year – and quite a few political careers – to secure the bill's passage.
And in Arizona, aside from the big immigration case, the Democrats are fighting to hold onto the House seat of Gabrielle Giffords, who resigned in January to focus on recovering from her gunshot wound. In next Tuesday's special election, former Giffords aide Ron Barber is locked in a close race with Republican Jesse Kelly, who lost to her in 2010 by just 4,156 votes.
Facing an election-year summer fraught with political peril, the Democrats are struggling to revive supporters' spirits and counteract developments that could energize Republicans and solidify public opinion that the country is on the wrong track and in need of new leadership.
In a video pep talk to supporters this week, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina acknowledged the challenge. "We need to stay focused, work hard and ignore the ups and downs," he said.
Even before the votes were counted in Republican Gov. Scott Walker's win over Democrat Tom Barrett Tuesday night, there was hand-wringing and second-guessing among Democrats on Capitol Hill.
_ The jobs numbers have them worried that they'll be running on a weak economy, with the White House – and them – getting the blame.
_ Wisconsin's implications for the general election and for organized labor in general have some asking why Obama didn't get more involved than an 11th-hour tweet.
_ The looming Supreme Court decision on the health care law has some Democrats insisting the White House and the party did a terrible job selling the overhaul to the American people.
There's no shortage of Democratic advice on how Obama should frame the message for voters in the next five months.
In Wisconsin, millions of dollars spent on Walker's behalf trumped labor's get-out-the-vote effort in a swing state that suddenly moves up on the battleground list in the presidential race. Republicans also have set their sights on the seat of retiring Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl in a race that probably will pit Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin against the winner of the Aug. 14 GOP primary. Tommy Thompson, a former governor who was secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush, faces former Rep. Mark Neumann, state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald and millionaire hedge fund manager Eric Hovde.
Hours before Walker's win, Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., said Obama should have gone to Wisconsin to help Barrett.
"I don't understand what he stood to lose in Wisconsin. I can't make that make sense," Hastings said in an interview. He wondered if Obama had been overly worried about alienating the "3 or 4 percent Republicans that may have voted for him the last time," and added, "Nobody, nobody knows what so-called independents are going to do." In 2008, Obama won the state, 56-42 percent.
Labor is a core Democratic constituency, and Hastings fears that Walker's win will provide cover for efforts to undermine collective bargaining rights for unions.
On Wednesday, House Republicans emerging from their weekly closed-door meeting said the mood was clearly upbeat after the Wisconsin win and the task ahead will be keeping high political expectations in check.
Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, cast the message in economic terms and oft-repeated GOP arguments.
"The American people have had it with big government, high taxes and a regulatory system that knows no bounds, and they want elected officials to take control of the situation so the American job creators can go back to doing what they do best, creating jobs," Boehner told reporters.
The economy trumps all issues, and the worse-than-expected 69,000 jobs created in May and an uptick in the unemployment rate to 8.2 percent worry Democrats.
"That's a bad number so there's concern," said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. "We can defend the Obama record. We've created jobs. The legacy of the Bush collapse is real. But what affects the mood, traditionally it's been the economy as perceived by voters about six months out. .... All of us are obviously hoping for better job numbers."
Welch said if the public perception is of an economy getting better, as it was until May, "then it's much more favorable to the election being a choice between Obama and Romney. My view, Obama wins that easily. If it becomes just a referendum on Obama, i.e., the economy, then we're playing more defense than we want to."
The next batch of jobs numbers comes out July 6.
The upcoming Supreme Court decision on health care is a painful reminder to Democrats that Americans favor some elements of the massive law aimed at extending medical insurance to more than 30 million Americans but the far-reaching overhaul has never gained broad approval.
"I'm amazed at the high negatives," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. "Republicans have done a good job demonizing the bill, and evidently we haven't done a good enough job explaining it or people haven't paid enough attention because it's a complicated piece of legislation."
Democrats point to the more popular provisions – the law's banning denial of coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, allowing children to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26 and reducing Americans' Medicare prescription drug costs by closing the "donut hole."
The main issue for the court is the constitutionality of the individual insurance requirement. Opponents argue that Congress lacked the authority under the Constitution to force Americans to buy insurance.
If the court strikes down the law, many of the more popular elements are gone, said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. Asked if Americans are aware of that, he said, "Probably not, but they will be."
Former Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., said the administration and the party's congressional leaders should have focused on a pared-back but bipartisan health care bill with the more popular elements.
"That would have been a game-changer," said Taylor, who lost in the Republican wave in 2010. "Just leave it simple like that, something you could explain to the public. But they missed that opportunity."
Obama's ambitious approach on health care turned the summer of 2009 into a cacophony of angry town hall meetings in which voters confronted lawmakers. In the summer of 2010, Obama struggled with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Last summer, the president was mired in negotiations with Congress over increasing the nation's borrowing authority that pushed the country to the brink of default and provided fodder to critics who argued that Obama was weak.
Former Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, said Obama and Democrats need to put the economic outlook in context – gone are the recession days of losing 700,000 jobs per month and a nation on the verge of a second Great Depression. The country is moving forward, he said.
He was reminded of something former President Bill Clinton once said: "Sometimes the problem with Democrats is that we don't know the difference between an issue and a message." Edwards said Democrats can't just debate the issue, they need to debate the broad message.
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Missouri Sen : McCaskill down to all 3 GOP challengers. Steelman by 12.
Rasmussen Reports ^
Posted on Friday, June 08, 2012 11:20:19 AM by sunmars
Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill’s three leading Republican challengers all now earn 50% or more of the vote in matchups with her.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Missouri Voters shows former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman with the widest lead. She’s ahead of McCaskill by 12 points, 51% to 39%
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
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...then poor ole Rush and Sean;
they won't have any reason for their talk shows.
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New Wisconsin poll: Walker by six among likely voters, Romney tied with Obama at 46
Hotair ^ | 05/16/2012 | AllahPundit
Posted on May 16, 2012 5:22:05 PM EDT by SeekAndFind
so 8 days after Barrett became the nominee the polls showed Walker leading by 6 points
less than 30 days after Barrett became the nominee he loses the election by 7 points
so basically everyone saw this coming (again - almost certainly the reason why Obama didn't show up) but it hasn't stopped right wingers from acting like it equivalent of the US Hockey team beating the USSR in 1980 Olympics
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so 8 days after Barrett became the nominee the polls showed Walker leading by 6 points
less than 30 days after Barrett became the nominee he loses the election by 7 points
so basically everyone saw this coming (again - almost certainly the reason why Obama didn't show up) but it hasn't stopped right wingers from acting like it equivalent of the US Hockey team beating the USSR in 1980 Olympics
LOL. "Private Sector Doing Fine"
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LOL. "Private Sector Doing Fine"
who are you quoting?
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who are you quoting?
Obama from his press conference today.
ONE AND DONE
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Obama from his press conference today.
ONE AND DONE
good job not even mentioning that
how about some context?
Much of the private sector is doing fine
for example Real Estate is on FIRE in the bay area
how about in that shithole where you live?
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good job not even mentioning that
how about some context?
Much of the private sector is doing fine
for example Real Estate is on FIRE in the bay area
how about in that shithole where you live?
gmafb. WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU KIDDING?
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gmafb. WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU KIDDING?
which part dipshit
have you seen corporate profits in the last 12 months
how about the stock market
and like I said the RE market, at least in the Bay Area is on fire
so, again, what specifically are you talking about?
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which part dipshit
have you seen corporate profits in the last 12 months
how about the stock market
and like I said the RE market, at least in the Bay Area is on fire
so, again, what specifically are you talking about?
lol. TALK ABOUT DELUSIONAL and out of touch.
Food Stamps have doubled under obama, record low LFPR, employment still a disaster, etc.
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lol. TALK ABOUT DELUSIONAL and out of touch.
Food Stamps have doubled under obama, record low LFPR, employment still a disaster, etc.
again dipshit - pay attention
a significant part ofthe private sector is fine
what was the context of the quote in the first place
four words out of contex are meaningless to everyone except a complete moron
shit, I don't even know if that is an accurate quote, much less what preceded or followed it
seriously , how in the world can you actually be an attorney. I'm doubting you're even a high school graduate
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again dipshit - pay attention
a significant part ofthe private sector is fine
what was the context of the quote in the first place
four words out of contex are meaningless to everyone except a complete moron
shit, I don't even know if that is an accurate quote, much less what preceded or followed it
seriously , how in the world can you actually be an attorney. I'm doubting you're even a high school graduate
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/obama-private-sector-doing-fine_n_1581419.html
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/obama-private-sector-doing-fine_n_1581419.html
so once again when context is added you can understand the point he was making (well you can if you're not a complete right wing hack)
"We've created 4.3 million jobs over the past 27 months. The private sector is doing fine," said Obama. "Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government, oftentimes cuts initiated by, you know, governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don’t have the same kind of flexibility of the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in."
Obama's comments about jobs growth have some bearing. The economy has gained about 4.2 million private sector jobs since early 2010, putting payroll at about the same level as it was in January 2009. Since Obama took office, about 607,000 fewer people work in the public sector. State and local governments, unlike the federal government, generally have to balance their budgets, and with fewer revenues, spending cuts have forced layoffs.
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so once again when context is added you can understand the point he was making (well you can if you're not a complete right wing hack)
"We've created 4.3 million jobs over the past 27 months. The private sector is doing fine," said Obama. "Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government, oftentimes cuts initiated by, you know, governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don’t have the same kind of flexibility of the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in."
Obama's comments about jobs growth have some bearing. The economy has gained about 4.2 million private sector jobs since early 2010, putting payroll at about the same level as it was in January 2009. Since Obama took office, about 607,000 fewer people work in the public sector. State and local governments, unlike the federal government, generally have to balance their budgets, and with fewer revenues, spending cuts have forced layoffs.
He didnt create anything. and where are these 4 million jobs? What type of jobs? And if there were 4 million new jobs why are state budgets still in shambles w no recovery imn sight?
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He didnt create anything. and where are these 4 million jobs? What type of jobs? And if there were 4 million new jobs why are state budgets still in shambles w no recovery imn sight?
sorry to hear your business is doing so bad
my business is doing great
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sorry to hear your business is doing so bad
my business is doing great
LOL
If things are so great - why is obama blaming the gop and Europe for the bad economy?
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LOL
If things are so great - why is obama blaming the gop and Europe for the bad economy?
without actual quotes I can't assume anything you say is accurate or that you even understood what Obama was saying
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romney said the economy is recovering.
and he's an economic expert.
nuff said.
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romney said the economy is recovering.
and he's an economic expert.
nuff said.
And he was wrong. That doesn't mean it's okay for the economy to suck or that we should vote for Obama.
Obama is the president, it's his economy. If his opponent says he thinks the economy is getting less shitty, that doesn't mean it's okay for Obama to keep killing it.
I don't even get what kind of argument you're trying to make when you post this repeatedly.
It's Obama's shitty economy...and it's not getting better. Nothing anyone else says changes that.
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Sherrod Brown Dodges Obamacare Question At Netroots Nation; Al Gore Deletes Tweet
Breitbart ^ | 6/10/12 | Dana Loesch
Posted on June 10, 2012 9:48:56 PM EDT by Nachum
Yesterday afternoon at Netroots Nation in Providence, RI, I attempted to ask the embattled Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) about his campaign, specifically his record as the deciding vote for Obamacare. Ohio voters passted an amendment to their constitution outlawing the Democrats' health care law by a wide margin in 2011:
Ohioans overwhelmingly rejected the healthcare mandate provisions of Obamacare.
They did this by handily passing an amendment to the state’s constitution that reads, in part, as follows:
No federal, state, or local law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in a health care system.
My own state's senator, Claire McCaskill (D-MO), championed Obamacare while Missourians overwhelmingly (by over 70%, 3-1 in every county) passed the Healthcare Freedom Act which excluded Missourians from the penalties of Obamacare, including jail time and fines. I wondered how Brown was going to reconcile this troubling disparity in his state.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
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And he was wrong. That doesn't mean it's okay for the economy to suck or that we should vote for Obama.
Obama is the president, it's his economy. If his opponent says he thinks the economy is getting less shitty, that doesn't mean it's okay for Obama to keep killing it.
I don't even get what kind of argument you're trying to make when you post this repeatedly.
It's Obama's shitty economy...and it's not getting better. Nothing anyone else says changes that.
How can it be Obamas Economy?
Are you not a frremarket supporter?
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romney said the economy is recovering.
and he's an economic expert.
nuff said.
"The government does not create jobs. The private sector creates jobs." - Mitt Romney
"As President, I will create jobs" - Mitt Romney
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"The government does not create jobs. The private sector creates jobs." - Mitt Romney
"As President, I will create jobs" - Mitt Romney
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"The government does not create jobs. The private sector creates jobs." - Mitt Romney
"As President, I will create jobs" - Mitt Romney
Oh my Romney is a Keneysian now :D
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Oh my Romney is a Keneysian now :D
More of the same it appears. LOL
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More of the same it appears. LOL
Im just waiting for 333... to post several thousand posts telling us how much of a commie traitor Romney is. But no because Romney is republican so its ok for him to be a traitor.
Obama on the other hand despite taking out OBL something Romney would never do is a traitor. Go figure :)
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How can it be Obamas Economy?
Are you not a frremarket supporter?
I don't consider the things he's done (primarily stimulus and the desire to increase the public sector) to be "free market."
If you want to argue semantics, then it's his "extended economic stagnation."
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I don't consider the things he's done (primarily stimulus and the desire to increase the public sector) to be "free market."
If you want to argue semantics, then it's his "extended economic stagnation."
The stimulus was backed by the repub so its the same all the way around
Increase public sector? where is the laws etc proposed to do this?
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And he was wrong.
How can we believe ANYTHING Romney says about the economy now?
I'm supposed to accept everything else he says - after such a huge, sweeping, incorrect statement?
It's like if a math teacher stands up and tells the world that 1+1 = 3.
I don't care what he says after that - he can lecture us on pre-calc all day, but I already know he's a dumb shit on the simplest level.
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The stimulus was backed by the repub so its the same all the way around
Increase public sector? where is the laws etc proposed to do this?
Yes, and the repubs were wrong too.
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Yes, and the repubs were wrong too.
were they wrong to nominate a man (Romney) who didn't reflect their core beliefs - at alll?
Probably. But that's in the past now. All they can do at this point is work to convince themselves that a RINO is okay, as long as he's not named Berry [sic] Hussein.
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were they wrong to nominate a man (Romney) who didn't reflect their core beliefs - at alll?
Probably. But that's in the past now. All they can do at this point is work to convince themselves that a RINO is okay, as long as he's not named Berry [sic] Hussein.
Correct. We have no illusions about Romney and know full well what is going on.
Its A B O dont you get it?
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Correct. We have no illusions about Romney and know full well what is going on.
Its A B O dont you get it?
I understand.
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The stimulus was backed by the repub so its the same all the way around
Republicans NEVER supported that POS legislation.
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Republicans NEVER supported that POS legislation.
Leftist illiterates like to re-invent history.
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Republicans NEVER supported that POS legislation.
Just other Pos Legislation
Leftist illiterates like to re-invent history.
So i guess youre a leftist illiterate...because god damn you like to re-invent history
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Just other Pos Legislation
So i guess youre a leftist illiterate...because god damn you like to re-invent history
Hey - you got the inside scoop right?
Do i have make plans for when obama loses? I mean are the peeps going to riot and burn down the hood?
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Hey - you got the inside scoop right?
Do i have make plans for when obama loses? I mean are the peeps going to riot and burn down the hood?
Who said i got an inside scoop...
And i have no idea on what plans you have re Obama.
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Hey - you got the inside scoop right?
Do i have make plans for when obama loses? I mean are the peeps going to riot and burn down the hood?
You mean like those docs that walked off their jobs and burned cities?
Another one of your predictions that failed to come through.
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State results dim Dems' hopes for House takeover
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 6/11/12 | Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
California voters threw a wrench Tuesday into fellow Californian Nancy Pelosi's plans.
The former House speaker from San Francisco, once third in line for the presidency and architect of the key legislation of President Obama's first term, is making a longshot bid to regain House control this year.
The minority leader was counting on California, home to an increasing number of Democratic Party voters and where new legislative district maps forced four veteran GOP lawmakers into retirement, to deliver half a dozen of the net gain of 25 seats she needs.
After the results of last week's primary election in the state, Democrats now hope to pick up four or five seats, said Jennifer Crider, deputy executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Republicans think the state will end up delivering next to nothing for Democrats.
"I think it comes out to virtually a wash in California," said Brock McCleary, deputy political director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which oversees House races.
Major disappointment
By any measure, the new "top two" primary, low voter turnout and redrawn districts produced disappointment for Democrats on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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You mean like those docs that walked off their jobs and burned cities?
Another one of your predictions that failed to come through.
Docs are leaving practice due to obamacare and 60% or better think it will make practice of medicine worse.
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Just other Pos Legislation
So i guess youre a leftist illiterate...because god damn you like to re-invent history
Not near as big POS legislation as that one was.
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Docs are leaving practice due to obamacare and 60% or better think it will make practice of medicine worse.
prove it out... show me a large enough sample size of MD's leaving the field because of Obama care..
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Docs are leaving practice due to obamacare and 60% or better think it will make practice of medicine worse.
Really? And they are rioting in the streets and torching cities like you claim?
Or is this the LaLa Land delusions creeping out of your head again?
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Human Events Blog
Doctors hate ObamaCare even more than you do
By:John Hayward
3/15/2012 09:49 AM
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2859519/posts
Heath care is an expensive product, with high demand chasing limited supply. There are only so many doctors, and training new ones requires a long education at great personal expense. Meanwhile, advances in medicine are steadily prolonging life and improving its quality.
It follows that if we want to decrease the cost of health care (or, to use the currently popular political vernacular, “improve access”) we need more doctors. Conversely, reducing the supply of doctors would make medical care more expensive, and reduce its quality. If government controls are then applied to skyrocketing costs, shortages and rationing would be the inevitable result.
What will ObamaCare do to the supply of doctors? For the answer, we turn to a Heritage Foundation report on a new survey of the medical profession, which confirms the results of a previous survey from 2010. Doctors hate ObamaCare even more than the general public does, with 60 percent of respondents saying it will “have a negative impact on overall patient care,” but that’s not the worst of it:
The Doctors Company, which is the largest insurer of physician and surgeon medical liability in the nation, received more than 5,000 surveys, including all specialties and every region in the country. The results weren’t good for the President’s signature piece of legislation.
Not only do doctors believe that Obamacare will not improve the health care system, they also anticipate that it will worsen the current condition. According to the survey, nine out of 10 physicians are unwilling to recommend health care as a profession to a family member, and one primary care physician even commented, “I would not recommend becoming an M.D. to anyone.”
Obamacare doesn’t just discourage entrance into the medical profession; it encourages those who are already practicing to leave it. The survey states that “health care reform is motivating doctors to change their retirement timeline.” In fact, 43 percent of respondents said they are considering retiring within the next five years as a result of the law. A surgeon from Michigan wrote that under Obamacare, “We will be moving further away from humanity-based health care and more towards the patient as a commodity. This was not the way my father practiced—nor will I. Winding down to retire early.”
(Emphases mine.) This comes as the United States teeters “on the brink of a severe physician shortage,” with the American Association of Medical Colleges estimating that we’ll need 91,500 more doctors by 2020 to meet demand.
This is the sort of disastrous “side effect” that probably wasn’t included in the Congressional Budget Office’s already horrific estimate of ObamaCare’s exploding costs. It’s also damage that would not be easy to reverse. If ObamaCare is not repealed soon, the loss of doctors will ripple forward for years… and the necessity of tight “death panel” rationing of precious doctor time will be used as a club by Democrats to not only keep ObamaCare, but actually make it worse. Wait until the doctors of 2014 get a load of the tidal wave pouring into their offices to collect their mandated benefits… and look behind them to see an increasingly large army of stern bureaucrats dictating the fast-food practices necessary to keep the human cattle moving through those exam rooms.
Let’s hear Health and Human Cattle Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tell us some more about that private-sector “death spiral” ObamaCare was supposed to fix!
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Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 45%, Democrats 39%
Rasmussen Reports ^ | June 11, 2012 | Rasmussen
Posted on June 11, 2012 5:03:55 PM EDT by SMGFan
Republicans lead Democrats by six points on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, June 10.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
Landslide coming you communist Obama drones
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Republicans NEVER supported that POS legislation.
You need to start using the memory part of your brain kid
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Still no link to the torching of cities....
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Still no link to the torching of cities....
Lol, so you agree I was right on ObamaCare? Thanks.
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nate silver should read getbig so he could throw all his statistics out the window and roll with EMOTION.
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and not one thing in that article said in real numbers.. doctors are leaving. It said they are "considering retiring in the next 5 years"... that was the strongest language to support your claim that " doctors are leaving the practice? Pretty weak... pretty weak indeed...
.No, Doctors Don't Hate ObamacareHarold Pollack
Harold Pollackview bioNo, Doctors Don't Hate Obamacare Not So Super Why Liberals Need to Rethink Everything They Knew About Housing Policy
and Vivek Murthy
Vivek Murthyview bioNo, Doctors Don't Hate Obamacare January 19, 2012 | 1:08 pm
6 comments Share on redditShare on twitterShare on stumbleupon|More Sharing ServicesMorePrint.Tweeti nShare.15 More From this Author
Not So Super
Why Liberals Need to Rethink Everything They Knew About Housing Policy
How the Latest Study on Autism is Getting Woefully Misconstrued[Guest post by Harold Pollack and Vivek Murthy]
Forbes has published another slam against health reform. This one is written by Sally Pipes, president, CEO, and Taube Fellow in Health Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute. She is the author of a forthcoming book, The Pipes Plan: The Top Ten Ways to Dismantle and Replace Obamacare, put out by the conservative publishing juggernaut, Regnery. This follows Pipes’ previous volume, The Truth About Obamacare. We haven’t read this one; we presume the truth isn’t good.
Pipes fires standard broadsides against health reform, including the already-rebutted claim that because of the Affordable Care Act, “American families in the non-group market will see their premiums rise $2,100.” She also presents a more novel, in some ways more disturbing argument, when she claims that that America’s doctors oppose health reform:
Few people know more about our healthcare system than doctors working on the frontlines. Policymakers should pay heed to their indictment of Obamacare and revisit the disastrous law.
Pipes’ is probably right to say that “if physicians aren’t on board with Obamacare, it won’t work.” The rest of her argument is wrong.
To prove her point, Pipes cites a survey by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. This survey highlights physicians’ anxieties regarding both health reform and the broader trends within the health care system. It provides some intriguing results. Although Pipes implies otherwise, respondents actually split down the middle in their reactions to the new law. Forty-four percent believe that the Act is “a good start.” Forty-four percent believe that “it is a step in the wrong direction.” These responses strikingly differed across generational lines. Fifty-nine percent of physician-respondents between the ages of 50 and 59 believe that the Act is “a step in the wrong direction.” Only 36 percent of their counterparts between the ages of 25 and 39 gave the same response.
It’s hard to know what to make of these findings. According to Deloitte’s supporting materials, of the 16,537 physicians the firm contacted, 501 completed the survey. That’s a response rate of barely 3 percent. It’s not clear whom this tiny sample really represents.
A better way to gauge these issues is to examine how physicians and the organizations which represent them actually behaved during last year’s health reform. One wouldn’t know from Pipes’ article that the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Osteopathic Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American College of Cardiology all endorsed last year’s health reform. These groups represent hundreds of thousands of physicians across a wide range of medical sub-specialties.
A key reason for these endorsements was the widespread recognition that our current health care system works poorly from the perspective of both physicians and patients – and the understanding that the new law was an important step in building a more effective health care system.
In the nearly two years since the Act was passed, we have heard many stories from colleagues around the country who belong to Doctors for America, an independent organization with which we are both affiliated. These physician are in private practice and academia, primary care and specialties, and in rural and urban areas. They are all seeing the impact of health care reform.
Heidi Sinclair, an internal medicine hospital specialist in Louisiana, noted that her hospital set up a discharge clinic to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions in anticipation of the law's delivery system reform pilots. Maggie Kozel, a pediatrician and teacher in Rhode Island, has seen more young adults - including her own children - who have now been able to get health insurance through their parent's insurance plans. Chris Lillis, an internal medicine physician in Virginia reported that his practice has received an increase in reimbursement thanks to the law’s primary care support provisions.
Particularly touching was a message we received from Ann Drum, a physician in Alabama, who has devoted her career to caring for the underserved. Dr. Drum suffers from a chronic illness herself, and, because of the regular and expensive intravenous therapy required for her disease, she was in danger of losing her health insurance as she approached her lifetime cap on coverage. The Affordable Care Act's provisions which ban lifetime caps mean that she and her patients need no longer live in fear of losing their health insurance because they are too sick.
There are many other stories too: A Tennessee specialist noted that his hospital has embarked on a major reorganization to focus on maximizing quality of care and reducing costs – all in anticipation of the law’s accountable care organization pilot programs. A Florida physician who owns a small private practice expressed relief that their state is finally getting grant support through the new public health prevention fund, to improve the screening and treatment of conditions such as hypertension. A North Carolina intensive care unit physician, who has seen heartbreaking cases of his patients denied care by insurers, told us of his sense of victory when he discovered the law provided his patients much needed protection.
Our personal correspondence conveys but a few of the many ways that physicians are starting to see the beneficial impact of the Affordable Care Act in their working lives.
That’s not to say physician enthusiasm for reform is universal -- far from it. Different specialties have different financial interests at stake. Like everyone else, physicians also hold diverse ideological views regarding the proper role of government and private enterprise in the health care system.
Physicians are also similar to the general public in another way: While physicians are extremely knowledgeable about the health care systems in which they work, they’re not particularly knowledgeable about health care reform. Having spoken to thousands of physicians about health reform, we can attest that this is the case across regions, ages and ethnicities, and specialties. An important reason for this uncertainty has been the ineffectiveness of public education efforts to explain what the Affordable Care Act really does.
This is also an anxious time for physicians, for patients, and for others with strong stakes in American health care. Physicians are under new pressures to join larger care organizations and to adopt new technologies such as electronic health records. Physicians are unsure how their reimbursements will be impacted in the coming years. Health reform provides a plausible target for these anxieties, even though the law often has little to do with the underlying causes of physicians’ worries. Additionally, when physicians see persistent or new problems (e.g. rising insurance premiums in the last year or continued political shenanigans over Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate “doctor fix”), many blame Obamacare. Ironically, problems like these are often precisely the difficulties that the law seeks to address.
Will doctors support health reform? We suspect that the ultimate answer to this question won’t come from the thrust-and-parry of partisan debate. Doctors will support the new law to the extent that it becomes visible in their everyday lives, and make these lives better.
We believe that physicians will embrace the Affordable Care Act because the new law helps to address many critical issues that have long concerned physicians and patients—abuses and market failures in the provisions of health coverage, rising numbers of uninsured patients, variable quality, poor coordination of care, the erosion of primary care, and the lack of focus on prevention and public health. As the law’s main provisions kick in, physicians will see that it is, indeed, a big step in the right direction. We are sure that the new law will attract serious criticism. Real on-the-ground progress will provide the best rebuttal.
Harold Pollack is the Helen Ross Professor at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and advisor to Doctors for America. Vivek Murthy is an attending physician at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, as well as president and co-founder of Doctors for America.
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Lol, so you agree I was right on ObamaCare? Thanks.
That is caused docs to walk off their jobs, riot in the streets and burn cities?
No, I don't agree. And since it hasn't happened, I see the docs themselves don't agree with you either.
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That is caused docs to walk off their jobs, riot in the streets and burn cities?
No, I don't agree. And since it hasn't happened, I see the docs themselves don't agree with you either.
yeah, most of SW FL has been ablaze since the doctors picked up pitchforks and blowtorches as predicted.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/car-wreck-at-the-white-house/2012/06/11/gJQAl8MpVV_story.html
Panic setting in.
LMFAO! ! ! ! !
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Where's the link to city burnings?
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Where's the link to city burnings?
www.foxnews.com
aka the Holder Network.
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Clintonites Hit The Panic Button For Obama
Carville, Greenberg, Penn, and Schoen all say the re-elect is off course. The Obamans have always loved criticism from Clintonworld. posted Jun 12, 2012 12:36pm EDT
http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/clintonites-hit-the-panic-button-for-obama
(Getty Images / MANDEL NGAN)
Former aides to President Bill Clinton are calling for a dramatic shift in their party's economic message before the November election, warning of an "impossible headwind in November," if they continue on their current path.
The two political operations — Clinton and Obama — have never seen eye-to-eye, and now some of the top voices of the Democratic 1990s have shifted into open criticism of a political operation they cast as overly negative and reactive, and failing to offer a positive set of plans for the economy.
Clinton's 1992 campaign pollster, Stan Greenberg, and his former campaign manager, Democratic operative James Carville, raised alarm today about President Barack Obama's economic message in a memo written with pollster Erica Seifert for Democracy Corps (and first reported by POLITICO).
"What is clear from this fresh look at public consciousness on the economy is how difficult this period has been for both non-college-educated and college-educated voters — and how vulnerable the prevailing narratives articulated by national Democratic leaders are," they write. "We will face an impossible headwind in November if we do not move to a new narrative, one that contextualizes the recovery but, more importantly, focuses on what we will do to make a better future for the middle class."
The election, they add, is not a vote on economic performance, but on which candidate has the best prescription for the future. They advise a program of new taxes on people earning more than $200,000, and new spending aimed at securing the future of the American middle class.
"[Voters] know we are in a new normal where life is a struggle — and convincing them that things are good enough for those who have found jobs is a fool’s errand," they write. "They want to know the plans for making things better in a serious way — not just focused on finishing up the work of the recovery."
The message they offer is similar to Clinton's 1996 message of providing a "Bridge to the 21st Century," though the economy is nowhere near as stable as it was in that election year.
Former Clinton pollster and strategist Doug Schoen — brought in by Clinton to replace Greenberg in a rightward tack after the 1994 midterms — echoed the memo's conclusions in an email to BuzzFeed.
"They are absolutely correct. [Democrats] must talk about the future. may have a different view of the message than they have, but they couldn't be more correct. [Democrats] must talk outcomes and benefits to win," he said.
But pollster Mark Penn, Schoen's former partner and a member of Clinton's inner circle in the White House and later a force on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, said Obama needs more than just a new message — but also a new economic plan.
"I think that the president needs a new economic plan that takes the country into the 21st century global economy, a plan with emphasis on education, infrastructure, innovation, and growing exports. A plan that creates new economy jobs for a country that wants to move
forward," he told BuzzFeed, adding that "most of the messages [in the memo] are too much about raising taxes and raising spending in a public that has changed quite dramatically from 1992."
Obama's aides have always bridled at criticism from the Clintonites, in part because they see Obama's victory over Clinton as the triumph over his carefully calibrated centrist politics.
An Obama campaign spokesman emailed BuzzFeed in response to the memo:
The President has always been clear that we need to do more than recover from the recession, we need to restore economic security for the middle class. The question we have put to Americans is whether they want to continue to make investments in areas that will provide a boost to the middle class – like doubling funding for college scholarships, investing in research and development to promote innovation, and allowing responsible homeowners the opportunity to refinance their homes – or do they want to cut back in these areas and return to the policies that caused the economic crisis?
________________________ ________________________
Tidal Wave coming.
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Two new and disturbing polls just out suggest that the road to reelection is getting tougher for President Obama.
In the most significant, Gallup found that union member support for the president is weaker than it was on Election Day. While Obama took 67 of the union vote, according to 2008 election night polling by Peter Hart for the AFL-CIO, Gallup discovered that just 58 percent of union members back the president now. Some 35 percent support Mitt Romney, 5 percent more than Sen. John McCain won in 2008.
Gallup said the union vote is a significant block for Obama, though, “their impact on the presidential race will be limited by their size -- just about 12% of employed voters are union members.”
Rasmussen Reports, found that a majority of likely American voters -- 60 percent -- believe that it is at least somewhat likely that the next president will be a Republican, including 34% who see this scenario as very likely. Among Democrats, 35 percent of likely voters also said Obama would be followed by a Republican.
Rasmussen said that when Obama first took office, just 44 percent thought a Republican would replace him.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/washington-secrets/2012/06/now-union-members-are-deserting-obama/721241
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Obama’s Problem With White, Non-College Educated Voters is Getting Worse (Bitter clingers?)
The New Republic ^ | June 11, 2012 | Nate Cohn
One demographic has plagued Obama since his primary duel with Hillary Clinton: white voters without a college degree. Although Obama ultimately won enough white non-college voters to win the presidency in 2008, his performance was underwhelming by historic standards. And over the last four years, Obama’s already tepid support among white voters without a college degree has collapsed. At the same time, the “newer” elements of the Democratic coalition—college educated and non-white voters—have continued to offer elevated levels of support to the president. The latest polls show this trend continuing, indicating an unprecedented education gap among white voters—a gap that could put Obama’s electoral chances in jeopardy.
Let’s dig into the numbers. Since February, 25 state and national polls from Quinnipiac and Pew Research disaggregated Obama’s standing against Romney by educational attainment. The dataset has weaknesses, as the Quinnipiac state polls sample six somewhat unrepresentative East Coast states. Even so, the degree of consistency across the six states and the six national polls is striking: Of the 25 polls, 22 show a larger drop-off among non-college educated white voters.
(GRAPH AT LINK)
On average, Obama has lost nearly 6 percentage points among white voters without a college degree. Given that Obama had already lost millions of traditionally Democratic white working class voters in 2008, this degree of further deterioration is striking. In the three national polls conducted since April, Obama held just 34 percent of white voters without a college degree, compared to 40 percent in 2008. Thirty-four percent places Obama in the company of Walter Mondale, George McGovern, and the 2010 House Democrats. These are landslide numbers.
At the same time, college educated white voters continue to offer 2008 levels of support to the President. In the same 25 polls, Obama lost an average of just 1.5 percentage points among white voters with a college degree. The national polls show Obama holding just as well, and the most recent Pew poll actually shows Obama improving on his 2008 performance among college educated whites.
The uneven decline of Obama’s 2008 coalition has opened an unprecedented education gap among white voters. The current polls show that the education gap could nearly double, at least if Romney can persuade the undecided white working class Obama ‘08 voters with reservations about Obama’s performance. In 2008, Obama lost white college graduates by four points and whites without a college degree by 19 points. If the national polls are correct, and Obama currently holds approximately 35 percent of the white non-college vote, then Romney has an opportunity to win white non-college voters by 30 points. If Romney does so, the education gap would increase from 15 points in 2008 to 26 points in 2012. For comparison, the vaunted gender gap was 14 points in 2008 and 13 points in the most recent Pew poll.
The emerging education gap could rejigger the electoral map, leaving Obama well positioned in states where Obama is less dependent on the support of white voters without a college degree—the educated and diverse mid-Atlantic and southwestern states—but giving Romney an advantage in states where Democrats need white non-college voters—the traditionally Democratic Midwestern states, where nearly half of Obama’s 2008 supporters were whites without a college degree.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that the growing education gap manifests uniformly across a diverse country. In 2008, Obama received about the same share of white voters without a college degree as Kerry in 2004, but that national-level stability belied big regional shifts. Obama had made significant gains among white working class voters in the Midwest and West, vaulting traditionally Republican states like Montana and Indiana into the toss-up column. At the same time, white working class voters in greater Appalachia and much of the rural South either didn’t vote or switched to McCain, leaving Obama routed in historically competitive states like West Virginia and Arkansas.
Unfortunately, there isn’t yet enough data to determine the geographic distribution of Obama’s white non-college defectors. Even so, wide variance in Obama’s dependence on white non-college voters points toward the possibility that Obama’s chances in Wisconsin could be in jeopardy, even as Obama’s narrower margins in Virginia and North Carolina appear intact. This means that Obama’s strong showing in the Wisconsin recall exit poll takes outsized significance in this context. If Obama’s enduring strength among educated and non-white voters keeps Obama competitive in traditionally Republican states like Virginia and North Carolina, but Romney doesn’t get his end of the bargain in Democratic-but-white-working-class states like Wisconsin, the electoral map starts to look a lot better for Obama. On the other hand, Wisconsin’s demographics give the Romney campaign cause to at least initially contest the state, even if the current polling looks unfavorable.
(GRAPH AT LINK)
There is, however, a potential upside for Obama in all this: Despite the president’s diminished standing among less educated white voters, Romney has not yet convinced disaffected voters to join his cause. Instead, many of these voters remain undecided, and Romney still trails McCain’s eventual tallies in many of these polls. In all but one of the 25 polls, less educated whites were more likely to be undecided than college educated whites. In the six national polls, 5 percent of college educated whites were undecided compared to 9 percent of whites without a college degree.
Romney’s road to victory starts with consolidating disaffected voters who do not approve of the President’s performance. Unsurprisingly then, the Obama campaign’s initial wave of advertising appears well-suited to disrupting those efforts. Depicting Romney as a plutocratic corporate raider seems likely to resonate with working class voters, especially since many traditionally have voted for Democratic presidential candidates. On the other hand, most of these voters harbor deep reservations about Obama’s performance and probably voted for Republicans in the 2010 midterms. Romney’s main goal in the coming months will be to convince them to join his cause.
________________________ __________________
Go figure - white working class people don't want higher taxes, debt, and inflation to pay for Peggy's mortgage and gas or for solar panels they will never use, chevy volts they will never afford, Fisker speed cars they will never drive, etc.
Like I said - LANDSLIDE COMING.
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Obama Is Doing Stunningly Bad Among African Americans In North Carolina
Brett LoGiurato|Jun. 12, 2012, 2:16 PM|44,410|57
WATCH: What Obama's Embarrassing Primaries In Kentucky And Arkansas Last Month Mean
President Barack Obama is rapidly losing support among African-American voters in North Carolina, a new poll out today from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling shows.
The poll finds that Mitt Romney would get 20 percent of the African-American vote if the election were held today, compared with 76 percent for Obama. Overall, Romney has a 48 percent to 46 percent lead on Obama in the crucial swing state.
Obama received 95 percent of the support from African-Americans in North Carolina in the 2008 election, compared with just 5 percent for Republican nominee John McCain.
Public Policy Polling
In PPP's May poll, Obama received 87 percent of the African-American vote to Romney's 11 percent.
All of Obama's numbers with African-Americans are sliding. His approval rating is down from 86 percent to 77 percent. Romney's favorability, meanwhile, has doubled from 9 percent to 18 percent.
Jim Williams, a polling analyst at PPP, said it could be "statistical noise" that comes with a small sample (only about 200 African-Americans were surveyed). But he said it was not something the agency has "ever seen before."
"Seventy-something percent is obviously low," Williams told Business Insider. "It's not something we've ever seen before. It's definitely something we're going to monitor."
Williams added the obvious: If the results keep turning up like this, it would be "very bad news for him."
The decline in African-American support for Obama follows the general trend of voters in North Carolina. A month ago, Obama led Romney by a point. Two months ago, Obama led by 5 points. Romney has also swung the important Independent vote to his side — turning a 13-point deficit in April into a one-point lead in June.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-african-american-vote-black-north-carolina-2012-6#ixzz1xc8YOh5G
________________________ ________________________ ________________
GAY MARRIAGE ANYONE?
LANDSLIDE COMING
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http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obamas-jewish-support-drops-22-points-new-york_647153.html
I guess the liberal jews care more about losing everying $$$$ wise now than their usual die hard leftism.
LANDSLIDE COMING
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James Carville’s polling firm to Obama: Nobody believes that the economy’s recovering anymore
Hot Air ^ | 6/12/12 | Allahpundit
Posted on June 12, 2012 9:20:53 PM EDT by Nachum
Tough stuff from Team Serpenthead. What’s a president to do when he can’t run on the idea that America’s better off now than it was four years ago? Simple. Run on the idea that America will be better off four years from now if it gives him another term. 2008: The future is now. 2012: No, wait, we mean the future is now.
Hope and change — they’re always a day away.
What is clear from this fresh look at public consciousness on the economy is how difficult this period has been for both non-college-educated and college-educated voters – and how vulnerable the prevailing narratives articulated by national Democratic leaders are. We will face an impossible headwind in November if we do not move to a new narrative, one that contextualizes the recovery but, more importantly, focuses on what we will do to make a better future for the middle class.
It is elites who are creating a conventional wisdom that an incumbent president must run on his economic performance – and therefore must convince voters that things are moving in the right direction. They are wrong, and that will fail. The voters are very sophisticated about the character of the economy; they know who is mainly responsible for what went wrong and they are hungry to hear the President talk about the future. They know we are in a new normal where life is a struggle – and convincing them that things are good enough for those who have found jobs is a fool’s errand. They want to know the plans for making things better in a serious way – not just focused on finishing up the work of the recovery…
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
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http://www.gallup.com/poll/155156/Obama-White-Base-Shows-Cracks-Compared-2008.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines%20-%20Politics
Landslide coming.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-campaigns-erratic-behavior-concerns-some-democrats/2012/06/12/gJQAedXZYV_story.html
LMAO. Panic setting in.
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77359.html
LMFAO only now democrats are telling obama to change his tune? Now? After obamacare, cap n trade, war on religion, war on business, etc?
Done.
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Rasmussen : Wisconsin Romney 47%, Obama 44%
Rasmussen Reports ^
Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 12:35:48 PM by sunmars
Mitt Romney now leads President Obama for the first time in Wisconsin where the president's support has fallen to its lowest level to date.
The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Romney with 47% of the vote to Obama’s 44%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Prior to this survey, Obama's support in the state has ranged from 45% to 52%, while Romney has earned 41% to 45%. Last month, the numbers were Obama 49%, Romney 45%. The president led his likely Republican challenger by 11 points in March - 52% to 41%.
Just last week Republican Governor Scott Walker won a special recall election prompted by Democrats outraged over his successful move to limit collective bargaining rights for some unionized public employees in order to reduce Wisconsin's budget deficit.
Most voters (51%) in the state view public employee unions unfavorably, while 46% share a favorable opinion of them. This includes 33% with a Very Unfavorable view of the unions and 27% with a Very Favorable one. The president draws overwhelming support from voters who view public employee unions favorably, while Romney draws equally heavy support from those who view them unfavorably.
Forty-seven percent (47%) of voters in Wisconsin approve of the job Obama is doing, while 52% disapprove. These findings include 27% who Strongly Approve of the president’s job performance and 44% who Strongly Disapprove. These ratings are comparable to those measured nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Romney is viewed favorably by 49% of Wisconsin voters and unfavorably by 45%. These numbers include Very Favorable reviews from 23% and Very Unfavorable ones by 30%.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
________________________ ________________________ __________
LANDSLIDE COMING
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Barack Obama's Lead In National Polls Has Collapsed
Brett LoGiurato|Jun. 13, 2012, 10:34 AM|3,309|43
President Barack Obama's lead completely evaporated in this month's Reuters/Ipsos poll series, falling to 45 percent to 44 percent against Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll series was one of the last reliable polls to show Obama with a comfortable lead on Romney. In March, Obama led by 11 points. Last month, Obama held a still-commanding 7-point lead nationally over Romney.
Look at how things have changed for Obama over the last six months:
Reuters/Ipsos
Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson attributes the drop to Obama's campaign struggles this month, driven by a worsening economic outlook:
"The economy is going through a rough patch, and that more than anything is going to determine President Obama's future," Jackson said in a release. "People's unhappiness with the economy carries over pretty directly to the president's numbers, and we see those weakening."
The poll was taken after a disastrous May jobs report two weeks ago and Obama's comment last week that the private-sector economy is "doing fine." Some of the poll's numbers — like a 6-point increase among people who think the country is on the wrong track — suggest that the grim news is starting to take its toll.
Other polls tell the same story. In late April, Gallup found that Obama held a 7-point lead on Romney. That's down to a single point, in tracking from June 5-11. Last month, Fox News gave Obama a 7-point lead. Now he and Romney are tied. Obama's ABC News/Washington Post poll lead went from 7 points in April to just 3 points last month.
The silver lining for the Obama team? Fifty percent of those polled still think Obama has helped the economy in the past three-plus years, compared with 44 percent who think he has harmed it.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-mitt-romney-poll-national-2012-6#ixzz1xhEIPDNn
180 in panic.
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Anonymous Democrats Agree With Other Anonymous Democrat That It's Time To Freak Out
Posted: 06/13/2012 12:38 pm
.
Yesterday, the chattering class was having a field day over the most recent Democracy Corps memo, which advised that President Barack Obama needed to do more to ensure middle and working class Americans that he had a plan to brighten their future. (If middle and working class Americans are reading leaked trade documents, that might be harder to do.) It's not hard to see the wisdom in the strategy memo, whose authors -- James Carville, Stan Greenberg, and Erica Seifert -- urge the president to ignore the conventional wisdom of "elites" and focus on the fact that voters are sophisticated enough to understand the causes of their economic dislocation, and are looking for a sign that the president understands it as well.
However, it's even easier to stop reading the memo after you get to the phrase "impossible headwind" and decide that it's a call for all-out panic. What to do next? Well, if you want to "confirm" the panic, all you have to do is call a random assortment of "Democratic strategists," who as a general rule, are almost always panicking. Here's Karen Tumulty, today:
“The bad thing is, there is no new thinking in that circle,” said one longtime operative in Democratic presidential campaigns who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.
Eight other prominent Democratic strategists interviewed shared that view, describing Obama’s team as resistant to advice and assistance from those who are not part of its core. All of them spoke on the condition of anonymity as well.
That's about as far as it goes. These "eight other prominent Democrats" never speak on their own, we just learn that they all apparently said, "Yeah, whatever that first guy said." And what the first guy said was basically that Obama desperately needs to listen to what the first guy has to say. Though the first guy never discloses the powerful, game-changing political advice he has to offer, maybe because he doesn't have any? It's tough to say. One of the great things about being an anonymous political strategist is that you never have to be responsible for a strategy.
Can I get someone to do some realkeeping, here? Someone who can point to some simple electoral fundamentals that make this 2012 race unique? Fortunately, Tumulty provides me with Mark McKinnon:
“Now all the stories are about the flawed Obama team and strategy, which is ridiculous,” said Mark McKinnon, who was a top campaign strategist for George W. Bush. “They are not any more or less smart than they were four years ago. The dynamics are just different. This time, the wind is in their face instead of at their back.”
See, that's the sort of thing I would have led with, because I'm interested in making politics less complicated for readers, as opposed to more confusing. The point I would make is that no matter what "messaging" the Obama team comes up with -- and it has many months to do an awesome or a terrible job -- the dire economy is the dire economy.
Meanwhile, not too long ago, James Carville was on the record suggesting that Obama panic and start firing people willy-nilly. Now Carville is merely "worried." If anything, that's an improvement.
If we could take a trip together, through time and space, back to the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver, I could introduce you to at least a dozen Democratic strategists who told me off the record that Obama was surely going to lose and his strategy was all wrong and that he needed to listen to their advice before it was too late. And I think you'd agree that writing the "anonymous Democratic strategists are panicking" story is a lot like writing the "darkness is likely to ensue as the sun sets in the west" story.
[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not?]
.
via HP
5 stages of grief.
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Wisconsin Senate: Thompson (R) 52%, Baldwin (D) 36% (Ras)
Rasmussen Reports ^ | 6/14/12 | Scott Rasmussen
Former Governor Tommy Thompson now earns his highest level of support yet against Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race, while the other Republican hopefuls remain nearly tied with her.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Wisconsin finds Thompson with 52% support to Baldwin’s 36%. Six percent (6%) favor some other candidate, and another six percent (6%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Excerpt) Read more at m.rasmussenreports.com ...
________________________ ______
Thomson may pull Mittens over the finish line.
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http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/mi/michigan_romney_vs_obama-1811.html
Damn. If Romney is down by only one in michigan in a poll of registered voters of that size, Obama is beyond finished. .
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Democrats Fear Obama May Lose
By Julie Pace and Jim Kuhnhenn - June 14, 2012
www.realclearpolitics.co m
WASHINGTON (AP) — In growing numbers, once-confident Democrats now say President Barack Obama could lose the November election.
The hand-wringing reflects real worries among Democrats about Obama's ability to beat Republican rival Mitt Romney, who has proven to be a stronger candidate than many expected. But it's also a political strategy aimed at rallying major donors who may have become complacent.
Interviews with a dozen Democratic strategists and fundraisers across the country show an increased sense of urgency among Obama backers. It follows a difficult two weeks for the president, including a dismal report on the nation's unemployment picture, a Democratic defeat in the Wisconsin governor recall election and an impressive fundraising month for Romney and Republicans.
"We've all got to get in the same boat and start paddling in the same direction, or we're going to have some problems," said Debbie Dingell, a Democratic National Committee member and the wife of Michigan Rep. John Dingell.
"We can't take this for granted," said Peter Burling, a DNC member from New Hampshire. "I intend to be running scared from now until November."
These worries have also prompted some second-guessing of an Obama campaign operation once perceived as run by disciplined message specialists. Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg and former Clinton adviser James Carville this week wrote that Obama's efforts to convince voters that economic conditions are moving in the right direction aren't swaying people.
"We will face an impossible head wind in November if we do not move to a new narrative," the strategists wrote.
Former Democratic Party chairman Don Fowler faulted the Obama camp for not laying more blame on Republicans for the slow economic recovery.
"The Obama campaign should make it clear whose fundamental fault the economic problems are, and they've chosen not to do that," he said, echoing an argument made by other Democrats. "Not doing that, they forfeit an argument, a strategy, a technique toward making the Republicans bear responsibility for these problems."
Some Democrats hope the deepening concern among some party faithful could lead to an increase in fundraising.
The mighty Obama and DNC fundraising operation fell behind Romney and Republicans in May, with the GOP team raising $76 million compared to the $60 million haul for the president and Democrats. And the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action has lagged far behind Republican-leaning outside groups, in part because of what senior strategist Bill Burton said was a sense of complacency among Democratic donors.
"Democrats have to know that the president is up against a well-financed opponent in a tough political environment," said Burton, a former White House aide. "If everyone doesn't join the fight, he could be defeated."
The Obama campaign itself has also been sounding the alarm.
"If there's anyone still out there acting like we have this thing in the bag, do me a favor and tell them they're dead wrong," Anne Marie Habershaw, the campaign's chief operating officer, wrote in a blog post last week.
And campaign manager Jim Messina warned that GOP success in the Wisconsin recall, aided by independent group spending, confirmed that "all the outside money that's poured into elections this cycle can and will change their outcome."
"And it's exactly what could happen on the national stage unless we can close the gap between special interests and ordinary people," he said.
In 2004, it was the Democrats who had the big money operation on their side. Groups like America Coming Together and the Media Fund raised about $200 million to help John Kerry's presidential campaign with grass-roots organizing and advertising. But the donors who helped that effort — financier George Soros, film producer and donor to liberal causes Steve Bing and billionaire Peter Lewis -- have vastly reduced their political participation or stayed away all together this time.
Democratic operatives say the long and combative Republican primary left some in their own party overconfident. Obama supporters expected Romney to emerge from the GOP contest bruised by attacks from his party and pigeonholed by his attempts to placate conservatives by shifting to the right on everything from immigration to foreign policy.
But five months from Election Day, several national polls show Obama and Romney locked in a tight race, as voters vent their frustrations over the nation's economic woes. May figures showed that employers created a meager 69,000 jobs and the jobless rate ticked up to 8.2 percent. And this week, the Federal Reserve released data showing that median family net worth shrank in 2010 to levels not seen since 1992 after adjusting for inflation.
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said the president's team "always anticipated this would be a close and competitive election."
But some strategists worry that time is running short. While many Democrats believe party loyalists will get more engaged as the election draws closer, other operatives say the terms of the election will be set over the next two months.
"This can't wait until September," said Steve Rosenthal, president of the Organizing Group, a Democratic-leaning consulting firm
Rosenthal issued his own warning on Obama's re-election prospects in an online column headlined "President Obama Can Lose: Now is the Time for Democratic Donors to Step Up in a Big Way."
In an interview Wednesday, Rosenthal said Obama's populist State of the Union address and Romney's initial troubles securing the Republican nomination created a false sense of euphoria among Democrats. But he said that sentiment ignored the fact that the country is still evenly divided, that the president does not hold a lead in all battleground states and that Obama this time does not have the 2-1 edge in money that he had over John McCain in 2008.
"They have such a huge financial advantage and with the economy teetering, it's frightening," Rosenthal said of Republicans. "I hate to say it comes down to money, but it does."
Don Peebles, a New York-based real estate developer and Obama fundraiser, said that while Democratic complacency has been hard to shake this cycle, he expects more urgency this summer.
"There's definitely a sense among the financial supporters of the president that we need to get more engaged and redouble our efforts to make sure that he has the resources he needs," Peebles said.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
PANIC SETTING IN.
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http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/mi/michigan_romney_vs_obama-1811.html
Damn. If Romney is down by only one in michigan in a poll of registered voters of that size, Obama is beyond finished. .
And that's on a Democrat-leaning poll.
Democrats Fear Obama May Lose
By Julie Pace and Jim Kuhnhenn - June 14, 2012
www.realclearpolitics.co m
WASHINGTON (AP) — In growing numbers, once-confident Democrats now say President Barack Obama could lose the November election.
The hand-wringing reflects real worries among Democrats about Obama's ability to beat Republican rival Mitt Romney, who has proven to be a stronger candidate than many expected. But it's also a political strategy aimed at rallying major donors who may have become complacent.
Interviews with a dozen Democratic strategists and fundraisers across the country show an increased sense of urgency among Obama backers. It follows a difficult two weeks for the president, including a dismal report on the nation's unemployment picture, a Democratic defeat in the Wisconsin governor recall election and an impressive fundraising month for Romney and Republicans.
"We've all got to get in the same boat and start paddling in the same direction, or we're going to have some problems," said Debbie Dingell, a Democratic National Committee member and the wife of Michigan Rep. John Dingell.
"We can't take this for granted," said Peter Burling, a DNC member from New Hampshire. "I intend to be running scared from now until November."
These worries have also prompted some second-guessing of an Obama campaign operation once perceived as run by disciplined message specialists. Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg and former Clinton adviser James Carville this week wrote that Obama's efforts to convince voters that economic conditions are moving in the right direction aren't swaying people.
"We will face an impossible head wind in November if we do not move to a new narrative," the strategists wrote.
Former Democratic Party chairman Don Fowler faulted the Obama camp for not laying more blame on Republicans for the slow economic recovery.
"The Obama campaign should make it clear whose fundamental fault the economic problems are, and they've chosen not to do that," he said, echoing an argument made by other Democrats. "Not doing that, they forfeit an argument, a strategy, a technique toward making the Republicans bear responsibility for these problems."
Some Democrats hope the deepening concern among some party faithful could lead to an increase in fundraising.
The mighty Obama and DNC fundraising operation fell behind Romney and Republicans in May, with the GOP team raising $76 million compared to the $60 million haul for the president and Democrats. And the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action has lagged far behind Republican-leaning outside groups, in part because of what senior strategist Bill Burton said was a sense of complacency among Democratic donors.
"Democrats have to know that the president is up against a well-financed opponent in a tough political environment," said Burton, a former White House aide. "If everyone doesn't join the fight, he could be defeated."
The Obama campaign itself has also been sounding the alarm.
"If there's anyone still out there acting like we have this thing in the bag, do me a favor and tell them they're dead wrong," Anne Marie Habershaw, the campaign's chief operating officer, wrote in a blog post last week.
And campaign manager Jim Messina warned that GOP success in the Wisconsin recall, aided by independent group spending, confirmed that "all the outside money that's poured into elections this cycle can and will change their outcome."
"And it's exactly what could happen on the national stage unless we can close the gap between special interests and ordinary people," he said.
In 2004, it was the Democrats who had the big money operation on their side. Groups like America Coming Together and the Media Fund raised about $200 million to help John Kerry's presidential campaign with grass-roots organizing and advertising. But the donors who helped that effort — financier George Soros, film producer and donor to liberal causes Steve Bing and billionaire Peter Lewis -- have vastly reduced their political participation or stayed away all together this time.
Democratic operatives say the long and combative Republican primary left some in their own party overconfident. Obama supporters expected Romney to emerge from the GOP contest bruised by attacks from his party and pigeonholed by his attempts to placate conservatives by shifting to the right on everything from immigration to foreign policy.
But five months from Election Day, several national polls show Obama and Romney locked in a tight race, as voters vent their frustrations over the nation's economic woes. May figures showed that employers created a meager 69,000 jobs and the jobless rate ticked up to 8.2 percent. And this week, the Federal Reserve released data showing that median family net worth shrank in 2010 to levels not seen since 1992 after adjusting for inflation.
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said the president's team "always anticipated this would be a close and competitive election."
But some strategists worry that time is running short. While many Democrats believe party loyalists will get more engaged as the election draws closer, other operatives say the terms of the election will be set over the next two months.
"This can't wait until September," said Steve Rosenthal, president of the Organizing Group, a Democratic-leaning consulting firm
Rosenthal issued his own warning on Obama's re-election prospects in an online column headlined "President Obama Can Lose: Now is the Time for Democratic Donors to Step Up in a Big Way."
In an interview Wednesday, Rosenthal said Obama's populist State of the Union address and Romney's initial troubles securing the Republican nomination created a false sense of euphoria among Democrats. But he said that sentiment ignored the fact that the country is still evenly divided, that the president does not hold a lead in all battleground states and that Obama this time does not have the 2-1 edge in money that he had over John McCain in 2008.
"They have such a huge financial advantage and with the economy teetering, it's frightening," Rosenthal said of Republicans. "I hate to say it comes down to money, but it does."
Don Peebles, a New York-based real estate developer and Obama fundraiser, said that while Democratic complacency has been hard to shake this cycle, he expects more urgency this summer.
"There's definitely a sense among the financial supporters of the president that we need to get more engaged and redouble our efforts to make sure that he has the resources he needs," Peebles said.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
PANIC SETTING IN.
But, but, but....Obama killed Osama!!! This was supposed to be in the bag for Mr. Hope-and-Change, especially against the winner of the worst GOP field in history.
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In Focus Group, Independent Voters Souring on Obama
by Eleanor Clift Jun 15, 2012 4:45 AM EDT
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/15/in-focus-group-independent-voters-souring-on-obama.html
They backed him last time, but now say they see the president as a weak leader. Five months from Election Day, can the White House hear the harsh message pollsters are sending?
How tough an uphill climb does President Obama face with independent voters?
President Barack Obama speaks at Cuyahoga Community College, Thursday, June 14, in Cleveland. (Carolyn Kaster / AP Photo)
If the findings of a focus group conducted this week are any indication, a steep one indeed.
Nine of the 12 people gathered in Denver on Tuesday voted for Obama in ’08, but only three lean toward him at this point. They are a cross-section of America, working in real estate, health care, IT, and sales, and they’re torn between a president whose performance they say has been underwhelming and who doesn’t deserve reelection, and a challenger they know very little about beyond the fact that he’s a rich and successful businessman.
When Democratic pollster Peter Hart probed for their thoughts about Bain Capital, the private-equity firm that Mitt Romney headed, nine of the group opted out, saying they didn’t know enough to talk about it. Of the three who ventured they knew “a little,” one said “Mitt ran it,” while another said “He did well,” three words that sum up the Obama campaign’s challenge as they try to tarnish what Hart has called Romney’s “halo effect” on the economy. They aren’t biting on Bain.
Listening to these voters for over two hours, it was clear that their assessment of the economy is not as bleak as one would suppose, given their disaffection from Obama. They generally agree that the economy is improving, but Obama doesn’t get credit for a recovery that, while slow, is moving in the right direction—the core of his message for a second term. A few cited what they called “little things” Obama has done for the economy, like reining in credit-card companies, but no one could cite major accomplishments that would measure up to the expectations aroused by Obama as a candidate who promised to bring about transformative change.
This Denver group was sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, and Hart’s findings add to a growing chorus of concern among Democrats not directly aligned with the Obama campaign that the president is not connecting with the voters he needs to win. Asked if he was feeling the heat from his allies in the Obama camp, Hart told The Daily Beast, “They know who I am, and that I’m a straight-shooter, and I’m totally in their corner. Sometimes being in their corner means telling them the truth.”
“The whole platform was hope—I don’t feel any more hope today.”
Whether it’s a failure of policy or of communications is debatable, but the sense of disillusionment with Obama’s performance is real. “He set up expectations that began 46 months ago, and they only grew over time,” says Hart. He singled out Jeffrey, a 31-year-old Web designer and home remodeler, as the voter Obama most needs and might not get. Jeffrey voted for Obama last time.
“The whole platform was hope—I don’t feel any more hope today,” he said. Pressed by Hart as to which candidate he was leaning toward, Jeffrey said the tenor of the campaign turned him off, that he felt like he was in the middle of a weird argument between a husband and wife, and all he wanted to do was leave the room. “I don’t even know if I’m going to vote this time,” he said glumly.
The crux of Obama’s challenge is to win back enough of the voters who have lost confidence in him, and in his ability to make government work for them. “Does that person even vote?” Hart later wondered. In his view, the young, bearded Web designer should be in Obama’s corner, and the fact that he isn’t is emblematic of the president’s problems.
While the results of this focus group forecast trouble for Obama, they also point to an opening, which is to “get beyond the rat-a-tat of the present and take it to the future,” says Hart, a process begun by Obama with his economic speech in Cleveland Thursday. A sustained effort, and not just a one-stop speech, could reframe the race.
There’s an opening, too, for Romney if he can build on the general impression voters have of him as a good businessman, and “make voters feel comfortable that he’s not going to dismantle everything we have,” says Hart, when it comes to health care and other social support programs.
Asked which candidate these voters would like to attend a baseball game with, nobody wanted to go with Romney except to have him pick up the tab, giving Obama a substantial edge in likability. Both candidates came up short on a more subtle leadership exercise. Asked how each would perform if they were lost in the forest with nine friends, the group concluded Romney would use his super-duper expensive phone to call for help, with Donald Trump and wife Ann Romney topping the call list, while Obama would give a pep talk and then retreat to the sidelines. There’s the campaign in a microcosm.
For Obama, this was a devastating departure from how voters responded to a similar question four years ago, when they said then candidate Obama would work with you, reason with you, and bring out the best in you. This time, says Hart, there was “no sense of leadership.” These are hard-nosed assessments five months out from the election, and the Obama campaign ignores them at its peril. Hart is a highly respected pollster with four decades of experience. Soft-spoken and generally cautious in his conclusions, people pay attention when he sounds the alarm.
________________________ ________________________ ____________
P A N I C
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Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 45%, Democrats 38%
Rasmussen Reports ^ | June 18, 2012 | Rasmussen
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 45% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today, while 38% would choose the Democrat instead. Republicans led by six points the week before, 45% to 39%, and seven points 44% to 37%, the week before that.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
________________________ ________________________ _
LANDSLIDE COMING
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W.Va. Dems to Obama: Enjoy the DNC Without Us
National Journal ^ | June 18, 2012 | Dan Friedman
Three top West Virginia Democrats will literally keep their distance from President Obama by skipping the Democratic National Convention in September.
Sen. Joe Manchin, Rep. Nick Rahall and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, will not be part of the state's convention to the Charlotte, N.C., convention to officially nominate President Obama as his party's nominee, State Democratic Party Chair Larry Puccio announced Monday.
"I intend to spend this fall focused on the people of West Virginia, whether that's representing them in my official U.S. Senate duties or here at home, where I can hear about their concerns and ideas to solve the problems of this great nation," Manchin said in a statement. "I will remain focused on bringing people together for the next generation, not the next election."
Manchin backed Obama in 2008, but has worked to distance himself this year as he seeks reelection in a state where Obama is unpopular. In April Manchin told National Journal that he had not decided if he would vote for Obama or presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney. Tomblin has also declined to say if he supports Obama.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Landslide coming.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/21/kathy-hochul-bill-owens-democratic-national-convention_n_1615155.html?ref=topbar
more demos not going to the convention to be seen w ghettobama
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http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/another-dem-congressman-refuses-endorse-obama_647812.html
More demos defecting.
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Missouri Dem. Senator May Skip Party's Convention
11:41 AM, Jun 26, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER
Yet another possible setback for the Democratic party. According to the Saint Louis Beacon, Missouri senator Claire McCaskill, who is in the middle of a tough reelection fight, might skip the Democratic convention in September.
"A campaign aide said the senator’s schedule for September was still in flux," the Beacon reports. "McCaskill expects to be in a tough re-election battle."
McCaskill had missed the state Democratic convention several weeks ago because her mother has been ill. She did make the party's biggest fundraising event of the year, the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, last Friday.
McCaskill also skipped the 2004 Democratic presidential convention in Boston because she was engaged in a spirited contest for governor. McCaskill was in a difficult political position that year because she was challenging a fellow Democrat already holding the office, then-Gov. Bob Holden.
The national convention that year was held in late July, just weeks before Missouri’s 2004 presidential primary, in which McCaskill defeated Holden. She lost that November to the Republican nominee, Matt Blunt.
Skipping the Democratic convention would be a signal to both Missouri voters and the national party that McCaskill wants to distance herself from President Obama.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/missouri-dem-senator-may-skip-partys-convention_647860.html
________________________ ___
She is a goner.
Obamacare makes you sick huh Claire?
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Dems Forced to Downsize Once Again as Convention Fundraising Falls Short
By John Sexton26 Jun 2012
www.breitbart.com
In January the DNC announced it would be downsizing its national convention from four days to three. The first day, September 3rd, would instead be used to celebrate the region with a big NASCAR-themed kickoff event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It makes perfect sense given what a huge NASCAR fan the President is.
Late Monday, the DNC announced another convention downsizing. The big kickoff event would be moved from the Speedway to downtown Charlotte. According to spokeswoman Suzi Emmerling the move was prompted by concern over the logistics of shuttling people 18 miles to and from the track. Logistically it just makes more sense to have the kickoff downtown with the rest of the events.
Of course the Charlotte Motor Speedway hasn't moved since January, so why is this just becoming a problem now? Bloomberg News has the answer. "With a party ban on direct contributions from corporations, the host committee has raised less than $10 million, well short of its $36.6 million goal..." Ouch! Less than ten million is bad. It's also vague. How much less than ten million did they raise?
With Democrats unable to raise even one-third of their fundraising goal, they were forced to cut a few more corners off their already stunted convention. They'll need whatever money is left to outfit the 74,000 seat Carolina Panthers football stadium for Obama's nomination acceptance speech. Hopefully Britney Spears' set designer can come up with another colonnade of Doric columns on the cheap.
Usually any shortfalls in corporate campaign cash are quickly made up for by the Democrats' union friends. In this case, that's not happening because of more poor planning by Democrats. North Carolina is a right-to-work state, so unions "have been reluctant to contribute to the convention because Charlotte lacks unionized hotels and is in a state where compulsory union membership or the payment of dues is prohibited as an employment condition."
But apart from the shortened convention, the last minute change of venue for the big kickoff event, the failure to raise even a third of the necessary funding, and irritating their best donors--other than that--this year's DNC Convention is shaping up to be amazing.
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Dems Forced to Downsize Once Again as Convention Fundraising Falls Short
By John Sexton26 Jun 2012
www.breitbart.com
In January the DNC announced it would be downsizing its national convention from four days to three. The first day, September 3rd, would instead be used to celebrate the region with a big NASCAR-themed kickoff event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It makes perfect sense given what a huge NASCAR fan the President is.
Late Monday, the DNC announced another convention downsizing. The big kickoff event would be moved from the Speedway to downtown Charlotte. According to spokeswoman Suzi Emmerling the move was prompted by concern over the logistics of shuttling people 18 miles to and from the track. Logistically it just makes more sense to have the kickoff downtown with the rest of the events.
Of course the Charlotte Motor Speedway hasn't moved since January, so why is this just becoming a problem now? Bloomberg News has the answer. "With a party ban on direct contributions from corporations, the host committee has raised less than $10 million, well short of its $36.6 million goal..." Ouch! Less than ten million is bad. It's also vague. How much less than ten million did they raise?
With Democrats unable to raise even one-third of their fundraising goal, they were forced to cut a few more corners off their already stunted convention. They'll need whatever money is left to outfit the 74,000 seat Carolina Panthers football stadium for Obama's nomination acceptance speech. Hopefully Britney Spears' set designer can come up with another colonnade of Doric columns on the cheap.
Usually any shortfalls in corporate campaign cash are quickly made up for by the Democrats' union friends. In this case, that's not happening because of more poor planning by Democrats. North Carolina is a right-to-work state, so unions "have been reluctant to contribute to the convention because Charlotte lacks unionized hotels and is in a state where compulsory union membership or the payment of dues is prohibited as an employment condition."
But apart from the shortened convention, the last minute change of venue for the big kickoff event, the failure to raise even a third of the necessary funding, and irritating their best donors--other than that--this year's DNC Convention is shaping up to be amazing.
Having trouble energizing the base. They're in deep kimchee.
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Having trouble energizing the base. They're in deep kimchee.
The Demo convention this year is going to be the most ridiculous spectacle in years.
Probably going to be populated mostly by the Peggy Joseph's of the world like last time and totally turn off most most people.
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Endangered Georgia Democratic Congressman Skipping Convention
5:39 PM, JUN 26, 2012 • BY MICHAEL WARRENSingle PagePrintLarger TextSmaller TextAlerts
John Barrow, the Georgia Democrat, looks to be following the lead of Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Joe Manchin and Earl Ray Tomblin of West Virginia and will not be attending the Democratic National Convention. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
WASHINGTON—Augusta U.S. Rep. John Barrow will skip the Democratic National Convention in September, adding to a growing list of Democrats distancing themselves from the national party's major quadrennial get-together.
Barrow spokesman Richard Carbo said Tuesday that Barrow is not going to Charlotte because he is "planning a number of events throughout [the] district during that time."
Barrow is in his fourth term and faces a difficult re-election test in a district newly redrawn to lean Republican. He moved from Savannah to Augusta this year to remain in the reshaped 12th District.
Barrow is the National Republican Congressional Committee's top target for 2012 and may be the most endangered House Democrat of the year.
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It's interesting that you went through law school without learning how to spell tidal and definitely.
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It's interesting that you went through law school without learning how to spell tidal and definitely.
You think? Thats not even the strange part .
Going through law school to use your education towards posting on Getbig 24/7? Now thats just weird
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You think? Thats not even the strange part .
Going through law school to use your education towards posting on Getbig 24/7? Now thats just weird
I work for myself and have 50 things always going at once. Some of us multitask. 99% of my day consists of phone calls, faxes, and emails.
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I work for myself and have 50 things always going at once. Some of us multitask. 99% of my day consists of phone calls, faxes, and emails.
Of course we believe you.
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Steve Israel, DCCC Chair, Tells Candidates To Stay Away From The Democratic National Convention
Posted: 06/26/2012 10:40 pm Updated: 06/27/2012 10:50 am
Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday in no uncertain terms that candidates should stay in their districts and not go to Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention if they want to win.
"A trip to Charlotte may be interesting," he said at a Reuters summit of the early September event, "but why leave your districts?"
"I don't care if the president was at 122 percent favorability right now," he added. "I think (candidates) should be in their districts.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who previously held the chairmanship, gave the same advice to candidates in 2008.
"Our overall advice to candidates has been to stay home," he said in August 2008, but warned candidates not to separate themselves from the Democratic party.
Candidates who attend the convention will miss four days of campaigning, which could make the difference in a close race.
On Tuesday Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), one of Barack Obama's top 2008 surrogates, joined a number of Democratic lawmakers in tough races who said they plan to skip the event, among them Reps. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.), Mark Critz (D-Pa.), three West Virginia Democrats and Sen. John Tester (D-Mont.), whose Republican challenger, Rep. Danny Rehberg, is not planning to attend the GOP convention.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/steve-israel-democratic-convention_n_1629397.html?ref=topbar
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Rasmussen : Arizona: Romney 54%, Obama 41%
Rasmussen Reports ^
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Mitt Romney's support is up in Arizona following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning several provisions of the state's law cracking down on illegal immigration and the Obama administration's announcement that it will not process additional illegals arrested there.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Arizona shows Romney with 54% support to President Obama's 41%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, while two percent (2%) remain undecided.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
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Rasmussen : Arizona: Romney 54%, Obama 41%
Rasmussen Reports ^
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Mitt Romney's support is up in Arizona following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning several provisions of the state's law cracking down on illegal immigration and the Obama administration's announcement that it will not process additional illegals arrested there.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Arizona shows Romney with 54% support to President Obama's 41%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, while two percent (2%) remain undecided.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
RCP just moved Indiana from "toss-up" to "Leans Romney".
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RCP just moved Indiana from "toss-up" to "Leans Romney".
Indiana & N.C. were flukes last time.
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Rasmussen : Arizona: Romney 54%, Obama 41%
Rasmussen Reports ^
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Mitt Romney's support is up in Arizona following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning several provisions of the state's law cracking down on illegal immigration and the Obama administration's announcement that it will not process additional illegals arrested there.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Arizona shows Romney with 54% support to President Obama's 41%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, while two percent (2%) remain undecided.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
I guess this explains why he keeps giving AZ the big middle finger. No way would he treat a critical battle ground state the way he has treated AZ.
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I guess this explains why he keeps giving AZ the big middle finger. No way would he treat a critical battle ground state the way he has treated AZ.
Obama has a grudge against AZ since they were the last to adopt MLK day as Holiday - bet on it.
Obama has a huge chip on his shoulder and never forgets these things.
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Obama has a grudge against AZ since they were the last to adopt MLK day as Holiday - bet on it.
Obama has a huge chip on his shoulder and never forgets these things.
Any proof of this claim?
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Any proof of this claim?
I think he said it in his inagural address, but I'm not going to waste time watching it to find it.
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Any proof of this claim?
The day that thug walked into the Oval Office he sent back the Churchill Bust to the UK and put in the MLK Bust. Not that MLK should not be there, but his sending back the Churchill bust that was given to us after 9/11 was telling. And why did he do that? read D'Souzas take down of obbama to learn why.
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I work for myself and have 50 things always going at once. Some of us multitask. 99% of my day consists of phone calls, faxes, and emails.
and ambulance chasing ;D
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Obama has a grudge against AZ since they were the last to adopt MLK day as Holiday - bet on it.
Obama has a huge chip on his shoulder and never forgets these things.
I don't know about Obama, but I sure as hell do.
So should every other American, bigots exempted, of course.
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You think? Thats not even the strange part .
Going through law school to use your education towards posting on Getbig 24/7? Now thats just weird
Or going through law school and being unable to comprehend simple things like facts and logic.
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Another N.C. Dem. Refuses to Endorse Obama
9:25 AM, Jul 3, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER
Another North Carolina Democrat is refusing to support President Obama's reelection effort. This time it's Rep. Larry Kissell.
"[H]e doesn’t plan to endorse Obama for re-election and isn’t sure he’ll attend his party’s national convention in Charlotte," McClatchy reports. "Kissell represents the 8th District, which runs from Mecklenburg County to Robeson County. Last year’s redistricting added heavily Republican areas of Rowan, Davidson and Randolph counties while removing thousands of Democratic voters in Charlotte and Fayetteville."
Matt Connelly, a regional spokesman for the Republican National Committee, remarks on Twitter: "Rep. Kissell's (D-NC) district ends 9 blocks away from Bank of America Stadium, but he isn't sure if he'll attend the DNC."
Kissell is also upset with Obama and Democrats over Obamacare. As McClatchy reports:
Last week, Kissell was one of 17 Democrats who voted with Republicans to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress. And next week, he plans to vote with them again to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law.
“I’ve heard from hundreds and hundreds of people from my district about their opposition to the health care law,” Kissell told the Observer Monday. “I voted against it originally and I will vote to repeal it.”
The news of Kissell's refusal to back Obama follows up on a similar pronouncement by another North Carolina Democratic congressman, Rep. Mike McIntyre.
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Yet Another N.C. Dem. Won't Endorse Obama, Will Skip Convention
4:21 PM, Jul 3, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER
Earlier today, news broke that North Carolina congressman Larry Kissell is refusing to endorse President Obama and might not attend the Democratic convention later this year in Charlotte, N.C. And now, there's word that Rep. Hayden Rogers won't be endorsing Obama or even attending the convention.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reports:
Hayden Rogers will join two other North Carolina congressional candidates in skipping the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte and not endorsing President Obama.
“My sole focus is on running for Congress in the 11th District,” Rogers said. “I will be concentrating my time and energy on reaching out to as many voters as possible to discuss the issues facing Western North Carolina and America. I have no plans to attend the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte and will not be endorsing in the 2012 presidential race.” ...
Nationally, about a dozen Democrats are staying home in September to focus on their campaigns.
All this comes just a couple weeks after North Carolina congressman Mike McIntyre's decision not to endorse Obama or attend the convention.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that "Republicans said Democrats are jumping ship."
“North Carolina continues to be a mess for Democrats,” said Rachel Adams, the GOP’s North Carolina Victory communications director. “This is yet another example of the enthusiasm President Obama can expect in North Carolina leading up to the election.”
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http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_MA_0821121.pdf
LOL
Scott Brown beating that raving loon by 5 in Mass according to a Demo polling outfit.
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WWW.REALCLEARPOLITICS.CO M
Michigan: Romney vs. Obama
Baydoun/Foster (D)
Obama 44, Romney 48
Romney +4
Wisconsin: Romney vs. Obama
PPP (D)
Obama 47, Romney 48
Romney +1
New York: Romney vs. Obama
Siena
Obama 62, Romney 33
Obama +29
General Election: Romney vs. Obama
Gallup Tracking
Obama 45, Romney 47
Romney +2
General Election: Romney vs. Obama
Rasmussen Tracking
Obama 44, Romney 45
Romney +1
Massachusetts Senate - Brown vs. Warren
PPP (D)
Brown 49, Warren 44
Brown +5
Missouri Senate - Akin vs. McCaskill
PPP (D)
Akin 44, McCaskill 43
Akin +1
Montana Senate - Rehberg vs. Tester
Rasmussen Reports
Rehberg 47, Tester 43
Rehberg +4
Michigan Senate - Hoekstra vs. Stabenow
Baydoun/Foster (D)
Stabenow 46, Hoekstra 48
Hoekstra +2
New York Senate - Long vs. Gillibrand
Siena
Gillibrand 65, Long 22
Gillibrand +43