Here’s my story about the West Virginia Senate race. Though, interestingly PPP has a poll out today showing Governor Joe Manchin retaking the lead. PPP’s been pretty spot on this cycle, but there’s still three weeks left before voting, several lifetimes in terms of newscycles. And yesterday Sarah Palin endorsed Republican John Raese. …
Morning Must Reads: Firewall
President Obama talks with Political Director Patrick Gaspard in Madison, Wis., Sept. 28, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
–Democratic committees are retreating behind a new firewall, cutting back funding for Steve Driehaus in Ohio, Florida’s Suzanne Kosmas and Kathy Dahlkemper in Pennsylvania.
–An ABC …
Miller Goes Radio Silent
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Alaska Politics Blog : Miller’s news conference…, posted with vodpod
Many of the Tea
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Rand Paul’s Medicare Shorthand
Kentucky’s Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul is in a spot of trouble over a comment he made about how to shore up Medicare. Speaking at a town hall in September 2009, Paul said “a $2,000 Medicare deductible would solve a huge amount of problems.” His Democratic opponent, Jack Conway, has seized on the statement, highlighting it …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Head Start Needs Reform
A few weeks ago, some readers were miffed when Rob Portman, the Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, questioned stimulous money going to Head Start because it wasn’t succeeding very well as a program. Apparently, the Obama Administration agrees with Portman’s assessment–anyone familiar with this crucial but under-achieving program would …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Noble Nobel
I’ve been caught up in catching up with my life after a month on the road, so I’m shamefully late in congratulating the Nobel Committee for its selection of Liu Xiaobo for its Peace Prize this year. The Chinese government is going berserk, of course, snubbing the Norwegians and putting the laureate’s wife under house arrest. It’s always …
Welcome to Coal Country
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIJORBRpOPM]
For those who haven’t been following along, Manchin is the Democrat.
Explaining the Stimulus (or Not)
Paul Krugman’s column yesterday offered an important reality check on political cant about the economic stimulus plan Barack Obama signed last year: more than 40 percent of the stimulus, Krugman reminds us, consisted of tax cuts. (It’s a little surprising that Obama doesn’t hit this point more often. According to PolitiFact, after all, …
Morning Must Reads: Grind
–President Obama will make his pitch on infrastructure spending today.
–Halperin thinks he’s losing the daily grind.
–It looks like the White House will pass on calling for a foreclosure moratorium.
—Obama and company have decided that a lack of independent expenditure donor transparency will save the Democrats in the …
Is Calling West Virginians “Hicky” Insulting?
I spent the last few days in West Virginia looking at the special election for Robert Byrd’s Senate seat. Two-term Governor Joe Manchin, a Democrat who until recently was leading by double digits, has seized on a TV ad put up by the independent expenditure arm of the National Republican Senatorial Committee that features some guys at a …
Why does Mark Kirk love charts so much?
The two candidates duking out a personal battle for Obama’s old Senate seat — Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and five-term Republican Congressman Mark Kirk — took their beefs to the set of Meet the Press this morning.
Sitting in the D.C. studio, the two candidates spoke nary a word before the segment and twiddled their …
Democratic Message Problems
It seems that President Obama’s car-in-a-ditch metaphor is more clever than it is effective. Check out these results from recent message-testing by Democracy Corps, the polling firm of James Carville and Stan Greenberg:
For some, going back to four years ago does not look so uninviting right now: “I was doing a heckavah lot better
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Government Shutdown? Impeachment? The GOP After November
Updated below
Jonathan Bernstein sketches his view of the likeliest scenario for Congressional Republicans after November:
The third strategy would be to forget about their agenda, and basically pretend they’re still in opposition — that is, to continue rejectionism. Don’t think 1995, or 1997-2000, but think more of 1993-1994.
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