Your morning jolt: Barack Obama down to 38 percent in Georgia
When she was in town last week, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, declared that her party wouldn’t concede any territory in next year’s presidential contest.
But according to a poll released Thursday by InsiderAdvantage and Channel 2 Action News, to declare Georgia in competition would be something of a stretch – at least for now.
While he won 47 percent of the vote in Georgia in 2008, President Barack Obama’s current fan base is 38 percent, according to the survey. And 54 percent of voters said they would vote for any Republican – from Mitt Romney to Michele Bachmann, and anyone in between.
Writes IA’s Matt Towery:
Independent voters support any GOP nominee over Obama by a 49%-to-38% margin. Democrats are at a 79% support level for the president, with Republicans at nearly 90% for any GOP nominee.
***
The 1858 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas for an Illinois seat in the U.S. Senate are famous for crystallizing the arguments behind the Civil War.
Speeches were carried in newspapers across the country. Thousands flocked to hear the pair. And didn’t pay a dime for the entertainment.
The Nov. 5 attempt by Georgia GOP presidential candidates Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich to recreate this style of discourse earned these paragraphs in today’s Wall Street Journal:
The verbiage may be weightier, but so will the entry fee.
Bleacher seating at the Gingrich/Cain debate, hosted by the Texas Tea Party Patriots at the Woodlands Resort in Houston, costs a cool $200. The next step up, the $500 ticket, gets you “prime seating” and a ticket to the “Nite Cap party after the Debate,” says the group’s website. And for the really high rollers, $1,000 will get you “the best seating in the house for the debate” and “a professional picture taken with the candidates.”
Rumors that Matthew Brady will be resurrected to record the event have been proven unfounded.
***
Last week, a U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County, weary of the constant fund-raising that a seat in Congress requires, told supporters and lobbyist friends in an e-mail that he would try an experiment – one large fund-raiser a quarter, rather than four or five small one.
Westmoreland got into some hot water by including some paragraphs that guaranteed contributors face-time with the congressman. Even so, his letter has prompted a discussion. At least on the liberal side of D.C. From the National Journal:
Following a controversial proposal from Rep. Lynn Westmoreland to reduce the number of fundraisers he throws, the Progressive Policy Institute has come out with its own idea to slow the fundraising carousel — a “fundraising quiet period.”
In a policy brief released today, PPI executive director Lindsay Mark Lewis calls for banning fundraising for House members until the second session of Congress and making senators wait until year five of their terms before raising money. He argues that it would relieve legislators from constantly thinking about their next elections and improve relationships on the Hill.
The ban would be enforced by ethics rules and would be constitutional, Lewis argues, because it does not curtail anyone’s ability to contribute, but only limits lawmakers’ ability to accept donations. The ban would also have the practical effect of moving primaries until later in the year to give lawmakers more time to fundraise.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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162 comments Add your comment
honested
October 28th, 2011
5:58 pm
Oh yeah I forgot, wars.
What war do the repugs want to drag us into next?
Just wondering.
honested
October 28th, 2011
6:04 pm
tiny dog (yipping around my ankles)
You can’t seem to even divine from the Iraqi War of Choice authorization vote that the MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATS OPPOSED IT. Luckily we have rid many of the blue dog Dinos in the last election.
( I know, they were often replaced by teapottys, but the incompetence those people have shown helps demonstrate their 19% approval rating).
clem
October 28th, 2011
6:08 pm
bert, and the answer to the financial collapse is to do nothing? sure dems bought and paid for, but so are the repubs, the banksters and wall st generally hedge their bets….
what this country has now sunken to is socially irresponsible capitalism
i listened to colburn today saying is was not money in politics but character of office holders….geez louise, what an idiot
Bert
October 28th, 2011
6:09 pm
Billy Mays – here go the logical fallacies again. Did I say start a war to get us out? Try offering something rational to the debate. Fallacies and sophomoric comments are not included.
honested – what infrastructure are you referring to? What I see in the parks now is not from that era. So jobs do not benefit Americans directly? Your argument is flawed.
If it were up to me it would be pure individuals contributing to campaigns. I’d get rid of all of that PAC money to include unions as well. Both sides are abusing that aspect of free speech. And it is why no true reform will take place. AFSCME, SEIU, NEA, UAW, etc. all are just as guilty in this as corporations. But again, since all sides in power benefit, this will never change. Problem is that once this is considered speech it purely cannot be regulated. Those with the most money can still give the most. Too many situations where a collection of judges can allow loopholes.
Bert
October 28th, 2011
6:15 pm
Wars….you mean all of the escalations Obummer has us in. Biden is Cheney with hair plugs. You do realize we are in far more countries across the globe under Obama than Bush cared to dream of right? But I forgot…only the GOP are the war mongers. You people have no clue. You ignore the facts…so wrapped up in your petty hatred of Bush you cannot even see reality in front of you. Obama picked up right where Bush left off and has us in deeper than Bush was able to do. Why? Because the blind kool aid drinkers like you are so focused on Bush he can press on and you won’t say a word. To show you just how stupid you are, you cheer Osama and Gaddafi nevermind the fact that this was Bush Doctrine amped up on Red Bull. You hate all of Bush’s wars but yet Obama adds to those, you say nothing. Foolish and ignorant.
td
October 28th, 2011
6:59 pm
honested
October 28th, 2011
6:04 pm
28 yes and 22 no in the Senate is a majority? 81 yes and 126 no in the house is a majority. Oh I get it, you combined both houses and said it was a “majority”. I believe if you combine the Dem and Rep vote that you will find that more than 75% of Congress voted for approval. I my view that means the vast majority of our representatives believed the war was the right decision.
Yes, the blue dogs have been purged from the Democratic party in the house and replaced with Tea Party representatives. The same will happen next year in the Senate.
I guess in your thinking progressive party purity is more important than being in charge? I hope more progressives feel the same way so that the Dems will be a minority party forever.
honested
October 28th, 2011
7:08 pm
tiny dog
OOPs misread your senate numbers.
Too many bluedogs in the Senate (luckily, that number is down and there is still a majority).
The Democrat House numbers are clear, they didn’t buy the shrub lie (and history has demonstrated, it was a LIE).
The burp in teapotty numbers has happened, and their current 12% approval demonstrates it.
Crazy people with teabags stapled to their hats seemed to be a good idea to some, but the lack of effectiveness has been proven to the clear majority of Americans.
But keep pretending, it suits you.
honested
October 28th, 2011
7:12 pm
bert,
I made clear suggestions for removing ‘the money’ and you deflect in the nonsense wrong-wing ‘its all the union’s fault line.
Does Galloway offer a prize for being the most ‘doubleplusgood deflector’?
As to the National Parks, the infrastructure development had a beginning. Luckily, political leaders after the new deal had the good sense to continue the trend. This continued until the very early ’80s when the nonsense notion of ‘privatizing’ sent many of the services to offshore contractors.
You rant ‘no clue’ while demonstrating the definition.
If you want to debate facts, you might want to do a little real research and attempt to absorb a few.
Bert
October 28th, 2011
8:14 pm
How did I say it’s the unions fault? I think you need the ‘couldn’t see a fact if it hit me in the face’ award. I’ve said over and over all parties, all groups across the board are at fault. But somehow your ignorance and blindness only sees what you want to see. If anything, your deflection of it’s all Bush’s fault is more like it. Your own posts could be used in a class on debate. Every fallacy could be seen in each of your posts. My question was on replacing the factories you want to shut down. Somehow sending money to police and parks does nothing to retool the factories. And it surely does not help those people find jobs in the ‘meantime’. So again, still waiting for the actual answer to my question. But yet YOU will be the one to deflect. I’ll save you the time…it’s Bush’s fault you cannot answer a simple question right?
Wrong Roosevelt on the national parks but again, you are short on research. Go back to the ACTUAL beginning. You really have no clue do you?
uno
October 29th, 2011
7:16 am
A 38% approval rating should put POTUS well ahead of Senators Shameless and Johnny Who’s approval ratings.
albert
October 31st, 2011
3:25 am
Georgia Democrats should start looking for an alternative candidate in 2012…as well as an alternative to Joe Biden. Our Country is in a mess…and it is every State, every County, every City.
sho'nuff
November 1st, 2011
8:49 am
Yeah right, keep spewing your tall tales in trying to discourage The Obama administration from actively campainging hard in Georgia. How do you square that the Dem’s only lost Georgia by a pitiful 200K votes in 2010? You guys if we are to believe you hate our President so much you would put an incompent in charge of the Nuclear aresenal in a dangerous world. What a joke you all are!