DeMint threatens to force a reading of omnibus bill - On Congress

How Ugly Will It Get? Democrats hope the Republican battle for 2012 begins now (Exclusive to Yahoo! News)
Each week until the Election, Slate's John Dickerson is trying to answer questions from the week's political News. He welcomes readers to weigh in with answers or with more political questions at [email protected] . Here are this week's questions: Will the Republican presidential race get nasty quickly? David Plouffe, the architect of Barack Obama's 2008 victory, says he wouldn't mind at all if Sarah Palin were to be the GOP presidential nominee in 2012. She seems like the...

Democrats say 'enthusiasm gap' is narrowing
Democratic Strategists are arguing that the prolonged "enthusiasm gap" Republicans enjoyed in Polls this year has begun to narrow, which bodes well for the party as Election Day draws closer. Days after President Obama held a major rally aimed at motivating his supporters to get engaged, the man who led Obama's 2008 campaign said Voters are responding to what he described as a "dangerous" crop of GOP Candidates. "People [are] seeing that this is not just some isolated instances, that the...

The Chief Water Bug Departs
On October 1, Rahm Emanuel announced his departure as White House Chief of Staff, ending the shortest and most hapless tenure in that position since Bill Clinton replaced his childhood friend, Mack Mclarty, in 1994. Mclarty is a nice guy who wasnt tough enough to bring order to Clintons White House. Emanuel is a tough guy who wasnt mature enough to bring good judgment to Obamas. According to Bob Woodward, National Security Adviser Jim Jones called Emanuel and his fellow political...

With Hillary, Obama avoided an LBJ mistake
Scoff all you like at Gallup's new Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton head-to-head Poll, in which the president leads his Secretary of State among Democrats, 52 to 37 percent. Big Deal. The numbers aren't bad for Hillary, but her political army is completely demobilized, if not folded into the Obama corps. Of course, it's easy to think this now. But imagine if she had stayed in the Senate? One doesn't have to wonder too hard: there's a close enough comparison in Lyndon Johnson and Robert...

NEWSWEEK Poll: Anger Unlikely to Be Deciding Factor in Midterms
Source: Newsweek Anger is dominating the current political conversationespecially if you're an older, whiter, economically anxious voter who dislikes President Barack Obama and tends to prefer Republicans to Democrats. But according to the new Newsweek Poll, there's little reason to believe that anger alone will be the determining factor in November's Midterm Elections. Self-described "angry" voters fit a rather predictable political and demographic profile. The survey found that only 14...

Tomorrow's One Nation March In DC And Around The Country
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture . I am a Fellow with CAF. Does the corporate-sponsored Tea Party speak for you? Or are we One Nation, Working Together ? One Nation Working Together For Jobs, Justice and Education for All . How can you not agree with that? How can you not demand that Washington hear this, and get going on delivering the change that we voted for? There is a march tomorrow along with events around the...

Republicans: Still Not Very Diverse.
Leslie Sanchez , author of Los Republicanos: Why Hispanics and Republicans Need Each Other , sees this year as a sign that the GOP is becoming more diverse: Overall, 14 African-Americans across the country are running as GOP nominees for Congress. As the Frederick Douglass Foundation has pointed out, if just three of them win, it would mark the first time since Reconstruction that more than two African-Americans from the Republican Party have served in Congress. And, as the Rutgers Center...

The Drug War's Collateral Damage
At around 6pm on January 27 of last year, 80-year-old Isaac Singletary spotted a couple of Drug Dealers attempting to do business on his front lawn. It wasnt the first time. Singletary, described by relatives as territorial and a bit crotchety, did what hed done in the past. He grabbed his Gun, and walked out on to his lawn to scare them off. Problem is, this time the men werent Drug Dealers. They were undercover Jacksonville, Florida Police posing as Drug Dealers. They had come on to...

With Hillary, Obama avoided an LBJ mistake
Scoff all you like at Gallup's new Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton head-to-head Poll, in which the president leads his Secretary of State among Democrats, 52 to 37 percent. Big Deal. The numbers aren't bad for Hillary, but her political army is completely demobilized, if not folded into the Obama corps. Of course, it's easy to think this now. But imagine if she had stayed in the Senate? One doesn't have to wonder too hard: there's a close enough comparison in Lyndon Johnson and Robert...

Phase Two of Obama Foreign Policy Has Begun: Robert Kagan in the Washington Post
America: Once engaged, now ready to lead by Robert Kagan Washington Post, October 1, 2010 Almost two years into the Obama presidency, there is a discernible shift in the administration’s Foreign Policy. If Phase One was about repairing America’s image around the world by showing a friendlier face to everyone, especially adversaries, Phase Two will be about wielding renewed American influence, even if it means challenging some and disappointing others. If Phase One was about...

Top Five Examples Of Dems Running Scared From Nancy Pelosi (VIDEO)
It's too early to predict the outcome of the 2010 Elections, but one thing we know for sure: If Democrats lose their majority in the House, Nancy Pelosi will not be Speaker anymore. That's certainly one of the reasons that she doesn't bat an eye (publicly, at least) when vulnerable and conservative Democrats run from her on the Campaign Trail. "Sometimes Washington gets used to a rubber-stamp Congress which was the very homogeneous Congress of the Republicans," Pelosi said on PBS last night....

Will TARP Turn to Gold?
The Thread is an in-depth look at how major news and controversies are being debated across the online spectrum. Tags: banks , president Obama , TARP , Wall Street “It wasn’t fair, but it was necessary.” That comment about the Troubled Asset Relief Program, from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in April, seemed about the best that anyone would ever say of it. But with the program officially coming to an end on Sunday, some folks are pushing a different description:...

So Much for 'Draining the Swamp'
So much for draining that swamp. Pelosi dismissed Congress yesterday, mainly so that her troubled Caucus could return to their districts to campaign, especially for cash as the GOP Fundraising advantage is eclipsing that of Democrats.  But still left on the table was a lot of unfinished business including a vote to extend the Bush Tax Cuts. Pelosis a lot of things, but stupid isnt one of them. She didnt have the votes to only partially extend the Cuts because members of her...

Obama's Impact on the Democratic Party
Obama’s presence in the Oval Office has contributed to the most vibrant Grassroots Conservative Movement in a generation. His party is about to get thumped at the polls and lose its majority in one or both houses of Congress. The number of self-identifying Conservatives is on the upswing. And now this : In September, 34.6% of American Adults identified themselves as Democrats. Thats down nearly half a percentage point from a month ago, a full percentage point from two months ago, and...

Reasons to vote for Kirsten Gillibrand
Click to embiggen. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Record Is Not So ‘Hot’ By Fred J. Eckert - September 29, 2010 ABSTRACT: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently blurted out that the nicest thing he could say about Kirsten Gillibrand is that she is Senate’s “Hottest” member. Gillibrands Republican opponent Joe DioGuardi is a shrewd, feisty, highly energetic professional accountant who has been sounding alarm bells about Washington’s fiscal...

AR-02: What's Griffin's Problem With Working People?
Joyce Elliott, the Democratic Candidate for 2nd District Congress, led the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers when it struck over a contract dispute in 1988 when the average teacher made less than $22,000. This is very bad, Tim Griffin, her Republican opponent, says. In 2009, Tim Griffin made almost a half-million dollars working for Washington, D.C., political lobbying and consulting firms on shadowy causes, including one of the greasiest outfits formerly afloat, Freedom Works. He...

The 15% Solution Serialization, Ninth Installment. Chapter 8
This is the ninth installment of a project that is likely to extend over a two-year-period from January, 2010. It is the serialization of a book entitled The 15% Solution: A Political History of American Fascism, 2001-2022 . Under the pseudonym Jonathan Westminster, it is purportedly published in the Year 2048 on the 25th Anniversary of the Restoration of Constitutional Democracy in the Re-United States. It was actually published in 1996 by the Thomas Jefferson Press, located in Port...

A Hillary 2012 Bid Is No Less Implausible Than Any Other Surprise in Politics
From the last Jolt of the week: It is October. Somebody wake up the band Green Day; September has ended. The First In-Kind Donation to Hillary 2012 Comes From Gallup I, for one, admire the cahones of Gallup to conduct a Poll that you know will generate some chilly looks between the President and Secretary of State at the next cabinet meeting. The pollster informs us, “If Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were to challenge President Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential...

Republican-Haters For The GOP
Tom Jensen identifies the key electoral bloc: Republicans in Congress are incredibly unpopular. And many of the party's Senate nominees across the country are too. Yet the party is still headed for a big Election year. The reason? About 20% of the country is unhappy with both sides- and they're leaning strongly toward the GOP. Our last National Poll found that 19% of voters both disapproved of Barack Obama's job performance and disapproved of the Republicans in Congress. Those folks are...

Future of the Public Option Update
I've been convinced for a year now that the future of the Public Option was bright.  Liberal Activists love it, which means that Democrats are going to be pressed to support it in contested primaries.  It polls well generally, meaning that Dems will feel it's a relatively safe way to make liberal Activists happy.  And as a Bonus, the CBO loves it, which means that supporting a Public Option allows liberal Candidates to support spending or Tax Cuts and still claim that their...

Saturday Open Thread: October 2nd, 2010
Caroline Kennedy is a wonderful Costume for Halloween 2010 What’s on your minds this Saturday? What are people talking about in your part of the country? ******************************************************** Today’s Halloween Costume pic is one we think a lot of women (and even a few guys) could pull off: Caroline Kennedy All you need is a red dress, an orange-red wig, and that I WANTS IT I WANTS IT I WANTS IT scream. You could be little Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka as well,...

GOP candidates get an edge with out-of-state cash (AP)
Washington – The private rooms at Carmine's, a large Italian Restaurant downtown, have been hopping with Political Donors at lunch this week. It's a month to Election Day, and House and Senate Candidates are searching far from home for last-minute Campaign cash. This year, the pool of national Donors is favoring Republicans, reversing the advantage Democratic Candidates have held for two Elections. The numbers are especially noticeable in open-seat races. In the Senate's 14 contests where...

Obama's chief of staff canceled Alaska voter registration
New Obama Chief of Staff Pete Rouse dropped his Alaska Voter Registration on March 18th, after keeping it for decades. A Daily News profile of Rouse last year brought up his Alaska Registration. The story described how Rouse came to Alaska in 1978 and worked as Chief of Staff for Alaska Republican Lt. Gov. Terry Miller. Rouse returned to Washington D.C. in 1983 but kept his Alaska Voter Registration. Heres how the profile described it: Rouse continued to keep many personal ties in Alaska --...

Lightning Round: Jingoes United Against Liberal Fascists.
Kevin D. Williamson reluctantly gives messaging advice to the GOP: " Frederick Douglass should be as much the face of the Republican party as Reagan and Goldwater ." The most charitable way to understand this is that movement Conservatives see the Republican party as an imperfect but reliable vessel for promoting freedom through inspiring leaders. And since the yearning for freedom is a timeless pursuit, Douglass, who died in 1895, would be completely at home in today's GOP, which...

Not a bad return on a costly investment
NOT A BAD RETURN ON A COSTLY Investment.... Whether one approves of 2008's financial industry Bailout or considers it the worst piece of Legislation in American history, there's one thing we can all be very glad about: its Price Tag . Even as voters rage and Candidates put up ads against Government Bailouts, the reviled mother of them all -- the $700 Billion lifeline to banks, Insurance and auto companies -- will expire after Sunday at a fraction of that cost, and could conceivably earn...