What do you know. Ezra Klein finally gets it. Better late than never, though as long as it took it’s not very impressive. On Sunday, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell responded to Barack Obama’s summit invitation by demanding Obama scrap the health-care reform bill entirely. This is the context for that demand. What they want isn’t [...] [...more]
The New York Times picks up on Obama’s interview with Katie Couric: Watch CBS News Videos Online “I want to come back and have a large meeting, Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward,” Mr. Obama said in the interview from the White House Library. Mr. [...] [...more]
So, to crunch the numbers, GOP primary turnout is up 11% over 2004. Democratic turnout has dropped 29%. If the Democrats let health care reform die, they’ll be looking at a turnout cataclysm. – Jonathan Chait I have been writing about Obama’s empathy and connection gap for years. As president, it’s gotten worse, morphing into [...] [...more]
Scott Brown doesn’t even have a business card, but people are asking him about 2012. My favorite part of the Walters interview is that Brown has “no regrets” about his nude Cosmo spread. Brown told Barbara Walters “you have to have a sense of humor about yourself,” and links the centerfold to many of [...] [...more]
What did other people think of Pres. Obama’s Q&A with the Republicans? The right has grabbed on one section, which they are calling Obama’s “stunning admission,” and they’re going to town on it. Here are some other comments: secularhumanizinevoluter says (30 January 2010 at 7:27 am): I must be crazy(OK, everybody stop yelling NO DUH!) [...] [...more]
–updated– “… Pain or damage don’t end the world, or despair or f—ing beatings. The world ends when you’re dead, until then you’ve got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man. And give some back.” – Al Swearengen, “Deadwood” Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, [...] [...more]
“My message to these groups who are inexplicably offended by a pro-woman, pro-child, pro-life message airing during the Super Bowl: please concentrate on empowering women, help with efforts to prevent unexpected pregnancies, stay consistent with your message that for too long women have been made to feel like sex objects in our ‘modern’ culture and [...] [...more]
“We face a deficit of trust… close that credibility gap…” with Pres. Obama as ambitious as ever. Climate change? That’s right. But nuclear energy? Yep. Clean coal? An oxymoron if ever there was one, but Pres. Obama talked about it, delivering a conservative speech for a Democrat. It’s a wonder Gov. Bob [...] [...more]
–bumped– With no clear path forward on major health care legislation, Democratic leaders in Congress effectively slammed the brakes on President Obama’s top domestic priority on Tuesday, saying that they no longer felt pressure to move quickly on a health bill after eight months of setting deadlines and missing them. – Democrats Slam Brakes on Health [...] [...more]
One of Barack Obama’s biggest cheerleaders has awaken with a hangover today. For Bob Herbert it’s a matter of credibility. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c [...more]
From tonight’s interview with Diane Sawyer: “I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.” – Pres. Barack Obama This is truly a revealing moment. If a person is a “really good” president, isn’t there a better than decent chance he (or she, some day) will have a second term? After the [...] [...more]
It’s not Obama’s fault, not a referendum on him, it was simply an omen. Because if people like the president but don’t like his agenda, with the country’s wrong track numbers off the charts, it’s no problem. Analysis like this belongs with the comics. Pep talks for everyone! David Plouffe, Obama’s “Audacity to Win” engineer, even [...] [...more]
“Masochistic”? Embarrassing. But if Josh Marshall and Talking Points Memo is laying out Barack Obama it’s time for the White House to wake up and hear the alarms. No one went farther out on a limb than TPM did during the primaries to assist Barack Obama in every way they could, seldom doing critical analysis [...] [...more]
Gallup says Democrats should abandon health care. Rasmussen says 61% of Americans say “it’s time for Congress to Drop health care.” Michael Barone writes under this headline: If Republicans run as strongly as Brown, only 103 House Dems are safe. Poor Paul Krugman is simply lost. The Senate bill is not going to help Democrats or Pres. Obama. [...] [...more]
Yesterday, I sent out a massive mailer that included part of “The Obama Brand Implodes,” which also invited people to tell me how they were feeling as Pres. Obama starts his second year. It was ugly. I’ve not even been able to read them all yet, but I’ve posted a few responses below. [...] [...more]
