Inspire Political Discourse

Will 2010 rival 1994 as a debacle for the Dems?

According to Time magazine, perhaps not. A summary of the reasoning behind the article:

“At a time when Republicans should be celebrating their momentum, Steele is stealing headlines — and not in a good way.

In my opinion, this will not have much of an effect. While it's fun to kick Steele and the RNC around, I don't think that their shenanigans will do much to affect the vote. Republicans aren't going to vote Democratic because of it. Although, it could affect the motivation of Republicans when they consider whether or not to vote at all in midterm elections.

Trash Talking: the health care reform bill not as unpopular as you think

At least according to Ana Marie Cox at The Wire, and she makes a very good case for her position:

I was on the phone with a Republican staffer the other day, talking about the GOP's response to the passage of health care reform legislation. He said that his side was actually pleased, not because they like the bill, obviously, but because "the public will fight back in November. It's an enormously unpopular bill and the Democrats will suffer for having supported it."

But, I replied, what about the most recent polling? The USA Today poll, that showed 48 percent of respondents think of the bill as "a good first step"? Or the ABC/Washington Post poll that showed a more voters -- (40 percent) -- say that their representative's vote on the legislation will make "no difference" in who they support in the fall than say it will be a positive or a negative? Or the CBS poll that showed a five point bump in favor of the bill after passage? Or the second ABC/WP poll that showed that Congressional Democrats and Nancy Pelosi got steady in their approval ratings among after it passed?

Be sure to read the entire article.......there is much more to it than what I quoted, and it will help you to bolster your arguments with the naysayers/proponents of "I hate the bill so I'll claim that everyone else does too, and because of all this hate, Democrats are gonna lose big in the midterms".  Heh.

Political News Summary, Monday, January 5, 2009

:: IPD Daily Political Cartoon Find.

Gary Wasserman, the Boston Globe
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:: Update on the Coleman-Franken senate race.