The Republican Thread

[ChiSox_Sonix]

msn.com links to a poll right now at newsvine that asks you to grade the president's job performance right now

 

There are currently ~200K votes and it breaks down like this

 

A - 33.5%

B - 9%

C - 6.4%

D - 13.8%

F - 37.3%

 

http://www.polls.newsvine.com/_question/20...e-him?GT1=43001

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

msn.com links to a poll right now at newsvine that asks you to grade the president's job performance right now

 

There are currently ~200K votes and it breaks down like this

 

A - 33.5%

B - 9%

C - 6.4%

D - 13.8%

F - 37.3%

 

http://www.polls.newsvine.com/_question/20...e-him?GT1=43001

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there is a right wing site linking to this and running up the vote. I've seen it done on newsvine before.

When legit polls have his approval rating at well over 60%, I have a hard time believing nearly 40% have him failing miserably.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there is a right wing site linking to this and running up the vote. I've seen it done on newsvine before.

When legit polls have his approval rating at well over 60%, I have a hard time believing nearly 40% have him failing miserably.

 

 

All i know is I linked to it from the focal section of the front page of msn.com.

[StrangeSox]

Self-selected response polls, such as internet polls appearing on abc.com or aol.com, don't tell you much other than what the people who chose to respond think. It's not possible to extrapolate that out to the general public like Gallup or Rasmussen polls do. You generally get the extremes only because others with more moderate or indifferent opinions don't waste their time. You generally tend to get negative responses; similar to customer feedback scenarios. That's why you'll see them referred to as non-scientific polls.

 

http://www.mrsc.org/focus/discforum/browne1100.aspx

Self-Selected Survey - Newspapers, Mail, Internet and Written Questionnaires

 

When an agency has a political need to create a survey process that allows anyone who is interested to respond, it can do a self-selected process. A written survey can be distributed in public locations, such as the City Hall or Library, mailed directly, e-mailed or published in the city newsletter or the local newspaper.

 

When reporting data from a self-selected survey, it is important to begin with the understanding and the language, "Of those who chose to respond�.." Most often, those who volunteer to respond to a self-selected survey have a strong opinion (frequently negative) about the issue being discussed.

 

A self-selected survey, however, can be an excellent public relations tool and a good way of giving information to the public. But, extreme caution must be exercised in drawing any conclusion about what the public, in general, thinks based upon the results from a survey when the respondents are volunteers.

[BearSox]

 

Nice one Mr. President. Making fun of the hundreds of thousands of PEACEFUL protesters at the Tea Party Protests on Tax Day. I'm losing more and more respect each day for this person I have to call President.

[southsider2k5]

 

Nice one Mr. President. Making fun of the hundreds of thousands of PEACEFUL protesters at the Tea Party Protests on Tax Day. I'm losing more and more respect each day for this person I have to call President.

 

That would be the party of inclusion, right?

[BearSox]

Well, at least he's saving the economy by pumping in billions of dollars to these companies that need saving.... oh wait, that hasn't helped at all.

[BearSox]

That would be the party of inclusion, right?

 

He did say he would be happy to have a serious discussion, and one of the leaders of the tea parties said he'd be happy to have a discussion with Obama... so I'm sure that'll happen!!!!!!

[BearSox]

I found this funny....

 

http://news.bostonherald.com/track/celebri...terboard_offer/

 

So Mr. Olbermann, it's okay for someone to be waterboarded if it's someone you don't like and they are doing it for charity, but it's wrong to do it to some low life piece of trash terrorist who has info about possible targets and attacks?

 

Being such a great moral person you are and standing up for the rights of these "misunderstood enemy combatants", why would you be in favor of someone getting waterboarded, even if it is by choice for charity? Instead, shouldn't you discourage someone from "torturing" themselves?

 

Oh I think I know what it is, it's because Mr. Olbermann is a big fat fraud and has no business being on prime time TV every night!

[Balta1701]

Why is the concept of "It's voluntary" and "You can say stop" so hard to understand?

[BearSox]

Why is the concept of "It's voluntary" and "You can say stop" so hard to understand?

Because if you supposedly care so much about human life, you shouldn't want anyone to go through "torture" voluntary or involuntary.

[StrangeSox]

[lostfan]

[southsider2k5]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=was...id=aWVgBVC0L05w

 

Obama Democrats Accent Bullying Over Governing: Amity Shlaes

 

Commentary by Amity Shlaes

 

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- So Michele Bachmann’s version of history is “from another planet.” Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, is “chronically stupid.” And Eric Cantor of Virginia, the second-ranking Republican in the House, is “busy lying constantly.”

 

That at least is according to posts on three left-leaning blogs.

 

Writers who are not pro-Barack Obama are suffering character assassination as well. George Will of the Washington Post, the nation’s senior conservative columnist, has been so assaulted by bloggers that his editor, Fred Hiatt, recently wrote, “I would think folks would be eager to engage in the debate, given how sure they are of their case, rather than trying to shut him down.”

 

The disconcerting thing isn’t that the bloggers or their guests did this slamming. We’re used to such vitriol in campaign time. What is surprising is that the attacks are continuing after an election.

 

In the past, politicians and policy thinkers tended to be magnanimous in victory. They and their friends focused, post- victory, on policy and strategy -- not on trashing individuals.

 

It ought to be especially true this time, given what wonders are befalling the Democrats. Between Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania and Al Franken in Minnesota, it looks like the Democrats are in the process of making their Senate majority filibuster-proof. Then there’s the president’s new opportunity to mold the Supreme Court, with the resignation of David Souter.

 

Still, somehow, the magnanimity isn’t there. Indeed, the closer the Democrats get to total power, the nastier the commentators friendly to them have become.

 

Wild Internet

 

The explanation for this perpetual venom is threefold, and starts with the Internet. Years ago, out of a sense of civics, gentle and gentlemanly newspaper editors used to allow a certain honeymoon period post-election. Winners got to bask, and losers sulk.

 

Internet scribes are not into civics. Most bloggers lack editors: Even as he attacked Bachmann for errors, the author on The New Republic’s Plank blog misspelled her name. Even when editors are involved, they often leave blogs alone, on the lazy premise that spontaneity outranks accuracy.

 

Another force at work is the relevance of history. The most recent attack on Bachmann came after she misspoke and called the 1930 tariff “Hoot-Smalley” rather than its accurate name, Smoot-Hawley. Bachmann also implied that Franklin Roosevelt signed the tariff into law, rather than its actual signator, Herbert Hoover.

 

Biden’s Slip

 

Vice President Joseph Biden made much larger slips when talking about the same period on the campaign trial. In an ecstasy of anachronism, he told Katie Couric, “When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’”

 

The problem for Bachmann was also her implication that the New Dealers’ policies failed to bring recovery. Since this happens to be accurate, it’s a sensitive point, as I myself have noted watching the bile poured on my own 2007 book on the period.

 

But the most important factor here is Democratic weakness. The party isn’t comfortable yet at the summit of political power.

 

The unsteadiness began with Obama: Instead of shaping the stimulus package himself, according to his own principles, he handed over the work to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Appropriations chairman, who in turn produced a porky package without discernible philosophy.

 

Unsure Policies

 

Unsure of whether it wanted to punish or stimulate -- and so choosing to attempt both -- the administration generated legislation to help financial institutions and legislation that hurts them by restricting rates and terms for the credit cards they issue. Obama’s call for putting more student loans in federal hands is clever politically, and may even save students money in the short term, but it likely will restrict the availability of such loans in the future.

 

In short, Obama speaks beautifully but is on his way to a “D” grade when it comes to making the U.S. attractive for international investment, a fact the Chinese are already noting by shopping for non-U.S. bonds.

 

The Democrats of 2009 are showing less awareness than their predecessors did in President Bill Clinton’s time on the importance of low taxes and reasonable regulation. Only these permit strong growth, a point made articulately by none other than Bachmann herself, in the now-infamous “Hoot-Smalley” TV clip.

 

Mission to Distract

 

Because the ruling Democrats have tilted too far left, their allies are out on a mission of distraction, trying to prove that everyone else is too far to the right. On the key question of trade, Americans are pretty sympathetic to Bachmann’s pro-trade views, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Citizens don’t necessarily line up with the protectionist unions and House Speaker Pelosi.

 

So here’s a new motto: more leadership, less bloggership. Voters tend to tire the ad hominem approach. By smearing others, rather than putting forward ideas, the scribblers smear themselves instead.

 

(Amity Shlaes, author of “The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression” is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

 

To contact the writer of this column: Amity Shlaes at [email protected]

[lostfan]

Of all the people that need defending from attacks from the left, Michele Bachmann is not one of them.

[Balta1701]

You guys'll love this one.

The headquarters of Murtech, in a low-slung, bland building in a Glen Burnie business park, has its blinds drawn tight and few signs of life. On several days of visits, a handful of cars sit in the parking lot, and no trucks arrive at the 10 loading bays at the back of the building.

 

Yet last year, Murtech received $4 million in Pentagon work, all of it without competition, for a variety of warehousing and engineering services. With its long corridor of sparsely occupied offices and an unmanned reception area, Murtech's most striking feature is its owner -- Robert C. Murtha Jr., 49. He is the nephew of Rep. John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has significant sway over the Defense Department's spending as chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

 

Robert Murtha said he is not at liberty to discuss in detail what his company does, but for four years it has subsisted on defense contracts, according to records and interviews. He said Murtech's 17 employees "provide necessary logistical support" to Pentagon testing programs that focus on detecting chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, "and that's about as far as I feel comfortable going." Giving more details could provide important clues to terrorist plotters, he said.

 

Murtha said he does not advertise being the nephew of John Murtha and considers it "unfortunate" that some will unfairly assume Murtech received its federal contracts because of his uncle's influence at the Pentagon.

[lostfan]

That's probably like 10 minutes from my house.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I guess PA is a little more centrist than the far right, and Michael Steele, would hope it to be:

 

Poll: Ridge Leads Toomey In 2010 Pennsylvania Senate Primary -- By A Landslide

A new poll of Pennsylvania from Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies shows that former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-PA), who is reportedly considering a bid for the Senate seat now held by Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter, would currently lead conservative candidate Pat Toomey in a 60%-23% landslide for the Republican primary.

 

Toomey's big lead over Specter in the primary polls spurred the incumbent to switch parties, which in turn created the question of whether the Republicans were guaranteed Toomey as the nominee, or whether another Republican could take him. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who is also vice chair of the NRSC, has openly said Toomey cannot win, so the establishment could understandably be eager for someone else. And if Ridge gets in, they just might have it.

 

Another key finding: In a general election match-up, Ridge currently leads Specter by 48%-41%, compared to Toomey trailing Specter by 49%-40%. The big question is whether Ridge's support is truly solid, or whether going through an actual campaign could wear him down through attacks coming from the right.

[kapkomet]

I guess PA is a little more centrist than the far right, and Michael Steele, would hope it to be:

 

Poll: Ridge Leads Toomey In 2010 Pennsylvania Senate Primary -- By A Landslide

That has nothing to do with "far right" or "centrist", it totally has to do with Tom Ridge being a very popular political figure in PA politics.

[HuskyCaucasian]

That has nothing to do with "far right" or "centrist", it totally has to do with Tom Ridge being a very popular political figure in PA politics.

But when you hear the chatter our of the RNC, people like Ridge are told to sit down and shut up. Contesting someone who is more to the right wont go over well with Steele.

[southsider2k5]

But when you hear the chatter our of the RNC, people like Ridge are told to sit down and shut up. Contesting someone who is more to the right wont go over well with Steele.

 

Kinda like Arlen Spector from the Dem's special interest groups?

[lostfan]

I'm not a fan of hers, and I'm definitely not part of the anti-gay marriage crowd, but I'm getting sick of seeing Carrie Prejean get ripped (mostly on the net) for speaking her mind, however awkwardly. It's really unnecessary, and it's kind of embarrassing - much more so than watching her speak.

[Rex Kickass]

I'm not a fan of hers, and I'm definitely not part of the anti-gay marriage crowd, but I'm getting sick of seeing Carrie Prejean get ripped (mostly on the net) for speaking her mind, however awkwardly. It's really unnecessary, and it's kind of embarrassing - much more so than watching her speak.

 

It absolutely is horrible what's being done to her. She has a right to oppose this issue, as dumb as I might find that position - it shouldn't change her position or her job as Miss California. It's just as awful as denying the rights of gay people to fair employment, housing, etc.

[Rex Kickass]

That has nothing to do with "far right" or "centrist", it totally has to do with Tom Ridge being a very popular political figure in PA politics.

 

I think the GOP regains this seat with a Tom Ridge/Arlen Specter match-up.

 

Ridge/Sestak? That's another story IMHO.

[kapkomet]

I think the GOP regains this seat with a Tom Ridge/Arlen Specter match-up.

 

Ridge/Sestak? That's another story IMHO.

That's a pretty fair observation.