A story that hits closer to home than most

First of all, just want to say that my time at Lake Chelan was awesome. Beautiful weather for most of the trip, good food and good people. Definitely a nice vacation.

And now, back to politics.

I came home to an email from my pops, which linked to a video report by CBS about a Chevy dealership that’s being shut down in the town 0f 800 he grew up in as a kid. All because the government now owns General Motors…

Click the pic below to watch the report:

Taking a small vacation

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that I won’t be blogging again until late Friday or early Saturday morning. I’m heading over to beautiful Lake Chelan with some friends, and will be out on a boat in 95 degree weather for a vast majority of the time. Needless to say, I won’t be thinking too much about blogging.

I just want to say a big thanks to all of you for checking out the blog, linking to it, and leaving comments. I’m proud to say that I’ve gotten over 11,000 hits in a little less than two months because of you.

See you in a few days!

GOP takes four-point lead on Generic Congressional Ballot

Hope and change!

From Rasmussen:

Support for Republican congressional candidates has reached its highest level in over two years as the GOP lengthens its lead over Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Ballot.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 42% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 38% would opt for the Democratic candidate.

Support for Republican candidates rose two points over the past week, while support for Democratic candidates is up one point. Last week, support for Democrats fell to its lowest level in over two years.

So, support for Republican congressional candidates has reached its highest level in over two years, while support for Dems fell to its lowest level in over two years last week. Sweet.

Here’s how the last five weeks have looked for the Generic Congressional Ballot:

June 21, 2009: Dem 41, GOP 39

June 28, 209: GOP 41, Dem 39

July 5, 2009: GOP 41, Dem 38

July 12, 2009: GOP 40, Dem 37

July 19, 2009: GOP 42, Dem 38

In the same time frame, Obama’s approval ratings have gone from  58.7% approve, 33.7% disapprove to 56.2% approve, 38% disapprove.

Also in the same time frame, the number of people who think country is headed in the right direction has gone from 43.1% to 36.2%. The number of those who say we’re on the wrong track has gone from 48.6% to 55.6%.

That’s music to the ears of Republicans who have been waiting for a resurgence back into power. The McDonnell/Deeds and Christie/Corzine races will reveal a lot more than these polls about the true mood of the country, and will either offer a huge boost or a huge blow to Repubs heading into 2010. Right now, those races look good for us, but November’s still a looong way off.

The difference between men and women, epitomized in a poll about gopher control

Thought this was pretty funny.

In a recent SurveyUSA poll of 500 San Diegans on how the city should handle a gopher problem they’re having at a field in Ocean Beach, here were the top three responses given by both men and women:

Men:

1.) Eco-friendly sprays (31%)

2.) Concussion bombs (21%)

3.) Poison (13%)

Women:

1.) Eco-friendly sprays (34%)

2.) Sound deterrents (26%)

3.) Campaign urging citizens not to feed wildlife (16%)

So whereas men and women both feel using Eco-friendly sprays would be the best option, men then feel the second-best option would be to blow the crap out of the gophers. If that failed, they’d bring in the poison to kill off the remaining critters.

Women, on the other hand, feel the second-best option would be to use sound deterrents to get them to leave. If that didn’t work, they’d be for setting up a campaign urging citizens not to feed wildlife.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that there’s no real difference between the two sexes, lol.

Dennis Prager touches on that here:

Dennis Prager: Americans Are Beginning to Understand the Left

Prager says the only good thing to come out of Barack Obama’s presidency so far is that clarity has emerged about the thinking of the Left, and the danger it poses to America. Prager lists four principles of the Left that are becoming clearer and clearer to more Americans. They are as follows:

1. The left, as distinct from traditional liberals, is not, and has never been, interested in creating wealth. The left is no more interested in creating wealth than Christians are in creating Muslims or Muslims in creating Christians. The left is interested in redistributing wealth, not creating it. The left spends the wealth that private enterprise and entrepreneurial risk-taking individuals create.
2. The reason the left asks why there is poverty instead of why there is wealth is that the left’s preoccupying ideal is equality — not economic growth. And those who are preoccupied with equality are more troubled by wealth than by poverty.
3. The left everywhere seeks to make as big and powerful a state as possible. It does so because only the state can redistribute society’s wealth. And because only a strong and powerful state can impose values on society. The idea of small government, the American ideal since its inception, is the antithesis of the left’s ideal.
4. The left imposes its values on others whenever possible and to the extent possible. That is why virtually every totalitarian regime in the 20th century was left-wing. Inherent to all left-wing thought is a totalitarian temptation. People on the left know that not only are their values morally superior to conservative values, but that they themselves are morally superior to conservatives. Thus, for example, the former head of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean, could say in all seriousness, “In contradistinction to the Republicans, we don’t think children ought to go to bed hungry at night.”

Prager goes much further in depth on these principles, and how each applies to the Leftists in Washington today, so I’d recommend reading the whole article.

Prager concludes with this:

The president of the United States and the much of the Democratic Party embody these left-wing principles. Right now, America’s only hope of staying American rather than becoming European lies in making these principles as clear as possible to as many Americans as possible. The left is so giddy with power right now, we actually have a chance.

NY Times: Republicans See Opportunity in Races for Governor

Cherish this moment, as the Times usually has nothing positive to report about the GOP.

Here’s some excerpts from their article:

When I start looking at this chart, in some ways I’d sure rather be a Republican than a Democrat next year,” said Jennifer Duffy, who tracks gubernatorial races for the non-partisan Cook Political Report.

“There were a bunch of Democratic states I wasn’t looking too seriously at for a while — Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin — that I am taking new looks at because in the past several months, I have seen polling numbers for these governors tank,” she said. “Let’s face it: Being governor is not the best job in American right now.”

[...[

Democrats have more seats to defend in 2010: 21 of them, compared with 18 for Republicans. (Overall, Democrats now hold 28 of the 50 state governorships, compared with 22 for Republicans.)

[...[

What is more, 17 of the 39 seats to be contested in 2010 will be open, with no incumbent in the race, and 10 of those are now held by Democrats. The main reason for this is term limits.

[...[

As of right now, officials from both parties said, Republicans could see a net gain of at least three governors’ seats. Democrats face especially long odds in Kansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Michigan, and depending on what Mr. Freudenthal does, Wyoming. That list could end up including Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Maine, Wisconsin and Iowa as well, officials in both parties said.

The Times also points out that Republicans may not have to wait until 2010 to start posting some victories, as Bob McDonnell currently leads Creigh Deeds in Virginia, and Chris Christie leads incumbent Governor, Jon Corzine, in New Jersey. Elections for both races will be held this November.

IBD smashes the case for ObamaCare

(HT: Dennis Prager)

Investor’s Business Daily takes a look at the arguments from proponents of government-run healthcare, and takes them apart one-by-one. They are as follows:

• America has a health care crisis.
• Health care reform will save money.
• Only the rich will pay for reform.
• Government-run health care produces better results.
• The poor lack care.

I’m sure you’ve heard all of these arguments from your friends on the Left before, so to be able to respond to them, it’d be a good idea to read the article and find out why none of them actually hold water.

Oh my: Obama and Romney tied in prospective 2012 poll

I know 2012 polls in mid-2009 are almost useless, but I can’t help but get excited about Mitt being tied with Obama just six months into his presidency.

From Rasmussen:

If the 2012 presidential election were held today, President Obama and possible Republican nominee Mitt Romney would be all tied up at 45% each, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

The president, seeking a second four-year term, beats another potential GOP rival, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, by six points – 48% to 42%.

The biggest rumor floating around is that if Romney won the GOP nomination, Palin would run as an independent candidate. Many of the Palinistas think this is a brilliant idea, even though her doing so would ensure Obama another four years in office. You want proof? Here it is:

Just 21% of voters nationwide say Palin should run as an independent if she loses the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Sixty-three percent (63%) say the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee should not run as an independent. Sixteen percent (16%) are not sure.

If Romney secured the GOP nomination and Palin chose to run as an independent candidate, Obama would win the resulting three-way race with 44% of the vote. Romney is the choice of 33% of the voters under that scenario, with Palin a distant third with 16% support.

Here are some more tidbits about the poll:

• When Romney is the Republican nominee, he beats Obama among unaffiliated voters 48% to 41%. But when Palin is the GOP candidate, unaffiliated voters prefer Obama by a 47% to 41% margin.
• Men prefer the Republican over Obama whether it’s Romney or Palin
• Women like the president better in both match-ups
• Palin continues to fare more poorly among women than her male rivals
• In a three-way race, Palin hurts Romney by drawing 28% Republican support. Romney captures 52% of the GOP vote in that scenario.
• In a three way race, unaffiliated voters break 40% for the president, 39% for Romney and 14% for Palin.

(HT: HotAir)

WaPo’s Chris Cillizza Ranks GOP’s Leaders Going into 2010 Midterms: Mid-July edition

Here was his list from June 5th. Here’s his list now:

Our look at the 10 most influential Republicans at the moment is below. Remember that this is not a list of who is most likely to win the party’s nomination in 2012 and should not be taken as such. Rather, it’s an attempt to show the leading voices for a party in rebuilding mode:

Coming Off the Line: Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Michael Steele, Dick Cheney

Coming On the Line: John Boehner, John Cornyn, Chris Christie

10.) John Boehner (previous rank: N/A): has done something amazing in the first six months of the 111th Congress: kept his members unified.

9.) Mitch McConnell (previous rank: #10):  will be at the center of the fights over health care and cap and trade this summer and fall.

8.) John Cornyn (previous rank: N/A): successfully recruited credible candidates in Illinois and New Hampshire and has seen the NRSC’s decision to wade into contested primaries pay off in Missouri and Florida.

7.) Newt Gingrich (previous rank: #2): drops a few slots on this month’s Line as several Republican strategists painted his fourth place showing in a recent Gallup poll looking at the 2012 field as decidedly disappointing given that Gingrich is working hard behind the scenes to build support.

6.) Tim Pawlenty (previous rank: #7): the Fix keeps hearing stories of the leg work (financial, staff etc) that Tpaw is doing behind the scenes. Expect Pawlenty to emerge (and go higher on the Line) as summer turns to fall.

5.) Haley Barbour (previous rank: #3): He is more powerful as a kingmaker in a national race than as a candidate in his own right.

4.) Bob McDonnell (previous rank: #4): The party’s nominee in the Virginia governor’s race this fall has an even money (or slightly better) chance of taking the seat back for Republicans — a win that, if it comes to pass, will be painted as a national referendum on Obama’s presidency.

3.) Chris Christie (previous rank: N/A): The more we look at this November’s New Jersey gubernatorial race, the more convinced we become that Christie, a former U.S. Attorney, is going to beat Gov. Jon Corzine (D).

2.) Sarah Palin (previous rank: #9): We decided to put Palin so high on the Line for one reason: is there any other Republican you can think of who, if she runs for president, will be a favorite in two — Iowa and South Carolina — of the first four states to vote for president in the primaries?

1.) Mitt Romney (previous rank: #1): the former Massachusetts governor and a 2008 presidential candidate, is the most complete package on the Republican side of the aisle.

Palin and Christie are the biggest positive movers, while Gingrich and Huckabee are the biggest negative movers. I agree with Cillizza ranking Romney #1, as he is indeed the most complete package for the GOP in 2012.

Rasmussen’s “Presidential Approval Index” holding steady at -7

Just like the economy, no recovery in sight.

From Rasmussen:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 30% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –7 (see trends).