BY TONY BLANKLEY
Reprinted from the Washington Times
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, center, accompanied by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, right, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. takes questions on the sweeping GOP victory in the 2010 midterm elections, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from the Feehery Theory
In many ways, it was the best-case scenario for the Republican Party.
They swept the House in dramatic fashion, and while they didn’t quite win the Senate, they got the next best thing: Harry Reid is still going to be the chief spokesman for Congressional Democrats.
BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON
This summer I was convinced that in September, the Democrats would launch an election-year counter-offensive, an October surprise that would plug the drain of Democratic polling numbers and slow the slide of a lot of Democratic candidates.
BY JOHN FEEHERY
From the Feeherytheory.com
Bill Murray’s character in the movie “Ghostbusters,” Dr. Peter Venkman, had the iconic line: “He slimed me!”
The Democratic Party has taken on the role of the Ghosts in “Ghostbusters”: They are all about the slime.
I was on the Ed Schultz Show last night when Ed showed Louisiana Congressman Charlie Melancon’s new commercial against David Vitter, who he is running against for the Senate.
Louisiana has had some tough times lately. It is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. The oil spill has had a grave impact on the economy. According to some analysts, the job situation down there is reaching Depression type levels.
Serious issues.
BY GARY ANDRES
Reprinted from weeklystandard.com
Voter interest in the November elections continues its staggered crescendo. For candidates and consultants the long opus nears its denouement. But non-politicos – who react to different rhythms – are just now beginning to stir.
As they listen more intently they will hear a familiar score – echoes of campaigns past with a hint of desperation in the Democratic Party’s musicianship.
BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON
The national Democratic Party’s hierarchy, led by the President himself, inaugurated a campaign a few weeks ago to put a negative face on the Republican Party and its candidates. The face they chose was that of House Republican Leader John Boehner. And so began the Boehner bashing.
The President mentioned Leader Boehner an incredible eight times in a speech the first week in September. Other Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, followed suit.
Then the media joined in.
BY GARY ANDRES
Reprinted from weeklystandard.com
Last week House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio delivered a stinging critique of the Obama administration’s economic policies. But the White House’s swift and tart reaction to Boehner was both illuminating and sadly predictable.
On the day of the speech, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer offered a “pre-buttal,” ripped from the playbook of a presidential campaign. Vice President Biden joined the fray, donning his full-electoral jacket, reminding us once again that it was another president that got us into this mess.
BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON
Reprinted in part from washingtonexaminer.com
“I don’t know what to do anymore.”
In the 20 years I’ve known him, Jeff has never uttered words like that about the wholesale-distributor business he built from scratch over the past 25 years in Maryland, D.C. and Delaware. He’s had ups and downs like every small business, but he’s always seemed to know instinctively what to do, either to sustain existing business, or, in good times, expand into new areas and new brands.
We were talking about the frustrations of small business, his and others like it all across the country, that can’t hire, invest and expand because there is so much uncertainty about what the future holds.
Jeff ticked off just a few of his concerns: health care mandates; new and higher taxes and fees; the cost to the consumer of new financial services regulations; new workplace rules, and new rules and regulations that may come from environment and energy reform. The list goes on.
There is always uncertainty in times of recession, but this time it’s different. The uncertainty is rooted in politics as well as economics.
BY GARY ANDRES
Reprinted from the Weekly Standard
Congress has a black eye, and it’s starting to swell. As an institution, its approval ratings bounce near all time lows, creating a crisis in confidence among voters. Can Americans count on an institution so anemic in trust to heal the difficult and major problems confronting the nation?
Many believe the legislative branch is insular, arrogant, and dominated by special interests — and not without cause.
The current Democratic majority’s polarizing behavior has only reinforced these views by passing partisan and controversial legislation — like the health care bill — opposed by a majority of Americans, according to the most recent average of polls aggregated at Real Clear Politics.
The House and Senate will never win popularity contests. Congress underperforms other institutions when it comes to stirring good feelings. Analyzing polling data from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, political scientists John R. Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse in their book Congress as Public Enemy: Public Attitudes Toward American Political Institutions show the legislature nearly always lags the presidency and the Supreme Court when it comes to public confidence.
This pattern continues today. President Obama’s approval now hovers around the 48 percent mark, but Congress’s is only half that (23 percent), according to Real Clear Politics.