Congressional Elections of 2010

Barack Obama And Veterans Day: A Great President On Veterans Issues

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Barack Obama may not have served in the military, becoming an adult during a time when military service by draft had ended, and instead choosing to become a community organizer, in many ways a domestic version of the Peace Corps.

Mitt Romney supported the war in Vietnam, but used his religious commitment to the Mormon Church to avoid service, and instead spent his entire life acquiring massive amounts of wealth, with no social commitment to anyone, and only using one term as Governor of Massachusetts as a tool to run for President, and become the ultimate “BOSS’, which has been his only goal in life other than materialism!

Barack Obama has been very respectful and supportive of the plight of veterans who have served in our various wars, and he has done so much for their needs when they return, and he is pledging again our total commitment to them in the future. with recognition of the reality that much needs to be done.

As we become aware that one out of four homeless people in this nation are veterans, and that many veterans are unemployed, it means that no stone shall be unturned to do what must be done to help these people who served with courage and determination.

There may be budget cuts coming, but not at the expense of veterans!

Seeing Barack Obama speak at Arlington National Cemetery right now is such an inspiring moment, and realizing that one of our heroes, Tammy Duckworth, who gave up both legs and one arm in Iraq, is now the Congresswoman Elect in an Illinois district, having soundly defeated one of the worst Tea Party elected Representatives of 2010, Joe Walsh, is a very exciting moment! And seeing Allen West of Florida, who abused his power in Iraq and was drummed out of the military, also leaving Congress in January, is a very satisfying event!

Wing Nuts Of 2010, And Now Of 2012–Lost Republican Opportunities In The Senate Then, And Possibly, Now!

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The Republican Party is infamous for running wing nuts for the Senate, and as a result, lost the chance for control of the US Senate in 2010.

They ran such characters as Christine O’Donnell in Delaware; Ken Buck in Colorado; Sharron Angle in Nevada; and Joe Miller in Alaska.

The first three were so whacky that the Democrats held on to the seats, and kept control of the Senate, with Harry Reid of Nevada remaining Senate Majority Leader. Lisa Murkowski won a miraculous victory in Alaska over Tea Party favored Joe Miller, keeping that seat sane and sensible, while Republican.

At the same time, Rand Paul and Mike Lee won in Kentucky and Utah, respectively, and Marco Rubio was also backed by the Tea Party, and now Paul and Rubio are likely leaders of the party in the near future, no matter how right wing they are!

Now we have in 2012 the following: Ted Cruz in Texas, backed by the Tea Party and likely to win a Senate seat; Debbie Fischer in Nebraska, who faces former Democratic Senator and Presidential seeker Bob Kerrey, who faces a tough battle; Richard Murdock, who defeated respectable conservative Richard Lugar in Indiana; and now, Todd Akin, challenging Senator Claire McCaskell in Missouri.

With the likelihood of Cruz, Fischer, and Murdock victories for the Tea Party and the right wing of the social conservatives, the only thing that may stop GOP control of the US Senate is the Todd Akin controversy, but in theory, Akin could win that race too, and with only three or four seats gain needed to win control of the Senate for the Republicans, the future makeup of the Senate is disturbing!

It should be pointed out that the Texas and Indiana seats coming up for election are already GOP seats, so only Nebraska and maybe Missouri would be gains for the Tea Party element as things stand now! But going from Kay Bailey Hutchison and Richard Lugar to Ted Cruz and Richard Murdock is a major step backward toward further deadlock, confrontation, and paralysis in a Senate already with a terrible reputation

Grade Level Speaking Ability Of Congressional Members Declining! Sign Of The Deterioration Of Discourse!

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An analysis of the discourse that goes on in Congress reveals that the grade level speaking ability of members of Congress, as an average, has declined since the coming of Tea Party Republicans to the House of Representatives, and dramatically lower than it was seven years ago, in 2005.

In 2005, the average member of Congress was rated 11.5, a junior level in high school, while now it is 10.6, a sophomoric level, one full grade lower!

The ten lowest ranked members of Congress are all Republicans, with eight of them being Tea Party Republicans, including two Tea Party Senators.

Interestingly, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin was rated the second lowest Senator in speaking ability, with an 8.6 score, and is a demonstration of what Wisconsin lost in allowing Johnson to win over former Senator Russ Feingold, long considered one of the most brilliant members of the Senate, in the Congressional elections of 2010.

Also, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, also elected in 2010, was the lowest in score of all Senators, with an 8.0, and this guy wants to run for President? This is the same person who is an eye doctor by profession, but not certified by the national organization, but instead formed his own optometric association and certified himself! Give me a break!

Just as a point of information, the two highest ranked Senators in speaking ability were Hawaii Senator Daniel Akaka with a score of 14.2, and Maine Senator Olympia Snowe with a score of 14.0. The sad part is that both these Senators are leaving at the end of the year, not seeking re-election!

So the whole point of the Senate, and even the House of Representatives, supposedly being “the best among us”, people who have the distinction to serve as our representatives in both houses of Congress, is under scrutiny, and only adds to the low public opinion rating that Congress has, most recently 13 percent!

Congress has become a disgrace, and particularly so with the Republican Party membership!

The Supreme Court And Democracy: Clear And Present Danger! :(

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The conservative Supreme Court has done an excellent job in the past decade of undermining democracy and a fair playing field, as shown by two specific situations among others!

First, in the year 2000, in Bush V. Gore, the Republican dominated Supreme Court intervened where they had no business interfering, by deciding to settle the contested Presidential Election of 2000 by stopping the vote recount in Florida, and awarding the electoral votes of that state to George W. Bush over Al Gore, despite the fact that Gore had a national popular vote lead of 540,000! For a Court that claimed to believe in limited federal power and strict interpretation of the Constitution, they claimed the right to decide a presidential election, an arrogant and revolutionary grab of power, which by precedent now, could be utilized again in the future if a presidential election is close! 🙁

Then in January of this year, in the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court decided to overcome nearly a century of laws that prevented corporate intervention in national election campaigns, as destroying a level playing field in politics! They decided that special interest groups should have no limit on campaign spending to manipulate elections in their favor!

Both cases helped to promote the Republican cause, instead of the Court acting as a neutral arbiter! And now the news comes that an estimated $400 million will be spent by corporate groups to affect the midterm Congressional elections, as corporations work to prevent regulation and taxation, and bring about a Republican Congress favorable to them! 🙁

If this manipulation of politics, that the Supreme Court has been engaged in promoting, is not somehow overcome by legislation, the likelihood is that Congress, and also the Presidency, may become a permanent GOP majority that will continue to promote the rich and the powerful, and set out to destroy the reform legislation and regulatory laws put into place under Democratic administrations and Congresses since the 1930s!

This country could revert to the Gilded Age and 1920s mentality, and negate the Progressive Era, New Deal, Great Society, and the Obama reforms of the past year and a half! 🙁

This country could potentially become a nation that destroys Social Security, Medicare, and programs that benefit average Americans! As ordinary Americans come to realize that the rich elite are exploiting them and undermining much that has been done to promote equality and opportunity and fairness, the danger of bloodshed and violence and civil war based on economics increases, and destroys the American dream that has sustained us as America has become a better place for all of us! 🙁

The Problems For Republicans In The Upcoming Midterm Elections

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The Republican party is expected to gain seats in both houses of Congress in the midterm elections of 2010, as it is traditional and normal for the party out of the White House to gain seats at the midpoint of the Presidential term.

But the GOP lost seven special elections for the House of Representatives since the election in 2008, including the seat held by the late John Murtha in Pennsylvania, where an aide to Murtha kept the seat in Democratic hands by a hefty margin! While they finally won the special election in Hawaii, in the district where President Obama was born, they only won 40 percent of the vote, with two Democrats in an open election dividing the other 60 percent, so it is expected that one of these Democrats in November will reclaim the traditional House Democratic seat for the next Congress.

Also, the Tea Party Movement is a true burden, as it can distort the GOP record and its stands on issues, as most Republicans are NOT libertarian or anarchistic! For instance, the nomination of Rand Paul for the Senate seat in Kentucky is causing private grief and discomfort for Mitch McConnell and main stream Republicans across the country, who don’t know quite how to react to Paul!

Other Tea Party favorites across the country also are expected to cause headaches for the Republicans, including Sue Lowden in Nevada, who is thought to be a “loose cannon”, who makes the likelihood of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid keeping his seat more of a likely scenario than thought just a few months ago!

Will the Republicans be able to gain the support of moderates and independents as conditions likely improve economically over the next five months, and with Barack Obama still keeping his personal popularity?

But on the other hand, when one considers that many people, who Obama campaigned for, have lost their gubernatorial races (Virginia, New Jersey) and Senate races (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania), one has to also wonder does Barack Obama have coattails?

Obviously, there is a lot to think about and analyze and observe about the American political system over the next five months! 🙂

Public Perceptions Of Barack Obama And The Upcoming Congressional Elections

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A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Barack Obama, after 15 months in office, and a constant barrage of attack from right wing talk radio, FOX News, and the Republican party, is showing up as very strong in the public mind!

58 percent have a favorable impression of the President, with 37 percent strongly and 21 percent somewhat favorable. The other 42 percent is unfavorable, but 12 percent is somewhat unfavorable, and only 29 percent strongly unfavorable. If only 29 percent are strong in their dislike, it has to be said that is the base which everyone realizes despises the President, but that is nothing to worry about!

54 percent support Obama’s performance as President, and 44 percent do not, with 33 percent strongly against.

By 46-32, the people believe the Democrats are the better party to deal with the problems of the next few years in this nation. And by 59-25, the poll suggests that the American people blame George W. Bush over Obama for the economic crisis we are facing! Additionally, Bush is blamed 60-22 over Obama for the federal budget deficit crisis we have to confront!

And imagine this statistic! 53 percent think Obama’s views on most issues is just about right, while 39 percent think he is too liberal and 5 percent think he is too conservative! All that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly, and all the other right wing propagandists have said has NOT impressed the majority of Americans, who are showing that they know the difference between truth and fiction!

The one third of the country which chooses to continue to believe the propaganda of the right wing, and to promote hate and division and racism, has the freedom to express such disgraceful rhetoric, but the majority of the nation is, fortunately, too decent, to take it seriously!

There are already hints that the Republican party will be very surprised on Election Day this fall that they will not gain as much in Congress and the states as they seem to think they will! The Democratic Party and President Obama will be able to show they are the party of results, on health care, financial reform (which as I write, the GOP is finally ending the filibuster on discussion of legislation, because the public WANTS financial reform), and likely on other essential legislation on energy and the environment, and hopefully, on immigration reform!

Enough of propaganda and lies, and more action, is the Democratic message, and it will look very good by the fall, and with the economy showing signs of improvement as well, it will be a much better Democratic result than had been expected just a couple of months ago!

Michael Steele: A Major Disaster For The GOP! Sign Of The Possible Implosion Coming!

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Republican National Chairman Michael Steele is becoming a major handicap for his party, and it seems unlikely that he will last much longer in his position.

Coming out publicly with doubts that the GOP can win a large victory in 2010, including the possibility of a takeover of Congress, has really angered the party base, and the feeling is that Steele is simply trying to sell his new book and advance himself at the expense of his party.

The Republican party, being still so bitterly divided as to how far right it should go, seems ready to implode. This is good news for Democrats, who despite their many problems, still have a strong possibility of keeping their expected losses in Congress this coming fall at a minimum.

The point is that the Democrats and Barack Obama are taking action and have prevented the Great Recession from becoming the Great Depression. They have also begun to take action to modify the failures of the previous administration in our homeland security which allowed the possibility of the Christmas Day Bombing attempt.

The Democrats have been the party of action, while the Republicans have been the party of no action, partisanship, division, and attacking the concept of government itself by flirting with the Freedom Works/ Tea Party anarchists! The American people will come to realize this as the year wears on to the midterm elections!

The Reality For Barack Obama: Jobs Are The Issue!

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Today, it was announced that the unemployment rate has hit 10.2 percent, the highest since April 1983.

Unemployment is a troublesome issue, with the realization that the real unemployment rate, counting those who have stopped looking for work and are no longer getting unemployment compensation, and even those who only work part time, making it impossible to support their bills, is probably closer to 18 percent.

Stress and tension is rising, leading to more bloodshed and violence around the nation, and it is becoming very obvious that IF we do not see unemployment starting to decline and real work opportunities start to grow over the next nine months, it will be a devastating midterm election for the Democrats in 2010, and a sign of impending disaster for Barack Obama in 2012.

The American people only have so much patience, and Obama could be in danger of being seen as another Herbert Hoover or Jimmy Carter–smart person but totally ineffective when faced with a crisis.

So Obama has to, somehow, come up with a magic potion that creates substantial economic revival by the summer of 2010, or face the repudiation of his party by the American people in November 2010!

More Proof Of GOP Decline

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A new CNN poll shows the Republican party is at its lowest point in public opinion since 1984.

54 percent see the GOP unfavorably, with only 36 percent seeing the party in a positive light.

In comparison, 53 percent see the Democratic party favorably, with 41 percent negative on them.

This should bode well for the Democrats in the 2010 midterm congressional elections, but one must realize that in 22 of 24 midterm elections in modern times, the party in power in the White House has lost seats, and it is hard to imagine the Democrats gaining seats, at least in the House of Representatives.

Therefore, the goal would be to keep the losses down to a minimum, and possibly add seats in the Senate since several Republicans are not running for reelection.

What it comes down to is IF the economy is seen as improving and IF a health care bill passes, then the Democrats will be in good shape to retain most of their majority a year from now.

The Crisis For Obama And The Democrats And The 2010 Midterm Elections

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Almost one year after the election of Barack Obama, and one year to the midterm congressional elections of 2010, the President and his party face a major challenge that is rapidly becoming a crisis: losing the mandate they gained.

Left wing Democrats are disillusioned over the health care controversy, particularly over the growing odds that the public option might not survive. Also, the debate over sending more troops to Afghanistan is turning off many of these Democrats, who want us to withdraw from that nation.

Independents are becoming more antagonistic over the growing deficit, the constantly growing unemployment and foreclosure crisis, the health care controversy and how it will affect those who have good health care, and the concern that too much is being attempted too soon by the administration.

At the same time, one third of the nation is totally alienated from Obama and his party, seeing him as radical and extreme and dangerous to the country. Many of these people are so rebellious, however, that even the Republicans cannot count on their support, as evidenced by the Republican nominee in the northwest New York congressional district special election having to contend with a much more conservative opponent, therefore for now favoring the Democratic nominee in a district solidly Republican.

So unless the Republicans can somehow attract these rebellious voters back to their party and draw a lot of independent support, the Democrats might yet keep a lot of their congressional majority. This is the major issue for 2010, and at this juncture, one cannot forecast the new Congress for 2011-2012.