Obama Amused By Tea Partiers; “They Should Be Thanking Me”
April 16, 2010 by admin
Filed under News Stories
April 16, 2010
thehill.com
by Sam Youngman
President Barack Obama struck a hyperpartisan note Thursday, telling Democrats that he was “amused” by the Tax Day Tea Party rallies.
Obama, addressing a Democratic National Committee (DNC) fundraiser in Miami, did little to endear himself to the Tea Party groups protesting around the country, saying “they should be saying thank you” because of the tax cuts he has signed into law.
The president went as far as to say that this week’s special election in Florida, which was won by Democrat Ted Deutch, was portrayed by Republicans as “a referendum on healthcare, a referendum on the stimulus.”
“And you know what, it was,” Obama said to applause.
Obama continued to dare Republicans to run on a platform of repealing healthcare reform, telling the audience “they won’t be very successful.”
Despite the president’s confidence, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine told the crowd that they should assume that Democrats are “running into a headwind” in the November midterms.
Kaine said Democrats, who gathered at one of two fundraisers that raised about $2.5 million for the party, are the underdogs this year.
“You don’t mind being the underdog, you don’t mind running into a headwind, you don’t mind an uphill race,” Kaine said. “You don’t mind being the underdog. Becasue that’s what Democrats do. We are the underdogs.”
Obama also continued to try to make the case that a vote against financial regulatory reform is a vote on behalf of Wall Street and against Main Street.
“Every member of Congress is soon going to have to make a decision, but the choice is going to be very simple between special interests and the American people,” Obama said.
The president was returning to Washington on Thursday night.
7 in 10 Voters Disapprove of the Job Congress is Doing
April 14, 2010 by admin
Filed under News Stories
April 14, 2010
politicsdaily.com
by Bruce Drake
Nearly seven out of 10 likely voters in this year’s election disapprove of the job that Congress has been doing this year, and both parties on Capitol Hill get almost equally high negatives, according to a George Washington University Battleground poll conducted April 5-8.
Sixty-eight percent overall disapprove of the performance of Congress, with 59 percent saying they “strongly” disapprove. Twenty-five percent approve and 11 percent are undecided.
Fifty-seven percent disapprove of the job congressional Democrats are doing and 59 percent disapprove of the performance of congressional Republicans.
Asked whether they would vote for the Republican or Democratic candidate in their district, 41 percent chose the Republican and 40 percent chose the Democrat, with 18 percent undecided. Two polls released yesterday came up with different results. Gallup said the Republicans held a 48 percent to 44 percent advantage on a generic congressional ballot while CNN/Opinion Research had the Democrats ahead, 50 percent to 46 percent.
Obama fared better than lawmakers, with 50 percent approving of his performance and 36 percent disapproving, with 7 percent undecided. But as a mark of how intense some of the opposition to him is, 40 percent put themselves in the camp of “strongly” disapproving of his performance.
When it came to who voters thought would better handle a range of issues, the Republicans tended to come out on top of both congressional Democrats and Obama on controlling wasteful spending, controlling the deficit, holding down taxes and promoting a strong national defense.
Voters put more faith in congressional Democrats on turning the economy around, reforming health care, promoting energy independence, creating jobs, and reforming Wall Street. They also came out on top by 45 percent to 40 percent on which party voters felt shared their values and by 41 percent to 32 percent when it came to “getting things done.” The balance of voters either gave the same marks to both parties, said they didn’t think either party would do better or were undecided.
The results were somewhat the same when the choice was between Obama and congressional Republicans, but Obama did not do as well as Democratic lawmakers on some of the measures. On turning the economy around, Obama and Hill Republicans were statistically tied, with Obama leading 42 percent to 41 percent, while congressional Democrats had a five-point advantage. The same was true on the “sharing your values” question, where Obama edged Republicans by only 44 percent to 32 percent, compared to the five-point advantage enjoyed by congressional Democrats.
