Month: February 2010

Scott Brown For President?

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Even before Scott Brown, the newly elected GOP senator from Massachusetts, joins the upper chamber, rumor has it, which he denies, that he might seek the Presidency in 2012!

This may seem crazy, but after all, a newly elected Senator, who had served in the State Senate in Illinois, became President after only four years in the Senate–Barack Obama. Scott Brown will have served almost three years by the time of the 2012 election, has charisma like Obama does, and who can say what might happen?

However, it is certainly highly unlikely, particularly because Brown is a member of a party, the Republicans, who do not welcome moderation. Realize that Scott Brown said this weekend he is a social moderate, and supports abortion rights for women, which should be enough to kill off any chance for him to have a run at the Presidency.

Brown is very charismatic and charming, and comes across now as less conservative than was first thought. But again, he is in the wrong party, and has already stated that he might vote against the party at times, as he sees himself as a independent minded Republican. This disqualifies him from serious consideration for the GOP Presidential nomination!

New Gallup Poll On Party Affiliation Good News For Democrats Despite Slippage

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A new Gallup poll indicates that the Democrats have lost some of their edge in party affiliation across the country, but still show great advantage on a lesser level.

In 2008, the Democrats had a party affiliation edge of 18 points, while now it is down to ten points. 39 states have shown shrinkage in Democratic support, but yet 33 states show a Democratic edge of at least five points, as compared to just 5 states showing a GOP edge. 12 states show a swing state (less than five point edge) status.

23 states were strongly Democratic (more than 10 points) and ten states were Democratic leaning (five to ten point edge). Four states were strongly Republicans (Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Alaska), and one state was leaning Republican (Alabama).

Eight states showed substantial loss of Democratic support, including Ohio (8); Hawaii, Louisiana and Montana (7); and Iowa, Maine, Vermont, and Wisconsin (6). The drop in Democratic support in Ohio and Wisconsin, the largest of these eight states, is most worrisome.

Overall, the Democrats are still in good shape, but while they still have the clear edge for the Presidential election of 2012, there are danger signs with the withering economy that could complicate the campaign of Barack Obama for a second term.

Charlie Crist In Deep Trouble In Florida Senate Race

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Governor Charlie Crist is in deep trouble in his bid to win a Senate seat in Florida this coming November.

In one poll, he is behind former State House Speaker Marco Rubio 47-44 percent in the state Republican primary race. In another more disastrous poll, Crist is behind by 14 points, 44-30!

Conservative Republicans, self identified, preferred Rubio 52-27 percent, while moderates preferred Crist by 43-35 percent.

Speculation is that Crist might decide to run as an Independent, and make the Senate race three ways, with Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek. But that would make it hard for him to run for the Presidency, if he ever chose to do that, if he abandoned his party in his Senate run this year, and defeated Rubio in November.

One such poll indicates that Crist could win 25 percent of Democrats and of Republicans, and 41 percent of Independents.

Crist would still be the better general election nominee against Kendrick Meek, but if he cannot win the GOP nomination and does not run as an Independent, then his career is over.

So will Crist take his chances and remain in the GOP primary, or decide to go Independent, have a good chance at winning the election in a three way race, and give up any hopes of running for President in the future?

I would think that for Crist to believe seriously that he could be President in a party that is going to the far right is to be living in a fantasy world! What is wrong with being an independent minded senator who wishes to do a good job and make a career in that chamber, and forget the “impossible dream” of being President?

My prediction is that Charlie Crist, after the legislative session in Florida ends, and he has signed all the bills into law, will announce that he is running as an Independent, knowing by so doing that the only way he could run for President in the future is as an independent, third party candidate, which would mean he would be a spoiler, nothing more!

Hillary Clinton: Only One Term As Secretary Of State?

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has indicated in an interview that she intends to serve only one term, a statement that certainly has raised eyebrows.

Clinton said that she loves her job and finds it very challenging, but that it is a 24-7 job, and that in three more years, she is going to want to retire, and then do a lot of reading and writing and some teaching. She claims no interest in pursuing the Presidency ever again.

Hillary will be 65 in October 2012, and certainly it is not uncommon for people of that age to wish to retire and take it easy. But somehow, it is hard to fathom Hillary wanting to be out of the center of politics and public affairs, so it is probably a smart thing to assume that she will change her mind or have President Obama convince her to stay on.

Barack Obama And The Space Program: Don’t Cut Out Government Involvement!

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President Obama has included dropping the space program from the government budget, and privatizing it, as part of his plans to cut “unnecessary” spending in his Fiscal 2011 Budget proposal.

It is perfectly understandable that the President wants to cut spending wherever he can, a very difficult task in any case.

But taking the National Aeronautics and Space Administration out of government funding will likely kill off major elements of the astronaut program and the proposal to return to the moon by the end of the decade and eventual space travel to Mars.

It is an issue of science and an issue of defense that intertwine, and it would be a tragedy if the government withdraws from the space business, just as it was a tragedy that Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter held back on space investments, only finally to be reversed by Ronald Reagan’s promotion of the space shuttle program, which has made many wise technological contributions to this country.

A country that loses its vision of the future is a country that will later regret what it has wrought. The space program should NOT be cut back, as we must have a sense of our future always present as we face the challenges of the present!

Unemployment Rate Prediction For 2010, 2011, 2012 Grim :(

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The Obama Administration has released projections of the unemployment rate expected at the end of 2010, 2011 and 2012, and they are indeed extremely grim news! 🙁

9.8 percent is expected at the end of this year, down only two tenths of one percent from what it is now. That is extremely bad news for Democrats in the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.

In 2011, the expectation is that the unemployment rate will drop to 8.9 percent, a drop of only about a point from the end of 2010. That is very slow progress toward lower unemployment.

And in 2012, as the year ends, and the Presidential election is taking place, it is expected that the unemployment rate will only have dropped another point to 7.8 percent, higher than it was when Obama took the oath of office. This will make Obama’s unemployment rate in office higher than any other President since World War II at the end of the first term of office.

This all bodes badly for the future of the Democrats, as it is likely that the American people will blame the party for the slow progress downward on unemployment. It will make the job of reelecting President Obama all the more difficult! 🙁

President Obama And The Deficit Reduction Commission

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President Obama has signed an executive order creating a bipartisan commission to address the issue of deficit reduction.

This is a major initiative at a difficult time, when the country is in the midst of the Great Recession, and the budget is out of balance by an estimate of $1.6 Trillion dollars for the coming fiscal year.

We cannot forget that this deficit mess was caused by the Bush Administration fighting two wars and initiating a Medicare Part D prescription plan while lowering taxes for the upper class and failing to make the country realize that we must all make a commitment to our security and pay more taxes.

The irresponsible policies of George W. Bush have pushed us into this emergency, including the lack of regulation of corporations, banks, and insurance companies, and now we are faced with a major crisis in the midst of hard times.

But the President is smart to assert himself on this issue, as the Senate, after earlier indications that there would be a bipartisan effort, refused to overcome the filibuster with 60 votes, only gaining a few Republican votes and a total of 53 votes in total.

If the Senate is unable to be responsible, then the President is proper in intervening and overruling the Senate, which is becoming more and more an obstruction of major embarrassment!