Democrats and the November Elections
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-08-03/democrats-and-november-elections
The President has a private conversation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi following his meeting in the Cabinet Room with the Democratic Congressional leaders, 2009
Official White House photo by Pete Souza via Flickr
Possible ethics trials add to the challenges Democrats may face on Election Day in November. We explore voter sentiment, the economy and other issues likely to play key roles in the battle for control of Congress.
Guests
Stuart Rothenberg
editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report
Naftali Bendavid
national correspondent, "TheWall Street Journal"; author of "The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen
Democrat of Maryland, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Comments
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Term limits please! Why is anyone there for decades?
Yes, incumbency fosters complacency and other things....Read TAPPED blog's Jamelle Bouie's wonderful post on this yesterday.
But in the big picture, I'd like to hear about Senator John Ensign. Won't his sex-money-staffer-adultery-parents' money-payoff-FBI investigation cause any problems in the election cycle?
Why don't we hear about this Republican politician's multi-faceted scandal? And why don't we hear diverse voices on Diane Rehm's show, such as Adam Serwer or Jamelle Bouie from the American Prospect? They are sharp, well informed political analysts and presumably they're in DC, so why the "usual suspects" on the air?
The biggest problem democrats face, as it has been for the last 15 years is the right wing propaganda machine. A topic that both the mainstream media , including npr, and democratic politicians seem reluctant to even recognize. Even after it caused a depression, two unfunded wars, a failing middle class, coming deflation,etc. The cowardice of the media is the biggest challenge the dems face. Let the false equivalencies begin.
I live in a community which is about 80% died-in-the-wool Republican. Some declared admiration for Howard Dean in '04 and a few crossed over and voted for Obama in '08. They're mostly very prosperous professionals with advanced degrees. These are people who are open in their unease with the effect of the Tea Party on their party, embarrassed by behaviors and rhetoric. "Obstructionism" in Congress hasn't been popular with them either.
Maybe November will see a percentage of Republicans quietly backing away from the voting booth having decided not to add their approval to those aspects of their party that they find so troubling. Those sentiments (plus admiration for the man) led them to vote for Obama in '08 and I'm gathering -- from recent conversations -- that they feel they're not really part of "that Republican party."
A chart that showed past presidents and the percentage of each president's cabinet appointees who had previously worked in the private sector - you know, a real life business, not a government job? Remember what that is? A private business?
* Roosevelt - 38%
* Taft - 40%
* Wilson - 52%
* Harding - 49%
* Coolidge - 48%
* Hoover - 42%
* FDR - 50%
* Truman - 50%
* Eisenhower - 57%
* Kennedy - 30%
* LBJ - 47%
* Nixon - 53%
* Ford - 42%
* Carter - 32%
* Reagan - 56%
* GHWB - 51%
* Clinton - 39%
* GWB - 55%
And the Chicken Dinner Winner is.........................
* Obama - 8%*
This is the guy who wants to tell YOU how to run YOUR life!
ONLY ONE IN TWELVE in the Obama Cabinet HAS EVER HAD A JOB.
*YEP, EIGHT PERCENT!
And these are the guys holding a "job summit"; going to tell us how to run our businesses, make our decisions for us? Do you want to trust them with every aspect of your life?
sorry - double posting, trying to eliminate 2nd one
The caller who said that climate change is the most important issue is correct. Mother Nature doesn't care about ruling parties, but the caller is also correct that if we want any environmental action, Republicans cannot have control of Congress for the next few decades.
The result of our burning fossil fuels over the past 150 years has altered our natural world and Mother Nature has given us some very strong hints that we are ignoring at our own peril. If we don't do something soon to lower our emissions and change our energy addiction, Mother Nature is sure to prove how powerful she is.
Is anyone paying attention to the chaotic weather around the globe, including the highest temps ever recorded in the US this year and horrific flooding events in the US and the Far East? Fires in Russia along with extreme heatwaves?
It's unfortunate that politicians are more interested in getting reelected than saving the planet for future generations.
AMEN and AMAAAAN! why not a rep. from the BLACK POLITICAL CAUCUS? Can u say WITCH hunt boys and girls? N.P.R. is, after the shameful and cowardly piece on Howard Zinn's death and now this, a JOKE as a news alternative!
Funny thing about that list defining the proportion of private industry appointees to cabinet posts which Bo Jones posted - it is wrong.
This was asserted by PolitiFact as "False" when first it arose as a talking point on Beck's show, Beck himself was repeating the bottom line from a list which accompanied a longer article by Michael Cembalest, originally printed on forbes.com.
Here is PolitiFact's take ...
PolitiFact finds Beck's (and Bo Jones') claims on Obama's cabinet paucity of private sector past experience false.
Thank you, Keith. It's really important to take the time to backstop the propaganda. Don't trust, verify!
I find it interesting that the republicans are having their cake and eating it too with the Obama administration. Every bill that has been signed into law has the republicans foot print all over it. Here is the genius with all... The input the republicans contribute to the bill (which is a bigger number than two or three), and all of the amendments that were adopted; the republicans knew these bills were going to pass so they can stand on the sidelines and claim fowl and we are going to say no to everything. Why is it that the American public (that is all up in arms) cannot see what the republican has done and are doing? It is truly a genius play to try and regain power.