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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50421)	10/6/2008 4:10:41 PM
From: TideGlider	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224718

A casual acquaintance. who has a huge party in his home to launch a political career? Hardly Kenneth.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50421)	10/6/2008 4:32:40 PM
From: DizzyG	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224718

As usual, Kenneth you are wrong... Please see: Message 25033603 Message 25033359 Message 25032856 Your disingenuous DNC talking points are no longer going to fly. Do try to keep up. Diz-

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50421)	10/6/2008 6:19:58 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 224718

October 6, 2008 The Caucus Is Era of Dominance Over for Conservatives? By JOHN HARWOOD Shadowed by economic peril, the two major political parties enter the election homestretch a study in contrasts of philosophy, strategy and confidence. Democrats view Wall Street’s cry for a government rescue in light of what Senator Barack Obama calls “the final verdict” on the free-market ideology that has reigned, for the most part, in American politics for the last generation. Most Republicans condemn the bailout as a betrayal of that ideology. Obama Democrats press for Washington to regulate financial institutions, augment the health insurance system and redistribute income through adjustments to the tax code. John McCain Republicans seek to direct voters’ unhappiness toward Washington’s corruption, rather than its underlying priorities, and raise doubts about Mr. Obama personally. Flush with cash, Mr. Obama’s party embraces opportunities to carry once-forbidding “red” states in the presidential race and build larger House and Senate majorities to enact their agenda. Mr. McCain’s party aims at a narrow presidential victory on a shrunken battlefield as some Congressional Republicans have begun viewing his potential defeat as a step toward political renewal. Perhaps a Major Shift The first stirrings of conservative ascendance came in the 1950s, after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Coalition won five straight elections. The cultural divisions of the 1960s lent new force to Republican candidates. But it was stagnating incomes in the 1970s that allowed Ronald Reagan to knit free-market economic policies with cultural and foreign policy conservatism into a Republican revolution. In 1994, Newt Gingrich matched his achievement in Congressional elections. Democratic politicians like Bill Clinton adapted, ending the federal welfare entitlement and declaring the era of big government over. With the collapse of the markets, the party traditionally identified with big government — the Democrats — has reason to wonder if public sentiment has decisively shifted in its direction. “Are we looking at another inflection point today?” Michael Barone, a political analyst and historian, wrote in National Review last week. “Maybe so.” If so, House Republicans refused to acquiesce last week in initially opposing, by a two-to-one ratio, the bailout that a Republican president and Treasury secretary called essential. Fear of political fallout played a role; 18 of 21 Republicans labeled vulnerable by the political handicapper Charlie Cook voted no, as did 12 of 17 vulnerable Democrats. But so did Republicans’ philosophic commitment, to an extent that worried some party leaders. “In a crisis Americans want decisive action,” said Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who is chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. And in the first vote rejecting the bailout, he said, the party was unable to demonstrate that to voters. Majority Democrats cast their greater willingness to back President Bush as “the first step” in recasting economic policies away from laissez-faire. They look to gain support from upscale constituencies on Wall Street and elsewhere, who lately have felt estranged from Republicans on social issues. Democrats acted as “problem solvers,” argued Mr. Cole’s counterpart, Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who is the House Democrats’ campaign committee chairman. Republican “ideology got us into this mess,” he said, “and their ideology made it more difficult to get out of this mess.” Red and Bright Blue The results have clearly lifted the Democratic ticket. Mr. Obama’s lead over Mr. McCain in polls consistently exceeds the margin for error. Surveys have shown Mr. Obama leading in “red” battlegrounds like Florida, New Mexico and Ohio, while Mr. McCain has pulled back his effort to take the 17 “blue” electoral votes in Michigan. Mr. McCain’s campaign has responded by stepping up attacks on Mr. Obama’s background, with Mr. McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, asserting that the Democrat’s relationship with Bill Ayers, the onetime Weather Underground figure, constitutes “palling around with terrorists.” Mr. Obama has answered by criticizing Mr. McCain as “erratic” during the financial crisis and “radical” in pressing a market-based health care approach resembling Mr. Bush’s. Strategists in both parties see similar effects on Congressional races. Mr. Cook rates just one Democratic Senate seat at risk, compared with 10 for Republicans. House Democrats once considered the padding of their 235-seat majority by 10 optimistic. Now House Republicans say they would consider losing only 10 a success. Nor do they fear Mr. McCain’s defeat. His “maverick” stance has long left Republican regulars ambivalent. As Republicans in Congress learned under Bill Clinton, and Democrats under Mr. Bush, opposing a president of the other party can help legislative minorities refocus message and agenda. “They are resigned to a probable Obama victory,” observed Jim L. Brulte, a prominent California Republican who once led his party’s caucus in both the state Assembly and Senate. Republicans, he added, “understand that that is a necessity in order to set the stage to retake the majority.”

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (50421)	10/6/2008 6:22:04 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 224718

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Monday afternoon suggests that the country's financial crisis, record low approval ratings for President Bush and a drop in the public's perception of McCain's running mate could be contributing to Obama's gains. Fifty-three percent of likely voters questioned in the poll say they are backing Obama for president, with 45 percent supporting McCain. That 8-point lead is double the 4-point lead Obama held in the last CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, taken in mid-September. Monday's CNN national Poll of Polls -- incorporating our new CNN survey, as well as new tracking numbers from Gallup and Hotline taken October 3-5-- shows Obama leading McCain by 7 points -- at 50 to 43 percent. President Bush may be part of the reason why Obama's making gains. Only 24 percent of those polled approve of Bush's job as president, an all-time low for a CNN survey. See the latest polling "Bush has now tied Richard Nixon's worst rating ever, taken in a poll just before he resigned in 1975, and is only 2 points higher than the worst presidential approval rating in history, Harry Truman's 22 percent mark in February 1952," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. And that's bad news for McCain, because the poll suggests a growing number of Americans believe the Republican presidential nominee would have the same policies as the current Republican president. Fifty-six percent say McCain's policies would be the same as Bush, up from 50 percent a month ago. The financial crisis also appears to be contributing to Obama's increased lead in the poll. Sixty-eight percent are confident in the Democratic presidential nominee's ability to handle the financial crisis, 18 points ahead of McCain, and 42 points ahead of Bush. More Americans appear to have an unfavorable view of Gov. Sarah Palin, and that may also be helping Obama in the fight for the presidency. Forty percent now have an unfavorable view of Palin, up from 27 percent a month ago and from 21 percent in late August, when McCain surprised many people by picking the first-term Alaska governor as his running mate. "A majority of Americans now believe that Sarah Palin would be unqualified to serve as president if it became necessary, and her unfavorable rating has doubled," Holland said. Another hurdle for the Arizona senator is expectations. Six in 10 questioned in the poll predict that Obama will win the November election. The poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, just after President Bush signed the $700 billion federal bailout into law. By a 53 percent to 46 percent margin, Americans oppose the bill. "One in five might have supported a different bill, but one in three believe that the government should have stayed out of the crisis completely and let the markets attempt to recover on their own. "A majority think that the bailout package will not prevent the economy from going into a deep and prolonged recession -- but they turn thumbs-down to another bailout package if this one does not work. Only one in five would support more assistance beyond Friday's $700 billion package," Holland said.