INDEPENDENT VOTERS Chafee On Ballot Would Complicate Rhode Island Race (By Emma Dumain, CQ Politics) Why Indie Voters Don’t Make California Purple (Jerry Roberts, Huffington Post) Others, like Dave Lesher and Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California, have made the case more subtly, arguing that because California’s independents combine strains of social [...]

Once again we’re seeing Democrats trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi, two of the least liked Democrats in the free world, decided to pen an editorial today characterizing the folks at these recent town halls as being somehow Un-American. Here’s their key point… These disruptions are occurring [...]

This kind of partisan political posturing (like astroturfing) is par for the course, pretty much the same old tried and true game of demonizing opposition to rally your team and get your bill passed. Not exactly “hope and change”, more like “same ol’ stuff”, but it doesn’t bother me. It can create problems though – if you don’t finesse it just right.

Hey everybody! It’s time for the comments of the week. It’s been a busy one – some terrific posts and even more great comments. What follows is just a small sampling of Donklephant goodness. Please follow the links attached to the names to read more or to get involved in the conversation. Here goes: What [...]

INDEPENDENT VOTERS Coverage of independent voters and health care reform from a more progressive viewpoint: Wisconsin: Health Care Vital Issue (By Cecily Wu, CQ Politics) Thus, enactment of health care legislation that can draw solid public support could enable Kagen to maintain the backing of independent voters, who Scattergood said comprise upwards of 20 percent [...]

Here’s an interesting gambit from an hard up resort. The Rancho Bernardo Inn, a San Diego luxury resort, is offering rooms for $19 a night. But there’s a catch — you have to sleep in a tent and bring your own toilet paper. The promotion runs for 2 weeks. The idea is to get “heads [...]

About 10 years ago I did work exchange at the beautiful Hostel in the Forest in Georgia. The agreement was room and board in exchange for various tasks required to keep the community functioning. I built a floating raft for the lake, removed the snakes from the chicken coop in the morning, cooked in the [...]

Not only that, she uses her family members as examples and cites Michele Bachmann as a source for her info. It just keeps getting stranger and stranger… Read over at True/Slant.

Not that I wouldn’t do the same if put in the position Obama is in on health care, economy, etc., but it’s telling that he’s being so blatant about it. The gloves are about to come off after the recess. I can almost guarantee it. I’m sure in the coming years you’ll see more cooperation [...]

Doug points this one out, and if true, well, no wonder France took a pass on backing us in Iraq. French journalist Jean-Claude Maurice recounts the tale in his book release in March, Si Vous le Répétez, Je Démentirai (If You Repeat it, I Will Deny). From Secular Humanism: President George W. Bush told French [...]

At TMV Jazz Shaw talks about Mitt Romney’s upcoming book (‘No Apologies’) and a possible run for the presidency in 2012: I never thought Romney stood a chance in 2008, mostly because of a combination of his “Mormon problem” and his rather abrupt conversion to hard core conservatism, which left many Republicans wondering how sincere [...]

The Senate remains the best chance to divide this government in 2012. Predictions three years out are indeed foolish, but barring some as of yet unrevealed scandal close to the President, I expect he will be reelected. The best chance to restore fiscal rationality in 2012 is for Republicans to take the Senate, and that will take two election cycles. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and the first step is for Republicans to pick up a couple of seats in 2010.

For the first time in a decade! Still think David Gregory was the right choice NBC? From Huff Post: It’s an ominous sign for David Gregory, who was called upon to take over NBC’s long dominant Sunday morning show following Tim Russert’s death from a heart attack last year. While it’s only one Sunday in [...]

The company that literally almost brought it all tumbling down about a year ago right around this time is back in the black? Not so much. More from Politics Daily… For the first time since 2007, AIG on Friday claimed a profit. The insurance giant reported second-quarter net income of over $1.8 billion. That’s still [...]

And the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4%. This is pretty significant for a few reasons. First, there’s just the psychological effect of 10% unemployment. The media had been positioning that as the dreaded magic number and now it appears that we’ll never reach it. Second, economists projected 325,000 job losses for July, so coming in [...]

INDEPENDENT VOTERS More from Quinnipiac and Field polls on independent voters’ views Deficit a Growing Concern for Public — and White House (By GERALD F. SEIB, Wall Street Journal) When Mr. Hart, the Democratic pollster, conducted a focus-group discussion with a dozen independent voters in Maryland a few days ago, he drew this conclusion: “These [...]

I don’t think there was any question she’d become a Justice, but I think it is surprising that more Republicans didn’t vote for. Especially John McCain. From NY Times comes some of the reasons why… “Judge Sotomayor is certainly a fine person with an impressive story and a distinguished background,” the Senate minority leader, Mitch [...]

INDEPENDENT VOTERS Wherever independents fall on the supposed political “spectrum”, if they ARE on the political “spectrum”, (i.e. they do exist!) Many MSM publishers seek increasing irrelevance if they don’t see the direction that the American people are headed…. While it’s clear that independents are “all over the map” on social issues, they increasingly come [...]

… equals JObama? The Jaracker? If you haven’t seen these posters yet, they are apparently sprouting-up in and around Los Angeles as a type of street art, a la Shepard Fairey. But here’s where the ‘joke’ falls flat: Obama is nothing like the Joker. [and this is where you discover my nerdliness] Anyone who is [...]

Lots of “clunking” going on this morning at the Donk, but it’s the hot topic and since this criticism comes from a Dem I thought it worthy of pointing out some opposition from my side of the fence. From her Tumblr blog: Of course the cash for clunkers program is popular, we’re giving away money. [...]