In my last post I detailed some of the roadblocks that have kept the Democratic leadership in Washington from finding a way to pass a major health care reform bill with a public option. They’ve whittled the cost of the bill down a few hundred billion dollars by negotiating concessions from drug companies and hospitals, [...]

Thanks to Justin and company for welcoming me on here as a regular contributor. I will be posting on a number of issues, but one area you can expect that I will regularly be tracking is technology related developments and how they interact with the political world and policy. I also live less than ten [...]

With the President’s approval dropping and party ID numbers slipping…should Dems be worried?
More at True/Slant.

This one’s a puzzler.
The potential 2012 candidate who has the least foreign policy knowledge since George W. Bush is the #1 choice for GOPers when it comes to keep us safe?
More at True/Slant.

He’s not below 50% yet, but between these numbers and Gallup’s, the trend is clear.
Here’s more…
President Barack Obama’s first five months in office have seen his job approval remain stable overall – currently at a politically healthy 57 – 33 percent, but his disapproval has risen 8 – 10 points among several key demographic groups [...]

Seems like a lot of insiders believe so.
National Journal polled lawmakers and found that 62% of Dems think it’s “very likely,” while 33% of them think it’s “somewhat likely.”
On the other side, a majority of Repubs believe it’s likely, with 13% thinking it’s “very likely” and 39% thinking “somewhat likely.”
Some “very likely” quotes [...]

Cause for alarm? If you track polls it might be because it has dipped to its lowest mark since he took office. And that means his overall rating has dipped to 58%.
Here are the breakouts…

My guess as to why this is happening? People are nervous about the economy and the deficits. And that last one [...]

It’s still early yet in Obama presidency, but given that he’s above 50% in many states that didn’t vote go for him this fall…there’s some significance here.
From FiveThirtyEight:
Obama’s approval equals or exceeds 50 percent in all of the states that he won on November 4th, plus Arizona (10 electoral votes), Arkansas (6), Georgia (15), Kentucky [...]

As much as I hate to be fair to a guy like Ahmadinejad, I can’t ignore this story from the Washington Post which shows that he enjoyed a sizable lead before the election.
What’s more, the following pollsters have absolutely no reason to lie. In fact, they have every reason to shut up, but they decided [...]

On 6 out of 10 issues.
But the most important one right now: the economy…
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% now trust the GOP more to handle economic issues, while 39% trust Democrats more.
This is the first time in over two years of polling that the GOP has held the advantage on [...]

Interesting link to new corporate logos…

Please, please, please let this hack get defeated.
From Political Wire:
Creigh Deeds has a slight lead with 27%, followed by Terry McAuliffe at 24%, and Brian Moran at 22%.
However, the momentum is with Deeds. Over the last month he has gone from 14% to 27% while McAuliffe has dropped from 30% to 24% and Moran has [...]

Bad news for Republicans and a sure sign that they need to either change their ways or risk being a regional party.
From Gallup…

Here’s how that breaks out…
More than 6 in 10 Republicans today are white conservatives, while most of the rest are whites with other ideological leanings; only 11% of Republicans are Hispanics, or are [...]

Here’s how the numbers break out…

Votes approve 54/24 %

22% undecided

Democrats support 81/3 %

Independents support 50/26 %

Republicans oppose 46/26 %

Men approve 48/31 %

Women approve 59/18 %

It’s pretty much a done deal at this point. The “racist” meme isn’t sticking and many Republicans are calling for their cage-rattling compatriots to cool it. So now it’s more about [...]

Gallup shows that between 2001 and 2009 the biggest losses are among those who have a college education, but the losses in many important demographic groups like Gen Yers, Midwesteners and moderates are also significant because that’s where the GOP has to be strong or else they’ll lose a generation of voters.

What to say about [...]

I make my living in the marketing world, and the one thing that very successful brands always make sure to do is LISTEN to their customers and remain flexible. Because, over time, tastes change and you have to change with them or you can quickly become irrelevant. And between the car companies and the newspapers [...]

Also, they don’t even hold an advantage among men any more.
The numbers…

I can’t remember when the split was this large, and Gallup’s numbers from the past 9 years bears that out…

And here’s the graph for men…

Remember, McCain lost by 9.5 million votes and Obama became the first Democratic nominee to garner above 50% of the [...]

The daily Gallup tracking poll shows Obama at some of his highest levels ever in the first four months.

I know you can’t see the numbers, but he has only gone over 68% approval once since his inauguration.
My question: what prompted this? Did I miss some major event?
Perhaps it’s the 100 days mark that made people [...]

Yes, it’s the obligatory 100 days post.
Here’s how that shakes out by party ID…

By political ideology…

By income…

And by age…

Check out more charts over at Gallup.

I’m telling you, it’s going to happen one way or another, and now it seems to be tipping away from civil unions and towards full marriage rights.
In fact, a new NYTimes/CBS poll reveals that…

In March, 35% thought same sex couples should have no legal recognition. That numbers has dropped 7% since then.

69% of liberals support [...]