Slow news day but it is well worth mentioning that the sheen has come off the Trump, at least in Iowa. Now we have three polls showing a substantial lead by Ben Carson over Trump: Ben Carson has overtaken Donald Trump in Iowa, surging to a 14-point lead, according to a new poll. A Monmouth University survey released on Monday found Carson … Read More
2016 Election Tidbits
1) Biden His Time. I have written much about Joe Biden entering the Democratic race because I think it is a news story ginned up by the media. Oh, I’m sure he has considered it, but I took him at his word that he was wiped out by his son’s death and that he might not have the emotional energy … Read More
Republicans Don’t Really Want “Religious Freedom”
Someone at Daily Kos pulled certain results of this PPP poll and turned it into this revealing bar graph: What does it mean? While most Republicans want religious freedom, almost half of them mean they want religious freedom for Christians only (and/or no freedom for followers of Islam). Perhaps they don’t understand what “freedom” means, or perhaps they think “religion” means Christianity … Read More
Planned Parenthood, the Abortion Debate, and 2016 Elections
There is very little to recommend being over the age of 50, but one of the nice things is that it gives perspective and wisdom — the kind of experience that can’t be taught, but can only come from having lived several decades. There is one thing I have learned – abortion rights are not going away. That wasn’t always … Read More
Everybody Hates Everybody
From First Read: From the new NBC/WSJ poll we released last night: Almost everyone is in lousy shape. Hillary Clinton’s fav/unfav numbers dropped from 44%-40% (+4) in June to 37%-48% (-11) now — which gives her a worse popularity rating than President Obama has ever had during his presidency. Jeb Bush’s fav/unfav rating, at 26%-40% (-14) is even worse — … Read More
The Trump Problem
Quinnipiac Poll (emphasis mine): Twenty percent of registered Republican voters said they would vote for Trump in the Republican primary, with 13 percent favoring Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and 10 percent choosing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R). However, Trump also dominated the “no way ” list, with 30 percent of Republican voters saying they would never vote for … Read More
Trump Surge Continues Unabated
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds Donald Trump way ahead of the GOP presidential field with 28% support, followed by Jeb Bush at 14%, Scott Walker at 13%, Ben Carson at 7% and Rand Paul at 5%. Key finding: “There is clearly a core group of registered voters who identify as Republicans that has coalesced around Trump’s tough talk and proposals. … Read More
Liberals = Conservatives
Finally. Starting with Rush Limbaugh in the 1980’s (and helped by Reagan), the word “liberal” was viewed as a dirty word, because being a liberal was viewed as being, well, a communist or something. The damage to both the word and ideology was profound, and even liberals had a hard time self-identifying as “liberal” (hence, the word “progressive”). I knew it … Read More
Crosstabulation on Crazy
Democratic firm Public Policy Polling released a survey that found 32 percent of Republican primary voters believed the government was trying to take over Texas under the guise of the U.S. military’s planned “Jade Helm 15” training exercise. Forty percent of GOP primary voters did not believe the federal government was trying to take control of the Lone Star state … Read More
All Hail The Fastest Growing Religion In The United States
Eight years ago, more Americans considered themselves “Evangelical Protestant” than any other religion — a full 26.3%. Next was Catholic (23.9%) and then “Mainline Protestant” (18.1%) in third. Today, Evangelical Protestant is still Numero Religion Uno, although its adherents have dropped to 25.4%. And in second? An upstart. The number two religion in the U.S. is now “NONE”. It jumped … Read More
Most Christians Support SSM
Also Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and a surprising percentage of Muslims, too….
Everybody Running Is Unliked Or Unknown (Or Both)
This graphic from Nate Silver is interesting, but I don’t agree with its title: Yes, most candidates are more unpopular than popular, but I think the story is that Hillary Clinton is more well-known AND more popular than all her possible GOP opponents… with the exception of Dr. Carson who is really unknown and who isn’t going to run anyway. I … Read More
CNN Poll (with ugly graphic): Hillary Still On Top
Looks like the email “flap” had no discernible effect:
Post Shutdown Polls
Post-shutdown polls are coming in and they are brutal: The numbers: * Dems lead in the generic ballot matchup by 49-38. Among independents — a key midterm constituency — those numbers are 46-35. * Only 21 percent of Americans approve of the way the Congressional GOP is handling the federal budget, versus 77 percent who disapprove. Among independents: 20-78. Among moderates: 14-85. … Read More
Government Shutdown Is Over (For Now); “Nobody Won” Says Obama…
… and he's right in a sense. The Democrats didn't have to concede anything and they didn't gain anything; the Republicans didn't have to concede anything and they didn't gain anything. On the other hand, the Democrats weren't trying to gain anything, and the House Republicans were (they wanted to defund Obamacare), sosomebody did lose in all this. And then there's public … Read More