links for 2009-10-06

President Obama yesterday rolled out the red carpet — and handed out doctors' white coats as well, just so nobody missed his hard-sell health-care message.

In a heavy-handed attempt at reviving support for health-care reform, the White House orchestrated a massive photo op to buttress its claim that front-line physicians support Obama.
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How stupid is this?

Former New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) leads Rep. Paul Hodes (D) by seven points, according to a new survey, giving the GOP hope of holding on to a seat it once openly worried about losing.

Ayotte is the choice of 40 percent of voters in the University of New Hampshire’s Granite Poll, sponsored by WMUR-TV, while 33 percent pick Hodes.

Hodes leads two other Republicans — attorney and former gubernatorial nominee Ovide Lamontagne and Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney — by nine points.

The decline in President Obama's poll numbers — and those of his party — over the first eight months of his administration has led to a bumper crop of Republican recruits in the House as GOP candidates who sat on the sidelines for the last two election cycles are now leaping at the opportunity to run.

The latest example of this environmental recruiting is in Nevada's 3rd district where former state senator Joe Heck (R) will announce today that he is abandoning his gubernatorial bid to pursue a race against freshman Rep. Dina Titus (D) in 2010.

"The Republicans are starting to become resurgent," said Heck.
Early returns are promising for Republicans. The Cook Political Report counts 72 Democratic-held seats as marginally competitive as compared to just 35 Republican-held districts while Stu Rothenberg pegs the playing field at 31 competitive Democratic seats and 17 competitive Republican seats.
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Good news for the GOP.

The state is looking into backup procedures in case the standard execution techniques fail, as they did on Sept. 15, when technicians at the state prison in Lucasville tried for over two hours to maintain an intravenous connection in order to inject Romell Broom with lethal drugs for the abduction, rape and murder of a teenage girl in 1984. A hearing to consider whether Mr. Broom can be executed in conformity with constitutional requirements is scheduled for Nov. 30.

“More research and evaluation of backup or alternative procedures is necessary before one or more can be selected,” Mr. Strickland said in his order.
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Lethal injection is becoming a deterrent to capital punishment. How about going back to hanging or the gas chamber?

Furthermore, the American Medical Association (AMA) has endorsed the public option after an appeal from the President and despite, according to ABC News, the fact that “some member physicians at the group’s annual meeting [in June] likened the notion to communism.”

Beverly Gossage, Research Fellow for Show-Me Institute and founder of HSA Benefits Consulting wondered which insurance companies rejected the most claims. She found her answer in the AMA’s own 2008 National Health Insurer Report Card. The chart below appears on page 5 of the 16-page report.