links for 2009-01-18
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We have, of course, started to get a little ahead of ourselves. But the future of America is an urban one — among the twenty largest metropolitan areas in 2000, nineteen had added population by 2007, a trend likely to sustain itself as rising gas prices place more pressure on exurban commuters. Republicans trail Democrats among essentially every fast-growing demographic except the elderly — the youth vote, the Latino vote; they never had the black vote. It is long past time that they hone their pitch to urban voters, and find their shining city upon a hill.
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And, why the GOP has needed a non-white voter outreach program for almost a decade. Will an African American RNC Chairman affect change? Ya better hope so. -
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today sent a letter to Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton urging that the Clinton Foundation pledge to adopt increased disclosure requirements relating to foreign donors while serving as Secretary of State. Echoing similar concerns by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Cornyn is hopeful Mrs. Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and the President-elect’s team will work with him to find common ground to prevent any real or perceived conflict of interest.
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Here comes the slime of the Clinton fundraising machine if disclosure is not tightened up. -
President Bush will leave office as one of the most unpopular departing presidents in history, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll showing Mr. Bush's final approval rating at 22 percent.
Seventy-three percent say they disapprove of the way Mr. Bush has handled his job as president over the last eight years.
Mr. Bush's final approval rating is the lowest final rating for an outgoing president since Gallup began asking about presidential approval more than 70 years ago.
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And, Bush takes the GOP brand down with him. -
Barack Obama is the apostle of hope. But he also arouses the flipside of hope–fear. And while the fear he stirs may turn out to be unfounded, it's not irrational. People don't know who Obama really is or where his ideological center of gravity rests, to the extent it rests anywhere. He was a liberal in the Senate and the campaign, a centrist in the transition, and who knows what he'll be as president. He's elusive.
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Obama is elusive. Give him 6 months and we will see.
3 Comments
Ling
I’m not sure, but wasn’t Bush at 91% after 9/11? It’s all about the money, isn’t it? The Iraq war didn’t make a difference to his support – He still won in 2004. But the economy craters and they scapegoat him for it. Not saying that I think Bush was a good President, he could have done things more competently, but people are now saying that his decisions were wrong. Give them back the jobs and money, and they’ll re-elect Bush to a third term, if it was allowed.
Scott
@Ling: I respectfully disagree. The reason I voted for Bush during the last term was out of this scary embedded feeling of obligation to the church. The church told us how to vote and although my gut told me to vote one way, I voted with guilt and, well, deeply regretted it. This time, I researched not only Bush’s record, Obama’s record but Clinton’s, Bush Sr’s, Reagan’s and even Nixon’s. With a clear head and a freed conscience, I proudly voted for Obama. If for nothing else than to have someone in the office who has the balls to conduct diplomacy while, at the same time, flawlessly vocalize thoughts in an articulate way. That alone is powerful. Sure, we fear what we don’t know but as long as we’re using cliches — there’s no where to go from here but up.
Eva Mendes
Only time will tell.