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Voters Souring on Palin for President
Tweet Share on Facebook July 21, 2009 Comment (41)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
The backlash against retiring Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has started. Palin was once the fave of Republicans for the 2012 GOP nomination, but a new Whispers poll finds that a large majority just want her to go home. [See photos of Sarah Palin.]
In our latest Whispers poll conducted by Synovate eNation after Palin announced her shocking plans to quit her job, 66 percent said that Palin should return home to care for her family when we asked what her next move should be. Just 13 percent said that Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, should run for the presidency in three years. Some 15 percent backed her plans for a national speaking tour, and a tiny 6 percent said that she should start a radio or TV talk show.
Poll from U.S. News Weekly :
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Pelosi's 'Three Tenors' on Healthcare Reform
Tweet Share on Facebook July 21, 2009 Comment (2)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
They don't have the looks or voices of the originals. But that wasn't really the point when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dubbed the chairmen working on healthcare—Reps. George Miller, Henry Waxman, and Charles Rangel—"the three tenors," a reference to Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and José Carreras. "It struck her one day to call them that because they are working in such harmony,"says spokesman Brendan Daly. And "being Italian-American, she is a fan of Pavarotti, of course."
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Malia and Sasha Obama at Madame Tussauds
Tweet Share on Facebook July 20, 2009 Comment (2)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
School's out for summer and the Obama girls are taking on the town. We hear that the first daughters were spotted at Madame Tussauds Washington, D.C. this afternoon. Museum officials say that Malia and Sasha Obama giggled while they took a picture with the Barack and Michelle Obama wax figures. They also snapped shots with Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, and J. Lo. In addition, the first daughters waited patiently in line to see the museum's faux version of the Oval Office. Being courteous, they even declined an offer to jump to the front of the line, a source tells Whispers.
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Thune, Lautenberg Clash on Concealed-Carry Gun Proposal
Tweet Share on Facebook July 20, 2009 Comment (71)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
A pitched fight over handguns takes place in the Senate this week as gun control advocates move to block an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would allow armed citizens with state-approved concealed-carry permits to cross into another state that also allows the carrying of concealed weapons. The reciprocity amendment is being offered by South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who says it would require those crossing into a neighboring state to follow the rules governing concealed weapons in those localities. "My legislation enables citizens to protect themselves while respecting individual state firearms laws," said Thune. He should know: Thune has his South Dakota carry permit. His amendment is backed by the NRA, Gun Owners of America, and six other gun groups.
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Carrie Prejean Plans Regnery Book on Miss USA Debacle
Tweet Share on Facebook July 20, 2009 Comment (8)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
We told you it was in the works, and now former Miss California Carrie Prejean has made it official: She is penning a book that will take a swipe at critics of her support for traditional marriage. Regnery Publishing today said that it won the book deal with the beauty queen. It said her book will be titled Still Standing and should be available in time for Christmas purchases.
Here's what Regnery sent us just now:
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Tax Group: Obama's $4 Trillion Tax Increase
Tweet Share on Facebook July 20, 2009 Comment (10)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Americans for Tax Reform doesn't like taxes or President Obama much. But even Obama fans might choke on the additional 10-year tax bill that the group tallied under the president's plans: $4 trillion. Americans for Tax Reform figures $2.3 trillion more if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire; $1 trillion from the cap-and-trade bill; and $722 billion for healthcare reform. It's roughly $4,000 per household, a ton more than Obama allies believe Americans will face but not as bad as some GOP warnings.
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Harry Potter and Arne Duncan Fight the Summer Reading Slide
Tweet Share on Facebook July 20, 2009 Comment (1)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
Sorry, Lord Voldemort, but the evil sorcerer of the Harry Potter novels and the blockbuster movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has nothing on the real threat to legions of school kids: the summer reading slide. But that's where Education Secretary Arne Duncan comes in. A dad who's currently working through the Harry Potter series with his own little ones, Duncan is hosting weekly book readings at the department this summer with Washington-area kids to help build their passion for books during a period when movies and video games beckon. "If we can get these kids off to a great start and instill a love of learning, a love of reading, they're going to do great," cheers Duncan. "If we don't do this, well, frankly, nothing else that we do matters."
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Obama is Feeling Better, Thanks to Sotomayor and Healthcare Advances
Tweet Share on Facebook July 17, 2009 CommentPollster John Zogby regularly updates our Obamameter. Each week, Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis and interaction with major players to come up with a rating of between 1 and 100. The Obamameter, however, is not a polling-based job approval number. Instead, the Washington Whispers Obamameter is his judgment on the performance of the president once multiple factors are considered.
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Lincoln Assassination Artifacts Kept as Evidence
Tweet Share on Facebook July 16, 2009 Comment (2)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
The renovated Ford's Theatre Museum opened to the public this week, and among a slew of "beyond priceless" artifacts, as Ford's Theatre Society Director Paul Tetreault calls them, are John Wilkes Booth's boot, his compass, his appointment book, and some photos of his "girlfriends." What's notable is that these items, which Booth was wearing or had with him after assassinating President Lincoln on April 14, 1865, are in good condition. Even more amazing is that the government, and not historical scavengers, still has them. The reason, says Tetreault: "This was a crime scene, and all of this stuff was confiscated as evidence."
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Daschle a Resource for the White House, Congress on Healthcare
Tweet Share on Facebook July 15, 2009 CommentBy Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
He was ousted from his Senate seat and forced to turn down a cabinet job, but Tom Daschle is doing what he can to cheer on healthcare from the sidelines. What does he see as his official role? "Well, I guess I would call myself a resource," the former Senate majority leader tells Whispers. "I'd like to be a resource to my former colleagues, to the extent that I can to the administration, to the stakeholders, and to people interested in just kind of knowing how this is all going to play out—I am most comfortable with the word 'resource.' " One thing that he produced, with fellow Bipartisan Policy Center founders Howard Baker and Bob Dole, is a plan for healthcare reform that's been getting some attention in Washington. It's financed differently than the proposal the House announced Tuesday, and their public option is state-driven instead of federally driven. "Other than that, the framework is very similar," notes Daschle. "I'm very pleased with what the health committee in the House came up with," he adds.
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