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Poll: Sharron Angle Leads Harry Reid to Open Nevada Senate Race
Tweet Share on Facebook June 10, 2010 Comment (27)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
As the candidate farthest from the GOP mainstream, former Nevada Assemblywoman Sharron Angle’s come-from-behind win in Tuesday’s Senate primary looks at first blush like Harry Reid’s fondest wish had been realized.
In reality, the early polling makes it seem that he is still in a fight for his political life.
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Obama's National Debt Dwarfs Bush's and Reagan's
Tweet Share on Facebook June 8, 2010 Comment (16)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
It is a measure of the nation’s economic illiteracy that the most recent debt projections have not received more coverage. Sure, most people can tell Karl Marx from Harpo but it is highly unlikely that they can distinguish between Adam Smith and Will, even if he were to bite them on a visible hand.
As reported Friday by Bloomberg, the total United States debt under President Barack Obama is poised to explode past its statistical post-war norms to a point where it “exceeds the value of the nation’s annual economic output.” Total federal government debt rose past $13 trillion for the first time in June 2010 and is on track to surpass U.S. Gross Domestic Product by the year 2012, according to projections just issued by the International Monetary Fund.
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Religious Overreaction to Comedy Central's Jesus Show
Tweet Share on Facebook June 5, 2010 Comment (63)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Several prominent conservatives are blasting television’s Comedy Central over a proposed new cartoon series making fun of Jesus Christ. The group--collectively Citizens Against Religious Bigotry--includes media watchdog L. Brent Bozell and film critic and radio host Michael Medved, who are concerned the new series--which the network has not green lit--will be “offensive to Christians.”
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Oil Spill Cleanup, Census Can't Hide Obama's Jobs Problem
Tweet Share on Facebook June 4, 2010 Comment (9)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The jobs figures released Friday are not good news for President Barack Obama.
Despite the massive amounts of government spending that the White House said would stimulate the U.S. economy, only about 41,000 of the new jobs created were in the private sector. The vast majority of the new jobs, about 95 percent, were jobs in the government sector, many of which are tied to the ongoing U.S. census.
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Washington Post Wrong on Nixon, Malek, and Jews
Tweet Share on Facebook June 3, 2010 Comment (5)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
When Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell tapped businessman Fred Malek to lead a panel to study the state’s over-spending problem, fiscally minded conservatives cheered. A tough man with a record of considerable success in the private sector, Malek seemed like just the guy to lead the discussion of where to swing the budget ax in Richmond to balance the books without raising taxes or cutting too deeply into politically popular programs.
The Washington Post, which is something of a house organ for the Democratic Party, used Malek’s appointment as an excuse to reach back 40 years and revisit his time as a mid-level aide in the Nixon White House when he made, as he himself has for some time admitted, an error in judgment.
In a story that appeared Thursday the Post allowed national Democrats to charge that “documents recently posted on the National Archives Web site ‘raise new questions about Mr. Malek's involvement in targeting and removing Jews from their jobs.’”
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Obama's Approval Rating Gap
Tweet Share on Facebook June 1, 2010 Comment (17)By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The latest Gallup poll finds that President Barack Obama remains more popular than his policies. A survey of 1,049 adults 18 years of age and older living in the United States found 54 percent view him favorably while 43 percent see Obama in a negative light. His favorability numbers, which relate to the man, not the job, have consistently been five to seven points higher in the Gallup survey than his job approval numbers, which measure what people think of the job he is doing as president.
What does that all mean?
Well, for starters, it means that the American people are naturally predisposed to like this president no matter what he says or what he does. In fact, with the possible exception of Nixon in 1968 and 1972, every presidential election since the end of World War II has been won by the candidate whom the voters sensed would be better company over a cold, frosty pint.
Peter Roff
Peter Roff is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report. Formerly a senior political writer for United Press International, he’s now affiliated with several public policy organizations including Let Freedom Ring, and Frontiers of Freedom. His writing has appeared in National Review, Fox News’ opinion section, The Daily Caller, Politico and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter @PeterRoff.
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