White House Panicking Over Elections

[ELVIS]

(CBS) With many polls indicating the Republicans may win back control of the House of Representatives (and possibly the Senate as well) in the upcoming mid-term elections, Jim VandeHei, the executive editor of Politico, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that the Obama administration is in a horrible position.

"Does the White House understand this?" asked guest host Harry Smith. "Do you feel any sense of panic or concern" on the part of the administration?

"They get it. There's panic. There's concern," VandeHei said. "The reality for this administration stinks, politically and practically, when it comes to the economy. You're not going to be able to change that 9.6-percent unemployment figure. You can't get anything from Congress in the next couple of months."

CBS Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes said the Democrats are distancing themselves from President Obama.

"Not only are they running away from President Obama, they're running away from being Democrats in some cases. In some races you actually see the Democratic candidates not really mentioning that they're a Democrat in their campaign ads," Cordes said.

Smith asked his guests to try to identify the source of the discontent: "From your experience on the Hill, have you heard any Democrats in private conversations say, 'You know what? We went down the wrong road. We went after health care. We went after so many other things on the Obama agenda as opposed to, in the end of the day, it's all about creating jobs?'"

"Not only have we heard that, but we've been hearing it for months," said Cordes. "We heard it during the health care debate that dragged on for a year when the economy was so bad; they focused on health care and they focused on financial regulation.

"Americans don't feel the impact of those pieces of legislation yet," she said. "There's a lot of frustration on Capitol Hill among Democrats who feel like the President led them down this path. They didn't all necessarily want to deal with health care. This was on the president's agenda, and then they felt like he kind of hung them out to dry."

"Not a single Democrat has run an ad in support of the health care bill since April," VandeHei noted.

Cordes pointed out that Democrats are very unhappy about Mr. Obama's speech last week, only the second Oval Office prime time address in his presidency.

"What does he talk about? Not the economy, but Iraq," Cordes said. "And they say, 'No, we need to own the economy. If you’re going to use the power of your office to give a speech like that, talk about the economy."

VandeHei said the Republicans feel more powerful today than they've felt at any point in the last five or six years.

"On top of that, you have this enthusiasm gap that is killing Democrats. If you look at the polling data from Gallup and from others, it shows that Republicans are fired up about this election. The liberal Democrats are not. They're not enthusiastic about it. When you have races that are decided by a couple hundred votes, in a House that can be very, very close, that matters," VandeHei said.

He also suggested that Democrats are much more pessimistic than they were merely three or four weeks ago. He cited a recent Gallup poll that showed Republicans with a 10-point generic edge. "They've been polling for 60 years. We've not seen a number like that."

Cordes pointed out that predictions show the Republicans can win 45 to 50 seats in the House, and they only need 39 seats to take control.

But VandeHei offered a glimmer of hope for President Obama and the Democrats.

"It's never too late," he said. "Think about how fickle we are in everything in life now, whether it's the cell phone that we choose or what we think about politics or what we do in our daily life. People are fickle.

"I still think you can start to pull people back," VandeHei said. "At the end of the day, it has to be that Obama has to find that magic. How can he get liberals to be as excited about him and about Democratic change as they were two years ago?

Given suggestions that right-wing activists are more fired-up to support their candidates, VandeHei added, "I don't understand how liberals can sit at home and feel like Obama has not done enough for them. This has been a breathtakingly activist government for the last two years.

"Some day they're going to sit back and go, 'Wow, look at all they did!'"

[ELVIS]

[kwame k]

The Democrats have totally dropped the ball! Pelosi and Reid are useless and have the spine of a jellyfish.

The Democrats have bent to even the slightest pressure of the Repukes and even over the mildest objections from the Repukes they back off and concede to them.......leaving us with shit legislation.

As far as I'm concerned.........you were hired to do a job and have failed miserably!
Fuck the Left and fuck the Right........the time for petty politics is over! This country is bleeding and unless you have the balls to be part of the solution, you are part of the problem. NEXT!


I think you're going to continue to see voters changing from Demos to Repukes and back again until the massive problems in this country are fixed. The vast majority of people are not Left or Right but in the center and looking for people who have the answers and not loyal to any Brand!

[ELVIS]

It's time for real Americans to abandon the left-right game...

[chefcraig]

Here we sit almost two years into the Obama administration's reign, and the Democrats have finally figured out that citizens do not actively care all that much about restructured health care when they are by and large unemployed. Throwing a bunch of ill conceived, pork-filled and ultimately useless concepts into a 55 gallon drum, calling it a stimulus package and then patting themselves on the back for the "accomplishment" is equally absurd as the Bush regime declaring "Mission Accomplished" on the deck of an aircraft carrier in 2003. To compound this utterly inept way of thinking, the Democratic lead congress applies this same nebulous logic to repairing the economy, with equally insipid results. So is it any surprise when these irresponsible simpletons attempt to remove the "Democrat" designation from their campaign posters and ads, in order to distance themselves from a President they were all so happy to embrace 18 months ago? Apparently, the "CHANGE" platform really meant "poorly thought out ideas wrapped in predictable expediency".

Look, I've been a registered democrat since the late 1970s. This does not mean that I have voted a straight ticket over that time, as common sense will tell you that blindly following the ideals of one party will get you into trouble. The problem is that most people tend to swing to the left or right as a knee-jerk reaction to ineptitude. The whole "VOTE THE BASTARDS OUT!" concept really means "Well crap, that didn't work, let's try this", an attitude that only breeds failure and ultimately, outright contempt, not only for those voting, but amongst those that choose to run for office. If you are fair weathered in your voting principles, you are going to get fair weathered politicians. George Bernard Shaw supposedly once said "Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." Whomever the hell said it, I'd like to buy the bastard a drink, because the quote more than aptly applies in this situation.

[vanhalen1r2]

It's time for real Americans to abandon the left-right game...

QFT

[ELVIS]

Obama is finding out that verbalizing ideas does not a President make...

You can't just speak things and expect God knows who to make them materialize...

So, now we're hearing that infrastructure is gonna put americans to work...

Didn't we already hear this "shovel ready projects" BS two years ago ??

[kwame k]

Yeah, I've never blindly voted a straight party ticket, either............I try to vote for the best candidate based on the information at hand.

How anyone thought that Obama was going to fix everything the day he was elected, either has zero concept of how this country works or was/is so desperate for any ray of hope that they'll throw common sense to the wind in hopes of a 4th quarter Hail Mary pass! Our system just doesn't work that way and correcting decades of abuse can't be done overnight. The real problem, IMHO, is that no politician is going to "sack up" and tell the American people that we need to sacrifice, tighten our belts, and heaven forbid.......pay for the trillions of dollars we squandered in two failed occupations and the rampant corporate greed we allowed to go on for decades.

I hear all this nonsense about taking this country back and going back to the Old School ways.........That's all fine and dandy but that requires effort and sacrifice, two things the American people have overwhelmingly shown they have no real interest in.

Unless you take away their couches and remote controls, I doubt you'll ever get more than the half-hearted, "We need a revolution in this country, what time does American Idol start?".

[ELVIS]

Unless you take away their couches and remote controls, I doubt you'll ever get more than the half-hearted, "We need a revolution in this country, what time does American Idol start?".

Speak for yourself...

[Terry]

Obama is finding out that verbalizing ideas does not a President make...

You can't just speak things and expect God knows who to make them materialize...

So, now we're hearing that infrastructure is gonna put americans to work...

Didn't we already hear this "shovel ready projects" BS two years ago ??

We did hear about "shovel ready projects" from Obama during the 2008 campaign...

As someone who voted for him, I must say he's turning out to have been a better candidate for office than a holder of said office.

[GAR]

The corrected unemployment rate, weighted realistically with part-time/timed-out unemployment benefits/temporary employment is 16.7 % percent.

Of course, let's make it look better and not talk about that.

However, deduct federal and military employees as Reagan added back in 1987, and the figure floats another 1.5 % percent = true total is 18.2 % percent unemployed in this country.

OBAMA is toast!

[GAR]

We did hear about "shovel ready projects" from Obama during the 2008 campaign...

Did anyone here think as I did when they talked about this, that you thought it would be like a Federal work program not unlike Roosevelt's WPA program back in the 1930's?

(national debt amt. is $1.2 billion daily..) http://www.federalbudget.com/

[FORD]

The American people elected this guy because he sounded like the new FDR.

Instead we got a repackaged Bill Clinton, taking all the bad advice from the same people the original Clinton did.

Ironically the one Clinton guy he should be listening to (Robert Reich) is the one he's not.

Real Health Care Reform would have guaranteed a Democratic landslide. As would actual financial reform which restored the FDR reforms that protected this country for half a century. Instead we got mandatory corporate insurance and the Chris Dodd Federal Reserve Enabling Act.

What we are seeing here is the DLC dropping all pretense and openly destroying the Democratic party. And if you take a good look at Democratic Underground these days, it's more than obvious. And they'll ban you instantly over there if you talk about it.

There's only one way to stop this bullshit, and we all know what it is.......
DEAN 2012. YEEEEAAARRRGGGHHH!

[chefcraig]

The American people elected this guy because he sounded like the new FDR.

Instead we got a repackaged Bill Clinton, taking all the bad advice from the same people the original Clinton did.

It all seems so boneheaded at this point, does it not? I remember all of those people blathering about change on the mall at Washington eighteen months ago, and shaking my head about it all. These people were another variation of the prideful chanters running about when Clinton took office, and we all know how spectacularly that worked out in the end. After all these years, the only people to believe in any sort of "new hope" springing forth in United States government would unquestionably be either hopelessly naive, unfathomably dense, astoundingly misinformed or a combination of all three.

[GAR]

And if you take a good look at Democratic Underground these days, it's more than obvious. And they'll ban you instantly over there if you talk about it.

One would hope your party could look to groom conservative junior leadership for the 2012 elections, to have something attractive for the OTHER side to vote for.

This "I am an island" party of Yes to Everything didn't work out as it had campaigned for: which was working with the Repubs, etc. and pushing partisanship aside.

Instead, they keep pushing common sense aside. Even today you can't enjoy your FUCKING holiday without Obama getting in your fucking face - he wants to spend another 50 billion?

Fuck that.

[FORD]

GAyR the union basher wants to celebrate Labor Day?

Oh the irony......

[GAR]

OH scusey-moi.. I thought Union Day was held on May 1st.

[Sam42]

Yeah, I've never blindly voted a straight party ticket, either............I try to vote for the best candidate based on the information at hand.

How anyone thought that Obama was going to fix everything the day he was elected, either has zero concept of how this country works or was/is so desperate for any ray of hope that they'll throw common sense to the wind in hopes of a 4th quarter Hail Mary pass! Our system just doesn't work that way and correcting decades of abuse can't be done overnight. The real problem, IMHO, is that no politician is going to "sack up" and tell the American people that we need to sacrifice, tighten our belts, and heaven forbid.......pay for the trillions of dollars we squandered in two failed occupations and the rampant corporate greed we allowed to go on for decades.

I hear all this nonsense about taking this country back and going back to the Old School ways.........That's all fine and dandy but that requires effort and sacrifice, two things the American people have overwhelmingly shown they have no real interest in.

Unless you take away their couches and remote controls, I doubt you'll ever get more than the half-hearted, "We need a revolution in this country, what time does American Idol start?".

The real problem is that the two parties are brothers from the same mother. It doesn't really matter who or what party is elected, they have been bought out by the World Bankers to do their tasks for their control of the world.

The private federal Reserve, has finally been able to in trench themselves into becoming the all powerful entity that with the behind the scene world bankers in tow, are more powerful than any party, elected president, congress and even the American people. They control who and what party gets elected and with their control, can govern and make not only world policies but policies in the US.

Until we can rid ourselves from corrupt politicians on both side of the isle, and not allow the federal reserve and the world bankers to continue to play the calm vs chaos game with our economy and our freedoms, we will be part of their sick play that keeps us American divided and easy target for them to make their profits and our demise.

[GAR]

The real problem is that the two parties are brothers from the same mother.

Let's agree then to dismiss the Electoral College. We've had phone lines for 100 years now, mail-in ballots for 50 and internet for 20, so we don't need a controlled voting proxy system that's definately rigged.

[FORD]

Let's agree then to dismiss the Electoral College. We've had phone lines for 100 years now, mail-in ballots for 50 and internet for 20, so we don't need a controlled voting proxy system that's definately rigged.

The electoral college is indeed a useless relic of the past, but the electro-fraud machines are a much bigger threat. Until every last one of them is smashed to bits, we cannot say, for a fact, what the results of ANY election are, in a precinct where votes are "counted" by these machines.

Corporate financing of elections is the next biggest problem and the Opie Roberts court's Shittyzens United decision was 100% the WRONG direction. It took restrictions AWAY from the corporations and enabled them to spend whatever the fuck they want to control the message. How are candidates NOT backed by corporations (i.e the ones who would actually put the interests of the People first) supposed to compete with that?

Obvious answer: They're NOT. Which is why Opie Roberts - most horribly unqualified Supreme Court Justice ever - has sided with corporations in every case since Chimpy appointed him to his first judge gig in 2003.

Then there's the whore media. You had a whole year of primary debates leading up to the 2008 Presidential primaries. But how many of the "Democratic" primaries excluded Dennis Kucinich entirely? And how many of the Republican events locked out Ron Paul?

Debates should go back to being sponsored by the League of Women Voters, or a similar non-partisan, non-corporate funded body. And the moderators picked to ask the questions should be chosen the same way. And the debates should be just that - debates. Discussion of the issues. Not a pre-scripted set of questions.

So yeah, dump the electoral college. But let's make the popular vote legitimate first.

[GAR]

Wouldn't it be tamper-proof to log in to your voter registration account and cast a ballot that way?

Any errors or tampering, it would show up and you'd know about it. Plus, any recounts could be instantly tabulated.

[GAR]

But how many of the "Democratic" primaries excluded Dennis Kucinich entirely? And how many of the Republican events locked out Ron Paul?

Like Sarah Palin, all three of these bozos are semi-popular, but unfit for leadership.

Kucinich voted for the stimuli = GONE
Ron Paul = N****h please..
Palin = quitter

[vanhalen1r2]

The electoral college is indeed a useless relic of the past, but the electro-fraud machines are a much bigger threat. Until every last one of them is smashed to bits, we cannot say, for a fact, what the results of ANY election are, in a precinct where votes are "counted" by these machines.








So yeah, dump the electoral college. But let's make the popular vote legitimate first.

Seeing that the USA is a constitutional republic how would you protect states rights ??

[FORD]

Seeing that the USA is a constitutional republic how would you protect states rights ??

There's no such thing as a state's "right" to fraudulent elections. Though some states (Florida, for example) probably wish there were.

[Seshmeister]

I was stunned when I looked into how those machines worked a few years back. MS Access databases! In systems sold for 10s of millions of dollars!!??? Things may have changed but at that time there was effectively no security whatsoever in IT terms.

It's a little counter intuitive in the 21st century but the safest most transparent option is people putting crosses on bits of paper.

[Nickdfresh]

It's time for real Americans to abandon the left-right game...

You mean everyone should just be right wing and all would be well?

[Nickdfresh]

Here we sit almost two years into the Obama administration's reign, and the Democrats have finally figured out that citizens do not actively care all that much about restructured health care when they are by and large unemployed. Throwing a bunch of ill conceived, pork-filled and ultimately useless concepts into a 55 gallon drum, calling it a stimulus package and then patting themselves on the back for the "accomplishment" is equally absurd as the Bush regime declaring "Mission Accomplished" on the deck of an aircraft carrier in 2003. To compound this utterly inept way of thinking, the Democratic lead congress applies this same nebulous logic to repairing the economy, with equally insipid results.....

Sorry bud, but that's a very faulty analogy. There was no dire need to go to War against Iraq, we didn't have too. The economy was the economy and one that was largely inherited. I don't know how anyone could draw definite conclusions as I think without the stimulus, things would have been much, much worse...

[Nickdfresh]

The corrected unemployment rate, weighted realistically with part-time/timed-out unemployment benefits/temporary employment is 16.7 % percent.

...

OBAMA is toast!

Except you're a complete idiot that completely ignores these statistics when you have a white Republican president...I mentioned long ago that U.S. unemployment statistics are largely a lie when compared to European ones because we stop counting someone as "unemployed" once their UI runs out. I think BigSadBrian blasted me for saying such apocryphal truths during the Bush regime...

[Nickdfresh]

OH scusey-moi.. I thought Union Day was held on May 1st.

When does the Mexican who stole your shitty job celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

[vanhalen1r2]

There's no such thing as a state's "right" to fraudulent elections. Though some states (Florida, for example) probably wish there were.

FORD, you want to take away states rights in the election process, why ? Lets not rehash Gore Vs GWB.

[chefcraig]

Sorry bud, but that's a very faulty analogy. There was no dire need to go to War against Iraq, we didn't have too. The economy was the economy and one that was largely inherited. I don't know how anyone could draw definite conclusions as I think without the stimulus, things would have been much, much worse...

Nick, the comparison was not between the Iraq conflict and the economy, but about the half-witted celebrations by the Bush and Obama regimes in declaring victory when it was not even close to being in either's grasp. After a careful study of the so-called stimulus package as it pertains to the area in which I live, no discernible benefit can be construed from it's contents other than a bicycle path, a few shrubs along a one mile strip of road around our local courthouse and the hiring of exactly one new police officer. No other new jobs, no badly needed equipment or facilities have come sailing along in our municipality, in fact lay-offs and reduced services have increased at an alarming rate. Yet every politician within spitting distance in my area and state was proclaiming what an outstanding device the stimulus package was for Florida, and how it's benefits would surely jump start recovery. Like the end to the Iraq war, our citizenry is still waiting for the alleged cry of "mission accomplished" regarding the economy to actually take place.

[FORD]

What the fuck are you babbling about "states rights"?

And why is it that every time somebody brings that shit up, it's a code for something else, such as owning human beings (the 1860's version) or protecting ELECTORAL FRAUD (your version)

Again, there is NO SUCH FUCKING THING as the "right" of a state to steal an election.

[vanhalen1r2]

What the fuck are you babbling about "states rights"?

And why is it that every time somebody brings that shit up, it's a code for something else, such as owning human beings (the 1860's version) or protecting ELECTORAL FRAUD (your version)

Again, there is NO SUCH FUCKING THING as the "right" of a state to steal an election.

Are you claiming that Obama stole the 2008 election is that the FORD rant today ?/

I questioned you on the issue of the electoral college and your wish to abolish it.

It has to do with states rights and the constitution, you want to get rid of states rights in determining the way the POTUS is selected, each state is entitled to as many votes as they have Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress, now why do you want a constitutional change.

[BigBadBrian]

Yeah, I've never blindly voted a straight party ticket, either............I try to vote for the best candidate based on the information at hand.

Good for you...seriously.

I don't have a problem with those on the Left...or Right for that matter...who vote that way because they are familiar with the issues and honestly believe a certain way.

I do have a problem, however, with those that vote a certain way just because a candidate has an "R" or "D" behind their name.

[BigBadBrian]

There's no such thing as a state's "right" to fraudulent elections. Though some states (Florida, for example) probably wish there were.

That's why algore wasn't allowed to steal the 2000 election because of Florida. Pick-and-Choose recounts my ass!

[BigBadBrian]

GAyR the union basher wants to celebrate Labor Day?

Oh the irony......

Unions HAD their place years ago...now all they do is extort companies for idiotic sums for pensions, pensions that Obama will want the taxpayer to shoulder.

[BigBadBrian]

Except you're a complete idiot that completely ignores these statistics when you have a white Republican president...I mentioned long ago that U.S. unemployment statistics are largely a lie when compared to European ones because we stop counting someone as "unemployed" once their UI runs out. I think BigSadBrian blasted me for saying such apocryphal truths during the Bush regime...

No matter how you count it, unemployment is up under your boy Barry.

Europe is starting to see the light and starting to shed the shackles of socialism and once again embracing capitalism and the free market economy. Obama is trying to take the US in the opposite direction.

[ELVIS]

Everyone should just be left wing and all would be well.

Retard...

[Seshmeister]

Europe is starting to see the light and starting to shed the shackles of socialism and once again embracing capitalism and the free market economy. Obama is trying to take the US in the opposite direction.

If he is he's not making a very good job of it.

[Nickdfresh]

That's why algore wasn't allowed to steal the 2000 election because of Florida. Pick-and-Choose recounts my ass!

What about that shrewish, mentally ill fuckwit Katherine Harris aborting voters lists in an effort to eek out a majority for her taskmasters?

And how could Gore have 'stolen' an election he received the majority of voting in?