Polls Show There Never Was a Liberal Mandate

(Lorie Byrd-Americanissuesproject).According to the most recent polls, the President’s approval numbers are dropping like a rock. Perhaps of even greater concern to the President are the numbers for the generic congressional ballot showing Republicans ahead of Democrats for the past eight weeks. November 2010 is an eternity away in political time, but the numbers today are something that should be of great concern to Democrats and the President. The numbers are also evidence that many winners in the 2008 election misread their mandate.

The latest Gallup poll shows presidential approval at 51 percent, with 41 percent disapproval. To understand just how much that number has changed since the President took office in January, consider that the numbers in the same poll for the January 21-23 period were 68-12 percent. A gap of 56 percent between approval and disapproval has shrunken to 10 percent.

Americans voted on an agenda of “hope ‘n change”, but I would argue many voted on the basis of personality and image. They chose the young, black fist-bumping rock star over the man often caricatured as a cranky, old white guy. The vote was about change from what was, rather than a vote in favor of any specific agenda. Since Obama provided few policy details during the campaign, he made quite a leap to interpret the election results as a mandate for the liberal agenda he has pursued as president, and now that is being reflected in opinion polls.

According to the latest Rasmussen poll, “43% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 38% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent.” Of even greater significance, independent voters now favor the GOP 45%-18%. The same poll now even shows women preferring the GOP over Democrats.

Another Rasmussen poll shows respondents for the first time in over two years trusting Republicans more on the issue of health care.

Americans are not thrilled with the change they have gotten. The bailouts and stimulus plan were answered with protests which, in a matter of months, became the Tea Party movement. But the debate over health care is what has elicited the most intense public reaction. That is not surprising considering health care is such an incredibly personal issue.

The President and Democrats have gotten into trouble with the public because they believed voters gave them the congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008 because they wanted a more liberal government. If Democrats won elections by campaigning as liberals, explaining the specifics of their policy proposals, that might be true.

What is more often the case is that those who win elections campaign as conservatives or moderates. Unfortunately that does not mean they govern that way. Obama and the Democrats criticized George Bush for spending and running up deficits, but within months of taking office added trillions of dollars of deficit spending.

Just because voters were angry at corporate executives collecting big bonuses at the same time thousands of people were losing their jobs, did not mean they wanted the government deciding how much money those in private enterprise could make.

Just because voters wanted the American car industry to survive and thrive, did not mean they wanted the government to go into the car business -- deciding which executives should be hired and fired and guaranteeing car warranties.

Just because voters wanted change from what have been increasingly high health care costs, did not mean they wanted a plan that would give the government so much control over the industry.

Americans did not vote for a far left agenda, even though they voted for one of the most liberal presidential candidates in the history of the country. Those who interpreted the 2006 and 2008 elections as major shifts to the left, or any kind of mandate to govern from the far left, misjudged the results.

PPP Poll: Romney yet to convince that 'The Rich successful Guy' can represent the Middle class

(PPP).Among Republicans who make less than 25k a year 73% view Palin favorably but only 38% say they like Romney. Expand that to less than 50k a year and the gap closes but is still pretty wide- 75% with a positive opinion of Palin to 46% for Romney.

At the top of the pay scale it's a different story. Among GOP voters who make 75k on up the two are equally popular, with each seen positively by 66%. And when you restrict it those who make over 100k, Romney becomes the more popular one at 74% to Palin's 61%.

The divide is even wider on education level, at least at the low end. Among Republicans who have no schooling beyond high school 78% view Palin favorably while only 29% have a positive opinion of Romney. Expand that group to people who have some college education short of a four year degree and the gap narrows a little bit but remains wide at 72% favorable for Palin and 45% for Romney.

If Romney's going to win the nomination in 2012 he probably has to convince downscale GOP voters that he understands and shares their values and isn't just some rich guy who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Obama's Big Bang could go bust

(POLITICO 44).Barack Obama’s Big Bang is beginning to backfire, as his plans for rapid, once-in-a-generation overhauls of energy, financial regulation and health care are running into stiff resistance, both in Washington and around the country.

The Obama theory was simple, though always freighted with risk: Use a season of economic anxiety to enact sweeping changes the public likely wouldn’t stomach in ordinary times. But the abrupt swing in the public’s mood, from optimism about Obama’s possibility to concern he may be overreaching, has thrown the White House off its strategy and forced the president to curtail his ambitions.

Some Democrats point to a decision in June as the first vivid sign of trouble for Obama. These Democrats say the White House, in retrospect, made a grievous mistake by muscling conservative Democrats in swing districts to vote for a cap-and-trade energy bill that was very unpopular among their constituents.

The other result: The prospects for winning final passage of a cap-and-trade bill this year are greatly diminished. And, while most Democrats still predict a health care bill will pass this year, it is likely to be a shadow of what Obama once had planned.

“The majority-makers are the freshman and sophomores from conservative districts where there’s this narrative building about giveaways, bailouts and too much change at once,” said a top House Democratic strategist, who requested anonymity to discuss internal politics candidly. “There’s this big snowball building in those districts. That’s why those folks are so scared."

But the “Big Bang” theory of governance, as some White House insiders called it, is not without risk and consequences.

By doing so much, so fast, Obama gave Republicans the chance to define large swaths of the debate. Conservatives successfully portrayed the stimulus bill as being full of pork for Democrats. Then Obama lost control of the health care debate by letting Republicans get away with their bogus claims about “death panels.” The GOP also has successfully raised concerns that the Obama plan is a big-government takeover of health care — and much of Middle America bought the idea, according to polls.

By doing so much, so fast, Obama never sufficiently educated the public on the logic behind his policies. He spent little time explaining the biggest bailouts in U.S. history, which he inherited but supported and expanded. And then he lost crucial support on the left by not following up quickly with new and stricter rules for Wall Street.

By doing so doing so much, so fast, he has left voters — especially independents — worried that he got an overblown sense of his mandates and is doing, well, too much too fast. A Washington Post-ABC News poll published Friday found that independents’ confidence in Obama’s ability to make the right decisions had dropped 20 points since the Inauguration, from 61 percent to 41 percent.

Obamacare - The Democratic Party waterloo

(ROSS DOUTHAT-NYtimes).Throughout the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama’s most loyal constituencies were the national press corps and the left wing of the Democratic Party.

Those on the left loved him because they thought he was one of them. They tolerated all the happy talk about bipartisanship because they were sure that deep in his community-organizing heart Obama shared their premises, their passions and their goals.

The media loved him because he was a great story and a great campaigner. The press favors dreamy liberals, but it worships success, and Obama was the best of both worlds — a soaring rhetorician with a ruthlessly competent political machine.

But now both groups are turning on him. As the health care debate enters its decisive weeks, the left doubts President Obama’s commitment, and the press doubts his competence.

For MSNBC-watching, Huffington Post-devouring liberals, the administration’s fancy footwork on a public health care plan (maybe it’s out, maybe it’s in, but either way it’s negotiable) is just the latest example of the president’s unseemly unwillingness to steamroll the opposition. He has been too solicitous to Republicans, too hands-off with Democrats, too detached and technocratic — even as a once-in-a-generation opportunity is passing liberalism by.

Where the left sees betrayal, the press sees ham-fistedness. The White House’s messages have been mixed — fiscal hawkery one day, moralism the next. The administration has allowed distractions like the Skip Gates affair to crowd out his agenda. It has overlearned the lessons of the Clinton-care debacle and given Congress too much leeway. It has underlearned the lessons of the Bush-era Social Security debacle and gone to war before there’s an actual piece of legislation on the table.

President Obama has been turning these quasi-messianic expectations to his advantage since he first entered national politics. But that doesn’t make them any less unrealistic.

To listen to the chatter about where his administration has gone wrong, you would think that the rest of the Democratic Party had no agency — that Democratic office-holders are slaves to poll numbers that only the White House can control, and that the way a Max Baucus, a Ben Nelson or a Blanche Lincoln votes is entirely determined by whether the president of the United States twists the right arms and hits the right rhetorical notes.

In reality, the health care wrestling match is less a test of Mr. Obama’s political genius than it is a test of the Democratic Party’s ability to govern. This is not the Reagan era, when power in Washington was divided, and every important vote required the president to leverage his popularity to build trans-party coalitions. Fox News and Sarah Palin have soapboxes, but they don’t have veto power. Mr. Obama could be a cipher, a nonentity, a Millard Fillmore or a Franklin Pierce, and his party would still have the power to pass sweeping legislation without a single Republican vote.

Squawk Box's Kernen Says Pawlenty for President in 2012

(Washington Whispers): CNBC's Squawk Box, the early-morning business show that puts the spotlight on the intersection of Wall Street and Washington.....Kernen is political. "My deal is that I'd rather have the markets do it. I think government is ineffective," says Kernen, who sneers at "Government Motors" and the "activist administration." Still, he likes President Obama. "I think he's an incredibly likable and charismatic guy. For a while, I wish I'd voted for him. But then when I see some of the stuff, I'm glad I didn't." As for 2012, he likes former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. "President Pawlenty doesn't really roll off the tongue, but who would have thought 'President Obama'?"

Massachusetts turning Red - Gov. Patrick trail GOP Challanger Mihos by 5%

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Massachusetts voters shows the Democratic incumbent trailing potential Republican challenger Christy Mihos 40% to 35%. Eleven percent (11%) like some other candidate, and 15% are not sure.In June , Mihos had a statistically insignificant 41% to 40% lead over Patrick, so the bad news for the governor is that he is losing support.Patrick has a one-point lead over another possible GOP competitor, health care executive Charlie Baker, 40% to 39%, with seven percent (7%) opting for some other candidate and 15% again undecided. In June, Patrick led Baker 41% to 36%.

In a match-up with Mihos, Patrick picks up 56% of the Democratic vote. Against Baker, the governor earns 66% support from his own party. Both Republicans have the backing of more than 75% of GOP voters.Voters not affiliated with either party favor either of the Republicans by 30 points over Patrick.

Reid Trails GOP Challenger By Double Digits in New Poll

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trailing a top Republican challenger by 11 points ahead of next year's election, according to a new poll.

The Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey, reported Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, showed GOP candidate Danny Tarkanian leading Reid by 49 percent to 38 percent in Nevada.

Tarkanian is a former basketball player for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and recently announced his candidacy.

The new poll also showed Sue Lowden, chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and a possible candidate, leading Reid by 45 percent to 40 percent.

Florida Republicans Rally Supporters to Mobilize for 2010 Elections

(Foxnews). Florida Gov. Charlie Crist called President Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul "cockamamie" as he and the state Republican Party tried Saturday to get activists charged up for the 2010 election year.

The party also tried to reach out to young voters during its weekend meeting, featuring speeches from former Miss California Carrie Prejean and Olympic medalist Bruce Jenner and hosting discussions on how to use new media to promote party messages. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential 2012 presidential candidate, spoke at a party dinner Saturday night.

Party leaders made it clear they hope to turn the opposition to Obama's national health care plan into success next year when Crist runs for Senate instead of a second term. The governor's office and all three of Florida's Cabinet positions will be on the ballot as open seats.

On health care, Crist said, "What's going on in Washington is nuts."

"The prosperity we enjoy as a country is not because of government," he added. "It's because of free enterprise, and entrepreneurship and hard work."

He said the Republican Party is the one that wants to keep spending down and taxes low.

"It's why we're going to do so damn well next year and win," Crist said, the first ractive with low taxes.

"I'm a fiscal conservative, I won't just campaign as one, I'll govern as one," said McCollum, who is the only major Republican in the race. Another Cabinet member, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, is the only major Democrat running for governor.

"We can't tax and spend our way out of our fiscal difficulties, we have to grow our way out of it," McCollum said.

Obama's Whirpool - lowest approval ever

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14. These figures mark the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President. The previous low of -12 was reached on July 30 ( see trends ).Prior to today, the number who Strongly Approved of the President's performance had never fallen below 29%. Some of the decline has come from within the President's own party. Just 49% of Democrats offer such a positive assessment of the President at this time.At the other end of the spectrum, today's total for Strongly Disapprove matches the highest level yet recorded. The 41% mark was reached just once before and that came one week ago today. Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans now Strongly Disapprove along with 49% of those not affiliated with either major party.

Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) now disapprove.

Are you ready for President Hannity?

(WND).Sean Hannity, a vocal opponent of Barack Obama's policies, said today he would not rule out a bid for the presidency in 2012. Egged on by radio colleague Bill Cunningham, Hannity said he would consider entering the front lines of the political fray if God directs him.

"I've never made a decision in my life without – whatever destiny God has you've got to fulfill it," he said. "I'm not sure that's my destiny." Hannity would make a formidable candidate, with the likability of Reagan, good looks and strong convictions. He's also a polished communicator and knows the issues inside out. And he can debate. Hannity hosts the second-largest radio program in America, after Rush Limbaugh, and a highly rated nightly TV show on the Fox News Channel.

While Obama's approval ratings have been plummeting in his first year in office, no clear Republican frontrunner has emerged. The candidates most often considered viable include Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Hannity's Fox News colleague Mike Huckabee. Cunningham, one of Hannity's guests during a visit to Cincinnati today, said the nation and the Republican Party need Hannity. When WND asked Hannity to repeat what he said on the air about a run, he said, "I ducked." Later in the program, a member of the audience asked what the host thought of a Hannity-Palin ticket. The studio audience erupted in applause. Hannity asked: "Would any of you really want me to run?" Loud applause followed.

As Americans already voice their dismay on Obama - Romney chooses a easy take on Obama, focusing on consensus acts

(politics.theatlantic).Until a media spree on Thursday Mitt Romney has been nowhere to be seen. This is surprising given the past few weeks' focus on health care should be the perfect moment for Romney to speak out,Romney's status as a once-and-possibly-future presidential candidate keeps him relevant to the press. Not to mention he's well suited for TV because he's good looking and well spoken.

Yet Romney has shied away from attention lately. He's been largely absent from television and gave just one extensive interview to a print publication, which was a conservative magazine. Romney penned an opinion piece for a Colorado newspaper - on card check. When the health care debate hits its zenith this autumn Romney will speak to the Nebraska GOP, far away from the sites of the national press.

As Marc reported in June, Romney has risen to the top of the "2012 Invisible Primary" because he's "picking and choosing his battles." Evidently he's choosing to not fight President Obama on health care, even though such a fight would boost his visibility and endear him to Republicans.

Such an endeavor would be risky for Romney. First, he could be attacked from the right (as he has been) for making it illegal for Massachusetts residents to not have health insurance. Second, he could wind up being boxed in with health care extremists. Third, he would ride the anger to nowhere given the primaries are years away.

Not only has Romney stayed out of the fray, he tried to stay above it, in a way. Romney didn't simply attack Obama, calling him a crypto-socialist, a liar, or a policy fool as many Republicans have done. Instead, Romney told Obama wasn't measuring up to a higher standard.

"He continues to campaign, but what we really need right now is a president and the leadership of a president that works in a bipartisan basis that fashions a bill that improves our health care system...."

However, the former governor told Sean Hannity on the radio that expanding government's involvement in the parts of the medical system that it isn't already present is "antithetical to everything that's American." Notwithstanding, Romney didn't sound different on Obama on Hannity than he did on CBS.

Romney said Obama should have presented his own ideas to the public instead of having his health care agenda hijacked by liberals in Congress. In other words, Obama isn't at fault as much as Nancy Pelosi is for the health care plans. Romney's TV interview lacked the explosive quotes that have punctuated other high-profile Republicans' forays into the health care debate, like Sarah Palin's "death panels."

As unexciting as Romney's approach has been, it carries less risk for him as a potential presidential candidate as there would be if he climbed onto the back of the right-wing backlash as if it were a tiger. After all, those who ride tigers may one day find themselves inside.

Will the GOP go 'nuclear'?; Coulter: If Dems Use "Nuclear Option" it Will Bring "Massive GOP Victory" in '10

(Politico).Sen. Jon Kyl, No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told Fox News last night that passing a health care bill through the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process would be the same as "the nuclear option."

It's a phrase that Republicans are increasingly invoking these days, but they are being far from clear on what they mean by that. Will they shut down the Senate if Democrats move in that direction? Or is it a talking point aimed at portraying the majority party as overreaching?

The term started in 2005 when a frustrated Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) planned to eliminate the filibuster for judicial nominees, a move both sides called "the nuclear option." It was clear that if Republicans proceeded down that road, partisan warfare would have broken out and all Senate business would be stalled.

But the budget reconciliation process is far different. Republicans used the process in 2001 and 2003 to pass Bush's tax cuts, and tried unsuccessfully in 2005 to fast-track drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. At the time, Democrats complained that the process was being abused.

Now Democrats are considering using the reconciliation process to pass the health care bill. Led by Robert Byrd, the process was created in 1974 as a way to make changes in tax laws and entitlement programs to meet the goals laid out in a non-binding budget blueprint Congress approves early in the year.

Since such changes are often very unpopular, Congress ensured they could not be filibustered in the Senate. And since floor debate in the Senate can be limited to 20 hours, passing health care reform by a simple majority is a very attractive option for the majority party.

For now, the GOP is objecting strenuously to the possibility, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made clear is on the table.

"First of all, the reconciliation process, or the so-called nuclear option, is not ideal for writing legislation like this," Kyl said last night. "It's never been used to do something this sweeping. ... And if they just tried to ram that through with sheer numbers in opposition to American public opinion, I think it would be a -- well, A, it would be bad for the country, and B, I think it would be bad politically for the Democrats."

Here is video of Ann Coulter on the Glenn Beck Show yesterday where she talked about what will happen if the Democrats try to ram their Government Health Care plan through the Senate using the "nuclear option," meaning the "reconciliation process" that requires only 51 votes to bring it to the floor for a final vote.

Coulter said that if the Democrats do that, they will bring on a "massive Republican victory" in the 2010 Congressional elections.

Zogby: Obama Hits Record Low in Poll - ONLY 45% APPROVAL

(Newsmax).President Barack Obama's popularity has plummeted to a record low, with just 45 percent of voters now approving of his performance, according to the latest Zogby International poll.

Asked whether they approve or disapprove of the president's job performance, just 45 percent of likely voters say they approve. That compares with 51 percent who disapprove of the job Obama is doing.

Those numbers also indicate that Obama clearly is in serious political trouble, Fox News analyst and best-selling author Dick Morris tells Newsmax.

"As soon as Obama dropped below 52 percent . . . he was leaking real voters who had backed him in November," Morris tells Newsmax. "Now that he is down to 45 percent among likely voters . . . he is in deep political trouble."

Of greatest concern to Obama may well be his decline among all-important independent voters. Just 37.5 percent of self-identified independents say they approve of how Obama is handling the presidency. That compares with 59.2 percent of independents who disapprove.

"There is nothing counterintuitive in any of these numbers," pollster John Zogby of Zogby International tells Newsmax. "The president is clearly taken a slide — most especially with independent voters, who play such an important role in any legislation or policy support.

While this latest poll shows Democrats continue to overwhelmingly approve of Obama's job performance (84%), just 6% of Republicans say the same. Most independents (59%) now disapprove of the job the President is doing.

"Interestingly, the president had been making some inroads with groups like investors, and frequent Walmart shoppers . . . both typically conservative," Zogby says. "However, he has slipped considerably with them in this poll."

Zogby adds: "The healthcare plan appears to be consolidating conservative opposition and scaring independent voters."

Steele Dares Democrats to Pass Health Overhaul On Their Own

(Foxnews).Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Thursday dared Democrats to try a one-party push to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Steele told reporters that he thinks if Democratic senators think they have the votes, they should try a tactic that would allow them to get around a bill-killing filibuster without the 60 votes usually needed. Steele said he didn't think Democrats would do it because of potential voter backlash.

"Get it to the floor. Up or down, baby," Steele said at a news conference at the state GOP headquarters. "Put it on the table. And if you don't think you've got enough votes to get to 60, you've got the nuclear option. You've got 51."

Steele was in Little Rock for a closed-door round-table discussion of health care and to headline a fundraiser for the Arkansas Republican Party.

"You want it done? Pass the bill," Steele said. "But they know it's poisonous and they know the American people will not tolerate it. They're scrambling now and they're beginning to turn on each other because they've got a big problem, a political one, and they can't solve it."

Faith in Obama Drops TO 49%

(WAPO).Public confidence in President Obama's leadership has declined sharply over the summer, amid intensifying opposition to health-care reform that threatens to undercut his attempt to enact major changes to the system, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Among all Americans, 49 percent now express confidence that Obama will make the right decisions for the country, down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark in his presidency. Forty-nine percent now say they think he will be able to spearhead significant improvements in the system, down nearly 20 percentage points from before he took office.

Fewer than half of Americans, 45 percent, support reform as it's been explained to date, while 50 percent are opposed – with many more "strongly" opposed than strongly in favor, 40 percent vs. 27 percent. Support's at just 36 percent among independents, the crucial political center.

As challenges to Obama's initiatives have mounted over the summer, pessimism in the nation's direction has risen: Fifty-five percent see things as pretty seriously on the wrong track, up from 48 percent in April.

Obama accuses Republicans using Political Playbook: My Attitude is Lets get this done with Consensus..

Obama fires back at political critics: "Everybody in Washington Gets All Wee Weed Up!"

(Breitbart).President Barack Obama launched a mocking counter-attack Thursday at pundits who believe the euphoric early promise of his presidency is evaporating amid bitter political warfare.

Obama, who has watched his poll ratings dip sharply over recent months, drew comparisons to his 2008 presidential campaign, which was several times all but written off by media experts who set prevailing political wisdom.

"We have been through this before, in Iowa," Obama said, referring to the first state to hold a 2008 Democratic nominating contest, which saw him capture a come-from-behind win.

"All Washington said 'Oh, it's over,' hand-wringing angst ..."

Then Obama drew parallels to the media frenzy that greeted the nomination of firebrand Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in 2008.

"The media was obsessed with it, cable was 24 hours a day," Obama told a friendly audience of grass-roots Democratic activists at a Washington forum broadcast live over the web.

"'Obama's lost his mojo,' you remember all that?

"There is something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee weed up!"

Obama's counter-punch, delivered at a meeting of his Organizing for America network of supporters, follows a run of town-hall appearances and speeches, which have seen him mount a stern defense of his health care reform plan, which is facing stiff Republican attacks.

He told backers not to get obsessed with polls, pundits and "cable chatter" but to take aim at what he described as fabrications drummed up by opponents to doom his top domestic priority.

"We are going to have to cut through a lot of nonsense out there," he said

Marco Rubio gets major plug as National Review Coverboy

National Review, a serious political journal of wingnuttery, which has recently featured Carrie Prejean and a Buddha-fied Sonia Sotomayor with the word "Wise Latino" on its cover has chosen Marco Rubio as their next coverboy.
Rubio Rising-The Florida GOP has a new star BY JOHN J. MILLER:
"...The details of the Mason–Dixon poll suggest that he’ll have a fighting chance. Among Republicans who are familiar with both candidates, Crist’s lead slips to statistical insignificance. It’s basically a dead heat. “I’m not a kamikaze,” says Rubio. “At this time next year, you’re going to be analyzing a very different race.” For that prediction to come true, conservatives in Florida and around the country will have to turn Rubio’s candidacy into a cause.

"....In 1998, at the age of 26, Rubio stepped into public life: He won a race to serve on the West Miami city commission. The next year, a spot opened in the state legislature. Rubio declared his candidacy in the special election and finished second in the Republican primary. This led to a runoff, and a lot of hustling: He walked neighborhoods, knocked on doors, and raised enough money to broadcast a few radio ads. In the end, he pulled off a minor upset, winning by 64 votes. It was the last time he faced a difficult race. The district was safe for Republicans, and voters sent him back to Tallahassee four times. Last year, term limits prevented him from running again.

As a young legislator, Rubio caught the eye of his elders. “He’s got all the tools,” says Jeb Bush, the former governor. “He’s charismatic and has the right principles.” Rubio compiled a conservative voting record and started to climb the GOP’s leadership ladder, eventually becoming speaker of the House. The capitol’s veterans occasionally mistook him for an aide: Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings once marched into his office, handed him a stack of papers, and asked him to make copies. At the time, Rubio was majority leader. “I did make the copies,” he says. For the most part, however, his youth was an asset. “I watched him grow up in the House,” says Lindsay Harrington, a former speaker pro tem. “He has an amazing ability to deliver a message -- when he gives a speech, you can hear a pin drop.”

That’s what observers say about Rubio, over and over again: He’s a first-rate communicator. “He has a gift,” says Larry Cretul, the current House speaker. “People love listening to him.” He certainly has a flair for one-liners. Cap-and-trade legislation, he says, “will do nothing but make America one of the cleanest Third World economies.”

Obama Ally Andy Stern: Dem Majority Is History If Health Reform Fails

(ABC News).Teddy Davis reports:A top Obama ally predicted Wednesday in an interview with ABC News that Democrats will lose their congressional majority in next year's midterm elections if they fail to put a health-care reform bill on President Obama's desk.

"I think we're talking losing control of Congress," said Andy Stern, the president of the Service Employees International Union. "[The failure of health-care reform] would totally empower Republicans to kill all change."

"It's hard to imagine the Democrats convincing the public that Republicans are to blame for health-care reform going down when the Democrats have such large majorities," he added. "After last year's promise of change, voters will start feeling buyer's remorse."

Stern, who was invited to sit with the Obama family during the president's inaugural parade, is watched closely on health-care reform not only because of the labor muscle he wields as the head of the 2-million member SEIU but also because of the effort he has made to work with business groups: in 2007, he started "Divided We Fail," a coalition which joined SEIU and AARP with the Business Roundtable and National Federation of Independent Business to promote the general principle of universal health care coverage.

Quinnipiac: Obama Approval Hits New Low In Florida - 47%percent approval rating

President Barack Obama gets a 47 - 48 percent approval rating from Florida voters, down from 58 - 35 percent June 10, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This is President Obama's lowest approval in any national or statewide poll conducted by the independent Quinnipiac University.

"Although he still gets a 51 - 44 percent favorability rating, that's down from 62 - 32 percent in June and the President's 47 - 48 percent thumbs down verdict on his job performance makes Florida the first state in which a Quinnipiac University survey shows his job approval is underwater, even if his nose is right at the surface," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "This is also the first time that President Obama's approval rating has fallen below the 51 percent of the popular vote that he won in Florida.

PPP Poll Huckabee and Romney strongest candidates against Obama

(PPP).In this particular iteration of the poll, Huckabee comes the closest to Obama that he has yet, trailing just 47-44. That's tightened since the President led 48-42 a month ago,Huckabee also has the best overall favorability rating of the Republican quartet we tested, at 45/28.

After Huckabee Mitt Romney polls the closest to Obama and also has the second best net favorability rating, at 37/34 (21% of Obama's voters view him favorable), 29% are not sure, He trails 47-40 in a head to head...And he's the least popular of this quartet with GOP voters. Only 52% have a favorable opinion of him.

Palin's now dropped to 40/49. Among Democrats she's gone from 25% with a favorable opinion of her to 15%, and among independents she's gone from 45% to 37%.In her head to head contest with Obama, Palin is down 52-38 after her 51-43 deficit.

CNN: Romney care could be model for national Health care reform

Romney on 'The Early Show': Liberals given too much say in health care

"A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the LORD. LORD, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea"(Psalms 102,1).

(washingtonjewishweek).President Barack Obama needs some outside help pushing health care reform, and he's turning to rabbis to get it.

In a morning conference call with about 1000 rabbis from across the nation, Obama asked for aid: "I am going to need your help in accomplishing necessary reform," the President told the group, according to Rabbi Jack Moline, who tweeted his way through the phoner.

"We are God's partners in matters of life and death," Obama went on to say, according to Moline's real-time stream.

The 15-minute morning briefing was sponsored by the Religion Action Center of Reform Judaism, and included rabbis of all persuasions. Although the RAC hosts the call each year, participants had never before heard from a sitting president.

What stood out about the call is that Obama "is a master communicator," Moline, the rabbi of the Conservative Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, said in an interview after the call ended,"This was clearly a message that was tailored to us," and not merely a generic stump speech, he added.

Steele: The GOP is winning...The American people are taking control of this debate

(The Note).ABC’s Steven Portnoy reports: As the White House struggles to clarify the administration’s position on a “public option,” the chairman of the Republican National Committee says Democrats are seeing the health care debate “moving beneath their feet.”

“I think we're in a very confused space right now,” Michael Steele told ABC News Radio in an interview Tuesday. “The Democrats are feeling the pressure within, as well as without, more than anything else.I think the political landscape is moving beneath their feet,They don't quite know what to make of it, or what to do with it.”

Steele angrily denies his party is worthy of the criticism:“Don't sit there and point your finger at Republicans, and say we're in the way. How are we in the way?” Steele inquired. “Asking questions? Speaking truth to power? When [Democrats] get in trouble, they look for demagogues and demons. We're not gonna be the boogeymen in this,” Steele said.

“How many votes do I have in the Senate, Mr. President? How many votes do I have in the House?” Steele asked. “I control nothing, sir. You've got it all. It's all yours. If you want the bill passed, pass it!… You've got the votes -- pull the trigger!”

The Republican chairman said he’s not concerned about the level of vitriol that’s been expressed at town hall meetings held by members of congress this month.

“I wasn't around in the 1800s and the 1700s, but I'm a student of history and politics, and I know what those political squabbles, if you will, were like – a lot more violent, if you will. People were dueling and all kinds of other things going on in those days.”

“If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen,” Steele said. “And the reality of it right now is that the American people are bringing heat to the table.The American people are taking control of this debate, as they should, and God bless 'em for doing it.”