By Steven L. Taylor
RCP reports that “Neighborhood Research polled the district for Minuteman PAC, the political arm of the Minuteman Movement” (which has endorsed Hoffman) with the following results:
Hoffman 34
Owens 29
Scozzafava 14
Und 23
Both this one and the Club for Growth poll I noted yesterday shows a similar number of undecideds which means we really have no idea who is ahead at the moment.
Like the CfG poll, the sample size was small (in this case, 366), but the MOE was not reported (nor was there a link to a full report).
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By Steven L. Taylor
Byron York writes in the Washington Examiner: Biden’s popularity plunges; lower than Cheney’s
Vice President Joe Biden’s favorable rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new Gallup poll, down from a high of 59 percent just after last year’s election. Biden’s unfavorable rating in the new poll is 40 percent, up from 29 percent last November. (Eighteen percent of those surveyed say they have no opinion of Biden.)
Biden’s average favorable rating during his time in office so far is 45 percent — well below the average 65 percent favorable rating for Vice President Dick Cheney during Cheney’s first year in office.
Four immediate thoughts:
1) The headline is misleading, as it suggests a contemporaneous comparison.
2) At this same point in Bush-Cheney administration we had just experienced 9/11 and there was a substantial rally-around-the-flag effect going on, so year-to-year comparisons make no sense.
3) Biden is a less significance figure in the Obama administration than Cheney was in the Bush administration. Having said that, however, we are talking veeps here, so I have to wonder about the overall relevance of said numbers.
4) My guess is that after his term is over (be it 4 or 8 years), Biden will leave office more popular than was Cheney when he left simply because Biden is simply not as controversial a figure as Cheney (although, granted, things could change, but it seems unlikely).
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By Steven L. Taylor
Via the NYT: U.S. Sending Envoys to Try to End Crisis in Honduras
This will be the first time since the coup that the Obama administration has taken a leading role in pressuring the leaders of the de facto government to restore democratic order in Honduras. The stepped-up pressure comes after months of apparently fruitless talks about whether Mr. Zelaya will be returned to power.
If anything this strikes me as too little, too late. The coup took place about three months ago and there is roughly a month until the scheduled elections and so one has to wonder as the why the US is only deciding to get directly involved now. Or, at least, why they didn’t get involved earlier.
Some of the politics of the situation:
The coup in Honduras has threatened to become a sore point between the Obama administration and the rest of Latin America, where an increasing number of leaders have accused the United States of failing to put sufficient pressure on the de facto government to force it to compromise and stop its repression of journalists, human rights activists and pro-Zelaya demonstrators.
The issue has also created political headaches for President Obama in Congress, where a few Republicans have held up key State Department appointments as a way of pressuring the administration to reverse its condemnation of the coup. The Republican group, led by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, has said Mr. Zelaya’s opponents had no choice but to oust him because he had tried to illegally extend his time in power.
In regards to the last sentence, may I yet again point out that the plebiscite was not about extending his term (see here)? I concur that Zelaya’s actions warranted legal action because proceeding with the plebiscite (as he appeared set to do) would have contravened a court order. However, the legal justifications for acting against the plebiscite hardly justifies the coup and it is amazing how difficult this appears to be for so many to understand. It is especially amazing (although, ultimately, not surprising) that members of the US Congress are using the events to grandstand and to hold up appointments over it.
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By Steven L. Taylor
Via the BBC: Al-Qaeda group claims Iraq blasts.
The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organisation of radical Sunni militants, said it had targeted "the ministry of oppression, known as the ministry of justice, and the Baghdad provincial assembly".
The BBC reports that the group is affiliated with the al Qaeda network, although it is worth underscoring that the group appears to be of a domestic nature.
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