The Obama Disillusionment

Note:  You might want to start at the Barack Obama Index Page, especially if you arrived here by using a search engine.

Mr. Obama has never competently managed any business or organization in his life.  (See this page for details.)  There is only thing he has proven to be really good at — spending other people's money.  The American people aren't very excited about that aptitude.

The people who voted for hope and change are getting very little of either.

On this page:

(At this point, there are only three sections.)

Disillusionment sets in:  the wheels are already coming off.

If Obama is so great, why is the Democratic National Committee going into debt?

Association with Obama is now a political liability.

Sparse crowds at Obama appearances.

On other nearby pages:

Obama and his team are incompetent.

Obama is helpless without a teleprompter.

Barack Obama's greatly overrated intellect

This is "hope"?

This is "change"?




Note:  The newest material is at the bottom of this subsection.

We've Figured Him Out.  The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008.  They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.  They ignored his anti-white writings in his books.  They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright. ... The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.  Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth.

Obama vs. Honduran Democracy.  If the Obama administration were a flotilla of ships, it might be sending out an SOS right about now.  ObamaCare has hit the political equivalent of an iceberg.

Americans should get wise by Thanksgiving.  By Thanksgiving, if the present polling trend continues, President Obama will slip into the cold shadow of unpopularity.  If we are fortunate, his political blitz to radically remake America also will have run out of fuel and stalled.

Fatal Conceit.  [President Obama's] constant drumbeat that failure to act now will produce catastrophic results is more indicative of presidential hubris than sound legislative strategy.  The White House believes its "all in" approach of high-visibility speeches, media appearances, and town hall meetings is the way to win.  In reality it's contributing to health care's dropping popularity.

The Great Race.  The tonsils comment, the Special Olympics gaffe, the historical blunders in Cairo, etc. suggest not a hip, smart, postracial candidate, but an inexperienced, though tough-minded, tribal Chicago pol.  If all that results to below 50% approval, there will be an entirely new politics. ... Obama is about one or two more gaffes away from a stampeding herd of House Democrats.

Cult Leaders Make Lousy Presidents.  Space limitations don't allow for a thorough listing of all Obama blunders so we will just look at a few.  There is the Revolving Door Cabinet of Chicago thugs and Clinton retreads.  We have the Turbo Timmy Geithner embarrassment.  We are treated to a near daily blather fest from the always incoherent White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. ... But the real fait accompli for the new president was the remarkable passage of that National Tragedy euphemistically referred to as the "Stimulus Bill".

President Obama's approval ratings  are slipping fast according to a new Gallup poll. His poll numbers have now dropped nearly 15 points and are at the lowest level since he has been in office as President.

Yes we can ... change the channel.  The image we're forming of Obama is still soft, but it's starting to dry.  And it's beginning to look like a guy who is more infatuated with being a celebrity than a president.  Someone who would rather play with the White House toys than get to work. ... Even some of Obama's love-sick supporters have head-slapping buyer's remorse.

Where are the jobs, Mr. President?  All year, Democrats have made promises about job creation.  If Congress passed the trillion-dollar "stimulus," they promised unemployment would not rise above 8 percent.  Five months later, unemployment has spiked to 9.4 percent, with President Barack Obama now admitting that he expects it to reach 10 percent later this year.  So what has the "stimulus" given us?

Welcome to the 'Hope' Economy.  After being asked when the public should begin judging the success of the nearly $800 billion stimulus plan, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs answered, "I think we should begin to judge it now."  Let's take his advice.  The administration warned that if we failed to support a stimulus package, unemployment would hit a dire 9 percent by 2010.  With the stimulus, unemployment, it claimed, would stay in the 8 percent range.  This week, the Labor Department announced that the jobless rate jumped to 9.5 percent, higher than it's been anytime since August 1983.

After Obama Fails.  A failed presidency for Barack Obama could turn into liberalism's worst nightmare.  Barely six months into his term, the 44th president has succeeded in generating the most widespread and serious discussion of secession since the Civil War.  Despite what Newsweek's Evan Thomas may claim, Obama is not the "God" who will bring us together but the autocratic sponsor of an overbearing, oppressive leviathan from which a growing number of Americans are seeking refuge.

Barack Obama's honeymoon on the wane.  Barack Obama's remarkable political honeymoon may be over, as new opinion polls show US voters expressing doubts about his plans to reform healthcare, rescue the car industry and close the Guantanamo Bay jail.  According to the latest opinions polls, Americans are also worried about their new President's management of the US budget as spending blows out.

Change People Are Starting To No Longer Believe In.  Sure enough, bit by bit, much of the president's agenda is starting to come apart like a cheap trailer in a tornado. ... More and more Americans appear to be having serious misgivings about healthcare being under the exclusive or predominant control of the same folks that bring you the U.S. Postal Service (which is itself struggling mightily with disorganization and threatened with having to cut services).

Why Obama's big economic gamble is failing.  A string of new polls seems to show that America's belief in the wonder-working power of Obamanomics has begun to fade.  A Pew poll found President Obama's economic approval rating has fallen to 52 percent from 60 percent in April.  A Wall Street Journal poll found 53 percent disapprove of his handling of GM and Chrysler vs. 39 who approve.  And the New York Times found that 60 percent don't think Obama has a "clear plan" to deal with the monstrous budget deficit.

Visual Evidence the Obama Team Completely Misjudged the Stimulus Impact.  To get the stimulus passed, the Obama administration promised the moon, and had no idea whether it would work.  One hundred and twenty-one days since the stimulus passed, there is still no sign that it is doing what it was designed to do — mitigate the recession and put Americans back to work.

Obama Hopelessly Adrift on Foreign Policy.  [Scroll down]  And then, for a cherry on top of this rancid sundae, Obama takes a question from, of all places, the Huffington Post, without giving a similar opportunity to any conservative blogger.  So much for bipartisanship! ... One has to wonder, of course, if George Bush would have been allowed to get away with taking questions from Michelle Malkin. ... Obama, meanwhile, is behaving in exactly the way one would expect a leader with no foreign policy experience or credentials to behave.

Canada's incredible shrinking love affair with Obama.  A lot of Canadians, like Americans and the rest of the world were swept up in Obamamania.  Obama's approval ratings north of the border far exceeded those of our own leaders but given the current crop of federal party leaders, this is hardly surprising. It didn't take long for reality to come crashing down.

The Great Overreach.  The stimulus bill has failed.  Barack Obama has failed.  The Trojan Horse of Hope and Change crashed into the guardrail of reality, revealing an army of ideologues and activists inside.  Now, before I continue, let me say that Barack Obama will still be popular, he will still get things done, and he will declare victory after signing a stimulus bill.  But Obama's moment is gone, and politics is about nothing if not moments.

America — what have you done?  President Obama has had, by general consent, a torrid First Fortnight.  To put it another way, it has taken precisely two weeks for the illusion that brought him to power to be exposed for the nonsense that it so obviously was.

There May Be the Will but Not Necessarily the Way.  Barack Obama will not bring peace to the Middle East.  He will not end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.  Though he may part the waves, cool the planet, stop the oceans from rising, this dispute will prove beyond him.

Neither stimulus nor change.  Only three weeks into President Barack Obama's administration was all the time it took for many Americans to see through the fog of rhetoric to the ugly details hidden behind.  President Obama promised to end politics as usual in Washington and give us an earmark-free recovery plan that would jolt the economy by saving the housing sector and rebuilding national infrastructure.  That is not even close to what we actually got.

The Impending Obama Meltdown.  At home, Obama is becoming laughable and laying the groundwork for the greatest conservative populist reaction since the Reagan Revolution.  Abroad, some really creepy people are lining up to test Obama's world view of "Bush did it/but I am the world".

Barack Obama is a novice — and it shows.  The activists who formed the backbone of Mr Obama's election campaign appear less than energised.  Few answered his call for house-party gatherings at the weekend to build support for the economic stimulus plan. ... Governing, as Mr Obama is finding out, is not like an election campaign.  Mr Bush's failures will give him some leeway and his transformative appeal remains potent.  But making decisions and operating the levers of power is something completely new to him.  And it shows.

The Quickie Honeymoon:  The obvious parallel to the Daschle debacle is the Zoe Baird imbroglio, wherein Bill Clinton's initial nominee for attorney general was forced to withdraw on Clinton's first full day in office.  Then as now, the salient controversy involved the failure to pay taxes on an haute bourgeois indulgence:  in Daschle's case, a borrowed car and driver; in Baird's, a nanny and chauffeur who were undocumented immigrants.  (Will these people never learn?)

Obama's Leninism:  Obama's recent frustrations and impatience over the "Stimulus Bill" have less to do with his claims of "catastrophe" and "crisis" and much more, it seems to me, to do with his breathtaking inexperience in a true marketplace of ideas.  And just where was Obama supposed to learn how to debate?  In liberal academia?  From his "adversarial" minions in the press?  Community organizing?

Obama's Busted Bubble.  Obama's current woes derive from the fact that he has hit the real world head-on.  His bubble now lies shattered around him.  Absolutely no single decision or effort by the new administration has worked out as planned.  With two months to prepare, unparalleled cooperation from the preceding administration, full control of the government, and an almost disturbing level of public support, Obama has misfired more completely than any other administration in history.

Obama is headed for a one-term presidency.  Obama is making himself the symbol of what's wrong with Washington rather than being the agent of change in Washington.  Democratic pols like Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York think voters don't care about pork in the stimulus bill, but lots of now-former Republican members of Congress know better.  Earmarks are indeed, in Sen. Tom Coburn's evocative term, "the gateway drug to federal spending addiction" and the basic ingredient of the culture of corruption in Washington that has driven the approval rating of Congress into the single digits.

So far, it's been Obamateur Hour.  It requires a perverse kind of genius for the 44th president not to have waited for a single "event" to throw him off course.  Instead, he threw himself off:  "Is Obama tanking already?"  (Congressional Quarterly)  "Has Barack Obama's presidency already failed?"  (The Financial Times). ... The ship didn't need to hit an iceberg; it stalled halfway down the slipway.

Barack Obama:  Could he turn into a 'zombie president'?  If he is not successful in filling the financial black hole, Mr Obama will find his work in Washington difficult to carry out — without an economy in recovery, public-spending plans and tax-cutting projects will be severely hamstrung, and he faces the realistic prospect of the financial crisis casting a shadow of paralysis over his entire term.  He could become the zombie president.

Stumbling out the gate:  Barack Obama flubs his first big test.  It's not easy to waste a mandate and a honeymoon at the same time, but President Obama seems determined to try.  You know he's off to a lousy start when his most favorable reviews came after he said, "I screwed up."  Did he ever, and not just once.  If he keeps going this way, America will be saying, "We screwed up."

No TV magic in Obama's press performance.  After watching President Barack Obama's first primetime news conference, I am beginning to think the thrill is gone — his TV magic and mojo have deserted him.  Maybe, folks like me were just a little too quick in elevating him to the pantheon of great radio and TV communicators like Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as masters of the media of their times.

So Far, Amateur Hour.  The first however-many days of Barack Obama's presidency have been a study in amateurism.  Many suspected that Obama wasn't quite ready, but kept their fingers crossed.  Optimistic disappointment is the new holding pattern.  What's missing from Obama's performance isn't the intelligence that voters acknowledged in electing him.  It's the experience they tried to pretend didn't really matter.  Experienced politicians, after all, got us into this mess.

--> Barack Obama is 'screwing up' on the economy.  Be very afraid.  If you didn't get a chance to read Martin Wolf's column in the FT yesterday, then take the time.  It makes a powerful case which is genuinely troubling.  Wolf thinks Obama may already have fluffed his biggest calls on the only subject that matters right now — the economy — and that he's in trouble.

Where's the President Obama who promised to unite us?  The sense of disappointment in Obama is spreading, as are concerns about the consequences of a bait-and-switch presidency.  The global selloff in stock markets after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put out a half-baked plan for fixing the financial system is a clear verdict.  His arguing that investors missed the point is telling.  Once again, a White House has all the answers and everybody else is wrong.  Obama, like his predecessor, doesn't lack for confidence, only for others who share it.

The Audacity of Irony.  For the last 24 months a youthful Barack Obama has daily offered unspecified "hope and change" idealism — all set against the supposed cynical wrongdoing of the tired Bush administration.  In the unhinged manner in which his supporters turned a center-right president like George Bush into some sort of sinister reactionary, so too they deified a rookie senator as the long-awaited liberal messiah.  How could irony not follow from all that?

Obama Meets the Real World.  The first month has been ragged, and some disturbing signs have arisen.  It's still very early — Obama has yet to complete his first full month in office, after all ... But one thing is for sure:  the adjustment has been harder than he and his team envisioned, and the results are underwhelming.  The problems are more complicated than they said.  It seems as if President Obama is spending half his time trying to lower the expectations of what he can achieve.

What Happened to the Hopemonger?  It's long been said that presidents are only as powerful as their public perception.  Already, President Obama has lost a measure of his hopefulness at the moment he most requires it.  The public seems to have noticed.  And there are some in Washington who speculate that Obama's standing could still worsen.  "Obama is in a much weaker position than his poll numbers suggest and I think that the whole thing could collapse on him sooner rather than later," Doug Schoen, one of Bill Clinton's former pollsters, said.

Forget 100 days, Obama's honeymoon is already over.  The hopes which attended President Obama's inauguration were so unprecedentedly, soaringly, stratospherically high that it was inevitable the process of coming down to earth would be bumpy.  But few expected the descent to be so rapid.  In the last few days the President who was welcomed across the world as not just America's, but the globe's, redeemer has turned into — well, into just another politician.

Investors Unimpressed with Obamanomics.  The old saying that money isn't everything seems to epitomize President Obama's inept attempts to jumpstart the economy by throwing $2 trillion to $3 trillion at it.  Nothing appears to be working.

Obama Stumbles.  Government is an impatient judge.  Although the President was sworn in only last month, his country already feels a little rattled. After the beguiling eloquence of his campaign, the Obama that Americans see in the White House looks less sure-footed.

We're Losing Our Country, But What Can We Do?  From the moment Barack Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, the leftists who control Congress have — at his behest — gone on a drunken binge of runaway spending vis-à-vis an $850-billion faux "stimulus" program that rewards failure and punishes success.  It is already clear that The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act should be renamed The American Relapse-And-Needs-Resuscitation Act, as is evidenced by both the simultaneous plunge of the Dow and the president's polling numbers, as well as an epidemic case of buyer's remorse.

Top 10 Obama Blunders in Just One Month.  Phony bipartisanship, tax cheats in the Cabinet, the Census Grab, and many others.

One month in, Barack Obama's approval slips, disapproval doubles.  One month down, 47 to go.  And Barack Obama's poll numbers have slid almost 10% already.  According to the latest Gallup Poll, the new president's approval rating of 68% in January has slipped now to 63%, about average for recent new presidents one month in.  What isn't average, however, is Obama's new disapproval rating — 24%, or 50% higher than the 16% average for a month-old new presidency.  And it's twice the 12% disapproval rate that Obama had last month.

The new socialists:  It has now become fashionable for America's socialists to come out of the closet.  Elected officials advocating ideological viewpoints that would have elicited derision and laughter only a few months ago are now emboldened to openly promote socialist policies.  They feel safe because America's chief executive has embraced an agenda that is quickly moving America toward socialism in which the goal is to have all power vested in the state and any dissent is quashed.

Obama Just Doesn't Get It.  Obama does not perceive things are substantially worse or that his "strategy" is failing.  He also seems to have the timing terribly off as he discusses an onslaught of taxes and regulation while the economy is staggering.  And to make matters worse we have no General Petraeus to help guide us back from the brink of ruin.  We have instead Tim Geithner.

Voters' Obama Folly Coming Home to Roost.  It's only been 7 weeks since the man whose resume fits nicely on the back of a postage stamp became the most powerful human being in the universe.  As Presidents go, Barack Obama has proven at least one thing true:  change is like the flip of a coin.  Change can bring the best of times; change can bring the worst of times.  And anyone over the age of twelve ought to have known that.

Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth.  It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama's high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration.  Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true.

Formerly Useful Idiots.  Lenin famously said of liberals in the West that they were "useful idiots."  A number of really smart (go ahead, ask them) people endorsed Obama only to find out that they were hoodwinked.  He's not the guy they fell in love with.  It's the morning after, and they've been forced to confront the fact that he's a fraud.  A forgery.  In John LeCarre's "Smiley's People" master spy George Smiley points out that "the more one has paid for a forgery, the more one defends it in the face of all the evidence to the contrary."  And, these people have paid plenty for their forgery.

Squaring Off With Obama:  I have to hope for the sake of our country's future that when people voted for Obama they really had no idea what a disaster he would be, even though I kept warning them that he was a left-wing lug nut.  It seemed to me that his legion of fans had been hypnotized or sprinkled with fairy dust.  They blindly accepted that words like "hope" and "change" were complete sentences that actually added up to a national policy.

They didn't vote for the policies.  The message of the polls is that he had better start selling his policies harder, because they are showing signs of not going over very well.  Moreover, the unpolled elites, including those within the Democratic Party, have started to ask questions aloud about whether their man is competent; and as we know from painful history, such uncertainties from an elite tend to "trickle down."

Tongue-tied Barack Obama is turning into Jimmy Carter.  Obama has never run anything other than his presidential campaign.  He doesn't know the difference between governing and campaigning and he's sticking with what he knows. ... He was always happiest with an autocue [TelePrompTer] and Republicans are rightly now having a lot of fun pointing out his security blanket like reliance on the plastic screens for even basic announcements.  But since he became president, the old magic has been missing. ... The most striking aspect of the Leno appearance is that while he's all smiles and self-regard, Obama is flat out not funny.

Barack Obama:  Just a "Regular Guy"?  [Obama] was presented to the American electorate — by his own campaign and by the press, as well — as a person of intellectual substance.  Even his critics have credited him with an impressive intellect.  But now, the doubts are increasing, and more and more Americans are beginning to wonder whether Obama is really up to the job.  How ironic that the President decided to portray himself as "the common man" just as an increasing number of Americans begin to suspect that, truly, that's all he is.

Obama surrenders his agenda.  At his news conference Tuesday night [3/26/2009], President Obama stressed the four most important goals he hopes to accomplish this year:  health care reform, energy legislation, education reform, and deficit reduction.  But by the end of the hour-long session with the White House press corps, Obama had retreated on three of the four.

Obama's new TV image:  tired, uptight and cranky.  President Barack Obama ended his six-night, buy-my-economic-proposal-please TV tour Tuesday with a prime-time news conference.  And while not much hard news might have come out of the session, there was at least one major change there to be seen in Obama's TV image.  Gone was the cool, composed, almost serene Obama who seemed to enjoy the back and forth of his masterful first meetings with reporters following his election.

Obama Cracks Up.  The AIG bonuses, alienating our allies, that Special Olympics crack on "The Tonight Show" — there's certainly plenty of competition, but this was probably the worst week of President Obama's nascent administration.  The problem wasn't just bad decisions followed by rash reactions and changing stories.  The mistakes, oversights, cover-ups, and bad press of this past week all hit Obama in the most sensitive spots, undercutting the pillars on which he had built his rare transpartisan appeal.

Death of the Obama dream.  Well, that was fast.  On March 20, only two months after the cosmic anointing, Vanity Fair, of all places, unloaded on Barack Obama, in the terms it had reserved for the past four or five years for the likes of George W. Bush.  Well, not the whole magazine, but one of its writers, media writer Michael Wolff, took an axe to the president, in a posting beginning "Sheesh, the guy is Jimmy Carter," ending "This guy is leaden and this show is in trouble," and titled "Barack Obama is a Terrible Bore."

Rebooting America's Global Image Not Going Well.  One of President Obama's signature boasts was that his election would, to use his term, "reboot" America's image in the world. ... His election, he promised, would transform America's global image.  How's that project going?

Choking on Hypocritical "Green" Legislation.  President Obama's anti-oil cap-and-trade legislation that will effectively levy a carbon-emissions tax on businesses and on all Americans will likely be one of the first casualties of his liberal agenda.  But its Republican opponents won't kill it.  A growing army of Democratic lawmakers, largely from the Midwest where that segment of the economy is heavily dependent on coal-fired power plants and factories, are turning against it — perhaps enough to prevent his climate-change plan from even reaching a vote in Congress.

No, He Can't.  Barack Obama was always going to disappoint.  When you promise almost everything to almost everybody — I'll stop the fighting in Iraq but I'll also keep going after al Qaeda there; I'll make the economy grow more but I'll spread the wealth around, and so on — you will inevitably let many people down.  Human beings, even those who read fluently from teleprompters, simply cannot walk on water.  But few expected the wheels to come off the new administration so quickly.  Just weeks into its existence, the Obama White House is in trouble.

A Big, Fat Failure.  Well, it's about time.  The Beltway is waking up to the realities of President Obama's budget plan, which taxes, spends, and borrows as far as the eye can see.  The president's vast new commitments in the areas of health care, energy, and education have already spooked small-government Republicans and the foreign investors who help finance America's public debt.  Now even some Democrats are beginning to realize that the president's fiscal policies are unsustainable in the long — and maybe medium — run.  What took them so long?

The Obama We Knew But Denied:  A vast array of Americans seem to still be scratching their heads in wonder at how a complete political knave has been elected to the highest office in the land with nary a single real accomplishment on his resume. ... In fact, I would venture to say at this juncture that it was Obama's race — and nothing else — that enabled his election to the presidency.

President Obama's Miscalculated Transparency:  More and more supporters are waking up to the reality of the man they helped put into the White House. ... Obama himself repeatedly vowed to bring "transparency" to the presidency.  He's certainly accomplished that, in spades.  Which is precisely Obama's problem and why his presidency is doomed.

Obama:  Buyer's Remorse.  The existing regulation of U.S. banks was not accompanied by anything faintly resembling actual scrutiny and oversight.  It was the government that had created Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up and "securitize" all those bad loans banks and mortgage companies were required by law to make.  The short-term spending in the billions that has been made is widely regarded as a massive waste of taxpayer dollars.

"Change" Turns Out To Be Too Expensive and Unpopular.  The Obama change machine is grinding to a halt. ... But it seems never to dawn on them that the items on their agenda are problematic even within their own party.  Where is the governing majority in favor of cap-and-trade?  There isn't one. Do moderate Democrats want to raise billions and billions in new taxes to pay for nationalized health care?  The public at large certainly isn't enthusiastic about it.

Stimulus Results:  Unemployment Soars.  The unemployment rate now stands at 8.5 percent, the highest in more than 25 years.  So much for President Barack Obama's claim that the "stimulus" bill's would "create or save 3.5 million jobs."

Those Pesky Democrats.  The Democrats, if united, wouldn't need the Republicans to push through the Obama agenda.  But time and again we have seen resistance — to reconciliation as a means of pushing through cap-and-trade and health-care, to limits on deductibility of charitable donations, and to card check.  Moderate and conservative Democrats have not been shy about speaking up when they think the president is out of step with their constituents.  The same may be true on defense cuts.

Hopebroken and hopesick, Obama fans need a new start.  All is not well in Obamafanland.  It's not clear exactly what accounts for the change of mood. ... Whatever the last straw, a growing number of Obama enthusiasts are starting to entertain the possibility that their man is not, in fact, going to save the world if we all just hope really hard.

California unemployment rate reaches 11.2%.  Unemployment in California shot to 11.2% in March, the highest level since the state began keeping records.  What's more, the number of people out of work for almost a year rose by 9.4%, and has now doubled in the last 12 months.

What's Obama smiling about?  The Obama presidency is becoming a reverse fairy tale:  The prince is turning into a frog. ... What about integrity in government?  Judging by his gutter-ball series of appointments and attempted appointments, I am beginning to think that either his vetting process was actually looking for crooks or the president is moving in the wrong circles.  Obama put a tax-cheat in the U.S. Treasury, tried to put an even bigger tax-cheat in Health, and only reluctantly dropped an accused influence peddler as commerce secretary.

Obama's hired brain:  "TEA PARTIES... unhealthy."  The pain on their faces is real.  Team Obama are failing in their attempt to socialize the U.S. and one of two things will be forced upon us all.  We will change their direction or they will change ours.  The constitution empowers us to do the latter!

Obama's Interrogation Mess.  The president, having started a fire by recklessly releasing memos describing interrogation tactics, and then having poured gasoline on the flames by reversing himself on the banana-republic notion of investigating his political rivals, cannot douse the resulting inferno simply by saying, Oh, never mind.  The president is reeling because he sees his legislative agenda going up in smoke.

When the Obama Backlash Comes.  The budget deficits he proposes are staggering.  The trillions of dollars he wants to spend are incomprehensible.  There is no evidence that stimulative government spending even works.  Obama is apparently racing to remake America in a socialist mold before public sentiment turns against him.

Unemployment:  109 cities at 10% or higher.  Unemployment rates in 109 metropolitan areas reached 10% or higher in March, almost eight times more than a year earlier, according to a government report released Wednesday [4/29/2009].  Just 14 cities reported jobless rates of at least 10% last year, the Labor Department said.

Barack's in the basement.  President Obama's media cheerleaders are hailing how loved he is.  But at the 100-day mark of his presidency, Mr. Obama is the second-least-popular president in 40 years.  According to Gallup's April survey, Americans have a lower approval of Mr. Obama at this point than all but one president since Gallup began tracking this in 1969.  The only new president less popular was Bill Clinton, who got off to a notoriously bad start after trying to force homosexuals on the military and a federal raid in Waco, Texas, that killed 86.

Suckers United for Change.  If the words, "I've been had," are not at this juncture forming in the mind of nearly every Obama voter, I would give terrific odds that he has been brainwashed and needs to reclaim his common sense before the clock strikes 12 on the United States of America.  We live in a dangerous world, where no quarter will be given those whose brains have been turned to mush.  If you were an Obama Cult follower, the time to wake up and smell the coffee is right this very minute.

Rising Unemployment Rate Undermines Obama's Goal to Create 3.5M Jobs.  President Obama has vowed to create 3.5 million jobs by 2010.  But the latest unemployment report shows Obama will have his work cut out for him.  The economy lost another 539,000 jobs in April, bumping the unemployment rate up to 8.9 percent, the highest in 26 years, according to the Labor Department report released Friday.

Obama Loses His "Cool".  When the generation of Americans under the age of 30 gets around to realizing that this handsome young president might not be nearly as cool as they'd hoped, it won't be hard to affix a date on when the milk began to sour. ... Scratch a young Obama voter and you won't necessarily find someone who likes bailouts or cares about financial market regulations one way or another.  Instead you're likely to hear about how the awful Republicans wage wars, bait gays and racial minorities, and basically act like a bunch of mean old white men.  Party membership and voting are frequently more about group identity than philosophical orientation about the proper role of government.

Michigan's jobless rate climbs to 12.9%.  As expected, Michigan's unemployment rate edged higher in April, rising three-tenths of a percentage point to 12.9%.  The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth said the state's hard-hit manufacturing sector shed another 22,000 jobs in April, while the state lost 38,000 payroll jobs across all industries during the month.

Obama talks a good game, but can't deliver.
Gitmo speech exposes Obama's shallow rhetoric.  On Nov. 14, 2007, presidential candidate Barack Obama met with employees of Google at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. ... Obama spoke at length about Iran.  He spoke at length about Pakistan.  And then he said, "Last point, Guantanamo.  That's easy.  Close down Guantanamo."  The audience broke into applause. ... That wasn't the first, or the last time he said that; Obama went down his national security laundry list hundreds of times during the campaign, rarely, if ever, giving Guantanamo more than a few words.

An Overleveraged Presidency.  Like a troubled bank, President Obama is overleveraged. When a bank makes risky loans and many of them default, the bank goes bankrupt (or gets bailed out).  When a first-term president adopts risky policies and many of them fail, his prospects for sustained public approval and reelection diminish.  One of Obama's policies — the decision to close the Guantánamo prison within a year — has already gotten him in a jam.

Roosting Chickens Plague Obama.  The Obama administration had the sort of week they'd rather see disappear down the memory hole.  But unfortunately for the president, the trouble may just be beginning.  First, on the economic front the notion that we are going to bounce back soon from the recession is proving to be a pipe dream. ... Moreover, the result of the president's spend-a-thon and the Fed's hyperactive printing press has been a plunge in the U.S. dollar and renewed fears of stagflation. ... This governing business is hard stuff.  And it is made harder by an administration which has used photo-ops and speeches in lieu of thoughtful policy.

Obama is impressive — scarily so.  The phenomenon of "buyer's remorse" is associated with seeing something one has purchased in a new light.  What seemed so enchanting in a shop window may look rather tawdry when we get it home, especially in the moment when we realize that it is non-returnable.  Thus a plunge from public favour may be very sudden, and its consequences may endure.

Obama:  The Great Disappointer.  There have to be millions of American liberals, gays and left wingers totally disappointed with President Barack Obama today.  It would seem that he, like they, were the idealists running headlong into the brick wall of harsh realities, and will now be running headlong into each other.

Reality Hits Obamanomics.  When the president let it slip that our current fiscal situation — ever higher mounds of debt — was "unsustainable," some pundits shrugged it off as a "long-term" problem.  Not so long-term.  The Wall Street Journal explains that Treasury yields have shot up, reaching 3.7% on 10-year notes, the highest since November.  Why are bond purchasers demanding higher rates?  They are spooked.

Plan A is not working
Obama's Plan A is Not Working.  On January 10, two of President Obama's economic advisors (Christine Romer and Jared Bernstein) put together a report in which they projected the effects of President Obama's economic recovery plan. ... Unemployment was supposed to peak in the middle of 2009 at about 7.9% and then decline thereafter.  But in April 2009, it hit 8.9%.  The actual unemployment [percentage] demonstrates that, despite Obama's recovery plan, unemployment has continued to rise steadily.  His plan is failing to meet its projections, even though it has already cost our government hundreds of billions of dollars in debt that taxpayers will eventually have to pay back with interest.

Obama's ambitious agenda:  The Social Security trustees announced this month that the program will begin running out of money in just seven years, and the Medicare trustees said Medicare's Part A hospital fund will be insolvent one year later.  Saving these programs from financial collapse would be a major task in and of itself.  Mr. Obama, however, wants to do it all — including bail out the economy; create a government health care system; pour billions more into education, including a new college-tuition program; and end the nation's reliance on fossil fuels.  And that's just for starters.

The Popularity Gap.  Obama's supporters and the media (excuse the repetition) never tire of telling us how darn popular he is.  This is supposed to defang his opponents, or warn the public off of even debating his policies' merits.  But the public is hardly thrilled about his policies.

A REAL Problem for Obama.  On his second day in office, President Obama issued an executive order to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention camp within one year — without any plan for how to dispose of the 241 detainees held there.  With the clock ticking, the president is discovering that closing Guantanamo is more easily said than done, especially now that his own party in Congress has deserted him. ... His greatest obstacle could be a national security law — and one that he voted for.  The REAL ID Act of 2005 prohibits anyone affiliated with terrorist activity from entering and living in the United States.

Obama Rated Highest as Person, Lowest on Deficit, Spending.  While 67% of Americans view President Barack Obama favorably, his overall job approval rating and his ratings on specific areas are less positive.  At the low end of the spectrum, only 45% of Americans approve of Obama's handling of federal spending, and 46% of his handling of the federal budget deficit.

The Unsustainable Obama Presidency.  Though much is made of Obama's extremist ideology, thus far his decisions have been plainly political.  His destructive machinations are coming much more hastily than anyone could have presaged.  There is no question that Obama has grossly overreached.  Polls are starting to show a widening gap between Obama's personal popularity versus his policies.  Is the Obama presidency, like the cars we will soon be compelled to buy, built to fall apart?

Barack's Issues Wane.  At last, there is convincing evidence that Obama's poll numbers may be descending to earth.  While his approval remains high -- and his personal favorability is even higher -- the underlying numbers suggest that a decline may be in the offing.  Even as he stands on his pedestal, the numbers under his feet are crumbling.  According to a Rasmussen poll, more voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats to handle the economy, by a margin of 45-39.

Enviro-nazis Ultimate Solution.  Like many Americans last November, I voted for change.  I had hope.  I no longer have hope since the president I voted for never mentioned a fraction of the agenda he now espouses.  I did not vote to lower my standard of living, humble as it may be.  Nor did I ask to jump into the economic abyss in order to "save" the planet.  When the economic chickens of this agenda do come home to roost, many people will change their perception of the whole quasi-religious scam known as "climate change."  Once you view the fall you're about to take, it's natural to turn around and take a good look at who is pushing you.  I voted for change, not economic suicide.

Obama Begins to Implode.  I didn't think he would be stupid and/or politically incompetent enough to try to govern openly from the left but he has.  Moreover, he has rushed through radical (and radically destructive) programs and piled up a mountain of dangerous sovereign debt to do so.  And now the chickens are coming home to roost.  By moving so radically and dramatically he unified Republicans right out of the box.  He did this through executive orders on borders, stem cell research, and by announcing he was going to close Gitmo among other things.  This unity on the right was accomplished within six weeks of his Administration and will one day rank as one of the most inept, and self-defeating political acts in presidential history.

Dem mutiny on climate bill grows, says Peterson.  More and more Democrats are ready to vote against Speaker Nancy Pelosi's climate change bill, according to a congressional committee chairman who opposes his leader.

Obama's White House is Falling Down.  In the sixth month of his presidency, Obama has turned an economic downturn into an economic disaster, taking over and trashing entire companies, and driving the nation deep into deficit spending expected to pass 10 trillion dollars.  Abroad, Obama seems to have no other mode except to continue on with his endless campaign, confusing speechmaking with diplomacy.  It is natural enough that Obama, who built his entire campaign on high profile public speeches reported on by an adoring press, understands how to do nothing else but that.

Public Starting to Question Obama Economic Policies.  A flurry of polls show President Obama's personal popularity remains high, with few Americans blaming him for the financial crisis.  But the polls also show the President is losing public support for his economic policies.

39% Now Blame Bad Economy on Obama's Policies.  While most U.S. voters still blame the Bush Administration for the nation's economic problems, a growing number are inclined to blame President Barack Obama.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% of voters now say the country's economic problems are caused more by the policies Obama has put in place.  That's a 12-point jump from a month ago.

President Barack Obama's poll numbers start to wilt.  Eroding confidence in President Barack Obama's handling of the economy and ability to control spending has caused his approval ratings to wilt to their lowest levels since he took office, according to a spate of recent polls, a sign of political weakness that comes just as he most needs leverage on Capitol Hill.

For President Obama, the honeymoon is officially over.  One job of journalists is, to borrow a horse racing phrase, to "call the turns" of developing news.  Yesterday [6/23/2009], the White House press corps called the end of the Obama honeymoon.  By peppering the President with forceful questions on Iran and other big topics and by challenging some of his slippery answers, reporters captured the changing tone in the country.  Like the end of a real honeymoon, blind infatuation is giving way to a more accurate view of reality.

Debts, Doubts Continue Obama's Slide.  The national news media was still trying to deal with the administration's agenda as gently as possible, as if everything was on a steady course.  But his top proposals are dangerously off course and headed for defeat.

Turning Point for Obama Presidency?  These are critical and difficult days for Mr. Obama.  His job approval ratings, while still high, have fallen.  His support among independents, the crucial swing vote in American politics, has dropped from 60 percent in April to 45 percent now.  His health care proposals are in some trouble on Capitol Hill, amid growing public alarm about the staggering amount of deficit spending they will require.

Obama's promise of a new beginning now hollow.  [Obama] swept into office on a high tide of good will and anticipation.  He was going to fix Wall Street.  He was going to end the war in Iraq.  He was going to bring a new era of transparency to government.  He was going to stimulate a faltering economy and give new hope to a shrinking, frightened middle class.  He was going to close the prison at Guantanamo and end the torture policies of his predecessors.  There was even a hope that we would investigate how we went wrong and who ordered it.  He came to town on a white horse, riding a staggering wave of popular approval in the polls, a golden leader in a golden moment with a golden opportunity, and then he did what?  Nothing much.  Nothing different.

Unemployment at highest level in 25 years.  The turmoil ravaging General Motors and Chrysler generated big jumps in joblessness last month throughout the Midwest, sending Michigan's unemployment rate above 14 percent and pushing three nearby states into double digits.  Jobless rates in Illinois and Indiana surpassed 10 percent, while Ohio's approached 11 percent, according to data released Friday [6/19/2009] in a Labor Department report.

The unemployment problem is bigger than we think.  Unemployment rose to 9.4 percent in May, up from 8.9 percent in April and the highest jobless rate in 25 years.  That's 14.5 million Americans out of work, but it's not the whole story. ... As the Associated Press notes, the combined unemployment and underemployment rate jumps to 16.4 percent.  That's one out of every six people who want a full-time job.

Health Care Will End Obama's Honeymoon.  In the last two weeks we've seen President Obama endure treatment that he isn't exactly accustomed to:  harsh criticism from his own party, a significant slip in the polls, and unfavorable headlines instead of glowing, inflated puff pieces.  It seems that biting off more than he can chew when it comes to health care, government intervention into the private sector, and ballooning deficits have left him choking...

Obama's deadly hand revealed.  Among American Jews, a degree of buyers' remorse has been detected recently.  Almost 80 percent of American Jews voted for Barack Obama as President.  Those of us who warned that this man would endanger Israel were scorned.  How could that possibly be, said the secular, liberal American Jews.  He's a Democrat, he's black and he's pro-abortion.  With this triple-lock of unassailable virtue, how can he be bad for Israel?  Now some of them are getting an awful feeling that they may have made the biggest misjudgment of their lives.

Obama's Cloudy Crystal Ball.  Today's New York Times explores why the White House was wildly off in its employment projections when it was trying to sell the stimulus package.  If you remember, the economic team said that if we passed the stimulus, unemployment would be around 8 percent now and without it, we'd be looking at unemployment in the double digits.  Well, we passed the stimulus, and unemployment is 9.4 percent anyway, and the White House now concedes it will rise above 10 percent.

Nation's Unemployment Rate Edging Closer to Double Digits.  The Labor Department is scheduled to release a report Thursday [7/2/2009] expected to show the nation's unemployment rate edging closer to double digits.  Wall Street economists predict the jobless rate will rise to 9.6 percent in June from 9.4 percent in May.  That would mark a 26-year high.

Our Melting President.  Obama began his presidency with a lot of very enthusiastic support.  About forty-five percent of Americans "strongly approved" of the job he was doing, while an anemic fifteen percent of Americans "strongly disapproved" of the job he was doing.  In a couple of months, that gap between the "strongly approve" and "strongly disapprove" closed to a gap of between eight and ten points.  The number who strongly approved glided down into the high thirties, while the number who strongly disapproved just about doubled, into the low thirties.

Obama 'meddles' in Honduras — and chooses the wrong side.  President Barack Obama has made it clear that he does not want the United States to be seen as "meddling" in Iran's internal politics.  Never mind that the Islamic Republic has been "meddling" in our affairs for the past three decades, if such a bland word can be used to characterize the seizure of our embassy in 1979, the killing of 229 American servicemen in 1983 and the planting of roadside bombs to kill our soldiers in Iraq.

Barack Obama makes basic error over balance of power in Kremlin.  President Obama has made his first mistake in Russia even before he arrives in Moscow today.  His attempt to cast Vladimir Putin as yesterday's man and to drive a wedge between the Prime Minister and President Medvedev demonstrates a misreading of relations in the Kremlin.  Mr Medvedev is in office but not in power and whether he becomes President in more than name depends on Mr Putin's support and intentions.

Obama: 'I am not naïve'. That brief statement of Barack Obama's last month seems every bit as risible as Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook", after one reads the article on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Obama wrote for the student newspaper his senior year at Columbia. ... Obama naïve?  Throw in sophistic, jejune and purblind to everything isn't a neat fit into ideological cubby holes that haven't change in two decades and you'll be on the right track.

Tilting at Windmill Jobs.  About the best we can say about yesterday's June jobs report is that employment is usually a lagging economic indicator.  At least we hope it is, because the loss of 467,000 jobs for the month is one more sign that the economy still hasn't hit bottom despite months of epic fiscal and monetary reflation.  The report is in many ways even uglier than the headline numbers.  Average hours worked per week dropped to 33, the lowest level in at least 40 years.  This means that millions of full-time workers are being downgraded to part-time, as businesses slash labor costs to remain above water.

Job Losses Dampen Hopes for Recovery.  Mounting job losses rattled hopes yesterday [7/2/2009] that the economy is on track to grow later this year, showing that prospects for American workers are terrible — and still getting worse.  Employers reduced their payrolls by 467,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department said, far more than forecasters had expected.

No second stimulus, please.  When the President signed his $787 billion stimulus package into law, he confidently asserted that unemployment would not exceed eight percent.  If Congress hadn't passed it, he warned, it would rise to nine percent by 2010.  Well, unemployment reached 9.5 percent last month, meaning, by the President's own logic, that his stimulus package has failed.

Powell airs doubts on Obama agenda.  Colin Powell, one of President Obama's most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday [7/3/2009] that the president's ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much.

Obama Worshippers Offended by Criticism of The Apology Tour.  Some who voted for Obama are starting to realize what a terrible mistake they made.  Even Colin Powell is starting to become disenchanted by Obama's ultra-liberalism.  Under President Obama's leadership, our country is rushing headlong away from its founding and Constitutional principles toward the abyss of defeatism and destruction.  Those who supported Obama for president should all be ashamed of themselves.

Americans are getting cold feet over Democratic proposals.  The economic distress of the 1930s led Americans to favor less reliance on markets and more on government.  The economic distress of the 1970s led Americans to favor less reliance on government and more on markets.  It doesn't seem unreasonable to expect, as many political liberals have been predicting, that the economic distress of the late 2000s will produce a shift in the 1930s direction.  But it doesn't seem to have happened yet.  Or so the polling evidence tells us.

California's Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics.  The California morass has Democrats in Washington trembling.  The reason is simple.  If Obama's health-care plan passes, then we may well end up paying for it with federal slips of paper worth less than California's.  Obama has bet everything on passing health care this year.  The publicity surrounding the California debt fiasco almost assures his resounding defeat.

Obama's Katrina.  The economy is shaping up to be Barack Obama's Katrina. ... The difference, of course, is that Katrina afflicted a city and a few states, while the recession afflicts the whole country.  Unemployment is 9.5 percent and rising fast, certain to go higher than 10 percent.  And what is the federal government doing about it?  Not much.

Ohio's Ominous Political Storm Clouds.  If there is one set of polling data that must be sending chills down the spine of President Obama and his political aides, this is it: ... Among independents, only one in three people in Ohio approve of Obama's handling of the economy — and his overall job approval rating among independents is only 38 percent.  These findings are significant in several respects.  First, Ohio is not Mississippi.

America Souring on Hope and Change.  As if we were speaking another language, the Democrats are ignoring all the signs that they are overstepping in expanding the federal government and spending like there's no tomorrow:  The first signs of a revolt are apparent in the polls.

Obama's Iceberg.  The jobs report last week opened a long gash beneath the waterline of President Obama's legislative agenda.  Few realize it, but a scramble for lifeboats is about to begin.  On closer inspection, the economic news, which seemed bad, is even worse. Not only did unemployment rise to 9.5 percent but wages fell, undermining the consumption needed to revive a consumption-driven economy.

Independents begin to edge away from President Obama.  In a potentially alarming trend for the White House, independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states, recent polls suggest.

Blame Obama.  When will the failing U.S. economy become President Obama's problem? ... Job losses continue to mount, despite his promises that his "stimulus" plan would create jobs and stop rising unemployment.  The housing market shows no sign of imminent recovery, with prices continuing to decline and more homeowners falling behind on their payments.  Retail sales fell again in June...

The Audacity of Conceit.  If the people who formulate the administration's economic policy are so smart, why is it so disastrous?  Last January, these wizards of smart predicted that if Obama's stimulus package were passed, the unemployment rate would not go beyond 8 percent by the end of the year.  At this point, it is nearing 10 percent and shows no sign of slowing down.  How could they be so wrong with their vaunted brilliance?

Growing Worries about Our Pied Piper.  I think the Obama presidency is going to encounter far more public skepticism than one would expect in the usual post-honeymoon political adjustments.  Why?  Because our president often acts and talks as if he were at war with what we might loosely call "human nature."  There is a growing collective recognition that things simply do not work the way Obama thinks they do.

Obama's Popularity Plummets in Ohio as Residents Express Impatience.  Patience may be wearing thin for President Obama's economic initiatives to produce results -- at least in Ohio -- as a new poll shows the president's popularity plunging in that critical swing state.  The president's approval ratings from Ohio voters dropped from 62 percent in May to 49 percent this month in a new Quinnipiac University poll, making it the first state in which Obama's job approval has dipped below 50 percent.

The end of Obamania.  When he ran for president, Obama said his election would be "the moment the rise of the oceans began to slow."  And when he made his first big foreign trip in April, he was hailed by adoring crowds — and almost-as-adoring politicians — in Britain, Germany, France and the Czech Republic.  But last week, in Russia and Italy, Obamania was little more than a pleasant memory.

The Balloon Deflates.  The stimulus hasn't worked.  Cap-and-trade and health care reform are in trouble.  The can't-we-all-get-along foreign policy isn't leading to a more peaceful world.  And the administration seems to have no idea what to do about Guantánamo.  Congressional Democrats are nervous.  Even Obama's media base is concerned.

Guess What?  It's Not Working.  Despite everything Obama and Democrats have done — or, perhaps, because of everything they've done — the bad economy appears to be getting worse.  Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both hit two-month lows, and financial analysts are starting to speak bluntly about the grim prospects ahead.

Obama's stimulus plan is not working.  President Barack Obama's plan to attack the recession through massive deficit spending is not producing the results the president promised in February when he convinced the American people to go deep into hock in the name of creating jobs and boosting economic growth.  Obama is well into spending the $787 billion approved by Congress for his stimulus programs, and yet the unemployment rate is still climbing and economic recovery remains elusive.

Welcome Back, Carter.  The stimulus package has failed to stimulate as trillions of dollars of debt are being laid upon our children and grandchildren as we build turtle tunnels and try to save marsh mice.  The Obama administration is trying to get money into the economy instead of leaving it where it was in the first place through tax cuts.  As we near double-digit unemployment, it is failing as Carter failed, and the cry goes up:  Where are the jobs?

Bam's Slipping Grip on the Public.  [Scroll down]  Only 39 percent of voters say that Obama is doing an excellent or good job on the economy, 11 points lower than his overall job approval.  Forty-three percent say he's doing fair or poor.  As unemployment continues to rise and even Obama predicts that times will get worse, this gap on economic issues will likely rise.

More bad polling news for the Dems and Obama.  For the second time since Obama took office, Republicans have been leading Democrats on Rasmussen's Generic Congressional Ballot for three consecutive weeks.  The gap between the two parties matches the previous record of three points; however, it is the first time that the gap between the two parties has been that wide for two consecutive weeks.  If the GOP holds its lead for a fourth week, it will be a record.  Ditto if the amount of that lead exceeds three points.

Why Europeans are turning against Obama.  President Obama's policies have now begun to open the eyes of the most hardened socialist in Europe and the reality of world without the United States being the economic and military super power thus potentially ushering in the demise of Western Civilization has become a frequent topic of conversation.  I must confess I never thought it would take less than 6 months into the Obama presidency before articles would appear in one of the most liberal and anti-Bush publications in Europe, Der Spiegel, castigating President Obama.

Obama wags the dog.  President Obama's political strategy has finally crystallized: When all else fails, blame Bush-Cheney.  And make no mistake about it — all else has failed. ... Congressional Democrats and Obama seem to be disturbingly comfortable with placing partisanship before national security and are not above manufacturing a scandal as a means to achieve their objective.

Michigan unemployment tops 15%.  Michigan became the first state in 25 years to suffer an unemployment rate exceeding 15%, according to a report released Friday [7/17/2009] by the Labor Department.  The state's unemployment rate rose to 15.2% in June.  It was the highest of any state since March 1984, when West Virginia's unemployment rate exceeded 15%.

Jobless rate tops 10 percent in 15 states, DC.  Unemployment topped 10% in 15 states and the District of Columbia last month, according to federal data released Friday.  The rate in Michigan surpassed 15%, the first time any state hit that mark since 1984.

Just Say Yes.  [Scroll down]  Another poll tells us that the number of those who believe the Democrats are doing a good job of running Congress is a whopping 18 percent.  On top of that, the President's own numbers are lagging, with seven percent more voters expressing strong disapproval than strong approval. ... Add to this the 9.5 percent unemployment, the utterly decimated consumer confidence figures, and the current Presidential administration is blundering full speed ahead with zero gas in its tank.

What's Next, Mr. President — Cardigans?  According to a July 13 CBS News poll, the once-unassailable president's approval rating now stands at 57 percent, down 11 points from April.  Half of Americans think the recession will last an additional two years or more, 52 percent think Obama is trying to "accomplish too much," and 57 percent think the country is on the "wrong track."

Is unemployment actually much higher? Like close to 20 percent?  Every month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes six "measures of labor underutilization" (i.e. unemployment).  The official unemployment rate used by politicians and the media, referred to as U3, measures the percent of the civilian labor force that is out of work.  But U3 does not include so-called "discouraged workers" who have completely stopped looking for jobs, "marginally attached" workers who had not searched for a job within the past month, or those involuntarily employed part-time instead of full time.

Barack Obama feels the heat, changes the play.  Health care reform, which once appeared flush with momentum from earlier congressional victories, is now on a slog through no less than five committees, which include Democrats who either aren't sold on Obama's expansive vision or can't figure out how to convince voters to pay for it.

Obama Is Delaying the Economic Recovery.  Unemployment continued to rise in June to 9.5%, with the loss of almost another half million jobs in the month (467,000).  Stretches of the country can be considered in a depression, with the unemployment rate for Michigan at 15.2%, California 11.6%, Nevada 12.0%, Oregon 12.2%... Over 100 urban areas now have unemployment rates over 10%.  Adult male unemployment nationwide is already in double digits at 10%.  Black unemployment is 14.7%, with Hispanics at 12.2%.  Teenage unemployment is 24%, with black teenage unemployment close to 40%.

Unemployment in Chicago area reaches 11.3 percent.  The unemployment rate in the Chicago metropolitan area continued to surge in June, reaching 11.3 percent, up from 6.9 percent a year earlier and the highest level since July of 1983, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday.  The rate is up from 10.7 percent in May and from 9.9 percent in April.  It exceeds the state's 10.3 percent rate and the nation's 9.5 percent rate.

The Obama dream turns into nightmare.  As recent Gallup surveys have shown, the United States remains a largely conservative nation, and Obama's brand of high spending, high taxing neo-socialism is increasingly rejected by the American public.  While much of Europe, including Britain, is moving rightwards, America is the only major country in the Western world whose leadership is dramatically moving to the left.  Although he ran for the presidency largely as a centrist, Obama's government is without doubt the most left-wing administration in American history.

Obama's dwindling power.  Superficially, the United States appears to have a presidential system, but in fact it more and more resembles a parliamentary form of government.  When a president loses the approval of the majority of the voters and polls reflect that his ratings have fallen substantially below 50 percent, he loses his power.  In this context, polls are like parliamentary votes of no confidence in European systems.

Poll Shows Majority of Americans Think Country Is Heading In Wrong Direction.  That was fast.  The hope and optimism that washed over the country in the opening months of Barack Obama's presidency are giving way to harsh realities.

Obama poll numbers take a dive.  Barack Obama now has a negative approval score for the first time since his victory last November:  49% approve, 51% disapprove.  Among those who feel strongly one way or the other, 30% strongly approve, 38% strongly disapprove.

Obama's Fall by the Numbers.  Barack Obama is now the tenth most popular president of the last twelve at this stage of his presidency (six months since his inauguration).  A president with huge majorities in both houses of Congress, an adoring national media, enormous and constant media exposure, a fractured and rudderless opposition party, and bold plans to restructure America (change we can believe in) should be doing much better.

Obama's Popularity Falling -- But Not Among Blacks.  On Monday, the daily presidential tracking poll for Rasmussen Reports showed that Barack Obama no longer has the job performance approval of a majority of Americans.  His overall approval rating was down to an even 50 percent.  Released on the same day was a demographic breakdown of that rating:  only 41 percent of white Americans approve of the job he's doing, while 97 percent of blacks approve and 58 percent of all other ethnicities combined approve.

The Editor says...
I suspect the blacks will approve of him as long as he continues to be black, no matter what he does.

Obama's long six months.  The observation of Barack Obama's six-month anniversary as President has received much less attention than did his 100th day.  All the portentous comparisons with FDR have died away, and the administration is in a fierce struggle to salvage two of its most ambitious legislative projects -- cap-and-trade to reduce carbon emissions and universal medical care. ... All the celebrations of a filibuster-proof Democratic Senate (after the brazen theft of the Minnesota Senate election by leftist comedian Al Franken) will not mitigate the public's eroding confidence in the administration; nor their misgivings about higher taxes, bone-crushing deficits and socialized, coercive, health care.

Popular faith in Obama dwindles amid setbacks.  As the recession continues to bite and congress refuses to play ball on health and climate change, the honeymoon seems to be well and truly over for the US President.

Looks like Statism Doesn't Sell After All.  Enthusiasm for President Obama's "subsidize everything, regulate everything" agenda is falling.  Now is the time to pile on.  The American people deserve real change, not the retreat to the collectivist past being sold by the administration.

The God Who Bleeds.  The latest Pew survey shows that only 38 percent of Americans approve of [President Obama's] handling of the economy.  In the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, fewer than half of respondents (48 percent) say Obama can be trusted to keep his word.  Gallup has his approval rating at a new low of 52 percent, and Rasmussen has it below 50 percent for the first time.

Traffic to Obama's White House Web Site Has Plummeted.  The traffic at President Obama's official White House Web site — whitehouse.gov — has fallen from a post-Inauguration peak to nearly the same level it was during the waning days of the Bush administration.  The dramatic drop in traffic has happened despite the Obama Administration's complete redesign of the site.

What Green Jobs?  President Obama devoted nearly $60 billion of his stimulus package to building a new green-based economy rich in renewable energy and strategies to cut carbon.  But despite the price tag, not one green job yet exists.  It comes down to a problem of etymology.  No one can yet agree on what a green job actually is.

Everything That Rises Must Converge.  [Scroll down]  While Obama is known as a talented communicator, it turns out that the more people hear about the health care plans, the more fiercely they oppose them, and this is true even if you remove Republicans from the equation.  Among independents who said they've heard little or nothing about health care legislation, just 35 percent opposed; but among those who said they've heard a lot about the proposals, opposition doubled, to 70 percent.

Why Obama is failing.  Obama is rapidly losing credibility with the public because it was not a leftwing agenda that the public voted for last November.  His difficulties stem from voters belatedly grasping that the values dictating public policy are not theirs but those of the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.  With hindsight, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, ACORN and the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate added up to more than we thought.

Obama 'Impervious to Empirical Evidence'.  Unlike Obama, the public can see the world as it is and recall history as it actually occurred.  We know carbon emissions will only increase so long as India and China refuse to shackle their own economies.  We know Keynesian boondoggle spending doesn't work to pull us out of recessions — and hasn't created any jobs this time around. ... Despite his disdain for facts, Obama cannot evade reality indefinitely.  Unemployment figures and polling data are real.  Deficit figures are real.  And the public's unease with political zealotry is real as well.  Unless Obama gives up his aversion to empirical evidence, the voters will deliver a dose of reality.

Obama vs. the 'Outside Agitators'.  As the various Obama initiatives — socialized medicine, "stimulus" spending, cap-and-trade — grow less and less popular with the voting populace, yesterday's bulging-vein, red-in-the-face Bush-haters are discovering that public discontent manifests itself today in old-fashioned, tried-and-true, rough-and-tumble methods:  booing congressmen at town meetings and shouting down weaselly answers, holding up signs in front of television cameras, marching in protest — even criticizing President Obama on the Internet!

Obama's punctured gravitas:  Barack Obama's political glass jaw is the illusion of gravitas that was successfully sold to enough Americans to get him elected.  His stentorian deep voice persuades many, never mind the pablum of vague clichés he dishes out.  Rush Limbaugh brilliant punctures the illusion by speeding up the tape and raising Obama's register when he plays excerpts of the president speaking.  Minus the deep voice, with an altered rhythm no longer hypnotically caressing the listener, the banality of the actual words becomes clear.

Angry White Men.  The Obamaites had best wake up.  Opposition to health-care reform is surging, and Barack Obama's campaigning has gone hand-in-hand with collapsing support, just as George W. Bush's barnstorming did for Social Security reform.

47!  Rasmussen's latest overall approval rating for President Obama: 47% — a new low for him.  Left-wing Bush-haters ... will note that "the Messiah's" current approval rating, midway through His eighth month, is a mere twelve points above Bush's number, 35%, when Bush left office.  And need I mention that Bush's number came after eight years of "objective press" savagery.  Obama's comes after eight months of "objective press" puffery.

Poll:  Obama Approval Rating Drops to 47 Percent.  President Obama's approval rating has dropped to 47 percent, a new low, according to the Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll.  The survey released Thursday [8/13/2009] showed 52 percent of those polled disapprove of Obama's performance, while 47 percent at least somewhat approve.

Obama Enthusiasts Fail to Back Obamacare.  There were lots of reasons people voted for Barack Obama last November.  The best and most convincing arguments for him never were actually "for" him, but were against John McCain and the GOP.  Most of Obama's voters, at least those who put him over the top, never wanted a federal takeover of their medical care.

54% Say Passing No Healthcare Reform Better Than Passing Congressional Plan.  Thirty-five percent (35%) of American voters say passage of the bill currently working its way through Congress would be better than not passing any health care reform legislation this year.  However, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that most voters (54%) say no health care reform passed by Congress this year would be the better option.

Worst. Hires Rate. Ever.  It's not enough for most people to know what the unemployment rate is and whether it's going up or down.  It's not enough for investors and entrepreneurs living during some of the strangest times in American financial history.  And it's not enough for citizens trying to decide whether the policy proposals now in Washington are worthy of their support.

Is Obama a Lame Duck?  With his passive management style — which inevitably led to overreaching and heavy-handedness by Congressional Democrats — Obama has made himself largely irrelevant on many of the issues he ran on, from health care "reform" to "resetting" our foreign relations.  Here are seven signs that Obama's political suasion is waning.

Plan B Time Is Here.  It turns out there is nothing too big to fail, including the grand plans of Barack Obama.  Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) acknowledged as much yesterday [8/17/2009] in regard to the health-care meltdown.  Faced with enraged Americans at town-hall meetings, Boyd threw in the towel, saying he would "be willing to scrap everything" and start from square one.  First health care; next — you name it.  The whole Obama horizon is ready for a reset.

Why 'Obama-care' is failing:  [Scroll down]  The Obama administration has been astoundingly incompetent.  Lashing out at the town hall protesters, playing the race card, whining about angry white men and whispering ominously about right-wing militias is almost always a sign of liberalism's weakness — a failure of the imagination.

In Government We Trust?  Instead of whining about conspiracies, the average congressman getting yelled at this summer by his own constituents might ask:  How come these people don't trust me?  The Democratic leadership and the progressive left think the town halls emerged from the electric fog of conservative talk shows, but the Obama proposal since early June never had an organized opposition.  It has been sinking beneath its own weight.  It is the weight of doubtful government.

Obama unaccustomed to having his lies challenged.  American citizens have been vilified, marginalized, lied about and smeared by these Washington hucksters.  Good people, frustrated at the arrogance of their government, are being called names like a mob, Nazis, evil-mongers, terrorists, etc.  Meanwhile, the president and Congress are watching the poll numbers they live by fall into the basement.  I wonder why.  Most of us learned in kindergarten that when you call other people names, they are not likely to react kindly.  And they certainly are not likely to vote for you again.

Democratic Party ratings plummet.  The percentage of Americans who hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party has slipped below 50 percent for the first time since President Barack Obama took office, according to a new Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday [8/19/2009].  Only 49 percent of Americans now hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party, down from 62 percent in the same poll shortly after Obama assumed office.

Obama's Well Organized Community Is Falling Apart.  It's now official — the average American is not as stupid as Washington DC Democrats and their international leftist friends thought.  Their mystery messiah has already gone from hero to zero after only seven months in power, and Obama has now become a noose around the neck of every American Democrat, and every international fascist who "hoped" Obama could usher in Marxist "change."

The Strange Case of the Obama Meltdown.  The Spell is Broken. Cap-and-trade, the mega-deficits, the apology tours, and the sleaze of some appointments and congressional grandees (cf. Rangel, Dodd, Murtha, etc.) were stimulants, but not in themselves enough to awaken the somnolent American people from their collective trance.  Yet health care was like a shot of adrenaline that jolted the patient out of his slumber.  Suddenly hope and change no longer worked like the swinging watch and "you're getting sleepy" lingo.  Voters are feeling they've been "had" and were mesmerized into being used for an extremist agenda.

Obama's Brick Wall:  The American People.  Obama's free-falling poll numbers are not the result of a misinformation campaign from a small sliver of unruly conservative opponents, as the administration wants you to believe.  They are a reflection of the public's reaction to Obama's policies and his own comprehensive misinformation campaign to dupe the people into believing America is unsalvageable without fundamental change.

Slipping into quicksand:  President Obama, once considered as politically agile and deft as a gazelle, is now looking increasingly like a deer caught in the headlights.  His poll numbers on everything from job approval to his handling of the economy, health care, taxes and bailouts are dropping faster than a cement shoe in the Hudson River.

Out There in America.  What has coalesced, it seems, over the past week is the perception that Obama is angry, panicky, and without a game plan, and that his critics no longer cower.  In short, out there something has changed:  opposition and criticism of the president is everywhere — in mainstream media, in casual conversation, and in local press.  The assumption that Obama knows best has been shattered...

The Obama messiah delusion has well and truly exploded.  [Scroll down]  Retreat, however, is now turning into a rout, as politicians return to Washington after scrubbing off the tar and feathers acquired at town hall meetings across the Union.  For Obama now, the desperate priority is to get some kind of healthcare measure through Congress — any cosmetic legislation that will save his face and his presidency.  Whatever it is, it will be a pale imitation of his grand socialist vision.  Americans have risen to the occasion: at a historic moment they have decisively rejected Big Government.

Stop Digging?  [President Obama] is losing large slices of independents, moderate Republicans, and conservative Democrats who fear his polarizing attempts to transform America.  At precisely the same time, his left-wing base is hectoring him to get even more self-destructively statist — as if proposed record tax hikes, corporate and bank takeovers, socialized medicine, cap and trade, race/class/gender agenda appointments, serial apologies abroad, and a $2 trillion annual deficit just didn't cut it.

Survey Shows Obama's Base Is Eroding.  There is no question that health care is badly wounding the president.  And the divisions on the Democratic side are widening, stretching from a gap into a gulf.

Bam's $2 Trillion Friday Surprise.  The Obama administration did it again last week — getting bad news out on a Friday evening to minimize press coverage.  Within hours after President Obama left Washington for his vacation on Martha's Vineyard, the Office of Management and Budget leaked word that, sometime this week, it will revise its projection of the federal budget deficit over the next 10 years from $7 trillion to $9 trillion.

The Collapse of Obama's Hot Air Balloon.  What we're seeing with Obama's plummeting poll numbers is a quick case of buyer's remorse.  More broadly, Gallup reports that conservatives now outnumber liberals in all 50 states, with more Americans self-identifying themselves as conservative than at any time in the past four years.

Real Unemployment At 16 Percent.  Steven Camarota analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on America's unemployed rate, which was officially at 9.7 percent in June.  The official jobless population was 15,095,000 at that point.  But when those who work part-time involuntarily and those who may hope for work but have not actively sought work are factored in, that month's jobless rate rises to 16.8 percent.  America therefore had an estimated underutilized labor force of 26,573,000 million people that month.

Why the 'O'-ministration will implode in weeks:  Never has an administration who had more firepower at their disposal, been set to so totally fail in the next six to eight weeks.  It is nearly a foregone conclusion.  It is nearly unavoidable.  And it defies all logic given the sizable majority the administration has in both houses of Congress.

You Think Obama Has Poll Problems.  Much has been written about Obama's stark and speedy decline in the polls.  However, voters like Congress even less.

Obama, the Mortal.  Let's be clear:  This is a fall, not a collapse.  He's not been repudiated or even defeated.  He will likely regroup and pass some version of health insurance reform that will restore some of his clout and popularity.  But what has occurred — irreversibly — is this:  He's become ordinary.  The spell is broken.

U.S. unemployment rate jumps to 26-year high of 9.7%.  The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to a 26-year high of 9.7% in August as nonfarm payrolls fell by 216,000, the 20th consecutive monthly decline, the Labor Department estimated Friday [9/4/2009].

Obama's declining support among whites.  After a summer of health care battles and sliding approval ratings for President Obama, the White House is facing a troubling new trend:  The voters losing faith in the president are the ones he had worked hardest to attract.

Panic at the White House.  In the dark days of the Iraq war, when valiant U.S. troops faced down multiple enemies who obeyed no rules of war, President Bush never panicked.  Even when his approval rating dropped below 35 percent, the president slugged it out for better or worse, depending on your worldview.  The same cannot be said of President Obama, who is now reeling under the pressure of his collapsing health care vision.  The latest evidence of this was a posting on the "Organizing for America" website, which was set up by Obama in January.

The Crashing Liberal Agenda.  After an adventurous and, at times, treacherous August recess, lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. this week.  Liberals hope to jumpstart the President's agenda, which has stalled because public support for his big-ticket initiatives has crashed.  The swing in public sentiment can be seen in President Obama's approval rating, which is hovering around 50 percent.

The Goldilocks Principle in American Politics.  Obama is in early trouble and the fate of his presidency may be at stake.  The presidency that many thought might resemble FDR's is looking more and more like Jimmy Carter's.  The aspirations of last November are becoming the trepidations of this September.

Some Blacks Now Have Doubts About Obama.  According to the Pew Research Center, the president's approval rating nationwide is now 10 points lower than last April.  Included in this is a three-point drop in his approval among blacks.  You might say, Star, a drop in approval ratings among blacks from 95 percent to 92 percent is trivial.  But I say not so.  If we assume this reflects the 16 million blacks who voted for Obama last November, a three point shift means there are about a half million blacks who now have buyer's remorse.  This is meaningful.  You take real risks going against the establishment in black America.

Obama's Failure of Credibility.  The cause of Obama's freefall in the polls can be reduced down to one simple word, "Credibility."  Credibility is the board game of politics and the rules are fairly simple. ... Obama and his lackeys actually thought that getting into the White House meant an endless free ride.  Now they are slowly beginning to realize they were wrong.

So far, Obama's failing miserably.  Obama is trying to fundamentally alter the American economy by backing sweeping environmental, labor and health care legislation.  He wants to change the way Americans consume energy, unionize and see their doctors.  So far, he's failing miserably.

California Joblessness Reaches 70-Year High.  California's unemployment rate in August hit its highest point in nearly 70 years, starkly underscoring how the nation's incipient economic recovery continues to elude millions of Americans looking for work.

Who's Threatening Obama?  While criticism of Obama and his policies has been intense, some of the strongest attacks on Obama have come not from the right, but from the left. ... While the Communist Party USA is strongly supporting the President, there are many on the far-left who despise him.  Citing Afghanistan and other issues, some of the Marxist true-believers already view Obama as a sell-out.

The Trouble with Obama.  For a talented man who ran a textbook campaign and was declared a great president before he even took office, Barack Obama has been having a rather hard time.  The Midas Touch of 2008 has seemed to desert him.  The famed oratory has not made a difference.  The uniting president has turned into the ultra-divider.  The music has died.

A PR Nightmare for the Obamas.  Obama's messianic appeal is wearing thin, both at home and abroad.  I think that once Sarkozy essentially said to the world, "The emperor has no clothes," the Obama facade crumbled.

Jobless Rate Climbs to 9.8 Percent in September.  If laid-off workers who have settled for part-time work or have given up looking for new jobs are included, the unemployment rate rose to 17 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994.

Mugged by Reality.  Barack Obama staked his entire campaign for the presidency on the premise that the world doesn't have to be the way it is.  Obama promised a new brand of "direct, presidential diplomacy" that would resolve the conflicts between the United States and its adversaries and he promised to remove the partisanship from the conflicts in Washington.  Well, it turns out George W. Bush didn't make the world the way it is.

Obama's Olympic failure will only add to doubts about his presidency.  There has been a growing narrative taking hold about Barack Obama's presidency in recent weeks:  that he is loved by many, but feared by none; that he is full of lofty vision, but is actually achieving nothing with his grandiloquence.  Chicago's dismal showing yesterday [10/2/2009], after Mr Obama's personal, impassioned last-minute pitch, is a stunning humiliation for this President.

Where Have All the Stickers Gone?  Here's a bulletin based on an unscientific survey and verified by friends:  Obama stickers are getting harder to spot.  That's right.  The ubiquitous blue stickers with the round, red-white-and blue symbol are coming off the bumpers.  Even in northern Virginia, which has large pockets of yellow dog Democrats, the stickers are disappearing.

Barack-in-the-box shelved: Frenzy fades.  Heather Courtney and David Marzo apparently plowed some retirement savings into the production of a lot of jack-in-the-boxes with smiling Barack Obama puppets insidie, and they've got 3,000 sitting in a warehouse — $29.95 each, when they sell.  Sales, they say, have slowed to a "drizzle."

The Trauma of Obama.  Interestingly, there's this eerie silence about Obama.  You don't hear a peep about him.  Of course, liberals are still foaming at the mouth about Sarah Palin, tea baggers, birthers, and all things conservative.  But adulation for Obama:  Missing in Action.  A telling sign:  the life size black and white cardboard doll of Obama in a storefront near my office has been taken down.  Where did it go — to the local recycling center with other discarded Obamabilia?

Support For ObamaCare Reaches New Low.  A new poll by Rasmussen Reports finds that President Barack Obama's plan to take America's health-care system in an even more statist direction has less support now than ever before.

No Master Plan at All.  It may be that the whole Hope and Change routine has been little more than a lot of cheesy special effects — and a cynical game to convince the public that the great and powerful leader really is worthy of awe.  The people are finally figuring out the act.

Obama wins popularity contests, not much else.  President Obama is following the advice of that great philosopher Woody Allen, who once said that "eighty percent of success is showing up."  In health care legislation, foreign relations and, now, the Olympics, Obama believes his very presence is enough to bend the world to his whim.  But even Allen allowed for 20% of something else.  I'm guessing good ideas and effort.

Flail.  Your foreign policy is in such nerve-racking disarray that even the president of France is horrified; your public relations outfit at the New York Times has begun to reconsider signing you as a client; every step you take heightens tensions with your opposition; ... Really, are you an evil genius with a plot to take over the world just pretending to be an empty vessel?  Or are you actually an empty vessel pretending to be a president?

Jobless rate hits 17 percent.  America's jobless crisis is much worse than the 9.8 percent unemployment rate reported Friday [10/2/2009].  To understand how there are many more unemployed than the government reports, it's necessary to look at the numbers used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate the unemployment rate.  The Household Survey numbers paint a bleak picture that no one is discussing.

Whom Will Barack Blame for His Olympic-Sized Failure?  The IOC bloodletting made Barack Obama — who soon may be regarded as the worst president in American history — look like the dissociative bumbler many of us know him to be.  The president put his prodigious ego on the line only to have it flailed like an intelligent student in a women's studies class.  At Copenhagen, Barack came, saw, emoted, and got duly slaughtered.  Even his omnipotent teleprompter couldn't have put a positive spin on the happenings.

Obama's Job-Killing Agenda.  [President] Obama is pushing a job-killing agenda that promises to expand an already bloated government while simultaneously shrinking individual freedom.  In its latest official tally of jobs being lost per month, more than seven months after Obama's $787 billion non-stimulating stimulus bill was rushed through Congress, the Labor Department reported that 263,000 more jobs were lost in September, increasing the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent and bringing the total number of unemployed to 15.1 million.

Barack Obama sees worst poll rating drop in 50 years.  The decline in Barack Obama's popularity since July has been the steepest of any president at the same stage of his first term for more than 50 years.

Polling Polls:  Americans Independent and Irate.  A poll of opinion polls shows that Americans are undergoing rapidly changing attitudes.  RealClearPolitics, a national polling aggregator, shows that Americans are becoming less and less thrilled about the direction of the country and with the job Congress is doing.  Support has been peeling off steadily, says RealClearPolitics executive editor Tom Bevan.  The danger for the Obama administration and the Democrat Party is the independent voters' shift away from Democrat policies.

What happened to Obamamania?  Many Obamenthusiasts were thrilled by the idea of putting Obama in and getting George W. Bush out.  They achieved their goal a year ago.  What more is left? ... "We are the change we are seeking," Obama said during the campaign.  Well, the Obamenthusiasts got that change.  Now they can go back to gardening or Sudoku.

Obama's Fight to Win or Lose.  Obama is exactly where he didn't expect to be.  His popularity has declined at a record rate.  His supposed power of persuasion has turned out to be nonexistent.  More Americans oppose his health care initiative than support it.  And Republicans are prepared to combat him and Democrats on every major provision of it.

The Obama Revolution Is Over.  It wasn't supposed to be this way.  Obama was going to change the face of American politics.  Instead he has made it less attractive to a growing share of the public.  Whether it's trillion-dollar deficits or government-run health care, Americans are at last coming to terms with what they voted for.

Welcome to the "Post-Obama" Era!  69,000,000 voters fell for the smoke and mirrors and the fairy tale promise of CHANGE, without so much as a clue as to what that change might represent.  How many of those 69,000,000 votes would have been cast for Barack Obama had his Marxist leanings been understood?  How many would have voted for a man who would denigrate American leaders and policies while on foreign soil? ... How many would have voted for the man who has created a stealth cabinet of czars in order to avoid Congressional oversight?

A deathblow to ObamaCare.  Obviously, [Chris] Christie's victory is a body blow to Obama after Corzine outspent the Republican by five-to-one and the president put on a serious push for the incumbent.  Corzine's defeat sends a message that the nation is moving sharply against Obama.

Jobless Rate Jumps to 10.2% as Labor Market Still Weak.  The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly jumped to 10.2 percent in October, breaching the politically sensitive double-digit barrier for the first time in 26-1/2 years, even though the pace of job losses slowed.

How many more jobs will Obama kill?  Unemployment has hit 10.2 percent, the highest level since the 1983 recession.  Obama administration officials will no doubt try to spin this latest bad economic news by noting that unemployment is typically a "lagging indicator."  That was true in the old days, but it won't cut it in the age of the global economy and Internet-driven 24/7 news cycle.

The Editor says...
It's the worst economy since the Great Depression!  I mean, it must be.  John Kerry said so, back in 2004 (Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4]), and the economy was in much better shape back then.  Why isn't Senator Kerry repeating his claim today?

What Jobs?  One has to hope that the Obama administration does not believe its own rhetoric about the supposed success of its fiscal stimulus program in generating new jobs.  For while the administration assures us that the fiscal stimulus is generating new jobs according to schedule, the U.S. labor market continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

Doctor's note required to read this column.  Were you shocked that the nation's unemployment rate in October jumped to 10.2 percent, the first time it has been in double digits since 1982?  Did the fact that another 190,000 jobs disappeared from the US economy last month cause you to lose sleep?  Well, if you couldn't handle those numbers you should not read any more of this column.

Sinking numbers for Obama, Democrats.  The victories by Republicans in two Governors races last Tuesday appear to have lifted the party's prospects in 2010 and in 2012 in the minds of voters with 58% of those surveyed by Rasmussen now believe the next President will be Republican.

Blame Obama for Sky-High Unemployment.  This wasn't supposed to happen.  At the end of February, after the $787 billion stimulus was approved, the Obama administration predicted that unemployment would average only 8.1 percent this year.  Indeed, in February the unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent.  Yet, unemployment now stands at 10.2 percent and keeps rising.  There is also another, wider unemployment measure seldom mentioned.  When you count the unemployed who have become so discouraged that they have given up looking for work or have only accepted a part-time job, our country now has an unemployment rate that stands at a staggering 17.5 percent.

Has Obama Peaked?  Yes, He Has.  To listen to some pundits, Barack Obama's public image began taking a serious beating when the off-year election returns came in a week ago.  Or maybe it was the undeserved Nobel Prize, his approach to the war in Afghanistan, or when he revved up his pursuit of national health-care reform.  But the pundits, as usual, are wrong.  In reality, Obama peaked the night he was elected.

Clueless Summit.  Next month's "Jobs Summit" at the White House promises to feature a lot of posing and preening by Washington politicians.  Unfortunately, despite lots of photo ops, it's not likely to result in many jobs.  Something's wrong when the government of the most prolific job-creating economy in history has to schedule a "summit" to decide how to create jobs.

Remember When.  Massive spending and big promises do not a great leader make.  So now, here we are.  Unemployment is higher, confusion about the war is greater, and division in our country is fiercer.  The platitudes of hope and change are gradually being replaced by the pragmatism of liberty and responsibility.  While of the real hope of America lies in the people of the nation, too many people in this nation have put their hope in one man.

Unemployment rates rise in 29 states.  A growing number of states reported rising jobless rates in October, and thirteen states reported unemployment rates above the national average of 10.2%, according to a government report released on Friday [11/20/2009].  Overall, jobless rates increased in 29 states and the District of Columbia last month, while they fell in 13 states, according to a monthly Labor Department survey on state unemployment.

Signs of a scandal brewing?
Anita Dunn's Husband Becomes White House Counsel.  [Scroll down slowly]  A highly placed Washington attorney ...[says] "I'm surprised not only that the press seems to be ignoring the fact that two presidential lawyers have left at about the same time, [...] "but that no one seems to care that for the first time, I think ever, we have a President's personal attorney also serving as White House counsel.

Gallup:  Obama below 50% for first time.  Most other pollsters already have Barack Obama's job approval into plurality positions at best; Rasmussen has him under water at 47%/52%.  The others that have Obama in majority territory have big sampling problems that overstates Democratic support.  But undoubtedly, having Gallup confirm the trend emphasizes the point that Hope and Change isn't selling any more.

A Good Time Not to be a Democrat.  Despite the grand triumph of the Democratic leadership in ramming a government health care takeover through the House, things are not going well for the Dems.  Indeed, one suspects that the ideological crusade to socialize American medicine at any cost is one of the chief factors driving down support for the governing party.

What Happened?  Plainly, Obama's poll numbers have hit the skids, as poll after poll registers new lows in approval and new highs in disapproval.  More independents now disapprove than approve of his performance.  And more voters disapprove of his handling of specific issues such as health care.  So what happened, and why now?

The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed.  As experts debate the potential speed of the US recovery, one figure looms large but is often overlooked:  nearly 1 in 5 Americans is either out of work or under-employed.  According to the government's broadest measure of unemployment, some 17.5 percent are either without a job entirely or underemployed.  The so-called U-6 number is at the highest rate since becoming an official labor statistic in 1994.

Poll Numbers Crash.  Here is some more sobering poll news for Obama:  The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday [11/24/2009] shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President.

Inside the numbers:  How Obama has fallen.  We've all seen reports that Barack Obama's job approval rating has recently fallen below 50 percent in the Gallup poll for the first time since the president took office in January.  A look inside those numbers — Gallup publishes a weekly breakdown of its results by demographic groups — shows that there are a lot of other firsts in the polling.

Dems' Canary In The Coal Mine.  Everyone is watching and waiting for the "canary in the coal mine," that Democrat whose retirement will tell us how nervous incumbents really are about their chances in 2010.  Is Kansas Rep. Dennis Moore, who abruptly announced his retirement on Monday, that canary?

Growing public backlash over Obamacare.  Two-dozen Democrats from Republican-leaning districts, who voted for the House version of President Obama's increasingly unpopular health care reform, are beginning to feel a growing public backlash.  ReversetheVote.org has already raised $123,105 that will be dedicated exclusively to defeating all 24, including Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., in 2010 if they don't reject the final conference committee version of the bill.

The Five Obama Fails.  Nearly one year after Obama's inauguration, we have an economy heading in the wrong direction, unemployment rising, a deficit that will double, banks failing, a war command which is virtually ignored, 9/11 terrorists given Constitutional rights at a civil trial, and an administration hell-bent on destroying — not "reforming" — the world's best health care system.

Barack Obama is so last season.  For Barack Obama, the magic is gone.  He's here, but the glamour has vanished.  He still talks, but few people appear to be listening.  Sometime in spring, it began to be noticed (by Fred Barnes, among others) that he was losing the power to move people, or shape their opinions.  When his agenda began meeting resistance, he gave a series of speeches and resistance grew stronger.  The more he explained, the more people disliked what he said he was doing.

Blue Dog John Tanner to retire from House.  Tanner becomes the second Blue Dog Democrat in two weeks to retire rather than face what could have been a contentious re-election in 2010.

Bam:  Man in the muddle.  Perhaps it was inevitable.  A man who voted "present" 130 times in the Illinois Legislature couldn't possibly morph into a savvy and decisive leader of the free world in such a short time.  Yet even the pessimists among us are alarmed by the cloud of uncertainty and confusion hanging over the White House.  Less than a year on the job, President Obama seems to have run out of both charm and ideas.

Obama's 47 Percent Approval Lowest of Any President at This Point.  President Obama's job approval rating has fallen to 47 percent in the latest Gallup poll, the lowest ever recorded for any president at this point in his term.

You gotta love this.  According to Politico, President Obama's support has declined to the point that only 50 percent of voters now say they prefer having him as President to George W. Bush.  Forty-four percent say they'd rather have Bush.

Obama's Humbling Year.  President Obama's slide has indeed been steep, steady, and historic.  There are a dozen or so political data points that all point in the same direction.  His act has grown tired and stale in an astonishingly short period of time.

Democrats Whistling Past Graveyard.  The unexpected victory of Republican Jimmy Higdon in the Kentucky state Senate special election — despite a 2-to-1 Democratic registration advantage — is another fire bell in the night that national Democrats are going to ignore.  Marking the 33rd Republican win in the 50 or so special elections since 2008, the Kentucky race was a referendum on health care reform.

Why Are We Tiring of Obama?  [Scroll down]  He is experiencing the sharpest popularity decline in the history of first-year administrations.  The problem is not just that he inherited a bad economy; Reagan did too. ... Instead, after 11 months there has emerged a series of bothersome incidents that the public has come to associate with Obama, both the man and his philosophies.

Obama goes from dazzle to drone.  Obama's sagging numbers are less a regular presidential "approval rating" than a measure of the ever-widening gulf between the messianic ballyhoo and his actual performance.  For Americans interested in not pre-crippling the lives of their as-yet unborn children and grandchildren, his windy leave-'em-wanting-less routine is currently one of their best friends.

The Most Boring Man in the World?  Barack Obama's vibe used to be a cross between JFK and Beatlemania.  Now it's fading into "Oh, him again?"

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.  The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday [12/12/2009] shows that 25% 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 -16.  That's the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President.

'Welcome to Obamaville' Sign At Homeless Tent City, Media Mum.  A sign reading "Welcome to Obamaville Colorado's Fastest Growing Community" appeared at a homeless tent city in Colorado Springs this week.  You probably didn't hear about it because outside of two Colorado television stations nobody found this newsworthy.

Obama:  What a Difference A Year Makes.  Americans and the rest of the world have had a year in which to watch Barack Obama and it has been one of constant disappointment and growing fears.  That trend is unlikely to change.

The Obama Agenda Is Sinking Fast.  These are difficult days for modern liberalism.  The high hopes and expectations of Obama and his supporters are crashing down all around them.  And those who pronounced the death of conservatism earlier this year look sillier and sillier with every passing month.

A time of universal deceit.  Gallup's just-released Honesty and Ethics of Professions poll shows that for the first time, most people — 55 percent — rate members of Congress low or very low for honesty and ethics.  Senators come in slightly better at 49 percent.  A whopping 9 percent of members of Congress and 11 percent of senators get high or very high ratings in honesty and ethics.

Amid rumbling discontent, Dems head for the exits.  While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scrambles to assemble 60 Democratic votes for health care legislation that, according to the realclearpolitics.com average of recent polls, is opposed by a 53 percent-to-38 percent margin, several Democratic members of the House are scrambling for the exits on what is starting to look like a sinking ship.

Just The Plan For How Not To Create Jobs.  The biggest political issue today and in the 2010 election is that one in six Americans are jobless.  The political party that offers a solution has the best chance of victory — but, so far, both parties just don't seem to get it.  We are told that the unemployment rate is 10.2%, but that's only part of the problem.  When you add discouraged Americans who have quit looking for a job, plus the underemployed (i.e., working only part-time while seeking full-time work), the figure rises to at least 17.5%.

Americans Souring on Democrats.  Less than a year after Inauguration Day, support for the Democratic Party continues to slump, amid a difficult economy and a wave of public discontent, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.  The findings underscored how dramatically the political landscape has changed during the Obama administration's first year.

The President Is No B+.  Barack Obama has won a place in history with the worst ratings of any president at the end of his first year:  49% approve and 46% disapprove of his job performance in the latest USA Today/Gallup Poll.  There are many factors that explain it, including weakness abroad, an unprecedented spending binge at home, and making a perfectly awful health-care plan his signature domestic initiative.  But something else is happening.

Why Independents Are Abandoning Obama.  President Obama road into office on the coattails of some horrible economic realities while promising Americans "hope and change."  The nation needed both to energize new policies and to help us continue down the path to recovery, specifically in the areas of job creation and economic growth.  Those who ignorantly — and I use this word literally not pejoratively — voted for him, have now woken up saying to themselves over and over and over again, "What the heck have I done?"

The Health Care Bill Is Political Suicide.  [Scroll down]  But the biggest problem in 2009 was not really that liberals didn't turn out to vote.  The problem was that the Democrats lost Independents and moderates.  Take Virginia.  There was a substantial drop-off in Democratic performance from 2008 to 2009.  But the real change this year is how Independents voted (as was the case in 2006).  Independents in Virginia voted 49%-48% for Obama in 2008, but gave Bob McDonnell a 66%-33% landslide win in 2009.

Obama, the laughingstock.  Is our President, and America itself, becoming laughingstock of the world to be ignored and dismissed, if not ridiculed, as Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro have?  The world has taken measure of the man and he has fallen short.

Anti-war activists losing patience with Obama.  Abby Tomlinson voted for President Barack Obama, hoping that he would help end the war in Iraq quickly.  But the Lubbock woman said she's disappointed in what the "peace" candidate has accomplished along those lines, nearly a year after taking office.  Two wars continue.

Obama, left behind.  Boy, this "Obama Derangement Syndrome" really has gotten out of hand.  Why, just this past week the decreasingly popular president has been called a "bald-faced liar," "an executive who can't bring himself to lead," and even an "Uncle Tom."  And that's just by liberals.  The progressive crack-up, before Obama even reaches the end of his first year, has been an awesome and occasionally humorous sight to see.

Dreading our future.  President Obama, for whom I voted because I believed he was the best choice available, is a profound disappointment.  I now regard his campaign as a sly bait-and-switch operation, promising one thing and delivering another.  Shame on me.  Equally surprising, he has become an insufferable bore.  The grace notes and charm have vanished, with peevishness and petty spite his default emotions.

Nearly 60 percent Say President Obama's Decisions 'Bad for America'.  A majority of Americans believe an increased government role in health care would lead to more government corruption, while a plurality of Americans think that scientific data supporting man-made global warming is "mostly falsified."  That is what a new poll by Survey USA reveals.  The poll also shows that 58 percent of Americans believe that decisions by the Obama administration have been "bad for America," as opposed to 37 percent who think Obama's decisions have been "good for America."

A Political Earthquake.  In today's Rasmussen presidential poll, only 26 percent of the nation's voters strongly approve of Barack Obama's performance as president, while 43 percent strongly disapprove — giving him a Presidential Approval Index rating, a sum calculated by subtracting the number of strong disapprovals from the number of strong approvals, of negative 17.

The Health-Care Backlash.  The collateral damage to Obama from this bill is enormous.  More than any candidate in our lifetime, Obama won based on the aesthetics of politics.  It wasn't because of his record; he barely had one.  And it wasn't because of his command of policy; few people knew what his top three policy priorities were.  It was based instead on the sense that he was something novel, the embodiment of a "new politics" — matured, high-minded and gracious, intellectually serious.  That was the core of his speeches and his candidacy.  In less than a year, that core has been devoured, most of all by this health-care process.

Big Government Backlash.  President Obama's approval rating has sunk below 50% for the first time, but for our money the bigger polling news is the way his agenda is turning the public against activist government.

Griffith said Dem agenda is reason for his party switch.  Freshman Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.) announced Tuesday afternoon [12/22/2009] he will switch to the GOP, citing the Democratic agenda as his reason.  Griffith said Democratic legislative priorities, including healthcare reform, are harmful to the country.

Are Democrats exiting the sinking ship?  Part 6.  [Congressman Parker] Griffith's party switch reduces the magic number of seats Republicans need to pick up in 2010 to get a majority in the House from 41 to 40.  It also raises the question of whether newly elected Democrats in similar seats — Bobby Bright in Alabama 2 and Travis Childers in Mississippi 1 — will choose to switch parties.

The Death Of Moderate Democrats.  Rep. Parker Griffith, the newly minted Republican, is typical of his class of freshmen Democrats from heavily John McCain districts.  For them to survive, they need to switch parties.  Otherwise, they — and the damage they have done — will be two-year footnotes to history.

US voters give Barack Obama an F.  Barack Obama gave himself a B+ on Oprah Winfrey's White House Christmas Special on ABC, but the American public is far less generous.  The latest influential Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll of likely US voters gives Obama a thumping 56 percent disapproval rating — an F grade by any measure.

"Shut up" is a favorite Democrat talking point.  "This is not an administration that takes bad news well," Jennifer Rubin wrote on Commentary's blog, referring to Robert Gibbs' fit when asked to explain the Gallup poll showing the president taking on water, sinking into the high-to-mid 40s, and losing ground fast.

Democrats' Blues Grow Deeper in New Poll.  Less than a year after Inauguration Day, support for the Democratic Party continues to slump, amid a difficult economy and a wave of public discontent, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.  The findings underscored how dramatically the political landscape has changed during the Obama administration's first year.

Obama's year of falling swiftly.  As Barack and Michelle Obama prepare for their first Christmas in the White House, they might wonder why he has fallen so swiftly from being virtually a national icon to the unhappy status as among the least popular occupants of the Oval Office since modern polling began.

The Editor says...
Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Obama are unpopular because they're a couple of America-hating communists bent on destroying this country from the inside out.  Oh, and incidentally, they didn't spend Christmas in the White House -- they were on the beach in Hawaii.

That's typical of the wealthy liberal elite who pretend to watch out for the "little guy."

Are Democrats exiting the sinking ship? Part VIII.  Some more bad news for the very able Chris Van Hollen, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:  four more Democratic challenger candidates have decided not to run.

Obama's last year.  A Democrat strategist told Bryon York of the Washington Examiner that House empress Nancy Pelosi was comfortable with losing "20 to 40" seats in the lower chamber as the price for getting health care "reform" passed. ... If even Pelosi is writing off up to 40 seats, it should be a bright year for Republican House candidates.

What's More Important Than Being Electable?  Being Able To Govern.  The shine is off.  Recent tracking polls have shown the president's popularity trending downwards under 50%.  And both Public Policy Polling and Rasmussen show President Obama in tight races with Republican front-runners, and even with some non-Republican front-runners. ... Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) comes within eight points on Public Policy Polling.  Yes, the 75-year-old Texas congressman is nearly as close to Obama as John McCain was in 2008.  This suggests a growing number of Americans, as of this moment, would vote for anyone over Barack Obama.

Dorgan announces retirement.  In a huge surprise, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) has just announced [01/05/2010] he will not seek reelection.

GOP momentum on the rise.  Long Island Republican Congressman Peter King, one of only two Republicans remaining in the Empire State's House delegation, is reconsidering a run for the Senate seat held by appointed Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.  Momentum is building.

Democrats exiting the sinking ship?  Part X.  Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, has decided not to run for reelection in November and will retire at age 68.  He has served in public office since he was elected North Dakota Tax Commissioner in 1968 and has won 12 statewide elections.

The Democrats' Sinking Ship.  The back-to-back Senate retirements of Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd may be just the beginning.  The people have seen the future of health care reform and found it doesn't work.  Apres moi, le deluge.

Obama's failed freshman year.  President Obama's freshman-year foreign policy was the worst in living memory.  At the dawn of 2010, the United States finds itself noticeably weaker in international affairs than it was when Mr. Obama took office, and there are no signs of improvement in the year ahead.

Out-to-lunch O living out a disaster film.  When the alarm first went off — the 3 a.m. phone call — they hit the snooze button, putting the president's personal comfort ahead of the country's.  Everything since has been damage control, including yesterday's endlessly advertised meeting with his national security team.  Obama's remarks afterward were direct and forceful, but the door of doubt about his national security leadership has been blown off the hinges.

Abandon ship!  Party is sinking.  Sen. Chris Dodd's announcement yesterday that he would abandon his hopeless bid for re-election is only the latest in an alarming and growing body of evidence that President Obama and Democrats in Congress have blown through more political good will in one year than most parties do in a decade.  With elections still 10 months off, 13 incumbent congressional Democrats have decided to give up rather than face the certain wrath of voters.

Dodd, Dorgan out; 5 other Senate Dems vulnerable.  While two Senate Democrats already have seen the handwriting on the wall and bailed out of re-election races, five others trail Republicans in states where President Obama and his trillion-dollar health-care-reform plan are increasingly unpopular.  From Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid trails badly, to Arkansas, where Sen. Blanche Lincoln is polling at just 40 percent in head-to-head matchups with four possible Republican challengers, opposition to the health-care bill is reverberating.

Number of long-term unemployed hits highest rate since 1948.  On Friday [1/8/2010], in the December unemployment report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the number of people out of work for 27 weeks or more hit 6.1 million Americans, or 40 percent of all 15.3 million jobless.  This is the most since 1948, when the data was first recorded, according to the Department of Labor.

A Year Ago, Obama Was Invincible.  Remember President Obama's huge victory, when he received 365 electoral votes and had historic approval ratings?  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Obama's Independent Woes Intensify.  January's IBD/TIPP Presidential Leadership Index fell 3.6% to 50.8 — barely holding above the neutral 50 level and 20 points below Obama's level when he took office.  High unemployment, an unpopular health care plan and security fears are all taking their toll.  Independents led with a 6.5% decline — 21% since September — to 44.3, a new low for Obama.

Obama's Polling Blues.  The raft of bad polling data continues for President Obama.  When voters were asked in a CNN/Opinion Research survey published on Tuesday to rate Obama's performance since taking office, 48 percent judged it a failure while 47 percent saw a success.  This corresponds with a new Quinnipiac University poll released today [1/13/2010], showing voters split 45-45 on whether Obama's first year was a success or failure.

Majority Would Vote Against Obama.  A year into his tenure, a majority of Americans would already vote against Pres. Obama if the '12 elections were held today, according to a new survey.  The Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll shows 50% say they would probably or definitely vote for someone else.

The Once-Appealing Barack Obama.  [Scroll down slowly]  That was what we were promised.  What we got instead is a president who increased the divisions in our nation, the most partisan and polarizing figure in the history of polling, one who is dogmatic and has been as generous to special interests as any we have seen.  The efforts to buy votes in pursuit of the Obama agenda has added sewage to the cesspool.  This would hurt any president under any circumstances; for Barack Obama, whose allure was based almost entirely on his ability to convince the public that he embodied a "new politics," it has been doubly damaging.

The Roots of Obama Worship:  Obama recently awarded himself the grade of "a good, solid B plus" for his performance in office, but the public is not as lenient.  The gap in the assessment between Obama the candidate and Obama the president is enormous.  Having entered office with a public approval of 70 percent, he has fallen today below 50 percent, the steepest such decline at this point of any first-term president in the postwar period.  Obama also has the lowest approval rating at the end of a president's first year.

Obama's Cross of Arugula:  Obama ran as a thoughtful, cool-headed, competent intellectual who was going to bring both parties together to develop and implement solutions to America's most serious problems.  But ... after a year of bailing out Wall Street and car makers, passing a stimulus that didn't produce any tangible results for Main Street (i.e. jobs), and focusing most of his energy in pushing a partisan health care bill through Congress using backroom deals with industries and individual Democratic Senators, huge swaths of the country have lost confidence in Obama.

Lights out as America gives Obama notice to quit.  Exactly one year after his inauguration as President, the electorate of the most liberal state in the Union — the Kennedys' Camelot — served notice to quit on President Pantywaist, the busted flush.  If Obama cannot hold Massachusetts, he has no prospect of winning any state in an election for a presidential second term.  The Messiah is toast.

The Incredible Deflation of Barack Obama:  Taxpayers have come to see politics as usual masquerading as economic recovery.

Existing-home sales take biggest fall in at least 40 years.  Existing-home sales took their biggest tumble in at least 40 years last month as the impact of a buying spree spurred by a tax credit for first-time buyers waned, according to industry data released Monday [1/25/2010].

America's Fourth Great Awakening.  Some among the heaviest of Obama Kool-Aid drinkers are awakening to the performance gap between the campaign myth of Obama versus the reality of his inability to govern.

Obama says he 'would rather be really good one-term president'.  President Barack Obama said that he "would rather be a really good one-term president" than have two mediocre terms.

Obama's 'Train Wreck' Ahead.  Arthur Laffer, creator of the Laffer Curve that showed how low tax rates boost economic growth, is warning anyone who will listen that the economy is headed for a "train wreck" in 2011 that will make the current recession look tame by comparison.

Presidential Sins.  [Scroll down]  Looking further ahead, Senate Democrats will have a combined total of 43 seats at risk in 2012 and 2014, some held by incumbents who barely squeaked into office in the 2006 and 2008 banner elections for Democrats.  Republicans, meanwhile, will have to defend only 22 seats, all held by survivors of [very tough elections]. ... Does all this sound like a political landscape shaped by a "B-plus" Democratic president?

The Weight Around the Democrats' Ankles:  Barack Obama.  President Obama has attempted, through his health care plan, one of the most ambitious government takeovers of the private economy in our lifetime.  Republican lawmakers have, to a person, declined to assist Obama in this effort.  Opposition by the out-of-power party is not unusual — although the degree of polarization we have seen during the Obama presidency is unprecedented.  Barack Obama is the most polarizing first year president since the 1950s, when Gallup first began polling on this issue.

Beyond Hope and Change.  Trillion-dollar annual deficits, high unemployment rates, a bleak tomorrow for future generations, and unprecedented erosion in the public's trust of the nation's leaders are becoming the legacy of President Obama and his administration.

Obama Hits Lowest Approval Mark.  Independent voters see Pres. Obama in a negative light by a nearly 2-1 margin, according to a new Marist College survey, while almost half of voters say he has failed to meet their expectations.  The poll, conducted Feb. 1-3, showed just 44% of registered voters approving of Obama's job as president.  47% disapprove.  But among indie voters, Obama's approval rating sits at a terrible 29%, while his disapproval rating is at 57%.

Poll shows voters abandoning prez in droves.  President Obama's overall approval rating has sunk to a new low — and independent voters who propelled him to the White House have gotten downright sick of the job he's doing, according to a devastating poll released yesterday [2/8/2010].  Obama's job-approval rating has tanked to a dismal 29 percent among independents, the Marist College survey found.  His disapproval rating is nearly twice as high — 57 percent.

Press room laughter dies down.  The White House press room was a jovial place to be in the early days of President Barack Obama's presidency. ... But the laughter has been reduced by half in recent months:  In the first six months of the Obama administration, briefings produced an average of 179 laughs per month.  Over the past six months, the average has dropped down to 89.

More about News Media Bias in President Obama's Favor.

A Less Perfect Union.  [Scroll down]  Now every presidential campaign begins with expectations that are too high and goals that cannot be achieved.  But Obama and his team did more than any other campaign in our lifetime to promise changes of almost biblical proportions, ushered in by a person some of his supporters took to be almost a demi-god (during the campaign his advisers referred to him as the "Black Jesus").  And now, just a year into his presidency, it has all come crashing down around them.

Zugzwang:  Democrats' 2010 Dilemma.  So should Democrats and President Obama pursue an activist agenda and please the party base, or pull back the throttle and play small ball to attract independents?  They can't do both.  Welcome to Zugzwang.

Scaring a president straight isn't easy.  [Scroll down slowly]  Some of the union chiefs are threatening to sit out the November congressional elections.  Several of the self-selected leaders of the civil rights movement are muttering in their coffee cups as well.  They're afraid the president will abandon the agenda everyone else has already abandoned.

Obama Loses the Country.  Two polls released today [2/11/2010] give us a peek at the political peril that confronts Obama and the Democrats.  Gallup shows him in a statistical tie with a generic Republican opponent in 2012.  In short, voters are very open to a change in the Oval Office.

Barack Millstone Obama.  The news that Democratic Senator Evan Bayh is retiring is another stunning blow for a Democratic party that is already reeling. ... It will accelerate almost every bad trend for Democrats (more retirements, fewer entries into national races, more intra-party acrimony, and more panic).

USS Obama is sinking.  To shore up the hole between the revenue and expenditures, the government has to borrow money, and foreign nations serve as its lenders through purchases of U.S. Treasuries.  The administration has defended the nation's ability to service these debts, but it's becoming ever more difficult to believe its claims.

From 'hope & change' to 'duck & cover'.  Curling up into the political fetal position and begging others to do what he does not have the guts to do himself, President Obama yesterday [2/18/2010] issued an executive order establishing the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Pick an Excuse, Any Excuse.  Obama's defenders note that he is personally popular, which is at best debatable.  But even if that were true, Obama's personal political capital is as non-transferable as an out-of-state check drawn in crayon.  It's certainly useless in getting ObamaCare or cap-and-trade passed.  And, so far, it hasn't helped Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts.

Obama's approval hits basement.  President Obama's approval numbers in the Rasmussen daily tracking poll have been quite volatile the last few weeks but today reached a new basement level — with only 22% expressing strong approval, and 41% strong disapproval.

Obama Too Focused on Expanding Government.  At the dawn of the Obama administration, there were some optimistic conservatives who refused to buy the media-peddled scenario of the new age of liberal dominance.  But few could have known just how thoroughly President Obama's agenda would be rejected this year — not just by Americans but by the world.

Obama the philosopher king.  Mr. Obama's initiatives haven't stalled because of partisanship but because they are transparently bad for America. ... The reason Mr. Obama began to run into problems had less to do with partisanship than with public opposition to his ideological agenda.  When the ambiguous "hope and change" theme was replaced with a series of hard-left policies, America balked.

The Charge of the Democratic Health-Care Brigade.  I don't think there's ever been a situation like this in American political history.  Every way you look at it, Democrats are boxed in, forced to choose between extraordinarily unattractive options.  What makes it especially noteworthy is that this was a calamity they summoned entirely upon themselves.

Confidence In Economy's Future Is At Lowest Point of Obama's Presidency.  Views of the country's short- and long-term economic future are gloomier these days than they have been at any time since President Obama took office in January of last year.  Forty-two percent (42%) of American adults now expect the U.S. economy to be weaker in one year's time, up three points from January and the highest level found in 14 months of regular tracking on the question, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Anti-Obama Sentiment Sweeps the Nation.  What if President Obama had changed the way Washington does business, taken steps that actually improved the economy, offered a scaled-back, moderate agenda, and recruited a few Republican allies in Congress?  Had he done those things, would there be a powerful, anti-Washington tide today?  Of course not.

No We Can't.  One casualty of the serial crises confounding American politics of late is President Obama's charisma, heretofore seemingly one of his greatest assets.  As Politico pointedly asked, "Obama's charisma:  Where did he leave it?"  Pundits and commentators have even raised the question of whether he might after all be "just another politician."

Stopping the Runaway Congress:  The recall of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez took a step forward yesterday [3/2/2010] with a promising oral argument in New Jersey state court. ... So if the New Jersey courts allow the recall there to proceed, that means all 12 of these Democrat incumbents could be added to the ballot this year, putting majority control of the Senate even more in play.  That could cause Congressional Democrats to be more reluctant to follow Barack Obama off a political cliff.  The 12 Democrat Senators potentially on the hook for a recall election will be more likely to decide they better spend more time listening to their voters than to Barack Obama's ideological entreaties.

Early election disaster warnings don't help Democrats.  As Democrats go charging into a hostile electoral landscape, one thing they count in their favor is the foreknowledge of the resistance they face.  But foreknowledge does not ensure wise choices, especially if you only have a partial picture of the terrain.  Remember, Gen. Custer knew there were Indians in the valley.  He just didn't know how many.

Look On the Bright Side.  [Scroll down slowly]  We don't need polls to tell us what our family, friends, and co-workers think.  The most common thing I hear from among my Democrat friends is regret for having voted for Obama.

The end of the road for Barack Obama?  It is a universal political truth that administrations do not begin to fragment when things are going well:  it only happens when they go badly, and those who think they know better begin to attack those who manifestly do not.  The descent of Barack Obama's regime, characterised now by factionalism in the Democratic Party and talk of his being set to emulate Jimmy Carter as a one-term president, has been swift and precipitate.

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll:  The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday [3/10/2010] shows that 22% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President.  Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21.

Obama's approval:  New low in Gallup.  Just 46 percent of those surveyed over the past three days voiced approval for the job that President Barack Obama is performing, with 45 percent voicing disapproval, Gallup reports today [3/11/2010].

A seal of disapproval.  Barack Obama's popularity has plunged in a fireball down a mountainside and into a ravine over the past year:  After enjoying positive ratings of near 70 percent following his inauguration, Rasmussen Reports said this week that 43 percent of voters strongly disapprove of Obama's performance, as opposed to only 22 percent who strongly approve.

'Tis better to kill the health care corpse now.  There's abundant evidence that Mr. Obama's toxic agenda seems to be disintegrating before our very eyes.  Democrats with a bad case of nerves (this includes most of them) finally admit that Obamacare has "problems," and several Democratic office-holders in Missouri suddenly had business elsewhere when the president showed up for a rally in St. Louis this week.

Even the Democrats don't want to be seen with him.
Demand for Obama wanes among moderate Democrats.  Moderate House Democrats facing potentially difficult reelections this fall have a message for President Barack Obama:  Don't call us; we'll call you.  Interviews with nearly a dozen congressional Democrats on the ballot this year reveal a decided lack of enthusiasm for having Obama come to their districts to campaign for them — the most basic gauge of a president's popularity.

Obama Unwelcome on Campaign Trail.  This week may provide the answer to the big political question of 2010:  how many Democrats are willing to walk the plank for President Obama's healthcare "reform" plan?  There may not be as many as the president and Speaker Pelosi think.  And some of them apparently aren't among the "Stupak Dozen," the anti-abortion Dems who have already declared themselves against the bill.

NBC poll:  17% approve of Congress.  If Americans are divided about how their congressman should vote on the health-care bill, the same can't be said for their views on Congress.  According to the new NBC/WSJ poll, whose full results will be released beginning at 6:30 pm ET [3/16/2010], only 17% approve of Congress' job.

Is Obama Making A Threat Or A Promise?  President Obama is threatening not to help any Democratic lawmaker who opposes his health care overhaul, according to the U.K.'s Telegraph. ... Is this really a threat?  Vulnerable Democrats already are running away from Obama.

Self-Slaughter.  If you want a sense of how much this whole process is damaging the Obama administration — the apostles of "hope and change," you'll recall — take a look at Robert Gibbs trying to answer whether the "Slaughter Solution" constitutes the kind of up-or-down vote the president promised.  It's almost painful to watch.  The unmasking of the Obama presidency continues, one day at a time.

New Gallup Poll finds Americans suddenly souring more on Obama.  Americans, apparently unhappy with President Obama insulting Asian allies by twice postponing his long-planned trip there this week, have turned against the Democrat in a major poll.  Now, a new Gallup Poll finds, Obama's public approval rating has suddenly fallen to the worst level since he took office however many years ago that seems.  He was right around 70% in January of 2009.  Today [3/18/2010], Gallup reports, the ex-senator has plunged to a 46% approval rating.

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.  The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday [3/20/2010] shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President.  Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21.  That matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President.

Washington DC disconnect:  Barack Obama's dead cat bounce.  To listen to the pundits and soak up what the media is saying here in Washington DC, you'd think that President Barack Obama is running at about 70 percent in the polls and cruising towards being re-coronated in 2012.  The polls, however, tell a different story.

Obama Greeted by Boos at Nats Stadium.  President Obama tossed the ceremonial opening pitch of the 2010 baseball season this afternoon in Washington, but as he emerged from the home dugout he was greeted with plenty of boos along with the cheers.

Joblessness:  The Kids Are Not Alright.  Unemployment today doesn't look like any unemployment in the recent American experience.  We have the astonishing and dispiriting new reality that the "long-term jobless" — people out of work more than six months (27 weeks) — was about 44% of all people unemployed in February.  A year ago that number was 24.6%.  This is not normal joblessness.

Obamacare predictions were way off.  [Obamacare was supposed to] serve as the model for even more Democratic "successes."  Not quite.  Democrats rammed the Senate bill through the House only because it had first passed the Senate, so that cannot happen.  Democrats are wrung out, and Republicans have no incentive to compromise.  They know Obama's inept at selling his issues, and more so with his candidates.  Ask Gov. Deeds, D-Va., Gov. Corzine, D-N.J., and Sen. Coakley, D-Fantasy, how much Obama helped them.

Sorry:  No bump for Obamacare.  Last September, just as public opinion was beginning to turn against Obamacare in a serious way, Bill Clinton made a bold prediction.  "The minute health care reform passed," he said in a policy forum in New York City, "President Obama's approval ratings would go up 10 points."  Clinton's prediction reflected the wishful assumption of many wishful liberal-leaning pundits and think tank analysts, as well as the strategy of Obama's political advisers.

Obama(doesn't)care Taking Surprise Hits.  As President Barack Obama is attempting to steamroll yet another enormous policy change through Congress against the best interests of Americans, we would be well-advised to keep abreast of the frauds that are already being exposed about Obamacare.  Last week, reality dealt Obamacare twin blows — not that Obama will care.  An analysis inside his own administration and a report from New York state shed the grim light of reality on this monstrosity before its Draconian provisions have even gone into effect.

Poll finds Americans in an anti-incumbent mood as midterm elections near.  Members of Congress face the most anti-incumbent electorate since 1994, with less than a third of all voters saying they are inclined to support their representatives in November, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

A 70-seat tsunami?  The Democrats' current tactic of prioritizing legislation to weaken Republicans' standings (among all voters on financial regulation, among Hispanics on immigration, among young voters on cap-and-trade and the environment) doesn't really address their current problem, which is that the Democrats' standing among voters is at a record low and that they're getting pasted in polls despite the fact that the Republicans' standing among voters is not particularly high.

Young People Deserting Obama.  The youth are drawn to lofty ideals, and three years ago, Obama's rhetoric was full of them.  He promised transparency, post-partisanship, and a newer, better Washington.  Now, we're realizing this rhetoric didn't matter and was "just words, just speeches."

Failure-in-Chief.  The controversies over the Arizona immigration plan and the Obama Administration's response to the oil spill in the Gulf may not seem related, but they have a key common characteristic:  both originate in the failure of Washington.  In both cases, President Obama faces a real danger of a political backlash from which he will be unable to recover.

Another Dem bites the dust.  Another rat leaving a sinking ship?  David Obey has been a fixture as a Democratic member of Congress since 1969 and is chairman of the powerful House Appropriations committee.  He won re-election easily in 2008.  Now he is announcing his retirement, joining the band of Democrats who have decided to leave their seats before the door hits them on the way out.

Poll:  Obama has Lost Almost Half of his US Jewish Support.  United States President Barack Obama has lost nearly half of his support among American Jews, a poll by the McLaughlin Group has shown.  The US Jews polled were asked whether they would:  (a) vote to re-elect Obama, or (b) consider voting for someone else.  42% said they would vote for Obama and 46%, a plurality, preferred the second answer.  12% said they did not know or refused to answer.

Democrats on the Run in Hawaii.  If you're looking for a sign that Republicans' message of fiscal responsibility and government accountability will win this November and Democrats will struggle to defend their reckless agenda, look no further than Obama's home district in Hawaii.

Caulkers, Clunkers, and Coakley:  [Scroll down]  In his Inaugural address, Obama spoke of the dawn of a new "era of responsibility."  He was going to make Americans believe in politicians and government again.  A year later, disgust for both is higher than ever.  His administration has proven to be as ordinary, corrupt, and unimaginative as any other, if not more so.  The hype has amounted to a cavalcade of nothingness: a stimulus package that hasn't stimulated the economy, bailouts for corrupt unions, frivolous programs for clunkers and caulkers, bribes to pliable pols, global warming dilettantism preached to Americans in a jobless torpor, a Justice Department that looks like an annex of the ACLU, a rhetoric of transparency coupled with a reality of secrecy, and a partying and porous White House that enjoys the trappings of power while not accomplishing anything to justify them.

Obama Buyer's Remorse.  President Obama's disappointing performance has indisputably brought enormous buyer's remorse to many of his fans, the feeling that the "purchase" (i.e., voting for Obama) was a mistake.  And while little can be done until November 2012, it may be useful to analyze why thoughtful people were seduced and, furthermore, learn to avoid future hoodwinking.

Another Very Bad Night for Obama, Democrats, and the Media.  You know it's bad night when a win is actually a loss.  Perhaps the worst news of the night [of 5/18/2010] for Team Obama was the Democrat win in the special election in Pennsylvania for Jack Murtha's seat.  Huh?  Yep, Mark Critz is a "Rush Limbaugh Democrat" who campaigned against almost everything Obama and Murtha support.  Frankly, he was more conservative than the McCain campaign of 2008 and more apt to criticize Obama than is, say, Lindsay Graham.

Las Vegas jobless rate hits record 14.2 percent.  Unemployment in Las Vegas in April shot to a record high of 14.2 percent with an estimated 140,900 residents out of work.  The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation also said the Nevada jobless rate hit a record high of 13.7 percent for the month.

Jobpocalypse now.  This week, the Senate is expected to extend jobless benefits to more than 5 million Americans through the end of the year.  It is the sixth time in nearly two years that they've expanded or extended unemployment benefits — putting off, again, a day of reckoning our political leaders seem unwilling to face.

Poll:  Public Opinion of Democratic Party at All-Time Low.  Americans are dissatisfied with both major political parties, but the public's approval of the Democratic Party is at its lowest level ever, a new CBS News poll shows.

The petulant president.  Presidential petulance was on full display this week.  When 56 percent of the American people disapprove of the job you are doing, you've got a problem.  When you're the president of the United States and 56 percent of the American people disapprove of your job performance, you've got an enormous problem.

Barack Obama's credibility hits rock bottom after oil spill and Sestak scandal.  George W Bush's unpopularity and perceived incompetence was encapsulated by the way he dealt with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Candidate Obama branded it "unconscionable incompetence".  Central to Obama's appeal was his promise to be truly different.  His failure to achieve that is now at the core of the deep disappointment Americans feel about him.

What's Driving Obama Down?  President Obama's job-approval rating just hit an all-time low.  And there's a pattern behind the trifecta of issues that are driving the drop — the oil spill, the Arizona immigration-policing law and the fallout from the Greek crisis.  After four months of hovering between a low of 46 percent approval and a high of 49 percent, Obama just fell to 42 percent in the daily Rasmussen polls.

The real unemployment rate?  16.6%.  The Labor Department's statistics don't include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work.  This alternative measure creates a much higher number.

The Political Noose Tightens for Dems.  Among the problems for Democrats is that the narrative of the election — a bad economy, profligate spending, misplaced priorities, and the Obama administration's general incompetence — is just about baked into the cake, absent some extraordinary intervening events.  And the news for President Obama and Democrats continues to get worse rather than better.

The Coming Resignation of Barack Obama.  Months ago, I predicted in this column that President Obama would so discredit himself in office that he wouldn't even be on the ballot in 2012, let alone have a prayer of being reelected.  Like President Johnson in 1968, who had won a much bigger victory four years previously than Obama did in 2008, President Obama will be so politically defunct by 2012 that he won't even try to run for reelection.  I am now ready to predict that President Obama will not even make it that far.

Unpresidential Obama.  Perhaps this is the "change" portion of the agenda.  In recent days, President Barack Obama has eclipsed his unflappable campaign image, exposing himself as man with a melting point, a Mr. Once-Cool turned hot.  After 18 months, his approval ratings continue to drop as his losses outpace his wins and his rock-star status of 2008 feels more garage-band as the dog days of summer descend on deflated Washington.

Never Letting a Serious Crisis Go to Waste.  [Scroll down]  By last Thursday [5/27/2010], the daily Rasmussen tracking poll revealed that 26 percent of Americans strongly approve of the President's job performance, while 42 percent strongly disapprove, giving Mr. Obama a Presidential Approval rating of minus-16.  A USA Today/Gallup survey found that 53 percent of Americans rate his handling of the crisis as "poor" or "very poor" while only 43 percent still are satisfied.  Nevertheless, Americans continue to support oil exploration.  By a significant margin, Texas voters still want more offshore oil drilling.  Similar percentages hold nationally.  However, for this White House, proceeding with new drilling would "waste" the crisis.

Who's Ready for a President Biden?  The whole point of Biden as VP was to provide Obama with impeachment insurance.  A President Biden is going to be a tough sell.  True, he is a dimwit.  But, at least we know who he is and his history.  Biden has a son who served honorably.  He spent his formative years in America and understands our traditions.

Poof Goes the Myth.  Politico is running a symposium:  "Is Obama's brand 'irrevocably shattered'?"  OK, not the discussion the White House wants to see raging.  That tells you something right there:  the media-Obama love fest is over.  The pretext is the Andrew Romanoff scandal.  But it could easily have been triggered by the president's all-time low weekly approval rating (46%) in Gallup or the BP spill or the Joe Sestak flap.

Obama's Youth Brigade Burns Out.  [Scroll down]  The young people working in the White House are supposed to be the truest of true believers. ... But as the campaign juggernaut settles into the grind of governing, many junior staff across the administration are heading for the exits, burned out and tired of life in the Obama bubble.

Hero to zero.  Never has any US politician's reputation crumbled so quickly.  Obama's position is beyond dire.  According to Rasmussen's latest ratings, just 25 per cent of Americans "strongly approve" of Obama's performance, while 41 per cent "strongly disapprove".  His presidential approval rating is -16.  His ratings for honesty and for being firm and decisive have plummeted.

Democrats suffering from 'Messiah Fatigue'.  President Obama is angry at God for making it rain in Chicago, and irked at the oil spill, making him pack up between his vacations and make trips down again to the Gulf.  Ideologues argue about over whether corporations or government tend to be the least competent, ignoring the proof that the answer is both of them.  And Democrats are having their own kind of crisis, a sort of buyer's remorse at a very high level, which sounds like Messiah Fatigue.

Jobs report a nightmare for Obama progressivism.  [Scroll down slowly]  Progressives generally, and Obama especially, encourage expectations as large as the 1,428-page (cap-and-trade), 1,566-page (financial reform) and 2,409-page (health care) bills they churn out as "comprehensive" solutions to this and that.  For a proper progressive, anything short of a "comprehensive" solution to, say, the problem of illegal immigration is unworthy of consideration.  For today's progressive president, the prospect of a jobless recovery is a comprehensive nightmare.

Obama Sinks to a New Low ... in the Polls.  The bad news for Democrats keeps rolling in, day by day.  And as the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf continues unabated, the job picture remains bleak, trust in government reaches all-time lows, and disdain for Congress approaches all-time highs, there's little reason for Democrats to view the midterm elections with anything less than anxiety bordering on panic.

Obama should stop trying to play the cowboy.  [Scroll down]  The crisis has turned into Obama's Hurricane Katrina.  His own reputation as chief executive is on the line; and with a 'Washington Post'/ABC poll showing that 69 [percent] of Americans think the government has been "not so good" or "poor" in its handling of the spill, the Democrats' control of Congress is also threatened at the mid-term elections in November.

Obama Failing on the Things the Public Cares Most About.  We've seen oodles of polls of late, all reflecting a precipitous decline in Obama's approval ratings.  But none is more interesting than the poll by the Economist.  It is all the more fascinating — and devastating for Obama — because it is a poll of all adults, not registered or likely voters, which normally would tilt more to the Left.  In other words, among likely voters Obama would probably be doing even worse.

I Know Who's to Blame.  After just a year and a half, it is virtually impossible by any measure to see the regime of Barack Obama as anything other than a failure.  Elected on lofty rhetoric espousing the nebulous agenda of change, hope, prosperity and unity, his first, only, and hopefully truncated term in office has turned into a cold, clammy, national nightmare.

The Bottleneck is Always at the Top.  The more the President flexes his media-enhanced, teleprompter-controlled, highly-reverberated communication skills the more people don't want what he's selling.

Obama can't talk away these problems.  The first 18 months of his presidency were all talk as Nancy and Harry and Rahm handled the details of which friends to layer $900 billion upon.  Health care "reform" was more talk among Democrats, with almost no immediate consequences until 2011 and most years beyond that.  The show went on.  But unemployment didn't begin to abate, and voters did not begin to cheer Obamacare.  Then suddenly an oil platform explodes, Israel's enemies stage a provocation, the jobs don't arrive, the Iranians push ahead with their plans, and Obama finds himself pushed by events to decide hard things and do more than talk.

The Liberal Tipping Point Away from Obama.  [Some have pointed out] the grave disappointment expressed last night about Barack Obama's speech on the part of MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Howard Fineman.  This is a significant development, because it indicates this is a liberal tipping point — both tactical and emotional — away from Barack Obama.

The Left Turns on Obama.  The far-left in America is turning on their guy Barack Obama.  After his speech on the oil disaster a few days ago, the crazy left Greek chorus on MSNBC hammered the president.  He wasn't specific enough, he was too weak, I don't sense "executive command," they wailed.  You would have thought they were talking about President Bush.

Obama's Approval at All-Time Low.  President Barack Obama's weekly approval rating is at an all-time low for his presidency, according to the Gallup Poll, and it is especially low among those 65 or older, those who are married, and those who attend church every week.

Americans Who Don't Attend Church Form Base of Obama's Support.  President Barack Obama's overall approval rating stood at 49 percent for the most recent three-day period, and at 50 percent for the week ending May 8, but it would be lower than that if America consisted exclusively of people who attend church with some regularity.  Non-church goers form the base of Obama's support, according to Gallup polling data.

Middle Class Is Abandoning Obama.  The middle class is abandoning President Barack Obama, according to data released by the Gallup Poll.  The only income bracket among which a majority still says they approve of the job he is doing as president are those earning $2,000 per month or less.

Are Liberals Breaking Up with Obama?  [Scroll down]  The fairytale aspect of liberals' affair with Obama is, I think, that they — like the infatuated teenage girl — saw in him only what they wanted to see.  The gaping holes in Obama's résumé got short shrift, while his teleprompted eloquence had them all a-swooning.  Like the teenage girl who wants to hear or see nothing amiss about her new beau, liberals turned a deaf ear and blind eye to every troublesome bit of Obama's idealistic folderol and defended his lack of executive experience on the ridiculous notion that he was above those sorts of things because he was, after all, rather like a god.

Obama in the Bunker.  The Obama White House is in full bunker mode.  Don't believe me?  Here's the definition of "bunker mentality from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Allusions:  In politics, a "bunker mentality" is an embattled frame of mind, often accompanied by an aggrieved sense of being unfairly under attack.  The term is most often applied to American Presidents who suffer political reverses and assume a surly, defensive posture — all critics are enemies; if you're not for us you're against us; etc.

Record 57% Of Americans Disapprove Of Obama's Performance.  That's a new low for President Obama in the latest Rasmussen poll.  Just 42% approve of his performance, matching a record low.

Americans' Opinion of Obama's "Change" Promise Is Itself Changing.  Barack Obama won the presidency by promising change that both Democrats and many independent voters could "believe in."  The latest Towery Poll of the nation illustrates why his approval rating has plummeted.  It also shows how far the president has to go to recover from what is starting to look like a disastrous presidency.

Slickness won't save sinking Obama.  Is there anyone left who is proud of voting for Obama?  Affirmatively proud, I mean, not merely glad they didn't vote Republican.  Anyone? ... The only legitimate reason for supporting Obama was because he's a great speechmaker whose rhetoric could impact reality.  Only he's not and it can't.

Democrats driving off a cliff.  Last week, President Obama's job approval rating sank to 46 percent in a Gallup poll, matching the lowest weekly job approval rating of his presidency.  Few Americans were surprised.  Obama's bumbling response to the BP oil spill drove the latest decline in his popularity almost equally among Democrats, Republicans and independents.

Confront a Liberal Today.  [Scroll down]  It's vital at this very opportune teaching moment, when the Obama they saw as a political savior is standing proverbially naked on the Gulf, to confront them with the choice they made.  To call them out.  To ask the hard questions:  Are you sure you voted wisely?  Are you happy with the change we've gotten?  Do you still have hope in liberal big government to solve all the world's problems?

Has the President Lost His Bearings?  The slo-mo implosion of Obama's presidency is the topic du jour among just about everyone these days.  From the yuppie-occupied tables at the neighborhood Starbucks to every main street beer joint and pool hall, in every golf club tavern and even at ladies' luncheons, the question of what went wrong and why is foremost in every American mind and on their lips.

NPR Poll is Bad News for Democrats.  The last week of House polls have reinforced the view I have held from April of this year that a 50-seat loss or so is the midpoint scenario for Democrats this fall, rather than the 25-40 seat range that most analysts seem to be talking about.

Barack Obama:  the most unpopular man in Britain?  In January 2009 Barack Obama was hugely popular on this side of the Atlantic, and could have walked on water in the eyes of the British media, the political elites, and the general public.  In June 2010 however he probably qualifies as the most despised US president since Nixon among the British people.

The Editor asks...
What did the British have against Nixon?

Dems Turn On Obama.  To the left, the oil spill is not an index of presidential competence or an issue in the political sphere.  It is a daily gushing of poison into the Earth's waters as a direct result of the president's failure to stop it.  They blame BP.  But they already hate oil companies.  And they blame Obama, too.  And they are coming to dislike him.

Does Barack Obama want to be president?  [Scroll down]  But the question here is not his qualifications.  They are no longer particularly relevant.  This is a beaten man, struggling to show he is not, even though everybody knows he is.

Obama's Collapsing Base.  In a single year Obama lost the support of independent voters and liberal Republicans by passing the left's agenda.  And this year, he is well on the way to losing the support of the left for not passing enough of their agenda.  Being too left wing for mainstream America, and too mainstream for the left is not a new problem for the Democratic party.  It's a problem they've faced since what had been the counterculture became the party establishment.  But it's a special problem for the man who rose to power as the poster child of the left.  Barack Hussein Obama.

'Wal-Mart Moms' Turn on the Democrats.  The bad news for Democrats keeps pouring in.  Now it comes from Wal-Mart moms — women with children under 18 who shop at Wal-Mart.  They tend to be Democrats and more of them than not voted for President Obama in 2008.  But they're leaning Republican this year.

Confidence Waning in Obama, U.S. Outlook.  Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the country and less confident in President Barack Obama's leadership than at any point since Mr. Obama entered the White House, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Obama and Dems heading for electoral disaster.  All around, there are Democrats telling us their prospects for November are looking up.  Things aren't as bad as Republicans say!  Health care is becoming more popular!  The country wants financial reform!  People still like Barack Obama!  Isn't Joe Barton awful!  They're fooling themselves.  The basic indicators of voters' intentions — their general mood and attitude toward the policies of Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid — are clear and solid.

Obama:  The Boy Who Would Be a Man.  Barack Obama is, in the words of Rush Limbaugh, a "man-child."  He is a boy who would be a man, a weakling who wants to look strong, and an inexperienced politician who wants so much to be a venerated leader.  To the chagrin of our nation, he is also our President:  a fact that sane people, including many who inexplicably voted for Obama, are starting to regret more and more as time goes by.

The Presidential Rorschach Test.  [Scroll down]  I can almost defend President Obama.  After all, he told us he was a blank screen.  And a blank screen can't be expected to actually do anything.  His supporters who are now angry and disappointed with him are like patients who hear the results of their Rorschach test and get furious at the inkblots.

Too brilliant to fail.  An irresistible force is meeting an immovable object on the field of perception, and causing an odd sort of storm.  The irresistible force is the growing idea that Obama has failed as a leader on a number of items:  "Engagement" has failed; our allies are angry; the oil keeps gushing, his ideas are job killers; the recession goes on.  His party lost three big elections under his guidance and seems poised for a drubbing.  The harder he pushes the country's laws leftward, the more its politics bend to the right.

Unprecedented Arrogance.  You'll recall that during both of President George W. Bush's terms, Democrats, including Obama, castigated him for destroying the economy, despite the existence of empirically verifiable robust growth during some seven of those eight years.  Now that Obama has been in office for a year and a half and his economy is failing by all objective measures, he and his Democrats demand, once again, that we ignore the empirical evidence in front of our faces and bow down to them in reverent gratitude for ensuring that things are not worse than they are.

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.  The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday [7/2/2010] shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president.  Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -20.

GOP tries to nationalize elections; Dems resisting.  Democrats and Republicans are framing the elections in starkly different terms, with GOP strategists painting it as a national referendum on President Barack Obama and the party in power, and Democrats working feverishly to make all politics local.

Teachers' Union Shuns Obama Aides at Convention.  For two years during his presidential campaign, Barack Obama addressed educators gathered for the summer conventions of the two national teachers unions, and last year both groups rolled out the welcome mat for federal Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  But in a sign of the Obama administration's strained relations with two of its most powerful political allies, no federal official was scheduled to speak at either convention this month, partly because union officials feared that administration speakers would face heckling.

A Hapless Administration.  Last week was extraordinary. The President's economic advisor, Christina Romer, declared that Americans should be feeling pretty good about the June jobs report.  After all, the unemployment rate dropped from 9.7 to 9.5% because 650,000 people were so discouraged that they gave up looking for work.  "We've known for some time," she said, that things would get bad before they got better.  Romer's advice to those losing their homes, their cars, their medical insurance, and all else was "Be patient."

The boomer defection.  This is turning into a tough election year for Democrats, and most of the reasons are familiar:  The economy is stalled, President Obama's popularity is sagging and voters are in an anti-incumbent mood.  There's an "enthusiasm gap" too.  Republican voters are fired up and ready to vote, while liberals are dispirited.

Obama's "False Narrative".  [Scroll down]  According to the True Narrative, Obama the Great acted with wisdom and courage to forestall another Great Depression.  The charges of profligate spending have been manufactured out of thin air.  The stimulus package has been a spectacular success.  ObamaCare will bend the cost curve down.  The economy is doing swimmingly.  The outreach to the Muslim world has led to unprecedented breakthroughs.  Nation after nation — Iran, Turkey, Russia, China, Brazil, Venezuela — are bending to Obama's will.  And all the problems America faces — from nearly 10 percent unemployment to polarization to acne among teens — are owing to Obama's predecessor.  Yet ... Obama has become massively unpopular among independents.

Obama approval rating takes dive as he faces anti-business charge.  A new poll out Friday [7/9/2010] showed a new benchmark:  a majority of Americans now disapprove of Obama's job performance.  The Economist/YouGov survey of 1,000 U.S. citizens from July 3 to 6 showed that 52 percent disapprove of Obama's job performance.  And Obama's approval in the poll was at 43 percent, a concerning number for the White House.  Gallup's daily tracking poll, which averages all polls over the last three days, showed Obama Friday at 44 percent approval and 48 percent disapproval.

The Looming Catastrophe Of Hope and Change.  You know things are really starting to go south for the Obama administration when its journalistic functionaries and spear-carriers on the left are starting to openly fret and worry as they begin to feel November's chill wind blowing.  The visions of historic change, social justice and a plum government job are gradually being replaced by nightmares not just of defeat but repudiation.  The racket has been exposed by its own audacity.

Charges That Obama Stole the Nomination From Hillary Clinton.  Maybe the New Black Panther intimidation case is not an isolated event.  This could be the tip of a very large iceberg.

Democrats Realize the Cost of Obamaism — to Them.  If Republicans win big in November, it may not mean the end of the Obama presidency (we certainly have learned that two years in politics is forever) but it will end his aura of political invincibility.  Those Democrats who survive will need to chart their own course.  And internationally, friends and foes will begin to calculate and calibrate their behavior, knowing Obama may be a one-term president.

Faith in Obama at a new low.  Nearly 60% of American voters say they lack faith in President Barack Obama, according to a public opinion poll published on Tuesday [7/13/2010].  The results of the Washington Post/ABC News poll are a reversal of what voters said at the start of Obama's presidency 18 months ago when about 60% expressed confidence in his decision making.

Americans have lost faith in Barack Obama.  The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll is a major blow to the White House just four months before crucial mid-terms in November.  According to the poll, "nearly six in ten voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country", and two thirds "say they are disillusioned with or angry about the way the federal government is working."  A staggering 58 per cent of Americans say they do not have confidence in the president's decision-making, with just 42 per cent saying they do.

Election looms for Democrats:  How bad can it be?  For nervous Democrats, the big question now is:  How bad will November's congressional elections be?  The answer:  Pretty bad.

You Keep the RINOs, I'll Take the Conservatives.  Here we are heading into a campaign season where the people of this country are righteously angry.  They're angry about all of the taxing, and spending, and debt, and illegal immigration, and incompetent response to the oil spill in the Gulf, and having socialized medicine rammed down our throats, etc. etc. ad nauseum.  Large majorities of the American people have said, time and time again, that they don't want any of this, and they plan on throwing out the bums who have foisted all of this onto us.  Obama and his policies are more unpopular now than at any previous time.

Dems Have Lost Voters' Policy Support.  President Obama's troubles with a weakening economy are outracing his excuses, triggering political turmoil and angst among Democrats who now fear they will lose majority control of Congress in November.  The White House is getting slammed by one economic bombshell after another.  The data coming in during the past week suggests that economic growth had slowed down to just over 2 percent in April through June, far from the 3.5 percent that had been forecast.

Obama is losing control of the Democratic Party.  Of course, Democrats were cheering as they followed Obama off a cliff during the heady days of 2009, so they should share in the blame for the wasted moment.  But they won't.  They'll keep blaming Obama.  Churlish, perhaps, but very human.  Obama, who could once do nothing wrong, now can't seem to do anything right in Democratic eyes.

Obama's Job Approval Lowest in Wyoming at 29%, and Utah, 34%.  President Barack Obama's job approval rating is lowest in Wyoming and Utah, according to the Gallup polling company, which tracked the numbers for all 50 states and the District of Columbia from January through June 2010.

President Haters.  During the worst ecological disaster of the era, as all levels of his administration repeatedly fumbled the ball, Obama golfed, partied, listened to Paulie Beatle, and went on vacation no fewer than three times.  Let them eat cake!  In direct consequence of these actions and countless others, Obama has become a hated man.  That hatred will only grow.

Liar, liar:  Why Obama is failing.  [Scroll down]  Now we are where we are.  We have a president that no one wants to listen to because we do not fully believe him.  His own party is deserting him not just because they know his ideas are unpopular.  They also know he is unable to convince anyone.  We have shut him off.  And now the revelations of J. Christian Adams have shown that his Department of Justice has a racial bias not entirely dissimilar to those of Reverend Wright.  Again the MSM is doing its best to ignore this, but the damage is still there and growing and Obama will not be able, this time, to make a speech in his defense.

A Year After Honeymoon Ends, Whites, Men and Independents Desert Obama.  It was a year ago this month that President Barack Obama began losing voters.  In the 12 months since, he has had legislative victories that appear — especially in the case of health care — to have cost him large amounts of both political capital and political support.

Obama Girl Is Nowhere to Be Found.  Democrats will be gulping this morning at the Quinnipiac Poll's latest results.  For the first time in the survey's history, Americans believe by a 48% to 40% margin that President Obama doesn't deserve re-election.  Almost as stinging, a plurality believe the country would have been better off if John McCain had beaten Mr. Obama in 2008.

Congress hits historic bottom in Gallup Poll.  Only 11 percent of Americans have "a great deal" or "quite a lot of confidence" in Congress, the lowest rating ever reached by any of the 16 major institutions ranked in public esteem by Gallup's Confidence in Institutions survey since 1973.

Youths turn on Obama.  Young voters who had been enthralled by Barack Obama's "Yes, we can" message are now saying "Maybe not" — and are backing away from the president in a worrisome new poll for the White House.

The Unpresidential President.  Barack Obama has managed a rare feat in American history:  The longer he is president, the less presidential he has become.  Obama has reversed the usual process of growth and maturation, appearing today far more like a candidate for the presidency — and a very ordinary one at that — than he did during the latter stages of his campaign.

Record 50.1% Disapprove Of President Obama.  For the first time, a majority (50.1%) of Americans disapprove of President Obama's job performance in the Realclearpolitics.com poll average.  Just 44.9% think he's doing a good job.  The weak economy, which helped carry Obama into the Oval Office in 2008, is now dragging him and his fellow Democrats down on the cusp of the midterm elections.

Jumping Ship.  Christina Romer, the chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers becomes the first high-profile rodent to leave the foundering economic ship that is Obama's "fundamentally transformed" America.

Dropouts, underworked push U.S. rate to 16.5%.  Included in the national jobs report out Friday was an important — and uglier — number that often gets lost in the noise around the official unemployment rate.  Officially, the U.S. jobless rate is 9.5 percent, but by a broader measure the rate is well into double digits — at 16.5 percent.  The larger number — called the U-6 unemployment rate — counts jobless people actively seeking work but also includes those who have stopped actively looking for a job and part-time workers who want more hours.

Time to admit Obamanomics has failed.  It's no coincidence that Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, announced her retirement the day before Friday's brutal unemployment report.  With 131,000 more jobs lost in July, and downward revisions of 97,000 for the previous two months, it's easy to see why she would start looking for the exits.

Peak Obama.  Thirty-one months after the start of the recession, last week's jobs report for July was a fiasco.  The Labor Department reported yet another 131,000 jobs lost in July.  The Department also revised the June report downward to show 221,000 jobs lost that month from 125,000.  The unemployment rate remained at 9.5% only because 181,000 additional discouraged workers left the work force, and so were not counted as unemployed.  That makes one million who have fled the work force since April.

The stunning decline of Barack Obama.  While the anti-establishment Tea Party movement has gained significant ground and is now a rising and powerful political force to be reckoned with, many of the president's own supporters as well as independents are rapidly losing faith in Barack Obama, with open warfare breaking out between the White House and the left-wing of the Democratic Party.

Obama approval rating falls into new danger zone.  One month ago on July 12, Obama's approval and disapproval both stood at 47 percent in the Real Clear Politics poll average.  On Tuesday [8/10/2010], the president's approval had fallen to 44.4 percent.  Disapproval had jumped to 50.4 percent.

Barack Obama is abandoned by the Left as his approval ratings collapse.  When your own tribe turns on you, you're in serious trouble.

Majority in Gallup daily poll disapprove of Obama for first time.  A majority of those surveyed by Gallup disapproved of President Obama's job performance for the first time.  According to the Gallup daily tracking poll released on Tuesday, 51 percent of U.S. adults said they disapproved of how Obama was handling his job, compared with 42 percent who approve.

Obama's Point of No Return.  There comes a moment in a failing presidency where the incumbent, through some single gesture, action, or statement, crosses a certain line from beyond which there is no return. ... With Obama, we have an abundance of riches:  the multiple vacations, the legal harassment of the state of Arizona on behalf of illegals, the clownish response to the Gulf oil blowout.  But when historians come to select the moment when Obama went over the edge of the world, I think they'll find the great Iftar mosque speech of August 13, 2010 hard to beat.

How-To Guide for Cleaning Up Obama's Mess.  These are trying times for the White House.  The President is embroiled in a controversy over the planned mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, and he's losing friends on the professional left for unflattering comments from his spokesman.  Liberal candidates would prefer he keep his distance on the campaign trail for fear that he could alienate independents.  Meanwhile, America is adrift.

Obama approval rate in Texas drops to 34 percent.  President Barack Obama's job-approval rating has dropped to 34 percent in Texas, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released this afternoon [8/23/2010].  Lone Star State voters are more hostile to Obama than the rest of the country.  The president's national approval rating stands at 47 percent, according to Rasmussen's daily tracking poll.

Honey, I Shrunk My Approval Ratings.  In what will rank as one of the all-time presidential PR disasters, we're now well over half way through what the White House called "the summer of recovery."  And what a recovery it's been.  Earlier this month, first-time claims for unemployment hit a nine-month high.  The unemployment rate remains at 9.5% and 18.4% of workers are out of a job, can only get part-time work, or have given up looking for a job altogether.

African-American leaders express dissatisfaction with President Obama.  With President Barack Obama's approval ratings dipping below 50%, members of his strongest voting bloc have also started to voice displeasure with the way he has chosen to govern.

Economic Growth Rate Downgraded to Anemic 1.6 Percent in Second Quarter.  The Commerce Department is revising downward the economic growth from April to June to 1.6 percent — a decline from the original 2.4 percent forecast and much slower than the 3.7 percent of the first quarter 2010.  The barely-there number isn't enough keep pace with population growth, which needs about 3 percent annualized growth just to break even each year and prevent unemployment, currently 9.5 percent, from rising.

Obama Is Driving America Crazy.  Rasmussen has discovered that just 26% of voters "think Obama shares the same political views they have."  It adds that, "nearly two-out-of-three U.S. voters (65%) remain at least somewhat angry at the current policies of the federal government, including 40% who are very angry."  Also, "most voters believe the Democratic congressional agenda is extreme while a plurality describe the Republican agenda as mainstream."  No wonder Obama's job approval in several national polls is at or close to its all-time low.

Obama's Epic Failures.  Barack Obama returns from his August vacation with a growing pile of problems facing him on just about every front.  The economy is in a nosedive, his party is on the brink of losing its majority and the country is losing faith in his ability to lead.

Our Hula Hoop President.  Hula Hoops are a cheap plastic toy that are easy to use but can only really do one thing well:  go in sometimes entertaining circles; Barack Obama is a skilled and dispassionate speechmaker whose once dazzling speeches now begin to be seen as circular exercises in talking without any passion or conviction.  The next stage of the fad product life is the most tragic and the most inevitable:  rapid brand decline.

Obama's electoral coalition is crumbling.  Surprisingly, support for the president among Latinos, young people and women has dropped as much as it has among groups that were considered less likely to stick with the president, such as white males, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.  Support among suburbanites has dropped dramatically too, surveys show, while African American voters remain Obama's most loyal constituency and his fiercest defenders.

20 Signs That The Economic Collapse Has Already Begun.  The United States is rapidly becoming a nation where poverty is absolutely rampant.  As poverty continues to spread, crime will not be far behind.  Meanwhile, the international community wants to impose a global tax on us so that they can "redistribute" even more of our wealth around the world.

Obama's Summer of Discontent.  As a candidate for President, Barack Obama promised hope, change and a new direction for America.  Unfortunately, the initial hope has turned into despair, while the change has been negative.  Cleary, the country is going in a new direction, but it is toward a deeper recession, not an economic recovery.

Unemployment rose in 27 states last month.  Unemployment grew in more than half of U.S. states in August, the largest number in six months, as private employers aren't hiring enough to offset the loss of census jobs.

A Failing Presidency and a Broken Party.  Having worked in the White House, I can assure you this is not what Obama and his team of advisers wanted to hear — certainly not from a hand-picked audience at an economic town hall forum that is being broadcast on television six weeks before a crucial midterm election.

Obama at all time low.  President Barack Obama is contending with the lowest approval rating of his 20-month presidency, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll finds.  The president's approval rating now stands at 42 percent — an all time low in CNN polling and 8 points lower than where Obama was only three weeks ago.

Obama's CNBC Townhall Was a Disaster.  The training wheels have come off, and not even the combined effort of all the Beltway media to keep the president on his bike and moving forward is working.  The economic policy "team" is scattering like a too-popular-too-soon boy band after a second album, and the White House's "enforcer" Rahm wants out to run the efficient-and-thoughtful-by-comparison city bureaucracy of Chicago.  And we aren't even at the halfway point of the term yet.

What Is a Narcissist To Do?  [Obama] can no longer credibly portray himself as an outsider looking to change the status quo.  He is largely responsible for the status quo, which, by the way, is anything but static.  The "quo" is dynamic and is heading straight into the gutter, with our federal government 1½ steps through the bankruptcy door, nationalized medicine merely a heartbeat away, our national security going south and a chief executive and commander in chief determined to continue on the same perilous path.

Quick!  Call the union hall and round up some warm bodies.
Obama Team Still Looking to Fill Crowd for University of Wisconsin Rally.  President Obama campaign found plenty of enthusiasm among students in the 2008 presidential race, but 2010 is another year — and with seats to fill at a Tuesday [9/28/2010] rally at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Obama team took the step of sending an e-mail message to supporters in search of an audience.

The Humbling of an American President.  He came into office not only promising to create jobs, restore prosperity, open doors of opportunity, cut health-care costs, and reduce our "mounting debt" but also to end divisions in our politics, transcend partisanship, put an end to the blame game, provide unprecedented transparency, stop the rise of the oceans, and heal the planet.  Those were his words, his claims, his commitments.

5 key reasons why Barack Obama's future looks increasingly bleak.  A new Gallup poll suggests the November mid-terms could result in the biggest victory for Republicans in the House since 1894.  Gallup's latest poll is absolutely devastating in its analysis of the Democrats' prospects for November 2, projecting a 13 point lead for the Republicans based on higher overall turnout, and a staggering 18 point lead if turnout is low.

Obama's Presidency Is Unraveling.  For the better part of a year, Obama has given the impression that he would rather be "right" in the eyes of his base than president.  (Unlike Henry Clay, he chose not to do it by investing heavily in infrastructure, but in government workers.)  If voters come to sense that Obama is serious about this, they may help him out by taking the job off of his hands.  This presumes, of course, that his fellow Democrats do not do it before they get a chance.

So Much Worse Than Carter.  The most important fact to take from the September unemployment report released last week is that almost three years after the recession began the economy was still losing jobs!  Almost 100,000 (95,000) additional jobs were lost last month from the economy overall.  That makes 400,000 jobs lost since May.

J'Accuse:  Halperin lays out the critical case against Obama.  President Obama has lost Time Magazine. ... [Mark] Halperin refers to Jobs Fairs across the country as "the breadlines for the Obama years."  And after criticizing the GOP for not offering alternatives, Halperin skewers Obama for wasting time trying to demonize the opposition.  I may be wrong but this might be the first time that outright charges of incompetence by Obama have figured so prominently in an article in the old media.

Obama enthusiasm fades in unlikely place: Wisconsin.  This is not a place where you'd expect President Barack Obama's hopes of a new liberal era to founder. ... Now, thanks largely to the president, the Badger State is leaning right.

President Obama's faithful losing hope as the magic fades.  This president gives rousing speeches.  He did it again yesterday [10/16/2010].  He bounded out onto the Hynes Convention Center stage, all youth and vigor, open-necked white shirt, navy blazer.  But he didn't sell me, or reassure me.  And he obviously knows he's having trouble connecting — even with true believers.

Obama Approval Ratings Lowest of Presidency.  President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped more than 18 points since taking office to an all-time low of 44.7 percent, according to a new Gallup poll.  The results of the poll, released Thursday [10/21/2010], average approval ratings from more than 90 thousand respondents during the third quarter of 2010, July 20 through October 19.  Only three presidents since 1954 — Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter — received lower marks in the seventh quarter of their presidencies.

The Bender Is Over.  Whatever happens on Election Day, the heroic phase of Obama's presidency is over.  It is over not simply because he will spend the rest of his term playing defense rather than conquering new ground for liberalism.  It is over because the assumptions that underlay that first phase of his presidency have already been discredited.

Obama Pleads for Women's Vote.  Barack Obama's pandering to the feminists makes him look like the suitor who is unwilling to face up to his beloved's announcing she will marry another man.  In desperation, he showers her with expensive gifts, hoping to win back her favor.  A majority of women were captivated by Obama's charms in 2008.  Now, according to the pro-Obama New York Times, Obama is reduced to pleading with them "not to abandon the Democratic Party in its hour of need."

The Rage Against Citizens United.  Taking office in January 2009 as president, Barack Obama's achievement was everywhere called historic.  He was at the pinnacle of American life.  Two years later, he may be on the cliff's edge of another historic achievement — the electoral wipeout of his party with some of the Democrats' longest-serving and revered members of Congress disappearing in the avalanche.

Democrats making excuses for poorly attended Obama rally.  Yesterday [10/31/2010], Obama staged a rally at Cleveland State University.  Unlike the 2008 era of hopenchange, Obama spoke to an auditorium that had thousands of empty seats.

Has History Passed Obama By?  Barack Obama's dream of being a transformational president who alters the course of his country died 48 hours ago.  The message America sent Obama and the men and women America sent to Congress to replace his allies impel one to ask:  Why would he want a second term?

A Broken President.  As the nation swept the Democrats to the curb on November 2, the sheer relief of having been rescued from consignment to a collectivist dustbin was a blast of pure oxygen.  Obama was not only crushed; he was disowned.  While the absolute gains in Congress and State Houses all across the country were stunning enough, it was the speed of the about-face that was astonishing and epic.  Just two years ago, Obama was hailed as a 21st-century Lincoln, the figurative progeny of FDR and JFK combined.

The Incredible Shrinking President.  Barack Obama's global stature has taken a catastrophic fall, as evidenced by his latest trip overseas.  Even the New York Times cannot avert its eyes from the disastrous decline in his (and therefore America's) influence.

Dismal Jobs Numbers Expose a Leaderless White House on Economic Policy.  As today's calamitous jobless numbers report came out and the official unemployment rate spiked to 9.8%, Obama's economic dream ended.  The economy is now his mess.  It's his car that's in the ditch.  There will be no economic recovery any time soon for millions of American workers under this president.  And that may end up being Barack Obama's political legacy.

Obama's Approval Hits New Low Amid WikiLeaks Scandal.  Barack Obama vowed in 2008 to bring the country back into the international community, but Americans are starting to worry that it is instead once again becoming the "pitiful giant" it was in the 1970s.  A new IBD/TIPP poll finds Americans continuing to sour on Barack Obama and becoming increasingly fearful that his handling of the WikiLeaks scandal and other international crises is dragging the country down before the rest of the world.

He Has Met the Enemy, and They Are Him.  Mr. Obama has mastered the ability to look both unprincipled and graceless at the same time.  There is also a touch of bipolarity in this administration that is doing a fair amount of damage to it. ... Notoriously thin-skinned and accustomed to worshipful treatment by those around him (including the press), Obama is now clearly disquieted.  On some deep level, Obama must understand that, at this moment at least, his presidency is coming apart.

Obama's final betrayal.  President Obama has made a fatal political mistake:  He has shattered his progressive base -- perhaps permanently.  His liberal hour is over.  This is the real meaning of the White House's tax deal with Republicans.  Contrary to the administration's spin, the agreement is not a "compromise."  It is a surrender — an ideological betrayal of the Democrats' central economic principles.

The future still looks grim for Barack Obama.  There is still no sign at all of any kind of near- or long-term recovery for President Obama after his midterm shellacking in early November.  If anything, one month on from the Congressional elections which brought the Democratic Party to its knees, the outlook is getting even worse for the Obama presidency, and the notion of an Obama bounce is simply a pipe dream at the moment.

Union boss:  'How dare you want to keep your money'.  Liberals are up in arms over President Obama's grudging compromise with congressional Republicans on extending the Bush-era tax rates.  Indeed, the level of recrimination and venom directed at Obama from his erstwhile base is quite stunning. ... Even his most loyal allies, the unions, are expressing contempt at his decision to at last — two years into his presidency — bow to political reality and negotiate with the opposition party.

The sky is not falling, Obama's fairytale is.  With individual rights being tossed on top of the ash heap on an almost daily basis, it's difficult to peer all the way down to the foggy bottom for a look at where things stand in real time.  But the bottom line on what is happening during the fundamental Transformation of America is crystal clear.  There's an impostor calling himself president in the Oval Office with a shadow government of the radical agenda crazed czars running the circus.

Stunning new Gallup Poll finds 13% of Americans still approve of Congress.  A fresh Gallup Poll released this morning reveals that somehow 13% of Americans still approve of the job being done by Congress.  The new Gallup survey did not identify those people, understandably.  However, even though it is a surprisingly high number given the work not done there in recent years, the 13% is a record low job approval for Congress since Gallup began compiling such data in 1974.

Our "Pay No Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain" Moment.  At some point in late 2010 once optimistic independent voters, moderate Republicans, and centrist Democrats stopped listening.  They abruptly concluded that their 2008 Barack Obama proved not to be the great uniter, the great communicator, and the greater humanist who was to bring the country together around "centrist" values.  At about the same time, a once ecstatic liberal base began to worry that President Obama was not the brilliant postracial social organizer, the brilliant progressive explicator, and the brilliant big government architect who would take a center-right country with him hard to the left.

3 Out of 5 Americans With a Strong Opinion about Obama Don't Like Obama.  A Rasmussen poll released yesterday [12/23/2010] ... shows that, by a margin of 3 to 2, likely American voters who have a strong opinion about Obama's performance strongly disapprove of his performance — the exact same ratio as on Election Day.  Among all likely voters (not just those who feel strongly), Obama's approval rating has moved from minus-3 points on Election Day (48 percent approving, 51 percent disapproving) to minus-4 points today (47 percent approving, 51 percent disapproving).

Obama Destined to Be a Footnote in Presidential History.  Barack Obama has set a course that will leave his legacy as no more than a footnote in American presidential history.  For all of the bluster and glory, for all of the pomp and circumstance, and yes, for all of the anticipated hope and the promised change, the whirlwind of hype and expectation surrounding the president a mere two years earlier has virtually dissolved.

White Flight:  By any standard, white voters' rejection of Democrats in November's elections was daunting and even historic.  Fully 60 percent of whites nationwide backed Republican candidates for the House of Representatives; only 37 percent supported Democrats, according to the National Election Poll exit poll conducted by Edison Research.

Nevada Unemployment Rises to 14.5 Percent.  Nevada's unemployment rate hit a new high in December, jumping to 14.5 percent despite employers adding 2,700 jobs, officials said Friday [1/21/2011].

Proteus-in-Chief.  Right now gas prices are skyrocketing.  The housing market is in worse shape than ever.  Food costs are climbing.  We are adding billions to the deficit every day.  The world abroad is not safer, and in fact it's heating up.  Unemployment remains over 9 percent.  A Proteus-in-chief can change only his own shape, not the shape of things as they are.

Why Can't Obama Do the Math On Jobs?  Unemployment fell last month, but only because Americans have given up looking for work in record numbers.  On net, 319,000 quit looking for work and left the work force in December.  In November, it was even worse, 434,000.  Over 1.5 million American have left the workforce since August.

The Essential Barack Obama.  [Scroll down]  Barack Obama floated in on a wave and found himself as President of the United States.  However, there are now no other currents to float upon, there are no other waves to ride.  There are no longer massive adoring crowds to deceive.  There are no more titles to capture.  For the first time in Barack Obama's life he is accountable, and upon his shoulders rest the lives and fortunes of millions in the United States and the world.  He has repeatedly shown that he cannot deal with, and will never be able to shoulder responsibility, as he is at his core self-absorbed, dishonest, and without coherence in his personal beliefs and convictions, thus putting the United States into long-term economic and international peril.

Major decrease in high schools applying for Obama graduation speech.  CBS News reported Monday [3/7/2011] that the White House has seen a decrease in applications requesting the president deliver high school commencement addresses.

Obama news conference registers 3.7.  The Real Good Talker has lost control of the political narrative in the nation's capital, which is very hard for an incumbent president to do.

People Are Starting To Notice.  Recent poll data suggest that Americans have woken up to the fact that Barack Obama is an empty suit, and the Democrats have nothing to offer in terms of policy solutions.  First, President Obama.  Today's Rasmussen Reports finds that among likely voters, President Obama has matched his lowest standing ever.  He now ranks at -22 on the Approval Index, defined as the difference between those who strongly approve and strongly disapprove of his performance.

Obama approval in near free fall.  This is quite extraordinary when you consider the president has committed American forces to a war in the Middle East.  It is extremely rare for a president not to get a nice little bump in approval from the public as they instinctively back the president in a crisis.  But from poll to poll, Obama is seeing his numbers reach their nadir, or near bottom for his presidency.

A clueless presidency adrift in a sea of confusion.  According to the Quinnipiac survey, Obama is now at the lowest approval level of his presidency, with his weakest reelect score ever:  ["]American voters disapprove 48-42 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing and say 50-41 percent he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012, both all-time lows, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.["]

Declining Approval Numbers for Obama Among Blacks.  Gallup reports that President Obama's approval rating among blacks has fallen to an all-time low of 85 percent.  His rating fell five points in the last month alone.  Although on an absolute basis Obama's approval among blacks remains high, this number should be worrisome for the Obama 2012 presidential campaign.  Approximately 2.9 million more blacks voted in 2008 than in 2004.  Obama received 96 percent of that vote.

Obama No Longer Enjoys Majority Approval In Any Income Class.  President Barack Obama's approval among the poorest Americans dropped to an all-time low of 48 percent last week, according to the Gallup poll, leaving the president with less-than-majority approval among all income brackets reported in Gallup's presidential approval surveys.

Gallup: Obama approval hits all-time low.  President Obama's approval rating has hit it all-time low of 41 percent, according to the Gallup daily tracking poll.  A three-day average of the poll shows that 50 percent disapprove of the job he is doing as president, two points shy of his all-time low.

The Attack of the Cash Register.  President Obama's support among blacks and Hispanics has fallen to new lows according to a Gallup poll.  Black support declined by 7% and among Hispanics by 11%, farther than at any point since his inauguration. ... But there's another possible reason besides Libya and the deficit:  inflation, starting with energy prices.  The poor, including and especially blacks and Hispanics, are being hardest hit by increasing energy costs.

Dictating is Easy; Leading is Hard.  They were happier times.  Headier times.  President Barack Obama and his Democrats held strong majorities in both the House and Senate.  Dreams of "fundamentally transforming the United States of America" were at hand.  Best of all, nobody could stop them, and they reveled in it. ... Fun times, fun times.  But they're over now.  The American people responded as Americans do, the Tea Party movement arose, and when November came they flipped the House to the GOP and left the Democrats barely hanging onto control in the Senate.  It was just enough change in the overall power structure to quell the hijinks.

It's All Coming Apart.  Despite Government propaganda and manipulated statistics to the contrary, our economy continues to deteriorate.  For every "green shoot" highlighted by the Government and its lackey media, multiple contra-examples are cited by independent analysts.  To continue to deny reality risks credibility.  Perhaps that is why S&P, arguably a sock-puppet of Wall Street, on Monday [4/18/2011] made its announcement regarding the financial condition of the US.

President's approval rating declining.  A CNN Poll of Polls compiled and released Friday [4/22/2011] indicates that 45 percent of the public say they approve of the job the president's doing in the White House, with 48 percent saying they disapprove of how Obama's handling his duties.

Brutal NYT/CBS Poll for Obama.  The New York Times is burrying [sic] the lead on their latest poll.  The numbers are just brutal for the White House:
  •   70% of Americans feel things in this country are seriously off on the wrong track.
  •   80% rate the national economy as bad (44% fairly/36% very).  Only 19% rate it as good (2% very/17% fairly).
  •   39% think the economy is getting worse, only 23% say it is getting better.
  •   57% disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy.

Hope and change? A national gloom descends over Obama's America.  You know things are really going badly for the White House when even The New York Times, the most powerful bastion of liberalism in America, is warning the president he is in serious trouble.

America needs Fox News.  You can bet that if George Bush were president, the media would be out for blood.  You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not notice that gas is four smackers a gallon, real unemployment is still above 10 percent, America is trillions in debt with no end to annual trillion-dollar deficits in sight, we are still in two wars and itching for another one in Libya, China is poised to eclipse our economy in just a couple of years, and 25 percent of our kids do not graduate from high school.

Four in 10 approve of Obama's handling of economy; marks all-time low.  Four in 10 registered voters approve of President Obama's handling of the economy, a new poll found.  According to the McClatchy-Marist Poll, released Thursday [4/28/2011], 57 percent disapprove and the remaining 3 percent are unsure.  The 40 percent approval rating marks a record low for the McClatchy-Marist poll.

Obama's approval freefall.  The Gallup weekly survey shows that support for Mr. Obama has for the most part dropped across the board since the middle of March.  There were some signs of durable support from college graduates and liberal Democrats, and conservative Republican approval levels are steady — at 11 percent.  Most surprising, and perhaps most alarming for the White House, are the disproportionate approval drops in key support groups.  Approval from those aged 18-29 declined at twice the rate of the general population.

How the Smartest President Ever Becomes a One-Term President:  The news for the nation and the president continues to get worse.  Today [4/28/2011] we learned that in the first quarter of this year total economic output for the country grew by an anemic 1.8 percent.  This was a significant slowdown from the fourth quarter of 2010, when the growth was 3.1 percent, which was itself unimpressive, especially in the aftermath of a recession, when one would expect growth to be much more robust.

55% of Americans Prove Failure of Education.  Last Friday, a new CNN survey showed that 80% of Americans believe the economy is in poor shape.  Who could argue with them?  With unemployment ticking back up to 9%, home values still sliding, surging gas prices, lackluster confidence on the part of consumers as well as business leaders, and an apparently out-of-control national debt with no visible signs of solutions that are agreeable to both sides, we seem to be stuck in doldrums for the long run.  Here is the shocker in the same survey:  55% of Americans blame former President Bush and the Republicans for the mess we are in!

Obama the Desperate.  We are nearly two years into economic recovery, and our country still faces record high levels of unemployment.  The Obama years represent the highest levels of sustained unemployment since the Great Depression.  It's hard not to think that the administration's unrelenting hostility to the private sector in general and to companies and industries that create jobs in the United States isn't responsible for this deplorable situation.

Obama Economy Worse Than 1970s.  America's middle class is getting poorer; a record number of middle class workers are out of work.  If you are lucky enough to have a job, your wages aren't going up, but you are facing higher prices for everything.

The Obama slowdown.  The experts at the National Bureau of Economic Research say the Great Recession ended in June 2009.  After that, it looked for a brief period as if there might be a surge of economic growth as an oppressed private sector fought to break free of the malaise.  It hasn't happened, and the latest numbers are far from encouraging.

0-97 Unanimous rejection.  The budget proposal released by the White House back in February didn't win a single vote in the Senate on Wednesday [5/25/2011] — the final tally was 0-97.  Senate Republicans pushed for the vote as a counterpoint to the defeat of Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan.

Not A Single Senator Supports Barack Obama's Budget.  Today [5/25/2011], in what would be a major news story if the times we live in were not so bizarre, the Senate voted 97-0 against President Obama's FY 2012 budget.  Obama's budget was such a joke that not a single Democrat was willing to support it.

Obama Goes Doh!-for-97, 98, 99, 100!  Mr. Irrelevant, the man formerly known as president, was in France when news came that the Senate unanimously rejected the Jerry Lewis gag budget that the administration submitted to Congress in February.  The vote was 0-97 against, with three Senators voting "not present."  Can you blame them?

Bad jobs report is a five-car alarm for Obama's campaign.  While incumbent governors fear prison breaks and weekend furloughs gone bad, incumbent presidents fear bad jobs numbers.  Today's Labor Department numbers spell trouble for President Obama's re-election prospects.

To keep his job, Obama needs more jobs.  President Barack Obama cannot escape one giant vulnerability as he bids to keep his job:  Millions of voters still don't have one.

Another Devastating Jobs Report.  The May jobs report is out, and it is not good.  The Labor Department reported only 54,000 jobs created, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.1%.  Not only that, the March and April numbers were revised downward.

The Job Market: Far Worse Than It Appears.  In normal times, it's usually acceptable for data users to stick with seasonally adjusted (SA) information while avoiding the adventure of delving into and analyzing the raw, not seasonally adjusted (NSA) stuff.  But these are not normal times.  We're at the three-year point of the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) economy, an appellation I applied in early July 2008, when I recognized that the economy was fundamentally changing, and not for the better.  In abnormal times such as these, you cannot be sure that the SA data adequately reflects what's happening in the raw NSA information.

Three things missing from American bookstores  ...compared to a couple of years ago.  1. Bestsellers by the repulsive Michael Moore.  2. An endless selection of Don't-You-Hate-Dubya books.  3. Brown-nosing biographies of Barack Obama.  Even the book-buyers of the West Village, Santa Monica and Madison, Wisconsin, have worked out that he's *not a very good president*.

Obama seeks reshaped image for 2012 run.  The Obama Brand in 2008 was pretty simple:  Hope and change.  Then things got complicated.  The jobless rate on Friday ticked above 9% again.  The housing market nationwide continues to fall.  Gas prices are straining family's summertime budgets.  President Obama's signature health care law to expand insurance coverage doesn't command majority support more than a year after it was signed into law.

More Americans Think Economy Will Never Recover.  Americans are growing increasingly doubtful about direction of the US economy, according to the latest survey from business-advisory firm AlixPartners.  In fact, an increasing number, some 61 percent, say they don't expect to return to their respective pre-recession lifestyles until the spring of 2014, if ever.

Bin Laden bounce definitely over for Obama.  Those who forecast Barack Obama had sealed his second term as president with the killing of Osama Bin Laden look to be wrong.  According to a new poll, the 'Bin laden bounce' has already evaporated.

Barack Obama is floundering in a sea of bad news.  If last week wasn't bad enough for President Obama with the release of a series of dire economic reports, this week is looking even worse, kicking off with the resignation on Monday evening [6/6/2011] of his chief economist Austan Goolsbee.  On Friday Goolsbee struggled to explain an unexpected rise in unemployment figures, comically describing them as a "bump in the road", hardly reassuring news to the nearly 14 million Americans who are now out of work.

Daily economic briefings disappear from Obama's White House schedule.  At some point during the first two years of his administration, President Obama stopped receiving the daily economic briefing that he requested when he took office.

The Editor says...
I take this as an admission by President Obama that he can no longer blame the state of the economy on George W. Bush.

Decline and fall of the American empire.  America clocked up a record last week.  The latest drop in house prices meant that the cost of real estate has fallen by 33% since the peak — even bigger than the 31% slide seen when John Steinbeck was writing The Grapes of Wrath.

The U.S. Economy's Bad News Deluge.  Anemic jobs numbers, cratering home prices, stock market plunges — the only upside to all these depressing figures, says Gary Rivlin, is they may force Washington to stop obsessing over the deficit and fix unemployment.  It was only a month ago that the Obama administration was reassuring us that the economy was on the right track.

The Editor says...
Obsess is not an intransitive verb.

Goolsbee heads for the hills.  It can't be easy serving as chief economic adviser to President Obama.  The harder Austan Goolsbee has worked to implement the administration's borrow-and-spend philosophy, the worse the economy has become.  No wonder Mr. Goolsbee wants to get out of town.  If only he were more honest about it.

Gambling Man.  Suddenly, it seems, we are witnessing a crisis of confidence — the first outward sign of an inward glimmer of doubt in the mind of the most self-absorbed and self-congratulatory president in the history of the United States.

Read this article:
Obama's Road to Nowhere.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median period of unemployment is now nine months -- the longest it's been since they've been tracking the numbers.  Long-term unemployment is worse than in the Depression.  Life goes slowly waiting for a fast-food job to open up.  This is Main Street, Obamaville:  All bumps, no road.

Obama speaks to half-empty fundraiser.  President Obama's re-election campaign swept through Florida on Monday [6/13/2011].  Obama spoke at three fundraisers, including one that was open to the public.  The largest fundraiser had a disappointing turnout.  Politico reported that only 980 tickets were sold for the event at the 2,200 seat Adrienne Arsht Center.  The upper level of the center was completely empty, the second and third levels only partially full, according to Politico.

The Obama Campaign Team's Electoral College Obsession.  The Obama team is committed to creating or preserving two jobs:  Obama's and Joe Biden's, and if the electoral calculus in the spring of 2012 suggests that a new VP may help more in a difficult race, Biden will be jettisoned, too.  The generic ballot tests suggest an unnamed Republican runs about even with Obama at this point.  Obama's bin Laden bounce has disappeared, and he now has an average approval score in the high 40s again, down from the low 50s.

African American unemployment at 16 percent.  The economy and jobs will be big issues in Washington again this coming week.  While unemployment among the general population is about 9.1 percent, it's at 16.2 percent African Americans, and a bit higher still for African American males.

Why the Jobs Situation Is Worse Than It Looks.  The Great Recession has now earned the dubious right of being compared to the Great Depression.  In the face of the most stimulative fiscal and monetary policies in our history, we have experienced the loss of over 7 million jobs, wiping out every job gained since the year 2000.  From the moment the Obama administration came into office, there have been no net increases in full-time jobs, only in part-time jobs.  This is contrary to all previous recessions.  Employers are not recalling the workers they laid off from full-time employment.

The New Desperation of Team Obama.  Team Obama is looking more desperate these days.  The signs of desperation are clearly visible — Obama playing to a half-packed house in Miami, Obama using increasingly shrill arguments that his job creation efforts are working, Geithner's threats regarding the debt ceiling and the Democrat-influenced mainstream media's increasing criticisms of the Republican slate of presidential primary candidates. — If Obama's policies are so successful and if the country is doing so well, why do Americans see this growing desperation in Team Obama?

Top 10 Scariest Economic Developments.  [#1]  Jobs surge, but only at McDonald's:  The Labor Department's June unemployment report shows anemic job growth and that the jobless rate ticked up to 9.1%.  Even worse, of the 54,000 jobs created, fully half were people hired by the McDonald's fast-food chain.  With jobless benefits starting to end for some, there is little hope for millions of unemployed Americans.

The Jobless Summer.  Perhaps you've already noticed around the neighborhood, but this is a rotten summer for young Americans to find a job.  The Department of Labor reported last week that a smaller share of 16-19 year-olds are working than at anytime since records began to be kept in 1948.  Only 24% of teens, one in four, have jobs, compared to 42% as recently as the summer of 2001.

Obama's blue-collar blues.  Mr. Obama's declining support among white working-class voters in Nevada is unusually steep.  The Silver State boasts the nation's highest jobless rate, at 12.6 percent in April.  But the drop highlights an important development about the 2012 election.

Now Can We Say Obama Economic Plan Fails?  With unemployment now at 9.2% and job growth at a standstill, is there anyone not blinded by ideology or rank partisanship who can't see that Obama's spend-and-regulate economic plan has been an utter failure?

Barack Obama, Prince of Gloom.  With almost perfect and abject symmetry Barack Obama stood at a podium in the Rose Garden addressing the nation's latest depressing employment figures as the last space shuttle flight prepared to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center.  Our ever-worsening levels of joblessness and the end of American manned space flight are both Obama's handiwork.  He owns them.  Everything he touches seems to crumble to dust.

America abandons Obama.  So much for hope and change.  With the economy growing worse and worse, the grand promises of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign have faded as the reality of malaise takes hold.

The President's New Clothes.  Once upon a time, there was a vain president in far off Washington whose only worry in life was to dress in elegant clothes and have parties.  He began by holding weekly soirées, and then twice per week, and then three times per week.  And at each soirée he loved to show off his new clothes and played with the presidential Teleprompter telling ever more outrageous stories.

From Rock Star to Rock Bottom.  Obama poll numbers remind us that the light that burns twice as bright lasts half as long.  With only a 40% approval rating, Obama's popularity is pretty much based solely on the opinions of people on the government dole, thus a 40% rating is technically "rock bottom."

44% say they definitely will not reelect Obama.  Buried deep in the internals of The Washington Post's latest poll, and not reported at all in their front-page write up, is some troubling news for President Obama's reelction prospects.  Fourty-four percent of American adults, and 46 percent of registered voters, told The Post they definitely will not vote for Obama's reelection.  Only 20 percent of respondents said they deifinitely will vote for Obama in 2012.  Thirty percent said they would consider it.

Some unions to skip 2012 convention.  About a dozen trade unions plan to sit out the 2012 Democratic convention because they're angry that it's being held in a right-to-work state and frustrated that Democrats haven't done enough to create jobs.

Obama's 'Counteroffensive'? Please!  Seeing as President Obama cannot govern, he's had to go back to campaigning — an activity with which he's quite comfortable but decreasingly successful, as evidenced by his falling poll numbers and his endless, repetitive speeches.  I don't just throw out this governance charge lightly.  The Los Angeles Times reports that Obama is no longer receiving daily Oval Office economic briefings.  More troubling, he doesn't even appear to have much of an economic team left to advise him.

The View From Martha's Vineyard.  As he and his daughters bicycle around the summer playground of the Northeastern elite, Martha's Vineyard, President Obama is steadily bleeding away both the support of the nation and that of his most loyal constituency.  Several times, his approval rating in Gallup's daily tracking poll has sunk to 39 percent, with disapproval reaching 54 percent.

Barack Obama, One-Termer.  Every day, thousands more Americans are giving up on Barack Obama's presidency.  We see this anecdotally as well as in poll data.  This, I think, is the real reason why Obama's Martha's Vineyard vacation is so out of tune.

Barry's Failing Blame Game.  From the golf courses of Martha's Vineyard to the shores of Tripoli, President Obama's re-election strategy is running out of steam. ... The Teflon has worn off.  Unless the media can save him — or the Republicans nominate another John McCain — Obama will be "one and done."

Obama's Approval Drops to All-Time Low of 38%.  Only 38 percent of Americans say they approve of the way Barack Obama is handing his job as president, according to Gallup's daily tracking poll released today (which averages the president's approval over Gallup's previous three days of polling).

Obama hits new low in Gallup daily tracking poll.  Gallup posted it's [sic] daily presidential tracking poll and the numbers for the president continue to look dismal.  According to Gallup, President Barack Obama's job approval rating has hit another another all time low.  Only 38 percent of those polled approve of the job president is doing while a whopping 55 percent disapprove.

Messiah of Hate.  Glamor is all that Obama ever had.  With the greasepaint off, there's nothing there but a surly kid with greying hair.  An obnoxious posturing preening brat parading down the runways of the world with his media entourage in tow.  Some actors can change from one costume to another, but he is the costume.  Worse yet, he isn't even the costume.  He's the lights, the stirring music, the hours of anchor commentary, the deliberate pauses, the photographic halos, the teleprompter and the building expectation.  Take those things away and there isn't even an empty suit.

Obama in winter.  A gossip Web site reports that The New York Times is working on a story that the president is depressed.  That's unconfirmed.  But if he isn't depressed, I'd hope the self-proclaimed "paper of record" would investigate why on earth he's not.

Bad News for Obama From the New York Times.  The New York district, Charles Schumer and Andrew Weiner's old district in Queens, has been in Democratic hands since 1923.  If a Democrat can lose in that district, a Democrat can lose anywhere.  And they know it!

Has Obama Learned Anything?  Democrats lose a special election in a congressional district they have controlled since the 1920s and which was framed as a referendum on the president.  There's a possible scandal brewing over the White House's effort to rush federal reviewers for a decision on a nearly half-billion dollar loan to a solar-panel manufacturer, Solyndra.  The most recent Census Report shows median household earnings fell for the third consecutive year, back to 1996 levels.  A record number of Americans are in poverty. ... And that's just today.

Obama's None-Too-Divine Comedy.  The decision of who will become the next president of the United States will be made long before November of 2012.  After the current president's most recent tour de farce before a joint session of Congress, it is rapidly becoming a foregone conclusion who it's not going to be.  The Obama-adoring New York Times concedes that their manufactured politician may be in deep trouble as his own base begins to abandon him.  Independents have already done so.  The right was never on his side.  Even the Washington Post doesn't flinch from using the word "laughingstock" when referring to the petty political antics of Obama.

Blacks leave Obama.  According to a Washington Post/ABC News survey, [Obama's] favorability rating among African-Americans has dropped off a cliff, plunging from 83 percent five months ago to a mere 58 percent today — a drop of 25 points, a bit more than a point per week!

On Deaf Ears.  President Obama spent most of this month pressuring Congress to "pass this jobs bill," but he can't even get his own party to support it.  He's quickly turning into a leader without any followers.

Overrated.  [Barack Obama] has gone from sterling campaigner to put-upon leader; from the new FDR to the next Jimmy Carter; from being the orator who could hold millions spellbound to the man who moves no one at all.  The man who promised everything is delivering nothing.  Journalists who wept when he won the election now grind their teeth in despair.

Mourning In America.  The president admits that Americans are not better off than they were four years ago — a fact he can hardly deny.  But he steadfastly refuses to own up and take blame for his policy failures.

Do Dems Dare Dump Barry?  Rasmussen tracks presidential popularity, but the crucial number is in the strongly disapprove category.  These are voters highly unlikely to change their minds and strongly likely to show up on Election Day.  This number has been hovering for weeks around 45%, and once it hits 50%, then whoever opposes Obama in November will win.  Gallup shows that Republican voters are much more excited about voting than Democrats, which simply reinforces the Rasmussen numbers.

It's Hard To Be a Racist.  Just look at the unemployment statistics.  White unemployment is 8 percent, and black unemployment is double that, at 17 percent, and in some cities, black unemployment is near 30 percent.  It's gotten so bad under Obama's presidency that New York's Urban Justice Center has appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council for help.  But Obama's tired of black complaints.  Obama told the Congressional Black Caucus to "Stop whining!"

Obama's jobs plan blocked in Senate.  President Obama received a slap from members of his own party Tuesday [10/11/2011] as the Senate voted 50-49 to block his $447 billion jobs package.  The jobs plan, which the president has spent much of the last month touting on a cross-country tour, fell well short of the 60 votes it needed to proceed.

Obama Cannot Resign, He Must Be Defeated.  According to newly released internal White House emails, however bad things are now, they're about to get worse.  The messages, which originated within the White House Office of Management and Budget in 2010, admits the train wreck of the Solyndra loan and indicates that "bad days are coming."  "What's terrifying," the note reads, "is that looking at some of the ones that came next, this one [Solyndra] started to look better."  It's important to note that these emails were released by Democrats themselves so, in all likelihood, this is the version of the story that presents the best possible picture of the Obama administration's future.

Obama's bus tour a flat failure.  The question is, when will reality set in for Obama?  ["]Closing out his bus tour on a low-key note, President Obama made a pitch for his jobs package at a firehouse, where a subdued crowd needed a bit of prompting to applaud his proposal to boost the economy.["]  Anytime a crowd needs "prompting" to applaud what a president says — especially on friendly turf with presumably his core supporters in attendance — you might want to get out the butter and jam because you know the prez is toast.

Announcing Retirement, Dem Congressman Bashes Obama.  Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., announced his retirement from Congress this afternoon — and he issued a scathing parting shot at President Obama's track record on his way out.  In a statement explaining his decision, Cardoza, a leader of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, said he was "dismayed" by the administration's "failure to understand and effectively address the current housing foreclosure crisis."

Strike Two for Obama's 'Jobs' Package.  One week after the Democrat-led Senate rejected President Obama's American Jobs Act in its entirety, the Senate on Thursday [10/20/2011] also rejected the first attempt to pass the bill piecemeal.  In a 50-50 test vote — with three Democrats joining every Republican — the Senate rejected legislation that would have supported jobs for teachers and first responders.

What Change Looks Like Under Obama.  This was their moment.  This was their time.  And they've had their chance.  The Obama record is one of almost undiluted failures.  And no group of Americans have been hurt more by his failures than the poor, the weak and defenseless, and those living in the shadows of society.

Even Obama's Cheerleaders Are Falling Away.  President Obama's cheerleaders are starting to peel away along with his approval ratings, and it's a fascinating sight to behold.  They offer different reasons, but they all boil down to one obvious thing — Obama is first and foremost about Obama — and one less obvious:  He has been a failed president.

For Election Year, MTV Drops 'Choose or Lose' Slogan.  After nearly 20 years of "Choose or Lose," MTV is changing the name of its election season campaign. ... The name change is, in part, a statement about the cynical mood of the youth voting bloc.  While young people turned out in unusually high numbers to support Barack Obama in 2008, MTV's research into "Choose or Lose" found that many felt they had lost anyway.

The Editor says...
Indeed we all lost a great deal, thanks to the teenagers' vote.

The Beginning of the Negative Campaign.  2012 will be the most negative campaign we have ever seen in our lifetimes.  President Obama cannot run on his record because the Hope and Change he brought us is actually higher unemployment, more government debt, and a path toward bankruptcy.  In fact the Democrats have already begun running negative ads against Republican contenders.

Obama's Revolving Door Widens as White House Chief of Staff Quits.  The abrupt departure of Bill Daley, President Barack Obama's third White House chief of staff, reflects what pundits say is a highly politicized White House that is focused on only one objective:  winning re-election in November.  "It's now totally a political operation — only politics," Democratic pollster and Fox News analyst Doug Schoen tells Newsmax.  "Everything else, and everyone else, takes second fiddle.  Everyone and everything is expendable, when re-election is at stake."

Gallup state numbers predict huge Obama loss.  Gallup released their annual state-by-state presidential approval numbers yesterday [1/31/2012], and the results should have 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue very worried.

The bad news behind the January jobs report.  Three years after Obama became president, even the official unemployment rate still remains high.  The newly released 8.3 percent unemployment rate is still a half a percentage point higher than when he took office.  But that still might be looking at the bright side.  If we include those who have given up looking for work and those who could only find part time work, the unemployment rate stands at almost an entire percentage point higher than when Obama entered office.

Obama presidency on life support.  Last week, Gallup released a poll indicating that if the election were held today and President Obama won only states where he has a positive approval rating, he'd be packing his bags for the unemployment line.  Indeed, Conn Carroll of the Washington Examiner estimates that "Obama would lose the 2012 election to the Republican nominee 323 electoral votes to 215."

Here is what the official unemployment figures don't say:
Economic Statistics for 3 Feb 12:
  •   In November, 2007, 63.15% of Americans had a job.  In Feburary, 2012, it was 57.76%.
  •   In November, 2007, there were 147,118,000 Americans working.  This month, that number was 139,944,000.  That's 7.1 million jobs that have disappeared.
  •   If the labor force participation rate was the same today as it was in November 2007 (66.1%), today's unemployment rate would be 12.61%.

Obama 2008 v. Obama 2012: An Amateur v. a Failure.  The screaming crowds and near Elvis-fanfare that greeted Obama as he campaigned across America in 2008, began dying down in late 2009 and have been reduced to nothing more than a whimper in 2012.  He is no longer the juggernaut on an upward trajectory:  rather, he's the man who promised hope and change but delivered Fast and Furious.

Ten Indications That Obama Is Scared.  [#7]  Obama is changing his slogan.  Realizing that "Yes We Can" has turned into "Well, I Thought We Could," and that "hope and change" now applies to getting rid of him, Obama must adjust his catchphrases.  Obama's handlers are testing various new sayings, but the bad news is that nothing is sticking.  The new phrases being tested are "Winning the Future," "Greater Together," and "We Don't Quit," and Obama has begun lacing these in his speeches, but none are resonating, which is why Obama is panicking.

Obama loses Dem primary in 15 Oklahoma counties.  With 98 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday [3/6/2012], Obama won 57 percent of the vote.

According to Half of America, Obama Has Been a Failure.  According to a new Gallup survey, 50 percent of adults see President Obama's time in office as a failure.

Poll: Most say Obama tanking on gas.  Almost two-thirds of Americans, 65 percent, said they disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is dealing with rising prices at the pump, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds.  Only 26 percent — the president's lowest rating in the poll — said they approve of his handling of gas prices, while a majority, 52 percent, said they "strongly" disapprove.

The Shameless Obama Campaign.  Obama's approval rating is stuck below 50 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.  His approval rating has been underwater in Gallup tracking since May of 2011.  This is dangerous for an incumbent during the spring of a reelection year.  And Obama's approval rating in swing states is even worse.

Poll: Obama's approval rating sinks to new low.  President Obama's approval rating has hit the lowest level ever in CBS News polling, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times survey.  The drop may be partially attributable to rising gas prices.  Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, according to the poll, conducted from March 7 to 11.

At the same time...
Obama's Job Approval Rating Reaches 49% Over Weekend.  President Barack Obama's job approval rating rose to 49% in the three-day period from Friday through Sunday [3/11/2012], building on an upward trend that began the middle of last week.  Obama's current approval rating is the highest measured since early February, and before that the highest since June 2011.

Real inflation: 7.2 percent and rising.  The killer question of politics, asked by Ronald Reagan when he ran against Jimmy Carter, was "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"  Everything is worse today than it was four years ago.  It's increasingly difficult for Barack Obama to hide the damage from people who are being told to stock up on toothpaste, and eat beans instead of meat to offset rising gas prices.

Obama is a failure, in every way possible.  Stimulus packages were not to stimulate the economy but were to siphon off money for the bonuses of executives in failing businesses.  Since when does failure deserve a bonus?  What else did he do?  His ObamaCare will bankrupt America and was passed with bribes, threats, arm twisting and backroom deals.  Nancy Pelosi:  "Let's pass it so we can see what's in it."  If that isn't buying a pig in a poke, what is?

How to Beat Obama:  Gas prices are through the roof; the economy remains in shambles; the situation in the Middle East has never been so tenuous.  And yet nearly half of all Americans think Obama's doing a decent job.  Which shows that nearly half of Americans are either dependent on the government or devoid of common sense or both.

Obama campaign's big blunder.  The Obama campaign accidentally handed its opponents a huge present, if they have the wit and the guts to use it.  The portion of the public that is paying attention is justifiably alarmed at Obama's overheard promise to Putin have "flexibility" on missile defense after the election.  A serious doubt about Obama — that unshackled by a future election he will reward his friends and punish his enemies with abandon — is out there as a meme.  Right now, it is mostly confined to the conservative blogosphere, but plenty of people who voted for Obama in 2008 are disconcerted by some of his actions and results, on energy, the economy, the Arab Spring, Israel, Russia, the Saudi king bow... the list goes on and on.  Seeds of doubt have been planted.  As more people start paying attention, the idea will spread.

Two New National Polls Show Romney Beating Obama.  With the media completely on President Obama's side and his cynical, divisive national community organizing in a full racial and gender rage, two new polls show none of it's working.

Obama goes negative to side step his sorry record.  President Obama's two biggest legislative accomplishments were the passage of his $831 billion economic stimulus package and his $1.8 trillion health care law.  How's that working out?  Last month's Washington Post-ABC News poll found that a mere 31 percent of Americans believe his "economic program" made things better, compared with 67 percent who said it had "no real effect" or even made conditions worse.

Obama's Smart Diplomacy Disaster.  As the oceans recede and the planet heals, peace finally comes to the long-suffering world, and grateful mankind loudly praises Obama the Peacemaker, Obama the Savior, Obama the Great.  Such visions of his future diplomatic triumphs were dancing in Barack Obama's head as the newly elected president settled down in the White House.  Three-plus years later, however, reality has proven a little different.

Oops! Axelrod Tells Voters Not To Choose The Road We Are On.  Transcript:  "The choice in this election is between an economy that produces a growing middle-class and that gives people a chance to get ahead and their kids a chance to get ahead and an economy that continues down the road we're on."

Obama's vs. Unions.  Obama and his party are heavily dependent on Big Labor dues to stay in power, and saving the UAW was a crucial piece of the 2009 federal takeover of the Detroit auto industry.  But look outside union strongholds like the upper Midwest, and Obama's claimed support of the working man is highly selective.  Indeed, Obama's ideological war on the oil and coal industries is breeding angry union enemies as Obama's green theology gets the better of his blue-collar empathy.  This is a hostility that may well cost him the election.

The Democrats finally give in to despair.  As you may have noticed, the Dems have been off their game lately.  Even more than usual, I mean.  Well, now it's official:  They're panicking.  So much for "Hope and Change."  So much for "Yes We Can."  So much for "bipartisanship" and "looking at all ideas on the table" and all the other lies.  So much for trying to convince people that Obama is worth reelecting on his own merits.

Obama Sees Steep Dropoff in Cash From Major Donors.  From Wall Street to Hollywood, from doctors and lawyers, the traditional big sources of campaign cash are not delivering for the Obama campaign as they did four years ago.

President Obama's Video Message Booed At Boston's Fenway Park.  During Friday's [4/20/2012] Red Sox game, President Obama delivered a video message recognizing the 100th of Fenway Park, in Boston.  Several people are reporting that his message was met with booing.

Five Devastating Numbers That Show Obama's Incompetence.  The average unemployment rate during George Bush's time in office was roughly 5.3% as compared to 8.2% today, which is part of the longest streak of over 8% unemployment since the Great Depression. [...] There are 5 million Americans who not only lost their jobs, but who became so discouraged trying to find a job that they just gave up.

Live Not By Obama's Lies.  Obama has seen the polls that show his coalition is eroding.  His base has three parts:  minorities, single women, and young people.  His failure to jumpstart American prosperity is giving him trouble with all three.

Romney: Obama Has Destroyed Economy For Women.  Women have been hit the hardest by the massive job losses under President Barack Obama — a fact that gives lie to the allegation that Republicans have launched a "war on women," GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said Wednesday [4/11/2012].  Women have lost nine out of every 10 jobs that have disappeared during the Obama administration, said Romney, who now looks to be the president's opponent in the November elections.  Female unemployment has risen by 16 percent since Obama entered the White House in 2009, up from 5 million to 5.8 million, he said.

U.S. home ownership falls to 15-year low.  The share of privately owned U.S. homes fell to a 15-year low in the first quarter, government data showed on Monday [4/30/2012], suggesting that falling house prices are discouraging Americans from being homeowners.  The home ownership rate slipped to 65.4 percent, the lowest since the first quarter of 1997, the Commerce Department said.  The rate was at 66.0 percent in the fourth quarter.

The Editor says...
Why would "falling house prices" discourage people from buying them?  Exactly the opposite is true.  I suspect what this statistic shows is that a whole bunch of people are out of work, thanks to Barack H. Obama, and have lost their houses to foreclosure.

US factory orders fell in March by most in 3 years.  Demand for U.S. factory goods dropped in March by the most in three years, driven lower by a sharp fall in volatile orders for commercial aircraft.

Mitt Romney issues Ohio challenge to President Obama.  Dear Mr. President,  Welcome to Ohio.  I have a simple question for you:  Where are the jobs?  As we enter the fourth year of your term, unemployment is over 8 percent and has been for your entire term.  Nearly 23 million men and women are unemployed, underemployed or are no longer even looking for work.  In the face of such challenges, many Americans have simply given up hope.

Felon beats Obama in several West Virginia counties.  A Texas felon gave President Obama a run for his money in the West Virginia Democratic primary, beating Obama in several counties and winning enough of the vote to be eligible for at least one delegate at the convention, according to the Associated Press.  Perennial candidate Keith Russell Judd, currently serving 210 months in a federal prison, is currently pulling down roughly 40 percent of the vote to Obama's 60 percent.

The Editor says...
This shows that either the Democrats don't have any idea who they're voting for, or the Democrats are finished with Barack H. Obama.  Or perhaps both.

May 8, 2012:  The Night the Primaries Got a Lot of Fun.  In Wisconsin, Scott Walker received more votes running against no one in the Republican primary than the two major Democratic candidates got combined.  In North Carolina, "No Preference" garnered 21 percent in the Democratic Party presidential primary against Barack Obama.  In West Virginia, "A felon incarcerated in Texas took one in three votes away from President Obama in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday.  Keith Judd, who is serving time in a federal prison in Texarkana, Texas, for extortion, took 37 percent of the vote, with 50 percent of precincts reporting.  Obama captured the remaining 63 percent."

Somehow they left the word "coal" out of this report, but that's what it's all about.
Federal Inmate Keith Judd [Fares Well] in West Virginia Democratic Primary.  Barack Obama was not the only Democrat on the ballot on Tuesday [5/8/2012] in West Virginia's Democratic Presidential Primary.  Keith Judd — also known as Inmate No. 11593-051 at the Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana, Texas — was running against him.  Judd, who is serving out a 17.5 year sentence for extortion, currently has received 40 percent of the vote, with 83 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.  Obama currently has received 60 percent of the vote.

See what I mean?
How the felon won.  Whatever other forces may be at work in the Appalachian opposition to Obama — the role of race has been debated since his 2008 run — it's clear the administration's energy policies played a big role in the president's lackluster performance.  Locally, it's referred to as "the war on coal."

Ouch! Obama loses 41 percent of W.Va. primary vote to federal inmate.  In an embarrassment to President Obama, Federal Inmate No. 11593-051 — otherwise known as Keith Judd — won 10 counties and 41 percent of the vote in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday. [...] The Republicans are having a field day with this slap at the president.  Mr. Obama is deeply unpopular in West Virginia and was already certain to lose the small mountainous state in November.  But the fact that enough people bothered to turn out in an uncontested primary to register a protest against the incumbent is telling.

Inmate Vies With Obama in W. Virginia.  West Virginia has never been a hospitable state for President Barack Obama.  Still, the results of Tuesday's balloting seem to mark some kind of low point.  Democrats — those are members of the president's party — voting in the West Virginia presidential primary gave 40% of their votes to a man whom the Associated Press identified as a federal prison inmate.

Obama Loses the Average White Guy Vote.  The problem for President Barack Obama and down-ticket Democrats on November's ballot is that average white guys aren't just found in West Virginia; they're in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other states, too, and they can tip this fall's election.  According to Gallup's latest battleground numbers, Obama's main electoral strengths are with voters who are nonwhite, nonreligious, single or postgraduates.  Republican Mitt Romney's strength is with white voters, particularly men, those who are religious, and those who are 30 or older.

Obama Carolina Convention Plans Going Awry for Democrats.  President Barack Obama's decision in February 2011 to hold the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina looked like a bold move to reclaim a state he'd won in 2008.  Today, it's more like an awkward fit.  The state's Democratic Party is mired in a sexual harassment scandal.  Voters just approved a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, which conflicts with Obama's view on the issue.  Convention fundraising has been slow, and labor unions tapped to fill the financial gap are angry the convention will be in a city — Charlotte — with no unionized hotels and in a state where compulsory union membership or the payment of dues is prohibited as an employment condition.

Panic: Obama Campaign Already Coming Off the Rails.  Saddled with increasingly bad economic data, the campaign has been doggedly trying to change the subject to anything other than jobs and deficits. [...] Unfortunately for Obama and his allies in the media, none of it is working.  Yesterday's CBS/NYT poll makes it very clear that voters care about only one thing:  The Economy.  The only other issues that registers in the double-digits?  Government spending and deficits — not exactly a winning issue for Obama.

Obama Leads by Only 7 in Arkansas's Democratic Primary.  A new poll of Arkansas Democrats shows Barack Obama receiving support from only 45 percent of Democratic primary voters in Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District, while 38 percent support his underfunded and relatively unknown primary challenger, Tennessee lawyer John Wolfe, Jr.  Seventeen percent are undecided in the district poll.  In an interview with The Weekly Standard, Wolfe said the poll results were "unbelievable" and said a defeat for Obama in the Arkansas primary would be "politically cataclysmic."

Alarm Grows Among Dems About Obama's Chances.  It has taken months of bad news, but Democrats increasingly believe that President Obama might just lose his re-election bid.  The latest wake-up call comes in the form of a New York Times/CBS poll showing Republican Mitt Romney in the lead not just among registered voters overall, but with women and independents.

Obama's inevitable shellacking.  Just about every objective indicator foreshadows a huge re-election defeat for President Obama.  With every day that passes, Mr. Obama looks more like a loser.  That's because there is doom and gloom everywhere you look.  When government mathematical fudging is stripped away, unemployment is stuck over 10 percent.  Economic growth is practically nonexistent and promises to slide downhill even more in the coming months with Europe and its banks rapidly collapsing.  Due to Mr. Obama's out-of-control deficit spending, the national debt is at a heart-stopping $15.7 trillion, which erases a whole year of economic output by our entire country.

In Obama's economy, it's better to forget college.  For how many generations have parents told their offspring that a college education would virtually guarantee economic success in life?  Well, not in Obama's economy.  All part of his hopeless change.

Obama struggles in Kentucky, Arkansas.  President Barack Obama continued to have trouble on Tuesday [5/22/2012] performing in Democratic primaries in traditionally conservative states, barely eking out wins in Kentucky and Arkansas.  The president didn't even have an opponent in Kentucky, but with 99 percent of the vote counted, Obama took just 57.9 percent of the vote, with the remaining more than 42 percent of ballots cast for "uncommitted."

Are Democrats Ready to Dump Obama?  Arkansas and Kentucky held primaries today [5/22/2012].  The Democrat establishment was worried about Arkansas, because polls suggested that a flake named John Wolfe was running uncomfortably close to the president.  As of 11:32 p.m., with 71% of the vote counted, it appears clear that Obama has won, but by an embarrassingly narrow margin of 59-41.  And Wolfe was a candidate with little name recognition, no resources, and no credibility.  In Kentucky, something similar happened.  Kentucky was arguably worse for Obama than Arkansas, since he had no opponent.  Still, the ballot gave the voter the alternative of selecting "uncommitted" instead of "President Obama."  That was enough for Kentucky Democrats:  42% of them voted "uncommitted," compared with 58% who voted for Obama.

Obama's Primary Challengers.  President Obama is lucky he was able to intimidate any significant Democrat from challenging him in this year's primaries.  As Katrina noted, a collection of nobodies — including the non-person "Uncommitted" — have been giving him a run for his money in several primaries.

'Uncommitted' Gives Obama a Run in Kentucky.  'Uncommitted' is keeping it closer than expected in the Kentucky Democratic presidential primary.  With 104 of 120 counties counted, President Barack Obama leads 'Uncommitted' by only 20 percentage points.  The tally so far:  Obama with 105,487 votes (or 60.04 percent of the vote), while 'Uncommitted' claims 70,211 votes (or 39.96 percent).

40% of Dem primary voters opt for 'Not Obama'.  If this was Chicago, John Wolfe would find a surprising number of building inspectors thoroughly checking the quite obviously faulty wiring in his law offices this morning.  Most cars parked near his door would display parking citations on their windshields.  And the city sanitation crews swinging by that building might accidentally overlook the overflowing bins out back.  That's because John Wolfe has just severely embarrassed Barack Obama, a proud product of the Chicago Democrat machine that's run the Windy City for about eight decades now.

Barack Obama is facing his Jimmy Carter moment .  For a start, voters are getting gloomier about the economy.  Joblessness remains high and debt is out of control.  According to one poll released this week, only 33 percent of Americans expect the economy to improve in the coming months and only 43 percent approve of the way that the president has handled it.  Voters think Obama has made the debt situation and health care worse.  The man who conducted the poll — Democrat Peter Hart — concluded that "Obama's chances for re-election... are no better than 50-50."

Obama May Lose To A Grass-Roots Operation Chaos In Texas.  Voters, especially Texans, don't like their states being sued by the federal government.  And it shows in the Lone Star State.  Recent polls showed that Obama's re-election is favored by a mere 38% of Texas voters, while a solid 54% of Texans disapproved of President Obama's job performance.

Artur Davis, Former Black Caucus Member, Switches to GOP.  Artur Davis was first elected to Congress from Alabama in 2002.  The Harvard Law School grad was quickly tapped as a rising star among Democrats.  He became a Senior Whip for the caucus, co-chair the New Democrat Coalition and even headed up the Southern region for the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee.  His eight years in Congress showed him to be a thoughtful, independent and energetic member.  Yesterday [5/29/2012], he announced he is now a Republican.

Obama ally Artur Davis leaves Democratic Party.  Former Alabama congressman Artur Davis, who seconded Barack Obama's nomination for president four years ago, says he's leaving the Democratic Party.

Another key backer gives up on Obama; What's it really mean?  Good thing Artur Davis doesn't live in Chicago.  He'd be worse than friendless this morning. [...] Davis' defection is also an unexpected and rare fracture in the seemingly monolithic political support for Obama among blacks.  Davis was not only an early and enthusiastic backer of Obama four years ago, he was co-chair of the senator's successful national campaign.

Four-term Former Congressman and Obama 2008 Co-Chair Artur Davis Announces That He's a Republican.  You might think that the news of an African-American former Congressman switching his publicly declared party loyalty from Democrat to Republican would a national story.  Well, it isn't at the Associated Press...

7 elected officials switch to Miss. GOP.  A sheriff in central Mississippi said Wednesday [5/30/2012] he's switching from Democrat to Republican because of President Barack Obama's support of same-sex marriage.

Does Anyone Listen to Obama Anymore?  President Obama has been running around lately touting a "to do" list he says must be passed "now" to get the economy rolling.  If you haven't heard about it, don't worry.  Neither have his fellow Democrats.

America Gets a Wake-Up Call.  Reading the unemployment numbers for May (can you imagine what the real ones would be?), your lefty-liberal friends should be ashamed of themselves — at least those that aren't committed, Cloward-Piven style, to the fall of the U.S. [...] I don't need to see Obama's hidden college grades.  I know he's a failure.  I don't need to read The Amateur.  I know he's an amateur.

The Awful Truth about Obama begins to break through the liberal bubble.  The Awful Truth about Obama is sinking in throughout the Democrat establishment.  Many of these people fear an electoral wipeout, with discouraged Democrats staying home.

Party Loyalty and the Future of America.  Does loyalty to a political party trump the well-being of a nation?  That question now confronts many Democratic Party activists, financial contributors, and elected politicians, particularly because Barack Obama has no loyalty to the party he leads.  In 2008, the Party went on a blind date with someone they did not know and made no effort to investigate. [...] Once in office, the real Barack Obama surfaced.  The blind date has turned out to be a disaster for the Party and the country.

The Morphing Obama Biography and the Skeptics.  An odd taboo has been created on noticing that the president of the United States has a biography that can adapt itself to the needs of the moment.  Go too far in raising an alarm, and be labeled "birther" and shunned in polite society. [...] Want to see Obama's college transcripts?  That's a hint at affirmative action — racist.  Wonder whether he attended as a foreign student?  That's birther.  Want to know more about Obama's religious beliefs and his relationship with Jeremiah Wright?  Racist.  Note that experts assert that the posted birth certificate is a probable digital forgery, or wonder if the White House was playing games in presenting such a strange document?  Birther.  Ask whether Obama wrote his autobiography?  That's racist and birther.  Vote for the blank box instead of Obama in the Democratic primary?  Racist.

Another Fine Mess Obama's Gotten Us Into.  "Tone deaf" fails to describe President Obama's statement at Friday's press conference that "the private sector is doing fine," when median income is down 10% in three years, family net worth has plunged 39%, 23 million Americans are out of work and the official unemployment rate tops 8% for the 40th month in a row, the longest sustained period at that level since the Great Depression.  Mitt Romney's charge that the president is "out of touch" might be more accurate, but we would prefer "clueless."

Obama Comes Up 13,000 Democratic Votes Short in Sacramento County.  There are 85,000 Sacramento County Democrats, and an additional 5,000 unaffiliated voters who punched ballots during last week's presidential primary.  Barack Obama's name was the only one on the ballot on the Democratic side.  Nonetheless, 8,000 voters left the presidential ballot blank, and another 5,300 wrote in write-ins.

The Tipping Point.  In 2008, 43 percent of white voters cast their presidential ballots for Sen. Barack Obama.  That was more than he needed to win.  Today, according to the most recent FOX News poll, 35 percent of white voters say that they support President Obama's re-election.  This is what makes the 2012 presidential election too close to call.  The overriding fear of Team Obama is that the president's support among white voters will collapse.

Now union members are deserting Obama.  Two new and disturbing polls just out suggest that the road to reelection is getting tougher for President Obama.  In the most significant, Gallup found that union member support for the president is weaker than it was on Election Day.  While Obama took 67 [percent] of the union vote, according to 2008 election night polling by Peter Hart for the AFL-CIO, Gallup discovered that just 58 percent of union members back the president now.  Some 35 percent support Mitt Romney, 5 percent more than Sen. John McCain won in 2008.

The Coming DNC Disaster.  Disgruntled leftists.  Disgruntled centrists.  Disgruntled unions.  Disgruntled corporate donors.  Sexual harassment scandal.  Fundraising woes.  And to top it all off:  unrepentant class-warfare hypocrisy packaged as "The People's Convention" and brought to you by Bank of America.  The DNC promises to be a public relations nightmare for Obama's optics geniuses.

That's odd.  I don't recall reading about this in the U.S. news media.
Six Democratic superdelegates boycott convention and refuse to nominate Obama.  More Democratic superdelegates are boycotting their party's convention in North Carolina amid fears that any association with President Barack Obama will doom them to defeat in November.  Representatives Kathy Hochul and Bill Owens of New York, who both won special elections in seats previously held by Republicans, have joined four Democrats from the Rust Belt in skipping the Democratic convention in Charlotte at the start of September.

Fear and trembling in West Virginia.  In a year when the Obama administration's "war on coal" could signify a Republican victory of landslide proportions in West Virginia, three of the state's top Democrats recently announced they would not attend their party's national convention that will renominate the president on Labor Day weekend.

There's campaign cash in brides.  Barack Obama was so flush with campaign loot four years ago that he wouldn't even take the government's money.  He was confident that he could play the dairy farmer and milk Democratic cows on his own.  He was right.  There were cash cows aplenty.  But that was then, and this is now, and many of his most reliable cows have gone dry.

Obama's troubled Charlotte convention.  At the time two years ago it seemed like such a good idea for Barack Obama and his Democrat party.  Take the 2012 national party convention and plunk it down South in the gold ole boy, one-time always-red state of North Carolina. [...] Those rosy plans, like so much political strategizing so far in advance, was a waste of time and began to unravel almost immediately.  Too late to change now though.

GDP Plunges to 1.9%.  On Thursday [6/28/2012], the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report chock full of weak growth figures and worrisome economic signals.  The gross domestic product (GDP) dropped from last quarter's 3.0 percent to an anemic 1.9 percent.  Over half of first-quarter growth came from automobile sales.  When automobiles are removed from the calculation, the GDP grew at just 0.7 percent.

Wages Drop, Only 5th Time In 33 Years.  While the corrupt media coordinates with the White House to attack Romney using the work of a high-profile Occupy Wall Street supporter, not only is unemployment increasing, but three years into Barack Obama's term and for only the fifth time in 33 years, wages fell.  NBC, CBS, ABC, The Washington Post, Politico, The New York Times, NPR, CNN...  None of them want to talk about the beating the middle class and the unemployed and under-employed are taking in Obama's failed economy.
[Emphasis in original.]

Broader Jobless Rate Ticks Up to 14.9%.  The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2% in June but a broader measure rose to 14.9% as the ranks of the underemployed grew.

African-American jobless rate surges.  As the overall U.S. unemployment rate stayed at 8.2% in June, the rate among black Americans rose nearly a full percentage point.  The reason for the increase appears to have been a rise in the percentage of African-Americans looking for a job, rather than job losses.  The unemployment rate for blacks rose to 14.4% from 13.6% in May, the Labor Department reported Friday [7/6/2012].

Obama Drags Bad Jobs Report Along on Bus Tour.  The June jobs report looks a lot like the one from May.  Anemic jobs growth that not only falls short of expectations but also falls short of the number needed to accommodate young job seekers entering the economy.

Obama's Goose Is Cooked.  Obama needed a filet mignon in the June employment report.  Instead he got a rubber chicken.  Only 80,000 new jobs were created last month, way below Wall Street expectations.  It's the fourth consecutive monthly disappointment.  For a few months last winter, jobs were rising at an average of 225,000 a month.  But that has sloped way down to only 75,000.  The unemployment rate continues at 8.2 percent, which is the forty-first straight month above 8 percent.  The U6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers, is just under 15 percent.

780,000 More Women Unemployed Today Than When Obama Took Office.  The number of women unemployed in June was 5,785,000, an increase of 780,000 from when Barack Obama was inaugurated in January 2009 — at that time, the number of unemployed women in the United States was 5,005,000.  The number of unemployed is for women ages 16 and older in the civilian work force and is seasonally adjusted, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Fail Bus.  President Obama took a break from the Hollywood fundraising circuit last week to tout his economic record in front of ordinary voters.  However, his two-day "Betting on America" bus tour through Ohio and Pennsylvania coincided with the release of another disappointing jobs report, the latest troubling news about the economy.

Who's bailing on Obama? Just about everybody.  [President Obama is] down 13 points with voters ages 18 to 25, nearly half of whom think he's done a mediocre job, according to Students for Life of America.  The healthy young don't really care about health care, but they do care about jobs — and nearly 2 million 20- to 24-year-olds are unemployed.

Next Month's Job Growth Could Be Even Lower.  The Labor Department released jobs numbers for June today [6/8/2012] and the results were disappointing.  Estimates were that non-farm payroll would add around 100K jobs last month.  Instead they added just 80K, which is just over half the number needed to keep up with population growth.

As Hope Shrieks Away.  All you have to do is subtract the Obama expectations from the Obama result.  What you are left with is a remainder that confirms that this isn't a presidency, but rather a magic act.

Why Obama Will Lose in a Landslide:  [Scroll down]  Now to an analysis of the voting blocks that matter in U.S. politics:
  •   Black voters.  Obama has nowhere to go but down among this group.  His endorsement of gay marriage has alienated many black church-going Christians.  He may get 88% of their vote instead of the 96% he got in 2008.  This is not good news for Obama.
  •   Hispanic voters.  Obama has nowhere to go but down among this group. [...]
  •   Jewish voters.  Obama has been weak in his support of Israel.  Many Jewish voters and big donors are angry and disappointed. [...]
  •   Youth voters.  Obama's biggest and most enthusiastic believers from four years ago have graduated into a job market from hell.  Young people are disillusioned, frightened, and broke — a bad combination.  The enthusiasm is long gone. [...]
  •   Catholic voters.  Obama won a majority of Catholics in 2008.  That won't happen again.

Team Obama's best and brightest.  President Obama must be bracing for even lower [approval] numbers as the grinding toll of an unemployment rate, the causes of which he clearly cannot diagnose much less remedy, continues to weigh on his re-election bid.  In October 2004, the nation's unemployment rate was 5.5 percent.  Today's rate of 8.2 percent will not decline significantly by November and could well tick upward.

Unemployment rates rise in 27 states as more look for work.  The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment rates fell in 11 states and Washington, D.C.  — the fewest declines since August.  Rates were unchanged in 12 states.  Nationwide, employers added only 80,000 jobs last month, third straight month of weak job growth.  The national unemployment rate stayed at 8.2%.

NJ jobless rate rises to 9.6 percent.  New Jersey's unemployment rate shot up to 9.6 percent in June, its highest level in two years, as the state added 9,900 jobs, according to figures released Thursday [7/19/2012] that provided a muddled picture of where the state economy is heading.

How Obama Has Failed the Black Community:  Now, almost four years later, it's clear that Obama has done nothing to improve the way of life among blacks as a whole.  In fact, statistics show that life has actually regressed for African-Americans under Obama.  As of June, the African-American unemployment rate is a staggering 14.4%, with Latinos and Hispanics having an unemployment rate of about 11.0%, while the unemployment rate for whites is 7.4%.  Compare these rates to December 2008, the final month before Barack Obama stepped into the Oval Office.  Whites were unemployed at the rate of 6.6% and Hispanics were at a rate of 9.2%, while blacks had an 11.9% rate of unemployment.

Fading rock star Obama.  There are few things more uncomfortable to witness than a fading rock star in the process of slipping down the ladder he seemed to scale so adeptly and nimbly what seems like not so long ago.

Voters Aren't Buying Obama's Distractions.  Paradoxically, Obama is actually working against himself when he attacks Romney.  President Obama's actual record is there on the surface, in plain sight.  As a result, most voters have accepted reality.  And the reality is no matter how "likable" Obama is, he has failed.

Black pastors: Obama does not have the black vote 'in his pocket'.  Rev. William Owens, head of the Coalition of African American Pastors, said that President Obama's support for gay marriage may cost him the election due by weakening his support among black voters.  "He has not done a smart thing and it might cost him the election," Owens said during a press conference today [7/31/2012] at the National Press Club today.  "There are more people that want marriage to be right than there are homosexuals."

The economic gale against Obama is growing.  The headwind of the bad economy that could doom President Obama's reelection gathered steam this month.  We've experienced a spike in gasoline prices, food price increases are imminent due to the drought, and today's unemployment numbers further highlight the fact that Obama's policies do not create jobs.

Jobless rates rise in NY, NJ and Connecticut in July.  New Jersey's jobless rate rose for the fourth month in a row, to 9.8 percent, up from 9.6 percent in June and from 9.4 percent in July 2011, according to preliminary numbers from the state Department of Labor.  New York's unemployment rate also increased from both June and the year-earlier month, rising to 9.1 percent.

What if the mainstream media told the truth?  Is it possible the mainstream media is finally starting to grasp what I predicted three months ago — that Obama will lose in a landslide?  The first domino has fallen.  Ultra-left Newsweek's cover story on Monday [8/20/2012] features a photo of Obama and the headline:  "Hit the Road Barack, Why We Need a New President."  My, how the mighty have fallen.  As the mainstream media realizes that Obama will not only lose, but lose big, I predict this will be the first of many negative headlines for Obama.  No one likes to bet on a lame horse.

Potentially Devastating News on the Obama Economy.  The Gallup Organization had some bad news for Barack Obama on Friday [8/17/2012]. [...] The really bad news for the Chicago mob is that Gallup's unemployment survey shows the Obama economy is getting even worse.  Gallup reported an uptick in joblessness in their latest survey of 30,000 households.

Obama's MSM shield starts to crumble.  A shocking development is rocking the Obama campaign, as a reliably supportive media outlet has published a cover story with the shocking caption, "Hit the Road, Barack: Why We Need a New President." [...] Even more important than the devastating content of the cover story is where it was published.  Newsweek is published by Tina Brown, long a fixture of the media social scene, a trendsetter.  The cover story represents a serious breach in the cofferdam erected around Obama and the progressive cause.  It constitutes recognition that this particular emperor actually has no clothes.

Obama and the zombie campaign.  Obama has the scent of Death on him.  His words no longer soar.  His jokes don't evoke laughter.  His crowds are smaller and older — more union-folk than fresh-faced collegians.  And the people seem tired, listless, even bored.

Obama To Lose Yet Another Huge Voting Bloc?  Native Americans are very angry to learn that Muslims in the United States of America are being touted as "indigenous", a complete falsehood.  The fact is, American Indians are the indigenous people of North America, as Hawai'ians are to Hawai'i and the Aborigine to Australia.  Organizations like BIMA marginalize native Americans in favor of Muslims, and Indians are not pleased.  Speaking with many tribal friends and associates here in northeast Oklahoma, it is clear that the support Obama received from native American Democrats in 2008 is waning.

Artur Davis's Conversion.  Only about 3 to 5 percent of voters are truly undecided between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.  Focus groups run by Republicans have found that some of the most effective ads appealing to those voters feature Democrats and independents speaking candidly about how they voted for Obama in 2008 but are now disappointed.  That's one of the reasons that Republicans have decided to showcase former Democratic congressman Artur Davis of Alabama as a "headline" speaker at their convention.

'Lesson Learned': Ex-Dem Davis Electrifies RNC.  Former Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), the man who gave one of the nomination speeches for President Barack Obama before becoming a Republican and moving to Virginia, spoke tonight [8/28/2012] at the Republican National Committee, where he electrified the crowd with a spectacular attack on the presidency of Barack Obama.  His central appeal was to independents and Democrats, whom he implored to reconsider their support of the failed president.

Ex-Obama ally Artur Davis uses convention speech to ask other Democrats to leave party too.  Ex-Obama ally Artur Davis — the former Democratic congressman from Alabama who in 2008 gave a speech in support of Barack Obama at the Democratic convention, but has since renounced him — says he feels at home with the Republican Party and is encouraging others to leave the Democratic Party too.  "Thank you for welcoming me where I belong," Davis told delegates who gave him roaring applause throughout his Tuesday night [8/28/2012] primetime speech at the Republican National Convention.

Will youths desert Obama as dream dims?  Four years ago, young voters flocked in their tens of thousands to hear Barack Obama tell them they could change the world.  But youngsters who helped make Obama president have grown up in the human detritus of the Great Recession and many see dreams of a bright future dimmed as they struggle to find work.

Desperate Dems: Send money — Romney is 'leading in two major polls'.  Grassroots liberals got a reality check today [8/31/2012] from the campaign arm of the House Democrats, which pointed out that Mitt Romney leads President Obama in "two major polls."  "Think whatever you want about Mitt Romney," Brynne Craig, the field director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, wrote in a fundraising plea.  "But right now he's leading President Obama in two major polls (Reuters/Ipsos and ABC News/Washington Post).

Can the Dems Rekindle Obama Worship?  Inevitably, the reality of Barack Obama collided with the messianism.  Four years later, there is a noticeable drop in enthusiasm among the young voters and others who created the Obama surge.  How could it be otherwise when the president's conduct in office has been anything but post-partisan?  Four years of massive government spending, liberal patent nostrums and business as usual have made his feet of clay all too apparent.

Manufacturing another headache for U.S. economy.  August was the third month in a row of contraction in the factory sector, according to an Institute for Supply Management survey. [...] ISM's index of national factory activity fell to 49.6 in August, from 49.8 in July, and shy of the 50.0 median estimate in a Reuters poll of economists.

Unemployment Drops to 5.1 Percent — For Government Workers; Lowest Among All Industries.  There was good news for American workers in August — if government was their employer.  The unemployment rate for government wage and salaries workers dropped from 5.7 percent in July to 5.1 percent in August.  At the same time, the number of government wage and salary workers counted as unemployed dropped by 123,000 people from 1,182,000 in July to 1,059,000 in August.  The overall national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in August.

If It's Hello 1980, It's Goodbye Obama.  There's an unmistakable feeling in politics that you get when you don't feel quite right about your guy anymore; those feelings were rampant inside Madison Square Garden in 1980 and again at Time Warner Cable Arena this week.  The feeling is palpable, and it sometimes signals pending doom.

Jobless Claims Jump to 382K; Two Month High.  The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits jumped to a seasonally adjusted 382,000 last week, the highest level in two months.

Poll: Obama, Romney Tied in CO; Obama Underperforming.  A Survey USA/Denver Post poll released on Friday [9/14/2012] has President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney essentially tied in Colorado, a state Obama won by nine points in 2008.

Mainstream Media Ignoring Disaffected, Disillusioned Obama 2008 Voters.  President Barack Obama's approval ratings have plummeted largely because Democrats and independents who fell for his "hope and change" rhetoric in 2008 have now abandoned him and his false promises.  But the mainstream media is not covering this, once again protecting their favored candidate through omissions, treating Obama with kid gloves.

The Empty Chair Is Losing.  Can you think of a single person who didn't vote for Barack Obama in 2008 but will vote for him this time around?  Yet it is easy to find former minions admitting to the dissolution of their belief in the primacy of the "one."  These people will not vote for him again — and they are legion.

Those closest to Obama know there is no second term coming.  This group of influential black Chicagoans calls themselves, informally, "The Think Squad" and has been a big help with stories and activities in the past.  If you consider the Jesse Jacksons, Al Sharptons, and other "Justice Brothers" types on one side of the spectrum... the Think Squad is the polar opposite.  These are good people who openly talk about how terrible the Democrat community has been for black people for the last four or five decades and how Obama and his acolytes have made a great many things worse for blacks since he took office.

Unemployment rates rise in half of US states.  Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states last month, the latest evidence that hiring remains tepid across the country.

The economy is in the worst shape in the states that are run by liberals.
N.J. unemployment rate rises to 9.9 percent, highest in 3 decades.  In a mixed bag of economic news that was challenged by the Christie administration, New Jersey's unemployment rate inched closer to 10 percent even as it added 5,300 jobs in August, according to figures released today [9/20/2012] by the state Labor Department.  The unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent last month, up slightly from 9.8 percent in July and nearly two percentage points higher than the national average of 8.1 percent.

Obama's Approval Rating Is Tanking.  President Barack Obama's approval rating in Gallup's rolling survey has plunged six percentage points in two weeks, a troubling sign that puts him on shaky historical ground for re-election.  Obama's approval rating is down to just 46 percent, down from a high of 52 percent after the Democratic National Convention.  His disapproval rating, meanwhile, now stands at 48 percent, up from 42 percent after the DNC.  Altogether, that's a 12-point swing in two weeks.

Veterans retreating from Barack Obama.  President Barack Obama is trying hard to win veterans, but it looks like they'd prefer a new commander in chief.

Wheels coming off.  With a little more than a month to go before a crucial national election, the wheels are coming off the Obama administration's national-security credentials.

Under Obama, Poor, Middle Class Incomes Fall Sharply.  Since 2009, the middle 20% of American households saw their average incomes drop 4%.  In 2011 alone, they fell 1.7%.  The poorest 20% have fared even worse under Obama, Census data show.  Their incomes have dropped more than 7% since 2009, and are now lower than they've been at any time since 1985, after adjusting for inflation.

Emperor Obama has no clothes.  The jobless rate has been north of 8 percent for 43 months.  Median family income fell more during the Obama recovery than during the recession.  Economic growth is slowing:  The economy grew at only a 1.3 percent rate in the second quarter, raising fears the nation may be drifting back toward recession.  In addition, Obama's big foreign-policy accomplishment, the killing of Osama bin Laden, lost some luster in the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya and the assaults on U.S. embassies across the Muslim world.

Man Tells Obama: Business 'Terrible Since You Got Here'.  An Ohio man at the market told President Obama that business has been "Terrible since you got here," according to the White House pool report.

Cleveland Shop Owner: Big Day Until Obama Showed Up.  Not everyone was excited to see President Barack Obama stop by the famed Cleveland West Side Market on Friday [10/5/2012].  Terry Leu, the owner of Rolston Poultry, says Mr. Obama's visit cost him 40 minutes worth of chicken sales.  He wasn't shy about telling Mr. Obama that much directly.  The president shook his hand and asked him how business was going.  "Terrible since you got here," Mr. Leu said.  The president didn't appear to be amused.

The Editor says...
At least Mr. Leu shook Obama's hand.  That's more than I would have done.

Signs accumulate that liberals are embarrassed by Obama.  Many of us have long recognized the indisputable signs of a lazy man who has never been challenged, and who thinks he walks on water.  A man who has been blessed with all the breaks, and yet who thinks of himself as the member of a victim class, and its natural champion.  A man whose success is all based on creating the appearance of competence, never its substance.  Now that Obama stands under the spotlight and faces an adversary able to outshine him, the illusion is crumbling.

Have Americans Finally Tired of the Obama Narrative?  In the very best postmodern fashion, Obama and his supporters have relied on a narrative about Obama that has been carefully constructed.  He's brilliant, a great writer, a rare thinker, a moderate, a first-class temperament with neatly pressed pants, a uniter, a cool guy who's unflappable.  The first debate last Wednesday threatened to make that narrative seem absurd.  You might say that the narrative got mugged by reality, and an awful lot of people were watching while it happened.  But the next day there was a new narrative in place...

The Obama Levee Breaks.  [Scroll down]  For four years, such comments were entirely off-limits.  It's not that Democrats, centrists or other thoughtful people didn't have legitimate gripes.  They just couldn't air them without being labeled a racist, a hater or a traitor to the liberal cause.  Now, suddenly, it's OK to say you're disappointed in Obama's leadership.  It's OK to wonder if he's overrated.  It's OK to blame him for the ongoing lousy economy and foreign policy fiascoes.  And, after years avoiding Obama altogether, comedians are willing to make him the butt of jokes.

Romney scores 52-point debate victory - the Biggest in Gallup poll history.  Mitt Romney won the first presidential debate by a whopping 52-point margin according to Gallup — the most resounding margin since the polling giant began tracking debates 20 years ago.

Median Household Income Down in Nearly Every Battleground State.  In yet another sign of how poorly the economy is doing under President Barack Obama, the median household income declined last year in every key battleground state except for Iowa and Wisconsin.

Obama is a naked emperor with a glass jaw.  This week, President Obama could be revealed as a naked emperor with a glass jaw.  If his campaign is collapsing, we will begin to see it in the next few days.  Obama's claim of having a successful foreign policy lies in ruins in Benghazi; the economy is rotten and he has no solutions; and his argument that Mitt Romney is unacceptable didn't survive the first side-by-side comparison.

A More Aggressive Obama Still Won't Make the Grade.  The Barack Obama the public usually sees is not the real Barack Obama.  The former is a carefully manufactured media image designed to appear eminently reasonable, highly engaged, ultra-caring, inordinately intelligent and as one who transcends the pettiness that plagues so many politicians.  The real Obama is none of those things.

The Wizard of Obama.  In Denver he didn't just lose a debate — he lost the carefully cultivated illusion of a larger-than-life figure who was Lincoln and FDR and Moses all wrapped in one.

Obama Doctrine: The Rap Sheet So Far.  President Obama has a problem that no incumbent has had since Jimmy Carter: his foreign policy has been a complete and utter failure.  Yes, Osama Bin Laden is dead.  And no, there hasn't been a genocidal holocaust over the past four years.  Otherwise, Obama's resume is an unblemished record of failure, misery, and facilitation of human rights violation.

President Obama's Closing Act: An Epic Collapse.  The nation is simply finished with a president whose rhetoric has never been matched by his actions, and whose performance has removed Jimmy Carter from the bottom of the rankings of the modern president.

Obama's cash crunch.  According to filings released Thursday [10/25/2012], the RNC raised $19.8 million from Oct. 1-17 and has $67.6 million cash on hand.  By contrast, the DNC finds itself an estimated $16 million in the red, based on last month's numbers.

Exodus: Inner City Blacks Fleeing Obama, Democrats.  After his meteoric ascent to the top of the American political arena in the country's history, we are now in the midst of witnessing one of the most stunning collapses of any man ever to hold the office of President of the United States.  Over the past few weeks we have begun to see the ultimate unraveling of support for the president, with women and youth fleeing from his side.  But what is even more surprising and perhaps unimaginable to the president and his faithful media cult is that he is now also losing members of his normally deemed "untouchable" base of support — poor, inner-city black Americans.

Will Charlotte Taxpayers Be on the Hook For Democrats' Party?  It's embarrassing enough that Democrats held their 2012 convention in North Carolina, a state that Mitt Romney will probably carry.  Adding to the "uh oh" factor:  the Charlotte host committee raising money for the Democrats' convention has come up $12.5 million short of its original fundraising goal, according to election filings from the FEC made public Oct. 15.

Who Is Barack Hussein Obama? And What Is He Really Up To?  How could Americans have voted for someone with no practical qualifications or experience for the job?  After four years of trying to deal with the mysterious stranger in the White House, Americans are wondering why they voted for Obama.  Voter remorse has never been higher, and more than half of our electorate continues to be troubled by serious questions that refuse to go away. [...] Why do Obama's words seldom match his actions?  Why do we find, time after time, that Obama has lied to us, and that the American people face catastrophic long-term consequences as a result?

Nader: War Criminal Obama Worse Than Bush.  "He's gone beyond George W. Bush in drones, for example.  He thinks the world is his plate, that national sovereignties mean nothing, drones can go anywhere."

Obama supporters shocked, angry at new tax increases.  With President Obama back in office and his life-saving "fiscal cliff" bill jammed through Congress, the new year has brought a surprising turn of events for his sycophantic supporters.  "What happened that my Social Security withholding's in my paycheck just went up?" a poster wrote on the liberal site DemocraticUnderground.com. [...] Shocker.  Democrats who supported the president's re-election just had NO idea that his steadfast pledge to raise taxes meant that he was really going to raise taxes.

Obama Voters Furious About Tax Hikes.  Disillusioned Obama voters are waking up to face the reality that Obama didn't exempt them in his quest to steal money from all Americans to pay for his expanding government.  It turns out that those making $30,000 a year will pay more taxes than those making $500,000 because of the deal Obama pushed for after the fiscal cliff debacle.  Obama voters, the joke's on you.

Gallup: Obama average first-term approval ratings among lowest in modern history.  A Gallup poll released on the morning of Barack Obama's second public presidential inauguration shows that his first term was marked by a level of public disapproval exceeded in the modern era only by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.  Obama "averaged 49.1% job approval during his first term in office, among the lowest for post-World War II presidents," Gallup said Monday [1/21/2013].

Obama supporters served unglamorous feast of Cheez-Its, peanuts and pretzels at glitzy inauguration party.  Whoever coined the term 'to the victor goes the spoils' did not have President Barack Obama's official inauguration party in mind.  They knocked on doors for him and helped him win re-election, but when Obama supporters put on their tuxedos and ball gowns to celebrate the start of his second term in office, they feasted on pretzels, peanuts and Cheez-its.

Gallup: Obama lowest-rated re-elected President since WWII.  Barack Obama managed to get himself elected to a second term anyway, even with historically anemic approval numbers. [...] Why does this matter for Obama?  He will argue this week, starting today, that the American people validated his agenda, but clearly that's not the case.

Obama Job Approval Rating Lower than Nixon's.  According to Gallup, President Obama is tied with George W. Bush for most unpopular re-elected president since Gallup began measuring presidential job-approval in 1945.  In fact, Gallup found that apart from Bush, "every president... has had a higher job-approval rating in the January following his reelection than Obama has."  Obama's approval rating is at 52.

Labor Department union boss: We were happier under Bush.  The local 12 chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is so frustrated with the political appointees at the top of the Labor Department that they are now reduced to pining for the Bush years.

Youth abandoning Obama; just 43% approve.  The just-released Economist/YouGov poll reports that only older Americans age 65 and above have a worse view of the president, with 53 percent disapproving of his performance and 47 approving.  Among voters aged 18-29, 49 percent disapprove of Obama's job performance while 43 percent approve.  The rest are not sure.

Black Chamber of Commerce CEO on Obama: 'I Had Hopes Because He Was Black, Shame on Me'.  National Black Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Harry C. Alford told The Daily Caller that he "ignored" President Obama's "spread the wealth" comment in 2008 and "had hopes" for him "because he was black."

National Black Chamber of Commerce President: Barack Obama 'Made a Fool Out of Me'.  National Black Chamber of Commerce President Harry C. Alford blasted President Barack Obama today [3/4/2013] on the Andrea Tantaros Show.  Alford says that he supported Obama's election 2008, but now says that Obama "made a fool out of me."  Alford says that many Americans, including prominent citizens like radio host Tom Joyner, explicitly voted for Obama because he is black.  Alford says that he joined in and voted for Obama to be the first black president, but now recognizes electing Obama was a huge mistake.  He slammed Obama for continually campaigning rather than leading, and for failing to perform the basic functions of his job while doing everything he can to keep growing government power over the citizens.

Poll: Government dissatisfaction highest since Watergate.  More Americans cite dissatisfaction with government as the biggest problem facing the country than at any other time since the months leading up to the Watergate scandal, a new poll finds.  Twenty percent of those surveyed call dissatisfaction with government the country's biggest problem, according to a Gallup survey on Thursday [3/14/2013] — up from 16 percent the month before.

Democrats Fret Over Obama Poll Numbers.  Democratic strategists are increasingly worried about the decline in President Obama's job approval ratings.  "We aren't panicking but it's a source of concern," a senior Democrat told me.  The latest example is Wednesday's [3/13/2013] Washington Post/ABC News poll, which finds that 50 percent of Americans approve of Obama's job performance, down 5 percentage points from January.  The decline is especially apparent among independents.

PA: Obama Job Approval Collapses to 44%.  A Quinnipiac poll released today [3/14/2013] confirms what we're seeing throughout the polling world about the state of President Obama's approval rating:  It's nose-diving.  According to Quinnipiac, in just forty-five days, Obama's approval rating in Pennsylvania has dived 7 points, from 51% to 44%.  Meanwhile, his disapproval rating soared from 46% to 51%.

I Know why the Lame Duck Squawks.  This has not been a good week for President Obama.  I think it will not be the worst week of this year or this term, which I predict will get worse as his own personality flaws and patently partisan strategies make his lame-duck term even more impotent than is usually the case.

Noam Chomsky: Obama's Inexplicable 'Attack' On Civil Liberties 'Goes Well Beyond Anything' Imagined.  Speaking with the liberal blog's Mike Stivers, Chomsky expressed dissatisfaction with the current president's record on civil liberties:  "I personally never expected anything of Obama, and wrote about it before the 2008 primaries.  I thought it was smoke and mirrors.  The one thing that did surprise me is his attack on civil liberties.  They go well beyond anything I would have anticipated, and they don't seem easy to explain."

Obama Fatigue.  These are not good days for Barack Obama.  His second term agenda has broken down.  The Democratic-controlled Senate did not pass even a single part of his gun-control agenda.  His effort to use sequestration to batter Republicans has backfired.  His budget was sent up to Capitol Hill two months late — and was immediately dismissed.  If immigration reform passes, it will be because Democrats kept the president on the sideline, fully aware that his presence in negotiations with Republicans would only make success more unlikely.

Out of His Hands.  Obama's call for an increase in the minimum wage is going nowhere.  Nor is his call for further measures to reduce carbon emissions.  Education, energy, and transportation initiatives have faded away.  The president was forced to explain at this week's press conference that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is not, despite what members of his own party are saying, a "train wreck."  His approval rating is below 50 percent.  Six Democratic senators are retiring (so far).

Turning on Obama.  From reporters to opinion writers, from newspapers to television, after a mere four and a half years of economic fecklessness, foreign policy failure, unseemly narcissism, and a Nobel Prize for deeds to be named later, prominent liberal-leaning pundits and organizations may have finally realized that reality, if not journalistic ethics, demands a more clear-eyed look at the president they have been so deeply invested in.

Tell me if you've heard this one before: Obama to focus on jobs.  Obama's like the kid who constantly breaks windows playing ball too close to the house, does a crummy job mowing the grass, won't clean his room, whines about wanting cookies before dinner, and then demands a raise in his allowance every few months.  Heck, the USA Today writer can't even find it in himself to write a full size article, just a few paragraphs, having seen this again and again [...]

Obama is not done cutting defense just yet.  April was a pretty awful month for President Obama, but it's too early for Republicans to start celebrating his political demise.  People keep trying to compress the political calendar, wanting to convince us that time is running out for Obama, even though he's barely past 100 days in his second term.  Yes, Obama's gun control initiative was a resounding failure.  It didn't pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.  California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's assault weapons ban got only 40 votes.

Obama unmasked.  Friday's bombshell admission that the IRS has been targeting political opponents since 2010 may have been trumped on Monday as it was revealed that the Obama Justice Department used its immense information gathering power against Associated Press reporters.  What a disaster for the Obama administration.

The End of the Obama Illusion.  President Obama is shattering the illusions of his supporters, and eyes are opening, even among his former media allies. [...] They are disillusioned and angry liberals who are starting to grasp that they have been lied to, who realize that a skeptical stance is necessary when examining a narrative offered by team Obama on Benghazi or the IRS scandal.  Even worse, the media have discovered that they are themselves targets of government abuse, just like those Tea Partiers the IRS was picking on.  The Associated Press, whose newsroom and reporters' personal phone line records were secretly subpoenaed, is collectively owned by members of the mainstream media.

Even liberals are leaping off the bandwagon.  You know the worm has turned when even MSNBC's Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow hold their noses at the stench from Barack Obama's scandals — when so many stories from the so-called liberal press now describe the erstwhile Messiah as "aloof," "arrogant" and "holier than thou."

Chris Matthews sours on Obama.  President Obama "obviously likes giving speeches more than he does running the executive branch," Chris Matthews said tonight [5/15/2013].  Yes, you read that right:  The MSNBC host who in 2008 felt a "thrill going up my leg" after hearing Obama speak has grown disenchanted.  Tonight's episode of Hardball saw Matthews delivering a rare, unforgiving grilling of the president as severe as anything that might appear on Fox News.

Obama, the Betrayer.  The right noticed long ago that Obama is a cold fish and an arrogant loner, a man willing to abandon longtime mentors in the blink of an eye if need be (think Jeremiah Wright).  It never seemed as though Democrats cared, though, as long as Obama served their purposes and they served his.  Now that he's become a little bit of an embarrassment to them, Obama may find, perhaps for the first time in his life, that a number of his fellow liberals are willing to throw him under the bus.

Joe Scarborough, Piers Morgan: Obama Scandals Prove Gun Advocates Aren't Crazy.  How big of a wake-up call are the Obama scandals, especially the ones surrounding the seizing of phone records from the Associated Press and the IRS's targeting of conservatives?  So big that two of the media's most shameful and shameless gun control advocates — Joe Scarborough and Piers Morgan — have finally conceded that arguments made by pro-Second Amendment activists against the expanding of background checks might not be so ridiculous.

A Liberal/Progressive Epiphany.  Now that the low-information/low-knowledge segment of the country is waking up to what conservatives have been pointing out since Barack Obama was first sanctified by the left, we are being treated to the spectacle of a liberal epiphany.  How, they ask themselves, could this have happened?  How could they have been suckered so completely?

President's supporters change tune.  You can feel their pain as disillusioned devotees begin peeling Obama stickers from their bumpers, no longer anxious to share an identity with him as he slips further and further into a festering pool of scandal.

Obama rouses the cicadas of the press.  [Jay] Carney's job has become more difficult in the past two weeks.  Where his explanations were accepted at face value in the past, he is now met with deep skepticism.

We're All Fox News Now.  [A recent New York Times editorial] was remarkable as much for what it didn't say as for what it did.  There were no snide asides about Fox News, or qualifications along the lines that "even Fox" has First Amendment rights.  Nor did the Times editors take any shots at George W. Bush, congressional Republicans or any other familiar antagonist.  They simply defended Fox News's right to engage in news-gathering and denounced the Obama administration's assault on it.

Ten key reasons why the Obama presidency is in meltdown.  This is undoubtedly a period of steep decline for the Obama presidency, whose imperial-style big government approach is being increasingly questioned not only by American voters, but also by formerly subservient sections of the liberal-dominated mainstream media.  In contrast to his first term, Barack Obama is finding himself less and less shielded by the press, and far more vulnerable to public criticism.

The Totalitarianism at the Heart of the Obama Scandals.  The Obama administration's legs are wobbling under the weight of so many scandals lately that whole chunks of the edifice — the IRS, the NSA, the DOJ — are threatening to implode, particularly without support from the normally adoring media.  Even the New York Times — the New York Times! — is no longer willing to bolster an administration whose totalitarian urges have been exposed to the light.

Berlin Speech: 200,000 for Obama in 2008; Only 6,000 Today.  The White House pool report reveals that only 6,000 will be in attendance for Obama's Berlin speech today.  Last time around, when Obama delivered a speech in Berlin in the 2008 presidential campaign, when he was still a senator, 200,000 folks came out to see him.  Update:  The pool reporter says only 4,500 were present for Obama's speech.

Surveillance programs divide Democrats.  Revelations about the Obama administration's expansive domestic surveillance programs have opened a chasm between Democratic elected officials and their progressive base — one that could be tricky for the party's future presidential hopefuls to bridge.

CNN: Majority No Longer Trust Obama.  [B]ack in 2006, only 52% of Americans disapproved of how President George W. Bush handled government surveillance of Americans.  Today, a full 60% disapprove of Obama on the same issue.  This is likely due to the fact that Bush always made clear that the War on Terror was his foremost concern and that he was doing everything possible to make us safe.  On the other hand, Obama ran against Bush's surveillance state and now tells us that the War on Terror is pretty much over.  But then we learn that, rather than wind down the surveillance along with the war, he has put it on steroids.

Poll: Colorado voters souring on Democrats.  Colorado Democrats achieved one-party dominance in November, but now voters appear to be having a case of buyers' remorse.

Bill Ayers: Obama Presidency Gets 'Failing Grade,' He Should Be Tried For 'War Crimes'.  Bill Ayers believes President Obama gets a "failing grade" for his presidency, and should be tried for "war crimes," along with all living presidents who have engaged in acts of "terrorism" abroad.  Sitting down for an episode of RealClearPolitics' "Morning Commute," Ayers told host Charlie Stone that, on policy, Obama receives a "failing grade" along with the "F-minuses" he's given previous presidents like George W. Bush and Richard Nixon.

The Editor says...
Mr. Ayers seems to be bitterly disappointed with Mr. Obama.  Perhaps one day this will drive him to spill the beans about the authorship of Obama's alleged autobiography.  Now would be a good time, because an additional scandal wouuld be lost in the current storm of public outrage.  On the other hand, Mr. Ayers has seen his share of prosecution, and is therefore not someone who should be openly rallying for the prosecution of others.

Do You Trust This Man?  There is a common element to the so-called Obama scandals — the IRS targeting of conservatives, the fatal attack in Benghazi, and widespread spying on U.S. journalists and ordinary Americans.  It is a lack of credibility.  In each case, the Obama administration has helped make controversies worse by changing its stories, distorting facts, and lying.  The abuse of trust may be taking a toll on President Obama's reputation.

Liberals and Conservatives, Unite!  Liberals are running from Obama like Occupy Wall Streeters from Irish Spring.  Each of these scandals (Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS-gate, spying on the media, NSA spying on the American people, et al.) are, ostensibly, grievous enough, when taken alone, to rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors."  When taken together, however, they are manifestly impeachable.

Obama's Turbulent European Vacation.  President Obama's honeymoon with the world is over.  What was it, exactly, about Obama's controversy-marred trip to Germany and the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland that fell so flat?  Ummm, how about ... everything?

Noam Chomsky: Obama Is 'Running Biggest Terrorist Operation That Exists'.  Continuing his streak of fiercely criticizing President Obama's foreign policy and civil liberties record, pre-eminent left-wing scholar Noam Chomsky told GRITtv that this administration is "dedicated to increasing terrorism" throughout the world via its own "terrorist" drone strikes in foreign lands.

Exodus From SS Obama Continues as Arianna, Spitzer Jump Ship.  How many more erstwhile apologists can President Obama lose before he's rendered little more than a figurehead?  Two more just joined the forlorn procession — left-wing queen bee Arianna Huffington and disgraced former New York governor turned itinerant political commentator Eliot Spitzer.

ACLU to Obama: 'We are tired of living in a nation governed by fear'.  Under President Obama, the United States is "a nation governed by fear," the American Civil Liberties Union says in an open letter that echoes the criticisms Obama has made of George W. Bush's national security policies.

Passion fades for President Obama among Democrats.  Obama's favorability stands at 53 percent, compared to 44 percent of Americans who view him unfavorably.  While 85 percent of Democrats regard Obama favorably, the number of those who are strongly supportive of him has dropped since the start of the year.

The Enduring Mystery of Barack Obama.  The odd thing about Barack Obama is that he has never been a popular president.  Yet somehow he was re-elected, and he continues to be taken seriously as a political force. [...] This is not a function of the scandals that have bedeviled Obama's second term.  On the contrary, a plurality of voters have strongly disapproved of his performance since 2009, when it became evident that he would govern as a leftist.

Obama's Climate Change Plan Telegraphs Desperation, Disconnect.  His poll numbers are plummeting, and his grand speech at the Brandenburg Gate last week had a 95% drop off in attendance.  Russia and China are laughing at him over the NSA leaker.  He's under siege for abuse of power and McCarthy-style tactics to intimidate both the press and conservative groups.  The majority of Americans now oppose the forthcoming implementation of his signature legislative proposal, Obamacare.  He's fresh off a G8 conference where he insulted Catholics and all people of faith by calling parochial education divisive and an impediment to peace.  He's about to embark on a whirlwind Africa trip that will cost upwards of $100 million while agencies deal with Sequester cuts.  His Attorney General was just caught lying to Congress.  Perhaps most importantly, "hope and change" still hasn't come to the more than 21 million Americans who are unemployed or underemployed.

Hope Isn't Enough: Without Conviction or Destination, Obama Flounders.  Perhaps it was inevitable, that any president branded and sold as "Hope" was destined to disappoint.  But in these scorching summer doldrums of 2013, you have to wonder:  did it have to be this disappointing?

A union cloud over Obamacare as broken promises infuriate the president's base.  As the details of Obamacare become more known, Americans become more concerned, and for good reason.  President Obama promised that if you were happy with your health care, you could keep it.  As with so many other government promises, this, too, turns out to be an empty one.  Even people you think would be solid Obama supporters are waking up to the more damaging aspects of the Affordable Care Act.

Foreign Policy and the Vision Thing.  When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, he promised that America would be more respected and liked in the world.  Foreign leaders would bow to his wishes.  Ancient conflicts would end.  In a speech before hundreds of thousands in Berlin, he vowed to do nothing less than "remake the world."  Instead, President Obama's foreign policy has been a failure tactically and strategically, almost from beginning to end, mostly because he lacks strategic vision.

Obama's unconstitutional steps worse than Nixon's.  President Obama's increasingly grandiose claims for presidential power are inversely proportional to his shriveling presidency.  Desperation fuels arrogance as, barely 200 days into the 1,462 days of his second term, his pantry of excuses for failure is bare, his domestic agenda is nonexistent and his foreign policy of empty rhetorical deadlines and red lines is floundering.  And at last week's news conference he offered inconvenience as a justification for illegality.

The Plight of the Obama Supporter.  So you voted for Barack Obama back in 2008, and perhaps you helped to re-elect him in 2012.  How's that working out for you?  Chances are, not well.  Indeed, the evidence is overwhelming that those who most supported Obama have fared the worst under his policies.

The Scandal Society.  Remember Black Jesus?  The Lightworker?  The One?  The next Lincoln, the Democrats' Reagan, the neo-FDR?  He is now standing next to Tricky Dick and Slick Willie, caught in a quartet of burgeoning scandals, charged with rewriting the facts when they became inconvenient, harassing the press, and using the Internal Revenue Service to get at his enemies, subverting their rights of assembly, and speech.

As a Democrat, I am disgusted with President Obama.  What are you thinking, Mr President?  Is this really the legacy you want for yourself:  the chief executive who trampled rights, destroyed privacy, heightened secrecy, ruined trust, and worst of all, did not defend but instead detoured around so many of the fundamental principles on which this country is founded?

Who Are the 47 Percent?  The roof is pretty much falling down around President Obama's head. Obamacare, finally rolling out and crashing on takeoff, is more unpopular than ever.  The economy remains dismal, with labor force participation hitting near-record lows and young people's job prospects in the toilet.  Poverty rates are sky-high, with record numbers on food stamps.  The federal government is about to run out of money again, having incurred nearly $17 trillion in debt.  In foreign affairs, Obama has become a laughingstock.

A legacy for Barack Obama.  A war nobody believes in, led by a man nobody trusts.  If Barack Obama is still looking for a legacy, here it is.

Obama's Economy Hits His Voters Hardest.  Mr. Obama was re-elected with 51% of the vote.  Five demographic groups were crucial to his victory:  young voters, single women, those with only a high-school diploma or less, blacks and Hispanics.  He cleaned up with 60% of the youth vote, 67% of single women, 93% of blacks, 71% of Hispanics, and 64% of those without a high-school diploma, according to exit polls.  According to the Sentier research, households headed by single women, with and without children present, saw their incomes fall by roughly 7%.  Those under age 25 experienced an income decline of 9.6%.

Things Fall Apart for Obama.  If Obama continues to flounder, as I expect, the media cofferdam around the less savory aspects of his past may be breached, and all sorts of awkward questions relating to his background, including the financing of his higher education by a Saudi, as alleged by the former Borough President of Manhattan (a black Democrat) may come to the fore, considering that he is proposing intervention on behalf of the side supported by the Saudis in Syria.

Left revokes President Obama's liberal card.  Now many liberals feel sure: Barack Obama was not the one they'd been waiting for.  The man who won the presidency in part due to his opposition to the Iraq War was suddenly leading a charge to use military force against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.  The Republican refusal to go along was to be expected.  The liberal backlash, though, was particularly intense.

President Obama holds fire — but media doesn't.  President Barack Obama is damaging his presidency, weakening America's standing in the world, and displaying "inexplicable" incompetence.  The media figure making those accusations isn't Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh, Charles Krauthammer or Glenn Beck.  The critic doesn't host a right-wing talk show, anchor a Fox News program, or write for the pages of the Weekly Standard.  In fact, he's not even a conservative.  It's Joe Klein, the Time Magazine political columnist.

Obama Then and Now: the Rashomon Effect.  I believe that we are witnessing the gradual, or possibly not so gradual, decomposition of the emotional consensus that put Obama into the White House in 2008 and, not without a struggle, returned him in 2012.  On every front, domestic as well as foreign, statements that seemed apposite a year or two or three ago suddenly, ominously, have acquired new and less pleasing valences.

Warren Buffett: Scrap Obamacare and Start Over.  You know things are bad for President Obama when even Warren Buffett has soured on Obamacare and says that "we need something else."

The Obama Mythology Has Been Shattered.  Poor Jay Carney.  In the wake of this debacle he's trying to recreate the mythic Obama — the post-ideological, objective, empirically driven statesman who would, through "smart diplomacy," open an exciting new chapter in relations with the Arab and Islamic world.  It was all a mirage; and all the world now knows it was a mirage.

Politico: Obama is a snake-oil salesman.  Politico is actually wondering why Dear Leader, despite his magnificence, has not been able to turn public opinion around on anything.  Nothing, nada, zippo, zilch.  Perhaps, just perhaps, they are awakening to the reality that Obama has led an entire life without accomplishing ANYTHING outside of his own personal life.  The only thing Barack Obama, as an individual, has accomplished from birth to today is exactly NOTHING.  That's really what was at the center of his "you didn't build that" remark.  It's the only sentiment he can relate to because he has never *created* anything himself.

Is Obama Still President?  Barack Obama has become a mere figurehead, who gives speeches few listen to any more, issues threats that scare fewer, and makes promises that almost no one believes he will keep.  Yet America continues on, despite the fact that the foreign and domestic policies of Barack Obama are unraveling, in a manner unusual even for star-crossed presidential second terms.

What didn't the president know, and why didn't he know it?  Conservatives must be rubbing their hands with glee as the good ol' MSM, long suspected of being in the tank for the president, are suddenly submerged in a sea of anti-Obama news.  Perhaps this is the kind of rough patch that all presidents pass through.  But I have the sense that we are at a turning point in the way that the president is perceived — by journalists, at least, if not by the general public.

Of Sharks and Windshields.  The Obama administration is beginning to resemble a damaged car windshield:  A small ding from an unexpected flying pebble turns into a spider web of cracks, leaving the windshield difficult to see through and dangerously unstable. [...] But where most windshields remain serviceable for months after the first chip, the façade of President Obama's credibility is cracking up with stunning rapidity, even among some ardent "journalist" supporters and erstwhile human shields.

The media in panic that Obama is the 'nowhere man sitting in his nowhere land'.  The media is concerned that President Obama looks detached, aloof and any other word synonymous to disconnected.  They don't understand how the smartest man to ever take the oath knows so little of what is going on around him.

Starbucks CEO Jumps Off Obamacare Bandwagon.  Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz blasted the implementation of Obamacare on Thursday [10/31/2013], just a month after he voiced his support for the law.

Obama Supporters Upset over Losing Health Insurance.  The chickens are coming home to roost for supporters of Barack Obama in classic fashion:  one San Francisco couple that donated to Organizing for America and worked the phone banks to ensure Barack Obama's reelection has found that they are far worse off because of ObamaCare than they were before.

Poll: Obama approval ratings drop, Americans say he's not trustworthy.  As Obama juggles the bungled rollout of HealthCare.gov and questions over his initial promises about health care reform become magnified, only 39% of voters approve how he is handling his job, while 54% disapprove, the new data from [Quinnipiac University]'s Polling Institute shows.

The wheels have fallen off the Obama bandwagon.  Poll after poll shows that millions of former Obama-bots now concede he is not worthy of their trust and are stampeding off the bus.  The magic ride is over and they just want to go home and sleep it off.  Even The New York Times editorial page stirred.  The big cheese of the Obama Protection Racket assailed his administration's "incompetence."  Stop the presses!  Finally, a great awakening is taking place.

Obama Loses His Cool.  Obama has always been a brand as much as a politician, one that has been perceived as sleek, smart, and up to date.  Then along came HealthCare.gov. [...] It's hard to maintain a sense of truly being on the cutting edge of change when you can't build a website.

A Better Obamacare Won't Save Obama.  A new CNN poll confirms what America's collective gut has been saying for weeks:  Obamacare is sinking its namesake.  The numbers are ugly:  Just one in four respondents say President Obama is a competent manager of the federal government.  For all the hand-wringing about comparing the HealthCare.gov site rollout to Hurricane Katrina, the bottom line is that this president, like his predecessor, has now suffered a signature event that has convinced a majority of Americans that he is unfit for the job.  Piling on, the president also scored his lowest marks on honesty and trustworthiness, with 53 percent of those surveyed responding that they don't feel Obama is being straight with them.

Obama is no longer so invincible.  President Obama is concerned these days with the "young invincibles," the 20-somethings he needs now to buy into his program, but who probably won't because they feel (you guessed it) invincible and think they will stay so for quite a long time.  But it takes one to know one, as the irony is Obama himself is, or once was, an ultra-invincible, unstoppable and doing what people said couldn't be done.  Could he become world famous on the strength of one speech?  Yes, he could.  Could he beat Hillary Clinton, a president's wife and a feminist icon?  Yes, he could.

Obama's 'Sham-Wow' Presidency.  It's time to see Obamacare for what it is:  The world's first trillion dollar Ponzi Scheme perpetrated with lies, misrepresentations, and pure fraud by a late night Ginsu knife salesman named Obama.  But Obamacare is just the tip of the sinking Obama iceberg.

Obama's Plunge: A Window onto the MSM.  What do Tim Tebow, Pope Benedict XVI, and President Obama have in common?  The mainstream-media complex, as represented by one of its bellwether glossies, is decidedly unimpressed with all three of them.  They all appear on GQ's list of the 25 Least Influential People, or, as the article's subtitle has it, the leading "impotent megalomaniacs."  The conservative Protestant quarterback and the conservative Catholic pope do not come as a surprise; but the comment about Obama indicates how far the progressive president's stock has fallen.

Millennials Abandon Obama and Obamacare.  Young Americans are turning against Barack Obama and Obamacare, according to a new survey of millennials, people between the ages of 18 and 29 who are vital to the fortunes of the president and his signature health care law.  The most startling finding of Harvard University's Institute of Politics: A majority of Americans under age 25 — the youngest millennials — would favor throwing Obama out of office.

Harvard Poll: Millennials Abandon Obamacare, Would Vote to 'Recall' Obama.  [Scroll down]  52 percent of younger millennials, aged 18-24, told Harvard pollsters that they would support a recalling of the president from the Oval Office.  47 percent of all young voters said they would support such a measure.  Fortunately for the president, no provision to recall the President of the United States exists in the Constitution.

Young people have bailed on Obama. Why that matters a lot.  One of President Obama's chief political assets has been his ability to excite young people like almost no politician in history.  But the days of America's youth fawning over the president are over.

Dear Barack.  In 2008, 66 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 voted for Barack Obama, and 60 percent of that age group stuck with their man in 2012.  Now a poll from Harvard's Institute of Politics shows only 46 percent saying they'd vote for him again, and a (narrow) plurality of young Americans actually say they would recall him if they could.

Among 'Obama Coalition,' Obama approval plunges.  President Obama won re-election with the rock-solid support of what has become known as the "Obama Coalition" — young people, minorities, women, and low-income voters.  Without a firm foundation — and high turnout — among those groups, Obama would not be in the White House today.  Now, little more than a year after the president's re-election, his job approval rating has fallen among all segments of the American electorate.  But it has fallen the most among those who did the most to elect him.

Obamacare allies giving up on White House leadership.  The political collapse of Barack Obama continues apace, with his own allies in the Democratic Party starting to give up on him.

Obama's horrible year.  Just when Obama thought he had put to rest questions about Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups and about the Justice Department monitoring reporters, new cries of executive overreach emerged with disclosures about National Security Agency surveillance programs.  Those controversies were the warm-up act:  The botched Obamacare rollout leaves the president facing a critical test of his leadership.  Failing to save his health law could validate complaints that, five years in, he isn't CEO material.

Obama's Fall from Grace.  Now the persona is evaporating, under the impact of laughter on the one hand and sheer horror at the results of Obama's incompetence (in health care today, in foreign policy next week) [a]nd that's a good thing.  Because nothing was being done, and nothing was ever going to be done.  There's a certain value in knowing how bad things actually are.

Barbara Walters on Obama: 'We Thought He Was Going To Be The Next Messiah'.  Yes, she really said it.  On CNN's Piers Morgan Live Tuesday [12/17/2013], in a brief discussion about President Obama, Barbara Walters actually said, "We thought that he was going to be — I shouldn't say this at Christmastime, but — the next messiah"[.]

Barbara Walters: We Thought Obama Was 'the Next Messiah'.  Barbara Walters said the difficulties engulfing President Barack Obama are a reflection of the let-down people are feeling from the high expectations they had during his earliest days in office when she and others thought he was going to be "the next messiah."

Swirling the Bowl.  Covered with the stench of debacles including Obamacare, the NSA, Syria, Benghazi, the IRS, and the AP, while demonstrating a level of incompetence so great that it must give pause to all but the most committed members of the cult of unlimited government, few liberals will be willing to dig through the muck to reclaim their once-prized possession.

Early Media Warnings About Deifying Obama.  It's a credit to journalists like [Jake] Tapper and writers like [Kathleen] Geier and [Joe] Klein who warned about the cult-like effect Mr. Obama was having on people then rather than to those who, having bought into it five years ago, are now left scrambling to explain why Obama turned out to be merely mortal.

Obama's State of Disunion.  The 2008 campaign phrase "hope and change" will haunt future histories of the Obama presidency.  Many Americans voted Barack Obama into the White House for that reason alone.  That reason is gone.  The notion that this president would unify the nation by allowing people to summon their better spirits, as he promised, faded fast.  Even Mr. Obama's supporters see now that his operating method wasn't unification, but political and social division.

The Decline and Fall of 'Hope and Change'.  Whatever he once was or wasn't, Obama is now a creature of the Washington, D.C., establishment.  He is captive to its loyalties and prejudices, and committed to safeguarding its interests.  That doesn't mean he hasn't or won't accomplish anything worth while, but there are whole categories of problems that he won't try to fix.  Hope and change are dead.

The other 29% still have Obama bumper stickers on their cars.
Poll: 71% of Obama supporters 'regret' voting for his re-election.  Over seven in 10 Obama voters, and 55 percent of Democrats, regret voting for President Obama's reelection in 2012, according to a new Economist/YouGov.com poll.  Conducted to test the media hype about a comeback by 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the new poll found voters still uninspired by Romney, but also deeply dissatisfied with Obama who has so far failed to capitalize on his victory over 15 months ago.

Latinos' support for Obamacare drops steeply.  Another day, another unwelcome poll for the White House.  Pew reports that Hispanic support for Obamacare has lurched downwards from 60-plus percent in September 2013 to 47 percent.  That matters a lot, because it possibly means there's less chance that the GOP's campaign against Obamacare will prompt the large Hispanic turnout that President Barack Obama needs in November to keep Sen. Harry Reid in charge of the Senate.

Poll: Latinos souring on Obamacare.  A new poll shows Latinos — a fast-growing and key demographic in American elections — aren't as fond of Obamacare as they once were.  The Pew Research Center poll showed Hispanics are split on whether they approve of President Obama's health-care law, with 47 percent approving and 47 percent disapproving.  The numbers are notable because Latinos have generally been among the health-care law's chief supporters.

Hmm: Hillary Camp Claims Zero Emails Exist Between Top Spokesman and Reporters.  More censorship, less responsiveness, longer FOIA wait times — and it's gotten worse.  This president is a fraud.  But that's old news.  Obama is unpopular, he's lost independents, and he's on the fast track to lame duck status.

The Silence of the Liberals.  Am I the only one or have you noticed your liberal friends and family have been strangely silent lately? [...] They are bewildered and embarrassed.  Some are even ashamed of themselves, not that they will readily admit it.  The man who was their hero has now been unmasked in every direction as the worst president since the Civil War and possibly earlier.  Not only is he a cheesy liar, everything he has done, domestic and foreign, has failed, sometimes to extraordinary degrees.

Digging Out From Under the Rubble of Obama's Catastrophic "Success".  Obama asked for a primetime network shot to announce his Big Victory, and the red diaper babies of the networks actually refused him.  I'm not sure if this is just about the bottom line, or if the networks (and especially their news divisions) are feeling a bit used [...] And maybe they've noticed that Obama's people always claim to only know the numbers they're interested in promoting, while claiming to have no idea about the ones that might not be so attractive.

Obama Generation Losing Interest in Obama.  "For all the talk about the movement that elected Mr. Obama, the more notable movement of Obama supporters has been away from politics.  It appears that few of the young people who voted for him, and even fewer Obama campaign and administration operatives, have decided to run for office.  Far more have joined the high-paid consultant ranks," reports the New York Times.

Obama faces cold audience in Pennsylvania [Video].  President Barack Obama ventured Wednesday to a mostly blue-collar region of the United States and tried to engage an audience that was cold to him.  The 15 community college students who were picked to stand immediately behind the president, and in view of the TV cameras, mostly stood stone-faced through his speech.  At the end, when the president walked back from the podium to smile and wave at the roughly 60 people in the bleachers 20 feet behind him, he faced a unfriendly wall of faces.

Ouch: College Students Give Obama a Cold Reception in Pennslvania.  The president's speeches may need to be accompanied by a laugh track from now on, considering the crickets he received at his appearance in Community College of Allegheny County, in Oakdale, Pa., on Wednesday [4/16/2014].  Although he tried to tout his new spending program, both Obama's talking points and attempts at humor didn't go over so well: [...]

Obama is losing the media culture war.  President Obama's media supporters are abandoning him.  Even the liberal culture seems to be abandoning him.  And as he slips into the low 40s in two recent polls, it's hard to see how he recasts his once-glittering image.  This is the kind of sea change that goes beyond polling numbers.  The very mass culture that celebrated Barack Obama, that turned him into an international icon, is now migrating toward the darker side of his legacy, perhaps fueled by a sense of frustration and disappointment.

Dem poll: Half of young Obama voters don't plan to vote blue in November.  less than a third of Obama's 2012 Millennial voters say they'll "definitely" vote for Democrats this fall.  Almost as many have abandoned the party label completely, either by shifting to independent status or by supporting Republicans.  When this Democratic pollster tabulates the data, he finds that only half of all the young Obama voters surveyed will definitely, probably, or maybe vote for Democrats in the midterms.

Leading Democrats Now Leaking Reports That They Believe Obama is "Incompetent" and "Detached".  What:  did the 175 rounds of golf give it away?  Or the constant fundraising?  Or the detailed focus on NCAA brackets and other sporting events versus, say, chemical weapons in Syria, nukes in Iran, and the annexation of Crimea?

Democrats Privately Calling Obama 'Detached,' 'Flat Footed,' 'Incompetent'.  "Forget for a moment that Republican outrage," said [CNN's John] King on his CNN show this morning [5/25/2014].  "More and more Democrats in key 2014 races are calling for the president to get a spine, they say, and fire his Veterans Affairs secretary.  And what more and more Democrats are saying privately is scathing, calling the president and his team detached, flat footed, even incompetent.

Unruly Commoners Refuse to Stand for Obama.  President Obama went for a walk last week, and even mingled with some commoners beyond the White House walls.  The "surprise" occasion was (shockingly) captured on camera and widely disseminated; the White House posted the "raw video" [on line].  Most of the commoners were thrilled to encounter the president walking amongst them. [...] But not everyone was so impressed.  At the 2:41 mark, you can see some disgruntled workers who are unable to get in their cars and drive home due to Obama's security entourage.  And at 0:40 we see a couple that couldn't even be bothered to stand to greet the president.

Obama's Leaked Exercise Tape Confirms His Status as Most Embarrassing Dad.  President Barack Obama, whose dadness has inspired multiple side-eyes from teen-in-chief Sasha Obama, was spotted doing lunges and squats in a Polish gym, cementing his status as lamest dad leader of the free world.  The Daily Mail got footage of the wonderfully cringeworthy workout, shot by whoever happened to be working out in the hotel gym that day, we guess.

Relentless Incompetence: Americans Are Giving Up on Obama.  Over the last several months, the American public has had a hard and clear look at the executive talent inside the White House, and has begun to despair for real leadership and competence.  When leadership fails, people stop following.  It appears in the sixth year of the Barack Obama presidency, that moment has arrived.

Icarus Descending, Dishonorably.  [Scroll down]  But even with 20 percent inflation, international humiliation, the Iranian hostage crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and gas lines, in retrospect Jimmy Carter seems like Pericles of Athens compared with Barack Hussein Obama, the least-qualified man ever to actively seek and win the presidency.  When the full extent of the harm the Obama administration has inflicted on the United States is finally realized, not only will Obama come in for blame, but so also will the forces that put him in office, especially the Democrat-Media Complex, led by David Axelrod.

When Democrats Quit on Obama.  In the 18 months since I began writing columns focused on the presidency, virtually every post critical of Obama has originated from conversations with Democrats.  Members of Congress, consultants, pollsters, lobbyists, and executives at think tanks, these Democrats are my Obama-whispers.  They respect and admire Obama but believe that his presidency has been damaged by his shortcomings as a leader; his inattention to details of governing; his disengagement from the political process and from the public; his unwillingness to learn on the job; and his failure to surround himself with top-shelf advisers who are willing to challenge their boss as well as their own preconceived notions.

The Unbearable Smallness of Obama's Vision.  Obama is a president without vision, or with a vision so puny it's hardly worth the name.  All those big windy words — that hopey-changey stuff? Forget about it.  Vision-wise?  Look around you.  The guy's got nothing.

A Sudden Realization.  [Scroll down]  On closer inspection the real reason for the low-level Democrat fever is the unease from the growing suspicion that Obama doesn't listen to them — listen to people who fancied themselves influential in the Democratic party. One of the foundations of insider self-esteem is to imagine you are a player.  If all of a sudden you find the steering wheel through which you imagined yourself exercising influence proved actually like one of those child's toys which only allow the user to pretend he's driving — then you realize that you're not an insider after all.

Bergdahl Press Conference Obama's "Jump the Shark" Moment.  In 2011, and 2012, "everyone refused to make this trade," [Pat] Caddell noted.  "It was a White House operation.  They wanted the VA off the front page — they got something much worse."

Megyn Kelly: The Obama Presidency Is 'Imploding'.  Kelly opened [her show on 6/17/2014] with this simply question:  "Is Barack Obama's presidency imploding?"  She cited the bewildering fact that the U.S. may ally with Iran to deal with the situation in Iraq, and ripped Obama in particulas as "a president who has lost the trust of the American people by repeatedly misleading them."  She went down a list of scandal after scandal that the president has briefly acknowledged while "smiling, golfing," and attending fundraisers.

Obama's flailing and foolish attacks on the media.  Here's what's really happening here:  In blaming the media, Obama has dusted off the same tired tactic that many a struggling president has resorted to when things aren't going well.  When presidents start complaining about their press coverage, saying reporters are to blame for low poll numbers or negative articles, it's the clearest sign of a presidency in trouble.

That bad, huh? Newspaper so disappointed in Obama it apologizes for 2008 endorsement.  President Obama has so far been a major disappointment to even his most ardent supporters, his approval numbers steadily falling to fresh lows.  And the president is apparently such a disappointment, that the Billings Gazette in Montana felt compelled last week to apologize to its readers for endorsing him in 2008 over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

The Obama Presidency Unravels.  The Obama presidency has unraveled.  The man who liberal political commentators once said was the rhetorical match of Lincoln is now considered by one-third of Americans to be the worst president since World War II, according to a new Quinnipiac University National Poll.  (The span covers 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies.)  The same poll found that 45 percent of Americans say the nation would be better off if Mitt Romney had won the 2012 presidential election, while only 38 percent say the country would be worse off.  Another poll — this one from the Gallup organization — finds that in his sixth year of office, the level of confidence in Mr. Obama's presidency is 29 percent.  That's lower than at a comparable point for any of his predecessors.

Signs of donor fatigue at Obama's Bay Area fundraisers.  There was no listed price for tickets for Obama's morning appearance [7/24/2014] at a roundtable in San Francisco for the House Majority PAC -- the type of intimate gathering for which admission is usually $32,400 per person, the legal maximum.  Some donors said tickets had been offered for a deep discount.

Headless Elephants.  Last week, amid alarm bells going off in Gaza, Ukraine, and on the Texas border, and while he golfed and attended campaign fundraisers, President Barack Obama saw his approval rating as measured by Gallup drop to 39 percent.  Some 54 percent of the venerable polling firm's respondents registered active disapproval of the president's job performance, an indication that America is coming to a consensus around the idea that Obama is a failure in office.

When Obama voters apologize.  Many now suspect that Barack Hussein Obama is an empty suit.  In Texas, people refer to someone who has no true experience or accomplishments as a person with "all hat and no cattle."  But now our greater fears about Mr. Obama are confirmed.

Obama is Betraying the Republic's Trust.  Even the most ardent of independents are starting to realize they've been lied to, and one thing Americans hate is being lied to — especially by someone they supported.  The naïve but enthusiastic youth voters who supported the idea of Obama have come crashing back to earth, many no longer able to find either a job or affordable health insurance, or start up a family of their own.  Young blacks have been hit harder than any other group as far as being unable to find work of any kind.  These voters know they have been betrayed.  Even members of his own party are now starting to question his actions and his motives.

The Callow President.  The notion that Obama might be a grand historical figure was always an illusion, although at the beginning his rousing words lent it some superficial support.  He gave a truly inspired convention speech in 2004 and a few defining campaign speeches in 2008.  But that was long ago.  Once the magic wore off, it became clear he's not really an orator.  Few of his big speeches as president have been memorable or remarkable, and he's almost always failed to move public opinion.  His greatest rhetorical skill turns out to be mockery.  The man who once promised to transcend political divisions is an expert at the stinging partisan jab.  What Churchill was to thundering statements of resolve, he is to snotty put-downs.

Obama's teetering presidency.  Barack Obama's presidency isn't just shrinking, it's losing support among its most critical point — its base.  Less than two years ago, Barack Obama became the first Democratic president since FDR to win re-election with a popular-vote majority.  Since then, his support has dropped dramatically — not just overall, but among important constituent groups.

If What This Writer Says Is True, Harry Reid May Be About To Destroy Obama.  A recent Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial revealed one man's opinion that, with more than two years left in his second term, Barack Obama's presidency is effectively over.  The major factor he cited in arriving at this conclusion is a noticeable cooling in Obama's relationship with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a man who has been a reliable defender over the past six years.

Under Obama, racial hope but no change.  Six years ago, Barack Obama's election was going to usher in a new era of racial understanding.  That hasn't happened.  Few, if any, anticipated that the man whose election itself was historic would be in a constant lose-lose situation as president when it came to race.

California democrats' support for Obama skids to lowest level yet.  In what could be ominous news for Democratic candidates in the November election, President Obama's popularity in California has skidded to the lowest level of his presidency, according to a new Field Poll.  The survey found that 45 percent of registered voters approved of the job Obama is doing, only a couple of ticks above the 43 percent who disapprove.

Political scientists' verdict on the Obama presidency: silence.  Paul Rahe, currently at Hillsdale College, is an eminent scholar whose many books combine awesome erudition and bedrock common sense.  He is also a member of the American Political Science Association and attended that organization's annual convention in Washington over Labor Day weekend.  He reports on ricochet.com on what he found there — or, rather, didn't find.  There were more than 1,000 panels on a vast variety of subjects — but nothing on the presidency of Barack Obama or the upcoming 2014 elections.  Some subjects, it appears, are better left unspoken of.

Michael Moore: Obama's 'a Huge Disappointment'.  Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore savaged President Obama in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, calling him "a huge disappointment" and claiming he'll be remembered only as the nation's first black president and nothing else.

The Editor says...
Welcome aboard the clue bus, Mr. Moore, for indeed Mr. Obama is the nation's first black president and nothing else.

The Democrats' (and Media's) Obama Problem.  The Democratic Party and the mainstream media joined to run interference for Barack Obama when he became a national figure.  Obama was painted as a charismatic, competent, new kind of politician.  The passage of time destroyed this image.  Now, the public increasingly sees Obama as incompetent, untrustworthy and unmotivated.  Supporters are now in an awkward position.  Do they continue to support what is increasingly seen as an inept president or do they turn against him?

Honesty, Common Sense, and A Sound Mind.  After over six years of the Obama presidency, the scales are finally falling off the eyes of some liberals.  I am shocked to hear liberals saying the same things about President Obama as conservatives (including me) have been saying since 2007 when he first announced his candidacy.  What took so long?  It is as though liberals have been intoxicated for years and have just sobered up.  I am encountering liberals describing President Obama as a Muslim sympathizer, incompetent, weak, indecisive, and inexperienced.  All of this was obvious during his campaign for anyone that did an honest examination of the candidate.

Liberal base sours on Obama.  President Obama's poll numbers are plummeting in deep-blue states, such as New York and California, with core liberal supporters who have stuck with him through thick and thin beginning to sour on his leadership.

The Democrats' Biggest Worry: Obama's Fall From Grace With His Base.  The Democrats' biggest worry heading toward November is Obama's fall from grace with his base.  This could make things even worse for them than currently expected.  Democrats' only hope to offset Republicans' anticipated midterm surge is their base's high turnout.  However, Obama's deep drop with his strongest supporters seriously calls this hope into question.  Democrats know they will lose seats in November.  The only question is:  How many?

Hispanic community souring on Obama.  Hispanic voters were a key part of the coalition that elected President Obama, but lately the demographic has soured on him.  Obama's weekly approval among Hispanics dipped to 45 percent during the period ended Sept. 28, according to Gallup, and it has remained below 50 percent for the past five weeks.

Who Are You Calling the Party of the Rich?  One in four working-age Americans is out of a job.  Wages have stagnated.  Debt is off the charts.  Obamacare has increased the cost of health insurance.  Immigration reform is no longer popular.  Inequality, supposedly the holy grail of Democrats, has increased on Obama's watch.

Most Americans Label Obama Presidency A Failure.  The poll, which ended Friday [10/3/2014], found that 53% characterize Obama's presidency as a failure vs. 41% who rate it a success.  Just 6% say that they aren't sure.  Obama's standing among independents is even worse, with 58% calling his presidency is a failure.  Half of those who live in states that voted for Obama say that his presidency is failing.

Obama's Coddling by the Media Coming to an End.  A high-profile consultant who does crisis management for big corporations and celebrities such as the late Michael Jackson said in a speech hosted by Americans for Tax Reform Wednesday [10/8/2014] that President Obama's easy ride from the media will soon be over.

Hispanics seem to be souring on Obama Democrats.  It's looking like a tough offyear election for Democrats, with their Senate majority at serious risk and their chances of gaining House seats down toward zero.  Every party has a bad offyear sometimes; Republicans did in 2006.  Sooner or later they recover.  But in the crosstabs of polls and in party strategists' moves I see evidence that one group Democrats have been counting on is moving away from them:  Hispanics.

The Unequal-Pay Delusion.  Voters are souring on the Democratic party.  Apparently all it takes is six years of economic torpor; the disastrous debut of the biggest new federal program in two generations; record levels of federal debt; revelations of scandals and malfeasance at the Veterans Administration, the IRS, the Secret Service, and the Justice Department; Russian revanchism on the march; a rampaging army of (literal) cutthroats gobbling up territory in the Middle East; and the feeble and patronizing government response to a modern plague.

Fleeing the Leaky Ship Obama.  In ever-increasing numbers, prominent Democrats, from eminent statesmen to inside experts, are abandoning the Good Ship Obama, some more quietly than others.

Frank Luntz on CBS: 'Collapse in Confidence' of Government, Media.  Appearing on Friday's [10/17/2014] CBS This Morning, Republican pollster Frank Luntz reacted to the latest CBS News poll showing Americans having a "crisis of confidence" in government institutions:  "The problem is that the institutions that have the greatest impact on us, the CDC, the FDA, the EPA, those that are responsible for our health and safety, are the ones that have had the biggest collapse.  In fact, in some cases it's 20-30-point drop in just the last 15-18 months."

Obama and the End of Greatness.  [There is a] suspension of disbelief at the start of most Presidencies — that moment when a good number of Americans are able to convince themselves that we might be in the presence of a great man, and that his greatness will be manifest.  That this is the man who has the answers.  When it becomes clear that he doesn't, we never quite forgive him for it.  This is where we stand right now with President Obama.

Rebuttal(?):
"Greatness," Humility, and the Presidency.  [Scroll down]  The piece is headlined "Obama and the End of Greatness."  The story is a close relative of the "America the ungovernable" narrative, in which failed Democratic presidents inspire liberal commentators to decide that if someone like Obama can't succeed, the job is too difficult for one man.  That narrative is false, of course; Obama is simply not very good at his job and has personality traits that compel him to lash out and blame others instead of changing course.

Crowd Begins to File Out While Obama Speaks in Wisconsin.  As President Obama spoke this evening [10/28/2014] in Wisconsin, the crowd began to file out.  [Video clip]

Obama jokes about vote fraud as people walk out on him.  Speaking at a rally for Mary Burke, Democrat candidate for governor in Wisconsin, President Obama once again suffered the indignity of people walking out of the auditorium, as he began to speak.  Below is embedded video (via the Weekly Standard) of people filing out as Obama's voice can be heard in the background.  And these are Democrat enthusiasts that turn out for campaign rallies.

Obama's base crumbles: Youths, Latinos slip away.  Heading into the last hectic weekend of the 2014 midterm election campaign, a couple of revealing findings stick out that are ominous for Democrats:  Young 'Hope & Change' voters, who formed the core of Barack Obama's 2008 victory, have drifted away from their guy.  In other words, they are growing up.  Second, Latinos, another leg on the aging Obama support stool, are flaking off too.

Why Millenials Rejected Obama.  [Scroll down]  Obama is a 20-watt bulb who uncorked the tired swill of collectivist-utopia for a generation that lacked the perspective and maturity to contextualize it... but that is not why he's become unpopular with Millenials.  Instead Millenials have turned away from Obama because his kitsch has grown tired; he no longer distracts us and that's intolerable.  We have spent the pittance of visceral sentimentality and embracing the Obama badge no longer projects cheap altruism onto our "personal brand".  We are left with an empty totem that is neither "novel" nor "nostalgic" (comes from the Greek word for Homesickness).  The Obama brand was projected and received as a piece of art whose legacy can be summed up in 3 meaningless words "He was black".

America [is] a house divided over race.  The election of Barack Obama six years ago was hailed as a breakthrough both for minorities, particularly African Americans, and for his being the first "city guy" elected president in recent history.  Both blacks and urbanistas got one of their "own" in power, and there were hopes that race relations and urban fortunes would improve at a rapid pace.  Instead, the recent controversies over police killings of African American men have revealed a shocking deterioration of race relations not seen in a generation.

Obama has become a figure of American disappointment.  [Scroll down]  But six years on, in many important ways, Barack Obama has become a figure of American disappointment, with last week's inexplicable failure to properly honor the trauma of France only a latest instance of mystifying solecism.  Obama's political and personal enemies never saw him as a force for good, yet by now even many of his once-passionate admirers admit to a profound disenchantment.  The shattering of an illusion tied to a figure of such intelligence, deeply rooted liberal purpose, and evident public virtue necessarily involves a further — and perhaps dangerous — disillusionment with democratic will itself.

Cornel West Goes Off On Obama: 'We Live In An Age Of The Sellouts'.  One of America's most famous African-American professors laid into America's first black president Monday night as a sellout.  Appearing on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," Cornel West launched into a monologue about how America's leaders, including President Barack Obama, care more about power and money than helping the suffering.  "Right now we live in an age of the sellouts," the always-colorful Union Theological Seminary professor said, before attacking Obama from the left.

Obama and His Jayvee Team of Tweeting Twits.  Many of Obama's adoring fans have woken up to the catastrophe they helped create by voting for him — twice.  They ignored the fact that a man who thinks that the U.S. is "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world" with 57 states and that Hawaii is in Asia, and who had a postage stamp-sized resume, would not know a lot about the world, economics, history, foreign policy, and healthcare.

Is Anyone In Charge At The White House?  Hillary Clinton is bogged down in another trademark Clinton scandal.  Clinton never used a standard government email account while secretary.  And rather than submit her actual emails to the State Department back in December, Clinton submitted 55,000 printed pages of emails — making it harder for those emails to be searched.  Apparently, Clinton also wished to decide which of her private-server communications to release to the government, but only when congressional investigators and watchdog groups demanded them after her tenure ended.  Clinton's implausible press conference last week only made things worse.

Christians Strongly Oppose Obama Across The Board.  A significant religious divide has opened up in the country.  IBD/TIPP polls taken in March and April show that Christians — including both Protestants and Catholics — strongly oppose President Obama on almost every issue, from his economic policies, to his attempts at a deal with Iran, to his immigration policies.  Those Americans without religious affiliation remain enthusiastic supporters.  Interestingly, Catholics and Protestants — groups sometimes viewed as diverging politically — are in close agreement on most issues.  One exception is immigration, where 61% of Catholics favor securing the border first over comprehensive reform vs. 46% of Protestants.

Obama's visit to South Dakota marks president's 50th state.  As President Barack Obama stood in front of graduates of a South Dakota community college on Friday, he spoke passionately, but the faces of the crowd in front of him told a different story.  Residents of the Republican-majority state sat in the Lake Area Technical Institute gymnasium in Watertown, South Dakota, with their arms crossed, appearing bored and looking at their phones.

Obama, the Most Progressive President Since LBJ, Gets Whacked by His Own Left Wing.  The disagreement between progressive Democrats and the White House flamed into open political war this week, as Barack Obama's usual allies resorted to a filibuster to block one of the President's key goals on free trade.

Democrats Get a Taste of Obama's Arrogance.  With the sand running out on the Obama presidency, it's finally dawning on the president's friends and fans that he can be a real jerk.

Top Dem raising 'alarm bells' over of Obama Ramadi claims.  It's becoming clear that President Obama really is a Marxist — but of the Groucho, not Karl school.  "Are you going to believe me, or what you see with your own eyes?" is the next logical answer for administration apologists to employ in claiming the fall of Ramadi isn't an outright catastrophe.  At least one top Democrat, senior House member Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California has had enough.

Let down by Obama, some black voters ask: Is it even worth backing Clinton?  On Jacksonville's north side and in other struggling urban neighborhoods across the country, where Barack Obama mobilized large numbers of new African American voters who were inspired partly by the emotional draw of his biography, high hopes have turned to frustration:  Even a black president was unable to heal places still gripped by violence, drugs and joblessness.

Jimmy Carter hits Obama on foreign policy, calls accomplishments 'minimal'.  President Obama was criticized last week by the president he is often compared to, Jimmy Carter.  Carter told an Aspen Institute audience that Obama's accomplishments on foreign policy "have been minimal" and that the United States' influence is "lower than it was six or seven years ago."

Obama greeted by protesters in Oregon — 'Gun free zones are for sitting ducks,' sign reads.  As he reportedly weighs more executive actions on gun control, President Obama on Friday [10/9/2015] was greeted by protesters in Roseburg, Oregon, who oppose the White House's call for more firearms restrictions.  Mr. Obama visited Roseburg to meet with the families of the victims of last week's massacre at Umpqua Community College, a tragedy that led the president to renew his call for gun-safety measures.

President Obama visits Oregon town where community college shooting occurred; greeted by 300 unhappy pro-gun protesters.  Hundreds of irate Oregonians, toting guns and nasty signs, gave President Obama a derisive Friday welcome before he sat with relatives of last week's college shooting victims.  "Obama Go Home" and "Go Back To Kenya" read two of the crude homemade posters held aloft by demonstrators who rolled out the rhetoric, not the red carpet for the commander-in-chief.  "He's exploiting a local tragedy to make a political point," griped Bruce Rester, 66, who came from Glendale, Ore., carrying a .45-caliber automatic handgun.  "He doesn't care about the people who live here," said Rester.  "I don't think he cares about the people who are victims of this shooter."

Demoralized Obama natsec team grumbles: He's too weak and passive towards Putin.  Maybe so, but what about his bold, assertive leadership in standing up to America's real enemy, climate change?  Even this guy's own deputies won't defend him anymore.

The Daily Caller Presents: The 23 Least Intriguing People Of 2015.  [#16] Barack Obama.  Where's the hope?  Where's the change?  Where's the messiah and "Lightworker," "that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet?"  Where is the "triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair?"  This guy just turned out to be a dull nerd with a wretched foreign policy.

George Soros Regrets Backing Obama.  One of the State Department's newly-released Hillary Clinton emails comes from Neera Tanden, President of the far-left Center for American Progress.  In May 2012, near the end of President Obama's first term, Tanden told Hillary about a conversation with George Soros: [...]

Obama Scolds Illinois on 'Building a Better Politics' While Barring Public from the Speech.  Noting that the public was invited to Obama's 2007 announcement speech but that the speech this week was limited to the power brokers, the Kankakee Daily Journal accused the president of "shutting out" his Illinois supporters by only allowing legislators to attend his Wednesday [2/10/2016] speech.  "It seems like Obama is turning his back on the people who elevated him to widespread popularity and put him in the White House for eight years.  It's in one word, disappointing.  Of course, there are those who will tell you that lone word describes his entire presidency," the paper said in an editorial.

If Donald Trump becomes President, his supporters will soon experience epic disillusionment.  Remember when Barack Obama promised the world in 2008, only to leave some enthusiasts bereft after he failed to close Guantanamo, much less slow the rise of the oceans?  If we elect a President Donald Trump, you ain't seen nothing yet when it comes to disillusionment.  Imagine the fury among his supporters when their outsized hero is exposed as a huckster who cashes the check as soon as the car is off the lot.

John Bolton:  Countries That Once 'Hailed' Obama as a 'New Messiah' Now Realize His Policies 'Endangered' Them.  Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, who has formed a Super PAC to support candidates committed to American economic and national security, joined SiriusXM host and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon on Breitbart News Daily.  Bannon asked if President Obama's current world travels amounted to "the road trip from Hell," given his unpopularity everywhere from Europe to the Middle East — a mirror image of the rock-star reception he received in those quarters as a presidential candidate, eight long years ago.

The no-longer-useful idiot:
They don't greet President Obama at the airports anymore.  A month ago, we were surprised that Cuba's Raúl Castro did not greet President Obama at the airport.  After all, they told us it was historic.  It had not happened since President Coolidge visited Cuba in the late 1920s. [...] Well, it happened again.  Another world leader was too busy to greet the president of the U.S.  He was welcomed by Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud, the governor of Riyadh.  Yes, our president is now greeted by governors.  It does not get any more insulting than that.  Maybe having Russian jets fly within 50 feet of U.S. warships is a very close second!  King Salman was not there to greet President Obama.  However, he found time to greet other world leaders just last week: [...]

White House Explains Why Saudi King Didn't Really Snub Obama.  The White House denied reports that the fact that Saudi King Salman failed to greet President Barack Obama at the airport, after greeting Gulf State representatives just before Obama landed, meant US-Saudi relations are in a crisis.  Administration officials are insisting the president and the king "really cleared the air" in their Wednesday meeting afterwards.  When he arrived, the president was greeted at the airport by the governor of Riyadh, and the event was ignored by Saudi TV.  That same day, King Salman bin Abdulaziz and senior officials were seen on state TV greeting the leaders of neighboring Gulf states who were arriving for Thursday's [4/21/2016] summit of the Saudi-dominated Gulf Cooperation council, which Obama will address.

I Want My Money Back.  After more than seven years of "hope and change" not just the US but the world seems to have arrived at a strange and unexpected destination.

There was never any hope.  There may have been changes, but not improvements.
8 years after hope and change, voters are angry, anxious.  A stunning 79 percent of Americans now believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, a 15-point spike in the past year, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

And None So Deaf as They Who Will Not Hear.  The possibility that president Obama may not be as great as they thought has gradually dawned on the New York Times. [...] Even the administration's supporters were left totally surprised by the trail of disasters so intense it propelled Donald Trump to a presidential nomination.  Jesse Bernstein in Tablet thinks that the root cause of the blindness was insufferable smugness of the intellectual elite.

Barack Obama's legacy of failure.  Most Americans long ago got over their crush on Obama, as they repeatedly demonstrated at the polls.  In 2010, two years after electing him president, voters trounced Obama's party, handing Democrats the biggest midterm losses in 72 years.  Obama was reelected in 2012, but by nearly 4 million fewer votes than in his first election, making him the only president ever to win a second term with shrunken margins in both the popular and electoral vote.  Two years later, with Obama imploring voters, "[My] policies are on the ballot — every single one of them," Democrats were clobbered again.

47.9%: Obama Had Lower Average Approval Rating Than Nixon or Bush.  President Barack Obama had an average approval rating of 47.9 percent during his time in office, according to the Gallup poll.  That puts him behind Richard Nixon, who resigned, and George W. Bush, who saw his approval rating drop as low as 25 percent near the end of his term.  It puts him ahead of only Gerald Ford (47.2 percent), Jimmy Carter (45.5 percent) and Harry Truman (45.4 percent).

Obama, Please Go Away!  We know that black turnout in the last election was down from 2012, when black turnout was actually higher than white turnout.  The left screams "GOP vote suppression!," except that the lower turnout occurred in many instances in cities and states that Democrats control.  Maybe the fact that Obama was no longer on the ballot — and Hillary was — might explain why some black voters stayed home (or voted for Trump — he got the highest GOP share of the black vote in 30 years).  Or maybe blacks are tired of Democrats in general, and Obama in particular.  Obama is currently making plans for his presidential library and community action center to be located on the south side of Chicago.  The mostly black neighborhood where it is planned to be built isn't happy about it, and not buying Obama's happy talk about how it will bring prosperity to the neighborhood.

Far Left Prepares To Throw Barack Obama Into The Dustbin Of History.  The mood of left-wing Democrats might be neatly summarized by the media coverage of last weekend's Netroots Nation conference.  The progressive left seems poised to consign former President Barack Obama to the dustbin of history.  Moreover, supposedly woke agitators do not seem to care how their exercise might affect black voters who comprise a crucial part of their 2020 electoral strategy.  According to Vox, "Progressive activists know their enemy in the 2020 Democratic primary:  Joe Biden."  As Vox notes, "Some activists at Netroots conceded they would support Biden in a general election if they had no other choice."

Liberal Writer Dunks On Obama After His Attacks on Bernie Sanders.  Former President Barack Obama indicated earlier this week he would speak up to stop Bernie Sanders from becoming the party's nominee should the Vermont Socialist make significant gains in the Democrat primary.  This did not sit well with the grassroot Bernie supporters in the party.  Leftist activist and writer Walker Bragman posted a series of tweets reminding Democrats of Barack Obama's massive failures as a president.

After the Obama disappointment, black voters want more than empty symbolism.  The hope Obama promised was omnipresent and lasted for days.  Then 2009 happened.  We graduated into the worst job market in a generation, threatening our ability to pay back our college and post-graduate debts.  Obama filled his cabinet with financial industry operatives.  We saw a bailout for banks and big business that dwarfed the stimulus of American households.  Despite middle-class trappings, economic insecurity hit me and much of our generation hard.  Back home, my mother and I struggled to pay for a home that mortgage lenders targeted with a subprime mortgage.  We saw Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown and Rekia Boyd shot and killed.  We saw the beer summit and respectability politics.  Despite doing many things "right", it wasn't enough.  Homes in our mostly black neighborhood outside of Atlanta still have not recovered.  Justice for most of the families of police and vigilante violence has still been unserved.  Banks are still being bailed out.  In hushed circles — dinner parties and barber shops, group chats and family gatherings — the relatively universal enthusiasm for Obama tapered as his presidency came to a close.  Hope for many of us has been replaced with resignation.

Nancy's Fake Fire Alarm.  [Scroll down]  When Obama was elected, I commented to a friend that the best which could be expected from his administration would be four years of nonsense and a lot of bad laws to repeal.  That proved optimistic.  Obama lasted eight years, and we've barely made a start at cleaning up the legislative mess he left.  But he was president, duly elected, for better or worse.  We were stuck with him until the next election.  The country had the opportunity in 2012 to trade in Obama for Romney, but Mitt didn't pass the smell test (and his odor hasn't improved since, to be honest).  Republicans concluded that Romney was nothing more than Obama in whiteface and stayed home on election day.  Perhaps they hoped that another four years of the affirmative action president would help race relations... Didn't work out that way.

Cognitive Dissonance in Post-Obama America.  Nearly 12 years have elapsed since the night in October 2008 when Barack Obama told a crowd of his supporters in a speech at the University of Missouri that they were "five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."  You can turn on your TV and see the result:  Race riots have devastated cities across the country, a disillusioned generation of youth expressing themselves in a criminal spree of violent rage inspired by the failure of Obama's promise.  Of course, liberals blame these "mostly peaceful protests" on President Trump, but let them ponder this question:  How could Trump ever have been elected if Obama had been successful in delivering the transformation he promised?

Barack Obama:  How the mighty are fallen.  Once upon a time, Barack Obama had the world at his feet.  Tens of thousands of adoring people would come to see him, and often women would react to him as teens once reacted to Frank Sinatra, by fainting away in his presence.  Now, though, not so much.  Obama is stumping for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and the magic is gone.  Nowadays, Obama is drawing crowds that only number in the tens and maybe the hundreds. [...] If I were a betting woman, I would bet that Obama's efforts on Biden's behalf will not change the outcome of the upcoming election.

Bullhorn Barry
Trick or Cheat!.  Yes, Barry himself took to the streets of Pennsylvania, bullhorn in hand, to rouse the passions of nearly a dozen potential voters who are currently living in their parents' basements.  Unable to come up with much in the way of specific accomplishments (or future plans) by Biden, the former president instead went on the attack against Trump, who "emboldens other people to be cruel and divisive and racist."  This ugly pack of lies doesn't seem to square with Michelle Obama's claim that in matters of political rhetoric, "when they go low, we go high."  Although it's entirely possible that Barry did go to the event high.  By his own admission, he's a man who loves his pot, booze, and maybe a little blow when he can afford it.


Barack Obama Walks Up to a Group of Biden Supporters in Philly and They Don't Look Enthusiastic.  Barack Obama hit the campaign trail on Wednesday [10/21/2020] on behalf of Hiden Biden.  Obama is in Philadelphia today for two separate events as Joe Biden hides in his basement with less than two weeks until Election Day.  Barack Obama held a drive-in rally after he participated in a roundtable discussion with black leaders (he was muted on the livestream).  The drive-in rally was a joke.  Walmart has more cars on a Wednesday afternoon.

Obama in Philadelphia - AP photo
Obama Couldn't Draw a Crowd in Philadelphia.  That's Obama in Philadelphia yesterday [10/21/2020].  [Photo]  Now, I saw pictures of Obama in Philadelphia yesterday, and the only pictures I saw were tight shots of him near a podium in Philadelphia.  He's out there trying to get out the black vote for Joe Biden.  Look.  There's nobody there, folks.  He doesn't even draw a crowd.  This is the weirdest damn thing.  Now, I have never been under the illusion that Obama is a great endorser.  He doesn't show positive impact as an endorser of candidates.  Ask Hillary about it.  But they still use him even though he's proven not to be that good at it.  And in this case there's nobody there, folks.  That is a zilch, zero, nada.


This is an original compilation, Copyright © 2024 by Andrew K. Dart


If Obama is so great, why is the Democratic National Committee going into debt?

DNC Owes Union Bank $15M.  The Democratic National Committee (DNC) now owes $15 million to the union-owned Amalgamated Bank of New York, campaign finance records show.  The DNC received a $7 million loan from the bank in September, in addition to the $8 million loan it took out the previous month, neither of which has been paid back.  The loans account for the majority of the committee's $20 million in total debt.

Obama Campaign Borrows $15M from Bank of America.  Obama For America took out a $15 million loan from Bank of America last month, according to the campaign's October monthly FEC report.  The loan was incurred on September 4 and is due November 14, eight days after the election.  OFA received an interest rate of 2.5% plus the current Libor rate.


Association with Obama is now a political liability

Nobody wants to be seen with him, if they care about being elected or re-elected.

The Political 1%.  The political 1% may not be who you think.  Some of them are the think-tankers, the big donors and only rarely anyone actually in government employ.  They're Barack Obama types, behind the scenes, letting everyone else take the heat for their lame-brained policies and practices.  Though I don't think Obama himself is a one-percenter in that respect.  He is merely wealthy, but not wealthy in their sense of the word.  That and his political clout that could once have led him to 1% status, has waned considerably.  His very presence on the campaign trail is often a death knell to whomever he curses with it.

Good news:
Obama to stump for Biden less than two weeks before election.  Former President Barack Obama will head to Philadelphia on Wednesday to campaign on behalf of the Biden-Harris ticket, his first appearance on the trail thus far.  Current polls show Democratic opponent Joe Biden leading Trump by more than five percentage points, according to a Real Clear Politics average.  Philadelphia bolstered Obama's White House victories in both 2008 and 2012, when Biden was his running mate.

Obama kiss of death:  Not every candidate [is] thrilled to have that supposedly prized Obama endorsement.  On Monday [8/3/2020], President Obama trotted out his highly awaited endorsement list of more than 100 Democrat down-ballot candidates, and based on the media's reaction, it's the holy grail for those Democrats. [...] Much of the attention has been on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an openly socialist protege of Bernie Sanders who didn't get one, but that wasn't surprising, given the trouble she's given to the Democrat establishment. [...] No, amid all this gushing about getting the Obama imprimatur, the news is that at least one candidate views Obama's unsolicited endorsement as the kiss of death.

This is the biggest favor he could offer:
Barack Obama omits AOC's name while endorsing New York Democrats.  Former President Barack Obama on Monday endorsed six New Yorkers running for House seats, but he did not endorse freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  Obama's "first wave" of 2020 endorsements follow the Democratic primaries, meaning they won't influence who makes the November ballot.  But the popular former president still carries sway with donors and voters.  Obama released the list of candidates he supports on Twitter.  It's possible he will add additional New Yorkers closer to the election.

Barack Obama's endorsements have a huge record of failure.  At long last, former President Barack Obama has endorsed Joe Biden, who claimed he didn't want his ex-boss' endorsement during the nominating process.  You know what?  Maybe Biden was right, even though he was lying.  Maybe he shouldn't have wanted Obama's endorsement.  For while it is true that Obama is a genius at winning elections, he is only a genius at it when he's the one running.  No one has ever done better for himself in US politics — or been as ineffectual in his efforts to get other people elected.  No one has ever so thoroughly dominated politics — or so thoroughly decimated the party he led to victory. [...] Truth to tell, Obama had already shown his feet of clay in 2009 in a series of endorsements that didn't turn the tide for the candidates he stumped for.

Barack Obama's endorsement of Joe Biden is comedy gold.  [Scroll down]  Try it yourself.  Grab a mirror.  Assume your best 'I'm-being-serious-and-sincere' expression.  Then say out loud that Joe Biden would bring 'leadership guided by knowledge and experience, honesty and humility, empathy and grace' to the Capital.  How'd you do?  Crack a smile?  Of course you did.  Because when Obama said 'knowledge and experience' you thought about Biden's painful struggle to get through the opening of the Declaration of Independence ('You know, the thing').  When he mentioned 'honesty', you thought about his plagiarism and all the ways he and his family have enriched themselves through shady dealings, often with ideological opponents like China.  When he mentioned 'humility', you thought about Biden's habit of bragging about everything from getting the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating his son fired to taking credit for writing the PATRIOT Act.

Long-coveted Obama endorsement is of questionable value for Biden.  Former President Barack Obama is set to reenter the political fray with a long-awaited endorsement of presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, but his magic touch has failed to rub off on others in the past, and it is unclear how much of a boost he can provide his ex-vice president.  Some Democrats fear he could even overshadow Biden.  "Biden definitely needs this endorsement," said a Democratic strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly.  "But you don't want people drawing comparisons between Obama and Biden on the stump."

Joe Biden: 'I don't need an Obama endorsement'.  Joseph R. Biden says he doesn't need his former boss's endorsement.  In an interview Monday [12/2/2019] with Politico, the former vice president said having had that post under President Barack Obama is as much help as he needs.

2018 Proved (Again) That Obama Is Electoral Kryptonite In Battleground States.  Former President Barack Obama went on a campaign blitz for Democrats in the weeks leading up to the midterm election, but has little to show for his efforts.  Candidates in four of the six battleground states he visited lost big races, and those who succeeded in the other two led comfortably in the polls before he showed up, with the exception of one gubernatorial race.

So how did the Dems Obama campaigned for do on Election Night?  Heading into the 2018 midterm elections, former President Obama hit the stump for a few Democrats.  How did that all play out?  It doesn't bode well for the ex-president's ability to shore up the vote at any other time in the future.

Obama-Endorsed candidates in competitive races all lose.  All of the candidates in competitive races endorsed by former President Barack Obama were losers on Tuesday [11/6/2018].

Everyone Barack Obama Campaigned For Lost Last Night.  The Obama factor was out in full force last night as every Democrat candidate he campaigned for leading up to the Midterm Elections lost.

Biggest loser at midterms?  Barack Obama.  The midterms weren't a blue wave, but they weren't shark fin soup for Republicans either, given that they lost the House by a small margin.  That said, the big loser who stands out here is hard-campaigning President Obama, the guy who thought he was the star of the Democratic Party and who, throwing the tradition of former presidents staying aloof from politics out the window, campaigned hard, long, and loud, for Democrats in this midterm.  Turns out the ones he fought the hardest for lost.  Now he stands exposed as politically irrelevant, powerless, an embarrassment.  Sorry 'bout that legacy thing, Barry-O.

Obama in November 2018
What happened to Obama?  He looked wasted & defeated at Milwaukee rally.  It's not just the grey hair.  He looks wasted; his skin is sallow.  His eyes look frightened.  Look at the bags under his eyes — they weren't there a year ago.  Is he strung out on drugs?  Or is the rumored HIV/AIDS finally catching up with him?  Body language analysis of Obama says he's desperate and defeated.


Obama readies fall campaign push, but some Dems say no thanks.  Former President Obama is set to dive into the midterm elections next week with a speech in Illinois where he is expected to urge Democrats across the country to vote — addressing a problem that plagued the party in 2016.  Obama has kept a low political profile since leaving office, but sources familiar with his plans say he will soon hit the campaign trail to help Democrats in their quest to take back the House, protect vulnerable Senate incumbents and win state legislative races.

Obama Endorsements Mean Little to Democrat Candidates.  The man whom the Left claims is black Superman can't seem to influence elections, even when he helps candidates cheat.  Obama couldn't drag Hillary Clinton fat political ass over the finish line, and apparently he can't do it for others.

Barack Obama endorsements a joke.  Barack Obama is the gift that keeps giving — to Donald Trump and the GOP.  Yesterday [8/1/2018] the former president — who left four Americans for dead in Benghazi then blamed a video — officially inserted himself into the midterm race tweeting endorsements of 81 Democratic candidates.

How D.C.'s Democrats have become irrelevant.  Perhaps Barack Obama's worst political legacy is the devastation he wrought on his own party, not by mean tweets but by making everything about him.  He wanted Obamacare so badly Democrats obediently rammed it through Congress without a single GOP vote.  Obama loved the sole spotlight of fundraisers so much he did on average one a week for eight straight years.  And Democrats still lost everything, including nearly 1,000 powerful seats in state legislatures across the land.

Obama's 'legacy' drive lost Florida for Clinton.  The evidence is mounting that President Obama's overzealous defense of his "opening Cuba" gambit cost Hillary Clinton the state of Florida.  That misstep could end up wiping out most of the president's carefully curated "legacy" achievements.  For the president and his young Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, the establishment of diplomatic relations with one of the world's last communist dictatorships became something they weirdly defended from any criticism.  Even the smallest amendment that watered down coddling the Castros drew fulminating threats of vetoes from the White House.  Then in late October, President Obama went for broke and decided to stick a bigger needle in his opponents' eye.  He lifted limits on the import of cigars and rum, and then ordered our ambassador to the United Nations to abstain from a vote condemning the US economic embargo on Cuba.

Obama's Regime Has Been Rejected!  This election was a referendum that rejected Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  It was more about stopping Marxists than it was electing Donald Trump.  Whether our new President stands against everything the old guard stood for is yet to be seen, but I hope that is true. [...] Obama should never have been elected in the first place and if we had been minding the store the way all of us should have, he would never have risen to such heights and be allowed to wreak such damage against America.  We don't want their Marxist agenda and policies and that became glaringly clear last night during the election.

"No president has campaigned strongly for his chosen successor in at least 100 years."
Like Everything Else, Obama's Campaign For Hillary Is Unprecedented.  Some successors try to distance themselves from their predecessors, but Hillary's resume and image are so empty that she has no choice but to run on Obama's coattails.  And Obama is so arrogant that he insists on controlling and dictating the outcome.

The stalled Obama economy is an albatross for Hillary.  Obama is leaving office, but the woman he wants to succeed him, Hillary Clinton, still needs to sell that line of BS to a skeptical public looking for economic relief as the 2016 presidential election approaches.  Can she do it?  It's hard to say.  But one thing is certain:  Clinton's sales (or snow) job just got a lot harder after Thursday's GDP report — which showed the great Obama economy barely growing during the first quarter of the year, underscoring the bad economic hand she'll be forced to play this election season.

Obama Has Just Begun.  Insidiously and inadvertently, Barack Obama is alienating the people and moving the country to the right. [...] By sheer force of his personality, Obama has managed to lose the Democratic Senate and House.  State legislatures and governorships are now predominantly Republican.  Obama's own favorable ratings rarely top 45 percent.  In his mind, great men, whether Socrates or Jesus, were never appreciated in their time.  So it is not surprising that he is not, as he presses full speed ahead.

Democrats' Scheme in Mississippi Fails.  Democrats have decided that they will try to win court cases since they cannot win down-ballot offices, thanks to a leftward pitch under Barack Obama.  (They've lost 13 U.S. Senate seats, 69 House seats, 11 governorships, 913 state legislative seats and a majority of 30 state chambers in less than six years.)  It is an attempted power grab that is very similar to President Obama's use of executive orders.  Rather than trying to flip the House back to the Democrats' control, Obama has bypassed it with executive orders; the Democrats' strategy in southern and Republican-red states is to bypass legislatures with court actions.

'Meet The Press' Breaks Down Democratic Party's Massive Losses Under Obama: The 'Obama Political Machine' Is 'A Lie'.  Under Obama, Democrats have lost 13 Senate seats and 69 House seats in Congress, and the results are even more staggering on a local level.  Democrats have lost 12 governorships, including Kentucky last week with the election of Matt Bevin, 30 state legislative chambers and more than 900 state legislative seats.  That's the worst showing for an incumbent president's party since the Richard Nixon years, due to the taint of Watergate.

Yes, Barack Obama Has Been Terrible for Democrats Nationwide.  A number of leftwing writers have gone into full "protect the precious" mode over Barack Obama.  As more and more people have been noting just how badly Democrats have done in the age of Obama, goal posts are being moved to show that well, we need to look at different starting and ending points for the Democrats.  The reality is that with Barack Obama as President, Democrats have done terribly.  Down to local, municipal seats, we have to go back to the late 1800's to see a party so ruthlessly purged by the voters and, back then, it was the Democrats too.  Under Barack Obama, Republicans control about two-thirds of state legislative chambers, the majority of Governor's Mansions, and both Houses of Congress.  The Democratic bench has been purged leaving behind few young, fresh voices who can take over.  The gains made by Democrats pre-Obama in 2006 and with Obama in 2008 have been destroyed.

Matt Bevin is the next governor of Kentucky.  He has President Obama to thank.  Matt Bevin, the Republican nominee in the Kentucky governor's race, wasn't a very good candidate.  By all accounts, he was standoffish and ill at ease on the campaign trail, and inconsistent — to put it nicely — when it came to policy.  The Republican Governors Association, frustrated with Bevin and his campaign, pulled its advertising from the state.  Polling done in the runup to today's vote showed Bevin trailing state Attorney General Jack Conway (D).  And yet, Bevin won going away on Tuesday night [11/3/2015].  How?  Two words:  Barack Obama.

Obama, Bush, Clinton: Secret Agents.  The record is uncontestable; Obama has destroyed his own party for the immediate future.  Even the left-leaning Politico concedes this. [...] The Iran deal is just the latest of the outrageous acts of a president so enamored of making a place in history for himself that he ignores good sense, public opinion, and the future of his party.

Since Obama Took Office Dems Have Been Decimated All Across the Country.  In 2008, Barack Obama rode into the White House on a wave of Democrat votes, in what many at the time believed to be a permanent Democrat majority.  But instead of permanent superiority, the Democrat Party has been decimated all across the country with 85 of 98 state legislatures becoming more Republican since 2010.

Since President Obama took office, 85 of 98 state legislative bodies got more Republican.  The NCSL's [National Conference of State Legislatures] annual breakdown of the composition of each state's Senate and House or Assembly goes back to 2009, when President Obama was inaugurated.  Since then, the ratio of Republicans to Democrats has tilted to the right in nearly every Senate and nearly every legislature.

Democrats' Vanishing Future.  One of the most underappreciated stories in recent years is the deterioration of the Democratic bench under President Obama's tenure in office.

Obama could sink 2016 Dems.  Nothing better dramatizes the damage that President Obama has done to Democrats than the fact that Republicans now control the House of Representatives, the Senate and a majority of governorships across America.  Nothing better illustrates the reason for this damage than the president's recent behavior on the trade bill, when he attacked and berated liberal members of his party and organized labor, and then claimed success when the bill was passed through his alliance with Republican congressional leaders, infuriating a majority of Democrats in Congress.

Report: Obama Has Severely Weakened Democrats.  The Democratic Party has so severely weakened under the tenure of President Barack Obama that it is relying on former losing candidates to take them through the 2016 election cycle.

Media declare loser in Israeli election: Barack Obama.  Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's re-election victory Tuesday, the U.S. news media dubbed President Obama the loser in the far-away vote.  "This is a tough break for President Obama," said CBS correspondent Barry Petersen Wednesday morning [3/18/2015].  Politico reported that Obama "might have hoped for a leadership change that would reboot his poisoned relationship" with Israel in the election.  "But he didn't get it on Tuesday."  The Obama administration has endured increasingly chilly relations with Israel under Netanyahu's leadership.

The Move Away From Obama.  As Obama leads Democrats into his final political battles, they are understandably nervous.  Obama has cost them plenty and may still cost them more.  Democrats are now pressed harder on the right and the left and Obama can no longer defend them on either flank.  In congressional seat totals, Democrats are worse off now than they were before Obama took office — holding five fewer Senate seats and 44 fewer House seats than in 2006.  Counting from when a president took office, Obama has cost his party more Senate seats than any president since Carter, and more House seats than any president since Eisenhower.

Why Are Democrats Stuck With Hillary? Blame Obama.  The party controlling the White House almost always loses down the ballot, especially for a two-term president, according to Geoffrey Skelley, associate editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball.  But under Obama, Democrats have lost more than 900 state legislative seats, 69 U.S. House seats and 13 U.S. senate seats, all the most since World War II.  Democrats also have lost 11 governorships.

Biden: Running away from Obama in 2016 would be 'mistake' for Dems.  Vice President Joseph R. Biden said Democratic presidential candidates in 2016 should embrace President Obama's economic policies and "run on what we have done" instead of running away from the administration.  "In my view, those seeking to lead the nation should protect and defend and run, yes run, on what we've done and own what we have done," Mr. Biden said in a speech in Des Moines, Iowa.  "Stand for what we have done.  Acknowledge what we have done.  And be judged on what we have done, if we have any chance for continued resurgence in 2016."

Obama Takes on His Own Party.  It's no secret that Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader, now loathes Obama.  But the conflict between Senate Democrats and Obama is approaching explosive temperatures.  Senator Menendez accused Obama of parroting talking points out of Tehran as the Senate approaches a sanctions vote.  Obama has threatened to veto bills on Iran and Keystone, along with others, leading to a showdown in which Democrats will have to choose between Obama and electability.  The last time Democrats chose wrongly they lost the Senate.

The True Great Failure of Barack Obama.  The currently greatest open secret of our political system right now is that everyone more or less concedes that Barack Obama's political coalition was designed specifically to get Barack Obama elected, and pretty much nobody else.  Outside of the Presidency (admittedly a big exception), the Democratic party's hold on the levers of government is at an ebb not seen in most of our lifetimes.  And the Democrats didn't get much in exchange for all that legacy power.

Obama 'Frustrated' Dems Didn't Run on His 'Great Record' in Midterms.  In an interview with National Public Radio, President Barack Obama sounded off on the defeat handed to his party on Election Day earlier this year and said Democrats may have fared better if they had ran [sic] on his "great record."

Obama becomes toxic to Democrats with presidential aspirations.  Whether out of frustration or political necessity, some of President Obama's closest lieutenants from his first term are distancing themselves from Mr. Obama as 2016 approaches.  The latest is none other than Vice President Joseph R. Biden, who usually boasts about the lack of daylight between the president and himself.

The Obama trap: Hillary Clinton's popularity drops, president's record an albatross.  President Obama 's high-risk immigration gamble may have severe consequences for Washington, the country and the Democratic Party, most of all Hillary Clinton.  Mrs. Clinton's putative bid for the Democratic presidential nomination is already running into trouble.  The national exit poll from the recently completed midterm elections showed her with less than a majority of voters (43%) saying she would make a good president.  When pitted against an unnamed Republican candidate, Mrs. Clinton lost 40% to 34%.

The Emperor's New Close.  It's no secret that the president's proposed executive actions are intended to nail down the Hispanic vote and ultimately ensure that only Democrats occupy the Oval Office.  But there's a catch.  At the rate things are going, there may not be any prominent Democrats out there to run.  This year's midterm elections not only shellacked the Democrats, as even the liberal press has admitted, it more importantly cut off the lifeblood of many would-be liberal leaders.  Even in deep blue strongholds like Illinois and Massachusetts, Democratic senators, governors and congressional representatives have been replaced by up-and-coming Republicans.

What's Distinctive About Democrats' Losses Under Obama? Their Magnitude.  [Scroll down]  But what's distinctive about Mr. Obama's presidency in this regard has been the magnitude of his party's congressional losses.  Democrats emerged from the 2008 elections with 256 House seats and 57 Senate seats.  After this month's elections, the Democrats are likely to have 188 House seats and 44 Senate seats (not including the two independents that caucus with Senate Democrats), according to Kyle Kondit, managing editor of Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Black Democrats bemoan decision to run from Obama.  Some black political leaders think Democratic candidates who distanced themselves from President Barack Obama sapped enthusiasm among African-Americans in states where they anchor the party's base. [...] "The president is still a great driver of African-American turnout," said North Carolina state Rep. Rodney Moore.  "Kay Hagan supported him during her six-year tenure, so it seems disrespectful that she would not even defend the good things that have happened during his administration."

Bad Decisions Came Back to Haunt Democrats in Midterms.  Democrats are now sifting through the rubble of what was their party on election night, examining losses — and even near losses — that seemed fairly inconceivable just a couple of weeks ago. [...] No truer words were ever spoken then when President Obama told a Northwestern University audience last month, "I am not on the ballot this fall.  Michelle's pretty happy about that.  But make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot, every single one of them."

Typhoid Barry.  Although asymptomatic herself, Mary Mallon is believed to have infected 53 people with typhoid fever at the start of the last century, of whom 3 died.  Barack Obama, electorally immune from defeat, has become an asymptomatic carrier of the defeat virus for Democrats.  With two more years of his term ahead, the party faces some very decisions.  Do they continue to shun him as they did during the campaign?

Narcissist In Chief Says Midterms Weren't About Him.  A month ago, President Obama declared that "every single one" of his policies was on the ballot this November.  Now, in the wake of his party's crushing defeat, he's trying to take it back.

US midterms: Barack Obama has crippled the Democrats.  This much is certain:  no matter how disappointed the American people are in Barack Obama, the feeling will be mutual.  One senses that he's never been a huge fan of the voters. [...] It was Obama who presided over the slow moral disintegration of the Democrats and so it's Obama who should take the lion's share of the blame.  Oh, it's true that most presidents suffer from a backlash in their sixth year in office — but few have had such a dramatic long-term effect upon the nature of their party.

Obama's reverse Midas touch:  President Obama saw the Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and his home-state Illinois lose after personally stumping for them in the waning moments before Election Day.

Obama's Economic Propaganda Has a Limited Shelf Life.  Democratic candidates are doing their best to steer clear of Obama, but I don't think many of them want to go so far as to specifically condemn his economic record, because most voters know they've enabled him every step of the way.  And Obama himself would never agree to unveil a new set of economic or health care policies, because he is congenitally incapable of admitting mistakes and changing his course.

Obama: 'Don't think we're not keeping score, brother.  They had tried to deny voting for Obama, claimed they would be his worst nightmares if returned to Washington (when they were not busy airbrushing Wikipedia entries and their own websites), tried to distract voters with claims of misogyny and racism.  They refused Obama's visits as if he had Ebola (his money was more than welcome, however).  But, try as they might, they could not hide from their shameful histories and records.

Pity Barack Obama.  Poor Barack Obama.  For him, campaigning is "fun."  But for the last few months, almost nobody has wanted to play with him.  He was only invited to campaign for one Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, and that was for a candidate with an insurmountable lead.  (Gary Peters in Michigan.)  His public schedule through Tuesday [11/4/2014] showed that he hadn't made a public appearance since last Friday.  He was conspicuously absent in the days leading up to, and including, Election Day.

Post-election wrap-up in the New York Times:
Voters' Second Thoughts on Hope and Change.  A decade after President Obama made his national political debut with an appeal for Americans to put aside their divisions, the midterm elections on Tuesday delivered a resounding rejection of his call for consensus.  Mr. Obama's poor poll numbers dragged down candidates and hastened his party's decline in the South and the West, as Democrats watched their hold on the Senate slip away.

The Editor says...
(1) When a Democrat says he wants Americans to "put aside their divisions," it means he wants an end to competition.  Put aside your divisions and let us take over.  That makes good filler for a teleprompted speech but it was never going to happen.  (2) "Mr. Obama's poor poll numbers dragged down candidates" is like saying your outdoor thermometer is making you cold.  Poll numbers are merely an indication of disapproval.  Mr. Obama's abject dishonesty and rank incompetence dragged down the Democrat candidates, even though the candidates stayed as far away from Obama as they could.

Voters know whose policies are on the ballot.  Republicans could scarcely believe their ears when, a few weeks back, President Obama injected himself into the very heart of the midterm election skirmish, under the bizarre notion that he was just the adrenaline struggling Democratic candidates needed.  Hadn't he noticed 2014 had been the Year of Snubbing Obama?  I mean, they'd rather have shared a quarantine bubble in Newark with Kaci Hickox than be seen on the same stage with Obama.

No Matter How Well They've Run, Senate Democrats Can't Seem to Break Free of Obama.  Within 24 hours of the president's October comments that his policies were "on the ballot" this fall even if he wasn't, multiple Republican candidates (including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky) released TV ads using the tape to bind their Democratic opponents more tightly to the president.

Selling the Illusion of Economic Success to Salvage Elections.  While almost no incumbent Democratic senators want him anywhere near their state, President Obama claims to understand their desire to keep their distance, but acknowledges that his policies are on the ballot in virtually all of these elections.  He says that the important thing is, while they may be distancing themselves from him personally, they support his agenda.

Democrats' Cold Shoulder Season.  [Sen. Mark] Udall has claimed that he's "the last person they want to see coming at the White House."  Actually, it's the other way around:  Udall fled Denver when Obama came to town — even though the president was there to raise money for Udall's campaign.

Obama's Extraordinary Damage to His Party.  How much damage is Barack Obama doing to the Democratic Party?  According to the respected political analyst Stuart Rothenberg, the answer is quite a lot.

Obama's 'Fair Weather' Democratic Friends May Have Sealed Their Own Fate.  President Obama has come in for huge amounts of criticism from Republicans for his fundraising activities in the months leading up to the midterm elections.  He has appeared on the West Coast, the East Coast and points in between, usually in private events, pulling in millions of dollars for the Democratic Party.  Obama booked his odd travel itinerary because he hasn't been welcome anywhere else.

O-No: Voters More Apt To Oppose Obama Backers By 2-1.  [Scroll down]  The poll also found that 40% of likely voters say they are less inclined to vote for a candidate who supports Obama, while only 22% are more inclined — nearly a 2-to-1 ratio.  Among independents, the ratio is 3-to-1 (37% to 12%).  Many Democrats running for re-election have been shunning Obama or trying to distance themselves from his policies.  Another sign of potential trouble for Democrats is the poll's finding that 61% of likely voters say that ObamaCare is of "high importance" in determining their vote.

It Turns Out that Obama's Policies Really Are on the Ballot, You Nitwits.  "I am not on the ballot this fall.  Michelle's pretty happy about that.  But make no mistake, my policies are on the ballot.  Every single one of them," said President Barrack Obama two weeks ago.  There can be no doubt that the agenda of the past six years is a factor in the mid-term elections in two weeks, but for the president to so inextricably conjoin his policies with the election increases the significance and possible outcomes.

Why Those White Women Want Nothing To Do With Barack Obama.  If a group of white Republican women adamantly refused to go near a black man and complained loudly about him, the political press would destroy them as racists.  That is what is happening, however, in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Georgia.  Two of the three women, Landrieu and Nunn, are the legacies of old Democrat families in their home states.  Hagan is politically connected and of a Democratic political family, though not quite as much an in-state legacy family.  These three women want nothing to do with America's first black President.

White House in Denial: President Obama Is Costing Democrats Control of the Senate.  White House officials are preemptively spinning a midterm defeat, and they're using their own fantasies to do it.  They're starting to blame candidates for not supporting President Obama enough.

Can Democrats hold the Senate by running away from Obama — and their own records?  Running away from an unpopular president of your own party is a time-honored tactic in midterm elections.  The problem is that it rarely works.  That is even truer than usual for the current crop of endangered Senate Democrats.  Their efforts to distance themselves from President Obama's record — rather than defend it — has become a source of friction with the White House.

Obama Visits Maryland; Democrat Drops 9 Points?  How could this be possible?  I mean, what has happened in the last week?  For one thing, President Obama — not welcome on the trail in red states — campaigned for [Anthony] Brown in Maryland, where crowds began streaming out during his speech, leaving empty bleachers behind.  Could it be that President Obama is such a drag on Democrats that he even hurts them in ... Maryland?  That's one possibility.

Jon Karl Presses Earnest: Is Obama 'Toxic' for Campaigning Senate Democrats?  Lots of grilling during Monday's [10/27/2014] White House press briefing. [...] "We are eight days out from midterm elections that could be highly consequential for this president," Karl began.  "Why is he here without any public schedule at the White House, why did he spend the entire weekend completely outside of public view?  How can he is not out campaigning with and for Democratic candidates in these races?"

Democrats dare not speak of Obama.  In 2013, the Congressional Quarterly news service reviewed 108 Senate votes where Obama took a position.  The Democratic incumbents in three crucial and competitive races — Senators Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Udall of Colorado, and Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire — voted with Obama 97, 99, and 99 percent of the time.  It's hard to run away from numbers like that, and even harder when the president is publicly bragging about them.

Running against Obama's postponed November surprises.  The scariest Halloween trick on any Democratic campaign between now and Friday [10/31/2014] would have Mr. Obama show up unannounced with an offer to help.  Since he's poison on the campaign trail, Mr. Obama spent Saturday on the links at Fort Belvoir, playing his 201st round of golf as president.  His golf score is a secret, too, but the informed word is that he hasn't broken par yet.

Obama Wants the Democrats to Lose.  We were told by nearly every outlet of the liberal media in 2008 that Barack Hussein Obama had transformed the political landscape.  The politician that transcended politics, Obama was to be the defining figure of his generation, a Reaganesque icon who would remake the rhetoric of America for ages to come.  Now, six years later, he is a millstone around the Democrats' necks.  As we approach a midterm election in which it appears the Democrats will be trounced, those running for national office as members of Obama's own party are shunning him.  Those who once worshipped him as a political god are openly renouncing all association with him.  Democrat politicians in tight races are refusing to admit that they ever even voted for him.

Clintons bring star power to campaign trail as Democrats shun Obama.  On the campaign trail, President Obama's status as the Democratic Party's No. 1 rock star has been supplanted by a power couple kicking off their political comeback tour.  While Mr. Obama has been a rare visitor on the stump over the past few weeks, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton are in demand, parachuting into battleground states and rallying support for Democrats in key races.

Obama is Persona Non Grata Even Among His Own Party.  President Obama is nearing the end of his sixth year in office, with his unpopular agenda in ruins, his job approval polls at record lows, and his party facing sweeping losses in next month's elections.  Democratic candidates are distancing themselves from him or giving him the cold shoulder, while others refuse to admit they even voted for him.

Where Is Your Soaring Rhetoric Now, Mr. President?  President Obama is about as popular on the campaign trail these days as the Ebola virus.  Democrats flee from him.  At the mere mention of his name, they betray him.  Facing dejected and angry voters, Democrats play dumb and pretend they never supported him.

On Campaign Road, Uneasy Democrats Show Obama Their Tail Lights.  Bracing for a difficult election in just over a week, when they could lose control of the Senate, Democrats exasperated with the White House are already moving to pin blame on President Obama, whom Republicans have made the centerpiece of the campaign. [...] Senior elected officials, strategists and donors have begun to openly criticize Mr. Obama, contending that his low popularity and some ill-advised remarks have proved toxic for candidates trying to distinguish themselves from the president to appeal to swing voters.

Hagan Can't Say If Obama Is A Strong Leader.  In North Carolina, MSNBC's Kasie Hunt asked incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan whether she felt if Obama was a strong leader.  Let's just say Hagan could not say anything — with a degree of confidence or certainty — that was positive about Obama.  Straight up — she avoided answering the question.

Alaska Sen. Mark Begich: I voted for Obama, but that's "irrelevant".  Democratic Sen. Mark Begich has distanced himself from President Obama as he seeks reelection in deeply conservative Alaska, but he acknowledged Wednesday that he voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 and 2012.  Still, Begich added, those votes are "irrelevant" because the president is leaving office in two years.

Obama Can't Help Throwing His Party Under His Bus.  Politically speaking, President Barack Obama is almost as toxic as the ominous viruses he continues to mismanage.  Every Democratic candidate fears the contagion and seeks to quarantine himself from his presence and policies.  It's hardly unfair to say that Obama has earned his current condition, having squandered more unearned goodwill than any president in recent memory.  Despite his fall, during a speech at Northwestern University earlier this month, Obama couldn't resist blurting out:  "I'm not on the ballot this fall.  Michelle's pretty happy about that.  But make no mistake:  These policies are on the ballot — every single one of them."  Actually, he didn't just blurt it out.  These were prepared remarks.

The Real Party of the Rich.  [Scroll down]  President Obama is so unpopular that Democratic candidates avoid mentioning his name, much less inviting him to appear at their campaign events or in their TV spots.  Meanwhile, the economy is stagnant.  Foreign policy failures continue to stack up.  America's global influence fades.  Two-thirds of Americans are pessimistic about the country's future.  Democrats have few national issues they're comfortable talking about.

How Barack Obama's unpopularity is affecting the midterm election.  Barack Obama, once the popular President who helped get Democrats elected in several Republican states in 2008 has turned into a liability for the party with the midterm elections looming.  While the President has tried to make the case that his policies have steered the country away from the brink of economic collapse and laid a foundation for growth, many voters are frustrated by the slow progress and his message has been drowned out by crises in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and western Africa.

The Democratic Panic.  After a few days of trying to ignore the question, Michelle Nunn, the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in Georgia, acknowledged on Friday [10/17/2014] that she had voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.  By this year's standards, that's pretty forthright, especially compared with Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democrat running for the Senate in Kentucky, who refuses to discuss her presidential vote.

The Democrats are running, but President Obama won't let them hide.  [Scroll down]  Anyway, the president, who is fully aware that Democratic candidates like Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Mark Pryor in Arkansas, Mark Begich in Alaska and Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky — to name a few — have been running from him, can't suppress his instinct to let voters know that they are all loyal followers of his.  While the incumbent Democrats — most of whom have voted with him almost all the time, try to claim their independence, the president is actually the one calling them out and telling the truth.  Democrats are going to have a hard time hiding behind their phony images for much longer, because President Obama has made it clear that most every Democrat running for office in 2014 will be pretty much in lockstep with the liberal Democratic leadership.

Chris Matthews on Dems Refusing to Admit They Voted For Obama: "It's Like Obama Has Ebola".  Chris Matthews reacts to Democratic Senate candidates Michelle Nunn (D-GA) and Mark Begich (D-AK), an incumbent, dodging the question if they voted for Obama.  "That's the way people walk past guys who are trying to get a buck or a quarter from somebody," Matthews said describing the candidates ignoring the question from a tracker.  "It's like Obama has Ebola," Matthews said on Monday's broadcast of Hardball on MSNBC.  "I wasn't near him! I didn't touch him!"

A vote for Democrats is 'A Vote for President Obama'.  Just how ignorant do the professional scaremongers of the Democratic party think that we are that we might not recognize that the ability to say This politician is a fool; do not vote for fools is the bedrock of the First Amendment?  What are they scared of?

For Democrats, Obama is the October surprise.  No Democrat wants to be tied to a president who promises prosperity and delivers malaise.  "The reminders are everywhere," says Freedom Partners spokesman James Davis.  "The struggle to find a good-paying job, health care uncertainty because of broken promises, tax dollars taken from their paychecks only to be wasted, special treatment for politicians and a failure of government to care for veterans.  Election Day is Americans' opportunity to stand up and say 'enough.'"

Dems running scared from Obama.  At least four Democrats seeking House or Senate seats refuse to say whether they voted for Candidate Obama in 2008 or 2012.  Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska pretended he didn't hear the question and simply walked away.  Rep. Natalie Tennant of West Virginia would say only that she voted for the "Democratic Party" (FYI, Natalie, a guy named Barack Obama was at the very top of that ballot).  Michelle Nunn, asked who she voted for, let a staffer step in to say, "Would you leave her alone?" A supporter answered for her.  And in the most clumsy attempt to flee any relationship with Mr. Obama, candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes has repeatedly refused to say whether she voted for him.

The deadly virus in the electorate.  Rarely if ever has a presidency dissolved so dramatically, so quickly, and with his approval hovering at 40 percent and threatening to sink lower, Mr. Obama has no capital left if he knew how to spend it.  Some of his most loyal followers and reliable liege men won't even admit to having ever voted for him when everybody knows they did.

The Politics of Psychopathology.  Obama is now widely seen as a failure even by some of his most prominent and voluble supporters.  A few years ago, Democratic candidates for office were eager to be seen with Obama, but in the 2014 election cycle, Obama is only marginally more popular than Ebola.  The people who in 2008 were so fervent about prospects under Obama seem not to have dropped the whole idea of Marxist big government (they still support socialized medicine in the form of ObamaCare) but they have certainly dropped Obama.

President Doofus.  The cost of supporting Obama is now greater than the cost of abandoning him.  The cover-up for Obama is over.  The man and his Administration are completely incompetent, so much so that most Democrats and media no longer try to defend him.  Both are running from him as fast as they dare.  The reluctance to abandon him earlier is understandable.  Abandoning a President, particularly one of your own Party or one that you helped put in office, is difficult.  Doing so can be dangerous.  No one wants to be the first to embark on such a path.  Waiting too long is also dangerous.

White House to red-state Democrats: Don't blame Precious if you lose.  The GOP's spent six months warning red-staters that a vote for Democrat X is a vote for Obama.  That's basically true, The One helpfully conceded yesterday [10/20/2014]. [...] At the beginning of October, he told a crowd that his policies are on the ballot this November, which felt like the kiss of death to centrist Dems who've been arguing precisely the opposite.

Al Sharpton, GOP operative.  In an interview for his radio show, the Rev. Al said he spoke to Obama "about those Democratic politicians who haven't embraced him on the campaign trail."  He's referring to the growing number of Democratic candidates who won't say whether they voted for Obama.  Obama answered Sharpton with a gift to the GOP.

Audience Laughs at Shaheen for Ducking Question on Obama.  Sen Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) was laughed at by the audience at the New Hampshire Senate Debate on Tuesday when she would not give a clear answer on whether she approved of the job President Obama is doing.  When asked to give a simple, yes or no response to a hypothetical pollster asking, "do you approve of the job President Obama is doing?" Shaheen responded, "in some ways I approve, and some things I don't approve," a line that caused the audience to start laughing.

Krauthammer: Obama humiliated by lack of demand for him on campaign trail.  President Obama was once a "citizen of the world" and a "political rockstar," according to Charles Krauthammer, but now the lack of demand for him on the campaign trail has become a "a total humiliation" for the president.

President Obama's Ego Targets Democrats Trying To Gain Distance.  Yesterday [10/20/2014] in a recorded interview with White House advisor, MSNBC's Al Sharpton, President Obama made it crystal clear that every candidate seeking such distance was, in actuality, 100% in alignment with him in all policy positions.

Why a GOP Wave Election Will Surprise the Media.  Obama keeps tying himself to the midterm elections while 60 percent of likely voters disapprove of his performance and 54 percent find him personally unfavorable.  Only 28 percent of likely voters definitively approve of his management of government, while 62 percent disapprove or lean toward disapproval.  This AP poll is just the latest to show Obama's drag on the chances for Democrats to avoid disaster, and even in their own series, it shows a significant shift away from Democrats over the last month.  Fortunately for Obama and the Democrats, the media still isn't paying attention.

Obama on Dems Running Away from Him: 'These Are All Folks Who Vote With Me'.  President Obama discussed the election and how "all" the Democrats running away from him "have supported my agenda" in an interview with Al Sharpton earlier today [10/20/2014].

White House shrugs off Obama remarks.  The White House is shrugging off President Obama's latest remarks tying Democratic candidates to his record, saying Obama was only trying to help motivate black voters to come to the polls.  Obama in a Monday interview on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show said Democrats under fire on the campaign trail "vote with me" and "have supported my agenda in Congress."  The comments were surprising given the efforts Democratic candidates, particularly in red states like Arkansas, Alaska and Louisiana, have made to distance themselves from the unpopular Obama.

Obama: Hey, all these red-state Democrats running away from me are strong supporters who vote with me!  As I've mentioned before, there's maybe nothing that cheers me more about Republican prospects that Democrats acting so very, very desperate.  You'll hear not a thing about a tone of "unprecedented negativity" in this year's ads because the worst examples are coming from endangered Democrats.  But just because the press doesn't report the pattern doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

WH defends Obama's campaign absence.  It's not strange that President Obama is largely absent from the campaign trail just two weeks before Election Day, the White House insisted Monday [10/20/2014], pointing to global crises like Ebola. [...] The president's absence from the campaign trail is seen largely as a reflection of his disappointing approval ratings and the risk he would hurt vulnerable Democratic candidates more than he would help.  Candidates in crucial states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Alaska and North Carolina have actively distanced themselves from the president, and Obama so far is only scheduled to appear alongside one congressional candidate before Election Day.

Obama: Dem candidates avoiding me 'have supported my agenda'.  President Obama delivered a blow to Democratic Senate candidates looking to distance themselves from his flagging approval ratings Monday [10/20/2014], saying lawmakers avoiding him on the campaign trail were "strong allies and supporters" who have "supported my agenda in Congress."  The president said that Democrats faced a "tough map" and noted that many Democrats in crucial races "are in states that I didn't win" during a radio interview with Rev. Al Sharpton.

Obama giftwraps another sound bite for Republicans.  A couple weeks ago, President Obama declared that, while he wasn't on the Nov. 4 ballot, his policies were.  And just about every GOP candidate in a red or swing state soon launched an ad using that comment to tie his or her Democratic opponent to Obama.  Well, Obama appears to have just handed Republicans some more ammunition.  In an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday [10/20/2014], Obama defended his support for candidates in top races who haven't welcomed Obama to campaign with them.  "The bottom line is, though, these are are all folks who vote with me; they have supported my agenda in Congress," Obama said.

How unpopular is President Obama?  So unpopular is President Barack Obama these days that the (D) following Democratic candidates' names might stand for Denial.  And, so desperate are political pundits for any fresh news crumb that a molehill quickly becomes a mountain.  One ill-chosen word — or, worse, failure to answer a reporter's question — and the candidate is suddenly redrawn into a caricature he doesn't recognize.  Just ask Mitt "47 percent" Romney or former Virginia Gov. George "macaca" Allen.  Now add to the list Kentucky Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes, who, upon dodging a question about whether she voted for Obama, is sitting atop a mountain of media pain.

The man who wasn't there: Obama and the 2014 midterms.  President Obama is the most inconsequential man in America, at least when it comes to the 2014 midterms.  Every week we have further confirmation that rigor mortis is settling on his presidency.  Indeed, he is not just politically ineffective but also useless or harmful to his own party.

Democrats Turn On Obama.  Democrats seem rather less enthralled with Mr. Obama these days.  In retrospect, Obama's ascension to the presidency wasn't quite the moment the world was waiting for.  Increasingly that's the judgment of Democrats.  This year, in fact, Democrats have leveled unusually sharp and damaging charges against the president.

In Run-Up To Midterms, Obama Scarce From Campaign Trail.  Just three weeks to go until the midterm elections and with control of the Senate hanging in the balance, candidates are scrambling toward the finish line.  One key figure, however, has been largely absent:  President Obama.  President Obama has appeared at zero public campaign events this cycle, opting instead to tap into his fundraising prowess to boost Democratic candidates behind closed-doors.

ABC News: President Obama Has Been to Zero Campaign Events This Cycle.  ABC News published an astonishing admission today [10/13/2014], revealing that President Barack Obama has not attended a single public campaign event for a Democratic candidate as the party heads into a white-hot election season.

Voters in 49 of 50 states sending message 'against Obama'.  More voters in 49 of the nation's 50 states plan to use Election Day to voice opposition to President Obama and his policies than those who want to show support, according to a shocking new poll that suggests the president is hurting Democrats this election season.

The media ignoring the whiff of desperation emanating from Democrats.  In Kentucky, Alison Lundergan Grimes, once the Democrats great hope to unseat the perpetually unpopular Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), contorted herself into knots to avoid admitting she voted for Barack Obama.  Her sloppy evasion prompted even observers like NBC's Chuck Todd to concede she had "disqualified" herself. [...] The press has largely failed to notice the Democrats' worst week ever, but what is more egregious is that the political media has also failed to observe another fascinating phenomenon:  Democrats are abandoning their own brand.

McConnell ad hits Grimes on 'devastating' dodge in Ky. Senate.  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) released a tough new ad Monday [10/13/2014] that bashes Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) for refusing to admit whether she voted for President Obama.

Alison Lundergan Grimes Again Dodges Whether She Voted For Obama.  Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes has taken heat from the left and right for recently refusing to admit whether she voted for Barack Obama for president.  So it surprised observers when she again dodged the question when pressed during Monday night's U.S. Senate debate with Republican Mitch McConnell.

Alison Lundergan Grimes Is Running the Worst Senate Campaign of the Year.  It seems like a safe assumption that if you're currently a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, you voted for Barack Obama two years ago.  And if you're a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate who also served as a delegate for Obama at the 2012 Democratic Convention?  Well then, yeah, it's a very good bet you pulled the lever for the president that year.  But Alison Lundergan Grimes, currently the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky and a delegate for Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, apparently thinks voters are idiots.

40 painful seconds of Alison Lundergan Grimes refusing to say whether she voted for President Obama.  Alison Lundergan Grimes (D), who is trying to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) this fall, appeared before the Louisville Courier-Journal editorial board on Thursday to make her pitch for their endorsement.  The life-long Democrat, whose father represented Kentucky for the party in the state House and who herself has been on the ballot in the state on the Democratic ticket, was asked a simple question.  Did she vote for President Obama in 2008 and 2012? And she didn't answer.  Repeatedly.

Barack Obama: the end of a love affair.  With November's mid-term elections less than a month away, even fellow Democrats won't be seen dead with the man who once transformed their party's fortunes.  Apart from some closed-door fundraisers, Mr Obama is all but invisible on the campaign trail.

The disappearance of Obama the campaigner.  It was a cloudless Sunday in Arlington, Virginia, and little did the crowd of 1,600 standing inside Washington-Lee High School realize they were witnessing something of a political vanishing act.  "Are you fired up?" President Obama asked with characteristic gusto.  The date was Nov. 3, 2013.  Mr. Obama hasn't been seen in public at a campaign rally since.

Fearing the 'Obama factor' in midterms.  Legendary GOP campaign strategist Lee Atwater was guided by a political maxim he called the Napoleonic rule:  Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of defeating himself.  Atwater, a master political infighter without peer, would be jumping up and down with glee if he had lived to see what is now happening to President Obama and his party leading up to the 2014 midterm elections.

Why Would Obama Try to Make the Election About Himself?  The president's approval ratings aren't great anywhere these days, and his party will only hold on if its candidate can survive in Southern states where Obama is especially unpopular — places like Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana.  These candidates are eager to make the race about anything other than the president — because if it's a referendum on him, the attack ads, as they say, write themselves.

In This Election, Obama's Party Benches Him.  When Mr. Obama entered the campaign fray last week, he did so by returning to the unconditional embrace of his own hometown, in a blue state where the incumbent Democratic senator faces scant opposition and the Democratic governor is running in part on his support for the Affordable Care Act.  On Tuesday [10/7/2014], the president attended private fund-raisers in Manhattan, to be followed by similar events in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Arkansas it is not.

Bill Clinton tells Arkansans: Don't protest Obama in midterm vote.  Former President Bill Clinton urged voters in his home state Monday [10/6/2014] not to use the midterm election as a protest against the White House, as he toured the state to help Democrats' efforts to prevent a GOP takeover in Arkansas.

Even a softball question about Obama is enough to make this Democrat crumble.  Sen. Mark Pryor is in the fight of his life protecting his seat against midterm election challenger Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.  The Arkansas Democrat has worked hard throughout the race to distance himself from President Obama and the White House's policies, disguising his political allegiances so as not to sour the red state's voters against his re-election bid.  But his attempts to distance himself from Obama are not always so graceful.

In Arkansas, Bill Clinton tries to save Democrats from Barack Obama.  In what is likely to become a theme of the last weeks of campaigning before the midterm elections, former President Bill Clinton all but begged voters here in Arkansas not to use their vote as an expression of disapproval for Barack Obama.  The president is playing an outsized role in the race between Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor and Republican challenger Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. Obama is seriously unpopular here; a recent survey by the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling put his job approval rating at 31 percent, versus 62 percent disapproval.

Voters have turned decidedly against President Obama.  Voters have turned decidedly hostile toward President Obama and his policies.  That's not just my partisan view; it is empirical data.  A poll released over the weekend shows that 32 percent of voters are using their midterm election votes to send a message of opposition to the president.

David Axelrod: It was a 'mistake' for Obama to say his policies are on the ballot.  A former top adviser to President Obama said Sunday [10/5/2014] that it was a "mistake" for Obama to say in a speech last week that his policies are effectively on the ballot in the midterm elections this fall.  "I wouldn't put that line there," David Axelrod said on NBC's "Meet The Press."  In a Thursday speech, Obama said:  "I am not on the ballot this fall.  Michelle's pretty happy about that.  But make no mistake:  These policies are on the ballot.  Every single one of them."

Does Obama Secretly Hate His Own Party?  What to make of Obama's head-scratchingly counterproductive statement that while he is not the on ballot next month, his policies are — every single one of them.  Every red state Democrat is running for the hills, because they all know they are in trouble more because of Obama's policies than Obama himself.

28 words that Democrats really wish President Obama didn't say today.  President Obama was at Northwestern University on Thursday to deliver an economic speech that, he and his team hoped, would lay out the case for why the public is better off today than they were six years ago — even if they didn't feel it in their everday lives.  Instead, Obama just gave every Republican ad-maker in the country more fodder for negative ads linking Democratic candidates to him.

Captain Obama handcuffs Democrats to the deck chairs on the Titanic.  There's so much happening in the news right now that Obama declaring the 2014 elections are a referendum on his Presidency probably won't get as much notice as it deserves.  Along with his telling amnesty activists that "no force on Earth can stop us," this should figure prominently in Republican campaign ads for the rest of the season... a prospect that must have [greatly concerned some] congressional Democrats, especially those who have been working overtime to distance themselves from Obama, or even pretend they are actively opposed to his agenda.  So why would Obama do something like this? [...] Jim Treacher at the Daily Caller wonders if Obama's actually trying to sabotage the Democrat candidates who ran on "Obama Who?" platforms, because he's mad at them.

Democrats running for office ditch Obama ties.  Alison Lundergan Grimes has campaigned with former president Bill Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren by her side.  But the Democratic candidate for US Senate has not appeared with the leader of her own party, President Obama.  Instead, it almost seems as if Grimes is running against the president.

King Barry Is Not On The Ballot, Says Everybody But King Barry.  The only time he tells the truth is when it can hurt somebody who has crossed him.  And by running as fast as they can from his disastrous policies, by distancing themselves as far as possible from him, they've crossed him.

What's Michelle Obama really campaigning for?  There's much more to come in the 31 remaining days.  The cover story is both Obamas are dutifully trying to help Democrats.  Because of his own unpopularity and that of his programs and scandals, the president's not being invited to do the hands-in-the-air joint campaign appearances that Mrs. Obama has.  He's bent on fundraisers, usually high-priced events ($32,400 on up to $100,000 per person) tacked on to to some official presidential appearance to help split the travel costs of Air Force One.

As Michelle Obama Campaigns, Some Democrats Fear Her Last Name Is a Liability.  In a measure of how deeply unpopular her husband is in Republican-leaning battleground states, Democratic Senate candidates there worry that Mrs. Obama's presence would tie them too closely to the president they are trying to distance themselves from, just as undecided voters are making up their minds.  "She's awesome, but it just brings in the name Obama," said a Democratic strategist in a state with a close Senate race, who, like most other Democrats interviewed, declined to be identified discussing politics involving Mrs. Obama.

In Arkansas, It's Tom Cotton vs. Barack Obama.  Tom Cotton has been traveling this large, rural state in a camouflage-painted RV, on the hunt for an "elusive" and "mysterious" Arkansan.  This enigmatic figure is one who invariably sides with President Obama on the issues — a stance generally viewed with disdain in a state that voted for Mitt Romney by 24 percentage points in 2012.  "I can't find him anywhere I go in Arkansas!" the Republican congressman tells a group of supporters gathered last week at JJ's Lakeside Café, located here in the southeastern part of the state, a region that traditionally has voted Democratic.  "The only place I find him is in the United States Senate."  Cotton is referring, of course, to his opponent:  Mark Pryor, the lone Democrat in the state's congressional delegation.

These days, Democrats aren't talking much about Obama in congressional speeches.  Much has been written this election cycle about the Democrats distancing themselves from Obama ahead of the midterm elections.  Some Democratic candidates in tough races regularly emphasize their differences with the president.  And Obama is persona non grata on the campaign trail (unless it's inside private high-dollar fundraiser dinners).

Poll: In Colorado, Obama is a drag on Democrats.  The 2008 Democratic convention that nominated Obama was held in Denver, and the Centennial State twice has cast its electoral votes for him.  But those surveyed now disapprove of the job he's doing as president by 56%-42%.  His favorable-unfavorable rating also is upside down, with a 55% majority saying they have an unfavorable view of him, 43% a favorable one.

Go Away, Hillary.  Other than earning her law degree, name one thing that Hillary Clinton has accomplished on her own.  Her accomplishments — slim as they are — have been achieved on the coattails of either Bill Clinton or Barack Obama.  Had she not been the First Lady, would anyone have ever heard of her in the context of high power political posts?  The short answer is no.  She had traded on her celebrity and name recognition to become a Senator from New York and then, after a failed bid to become the Democratic Party's candidate for President, accepted the position of Secretary of State.  Obama wanted to make sure she was "inside the tent" during his first term and, following that, her resignation has permitted her to now begin distancing herself from a man that many regard the worst President the nation has ever had.

Sometimes political poison is an offensive weapon:
Scott Brown riding an anti-Obama wave in N.H..  Voters have soured on President Obama.  National and statewide trends favor Republicans.  And here in his new home state, Scott Brown's truck is gaining speed.  Analysts and recent polls have found Brown closing in on US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the Democratic incumbent he is vying to unseat, in a race that has become increasingly nasty and expensive.

'I'm not Barack Obama' is Democrats' election mantra.  This year, far more than the last midterm elections, Democratic candidates across the country are fleeing the incumbent president. [...] They are running for the hills. And while in campaigns past candidates have quietly distanced themselves from incumbent presidents (no joint appearances and no mentions in campaign ads), in 2014, some Democrats are brazenly making their marital discord known.

Desperate Democrat Breaks Out the Guns in New Ad, Runs From Obama.  [Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan] apparently wants you to believe she has nothing to do with the head of her party.

Obama's bungling alters midterms at 11th hour.  While Barack Obama was playing his 190th round of golf as president, chilling out on Martha's Vineyard for a 15-day vacation at a $12 million mansion, the U.S. electorate began to change — fast. [...] The president's spectacular incompetence in fixing the U.S. economy had been on full view for more than five years, but Americans were only now getting a glimpse of his disastrous foreign policy skills.

Obama's unpopularity poses serious midterm challenge for funnyman Franken.  Funnyman-turned-senator Al Franken is running a dead serious campaign for re-election, as some observers see him potentially vulnerable due to President Obama's low approval ratings in Minnesota and a vigorous GOP opponent with eyes on a sleeper upset.  Just how vulnerable is up for debate, and the race nevertheless is seen as favoring the Democrats.  But both sides now acknowledge that, with less than two months to go until Election Day, Minnesota's Senate contest between Franken and Mike McFadden, a longtime Minnesota businessman, is shaping up as a battle.

AP's Julie Pace: Dems 'Twisting Themselves All Up in Knots' to Avoid Obama.  On Tuesday's [9/2/2014] "New Day" on CNN, Associated Press White House correspondent Julie Pace pointed out that Democrats facing reelection are avoiding President Barack Obama as he has made trips around the country, sometime going to extraordinary lengths to do so.  That included Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Mary Burke, who was absent during Obama's visit to Milwaukee on Monday.

Democrats distancing themselves from President Obama as midterms approach.  President Obama spent Labor Day in Wisconsin, opening the campaign season in a battleground state with a tight race for governor — but the Democrat at the top of the ticket there was nowhere to be seen.  Mary Burke, who is battling to unseat Republican Gov. Scott Walker, decided to steer clear of Obama's visit to LaborFest, an annual salute to organized labor held in Milwaukee.  She became the latest in a parade of Democrats in tight races who have tried to create space between themselves and a President with weak poll numbers.

5 things to know about Obama's Labor Day visit to Wisconsin.  [#5] [Republican Gov. Scott Walker] changed plans with his family so he could greet Obama at General Mitchell International Airport. [...] Walker's Democratic challenger Mary Burke is meeting privately with Obama, but won't share the stage.

Politico: Obama to Limit Campaigning to 'States Where He's Still Popular'; Make That 'Less Unpopular'.  A Friday afternoon [8/29/2014] dispatch at the Politico from Carrie Budoff Brown and Jennifer Epstein tells us that "The White House is putting the finishing touches on a post-Labor Day schedule that will send the president to states where he's still popular."  The list of states where the Politico pair alleges that's the case is quite short:  "Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Illinois and California."  That's it.

Red-state Dems who will shun Obama.  Three incumbent Senate Democrats have one thing in common. They greatly benefit because they enjoy the distinct political asset of a "good name."  They are all from decidedly red states where President Obama is downright unpopular.  In fact, he lost these three states by landslide margins in 2008 and 2012.  One could reasonably make the argument, how did they get elected in the first place and how can they possibly be reelected?  Not one of these sitting senators will be found near the president if he comes into the state for any reason or function.

NC Senator Braces for Obama's Visit to Her State.  Join in the same camera shot as Obama, who lost North Carolina in 2012 and is unpopular in the state, and Sen. Kay Hagan could offer her Republican opponent fresh attack ad footage tying her to the president.  Stay away from Obama while he visits North Carolina on Tuesday, and Hagan risks alienating minority voters who generally support the president.

Top Senate Dems Running Away from Exec Amnesty.  Top Senate Democrats who once egged on President Barack Obama to go big on executive amnesty are now punting on the issue after numerous polls have shown that illegal immigration could cost Democrats control of the Senate.  Politico asked the offices of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Michael Bennet (D-CO), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign, about Obama's potential executive amnesty for millions more illegal immigrants.  They all either refused to answer or said the ball was in Obama's court.

Fellow Democrats keep their distance from lonely fundraiser in chief.  President Obama remains his party's biggest moneymaker, bringing in tens of thousands of dollars per person at 79 Democratic fundraisers during his second term, but analysts say he has run into the embarrassing situation that also bedeviled his predecessor:  vulnerable members of his own party keeping their distance.  Republicans have pounced on the fact that high-profile Democrats up for re-election, such as Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, have opted not to appear with the president even when he is in their own backyard.

Vulnerables balk at Obama action.  Democratic senators facing tough reelections want to put the brakes on President Obama's plan to reform the nation's immigration enforcement system through executive action.  Two of the Senate's most vulnerable incumbents, Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), say Obama should not act unilaterally to reduce deportations, arguing it's Congress's job to change the law.

Washington is desperate for Republicans to impeach Obama.  Quite unlike six years ago, President Barack Obama has become a liability for his fellow Democrats running for federal office.  Surveys have consistently shown that the GOP is well positioned to take back at least three of the six seats they need to regain control over the Senate and reduce Obama's final two years in office to a series of vetoes.  In another five seats, Republican candidates remain competitive. [...] The president is no longer a transformative figure.  He cannot bestride the world like the colossus which he was once portrayed.  Now, he must be cast as a victim in need of protection.

Top House Dem: Obama's Immigration Orders are More Important than Vulnerable Dems.  Representative Raul Grijalva (D., Ariz.) thinks that President Obama should pursue his immigration goals unilaterally, even if it hurts vulnerable Democrats in the 2014 midterms.  "That'll always be the case," the Congressional Hispanic Caucus co-chair told National Review Online when asked if Democrats were still nervous that the border crisis had turned Obama's expected orders into a political liability.

The Obama Albatross.  With less than four months to go until Election Day, Democrats increasingly have no confidence in the Obama White House's political instincts.  As a result, more and more Democratic candidates are avoiding the president when he comes to their neighborhood.  Senator Mark Udall famously avoided showing up with Obama at a fundraiser in the senator's honor in Colorado last week.  John Foust, the Democratic congressional candidate in a suburban Virginia district just outside Washington, D.C., snubbed the president this week by failing to show up for a presidential event in his area.

No Wendy Davis at Obama's appearances in Texas.  President Obama came to Texas but Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis did not show up. [...] We can conclude that all of those plans to turn Texas blue may have to wait a bit longer.

Obama gets ditched by Colorado Democrats.  Colorado Democrats ducking President Obama's speech here Wednesday morning [7/9/2014] are drawing hoots for their less-than-convincing excuses.  Sen. Mark Udall wasn't able to catch a flight back in time to join Mr. Obama at Cheesman Park. Gov. John Hickenlooper let it be known he was already slated to speak in Colorado Springs, while congressional candidate Andrew Romanoff reportedly had a scheduling conflict.  Not surprisingly, in a state where the president is not exactly a political asset, nobody is buying it.  "Embattled Colorado Democrats flee from Obama," said a Tuesday press release from the Colorado Republican Party.

Udall will not attend his fundraiser featuring Obama.  Senator Mark Udall will not return to Colorado as planned to be with President Barack Obama, who is helping to raise funds for the incumbent Democrat.  The Udall campaign said the Senator initially planned to appear with the president at a fundraising lunch in Denver on Wednesday [7/9/2014], but not on stage at an official White House speech in Cheesman Park earlier in the day.

No Borders, No Rules = Dictatorship!  Tens of thousands of illegals trampled over our borders.  Where is the President?  Out campaigning.  The head of the IRS knew about the missing or lost emails at the last hearing, yet said nothing!  Where is the President?  Out campaigning!  Five very nasty terrorists are released for one U.S. soldier.  Where is the president?  Out campaigning.  What's he campaigning for?  He already won.  We are stuck with him 2½ more years, maybe!  (The smell of impeachment is in the air.)  Many of the Democrats running for office don't want him involved.  Some have even asked him to stay away!

It's that bad: Even Al Franken won't be seen with Obama.  With Republicans in Washington thus far successfully fending off insurgent tea party challengers in competitive races, odds makers are now indicating that the GOP has a better than even chance of retaking the upper chamber of Congress in November.  President Barack Obama's sinking job approval rating is not helping boost Democrats' chances.  Speaking anonymously to The Hill, one Democratic Senator said Obama's "unpopularity" is troubling.  "It's a tense time," the source said.

Obama Visits Minnesota, Minnesota's Dem Senators Avoid Him Like the Plague.  You know things are bad when the Clown of the Senate whose whole ID is that he's leftier than left doesn't want to be seen with you. [...] It's estimated that 140,000 people in Minnesota would lose their health insurance policies because of ObamaCare.  ObamaCare's approval rating isn't doing too well there and it will be easier for [Senator Al] Franken if he isn't seen with the Obama of ObamaCare.

Obama's policies may doom Dems.  The president is backing his party into a corner.  The health-care rollout has cast a permanent shadow on the 2014 election.  If Democrats in competitive races try to separate themselves from it, they will look weak and vascillatory.  Even worse, they may get liberal donors angry.  Those same Democrats are going to have to explain their views on unfolding administration scandals like the supposedly missing and destroyed IRS emails that would tell the story of how conservative groups came to be targeted for their views.

Hillary Clinton Wants Bill to Lift Her Up — but Obama Will Drag Her Down.  [Scroll down]  What is becoming clearer by the day is that Clinton's charm is limited, at a time when Barack Obama's unpopularity may also rub off on her — and that's a problem.  Elections coming when the incumbent has maxed out on two terms are as much about the outgoing president as they are about the candidates.

Hillary Clinton distances herself from Barack Obama on Syria.  Mrs Clinton's comments will likely be used as ammunition by the White House's foreign policy critics but also provide political distance from Mr Obama if — as widely expected — she runs for president in 2016.

5 Reasons Hillary Won't Run.  4) Obama is leaving a mess.  President Obama's second term is complicating matters significantly for Hillary.  His foreign policy, which Clinton helped direct for four years — is adrift.  The situation has unraveled dangerously in Syria and now Iraq.  The infamous "reset" with Russia is a joke. [...] It's hard to see how any of these dynamics change for the better in the next two years — and they may get worse.  Hillary will not want to be seen as running for Obama's third term, yet she won't be able to distance herself too far from his record.  That will be a tough needle to thread politically.

Rat Deserts Sinking Ship.  [R]ecognizing that Obama's foreign policy has been a disaster, Hillary Clinton and her enablers in the press have already begun to try to distance her from the Obama administration, and her own tenure as Secretary of State.

Obama Is Sabotaging Democratic Senate Hopes.  The president reportedly has told his close allies that losing the Senate would be "unbearable," but his administration is doing everything possible to make things difficult for his party's most vulnerable senators.  On energy issues alone, the administration's decisions to impose new Environmental Protection Agency regulations on coal-fired plants and indefinitely delay a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline could help burnish his long-term environmental legacy, but at the expense of losing complete control of Congress.

The awful truth about Obama beginning to dawn on his allies.  It's finally happening!  Libs are starting to realize that the manufactured image of Barack Obama as a brilliant, capable executive is hooey, and that they have bought into an incompetent who threatens to sink them.  Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post doesn't quite put it in those terms, of course, but you don't have to read between the lines too closely to come up with that interpretation of his piece entitled, "Americans are starting to doubt President Obama is a good boss."

The Failed Presidency of Barack Obama.  John Dickerson has this comparison:  "Imagine being a short-order cook in an earthquake.  Every time you try to flip a burger or try to plate a fried egg, the freezer door flies open or the gas line gets knocked out.  That's what it's like to be a Democrat running for the Senate this year.  When you're trying to keep voters focused on the local race, a national issue intrudes."  And not in a good way.

Democrats turning on Obama in (semi) private.  This is going to get very tricky for Democrats, since their black voter base, which accounts for roughly a quarter of their national vote, remains loyal to Obama.  They may well see Democrats as stabbing the First Black President in the back if they criticize him too loudly.  But with Obama dragging down the party with the rest of the electorate, failure to distance themselves also has a great cost.

Hillary's big economy speech forgets about Obamanomics.  [Scroll down] And this is the inherent vulnerability of a potential presidential run:  All the long-term problems she'll mention haven't really gotten any better under the current Democratic president.  So, to use Bob Dole's 1996 phrase, she needs to be a "bridge to the past," to the bubbly, booming 1990s.

In Arkansas, Obama is a Four-letter Word Hampering Democrats.  Waving scissors like a conductor, [Jerry] Hood declares, "Folks around here are over that President Obama."  Jerry's Barber Shop is one the few places left in America where liberals and conservatives can be found together, laughing together, and talking politics. [...] Obama is a drag on the Democratic ticket in November, including a race that could determine control of the Senate.

Forget Benghazi.  Clinton's Real Problem Is Obama Fatigue.  The latest investigation into the Benghazi attack reminds us that the issue isn't going away any time soon.  Pundits are already speculating about potential damage to Hillary Clinton's presidential prospects, but don't believe the hype:  Scandals rarely matter much in presidential election campaigns.  A far more significant threat to her potential candidacy is Americans' desire for new leadership after eight years of the Obama administration.  A Pew Research Center/USA Today poll found this week that 65 percent of Americans would "like to see a president who offers different policies and programs."  Only 30 percent said they wanted ones "similar to those of the Obama administration."

Joe Manchin: No Obama campaigning for me.  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) may not be up for reelection in 2014, but he sure knows that he wouldn't campaign with President Barack Obama if he were.  Appearing on "Morning Joe" on Monday [5/5/2014], the West Virginia senator flatly said "no" when asked if he would appear with the president at campaign rallies in his home state if he were in a race this year.

Declaring the Obamacare Debate Over Won't Save Democrats.  Apart from gutting America's military, our standing in the world, our fiscal stability, the economy, the office of the presidency, conventional energy sources, the free market and religious liberty, Obama has little to boast about other than Obamacare, so let him go for it.  Yes, let him gloat, because the more he bloviates in defense of the indefensible — the more he spins the unspinnable — the more damage he'll do to the cause he's trying to promote:  the election of Democratic congressmen in November.

Landrieu faces her toughest political storm to stay in Senate.  Louisiana Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu is in the middle of a storm.  She is beset by well-funded forces on the right who sense the Gulf Coast Democrat's vulnerability in trying to defend a Senate seat in a red state.  On the left, she is trying to avoid being pulled down by the undertow of a president whose decline in approval ratings and controversial health care reform law might not play well with her state's conservative sensibilities.

Obama's Numbers Worse News For Democrats.  Bad as Obama's poll numbers are, they bode worse for Congressional Democrats.  Obama is being buoyed by continued strong support from Democrat voters.  The problem for Congressional Democrats is that November's election outcome will not be determined in Democrat strongholds.

Ted Cruz: Senate Democrats 'demanded Kathleen Sebelius' head'.  Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz explained why the Obama administration chose to resign Kathleen Sebelius from her post as HHS Secretary, claiming that Senate Democrats in electoral trouble this November "demanded Kathleen Sebelius' head."  Cruz spoke with Fox News' Gregg Jarrett on Friday about the resignation of Obamacare's top administrator, with the senator pointing out the politics behind Sebelius' departure.  "I think this resignation is the latest indication of what a disaster Obamcare has been," he asserted.  "I think Kathleen Sebelius should've resigned a long time ago.  And the reason we're seeing her resign now is because Senate Democrats are scared."

Kathleen Sebelius's Resignation Hands Republicans A Golden Opportunity.  This surprise resignation presents Republicans with an unexpected opportunity to refocus the conversation on Obamacare's negatives, offers a chance to force vulnerable Senate Democrats to take a hard vote on Obamacare six months before the midterms, and serves to disrupt what had been a positive few days of media spin for the health care law into another conversation about its many failings.

Abbott Seeks Photo of Davis With Obama.  "Despite stating unequivocally just last month that she would not avoid having her photo taken with President Obama, this week Sen. Davis did just that," the Abbott campaign said.  "Instead, she met with the President behind closed doors and did not allow any press coverage.  We are hoping that a White House that claims an 'unprecedented' commitment to transparency will hold itself to a higher standard than Sen. Davis apparently does."

Those who have no chance of being elected are immune from Obama's political poison.
Obama meets with Texas gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis.  President Obama met privately Thursday with Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic nominee for governor, amid accusations by her GOP opponent that she's afraid to be seen in public with the president.  A White House aide said Mr. Obama "visited briefly" with Ms. Davis following his remarks at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin to mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.  The meeting took place after reporters traveling with Mr. Obama had been moved into vans, so they didn't witness the meeting.

Obama is politically toxic everywhere but Hawaii.
President Obama just endorsed Brian Schatz in Hawaii. Why that's a big deal.  Until now, Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) sported the most notable endorsement in the race:  That of late senator Daniel Inouye (D), whose dying wish was for her to succeed him.  But if there's one endorsement that could carry as much or more weight in what promises to be a contentious campaign, it's Obama's.  The broad unpopularity that has has turned Obama into a political albatross in many states does not extend to Hawaii, where he grew up and enjoys iconic status.

Obama's Bogus Political Science Lesson.  Barack Obama famously declared, "I'll tell you right now that I'm... a better political director than my political director."  He may be right, but you couldn't tell from his recent analysis of the upcoming midterm election.  Obama claimed that Americans agree with Democrats on every issue, but that Washington politics have "become so toxic" that they aren't voting. [...] The president is either delusional or the most shameless phony ever to occupy the White House.

Endangered Democrats racing to the exits.  With his popularity tanking, Mr. Obama holds tight to his left-wing base.  The coveted independents, who are often the margin of victory or defeat, have deserted him.  Candidates who might campaign with the president remember what happened to Charlie Crist in Florida four years ago.  He was doing all right in a race for the U.S. Senate until he was photographed hugging Mr. Obama.  He lost.  This year he's running for governor, and he still says he loves the president.  He's not doing so well this year, either.

The Democrats' Obama trap.  Thanks to Obamacare, Democrats just lost a special election in a Florida House district that President Obama won in 2012.  So what do you think vulnerable Democrats in states and districts Obama lost in 2012 are thinking today?  Answer:  Run away!  The problem is Democrats can't run from Obama or Obamacare.  Yes, the president is electoral kryptonite in 2014.  But Democrats are caught in the Obama trap — unable to either embrace or repudiate their unpopular president and his unpopular health law.

Barack Obama, Political Wrecking Ball.  By now it's settled on most people, including Democrats, that the loss of Alex Sink to David Jolly in Florida's 13th Congressional District was, in the words of the New York Times, "devastating" to Democrats. [...] But there's another, broader point worth making, I think.  It is that Barack Obama, who was the embodiment of liberal hopes and dreams, is turning out to be a one-man political wrecking ball when it comes to his party — and to liberalism more broadly.

Both Obamacare and Obama himself are political poison.
Democrats: Obama Becoming 'Poisonous' to Midterm Candidates.  A Democratic lawmaker told the New York Times that President Barack Obama is becoming "poisonous" to Democratic candidates who are facing an uphill battle in the Nov. 4 midterm elections.  Driving Democratic fears are Obama's low approval ratings and the unpopularity of Obamacare.  The latest Gallup poll finds that Obama's approval rating now stands at just 39%.  The same poll shows that 55% of Americans now disapprove of the job Obama is doing as president.  And according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, just 38% of Americans support Obamacare.

Dems Panicked about 2014.  There is growing panic among Democrats in Congress about the 2014 elections, and it is based on numerous factors that give them serious anxiety. [...] The most powerful depressant for the Democrats may be Obama's poll numbers, which are down to 41%. Since World War II, a number lower than 50% spells disaster for the president's party in mid-term elections.

Obama adviser Pfeiffer says president isn't a midterm liability.  A CNN Poll of Polls from last week, averaging four national surveys that measure the President's approval rating, said just 44% of Americans approve of the job Obama's doing in the White House.  But Dan Pfeiffer, senior adviser to the President, said despite those numbers, many Democratic candidates will still rely on help from Obama.

New Poll Shows Obama Hits Record Low, Is Liability for Dems in Midterms.  [Scroll down]  Perhaps more worrisome, 48% of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate supportive of Obama, while only 26% said they would be more likely, and 33% of respondents said their midterm vote would signal opposition to Obama, compared to 24% who meant it as support.  NBC News points out that some of the decline in Obama's numbers came from Democrats, 20% of whom now disapprove of his job performance.

Sen. McCaskill: I Wouldn't Invite Obama to Campaign With Me.  Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) told Morning Joe Tuesday morning [2/11/2014] that she probably wouldn't invite President Barack Obama to campaign with her if she were running in a state where his approval rating is underwater.

From Messiah to Leper in Six Short Years.  [Scroll down]  But there is no better indication of just how politically toxic Obama has become than the rumblings that came out of last week's meeting between the president and Senate Democrats.  As Politico reports, the White House has agreed to stay out of most of the key races that will decide whether Democrats retain control of the Senate this year.

To distance themselves from Obama, 2016 Democrats will move to the left.  The 2016 Democratic presidential field is likely to run to the left of President Obama, partly because candidates will try to distance themselves from his political baggage while jockeying for an increasingly liberal base of voters, analysts predict.

Obama Defeats Specter.  Let's back up and stay focused on why, exactly, Arlen Specter lost this race — and had his career ended.  Two words:  Barack Obama.

Source: Obama offers to stay away from some Senate races.  President Barack Obama has told Senate Democrats that he's willing to stay away from election battles where his presence would not be helpful, a Democratic source said — an apparent nod to his poll numbers.

A Bad Day for the Obama Agenda.  The wave that started last year is continuing to gain velocity, size and force.  This week's elections confirmed what the evidence has shown since last summer:  Mr. Obama's agenda is a political killer and his endorsement is of little help.  If there is a big takeaway from what happened on Tuesday, that is it.

Change boomerangs on President Obama.  Change is Barack Obama's political calling card and the fuel that propelled his never-waste-a-crisis agenda — but change is boomeranging big time on the president in a turbulent and unpredictable 2010.

America's Repudiation of Obama's America Continues.  [Scroll down]  Both Coakley and Specter enjoyed commanding leads over their opponents prior to Obama's active engagement in their races... There was no eleventh hour visit for Specter — but only because Obama's political advisors read the handwriting on the wall and were desperate to avoid yet another embarrassing image of their boss with his arms draped around another losing candidate.

Party like it's 1994.  The best strategy for Republicans running for office this November?  Get President Obama to campaign for your Democratic opponent.  It's a plan that appears to be working rather splendidly for the GOP so far.

Obama's lazy tribute to Daniel Pearl.  Barack Obama's remarkable powers of oratory are well known:  In support of Chicago's Olympic bid, he flew into Copenhagen to give a heartwarming speech about himself, and they gave the games to Rio.  He flew into Boston to support Martha Coakley's bid for the U.S. Senate, and Massachusetts voters gave Ted Kennedy's seat to a Republican.

Freshmen Run Away From Obama.  The House Democratic freshmen who rose to power riding candidate Barack Obama's coattails in 2008 are now eager to strut their independence heading into the midterms.

This is great news!
Obama to visit Bay Area to bolster Boxer's bid.  President Obama will land in the Bay Area today to raise money for U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's re-election campaign as an anti-incumbent wave has Republicans in blue California convinced this is their best shot in years to oust their liberal nemesis.

The Obama Effect.  Democrats are going to have to think really carefully about how they deploy Barack Obama for campaigning this fall.  Polls we've conducted nationally and in several different states over the last few weeks have found that a candidate being endorsed by Obama is much more likely to elicit a negative response from Republican voters than a positive one from Democrats.

Governor candidate Bill White has 'no plans' to attend Texas events with Obama.  President Barack Obama's fundraising trip next month to Texas probably won't include a joint appearance with his party's pick for governor, Bill White.  "He has no plans to attend," White spokeswoman Katy Bacon said Tuesday [7/20/2010].

Sorry Mr. President, my schedule is full.  Signs accumulate that the President is becoming political kryptonite for Democrat candidates.  August 9th huh?  Let me check my calendar.  Oh darn the luck Mr. President, I'm going to be making a campaign stop at the Johnson County Fair.  My schedule is really packed right now, but maybe we can do lunch in... say... mid November.

To Help Fellow Democrats in the Fall, Obama May Stay Away.  As lunch was served in the Roosevelt Room of the White House one day last week, President Obama assured the nine Democratic members of Congress sitting around the table that he would do anything he could to help them survive their fall elections.  Even, he said, if it meant staying away.

Texas Democratic candidates distance themselves from Obama.  When President Barack Obama visits Texas on Aug. 9, the state's top-tier Democratic candidate, gubernatorial nominee Bill White, will likely be miles away, reaching out to voters in Johnson County near Fort Worth.

Democrats Hide from Obama in Atlanta.  The rats scurry for cover.  In this report from Jeff Hullinger at Atlanta TV 11Live.com, we learn that in Georgia Democrats don't want to be seen in the company of the usurper-in-chief.  Look for this trend to accelerate as we get closer to the elections.  But everyone should be aware that while they don't want to be seen in public with him they still are supporting his agenda.

Obama to Dems:  Don't worry, I won't campaign for you.  According to The New York Times, Obama is resigned to the fact that his unpopularity might be a hindrance for Democrats trying to get reelected in November.

Democrats Scatter Monday as Obama Comes to Town.  President Obama made his first Atlanta appearance since his inauguration.  The President flew into town Monday morning [8/2/2010].  If you think it was a time for Democrats running for office to rally around the chief executive — you probably haven't been following the campaigns this summer.

How Does Obama Measure Up?  President Obama is under water in public opinion polls, judged more unfavorably than favorably.  He now pops up in Republican campaign ads that link Democratic candidates to his unpopular administration.  And a growing list of Democrats would rather he stay away while they are running for office this year.  He's a political liability to his party.

Obama in Texas:  Awkward!  President Obama looks a little nonplussed by his official greeter in Austin.  No matter — the governor was just showing up his opponent, Democrat Bill White, who buzzed around for weeks saying he wouldn't appear with Obama in Texas today.  Perry gave Obama a letter asking for more help along the border.  White's snub was all the rage in the coverage, but the White House snorted audibly at the suggestion that Obama was somehow insulted.

Paging Bill White.  When President Barack Obama traveled to Austin today for three events, one Democrat was notably absent.  Bill White, the Democratic candidate for Texas governor running against incumbent GOP Gov. Rick Perry, did not appear with the president today, raising questions about the commander-in-chief's political capital in the Lone Star State.

The Obsolescence of Barack Obama.  [President Obama's] fall from political grace has been as swift as his rise a handful of years ago.  He had been hot political property in 2006 and, of course, in 2008.  But now he will campaign for his party's 2010 candidates from afar, holding fund raisers but not hitting the campaign trail in most of the contested races.  Those mass rallies of Obama frenzy are surely of the past.

Keep Your Hands Off Texas, Mr. Obama.  Hundreds of people braved temperatures exceeding 100 degrees on Monday [8/9/2010] to send a message to President Obama:  "Keep your hands off Texas."  Hours after Obama visited the city for a Democratic fundraiser and a speech to University of Texas students, speaker after speaker at the Hands Off Texas rally contrasted Texas' somewhat vibrant economy with a much bleaker national picture. ... Speakers were gleeful that a number of Democratic candidates were campaigning elsewhere in the state and were not in Austin to join the President.

Obama's visit to El Paso comes at tough time.  President Barack Obama will arrive in El Paso at a time of discontent, when the country's economic and labor market looks as uncertain as the future of its foreign policy. ... This emotional moment with historic significance does not mean Democratic candidates in Texas and New Mexico want to stand shoulder to shoulder with the commander in chief.  Even in El Paso, where an overwhelming 68 percent voted for Obama in 2008, candidates facing tough races in November will not be on hand for his speech.

Obama Comes to Wisconsin, Feingold Disappears.  President Barack Obama's spending Labor Day afternoon in Milwaukee at an annual union festival.  It's quite a party:  Parade organizers were still looking for volunteers to help carry the giant protest puppets of the Earth Goddess and such.  Pity, then, that Russ Feingold, the incumbent Democratic senator in a neck-and-neck race, can't hang out with the president.

Senator Russ Feingold tours Wisconsin during Obama visit.  US Senator Russ Feingold did not appear with President Obama at Laborfest, instead he campaigned in three Labor Day parades. ... With polls showing his election race so close, FOX6 asked Senator Feingold if he was trying to distance himself from the President by not appearing with Obama at Laborfest.

October Surprises.  The Democrats will probably suffer historic losses in both the House and Senate in less than 60 days.  The 11th-hour campaigning of the now-unpopular Barack Obama on behalf of endangered congressional candidates will not change much.  In fact, most embattled Democratic candidates don't want the president to even set foot in their districts.

The Obama Heyday Is Over.  Barack Obama hit the campaign trail this week to resurrect some of that hopey-changey stuff and to complain that his critics talk about him "like a dog."  Turns out the president wasn't, in fact, referring to his own party.  Voters might be forgiven the confusion.  It isn't as if Democrats have been showing Mr. Obama much love.  Quite the opposite.  Seven weeks from Election Day, the vulnerable wing of the majority has finally found itself a campaign issue:  blunt opposition to Mr. Obama and his agenda.

Enough with the Czars.  These days, Obama is politically toxic and stymied at every turn.  His stimulus plan has been rebuffed by a large segment of his party.  He's not going to get any further pieces of major legislation through, and the Senate has had it with his extreme, wacky nominees.  So once again, he placates his base and does an end-around the Senate confirmation process.

The Biggest Target is Liberalism.  This past Labor Day weekend, Russ Feingold, one of the most left-wing politicians in the historical record, avoided Obama as if he were carrying rabies, remaining at the far end of the state while Obama addressed union members, certainly some of Feingold's favorite constituents.  Dozens of Democrats are now distancing themselves from ObamaCare in a desperate effort to dodge the electoral tsunami now on the horizon.

Democrats Flee as Obama Speaks.  As President Obama delivers yet another speech on his healthcare debacle — this one on the 6 month anniversary of the bill's passage — he may notice some of the people who won't be clapping:  members of his own party.  Like aristocrats aboard a sinking steamship, Congressional Democrats are madly scrambling for whatever life vests they can find.

Rep. Russ Feingold Skipping Obama Rally in Wisconsin.  Democratic Party Chairman Timothy Kaine says he sees no slight in Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold skipping a campaign rally tonight where President Barack Obama is appearing on his behalf.

Loneliest man in DC.  Barack Obama has gone from a failing president to flailing at ghosts.  Even allowing for desperate times, his desperate measures are a national embarrassment. ... But it's impossible simply to ignore Obama.  He is the president of a troubled nation, and he regularly reaches new depths of demeaning the office as he fights public will.

Obama as Roman emperor — the rise and fall of the propaganda master.  Two years ago, Democrats were clamoring to ride in on Barack Obama's coat tails.  Proximity to the Obama persona was a prized political asset.  Today, amid dim presidential polling numbers, anxious Democrats are keeping their distance.

Dems who can't risk Obama visit welcome Clinton to campaign.  Embattled Democrats are increasingly turning to former President Bill Clinton to prop up their campaigns in the final weeks before November's midterm elections.  The former president is far and away the biggest draw for the party less than a month out, hitting races in states where Democrats would rather President Obama stay away.

Democrats reluctant to campaign with Obama.  Party members who are up for reelection are happy to benefit from the president's fundraising abilities, but most are keeping their distance as his job approval rating has fallen.

Where Is Obama Going?  Obama is now politically toxic in many states.  So where is he going on the campaign trail?  The White House schedule is telling.  He's going to Delaware, where the Democrat is already running away with the race.  He's going to Massachusetts, the bluest state until the voters disregarded his advice and elected Scott Brown.  He's going to California and Nevada, but for fundraisers, not big public events.  He's going to Rhode Island, where one supposes he can do no harm.

So, Barack, What Happened?  President Obama is not welcome in many parts of the country.  Even some members of his own party don't want to be seen with him.

Democrat Civil War Already Underway.  The long knives are going to come out after the election, when Democrats wake up to the damage Barack Obama has done to their party.  I have long suspected that there will be a serious effort behind the scenes to get him off the ticket in 2012, as happened to LBJ, or even out of the Oval Office before his term is over.  Those Democrats who want to survive in office — particularly those Senators facing re-election in 2012 — will see Obama at the top of the ticket as their pathway to political oblivion, along with their party.

Obama's Plight.  Just two years after sweeping into power on a platform of hope and change, Obama finds himself and his agenda a political liability to Democratic candidates throughout the nation.

Haley Barbour: President Obama's on the ballot.  Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said Tuesday's midterms will be "a referendum on President Obama's policies and he has treated it as such — that he is having to defend the Obama presidency in this election."  "He's in whole hog," Barbour said in an interview for the POLITICO video series "Countdown to 2010."  "He's worked hard, he's gone everywhere.  I think he's gone some places where he probably hurt their chances. ... That's why I say Democrats are running from Barack Obama like scalded dogs."

Democrats distancing themselves from Obama.  It's been a tough summer for swing-district Democrats seeking reelection in 2012 with a president at the top of the ticket whose approval ratings are in the weeds.  As these members begin to focus on their reelection bids after Labor Day, they are increasingly calculating how close is too close to an unpopular President Obama.

Memo to Dems: Dump Obama before it's too late.  In a hugely influential New York Times editorial, psychologist Drew Westen lamented that Obama's problem is himself.  "Like most Americans," he wrote, "at this point, I have no idea what Barack Obama — and by extension the party he leads — believes on virtually any issue."  There is still time for Democrats to fix this — but only if they force their leader not to seek a second term.

Anatomy of Democratic Angst over Obama.  The furor comes not so much because he has embarrassed them on national security and seems increasingly detached from the job, but because that he nearly destroyed the congressional Democrats in 2010, often hovers below 40 percent in popularity, and has the potential to really do some big-time damage to the party in 2012.

The Public Has Rejected the Democratic Agenda.  Obama's popularity has plummeted to little more than 40 percent approval.  Suddenly, Democrats worry that the public anger could be contagious.  It might infect them as well -- in the way a sinking George W. Bush hurt congressional Republicans up for reelection in 2006.

New strategy for Dem candidates: Deny all knowledge of Obama.  Sounds like if the Democrats want to pull out of this dive, they need to start following the George Costanza Rule:  Listen to their instincts and do the exact opposite.  Or they could just become Republicans.

Obama's Empty Threats.  [Scroll down]  Obama is acting as if his approval ratings are in the mid-60s instead of the low 40s.  He's acting as if Republicans fear him instead of Democrats like Senator Claire McCaskill, who no longer want to be seen with him.  The president is acting like his agenda is popular rather than radioactive.

Aimless Obama walks alone.  President Obama has become a lone wolf, a stranger to his own government.  He talks mostly, and sometimes only, to friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett and to David Axelrod, his political strategist.  Everybody else, including members of his Cabinet, have little face time with him except for brief meetings that serve as photo ops.

Obama arrives in Virginia today. Which Democrats will be with him?  President Obama arrives in the state Tuesday [10/18/2011] as part of three-day North Carolina and Virginia bus tour to talk about the economy, but it's not clear how many Virginia Democrats will be with him.  As we reported today, Democratic state legislators are none too eager to support Obama, let alone be seen with him.

In tight Virginia races, Democrats cutting ties to Obama.  Three years ago, Democrats in Virginia couldn't get enough of Barack Obama — a popular, transformational figure running for his first term as president.  But as Obama arrives in Virginia Tuesday for a two-day swing to promote parts of his jobs plan, some Democrats are distancing themselves from him — even in supposedly blue Northern Virginia.

Obama's Coming! Run!  In 2008, Obama carried Danville with 59 percent, Newport News with 64 percent, Fredericksburg with 64 percent, and Charlottesville with 78 percent.  But Virginia has state legislative elections this year, and the initial Obama list coincided almost perfectly with a selection of incumbent Democrats who are desperate to distance themselves from the national party.

Democrats duck President Obama.  In trips to Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — all states that he carried in 2008 — members of Congress were notably missing from the president's side.  Though none came out and said they were deliberately avoiding him, they didn't have to: Dodging a presidential candidate who's riding low in the polls is a time-honored political practice.

Dems Run and Hide From Obama.  Politico is reporting on a trend others have been commenting on for some time:  Democratic candidates are treating Barack Obama? as if he has a communicable disease. ... In North Carolina, only Senator Kay Hagan, who isn't up for reelection until 2014, and veteran Representative Mel Watt, who represents a majority black district, appeared with the president.  North Carolina's six other Democratic House members took a pass, offering a variety of excuses.

The audacity of arrogance.  Democrats lost off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey and finally Massachusetts.  Surely the loss of Ted Kennedy's Senate seat would cause Obama to engage in some soul searching?  Nope.  When Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., told Obama that the political atmosphere in his state felt a lot like 1994, when Democrats lost the House for the first time in two generations, Obama replied, "Well the big difference between here and in '94 was you've got me."  Upon hearing those words, Berry chose to retire rather than run again.  Democrats lost a record 63 House seats — including Berry's — and control of the House.

Barack Obama Needs a Few Good Surrogates.  The relationship between the White House and Congressional Democrats, especially after midterm losses in 2010, has sometimes been icy.  The narrative for Obama's national campaign has shifted from the lofty ideals of change to a more tailored, pragmatic attack on a "do-nothing" Congress, obstructionist Republicans and income inequality.

Manchin on the Fence About Obama Vote.  Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has done more than any other Democrat up for reelection this year to distance himself from President Obama, said he does not know if he will vote for Obama or presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney in November.  "I'll look at the options," Manchin said this week.  The last three years "have made it pretty rough" for his state, he said.

The Editor says...
If a Republican Senator announced that he might vote for Obama in November, would that not be front-page news?  But if a Democrat in the Senate says he might not vote for Obama, you have to go hunting to find any coverage of such a story.

Democrats Are Jumping Ship.  Perhaps Democrats know something the rest of us don't about Barack Obama's political fortunes.  What else explains the increasing numbers who are openly defying the president on two key election issues?

West Virginia Vote Was All About Coal.  The Obama administration has taken a number of steps to crimp new coal mines and to bulk up regulations on coal-fired power plants, all of which have echoed loudly in a heavily coal-reliant state.  As a result, many of the state's top Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin, have distanced themselves from Mr. Obama.

Vulnerable Democratic senators balk at Obama's gay marriage endorsement.  Senate Democrats facing difficult reelections are breaking with President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage, a sign the issue is politically dangerous in battleground states.  Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.), the two most vulnerable Democratic senators, have declined to endorse Obama's call for the legalization of gay marriage.

Walker Challenger Runs From Obama.  Tom Barrett, Scott Walker's challenger in the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election, told CNN this morning that he didn't ask President Obama to stop by the state to rally Democrats in his support.  "We understand he's got a lot going on," said Barrett.  Barrett was clearly afraid of being associated with President Obama or the national political scene.

Wisconsin politicians avoid Obama and...
Obama avoids Wisconsin.  Barack Obama seems determined to avoid Wisconsin.  On Friday [6/1/2012], he visited Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a midday speech and three fundraisers.  He departed late afternoon for Chicago and three more fundraisers that evening.  The president stayed overnight in his hometown and spent Saturday morning at his old home before flying back to Washington, D.C., for a brief stop before heading to Camp David for some downtime.  So just four days before the recall elections in Wisconsin that the state's Democrats have worked 16 months to win, with potential implications for November 2012, the leader of their party did six fundraisers for himself in surrounding states but couldn't find time for even a quick stop?

Obama unlikely to stump for other Dems this fall.  President Obama is likely to play only a minor role in congressional races across the country this fall as his own re-election contest tightens and his fellow Democrats grow reluctant to publicly embrace an incumbent president whose popularity with voters has waned.

Giffords's potential successor runs from Obama.  [Ron] Barber has studiously sought to distance himself from the White House as he seeks the seat Giffords resigned from to focus on her recovery.  His campaign has refused to say whether he would have voted for the Obama-proposed health care bill, only explaining that he would support reforming certain parts of it if elected.

Another Dem. Congressman Refuses to Endorse Obama.  President Obama's reelection problems continue in North Carolina, the state that's hosting this year's Democratic National Committee convention later this year.  Congressman Mike McIntyre, a Democratic representative of North Carolina's Seventh Congressional District, is now refusing to endorse President Obama.

Obama too toxic for West Virginia Democrats.  For a West Virginia Democrat these days, balancing the demands of local and national party politics can induce ideological schizophrenia.  The party controls the governor's mansion, both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and both houses of the state Legislature, but President Obama is so politically toxic in the Mountaineer State that a jailed felon won nine of the state's 55 counties and took 41 percent of the vote in the state's Democratic presidential primary last month.

Sen. McCaskill joins list of Democrats skipping national convention.  The list of Democrats skipping the party's upcoming national convention in Charlotte, N.C., grew Tuesday [6/26/2012], with Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) confirming that she will not attend the convention in favor of spending time with voters.

Democrats Afraid to Be Seen with Obama?  Presidential nominees are generally popular within the party and may be the next leader of the free world, and the conventions provide an opportunity to be seen and heard by millions of Americans.  So it is surely a sign of something close to panic that Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee head Steve Israel is publicly advising Democrats to stay home from President Obama's nominating convention this year.

Democratic convention plagued.  The Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., is shaping up to be a rickety display of party unity, with labor boycotts, fundraising shortfalls, scheduling changes, official snubs, a major gay-rights embarrassment, a sex scandal and a Republican resurgence in the host state.  The latest setback for President Obama's renominating party is the cancellation of the convention's kickoff event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Labor Day, as organizers contend with a fundraising deficit reported to be $27 million.

More Democrats bail on Obama's convention and refuse to endorse him.  A fresh round of Democrats has announced they will not be attending the party convention in Charlotte.  Most troublingly for President Obama, several of them are from North Carolina, and not only have they decided not to drop in on a convention held in their own state, they've refused to endorse Obama for president in 2012.

Big Labor gives Obama, Democrats big cold shoulder with alternate convention.  AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Thursday [7/12/2012] that his union will not be at the Democratic convention, "do[es] not intend to put any money into the convention" and will be hosting its own convention — without Obama. [...] When asked whether President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney had been invited to speak at the convention, AFL-CIO representatives appeared visibly uncomfortable and told reporters that they are "still working on the speakers ... so no, we don't have anything official.  It's about the workers — really, what the focus of the rally is."

Florida Democrat Abandons Obama.  Barney Bishop, the former Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party, has written an article detailing why he can not support Barack Obama over Mitt Romney.

Democratic Lawmakers Keep Obama at Distance in Campaigns.  Democratic Representative Larry Kissell's district is within 10 miles of the Charlotte, North Carolina, arena where the Democratic National Convention will be held starting Sept. 4.  Kissell isn't planning to attend.  The lawmaker is among a growing number of Democrats in both chambers of Congress who are keeping their distance from President Barack Obama as they seek re-election this year in Republican territory.

West Virginia Senate race 2014: Natalie Tennant seeks distance from Obama, coal policy.  West Virginia Democratic Secretary of State Natalie Tennant announced her candidacy for Senate Tuesday [9/17/2013] and wasted no time distancing herself from President Barack Obama on the all-important issue of coal.  Her two-day announcement tour, with stops in five cities, comes the same week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to roll out more stringent emission rules for new power plants.

Obama no longer 'cash cow' among fund-raisers for Democrats: source.  Obama is hosting a fund-raiser at the tony Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Tuesday to raise cash for the Democratic National Committee.  Donors paying $5,000 will receive refreshments and an opportunity for their families to take a picture with the President.  But a similar Waldorf fund-raiser in 2011 — just as Obama was gearing up for his reelection bid — required donors to pony up $10,000 for a photo op.  And that price was only for individuals, not for the entire family.

Buyer's Remorse.  The nation's intellectual elites made a big vanity purchase in 2008 and the damage from that purchase cannot wholly be undone. [...] That collective purchase is going to leave a mark.  The payment's due.  David Leonhardt of the New York Times fears that "teenagers today may grow up conservative" because of their experience with Obama, a world where the synonym for poverty, unemployment, war and stagnation is "liberal".


Sparse crowds at Obama appearances

Fewer and fewer people care if Barack H. Obama comes to town to read a speech from the ever-present teleprompter.  The novelty has worn off.  Attendance at Obama rallies is way down, and almost any auditorium will be big enough.  They'd better get on the phone and have some more union pawns brought in on buses, to fill all those empty seats.

Crowds walk out during Obama's speech on the campaign trail in Maryland.  A rare appearance on the campaign trail by President Obama on Sunday night [10/19/2014] was marred by a steady stream of crowd members leaving early and even a yelling heckler.  The president had shown up at the Democratic rally in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, near Washington, to support Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown, who is running for governor.

What if Obama appeared at a Democratic campaign rally and people left?  What if the president of the United States came to speak at your campaign rally and no one cared?  In fact, a lot of his party loyalists walked out as soon as the nation's chief executive stepped to the podium.  That's just what happened to the one-time golden-tongued Barack Obama Sunday in Maryland when he joined Democrat gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown.

Ouch!  Far be it from me to kick a man when he is down, but note that those who walked out on Obama were all — presumably — Democrats.  They didn't leave because they disagreed with the president, but rather because they were bored by him.

Crowd Leaves as Obama Tries to Rally.  As President Obama tried to rally Democrats in Maryland, the crowd began to leave.  "Remarks are open press, but one unusual thing that fellow veterans of campaign rallies confirm:  some in the crowd started leaving as soon as Obama started speaking and by the time he was about 10 minutes in, there was a traffic jam next to the pool's tables as folks tried to exit the gym," reports the White House pool reporter.

Obama makes rare campaign trail appearance, people leave early.  President Barack Obama made a rare appearance on the campaign trail on Sunday [10/19/2014] with a rally to support the Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland, but early departures of crowd members while he spoke underscored his continuing unpopularity.

Obama's Empathy Problem.  Can you walk out on the messiah?  Appearing at a campaign rally for gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown in Maryland on Sunday, President Obama sought to capture the magic that had electrified audiences in 2008 and, to some considerable degree, even in 2012. [...] Maryland is an exception.  It's about as safe a Democratic state as you can find, and the president was welcomed.  The audience at the rally was largely African-American.  And yet, according to Reuters, "a steady stream of people walked out of the auditorium while he spoke ... and a heckler interrupted his remarks."

Obama, the pariah president.  They were fired up and ready to go home. [...] With about five minutes to go in his 25-minute speech, about the time Obama said, "I'm just telling you what you already know," people began to trickle out.  By the time he had finished, perhaps a few hundred had walked out on the president.  This exodus wasn't intended as a protest.  Long lines for shuttles taking attendees to remote parking sites induced participants to leave early so they could beat the rush.  But the overall effect was akin to what happens when baseball fans begins filtering out in the seventh inning because the home team is down by five runs.  And, in a way, that is what's going on in these midterm elections.

Democrats Terrified They Can't Fill Seats For Obama Acceptance Speech.  The man who ushered in a new era of rock star politics, who brought us hope and change, who spoke to packed stadiums during his first presidential run, is suffering a popularity crisis of late.

Honey, I Shrunk Obama.  The most telling moment of the campaign this week was not Mitt Romney or Joe Biden's speech to the NAACP convention, but President Obama's Tuesday appearance in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Nor was it the content of Obama's message that made his utterances noteworthy.  It was the small venue:  yet another community college.  Now, Kirkwood Community College is no doubt a fine place, but Sports Authority Field at Mile High it is not.  And one is unlikely to come across a better indicator of presidential shrinkage.  The White House took desperate pains to note that the president talked to an "overflow crowd."  What it did not mention was that an overflow crowd in a community college gym could not fill the seats in, say, the OSU stadium.

Obama Launches Campaign in Empty Arena.  Barack Obama launched his campaign in unspectacular fashion today [5/5/2012] at Ohio State University, the largest college in the crucial swing state.  A photo posted to twitter by Mitt Romney's campaign spokesman Ryan Williams reveals sparse attendance.

Obama launches re-election campaign at Ohio State.  Joined by his wife, Michelle, Obama addressed a boisterous crowd of 14,000 in the 20,000 seat Schottenstein Center at Ohio State University...

Obama kicks off his campaign to half empty arena.  It's the president of the United States visiting.  He's supposed to be wildly popular with the youngsters.  But at the official kick off of the Obama campaign at Ohio State yesterday, the arena where the event was held looked about half full.

Half-empty arena
What if the President Kicked Off His Campaign and No One Cared?  In politics, when you're explaining you're losing, and when you're explaining missed expectations, you're really losing.  Going by what occurred Saturday at Ohio State University, President Obama's re-election campaign kickoff was a double barreled loss. [...] Let's be candid:  That is a pitiful crowd, compared to what the president's campaign said they expected.

Obama kicks off official re-election campaign in Ohio... but did he give speech to a half-empty stadium?  It was an embarrassing start for President Obama's re-election campaign yesterday as he held his first political rally of the 2012 race in a half-empty arena.

Why so many no-shows for Obama's campaign kickoff?  Saturday's [5/5/2012 kickoff was to begin in Ohio and then take Air Force One to Virginia, another once-red state that Obama would like to re-snatch in 2012.  But, alas, all of the excitement that was being staged for the media was over-shadowed by the 4,000 or so empty seats in Columbus.  The obvious lesson in Political Advance 101 is:  Always pick a setting that's too small for the crowd you expect.

Empty seats haunt Obama.  A standard rule of politics is to hold events in rooms small enough so that the press will note that the venue was "packed" or the event was "standing room only" or that the crowd was "overflow."

Dismal Beginning To Obama's Never-Ending Campaign.  There were no faux Greek columns when the president with the composite girlfriend and taste for canine filets officially began his 57-state campaign Saturday at Ohio State University's 18,300-seat Schottenstein Center that was only partially filled with those wearing faded "hope and change" T-shirts hoping to get their student loans paid off.  According to recent stats, only half of OSU graduates can expect to find jobs and like the rest of their brethren will take up residence in their parents' basements between occupy-whatever rallies.  The one they were once again waiting for drew some 14,000 people to the arena.  Before he spoke, the OSU newspaper, the Lantern, tweeted that ushers were asking people at the rally to move "in order for seats to look full for TV."

Obama's Boring Stories of Glory Days.  [I]n his first official campaign event at the Schottenstein Center at Ohio State, Obama spoke to a crowd of 14,000 in a center that fits 20,000.  "There were," according to the Toledo Blade, "a lot of empty seats."  This happened despite the fact that Obama volunteers worked feverishly to gin up a crowd.

Obama speaks at somebody's garage. AP photo.
The Obama team adjusts the size of the venue to match the crowd.
Can't draw a crowd, Mr President?  As leader of the free world President Obama will be used to making speeches to millions of people around the globe.  So he might have felt the occasion was a little beneath him yesterday [5/11/2012] when he stopped off in Reno, Nevada, to deliver an address outside a couple's garage.  In what could be a disastrous photo opportunity for the President's campaign, Mr Obama spoke to a handful of people in the crucial swing state.

Obama Stump Speech in Reno Draws Dozens.  He's got all the advantages of an incumbent president.  Power.  Bully pulpit.  Air Force One.  The lapdog media.  So standing behind a teensy podium, with a Presidential Seal smaller than the headlights on that Jeep behind him, it just seems to diminish him.  I don't think he can connect with Americans.  He can connect with George Clooney, and Hollywood, and $15 million dollar bigshot lefty donors.
AP photo.⇧

What Stimulus?  On July 24, 2008, candidate Barack Obama toured Europe and drew 200,000 spectators to a rally in Berlin.  On May 5, 2012, President Barack Obama officially launched his reelection campaign — which he unofficially launched over a year ago — but couldn't fill a 19,000-seat basketball arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Obama Fundraising Event in Chicago Sparsely AttendedNew York Times reporter Jodi Kantor tweeted that admission to the event was "only $51" but the room was just "half full."  Her tweet got splashed on the Drudge Report, and the Obama campaign scrambled to respond.

A tale of two rallies: Romney-Ryan draw overflow, while Obama half-fills room.  The new Republican ticket held a rally in vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's home state of Wisconsin on Sunday [8/12/2012], packing over 11,000 people into the Waukesha County Expo Center.  I've seen some estimates that put the crowd at over 13,000.  The crowd was so big that it wouldn't fit in the Expo Center, and had to be moved outside. [...] Meanwhile, President Obama was also on his home turf of Chicago, holding a rally and fundraiser at the Bridgeport Art Center.  He couldn't even get a thousand people to show up — the venue was only half full, even though tickets were available for as little as $51.

Biden campaigns before a crowd of 660 in North Carolina.  Vice President Joe Biden spoke before a crowd of 660 people in Durham, N.C., at the Durham Armory during a campaign stop for President Barack Obama on Monday [8/13/2012].  Biden's appearance before a comparatively meager crowd came a day after the newly formed Republican ticket — presidential candidate Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan — rallied a crowd of over 10,000 in High Point, N.C., about an hour away, and a crowd of approximately 4,700 people in Mooresville, N.C., about two-and-a-half hours away.

New Obama panic: Romney crowd sizes.  The recent frantic email theme to supporters from Team Obama about Mitt Romney's run-away fundraising successes has been expanded to the crowd size gap between the thousands who rushed out over the weekend to see Romney and new running mate Rep. Paul Ryan and the hundreds who cheered on President Obama.

The Spinal Tap Presidency.  Large and enthusiastic crowds greet Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan wherever they go.  You can get a better sense of this if you check out local media sources rather than the constantly-spun national news. [...] President Obama and Joe Biden?  Not so much.  On the contrary, it is painfully obvious that they are appearing before smaller and less enthusiastic crowds than in 2008.

Yeah, right.
Obama camp: We are intentionally limiting crowd size at rallies.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has taken notice of the massive crowds at the Romney Ryan stump speeches and sent out an urgent e-mail to their supporters, reported The Washington Examiner last week.  However, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are not drawing the crowds they once could.

Obama Campaign Was 'Trawling for Warm Bodies' to Fill Half-Empty Kick-Off Rally.  President Barack Obama's reelection campaign paid nearly $93k to hold a kick-off event at the Ohio State University in May.  And, at the time, photos of the event showed large sections of the arena unoccupied, causing the New York Times to write that the kick-off event "had the feeling of a concert by an aging rock star."

Low blows, low turnouts and low expectations.  While Obama is still drawing sizable crowds, they are nothing like the size of those who flocked to see him in 2008.  In Las Vegas, Obama held a rally in a high school before more than 2,000 people but there was space for plenty more.  On the outskirts of Manchester, New Hampshire on Monday morning [8/20/2012], Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan attracted more than 3,000 people who patiently queued in lines across a field to be searched by the Secret Service.

A frosty crowd:
Obama speech to soldiers met with silence.  The audience remains quiet even when the commander-in-chief thanked the soldiers' families, and cited the 198 deaths of their comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The audience's reaction was so flat that the president tried twice to elicit a reaction from the crowd.  "Hey, I hear you," he said amid silence.  The selected soldiers who were arrayed behind the president sat quietly throughout the speech.

Obama speech to soldiers met with silence.  President Barack Obama was greeted with fleeting applause and extended periods of silence as he offered profuse praise to soldiers and their families during an Aug. 31 speech in Fort Bliss, Texas.  His praise for the soldiers — and for his own national-security policies — won cheers from only a small proportion of the soldiers and families in the cavernous aircraft-hangar.

This explains it:
Narcissist in Chief Selfishly Shortens Soldiers' Holiday.  The Commander in Chief got a decidedly cool reception from the troops on a whistle stop at Fort Bliss in El Paso Friday [8/31/2012].  While this president already is not widely popular with our military, the attitude demonstrated by the shanghaied soldiers in that cavernous hangar was demonstrably cooler than at such past events. [...] So, some hotshot in the Obama campaign, feeling badly stung by the sparse turnouts for the president's visits to other locales, gets a bright idea of how to produce a really big crowd for a photo op:  "Hey, let's schedule one for some military facility where the commander can be ordered to produce a big audience in a sufficiently impressive backdrop."

No crowd at all:
University of Virginia declines Obama request to speak on campus.  The University of Virginia has declined President Obama's request to speak on campus next week, citing security costs and the disruption of classes.  University officials said the Obama campaign wanted to use one of two outdoor venues — the school's Amphitheater or the Harrison-Small Library plaza — when the president visits Charlottesville on Wednesday [8/29/2012], according to NBC affiliate WVIR-TV.

Obama team seeks crowd for big speech.  Barack Obama filled stadiums on a regular basis during his 2008 presidential campaign but has steered clear of them for his final White House bid.  So the decision to deliver his nomination-acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention next Thursday [9/6/2012] in a football stadium with nearly 74,000 seats has raised a basic, if uncomfortable, question:  Can he fill the venue?

Photo: Dems To Use Trick Photography to Fill Convention Hall?  Call it "The Empty Chair Convention."  Rick Klein, Senior Washington Editor of ABC News, just tweeted out [a] photo of the stage the Democrat convention will be held on.  As you can see, Klein's photo reveals the screens that will serve as the television backdrop behind whomever's speaking — and it looks to me as though the Democrats intend to show an artificial sea of faces in order to make the convention hall look a whole lot fuller than it might be.

Democrats set to move Obama's big speech from 74,000-seater outdoor stadium to 20,000-seater indoor arena.  Democrats are poised to avoid the danger of President Barack Obama accepting his party's nomination before a partially-empty stadium by shifting his speech to an indoor arena and citing 'severe weather'.  The Obama campaign have been working desperately to ensure that the 74,000-seater Bank of America stadium in Charlotte would be filled.

Charlotte Opens to Shrinking Democrat Party.  On Thursday [9/6/2012], President Obama will ascend the stage at Bank of America stadium and try to rekindle the enthusiasm and fervor that greeted his acceptance speech in Denver in 2008.  Then, Democrat officials worried about having to turn people away from the speech.  Today, they worry about simply filling the seats.  And no wonder; the Democrat party has shrunk dramatically during Obama's term in office.

Democrats' rain dance works.  The change, however, ensures Obama won't speak to swaths of empty seats.  It also allows him to avoid a venue named for an unpopular bank that contributed to the financial crisis.  The campaign had said as late as Tuesday that the outdoor event would proceed "rain or shine."

Obama's crowd downsized by 50K.  The Democrats' decision Wednesday to move Obama's acceptance address from the outdoor Bank of America Stadium to the indoor Time Warner Cable Arena means about 50,000 fewer people will be able to see the speech in person. [...] But conservatives pounced, asserting the move had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with Obama's inability to fill Bank of America Stadium.

Fearing empty seats, Obama's convention speech moved indoors.  Democrats scrapped plans today to have President Obama accept his party's nomination in the 74,000 seat Bank of America stadium citing forecast thunderstorms as convention planners scrambled to avoid ticking off disappointed ticketholders.

Obama's stadium stumble.  The Democratic National Convention got off to a rousing, carefully scripted start — then hit its first big bump Wednesday when officials scuttled plans for President Barack Obama to deliver his acceptance speech in a large, open-air stadium.

Obama's crowd downsized by 50K.  Democrats said the move was due to weather and safety concerns:  The Weather Channel is predicting a 30 percent chance of rain on Thursday night, with isolated thunderstorms.  But conservatives pounced, asserting the move had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with Obama's inability to fill Bank of America Stadium.

'Best weather of the entire week': Local meteorologist puzzled by Obama speech move.  The chief meteorologist at a Charlotte television station is questioning the decision by Democrats to move President Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention to a smaller venue because of the weather.  "Thursday night will likely be the best weather of the entire week," Brad Panovich of WCNC-NBC TV wrote on Twitter in reference to when Obama's speech was planned to take place at the outside Bank of America stadium, which can accommodate 70,000 people.

Forecast: 0% Chance of Rain for Obama's Speech.  Yesterday [9/5/2012], when the DNC scrapped plans for Obama to give his acceptance speech at Bank of America stadium, a local meteorologist expressed surprise.  He noted that the weather forecast for today had been steadily improving over past 48 hours.  A number of people thought the DNC could have monitored the improving conditions and waited another day before pulling the plug.  This is probably why they didn't wait:  the weather forecast for tonight's speech is now 0% chance of rain.  ZERO.

The Editor says...
Supposing for a moment that the weather really was a concern -- as opposed to the prospect of thousands of empty seats -- keep this in mind:  The people who couldn't accurately predict the weather 72 hours in advance of Obama's speech are the same people who claim they know what the weather will be like 100 years from now.  That's what the "global warming" scare/hoax/farce is all about.

Media Estimate 18,000 in Not-Quite-Full 5,000-Seat Arena for Obama in Wisconsin.  President Barack Obama is having trouble drawing large crowds on the campaign trail.  At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, his campaign was forced to move his acceptance speech from the 74,000-seat Bank of America Stadium to the 20,000 Time Warner Cable Arena, citing weather as the excuse.  But the media are always eager to help — for example, putting 18,000 people inside a 5,000-seat arena at an Obama event in Milwaukee on Saturday [9/22/2012].

Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett was source for inflated Obama crowd numbers in Wisconsin.  As Breitbart's Joel Pollack investigates, both The Wall Street Journal and Politico reported that President Obama's Saturday [9/22/2012] rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin drew a crowd of 18,000 supporters.  That's at least a bit odd, since the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal reported that the President was speaking at a 5,000-seat arena.  The report added that "thousands more who sat in bleachers and stood on the pavement," but made no mention of the abnormally large 18,000 estimate.

Trifecta: Politico, WSJ and AP Report Obama Crowd in Wis. of About 5,000 as 18,000.  Saturday [9/22/2012], Joel Pollak at Breitbart's Big Journalism observed that President Obama is having some trouble drawing big crowds these days, and that the national press is exaggerating the turnout at his events.  He specifically cited the situation this weekend where Politico and the Wall Street Journal claimed there were "18,000 people inside a 5,000-seat arena at an Obama event in Milwaukee on Saturday."  I looked at the Associated Press's national site, and the AP did the same thing, while adding that the crowd with the made-up size was "the largest yet of Obama's reelection campaign."  Really.

Somewhat related...
Small student showing at Democratic Rally.  Maine's heavy-hitter Democrats gathered Tuesday [9/25/2012] to speak to students about the need for involvement in the political process.  Congressman Mike Michaud, George Mitchell and Emily Cain — district representative for Orono — were just a few of the speakers at the event, which took place in the Wells Convention Center at the University of Maine.  Only four students showed up to the event.  The speakers pretended not to notice.

'Catholics for Obama' Denver Event Draws 45 People.  After being denied a campaign "rally" at Regis University in Denver, the Obama campaign settled for a "dialogue" with a co-chair of a group that calls itself "Catholics for Obama."  According to Catholic News Agency, about 45 people attended the dialogue on October 25th, the topic of which was "Catholic Social Teaching: The Intersection of Faith and Politics."

Ohio: Romney Draws 30,000, Obama Draws 2800.  As Chuck Todd and NBC release their juicy-juiced-juicery from a propagandist named Marist predicting Obama will nearly double his 2008 turnout advantage with a D+9 poll, in his first trip to Ohio since Hurricane Sandy, Mitt Romney attracted a jaw-dropping crowd of 30,000 at a rally Friday evening.  Meanwhile at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Ohio, President FailureTeleprompter drew a crowd of 2800.

Few knew about Stevie Wonder appearance for President Barack Obama.  Fewer than 200 people showed up to watch [Stevie] Wonder perform a handful of his hits at the early voting event in support of President Barack Obama.  Most of the people had learned of the event just hours before the 9:30 a.m. start time.  Some just happened to be in the area and followed the live music.

Ohio: Stevie Wonder Obama Rally Draws Less Than 200.  And not all of the less-than-200 were there because of Barack Obama.  As one attendee told the Plain Dealer, "How do you pass up a chance to see Stevie Wonder?"

30K For Romney Rally In Ohio! For Barack Obama — Less than 3000 Show Up.  In a clear contrast of two political rallies held in the same swing state of Ohio, Mitt Romney enjoyed crowds in excess of 30,000 loud and confident supporters, while Barack Obama saw fewer than 3000 supporters show up to hear what he had to say.

Clinton underwhelms in Ohio.  We found the school's half-full gymnasium, blocked off at half-court by a red vinyl curtain descended from the ceiling.  Outside, there was no line, but there was a bit of a ruckus as two young people protested their removal from the rally.  Kelli Miller, a 28-year-old student, said she and 25-year-old Nick Osberger were told to leave the event after she wrote "I will not support Obama" on the signage provided at the rally and displayed it.

VP Struggles to Attract 1K at Colorado Events.  Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday [11/3/2012] struggled to draw 1,000 people at two campaign events in Colorado, one of the most important swing states this election.

Obama Ends Campaign in Half-Empty Arena.  President Obama's big rally tonight [11/5/2012] turned out to be just like his first, opening salvo of the 2012 campaign: a half-empty arena in Ohio.  According to RealClearPolitics' Scott Conroy, there were "empty seats scattered around the upper-level of Nationwide Arena ... Four years ago, after all, Obama was easily filling venues larger than that ..." The event even featured Bruce Springsteen and Jay-Z, and Obama still couldn't fill it out.

White House aides fear there will be thousands of empty seats at Obama's inauguration.  Crowds may have flocked to the National Mall to see President Obama make history in 2009, but the team behind the president's 2013 inauguration bash later this month are bracing themselves for a ton of empty seats.

Dems now giving away raffle tickets to low-turnout inauguration.  Team Obama has used raffles to induce supporters to begin donating by offering a chance to visit with the president, but now Democrats have dropped the donation requirement in an effort to build a list for the 2013 inauguration, which is expected to have low turnout.

Low-interest Obama inauguration leaves DC hotel rooms empty.  In the days before Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009, Washington's hotels were not only sold out but had been sold out for weeks.  Rooms weren't available at any price.  On January 18, 2009, the Washington Post reported that "all but 400 or so of the District's 29,000 hotel rooms were booked."  Finding one of those 400 rooms was a daunting challenge — and even they were gone by Inauguration Day.  Now, as Obama prepares for his second inauguration amid lessened hope and enthusiasm for his presidency, it's easy to find a room.

A 'limitless' vision: Obama lays out liberal agenda for second term.  [Scroll down]  The crowd, estimated at up to 800,000, was less than half the size of Mr. Obama's first inauguration in 2009, when about 1.8 million people jammed the Mall to witness the historic occasion of the nation's first black president taking the oath of office.



Sandra Fluke's Big Obama Rally in a Grocery Store Parking Lot

Editor's Note:
President Obama was not in attendance at the pro-Obama rally discussed below, but one of his most famous surrogates was the featured speaker, and less than a dozen people showed up.

Less Than Dozen Show For Sandra Fluke's Obama 'Rally' In Reno.  The speech was part of a day-long effort by Democrats to get Northern Nevadans to the polls on the first day of early voting.

Reno Paper: 'Fluke Takes Center Stage' to Speak to 'About 10 People'.  Saturday evening, via Emerson Marcus and with the Associated Press contributing, the Reno Gazette-Journal, which I hope doesn't try to describe itself as a family newspaper, published an irony-free a 500-word story (HT to a NewBusters tipster) on an appearance by Sandra Fluke earlier in the day "in front of about 10 people at the Sak 'N Save in north Reno."

Democrat Momentum Unstoppable!  How small a crowd do you have to draw not to get covered by The Reno Gazette-Journal?

Let There Be Justice for the Wicked.  "About 10 people?"  Evidently, the reporter was missing some fingers and toes if he couldn't give us an exact count. [...] In fact, one wonders why on earth a "rally" attended by 10 people became a news story at all?  Slow news day, no doubt.  Regardless, there is something immensely satisfying when evidence of people ignoring such a whining, bratty lefty troll like Fluke emerges.

Less Than Dozen Show For Sandra Fluke's Obama 'Rally' In Reno.  Sandra Fluke, the woman at the center of a media firestorm earlier this year after Rush Limbaugh called her a "slut," spoke Saturday in front of about 10 people at the Sak 'N Save in north Reno.


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