Obama Gets High Marks
A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Americans think Barack Obama is handling the transition well and picking an outstanding team. Gallup's Jeffrey Jones: Americans widely approve of Barack Obama's decisions, announced on Monday, to name Hillary Clinton secretary of state and to ask Robert Gates to stay on as secretary of defense. [...] During the recent period of speculation that Obama would ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 3, 2008 08:58
Obama’s All-Star Cabinet
Barack Obama's cabinet choices have been met by gushing reviews. While many of his choices have come under fire from both the left and the right on ideological grounds, the consensus seems to be that these are among the brightest, most capable people around. NBC's Andrea Mitchell referred to them as "all-stars" and "the strongest, smartest people he can find" while ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 25, 2008 12:57
Barack Obama, Superstar
[caption id="attachment_27513" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Barry Obama, Punahou basketball photo"][/caption] This must be a trying time to be a political reporter. Everyone's tired of lame duck George W. Bush but Barack Obama won't take office for sixty-three days, leaving speculation about appointees and strained a change is a-comin' stories. For example, Christopher Clarey's NYT feature "For Obama, a Scouting Report on Athletic ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 17, 2008 07:06
Republican Party’s Future
My Palin Derangement Syndrome post got a number of thoughtful responses, especially for a weekend post. My fellow Jacksonville State alumnus Stacy McCain, a Palin fan, thinks the internal debate on her role in last week's defeat and her future as a Republican Party standard bearer is one we should have. He objects strenuously, though, to the tone of some of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 10, 2008 07:15
Obamas Visit White House
NYT has a feature on today's visit by Barack and Michelle Obama to the White House for the traditional meet-and-greet with outgoing president and first lady George W. and Laura Bush. For nearly two years on the campaign trail, Senator Barack Obama rarely missed a chance to take a swipe at President Bush. The name George W. Bush invariably followed the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 10, 2008 07:12
Obama’s Landslide in Perspective
In the discussion on Obama's apparent 365-173 Electoral College victory, Rodney Dill asks, "How close is this, historically? The popular vote difference seems like it was pretty big by modern standards, but usually that would result in an even more lopsided electoral vote." It's an interesting question. Dave Leip's Atlas has the results for every election. In 1980, the first ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 8, 2008 11:22
2008 Election County-By-County
After George W. Bush won the 2000 election, despite having received substantially fewer votes nationwide than Al Gore, many of us took great comfort in this famous map, showing the election results county-by-county: [caption id="attachment_27108" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="2000 Election County-By-County Map"][/caption] In 2004, Bush won re-election by a majority -- but John Kerry nearly took it anyway because of a close call ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 5, 2008 15:54
Americans Are Liberal!
Matt Yglesias offers these Pew poll results as a rejoinder to those of us who think a win for Obama isn't a mandate for his policies. Says Matt, "The voters felt they had a choice between a liberal and a conservative, and felt they preferred the liberal and his policy agenda." Well . . . no. For one thing, most of the choices ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 4, 2008 16:07
The Mandate Myth
Steve Benen strongly rejects the caution by Doug Schoen that "This election is not a mandate for Democratic policies. Rather, it is a wholesale rejection of the policies of George W. Bush, Republicans, and to a lesser extent, John McCain." I suspect Obama, given what we know of his style and temperament, would make good-faith efforts to encourage Republicans to support ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 3, 2008 16:25
1 in 7 Voters Persuadable
A new poll claims that a whopping 14 percent of likely voters think they may still change their minds in the five days remaining before the election. One in seven, or 14 percent, can't decide or back a candidate but might switch, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll of likely voters released Friday. Who are they? They look a lot like ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 31, 2008 09:18
