From the great state of Minnesota, where I am preparing for Netroots Nation later in the week, but with a borrowed PC laptop... oh, for my Mac...
Mike Murphy:
I agree with the rapidly emerging CW on the debate: Bachmann did quite well, Mitt is unscathed, Newt is still a non-starter and Tim Pawlenty made a mistake in starting a fight before the debate that he wasn’t prepared to wage in the debate. That said, it is still way too early — even in New Hampshire — for this debate to have much real impact on actual voters. New Hampshire and Iowa voters love to change their minds and plenty of future debates will give them that chance. So did this debate mean anything at all in the real context of the race?
Yes, but not for voters. The impact was under the surface. Like a torpedo.
And it's all about fundraising. You do lousy, you don't rake in the dough.
Dana Milbank on Mitt's charm and appeal:
A day of awkwardness with Mitt Romney
Read
some polls besides your own, Dana.
New Qpolls in PA and CT have Obama holding steady. PA has:
In possible presidential election matchups, President Obama tops Romney 47 - 40 percent and leads Santorum 49 - 38 percent. Independent voters back Obama, 41 - 37 percent over Romney and 46 - 35 percent over Santorum.
Obama gets a split 48 - 48 percent job approval rating in Pennsylvania, compared to a negative 42 - 53 percent April 28, his lowest Quinnipiac University poll number in the Keystone State. Independent voters split 48 - 47 percent, compared to a negative 37 - 57 percent April 28th.
Voters say 48 - 46 percent that Obama deserves to be reelected, also up from a negative 42 - 52 percent. Again, independent voters go from a negative 37 - 56 percent April 28 to a slightly negative 46 - 49 percent today.
while
Connecticut voters approve 53 - 44 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing, up slightly from 49 - 47 percent in a March 8, 2011, Quinnipiac University poll. President Obama deserves reelection, voters say 51 - 43 percent, and they would vote for Obama 46 - 35 percent over an unnamed Republican in 2012.
PA's poll is interesting because "everyone knows" Obama is in trouble there. CT's poll is interesting because of two popular initiatives and one unpopular one:
Connecticut voters support 72 - 25 percent a new law that requires large companies to offer five days of paid sick leave per year to employees. Support is 84 - 14 percent among Democrats, 50 - 44 percent among Republicans and 72 - 26 percent among independent voters. Men support the measure 63 - 34 percent while women back it 79 - 17 percent.
Voters also support 66 - 31 percent a law to de-criminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Support is 77 - 21 percent among Democrats, 49 - 45 percent among Republicans and 66 - 31 percent among independent voters. Support is slightly stronger among men, 69 - 28 percent, than among women, 64 - 33 percent.
The unpopular one is the budget. Nutmeggers think the rich should pay more taxes, and they should pay less.
Voters disapprove 52 - 36 percent of the way Malloy is handling the state budget. Voters also disapprove 50 - 35 percent of the new state budget.
Only 17 percent of voters say the new state budget spreads tax increases fairly across income groups while 67 percent say taxes should be higher on those with higher incomes.
That gives D Governor Dannel Malloy a 38-44 approval rating for right now. well, at least they're not hanging him in effigy like they did the extraordinary Lowell Weicker, the father of the state income tax. They're not even occupying the state capital, WI style. On a more upbeat note
While voters dislike Malloy's policies 50 - 37 percent, they like him as a person 48 - 18 percent. Jodi Rell was a better governor, 32 percent say, while 20 percent say Malloy is better and 37 percent say they are about the same.
For the long view, not bad to be in this territory. Rell was one of the most popular governors in the country, in part because she left all the tough budget choices for her successor.
NY Times editorial:
Monday’s Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire — full of historical error, economic obfuscation, avoidance of hard truths and even outright bigotry — was a feast for connoisseurs of political dysfunction. Desperate to avoid being outflanked on the right, the seven candidates tried so hard to outdo each other in finding fault with President Obama that they seemed to forget that they are competing for the same party nomination. By evening’s end, they had melted into an indistinguishable mass of privatizing, tax-cutting opponents of Shariah law.
For the moment, the candidates are appealing to a Republican Party whose core is so contorted in fury at Mr. Obama that it barely resembles the one that nominated George W. Bush in 2000.
And the one that nominated Junior was pretty hardcore conservative. Luckily for this crop of wannabes, everyone in New England was watching the Stanley Cup finals that night.
Mark Bittman:
Mass-produced tomatoes have become redder, more tender and slightly more flavorful than the crunchy orange “cello-wrapped” specimens of a couple of decades ago, but the lives of the workers who grow and pick them haven’t improved much since Edward R. Murrow’s revealing and deservedly famous Harvest of Shame report of 1960, which contained the infamous quote, “We used to own our slaves; now we just rent them.”
But bit by bit things have improved some, a story that’s told in detail and with insight and compassion by Barry Estabrook in his new book, “Tomatoland.” We can actually help them improve further.
Jackson Diehl:
Is the Republican party turning isolationist for 2012? No doubt it’s too soon to know--but the responses of GOP presidential candidates to questions about Libya and Afghanistan in Monday night’s debate were striking.
You mean Republicans are weak? You know that's how democrats would be portrayed.
NY Times covers the same ground:
The evolution also highlights a renewed streak of isolationism among Republicans, which has been influenced by the rise of the Tea Party movement and a growing sense that the United States can no longer afford to intervene in clashes everywhere.
Added:
Rishi Manchanda:
Mr. M walked into the community clinic where I work with a portable oxygen tank in tow. At 62, he's gaunt and winded, battling a disease that is progressively scarring his lungs. Every breath is a fight. Instead of the clear flow of air, I hear the sound of velcro ripping when I place my stethoscope on his chest. In medicine, his illness is idiopathic, which means the cause is a mystery.
But the cause of his distress yesterday was clear. Medicaid, which helps nearly one in every four Americans and could be a lifeline for my patient, is under attack.
From someone in the trenches...