Visual source: Newseum
TPM:
It’s Alive! Despite GOP Warnings, Ponzi Scheme Meme Is Alive And Well On Capitol Hill
They can't help themselves. They are not acting crazy, they are crazy.
Greg Sargent:
Okay, this is just crazy.
As I’ve been noting here regularly, there’s a striking disconnect in public opinion: While disapproval of Obama is running strong on the economy, and while pessimism is running high that he’ll turn it around, solid majorities support the actual fiscal policies Obama has been championing.
Did you know that this dynamic also applies to Republican voters? Well, that’s what Gallup finds today.
Ed Kilgore:
Imaginary "Centrists"...
Barack Obama himself probably represents the views of Democratic "centrists" about as much as any politician presently does. And from what I regularly read and hear, if there are "Democratic centrist" dissenters from Obama's general direction, they are more rather than less likely to think he remains too accommodating to conservative opinion on taxes and a variety of other issues.
And if there is some Penn-Landrieu-Nelson bloc in the Democratic Party, it could easily meet at one of Burson-Marsteller's smaller conference rooms, with plenty of space at the table for interns and lunch.
Gallup:
Perry Looks Better Against Romney Than Against Obama
Rick Perry leads Mitt Romney by 31% to 24% in national Republican preferences for the 2012 GOP nomination. Still, the majority of Republicans say they want to nominate the person who is most electable, and Romney does better against President Barack Obama.
NY Times on Jerry Brown's experience with the CA GOP:
Even though Democrats outnumber Republicans in the Legislature, state law requires a two-thirds vote on tax bills.
“The Republicans are far less engaged and independent than they were 30 years ago,” Mr. Brown said. “The Republicans then were very independent. Everything was not a party-line vote.”
Now, he said, “They are afraid. They don’t want to move.”
He added: “You’ve got to adjust to reality. You can’t jump out of a plane without a parachute no matter how much you’d like to get to the ground.”
Mark Blumenthal:
Some survey researchers worry that automated surveys, with their typically lower response rates, may exaggerate support for candidates with more energized supporters. But automated polls, including one from PPP, were among the first to detect the surge toward Scott Brown and his candidacy for Senate in early January 2010. And PPP's final survey in that race correctly predicted Brown's ultimate five-point margin of victory.
The timing of the new survey may be a more valid concern. PPP began interviewing just two days after Warren announced her candidacy. Declarations of candidacy typically generate a momentary wave of favorable news coverage. That combination may have produced gains for Warren that will not persist. It will take more surveys in the coming months to confirm whether the Brown-Warren race will remain as competitive at this latest PPP survey suggests.
National Journal:
People on both sides of the Perry-Rove dispute describe a complicated relationship that, although strained in the past by personal enmity and hard-nosed politics, could be headed for a détente as Perry’s presidential campaign gains traction. That would benefit both men because their rift has potentially serious political implications, pitting a front-runner for the Republican nomination against the cofounder of an independent expenditure group that's expected to provide critical financial muscle for the 2012 campaign. Rove's role in American Crossroads, expected to raise more than $100 million in the campaign cycle, makes him an influential gateway to the donor community Perry must tap as he tries to expand his fundraising base.
Mark Bittman:
Are we looking at another tuna boycott? Many readers will remember 1988, when biologist Sam LaBudde went to work as a cook on a Panamanian tuna boat and secretly shot film that showed dolphins dying in nets and being crushed in winches, as many as 20 for every tuna. The video was shown to a Senate subcommittee and sparked a consumer boycott of canned tuna. Two years later, Starkist — then owned by Heinz — announced it would no longer buy any tuna caught by methods that threatened dolphins. Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea quickly followed suit, and “dolphin-safe tuna” was born. (Strangely enough, the World Trade Organization just ruled against dolphin-safe tuna labels, but that’s another story.)
Harold Meyerson:
Like Poe’s purloined letter, the Republican plan to heist the 2012 presidential election sits before us in plain view. And going Poe one better, it is perfectly legal.