Wednesday punditry, Haley Barbour edition.
WaPo:
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) is trying to quell the political storm kicked up over controversial comments he made about the struggle for civil rights in his state.
NY Times editorial:
Perhaps Mr. Barbour, one of the most powerful men in the Republican Party and a potential presidential candidate, suffers from the faulty memory all too common among those who stood on the sidelines during one of the greatest social upheavals in history. It is more likely, though, that his recent remarks on the period fit a well-established pattern of racial insensitivity that raises increasing doubts about his fitness for national office.
Jonathan Capehart:
Barbour's spokesperson vigorously denied that his boss is a racist. But there's no denying that Barbour's presidential aspirations -- such as they were -- are probably toast. Which is fine by me. A man can't hope to be president of the United States when he couldn't care less about the shared history of more than 13 percent of its population.
Jennifer Rubin:
Haley Barbour has gotten himself in a heap of trouble. By praising White Citizens' Councils, appearing clueless about the history of racial injustice in the South, giving the Democrats a free swing at him and reviving recollections of another shockingly inappropriate racial statement, Barbour has gone a long way toward blowing up his presidential candidacy before it began. Other than the amazing propensity of seemingly sophisticated politicians to say remarkably self-defeating things, the episode is noteworthy in several respects.
Other right leaning bloggers besides Rubin (via Greg Sargent) get the picture.
Adam Serwer:
Republicans have only themselves to blame here. If they had been more focused on the substance of New START, and less worried about humiliating the president or instinctively rejecting anything he proposes, the White House wouldn't have anything to brag about.
Gallup:
Liberal Democrats' approval of Obama remained subdued, averaging 80% in the past week, similar to the 79% in the previous week and below the 88% found just prior to the midterm elections. This is based on Democrats as well as independents who lean Democratic.
Obama's approval from liberal Democrats is now on par with that from moderate Democrats (78%), although still higher than conservative Democrats' approval (69%).
In contrast, Obama's approval rating among moderate/liberal Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) has increased in December, rising from 20% to 29% in just the past two weeks. This is his highest level of support from moderate/liberal Republicans since May.
Apparently, all five liberal Republicans like him a little bit more (I don't think there are many more than that.) Gallup has him at 46%, pollster.com at 45%. Jay Cost says don't underestimate him.
UConn is now at 89:
There are too many blowouts in the women's game.
It's not the same because the competition on the men's side is so much better.
These are a couple of the qualifiers I hear when it comes to the UConn women's consecutive wins streak. When the Huskies walk into the history books tonight with their 89 straight wins, let's hope we don't hear any of the excuses that belittle their achievement. It doesn't matter what competitive climate the win streak happened in; it just matters that it happened.
The same thing goes for the Penn State women's volleyball team, which won 109 straight matches, and the University of North Carolina women's soccer team, which won 92 straight. The girls who were part of those runs deserve respect.
Everyone has a bad day. Sometimes you're a little off at your job. Heck, sometimes you just don't want to be at work. But not the women on streaking teams.
And for you bikers: