Saturday opinion.
Bob Herbert:
The Obama administration seems to be feeling sorry for itself. Robert Gibbs, the president’s press secretary, is perturbed that Mr. Obama is not getting more hosannas from liberals.
Spare me. The country is a mess. The economy is horrendous, and millions of American families are running out of ammunition in their fight against destitution. Steadily increasing numbers of middle-class families, who never thought they’d be seeking charity, have been showing up at food pantries.
Charles Blow:
Maybe we should just let the children run the country, at least until the recession is over. They appear to be the only people not bubbling over with anger, anxiety and frustration.
let them run Congress. It'd be an upgrade.
Gail Collins:
The story in American history I most like to tell is the one about how women got the right to vote 90 years ago this month. It has everything. Adventure! Suspense! Treachery! Drunken legislators!
But, first, there was a 70-year slog.
Which is really the important part. We always need to remember that behind almost every great moment in history, there are heroic people doing really boring and frustrating things for a prolonged period of time.
Gallup:
Americans continue to express near-record-low confidence in newspapers and television news -- with no more than 25% of Americans saying they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in either. These views have hardly budged since falling more than 10 percentage points from 2003-2007.
Thank you, Fox News, for lowering the bar.
Clarus Research Group (.pdf):
A new nationwide survey of Republican voters finds that support for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to win the GOP’s 2012 presidential nomination has fallen by one-third since March, sliding from 18 points to 12 points. Palin is now running in fourth place for the nomination behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
In all three Clarus polls testing the 2012 nomination strength of a changing roster of potential candidates, Romney and Huckabee have topped the GOP field...
"Palin gets more attention from the national media than presidential support from Republicans," said Ron Faucheux, president of Clarus. "The major change since March is that Gingrich has now edged out Palin for third place, even though the two are running well within the statistical margin of error."
Wide open field. No consensus, since Romney leads but the Huckabee and Tea Party factions hate him.
Bradley Blakeman (Republican strategist):
For Republicans to have the greatest chance of success this November they should stay focused primarily, if not exclusively, on the economy. Getting people back to work, reducing government spending and slashing the deficit should be their prime focus. The attorney general of Florida is doing what he does best: focusing on the law. That’s fine if you want to stay an attorney general, but, if you want to be a governor, you best be concerned with governing and leave the prosecutions to someone else. While being tough on illegal immigrants may get you a headline, it will not get you elected.
Another in a series of sane Republicans, a small but vocal group that would like to not lose the Latino vote forever.
