latimes.com - 1/2/2009
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But this beleaguered minority has an opportunity to wield outsized influence on what President-elect Barack Obama can accomplish in Congress. Although Democrats made big congressional gains in the 2008 election, they are still a vote or two short of the 60-vote majority they need in the Senate ...
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About those GOP moderates...
Political Animal —
About those GOP moderates.... The LA Times has a piece today that makes a fairly obvious point: the Democratic majority in the Senate may be at its biggest point in 30 years, but it's still not filibuster-proof. Given the arithmetic, Democrats will have no choice but look to the handful of Republican "moderates" -- a group small enough to "squeeze into a Volkswagen Beetle" -- in order to actually pass legislation in the face of GOP obstructionism. The Times piece noted that these centrists have largely disappeared as "swing voters have been alienated by President Bush's ...
The Party of Lincoln is now the Party of McConnell, Coburn, DeMint and Vitter
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth —
... Today's LA Times also looked at the GOP, with an eye towards the moderates. But, the moderates won't set the agenda, the hard core Southerners will: ...
Pick Your Poison, Arlen
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right —
It can't be much fun being Arlen Specter these days: But the issue puts Specter in a particularly tough position that is a typical quandary for Republican moderates. Facing reelection in 2010, he hails from a state where unions are strong and the electorate is becoming more and more Democratic. That puts pressure on him to support the labor bill. But Specter often faces opposition from fellow Republicans for being too liberal: In 2004, he faced a tough primary challenge from the right by Pat Toomey, who is now president of the Club for Growth, an anti-tax ...
Will GOP Obstructionism Backfire Against Republican Extremists in 2010?
DownWithTyranny! —
... , Bunning's approval rating is a mere 40%, a crystal clear predictor of electoral defeat. On top of that, he has been one of the loudest and most vicious anti-Obama voices in the Senate. And Bunning isn't alone among the GOP Senate obstructionists who will have to face voters in 2010. Although Mel Martinez (FL) has wisely bowed out of a re-election bid and vulnerable Republicans Lisa Murkowski (AK), Arlen Specter (PA), Chuck Grassley (IA), John McCain (AZ), and George Voinovich (OH) have signaled that they will be willing to cooperate with Obama on some of his priorities, far ...
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Obama to meet with lawmakers —
msnbc.com: Politics 1/2/2009
President-elect Barack Obama will meet with congressional leaders to discuss his economic stimulus plan and other legislative issues soon after his arrival in Washington in the coming days.
One city, two White Houses? —
First Read 1/2/2009
From NBC's Mike ViqueiraFor weeks, President-elect Obama and his transition staff have repeatedly invoked the "one president at a time" mantra in avoiding public commentary on unfolding global issues like the situation in Gaza.
So naturally, now that ...
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