Democratic Party

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Blue Dogs Aren't Centrists, They're Greedy

(Newser) - Blue Dog Democrats might represent more socially conservative constituencies than their liberal brethren, but that's no reason to take pro-corporate stances on everything from the mortgage market to health care reform. Thomas Frank has a simpler explanation: They're in it for the cash. The Blue Dogs are "champion fundraisers,...

Health Care Debate Readies for Road Trip

Democrats will spend recess targeting insurance companies

(Newser) - With the House already on break and the Senate readying for the August recess, the health care debate has moved to the court of public opinion, the New York Times reports. Both sides are launching campaign tours and waves of TV ads, with Democrats attacking the insurance industry and Republicans...

Facing Primary Battle, Specter Shifts Leftward

Has voted with Dems 97% of time since Sestak announced bid

(Newser) - Since going blue, Arlen Specter voted with Democrats some two-thirds of the time on “Contentious Votes”—defined by Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com as “anything that comes up for a floor vote and where the majority of each party splits their votes.” That is, up until...

Obama: You Can Keep Your Honeymoon
Obama: You Can Keep Your Honeymoon
Jul 22, 2009 1:58 AM CDT

Obama: You Can Keep Your Honeymoon

Prez says he's not losing sleep over harsh NYT column

(Newser) - "I never understood this concept of honeymoon," President Obama told Katie Couric yesterday when the CBS interviewer asked about his sliding poll numbers. Obama said he wasn't too worried about a New York Times column from David Brooks saying he has fallen into step behind Nancy Pelosi on...

Obama's Poll Numbers Dive
 Obama's Poll 
 Numbers Dive 
Jul 21, 2009 9:57 AM CDT

Obama's Poll Numbers Dive

(Newser) - The public is rapidly losing faith in President Obama, new polls show. His overall approval rating is below 60%—a USA Today/Gallup poll gives him 55%, putting him 10th among the 12 post-World War II presidents after six months in office. A Public Trust Monitor/Politico survey finds 54% trust Obama,...

Congress Leads Dems on 'Liberal Suicide March'
Congress Leads Dems on 'Liberal Suicide March'
OPINION
Jul 21, 2009 7:10 AM CDT

Congress Leads Dems on 'Liberal Suicide March'

They're as out of touch as Republicans were in Bush years: Brooks

(Newser) - The Republican Party turned away from America during its years in power, writes New York Times columnist David Brooks, by paying more attention to echo-chamber media outlets and yes-men pollsters than voters. Now the Democrats are doing the same—instead of Southern conservatives, now it's left-wingers from the coasts who...

Dems' Tax Plans Raise Fears of Rich Rebellion

(Newser) - Over the last few elections Democrats have captured House seats from the GOP in some of the wealthiest constituencies in the nation, from northern Virginia to suburban Denver. But as the White House and leaders in Congress look to tax hikes to fund the health care overhaul, recently elected congressmen...

It's Official: Burris Won't Run

(Newser) - Roland Burris made it official this afternoon: He won't run for a full term next year, the Chicago Tribune reports. “I love serving the people of Illinois,” the current holder of President Obama's old Senate seat said. But “political races have become far too expensive in...

Lieberman, Dems Heal Old Wounds

Independent sen. 'critical' to party despite departures

(Newser) - The rift between Joe Lieberman and his former party, which stretched wide after the senator supported John McCain for president, is closing, the Hill reports. The Connecticut independent, who caucuses with the Democrats, has been "critical" to the party, the majority whip says—Lieberman has praised the president on...

Israeli Minister Urges Sanctions Against US

Upset with Obama shift, he also wants to influence elections

(Newser) - An Israeli cabinet minister has suggested his country stop buying technology from the US and even try to influence US elections because of the Obama administration’s perceived shift on Mideast policy, the Jerusalem Post reports. Yossi Peled, a “minister-without-portfolio,” said “Obama’s ascendance represents a turning...

Shift to Right in Europe Bodes Ill for US Dems

(Newser) - The global recession has sparked a conservative, anti-immigrant impulse in Europe—see the right’s victory in European Parliament elections—and US liberals should take notice, Michael Lind writes for Salon. Though “it would be a mistake to read too much into the elections” as the “European Parliament...

To McAuliffe's Surprise, Va. Dem Primary Up for Grabs

(Newser) - Democrats head to the polls today in Virginia for a surprisingly tight gubernatorial primary, Politico reports. Last-minute polls show Creigh Deeds surging ahead of Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran. If he pulls out the win, it’ll be a major upset—McAuliffe, the former DNC chair, had been expected to...

Black President, Sure; Alabama Governor? We'll See

(Newser) - In the post-Obama political landscape, a young congressman is attempting a feat perhaps more difficult than putting a black man in the White House, writes Robbie Brown in the New York Times. That would be putting a black man in the Alabama governor’s mansion. “Yes, it will be...

Rush, Newt Push Media to the Right
Rush, Newt Push Media
to the Right
OPINION
Jun 4, 2009 9:15 AM CDT

Rush, Newt Push Media to the Right

They're mainstream while progressives are ignored: Dionne

(Newser) - Media coverage of Barack Obama is closed-minded and biased—in favor of conservatives. "Rush Limbaugh's sneezes or Newt Gingrich's tweets" circulate like wildfire, but criticism of the president from the Democratic left goes unheard, writes EJ Dionne of the Washington Post. The result is a skewed picture in which...

Obama Already Throwing Weight for Midterms

Takes steps for Reid, Specter, Gillibrand 4 months into term

(Newser) - He’s been in office just a few months—but President Obama’s already working to get Democrats elected in 2010, the Wall Street Journal reports. So far this month, Obama has urged a potential candidate to run in North Carolina, battled a primary threat to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, pledged...

Falwell's Liberty U. Quashes Campus Dems

(Newser) - Jerry Falwell’s conservative Christian Liberty University has suspended the student Democratic Club for supporting candidates “directly contrary to the mission” of the school, the Lynchburg News Advance reports. Virginia Democrats are up in arms. “I urge the leadership of Liberty University to reverse this attack on the...

Dem Donor Hsu Pleads Guilty to $20M Fraud

Ponzi scheme garnered illegal political donations: feds

(Newser) - Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu pleaded guilty today to 10 counts of wire and mail fraud related to an alleged $20 million Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors say Hsu, now 58, bullied victims into contributing to political causes and made illegal donations to politicians like Hillary Clinton, who eventually returned $850,000. His...

Dems Promised Me Seniority: Demoted Specter

(Newser) - Arlen Specter, demoted to junior spots on Senate committees after switching to the Democratic Party, thought things would be different, he told CNN today. Majority Leader Harry Reid “said that I would maintain my committee assignments,” Specter said, “and that my seniority would be established as if...

Hoyer and Pelosi: Unlikely Allies
 Hoyer and Pelosi: 
 Unlikely Allies 
Analysis
May 6, 2009 9:47 AM CDT

Hoyer and Pelosi: Unlikely Allies

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer are about as different as Democrats get; he’s an affable Blue Dog budget hawk, she’s the pugilistic progressive poster girl. When Hoyer ran for House majority leader, Pelosi backed the other guy. But these days, the two are thick as thieves, Politico reports,...

Rendell Gets Machiavellian in Specter Switch
Rendell Gets Machiavellian in Specter Switch
Analysis
Apr 29, 2009 10:09 AM CDT

Rendell Gets Machiavellian in Specter Switch

Senate ambitions may have played role in governor's courtship

(Newser) - Arlen Specter’s party switch was a "seriously Machiavellian" move by Joe Biden and, particularly, Gov. Ed Rendell, writes Eleanor Clift of Newsweek. Biden’s self-interest in the matter is obvious: Specter represents the all-important 60th Senate vote. But the "gregarious, ambitious" Rendell, an even closer friend of...

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