Month: March 2014
Obama Defends His Jeans
I’ve been unfairly maligned about my jeans. The truth is, generally I look very sharp in jeans.
— President Obama, in an interview with Ryan Seacrest.
Pres. Obama’s ‘Between Two Ferns’ Interview Has Upset Republicans – Because It’s Working
Republicans say they are agitated that Pres. Obama went on Zach Galifinakis’ fake interview show, “Between Two Ferns,” to promote the Affordable Care Act because he should be spending all of his time on the crisis in the Crimea — never mind that George H.W. Bush, who ordered the invasion of Kuwait, took his cigarette boat out for a spin during the Gulf War.
What they’re actually upset about is the fact that episodes of “Between Two Ferns” often get about 13 million page views and its viewers skew young, compared with the 2 million old folks who watch O’Reilly on Fox, the top rated cable news show, on a given night. And it appears that Obama’s appearance is working — USA Today: Healthcare.gov gets traffic boost after Obama’s ‘Funny or Die’ video:
Poll: Obama’s Job at 48% – Biggest Improvement in Polling in His Presidency
48%
Approval rate of Pres. Obama’s job performance — up from 42 percent in December, representing the biggest move up yet in his polling positive as president, according to a Bloomberg National Poll. He’s also registering an improved favorability rating at 49 percent, the highest since last June.
$27 Million Down the Drain? Doh!
Bad news for whoever is writing the checks at Americans for Prosperity (AFP). The Koch brothers’ political organization has spent $27 million since last August, with millions more planned, on ads attacking Senate Democrats who voted for healthcare reform and who are up for re-election this year.
A new poll shows they are likely wasting that cash.
Poll: Support for candidates who voted for the health-care law has improved dramatically
Support for candidates who voted for the health-care law has improved dramatically in recent months, a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Tuesday shows.
The survey found respondents almost exactly split on the question of whether they would be more or less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who supports the Affordable Care Act, with 34% saying they would be more likely to vote for the candidate and 36% saying they would be less likely to do so. Some 27% said it would not make a difference.
That’s a significant jump in support levels from November—a month after the troubled launch of HealthCare.gov, the federal insurance exchange that serves 36 states—when just 21% said a candidate’s support for the law would make them more likely to vote for them, compared to 37% who said it would make them less likely to do so. A much larger percentage—40%—were indifferent.
AFP’s ads are termed “misleading” by neutral fact-checkers, and “absolutely false” by Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
The organization put all its eggs in the “Obamacare will be hated” basket so if the public approves of the reforms and the costs of coverage decrease, the Kochs lose. Some Republicans have sniffed the wind and moved away from criticizing Pres. Obama over the Affordable Care Act to criticizing him over every other initiative instead.
On Fox, Issa Walks Back His Apology for Cutting off Ranking Member’s Microphone
Congress-watchers cannot recall another incident in which a committee chairman silenced a ranking member by turning off the member’s microphone — but it happened Wednesday when GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of California, chair of the House Oversight Committee, cut off the microphone as Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, was speaking.
But when the time came for apologies, in today’s topsy-turvy tea party world, it was Issa who claimed to have been insulted.
