Month: February 2015

Obama’s Job Approval Surges in California As Optimism Rises among Democrats

Jon Ponder
Marine One lands at the Sand Hill Field landing zone in San Francisco, California, after President Barack Obama returned from the Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Summit in Palo Alto, Feb. 13, 2015. The Golden Gate Bridge is in the background. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Marine One lands at the Sand Hill Field landing zone in San Francisco, California, after President Barack Obama returned from the Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Summit in Palo Alto, Feb. 13, 2015. The Golden Gate Bridge is in the background. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

A Field Poll of California voters out this week [PDF] found Pres. Obama’s job approval rating has rebounded in the state to 57 percent — up 12 percentage points from five months ago when his approval rating was 45 percent.

By party affiliation, the president’s job approval rating was 84 percent among Democrats, 54 percent among independents and 18 percent among Republicans. Overall, just 36 percent said they disapproved of the president’s job performance.

Analysis by Field pollsters suggests that approval of the president’s handling of the economy and optimism about the overall direction of the country among California Democrats is behind the surge in Obama’s polling:

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Poll: California Is Ready for Hillary

Jon Ponder

59%

Percentage of California Democrats who say they will vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should she run for president in 2016, according to the Field Poll [PDF]. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren trailed Clinton with 17 percent. Among Republicans, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker led Florida businessman Jeb Bush by 2 percentage points, 18 to 16 percent. The poll also found that 19 percent of California Republicans are undecided.

Clinton Foundation Has Raised $2 Billion

Buck Banks

$2 billion

Amount the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has raised since its creation in 2001 from “a vast global network that includes corporate titans, political donors, foreign governments and other wealthy interests,” according to a Washington Post review of public records and newly released contribution data. First Read: “If this looked like a conflict of interest when she was secretary of state, why doesn’t it look like a conflict of interest as she prepares for another presidential bid?”

Hong Kong Official Tells Constituents to Act Like Sheep in the Year of the Sheep

Buck Banks

Last year was no easy ride for Hong Kong. Our society was rife with differences and conflicts. In the coming year, I hope that all people in Hong Kong will take inspiration from the sheep’s character and pull together in an accommodating manner to work for Hong Kong’s future.

— Cy Leung, Hong Kong’s unpopular chief executive, infuriating pro-democracy campaigners by using a Chinese New Year message to urge the former colony’s citizens to act more like sheep,” the Telegraph reports.

Like ISIS, US Christian Extremists Advocate Killing Gays – But ISIS Is Actually Doing It

Jon Ponder
ISIS executes a gay man by pushing him off of a rooftop
ISIS executes a gay man by pushing him off of a rooftop

While ISIS has been barraging the world media with horrific images — burning a Jordanian pilot alive and beheading journalists, aid workers and, most recently, 21 Egyptian Christians — it has also been executing gay men by hurling them to their deaths off of rooftops and other high places. Two men were also reportedly crucified for being gay.

ISIS appears to be handling these two kinds of public murders differently. By releasing videos of its executions of hostages, ISIS seeks international publicity as a gambit to stoke outrage, fear and horror in order to lure the civilized world into an Armageddon-like conflagration in the Middle East. The executions of gay men are handled with less fanfare, however, because ISIS views these murders as simply carrying out God’s judgment for the sin of homosexuality, based on scriptures in the Koran.

Most Americans view this sort of barbarism toward gays with detachment — it’s a faraway Muslim death cult acting out its extremist views. In fact, on the issue of homosexuality, ISIS is aligned with Christian extremists right here in the United States, many of whom also interpret God’s law as calling for the execution of gays.

There is a key difference, of course. While Christianists advocate killing gays, ISIS is actually doing it.

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Walker Calls No-Degree Criticism ‘Elitist’

Buck Banks

That’s the kind of elitist, government-knows-best, top-down approach we’ve had for years. I’d rather have a fighter who’s proven he can take on the big government interests and win… I think people want to judge what have you done lately.

— Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) dismissing criticism that he never graduated from college on Fox News as “elitist.”

Kasich Developing World View in Prep for Prez Run

Buck Banks

You will not solve this problem with only air power. There needs to be a coalition of NATO, Arab states, and ultimately some boots on the ground to stop the advancement of that group. … The Western world and the Arab world need to get serious about stopping this kind of radicalism. If not, it will continue to spread and just bombing is imposing the status quo at best.

— Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich (R) said Tuesday he is studying up on foreign policy and beginning to outline his worldview, which includes support for sending U.S. ground forces to fight the Islamic State, the Washington Post reports.

Prez Candidates Use Social Media to Prove They Have Personalities

Buck Banks

For many would-be presidential candidates, Twitter and other social-media outlets have become an extension of their efforts to build a national following, and in many cases a way to mix personality with policy. Social media comes with a host of dangers, but for candidates, it can be a powerful tool to attract attention and engage voters.

— Wall Street Journal