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- This PPP poll which finds that 50 percent of voters prefer Barack Obama as president compared to his predecessor, while 44 percent prefer the reverse, essentially summarizes the political zeitgeist nearly a year after George W. Bush left office. The recession which began in the final year of the Bush presidency didn't just end when Obama was inaugurated, yet people responded with ridiculously high approval ratings for a new president who had not yet accomplished anything in office, and felt increasingly confident about the direction of the country and economy. But that optimism was based on nothing and the economic problems persisted.
- Kate Sheppard reports from Copenhagen that for much of the first day of the COP-15 talks, scientists received a high number of questions from reporters on whether "climategate" adversely affects efforts to take action combating global warming. Kevin Drum thinks this might offer an opportunity for journalists to get the story straight, but I fear a lot of the coverage of the issue is of the Fred Hiatt variety.
- Tom Schaller has an interesting post that takes a fresh look at how identity politics are further reducing the GOP to total ideological incoherence via the debate over end-of-life care in the health-care reform bill. In short, so wed are Republicans to their aging white base that they are willing to compromise their larger political philosophy in order to preserve, of all things, Medicare.
- Remainders: Everybody loves bipartisan commissions, especially when they're this blue-ribbon; it's a good thing Michael Steele was never elected to the Senate, because he clearly has no idea how that legislative body actually works; I don't understand why conservative authors (see Goldberg, Jonah) are so unwilling to defend the thesis of their book; the House GOP tackles the really important legislation; and I'm so glad the Obama administration wants to look forward, not back.
--Mori Dinauer
