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- Consider the following: If Republicans had been allowed to pursue their own response to the recession, both the jobs and deficit picture would be worse. The public, on the other hand, prefers government spending on job creation over deficit reduction by a 20-point margin. Despite this, the administration has been anything but bold on joblessness and weak growth. Yes, I'm happy when the president calls out Republicans for obstructionism, but he needs to first promote something big and then remind people that the GOP is refusing to play ball.
- As we get closer to Election Day, we'll be able to evaluate various predicative models on the merits, but I thought this one was a good example of how the "wave" election would play out. It forecasts the Democrats losing the House on the order of 50 seats, similar to 1994. The key, as the model's authors see it, is identifying whether the historical pattern of the out party getting a late spurt of support from uncommitted voters holds true for this election. If it does, Republicans win big. If the generic ballot stays close, Democrats likely retain the House.
- As readers of the Prospect know, all politics is identity politics, but where you get into trouble is when you make broad assumptions about the public's ideological leanings. I can't disprove, for instance, that there are "millions" of voters who are motivated chiefly by the desire to limit government, but to claim they are "sporadically potent" in an election isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. Or that "so many voters" are giving the GOP one last shot at competent governance, after which "everybody" is going to start looking for a "third party."
- Weekend Remainders: Another reason Harry Reid might survive November; as all Real Americans know, freedom bombs are the best way to win the hearts and minds of our Muslim friends; Lisa Murkowski will not have the option of running as a libertarian in Alaska; another good reason to abolish the Air Force; another reason to be skeptical of Scott Rasmussen's motives; I have no idea what the latest NYT public editor is talking about; and don't Media Matters (and Think Progress) have better things to do than file a "report" that -- gasp! -- Glenn Beck is "diametrically opposed" to Martin Luther King Jr.?
--Mori Dinauer
