GOP Presidential Candidates Not Very Favorable

by Stuart Shapiro

The conventional wisdom is that the field of Republican candidates is weak.  But Nate Silver is not one to trust conventional wisdom.  He analyzes the popularity ratings of the leading Republican contenders and compares them with candidates in 2000, 2004, and 2008, 18-24 months before the election.  And lo and behold, the conventional wisdom is right!

So it does look like Republicans have some legitimate reason to worry. In the previous five competitive primaries — excluding 2004 for the Republicans, when Mr. Bush won re-nomination uncontested — each party had at least two candidates whose net favorability …

Presidential Hopeful Mike Huckabee: No Issue Is As Important As Abortion

Former Arkansas Governor and potential 2012 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the abortion issue trumps all.

“For me this is an issue that – as I’ve said before – it transcends all of the political issues,” Huckabee said at a fundraiser in Tennessee for the Center for Bioethical Reform, an anti-abortion group.

“I’ve often said I would gladly lose an election before I would ever yield on the issue of the sanctity of human life,” Huckabee added.

But does the Republican Party want a nominee whose priority is social issues, and where those issues take precedence over jobs, the …

Sarah Palin’s Facts Wrong On Critique Of Obama Budget

In criticizing the White House budget plan on her Twitter and Facebook pages, Sarah Palin got her facts wrong. On Twitter she wrote:

“Here’s how minuscule the White House’s $775 million a year cuts are: less than 1/10 of 1% of this year’s budget deficit.”

On Facebook, it was:

“If you want to know how minuscule their proposed $775 million-a-year budget ‘cuts’ really are, please look at this chart. The proposed cuts are so insignificant – less than 1/10 of 1% of this year’s $1.65 trillion budget deficit – that they are essentially invisible on the pie chart. …

Kansas State Rep. Knows An Illegal Immigrant Because “She Had The Olive Complexion”

Kansas Republican State Rep. Connie O’Brien was discussing repealing an in-state tuition break for children of undocumented workers during a recorded meeting of the House State and Federal Affairs Committee. O’Brien was upset that her son was having trouble paying for classes at Kansas City Community College, and he felt despair while waiting in line with a female student who didn’t seem to be from the United States.

“My son, who’s a Kansas resident, born here, raised here, didn’t qualify for any financial aid,” according to a recording of her statement to the committee. “Yet this girl was going to …

Four Walmart Employees Fired For Disarming Shopper

Four Utah Walmart employees were let go because they disarmed a man who was trying to smuggle a laptop computer out of the store.

…the staffers say they were left with no choice but to disarm the man, which they managed to do without anyone getting shot. Unfortunately for them, Walmart says it had no choice but to let these employees go.

It began when Walmart workers noticed the suspect stick a netbook under his clothes. He was met at the exit by a loss-prevention coordinator who escorted him back to the loss-prevention room at the store where three more …

House Votes To Extend Patriot Act After All

After failing to fast-track renewal of the Patriot Act, and with House tea partiers seeming to stand on principle, Republicans and their tea party allies voted to extend the act, after all.

On a largely party-line vote of 275-144 vote, the House sent the measure — a proposed nine-month renewal of three provisions set to expire in two weeks — to the Democratic-led Senate for consideration.

The action came a week after House Republican leaders failed to get the bill approved under a fast-track approach normally reserved for non-controversial issues.

One would think small government conservatives would oppose …

Republicans’ Statements Untrue Three Times As Often As Those Of Democrats

An analysis by Smart Politics of more than 500 stories during the past year show that statements made by Republican politicians are false three times as often as those made by Democrats. (via Political Wire)

Republican statements were graded in the dreaded “false” and “pants on fire” categories 39 percent of the time, compared to just 12 percent for statements made by Democrats.

That means a supermajority of falsehoods documented by PolitiFact over the last year – 76 percent – were attributed to Republicans, with just 22 percent of such statements coming from Democrats.

As a consequence, Democrats have …

Breitbart Cartoon Portrays First Lady As Fat And Binging On Burgers

A cartoon featured on liberal-hater Andrew Breitbart’s website mocks Michelle Obama’s efforts to encourage Americans to eat healthier by portraying her as obese and binging on burgers, while the president is shown with jumbo ears.

The cartoon, which also appeared on Breitbart’s Big Journalism site over the weekend, references Obama’s campaign to encourage healthy eating and fight obesity. In it, she is drawn with a double chin and plump cheeks. She is drawn saying, “I’ve stepped up my efforts to control America’s eating habits by telling restaurants to lower portion sizes and fat content.” While she says this, she is …

Boehner Sending An Extra $450 Million Home While Slashing Nutrition For Infants?

by Sandi Behrns

Barely one month into GOP control of the House, it’s already getting hard to take them seriously on any of their promises. Throughout the campaign season and in the months since, we’ve heard very little from the right other than the constant drumbeat to slash spending. Part of that rhetoric even culminated (improbably) in a highly-touted ban on earmarks.

Now it has come time to put their money where their mouth is. On Friday, the 359-page GOP budget bill was filed in the House. It will make its way to the floor for consideration by the entire …

On Monday’s Radio Show…

• Too much or not enough? Alan weighs in on the opening round of the 2012 budget battle.

• Conservative Confab Concludes: Alan recaps his favorite moments from CPAC.

• Game show legend Ken Jennings tells Alan about his epic Jeopardy! showdown against a computer.…

Democrats Like Valentine’s Day More Than Republicans

Democrats like Valentine’s Day to the tune of 71%, compared to 61% of Republicans who like the event, according to a Fox News poll.

Is it important to find a Valentine who shares your political views? Most say no, that’s not a priority (65 percent). For about a third of voters it is important to find a partner who has the same ideology (32 percent).

Women (37 percent) are more likely than men (27 percent) to think it’s important to consider political views in matters of love. And Republicans (41 percent) and Democrats (30 percent) are more likely than …