Politics

A conservative university professor and political scientist thinks no one should be surprised by the new poll results showing that Americans are less confident in President Obama's leadership than at any point since he took office almost 18 months ago.

The Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll found that 62 percent of surveyed adults feel the country is on the wrong track, which is the highest level reported since before the 2008 election. The survey also showed that for the first time, more people disapprove of the president's performance than those who approve. That includes 17 percent of disapproving Democrats, which is also the highest level for Obama's presidency.

Another telling statistic reveals that just 44 percent of those who supported Obama in 2008 now express a high interest in the midterm elections -- a 38-percent drop from two years ago.  read more »

In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama's political coattails extended across the country. But heading into this year's midterm elections, Democrats face a tricky task of where to deploy their party chief on the campaign trail as they try to hang onto majorities in both houses of Congress.

President Obama's record over the past 17 months has been mixed: His party won a series of special House elections, but he put himself on the line as Democrats lost a pair of high-profile gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia. Then there was the special senatorial election in Massachusetts, where even a personal last-minute pitch by the president couldn't stop Republican Scott Brown from winning the seat long held by liberal lion Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Still, even as poll numbers have dropped from their lofty post-inauguration levels, campaigns have requested varying levels of involvement from Mr.  read more »

The phone in Sen. John Thune's office is about to start ringing -- a lot.

The South Dakota Republican -- who also leads the Senate GOP Policy Committee and is widely viewed as a 2012 presidential contender --is up for re-election this year. But no Democrat or Independent filed to run against him, leaving him with plenty of time and money to help Republicans win seats this November as the party seeks to regain a true sense of relevancy on Capitol Hill.

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said Thursday he planned to meet with Thune soon to explore ways the up-and-coming first-term Senator could help the NRSC and GOP candidates from now until Election Day. Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) added that he fully expects Thune to be a strong political asset over the next 135 days...

House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are demanding that the Justice Department turn over documents on the White House's attempts to lure Democratic candidates out of Senate races with job offers.

Republicans filed a resolution of inquiry Thursday night seeking to uncover whether Justice attorneys were consulted about the legality of the White House making offers to Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., and Andrew Romanoff.

Once a resolution of inquiry is introduced, the committee has 14 legislative days to consider it. Democrats on the committee have indicated that they may take it up as early as next Wednesday, a GOP committee aide said...

Senior White House advisers asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Joe Sestak about whether he was serious about running for Senate, and to feel out whether he'd be open to other alternatives, according to sources familiar with the situation.

But the White House maintains that the Clinton-Sestak discussions were informal, according to the sources. The White House, under pressure to divulge the specifics of its interactions with Sestak, will release a formal statement later today outlining their version of events, including Clinton's involvement.

According to the sources, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel asked Clinton and his longtime adviser, lawyer Doug Band, to talk to Sestak about the race...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Next up, Sarah Palin.

The spotlight at the three-day Southern Republican Leadership Conference turns Friday to the 2008 vice presidential nominee.

The former Alaska governor is among the potential GOP contenders to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012 addressing the gathering of a few thousand Republican activists in Louisiana.

At least four possible candidates passed up the event, choosing instead to do their political leg work elsewhere...

The real verdict on health care reform won't come until November, but the slew of polls that have come out in the week since the sweeping package passed Congress show the key players in the debate are already seeing a shift in the political headwinds.

For President Obama, health care passage seemed to give him a slight -- and temporary -- boost at a time when his poll numbers had been sinking and even Vice President Biden admitted the administration was on the verge of losing its persuasive power.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rallying the base, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is steadily losing support...

A former Republican presidential candidate and close friend of former Indiana Senator Dan Coats says liberals are leveling "bitter and vicious" attacks against the GOP Senate hopeful.

Politico.com reports that "Democrats have launched a withering, no-holds-barred assault" on Dan Coats, who is trying to unseat incumbent Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and recapture the seat he once held.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued a statement referring to Coats as a "federally registered lobbyist whose client lists include banks, private equity firms, and defense contractors." Democrats are also criticizing Coats for being registered to vote in Virginia instead of Indiana, and for telling North Carolina delegates at the 2008 GOP convention that he was planning to retire to their state.

Gary Bauer, president of American Values and a longtime friend of Dan Coats, says "the left" finally realizes that there is a real backlash in the country against what is happening in Wa  read more »

Republicans in North Dakota are planning one of the party's first organized efforts to capture some of the energy and enthusiasm of the "tea party" movement, an experiment that nervous party officials around the country will be watching with hopeful anticipation.

North Dakota Republican Chairman Gary Emineth is one of the organizers of what is being billed as a "Take Back Washington" rally and town hall meeting on Feb. 12 in Bismarck, N.D., with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, an outspoken conservative, as the keynote speaker.

"The role the tea party could play in the future of the Republican Party is significant and critical," Mr. Emineth said. "It is how we speak and reach out to the tea party activists that speaks volumes to the movement. The 'Take Back Washington' event is designed to have the Republican Party leadership and elected officials listen to activists within this movement."...

As Congress begins picking through President Obama's vast election year budget, many Democratic incumbents and candidates seem to be finding something they love — to campaign against.

A Democratic Senate candidate in Missouri denounced the budget's sky-high deficit. A Florida Democrat whose district includes the Kennedy Space Center hit the roof over NASA budget cuts. And an endangered Senate Democrat denounced proposed cuts in farm subsidies.

A headline on the 2010 campaign website of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), blares her opposition to Obama's farm budget: ``Blanche stands up for Arkansas farm families,'' it says.

Heading into an election season in which Republicans are trying to tie Democrats to Obama's unpopular policies, Obama's budget gives his fellow Democrats an unlikely campaign tool — a catalogue of ways to establish their distance from controversial aspects of his administration...