Why do Palin and O'Donnell attract so much attention?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It feels like Sarah Palin all over again.
Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell burst onto the national stage with her upset win in the primaries; and suddenly everyone can't seem to get enough of her.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/09/22/art.odonnell.jpg caption=" U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell smiles at supporters before doing a television interview at her Senate primary night party on September 14, 2010 in Dover, Delaware. "]
This is despite the fact that O'Donnell has some big question marks on her resume - just like Sarah Palin. She's come under fire for allegedly misusing campaign funds for personal expenses-just like Sarah Palin.
O'Donnell has also been in the spotlight for saying years ago she "dabbled in witchcraft" and had one of her first dates with a witch "on a satanic altar." And she's used her views on abstinence to rule out masturbation.
After her last-minute cancellation of two Sunday show appearances over the weekend, O'Donnell announced Sarah Palin advised her not to do any more national media interviews, and instead focus on local media.
Based on Sarah Palin's disastrous interviews with Katie Couric, that's probably not bad advice. I wonder if it means O'Donnell is as poorly informed on the issues as Sarah Palin was.
It all sounds so familiar. Palin's resume is littered with goofy comments like saying you can see Russia from Alaska or not being able to name a single newspaper she reads.
Palin quit as governor of Alaska midway through her first term. She often refuses to talk about lots of issues with the media, unless it's with the F-word network - which pays her.
But none of that seems to matter. Sarah Palin has become a huge celebrity who is seriously being talked about as a possible presidential contender. Just what we need. Remember the McCain campaign?
Here’s my question to you: Why do people like Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell attract so much attention?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Is the Tea Party for real?
Tea Party backed Christine O'Donnell. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The Tea Party movement might just be the best thing that ever happened to the Democrats - raising questions about internal divisions among Republicans.
Two Tea Party favorites defeated more mainstream Republicans in yesterday's primaries. In Delaware, Christine O'Donnell easily won over nine-time U.S. Rep. Mike Castle in the Senate primary.
Castle, who held elected office in Delaware for more than 40 years, had the entire national GOP establishment behind him while O'Donnell was endorsed by Sarah Palin.
Many believe O'Donnell's win means the Democrats now have an unexpected chance to keep the Delaware Senate seat once held by Vice President Joe Biden. One Republican strategist described the Delaware primary results as "straight out of Harry Reid's dream journal."
Meanwhile, another Tea Party victory came in New York, where Carl Paladino beat Rick Lazio in the primary for governor. Paladino will run against the heavily favored Democrat, Andrew Cuomo.
Although some question the ability of Tea Party candidates to win in the general election, others insist it is one of the most powerful movements in recent American history.
A piece in the Washington Examiner headlined "One nation under revolt" says that while many have ignored or belittled the Tea Party, it has only grown stronger - showing an unprecedented level of activism and enthusiasm.
And here's part of the reason for the Tea Party's success: a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows only one in four Americans say they trust the government to do what is right always or most of the time.
Here’s my question to you: Is the Tea Party for real?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Trips to risqué nightclubs and mailers with sex hotline numbers help GOP?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's been a bad week for the Republicans. Very bad.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/04/02/art.steele.jpg caption="Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele"]
The party of family values and morality started the week addressing revelations of RNC-funded trips to a risqué Hollywood nightclub that features bondage... and finished it off with mailers that mistakenly directed party members to a phone sex hotline.
At a time when Republicans could be capitalizing on dissatisfaction with the Democratic agenda in Washington, particularly health care reform... they're stuck talking about bondage and phone sex.
The RNC says chairman Michael Steele is ordering "substantive changes" to their accounting procedures. This comes after reports the RNC reimbursed a Republican donor almost $2,000 for a night out on the town in Los Angeles.
The evening included a trip to a club where topless dancers mimic sex and bondage acts. Is bondage a family value? Just asking.
It gets better. The RNC unintentionally sent a phone sex number on a fund-raising letter to potential donors. People who tried calling the number were offered "live, one-on-one talk with a nasty girl" for $3 a minute.
These PR nightmares are hurting the party in one of the worst ways possible, financially. The GOP needs to raise a lot of money for the upcoming midterm elections.
But one top social conservative leader... the president of the family research council... is calling on members to stop giving money to the national Republican Party. He says these incidents show the party is "completely tone-deaf" to the values and concerns of party members.
Here’s my question to you: How much do trips to risqué nightclubs and mailers with sex hotline numbers help the Republican Party?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Are Republicans sore losers?
U.S. Capitol police officers stand watch in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
At the NCAA tournament, the basketball team that loses shakes hands with the team that wins. It's called sportsmanship.
You see the same thing at NFL games, the World Series and boxing matches.
But where you don't see it much these days is in Washington, DC. We have become so bitterly divided that people on the losing side of a political debate - in the case of health care reform, Republicans and their supporters - have taken to hurling insults, using names like Baby Killer and using the most vile racial epithets to refer to African-American members of the United States Congress, as well as our President.
These recent examples follow the beginning of this descent into schoolyard behavior when during the President's State of the Union address - a Republican congressman yelled out: "You lie!"
That followed talk of death panels and the government killing your grandmother.
This kind of behavior by our leaders sends a subliminal message that this kind of behavior is acceptable, and eventually you get to death threats and perhaps worse.
What exactly are we becoming here? Do members of Congress start punching each other and throwing furniture the way they do in some legislative bodies elsewhere in the world?
In fighting health care reform at every step of the way, the Republicans may have made the political miscalculation of the century. When Republican Scott Brown won in Massachusetts, the GOP figured it had the health care debate in the bag and they didn't even have to be nice about it anymore.
But they lost, and now the residue of the bile they spewed during the debate has left a nasty taste in everyone's mouth.
Here’s my question to you: Are Republicans sore losers?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Where do the Republicans go from here?
Supporters of the Tea Party movement demonstrated outside the Capitol over the weekend against the health care bill which was just signed into law. (PHOTO CREDIT: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The health care debate represents the "most crushing defeat" for the Republican Party in four decades... and that's coming from a Republican.
Former Bush speechwriter David Frum says the GOP may be overly optimistic about its chances of winning seats in the midterm election; and that the party has only itself to blame for what has happened.
Not all Republicans feel this way - some think they haven't miscalculated; and they're prepared to campaign on a pledge to try to repeal health care reform. Their mission now will be to prove to voters that this bill is a bad idea and that it will cost them.
But that won't necessarily be easy. The Democrats were smart - and timing is good. Very good. Consider this: Some of the benefits of health care reform go into effect only weeks before the midterm elections - a lot of them being the most popular and least costly to implement.
Also, voters may be left with a bad taste in their mouths from the way some Republicans behaved at the end of this debate... including shouting insults in the House chamber and encouraging outbursts from the galleries.
Of course - there is hope for Republicans. They were very effective last summer at controlling the message with tea parties and town hall meetings; and polls show that Republicans are among some of the most motivated voters heading into the midterms. But it's definitely time for the GOP to step up and prove they're more than what the Democrats call the "party of no."
Here’s my question to you: Where do the Republicans go from here?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What does Republican victory in Mass. mean for Obama's first term?
Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election to fill the seat of the late Senator Ted Kennedy. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
What a difference a year makes.
A year ago to the day - President Obama rode into Washington high on his campaign's mantra of change and hope. He delivered his inauguration speech to adoring masses and embarked on an ambitious agenda - planning to tackle the economy, health care, the environment... all in his first year.
Fast forward 12 months - and the president and his party have been handed a stunning defeat - in Massachusetts of all states.
What's more, it's the same angry independent voters disgusted with politics as usual - who had vaulted President Obama to the White House - that delivered big time for Republican Scott Brown in mass.
Meanwhile the president's comment that "we can't win them all" is tantamount to putting lipstick on a pig. This loss is huge for him and for the Democrats. After all, President Obama campaigned personally for the loser, Martha Coakley, in Massachusetts as he did for the Democrats who lost governors' races in Virginia and New Jersey. Seems like the "Obama magic" is no more.
No doubt Republicans are rejoicing here, with potential presidential hopefuls like Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty weighing in on what it all means. One thing is sure... they're all smiling.
But Sarah Palin might want to think twice before she gives up her day job over there at the F-word network. A new CBS news poll shows a whopping 71 percent of Americans - including 56 percent of Republicans - are against Palin running for president in 2012.
Here’s my question to you: What does a Republican victory in the bluest of blue states mean for the rest of President Obama's first, and perhaps only, term?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Conservatives finished 2009 as #1 ideological group
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Turns out 2009 - the year the Democrats took over the White House and were in control of both houses of Congress - was a banner year for conservatives.
A new Gallup poll shows conservatives finished the year as the number 1 ideological group in the country - at 40-percent.... compared to 36-percent who identify themselves as moderates, and 21-percent who say they're liberals.
This is the first time in five years that conservatives outnumber moderates as a political ideological group. The findings show the increase is due largely to more political independents adopting the conservative label.
Gallup measures ideology by asking people if their political views are "very conservative," "conservative," "moderate," "liberal" or "very liberal."
The poll of some 22,000 people also shows that over the last decade, the percentage of Americans calling themselves either conservative or liberal has increased; while the percentage of moderates has decreased. An indication the country is becoming more polarized.
In the year 2000, 62-percent of Republicans identified as conservatives. That number is now up to 71 percent. As for Democrats, 29-percent called themselves liberal at the start of the decade, now it's 38-percent. Meanwhile fewer Republicans or Democrats call themselves moderates.
It's no wonder it's nearly impossible for politicians in Washington to reach across the aisle. With poll numbers like these, any attempt to include someone from the other end of the spectrum is fraught with political peril.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that conservatives finished 2009 as the number one ideological group?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 6pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Congressman who called Obama a liar has since raised $2 million?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Congressman Joe Wilson has raised over $2 million since he called President Obama a liar. It hasn't even been two weeks since the Republican from South Carolina carried on like a child on the floor of the House during the president's health care speech before a joint session of Congress.
Rep. Joe Wilson shouts, "You lie!" after President Obama denies the health plan would cover illegal immigrants.
In fact, Wilson's outburst has been a money-maker for both parties. Wilson and his Democratic opponent in next year's election, Rob Miller, each raised more than $1.5 million in the week following Wilson's stunt.
Initially, Wilson was quick to apologize to the president for his behavior; but since then he's become more defiant. In videos on his campaign web site, Wilson says he's "under attack by liberals" and vows not to be "muzzled."
The House voted last week to formally reprimand Wilson, but that hasn't stopped the congressman from raking in the big bucks from all around the country. In fact, he's become somewhat of a hero to conservative activists - being invited to speak in other states.
But there's a darker side to all this... Some people, including former President Jimmy Carter, say Wilson's actions were racially motivated. Wilson insists that's not the case, although critics point to his past actions - like a 1999 vote against removing the confederate flag from South Carolina's Capitol dome.
Here’s my question to you: What does it say when the congressman who called the president a liar before a joint session of Congress has since raised $2 million?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why are Democrats' and Obama's approval ratings falling?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As the debate over health care rages on... the American people are increasingly souring on President Obama and the Democrats. A new poll shows the president's approval rating at 51-percent - the lowest of his presidency and down from 61-percent two-months ago.
The Pew poll shows the Democratic Party now has a favorable rating of 49-percent... also down from 59-percent in April and 62-percent in January.
When it comes to the Republican Party - public opinion has remained steady all year at about 40-percent.
Meanwhile it looks like the American people aren't buying into calls for bipartisanship. The poll shows 63-percent of those surveyed say the president and Republicans are not working together on important issues... that's up from 50-percent who felt that way in June.
Although more people blame the Republicans than President Obama for this lack of co-operation, the poll shows a growing number are now faulting the president. 17-percent of Americans say Mr. Obama is to blame... that's up from seven-percent who felt that way in February.
Meanwhile a separate Gallup poll shows the Democratic-led Congress' approval at 31-percent... the lowest reading since February.
With health care eclipsing all else in Washington this summer - it seems as though the president and the Democrats are losing favor with the American people. It will be interesting to see what happens to these numbers if the Democrats decide to "go it alone" like we've been hearing.
Here’s my question to you: Why are the Democrats' and President Obama's approval ratings falling?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What does it say about the GOP in S.C. that they won't call for Sanford's resignation?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The arrogance of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford knows no bounds apparently. And the hypocrisy of the South Carolina Republican Party doesn't either. In the wake of his admission that he's been cheating on his wife, the state GOP voted to censure Sanford. Which amounts to looking the other way.
The reason for the censure was his secret travels to Argentina to visit his mistress, which officially translates into what the GOP is calling "Repeated failures to act in accordance with the party's core principles and beliefs."
One of those core principles is family values, except when it's inconvenient. Sanford also refuses to resign on his own, thus joining the soiled ranks of Larry Craig of Idaho and John Ensign of Nevada. Proud Republicans all.
Sanford also gets a slap on the wrist for falling below the standards expected of Republican elected officials. Deliberations reportedly went on for nearly four hours on a conference call and there were multiple rounds of balloting. This patty cake gesture on the part of the Party of family values is meaningless.
Just to be clear, Sanford's own party is saying they don't trust him and don't think he can effectively perform his duties as Governor; but it's okay with them if he continues in South Carolina's highest office. Pathetic.
Here’s my question to you: What does it say about the Republican Party in South Carolina that they won't call for Gov. Sanford's resignation?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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