2012 Presidential Election

Welcome to The Summer Of Recovery Fear. Democrats are fleeing the sinking ship. Via Politico – Top Democrats are growing markedly more pessimistic about holding the House, privately conceding that the summertime economic and political recovery they were banking on will not likely materialize by Election Day. In conversations with more than two dozen party insiders, most of whom requested anonymity to speak candidly about the state of play, Democrats in and out of Washington say they are increasingly alarmed about the economic and polling data they have seen in recent weeks. They no longer believe the jobs and housing markets will recover – or that anything resembling the White House’s promise of a “recovery summer” is under way. They are even more concerned by indications that House Democrats once considered safe – such as Rep. Betty Sutton, who occupies an Ohio seat that President Barack Obama won with 57 percent of the vote in 2008 – are in real trouble. In two close races, endangered Democrats are even running ads touting how they oppose their leadership. As Jake Tapper at ABC News points out: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called them her “majority makers” – the moderate to conservative Democrats in right-leaning districts whose election in 2006 made her Speaker. And now many of them – and other Democrats in competitive districts — are fighting for their political lives in a harsh environment and have found it necessary to distance themselves from their leaders and Democratic policies. A TV ad for Rep. Bobby Bright, D-Ala., heralds how he “voted against the bailouts, against stimulus spending, against the massive government health care,” not to mention the “trillion dollar federal budget.” Here’s Bright’s ad: Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Penn., is up on the air in Western Pennsylvania heralding his opposition to the Democrats’ health care reform bill and the Wall Street bailout. “ I like that Jason Altmire is not afraid to stand up to the president,” a man in the commercial says. “And Nancy Pelosi,” adds a woman. Here’s Altmire’s ad: My oh my how things have changed after a mere 19 months!   Is it any wonder when Rasmussen  polls Obama at a 27%  strongly approve among likely voters and 47% strongly disapprove that so-called moderate democrats are desperate to distance themselves from him and his policies ?  Talk about upside down!…  Which seems appropriate considering what his policies have done to this country. In the latest Rasmussen Congressional Favorability Rating ,  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now nearly tied with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when it comes to unpopularity among voters nationwide.   Twenty-six percent (26%) have a favorable opinion of the Nevada Democrat, but that includes just five percent (5%) with a Very Favorable view. Thirty-four percent (34%) regard the San Francisco congresswoman favorably, with 13% Very Favorable toward her. Congress overall doesn’t fare much better in the latest polls .  Most U.S. voters believe the Democratic congressional agenda is extreme, while a plurality describe the Republican agenda as mainstream. What else can a phony Blue Dog Democrat to do when faced with an electoral  tsunami in November?

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Fear and Loathing: “Moderate” House Dems Running Away from Obama, Pelosi and Reid