Study the labels and vote
By Jim Lees (Charleston Gazette Op Ed)
As a former candidate for governor, I have more than a passing interest in the current campaign to replace Gov. Manchin until the 2012 election. Among candidates for the Democratic nomination (I leave it to my many Republican friends to sort out the Republican race). I’m most interested in what issues candidates present to the public. What a better way than to check each candidate’s website to see what pops out as the initial message. Read the full Op-Ed here.
The Next Question – How High and How Long?
By POLITICO’S Morning Score
The Republican pollsters at Public Opinion Strategies put together a chart tracking national security-related bumps dating back to Pearl Harbor and concluded: “On average, the President’s approval rating increases 13 points and a bump lasts an average of 22 weeks. That does not include the 105 week bump that President George W. Bush received after 9/11. The ‘bump’ on job approval shows the total increase in approval rating from prior to the event. The duration of the increase indicates the number of weeks until the President’s job approval rating returned to the prior level (so, for instance, the 35 point bump that George W. Bush got did not last the entire 105 weeks – the spike was the high, and it took 105 weeks to return to the pre-9/11 level.)” See the chart here: http://bit.ly/iRKHe8
Yes, Bin Laden’s Death Will help Obama, but for How Long?
By Nate Silver (The New York Times)
Obama bin Laden is dead.
I got the news on Twitter while in a taxi back from J. F. K. Airport. I told my cabbie, who was in disbelief at first, to turn the radio on. We took in the story together. I’m as patriotic as the next guy: it was a nice moment.
I suppose I’m supposed to weigh in on the electoral implications of this. It’s both very easy and difficult to write about. Read the full story here.
