Lost Amongst The Election

From Politico:

"It shouldn't have come as a surprise, since Republicans have lost 20 of the past 29 House special elections, dating back to January 2003. And in perhaps the most worrisome aspect of the trend, the GOP lost its fifth consecutive competitive special election in Republican-friendly territory."

Unemployment Hits 10.2%

More than anything else this number is Obama's challenge. If he can't get it down, no matter how bad Bush was, he will never get re-elected or get dems re-elected in the midterms or the general election in 3 years.

This is the barometer that will let us know if Obama is going to get re-elected.

AMA and AARP Come Out For Health Care Bill

Two large organizations are now supporting the health care bill. AMA and AARP, both representing large groups of people, have come out in support of the health care bill. This is big b/c it keeps the momentum going for the the bill. Especially after the elections when some dems might be squeamish about supporting it.

Now, we just need to pass this darn thing.

After Election Thoughts

Well, of the 4 big elections (NJ gov, Virginia Gov, House election in Cali and NY) dems lost the govs and won the special elections. The house special election in NY the dems never should have won but thanks to the crazy turf war going on in the repub party, the dem won. Not since the civil war has NY-23 seen a dem house rep.

The repubs are using this as a referendum on the dems. After reading exit polls, it seems that it was not. 58% in NJ and 48% in Virginia said it was not about Obama. The repubs are using this as a weapon but don't be scared. There is a year before the midterm elections and if health care gets passed and if Obama can get those unemployment numbers down, then dems can turn around their approval rating (which by chance is still much better than repubs.)

But dems do need to get stuff done.