Midwest Democratic Candidates Launches Attacks on GOP Rivals

Things are certainly heating up for the November midterm polls especially with just less than 4 weeks left before that historic moment. Democrats are in an uncomfortable situation especially when recent polls suggest that people grew weary and tired of the failures of the Obama administration. Anger and frustration are the main themes of the upcoming polls with much criticisms all directed to the Democratically-controlled House and Senate. With this, several Democratic candidates are stepping up their efforts to overcome their tough Republican rivals. In fact, three Midwestern Democrats have recently launched attack ads against their GOP candidates tagging them as an unethical insider who cannot be trusted.

In the Indiana Senate race, Democratic candidate and representative Brad Ellsworth is facing a stiff challenge against the well-funded Republican candidate Dan Coats. Recent polls by EPIC-MRA suggest that Coats is leading by 18 points against Ellsworth. Also, the recent Rasmussen Reports telephone survey also tells that Coats is leading Ellsworth with a 50% to 29% margin. In an effort to reverse the expected results, Ellsworth launched an ad that branded Coats as a lobbyist who sold out Indiana to line his pockets and supported controversial free trade laws. Democrats now believe that Anti-Washington attacks may well work for the Democratic Party too.

The Democratic Party is now strongly looking at the strategy of pairing Republicans to special interest and also linking them to corruption. Democratic Senate candidate to Missouri Robin Carnahan recently launched a new attack ad against her Republican rival Rep. Roy Blunt. The ad pointed Blunt to have sold earmarks in exchange for campaign contributions. It also explains how Blunt received a huge chunk of money days after million-dollar congressional earmark is passed. Blunt is also rumored to have used his congressional immunity in order to not get prosecuted. Her ads may have worked like a charm especially that recent polls suggest that Carnahan is only lagging by a single digit margin.

In the state of Wisconsin, Democratic candidate Russel Feingold is also stepping on the gas and has recently launched attack ads directed towards not only his rival, Ron Johnson, but to the whole Republican party as well. His ads depict the excessive celebrations undertaken by Republicans such as in football games. Feingold mentioned “It’s exactly the kind of behavior the corporate special interests and Ron Johnson are engaging in”. He also added “They’re dancing in the end zone because they think they’re going to take down the U.S. senator who’s been named the No. 1 enemy of Washington lobbyists. With barely 4 weeks to go, we expect more political ads to surface especially that numerous candidates are in the tick of the tide in their respective races.

Obama’s announces His New Initiative towards for Education Sector

It is a given fact that America and its citizens are experiencing tougher times especially that the economy hasn’t really fully recovered yet from the devastation brought by the recent economic recession. Unemployment levels all throughout the country are still high with many layoffs still occurring each day. People are beginning to feel impatient and angry with the way the Obama administration and the Democratically-controlled house and senate has been handling the situation. And for that, Republicans have been clinging on to that anger that they think is key for them to regain control of the house and senate.

One of proposals of Republicans in order to reduce the budget deficit is to implement budget cuts in various government departments such us in the educational sector. While republicans and dissatisfied citizens are strongly opposing further spending, Obama and his team are thinking otherwise. He argues that for the economy to grow, it should first boost consumer spending in order to increase demands for goods and services resulting in more jobs more people. And while Obama said he agrees with the GOP that America's fiscal situation is "untenable “, he also sees the plans as a way to force a 20 percent cut in education funding which not acceptable.

As a solution, Pres. Obama recently announced his new initiative called “Skills for America's Future” which aims to create and provide strong partnerships between various community colleges and America’s top business companies. The partnership will enable students to focus on various skill sets which will fit the needs of the industry. Obama also said the partnership plan aims to improve industry partnerships with community colleges and build a nationwide network to maximize workforce development and capabilities.

In a White House fact sheet, Pres. Obama said the following words, “We want to make it easier to join students looking for jobs with businesses looking to hire”. He also added “We want to put community colleges and employers together to create programs that match curricula in the classroom with the needs of the boardroom”. According to a White House official, the initiative has already received support and backing from various top American corporation such as Gap Inc., McDonald's, Accenture and more.

Obama’s focus on education has been very evident lately especially when he proposed the plan to increase the academic calendar. He argued that American students are lagging behind various countries by 1 month. He plans to add another month to the academic calendar as a way to cope up with recent standards and increase the American competitiveness especially in the field of finance and economy.

Defeated By the Tea Party, GOP Candidate Wages Write-In Candidacy

The Tea Party Movement is perhaps the biggest story coming in to the November midterm elections. With the string of upsets that it has accomplished in various Republican primaries, the Tea Party is displaying its strength and is riding on the anger of the people. The most popular of them all is Christine O’Donnell’s victory in the Delaware Republican primary where she vanquished high-favored GOP nominee Mike Castle. But another Tea Party-backed candidate worth mentioning is Joe Miller who was successful in his upset victory over Lisa Murkowski during last month’s Republican primary.

Unwilling to fade into the Alaska political arena, Murkowski is now waging a write-in candidacy against Miller. She is hoping that voters will realize her huge contributions to the state. It is interesting to remember that Murkowski was the one responsible for bringing billions of dollars in Federal projects to the people of Alaska. While it may be a difficult task, history tells us that it is indeed possible for a write-in candidate to win over legitimate and established candidates. Murkowski is now alone in waging war against those newcomers who derailed them during their primaries.

While other veteran Republicans who were toppled by Tea Party candidates chose to simply give up the race, others are still very enthusiastic in having a comeback. After suffering from a humiliating defeat at the hands of Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio in the GOP nomination, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is reportedly running for the Senate as an independent candidate. In Delaware, the disgruntled former governor and Republican representative Mike Castle is also eyeing on the possibility of him running as an independent candidate. It will certainly be a long and bumpy road for these candidates as they will be running without the support of a major party and without a formidable cash-raising apparatus.

Murkowski will be using her association with one of the state’s most popular figure for a quarter century, the late Senator Ted Stevens. She will also banking on the name and recognition of her father, former Governor Frank Murkowski who once held the Senate seat in Alaska. While political analyst do not expect Murkowski to win, she still has a greater chance considering the high number of upsets achieved during these elections and the unprecedented influences and trends which could potentially work for Murkowski.

A particular and tougher challenge now for her is what form of her name should be written on ballots so that it would count as a vote. She is now asking the people of Alaska to come up with slogans, write letters to the editor, call-in to radio talk shows and make videos and upload it to YouTube. She is also busy handling out sample ballots which will guide voters in how to write her name in actual ballots. She also plans to use the radio to teach voters how to do the write-in voting process.

A Democratic Defeat This November is Still a WIN for the President

With barely 5 weeks to go before the Midterm elections, some things are now slowly beginning to shape up. The recent unveiling of the “Pledge to America” by GOP leaders is a clear indication that Republicans are dead serious in winning this November and are now ready to take over Congress. Despite the efforts by Pres. Obama and his team to fire up young voters and their avid supporters, it is more likely that Democrats will finally lose control of Congress. Despite of this, the president might still see this as an opportunity rather a threat. There are assumptions that a Democratic defeat this November is considered a WIN for the President.

For the past couple of months, the people saw the steady decline of democratic support and influence. People began developing doubts if the President along with the Democratically-dominated Congress is indeed capable of saving the economy and driving the nation towards progress and development. The steady increase in unemployment which now stood at 9.6% (national average) has been the primary concern of the people. Obama’s stimulus package that amounts to over $800 billion was assumed to be a total failure for not creating any significant number of jobs at all. It is a given fact that the people of America most especially the middle-class are struggling and are blaming the administration for their failures.

With this, Republicans are again energized to finally defeat their Democratic rivals and regain back power and control of Congress. Republicans are so confident of their impending victory that they already published their 21-page legislative agenda for the next Congress. The agenda highlights various key points that are directed towards economic recovery such as repealing mandates for small businesses in the new health care law and stopping job killing hikes. The agenda aims to replace the campaign promises that Obama had but was not able to attain. One such promise was to stimulate job-creation in high numbers though millions of Americans today are desperately looking for jobs.

Polls conducted by various poll mechanisms such as RealClearPolitics are all pointing to a Republican victory these midterms. In March of 2010, House Republicans were projected to win by a margin of 47 seats. Another poll in May saw the margin rise to 56. And by mid-September, the polls predict a Republican victory with 67 seats. Trends from InTrade betting markets also show the same patterns. Also In March of 2010, House Republicans received a 43 percent chance of winning the majority. In May, the figure rose to 47 percent and by mid-September, it significantly rose to a whopping 70 percent.

While for most people, a Republican-dominated Congress will be bad news for the president, others realize it otherwise. In fact, if the economy will still be dismal after Republicans takeover of Congress, the President will be blaming them for it. This will transfer the blame from Obama and his democrats to the Republicans instead. It is good to know that both the President and the Congress have equal legislative powers. The President will just say that Congress (Republican Majority) has been unkind and has played as obstruction to his programs and platforms. This will be a good sign to the president especially for his reelection. So if ever Democrats will lose this November, the President will still have the last laugh.

Pledge to America: A Republican Manifesto for Change

With just a few weeks to go before election time, political parties in the U.S. are busy campaigning and convincing people about how good their intentions are. In particular, Republicans have been drawing strength from the dismal performance of the economy and the allegedly poor mishandling of the Obama administration. They blame Democrats for implementing policies and projects that only add up to the already bloated budget deficit of the United States. The Stimulus Package for example, was deemed a failure and was no near to creating jobs for the people. They are now more than determined to regain control of the U.S. Congress and implement change in it.

In an effort to convince the people about how clear and concise their plans are for the nation assuming that they get the majority vote after the election, Senior House Republicans have drafted a 21-page document entitled “Pledge to America” which they say will guide them after regaining power in Congress. Republican Kevin McCarthy of California uttered the words, “The land of opportunity has become the land of shrinking prosperity ... Our government has failed us”. He also added “We will take back our country. We will restore for a better future. This is our pledge to you”.

The “Pledge to America” contained numerous proposals which aim to cut on taxes and excessive spending. It also indicates their intentions in cutting down government regulation. With regards to President Obama’s health care reform law, Republicans aim to full repeal it. The documents also mentioned an end to the stimulus program which is widely considered a total failure. Various high-profile Republicans have shown their strong support for the pledge including the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Haley Barbour, and other Senate Republicans.

With recent polls showing massive dissatisfaction to Obama’s administration, concern for the economy and anger towards government officials, the document shows a clear agenda to change the way how Congress works. They want every bill to be cited to its constitutional authority such as requiring every bill to be made public for three days before undergoing any votes. Meanwhile, Democrats claimed that the GOP agenda was mere recycled ideas and will only contribute to the troubles of the nation. Recent polls clearly show that Republicans have a higher chance in regaining the majority this November compared to Democrats.