PPP: That Electability Argument Is Gonna Be Hard

Not only are his approval numbers good, but his 2012 match-up numbers are good too. Romney, Huckabee, Gingrich, and Palin, the only potential GOP candidates with much national name recognition, all trailed the President head-to-head. For good measure, Michele Bachmann is getting whipped too. PPP says the President leads Romney and Huckabee by 5 points, Gingrich by 12, Palin by 17, and Bachmann by 18.

Basically, this changes the calculus a bit. The popular logic had been that Mitt Romney would run as the "electable" candidate. Four years ago, Mike Huckabee had to run against that mantra, being considered unelectable by most. Well, now, they are just as electable, and both will have a very difficult time (because most people who are open to voting for these two, already know them). Gingrich and Palin both have nearly unanimous name recognition, and get beaten soundly. Bachmann is just way, way behind. It's tough for any of these people to claim the "electability" argument in Iowa and New Hampshire.

So who wins this poll? Everybody else. Haley Barbour wins this poll. Time Pawlenty wins this poll. Hell, Chris Christie, Scott Brown, and Bobby Jindal win this poll. If NONE of the front-runners have a very good chance to beat the President, than why wouldn't caucus-goers in Iowa, or voters in New Hampshire and South Carolina give them a look? It's worth considering as we go further.

50 Years Ago: The Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy

President Truman's Inaugural Speech

President Eisenhower's First Inaugural Speech

President Lyndon Baines Johnson Inauguration

President Nixon's First Inaugural

About That Repeal Vote....

Well, the "Repeal of the Job Killing Health Care Law" has passed by a 245-189 vote. With one obvious absence, the Democrats managed to keep all but 3 members on their side for this vote. For a point of reference, 34 Democrats voted "no" on the Health Care Law in it's final passage. Of that crew, 13 are still there, and just three voted with Republicans. That means 10 decided today's vote was a joke.

Let's start with the obvious. Eric Cantor spoke a week ago about how he would break the Democratic Caucus using votes like this early on. Well, he failed there. If anything, Nancy Pelosi was even better as Minority Leader than she was in charge. In this sense, the GOP utterly failed. They also were exposed as simply pushing a partisan bill. All in all, this wasn't a successful stunt. It's again, my hope, that they now put forward a proposal. I'm not holding my breath.

Finally, I think it's worth addressing the three Democrats who voted for repeal. Congressmen Mike Ross (D-Arkansas), Dan Boren (D-Oklahoma), and Mike McIntyre (D-North Carolina) all bolted their party, and voted with the GOP on this one. Some would say, this makes sense. They are all from the south. So a lot of people will say, they had to. They may not be right. Last year, 34 Democrats voted against Health Care Reform. Only 13 of them survived the mid-term elections. It doesn't appear that their "no" votes helped. Only time will tell, and representatives represent their districts, not their party, but this doesn't look like it's necessarily a brilliant political move.

From the Floor of the House Today: Rep. Paul Ryan and Rep. Anthony Weiner

Watch the State Dinner and Today's Events

Apparently, the live feed isn't feeding the dinner. Damn.

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President Obama's Approval

President Obama is suddenly back on the rise. His realclearpolitics average approval is 49.6%, while his disapproval is down to 45.3%. The numbers of recent note:

• Gallup: 49% approval- 43% disapproval
• Rasmussen: 48% approval- 51% disapproval (this is an outlier, but an improvement for him)
• CNN/Opinion Research: 53% approval- 45% disapproval
• ABC News/Washington Post: 54% approval- 43% disapproval
• Democracy Corps: 47% approval and disapproval (last week)
• Reuters/Ipsos: 50% approval- 47% disapproval (ended on the 10th)
• McClatchy/Marist: 48% approval- 43% disapproval (ended on the 10th)
• Quinnipiac: 48% approval- 44% disapproval (ended on the 11th)
• AP/GfK: 53% approval- 46% disapproval (ended on the 10th) 
• Pew: 46% approval- 44% disapproval (ended on the 9th)

Just now, the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll came out and has him at 53%-41%. This means that for this week, the President has an approval of 51.4% and a disapproval of 44.6%. Removing Rasmussen, he hasn't had a single poll put him in the negative, and his approval for the week is 52.25%, and his disapproval is 43%. The President is looking quite strong, but not unbeatable, as the 2012 election looms.