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 Back in December, Oprah Winfrey interviewed Barack Obama and asked him what kind of grade he would give himself on his job performance.  “A good, solid B-plus”, he answered.

Really?  Talk about grading on a curve.

Let’s review some of the highlights and lowlights of Mr. Obama’s freshman year.

Soon after taking office he managed to push his big stimulus program through Congress.  Then there were the bank bailouts (and the continuation of the Bush bailouts), and the TARP, and then the bailouts of automakers (and their unions).  He was on a roll.

He ordered the closing of the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, but it’s still open because they can’t figure out how to do what he said he wanted to do without making the situation worse – which is exactly what everyone with common sense told him two years ago.  read more »

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the most polarizing of them all?

The answer?  Barack Obama.  (via Gallup):

The 65 percentage-point gap between Democrats' (88%) and Republicans' (23%) average job approval ratings for Barack Obama is easily the largest for any president in his first year in office, greatly exceeding the prior high of 52 points for Bill Clinton.

So how does a "polarizing" president try to become less polarizing?  By focusing on something that the bulk of the country agrees on.  According to the latest news, Obama plans to focus on the fact that we're spending too much money and need to get our fiscal house in order.

The only problem with is that the message doesn't fit the messenger.  It's a little like a call girl being a big advocate for chastity.

Reports indicate he'll use his State of the Union speech to call for a "freeze" on "non-defense, discretionary" spending.  Basically, that means he's not touching where the real spending is - entitlements.  As Hot Air pointed out, the $250 billion he says this would save is only a little more than the roughly $200 billion in MONTHLY deficit spending this government does.  read more »

Michael Barone has taken a look at the results of the Massachusetts Senate race on a district by district basis (among the Mass congressional districts) and notes the following:

Coakley carries districts where Obama got 65% or more of the vote and runs essentially even in the district where he got 64%, and Scott Brown runs ahead in districts where Obama got less than 64% of the vote.

Let’s extrapolate those numbers to the nation as a whole and assume that a district that voted 64% or more for Obama is safe for Democrats even under the most dire of circumstances. How many such districts are there? Answer, according to this source: 103. The other 332 districts voted 63% or less for Obama. Interestingly, there are more 64%+ Obama districts in the West (36) than in the East (27) and more in the South (21) than in the Midwest (19).

All but two of the 103 Obama 64%+ districts are represented by Democrats. The two exceptions are Louisiana 2, where Republican An Joseph Cao beat Democrat William “Cold Cash” Jefferson in a December 2008 runoff, and Florida 19, whose incumbent Robert Wexler resigned and a special election will be held in April. And, yes, it will be amazing if this heavily Jewish district in Palm Beach and Broward Counties elects a Republican; heavily Jewish Brookline and Newton voted heavily against Scott Brown in Massachusetts.

Of course there are a lot of polls out there, but PPP (Public Policy Polling) is a liberal outfit.  And now even their numbers show "The One" in negative territory...

For the first time in our monthly national surveys Barack Obama's approval rating has slipped into negative territory. 46% of voters in the country approve of the job he's doing while 47% disapprove.

Obama's approval peaked in our polling last May at 55%. Since then his largest declines in popularity have come with whites (from 48% to 36%), independents (from 55% to 43%), and conservatives (24 to 14%). He's also seen a decent drop with moderates from 69 to 61%. With his core groups of support- Democrats, liberals, and racial minorities- he's seen only minimal change in his standing.

The fact that they mention the racial aspect of his polling is interesting, and reminds me of an by Pat Buchanan yesterday, ("Has Obama lost white America?"), which points out that the white vote is turning into Obama's biggest problem...and is likely to be, by default, a big problem forthe Democrats in general this November.

Buchanan writes:

If Republicans will study the returns from Massachusetts, then review the returns from Virginia and New Jersey, light will fall upon the path to victory over Barack Obama in 2012.
    
Obama defeated John McCain by winning the black vote 24 to one, the Hispanic vote two to one and taking a larger share of the white vote, 44 percent, than did John Kerry or Al Gore. As the white vote was three-fourths of the national turnout, Obama coasted to victory.
    
Now consider Massachusetts. In the 2008 election, no less than 79 percent of the voters were white, and Obama carried them by 20 points, winning the state 62 to 36.

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Election Day finally arrived in Massachusetts and the results are nothing short of a miracle.

In one of the bluest of the blue states, (where Obama won by 61%), an unknown Republican managed to win "Ted Kennedy's seat" in the United States Senate.

Thank you, Barack Obama.

Even before the campaign was over, the blame game began and Democrats pronounced it all Martha Coakley's fault.  The long knives came out.

The Democrat finger pointing is important to note because they are essentially trying to absolve Congress and Obama from any and all blame for how this race played out.  They have been all over the place telling anyone with a microphone or TV camera that it had nothing to do with what was going on in Washington.  It was "all local" they say, which is the same spin we heard after the big Republican gains in Virginia and New Jersey two months ago.  read more »

 You really have to love it when these people get so worked up (say, about losing "Ted Kennedy's seat") that they step all over their message with quotes like this:

“Why would you hand the keys to the car back to the same guys whose policies drove the economy into the ditch and then walked away from the scene of the accident?”

That’s Chris Van Hollen, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, meaning to help Coakley win Teddy Kennedy’s seat, and running right off the road into a ditch called Chappaquiddick.

(h/t Instapundit)

Here's a snapshot of all the latest polls in the Massachusetts Senate race.  Long story short, it's looking like Scott Brown's decision to turn the race into a virtual referendum on ObamaCare was brilliant.  In deep blue Massachusetts no less.

Exit questions:

1) Does ObamaCare pass?

2) If he actually wins this thing, how many democrats announce they won't be running for re-election by the end of the month?

It's looking more and more possible each day.

Yesterday's Rasmussen poll only had them apart by one point, so anything can happen, depending on turnout.

Can you imagine the political implications (not just to ObamaCare) of a Republican winning "the Kennedy Seat"?

But now ALL conservatives, no matter what state you're in, have a chance to make a difference.

The campaign has set up a "call from home" program and EVERY conservative in America can help.  Are you willing to make 15 or more calls to stop the radical left agenda by the Obama/Reid/Pelosi team?

Another option is that you can make a contribution...but just as importantly, if you can't send any funds...you can make some calls and help the cause.

If you want to make a contribution...just visit the Scott Brown for U.S. Senate Web Page.

If you are willing to make some phone calls...sign up here

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One more vote.  That's all it will take to stop the health care bill in the Senate.

Pitch in and help Scott Brown get that vote for us next Tuesday.

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Recent national polls showing a larger percentage of Americans expressing support for a non-existing “Tea Party” candidate rather than a Republican candidate is a temptation for conservatives to waste their time and increase the odds of feeling even more disenfranchised in the future.

I understand the frustration, especially the white hot frustration of those who have only recently become energized and involved, most likely as a result of our current President.

The energy, enthusiasm and commitment to core principles is great. It’s beyond great. It’s exactly what this country (and more specifically the GOP) needs. But what we don’t need is for that energy and enthusiasm to be wasted where it will do absolutely no good whatsoever to the principles it represents.  read more »

As with just about everything else, the end of the year is a good time to look back and review things.  In this case, we took a look at the most popular items on the Conservative Outpost for 2009 and listed the Top Ten (according to traffic) below.

Enjoy!

The Outpost Top Ten for 2009:

1. The Outposts' Republican Leadership Survey (who do you think "runs" the party?  Who should?)
2. Say "NO" to Socialized medicine! (The Outpost campaign to stop Obamacare)
3. Can We Decommission the Health Care Bill with Sodium Silicate?
4. What will Obama's public approval rating be on Labor Day, 2010? (poll)
5. The Obamacare flowchart  (see how streamlined it is for yourself!)
6. Lies and more lies! (Obama on health care)
7. Beware conservative "extremists"! (Obama's DHS is on watch!)
8. The Obama Deficits (as far as the eye can see)
9. The ACORN Guide to Do-it-Yourself Pimpin' (or "How to Start a Brothel in Ten Easy Steps!")
10. Democrat says "We're going to let you die" as part of Obamacare (AARP, are you listening?)

   read more »