No. 135
State of the Nation
In early September the NBC/WSJ poll found that 67% of us think the country is on the wrong track. At mid-month, the CBS/NYT survey found 66% saying the country is on the wrong track. 76% are dissatisfied with the way...
President Obama
The public’s grade on the job President Obama is doing (as found by Gallup 9/28) is 43% approval/52% disapproval. In August 2014, the NBC/WSJ survey found women with a disapproval rating of 47% and an approval rating of 46%. In...
Where have all the voters gone
“Where have all the voters gone” As voting has been made easier by wider use of no-excuse absentee voting, mail voting, and early voting generally, turnout has gone down. Prior to 1972, only Tennessee and Idaho offered so-called “no excuse”...
The Races
14% approve of the way Congress is doing its job. This has been the average approval rating for all of 2014. This is somewhat higher than the 9% approval recorded earlier this year. Among those who follow national politics closely,...
The Races: U.S. Senate
Since passage of the 17th amendment in 1913, the President’s Party has lost an average of nearly 6 U.S. Senate seats in the mid-term election of the 6th year of the President’s term (this includes circumstances when a President was...
The Races: U.S. House
The general consensus is that the Republicans will pick up seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Cook currently suggests that the Republicans will gain between 2 and 12 seats. Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball suggests the GOP pickup will range...
The Races: Governors
The Governors Democrats 21 Republicans 29 The Watch has not generally covered gubernatorial races and will not do so in any detail, but here is the current state of play based on the Cook Political Report. There are 36 seats...
The Races: President
The list of potential candidates for President in 2016 has stabilized, at least for the moment. Hillary Clinton continues to clear the Democratic field. On the Republican side there are six candidates drawing between 11.5% and 8.8%. In “contests” with...
This and That
For many, many years I have admired Bob Shrum’s ability to write the words used to deliver political messages in all formats, but particularly in speeches. (This is not to undervalue his overall strategic political acumen, which is very high.)...
Restaurant: Bagels Etc. and Carry Out
Washington, DC: This primarily take-out "restaurant" has been at this location for 29 years. I have partaken of its offerings for 25 years.