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Making a Bad Situation
Worse Part One of Three By Dave Andrusko Good evening, and thanks for reading Today's News & Views. Part Two takes up an issue that won't go away: Men and Abortion. Part Three discusses the latest rounds of charges against a notorious abortionist. Over at National Right to Life News Today (www.nationalrighttolifenews.org) , you'll read about the fight over assisted suicide in Canada, an attack on a pro-life candidate in New Hampshire, and the latest educational resource from National Right to Life. Please send your comments on Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha. There is so much to discuss today that I will use Part One today to talk about three topics, rather than write about them individually.
· Once momentum turns against a politician, there is often little he or she can do. In the case of pro-abortion President Barack Obama, this is true times ten. Obama is so tin-eared politically that virtually every note out of his mouth grates on people's ears, making a bad situation worse. A friend of mine who is a very astute observer asked me last month how low I thought Obama's approval ratings could sink by the November 2 mid-term elections. I replied in the high 30s, which he pooh-poohed as absurdly low. Today Rasmussen Reports pegs Obama's fortunes ominously close to that seemingly impossibly low benchmark. "Overall, 41% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty-eight percent (58%) disapprove." On top of that Obama's "Presidential Approval Index" --the number who strongly approve minus the number who strongly disapprove-- is an eye-popping minus 24! [47% strongly disapprove, 23% strongly approve. "Today's Approval Index rating is the lowest yet recorded for this president," Rasmussen Reports explains. "Overall Job Approval matches the lowest recorded number, and the number who Strongly Disapprove matches the highest yet recorded."
· In one sense what happen to good old Andy Griffith is merely funny, in another way it is instructive. "How bad is it for Democrats in North Carolina?" asks the Charlotte News Observer. "Even Sheriff Andy Taylor is taking a beating in the polls." Griffith, the star of the "Andy Griffith Show," lives in North Carolina. Last month "he cut an ad for the federal government promising good things to come from the Democratic-backed health care law," according to the newspaper. Griffith "has seen his approval ratings plummet, according to a poll published Tuesday by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling." Turns out that "Griffith's approval rating has fallen 25 points since 2008," according to the News Observer. "Griffith has been a closer for Democrats, an unimpeachable saintly figure who fills his rare political spots with folksy charm and obvious references to his role as a small-town North Carolina sheriff." · We'll talk about this in depth at another time, but there are politicians with pro-life credentials who are telling candidates that this is the election to ignore abortion--to focus on the economy and jobs and the like. But there is this year--as there is every year--a very significant segment of the electorate for whom the abortion issue is paramount, the issue on which they cast their ballot. Among these single-issue voters, there are many more people who will vote for the pro-life candidate than those who will for the pro-abortion candidate based on their position on abortion. The pro-life candidate typically enjoys a net advantage of around three to four percent. For decades this increment has been (and will always be) what decides close elections--the "margin of victory." It is interesting that no matter how long the battle for life goes on, some lessons appear to be consistently overlooked. |
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Tomorrow, Jennifer Popik, JD, of the Robert Powell Center for
Medical Ethics goes into depth about something I briefly touched
on yesterday: facing ObamaCare's many demands, insurance
carriers are increasing their rates. The figures in yesterday's
news stories were 1% to 9%. ObamaCare not only is invested in
promoting abortion and guaranteeing rationing, its promise to
lower health costs is completely implausible.