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Graham is accused of weakening the GOP brand. |
Political Notebook
Republicans, boosted by winning the races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia last week, have more reason for optimism.
A new Gallup poll - conducted just after the elections and released yesterday - found the GOP moving ahead of the Democrats in an early peek at next year’s midterm election, largely because of growing support from independent voters.
Among registered voters, 48 percent say they would vote for an unnamed Republican candidate, and 44 percent say they would back the Democratic candidate. That’s a substantial swing from the same poll in July, when 50 percent supported the Democrat and 44 percent the Republican.
The generic GOP candidate leads 52 percent to 30 percent among independent voters, who went heavily for President Obama and Democrats last year. In July, the parties were statistically tied among independents.
Republicans are aiming to retake control of both the House and Senate in 2010 from Democrats, who have substantial majorities in both chambers. If Republicans succeed, Obama’s agenda for the second half of his term would probably be stymied.
“Roughly a year before the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans seem well positioned to win back some of their congressional losses in 2006 and 2008,’’ Gallup said in its analysis.
In another warning sign for Democrats, just 52 percent of registered voters said they want their own representative to be reelected next year and only 34 percent said they wanted to see most lawmakers in general returned to office, according to poll released yesterday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Those figures are similar to numbers recorded in 2006 and 1994, the last two elections in which control of both houses of Congress changed political parties, according to the survey. -- GLOBE STAFF
Obama skips Nagasaki, Hiroshima on Asian tour
President Obama leaves today on an extensive diplomatic tour of Asia with a busy schedule of meetings during nine days in Japan, Singapore, China, and South Korea.Not on his itinerary is a stop in either Hiroshima or Nagasaki, where the United States dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War II. The mayors of the two Japanese cities had invited Obama, noting that he has pledged to pursue a world free of nuclear weapons and was awarded the Nobel Peace Price.
But such a visit - the first by an American president in office - would be highly controversial and would inflame Obama's critics who accuse him of apologizing too much for the sins of US foreign policy.
Obama, however, did tell Japanese TV network NHK on Tuesday that he would like to eventually visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his presidency - he just could not fit it into his schedule this time.
"The memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are etched in the minds of the world, and I would be honored to have the opportunity to visit those cities at some point during my presidency," Obama said in the interview. -- GLOBE STAFF
S.C. GOP censures Graham for work with Democrats
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Republican leaders in a South Carolina county have censured their own US senator, Lindsey Graham, for working with Democrats on a climate change bill and other legislation.The Republican has often worked with Democrats in Congress, but Charleston County chairwoman Lin Bennett says his work on climate legislation is the last straw.
The party resolution passed Monday says Graham has weakened the Republican brand. Bennett expects a similar resolution to be introduced at the state GOP convention next year.
Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop says Graham is looking for a way forward on the energy legislation, which he is trying to advance with Democrat John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
