Two days ago CNBC reported that “Obama says economy is ‘booming,’ takes credit for record growth. …In recent weeks, Obama has begun to use words like ‘booming’ to describe the economy, and to cite ‘record’ growth in various areas.” As WSJ reporter Carol Lee said on Morning Joe, there is a “total disconnect” between President Barack Obama’s statements about the improving economy and the feeling amongst voters. It must be glorious inside that bubble that he’s living in.
Back on earth, NBC’s Mark Murray reports, “Two words sum up the mood of the nation: Fed up. Six in 10 Americans are dissatisfied with the state of the U.S. economy, more than 70 percent believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, and nearly 80 percent are down on the country’s political system, according to the latest NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll. The frustration carries over to the nation’s political leaders, with President Barack Obama’s overall approval rating hitting a new low at 40 percent and a mere 14 percent of the public giving Congress a thumbs up.” Democratic pollster Fred Yang summed up the brutal poll, telling the Wall Street Journal, “The public seems to have moved beyond the plaintive cry of ‘feel our pain’ to the more angry pronouncement of ‘you are causing our pain.’”
The poll is the latest signal that Democrats have completely misjudged the political environment. In January, The Hill reported that, “Democrats are confident that a strong economy in 2014 will help them retain their Senate majority. ‘If the economy continues to improve at the rate it’s improving by or more, we will hold the Senate, plain and simple,’ said a senior Senate Democratic aide.’” Ooops. The DSCC in particular seems to have missed the memo that Americans are not pleased with the direction Democrats have taken the economy, a point that we’ve consistently made. (See here, here and here)
This poll reinforces the reality that Democrats on the ballot like Mark Udall, Mark Begich and Mark Pryor have absolutely nothing to sell their voters. Recently Begich touted that the jobs report “demonstrates progress as our economy continues to recover.” Over in Michigan, Gary Peters repeatedly brags about how well the economy is doing. In Iowa, Bruce Braley is a cheerleader for the Obama Administration’s economic agenda.
Americans are losing faith in the dream that has defined our country for generations. As the Wall Street Journal reports, “76% of adults lack confidence that their children’s generation will have a better life than they do—an all-time high. Some 71% of adults think the country is on the wrong track, a leap of 8 points from a June survey, and 60% believe the U.S. is in a state of decline.” Meanwhile, President Obama and Democrats on the ballot are telling voters how wonderful things are. It isn’t working.
Seize the day,
Brad Dayspring
@BDayspring
Brook Hougesen
@Brook_H
2014 BATTLEGROUND SONAR
(MONTANA) Walsh cancels public appearances, fueling talk of withdrawal from race
Montana Democratic Sen. John Walsh’s campaign canceled a string of events this week starting with a fundraiser Tuesday evening in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, fueling speculation that the senator, plagued by allegations of academic plagiarism, would quit the U.S. Senate race. Bozeman’s “Women for Walsh” event that Walsh was scheduled to attend Wednesday was postponed last minute, organizer Linda Phillips wrote on the event’s Facebook page.
Deep Thoughts: The same people who nudged and convinced Walsh to run are the same people trying to force him out. Will Walsh show backbone and stand up to them or cave?
CONTRAST Daines tours research farm in Bozeman
Walsh postpones campaign events, no word on political future
Montana Sen. Walsh cancels events; campaign mum on plans for race amid plagiarism allegations
Montana GOP seeks info on possible Walsh replacement plans
Bozeman Daily Chronicle FRONT PAGE
(KENTUCKY) Latest Mitch McConnell ad features wife Elaine Chao appealing to women
Just days after Democrats scrambled to disavow a political consultant’s comments about the ethnicity of former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, she is starring in a new ad on behalf of her husband, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The television ad, released Tuesday morning, features Chao appealing directly to women, a demographic that Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes has openly coveted since challenging McConnell. Chao, who was Labor Secretary under former President George W. Bush, asks in the ad: “Have you ever noticed how some liberals feel entitled to speak on behalf of all women?”
NEWKentucky Opportunity Coalition Ad: “Built”
(MISSISSIPPI) Fielder claims McDaniel spokesman paid him for interview
Stephen Fielder, the self-proclaimed pastor from Meridian, says a member of Chris McDaniel’s campaign paid him $2,000 to give an interview in which he accused a Thad Cochran campaign staffer of asking him to pay people to vote for the GOP incumbent. The interview is part of the election challenge packet handed out Monday by McDaniel campaign attorney Mitch Tyner as part of the evidence they say illustrates an election “marred by irregularities and fraud.”
(OREGON) NEW Freedom Partners Ad: “Congress is Out of Touch with Oregon Families”
(KANSAS) NRSC Chairman Moran Congratulates Senator Pat Roberts on Primary Victory
(IOWA) FALSE: Ad says Joni Ernst pledged to protect tax breaks for companies that outsource
Ernst signed the Taxpayer Protection pledge, a promise promoted by Americans for Tax Reform, which is a broad vow to oppose all tax increases. It does not specify protecting tax loopholes for companies that have employees overseas. In one instance, Americans for Tax Reform urged signers to vote against a bill that closed one of these loopholes, but the decision was more about stopping a tax increase than protecting outsourcing, and Ernst had yet to sign the pledge then, anyway. We rate this claim False.
NEW Crossroads GPS Ad: “Promise”
Bruce Braley Bows Down to Tom Steyer
(VIRGINIA) Warner chartered taxpayer funded flight after daughter’s college move
U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D) chartered a government paid private plane to travel from Durham, N.C., where he was helping to move his daughter move into college, to Jonesville, VA to begin a swing of meetings with constituents in Southwest Virginia. The trip occurred between August 21-24, 2012. The flight cost taxpayers $4,680.05. He then flew from Blountville, TN (the airport that serves the tri-cities portion of Southwest Virginia) back to D.C. on another chartered flight. That flight cost taxpayers $6,357.70. These flights are in addition to the flights attributed to Warner in a USA Today report that outlined chartered air travel by members of the U.S. Senate.
(MICHIGAN) NRSC Chairman Moran Congratulates Terri Lynn Land on Primary Victory: “Michiganders are drawn to Terri Lynn Land because they know she will always put Michigan first, a stark contrast with Congressman Gary Peters who has been a loyal political ally of both Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi in the House of Representatives. Voters have had enough of the dysfunction and incompetence that has plagued Washington on the watch of Barack Obama and Harry Reid. During his years in Washington, Gary Peters has failed to earn the trust of voters and seems more interested in promoting himself than the people of Michigan. In today’s tough economic environment, voters want a results-oriented leader like Terri Lynn Land.”
(ARKANSAS) Mark Pryor Ranked Second “Most Vulnerable Senator”
Arkansas’s senior U.S. senator is being ranked the second most vulnerable in a political website’s survey on incumbents facing midterm elections. Sen. Mark Pryor makes that rank in Roll Call’s “10 Most Vulnerable Senators” list. RollCall says “Pryor would have made the top spot had Baucus not resigned to become ambassador to China.”
NEW Crossroads GPS Ad: “Seniors”
(LOUISIANA) Bill Cassidy Slays ‘Job Killing’ EPA Regulations
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a beating from conservative Louisiana lawmakers. Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) criticized the new EPA regulations to lower its ground-level ozone standard later this year, which may in return prove to be detrimental to the state. “I have frequently said that EPA’s proposed regulations have the potential to harm Louisiana’s economy, which is to say regulations will destroy jobs,” said Cassidy. ”Our first priority should be creating and preserving new jobs.” “Chemical manufacturing is Louisiana’s 2nd largest manufacturing industry and currently employs nearly 23,000 in its production facilities across the state.”
Dr. Cassidy talks about EPW Hearing on WBRZ
(WEST VIRGINIA) Veterans for Capito Coalition Launched in Parkersburg
One West Virginia candidate for U.S. Senate returned to town Tuesday morning. Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito received a standing ovation at the Blennerhassett Hotel from dozens of local veterans, from World War II to Iraq and Afghanistan. One veteran we spoke with says Capito is a more seasoned candidate than her opponent, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant. Another talked to us about his experience as a patient at the VA hospital in Clarksburg. “She’s for the common people. She’s for the working people. She’s for the seniors, for the veterans. All these things are important,” says Raymond Smith, a World War II veteran.
(MINNESOTA) Senate candidate McFadden visits Rochester
With just more than a week until the primary, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden paid a visit to Rochester and Plainview on Monday as part of an 87-county tour. McFadden, a businessman from Sunfish Lake, heads into the Aug. 12 primary with the Republican Party’s endorsement and a massive fundraising advantage. He is seeking to take on DFL Sen. Al Franken in November. McFadden is being challenged in the primary by state Rep. Jim Abeler, of Anoka, who failed to win the party’s endorsement. Also on the ballot are Republicans David Carlson, Patrick Munro and perennial candidate Ole Savior.
POLLING BRIEF
NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey - July 30-August 3, 2014
When it comes to the President, just 40 percent approve of the job Obama is doing (a record low). Meanwhile 53 percent disapprove of his handling of the economy and 60 percent disapprove of his handling of foreign policy.
Forty-four percent say they prefer a Republican-controlled Congress, compared to 43 percent who say Democrat-controlled Congress.
Sixty-four percent are dissatisfied with the state of the U.S. economy.
Seventy-six percent do not feel confident that life for their children’s generation will be better than it has been for them.
Seventy-one percent believe that the economic problems facing the country are “mostly problems with the inability of elected officials in Washington to get things done to help improve the economy”
ON THE TWITTERS
@WJTV - BREAKING NEWS: AG’s office says Stephen Fielder was paid $2,000 by Noel Fritsch. Story here: http://on.wjtv.com/1lyuWQs
@BDayspring - Lesson not learned —-> RT @SCF: We need more people like @miltonwolfmd to come off the bleachers and run for public office. #KSsen
@guypbenson - (D-MT), actually RT @TPM: Sen. Walsh (R-MT) cancels public events, fueling speculation he may drop out of Senate race…
@jameshohmann - The @NRSC‘s RPD organized Get Out the Vote Efforts, tracked the Early Vote chase & worked closely with Pat Roberts on his closing messaging.
@BethSaboe - Sources close to @JohnWalsh say he is at his Helena home & actively deliberating about the future of his Senate campaign #mtpol
@TheFix - Obama job approval at 40% in new NBC/WSJ poll. Disapproval at 54%. http://ow.ly/A01Db
@ChadPergram - NRSC Chair Moran: Sen Roberts has served as a diligent check on Dems push for..expansive gov’t & is a true conservative voice for our state