Crist's Future

Crist sees spike in approval as he leaves office
Outgoing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) will enjoy his highest Approval Rating of the year just as he leaves office.  Fifty percent of Florida voters approve of the former Republican Senate Candidate's job performance, according to Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP), opposed to 39 percent who disapprove.  The results suggest that Crist has enough support to launch another political campaign in the future after being swept away by now-Sen.-elect Marco Rubio (R) in the state's clos...

Shaheen down, Gregg up on Senate approval scale
Public Policy Polling shows Republican U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg will finish on a high note of popularity, while Democratic colleague Jeanne Shaheen is finishing her second year in Washington with less than favorable numbers. PPP said it polled the Approval Ratings of 59 senators, including the two from the Granite State. The average GOP Senator has a 43 percent approval and 37 percent Disapproval spread, according to PPP, while the average Democrats comes down at 44 percent approval and 41 percent d...

Crist Ends with Best Approval Numbers
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist didn't have the best year -- going from an "unbeatable" U.S. Senate Candidate to losing the election after being forced from the Republican party -- but a new Public Policy Polling survey finds him finishing up his term as Governor with a 50% Approval Rating, his highest all year. ...

Poll: Obama approval rating holds steady
PRINCETON, N.J., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Nearly the same number of respondents approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing as disapprove, a Gallup Poll released Thursday indicated. Obama's latest job Approval Rating is 47 percent, down slightly from the 49 percent recorded last week, Gallup said. Forty-six percent of Americans asked said they disapprove of Obama's job performance. Obama's Approval Rating has been stable since the Nov. 2 Midterm Elections in which the Democratic party lost its ma...

FL-Sen: Nelson Leads All, Except Jeb
Public Policy Polling (12/17-20, Florida voters): Bill Nelson (D-inc): 47 George Lemieux (R): 36 Bill Nelson (D-inc): 44 Jeb Bush (R): 49 Bill Nelson (D-inc): 44 Mike Haridopolos (R): 32 Bill Nelson (D-inc): 46 Adam Hasner (R): 30 Bill Nelson (D-inc): 44 Connie Mack IV (R): 36 (MoE: ±3%) This poll's been out there for a little while now, but with SSP Headline News enjoying an extended Vacation from the blogosphere, I called the boys down at SSP Reclamation Services & Towing to dra...

Rush of Appointments as Crist Prepares to Leave
In the dying days of his term, Gov. Charlie Crist has made a number of key appointments that will shape the future of the Sunshine State for years to come -- in fact, 14 already this week. With Rich Nugent headed to the U.S. Congress to take the place of retiring U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, Crist announced Tuesday that Veteran law enforcer Al Nienhuis will serve as Hernando County Sheriff until Jan. 7, 2013. “Al’s 15 years as a dedicated Law Enforcement officer have given him the e...

Americans Don't Mind Their Senators
Public Policy Polling is out with a treasure trove of public approval-disapproval Ratings of senators in the second half of 2010, and finds that the average Approval Rating for a senator is 43% approving to 40% disapproving. "That suggests the old adage that voters hate Congress but love their Congressman holds true...to an extent...maybe hate Congress but don't mind their Congressman is a better way of putting it. At any rate 37 Senators had positive approval numbers in our most recent polls w...

Klobuchar ranked most popular senator up in 2012; Lieberman least
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is the most popular senator running for Reelection, while Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is the least, according to new polling data. Public Policy Polling (PPP), a Democratic-leaning firm, looked at the Approval Ratings for 59 senators during the second half of 2010, and several of them will face voters in 2012. The senators were ranked by the spread between their approval numbers and Disapproval numbers. Of the 59, Klobuchar is the most popular, with an approval rating...

20 Democrats and Republicans to watch in 2011
Each year, there tend to be a few politicians that garner a fair share of the political headlines. Some based on their position like President Obama and others based on their comments like former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. There are good and bad reasons that elected officials generate those headlines. 2011 will be important in two regards: 1)it will be a year where the results of 2010 will be reviewed and election outcomes will produce legislative consequences and 2) 2011 will set the stage fo...

Will Obama Get Higher Approval Ratings in 2011?
ABC's Sara Just reports: Will the Presidents’ political headlines in the month of December, a month in which he brokered bi-partisan agreements on a spate of Legislation, push his approval numbers above the critial 50 percent mark? Democratic pollster Stefan Hankin predicts they will. “We haven’t seen numbers yet, I’m sure we’ll see a bunch of new numbers in early January for national public polling, but I would imagine we’ll see his numbers heading nor

Scarcelli: Snowe challenge may depend on primary
Maine Democrat Rosa Scarcelli suggested that a decision to challenge Sen. Olympia Snowe in 2012 could hinge on whether the three-term Republican is forced to fend off a primary challenge. Scarcelli, the CEO of an Affordable Housing agency who ran for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2010, is widely seen as a rising star in her party and says she's very interested in running for public office again. But the 41-year-old also bills herself as a non-partisan pragmatist who stresses she wo...

GOP candidates rush to get into Senate races
WASHINGTON — Less than two months after voters gave Republicans six more Senate seats and control of the House, the GOP is lining up Candidates for 2012, well ahead of the pace of previous election cycles. Looking to ride what they hope will be a continuing Republican wave, nine potential challengers, including two each in Missouri and Virginia, already have said they are weighing bids for the U.S. Senate. They have an abundance of targets. Twenty-one of the 33 Senate seats up in 2012 are ...

N.C. Official: Richard Burr's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Vote Sanctions 'Sexual Predators'
One of the surprises of the Senate's Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the policy banning gays from serving openly in the Military, was the vote of Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina. The reliably conservative Burr was one of eight Republicans who supported repeal. In a statement after the Dec. 18 vote, Burr made clear his doubts about the timing of the change because "making such a shift in policy at a time when we have Troops deployed in active combat areas does not take into consideration t...

Manchin safe?
From the Hill: “The National Republican Senatorial Committee has its eye on five key races it hopes will pave the way for the GOP to take the majority in the upper chamber in 2012.” The five are Florida, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Virginia. That is interesting considering West Virginia Senator No Show Joe Manchin is up for re-election. Never discount the possibility that Republicans simply overlooked the race — or they think Robert C. Byrd still holds the seat. ...

"Season of Progress" Does Little for Obama's Approval Rating
Obama's Approval Rating briefly rose to 49% last week, in Gallup Daily tracking from Dec. 20-22, as Congress wrapped up work on these bills. Obama held a news conference on Wednesday in which he touted the historic nature of the 111th Congress' achievements, as well as his ability to work with Republicans to overcome gridlock, calling it a "season of progress." However, in Gallup polling since Christmas, Obama's Approval Rating slid back slightly to 47%, nearly matching his...

Republicans have to be attentive to their constituents
Democrats keep telling us how smart they are.  But who believes them?  When a new Democrat star like Obama arrived on the political landscape, fellow Democrats and the fawning liberal media emphasized how smart he was.  He is so smart; he needs a Teleprompter just to order breakfast.  Since he’s been in office, The Economy definitely has worsened and showing no sign of improvement.  His trophy Legislation, ObamaCare, is unraveling by the week.  Premiums are in...

Poll Watch: CNN/Opinion Research Political Survey on Barack Obama and Congress
CNN/Opinion Research Political Survey on Barack Obama and Congress Apart from whether you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president, what do you think of Obama as a person? Would you say you approve of him or disapprove of him? Approve 73% Disapprove 22% Among Democrats Approve 94% Disapprove 5% Among Republicans Approve 42% Disapprove 49% Among Independents Approve 73% Disapprove 21% In general, do you hope that Barack Obama’s policies will ...

Crist leaving office after political blunders
Tallahassee, Fla. | Outgoing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will linger in some short-term memories for his failed independent Senate run and his pardon of dead rock star Jim Morrison. People thinking longer term will recall a Governor who persuaded Republicans and Democrats to work together but blundered away his potential for success at the national level. Mr. Crist, who leaves office Tuesday, enjoyed widespread popularity for much of his term. He built a reputation as a national leader on climat...

Getting Below the Surface
We of course know that the November 2, 2010, Elections were historical on many different levels. The Republican gains of 63 seats in the House and 6 in the Senate dwarf the Republican Revolution of 1994 and double the historical average gains in the Senate for a party out of power. These gains were made despite a cash-strapped Republican National Committee (RNC), strategic decisions by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to spend $8 million in the long-shot California Senate race...

Georgia Democrats Descend Into Parody and Race Baiting
If you are a Republican, you wear white sheets and attend midnight meetings. That is if you believe Robert Brown. Brown is now, after the decimation of Democrats in Georgia, the highest ranking Democrat in the whole state. He serves as leader of the Democrats in the State Senate. On a local television program in Middle Georgia, Senator Brown was asked about a series of party switchers from Democrats to Republicans. Brown responded, “I mean, what does the wife do then, put on some red she...

Grand Jury: Lawmakers Should Repeal 'Corruption Tax'
Florida ethics officials need more authority to investigate and more power to punish public officials and others for what amounts to a “Florida Corruption tax” that is eroding public trust and stealing Taxpayers’ money, a statewide Grand Jury said Wednesday. More than a year after being asked by Gov. Charlie Crist to investigate a “culture of corruption” in Florida, the Grand Jury submitted findings to the Florida Supreme Court, essentially agreeing with Crist. Exis...

GOP sold out
In this past election the Democrats appeared to be more inclusive and the Republicans appeared to be more exclusive, driving away any group that might be associated with traditional social values (“State GOP chief pleads to keep job,” Dec. 28). Guess who stayed home? What is more worrisome than the election losses is that Republican Chairwoman Jennifer Nassour seems to have learned nothing from it. Now the Democrats will be emboldened to take back Scott Brown’s seat. - Thomas ...

Top Ten Virginia political stories of 2010
Lest we forget all that was 2010, the Bearing Drift team identified the following stories in 2010 as being critical to Virginia politics. If you were abducted by space aliens last Dec. 31, read this “Cliff’s Notes” version and you’ll be right back up to speed. 1. GOP landslide Republicans regained in Virginia everything that they lost in 2008. Well, at least numerically. The Virginia GOP delegation held a majority in the 110th Congress with 8 Republicans to 3 Democrats o...

Obama Approval Steady
A new Gallup Poll finds President Obama's Approval Rating at 46%. "The general stability in Obama's Approval Rating since the Nov. 2 Midterm Elections -- in which his party lost majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives -- can be characterized as positive for Obama. Most presidents whose party suffers major midterm losses see their approval Ratings fall." ...

Palins Popularity Plummets with AK Voters
The Hill reports: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s popularity is slipping in her home state, according to a poll released Tuesday. The survey from Democratic pollster Public Policy Polling (PPP) showed only 33 percent of Alaska voters have a favorable opinion of the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, while 58 percent have a negative one. Out of 10 states where PPP polled the metric, only blue Massachusetts gave Palin a more negative rating (27-68 percent). Alaska Republicans rate Palin ...