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Thursday, June 12, 2008
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Political Wire: "Though Wisconsin has been close in recent presidential elections, a new University of Wisconsin poll shows the Badger State solidly in the Democratic column this time around. Sen. Barack Obama is way ahead of Sen. John McCain, 50% to 37%."
Political Wire: "Every year, it looks like New Jersey might be a swing state in the presidential race. A new Quinnipiac poll shows a close race with Sen. Barack Obama edging Sen. John McCain, 45% to 39%."
Jared Allen (via The Hill): "Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) must commit to helping illegal immigrants achieve citizenship or else risk losing the vital Latino vote in the general election, Hispanic Democratic lawmakers are warning. If he does not promise so-called comprehensive immigration reform, the lawmakers say, the only other way to win over Hispanic supporters of his erstwhile rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), may be to pick her as his running mate. Obama's National Latino Vote Director, Cuauhtemoc "Temo"" Figueroa, will have his first meeting in Washington Thursday with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC). They carefully avoided calling explicitly for Clinton's selection as the party's vice presidential nominee, but some indicated that her bond with Latino voters will get them to the polls in November, just as it drew them into the primaries."
WSJ:
Sen. Obama leads Sen. McCain by 47% to 41%, a spread that is twice the edge he had in the previous poll, in late April. Still, that lead is significantly smaller than the Democratic Party's 16-point advantage, 51% to 35%, when voters are asked, without candidates' names, which party they want to win the White House...
But Sen. Obama continues to do poorly among white male voters, according to the poll. More ominous is his weakness among white suburban women, who generally are open to Democratic candidates and whose votes could be decisive. While Sen. Obama has a slight lead among white women generally, a plurality of suburbanites prefer Sen. McCain. Some good news for the likely Democratic nominee: Despite suggestions during the nomination contest that many Hispanics and Hillary Clinton supporters wouldn't support him, the poll shows both groups overwhelmingly do.
The pollsters note that pluralities of white male voters say they don't like Sen. Obama and don't relate to his background and perceived values. In contrast, by a 2-to-1 ratio, they express positive views of Sen. McCain and identify with his background and values. The difference is less stark for voters overall. By 50% to 42%, they identify with Sen. Obama, and by 55% to 37% with Sen. McCain...
To Sen. Obama's advantage, the Journal/NBC poll results seem to debunk two widely held conclusions from the Democrats' nomination contest. Exit polls of Democratic voters suggested many of Sen. Clinton's supporters wouldn't vote for Sen. Obama in November if he is the Democratic nominee. In particular, pro-Clinton Hispanics were generally thought to be cold to Sen. Obama.
In the poll, however, voters who chose Sen. Clinton in the primaries said by a 3-to-1 ratio, 61% to 19%, that they plan to vote for Sen. Obama over Sen. McCain in November. "Hillary's embrace of Obama really made a difference," Mr. Newhouse says.
By 62% to 28%, Hispanic voters support Sen. Obama. "That does not bode well for Republicans" in the Southwest, the Republican pollster added, in swing states such as Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, where Hispanic voters are numerous enough to tip the result. Sen. McCain, who comes from a state with a large Hispanic population and has favored liberalizing policies toward illegal immigrants, has hopes of matching Mr. Bush's record of winning more than 40% of Hispanic voters.
Oliver Willis: "Sen. McCain has a statistically insignificant 2% lead. I still think Virginia is the southern state Sen. Obama is most likely to win, but North Carolina is right behind[sigma]"
"2008 pres"
6:10:29 PM 
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The Moderate Voice: "In yet another blow to the Bush administration's torture regime, the Supreme Court ruled today that terrorism suspects at the Guantánamo Bay branch of the Rumsfeld Gulag have constitutional rights and can appeal their cases to civilian courts. The 5-4 vote, with liberal justices in the majority, was the third setback handed the Bush administration by the top court over the treatment of prisoners who are being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, said, "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times." It was not immediately clear whether this ruling would lead to prompt hearings for the detainees, some who have been held more than six years. The White House basically stonewalled after the first two rulings and with the president becoming a lamer duck with every passing day there is little motivation to do the court's bidding. Besides which, it is probable that Guantánamo will be closed if Barack Obama is the next president."
Here's a roundup of reactions to today's U.S. Supreme Court decision from Andrew Sullivan.
SquareState.net: " Habeas Corpus Lives--In Spite of Sen. Salazar: In a stunning rebuke of Senator Salazar, the Bush Administration, and the other 11 Democrats (and all Republicans) in the Senate--who were willing to give up essential liberty for a little temporary security--the United States Supreme Court today held that the US Constitution guarantees Guantanamo detainees the right to use the writ of habeas corpus to challenge their detentions in federal court. The decision was 5-4, with Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority."
"2008 pres"
6:10:01 PM
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From The Environmental News Network: "In a bid to control greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change, the European Union has been operating the world's first system to limit and to trade carbon dioxide. Despite its hasty adoption and somewhat rocky beginning three years ago, the EU 'cap-and-trade' system has operated well and has had little or no negative impact on the overall EU economy, according to an MIT analysis. The MIT results provide both encouragement and guidance to policy makers working to design a carbon dioxide (CO2)-trading scheme for the United States and for the world. A key finding may be that everything does not have to be perfectly in place to start up similar systems. 'This important public policy experiment is not perfect, but it is far more than any other nation or set of nations has done to control greenhouse-gas emissions-and it works surprisingly well,' said A. Denny Ellerman, senior lecturer in the MIT Sloan School of Management, who performed the analysis with Paul L. Joskow, the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor in the Department of Economics."
"cc"
6:09:12 PM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 2:31:10 PM.
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