The Polling Report [2.3.13]

NATIONAL--PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL--ABC News-Washington Post: President Obama "has advanced to his highest personal popularity since his first year in office, and Americans who've formed an opinion of his second inaugural address last week broadly approve of it." TEXAS--PRESIDENT--Public Policy Polling: Hillary Clinton 46, Marco Rubio 45; Clinton 45, Chris Christie 43; Clinton 50, Rick Perry 42
[Clinton] has a +7 favorability rating (50/43) with Texas voters and strong support among moderate voters—72% view her favorably, and she crushes her potential GOP opponents among this voting group. “If Clinton is the 2016 nominee, she could conceivably expand the electoral map for Democrats in deep-red Texas,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling.

Wednesday Open Thread [1.30.13]

"Yesterday we had to get rid of our guns. Today we gotta grant amnesty... They're running the no-huddle offense on us. We don't even have time to catch our breath. They're running play after play after play."
That is Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show yesterday. Good. That is how I like my football teams, and my political parties and Presidents, to play.

The C

This brilliance is brought to you by Mat Marshall on Facebook....
BREAKING: Sen. Carper seen flashing gang signs en route to chair a Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing. Carper is reported to have poured out a half-empty Colt 45 for retired Senator Joe Lieberman shortly before throwing up three fingers on each hand, representing Delaware's "Three 'C's," chicken, credit, and chemicals. Experts also note that the symbolism of the letter "C" extends to refer to Carper, Sen. Chris Coons, Congressman John Carney, and former Congressman Mike Castle, as well as Chrysler, the manufacturer of Carper's iconic minivan, seen here. Capitol Police declined to comment on the prevalence of gangs on Capitol Hill, but stress that Hill Gangs have ranged in size from Gangs of Six to Gangs of Fourteen in the past.
In reality, this photo was from Senator Carper's Facebook account, and the "gang signs" are really Carper and his staff showing that his trusty old minivan has just hit 333,000 miles, which is impressive for the state's longest traveled political prop.

Six Degress of Sissy Harris

I am going to quote you some choice opening paragraphs in the News Journal story on the Tigani scandal today...
Wealthy Wilmington lawyer Jack Harris and his wife are among those who gave political contributions to candidates that prosecutors say were later reimbursed, a scheme that became part of a criminal case against liquor executive Christopher Tigani and now threatens to cause professional problems for Harris. [...] Harris, 42 and the co-founder of the Wilmington law firm of Berger Harris, gave the $1,200 maximum allowed by law to Carney’s campaign, according to court and election records. His wife, a du Pont family member who co-owns the upscale Peter Kate boutique in Greenville, contributed the same amount, the indictment and election records show. Sissy Harris, 41, is the cousin of Hallie Biden, the wife of Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.
Sometimes this state is so goddamn incestuous.

Interesting.

Governor Markell's approval rating is below water according to our very non-scientific non-random voluntary internet poll with a small sample size. Here are the results:
Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Markell's job performance? 48% Disapprove 35% Approve 17% Neutral 6% Don't know
So, take it with a grain of salt, or not. Is it conservative unhappiness over the budget, progressive unhappiness over the budget, or progressive unhappiness over the Port of Wilmington, or something else.