BASEBALL DIARY:
The Tigers/Yankees game of last night was rained out. Meanwhile, it was A's 7, Rangers 6, in 13 innings. Tough loss for the Rangers; they entered the 9th inning with a 4-3 lead. But closer Neftali Feliz couldn't hold it, and got hit fairly hard. The Rangers' slightly shaky closer situation continues to be one negative this season...
Meanwhile, the Oakland A's have a lot of guys you've never heard of, and a tremendous amount of youth. Yet they keep surprising us--they won series last week from a hot Texas team, a hot Tampa Bay Rays team, and Dallas Braden tossed a perfect game. Can they keep this up?
POLITICS UPDATE DEPT:
Supreme Court nominee update---
Did all of you know that Obama SC nominee Elena Kagan once said this?:
"Whether a given category of speech enjoys First Amendment protection depends upon a categorical balancing of the value of the speech against its societal costs."
Wow; a better entree to "speech codes", political correctness, and banning political speech with which one disagrees would be hard to find. Question this nominee very closely, Republicans.
By the way, remember ObamaCare? Democrats said that once it was passed, people would love it. Well, it's been a while now...and yet the RCP average shows that right now, on average, 41% approve...about 52% disapprove. Rasmussen's latest poll on it (of yesterday) only had 37% approving. Hmmm....
Even the NY Times acknowledges the tough position in which Arlen Specter now finds himself in Pennsylvania:
"One year after leaving the Republican Party in the face of crumbling support, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is now fighting to avert rejection — and presumably the end of his career — at the hands of Democrats. After seeming earlier this year to face an easy race for the Democratic nomination against Representative Joe Sestak, Mr. Specter is in what he acknowledges is an unexpectedly tough campaign, buffeted by a national anti-incumbent sentiment as well as resistance among Democrats wary of embracing a longtime Republican in next Tuesday’s primary."
Polls continue to show it close, and some important PA Democrats are cotinuing to back Specter. But I still say: Sestak to beat Specter in the primary.
A new Fox News poll has more good news for Republicans:
"If the Congressional election were held today, 42 percent of voters would back the Republican candidate in their district, while 40 percent would support the Democrat, according to the latest Fox News poll. Most Republicans (86 percent) back their party's candidate and most Democrats (80 percent) back theirs, and independents are divided. By 37-31 percent independent voters are somewhat more likely to back the Republican candidate, while 20 percent are undecided. A similar split is seen when the question is about voting in the 2012 presidential election: 41 percent would back Barack Obama, and 41 percent the Republican Party's candidate."
Again, remember that even a slight GOP lead in the generic ballot is big, huge good news for Republicans, due to the edge they will have this year in energy, enthusiasm, and turnout among voters.
There's also an opportunity for Republicans in 2012. Remember that Barack Obama will be tough to beat no matter what. He will be the incumbent. He's a good speaker, he's articulate, a good campaigner. But there is an opportunity, as his support had dropped since '08...
