New Hampshire: Republican Party

Now that the Equality Bill is temporarily behind us, I want to get back to a poll that Republicans were touting in trying to establish Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta as the Great Hope of the NHGOP. Well, Great Hope in Waiting, as he and others file their nails waiting for John E. Sununu to decide whether he wants to go down to inglorious defeat again.

The poll wasn't good news for Republicans or Frank Guinta. It showed Frank trailing Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter by 9 points.   Here he is, the best Republicans seem to have to offer, the well known Mayor from the largest city in the district, and he only is pulling 34 percent.

'Grok official motto: We thank'm when they're right and spank'm when they're wrong. 

This is the thank'm part (emphasis mine):

I appreciate the chairman saying that, in the second five years of this budget, the debt levels are unsustainable, because they are.

And the cost of this budget is unsustainable. And the tax burden is unsustainable. The chairman didn't say that. I added the second two categories. ...

The problem is that that effort to try to stabilize the economy has been used as a straw dog for the purposes of expanding the size of government in the out years exponentially, moving it to the left in a way that has never been projected or seen before, should it be successful.

A cherry on top of what can be charitably called the worst month of Judd Gregg's senate career:New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg , however, disputed the notion that GOP lawmakers want Obama's fiscal policy to fail. He suggested Reid's comments were prompted by a flap within the Republican Party over statements made by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

"Most of us want to see the president succeed because this country's in such dire straits, that unless this administration's successful, we're not going to get out of it," said Gregg, who was Obama's first pick to head the Commerce Department but withdrew from consideration.

But who will tell him?

(Of course, Gregg's self-serving quote is preposterous, as is shown by his forceful opposition so far to the Administration's economic policy. But the line in the sand to RNC Virtual Chair Limbaugh remains.)

Mr. Smith has released another piece of his survey; this one is President Obama's ratings.  His favorable rating has gone from 53% in September to 71% (a/k/a Lynch Territory), while his approval rating is 66%, with 21% disapproving and 14% disapproving.

I have one disagreement with Mr. Smith's analysis. He said,

Obama continues to receive the approval of political independents and the vast majority of Democrats. Currently, 65% of

political independents approve of his job performance, and 90% of Democrats approve. However, a plurality of Republicans

disapprove of Obama's performance as President - 44% disapprove while 39% approve - an indication that old partisan

divides are reviving.

I don't think that is a partidan divide; I think that shows the Republican Party is divided; 39%  of the Republicans approves of the President's performance, while just 5% more disapprove?  That is what I would call a divide.