Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) Speaking at CPACAs the annual Conservative Political Action Conference kicks off today, however, what was just a sense of optimism last year has already amplified into renewed confidence. Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, the third-ranking Republican in the House, said in an interview with RealClearPolitics that the party is back on track and expects there not only to be a Republican majority in Congress next year, but a conservative majority.
Pence has been a harsh critic of his GOP colleagues -- as well as Democrats -- since coming to Congress in 2001. A former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, Pence railed against increased government spending under Republican leadership in several CPAC speeches over the last few years, and likened the party to a ship that had not only gone off-course -- but "run aground."
"My speech theme this year is what a difference a year makes," said Pence, who will deliver his annual CPAC speech on Friday. "My goal is going to be to bring to the eight-to-10,000 people there that a year ago I thought we were on the verge of a great American awakening -- but I had no idea."
In November 2008, Barack Obama won states Democrats hadn't even contested in decades, including Pence's home state of Indiana, which had voted Democratic just once since 1940. Now, Democrats across the country are worried for their political health, as analysts believe Republicans will pick up a substantial number of seats in the House and Senate.
Regaining the majority in Congress remains a tall order for the GOP, as Democrats hold an 18-seat edge in the Senate and 77-seat hold on the House. However, polling shows that independent voters, who played a big role in Obama's victory, are trending back toward Republicans, and Democrats in swing districts and states are in trouble.
"I think Americans have been taken aback by the aggressive, big-government liberalism of this Congress and this administration," said Pence. "But I also believe that as House Republicans have been returning to our roots of fiscal discipline and limited government, the American people have been taking a second look and they like what they see."
The candidate receiving the most attention from conservatives nationwide is Marco Rubio, a young, Hispanic, former Florida House speaker, who will give the keynote address at CPAC this morning. Rubio's Senate challenge to the more moderate and establishment-backed Gov. Charlie Crist has excited a conservative base that scoffs at the notion of the national GOP pursuing a 'big tent' majority at the expense of more conservative candidates.
"He's an unusually talented public figure and it's great to be commended, but in many respects Marco Rubio is very typical of the kind of conservative fresh faces that we're seeing step forward at every level across the country," said Pence, who endorsed Rubio over Crist earlier this month. "And I think it's a harbinger of a very conservative comeback in 2010."
Pence, himself, is extremely popular with conservatives, and there's a push for him to run for president. When asked, he wouldn't close the door to a bid in the future but maintained his focus was on helping win back Congress.
"I really believe the opportunity to elect a conservative majority to the Congress is real," said Pence. "But as I'll say Friday, it will be important for all of us to not become distracted and that we stay focused, that we put our heads down, and that we do everything in our power to restore common sense conservative principles to the majority in Washington, D.C."
Democratic Senator Evan Bayh says, "Bye, Bye!" Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek re-election this year, Fox News has learned.
The two-term Indiana senator is known as a moderate Democrat. His retirement gives Republicans yet another opportunity to pick up a seat in a year when several incumbent Democrats are considered vulnerable.
Former GOP Sen. Dan Coats had been planning to challenge Bayh in November.
Sarah Palin and Mike SodrelU.S. Rep. Mike Pence came to Southern Indiana on Saturday to endorse fellow Indiana Republican and former House colleague Mike Sodrel in the 9th District GOP primary.
Pence, R-Columbus, appeared at a noon news conference with Sodrel at the Clark County Republican headquarters in Jeffersonville and then at a luncheon at The Grand in New Albany.
“We need someone who can hit the ground running in the battle to preserve our constitutional 
If Sodrel wins the GOP nomination in the May 4 primary, he would face incumbent Democratic Rep. Baron Hill for the fifth time in a row in the general election. Sodrel, who lives in New Albany, won in 2004.
Sodrel is one of four candidates in the primary. The others are Todd Young of Bloomington, Travis Hankins of Columbus and Rick Warren of Elizabeth. Young and Hankins began their campaigns months before Sodrel’s entry in January. Warren formally entered the race earlier this month.
Ed Feigenbaum, publisher of Indiana Legislative Insight, a newsletter of politics and government, said it is historically unusual for elected officials to take positions on candidates in their parties’ primaries. But Pence has taken positions this year in contested primaries in several states, including Kansas, South Carolina and Florida, Feigenbaum said.
He said Pence’s involvement on behalf of Sodrel could range from personal friendship in 2005 and 2006 when both were in Congress to thinking that Sodrel has the best chance against Hill in the November election.
But Feigenbaum also said Pence’s support could backfire because of anti-establishment feeling among some conservative voters. Pence ranks third in the House Republican leadership.
“On balance, if I was Mike Sodrel, I would much rather have Mike Pence speaking out for me this early,” Feigenbaum said.
Sodrel said he appreciates Pence’s support.
“We worked together for two years,” Sodrel said. “He knows how I think and how I vote. He’s a good man.”
Reporter Ben Hershberg can be reached at (812) 949-4032.
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who has left the door open to running for president in 2012, is heading to New Hampshire next month as the keynote speaker for a GOP fundraising dinner.
It will be the Indiana Republican's first trip to New Hampshire, the state that typically holds the first presidential
Pence, the third-ranking member of the House GOP leadership, has said he is focused for now on helping Republicans in the 2010 elections and will consider other possibilities after that.
He has described the travel he's been doing around the country as part of his effort to boost GOP candidates.
For example, he attended fundraising events last summer for a colleague from Iowa, the state whose caucuses are the first step in the presidential nomination process.
Stepanek said he expects several hundred people to attend the March 19 dinner in New Hampshire. Hillsborough County is the state's most populous county, although Stepanek said Republicans from throughout the state will attend.
Tickets, which cost $30 for the reception and $125 for both the dinner and reception, have been selling well, Stepanek said.
Asked whether he'd like to see Pence run for president, Stepanek said he has to stay neutral. But he said Republicans are looking around for who can best lead the party in 2012.
"I think people are looking at his record, and they're interested to hear more about what he has to say on what's going on in Washington right now, and how we're going to fix what's going on so that we can turn this country around," he said.
Senator Dan Coats [Robert Costa]
Former congressman Chris Chocola (R., Ind.), president of the Club for Growth, tells National Review Online that former senator Dan Coats (R., Ind.) is a “very appealing candidate” and that he “would like to sell Coats’s candidacy to our members in coming days.”
Coats represented Indiana in the Senate for a decade and retired in 1999 instead of running for reelection against then–Indiana governor, and now incumbent senator, Evan Bayh (D., Ind.). Coats announced his possible candidacy earlier today. He joins a field of four other Republicans in the Senate primary: former congressman John Hostettler, state senator Marlin Stutzman, financial adviser Don Bates Jr., and tea-party activist Richard Behney.
“As an Indiana guy, I know that Dan is doing this for all of the right reasons,” Chocola says. “He’s done his time and served well, but he sees what is happening in Washington and knows that he can’t stay on the sidelines. My sense is that he would have been satisfied with a candidate like Mike Pence, but after Pence decided not to run, felt a sense of duty to jump into the race. His candidacy moves us back in the right direction. He has strong name identification — not as strong as it was ten years ago, but still meaningful — and the ability to raise money.”
“The Club is going to take a hard look at this race, and hopefully we’ll find a way to help Dan get back to the Senate,” Chocola says. “Of course, we’ll make sure we comb over his voting record and do our homework before an endorsement of any sort.”
Is Bayh beatable? “Evan Bayh is a good politician, but he hasn’t stood on consistent principles,” Chocola says. “When he ran for president, he tacked left. After Massachusetts, he has tacked right. It’s all about political expediency. For a long time in Indiana, no one could tell that story. Dan Coats is someone who I think can, as well as anyone.”
“People thought Bayh’s father was unbeatable in 1980, and then Dan Quayle beat him,” he adds. “There was a unique environment in 1980, and I think 2010 echoes it in many ways. There is an anti-incumbent mood building in Indiana, and people are tired of Bayh being a political chameleon. Bayh has had a war chest of cash and the press calling him a moderate for years, and no one ever challenged him. I’d like to help Dan Coats tell that story.”
Chris Dickson and Senator Dan CoatsCongressman pledges support for possible Coats' campaign for U.S. Senate
Contact: Bill Smith, 765-635-9885
ANDERSON, Ind., Feb. 3 /Standard Newswire/ -- Congressman Mike Pence released the following statement in response to the news that former U.S. Senator Dan Coats is considering a 2010 campaign to return to the Senate:
Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats plans to announce Wednesday that he will challenge Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh in November, a senior Republican official told POLITICO.
Coats held the seat Bayh currently occupies for 10 years before retiring in 1998. Since leaving Congress, he has worked as a lobbyist and served as U.S. ambassador to Germany during the George W. Bush administration.
"Coats deciding to run is a product of the environment we're in right now," the GOP official said. "This is a great opportunity for us. We have a real player on the field that they weren't expecting us to have."
Former Rep. John Hostettler and state Sen. Marlin Stutzman are already in the race on the Republican side.
WASHINGTON, DC-U.S. Congressman Mike Pence issued the following
statement today after the Obama Administration's budget for
FY 2011 was released:
"Although President Obama promised a change in direction last
week, the budget the administration released this morning is
just more of the same old failed fiscal policies that gave
us record spending, record debt and no job growth over the past
year. This course is irresponsible and unsustainable.
"The American people know we can't borrow, tax and spend our
way back to a growing economy. Yet the president's budget more
than doubles the debt and increases spending and taxes to
record levels.
"House Republicans will hold the administration accountable
for its promises of fiscal responsibility while fighting for
fiscal discipline in Washington, DC and across the board tax
relief for working
Americans."
WASHINGTON, DC-U.S. Congressman Mike Pence announced today that Mayor
Kris Ockomon, Mayor of Anderson, and his wife Ann will be his guests of
honor at the 58th Annual National Prayer Breakfast, which will take
place this Thursday, February 4, 2010 in Washington, D.C.
"I am honored to be joined at this significant event by Anderson's
mayor, Kris Ockomon and his wife Ann," said Pence. "As we set aside
time to remember the power and necessity of prayer, we should also be
reminded to pray for those like Mayor Ockomon who sacrifice much to be
public servants."
"I am thrilled to have been invited to attend the National Prayer
Breakfast this year," said Ockomon. "Ann and I have felt the power of
prayer at work in our lives and look forward to being present at this
event, where thousands of people united in purpose and faith will gather
together to call on a greater power."
AP
In a remarkably sharp face-to-face confrontation, President Obama chastised Republican lawmakers Friday for opposing him on taxes, health care and the economic stimulus, while they accused him in turn of brushing off their ideas and driving up the national debt.
President Obama holds up a document of Republican solutions given to him by House Minority Leader John Boehner, before he spoke to Republican lawmakers at the GOP House Issues Conference in Baltimore, Friday, Jan. 29, 2010. (AP)
In a remarkably sharp face-to-face confrontation, President Obama chastised Republican lawmakers Friday for opposing him on taxes, health care and the economic stimulus, while they accused him in turn of brushing off their ideas and driving up the national debt.
The president and GOP House members took turns questioning and sometimes lecturing each other for more than hour at a Republican gathering in Baltimore. The Republicans agreed to let TV cameras inside, resulting in an extended, point-by-point interchange that was almost unprecedented in U.S. politics, except perhaps during presidential debates.
With voters angry about partisanship and legislative logjams, both sides were eager to demonstrate they were ready to cooperate, resulting in the GOP invitation and Obama's acceptance. After polite introductions, however, Friday's exchange showed that Obama and the Republicans remain far apart on key issues, and neither side could resist the chance to challenge and even scold the other.
Obama said Republican lawmakers have attacked his health care overhaul so fiercely, "you'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot." His proposals are mainstream, widely supported ideas, he said, and they deserve some GOP votes in Congress.
"I am not an ideologue," the president declared.
But Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., pointedly asked Obama: "What should we tell our constituents who know that Republicans have offered positive solutions" for health care, "and yet continue to hear out of the administration that we've offered nothing?"
Obama showed little sympathy, disputing Price's claim that a Republican plan would insure nearly all Americans without raising taxes.
"That's just not true," said Obama. He called such claims "boilerplate" meant to score political points.
At times it seemed more like Britain's "question time" -- when lawmakers in the House of Commons trade barbs with the prime minister -- than a meeting between a U.S. president and members of Congress.
Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana defended Price on the health care proposals. He said a GOP agenda booklet given to Obama at the start of the session "is backed up by precisely the kind of detailed legislation that Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi and your administration have been busy ignoring for 12 months."
Obama shot back that he had read the Republican proposals and that they promise solutions that can't be realized.
In another barbed exchange, the president said some Republican lawmakers in the audience had attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects in their districts funded by the 2009 stimulus package that they voted against.
Pence said Obama was trying to defend "a so-called stimulus that was a piecemeal list of projects and boutique tax cuts."
Obama replied, "When you say they were boutique tax cuts, Mike, 95 percent of working Americans got tax cuts."
"This notion that this was a radical package is just not true," he said.
Republicans are feeling energized after winning a Democratic Senate seat in Massachusetts, and Obama is trying to refocus his stalled agenda more on jobs than health care. With Obama at a podium facing a hotel conference room full of Republicans, both sides jumped to the debate.
"It was the kind of discussion that we frankly need to have more of," said House Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia.
"I'm having fun, this is great," Obama said when Pence asked if he had time for more questions.
"So are we," said Pence.
Some Republicans prefaced their questions with lengthy recitations of conservative talking points. The president sometimes listened impassively but sometimes broke in.
"I know there's a question in there somewhere, because you're making a whole bunch of assertions, half of which I disagree with," Obama said to Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, whom he mistakenly called "Jim."
Obama, a former law school professor, launched into lectures of his own at times. He warned lawmakers from both parties against demonizing a political opponent, because voters might find it incomprehensible if the two sides ever agree on anything.
"We've got to be careful about what we say about each other sometimes, because it boxes us in in ways that makes it difficult for us to work together because our constituents start believing us," Obama said. "So just a tone of civility instead of slash-and-burn would be helpful."
Republicans sat attentively for the most part. There was some grumbling when Obama remarked -- after being pressed about closed-door health care negotiations -- that much of the legislation was developed in congressional committees in front of television cameras.
"That was a messy process," Obama said.
GOP lawmakers pressured him to support a presidential line-item veto for spending bills and to endorse across-the-board tax cuts. Obama said he was ready to talk about the budget proposal, though he disputed accusations that his administration was to blame for big increases in deficit spending. And he demurred on the idea of cutting everyone's taxes, saying with a smile that billionaires don't need tax cuts.
In his opening remarks, Obama criticized what he said was a Washington culture driven by opinion polls and nonstop political campaigns.
"I don't believe that the American people want us to focus on our job security, they want us to focus on their job security," he said.
The president acknowledged that Republicans have joined Democrats in some efforts, such as sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. But he said he was disappointed and perplexed by virtually unanimous GOP opposition to other programs, such as the economic stimulus bill.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said of the event, "In some places I kind of felt like I was in my high school assembly being lectured by my principal. In others, I felt like he was listening."
If you live long enough in Washington, you'll learn there is literally nothing new under the sun. That's why it is amusing to listen to the House "Progressive Caucus" and MoveOn.org in a full-page newspaper ad attempt to explain the victory of Sen.-elect Scott Brown in the special Massachusetts election last week.
Brown didn't win because Democrats were too liberal, they said. Brown won because Democrats weren't liberal enough. Conservatives sincerely hope the rest of the party buys that reasoning and pushes it all the way to defeat in the November election.
Conservatives used to say the same thing about Ronald Reagan when he raised taxes after first lowering them and signed an amnesty bill for illegal aliens. "Let Reagan be Reagan" came the cry from the Right.
Conservatives blamed "moderates" like Chief of Staff James A. Baker and his deputy, Michael Deaver, for pushing Reagan to the middle. Some on the Left criticize President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, for allowing Obama to be liberal-lite.
Democrats blame Republicans for opposing every proposal by the administration. Republicans blame Democrats for not taking seriously any of their ideas.
Which brings us to this weekend and a House Republican retreat in Baltimore. Obama has accepted an invitation from the House GOP leadership to address the group and to take questions.
Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, chairman of the House Republican Conference, tells me the invitation to the president is not political theater, but "a sincere effort to engage in dialogue over what is in the best interests of our country."
Republicans invited the president to a similar gathering last February, but Pence says, "Our experience with this administration has been that they have said 'no' to every Republican proposal."
That, he says, includes an economic stimulus ("it would have cost half as much and created twice as many jobs"), the budget ("we proposed real entitlement reform"), an energy bill instead of cap and trade that Pence suggests would have lessened our dependence on foreign oil by tapping into more domestic sources, including nuclear energy, and a health care measure that "included malpractice reform."
Has Pence been sent any signals from the White House, particularly since Brown's election in Massachusetts, that the president is willing to compromise on anything in order to get Republican votes? "Not yet," he says with a touch of resignation, or perhaps frustration, in his voice.
Pence flatly predicts the House will be back in Republican hands after the November election. That would take a net gain of 40 seats. Some think that is highly unlikely, but Republicans needed 40 seats to win control in 1994. Many thought that goal unrealistic. Republicans won 54 House seats that year.
The problem for Republicans is that memories remain fresh. The reason the party lost its grip on government in 2006 and 2008 is that members were insufficiently Republican. Like Democrats, they sought to follow the demands of the masses and big media, instead of leading the masses where their best interests lie -- in the direction of liberty, not larger and suffocating government.
"Republicans have got to stand for something," Pence says. Indeed they do. But what is it for which they stand? And if Republicans fulfill Pence's prediction and regain power, what will they do with it this time?
In an "open letter to friends and supporters" in which he explained his decision not to run for the Senate, but seek re-election to his House seat, Pence explained why he took the job of chairman of the House Republican Conference one year ago:
"I accepted that responsibility because I believed that if Republicans returned to their conservative roots, they could win back the confidence of the American people. And I see it happening every day."
The country faces staggering debt and, according to Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf, the nation's budget outlook is "on an unsustainable path." Retreating GOP House members had better start embracing those conservative roots and fast if they want to advance in November and in 2012.
Examiner Columnist Cal Thomas is nationally syndicated by Tribune Media.
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said Tuesday that he would consider a run for president in 2012 under the right circumstances.
Pence, who ruled out a bid for Senate in 2010 this morning, said he has thought about running for the GOP nomination for the presidency, though he emphasized that he's focused on Republicans' midterm elections this fall.
"Yeah, I've thought about that," Pence told a meeting of conservative bloggers at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday. "Given the right circumstances, with prayer, I'd give that consideration."
By Rep. Mike Pence
The strength of our nation is not found in the halls of Congress or in the offices of government bureaucrats. The enduring strength of the United States of America lies in the good will and common sense of the American people. It is discovered at dinner tables, churches, coffee shops and assembly halls across this great land.
This year began much like last year. Our nation continues to struggle through a difficult recession. Small businesses are trying desperately to keep their doors open. Workers worry that their job will be the latest casualty of this tough economy. And the American people still expect the federal government to get spending under control and to take decisive action to get our country moving again.
We need leadership that will lift the burden on struggling families and that respects our cherished national values. Washington should not enact bad public policy that will lead to more job losses and further economic decline.
Sadly, what we have seen instead are more of the same policies that got us into this mess. Voters rejected runaway federal spending under Republican control and they listened to Democrats who promised a new direction.
But this past year, Democrat leaders have unveiled one proposal after another that grows government and leaves a mountain of debt on the backs of our children. Last year was a record year for federal spending ($3.52 trillion) and deficits ($1.4 trillion). Today, every man, woman and child bears the burden of more than $39,000 in federal debt.
Our fiscal future is in crisis and there is not a lot of comfort to be found in recent headlines. It is reported that Democrat leaders will soon bring before Congress a bill to increase the debt limit by an historic $1.9 trillion, a tacit admission that they have abandoned any effort to restore sanity to the federal budget.
Likewise, the president is expected to announce that his administration is getting serious about deficit spending. Yet the president continues to advocate for a government takeover of healthcare that will cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion and his 10-year budget plan will raise our debt by $14.6 trillion! We are witnessing an absence of leadership and our children will pay the price.
The American people deserve better than a $787 billion so-called stimulus plan full of wasteful liberal spending priorities. They deserve better than a national energy tax and a government takeover of healthcare written by special interests behind closed doors. And they deserve better than more political posturing over fiscal responsibility.
The frustration we have witnessed across the country is neither directed at one political party nor even one policy proposal. People are fed up with a culture of borrowing, bailouts and takeovers that has consumed Washington.
It is time that we chart a course for the country that puts the people first. It starts by getting our priorities straight and focusing 100 percent on getting this economy moving again and healthcare reform that actually lowers costs by increasing competition.
Last January, as Democrats rushed through Congress their flawed stimulus bill, House Republicans responded with our own economic recovery plan. Our plan would have delivered immediate tax relief to working families and small businesses - the same principles that have always led to economic prosperity.
When the votes were counted, Democrats defeated our proposal and were stunned as every House Republican said no to more government and more debt. Republicans continue to offer solutions to address our challenges. We are ready to work for energy independence, fight for lower healthcare costs and fix our economy, but only in a way that puts the American people first. That is why we have introduced American solutions to the challenges we face, not government solutions. We proposed a comprehensive strategy to achieve energy independence, commonsense reform to lower healthcare costs, and a responsible federal budget that lowers deficits without raising taxes. House Republicans will seize every opportunity to bring these positive ideas before the president, the Congress and the people.
The path to economic prosperity does not run along Pennsylvania Avenue nor end at the doorstep of the United States Congress. It runs through the entrepreneurial spirit of the American people. Wednesday, the president will have an opportunity to present his views regarding the state of our union.
For the sake of our future, I hope he finds that the strength of our union rests not with the government but where it always has - with the people.
Pence is chairman of the House Republican Conference.
(L to R) Dick Armey, Chris Dickson, Mike PenceWashington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 26, 2010; A13
President Obama will meet Friday with perhaps his harshest critics outside of Fox News headquarters: the House Republicans.
The House GOP invited Obama this year to speak at its annual retreat, which will be held in Baltimore from Thursday to Saturday. Coming only two days after Obama's State of the Union address, the session could herald better relations between the two sides in 2010 -- or lift their tensions to an even higher level.
The White House and congressional Republicans spent much of last year bickering over whom to blame for their inability to work together, as the administration constantly blasted the House GOP for unanimously opposing the economic stimulus, while Republicans said Obama and House Democrats refused to incorporate their ideas. A private meeting at the White House that included Obama and House Republicans in December on job growth turned into a griping session, with the president accusing the GOP of "scaring" Americans about his policies while Republicans said the anxiety in the country stemmed from his agenda.
So far this year, nothing has changed. House Republicans have said Obama's policies led to the defeat of Democrat Martha Coakley in the special Senate election in Massachusetts. White House advisers, in turn, have blamed the GOP for the negative tone of Washington politics.
Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.), the No. 3 in the House GOP leadership and the organizer of the retreat, said House Republicans wanted a stronger relationship with Obama and said the GOP's goals of working with Obama and winning this fall's elections are not in conflict. "We serve our party best when we serve our country," he said. But he added that "the conversation with the president has to be a two-way street."
In addition to Obama, the House GOP will hear from Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, one of the party's new stars, as well as former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former House majority leader Richard K. Armey, who heads up the conservative activist group FreedomWorks. Party leaders said they will focus on discussing a policy agenda for their candidates in the midterm elections.
Last year's retreat was at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Va. This year, worried about the appearance of a staying at a posh hotel as unemployment hovers over 10 percent, the Republicans have opted for a Marriott near the Inner Harbor. Earlier this month, Democrats eschewed holding a retreat at a luxury resort and heard from experts and the president in the Capitol's visitor center.
While he deals with a energized GOP, Obama will also face an increasingly anxious left of his party in Congress. The Progressive Caucus, a group of more than 80 of the most liberal members in Congress, says Republican Scott Brown's upset victory in Massachusetts was not because Obama and Democrats were too liberal, but because they were insufficiently so.
"I don't think it was about health care, it was because change didn't happen fast enough -- that's the frustration," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), one of the group's leaders. "I believe that if we had pursued the populist, progressive agenda, such as a public option, we could have energized our base."
A Washington Post-Kaiser-Harvard poll of Massachusetts voters conducted after Brown's election showed that young and minority voters, who formed the backbone of Obama's support in 2008, represented a smaller percentage of the electorate in last Tuesday's special election. It's not clear whether policy issues or Obama's absence from the ballot caused some of these voters not to go to the polls.
Whatever the reason for the Massachusetts loss, Rep. Raul Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), leader of the Progressive Caucus, has outlined an agenda for 2010 that he says will appeal to the base: increased funding for education, a job-creation bill bigger than the $154 billion version that passed the House in December over the objections of many Democratic moderates, and immigration reform. The latter in particular is unlikely to pass this year.
"We are going to push," he said. "Maybe I'm masochist, but I'm still optimistic."
The tea party is coming to Capitol Hill. Hours before the president's speech on Wednesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), one of the lawmakers most closely allied with the movement, and FreedomWorks will hold an event with conservative activists and lawmakers to tout a "Declaration of Health Care Independence." An aide to Bachmann said the proposal would "protect the rights of the American to make their own health decisions," as well as include 10 conservative ideas for future health reform.
The health-care event is one of the first steps the tea-party movement will take this year as it seeks to expand its influence. At a news conference Monday, FreedomWorks put out a list of candidates it is backing or opposing in key races this year. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), a candidate for the Senate; Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.); and Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) each are labeled an "Enemy of Liberty" whom the group will oppose. FreedomWorks will back GOP Senate candidates Marco Rubio (Fla.), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) -- each, according to the group, is a "Champion of Freedom."
Congressman Mike Pence is reportedly considering running against Bayh. At this time, he attracts 47% of the vote while Bayh picks up 44%.
A former Republican congressman, John Hostettler, has already indicated he will challenge Bayh. In that match-up, it’s Bayh with a three-point edge, 44% to 41%.
Freshman State Senator Marlin Stutzman has announced that he is in the race. He trails the incumbent by 12 points, 45% to 33%.
Any incumbent who attracts less than 50% support at this point in a campaign is considered potentially vulnerable. However, incumbents have many advantages in a campaign, and Bayh has already raised a large amount of cash for his campaign.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
As in many other states, there is a strong correlation between support for the congressional health care plan and voting behavior. Just 37% of Indiana voters favor the plan, while 60% oppose it. Those figures are similar to the national average and include 16% who Strongly Favor the plan and 48% who are Strongly Opposed.
Those who Strongly Favor the plan overwhelmingly prefer Bayh. Among those who are Strongly Opposed, 80% say they’d vote for Pence, 70% for Hostettler and 56% for Stutzman. In Stutzman’s case, 17% of those who Strongly Oppose the plan would vote for Bayh, and 26% are either not sure or would prefer a third option.
In 2008, Barack Obama narrowly carried Indiana with 50% of the vote. However, just 43% of Hoosier voters currently approve of the way Obama is performing his role as president. That decline is consistent with the national trend as measured in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. Fifty-six percent (56%) of Indiana voters now disapprove of the president’s performance. The current figures include 16% who Strongly Approve and 48% who Strongly Disapprove.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels earns approval from 70% of the state’s voters while 29% disapprove. Those figures include 35% who Strongly Approve and 12% who Strongly Disapprove.
Just four percent (4%) of Indiana voters rate the U.S. economy as good or excellent while 56% say it’s in poor shape. Twenty-seven percent (27%) say it’s getting better, and 43% say it’s getting worse.
Seventy-two percent (72%) say it’s at least somewhat likely there will be another terrorist attack in the United States during the coming year. Nationally, fears of such an attack jumped dramatically following the Christmas Day bombing attempt. Seventy-three percent (73%) of Indiana voters want the bomber tried by the military as a terrorist while 16% want him tried in civilian courts. Seventy-four percent (74%) favor the use of full-body scanners for airport security.
There are two ways to reduce deficits: spend less or take more. Looks like the new bipartisan deficit commission will be limited to just one option, according to Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), as he blasts the idea as “toothless” on the House floor today. Furthermore, the idea that Democrats want to get serious about fiscal responsibility after increasing spending 24% and demanding to lift the debt ceiling another $1,900,000,000,000 is nothing short of breathtaking:
The president’s commission, on close examination, actually looks like a guard dog with no bite. Looks like fiscal discipline but it could easily be ignored by Congress. Remarkably, the president’s proposal, as I have heard about it, is prohibited from recommending cuts in any discretionary spending. That will be about $1.4 trillion, and the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ that’s completely off limits. And as many of us know, with the partisan bias and the structure of it, as reported, it’s likely this commission would just be an excuse to raise taxes.
The American people don’t want more government, more taxes and more political posturing about spending. They want this Congress to show the character and the strength to make the hard choices to put our fiscal house in order.”
As I wrote last month, the entire notion of a bipartisan commission on budgeting is ludicrous. We already have one: it’s called Congress, and the citizens of the US send their representatives to Washington to make those decisions in the open, not in some smoke-filled backroom that allows Congress to escape accountability.
It’s expressly designed to hike taxes rather than cut spending, and the clarity of this is rather obvious if one thinks about it. Would Congress suddenly become wildly unpopular if it cut 10% from the federal budget in an open process? Would Congress become wildly popular if it raised taxes 10% in an open process? The answer to both questions is a resounding no, which tells you why Democrats desperately want the fig leaf of a bipartisan commission to provide cover for the tax hikes they need to pay for their radical legislative agenda.
Pence has this exactly correct — and it’s no accident that one of the voices demanding this commission is Evan Bayh, the man Pence may well challenge in this year’s Senate race in Indiana. Bayh’s attempt to look moderate is nothing more than a cover for a radical tax hike that will kill whatever weak economic recovery we can muster in 2010.
