Cornell Insider

a blog by the writers of the Cornell Review

Posts Tagged ‘2010 Elections’

For The Record: Pelosi Says Democrats Will Keep the House

Posted by Dennis Shiraev on June 1, 2010

From the Sun:

In a discussion with members of the press on Saturday morning, Pelosi predicted that, contrary to the expectations of some pundits, Democrats will maintain their majority in the House of Representatives after the November elections.

“Let me declare: the Democrats will be in the majority” because Democrats are interested in “jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs,” Pelosi said.

I certainly hope her poll numbers are looking better than Harry’s.

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Monday Reading Madness #33

Posted by Dennis Shiraev on January 24, 2010

- An article on Cornell hockey standout Rebecca Johnston, who will be representing Canada at the Olympics.

- Despite falling to 15th in the U.S. News rankings, Cornell finds itself in 8th place when it comes to…website popularity?

Scott Brown goes to Washington.

- Cornell apps are up 5% this year.

- Now, some serious opinion/commentary on Cornell sorority happenings.

- Ivy League sports are looking to go prime time.

- Cornell Football could use some more W’s next season, even though our economists downgrade the “institutional benefits” of winning.

- Islanders forward and Cornell alumnus Matt Moulson continues to pace towards 30 goals. Cornell hockey also split the weekend series with a top ranked team from North Dakota.

- New research shows that college students engage academic work in different ways. Enlightening.

- Obama’s approval ratings continue to converge towards general disapproval.

- Brown’s victory could be a preview of things to come in November, but Cornell commencement speaker Plouffe still thinks the Democrats can survive through the midterm elections.

- Via MR, a great essay by Garry Kasparov on chess and artificial intelligence.

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Monday Reading Madness #30

Posted by Dennis Shiraev on January 3, 2010

- The men’s ice hockey team recovered from two losses down in Florida with a commanding victory in New Hampshire.

Hello, decade!

- WSJ discusses the last decade in terms of a loss of a sense of mission.

- Kyle Smith argues that this will be the “final year of the Obama administration.”

- Tyler Cowen has a slightly more positive assessment of the last ten years.

- Ivygate has its own round up of the 2000′s.

- The Economist offers a different approach with a look ahead to 2010.

- Cornell’s financial aid policies are being investigated by the Ivy League.

- Two more Cornell students, Adam Frey ’11 and Clayton DeFisher ’11, have passed away.

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More 2010 Speculation

Posted by Dennis Shiraev on August 14, 2009

Continuing our recent series of posts on the 2010 midterms (my initial post, and then a revised argument) here’s an article by William Schneider that points to the unlikelihood of a “1994 repeat” for the Republicans in 2010. Schneider argues that Obama’s approval ratings are higher than Clinton’s numbers before the 1994 midterms when Bill was also pushing for health care reform, and that there is not an overwhelming resistance to general changes in the health care system:

Critics warn that overhauling health care would mean too much government control. As Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., put it, “The Democrats believe that you’ve got to change the entire health care system in America, including the so-called government option, which we believe would lead to a government takeover of the health care system.” Actually, about three-quarters of Americans say they think that it is “necessary to make major structural changes in the nation’s health care system” to make sure that all Americans have health insurance (77 percent) and to reduce health care costs (74 percent).

I don’t disagree that public opinion might be more favorable towards Obama’s health care reform in 2009 than it was towards Clinton in 1993-1994, but it’s obvious that this will not be the only decisive issue for voters in 2010. Schneider admits this in his own article: “Remember ‘angry white men,’ the hot constituency in 1994? They drove a huge backlash against the new Democratic president and threw the Democrats out of power in Congress. What made them so upset? The threat of ‘Big Government’ — taxes, gun control, and health care reform.”

What could drive a “hot constituency” of conservatives/independents in 2010? A few things come to mind: health care reform, increased taxes, the government stimulus, cap and trade legislation, White House transparency (maybe overblown, but how did Axelrod get all those emails??), oh, and Joe Biden! Even if the conservative aren’t manning the barricades against health care reform, there’ll be plenty of other crucial issues that could drive an anti-Democratic backlash in 2010.

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Success Not Guaranteed for Republicans in 2010

Posted by Dennis Shiraev on July 27, 2009

A shameless personal plug: I will now be contributing weekly opinion pieces to thedcwriteup.com

In my most recent article, I argue that despite the fact that the tides are turning in the Republicans’ favor, a victory in the 2010 midterm elections is far from guaranteed. (Contrary to my argument in an earlier post, but in agreement with Paul Craft’s recent piece over at the Stanford Review Blog). New polling data of likely voters suggest that Americans are willing to give the stimulus more time to take effect, and that most Americans do not expect the beginnings of economic recovery for another two years. The implications of these polling data are huge: Republicans cannot sit around and wait for the Democrats to commit electoral suicide with economic issues. If Republicans are to make real gains in the House and Senate in November 2010, they must go on the attack and give the voters real alternatives to ineffective Democratic governance.

One thing that I did not mention in my opinion piece is the importance of Obama’s foreign policy moves in shaping political attitudes towards the Democratic Congress and his own administration. So far, his handling of the situations with North Korea, Iran, and Honduras seem to have had little effect on his approval ratings. Same goes for his trip to Russia (although Biden’s recent comments may prove otherwise).  America’s participation in the Copenhagen climate conference in December 2009 as well as the NPT Review Conference in 2010 may end up being big, public opinion-shifting events. Also keep an eye out for escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.

Posted in National News | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Earthquake in 2010!

Posted by Dennis Shiraev on July 15, 2009

Peter Ferrara is predicting a Republican trouncing in the 2010 Congressional elections. It is a long article, but here is the gist of his argument: 

Next year would be a Republican year just because it is a midterm election with a Democrat in the White House. But because federal, state and local Democrats have been so extreme left, that is why this time the election is likely to be an earthquake. Normally, people who are unhappy with the incumbent President come out to vote in droves during midterms, while people who are happy are not as motivated because they think all is fixed by the reigning President who is not even on the ballot during midterms. But these effects are going to be so greatly exaggerated this time for several reasons.

Democrat ultra-left policies are going to motivate even more disaffection and voter anger than usual in a midterm. This is why Rasmussen’s focus on strongly disapprove versus strongly approve is so important. Obama is already 8 points down on this calculus and dropping fast just 6 months into his first term. Where is it going to be after another 16 months?

Moreover, the conservative Republican vote was down in the last election because these voters were so disaffected by the moderate liberal Republican standard bearer John McCain. But these folks are going to be ultramotivated to vote next year, and probably contribute and volunteer as well, because of the prevailing Democrat ultraleftism that so alienates them. At the same time, Obama inspired a maximum left-wing vote last year. But a lot of those voters are going to be unmotivated next year when they realize after two years that Obama did not show up to pay their house and car payments, or arrive at their door to deliver new kitchen appliances and cabinets at taxpayer expense.

I wrote about this same issue on my blog, except I was arguing that the 60 seat Democratic supermajority in the Senate will be the straw that breaks the Democrat’s back. In my opinion, regardless of whether the supermajority translates to greater legislative leverage, perceived control translates to full voter accountability. The supermajority in the Senate will make the Congressional Democrats fully accountable to the voters in 2010. Unless all economic indicators are pointing up, the federal deficit is cut in half, and Obama scores a number of other political victories on the domestic and international fronts, I predict that the balances will be tipped in the Republican’s favor in 2010.

Two questions still bother me: 1) Will the Republicans be able to pull off a large enough victory to actually tip the balances of legislative power? 2) What happens if the economy actually experiences a full recovery by November 2010?

Posted in National News | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

 
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