RUSH: A couple of stories here, one is from the Boston Globe by Megan Woolhouse and the other is from the New Republic. The headline of the Boston Globe piece: “Poll Finds Deepening Economic Pessimism.” The headline from the New Republic piece is: “Slice the Demographics Any Way You Want, But Obama Is In Trouble.” Let’s go to the Boston Globe piece first here. “Despite improvements in the economy,” is how it begins, which is the first problem right there. The Drive-Bys keep telling us that there is an “improvement” in the economy. But like the Russians, we ain’t buying it — and it’s in every poll! The Russians aren’t buying Putin, and we aren’t buying this business. It’s in every poll: We’re not buying this business the economy is rebounding.
But anyway, “Despite improvements in the economy, Massachusetts residents hold deeply pessimistic views about the future, including a stark lack of confidence in real estate and stock markets … The survey found more than a continued bleak outlook; it found a disheartened population…”This is Massachusetts, folks! This is Obama country. This is Kennedy country. “Da-da-da-da-da,” as he said once. “The survey found more than a continued bleak outlook; it found a disheartened population that says it is saving less, giving less to charity, and planning to work longer, generally for one reason: lack of money,” and that’s it. Cut to the chase: Lack of money. “The real estate and stock markets offer little hope,” these people in the poll said.
“Nearly two out of three surveyed say they are unsure about stocks or currently consider them a bad investment. More than half think housing prices will remain stagnant or continue to drop in the year ahead. ‘Things have been really bad but itÂ’s reached another level now — people have lost hope,’ said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk’s Political Research Center, which conducted the poll. ‘The American dream of owning a home and owning stocks are the pillars that have held up hope throughout our history. This is signaling to us that those pillars are shaking.'” (Repeating) “Things have been really bad but itÂ’s reached another level now — people have lost hope.” But see, I thought all of these wonderful liberals in Massachusetts found hope and change with Obama.
That’s not working out? “The poll of 400 Massachusetts residents was conducted early last week, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Remarkably, optimism was easier to find in the same poll taken two years ago … Jeffrey Bolger, a Halifax resident, said too many manufacturing companies have moved their operations outside the United States, eliminating good jobs, leaving a new generation of workers in positions that pay less or offer few benefits. He said his adult son, for example, has a college degree and a job, but remains on [his parents] health insurance plan.”
Then you read this story, and it’s a poll of Massachusetts residents in the Boston Globe, their equivalent of the New York Times. It’s also depressing because the reporter and everybody they talk to don’t get it, and I have to ask, “Where’s the Republican Party?” The Republican Party is AWOL! The Republican Party has to find a way to help these people make the connection between their dilapidated lives and “losing hope” and Obama. You know damn well if we had a Republican president for three years and this was happening to the country, and the Boston Globe went out and did a poll, is there any doubt in your mind that the incumbent Republican president would be cited by everybody as the problem?
Okay, we know that’s not gonna happen here. The Boston Globe is interested in Obama winning reelection, the Democrats. But these people, these are American citizens. Their lives are being slowly destroyed. Somebody has to make the connection for them. There’s a reason: Specific government policies, authored by Obama, are the reason! You just can’t sit there and assume people are going to figure it out. You can’t assume that the president always gets blamed in a recession, which is what the Republicans are doing — if they even think Obama can be beaten, and like I said in the first hour, I’m not convinced that a whole lot of the Republican establishment even believe Obama can be defeated. So there’s one story. That’s people in Boston, and I haven’t scratched the surface.
This story goes on and on and on for a couple pages more people describing how depressed they are how their lives are falling apart. They are Massachusetts liberals, and there’s not one mention of Obama in the story other than how hard he’s trying to help them. Now we move to the New Republic piece. “To what extent is demography destiny in politics? ThatÂ’s the question that Ruy Teixeira and John HalpinÂ’s much-discussed analysis of the 2012 presidential race puts front and center.” We talked about this survey last week and these two guys but I’m bringing it up again because it appears in a liberal publication. Obama’s numbers are pretty bad. “Support for Obama among young voters ages 18 to 29 has plunged to only 48 percent.” What was it in 2008? Do you remember?
Try in the seventies. Remember all the idealism and the Messiah and the lowering the season? Well, now he’s 48% among voters 18-29. “His approval among Hispanics stands at only 51 percent,” down from 80%. “With the exception of voters with post-graduate degrees, Obama is under water with every educational cohort: 42 percent among those with a high school diploma or less, 41 percent among those with some college, and 41 percent for voters with BAs. While his approval among Democrats and liberals remains robust (79 and 71 percent, respectively), he stands at only 39 percent among Independents and 51 percent among moderates,” all of this while the Republican establishment is worried that Newt Gingrich is gonna drive these people back to Obama!
I’ll tell you, it’s enough to cause me to pull my hair out over the asininity that’s occurring on the Republican side, the absolute absurd stupidity that is on display on the Republican side. Here’s a guy with under 50% — seriously — who’s lost 30 in practically every demographic. The only place he’s above water is with the elites in academia: Actors and artistes and that bunch. Everybody has thrown in the towel. We got a story in the Boston Globe, a poll of 400 people. They’re depressed, their dilapidated, their lives are deteriorating, their home values are down. Every tradition that they have trusted, they don’t believe in anymore — and the Republican establishment, “(sigh) Oh, gosh, I don’t know. I just hope we can hold the Senate.” It’s enough to get me to start cursing.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: One more little ditty here before we get to your phone calls. It’s about the 1% and a poll. “More of the countryÂ’s wealthiest 1 percent are independents than Republicans or Democrats, and the majority of them say their political views are moderate or liberal, according to a new Gallup poll Monday. Of the countryÂ’s top 1 percent – those in households that earn $500,000 or more annually who the Occupy Wall Street movement has been protesting against — 41 percent identify themselves as independents, while 33 percent say they are Republicans and 26 percent are Democrats. The 99 percent of the population is also mostly independents,” according to Gallup, “consisting of 39 percent of independents, 28 percent of Republicans and 33 percent of Democrats. A plurality of the population’s wealthiest 1%, 41% say they are moderate. The wealthiest 1%’s also more educated than the rest.” So, according to Gallup, everybody — doesn’t matter where you go — the 99% are moderate, 1% are moderate or independent. Everybody’s a moderate or independent. Guess who will read this and believe it?
The Republican establishment, and every Republican political consultant.
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