Full Presidential Debate of October 3, 2012 (Plus Poll)

October 4, 2012 - Take our poll! Who won the presidential debate on October 3? In case you didn't see the debate last night, or just want to review it, here's a video of the entire presidential debate (below).

New Poll Asks How The World Will End (Obama Getting Re-Elected Maybe?)

'Earth Exploding" by Rufus Gefangenen

May 3, 2012 - Our friends over at UFO Pundit posted a poll that asks people how they think the world will end. One of the possible answers is "Obama is re-elected president." Just to be fair and balanced, of course, they also offer the answer "Romney gets elected president." More serious answers include "comet or asteroid," "World War III," "Magnetic pole shift," "massive solar flare" and "hostile alien invasion." Here's your chance to vote in this earth-shattering poll. Earth-shattering. Get it?

MSM Bias and Mayor Daley's Lousy Approval Rating

...but will the MainStream Media and the Democrats mock Chicago's Mayor Daley for HIS all-time low approval rating of 35 percent? Don't hold your breath. This post is more about widespread liberal media bias than it is about Mayor Daley's horrible approval ratings. The hypocrisy is stunning, as demonstrated by the Chicago Tribune in a Sept. 13 article by Dan Mihalopoulos: For the first time since he became mayor two decades ago, Daley's critics outnumber his fans, a Tribune/WGN poll found. The mayor's approval rating is at an all-time low of 35 percent in Tribune polls, according to the new survey. Mihalopoulos reveals a certain bias with his fourth paragraph (emphasis added): None of this is to suggest that Daley is losing his dominance of the City Council or his luster with the city's business elite. There is no serious challenger on the horizon if Daley, who regularly wins re-election by landslide, chooses to run for a seventh term in 2011. Even more than his legendary father, the 67-year-old Daley is the only game in town. Why does Mihalopoulos feel a need to apologize for his report of Daley's miserable approval rating of 35 percent? From mid-2006 to early 2008, President Bush hovered at or near a 35 percent approval rating. When The Chicago Tribune - or any of the other MSM - reported Bush's low ratings, did any of them quickly qualify those reports with phrases such as "None of this is to suggest that Bush is losing his dominance of the US Congress?" They did not, and yet that was essentially the case. Even after losing the Congress to the Pelosi Gang in 2006, Bush continued to have his way with the Iraq War and other issues. Although not quite the rubber stamp that is the Chicago City Council, the US Congress was more compliant than most average Democrat voters had hoped it would be after they won it two years into Bush's second term. When the MSM reported on Bush's low approval ratings, did they feel it necessary to also note that Bush won "re-election by [a] landslide?" They did not, of course, even though Bush handily defeated the John "Frenchy" Kerry and John "The Adulterer" Edwards in 2004. The MainStream Media have yet to catch up to the ACORN-Prostitution sting of last week. The MSM virtually buried the story of Obama being forced to dismiss Van Jones. Yesterday's March on Washington, a gargantuan Tea Party, is estimated by the US Parks Service and the D.C. police at over 1.5 Million people, yet most of the MSM has either ignored it or downplayed it as "tens of thousands." MSNBC admitted to "hundreds of thousands" of people, but oddly said that police estimated "tens of thousands." MSNBC, one of the MSM, just couldn't bring itself to honestly relate the much larger, actual, official estimates. The MSM, which we on the Right have accused of bias for decades, has bent over backwards in the past weeks to prove just how correct we have been. They've done it unintentionally, of course, just as a drunk who fails a breathalyzer test unintentionally proves himself guilty of having a few too many drinks. They cannot help it. It is they way they behave. Hold on, here's another metaphor: Like a duck, if it quacks like one and walks like one, it is one. The MSM has been quacking very loudly of late. RELATED: Up to two million march to US Capitol to protest against Obama's spending in ‘tea-party’ demonstration - Daily Mail (UK) ABC Denies It Ever Said Yesterday's Protest Rally Had 1 Million People Two Million Man March Size Matters; So Do Lies The 9/12 March on Washington (Wizbang) Media Bias Is Real, Finds UCLA Political Scientist / UCLA Newsroom Media Bias Of The Day Black & Right Your Friendly Media Bias Reminder - Mark Hemingway PROOF: SADDAM HAD URANIUM AFP: Iraqi uranium transferred to Canada Cool Hats & Shirts for Cool Conservatives Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

CNB POLL: Who Is the Best Black President?

Take the latest CNB Poll! (Poll closes at 9:00 a.m., August 20) Note: Barack Obama is not our first Black president. Remember that Democrats and Liberals and many Black Americans crowned Bill Clinton as "America's first black president." They did, really. So, who is the better of the two Black presidents: Bill Clinton or Barack Obama? Are YOU a citizen of the United STRAIGHTS of America? Leave a Comment... Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

Poll: Do You Support Jim Madigan or Heather Steans?

Who will you vote for in the 7th District Illinois State Senate seat? Will you support incumbent Heather Steans? Or will you vote for challenger Jim Madigan be able to unseat her? Take the poll here and let everyone know who has more support in the 7th District. Leave a Comment... See Our Online Store Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

Obama Falls in Approval Index

Ooops. Obama is slipping. The June 21 Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows this in stark numbers. The number of people who "strongly disapprove" of Obama has risen sharply, while the number of those who "strongly approve" has sharply fallen. Related: Rasmussen Daily President Tracking Poll America is Learning - Red Mass Group Leave a Comment... See Our Online Store Chicago News Bench RSS Feed We're on Twitter...

Vote! Roland Burris Poll

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119,000,000 Traitors?

Barack Obama's approval ratings are plummeting. One reason for BO disapproval could be the fact that he's busy dissing a vast number of his fellow Americans. Why? Because we don't agree with the far-Left agenda of BO and his fellow travelers. What the hell am I talking about? Let me refer you to Moe Lane over at RedState.com. He'll explain it better than I can. Before you go there, however, let's turn to PowerLine.com, which posted "Who's Patriotic?" yesterday: Liberals used to love to claim that President Bush accused his political opponents of being unpatriotic. It wasn't true, of course; Bush never said any such thing. But last night, Barack Obama came perilously close to making that claim about Republicans who oppose his pork bill. As for Obama's plummeting approval ratings, here are a few headlines from today (Feb. 8, 2009). Grab a box of Kleenex; you'll either laugh so hard you'll cry, or you'll just simply cry. Who's Patriotic? Obama's Decline Continues Obama approval rating cut in half since inauguration Biden: We may take a beating in 2010 over the stimulus Americans have doubts about plan for economy Guy Pacot: Obama already failing Where’s the change? Me? LMAO! Pass the Kleenex. CNB RSS Feed

McCain vs Obama: Polls Tighten

Can the Mac come back? A Gallup Poll says yes (maybe). With less than a week to go, Gallup shows the two in a neck-and-neck race. Gallup: Race Tightens, McCain Behind by 2 Pts - A new Gallup Poll of likely voters puts Republican presidential candidate John McCain within two percentage points of his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, 49 percent to 47 percent, which is well within the poll’s margin of error. DETAILS at NewsMax.com...

Party Pooper: End of Partisan Politics?

Professor Alan Brinkley describes the decline of partisan politics and the rise of the independent voter. Brinkley presents both anecdotal and history evidence of millions of American voters abandoning the Republican and Democrat parties, and what he calls "the birth of a post-partisan world." Brinkley, writing in the Wall Street Journal, is the Allan Nevins professor of history and the provost at Columbia University, and after reading his Sept. 6th article you'll probably wish you could have had him as a professor. I offer that with a caveat, however, which I will explain at the end of this post. (Hint: Brinkley is an academic...) "Rarely has this post-partisan world," writes Brinkley, "been more visible than in the campaign of 2008. Sen. Obama has few ties to any party leaders or organizations and nevertheless edged out one of the most famous, well-connected and well-funded candidates of recent decades. For a time, at least, many supporters of Hillary Clinton appeared likely to vote for Sen. McCain." Actually, a significant number of Hillary supporters may still vote for McCain-Palin, a Sept. 9 poll shows the McCain ticket surging ahead of of Obama's with white female voters. "An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll..." writes Deborah Charles at Reuters, "showed ... [that] Before the Democratic National Convention in late August, Obama held an 8-point lead among white women voters, 50 percent to 42 percent, according to the Washington Post/ABC News poll. After the Republican convention in early September, McCain was ahead by 12 points among white women, 53 percent to 41 percent, that survey found. "In the Republican race," continues Brinkley, "the nominee is a man who has spent much of his career as a self-proclaimed maverick, crossing party lines on many issues. In 2004, he was so faintly identified with the Republican party that he was even considered as a possible Democratic vice presidential candidate; and in 2008 primaries, he nearly lost the race for the Republican nomination because conservatives in his own party did not trust him. Since clinching the nomination, he has been repudiating some of the Bush administration's policies and embracing ideas that were once taboo in the current Republican party. Not surprisingly, some of the most ardent Republican supporters of George W. Bush have claimed they will not vote for McCain in the same way that some Clinton voters say they will not vote for Obama -- although the selection of the extremely conservative Gov. Palin as McCain's running mate might change this dynamic." THE CAVEAT... This is all very interesting. However, polls are polls and they have been shown to be wrong often enough in the past that we should take them with a grain of salt. Even so, taking inaccuracies into account, well conducted polls can show us the general direction that a campaign is headed in, just as an inaccurate map can still get you to the correct city, even the right block, but misdirect you the exact address. Close enough for general purposes. Brinkley misses a number of points, some of which I will touch on. He claims that we are now in a post partisan world, where party politics matter less. He cites the near-abandonment of John McCain by his own Republican Party as evidence of this, but Brinkley does not understand that this came from a groundswell of Republican -and conservative GOP sympathizers - who did not favor McCain precisely because they viewed him as incompatible with the party's foundations and platforms. How Brinkley misses this simple and obvious fact is mysterious. Republicans in 2004 rejected McCain because they felt he would not serve the party well. In 2008, many Republicans rejected McCain for the same reason, but rallied to him recently because of his choice of Governor Sarah Palin. Palin is seen as good for the party, another glaring fact that Brinkley seems to see but not comprehend. Finally, one must wonder how accurate Brinkley is. He is, after all, living in the world of academia, where it is fashionable to proclaim oneself to be independent. I live in Rogers Park, Chicago, which has a population of about 60,000 within a two-square mile area. Here, there are 20,000 registered Democrats and a mere 250 registered Republicans. There is a high percentage of the local Democrats who can accurately be described as "very liberal," and this leads to many amusing reactions when one reveals himself to be conservative. They have trouble believing it initially. Surely you must be joking, their widened eyes silently scream. Rogers Park, like academia, is politically insulated and in no way representative of the norm of American society. Sure, there are many Democrats everywhere, but very few who are as liberal as those in Rogers Park. Here, liberal Democrats and "progressives" have marinated in their own delusion of being representative of the average American for so long that they have trouble believing that there are people "out there" who actually disagree with their world view. To return to Brinkley, then, his own marinade of academia has flavored his outlook. I say this with certainty. Although his WSJ article is excellent, he seems out of touch with mainstream America. He refers to Sarah Palin as "extremely conservative." She is certainly conservative, moreso, arguably, than Senator McCain. But "extremely?" (Would Brinkley call Barack Obama "extremely liberal?" How about Ted Kennedy or Hillary Clinton?) The use of the adjective "extremely" is a disturbing signal that Brinkley does not understand what conservatism is, let alone what is would take to be "extremely" so. In fact, Brinkley mentions Palin only twice in his WSJ piece. The other reference is to her "slashing, sarcastic acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention," which gives us one more signal of Brinkley's academia-tainted vision. What Brinkley misses is the fact that Palin is playing the heart strings not only of "extremely conservative" Republicans, but of mainstream and moderate Republicans as well - including John McCain. Brinkley notes that in 2004, McCain "was so faintly identified with the Republican party that he was even considered as a possible Democratic vice presidential candidate; and in 2008 primaries, he nearly lost the race for the Republican nomination because conservatives in his own party did not trust him." Okay, but this is the same John McCain who chose, as Brinkley describes her, "the extremely conservative" Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008. There seems to be a disconnect inside of Brinkley's head. He sees the trees, examines them closely, but does not see the forest. If McCain and his advisers thought that Palin was truly an "extreme" conservative, they probably would not have chosen her. Rather, they recognized that Palin is more closely an orthodox conservative than is McCain. To be orthodox anything is not extremist. The choice of the phrase "extremely conservative," then, exposes Brinkley's otherwise informative article as having a bias, although it is probably unintentional. For him to describe Palin that way is as accurate as describing Brinkley as "extremely isolated." No, he's probably not "extremely" isolated, just isolated in an orthodox kinda way.

Running Scared: Dems Freaked by Palin

I engaged in a guilty pleasure over the weekend. I listened to Air America, where the talk show hosts are generally childish and seem to believe that vapid mockery constitutes serious, informed fact-oriented discussion. This past weekend, they were even more vapid than usual. Rather than discuss the accomplishments of VP candidate Sarah Palin, mockery of her Alaskan accent and speculation about her pregnant daughter were the topics du jour. There was something more, however, a palpable feeling that oozed out of the radio: Fear. Fear and panic. Right now, the Democrats have nothing to fear but panic itself. Palin, love her or hate her, is undeniably a sensation with momentum. The Dems know this, and they are frightened because they know this: GOP activists report with relief that socially conservative voters who might have stayed home on Election Day say they will turn out now, while others say they will campaign more actively for the ticket. Among those coming out of the woodwork, activists say, are some who have not been active before, such as parents of special-needs children who feel a bond with Palin. The reaction was slower for less-religious Republicans, including ones with military backgrounds who wondered about Palin's qualifications, but after her tough convention speech, many of them are also energized. [Source] The polls bear this out, too. The Los Angeles Times writes today about McCain's lead over Obama, thanks to the "Sarah Bounce." The poll, based on interviews done Friday through Sunday and conducted in conjunction with USA Today, finds that among all registered voters, the McCain ticket now leads Obama's, 50% to 46%. That's an 8-percentage-point turnabout in a matter of a few weeks; in a comparable survey taken Aug. 21 through Aug. 23, Obama led among registered voters, 47% to 43%. [Source] They are scared. They're soiling their pants, just as Adam McKay is in his post "We're Gonna Frickin' Lose this Thing" on the Huffington Post today. Poll after poll after poll shows McCain leading Obama. From the Phoenix Business Journal today: A Zogby International poll gives McCain a 50 percent to 46 percent edge over Obama. The poll, taken Sept. 5 and 6, interviewed more than 2,000 adults. A Gallup tracking poll of 2,700 voters now gives McCain a 48 percent to 45 percent lead. That poll was taken over the weekend. A USA Today poll done in conjunction with Gallup also gives McCain the lead with 54 percent of the vote compared with 44 percent for Obama. That poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters this weekend. [Source] The reaction in polling must have spurred a few frantic conference calls between Democratic strategists within the past 72 hours. They undoubtedly discussed how Obama's VP pick Joe Biden can be prepped for the inevitable showdown between him and Palin. They probably also wondered why so many people dislike Biden. Overall, 36% of voters now rate McCain's selection of Palin as "excellent,” which is higher than was measured in reaction to Obama's selection of Joe Biden. Conversely, the percent of voters who rated McCain's selection of Palin as "poor" was 24% and according to Gallup that is also a high number. [Source] Of course, polls are not infallible and are often proven to be an inaccurate measure of how voters around the country really feel. Even a poll that gets it right today may be obsolete next week, as voters change their minds based on conversations with friends and family, news events, and other factors. Gawker.com, for example, tells us that we should "Stop Obsessing Over Polls." There is some validity to that argument. Nevertheless, polls are the best measure available to us, imperfect or not, and polls drive the tactics of the strategists. Ultimately, the only poll that really matters will be taken on Election Day in November. RELATED: Gallup Poll: McCain 50%, Obama 46% MSNBC Ousts Olbermann, Matthews as Anchors of Political Events

Obama Bounces in Polling

Delayed reaction: Barack gets a bump in the polls. Barack Obama might finally be seeing some bounce out of the star-studded Democratic National Convention. The Gallup Daily Tracking Poll on Thursday showed the Democratic presidential nominee up 6 points over rival John McCain, 48 to 42 percent, with a 2-point margin of error. MORE at Fox News... Man, that took a while. Let's see where the polls are after next week's Republican National Convention.

OBAMA: NO BOUNCE, NO GAIN

They MUST be FREAKING OUT over this. The LATEST GALLUP POLL (AUG. 26) shows that Obama has gotten ZERO BOUNCE from the Biden selection for VP running mate. In a release from Gallup TODAY, they tell us "McCain creeps ahead, 46% to 44%." PRINCETON, NJ -- It's official: Barack Obama has received no bounce in voter support out of his selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice presidential running mate. Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 23-25, the first three-day period falling entirely after Obama's Saturday morning vice presidential announcement, shows 46% of national registered voters backing John McCain and 44% supporting Obama, not appreciably different from the previous week's standing for both candidates. This is the first time since Obama clinched the nomination in early June, though, that McCain has held any kind of advantage over Obama in Gallup Poll Daily tracking. FULL STORY at GALLUP DAILY...

Another Damned Poll

Yet another poll, this one with great news for John McCain. Ooops, and bad news for those commies Obama and Clinton. McCain was seen as a better steward of the economy than either Democrat despite their repeated criticism of his economic credentials. He led Obama by 3 points and Clinton by 5 points on the question of who would best manage the economy. In the Democratic race, Obama widened his national lead over Clinton to 51 percent to 38 percent, up from a 3-point edge in March, in polling taken before a controversy erupted over Obama's comments about small-town residents. MORE...

Many Still Upbeat About the War

Some idiots are citing a recent news poll as saying, simply, that "60 percent of the American people" are opposed to the war. Well, yes, but there's more to it than that. A report from AFP (the French news agency), tells us that the poll actually gives us reason to be optimistic: US public more up-beat on Iraq war: poll Six in 10 people surveyed in the Washington Post/ABC news poll judge the war not worth fighting, and a majority still say the United States is not making significant steps towards stabilizing the war-torn country, it said. Plenty of morons reported the above. But they ignored the rest of the story: But the number who did think progress was being made increased by 10 percent to four in 10. More from AFP... Related: After Record Lows, Bush Gains With Republicans, Independents (Washington Post) Poll says Iraq War fading as a campaign issue (Newsday) Bush Approval Ratings Still Higher Than For Congress - Multiple polls released this week show the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress’ approval rating well below 30 percent — lower than President Bush’s. (Rider University Press)

POLL: Should DevCorp North Have Hired Local Artists for the Morse Avenue Mural?

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NEW 49TH WARD POLL

SEE OUR NEW POLL IN THE RIGHT SIDEBAR COLUMN.

Choose one answer in this easy poll and let the world know where you stand. Vote now. You can only vote once. You can also email this poll to a friend! Send 'em this link: http://www.polldaddy.com/p.asp?p=26058

POLL: BAD NEWS FOR JOE MOORE

And verrrrry good news for challenger Don Gordon. No wonder Joe Moore's people seem verrrrry worried lately. They seem kind of, er, moody. Seems the 49th Ward's incumbent alderputz is not doing well in the polling, and word is that Moore's getting bad advice from his own staff is turning to some previously untapped sources for advice. Run, run, run, Joe. We know where you are. We know where you have not been. Too late for new tricks. READ THE POLL RESULTS: "Organized labor paid for polls in some aldermanic races two weeks ago. The polls were conducted by Mark Penn. Remember, however, that turnout is probably going to be extremely low in next month’s runoff election, so the biggest question is who will actually vote. Polls will have a tough time guaging that right now. Here are some quick, topline results…" READ 'EM ALL HERE