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DNC chair: GOP candidates interchangeable Legos

DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said on Sunday that President Obama is in "remarkably good shape" politically -- and that if anyone has a political problem, it's Republicans. The GOP presidential field, she contended, is full of candidates so interchangeable they might as well be "Legos."

Wasserman Schultz, in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," argued that despite what appears to be a significant drop in approval ratings, Mr. Obama is doing well.

A recent CBS News poll put Mr. Obama's approval rating at 48 percent overall. And while those numbers are largely unchanged from CBS News findings throughout the year, CBS News' Norah O'Donnell pointed out on Sunday that the president enjoys less support in some key battleground states than he did in past years.

"His approval rating in some of these states -- in Iowa it's dropped from 61 to 49 percent in just two years," said O'Donnell, of Mr. Obama's popularity. "In Minnesota, it's dropped 14 percent, 66 to 52 percent. And even in his home state of Illinois, the president's approval has gone down 17 points, 71 to 54 percent. Is the president in trouble?"

"The president is in actually remarkably good shape given that he is still struggling to help pull our economy out of the Republican recession that he inherited. His numbers are still strong; he still has widespread support," Wasserman Schultz responded. "If anyone is in trouble, it is the Republican Party."

Republican presidential candidates competed on Saturday in Iowa's Ames straw poll, where Rep. Michele Bachmann, who also appeared on "Face the Nation" Sunday, beat out libertarian Ron Paul, R-Tex., to claim victory. Former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who came in a disappointing third place in the contest, announced on Sunday his withdrawal from the 2012 presidential race.

"Right now, they have a collection of candidates for president who are busy trying to out-right wing each other," Wasserman Schultz said of the GOP field. "Essentially they are all so similar that they might as well be Legos, they are that interchangeable."

Pointing to the fact that all of the Republican candidates who participated in Thursday night's GOP presidential debate expressed opposition to raising taxes as any part of a deficit reduction deal, Wasserman Schultz accused the candidates of being "strangled" by the Tea Party.

"Even when faced with the most reasonable question -- 'Would you support a deficit reduction deal that would be ten to one cuts to revenue?' -- they still said no," she said. "That is how strangled by the Tea Party that they are, and that is not what Americans are looking for -- they are looking for solutions."

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