All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Americans are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with conditions in the United States today and isolationist sentiments are at an all time high, according to a poll released today by the Pew Research Center.

For the first time in the institute's 45 years conducting the poll, more respondents agreed (49 percent) that the United States "should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own" than disagreed (44 percent). A majority, 76 percent, believes that the country should focus more on problems at home and not concentrate as much on international issues.

Andrew Kohut, the president of the Pew Research Center, told the Associated Press in an interview that the "very bad economy" factored heavily in the growth of isolationist sentiment.

The poll also reflects a decidedly pessimistic mood among members of the public: only 25 percent reported feeling satisfied with conditions in America today, and even fewer, 15 percent, said they feel satisfied with conditions in the world.

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Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee called in to WABC-AM's Joe Scarborough show this morning to lash out at those who have criticized him for for commuting the sentence of Maurice Clemmons, the now-deceased suspect in the murders of four Washington police officers last weekend.

Conservative commentators have been particularly critical of then-governor Huckabee for granting clemency to Clemmons when Clemmons was a teenager. Some, including Pat Buchanan, have speculated about the possible negative impact of the story on a 2012 presidential bid by Huckabee.

Huckabee lashed out over what he suggested were misplaced priorities during the radio show.

"It really does show though how sick society has become when we're more interested in the political consequences of an election that's three years away," Huckabee told Scarborough this morning. "…It is disgusting. But people use anything for a political weapon."

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Liz Cheney's organization Keep America Safe today released a mini-documentary featuring citizens of Standish, Michigan lashing out at the Obama administration's proposal to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the town's Standish Maximum Correctional Facility.

Standish is one of at least four sites being considered as potential transfer destinations for detainees, along with facilities in Montana, Colorado, and Illinois, according to the New York Times. The Detroit News reports that the Standish facility, which closed October 31st due to budget cuts, employed more than 250 people, making it the small town's largest employer. Nonetheless, some residents are reluctant to let their town play host to the 200 or so alleged terrorists facing transfer to the United States.

The video, which you can watch at left, includes interviews with citizens of Standish (which has a population just over 2,000 and is 97 percent white, according to last available census data) intercut with messages from Keep America Safe, all set to an ominous piano track.

"President Obama has ordered the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility closed," a message on the screen reads. "Hundreds of terrorists will be moved to prisons in the United States. Politicians want them placed in Standish, Michigan."

This message is followed by a woman speaking. "[Politicians] aren't listening to us little people in Standish," she says. "Because that's what we are. We're a small, small farm town. And we are not being listened to."

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The White House lashed out against Israel today after the country's municipal planning committee announced that it would move forward with a plan to build hundreds of new housing units in eastern Jerusalem, an area that Palestinians hope will be part of their future state.

Under the proposed Israeli plan, called "Gilo's Western Slopes," 900 more housing units would be built, mostly in the form of four and five bedroom apartments, in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports. This plan to advance has attracted harsh criticism from international powers, which see the expansion proposal as an infringement on a previous Israeli-Palestinian agreement and as an impediment to peace negotiations.

"We are dismayed at the Jerusalem Planning Committee's decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "At a time when we are working to re-launch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed. Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations."

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By tomorrow, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, will have the honor of being the longest-serving member of Congress ever, breaking the record set by former senator Carl Hayden.

Politico reports that Byrd, who is 91, has now officially served 20,774 days -- or 56 years, ten and a half months -- in Congress. Byrd was elected to the Senate in 1959 after serving three two-year terms in the House of Representatives, and has since been reelected eight times. He accomplished a unique feat by earning a law degree while in Congress, graduating in 1963; and he is President pro tempore of the Senate, making him third in the line of presidential succession behind Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"On Nov. 18, a West Virginian breaks all records and makes history," West Virginia governor Joe Manchin said in a recent news release. "Sen. Byrd sets the gold standard for what it means to be an outstanding public official, and next week he will reach a historic national milestone for length of service."

Byrd has attracted significant attention throughout his time in Washington for his controversial background, his efforts to further West Virginia's economic development and his record-setting career longevity. Between 1995 and 2006, Byrd sent more than $1 billion West Virginia's way, and most of the $215 million in federal funds given to the state during fiscal 2008 was a result of his work, according to the Charleston Gazette. The Gazette also reports that he was the first candidate to win all 55 counties in one West Virginia election- an accomplishment that he has since repeated twice.

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Republican South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, who was formally censured by members of his own party earlier this week for playing nice with Democrats on climate change and other legislation, has spoken out in his own defense, according to Capitol Hill's newspaper Roll Call.

The Charleston, South Carolina Post and Courier reported that the Charleston County Republican Party voted on Monday to censure Graham for not upholding the Republican platform. The group cited his cooperation with Democratic senator John Kerry on the proposed cap-and-trade bill and his support for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Obama's $700 billion bailout plan.

"U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham -- in the name of bipartisanship -- continues to weaken the Republican brand and tarnish the ideals of freedom, rule of law, and fiscal conservatism," the resolution reportedly reads.

"There have been a lot of things over the years that people have been dissatisfied with the senator for doing but I think the cap-and-trade issue is the straw that broke the camel's back," Lin Bennett, the county GOP chairwoman, said according to the South Carolina State. "We have a state platform that if you want to run as a Republican in our state part of that platform includes ideals and goals we would like to see and one of them is smaller, and less government intrusion into people's lives."

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Texas governor Rick Perry declared that the Obama administration was "hell-bent" on socialism during a speech to the Republican Women's Club in Midland, Texas yesterday, according to Texas local newspapers. He also called for more tea party protests against health care reform efforts.

Perry accused the administration of "punishing" Texas through what he calls the Alien Transfer and Exit Program. He complained to the crowd about what he said is the administration’s system of dumping illegal immigrants captured in other areas of the country into rural Texas, where the state must deal with them. Perry went on to describe a recent conversation he had with officials from the small border town of Presidio.

"They said, ‘do you all know what’s fixin’ to happen?’ I said, ‘well, no. What’s going on?’ They said, ‘the government has just called us and said for us to get ready for an influx of illegal aliens who were captured illegally crossing the border from San Diego to Nogales, Arizona," Perry recalled. "Way on the western side of this country. It's called the Alien Transfer and Exit Program."

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The first episode of Sesame Street's fortieth season aired this morning, featuring a pre-taped segment in which First Lady Michelle Obama gardens and talks healthy eating with Elmo and friends.

Politics Daily reports that the clip, which you can watch at left, was recorded last May. In it, Obama works together with Elmo and three children to plant a vegetable garden of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and carrots. Big Bird also makes an appearance, declaring his love for seeds and demanding to know whether the first lady is part bird.

"No, Big Bird, I'm not…" Obama said, grinning. "You see, I really don't eat these kinds of seeds at all. But I do eat what grows from these seeds."

The first lady continues her campaign for healthy eating by plugging good nutrition on the show, encouraging the children to eat the produce that they plant. Towards the end of the clip, she is praised by a basket of animated vegetables that invite the audience to cheer for her.

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The election may still be three years away, but it seems it’s never too early to speculate: A USA Today/Gallup poll sizing up the potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates was released today. Taking the top spot? Former Arkansas governor (and 2008 presidential hopeful) Mike Huckabee.

The poll found that the top four Republican contenders for the presidential nomination are Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich. Seventy-one percent of declared Republicans would "seriously consider" voting for Huckabee, 65 would consider voting for Romney and for Palin, and 60 percent would consider voting for Gingrich.

Among Americans overall, the order remains the same: Huckabee leads, with 40 percent saying they would seriously consider voting for him. Romney closely follows with 39 percent. He’s followed by Palin with 33 percent and Gingrich with 29 percent.

The results suggest that the identity of Obama's 2012 opponent will rest largely on who is selected by "the Republic faithful," even in states with open primaries. No more than 20 percent of Democrats and no more than 40 percent of independent voters say they would consider voting for any one candidate.

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Former president George W. Bush lobbed the opening pitch of Game Three in the Japan Series - the country's version of the World Series - last night in Tokyo.

The game took place at Tokyo Stadium, and was played between the Yomiuri Giants and the Nippon Ham Fighters. Mr. Bush, who once co-owned the Texas Rangers, attended the game with former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who is also a professed baseball fan. The two have held a close relationship since Mr. Bush's presidency. U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos and record-setting home run hitter Sadaharu Oh were also present at the game with Mr. Bush, reports the Associated Press.

Not everyone, however, was glad to see the former president, AP reports. Outside the stadium, dozens of demonstrators marched and carried signs, which bore messages such as "Bush, Go to Jail" and "Arrest War Criminal Bush," to protest the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq initiated by the Bush administration. One protester even hurled his shoes at the former president in an apparent imitation of Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who got prison time for throwing his own shoes at Mr. Bush during a 2008 press conference in Baghdad.

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