voters

Elliott Abrams is rightly and eloquently outraged about this morning's New York Times article, which features Obama administration officials discussing sensitive and classified national security matters, for the sake of making the president look tough. The leakers—none of whom "would allow their names to be used because the effort remains highly classified, and parts of it continue to this day"—did no favor to our national security, or to efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program.

The president is out of town tonight, spending the night alone at his home in Chicago after a day filled with six fundraisers. But his campaign in Washington, D.C. continues.

An events list found at BarackObama.com reveals that eight "Obama Shabbat" dinners will be held this evening, here in Washington, to observe the Jewish sabbath and to "organize our community to help reelect President Barack Obama." The Jewish sabbath is observed from sundown Friday evening to sundown Saturday night. 

It has been a tough week for the president. Just as things were supposed to be getting better for him—as they were for the economy—his support and approval ratings took a severe hit in two important polls. And then there was a survey that indicated that 80 percent of the population does not consider itself better off than it was four years ago.

A new Economist/YouGov/Polimetrix poll (conducted June 5-8, 2010), finds that Republicans hold a substantial edge on a number of policy issues with two key voter groups – seniors (age 65+) and independents – five months before this year’s midterm elections.

Now that President Obama has signed his health care bill into law, people are saying that the overhaul will do this or will do that. But given the pains to which the Democrats went to structuring the legislation so as to avoid presenting its true ($2 trillion-plus) ten-year costs to the American people, it's really more accurate to continue to say that the legislation would do this or that. For the Democrats won't ever get to implement their health care overhaul in any meaningful way unless President Obama wins reelection, or unless enough Obamacare-supporting Democrats remain in Congress to thwart the following five-word agenda: Repeal, and then real reform.