Sergio Rodriguera of Sphere Consulting and Tyler Harber from Wilson Research Strategies join Kristen in the studio this week, talking about the troops returning home from Iraq, recent primary results, and extreme weather.
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Kristen Soltis chats with Mark Blumenthal of pollster.com and Patrick Ruffini from Engage about the latest primaries, the Ground Zero mosque, moveon.org and some big changes for pollster.com and engage (engagedc.com).
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David Winston contributes to Weekly Standard’s August 19th article on the congressional races this year, with positive projections on Republicans winning seats in November:
Pollster David Winston believes Republicans have better prospects in 2010 than they did in 1994. “This administration has opened the door wide for Republicans,” he says. “It’s even more open than it was in 1994.”
But Winston says Republicans “have the challenge of what people remember from 2006,” when Republicans were voted out of office in Congress. And they must answer what Winston calls the “why us?” question. They need to tell voters “what you’re going to get if we have a Republican majority.”
To read more, turn to weeklystandard.com
TRI is back from hiatus this week! Kristen chats with Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney and The Weekly Standard’s Matt Continetti, talking about Tim Geithner’s op-ed about the economic recovery, the wikileaks on the war, Rangel and Waters being under fire, and advice to budding writers.
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The August 4th Alaska Dispatch features an article outlining the possible Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential election, including some of their strengths and weaknesses. David Winston comments in the article, stating that the election will be more about how the candidate will govern and less about their history:
“Ultimately, it will be a race about content,” says Mr. Winston. “Especially now, given concern on the Republican side about where this country is headed, voters want to hear how are you going to govern and where would you take this country.
To read the full breakdown of possible candidates, click to alaskadispatch.com
The Washington Times’ Sean Lengell features David Winston in an August 1 story about the divide between Democrats and Republicans over a few of the Bush-era tax cuts. Winston states that the Republican stance opposing the increase of taxes on the highest income taxpayers won’t help an already weak economy:
“Basically, the public does not think now is the time to increase taxes, by any stretch,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s going to come back to the Democrats to prove that they’re not increasing taxes on small businesses, which, given the number of small businesses that [fall into high income-tax brackets], they’re not going to be able to do.”
To read more, click to thewashingtontimes.com
Perry Bacon writes in today’s Washington Post about Republicans’ confidence in winning seats in November, and continuing opposition to Democratic initiatives. The Winston Group’s David Winston states that Democrats aren’t focused enough on the most important issues at hand:
Congressional Democrats and the White House “are trying to deal with these other issues when there is only one issue in the room: jobs and the economy,” said David Winston, a Republican pollster.
To read more, click to washingtonpost.com
The Hill features David Winston today in an article outlining the approach Republicans need to take in order to win seats this November. Republicans are trying to separate themselves from Nancy Pelosi and her Democrat followers, but David points out that the GOP needs to do more than just that, by showing the policy plans they will implement after the elections:
“Part of the dynamic here is the way President Obama and congressional Democrats govern ha[s] opened this door wide open for Republicans, but the public at this point isn’t just simply saying, ‘Look at how bad [Democrats] are.’ They want to know what you’re going to do — why should they vote for you?”
To read more, turn to thehill.com
The Pew Research Center for The People and The Press recently released the results of a study mapping out voters’ opinions on political ideologies. The study confirms that most voters are center-right in ideology. The study also outlines voters’ views on opposing political parties, as well as insight into what voters believe about the Tea Party.
To read the report and check out Pew’s methodology and toplines, go to pewresearch.org
WaPo released an article over the weekend by Karen Tumulty and Paul Kane, describing different approaches from Republicans on taking back the House. Some strategists are going for an attack plan, but others like David Winston say that a plan needs to be included in the GOP’s message to voters:
“What’s our plan to create jobs and grow the economy?” said GOP pollster David Winston, who is advising the House Republican leadership on the effort. “That’s really what we have to address. We need command focus.”
To read more, turn to washingtonpost.com
The Winston Group’s David Winston comments in Monday’s Washington Post on why Wall Street reform is not exactly a hot button issue among voters, particularly those in Virginia’s 11th district, where rep. Gerald E. Connolly and Keith Fimian are fighting for the congressional seat.
” ‘What is this going to do to grow the economy and create jobs?’ ” Winston said voters would ask. “If everybody’s going to point fingers at each other, that’s not what people want to hear.”
To read the full article, click to washingtonpost.com
This week, Kristen chats with Alex Lundry from Target Point and Kevin Madden from Dyke & Associates about the “Golf or Gulf” website, constituents breaking away from Democrats, Scott Brown’s backing of the financial reform bill, the word “liberal,” and the Apple fans.
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Doyle McManus featured David Winston in his July 11th column in the LA Times, writing about how the GOP’s potential success in the House may be a difficult one to reach, since Republicans have yet to settle on a unifying message. David explains why they are currently doing well in terms of public opinion:
Winston argues that the GOP should articulate a specific plan, but he also cautions against putting too much into it.
“One of the reason the door has opened for Republicans is that President Obama has focused on so many other things,” he added. “If you create an 87-point agenda, you’re making the same mistake.”
To read more, click to latimes.com
Kristen chats with The Washington Examiner’s JP Freire and Slate’s Chris Beam about GOP Chairman Michael Steele’s recent controversial comments on Afghanistan, as well the latest in unemployment reports and DailyKos’ lawsuit with Research 2000 over polling data.
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