STATS & POLLS

• Better News For Palin: PPP’s newest batch of 2012 Republican primary polls conducted right before last week’s election finds Mitt Romney ahead in the critical early state of Florida, Tim Pawlenty surprisingly weak in his home state of Minnesota, and Sarah Palin posting leads in Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Maine.... - NYT, 11-12-10
• Republican election win fails to excite public: poll: The Republican Party may have excited conservatives when it recaptured the House of Representatives in last week's midterm elections but a recession-jilted public is less than enthused, according to a poll released on Thursday by the Pew Research Center.
  The survey found that 48 percent of those polled were happy with the Republican victory.
  This compared to 60 percent who said they were happy in 2006 when the Democrats regained majorities in both branches of Congress and the 57 percent who applauded the historic 1994 midterm gains for the Republican Party that saw them take control of the legislature for the first time in 40 years.
  "The nature of the victory itself is a little different because the Republicans this time only captured one chamber as opposed to the whole Congress," said Carroll Doherty, associate director of the Pew Research Center."One of the things that you see here is that we have seen these transitions of power before and they are happening more frequently and so it is not so novel," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.... - Reuters, 11-11-10
• Poll: 77% say elections more negative than 2006 campaign: Americans believe the midterm elections were more negative than the 2006 campaign, a new Pew Research Center poll says. Nearly 8 in 10 voters, or 77%, say there was more mudslinging and negative campaigning than in previous elections. That compares with 69% after the elections four years ago.
  The 2010 elections may be remembered in history for these images: attacks on President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, voters clamoring for less government and taxes participating in Tea Party rallies, and people railing against"Obamacare" and the new health insurance law. Most important, this election was about the economy. So maybe it's not surprising that the low grades for Campaign 2010 weren't partisan: 70% of Republicans, 79% of Democrats and 81% of independents said this political season was more negative than in 2006... - USA Today, 11-11-10
• Nine Congress and governor races not yet decided: Here are the congressional and gubernatorial races that remain uncalled after Tuesday's election... - WaPo, 11-10-10
• AP-GfK Poll: Palin most polarizing of 2012 crowd: Sarah Palin is the most polarizing of the potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates, while impressions of Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney lean more positive, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. As for the rest — Pawlenty, Barbour, Thune, Daniels — most Americans say,"Who?"
  Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee, is the best-known and most divisive of the bunch. In the wake of her high-profile role in endorsing candidates all over the country, 46 percent of Americans view her favorably, 49 percent unfavorably, and 5 percent don't know enough about her to form an opinion.
  Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who won the 2008 GOP Iowa caucus, received the highest favorability rating, 49 percent. About one in four people has no opinion of him, and 27 percent view him unfavorably.
  Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran in 2008, had similar results. Nearly a quarter of all Americans have no opinion about him, while 46 percent view him favorably, and 31 percent unfavorably.
  In terms of winning the 2012 nomination, the question is how Republican-leaning Americans view the contenders. Palin comes out on top. Among adults who identify themselves as Republicans or GOP-leaning independents, 79 percent view her favorably, and 17 percent unfavorably.
  These findings worry many Republican officials. The poll suggests Palin might be able to win the nomination. But among independents_they could be the deciding factor in the general election — just 43 percent hold a favorable view of Palin, compared with 61 percent with a positive view of Obama.... - AP, 11-10-10
• 2010: An Aligning Election: Elections with results as dramatic as those of Tuesday night are sometimes referred to as “realigning elections.” The term — although somewhat ambiguous and overused — usually refers to a case in which one or another party not only gains a significant amount of power, but also, in which coalitions are shifted, the signature of which is usually that the rising party performs particularly well in certain geographic regions or among certain demographic groups.
  The 1980 election, for instance, arguably marked the beginning of a long-term shift toward Republicans in America's suburbs, with Jimmy Carter’s share of the suburban vote dropping from 53 percent in 1976 to 37 percent in 1980: the 16-point swing against Mr. Carter was about twice the one he suffered in cities or rural areas. Likewise, in 1994, the shift against Democrats was particularly sharp in the South: 19 of the 52 representatives which they lost having come from that part of the country.
  The 2010 elections, by contrast, were remarkable for their orderliness — and they tended to reinforce, to an almost uncanny degree, existing political coalitions.
  Below is a chart that arranges America’s 435 congressional districts from those (on the left) which gave the highest percentage of their vote to Barack Obama in 2008 to those (on the right) which gave the highest share to John McCain; the chart then compares which party each district had elected to the House before and after Tuesday night.... - NYT, 11-8-10

THE HEADLINES....

• Netanyahu Backs U.S. Proposal for Freeze: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ask cabinet ministers to support a U.S. proposal to extend restrictions on building in Jewish settlements for 90 days in exchange for a package of incentives from Washington, according to Israeli officials. If approved by the Israeli government, the deal could help revive peace talks with the Palestinians, which collapsed at the end of September when a 10-month period of building restrictions expired and Israel refused to extend it. Also Sunday, one of Israel's most senior intelligence officials issued a stark warning that without immediate and meaningful progress toward peace, the Palestinian security services, which have earned consistent Israeli praise in recent months, could rapidly start to unravel. In a rare briefing to a small group of journalists, the intelligence official said there was a window of between three months and a year to show progress toward peace."If there will not be real progress, I believe we can find that sometime within three months, six months or one year from now, that the functioning of the Palestinian security system is in a very different place," the intelligence official said."In order to keep the legitimacy and functioning of the Palestinian security system we need real progress in the peace process."... - WSJ, 11-14-10
• Obama calls latest Israeli plan promising: President Barack Obama on Sunday hailed the prospect of a new settlement freeze in the disputed West Bank as a promising step toward peace, urging Israelis and Palestinians to get back into serious negotiations quickly. An upbeat president also pledged to return to the basic principles that drove his thinking when he first came to the White House, including sticking to a more bipartisan tone and better explaining his decisions to the American people. He spoke of moving from an"obsessive focus" on policy and making changes to his approach after a humbling midterm election.
  "The fact that we are out of crisis — although still obviously in a difficult time — I think will give me the capacity," Obama told reporters aboard Air Force One at the end of long Asia trip.
  On the Mideast, Washington's new proposal for reviving peace talks includes a 90-day ban on housing starts in West Bank settlements — but not in east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital. The goal is to give the two sides a three-month period to shape borders of side-by-side states, a daunting, elusive mission.
  Obama commended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for making a"very constructive step" toward creating an environment for peace."I think it's a signal that he's serious," Obama said.... - AP, 11-14-10
• White House, GOP look for middle ground on taxes: The White House and Republican lawmakers set the terms for a looming tax debate Sunday, coalescing around a possible temporary extension of existing income tax rates that would protect middle class and wealthy Americans from sharp tax increases next year. Top White House adviser David Axelrod stressed that President Barack Obama opposes a"permanent" extension of current tax rates for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and married couples making more than $250,000. But Axelrod, appearing on two Sunday television talk shows, was carefully silent on the possibility of extending current tax rates for the short term. He said he wants to leave negotiations to Obama and members of Congress."The bottom line is he wants to sit down and talk about this," Axelrod said."There is no bend on the permanent extension of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans."... - AP, 11-14-10
• US asks Israel for 90-day settlement building moratorium: Netanyahu discusses possibility of halting building with septet; in exchange, US would support Israel in the UN and give 20 fighter jets; request does not include e. Jerusalem. The US asked Israel to freeze all new settlement construction begun after September 26th for a 90-day period in exchange for support in the United Nations and 20 additional advanced fighter planes worth $3 billion, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The principles of this agreement designed to restart peace talks with the Palestinians, were relayed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to his inner cabinet, a forum of seven ministers, on Saturday night and will be explained to the full cabinet on Sunday. The US said that if the deal was accepted it would not request an additional settlement freeze. The request does not include east Jerusalem.... - Jpost, 11-13-10
• Obama and Republicans find common ground on 'earmarks': The president and GOP House leaders agree that curtailing or eliminating the provisions would be a step toward restoring fiscal responsibility.
  "I agree with those Republican and Democratic members of Congress who've recently said that, in these challenging days, we can't afford what are called 'earmarks,'" Obama said."We can't afford 'Bridges to Nowhere,' like the one that was planned a few years back in Alaska."
  In his radio address Saturday, Obama said that curtailing or eliminating earmarks would be a first step toward restoring fiscal responsibility.
  "I agree with those Republican and Democratic members of Congress who've recently said that, in these challenging days, we can't afford what are called 'earmarks,'" Obama said."We can't afford 'Bridges to Nowhere,' like the one that was planned a few years back in Alaska."
  "Earmarks have become a symbol of a dysfunctional Congress and serve as a fuel line for the culture of spending that has dominated Washington for too long," said Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the presumptive incoming House speaker, and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), likely the next majority whip."We welcome President Obama's remarks on earmark reform, and we call upon him to urge congressional Democrats to vote on a similar measure next week," they said.... - LAT, 11-13-10
• Justices Leave Military Gay Ban in Place: The military's"don't ask, don't tell" policy restricting openly gay, lesbian and bisexual people from serving will remain in force while a legal challenge is considered by a federal appeals court, the United States Supreme Court declared Friday. In an unsigned, two-paragraph order, the justices denied a request by the Log Cabin Republicans, the group trying to overturn the law, to reinstate an order by a federal district judge in California, Virginia A. Phillips, that prohibited enforcement during the appeal. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had ruled, however, that the military could continue enforcement during the appeal, and on Friday the Supreme Court agreed. The decision did not address the merits of the case.
  The Supreme Court order noted that the newest justice, Elena Kagan,"took no part in the consideration or decision" of the application; she may have recused herself because she was involved in the case as solicitor general, the position she held before President Obama nominated her to the court.... - NYT, 11-12-10
• Obama Tells Business Leaders That U.S. Is `Here to Stay' in Asian Markets: President Barack Obama told Japanese business leaders that the U.S. is"here to stay" in Asia as he neared the end of a 10-day trip across the region. Speaking to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s CEO Business Summit in Yokohama, Japan, Obama said engagement with Asia is a"jobs strategy," important to his goal of increasing U.S. exports and spurring economic growth around the world.
  "We don't want to lose the opportunity to sell our goods and services in fast-growing markets. We don't want to lose the opportunity to create new jobs back home," he said according to the prepared text of the speech."When it comes to this growing, sprawling region of the world, the United States is here to stay."
  Obama is in Japan for the APEC leaders meeting on a trip that has taken him to India, Indonesia and South Korea. At each stop he’s highlighted the need to boost exports in Asia’s rapidly growing economies in order to create jobs at home, where the unemployment rate has been 9.5 percent or higher for the last 14 months.
  Obama told the hundreds of Japanese chief executives gathered at the conference that he makes"no apologies" for trying to bring jobs to the U.S. through trade, but that economic growth in any country is good for others.
  "There's no need to view trade, commerce, or economic growth as zero sum games, where one country always has to prosper at the expense of another," he said."If we work together, and act together, strengthening our economic ties can be a win-win for all of our nations."... - Bloomberg, 11-12-10
• Obama seeking compromise on Bush tax cuts: With tax breaks for millions of Americans set to expire Dec. 31, President Obama has opened the door to a compromise with Republicans, signaling a new willingness to accept tax breaks for the wealthy to avoid immediate tax hikes across the board. But as lawmakers head back to town next week for their first battle since this month's congressional elections, no one is sure just how far Obama is willing to go.
  In recent days, the White House has appeared to vacillate on the expiring tax cuts, swerving from a humble tone of capitulation back to one of defiance. On Wednesday, White House senior adviser David Axelrod seemed to suggest in an interview with the Huffington Post that Obama was poised to acquiesce to
  

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