[Guest post by DRJ]

The New York Post has an interesting article on political wrangling about race between NY Gov David Paterson and the Obama White House. During an interview on WRAL talk radio, Paterson blamed his abysmal poll ratings on attacks by white-dominated media that he claims also target Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and President Obama’s health care. Paterson said the health care debate shows America is “not a postracial” society.

The response from the White House was swift:

“Aides to Obama were angered by Paterson’s tirade on liberal talk-radio station WWRL on Friday, sources said.

Paterson blamed his political woes on racially slanted coverage and predicted the president would be the next “victim” of biased media.

Obama’s team delivered a pointed message to Paterson within hours of the morning broadcast, multiple sources said.

It came in a call from White House political director Patrick Gaspard, who has deep ties to the New York political scene, to Larry Schwartz, the governor’s first deputy secretary.

Gaspard wanted to know “why [Paterson] was dragging the president into” his troubles, said one source.”

It’s not easy to lead, at any level.

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

Nearly one-in-four New Mexicans receives health care assistance from the state or federal government, including Medicare that covers older Americans and Medicaid that covers children, poor adults, and the disabled. Medicaid is New Mexico’s largest health care program and it accounts for 11% of state spending. New Mexico’s Medicaid program faces a budget shortfall of up to $300M in the next two years that will result in reductions in coverage, payments to providers, and/or services. The future may be even bleaker due to increases in Medicaid enrollment as unemployment rises, as well as the loss of federal stimulus money in 2012.

There are varied views on how to solve the shortfall but reduced services, limits on payments to health care providers, onerous bureaucracy, and increased taxes … it could be a preview of ObamaCare.

— DRJ

[Posted by Karl]

The latest Washington Post/ABC News and dKos/Research 2000 polls reflect the Left’s growing frustration with the Obama administration. Greg Sargent calls this disenchantment a “major factor” in Obama’s current slide. For example:

The WaPo poll found that “49 percent now express confidence that Obama will make the right decisions for the country, down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark in his presidency.”

On that question, among liberals, Obama has dropped a surprising 12 points, from 90% to 78%, in the same time period. Among Dems, he’s dropped eight points, from 90% to 82%.

***

The WaPo poll also found a steep drop in approval of Obama’s handling of health care, which now stands at 46%, down 11 points from 57% in April.

But guess what: The drop during that time period was the same among liberals: Down 11 points, from 81% in April to 70% now. Among Dems overall, Obama fell six points, from 83% to 77%.

Sargent also notes that in the latest dKos/Research 2000 weekly tracking poll, the net favorable ratings for Obama and Congressional Dems dropped more among Democrats than among Independents or Republicans.

You can bet that the left wing of the Democratic Party will make these findings part of their campaign to push back against the Obama administration’s refusal to insist on a government-run health insurance plan. The part where WaPo polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta cautions Sargent that independents were likely a greater factor will be omitted. The same people who ridiculed the notion that healthcare might be Obama’s Waterloo a few weeks ago seem bent on making a similar threat against Pres. Obama now.

–Karl

[Posted by Karl]

Like a lot of people, I chuckled over the story about Bob Dylan getting detained by a 24-year-old cop who failed to recognize him in Long Branch, NJ. But is it a signpost of the changing times?

(more…)

[Guest post by DRJ]

In a stunning about face, the Obama Administration admitted it hired a private communications company, GovDelivery, to send unsolicited emails from David Axelrod in support of ObamaCare. GovDelivery reportedly handles 85% of federal agencies’ emails. The Axelrod emails were apparently paid for with public funds.

During the past two weeks, the White House denied it sent unsolicited emails and then claimed outside political groups had placed names on a distribution list. The White House apparently now concedes it hired the firm to spam American households about ObamaCare.

In other news, the President left Washington yesterday for a one-week vacation with his family at Martha’s Vineyard.

UPDATE: Hot Air says GovDelivery threw Obama under the bus because its FAQs says email addresses come from the client. Plus this:

“Frankly, the White House is making this a lot worse by trying to pass the buck. As far as I know, spam e-mails wouldn’t break the law, although it would make the administration look cheesy enough, and that effect has already occurred. They’re turning an embarrassment into an indictment of their integrity and honesty. The cover-up is always worse than the crime, and covering up a non-crime makes this administration look immature, petty, and bumbling.”

NOTE: I corrected the name of the company from Govdelivery to GovDelivery as shown on its website.

— DRJ