Obama Speaks To House Republicans

President Barack Obama took questions from House Republicans at a conference in Baltimore today, in an event that looked like something out of British Parliament. One by one, the president was able to address and refute the Republican talking points. It’s amazing to see these (mostly) little men getting schooled by our professor-president in such a calm and scholarly way.

Politically, it was a nice win for Obama, and the White House should focus on doing similar things. We’ve actually got a pragmatic president who is detail-oriented and understands policy. It’s wise to use that. Make it a monthly thing. At some point, Republicans are not going to be interested in engaging with Obama, once they learn that their attempts at political spin are thwarted.

It’s been fun watching MSNBC and CNN (plus most liberal/moderate bloggers) fawning over the president’s performance. That kind of thing can’t hurt, and I can’t wait to see more of it.

Now lets see if these words can translate to a real jobs bill and finally passing healthcare reform.

Originally posted on The Hill.

The GOP and Gay Marriage: Let's Get it Straight

Maine leaped to the right side of history today with the passage of a gay-marriage bill through legislative channels. I'm impressed with the momentum of the LGBT movement post-Iowa, and it looks likely that advocates will reach their goal of marriage equality throughout New England by 2012.

What's overblown is all this talk, from Meghan McCain to Jon Huntsman, of the Republican Party "embracing" gay marriage. Not taken into account is what is sure to be a brutal 2012 primary decided largely by Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. In a recent poll, only 3 percent of Iowa Republicans found candidates who favored gay marriage appealing. And does anyone seriously think Huntsman has a shot at the GOP nomination? Republican primary voters in early 2012 states are too conservative for him, and he's the governor of Utah!

More likely than the GOP endorsing gay marriage is that 2012 candidates will be racing to support "traditional families" the most. (Huckabee may get super-duper-married, instead of just super-married.) It's gonna get really ugly, further regionalizing the party and peeling away young voters.

Lead by the Huckabees, Palins and Gingriches of the party, opposing gay marriage will be a cornerstone of the 2012 Republican candidates. We haven't heard the worst yet.

Originally posted on The Hill's Pundit Blog.

Poll: Obama In Big, Big, Huge, Trouble

The congressional Republicans’ “No Strategy” strategy is making major headway with voters this week.

In a just-released poll, only 68 percent of voters have an unfavorable view of Republicans in Congress. The Republican Party at large is doing even better, with a George Bush-esque level of approval of 32 percent.

It's hard to imagine how President Obama can look at these numbers and think that his agenda has a chance — not when an entire quarter of Americans view him unfavorably!

Those real Americans looking for conservative leadership found it on Tuesday night with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's (R) grand slam performance following up Barack Obama. He was so wonderful — his delivery so compelling — that he is already being compared to real-life TV stars. His ideas were bold — "Why not let volcanoes destroy Hawaii?" Finally, a real conservative policy wonk.

Does anyone really think Obama has a chance in 2012 against a Palin/Jindal ticket?

Originally on The Hill.

Bobby Jindal's Satan Slaying Response

Tonight Gov. Bobby Jindal, of Louisiana, delivered the Republican response to Barack Obama's Speech to the Joint Session of Congress. His performance is being likened to Kenneth from 30 Rock by most of the bloggers that I read. In fact, you can even join a Facebook group to get Jack McBrayer (Kenneth!) to play Bobby Jindal on SNL.

Jindal is one of my favorite Republicans. He's a Rhodes Scholar, so he's gotta be bright... right? Jindal believes in intelligent design, he calls it "the best sceience." He wants your kids to learn it in school.

Jindal is an exorcist.

I felt some type of physical force distracting me. It was as if something was pushing down on my chest, making it very hard for me to breathe. . . Though I could find no cause for my chest pains, I was very scared of what was happening to me and Susan. I began to think that the demon would only attack me if I tried to pray or fight back; thus, I resigned myself to leaving it alone in an attempt to find peace for myself.

So, he's not bright, but he has literally taken on the devil... Will he try and take on Obama in 2012?

Night Owl / Early Morning Odds & Ends

I'm back from flu land. My temperature is gone and I was finally able to do something outside the house besides rehearsal. I hung with my new friend Quinto, after my dinner at the IU-staple Mother Bears, and we watched the first three episodes of Rupal's new Logo Series Drag Race. It's a drag version of America's Next Top Model, that I sorta loved. It wouldn't work without Ru Paul, but with her it really works.

Rehearsal went great tonight, we're finally getting the chance to polish some of the dances. Today we worked on D-Gates, a song where Muffin (yes, Muffin) and Mike meet and fall for each other outside an airport. In this photo, Eric Anderson Jr. is at the piano, Aly Bloom is in front, and the two-Ms are Jen Saltiel and Justin Klein.

Vote in Bloomington tickets went on sale yesterday and we perform the weekend of March 6th-8th.

The News:

-- The NY Times has a major feature on the RENT California drama. Mr. Martin, the school's amazing drama instructor, describes in some detail his initial conversation with the bigot principal.

He said his principal, Fal Asrani, had objected to the show because of its treatment of “prostitution and homosexuality.” “When I heard that, I stopped her and looked her in the eye and said, ‘First, there is no prostitution in ‘Rent,’ and second, homosexuality is not wrong,’ ” Mr. Martin said. “She made no comment. It was the most demoralizing, disappointing moment in my career as a teacher.”

-- Kathleen Sebelius will make a great HHS Secretary. But, what is Howard Dean gonna do?

-- Obama has a 67% approval rating in the latest AP Poll. The Republicans in Congress are at 33%.

-- I agree with Andrew Sullivan, Obama should give Arnold a job when he leaves office. Arnold should become Obama's top Republican ally.

-- Republican Chairmen Michael Steele is out of his mind.

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party’s principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”

The RNC’s first black chairman will “surprise everyone” when updating the party’s image using the Internet and advertisements on radio, on television and in print, he told The Washington Times.

-- Al Franken will soon finally be a Senator. 59 Democrats. Obama will just need a single GOP vote to pass legislation.

2012 Watch: Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr.

Gov. John Huntsman, of Utah, recently announced that he supports gay civil unions. The "good" people of Utah don't agree with their popular governor, 70% oppose them. Huntsman is not seeking reelection, leaving many to wonder if he plans to run for president as a GOP moderate.

It's not just civil unions, Huntsman is a fan of LGBT legislation in general.

Beyond civil unions, Huntsman also threw his support behind a bill to allow two unmarried, co-habiting adults to sign a "joint-support declaration" to gain inheritance rights and medical-decision making decisions for one another, as well as a bill to outlaw employment and housing discrimination for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

I can actually see how being more moderate on gay issues may help Huntsman in New Hampshire, but fail to see what his path to the nomination would be. Does he think he could win South Carolina in a primary against Palin? Doubtful.

He seems like a cool guy for a Mormon. He speaks fluent Chinese and is a fan of progressive rock, but still goes to the opera.

Part of my continuing series, 2012 Watch.

Late Night Odds & Ends

We're nearly halfway done staging Vote!

Yesterday, Aly (my choreographer) and I were staging "Ambition," one of Mark's big numbers. Mark is one of the candidates running for senior class president in the show and is a mix of Alex P. Keaton & Karl Rove. David Coleman, who is playing Mark in the Bloomington production, is a freshman at IU and is doing quite a nice job in the part.

During one moment we had Mark try a crane kick. David knew exactly what to do and it was really funny. But, he didn't know what the reference was from! It made me feel pretty old. I thought everyone grew up on Karate Kid.

-- David Axelrod says Obama plans to lift the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research sometime soon.

-- Kissing really matters. - "Saliva is like a chemical cocktail, and hooking up may have evolved to help us quickly tell if someone is a good mate or not." And, there is probably more to it than that:

"There may be more to this chemical assessment than just kissing," Fisher said. "I think kissing is the tip of the ice berg. I think we'll find that all kinds of other chemical systems are in play that we don't know about."

Goodbye freewill.

-- We've got a Stimulus Package! More on that tomorrow, but watch SNL go after the GOP this week.

-- NY Times: Five NYC economists on the state of the city's economy. Money quote:

“New York City isn’t like Elkhart, Ind.,” Ms. O’Cleireacain said, referring to a city that President Obama visited last week, one that largely depends on a single industry, recreational-vehicle manufacturing, and where unemployment has soared to 15 percent. New York, she said, “is a magnet for talent: for smart, enterprising, ambitious, innovative people, not only from this country but from around the world. Everyone wants to be here, and I think that sets us apart from virtually any other city.”

-- 71% of Americans believe there should be an investigation by either criminal prosecutors or an independent panel into the actions of the Bush administration.

-- Just what will White Spaces give us?

New cellular phones are being planned that would operate independently of existing networks, and would instead access the Internet through white-space technologies and send and receive calls over the Web. High-definition TV broadcasts and movies can be streamed through white spaces directly to a person's laptop, BlackBerry or iPhone.

"It takes images and sound and sends them great distances with no distortion," said Jake Ward, a spokesman for the Wireless Innovation Alliance.

-- Time's Joe Klein on the Israeli Election.

-- Thank you for the link NY Daily News!