A poll of 2,000 self identified Republicans conducted by Daily Kos/Research 2000 released last week made the news because of some very disturbing numbers. Although a disproportionate percentage of respondents (42%) are from Republican strongholds in the South, the poll revealed many Republicans are willing to believe some pretty outlandish things about President Obama.

For this correspondent the most outlandish was that 53% of these Republicans believe former Governor Sarah Palin is “more” qualified to be the president than Barack Obama. Excuse me while I go and laugh my self silly. I’m sorry but comparing Barack Obama to Sarah Palin is like comparing Albert Einstein to Larry the Cable Guy… sorry Larry! But this is just one example.

When asked if they believed Obama was not a U.S. citizen, 58% said they did or were not sure. REALLY!!! 58%??? Come on man, I’m sorry but this is just fricken retarded. If there were even the slightest shred of suspicion this was true the Republicans in the House and Senate would have come unglued. No… this one is just too profoundly stupid to explain in any sort of intelligent manner.

Another question asked was “do you believe Obama is a racist who hates white people?” Would you believe 64% said they did or were not sure. Apart from the fact there is not a single shred of evidence that Obama is’ a racist, perhaps these folks need to be reminded that he was raised by his “white” mother and grandparents. This poor guy can’t win. If it isn’t the extreme Right accusing him of hating white people, it’s extreme factions of civil rights groups accusing him of not being “black” enough. What ever that means.

The poll went on with several other issues. Asked if they believed Obama was a socialist, 79% said they did or were not sure. Asked if they believed Obama wanted the terrorists to win, 57% said yes or were not sure. When asked if they believed ACORN stole the 2008 election, 76% said they did or were not sure. And when asked if Obama should be impeached, 68% said they did or were not sure. The only question asked that did not receive above a 50% believe or not sure was “do you believe your State should secede from the union?” where 58% said no.

So, with exception of out right secession it seems a majority, at least in the South, of Republicans are willing to believe or at least entertain the belief in just about anything they are fed about President Obama no matter how outlandish or untrue it is. Of course we know where these beliefs come from. The Limbaughs, Becks, Hannitys, and O’Reileys spew it out on a daily basis. But worse than that are the Republicans in Washington who lend credence and legitimacy to these lunacies.

I’d say shame on you to the Right wing pundits, but this kind of tripe is their stock and trade so it would do no good. It’s like the line from “Last of the Mohicans.” “Don’t try to understand them. And don’t try to make them understand you. For they are a breed apart and make no sense.” But a huge shame on you goes out to the Republican politicians who fan the flames of these lies and conspiracy theories. This is beneath you. If you can’t win based on your own laurels, then perhaps you should quit.

However it’s the people themselves that harbor these beliefs who bear the most responsibility for this insult to reason and our American values. And I say insult because this is about racism. It’s like the line from the Star Wars movie about our beliefs being based on our own point of view. And when your point of view is that black people are inferior, it’s a short trip to believing things like we’ve seen revealed in this poll.

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You can listen to Devin talk politics at earlymorningpundits.com with Dr. Candace House and Devin Barber every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 AM Eastern and 5:00 AM Pacific. You can also listen to recorded shows anytime.

Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at LEFT OF THE RIGHT

You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: Devin Barber and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.

You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.

Just as nut bags like Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck hurt Republicans, the Left has it’s own Achilles Heel. The latest manifestation of this phenomena was PETA’s latest idiocy. While PETA is a very important and worthwhile organization with a history and reputation unequaled in the protection and advocacy of animals. It does not help when they open up the Left to criticism with statements like “Punxsutawney Phil should be replaced with a robotic ground hog.”

Apparently PETA’s first complaint was that it was somehow cruel to keep Phil in captivity. But according to the fury meteorologist’s keeper, “Phil is treated better than a lot of children in this State.” PETA’s second complaint was that it was unfair to expose the fat rodent to the bright lights and crowds that the event attracts. This year the estimate was 12,000 people. But when I watched the event, Phil seemed calm and quite content. I would expect a ground hog that was being stressed would be squirming around trying to escape. But Phil just lay there in his keepers hands like a happy lap dog.

There are other groups and movements that give reasonable Democrats head aches. Who can forget the Tree Huggers that were spiking trees marked for harvest. These idiots were no better than the Right to Lifers who think murdering abortion doctors is justifiable homicide. And as if spiking trees weren’t enough, these were the same miscreants that were behind the Spotted Owl lie. These activities did not help the environmental movement at all. In fact it gave the Right all the ammunition it needed to defeat several environmental bills. When you resort to espionage and lies, you make it very easy for your opponents to impugn any credibility you actually have.

Of course these examples are extreme, but the same kind of single mindedness can be found closer to the Center. Right now the health care bill is in real jeopardy because some Democrats in the House don’t want to accept the Senate version. Not only could this lead to killing the bill, but Republicans will suck it dry calling Democrats incapable of governing. And they’d be right.

I find it a bit ironic that President Obama was so forceful in his plea to the Republicans for reason and sincere engagement when he should be giving that speech to our own Party. For the life of me I cannot understand why every time the Democrats find themselves in the majority they become the Clampets for crying out loud.

A plea to the Democrats in the House and Senate…

The Republicans lost in ‘08 because they failed to serve the people. If you continue to second guess yourselves and fail to make the big moves like health care reform, you too will fail to serve the people. But your failure won’t be because your ideology failed as was the case with the Republicans. Your failure will be due to inaction. In November of 2008 the American people said “ok Democrats, let’s try it your way.” But if you don’t even try, what’s the point?

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You can listen to Devin talk politics at earlymorningpundits.com with Dr. Candace House and Devin Barber every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 AM Eastern and 5:00 AM Pacific. You can also listen to recorded shows anytime.

Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at LEFT OF THE RIGHT

You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: Devin Barber and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.

You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.

I am a proud and unapologetic member of the Democratic Party. But sometimes the inability of my Party’s leaders to effectively communicate with the voters leaves me shaking my head. My head is still spinning over how shaken up the Democrats in D.C. are over a single Senate election in Massachusetts. Despite still having a 59 - 41 majority, you’d think the Democrats were now the minority. It’s as if this one election amounted to the entire party being whipped. More frustrating is the fact that they’ve allowed the Republicans to define the outcome of that election as a national rejection of President Obama’s agenda and the Democratic Party in general.

In the title of this article I say that claims from Republicans the political wind is shifting back to the Right are false. But more and more this correspondent is realizing that what we call the political wind has nothing to do with Right or Left. No, our modern day dynamic is controlled by the Independents. Both Parties have their base supporters. But neither can win without wooing over a majority of the Independents. The problem is that Independents could care less about either Parties ideology. Independents are typically only marginally engaged in politics and depend more on media hype than anything else to guide their voting habits.

Unfortunately this has made our election process a fickle and unpredictable mess. I like Barack Obama because I think he is a brilliant, dedicated man of high moral ideals with a compassionate heart. But I have to admit that I suspect his election was more about media hype than anything else. It is extremely troubling to me to consider that our national elections may be about nothing more than which Party is better at inciting Independents.

For the Republican base the political wind always blows Right and for the Democratic base it always blows Left. But Independents live in Tornado Alley where the wind changes direction by the minute. Another problem with Independents is that they live in the moment seemingly unable to see beyond the sunset. For instance, right now they don’t care what either Party “says” they’re going to do to create jobs. All they know is that right now they don’t have jobs so they vote accordingly. And that means which ever Party is in the majority will take a hit.

In conclusion it’s becoming clear that while ideology may be the driving force of the 2 major political Parties and the source of the divisiveness that keeps our government paralyzed and ineffective, it doesn’t decide elections. Results decide elections. So you could say this is a good thing. Because the one thing that is’ predictable about Independents is that they expect results. The Democrats were swept in because Independents were very dissatisfied with Republicans. If the Democrats fail to turn the jobs crisis around the Independents will just as quickly switch back.

Ronald Reagan nailed it man. It’s about voters asking themselves if they are better off now than when the guy in office was put there. So next November it’s not going to be about which ideology the voters agree with most. It will be about how well off the voters see themselves as being. So here’s a warning for both Parties. If you are a Democrat then you had better get on the stick and do what you were elected to do. And if you are a Republican I’d be very careful about having to run on a record of “I just said no” because that duck won’t fly either.

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You can listen to Devin talk politics at earlymorningpundits.com with Dr. Candace House and Devin Barber every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 AM Eastern and 5:00 AM Pacific. You can also listen to recorded shows anytime.

Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at LEFT OF THE RIGHT

You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: Devin Barber and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.

You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.

When it was announced that Martha Coakley would be the Democratic candidate for Ted Kennedy’s seat in the Senate I thought… Martha who? So I looked into just who this person was and how she came to this place in history and again I thought… Martha who? With all the talented, top notch Democrats Massachusetts has to offer they decide to run Coakley? My only solace was that it was’ Massachusetts and what was the chance a Republican was going to win Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat. Well, it turned out to be pretty damned good.

Coakley turned out to be a distant, disconnected introvert that believed she could just coast into the Senate on Teddy Kennedy’s legacy. Scott Brown on the other hand showed himself to be a savvy, charismatic candidate able to connect with voters. Appealing to frustrated Independents and moderate Democrats, Brown ran on the idea he would be an “independent thinker.” Unfortunately Brown’s voting record in the Massachusetts legislature reveals he voted with Republicans 95% of the time. I wouldn’t exactly call that a record of independent thinking would you?

Of course it’s no surprise the Republicans are hailing Brown’s victory as a referendum on the health care bill and even a total rejection of Obama’s policies. Ariana Huffington took it even farther proclaiming the special election was NOT’ even about Massachusetts. That it was a message to Democrats that they needed to completely change directions. Barney Frank came out just minutes after Coakley conceded and virtually proclaimed the health care bill dead citing that the Democrats no longer had the 60 vote, filibuster proof majority needed to pass it. As far as I’m concerned the reaction of Frank, Huffington and others amounts to nothing but shooting an arrow randomly into the air and expecting the target to leap into it’s path. In other words these people are way off the mark.

This election wasn’t about anything but the Massachusetts Democratic Party completely fumbling the ball by picking the worst possible candidate available. But it does change the political dynamic in the Senate. Democrats on the Hill are scrambling to come up with a way to get the health care bill passed in light of this new dynamic. One option is the House voting to pass the Senate version as-is sending it to the president’s desk for signing. This will assuredly cause the Republicans to call foul and vow to use their 41 votes to filibuster anything else the Democrats want to do.

I say get the health care bill passed what ever way it takes and charge ahead with our agenda. Let the Republicans try and filibuster everything. I think it’s a pretty weak threat because maintaining a filibuster is a hell of lot easier said than done. I say we throw our agenda at them rapid fire and see how strong they really are. See if they can stand up to the withering criticism they’ll endure when their attempt after attempt to obstruct progress becomes the focus of the people’s frustration. Let’s see how popular they are when they filibuster legislation aimed at creating jobs. I personally don’t believe they have the guts to do that.

The bottom line here folks is that the Republicans don’t want to play fair. A lot of Democrats have been criticized for cooperating with Republicans during the Bush years. But that was because they believed in majority rule. But today’s Republicans have abandoned that precept. They have become so self righteous they actually feel justified in using a technicality like the filibuster to usurp the majorities right to rule. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the Republicans no longer recognize majority rule unless they are’ the majority.

If this Republican victory in Massachusetts does result in the death of the health care bill it will become one of the great ironies of history. The irony being that the death of the health care bill’s most recognized champion, Ted Kennedy would result in the 11^th hour event that killed it.

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You can listen to Devin talk politics at earlymorningpundits.com with Dr. Candace House and Devin Barber every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 AM Eastern and 5:00 AM Pacific. You can also listen to recorded shows anytime.

Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at LEFT OF THE RIGHT

You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: Devin Barber and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.

You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.