President Barack Obama had a message for his political friends and foes on Monday — “just because I’m skinny doesn’t mean I’m not tough.”

After weeks in which he has been angrily criticized by some on the right, to the point of creating a poster image of him with a Hitler mustache, Obama told a Democratic fund-raising event in Miami that some of his supporters have been expressing concern to him.

“I’ve tried to explain … just because I’m skinny doesn’t mean I’m not tough. I don’t rattle. I’m not going to shrink back, because now is the time for us to continue to push and follow through on those things that we know have to be done but have not been done in decades,” he said.

Obama was in Miami raising $1.5 million for Democratic congressional candidates for the 2010 elections, in which Democrats are seeking to hold onto their strong majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

And he had tough words for those Republican critics who he says are not helping solve some of the problems that festered when they were in control of the White House and Congress.

“Lately I feel like somebody made a big mess and I’ve got my mop and I’m mopping the floor and the folks who made the mess are there (saying) ‘you’re not mopping fast enough. You’re not mopping the right way. It’s a socialist mop.’”

For more Reuters political coverage click here.

Photo credit:Reuters/Jim Young (Obama at Democratic congressional candidates fundraiser in Miami)

Sarah Palin on Thursday endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican Party choice Dede Scozzafava in a special congressional election in upstate New York that has the GOP divided.

“I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next representative from New York’s 23rd Congressional district. It’s my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win,” Palin said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches!” she added.

Some political observers view the election to fill the only open House seat this year — with no big names in the running — as an important fight in a battle for the soul of the Republican Party.

Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, made it clear she thinks her party made the wrong choice this time.

“Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate that more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party’s ticket,” she said.

“Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual.”

Palin lists what she says are his best Republican and conservative attributes and best of all, she says, Hoffman “has not been anointed by any political machine.”

Moderate Scozzafava has been plagued throughout her campaign by grassroots conservative activists who have questioned her credentials, reports Politico.com. Critics call her a RINO — Republican in name only.

The Democrat in the three-way race, Bill Owens, got a show of support from the head of his party on Tuesday at one of two Democratic fund raisers President Barack Obama attended in New York City.

The winner would succeed former Republican Represenative John McHugh, a nine-term House member who resigned in September after Obama tapped him to be  secretary of the Army.
For more Reuters political coverage click here.

Photo credit:Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder (Palin at Governor’s Picnic in Fairbanks in July )

Former Congressman Tom DeLay, aka “The Hammer,” hung up his dancing shoes on Tuesday, but we may not have seen the last of his smooth moves.

The Texas Republican scored low in the polling, but still got enough votes to remain in the running in ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars.”

DeLay lived up to his nickname during his years as the tough Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives. But he could not hang tough with two sore feet, so he bowed out of the dance competition.

DeLay ignored doctor’s advice on Monday and danced anyway, aggravating stress fractures in both feet. Was that the softer side of the Hammer talking when he said he would not be able to continue?.

“You can’t practice and if you can’t practice you make a fool out of somebody. I don’t want to do that to Cheryl,” DeLay said of dancing partner Cheryl Burke.

Had he not been forced to sit out the rest of the season, DeLay said his next dance would have been the Texas Two-Step. He may get another chance to strut his stuff. He left the show with an open invitation to come back at the end of the season — if he’s feeling better.

DeLay was House majority leader from 2003-2005 before being forced to step down on charges of violating campaign finance laws.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Evan Sisley. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay walks away from the U.S. Capitol on the day his resignation took effect. Sept. 6, 2006.

A year ago, Senator Arlen Specter was on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania — appearing for a fellow Republican senator,  John McCain, who was in an intense race for the presidency against a Democratic senator, Barack Obama. The two presidential candidates both spent a great deal of time in the swing state, which ended up going Democratic in the November election.

A year later, Specter is busy on the campaign trail again in another tough Philadelphia political battle, his own bid for reelection. But this time, the former moderate Republican is a Democrat. And he wielded the Democrats’ most formidable election weapon at an evening of fundraising on Tuesday — President Barack Obama.

Specter left the Republican party earlier this year, helping to strengthen the Democratic majority in Congress. To thank the 79-year-old, Obama had said he would stand by Specter even in a primary fight to be nominated as the Democratic candidate to retain his Senate seat in 2010.

And he stood by him on Tuesday. Obama spoke at two different fundraising events in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer said the twin Specter events were expected to raise close to $2.5 million, the goal of the evening. Obama touted Specter’s record and qualities to an audience of several hundred supporters who had donated $1,000 to $4,800 each.  Slightly hoarse after a day of speeches to auto workers, the AFL-CIO and Specter supporters, Obama later spoke again at a sit-down dinner for a group of big donors to Specter and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  Aides said Obama posed for 100 pictures with the 200 dinner attendees, two of them at a time.

Obama hailed Specter as “a man who has always put his state before politics, before party.”

Specter praised Obama as “a transformational candidate moving toward being a transformational president.”

Specter knows about transformation.

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

PHOTO CREDITS: Specter and Obama arrive in Philadelphia, Larry Downing/REUTERS. McCain and Palin campaign in autumn 2008, Brian Snyder/REUTERS

Congressman Joe Wilson might be tempted to yell “You lie!” again – this time at a poll that shows the presidential heckler trailing in his reelection bid.

The survey by Public Policy Polling found Democratic challenger Rob Miller leading the five-term Republican lawmaker by 44 percent to 43 percent. The numbers had Democrats cheering, and at least one pollster offering a new view of the contest in the heavily Republican South Carolina district.

 It is all part of the fallout of Wilson yelling “You lie!” at President Barack Obama during his address to Congress on Wednesday night on healthcare reform.

“In a matter of seconds Joe Wilson turned himself from a safe incumbent into one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country for 2010,” said Dean Debnam of Public Policy Polling, which conducted the survey of 747 voters in the congressman’s district.

But Dave Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which tracks congressional races, downplayed the importance of the poll and predicted Wilson would rebound against his liberal challenger in the conservative district.

“This is just a snapshot in time. The bad news for Rob Miller is that the election is 14 months away,” Wasserman said, noting a lot is certain to happen between now and then.

Last year, Wilson defeated Miller, a former Marine turned small businessman, by 54 percent to 46 percent.

Wilson’s verbal attack on Obama provided a big boost to Miller’s fundraising.
In two days, he raked in more $875,000 from 24,000 contributors, according to the House Democratic campaign committee.

But Wilson, who became an overnight hero to many conservatives, has also enjoyed a financial lift. He pulled in about $700,000, said a spokesman for the House Republican campaign committee.

Snared in a political firestorm, Wilson is fighting back. He posted an appeal for support and money on his campaign website that says “Joe Wilson is Under Attack — Stand with Joe Today.”

“I should not have disrespected the president during his speech. But I am not sorry for fighting back against the dangerous policies of liberal Democrats,” Wilson says in the spot.

“Will you stand with me today and help me fight back against liberal attacks by making a donation to my campaign?”

Reuters photo by Jim Young  (Wilson after yelling out “You Lie” during Obama’s speech Sept 9, 2009)

He warned that the U.S. government must not be in a position to “pull the plug on grandma.”

But Senator Charles Grassley, a leading Republican who could be key to President Barack Obama’s hopes of overhauling healthcare, acknowledged on Sunday that so-called “death panels” weren’t really a possibility anyway.

Grassley, the leading Republican in the Senate Finance Committee, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that his well-publicized comment about pulling the plug was only meant to convey the fears of voters.

“It won’t do that. But I wanted to explain why my constituents are concerned about it,” Grassley said.

He was quoted saying earlier this month that “You have every right to fear. You shouldn’t have counseling at the end of life, you should have done that 20 years before. Should not have a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma.”

He struggled a bit when asked to explain why he made the comments in the first place: “I said that because — two reasons. Number one, I was responding to a question at my town meetings. I let my constituents set the agenda. A person that asked me that question was reading from language that they got off of the Internet. It scared my constituents…”

Obama expressed outrage on Saturday about persistent rumors about the government-run “death panels” — an issue most notably raised by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who was the Republican vice presidential nominee last year.

“As every credible person who has looked into it has said, there are no so-called ‘death panels’ — an offensive notion to me and to the American people,” Obama said. “These are phony claims meant to divide us.”
The issue stems from a provision in a House of Representatives bill that would have provided government funding for optional counseling on end-of-life care issues such as hospice.

Obama’s healthcare plan has been hit from both sides, with liberal members of his own party pushing for major changes while Republicans and conservative Democrats fret about cost and government involvement. The debate likely will intensify next month when Congress returns from its summer recess.

Do you think Grassley’s acknowledgement will help end the debate over death panels?

When Governor Mark Sanford walks out of the woods tomorrow, he’s sure for a big surprise.

The governor of South Carolina went hiking on the Appalachian Trail last Thursday to clear his head after a tough legislative session, according to his aides. Nothing odd in that - politicians need time off as much as anyone. Trouble is, when Sanford left he didn’t tell his aides where he was going. He didn’t tell the state’s lieutenant governor either. Or his wife.

His disappearance sparked speculation about his whereabouts, although Fox News reported he did call to check in two days into the trip. Tomorrow he is due to emerge from the trail and return to work and he will doubtless face many questions. For a possible presidential candidate in 2012, the distraction could prove awkward.

And it won’t help that the father of four sons was away from home on Father’s Day.

PHOTO CREDIT: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst: South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford arrives for a dinner held for the National Governors Association at the White House in Feb. 22, 2009.

Senator Arlen Specter, who has had some rocky times since switching from the Republican to Democratic party last week, had a really good day on Thursday.

Specter gained some power — the chairmanship of a Senate subcommittee — and lost a potential and powerful reelection foe, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

“After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate,” Ridge said in a statement.

Earlier on Thursday, Senate Democrats, who had stripped Specter of committee seniority this week, turned around and gave him the chairmanship of a Judiciary subcommittee on crime and drugs. 

“I want Senator Specter to feel welcome in our caucus,” said Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, the Democrat who surrendered the chairmanship to make way for Specter. 

“It is something I’d like to do,” Specter said. 

Specter riled members of both parties last week in becoming the chamber’s newest Democrat.

Former Republican colleagues accused him of abandoning them merely to improve his chances for reelection to a sixth term in his increasingly Democratic state.

And Democrats were peeved by some of his initial action as their newest colleague.  Specter voted against President Barack Obama’s $3.4 trillion budget plan and opposed a Democratic bid to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

He also joked that Republican Norm Coleman may end winning the contested Senate race in Minnesota and denied a report he had told President Barack Obama “I’m a loyal Democrat.”

On Tuesday, Democrats stripped Specter of committee seniority and the Pennsylvania Democrat cried foul.

Specter said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid had assured him that he would maintain seniority if he became a Democrat.

Democratic aides, however, insisted Reid told Specter that the matter would be decided by the full Senate Democratic caucus, and would be revisited after the 2010 election.

An upbeat Specter said on Thursday, “I’m confident that the seniority will be restored in due course.”

For more Reuters political coverage, click here

Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst.  (President Barack Obama and Senator Arlen Specter at the White House)

A week after switching parties, former Republican-turned-Democratic U.S. Senator Arlen Specter has suffered the political equivalent of a kick in the pants.

The action — stripping him of Senate seniority — isn’t expected to change the outcome of any pending legislation. But it puts Specter on notice he must earn his Democratic stripes.

The figurative boot in the butt was administered on late Tuesday by Senate Democrats, who have been irritated by many of Specter’s initial moves as a member of their party.

Since leaving the Republican ranks, Specter has voted against President Barack Obama’s $3.4 trillion budget plan and opposed a Democratic bid to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. He also joked that Republican Norm Coleman by end up winning a contested Senate race in Minnesota and denied a report that he had told President Barack Obama “I’m a loyal Democrat.”

“Specter hasn’t done himself any favors the past week,” a top Democrat said.

In changing parties last week, however, Specter, 79, first elected to the Senate in 1980, told reporters he would continue to break party ranks when he sees fit.

He also said that Senate Majority leader Harry Reid had assured him that he would retain his seniority.

But the full Democratic-led Senate, on a voice vote on Tuesday, made Specter the chamber’s most junior Democrat.

“Let’s face it. Specter isn’t a warm and fuzzy guy, the type you go out of your way to help out,” said a top Democrat.”Specter now has a year and a half to make his case to his new Democratic colleagues.”

Senate Democrats have indicated they will revisit Specter’s seniority after the 2010 election, when the Pennsylvanian will be up for a sixth term.

Specter said in a statement on Wednesday: “Some members of the (Senate Democratic) caucus have raised concerns about my seniority, so the caucus will vote on my seniority at the same time subcommittee chairmanships are confirmed after the 2010 election.”

“I am eager to continue my work with my colleagues on the various committees on which I serve and will continue to be a staunch and effective advocate for Pennsylvania’s and the nation’s priorities,” Specter said.

REUTERS/Larry Downing   (Sen. Arlen Specter’s name plate sits on a desk)

Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, 79, of Pennsylvania appears to face a tough run next year for reelection to a sixth term.
    
And he can blame his problems largely on his decision last month to break ranks with fellow Republicans and vote for President Barack Obama’s $787 economic stimulus package.
    
Those are the findings of a Quinnipiac University poll of about 1,000 Pennsylvania voters released on Wednesday.
 
The Connecticut-based university found that Specter, viewed as a moderate, trails former conservative congressman Pat Toomey, his likely Republican primary challenger, by a margin of 41 percent to 27 percent. Specter narrowly defeated Toomey in a 2004 primary battle.
 
Another and somewhat smaller poll by Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania was a mixed bag for Specter.
 
While the survey showed Specter leading Toomey 33 percent to 18 percent, it found that 49 percent of respondents were undecided or favored others.
    
That survey of 662 people also found that less than half — 40 percent — believe Specter deserves another term, with 46 percent saying it is “time for a change.”
    
The Quinnipiac survey showed Democrats and independents backed Specter’s support of Obama’s stimulus package. But Republicans opposed it — 70 percent to 25 percent.
 
Both surveys were conducted in recent days and had a margin of error between plus or minus of three to four percentage points.
 
“Pennsylvania Republicans are so unhappy with Sen. Specter’s vote for President Barack Obama’s stimulus package and so-called pork barrel spending that they are voting for a former congressman they hardly know,” said Clay Richards, assistant director of Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
 
Richards added, however, if Specter survives the primary, he would have a lot going for him in the general election since there currently seems to be no strong Democratic contender.
 
But Specter faces other problems.
 
He stepped into a political hornet’s nest on Tuesday when he opposed a bill to make it easier for workers to unionize, a top legislative goal of organized labor but anathema to many in the business community and his own party.
 
So if Specter wins the Republican primary, he can expect to be opposed by energized union supporters in the general election. 
 
Click here for more Reuters political coverage