Local Politics Ruled Elections

People have been reading too much into yesterday's elections. Today is political pundit Happy Day. Michael Steele says that it means republicans are transcendent. Ha! That's a good one. Others say voters served a message on Obama. Don't think so.
The only real loser was Sarah Palin, who inserted herself into the NY 23 race and popped out a democrat. Nate Silver says the night went to local politics:

Hoffman, indeed, had some initial success. The original Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, dropped out of the race after polling showed her trailing both Hoffman and Owens. But when push came to shove, Hoffman lost.
Why? Because those activists -- however well-meaning they might have been -- misunderstood the district. The 23rd is a Republican district, but it is not a particularly conservative one, having split its vote between Barack Obama and the moderate Republican John McHugh last November.
If Nancy Pelosi is regarded suspiciously in the 23rd, so are Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson, who cut commercials and robocalls on behalf of Hoffman. What the voters there wanted was a candidate who understood them. Owens -- superior to Hoffman in his command of local issues -- provided the best approximation. CNN

As for Jon Corzine, the guy was a dud:

Alternatively, consider the outcome in New Jersey, where Republican Chris Christie knocked off incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine. This election is being touted as a referendum on Obama, who took a risk -- a bad one, indeed -- by campaigning on behalf of Corzine.
But Obama was the least of Corzine's problems: Voters in Tuesday's election approved of Obama's performance 57 percent to 43 percent, according to exit polling. It was Corzine they didn't like; 27 percent of the voters who approved of Obama nevertheless found someone other than the Democratic incumbent to vote for. Read more at CNN

My contention is that the elections were a referendum on party politics. People like Obama well enough, despite all the focus on the haters, so Obama didn't have anything to do with who people voted for. Corzine and Deeds may have lost bigger without him. But people aren't going to vote for a democrat just because he or she is a democrat. If you're a politician and you're not doing your job, you're going to be ousted because Americans are getting impatient with politicians.

Statewide Election Results Are a Verdict on Political Parties

Pundits are wrong.
The results of the statewide elections won't be a verdict on Obama.
The results will be a verdict on political parties, regardless of Obama's campaigning for Jon Corzine, Creigh Deeds and Bill Owens.
The election of Obama is a good example of the way people are voting now. People are voting for the person. Many republicans voted for Obama. People don't care as much about the party anymore. That's why the numbers of independents are growing.
It's the reason why Sarah Palin has made so much headway.
People are sick and tired of political parties. People are tired of politics. Some of us just want leaders to govern. Others of us, the tea partiers for example, are skeptical that anyone can govern.
People are tired of seeing politicians having affairs, taking bribes, abusing power and not getting anything done.
People just want the person in office to do something.

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Obama Rallies for Jon Corzine Live Stream Nov. 1

Earlier today:

Obama will speak at 1:20 pm eastern and at 3:20 pm eastern.

Obama Rallies for Jon Corzine in New Jersey Video

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Obama Speaks on Small Business Stimulus at Metropolitan Archives Oct. 21

Update: Obama reaffirms his commitment to get small businesses the financing they need. He raised caps on small business loans and said Timothy Geithner and Karen Mills, SBA administrator, will confer with others on how to get more credit flowing to small businesses.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Obama at White House astronomy night

Obama will speak today at 1:45 pm eastern from Metropolitan Archives, a small business in Maryland. It's likely to be live streamed at cnn.com. A live audio stream will be available at whitehouse.gov/live. I'll post video when it's up. Also today, Obama will interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie and he'll travel to New Jersey to speak at a rally for Jon Corzine at 6 pm:

President Obama will visit a Maryland business on Wednesday afternoon to announce initiatives to encourage lending to small businesses. According to an administration official, the proposal will increase the caps for existing Small Business Administration loans and give smaller banks better access to funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

An industry official involved in S.B.A. lending said the White House would propose raising the cap on the agency’s flagship 7(a) loan from $2 million to $5 million. But other programs are likely to see increases, too, including the 504 program.

The event will take place at Metropolitan Archives, a records storage company in Landover, northeast of Washington, that financed its warehouse in part with a $2 million loan guarantee under the 504 program, according to Chris Crawford, president of the National Association of Development Companies, which lobbies for nonprofit 504 lenders. NYT

Obama's Speech to Wall Street at DNC Fundraiser Video

Obama asks Wall Streeters at the DNC fundraiser in NYC to go against their greedy nature. He asks them join in on regulatory reform instead of fighting it.

But we all know greed is a powerful thing and as long as Americans view material goodies, bigger houses and high salaries as success, it will always be the heart of our economy.
The financial industry is still rewarding itself with large bonuses, despite the fact that many can't retire because they lost everything. I'm sure social responsibility on Wall Street is a laughable, quaint notion.
On NPR's Fresh Air yesterday, New York Times writer Andrew Ross Sorkin details the greed. He has a new book called Too Big to Fail. Sorkin talks about what went on behind the scenes of the financial meltdown. He says history will say that our financial system was rescued from the brink.

Obama Pushes Back At Corzine Rally

Highlights video:

Transcript of Obama's speech at New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's fundraiser here
Obama at the fundraiser July 16:

Governors State Woes on Face the Nation

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels boasts that he doesn't need to use the stimulus money to fill the holes. He's going to save it for rainier days. I'd bet the people of Indiana would beg to differ with him.
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland says Honda has asked him to help save the auto industry for the sake of all the industry support jobs.

Democratic governors support stimulus. Republican governors are split:

Lisa Jackson to Head EPA

I'll tell you what -- Obama has stuck to his promise of a diverse and brilliant administration. Let's hope none of them turn into Blagos.
Lisa Jackson is currently chief of staff to the governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine. Prior, she was head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

AP: Lisa Jackson is in line to become the first African-American to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
President-elect Barack Obama intends to announce Jackson as EPA administrator in the coming weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances that derail his plans, according to Democratic officials close to the transition.
Jackson, a Princeton University-educated chemical engineer, would take the helm at the agency at a time of record-low morale and when it is still grappling with how to respond to a 2007 Supreme Court decision that said it could regulate the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
During the Bush administration, the White House has at times overruled the advice of the EPA's scientific advisers and the agency's staff on issues ranging from air pollution to global warming.
Supporters say Jackson, 46, has the experience to steer the agency down a new path.

Lisa Jackson in Wikipedia
Opposition to Lisa Jackson
Plenty Magazine on Jackson

Fiorina Says Obama Out for Another Photo Op

Carly Fiorina says McCain is quietly learning the economy. Yeah, learning from people like Phil Gramm, now ousted for his large mouth, advising on the "mental recession."

McCain's campaign countered with a conference call in which top economic adviser Carly Fiorina told reporters the Republican has been "quietly talking" with economists and policymakers, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, over the past year.

"I think the American people are getting treated to yet another photo op by Barack Obama, but meanwhile John McCain has been out talking about the economy, understanding the economy, taking advice on the economy for many, many months," Fiorina said.

McCain's camp is just boiling mad that leaders across the world actually liked Obama. Darn it all. And now this. What a smart man to invite cameras. 

Today Obama convened a meeting with big names in economics -- Warren Buffett, Google CEO, even spicing it up with former Bush advisers, to hash out details of his economic strategy:

Present at the meeting were AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, former treasury secretary Paul O'Neill, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, the former head of Wall street investment firm Goldman Sachs. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett joined via speaker phone

Participants said the free-flowing meeting did not reach conclusions but Obama sought out diverse opinions, but there was a consensus the economy was growing worse.

"This was a very serious conversation about serious issues. We were not discussing political tactics," Summers told reporters after the two-hour session concluded.

O'Neill, a former Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush and a former CEO of Alcoa, said he had not endorsed either candidate but Obama was "inspiring lots of people to become involved." Schmidt described him as "impressively knowledgeable."

The key word is inspiring. Leaders inspire.