Does the Public Feel Progress?

I took a look at Pollingreport.com today and found an suprising poll that shows the public "might" be seeing some progress in Iraq. Now this is coming from Pew Research, not a Republican based poll. In fact, it has Bush's approval numbers barely at 30% (4 points lower than the average). Here's what I saw.

Now I'll be hounest, if someone asked me how that poll would turn out before it was taken, I would have been more likely to have said it would drop instead of increase. I have thought for a while that the surge has helped Iraq. Not saved, mind you, but it should be fair to say that it has been very beneficial to the progress in Iraq. Maybe the public is finally starting to believe that a stable Iraq is possible. This is a man that really hopes so.

Early Thoughts on Senate & House, Corker Comments

I haven't really commented much on the Senate and House races thus far, but really my thoughts are about the same as everyone else. At this stage of the races, Democrats are clearly the favorite. Aside from Louisiana, Republicans don't seem to have a lot going for them. Any other races that could be a possible pick-up, so far looks like a long shot. Demcrats, on the other hand, are in gear for another 4 or 5 pick-ups assuming things continue to go in their favor. In the House, I first thought that the Republicans should eaisily take back 5 to 12 seats, but I'm not convinced that ALL of the Democratic wave is over, and may be in line to pick up yet another 5 or 6 seats.

A couple of you who were wondering about the Bob Corker statements, I put the main part of the conference below. Some have made a big deal about this, but personally I don't have a problem with it. I think if Republicans and Democrats alike have a lot of unrest with this war (Liberals just love to rub the whole disaster in Republican faces for political points), and Corker is the same way. It is no secret that Bush hasn't been very plain since day one of this war and Corker as a new senator hasn't really found the awnsers that he and the American people are looking for, Corker stated:

"Underwhelmed. I was in the White House a number of times to talk about the
issue, and I may rankle some in the room saying this, but I was very
underwhelmed with what discussions took place at the White House,” Corker
said. A reporter would later ask, "I was concerned about your statement that you
were underwhelmed with what was going on in the White House. Did you mean with him or with his staff?”

“Let me say this. George Bush is a very compassionate person. He’s a very
good person. And a lot of people don’t see that in him, and there’s many
people in this room who might disagree with that…. I just felt a little bit
underwhelmed by our discussions, the complexity of them, the depth of them.”

Huckabee on the Move?, Endorsements

If any of you have seen the latest Rasmussen poll for the Republican nomination, you will see that Huckabee is third among the candidates for president. Giuliani earns 24% of the vote, Fred Thompson attracts 17% of the vote, and Huckabee grabs 13%, with McCain and Romney tied at 12%. If Huckabee was not already considered a real contender before, then he should certainly be added onto that top list.

If you're wondering about the democrats, it is still about the same. Clinton grabs 39%, actually the lowest amount of support since Semptember, Obama has got 21%, while John Edwards remains back at 16%

In another note, Pat Robertson has shockingly thrown his support to Giuliani for President. Many think this could give Giuliani a bit of a boost, thinking that conservatives may make the move to Giuliani. This is also a downer for Mitt Romney who has been fighting to get social conservatives for some time. Speaking of endorsements, Sam Brownback, who has already withdrawn from the race for president, is expected to endorse John McCain pretty soon. I don't see much coming from this, considering Brownback didn't have a long list of followers or money in his bid for office.