Daily Democratic Wire 8-19-2009

George Wenschhof

Today, President Barack Obama will discuss health care reform in a series of phone conferences - He has two phone conferences planned with thousands of religious leaders today and will also appear on BlogTalkRadio at 5 PM ET. You can read more here.

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Marist poll shows Palin would get crushed by Obama 56% - 33% in 2012 - the poll also shows the resignation by Sarah Palin of the Governor seat in Alaska also hurt her with voters. You can read more results from the poll here.

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NBC News Poll show Americans feelings toward health care reform unchanged since July - however, the misinformation being spread by Republicans such as death panels, care for illegal immigrants, pay for abortions, and a government take-over of the system is now believed by a majority. Even though, independent fact-checkers say these claims are all untrue. Shows how nasty politics gets sometimes. MSNBC.com has more here.

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Democrats begin talk of going it alone on health care reform - The NY Times has a good read here. Seems White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Democratic leadership is sending a strong message to Republicans that if they do not stop their misinformation effort and begin meaningful negotiation on health care reform, they will use budget reconciliation as a means to pass reform. In the case of budget reconciliation, a simple majority is needed in Congress to pass the bill.

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Carly Fiorina may challenge Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calf.) in 2010 - Fiorina filed papers allowing her to begin fundraising. Fiorina has her work cut out for her as she will have to overcome her failures in running Hewlett Packard and being let go as manager of the losing John McCain presidential campaign. Politico.com has more here.

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Violence results in deaths of election workers on eve of Afghanistan election - stay tuned as the election will take place tomorrow. Reports also indicate election materials are slow in arriving at polling locations. President Hamid Karzai is facing dozens of opponents and speculation is a run off may be necessary to determine the winner. The winner must receive a majority of the vote and not a plurality. You can read more here.

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North Korean diplomats to meet with Governor Bill Richardson - in what appears to be another overture toward entering into discussions with the U.S. the diplomats are going to Sante Fe to meet with the Governor. This comes soon after former President Bill Clinton's successful trip to N. Korea to free two American Journalists. CNN.com has more here.

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